Posted by Gamemaster Budgie (Gamemaster) in Melania IV- Planetside

Posted by Commander David Morris (Commanding Officer) in Melania IV- Planetside

Posted by Gamemaster Budgie (Gamemaster) in Melania IV- Planetside
Posted by… suppressed (41) by the Post Ghost! 👻
The group materialised into another transporter room. This was much darker than that of the ship. The walls were smooth and the room was dimly lit. It was cool but not uncomfortably cold. It could be reasoned that they were somewhere underground. There were more guards around the room and they were greeted by a female Romulan who smiled as she saw Xekeer.
“You were successful I see. The Admiral will be most pleased. He’s been waiting eagerly. Our efforts here have been..... minimal. It will good to finally have more incen....” Xekeer cut the woman off with a warning look before she could say too much.
“Lets not get ahead of ourselves my dear. You lot come with me.” He turned to the group ushering them onwards.

The corridors twisted and turned and it took what felt like hours. Each corridor looked the same as the last. The plain corridor finally changed, it was a dead end but on each side of the corridor were doors and they were open with guards near each. Xekeer ushered T’Pris and Conway into one cell, Darkliss into another and David into the final cell. The doors shut loudly. Each cell was plain and dark. There was a very narrow slit high up in the wall that let a tiny bit of light out. There was a single slab at the back of the cell for sleeping.

In Darklis’ cell there was a figure on the bed. The same went for David’s except the figure was different. Both were curled up in the foetal position. Both looked injured.

GM Budgie

Darklis was tired. Helping T’Pris with Conway was okay for a while but soon she was wishing for some of that vaunted Vulcan stamina. It didn’t help that suddenly she was separated from the others. As soon as the door clanged shut DC turned and stared at it. She didn’t like being separated from the others or, like the previous cells they could see each other. After what felt like a long time but was really more like a minute at most she turned to look at her new ‘home’. If her mother saw her now what would she say? As her eyes adjusted slowly to the little light she could make out a cot or something to sit or sleep. Little else. Wait. There was someone else there. Her heart rate picked up at that and she bordered on a moment of panic until she noted that that figure wasn’t moving. “Hello?” she said, daring to take a step closer.
Darklis

The figure on the bed groaned as a response. A Human female. She looked badly bruised, her face was swollen and her nose looked broken. Her breathing was laboured and her nose made a squeaking noise.... it shouldn’t do that.

OOC: Right .. back ..
IC:

Admittedly Darklis relaxed at realizing it was a woman. As she peered closer - it was hard to see in the dim light - the woman’s face looked swollen and bruised and her nose too was swelled and crooked. She winced and felt a quick spasm of nausea go through her. Closing her eyes she took a breath. It was not as bad as the Matrix she repeated to herself. Her mind ran through the very short list of her experience with this and her basic first aid which she admittedly didn’t pay much attention to. Growing up in a large family meant a fair stock of injuries along the way including a broken nose. But she had no ice pack. She had nothing to treat it. She had nothing to ease the pain. She had no ingredients for her mother’s ‘potions’ that were applied. And that squeaking noise was scary. She had no med kit to regenerate the tissue. By the time she ran through that list she was close to hyperventilating and took another long moment to pull herself together.

“Hey,” she said in what she hoped to be a friendly term. “Lets get you sat up. My name is DC from the Wolverine. What’s yours?” She supposed in the sense of giving information that a name was authorized and well, they knew she was from the Wolverine as they took her from there. As gently but with some insistence she took her by the shoulders to help her to sit up. Darklis was not encouraged to see her own hands shaking. “We need to look at your nose and keep it clear.”
- Darklis, CSO

The hunched figure continued to groan and Darkliss could tell her breathing was laboured. After what seemed like an age the figure finally responded.

It wasn’t like Darklis didn’t have time to be patient. All she had at the moment was time. Still the lag made her impatient - not so much because she wanted this show to get on the road so to speak but because if this woman’s condition was any worse, well, her skills were rapidly coming to a limit. The effort must have been substantial with the effort she took. That unnerved her. Finally the woman spoke .. DC leaned in to catch it.

“M......M........Mary.” She breathed as Darkliss helped her up. Mary groaned again with pain this time as she was helped up into a sitting position. She then began to shiver. It wasn’t cold. Mary was probably in some sort of shock or it was adrenaline kicking in.

“Hello Mary. This is a fine mess we have gotten into,” she said for want of anything else to say. Her relative optimism was thin at the moment and she honestly didn’t have anything encouraging to say. It all looked bleak. “The Captain is here. He’ll think of something.” Really, escape was everyone’s part but in any situation eyes did turn to the ranking person in the group to hold up as the vanguard of their cause.

