Capt. Karrod Niac - An Awkward Descent
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Karrod Niac
May 22, 2025, 12:09:31 AM5/22/25
to USS Ronin – StarBase 118 Star Trek PBEM RPG
((Brig - Holding Cell Three, Deck 11 - USS Ronin))
Niac: Fine, I'll do it. Oh, I'm sorry...did you want to give a big speech? Make me twist a little while you've got a front row seat? I'm sorry Emzai but I won't oblige. If my life is the cost to save a world I'll pay it gladly. As I would have for your world if I could have. But that's something you've never been able to understand. You need me to be some sort of grand villain in the tragedy of your life because you're incapable of accepting what actually happened to you and your people.
There was a moment...a precious fraction of a moment...where her shock at his answer pushed back the clouds of insanity for just a moment and Karrod could see the woman again...a confused, uncertain woman, suddenly unsure of herself, of her purpose, of her place. A slender, delicate moment of clarity which evaporated between one heartbeat and the next as Emzai's fractured mask reasserted itself.
Emzai: Federation lies.
He let out a small sigh. Even with everything that had happened there was a part of him that hoped he could reach her. That he could build a bridge to the small piece of her that still remained. He knew Toryn didn't think it was possible, that there was anything left in the woman but insanity and hatred...but he had to try.
Niac: I'm sorry Emzai, there is one thing you're right about. I couldn't save you. Not then and not now. But you can save these people. Millions of innocent lives. All those children. Will you help me save them?
Emzai: Take me to the package. Oh and you better tell your little servants to clear out. I don't want to see them.
He could feel the predator pressed up against the bars, ready to pounce. He knew she might try to kill him at any moment, for no reason other than the fleeting joy of it and to hell with the consequences to anyone but her. He took a step back from the security field and reached for his commbadge, making a show of it as he leaned on the security desk. With his obscured hand he probed under the edge and found the phaser exactly where Toryn had said it would be. It slid up his sleeve as he spoke to the air.
Niac: Fine. =/\= Niac to Munroe...stop what you're doing immediately and get your team out of the isolation chamber. Emzai has agreed to disarm the device. =/\=
Emzai: Response
Munroe: =/\= Response =/\=
Karrod sighed as he tapped at the security field controls, lowering the only barrier that existed between him and a lunatic.
Niac: =/\= Of course it won't be that simple, Commander. In fact, it'll be just like that time we went to Buenos Aires. Evacuate your team, that's an order. =/\=
Munroe: =/\= Response =/\=
Emzai: Response
Karrod looked at Emzai as she all but glided out of the cell and he gestured towards the door, unwilling to put his back to her. He hoped his message to Ava had gotten thought. He hoped he remembered how she'd rescued him after a blind date, which she'd set up, had gone hilariously badly. He hoped Emzai was sane enough to actually disarm the package.
He hoped. But the weight of the phaser pressing into his wrist was a reminder that hope might not be enough to get them out of this mess. They stepped through the heavy security doors and into the hallway, heading for the turbolift, sickbay, and whatever final twist Emzai had in store for them.
((A few minutes later, Sickbay, Deck 10))
After the second most uncomfortable turbolift ride of his collective lives (Niac kept bringing up one of Armo's memories of being trapped in a broken turbolift with no fewer than five former romantic partners who only hated one thing more than each other...Armo themselves) Karrod found himself once again in sickbay yet this time, the hustle of nurses and doctors going about their duties as Ava's team was head down teasing apart the package gone. It was a space not meant for quiet and it gave an eerie, funerary tone to the room that he tried not to dwell on. Ava's team would likely be somewhere nearby, monitoring things as best they could from a distance. He found himself envying them as Emzai walked towards the isolation chamber with visible disdain.
Niac: Well Emzai, we're here. As demanded we've got the place to ourselves and there's whats left of your little party favor. Now what?
Emzai: Response
He gritted his teeth and looked at the package on the other side of the isolation field.
