MSNPC Administrator Soldu tr’Kharis - Survival Instinct Override
Teayl Thorn
((Outside the Hab, Surface of Moon Sigma, Ross 580 System))
They moved quickly now, boots kicking pale dust into slow drifting clouds as they angled toward the ambush point Soldu had suggested. The moon’s horizon glowed faintly with Ross 580’s reflected starlight, harsh and unforgiving.
After a few moments, Soldu spoke again.
tr'Kharis: I have considered what they may be carrying. There are… many prototypes stored in the secondary dome. Tools. Weapons. Concepts the Alliance found insufficiently reliable. One such item—abandoned, but not destroyed—was a portable Sencha radiation emitter. ::voice flattening slightly:: From your earlier description… I suspect it may be an early prototype of their superweapon.
He slowed momentarily at the falter in her pase.
Solana: In Yar’s name. ::she cursed:: Of course they do. The fact they managed to miniaturize it terrifies me. The superweapon they hit us with was almost the size of a Borg cube. ::she clicked her tongue against her teeth:: If they set it off, what damage are we looking at?
Soldu gave a slight shrug as they resumed moving.
tr'Kharis: If they reach the Hab and activate it, best case it would likely destroy the dome, worst case…well. ::faint sardonic smile lacing his words:: You have already demonstrated admirable imagination.
Solana: Not imagination, Administrator. I’ve seen this weapon’s effects up close. And I hope to Yar we can stop them before they set it off.
They reached the outcropping. The Security officer did her checking angles and whatever else she deemed appropriate. Soldu remained standing a moment longer, scanning the horizon.
tr'Kharis: ::softly, almost contemplative:: You know… for years I obeyed them to keep my people alive. Today, I find a deep desire within myself to enact an opposing strategy.
Solana: Good. Administrator, I’m counting on that. Your people have been through enough post Hobus. No one should have to live in captivity. Especially not when they’ve lost as much as you have. ::she offered a smile:: I know how formidable Romulans are. I served with a half Romulan on my last posting. So, if I can help you get some reciprocity for the treatment your people here have endured, then I will.
Now it was his turn to falter. Through his visor, her green skin was rendered in sharp contrast by Romulan tactical overlays. An inverted crimson triangle painted itself on her forehead as she settled herself for ambush. Clearly a trained predator.
Soldu lowered himself into the abrasive lunar dust, disruptor resting calmly in his grip. His choices lay before him. Betrayal or Alliance…And to whom?
tr'Kharis: ::dry, gravelly:: How… thoughtful of you, Starfleet.
Solana: How’s your disruptor? Those old models had a nasty drain on the power cell.
tr'Kharis: ::lopsided triangular shrug:: It has...enough.
The woman smirked and tossed one of her sidearms to him. He barely managed to catch it, his visual depth perception was shot, but this visor’s threat detection system tracked the weapons movement in a way that assisted and he just managed to catch the weapon casually—almost.
He held the hand phaser between his thumb and forefinger as if it were dirty. Casting a mildly skeptical look at the device as though he doubted its ability to function.
Solana: My former Security Chief, now current XO, instilled in all of us to learn every weapon we might face. And Starfleet Marine training is extensive, using any weapon that we might have to scavenge from a battlefield. I have plenty, so feel free to use that one too. Your people will need their leader to guide them once we free you from the Alliance.
Something about the look in her eye caught him unaware for a moment and he felt himself momentarily pinned, hypnotised by her intense gaze.
oO Orion witches! Oo
A cold blade of fear twisted in his gut. He was older, more cunning, but her will was stronger, the vitality and life force behind those green eyes caused him to break off the eye contact first.
tr'Kharis: I was under the impression Federation doctrine held the mind to be the superior weapon. If the intellect is dull… the blade is irrelevant.
There was almost a sense of compassion about her. His good eye narrowed. The muscles under the clouded eye paralyzed. Compassion was a weakness! One that he had once been guilty of. But no longer and if he could better his situation by taking advantage of her compassion he wouldn’t spare a second thought about it.
