[MSNPC] Tark'iqbar - My House of Cards
Gila Sadar
((Main Bridge - Deck 1, USS Artemis-A))
Second: They escaped?
Tark’iqbar growled in annoyance. He would have thought that the initial brief he’d provided as soon as he and the strike team that had escaped Engineering would be sufficient, but no, his Second insisted on obtusely regurgitating known information. It was bad enough that Tark’iqbar had to crawl through those miniscule tunnels throughout the Ship, but once he finally emerged from the Jeffries’ Tubes, he’d also learned that his order for a start of executions had been stayed!? By his Second, no less.
This is what had led Tark’iqbar on his quest to the Bridge. He’d get that senile old snake to obey orders, or airlock him.
Tark’iqbar: They’re loose on the Ship. They’re aiming at retaking it no doubt, but they’ll learn. I’m going to make them wish they’d stayed gone.
Second: First, what is the plan? We’re outnumbered if they manage to rout the remaining crew.
Tark’iqbar groaned as he paced the Bridge.
Tark’iqbar: We start killing off the remaining crew. They’re unarmed and docile.
The sigh that his Second exhaled was both heard and felt, as Tark’iqbar sensed the mood on the bridge broiling just under the surface. Of all the times! They didn’t have time for his Second to start having doubts about the plan going forward!
Second: If we start wantonly executing them, the crew will riot. We’re outnumbered 8-to-1, even if they’re unarmed. We can’t be ev-
Tark’iqbar: Enough!
Tark’iqbar bristled, turning to face his Second with fury in his face.
Tark’iqbar: Are you telling me that you’re afraid of unarmed prisoners?
The assembled Bridge unit witnessed the altercation with cautious tension written clearly into their body language.
Second: We can only shoot one at a time, First, and then ten will be physically assaulting us before the next shot can be fired. We must be smart about our next course of-
Tark’iqbar: Take a squad, sweep downwards through the decks and execute anyone who meets you! Once their Captain realizes we’re killing off her crew, she’ll surrender to our custody.
Second: She’s the Captain of a prototype Starship in the middle of a war. It will not turn out like that.
Tark’iqbar: ::narrows eyes:: Well, fortunately, that’s not your call to make, or you’d probably have us surrender the vessel back to her without a fight. ::to Third:: Start sending word to the crews of the other Ships to kill every Starfleet Officer they see. No one is to be spared.
The Jem’Hadar soldier looked at him for a few moments, all rooted in place like a group of cowardly infants, hesitant to follow the orders of their betters, and Tark’iqbar had no patience for it.
Tark’iqbar: Obey me!
His furious yell echoed through the bridge, but it did nothing.
His Second sighed.
Second: Crew of the LV Mak’ro. I relieve Tark’iqbar of his command of our unit.
Tark’iqbar’s eyes grew wide. His polaron rifle was drawn, aimed at the silhouette of his Second, but just as he pulled the trigger, the shapes of his Unit - the men who had been placed under his command by the Subcommander, who were supposed to follow him into combat - transported away, back to the Mak’ro.
The burst of polaron energy struck one of the bridge consoles, and sparks flew, intermingling with the red lights and the alarm klaxons.
Tark’iqbar roared, the battle cry of a wounded beast, forced into a corner and ready to tear its way to victory no matter the cost.
Tark’iqbar: Bring me a group of Starfleeters! I’ll make these meddlesome inferior lifeforms surrender themselves to me, and then we deal the traitors on the Mak’ro!
TBC
Tark’iqbar
First of his Unit
LV Mak’ro
As simmed by
LtJG Gila Sadar
Medical Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240006GS1