Retribution

Posted on Mon Sep 14th, 2015 @ 12:23am by Lieutenant Riley Sukotav & Lieutenant Raj Amani & Ensign Reva Madhava & Robart & Desta
Edited on on Wed Oct 7th, 2015 @ 12:45am

Mission: Further Challenges

* Fisher’s Ship *

Desta was silent as they left the lift and she followed Pash along the corridor, careful to stay within two feet as he required. She was also careful not to touch him as they walked, another of his regular orders, though she very much wanted to so she could see what he had planned. Perhaps that order was a small mercy so she couldn’t read him and lose her mind with panic. She was close to that now, especially since she could see the doors to his quarters only a few feet ahead. She wanted to apologize, beg forgiveness, but speaking outside his room was also forbidden, so she held her tongue as the doors opened and he stood aside to make sure she went in first and didn’t run off down the corridor.

As she passed him, he shoved her, hard, making her stumble. He then stepped into the quarters and locked the doors behind him. “Impersonating me? Shifting without my permission? Removing your collar? Stupid girl!” He removed his belt, letting the leathery band slip from its loops and folded it in quarters. “On your knees, Shifter!”

Her eyes widened in panic at the sight of the belt but she dropped hastily to her knees. “I….I’m sorry Pash. We were desperate, Fisher’s losing it and I was afraid he would kill her. You know that’s true.” Her voice was was soft, pleading. “He wants to leave me locked away from you, you know. Gone forever I would be.” She was grasping at anything she could think of now as he stood before her.

“Are you trying to talk your way out of a punishment? After what you’ve done?” He reached down, grabbed her hair and jerked her head back, forcing her to look up at him. “There are other females in the world,” he said, knowing even as he said it that there were no other females who were exactly what he wanted. This one had read his thoughts and crafted this body to please him. Growling, he shoved her down and dropped to his knees, trapping her body under his. “Make me happy, girl,” he ordered, “and quickly, I need to return to the bridge. We’ll deal with your punishment later.”

Relief flashed through Desta, so huge that tears stung her eyes. Somewhere, she decided, some guardian angel was looking out for her. She didn’t look forward to what he wanted, but at least she’d been spared for now. As she touched him, she read the concern in Pash, understood that someone was pursuing them. The relief grew and the hope burned just a little brighter. She wished she could tell Reva. Maybe….she realized she’d gotten derailed from the moment when Pash growled at her. With a forced smile, she did as he ordered.

* Fisher’s Ship, Cargo Bay Four *

The stench of the dead body was cloying and thick; Reva tried to breathe shallowly, but nothing could block out the smell or, worse, the taste. She retched, not for the first time, vomiting up nothing but bile. No longer sure how long she’d been in the cage, Reva wiped her mouth and startled when she realized that Fisher was sitting about a foot from her, staring at her.

He’d been there an hour, long enough that he wasn’t smelling the body anymore. Not that he really had smelled it when he’d entered the cargo bay, either; he was too focused on Reva and the rage she caused in him. His rage wasn’t lessened by the fact that his ship was under sail again, had been for over three hours, but another ship was catching up, fast.

Slowly, she sat up, as much as she could in the cage. “Please, Fisher, let me out.”

He kicked the cage, sending it rolling right through the Bajoran’s blood. It stopped when the wheels mired with gore and it bumped against the bulk of the body. Reva shifted away from it, gaining less than an inch of distance, and sobbed, “Please...”

She screamed then as Fisher suddenly, savagely attacked the cage with an anti-grav sled handle. The cage buckled and bent under the assault; one hit rolled it off its base and broke it apart, spilling Reva into the Bajoran’s blood. Fisher kept swinging and Reva scrambled, slipping in the gore and gripping the body for leverage to get out of his range. Sobbing, she cowered against a cargo bin and held up her hands to ward off his blows. None came, though Fisher was still swinging. He was beating the cage to pieces, catching bits of the Bajoran’s body in with his swings. Covered in the gore, breathing hard, he tossed the handle aside and glared at Reva.

She made herself as small as she could and whimpered when he reached down and hauled her up. Despite the blood, gore and stench that covered them, he forced her against a bulkhead and unbuckled his belt. His intent was clear; the thoughts in his head were a vile, tangled jumble. Both made Reva’s stomach convulse with revulsion.

