LtJG Gila Sadar - Getting Dangerously Close to Leadership, Gila
Gila Sadar
((Crew Decks - Nova Gamma Borealis))
It had been a moment of deliberation. An intense one, but altogether, completely contained within her overworking brain. If that loud noise which had alerted the Pirate, brought his attention elsewhere, originated from one of her fellow crew, their location was likely revealed. Which was troublesome. Out of the four of them, people like Ensign Savel or Lt. Commander Dakora were capable of doing much to remedy their current situation, provided they remained unnoticed. Her?
Not so much.
NIC Pirate: What in blazes-
Gila started, head empty of thoughts other than the ones condemning her idiocy, as she found herself utterly and completely revealed, since her minor distraction - intended to ensure the continued stealth of the rest of the group - turned out a fair bit more damning than she’d intended. Ensign Gnai, fairly unwieldy in its tank, came to her rescue.
Gnai: ::to Gila:: ~ Please play along, Lieutenant? ~ ::loudly:: This tour is absolutely dreadful. The only decent exploration is behind the scenes!
Sadar: ::wildly confused eyes:: It was? I-I mean, yes! Trite at best. The reviews are severely overstated.
The pirate redirected his gun towards her, and she felt her knees buckle beneath her, as every fibre in her body urged her to surrender herself before the threat of violence before her. Non-resistance, self-sacrifice, peaceful co-existence with barbarism when required...
The incredulous bluster of the slighted guide interrupted the slippery slope her brain was initiating.
Guide: ::incredulous:: What? We provide the biggest viewports of any ships taking the wormhole! We've spared absolutely no expense! ::muttering to himself:: Dreadful...
Gnai: Yes, dreadful. The wormhole? ::with as much derision as it can muster through monotonous speakers:: Derivative. This has seen... hundreds like it before.
Was this really the time?
The pirate seemed of a similar mind as, with a yell, he tossed the Bolian to the ground, drawing a second weapon and aiming one at each of them.
Sadar: N-N-Now, d-d-don’t be hasty, Sir!
NIC Pirate: What, and I repeat myself, IN THE BLAZES is going on here?
oO Oh, we’re just civilian Starfleet Officers, attempting to distract you from our fellow Officers hiding behind- Oo
Her mental surrender was interrupted - she really hoped this pirate wasn’t telepathic - just as a loud battlecry was raised behind the pirate’s back.
Dakora: Go!
Ensign Savel deftly avoided the obstacles that littered the floor and grasped the pirate’s neck in a familiar maneuver that Gila had seen executed a number of times, courtesy of her Vulcan friend from the Academy. He’d practiced the maneuver extensively on holographic targets, and been rather adamant in the lack of logic behind her consistent rejection of his statement that practice would be far more effective if done in an organic target.
The pirate crumpled, a marionette with its strings severed, guns clattering to the deck, and Gila was convinced that she’d been entirely logical in her refusal to participate in the exercises.
Savel: I was not sure that would work, being unfamiliar with this species, but we are fortunate that it did. ::looking to Talos:: I would not expect all Vulcans to be familiar with this technique anymore.
Lieutenant Commander Dakora emerged from his own hiding place, spanner in hand.
Dakora: I’ll keep that in mind for the next time I’m caught unarmed in a pirate interdiction with a Vulcan partner. ::To Gila and Gnai:: Are you two okay?
Gnai: Yes, sir!
Allowing herself to fold in on herself like a sack of potatoes, Gila sat down on the floor, releasing a breath that had been pent up. She felt intense waves of repulsion beat through her body, her reaction to the altercation, that she knew very well she’d brought about by her clumsy attempt at diversion.
The shame that brought was sharp, but ultimately, not something she had time to address right now.
Sadar: I-I’ll be fine… M-My apologies, Sirs. ::twists anxiety band to calm herself:: Th-That didn’t quite go as I intended.
Ensign Savel collected the two forcibly discarded weapons, and Gila felt herself automatically take a step backwards, though she was relieved to see that she wasn’t even a consideration in the Vulcan Ensign’s mind. A logical exclusion.
Gila vividly remembered when she’d held a phaser during the retaking of the Bridge from Desdemonan forces half a year ago… If possible, she never wanted to do that again.
Guide: And why does he get a weapon? This is my ship! I should be the one trying to take it back.
Savel: I have already evaluated your response to the stress of a potentially violent situation while you were being held hostage. We are all much safer if you do not possess arms of any kind.
Dakora: Mister Savel is correct. ::To the guide.:: We’re Starfleet Officers and we’re here to help.
Sadar: I assure you, the Lt. Commander and Ensign Savel are the correct choice for the armament. They’re the best choice for getting the pirates off of this Ship.
Huffing with unjust indignance, the Bolian reluctantly accepted their assurances as he crossed his arms.
Savel: I am unsure of how long he will stay incapacitated. It could be hours, or he could awaken anytime now. I am open to suggestions on what to do with him.
Dakora: There has to be some sufficiently strong cables or rope in here somewhere, tie him up. ::He paused.:: And pat him down for comm devices. I don’t want him making any unexpected calls for help.
oO Okay. Okay. That I can do. A decidedly non-violent restraining order. Oo
Gnai: Aye, sir! Will search for comms ::pause:: and further weapons. A pirate probably is armed to the teeth, one would assume.
Oh, why oh why did it have to say that?
