Posted by Civilian Stephen Binns (Head of the Chamber of Commerce) in Two Sides of the Same Coin
Tenebris was not the kind of place that Stephen was used to. Having grown up on Earth, he had been surrounded by the Federation, and the comforts that they provided. Not once had he ever thought that it could get as bad as here. Stalls were erected all around him, filled to the brim with all sorts of trinkets. Some caught his eye, but most reflected the sorry state that this planet was in. He watched as a man pushed an old woman to the ground as he tried to get his cart through the heavy traffic. Stephen was about to go over and help, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Looking over, he saw his bother Simon shake his head, “I wouldn’t recommend doing that.” Stephen was about to ask why when the sound of a disrupter firing was heard. Turning his head, Stephen saw the woman pointing a smoking disrupter at the place where the man used to be. As two of the security officers with them went to deal with the issue, Simon directed Stephen away from the incident, “As you can see, with the collapse of the government of this world, anarchy has settled. That is why we are here, to restore the peace, and prevents things like that from happening.” Finally, they reached an area marked off by a large fence, and Star-Fleet personnel stationed at the entryway. Seeing the two approaching, one of the guards nodded before the gate started to slide open. Walking over to a nearby bench, Simon sat down and motioned for Stephen to do the same, “Do you see now why I didn’t want you to come?”

Sitting, Stephen drank out of the bottle of water that he was carrying, “I’m sorry, but Star-Fleet asked for me to help analyze what was left of the economy here. It is rather hard to do that from on board a spaceship.”

“That’s why we have holodecks, to create perfect replicas while keeping civilians like you out of danger!” Taking a deep breath, the officer rubbed the bridge of his nose, “I would like to say that I am surprised, but your bleeding heart has gotten you into more trouble than not.”

Looking over the city of black metal, Stephen found his eyes drawn to the husk of what was once the government tower, “Is it so wrong to want the best for people, to treat them as I would like to be treated?”

Simon rolled his eyes, “It is when they will stab you in the back the first chance they get. Don’t pretend you didn’t notice the looks that the people were giving you. Without our escort, you probably wouldn’t have lasted a minute.”

“That may be true, but that doesn’t mean that it is their fault.” Stephen pulled out his datapadd, “Poverty is what most of these people knew before the collapse, and now that there is even less structure than before, they don’t know what to do. What we have to do is teach them that there is a better way, a way that doesn’t involve having to resort to violence.”

“And I suppose you have your grand plan all thought out?”

“Well… I do have a basic plan to set up an economic framework once a new government is elected, that is assuming that Star-Fleet does not establish a permanent presence here.”

A pitying smile grew on Simon’s face, “I know your opinion on the matter, but we both know that Star-Fleet will not get involved unless they absolutely have to. They will probably help a new government get in power, and then take a back seat, only intervening if another collapse happens. Sure there might be some support, but I highly doubt that there will be as big of a presence as you would like.”

Now it was Stephen’s turn to sigh, “I know, but I can’t help but think that we are doing it the wrong way. We can’t just throw supplies at this problem and hope that it gets better. We have to actually do something.”

Simon placed his hand on his brother’s back, “Well, once I become head of Star-Fleet Command, then I’ll see what I can do. Until then, I guess that we just have to work with what we have.”

“Perhaps,” Stephen watched as a fog decided over the tower, blocking it from site, “But I still wish that we could do more.”

Stephen Binns (Economic Consultant)

---

Tenebris was exactly the kind of place that Shari was used to. Having grown up on a planet such like this, she had been surrounded by the greed, corruption, and the difficulties that they provided. Honestly, this wasn’t even the worst place that she had visited. While the people were rather vulgar, they still lacked something that prevented them from falling even deeper, or climbing higher. Structure. Once they started forming around something, whether it be a government or a gang, then things would change. Right now, everyone was dependent on each other, meaning that there were no sides to draw lines with yet. Once those lines were drawn, then value would start to be placed on lives, it would become an us vs them situation, something that Shari was far too used to. Luckily for these people, Shari had a plan. She had seen Stephen’s notes about what needed to be done to bring order, and she was going to do exactly that, albeit with different methods that what he would have used.