* Later *

Confident that the Orion wouldn’t dare leave the cargo bay without permission, Fisher had left her there. Granted, he’d also stripped her and shacked her to one of the cargo bins as added insurance that she’d stay put; it wasn’t likely she could pick the lock or move the bin.

He’d showered, scrubbed the Bajoran’s gore from his skin, and changed into a clean outfit. Now, he was in his captain’s chair, watching a scan of the space behind them. Two blips showed on it: one was far enough away he wasn’t concerned about it. That one had a Fleet signature. He smirked and chuckled, thinking of how ineffective the Fleet’s response to the Ensign’s abduction was.

The second blip, however, gave him pause. It was an Orion Syndicate ship; a designation he thought had gone extinct. But the designation wasn’t what concerned him - it was that the ship was closing on his. Pash had already confirmed that the Orion was hitting Warp Ten as it closed on them. For its size, the Orion ship had a large armament, far greater than Fisher’s ship did. That, he knew, was a pirate’s ship. “Can we get any more speed out of the engines, Pash?”

“No. We’re maxed out as it is, Keval. The Orion did more damage than Almans initially realized. She didn’t completely vent the plasma before igniting it, so part of the engines are toast. We’re lucky to have warp six point five,” Pash answered. “And that Orion is still cruising at Warp Ten. He’ll be on us in another forty minutes.”

At that moment, a hail came in; Fisher nodded as Pash glanced at him and the caller was displayed on the ship’s forward view screen. “Trader!” A large Orion greeted them, “I am Robart, Consort to Shodar Europa of the Orion Syndicate. You have something on your ship that does not belong to you. Cut your engines, stand down and prepare to be boarded.”

Fisher barked out a laugh, “Do you expect us to just roll over for you? As a pirate, you have no right to board my vessel!”

“Very well. I’ve offered you a peaceable way out of this, Fisher,” Robart said. “Prepare yourself for your demise.” The view screen went black.

At the thirty-five minute mark, Pash announced, “Shields up! The Orion is targeting us!” The Fisheries rocked as a storm of electrical weapons’ fire hit the shields, shorting out the port-side forward shields.

“Return fire!” Fisher ordered, even though Pash was already doing so. He watched as their phasers skipped over the Orion’s shields. Already, the Orion was firing again; electrical weapons’ fire arced over the Fisheries’ hull on the port side, frying the ship’s sensors.

“Shit...,” Pash cursed, “Shields are failing, Keval. Another hit like that and he’ll fry most of our systems.”

Panic coursed through Fisher. “Almans!” He had stabbed a button on his chair’s console and shouted the man’s name, “Get to the bridge right now!”

“Kev, we’re taking damage! I need--”

“I don’t fucking care what you need! Get up here and man the weapons!” Fisher shouted, frantic to be obeyed; frantic to be with Reva when their attackers succeeded in boarding them - an event that he knew was inevitable. And it was all her fault. He was going to kill her; if he couldn’t have her, sell her on the open market and make his profit... no one would, most certainly not some Orion pirate.

“Almans!”, he shouted again, barely seeing the bridge any longer for the murderous rage that blinded him.

“Here, Keval!” Almans had entered the bridge a second before Fisher had shouted again. He took a post at a weapons console. So far, Pash had been handling the weapons just fine but, now that Almans was there, both Fisher and Pash left their posts. “What the fuck...?” Almans watched them leave the bridge, his jaw slack.

He read the scans of the attacking ship then and realized why Pash and Keval were leaving their posts: they couldn’t defend against the Orion ship’s weapons and would be boarded within a few minutes. he powered down weapons and sent out a ‘white flag’ message to the Orion. This wasn’t his ship - he didn’t even rate having a slave on it.

* OSN Kyllini *

“Sir, the Fisheries is surrendering,” Rekkar announced, glancing back at Robart. The big Orion had changed his attire for this mission - instead of his civilized suit and tie, Robart was wearing something modeled after Klingon armor: spikes and scales and bits of fur protected his chest and torso; leather pants covered his legs. Two phaser pistols hung from his weapons, as did a dagger. In one hand, he held a phaser rifle.