[Tags/TBC!]
================================
Captain Karrod Niac
Commanding Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
V239509GT0
Niac: Fine, I'll do it. Oh, I'm sorry...did you want to give a big speech? Make me twist a little while you've got a front row seat? I'm sorry Emzai but I won't oblige. If my life is the cost to save a world I'll pay it gladly. As I would have for your world if I could have. But that's something you've never been able to understand. You need me to be some sort of grand villain in the tragedy of your life because you're incapable of accepting what actually happened to you and your people.
There was a moment...a precious fraction of a moment...where her shock at his answer pushed back the clouds of insanity for just a moment and Karrod could see the woman again...a confused, uncertain woman, suddenly unsure of herself, of her purpose, of her place. A slender, delicate moment of clarity which evaporated between one heartbeat and the next as Emzai's fractured mask reasserted itself.
Emzai: Federation lies.
He let out a small sigh. Even with everything that had happened there was a part of him that hoped he could reach her. That he could build a bridge to the small piece of her that still remained. He knew Toryn didn't think it was possible, that there was anything left in the woman but insanity and hatred...but he had to try.
Niac: I'm sorry Emzai, there is one thing you're right about. I couldn't save you. Not then and not now. But you can save these people. Millions of innocent lives. All those children. Will you help me save them?
Emzai: Take me to the package. Oh and you better tell your little servants to clear out. I don't want to see them.
He could feel the predator pressed up against the bars, ready to pounce. He knew she might try to kill him at any moment, for no reason other than the fleeting joy of it and to hell with the consequences to anyone but her. He took a step back from the security field and reached for his commbadge, making a show of it as he leaned on the security desk. With his obscured hand he probed under the edge and found the phaser exactly where Toryn had said it would be. It slid up his sleeve as he spoke to the air.
Niac: Fine. =/\= Niac to Munroe...stop what you're doing immediately and get your team out of the isolation chamber. Emzai has agreed to disarm the device. =/\=
Emzai: Response
Munroe: =/\= Response =/\=
Karrod sighed as he tapped at the security field controls, lowering the only barrier that existed between him and a lunatic.
Niac: =/\= Of course it won't be that simple, Commander. In fact, it'll be just like that time we went to Buenos Aires. Evacuate your team, that's an order. =/\=
Munroe: =/\= Response =/\=
Emzai: Response
Karrod looked at Emzai as she all but glided out of the cell and he gestured towards the door, unwilling to put his back to her. He hoped his message to Ava had gotten thought. He hoped he remembered how she'd rescued him after a blind date, which she'd set up, had gone hilariously badly. He hoped Emzai was sane enough to actually disarm the package.
He hoped. But the weight of the phaser pressing into his wrist was a reminder that hope might not be enough to get them out of this mess. They stepped through the heavy security doors and into the hallway, heading for the turbolift, sickbay, and whatever final twist Emzai had in store for them.
((A few minutes later, Sickbay, Deck 10))
After the second most uncomfortable turbolift ride of his collective lives (Niac kept bringing up one of Armo's memories of being trapped in a broken turbolift with no fewer than five former romantic partners who only hated one thing more than each other...Armo themselves) Karrod found himself once again in sickbay yet this time, the hustle of nurses and doctors going about their duties as Ava's team was head down teasing apart the package gone. It was a space not meant for quiet and it gave an eerie, funerary tone to the room that he tried not to dwell on. Ava's team would likely be somewhere nearby, monitoring things as best they could from a distance. He found himself envying them as Emzai walked towards the isolation chamber with visible disdain.
Niac: Well Emzai, we're here. As demanded we've got the place to ourselves and there's whats left of your little party favor. Now what?
Emzai: Response
He gritted his teeth and looked at the package on the other side of the isolation field.
Niac: Fine, lets get started. The people of Proxima Sigma have been through more than enough already.
Emzai: Response
[Tags/TBC!]
================================
Captain Karrod Niac
Commanding Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
V239509GT0
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