“Th.....thanks.” She managed as she put an arm down on the slab that was a bed to help keep her balance.

Mary was looking weak. How long had she been here? Why? What did they ask her? Or do to her? Again, why? Darklis looked her over. Was she wearing a uniform? Was rank showing? Whatever the case, Mary was trembling. Coming from a family that by any standards would be considered huge that meant that Darklis did not shy from contact. “Come here,” she said gently putting an arm around her. “Let me help. I’m a science officer from the Wolverine.” As much as Darklis was aware that they were likely being observed, recorded and heard, DC was not concerned about giving anything away. They knew who she was before they caught the Captain, her and others. Her record was not a secret. And, for all intents and purposes, any accesses or information she might know would have been by now changed, locked off or was redundant information. Really, this old school waterboarding was unnecessary beyond the enjoyment of it. Or so Darklis thought. Would Mary feel her own self shaking?

Darklis, CSO

Darkliss could see the starfleet uniform, dirty and torn now and covered in....blood? Her rank denoted that of a Fleet Captain. Mary seemed to actually be in a better state of mind than the Commodore and she relaxed and nodded.
“You may help me, Darkliss. Thank you.” She replied as she put her arm around the Lieutenant. The comfort it gave her seemed to help with the shaking.
“I’m.. I’m sure you have questions. I will....do my best to answer.” She stated through gritted teeth, each breath as painful as the last.

Fleet Captain?! Somehow Darklis had envisioned someone of the lower decks like her with her and not someone as exalted as Mary. But she , at that moment, found that she .. had no questions beyond the obvious .. what did they do to you? Why? How did you get here? How long has it been? Her mind raced about them and in the end she just shook her head. “I’m sure you’re pretty done with questions, ma’am,” she said quietly, looking her over. Her uniform looked a mess. How hurt was she? While Darklis felt a certain relief at having someone of Mary’s rank and experience with her, at the same time she felt a wash of hopelessness. If Mary wanted to say something about here and their predicament she would let her do it on her own time. That was what they had was time.
Darklis, CSO

Mary nodded and breathed hard fighting against the pain she felt.
“I am, but if you have any please ask. It will help me take my mind off of the pain.” She replied.

Darklis said instead, “I grew up in Wolf 359 system in a very large family. Very loud. Very eccentric. But I think that I would even raise brows among them if I told them where I am now.” She chuckled, albeit a nervous chuckle. “Though given my family background it may not surprise them. I might gain some respect even.” She paused. “I don’t suppose you’re the black sheep in your family by not following family tradition like me,” she added quietly. “What do they want?” she asked as the only real question that sprung to mind. It as calming to have her there even if Darklis was the healthier of the two of them. A kind of sisterhood. Or so she could imagine. She supposed that it was easy to have one’s mind wandering into imagining a lot of things being here in a cell light years from anywhere familiar.

T’Pris helped Conway over to the slab and helped him ease down onto it.” Ensign, how badly are you injured?” She asked, looking to see how bad the disrupter hit in his shoulder was and if she could do anything to bandage it. Perhaps she could tear her uniform top to make a compress and bandage to stop any bleeding, she thought.

~Dr. T’Pris

OOC: I’ll take over Conway for a bit until Tejay is back.
IC:
Conway groaned and tried to move his shoulder, he hissed with pain.
“It hurts when I move it. As my Dad would say- Don’t move it then.” He replied with painful grin trying to make light of the situation.
“Looks like we’re in a spot of pickle here. A least we can see into the other cells. Is everyone okay?” He called out.

“Everyone else is fine…except for Dradvia, who they took away. How is your shoulder? Is it bleeding or is it injured only inside? Can I examine it? I may not be able to do much but I should be able to do some basic first aid.” T’Pris asked. Her medical concern coming to the fore. She had served as CMO on ships in the past and still carried her MD license.

Conway attempted to move his shoulder and then hissed with the pain. His shoulder was visibly bleeding although Conway hadn’t seemed to notice. It looked bad but not damaged beyond repair.
“Its, bad.” He replied bluntly and then seemed to register that Dradvia was missing.
“They. They took Dradvia? Where?” He asked making to stand.

T’Pris nodded in both answer to his question and in his injury. She quickly unzipped her uniform jacket and tore the sleeve off one side. Quickly and efficiently she wrapped it around his arm and shoulder in a tight bandage.
“I apologize, I know this hurts but we need to stop the bleeding.” She said.