“Please, I’m begging you, I’ll tell you all that I know!” In front of her was a snivelling coward, his head trapped under the boot of one of her Klingon underlings.

Walking forward, she bent down slightly in order to make eye contact with the terrified man, “Oh really, and how do I know that you won’t lie to me?” A subtle hand signal made the pressure from the boot increase, causing the man to cry out in pain.

“I promise that I won’t lie, really!” How cute, he thought that he would just take her word for it. She knew the type, they were willing to do whatever they were asked, but once enough pressure was applied, the would sing like a canary.

Lifting up her hand, she motioned over a Betazoid woman. She was rather new to Shari’s organization, but was showing great promise. Of course, she couldn’t take all of the credit for this acquisition, as Stephen was the one who hired her as an assistant, causing Shari to do some digging on her past. Upon realizing who exactly she was, she offered the woman an opportunity, to help the person that gave her a chance when no one else would. It was rather simple, Valexa would keep an eye on Stephen for Shari when she was not around, along with helping Shari every once and awhile, while Shari would make sure to use that information gathered to help her husband. It worked out rather nicely Shari needed a competent mind reader, and Valexa was one of the best. The way that she could get around a person’s metal barriers was quite astounding, and while Shari had others that were almost as good, none of them were as loyal as the betazoid that worked for her husband.

A few minutes later, and the man was twitching on the ground, barely responsive to outside stimuli. Valexa took her hand off of the man’s head and stood up, ignoring the drool that had started to fall out of the man’s mouth, “Marsona Kansa, that is the man that we are looking for. He has managed to gather some support, but his position is rather unstable at the moment. If we take him out, the rest should fall in line.”

“Perfect,” Shari’s mouth had grown a predatory smile, “and I assume you have his location?”

“Yes ma’am.” Valexa paused, “Though I thought that you would like to know something.”

The tone of Valexa’s voice made Shari’s smile disappear, “What is it?”

Valexa pulled out her flask and took a deep swig before continuing, “It’s about how he keeps his subordinates loyal..”

Shari Binns (Crime Lord)

---

Cold, so cold. Why was it so cold? Metal bars separated her from the person next to her. She didn’t know how long she had been in the darkness, it had been so long.

But that was good. Darkness was good. Darkness meant that she could not see what was going on, darkness meant that she could pretend that the screams were far away, and not close by. Darkness meant that she was safe… for now. Clutching at the small stone in her hands, she was barely able to rock back and forth. It was her only companion. It listened to her whispers, and kept her from falling into the state that she had seen many others in. It was her only friend, and she would never let it go. Finally, the cold became too much to bear, and she curled up on her side, her white hair falling across her face. Perhaps it would be warmer later, once she woke back up....

??? (???)

There was a loud banging on the door, prompting the man sitting by it to stand up and slide back the small plate blocking the hole in it. Bringing his face right up to take a good look, he was barely able to make out the end of a phaser before it fired.

Of course, the death of one of their comrades was not unnoticed by the others in the room, who immediately started to grab their weapons. However, before they could get organized, an explosion blew the door off it’s hinges, the force and bright light causing both to avert their eyes. This proved to be their undoing, as they were unprepared for more phaser blasts to shoot from the entryway. Each one was downed before they could even react.

There was a shout of “Clear!” before a heavily armed group flooded into the building, followed by Shari and Velexa, both in combat outfits. Shari barely gave any notice to the dead people in the room, the only sign that she knew of their existence was the fact that she avoided stepping on them. Meeting the expectant gaze of the Klingon from earlier she nodded, causing a bloodthirsty smile to grow on his face. Lifting his rifle, he shouted, “Alright maggots, it’s hunting time!”

The rest gave a cheer as they flooded into the halls of the building, the sound of screams and phaser blasts soon following. Such raids were not quite Shari’s style, but sometimes messages had to be made. She strode forward, emotionlessly watching as enemies were either cut or shot down around her. Scum such as these were not worth getting emotional over. No, that was reserved for someone special. Reaching an armoured door at the end of the hall, Shari held out her hand, prompting Valexa to place something a small device in it. A bright light shone as the metal was transported away, opening up a spacious room, gaudily decorated with different items that Shari would assume were trophies.