Sadar: O-One restrained pirate ::twist anxiety band:: coming up.
Thankfully, the room they were in had a multitude of varieties of equipment - cables, wires, etc. - that could be utilized for just such a task. Looking at the pirate, and making certain assumptions about his reptilian-adjacent species, Gila figured that she’d probably need to pick out something to hold his body immovable, and then something to keep his mouth closed, so he couldn’t utilize his fangs to gnaw through his restraints.
Guide: I-I'll tell you exactly what to do with him! ::exaggerating his words by holding a single finger in the air as he just barely lifted himself on his toes:: We shoot him a-and we make sure he can't get back up! Then his friends will know not to mess with Nova Gamma Borealis!
Gila was outraged, that much was clear to see.
Sadar: WHAT!? Sh-Shooting an unarmed and unconscious man? No! That’s simply- No!
Too late did she realize that, of course, this wasn’t exactly her decision to make. She was the second in rank - which, speaking of, she just realized and what immediately extremely uncomfortable with - and so, the decision on what to do about the unconscious pirate was very much the Lt. Commander’s responsibility.
Dakora: Nobody is shooting anyone right now.
Vindicated by her senior officer echoing her sentiment - though in a far more eloquent manner - Gila nodded sternly, though she presumed the Bolian didn’t much care for what she believed was the right course of action. Nevertheless, at least she didn’t have to commit to anything that intensely violated the Tenets today. She’d had far enough of those incidents lately, it was nice to take a break from the intense scrutiny of the moral laws intended to defend the sanctity of her soul, just for a day.
Dakora: By the way, what is that?
The guide hesitated and stammered a few times, as the group’s attention was directed towards the holographic equipment. While reluctant, he eventually explained himself.
Guide: We strive to offer the most authentic tours in the whole Quadrant, really we do! But… sometimes… say… a colorful celestial phenomenon is obscured by a poloron field for a few weeks a year ::He rocked his head from side to side.:: We may— occasionally— augment our guest's experience with that exterior holoprojector.
Ensign Gnai seemed outraged at the audacity the Guide exhibited by being able to claim authenticity and admit to padding of his tours in the same sentence, but to Gila, it was actually quite relatable. It reminded her of one of the most authentic and predictable - as far as she was concerned - alien species in the galaxy.
Sadar: Rule of Acquisition #239: Never be afraid to mislabel a product.
The Bolian at first seemed pleased with her validating his business strategy, though he wasn’t quite able to hide his displeasure at being sidelined with the Ferengi.
Savel: Response
Dakora: You’re telling me that you’ve got a massive holo-projector jutting out the side of this ship?
Guide: Y-yes. B-but, as I said we only use it to augment our authentic experien-
Gila had to hide her slight smile as the Lieutenant Commander’s lack of interest in the end of that sentence was made apparent as he turned away from the guide, to instead look at the rest of them.
Dakora: Ensign Gnai, I need you. ::He waited for the exo-suited Ensign to approach and pointed to the projector.:: How are you at holo-programming?
Finishing his task of confiscating knick-knacks and communicators from the unconscious pirate, and leaving Gila to finish her job, Ensign Gnai rose from its position to meet the Lt. Commander at the holographic computer terminal. Meanwhile, Gila finished immobilizing his arms behind his back with what seemed to be a souvenir cupholder contraption, capable of holding two reasonably sized mugs of beverage, or - as the Wheel would have it - a pair of reptilian forearms, and now turned to the task of gagging/muzzling the pirate.
Whichever task she found a necessary component for first.
Gnai: Reasonably decent, sir. There was a class on it at the Academy…
Savel/Dakora: Response
A good idea. Non-violent, but still immensely threatening.
Gnai: Certainly, sir. One Luna-class projection coming up.
With the gag completed, and the pirate set against some toppled crates to rest out his Vulcan-induced meditative state, Gila turned towards the remainder of the team, leaving Ensign Gnai to do its best with the holoprogramming.
Gila’d taken the course on holotechnology as well - it’d been part of the core courses necessary to get through the first two years of the Academy - but to say she’d been good at it would be a massive overstatement. Coming from a world where the use of holographic technology was still but a pipe dream, she’d had a lot of difficulty wrapping her head around even the most basic of theories in that class.
Sadar: If the NIC don’t do the reasonable thing and take off in the face of a Federation Starship, what do we do?
Savel/Dakora: Response
Sadar: Ensign Gnai did find the pirate’s communicator?
Savel/Dakora: Response
As they considered the next steps, Ensign Gnai finished its work at the hologram controls.
Gnai: Sir, it might take a prohibitively long time to make a recreation of the Artemis... But there’s another ship in here that could be used.
Gila - ever a historian at heart - knew the Ship well from all the holographic simulations she’d seen of the Dominion War in the time since leaving Mizabet. While not the Artemis-A, their home and the domain of the ever-terrifying Captain MacKenzie - whose countenance would definitely be enough to make these pirates run for the hills, no doubt about that - the Defiant, the decorated and renowned warship commanded by the crew of DS9 at the height of the Dominion War, was a good consolation prize.
She was old, but still powerful, and definitely still a threat to run-of-the-mill pirate squatters.
Sadar: ::brief pause:: This could work.
Savel/Dakora: Response
TAGS/TBC
LtJG Gila Sadar
Medical Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240006GS1