Dr. T’Pris

Conway nodded and gritted his teeth as T’Pris wrapped his arm and shoulder. The uniform quickly became saturated with blood but it did stem the bleeding.
“Thank you, that feels much better. Now we have to figure out a way to get out here. Any ideas?” He asked looking around the cell.

“These are Romulan cells, the likelihood of us being to escape from them without tools is limited. Where they took Dradvia is unknown. She did not beam down here with us. From what was said she appeared to have history with someone the Romulans know as well and they were returning her to them.”

David immediately knelt by the figure’s side, checking pulse and determining what species his cellmate was. Not that it’d most likely matter, but if their internal anatomy was different, his limited ability to treat them would be equally different.

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

David would note that she was a Bajoran female and could assume that she was Commodore Oper Keme. The one they were meant to rescue. She stirred at his touch and she shot awake her eyes wide and suspicious. She backed away from him on the bed and moved towards the corner gathering her knees up and holding them. Her eyes then narrowed taking him in.
“Who are you, what do you want?” She asked curtly.

GM Budgie

“Commander David Morris, USS Wolverine, Ma’am,” David replied. “Checking your injuries to see what I can do. Is there anything you’ve found out while you’ve been here?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

Commodore Oper’s frown deepened, if that were possible.
“Step back. Don’t touch me.” She replied quickly. David’s extensive Counselling background would tell him that Commodore Oper had likely experienced some trauma caused by the Romulans. Exactly what was hard to tell without knowing the full details. It was clear that she didn’t trust him or believe him in the slightest.

GM Budgie

David frowned, but her injuries weren’t obviously critical and establishing trust was most important. “Aye, ma’am, although once we’re safe I’ll need you to undergo a full med scan.” He took a step back. “What are your orders, Commodore?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

OOC: Apologies when I said trauma I meant psychological trauma not physical.
IC:
Commodore Oper shuffled back even further, if that were possible.
“Why are you here? Why are you doing this to me? Haven’t you tortured me enough? Please just stop these sick games you’re playing. I can see through your disguise you know. Your tricks won’t work on me any more!” Her voice began to rise becoming almost shrill and her eyes were wide with a mix of fear and suspicion.

GM Budgie

T’Pris’ attention was caught by the Captain’s and Commodore’s conversation and she stepped to the door of her cell and looked toward the cell where they were held. “Captain, the Commodore is not cognizant of her surroundings. She is caught in a traumatic hallucinatory state. Just try and speak to her in a low, soft voice and back away from her slowly.”

~Dr. T’Pris

“That was my assessment, too, Doctor,” David agreed, doing as T’Pris had suggested and backing away a bit. “Ma’am, you have good reason to distrust that I’m who I say I am, but I can assure you I’m not lying. My officers and I were kidnapped in a similar manner to you.”

He glanced over his shoulder. “Lieutenant Castle, how’s your cellmate?”
Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

Darklis thought she heard her name. It was a distant voice and the words didn’t make it to her ears through the metal door and the small high slit in the wall, the only source of light, and, she presumed, sound. Utterly unsure of the content of the message she said to Mary, “There, that’s the Captain. I’ll be right back.” She hoped anyway. Carefully disengaging herself from Mary and helping her sit steady Darklis moved to the wall and under the slit. She hopped but didn’t really make it that far, not that she figured she would but convinced herself that it was a gravity test and whether she could jump higher than normal.

Unable to really get that close she called out, “Captain, I have one cellmate. Her name is Mary.” What did she say about her condition that wouldn’t utterly demoralize her, not that Darklis was a medic to know more than surface details. “A little worse for wear like us all,” she replied. “Orders, sir?” she asked, not entirely expecting anything besides hold tight and look for a way of escape and that the Wolverine will be by to get them soon. All the things she consoled herself with on the Matrix while waiting those months for rescue.
- Darklis, CSO

OOC: Bump . . Gene
OOC: apologies, been a manic week with the baby!

Commodore Oper glared back but seemed to ease a bit as David backed away. She too edged as far away from David as she could, she was already in the corner on the bed.
“I don’t believe you. Starfleet Officers wouldn’t allow themselves to be captured so easily. I won’t fall for your tricks you know! I’ve been here long enough to be wise to your..... mind games.” She snapped looking around the cell as though there were more occupants than just David.

