LT Gila Sadar - Proof of What I Am
LT Gila Sadar
(( Visitor’s Lounge / Multi function Area - Secret Compound, Surface of Moric ))
The revelation that the Orion Syndicate were incoming with even more weapons to Vef-Lai - not the most ideal of situations - wasn’t exactly doing wonders for Gila’s mental state at that moment. She was already teetering on the brink of a complete panic collapse, and it wasn’t aided by the fact that she remembered quite vividly what had happened the last time she had experienced such a thing.
oO Control, control, control Oo
Vailani: ::harsh:: That’s pathetic. Here I was expecting some genius level plan, and what do we get ::looks to the others and laughs:: Orions. I've seen rabbits with better plans than that. Vef-Lai I don't think you've quite grasped that you are way out of your depth here ::demand:: Return us to our ship.
Vai-net’s very obvious antagonism shocked Gila out of her manic struggle for control as she instead took to stare at her friend. She didn’t even have the time to consider telling her off for such a dangerous tactic, before Vef-Lai’s massive body moved towards them with surprising speed and force.
Silveira: Lieutenant Sadar, Lieutenant Bergmen get some cover.
Sadar: Wh-What?
Gila was vaguely aware of Lieutenant Bergmen moving behind her, as she looked around the containment cell. It wasn’t like they had a lot of furniture to use for cover in the first place, so she wasn’t sure what Sil-net was expecting her to do in this situation.
Vef-Lai: Death to you all. Bring her to me.
The containment field dissipated into the air, the charge of energy making Gila’s teeth itch as she saw the massive Kobyar approach them, his Grunden guards not far behind. Gila staggered backward, trying desperately to put some distance between her and her would-be victims, wanting to get away before any imagined slight or threat could push her over the edge.
She was vaguely aware of Vai-net screaming something in the other end of the room just as Vef-Lai launched himself at her, his large and ugly hands gripping onto Vai-net’s throat, and while some semblance of the loyalty that Gila had towards her friend persisted - an unseemly and grotesque desire to force the vile alien off of her - fear overpowered everything. The guards engaged Sil-net and Lieutenant Bergmen elsewhere in the room as Gila retreated yet further away, but in her haste to put distance between her and the soldiers chasing her, she stumbled and fell to her knees. So blinded by dread was she that she didn’t have the instinct to stand back up, but just started crawling away, tears starting to well up in her eyes as her mouth filled with bile.
oO No no no no no no no no Oo
Silveira: SOMEONE DO SOMETHING.
oO NO DON’T OO
She felt a wide and skinny hand grab onto her ankle and her instinct was to scream as she felt skin and flesh tearing, giving way for bone, and then-
O’Connor: Screw this.
The floor beneath her started vibrating, and for a moment, the sensation made Gila think of happier and safer places - Sickbay, her quarters on the Artemis, Commander Adea’s office, the kitchen she, Sil-net and Lt. Commander Jovenan cooked in - and she wanted nothing more than to just close her eyes and imagine those places as she died. And then, the floor lurched and she realized it wasn’t just her imagination. She felt a body collide with hers from behind, her fear intensifying at the feel of the cold metal of a weapon pressed against her back, and she felt her lips forced apart by thick rods of bone as salt tinged her skin as tears previously fought back were released.
Vailani: Response
The floortile she was lying on swung away from where she’d been previously as the Kobyar rolled off of her, and she stared at it, a quiet plea in her eyes for it to please help her, kill her, do anything to stop this, and she saw the fear and disgust and revulsion in its face pale its green-ish skin at the sight of the monster in front of it. The floor separated into flying tiles, seemingly moving of their own volition, as the Kobyar scampered away from her - primal fear fueling its desire to escape - and it fell through the cracks that had opened up between the floors. Gila crawled frantically towards the Kobyar, reaching out both hands to try and catch them before they fell, but crawling with two massive pieces of bone protruding from your oral cavity was not something Gila was used to, and it hindered her approach significantly.
By the time she reached the edge of the floor tile and tried to grab onto the Kobyar’s arms, it was too late, and all she could do was watch in shock as the alien soldier fell into the dark chasm that had opened up beneath her, their wide and bulbous eyes reflecting the monster above them.
Reflecting her.
Silveira: STARFLEET SOUND OFF!
Bergmen: Here…alive…
Gila scampered backwards, heaving for breath through the open cavity left behind as her jaw had fallen to her collarbone, just as she saw more soldiers being jettisoned towards her at high speed and she cowered behind her arms, trying to hide herself from view.
O’Connor: Oh, uhhhh- What about this?
