EXETERRPG: (16 - 0930) - MS - Fo Lt(sg) Ailynn Bracken and Cult leader Trentin Vost

[Mark Howard]

NRPG: all on Bridge, gentle warning, Command level orders contained. Take
care on replies.

RPG:

Mission: The Flames of Purity

Day: 16

Stardate: 2445.09.16

(Gamma Quadrant – The Planet, Abandoned Shrine – FO Lt(sg) Ailynn Bracken &
Entity Vessel - Trentin Jost - 0930)

Ailynn rolled over, pain had happened. ~You are in the proverbial this time
girl~ she thought as she shifted her weight, a lump in the base of her
spine didn’t allow her to lie flat on her back.

~A lump?~ she thought briefly before realisation hit her. ~Ailynn Bracken
if you had any sense you’d be dangerous.~

She reached underneath her, and pulled out her medical tricorder.
Remembering that it was programmed as both a medical, and standard
tricorder, Ailynn flipped open the screen, switching it to standard mode,
the screen suddenly full of information most of which she’d struggle to
understand even if she sat here all day and the next night. Time, that she
did not have.

She could see that she was surrounded by not only the forcefield, but the
entire section of building was covered by a powerful distortion field. This
would stop simply beaming out, or even anyone or anything beaming in. There
were other safeties in place too, readings that she didn’t fully recognise,
but that she didn’t doubt would make her job even harder.

~THINK~

Ailynn felt her body relax as she forced her breathing slower, slow, deep
breaths, as her body calmed, her intellect whirred. She remembered how the
display looked in her mind’s eye. The medic in her was utterly baffled by
all the junctions, and power flow conduits and…

~Don’t think of a machine. Think of it as a body.~

Her eyes snapped open, and the screen that was in front of her was still
just as baffling, but it came under the focus of her full intelligence.
Electronic control systems, neurons. Plasma conduits, circulatory system.

~wait…They can’t have…~

Jost had, indeed, made a critical error. The forcefield and the machine
itself were running parallel off the same supply. The chroniton generator
had a separate sub-supply, but as in surgery, the loss of a major system,
such as the heart, put massive stress on all subsystems.

~Now all I need to do is figure out what to do with this information.~ she
quipped to herself.




Jost heard the humming of a tricorder coming from behind the field. He was
on the opposite side of the device from the taller officer, so he peeked
over the long shoulder height portion of the machine to see what she was up
to.

~Apparently our crew didn’t search her and left her devices on her person.~
Jost thought.

He observed her for a moment. “What do you have there, Lieutenant?”

“I’m not sure, these aren’t my pants.” She flicked the display back to
medical with her thumb as he approached. She was going to die anyway.
~stall him, get under his skin~

“A medical tricorder?” he said with an amused tone. “Lick your wounds, it
won’t matter later.”

“So you figured out your mistake yet? I’m guessing the book that you got
was the abridged version? Or does it come as a colouring book? I like
yellow; what’s your favourite colour?”

~The room doesn’t distort comm channels. Oh now that was sloppy.~ There it
was. The chink of light. Now she had something to focus on. Even that
single atom of hope.



“Your fear is showing, Lieutenant.” Jost smiled as he said it..

“I am not afraid of you.” She stared deeply into his eyes, the pain having
subsided again. Pulling herself up to her full height, she set her
shoulders, and spat back in defiance. “I am going to stop you; and I’m
going to send your little friend back to the hole out of time that it came
from, and there, it will burn for eternity, and you with it.”

“Temper, temper.” He responded wagging his fore-finger back and forth
teasing her. He ducked back behind the machine and resumed his work. Ozone
could be tasted as he began to weld the final connections. The sizzling and
popping of the welding of connections was quite loud.

“Exeter, this is Bracken. Request generator assault target gps
522548.72N-015557.00W. Command Order Radio silence.” Ailynn closed the
channel, and stood once more with her hands behind her back, perfectly at
ease. Almost the marine stance that her great grandmother to this day
occasionally found herself in.

(Reply Exeter Tactical)

Jost came around to the front of the machine, once the racket stopped. He
placed the plasma welder on top of the main console. He keyed in a few
commands for a test sequence. “You’re quiet. Where’s that vim and vigor you
had merely moments ago?”

“Oh it’s there. And biding its time.” She beheld him, as a tigress, held in
captivity, would look on it’s keeper. However this tigress already had
pieces on the board.

“Not to worry, your time will come soon.” he promised and circled around
again to the back of the machine. Checking the power flow with his own hand
held device.

“Missed it again. You disappoint me...Wraith. Seems that my understanding
of Bakji dialect of ancient Bajoran is waaaaay better than yours.” she
called out to him as he passed behind the machine. As he did so she opened
another channel.

“Confirm target plus receive tricorder file Bracken 099.Command
authorisation. Bracken - six - kappa - nine - omega. Vibrate crystal to
confirm receipt. Radio silence Bracken out”

(Reply Exeter Tactical/Science)

Jost tapped a few more commands in, the diagnostic was almost complete.

Ailynn called out. “Since we’re both about to die...answer me a question.”

::Do not answer her questions. We are so close.::

“...and why should I do that?” Jost inquired.

“Why? I want to hear Josts version, not the thing that speaks for him now.
I know that you’re about.”

“Very well. Ask your question.” Jost responded.

::You fool!:: The being scolded him.

~Why? She and her false prophets are about to die.~ Jost answered back.

"I'm wondering why you killed all those people on the asteroid base. I'd
understand if they were all Cardassians, hell... humans even. Large
portions of the doctrines of both the cults here talk about Bajoran
exceptionalism and purity. They were all full blood Bajoran back there
though."

~come on Exeter…come on. Give me something.~

“Killed? I ordered no one killed,” he said turning toward the Starfleet
Lieutenant. “I had separated all Bajoran crew from the freighters to spare
them the fate that awaits the unfaithful…”

~What is she talking about?~

::They proved too unruly. One of the periods you were unavailable I sent
orders to dispose of the ones that were unable to align their ideals with
ours. Your daughter proved very useful in this regard.::

~You had my daughter execute them?~

::Only the ones who wouldn’t comply. A third. No more than half…::


“That was not my plan,” Jost admitted aloud. “I had hope to spare the
majority of them.”

“Well that’s big of you. Considerate even.” She snapped back. “Save them
from what.”

“Spare them from the second half of my plan. I read your file. Executive
Officer of the starship Exeter?”

“Amongst other things of late it seems, but yes.” Ailynn answered.
Continuing to babble for as long as possible to buy her as much time as
possible.

“Then you would have access to files from the previous century, before the
alliance with the Klingon Empire, a scientific effort called, “Project:
Genesis”, he began.

“I’m familiar with it yes.” Ailynn conceded; she had a nasty feeling she
knew where this was going. “So you were…”

“I had planned to re-write Bajor. Wipe the slate clean, and resettle with
the survivors. My people….”

“You were going to what?? Destroy an entire planetary Civilisation?”

“That government was hiding things from their people!” Jost spat back.

“Whereas you where being completely open, reasonable and logical about your
plans.” she was getting annoyed again. ~calm down. patience.~

“The wraiths, who were once the same as the Prophets, cast out for
disagreeing with their fellows, they adapted to living outside their
home...like I was cast out for disagreeing with the Vedek assembly,” Jost
explained.

“You were cast out because
you...are...clearly...a...CERTIFIABLE...PSYCOPATH.”

Ailynn screamed at him.

(Reply as above.)

(Posted by Todd(SPC) and Mark)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://startrekfreedom.com/pipermail/exeter-rpg_startrekfreedom.com/attachments/20201006/86efe4aa/attachment-0001.html>