GM Budgie

“Under ideal conditions,” David agreed, doing his best to give her what space was available in the small cell. “But with respect, ma’am, you were captured in the exact same way.” He briefly checked his own surroundings to ensure it was merely a false expectation of Oper’s rather than someone else actually present, then continued, “To my knowledge, we’re the only ones in this particular cell. There are four others imprisoned, would you happen to know who the other one who was here before my crew is? I have an idea, but I imagine you’d know better.”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

David was correct in the assessment of the situation, there was no one else in the cells with them. Whatever the Commodore was seeing was all in her mind, a result of whatever mind torture the Romulans had put her through.
The Commodore laughed coldly at David’s response.
“You expect me to believe that you got yourself capture in EXACTLY the same way!? How stupid do you think I am? Don’t try to play your games with me. I know what I know and I know what I see and I see through you, pathetic Romulan!” She retorted her voice beginning to rise.

GM Budgie

T’Pris had been standing near her cell door so she could speak through it to the Captain and she shook her head. She wished she could have been in the cell with the Captain and had a hypospray. She could give the Commodore medications to calm her and her paranoia. Or lacking that a nerve pinch. Probably a good thing she wasn’t in that cell then. Assault of a superior officer…not a good charge.

~Dr. T’Pris

“Ma’am, I have no way, at least in our current situation, to prove that I am who I say I am,” David acknowledged, “However, I will endeavor not to ask about anything that’d be classified. I’m not trying to interrogate you, I’m trying to get us all out of here and rescue my officer. If you have ideas, how can we help?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

Darklis heard the footsteps even through the metal door. The echoes made it hard to know how many there were, which, in retrospect Darklis figured that was intentional for a facility like this. Still it didn’t stop a trickle of sweat and tingle run down her spine. She strained to listen for any words.

Commodore Oper laughed out loud but it was cut short by the sound of footsteps. Her eyes widened and she hunched her legs up even further to her chest.
“They are coming.” Was all she said. At that moment Xekeer walked in with several armed guards. He looked serious and focused as he walked down the corridor making sure to look into each cell as he passed. Eventually he stopped at the Cell with David and Mary. He smiled coldly and emotionlessly at David.
“Ah, I see you have met the Commodore. I hope she has been pleasant company?” He asked, not expecting a response. He turned to his men.
“Get the Commodore, bring the Vulcan and the other female, not the injured one. Her.” He stated pointing at Darkliss.

‘My turn’ Darklis thought to herself. The thing that she had learned in a class that presumably pointed to the possibility of this day was that one didn’t have to worry about answering questions at her level. Nothing was so secret that she was going to give anything away because anything at her level was known, and they certainly knew why they were there - at least to her understanding from the briefings. Even if she did have anything useful after 24 hours it became redundant or irrelevant. She swallowed and stood, making sure that Mary was positioned to not fall.

The forcefields were dropped and the guards held ready. Three walked in to David’s cell , they strode past him and grabbed Oper. She screamed trying to fight against them but they were too strong. She cried out as they pulled her out of the cell. As soon as the last guard left the cell the forcefield shot back up. The others motioned for T’Pris and Darkliss to follow, not really giving them a choice. Mary made to stand and say something to Darkliss but the guards pointed their rifles at her warningly and she backed down, not saying anything. The commodore was taken ahead of the group alone and her screams trailed away.
“Follow me.” He said to T’Pris and Darkliss and the group moved off down the corridor.

GM Budgie

Darklis moved out holding up her hands to the guards holding up their rifles. “No no no .. it’s okay,” she said as she then moved toward T’Pris.

T’Pris’ eyes met Darkliss as they were marched out the cell. She tried to send a message of strength. Inside she determinedly packed away her emotions so that could think quickly and clearly.

~Dr. T’Pris

Darklis caught T’Pris’ eyes and she nodded, again swallowing nervously. This felt worse than exams at the Institute; at least she could prepare for the questions even if she knew they were going to be difficult. Here she felt the questions would be easy but something she wasn’t prepared for.

“Name, Rank, Serial Number,” David reminded them calmly. “You will not gain anything by this, Xekeer. There is no need for such brutal actions.”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

What ‘was’ her serial number? Darklis thought. That stray piece of information had suddenly fled from her. Great ..

Xekeer lifted up his arms and shrugged.
“Orders are orders.” Was all he said as they left David, Conway and Mary alone. Conway shifted uneasily and strode over to the forcefield of his cell.
“Sir, what is going on here? Why are they doing this to us?” He asked.

GM Budgie

Darklis, CSO

“They believe we have information that may be useful to them,” David answered, tense but refusing to let it show for the crew’s sake. “How would you assess your condition, Ensign?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

“I’m..... I’m okay Sir. My shoulder just hurts. How are you Sir? They didn’t hurt you did they?” Conway replied.

