[JP] 2nd Lt. Gila Thevn & Vailani Zoyara - And an End.
Ensign Sadar
((Propaganda Chief Karrs’ Home, Jalanda City, Shint-occupied Bajor))
(((OOC: A nightmare with a vaguely described decapitation by kitchen cleaver… Reader caution is adviced.)))
A bit of extra work never killed anyone, right?
Propaganda Chief Karrs from Jalanda City found out the hard way that this didn’t apply to slavekillers, as the replacement for the latest expired Mizarians suddenly stood behind him at his work desk, a sharp instrument to his throat. There were no dramatic final words allowed him. One moment, he was alive and looking at the proclamation he had worked on for the governor, denoting the successful deletion of Bajoran insurgents.
The next, he was dead.
Gila’d always thought death was easy, quick, but separating a monster’s head from their torso was hard work, even as stunned with surprise as he was. The feeling of the kitchen cleaver in her determined hand was... Slow, clumsy. Or was that just because it was her first? Mustard colored blood soaked into the surroundings, seeping into and coloring everything in sight. The chair, the desk, her uniform and the carpet became the canvas for the grotesque painting denoting the monster’s last gasp, and as spatters got into her eyes, she worked on with aching arms, enforcing the effort needed to finish the job..
Eventually, its struggles ceased. She did not. Not for a long time. And when finally her arms couldn’t move anymore, when finally the sounds of flesh gave way as the foul visage rolled onto the floor with a dull thump, she fell to her knees, salted tears mixing with mustard on her face. She looked at the carpet beneath her, discolored as it was, and imagined the tormentor’s lifeblood mixing with that of Eyla and Kolya’s, imagined their beaten and broken bodies just feet from where she was now seated, her chest heaving for a breath she wasn’t sure would come to her.
She’d join them soon. She hoped beyond all hope that getting to a heart would be easier than a decapitation.
Thevn: Forgive me, Celom...
She pulled. And her arm would not move. For the briefest of moments, she thought she was still out of breath, still exhausted from… What had just transpired.
Until she heard a familiar voice yelling at her.
Vailani: Gil!
Thevn: Z-Zoy?
She was pulled violently to her feet, her wide dark eyes staring at the blonde Bajoran in front of her. Her friend.
Thevn: Wh-What are you-
Vailani: ::looks to the corpse:: I... You really did it :: battle weary :: He deserved it. ::beat:: I couldn't let you do this alone. ::takes Gila’s hands in her own:: I told you before, when we were little, it’s you and me. I’ve got your back, no matter what happens.
A memory of a burnt orange sky and a young, spunky Bajoran girl, bruises and dirt peppered on her face as she pulled a teenage Gila, stumbling from her own bruises, to her feet.
Thevn: You and me… ::snaps out of it, suddenly afraid:: You can’t be here. The Peacekeepers will-
Vailani: ::defiant:: They can try. We need to move. Now.
Their escape warped around her, all colors and noises and shapes until one specific, thunderous cacophony made everything come into focus again. The sound like a thousand mechanical legs moving in disjointed tandem, a noise only fit for the nightmares of the truly deranged. Peacekeeper Bulletcars. And they were coming closer.
Vailani: They must be tracking us, somehow. ::looks to the team:: We're going to have to fight. ::To Gila:: Here, take this.
Gila accepted the weapon that was pushed into her hand, which she had no idea how to use. She hoped didn’t have to.
Fighting broke out less than two blocks from the city limits, bulletcars blocking all but one escape route. Gila was pushed ahead, the ‘non-combatant’ that would drag them down, and the resistance fighters followed her until all but one had reached the hatch leading into the sewers below Jalanda City.
All but Zoy.
Thevn: Zoy, hur-
It was like slow-motion, a harrowing image that had all but burned itself onto Gila’s retinas over the course of the many thousands of times she’d seen it replayed. Zoyara’s determined and battleworn face turned towards her, her legs caught in the middle of a powerful stride that would carry her towards the hatch, to her.
Then, a blast of white pounded into her slim back, knocking her airborne.
Gila watched as Zoyara’s face turned surprised, then still, as the light of life left her eyes, and she fell further. Almost within reach. And then, collided with the ground, body violently twisting in an unnatural position from the kinetic force ricocheting back against her from the rocky pavement she impacted with. Gila screamed, thrashed, wanted to go grab her, but insistent hands dragged her down the sewer hatch, into the cold and lonely darkness, and away from the brutal, relentless light...
A bit of extra work never killed anyone...
((Bunk Room 04 - Deck 4, CIC Desdemona))
Gila shot up, felt the cold sweat pool at the nape of her neck under her lilac hood. She brushed the coarse fabric from her bald scalp, her fingers anxiously swiping at the salted liquid sticking to her skin as her elongated skull shivered with latent anxiety. Her chest rose and deflated at an alarmingly high rate, until she managed to shake the final throes of sleep off of her mind and willed herself to calm. Eventually, her heart rate settled, her breath no longer clawed on her windpipe like a monster wanting to claw its way out, and her skull stopped twitching. She pulled the hood back over her head, swung her legs out and rose to her full height with a rolling of her shoulders.