At the end of the room was a stone platform, surrounded by trophies. On top of this platform sat a crude throne, chains snaking out from the base and attached to two curled up figures shivering in their revealing outfits. A rather pudgy man stood in front of it all, quivering in fear. From what little Shari had learned on the way here he had been a simple low level employee of a merchant company. This assignment was supposed to have been a punishment for harassing some of his coworkers and skimming off the top of the company’s funds. Though as it turned out, the supplies that he had been sent to sell were in rather high demand at the time, the multi use factor being valuable in a world where resources were sparse. Taking advantage of this, he soon gained followers, power, and the idea that he could do whatever he wanted with no one to stop him.

“Just what I was expected, a pathetic fool in charge of all of this.” Shari ignored the phaser the man pointed at her and continued to approach, “Did it make you feel good? Exerting your power over those who were weak and defenceless, cheating people who just wanted to survive?” The man’s hand slightly tightened, signalling that he was about to fire. A phaser blast flew by Shari and hit his hand before he could though, making the man cry out in pain. “Thank you Velexa. Now, where were we?” Shari finally reached the man and stepped on his wounded hand. “It was a good thing it wasn’t set to kill. After all death would be too good for you after what you have done.” Motioning over Velexa, Shari gave a predatory smile. “I do a question before we begin. Have you ever felt someone flay your mind, causing you to wish for death, but keeping you from fully breaking?” There was a moment of silence from Shari as the man pathetically whimpered. ”No? Well then, there is a first time for everything.”

Velexa approached the man and placed a hand on his head. Soon, his cries echoed through the complex.

Shari Binns (Crime Lord)

The noise was what had woken her, the sound of men shouting as they struggled against an enemy unknown to her. Straining her ears, she tried to make out what exactly was going on, and barely recognized the pained cries of those who kept her imprisoned.

Hope, a spark of hope lit inside of her. Maybe someone was coming. Maybe someone would bring light into the darkness that was her home. The door slammed open, and light streamed though, causing her to scramble towards the front of the cage. Was this their saviour? The person who would…?

A cold hand reached forward and wrapped around her neck, her adjusting eyes just now realizing that the person who had entered was one of her tormenters. He pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked her cage before roughly pulling her out. Ignoring her weak cries, he pulled her along, muttering something about assurance and bartering. The stone in her hand was starting to warm, somehow not lost in all of the madness. The man pulled her though a door hidden behind a curtain leading to a dark damp hall. The wet floor did not feel good against her feet, and also made it harder to try and get away from him. The man just laughed at her slipping feet struggling to gain traction and continued to pull her along. Finally, they reached the end, a stone slab in front of them. With a press of his hand against the surface, it slowly ground open, revealing a dusty alley nearby the building. Seeing this as her only chance to escape, she opened her mouth and bit hard on the man’s hand. He let go as expected, but she was unprepared for the backhand that knocked her to the dry ground outside the tunnel. Getting down on his knees, the man wrapped his cracked hands around her throat. He was saying something, but she couldn’t quite understand his words in her disoriented state. Soon, the oxygen loss caused the sides of her vision to blur, and the rock in her hand warmed to an uncomfortable degree. Then, she knew no more…

??? (???)

While he would have preferred to walk on his own, Stephen’s brother insisted on the escort, even in this reportedly safer section. Of course he found himself appreciating it after a nearby building erupted into what seemed to be a firefight, his guards stating that it would be best for him to leave before he could get caught in the crossfire. It was as they passed by a small alley that something tumbled out and bumped into him.

Looking down he found himself staring into some of the emptiest eyes he had seen in his life. They were blank, uncaring, unmoving. There was no life to them, only existence. Standing in front of him was a scrawny girl, most likely in her late teens, barely clothed in rags and covered in grime. Her pure white hair had streaks of dirt clumped in it and her red eyes were completely unfocused.

One of the guards raised his phaser rife threateningly, only to have Stephen quickly push it down with an angry look on his face. As the guard took a step back from the intensity of the look, Stephen turned back and did the one thing that he felt was right. He knelt down and gave her a hug. The girl stood shocked for a moment before her empty hands gingerly lifted up and copied his motion, wrapping themselves around his back.

Stephen Binns (Economic Consultant)