“Good. Lock the tractor beam on and pull them close. We’ll beam over and clean up. Scan for Cyllene and notify me of her location,” Robart ordered. “Bridge is yours, Rekkar.” He turned and walked off the bridge.

On his way to the transporter room, he stopped in the crew galley. “Counselor, Lieutenant Sukotav, it’s time,” he announced. The two Fleet officers had been given an array of weapons to choose from, as well as armor similar to Robart’s. One never knew what a target crew might do. “We’ll beam over, find Cyllene and return. Ready?”

“Let’s do it.” Raj had already attached a few weapons to his belts and now he lifted a large disruptor, looking entirely too used to it, Riley thought.

Riley nodded. “Let’s get it done so I can get to Reva.” He too was loaded up but held a smaller phaser in his hand, one easily hidden till needed.

They turned and followed Robart out to the transporter.

* Fisher’s Ship *

As the transporter released them on the bridge of the Fisheries, Robart immediately stunned the lone crewman then looked around in disbelief. “One guy? That’s it?” A thought occurred to him and he tapped his communicator, “Rekkar! Where is she?” His voice held a tiny note of panic; he knew Fisher was more likely to kill his cargo than allow another to profit from it.

“A cargo bay. Three levels down, 54 meters towards the stern,” was Rekkar’s answer.

Robart tapped Riley’s shoulder, “You’re with me. Counselor, stay with Larn. You three,” he gestured at his other crewmen, “Just... go, usual orders,” he said. Then he left the bridge, Riley in tow.

* Deck 2 *

Raj and Larn emerged from the lift on deck 2, weapons raised. As they moved slowly along, Raj spoke.

“Any life signs here?”

Larn frowned, not liking the assignment or the question, but he knew his orders, “Three. One... eh, male. If we see him, we’ll stun him.” He consulted a scanner. “And two, moving quickly to the rear, male and female. Come on,” he started jogging along the deck.

Raj picked up speed as they ran to the aft of the ship. Raj was sensing panic and terror as they drew closer to the escaping pair and he grunted. “Something tells me one of them isn’t one of the crew,” he muttered to Larn.

“Ships like this don’t have female crew,” Larn said. “They tend to empathize with the cargo; bad for business.”

It didn’t take long until the pair was in sight, a tall bulky Kazon and a small woman being dragged along with him.

“Quit fighting me!” The Kazon yelled at the woman and hauled on her arm. “We’re leaving this ship, Shifter.”

Raj caught his words and glanced over to Larn. “What the hell?” As they came closer, he yelled out at the Kazon. “Hold it right there!” His intention was to surprise the man long enough to slow him so he and Larn could get a good aim.

Larn wasn’t a patient man. But he was particularly good with a phaser; he aimed and fired quickly, hitting the Kazon. He cursed when the Kazon didn’t drop and fired again, then a third time. Finally, the Kazon went down. “About time,” he griped. “You, female, decide quickly: friend or foe!”, he shouted at the woman.

At Larn’s shout, Desta turned. When she saw the two men, along with a phaser and a disruptor, she screamed and fell to the deck, curling into the fetal position. She had no idea who they were but they had weapons and she knew when to behave and present no threat. She lay on the deck plating shivering and waiting for it to all be over.

Raj slung the disruptor onto his shoulder by the strap, then held up a hand to Larn. “Hold up. She’s not one of them. That girl is blind with fear.” He rose and began to approach Desta slowly, his hand out so she could see them if she looked up.

“Yeah, the curled up and shaking bit is sort of a giveaway,” Larn agreed, holstering his weapon. Behind them, he heard a single phaser blast and looked back; one of Robart’s crewmen gave him a thumb’s up - the other male on this deck had been dealt with. Larn nodded. “Counselor, we need to keep moving.”

“Who else is left on the ship?” Raj asked. He’d reached Desta now and knelt down by her. She still hadn’t looked up. The emotions rolling off her almost made Raj dizzy. “Look, we’re not here to hurt you. We’re going to get you off this ship. I’m going to have you transported to our ship’s medbay with Reva. Do you understand?”

Desta nodded and finally took a quick look at the man beside her. He has a nice face, she decided. She touched his foot only long enough to know he spoke the truth.

“Alright.”

Raj tapped the badge Robart had given him. “Raj to the medbay. One to beam over, my coordinates.” He placed the badge on Desta’s back and moments later, she was gone. He stood and readied his disruptor again. “Let’s go.”