“No. They don’t want information from you. They want to know what the Commodore knows. They want the Commodore to tell them everything she knows about the area. Something about resettling and restoring the Romulan star empire. I overheard them talking about incentives. I believe that they intend to torture you all until the Commodore provides the information they want.” Mary explained.

GM Budgie

“I’m alright,” David answered Conway. “A bit sore, but nothing permanent. What else have you observed, ma’am?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

Mary thought for a second.
“Well, they seem intent on trying to break the Commodore. You would have seen the state she was in. They’ve had her longer than me. I believe I’m their backup in case they go too far. If you ask me, they’ve gone too far already but they seem to think that she can still tell them what they want to know.” She replied.
“They mentioned 5 prisoners but there are only 4 of you. Where is the other one?” Mary asked.

GM Budgie

“She was separated from us and sold to a member of the Orion Syndicate,” David stated, a part of his brain still working on a plan to rescue her as soon as possible. “Evidently Imperial Sabre has Syndicate connections and potentially support.”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

Mary shook her head and sighed.
“We had suspected for a while that they were working with the Syndicate but we didn’t have any proof. I’m sorry about your crewmember. We need to find a way to get out of here. I’m afraid they might come for me next, Commodore Oper won’t last much longer I fear.” Conway then piped up.
“Are we.... Are we going to make it?” He asked, his voice starting to tremble.

GM Budgie

“We will make it out of here,” David assured him. “We aren’t losing anyone. Fleet Captain, how long do their sessions with the Commodore typically last?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

Bump!

Mary was about to answer when the sound of footsteps reverberated around the hallway and corridors. Mary frowned from the bed and moved to sit up wondering what was going to come down the corridor. She didn’t have to wait long. A few moments later two Romulan guards came dragging the Commodore. She was limp in their arms and her head was dangling. The Romulans dropped the forcefield to David’s cell, they then dumped the Commodore unceremoniously on the bed. She didn’t stir. The Romulans left the cell and replaced the forcefield and moved over to Mary’s cell instead. They dropped the forcefield and moved over to Mary.
“Get up, you’re wanted for questioning.” One of the Romulans said grabbing Mary and hauling her to her feet. She tried to struggle against the Romulans but they were too strong.
“Stay strong, we’ll get out of....” She tried to say in passing to David but was cut short when one of them hit her.
“Shut up.” He said roughly and they dragged her off.

GM Budgie

David didn’t outwardly react to the guards beyond a disapproving glare, but he did rush over to the Commodore, feeling for a pulse and checking whatever vitals he could by hand.

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

The Romulans ignored him as they left. Commodore Oper’s pulse was weak. Her eyes were open but unseeing, there was drool coming from her mouth and she occasionally made a mewing noise.

GM Budgie

David pulled off his uniform jacket and wrapped it around her as a makeshift blanket. “Ma’am,” he stated calmly, slowly, “you’re safe for now. You’re back with me. David Morris.” He kept a hand around her wrist, feeling for any changes in pulse over time.

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

Bump!

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

The Commodore continued to stare blankly not responding. She was really not in a good place. The mewing noise did stop. Just then, footsteps echoed around the walls. It sounded like just one set. The sound thundered around, filling the silence. The doors opened and a hooded figure stepped in making its way towards the cells with David and Conway.
“Are.... Are you okay?” The figure asked in a deep voice.

GM Budgie

“I’ll be fine indefinitely,” David stated. “These two are in need of medical assistance. Would you please identify yourself?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

The figure nodded grimly and then spoke.
“My name is Skolvik Hoss. I’m undercover with Starfleet Intelligence, they tasked me with infiltrating this group of Romulans.”
“I don’t have much time, I was mainly coming here to make sure you’re okay. I’ll do what I can to get you out of here.” He replied and then he heard the sound of footsteps.
“Someone is coming, I must leave you for a time. They should be done with interrogations for the day, I’ll return then.” He stated simply and with that he was off.

The same Romulan guards then appeared not long after Skovik had left. They were dragging Darklis. As before, they removed the forcefield and then unceremoniously dumped her on the bed in her cell. They left and then entered the cell with Conway. He tried to fight them off but they were too strong and he was too weak. He cried out as they dragged him off to the interrogation room.

GM Budgie

David stood up. Enough already. “You will gain nothing by injuring junior officers. Do not embrace cruelty for cruelty’s sake.”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer