Epi 2 S [D02| 1900] The Ravaged Prisoners of War

January 24, 2025, 07:37:31 AM

[Ensign Sash Kreshkova | Primary Care unit | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | Vector 2] @Dumedion @Ellen Fitz

Two figures disappeared from the Erudite and materialized in the sickbay aboard the Theurgy.

One was a young woman - who looked little more than a girl. Her green hair was matted against her head in places. Her skin was lacerated in at least four places - her right forearm, her left cheek, across her torso, and her left calf. Those were the larger gashes. But several smaller wounds showed here and there across her body, almost like someone had cut her open and used what was left of her as a dart board - only instead of darts, they were throwing scalpels. The gashes and cuts - which had been clean at the time of their infliction were no longer so. Some were older than others. Many were dark red and, if someone had cared to reach out, would be hot to the touch.   The rudimentary medical facility on the Erudite had tried to clean and close the gashes and other incisions, but something that the Scion had used seemed to prevent them from easily being healed.

The other was a half-transformed figure who appeared stuck somewhere between a human and a wolf. The figure had the head of a wolf, and a good part of the body was covered in fur, but the rest of him or her - it was hard to tell - was skin just like a humans.

Both figures were mercifully unconscious - whether because of the extent of their injuries or because they had been sedated was not readily apparent. But the younger of the two could be heard murmuring addled expressions.

In her mind Sashenka was fumbling through a hedge maze. She was hemmed by large bushes on every side. Around every corner lurked a potentially deadly situation. One time, she raced around a corner to find a Tal-Shiar operative who pointed a disruptor at her. She turned tail quickly and ducked, but the disruptor cut across her abdomen. The operative took off after her. So she tried to make several quick turns to evade the operative, but she could hear him searching for her. He even called her by name. “Sasch… You know you can’t get away. There are only so many places to hide.”

The green-haired woman kept running. Left, right, right, straight for a little while, then left again. The longer she ran, the slower she got. Just being upright seemed to sap her energy.   While she didn't hear the voice of the Romulan, she heard some rustling in the hedges which seemed to cut through some of the fatigue and urge her on. When she turned the next corner, she saw a different sight - her friend Tria … the one she had taken her trip to Vulcan with.

"Tria!" Sash cried out, rushing to her friend and giving her a hug.

"Sash? Where'd you go?" the green-haired woman's friend gently moved her to arm's length as she studied the Russian's face.

"I ... I vas kidnapped, Tria."

“I’ve been looking for you," the Trill said as if she hadn't even heard what Sash said. "ya know, your dad is going to kill me if I don’t make sure you get back on time.”

"I vas kidnapped," the pilot repeated. "I vas taken by zhe Tal-Shiar."

"Yes," a voice behind both girls said. "She was taken by me."

Sasch spun sideways, to turn and face the voice, but as she did, a disruptor blast narrowly missed her. Instead, it hit Tria squarely on her sternum, and her friend disintegrated before her eyes. It only took a split second before Sash was on the move again, but during that split second, another disruptor blast grazed her thigh.

Sash cried out and stumbled. It took a lot of her strength to push herself up and get moving again, but when she looked back, she couldn’t see the Romulan. She took a moment and pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes and then removed them thinking maybe she would see something different. But it was just her again - her and the hedges.

But a loud rumbling sound began. It seemed to be far off, but steadily growing nearer. Sash couldn’t tell if it was a large animal, or a machine, or something else. However, with the absence of any immediate danger, she sat down and leaned back against one of the hedges. As she did, something grabbed her from behind and fastened her wrists together behind her back. The green-haired pilot squirmed away from the hedge, afraid of what would happen next. Was something going to emerge and restrain her further?

But as she looked on, the hedge was just a hedge. The rumbling, however, continued to grow louder. Sasch pushed herself to her feet. Between her injuries and her hands being tied together, she was less than steady on her feet. She tried to worm her hands out of the restraints as she moved away from the direction of the quickly crescendoing noise.   As she scrambled along, she stumbled into the hedge, and a sharp branch cut her across her cheek, leaving a long, deep gash. A cry escaped her lips, but her heart - more than anything else - urged her on - and promised her an eventual respite.

The green-haired woman continued to weave her way through the corridors of hedges. Every decision was random. Left, then left, then right, and left. Each bend looked like the last and the next. There was no telling them apart, but the rumbling was growing louder, she wasn't sure how long it would be before it overtook her, and that fear pushed her forward. This time, however, when she rounded another corner, she came face-to-face with the Scion. He loomed over her with a wicked, mirthful grin.

"Hello again." The tone of his voice stopped her in her tracks - as though with that one instrument, his voice, he was able to paralyze her.   The mirthful laugh he unleashed was more of a threat than anything else.

Unable to move, Sash's eyes flashed with defiance. "Leave me be!" she ordered.

"Why should I do that?" the Scion asked.

"Because somezhing is coming to get you. Can't you hear it?" Sasch said, narrowing her eyes to slits. The pilot had no idea what the sound was and if it meant his destruction, her annihilation, or both, and she was determined to take advantage of any tool at her disposal.

"Do you think you frighten me?" As he asked the question, the menacing smile fell from his face and was replaced with a grimace of unmitigated hatred. In his left hand, he held out a strange instrument. He depressed a small nodule on the side of the tool and a jet of light flew out of it and cut the young woman’s arm.

Unwilling to give him the satisfaction of crying out as the firey incision tore at her arm, she managed to keep her response to a barely audible whimper.

"The sound is coming closer." She threatened. "Can't you hear it?" She glared back into his eyes insolently. "And It's not coming for me," she said with more confidence than she felt.

But the creature loomed above her, paying her comment no heed.“I haven’t yet decided.” The Scion’s grin widened into an evil smile that split his face in two.

“Haven’t decided what?” Sash's voice threatened a growl.

“If I should make your death quick or draw the elegant agony out and allow you to suffer for a great while.”

With her wrists restrained beneath her, all the Russian could do was jut her chin out. “Who says it's you who gets to choose? Maybe I von’t let you take me?”

He held up his tool again and, this time, pressed a different button, and from the hedges all around, Sash shot out little pieces of metal which cut into her skin and then, once they had embedded themselves, simply melted away. The soon-to-be pilot fell to one knee and cried out as each stylus seared into her skin. It took nearly a full minute for her to catch her breath after the last barrage. This time, she had no energy left to rail against the villain. Her will was nearly gone. The noise had grown to deafening levels and was almost on top of them. Maybe it would consume them all. Maybe, her pain would be gone.

“Little one,” another voice just behind her made her jump back to her feet. Sash swung around just in time to see Ehfva and to hear her say, “Run!”

Ehfva growled and rammed herself into the Scion, momentarily sending him sprawling, but by this time, the rumbling was overhead. Sasch saw the Scion burst into flames. She closed her eyes, awaiting the awful end, but instead, she and Ehfva were appeared on two beds in a bright ward of a Starfleet ship.

Sash’s eyes flew open, and her loud scream rent sickbay’s bustling interior.