=/\= USS-Charon, Jeffries Tube Junction 10 Section 17A =/\=
Brent stayed silent during the first broadcast, but when the second one had started up he stood up from where he and Jade were hid out at in the Jeffries tubes. "May I suggest sir that stopping her becomes our first priority?" he said looking over at Jade. His voice had that cold distance voice that Jade had heard after Brent had decimated the Romulan's after their last big attack. He checked his ammo and the flash bangs that he had. They were going to need most of them for this little mission.
"They were on the Forward Airlock, starboard side," he said as he checked the internal sensors. "I see ten guards with her and two escorting the prisoners. The prisoners are in groups, spread out, probably to avoid them trying to take out the guards and escape as a group..." Brent scratched his chin for a moment before he found the side access port to the room next to the airlock. "Here," he said pointing to a schematic. "We can access it from there. I see also a ventilation hatch here," he pointed directly into the fore area before the airlock. "I want you in the airlock. When we give the signal drop these," he said and handed the Security officer two flash bangs. "Whatever fleetie we have is going to have his ears ringing but it will be better than what this bitch will be experiencing. Once you bang them I'll move in and eliminate the targets. If you can shoot through the vent that would be a big help too," he said. Brent wasn't sure if he would make it through this one in one piece. However he had no intentions of going through with surrendering, and stopping this senseless attack on the people of the Charon was his first priority. "If you can thnk of a better way to do this Commander I'm all ears."
Jade had not been impressed with the executions or the manner thereof. Horrible though those deaths may be, he felt zero motivation to surrender. He did, however, have incredible motivation to slay the cruel Romulan. The enemy commander's attempts to control his actions via the suffering of others would not generate the desired response, but instead more along the lines of Brent's plan.
"I can but the collateral damage would be frowned upon. Since we want to be selective, it's about the best we have." This sort of fighting usually didn't offer much in the way of options, but Jade wasn't a hard person to work with when it came to this sort of thing. He liked Brents' plans because they involved the far safer and more practical action of killing, rather than capturing the enemy.
Jade wasted no time and loaded up the flash bangs, securing them on his person for easier mobility through the small Jefferies Tubes as he made his way for the airlock. He wanted to double time it, to make it to that airlock as quickly as possible, deep breaths sucking in to help keep him going, lives hanging in the balance as he played out his part of Brent's plan.
Jade's mind raced with all the possible horrors the two of them could inflict on the Romulan executioner. It was one thing to kill soldiers but quite another to kill random Fleeters. True enough he was one himself, but he was security and certainly didn't consider himself a 'civilian'. "Just about set," his voice going out through the com system.
Brent let out a breath. There was a damn good chance he could die in this operation. However this Romulan bitch needed to die. Now. He was in position near the airlock, his two pistols in his hand. The PPPe set to kill, and the Romulan disruptor having only one setting. He took in a few more even breaths, before he replied on the com channel. "Ready. Throw em and let me know," Brent said edging his way closer to the air lock.
Jade took the two grenades and primed them, feeling another spike of adrenaline seem to kick off within as the pins slid out of the arm guard. The two canisters fell from the vent shortly thereafter, bleaching the entire area around them in pure white, noise and light pollution soaring to dangerous levels, but only for part of a second before it was all gone.
"Move in!" Jade gave the go code over the com system and proceeded to fire from the vent. He really wasn't the greatest shot, average for a security officer, but if nothing else it would draw attention towards the vent and away from the marine.
Brent did not waste any time. He was quickly in the next room, and face to face with around eight standing Romulans. The Federation Officer was on the floor, probably wondering what just happened to her. So much the better. Jade had already removed two of the Gai'Shian and Brent immediately began to work on the others. A pair of shots rang out, catching a pair of Gai'Shian that were close to the door in the chest, sending them backwards until they hit the far wall, motionless... The next two were dispatched just as easily, and with great speed, as they were drawing their weapons on the hostage.
Jade's efficency could never be called into question, a few shots later and two more Romulans were down. Now things were going to get interesting. There was four remaining, and the officer was one of them. Brent charged at the two remaining Gai'Shian, one of them breaking down his forcefield with a well placed shot before the Gilgamite's strength cracked their heads against the walls, and their green blood began to bleed from their ears. Brent heard the final two shots from Jade, as the last Gai'Shian was taken down, and Brent turned, grasping the Galae Officer by the throat, with one hand and with one wrist with the other, He tossed her against the wall, light enough to knock her out and give her a concussion but not kill her.
As the response units of Gai'Shian came thundering down the corridor, they found only the dead remains of their comrades, their leader having been taken away. And the entire thing had been broadcast over the com systems.
