LtJG Gila Sadar - Discord Would See All Drown
Gila Sadar
((Turret, Ki Baratan, Romulus))
Jovenan: I’m not sure if I can establish a lock on the shuttle. I’ll keep trying, but you might need to shoot with only the targeting sensors.
Adea: We’ll do our best.
Gnai: Will that not be a problem...?
This was it. For a moment, the ghostly face of her-yet-not-her floated in front of her eyes. The First Killer in another universe. Gila felt the very foundations upon which her - admittedly already quite fragile - sense of self had been built. She’d refused the mirror from the alternate reality as nothing more than a twisted idea, an illusion of herself, something that was decidedly foreign to who she was as a person. And yet…
Could she truly claim that they were not one and the same when Gila was about to become complicit in a similar crime? Gila wanted nothing more than to hand this task off to someone far more qualified in both skill and mentality…
Sadar: I wish Lieutenant Yellir was with us right now… ::loud voice:: Standing by to disconnect. ::to Gnai:: Ensign? Please see if you can locate any fail safes. We should make sure the turret can’t compensate when I manually disconnect it from the other nodes in the system.
Gnai: Aye, sir!
And thus began the longest minutes of Gila’s life. The time when she and the Galadoran Ensign remained watchful of the inner workings of the turret, being watchful of any potential alarms or energy feedback that would be registered, was time her mind stole from her. Time to question what they were doing.
oO Violence is the cursed spring from which all suffering flows. Sacrifice that which is dear and let the Wheel guide your way. Oo
The Tenets were clear. Violence wasn’t the way forward.
oO Against the currents of time, only cooperation and unison can see us safe. Discord would see all drown, but together, we will float. Oo
Jovenan: Target in the firing range! We have only a few minutes to fire the shot or they’ll reach the shields around the Government Quarters!
Gnai: Found it! ::grabbing the lever, ready to stop the turret if needed::
The Tenet of Unity was clear. If Gila tried to resist or change their course now, they would only suffer… And yet-
As they prepared to fire by disconnecting the turret from the automated system, the greenish hue of the lights above turned deeply purple, bathing everyone an oppressive darkness accompanied by the roaring cries of the alarm klaxons.
Gila only hoped she’d done a good enough job of disabling the unlocking mechanism in the access door.
Jovenan: We have the weapon’s control, but we’ve lost the sensors!
Adea: We will have to do it by hand!
Gnai: Is that... possible?
Sadar: I think we’ve been moving outside the realm of possible for a while now.
Seconds passed before Lieutenant Jovenan cried out, bringing all of Gila’s fears into a rampant frenzy in her stomach.
Jovenan: There!
Gila looked up. She could not see the screen that the Lieutenant and Commander could, but she was able to see outside the translucent dome above them, even if the dark ambient lighting was muting visibility significantly. And more clearly than anything, she saw it.
The vessel that was bringing the Senator closer to them, and them closer to their fate as…
Gila swallowed, even as she felt the truth stab into her heart.
Adea: Okay… Wish me luck.
Gnai: ::to the second floor:: Good luck! ::to Sadar, after a beat:: This feels wrong...
Sadar: … I know...
Wasn’t there something she could do? Some wire or lever that she could pull to stop this? Some way she could alter the trajectory they were rushing down? She heard the security guards work on the door in-between the alarm klaxons and felt a headache manifest as her eyes tried to make sense of what she saw around her through the purple environment. She looked into the turret.
A failsafe. An emergency shut-down lever or button. An on/off switch!
Anything!
oO Against the currents of time, only cooperation and unison can see us safe. Discord would see all drown, but together, we will float. Oo
The turret fired. The shuttle started crashing. The world fell out of focus as Gila’s eyes filled with guilty tears, and she felt her mouth open in a scream. And then, the world ended in bright light.
Tags/TBC
LtJG Gila Sadar
Medical Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240006GS1