Another night, another terror… And a new day full of terrors. What a life.
((Mess Hall, Deck 3, CIC Desdemona))
Gila was seated in one of the haphazard seats in the Mess Hall next to Vik and facing Major Stennes. He was supposed to have brought Major Yannick - the crazy Trill - back with him, but as with so many things, plans hadn’t worked out. And now, more plans were being put out there for the Shint to break apart.
Stennes: We’ve all seen what this thing can do. But after years of mystery and rumors, we finally get to look at it. The intel scientists working at Casperia call this a “prismagon.” It’s the key piece of technology in the Shint reality weapon.
An animation of a Shint warship was initiated, directional arrows highlighting connections to the weapons systems on its exterior hull. Prismagons, huh… Gila didn’t know much about the Shint reality weapons. She knew that slave labor was still needed for maintenance and such aboard the warships, but as far as she knew, no slaves were ever allowed anywhere near the big boys. Too sensitive for uneducated labor.
Stennes: The energy field this thing generates can fragment reality at the quantum level and then collapse it around its target. When directed at a ship, or a planetoid, or—— ::beat:: a person, the prismagon’s energy essentially forces them out of reality, particle by particle.
The Major turned to Colonel MacKenzie, his expression grim.
Stennes: Colonel, we’re going to steal one.
A brief beat of silence accompanied that ludicrous suggestion, and Gila shuffled slightly in her seat as she caught the worried glance Vik was sending her out the corner of her eye. She shared his concerns, but just tapped his knee under the table with a slightly cheshire grin. Just another suicide mission to add to their list.
The look on the oppressors’ faces when their precious toys were in Commonwealth hands though? It was almost so tantalizing a fantasy it made her regret her escape, just because she wouldn’t be there to see it.
MacKenzie: ::flatly, shaking her head:: There’s no way we’ll last long enough to even get close to one and stay undetected.
Stennes: ::nods:: That’s true. Prismic shields have been a colossal failure at the size and scale we’ve been using them. Commonwealth starships are just too big for the shields to work properly. But, they’re very effective at shielding small craft and—
Major Stennes changed the display to a schematic of two humanoids, each wearing an armband with a hockey puck-sized control.
Stennes: Individuals. ::beat:: Well, at least the testing they’ve done on individuals has been very promising. ::tosses a data chip to Adea:: Colonel Adea, here are all of the schematics and data that Intel has on prismic technology. We need shields that will allow us to get aboard a Shint vessel and remain undetected by their prismic scanners.
Adea: Sure thing.
Stennes: Luana, Lux, Kuva, and Gila, assist the colonel. We need enough shields for a shuttlepod and a small team.
Gila cocked her head slightly to the side, mirroring the ghost of a nod that Vik sent her way. While she knew the haphazard crew of the Desdemona to varying degrees, the Betazoid Colonel was perhaps one of the ones she was most familiar with. Besides Vik, of course… And she’d patched up all the Caitians more times than she could count, so Lux was a known quantity too. All in all, not too bad of a team.
Kuva: ::nodding:: Yes, Major.
Yellir: response
A ball knit together in her midriff as she saw the Major’s eyes drift to the Edo Princess, and she feared what was about to come out of his mouth.
Stennes: Jovenan, any assistance you could provide would be most appreciated.
Jovenan: ::chirpy:: I will assist.
Gila turned her head just enough to glance at Vik, knowing what her old friend was prone to be thinking about, and the briefly enticed look in his eyes made an almost magnetic force curl her knuckle, emphasizing the bony joint. Before he had the chance to get the better of himself, the knuckle had already jabbed itself into the sensitive space between his eighth and ninth ribs on his left side. All things considered, she was comparatively gentle this time, and she caught Vik’s eyes as the pressure made him turn towards her. She raised a hairless brow at him, in a rather admonishing way, before turning back to the briefing at hand.
Dumbass.
Stennes: Vik, Flint, you need to find us a suitable target. The space between the Celendi and Azure Nebulae is crawling with Shint. To maximize our likelihood of success, we need a ship with at least 3 Prismagons aboard. Cruisers or larger. Devise a suitable approach for the shuttlepod, and attack and escape plans for Desdemona.
Olivera: Aye Sir.
Kader: Yes major.
Stennes: Ares, Savel, Harry, you’ll put our heist together, with the Colonel’s and my assistance. ::tosses Dakora a data chip:: We’ve got updated holo-schematics of Shint craft and weaponry. Work with Vik and Flint and use the Sim Centers on deck six to anticipate contingencies.
Savel: Roger.
Dakora / Sato: response
MacKenzie: What could go wrong?