For Jade's part, he backed out of the vent and deeper into the ship once the last of the Romulans was down. He had secretly hoped to me able to torture the alien commander right there on the spot, amidst her dead guards but knew that was not realistic to do so. Their actions had drawn the attention of many, so when Jade had finally reached the meeting point he was relieved to find only Brent and the Romulan.
"You ever done this before?" No particular sort of skepticism could be heard within Jade's voice, but he tended to view the 'good guys' as not having done this sort of thing. So far Brent had proven quite an exception but he still found himself curious. "And where are we going to hide it once done? Suspend it from the ceiling somewhere?"
They came to the little crossroads where the Romulan Officer would see her last. "There's a shaft a junction that way. We'll dump the parts out once we're done with it. And we won't be the only ones to see it..." Brent had command codes for the ship now. Savant had given them to him before she had become much more distracted with other matters. Brent let the unconscious Romulan drop to the floor before he moved to a panel across the way and began to tap out several commands. "Watch her. Wing her if you need to, don't die trying to keep her alive though," Brent said as he set up the up and coming recording.
Ah he had to take precautions. The console he was at would now broadcast from when he wanted it to. Where would it broadcast? The entire ship. Every console, every panel, would flicker to life with this Romulan's death. It would not be a slow death either... "Don't speak from when I tell you not to sir until I give you the all clear," Brent said. He didn't want the Romulan's figuring out who they were and trying to use hostages against them. He removed his rank insignia, and name plate from his armor, it was SFMC issue, but that would be all that they would know about him.
Brent took over the guarding of the prisoner before he handed Jade his PPPe. "When I remove a part of her, cauterize it immediately," he said to Jade. When Jade had taken his place next to the console that would be filming it to avoid him being seen... Brent began. With the press of a button on his armor, every console and panel in the ship flickered to life, showing the battered but alive Galae officer, and the unknown Marine in full combat armor. The voice that came through the speakers in the ship was not Brent's it was not even his voice distorted. It was a computer generated voice, but to Jade and the officer, it was his voice.
"No more than a few minutes ago, this officer was spacing the Federation Officers of this ship. Her senseless brutality cost the lives of five starfleet officers before we stopped her. She will harm us no more. For her crimes there can be only one punishment," Brent said as he leaned down and brought his hand down hard across her face, slapping her back into consciousness. "Death," he said. With that Brent took her left hand into his own, one hand above the other before he tore in opposite directions up and down with them. The result was horrific. The woman's hand was completely torn off, and blood began to flow from the wound.
Jade used the weapon to cauterize the wound, filling the small space with the smell of roasted flesh. He sort of enjoyed the sizzling sound it made, like frying bacon or barbecuing shrimp. He worried some whether or not the signal being broadcast could be traced. He would have simply avoided the problem by making a recording and playing it after the fact, but it had become clear to him that it might not be a good idea to get in the way of the marines obsession. The mans methods were brutal and he could see in them the hints of deeper illness, something he himself had grappled with in the past.
Whatever.
Jade decided instead to consider what the next step would be after this. No doubt there would be some sort of retaliation and it was something that they would need to plan for. All in good time, he figured.
Brent didn't speak after that first break... The arm was removed after, and cauterized, then the other arm. The legs were removed at the knees before Brent turned back and looked at the camera on the far corner. "This is what awaits anyone who slays the officers of this ship. You will not send our people to slavery and death. Your lies will not persuade us to stop. You can leave now and be spared this fate. Staying on this ship will mean your doom."
Brent took his hands and placed them on opposite sides of the Romulan woman's head. He had her face the camera for a moment before his hands became a blur, and the marine crushed the woman's skull there for all to see. The brain matter sliding down his hands slowly Brent pressed the command to stop transmitting.
He looked at Jade for a moment. "Help me toss her body into the corridor. We'll regroup in Deck 10 in the anti-matter storage room once we're done with that."
Jade aided the marine in dumping the body with callous indifference. Most would call him cold while those of the intellectual persuasion would argue for a label of sociopath, but the truth is that Jade knew very deeply the difference between right and wrong. He had always known and would probably never lose the feeling to gauge the good from the bad. The difference between him and others is, he thought as he watched the decrepit corpse roll down onto the deck flooring, that he really didn't care. He didn't know this person, had no emotional connection, so it didn't bother him what had happened. Only one generated the dread the coiled around his stomach. As long as Seraphim was ok, he didn't care. His eyes met that of the dead, blank stare of the Romulan woman. No, he thought, he didn't care much at all.
________________________________________________
Brevet First Lieutenant Brent Warren
Marine Commander
USS-Charon
&
Commander Jade Falcon
Assistant Security Officer
USS-Charon
