When you go against the grain, expect resistance

Posted on Sun May 31, 2015 @ 8:02am by erie'Riov Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian

1,223 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Eye of the Beholder
Location: IRW Dhelan
Timeline: during evacuation

Rianni had been on her way to see Amanda when the station started to shake. She didn't know what had happened, but it felt like DS5 was coming apart underneath her. She gave serious thought to running to Amanda's quarters anyway, but the call from the Dhelan had prevented that, =*=Sub Commander t'Khellian to the Dhelan.=*=

~Frack...~ She thought, but knew she had no choice, and reluctantly tapped her commbadge, =*=Dhelan, beam me aboard, t'Khellian out.=*= In less than a second she found herself removed from DS5 to the bridge of the Dhelan exiting spacedock, "All right, people, steady." She ordered, taking her seat, Mittens immediately jumping into her lap, "Helm, take us out to a thousand kilometers."

"Yes, Sub Commander." Arrain t'Kori replied, sniffing a bit but not about to make an issue of it. The last thing she wanted was to be the first Romulan officer executed for being allergic to cats. The shaking of the station made it harder than usual to get out of spacedock, calling for countless recalculations and adjustments as the massive Norexan class finally broke free into space. As soon as they were clear t'Kori took the Dhelan to impulse power, arriving at the Sub Commander's instructed distance within seconds, "Position at one thousand kilometers, Sub Commander."

"Good job, t'Kori." Rianni had taken a shine to the helmsman with the bright blue eyes and severely cropped blonde hair, she was considering making her her next XO, since it seemed Centurion B'orcik, only there a few days, was already ready to leave. She turned to Uhlan tr'Lea, the comms officer, "tr'Lea, get me a scan of DS5 communications. Find out what the hell is going on there."

"Yes, Sub Commander." tr'Lea replied, "Scanning DS5 comms."

"With respect, Sub Commander." B'orcik interjected, "I don't feel it serves our purposes to endanger the ship like this. We must pull out to a safe distance."

"Duly noted." Rianni replied, rolling her eyes as she did, "tr'Lea, what have you got for me?"

"Some sort of disaster on the station, Sub Commander." tr'Lea replied, "They're doing a mass evacuation."

"All right. t'Kori, bring us in closer, target the embassy and beam aboard the staff and Ambassador." Rianni ordered, 'Then start beaming out as many other personnel from the station as we can."

"Sub Commander?" t'Kori asked, raising an eyebrow as she knew the XO was about to flip out.

"You heard me, t'Kori." Rianni answered firmly, "We'll need to rescue as many allied personnel as possible."

"You'll do no such thing, t'Kori!" B'orcik exploded, "If you do it I'll have you executed for treason!"

"B'orcik, I know no nice way to put this, shut the frack up." Rianni sighed, she'd really come to hate that bitch, ~Got to be a record.~ She turned to t'Kori, "Don't worry, you've got your orders, the heat is on me."

"And it will be!" B'orcik snarled, "Not only do you somehow manage to not have a political officer on your vessel, you somehow feel entitled to breach Imperial Security by bringing humans aboard our vessel! What if there are Klingons beamed aboard?"

"Then we'll get more air freshener." Rianni groaned, "t'Kori, how are we doing on those beam-outs?"

"We've gotten the entire Embassy Staff, Sub Commander, including the Gaishan." t'Kori stated, looking back and forth between the CO and XO.

"Good, start beaming non-Romulan personnel to safety." Rianni said, taking her seat.

"You'll do no such thing, Arrain." B'orcik snarled, pulling her disruptor from her belt and pointing it at Rianni, "Sub Commander, I don't give a damn what house you're a member of, I am relieving you from your command immediately." She turned to the Gaishan, "Arrest her and kill that thing in her lap!"

Calmly, almost eerily so, Rianni rose from her seat and turned to the Gaishan, "Unless you want to be executed as traitors alongside the now former First Officer hold your position." Without another word she reached across and tore the insignia of rank off of B'orcik's neck and threw it to the floor, telling the Gaishan, "Shoot her out the airlock."

B'orcik, now in a fight for her life as well as command of the vessel, knew she had to move now, and turned to the bridge crew, "Join me! Don't let this Halfling lead you to destruction!"

"Can't do it yourself, huh?" Rianni sneered, "No surprise. t'Kori, start the beam outs."

"Arrain t'Kori, if you beam a single non-Romulan off of that station I will shoot you!" B'orcik commanded, turning her weapon towards the helmsman.

Rianni knew that was her opening and that she wouldn't likely get another. Wasting no time, she kicked the disruptor from B'orcik's hand and slammed a punch into the side of her head, knocking the XO to the ground, "t'Kori, don't waste any time, start the beam outs. Beam them into the empty cargo hold!"

"Yes, Sub Commander." t'Kori replied, her fingers flying across the console, confident that the Sub Commander was still in charge.

While the Halfling was busy with t'Kori, B'orcik got to her feet, her dagger drawn, and stabbed the Halfling three times in her back before throwing her over the helm.

Rianni crashed hard onto the deck, knowing she was in big trouble as B'orcik bore down on her with that surprisingly sharp dagger, ~Yup, soon as she gets here she's going to cut my throat...~ She thought, no, she knew it to be true, she just couldn't bring it to verbalization, something about the blood she was losing. As she began to resign herself to the idea that she had only seconds to live, something caught the corner of her eye, B'orcik's disruptor. Somehow she mustered enough strength to get up to her knees and get to it.

B'orcik wanted to laugh, the Halfling was actually trying to crawl away! She slashed the crawling former commander three more times across her back and her right leg, sprawling her back to the deck. With a wicked grin, B'orcik rolled her over, "I want you to see this, Halfling!" She chuckled evilly, until she saw what the Halfling was holding.

"And I want you to see this, bitch." Rianni said, managing a weak smile as she squeezed the trigger, evaporating her former second in command. B'orcik was dead, but Rianni knew she wasn't out of the woods, yet. The last time she lost this much blood she had done it to herself, and this time she didn't want to die. As she struggled to her feet, she felt hands on her arms helping her back to her seat. She smiled when she saw t'Kori on her left and tr'Lea on her right, and managed to mutter, "Thanks."

As her loyal officers helped her to her seat, she managed to remain lucid in spite of the fact she was still leaking life, "How.... how many?" She gasped with ragged breaths.

"One hundred and seven, Sub Commander." t'Kori replied, "What are your orders?"

"Pick up B'orcik's insignia, put it on your neck, then give your current insignia to tr'Lea." Rianni ordered, "You're the new first officer, t'Kori. Once you've done that, take us out to a safe distance, at that time you're in command until I return from sick bay..." With that Rianni's eyes shut tight and the galaxy went black.

-Off

 

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