The Major took a step back and looked at all of them, all these wayward misfits of various cultures and backgrounds, who’d just so happened to get tossed together for the biggest heist of the past century. His face belied the fundamental truth most at the table were fairly certain of: They were doomed.
Stennes: You’ve all seen the projections. Even the most optimistic forecasts show that the war will be lost within a year. This may be a suicide mission. But it also might be our first, last, only opportunity to defend ourselves against the Shint. Maybe even mount an offensive of our own someday. ::long beat, sighs wearily:: What questions do you have?
Gila was tempted to ask whether the Major’d lost his marbles, but truthfully, this was as insane a mission as the past four they’d gone on. The last four had also been introduced with the caveat ‘this may be a suicide mission’, so, par for the course, really… So long as they went out taking out a whole lot of Shint, Gila was satisfied with her lot.
And the opportunity to snatch out one of the Prismagons? Too delicious to pass up.
Kuva: Either it is suicide by action or it is suicide by inaction. ::beat:: How long until the Shint realize what we have acquired and its implications, Major?
Savel: He's right. We steal this and we become their biggest threat. And their biggest target. How quickly can we turn this technology around so we can use it against them? That's our only chance at staying alive after this.
Stennes/Any: Response
((OOC: Moving on with the Q&A. Gila wouldn’t have a lot to ask, really xD))
As the briefing had ended, the crew disassembled and reknit into smaller groups, Gila gravitating towards Colonel Adea’s side as she looked at the rest of the team.
Kuva: Our enemy may have far superior technology to our own, but it is still technology. I do know the United Resistance has used electromagnetic pulses for both offensive maneuvers and defensive retreats, though I’ll admit it is to…varying degrees of success. Regardless, it may be worth considering as an option for this mission.
Lux: Electromagnetic pulses have only proven effective in guerilla warfare tactics, on planets and moons. It’s not as effective when presented in space battles. Mainly because Shint appear more capable to detect our vessels with the prismic scanners :: begins to think in quantum mechanics :: Prismic scanners use a quantum variance catalyst, using gravitational waves to detect matter in the fourth dimension. It is thought that this is what allows them to identify specific targets in space/time to ::beat:: eliminate from reality. ::ponders to the group:: Could we match that variance on a quantum level?
‘It is thought’... Gila almost wanted to sneer.
Adea: We can but try.
Yellir: Response
Kuva: I could reach out to my contacts in the Vanguard as well, see if they have any information on prismic technology that could supplement the Confederacy’s. Once my Romulan brethren realized their cloaking devices were practically useless against Shint sensors, they pivoted hard to developing stealth tech for a moment such as this.
Lux: Good thinking Kuva, they’ve likely come to the same conclusions that we have. I’m going to head to the lab, I’d like to run some simulations on the prismic shields and we can have a look at the work from the Casperia :: reluctantly looks to Jovenan:: Would you like to make yourself useful?
Jovenan: Thank you, I would! Well, firstly I would recommend stopping using the electro-magnetic pulses altogether. Any cadet can shield equipment from EMPs, for the Shint it’s just a matter of bothering to do so. If they’re used consistently, the Shint will adapt for them. ::smiles:: It only makes it harder to fight them in the long run.
Adea: Which is far from ideal.
Gila looked down on her painted nails, ignoring whatever was about to pass. She didn’t disagree with the Edo Princess, but she was more inclined to just let her burn bridges with the crew on her own than participate in the show.
Yellir/Lux/Kuva: Response
A hand was extended towards the group, an annoying slight ‘bop’ of a jump accompanying it.
Jovenan: ::cheerily, smiling:: Also, I don’t think I’ve been working with some of you before. Hi, I’m Jovenan! Nice to meet you all!
Thevn: ::dryly:: Pleasure, I’m sure.
Adea: Moooooving swiftly onwards, let’s get started on these shields.
oO Trying to keep the peace, Colonel? Good luck Oo
Jovenan/Yellir/Lux/Kuva: Response
Adea: Have any of you actually been on a Shint vessel?
Gila almost felt insulted. But not quite there yet.
Thevn: ::deadpan:: Once or twice. ::more serious:: But never on a warcruiser. For some reason, they’re more picky with the slavelabour on those. ::mirthless smirk::
Jovenan/Yellir/Lux/Kuva: Response
Thevn: I know the calibrations of grunt Shint weaponry, so perhaps we’d be able to make some contingencies in the shields that would disrupt the more rudimentary weapons, but reality weapons? ::clicks her tongue:: Ain’t nothing we can do about the shields to prevent that. So, best if we go under the radar of those.
Adea/Jovenan/Yellir/Lux/Kuva: Response
Tag / TBC
Simmed by
2nd Lieutenant Gila Thevn
Physician
CIC Desdemona
A240006GS1
&
2nd Lieutenant Lux
Special Ops & Quantum mechanics specialist
CIC Desdemona
A240004LL2