Larn consulted his scanner again. “According to Rekkar, only males are left on the ship. No other cargo,” he said to Raj. “Your choice, return to Kyllini or...,” he shrugged and looked back at his fellow crewmate, who tossed him a bag, “...well, return to Kyllini is the best option.”

Raj nodded. “They may need me in sickbay. Call the ship for me?” Given the state of the woman they’d met, there was no telling what shape Reva was in.

“Yep,” the Romulan nodded and had the man beamed back to the Orion’s ship. He then set off to carry out his other orders.

* Cargo Bay Four *

The rocking and shuddering of the ship had told Reva all she needed to know: someone was firing upon Fisher’s ship. The knowledge lightened her heart and she laughed; to anyone watching, she would have looked insane: nearly covered in dried blood, with streaks of it on her face and clots of it in her hair, laughing at seemingly nothing funny.

This was what Fisher walked in on. He paused and snarled at her, causing her to immediately freeze up. He stalked towards her and unlocked the shackle on the cargo bin. “Your Fleet isn’t here, Orion,” he said, almost laughing, “Indeed, the Fleet’s ship? It’s a good twenty hours behind us. I could have had you at a trading hub, sold and shipped off before they caught us.”

“Someone’s here,” she replied, watching him warily.

“Oh, yes, someone is. An Orion pirate,” he told her. Still holding the shackle, making sure she couldn’t get more than a foot from him, he pulled out a dagger - a mevek he’d taken off a Klingon years ago.

Reva reacted poorly to the sight of the blade; she tried to pull away, giving Fisher leverage to yank her back against him. “No!” She saw the blade coming for her and blocked his arm. The pair fought, joined by the manacles, Fisher with the dagger.

Behind them, the cargo bay doors hissed open and two tall, armored figures rushed in. Reva hissed as Fisher cut her with the dagger then tried to knock the weapon from his hand. Shouting, she grabbed his arm and made a move Fisher wouldn’t expect from anyone: she turned, her back to his chest, and, working with his attempt to stab her, pulled his arm in. The blade sunk home and Fisher coughed.

There was a moment of silence, then a male voice shouted, a single word echoing all around them.

“NO!” He lunged at the pair, pulling Fisher away from Reva. The two went down, Fisher beneath the man.

Knocked aside, Reva could see the glint of the lights on a wickedly sharp blade in the man’s upraised hand. It took her a moment to connect the voice she’d heard and this man’s face; he shouldn’t be here, Fisher had said the Fleet was twenty hours away. “Riley?”, she whispered.

For his part, Fisher didn’t fight Riley; Reva had punctured his lung and he could barely draw in a breath. He recognized the man, though, and soundlessly laughed. He managed to hiss, “I’ve broken your Orion.”

Rage pumped through Riley, so hot he didn’t hear Reva’s whisper. All he knew was the horror of the blood that covered her and the man responsible. In a flash, the blade arced through the air and was buried with a sickening thud in the man’s chest. Riley’s aim was true and it pierced the Cardassian’s heart.

“Never again…..” he growled. His gaze remained locked on the man beneath him until the light faded from Fisher’s eyes and his head rolled to the side. The blood that bubbled around his mouth told him that the man’s lung had been punctured as well and he had a terrible momentary flashback to the Arboretum on 900. He growled once more and climbed off the body. Finally, he turned to face Reva. The rage in his face melted instantly to tenderness and he swept her into his arms.

“Riley? He said an Orion pirate...? He lied...?” Confused, she touched his face and recoiled as she drew dark streaks on his cheek. “Oh gods.”

Another voice spoke up, “We must go, Lt. Sukotav.” Robart had leaned in, his nose wrinkling in disgust as he saw and smelled the carnage. He opened a comm to Rekkar, “Rekkar, beam Sukotav and Cyllene to our medbay.” In a moment, the pair disappeared; Robart hoped Cyllene’s injuries were minor, but the blood.... Most of it wasn’t green, so he was relieved. Standing, he turned and set about carrying out his own ‘usual orders’.

*************************
Fisher
Pash
Almans

Ensign Reva Madhava
Desta

Lt. Riley Sukotav
Lt. Raj Amani

Robart
Rekkar
Larn