Movement caught their attention. Solana’s finger went to her lips. Below, Tholian workers approached — crystalline forms encased in environmental suits, carrying a long slate-grey container. Soldu crouched lower. Disruptor ready. Starfleet phaser placed in the dust before him, already set to eight.
She shifted, and gave him a look. Guessing at her meaning he took a careful peek over the ridge. He flexed his good eye and the suit’s visor highlighted the Tholians, bringing their cluster into focus for his eye. He let out a relieved sigh.
oO Worker class only, none of the warriors to deal with. Good. Oo
The workers would be easier to convince that he had value. Especially if he brought them a prisoner. He avoided looking at the Orion.
His gaze narrowed further and the device that several of them were carrying came into focus. Long, tapered, slate grey, wider at one end like a cone. Inert, powered down…for now.
A steadying breath rattled deep in his chest. Then he gave Solana a very deliberate nod.
Solana: I’ll fire first. Draw their focus. Which should give you a clear shot at them.
He merely inclined his head slightly.
As the Tholians drew closer, Solana lined up her shot. She waited patiently until they were just a few meters nearer. He watched her surreptitiously as the Tholians moved closer.
Then she fired.
Twin phaser bursts slammed into the limb gripping the container. The crystalline worker jerked violently, losing hold. The container dipped dangerously, forcing the others into a split-second choice. To save the payload… or defend themselves.
In that perfect moment of confusion, Soldu acted. Bringing his disrupter up, setting its sight on the lone Starfleet figure…
…And then passing on to the Tholians. He bathed the area with lancing disruptor fire. Its emerald glow slammed into the first creature's neck, decapitating its triangular head and as the exosuit lost containment, the creature exploded.
BOOM!
Soldu had made his choice.
Solana: That was for Thirty Three!
He blinked in no small amount of self shock at the choice he had made, the result and the next three disruptor bolts merely dug sizzling green groves into the moon rocks. He slid down behind cover, chest heaving, an oily sweat coating his skin at how close he had come to blowing them all up together.
tr'Kharis: ::Swearing quietly:: I was aiming for its leg.
Starfleets rifle switched to full auto, controlled bursts tearing across the left flank of the cluster while she deliberately avoided the container. The return fire came quickly. Energy bolts scorched the regolith as she dove behind rock cover.
Now felt that his position was compromised, so he moved several meters. Slowly, keeping below their line of sight to the next outcropping. He fired twice. One worker staggered sideways, another lost balance entirely, rolled upside down, legs wriggling in the air like an arachnoid poisoned by a neurotoxin.
A grim smile curled on his pale lips.
Solana: Response
The remaining upright Tholians clustered to the weapon case. Their forms are too close for him to get a clean shot.
tr'Kharis: ::hissing:: We must separate them and keep them pinned, they’re trying to activate the weapon.
He switched briefly to the Starfleet phaser, firing a tight beam that clipped another worker’s exosuit joint.
Solana: Response
A Tholian faltered, recovered and fired back at his position, faster than he could anticipate. He ducked the retaliatory blast with a stiff motion.
A sharp flare of heat ripped across his upper arm, spinning him half around before he caught himself against the rock. The containment suit’s outer layer blackened where the energy bolt had scored it. Warning glyphs flickered across his visor.
tr'Kharis: ::a hitched breath:: How… inconvenient.
For a moment he simply stood there. Breathing. He flexed the arm experimentally. Pain radiated through muscle already weakened by radiation sickness.
Solana: Response
He turned to her, slightly confused at her actions.
tr'Kharis: Merely a glancing blow. ::slight pause:: To both the suit… and my dignity.
Another bolt snapped overhead.
Solana: Response
Soldu exhaled slowly, ignoring the growing warmth spreading under his suit where the blast had struck.
tr’Kharis: Whenever you are ready, Senior Chief. I find I am increasingly motivated to conclude this engagement.
Solana: Response
[Tags / TBC]
===============================
Soldu tr’Kharis (he/him)
Station Administrator
The Lid
As simmed by
Writer for Lt. JG T'Fearne
Security Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
R240107T14