Gila’s floorplate changed directions abruptly, causing Gila to roll around clumsily and a sharp twang of pain went through her face as she tasted iron on her tongue and the mandibles retreated with great speed into her mouth once more. She didn’t quite have the chance to fix her jaw, so it was still dangling in a disconnected fashion near her collarbone as she was tossed from side-to-side by the seemingly random movements by the floor.
Vef-Lai: Nooooo!
Vef-Lai’s voice boomed through the room, and on instinct, Gila rose her head to look for him. To look for Vai-net. Where was she!?
O’Connor: Huh... Didn’t know I could build upwards too.
Vailani: Response
Vef-Lai: Stop them!
She could see Vef-Lai now, isolated on a floor tile of his own as it moved upwards into the tall ceiling of the room, his manic eyes glistening wetly in the lights. It felt as though his eyes zeroed in on her, caught her in the aftermath of her moment of sin, and she felt tears sting the corners of her eyes.
O’Connor: That’s enough out of you.
Then, he was gone. The ceiling swallowed him whole, sequestering him away from the rest of them, as the floor tiles started moving slower. Gila had the chance to relax now, to digest what had happened and quietly, quickly as can be, she put her jaw back in place, her fingers turning wet and warm with blood. This was when she realized what that moment of pain that had prompted the mandibles to retract had been.
She’d cut herself. And as she stared on her hands, the tips of her fingers covered in dusty red blood, she heard Vef-Lai’s indignant screams from somewhere up above.
Vef-Lai: Starfleet!
There was a brief moment of quiet, Gila staring at her hands with fear, when she heard Sil-net say something.
Silveira: Were you the cause of this?
Gila looked up slowly, seeing that Sil-net and Lieutenant Bergmen were addressing the alien smuggler, who was standing by a wall console of some kind... Had this been his doing?
O’Connor: ::raised eyebrow:: I mean, I don’t think the rest of you have access to the lift controls?
Sil-net seemed to dismiss the smuggler with no small amount of frustration at that answer, while Lieutenant Bergmen’s entire body language practically telegraphed anger and fury.
Gila was tired.
O’Connor: What?
Silveira: We need to move before they reorganise.
Bergmen: And find a way to contact Artemis. Warn them about Orions.
Vailani: Response
Gila looked up, saw Vai-net and finally felt strength return to her legs. Slowly, in an attempt to seem as small and insignificant as possible, she rose to her feet, her rose-coloured fingers fidgeting uneasily.
O’Connor: Well, my shuttle - the Keystone - is in the docking bay? Though, ‘course, there’s like a gazillion of Vef-Lai’s fanatics between it and us?
No more. Gila couldn’t. Not any more.
Bergmen: Does this station have an armory? Equipment room? Rescue boats?
O’Connor: Not that I know of, but you know, they hid like an army of evil zealots in the walls, so who knows?
That comment made Gila shy away from the walls of the room as the taste of iron in her mouth subsided. The wound was starting to dry.
Vailani/Silveira/Bergmen: Response
O’Connor: Now now, there’s no reason for that! Between us and the Keystone, there’s a bunch of storage rooms, and I’m willing to bet they’re filled to the brim with the stock I’ve been freightering here.
Sadar: E-Even if we can’t use it, w-we should probably... ::deep breath:: V-Vef-Lai must intend to use the weapons in a war on Galaris IV. We can’t let that happen.
(( Hallway - Secret Compound, Surface of Moric ))
Pilot O’Connor led Gila and the others out into the hallway, his speed still considerate of the less-than-stellar condition of a few of the Starfleet officers, and Gila found herself hovering near the others. She couldn’t do much at present - her medikit had been confiscated when they’d been taken prisoner - but she could still keep an eye on them for any sign of graver medical concerns than a limp or a busted lip.
Vailani/Silveira/Bergmen: Response
O’Connor: Oh, that’s news to me too. I just got paid to get the boxes here and get out. I’ve never even met one of the alien buyers before today.
Sadar: A-And you, uh, d-didn’t know your employer either?
O’Connor: Response
Vailani/Silveira/Bergmen: Response
Gila wasn’t sure how to read Pilot O’Connor, but Sil-net and Lieutenant Bergmen didn’t seem particularly surprised with his lack of responsible business acumen. She supposed that was fair, given that they’d last encountered him as at a shipwreck involved with illegal medicine smuggling.
O’Connor: Response
Pilot O’Connor stopped them at an intersection of the hallway, and Gila’s tympani vibrated uneasily. She could hear it. Footsteps. A lot of them, and seemingly coming from all directions.
Sadar: ::shallow breath:: W-We don’t have much time.
Vailani/Silveira/Bergmen: Response
TAG/TBC
LT Gila Sadar
Assistant Chief of Medical
USS Artemis-A
A240006GS1