Fine Feathered Fiends

Posted on Sun Apr 14th, 2019 @ 8:00am by Captain Remas McDonald & Lieutenant Chester O'Hamlin & Lieutenant Commander Shadi Zatra

2,262 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: S1:4: A Murder Of Crows
Location: Central Transporter Room
Timeline: MD63 12.30PM

The aggressors swept through the ship like an ill wind. Where they met heavy resistance from the ExpSec teams they used their staff's to disperse through the floors, walls and ceilings. They sowed havoc where ever they went, appearing at first to be seeking little more than panic and chaos. But soon enough the pattern of their attacks became apparent: the bridge, sickbay, engineering. The mad flurry of attacks were probing sorties designed to find these areas and taken them by main force, seeking out the keys to the kingdom within an alien land.

The repair crew from the hull had retreated inside, to bring their aid to the defence of the ship.

---

Remas rounded a corner outside the main transporter room. following by a trio of ExpSec guards. Along the way, they'd run into a pair of the gangly attackers, and the Captain's supposedly 'ceremonial' captains sword ran with a purple ichor as he came to a stop.

"Did any of you see a starship out there? I have my doubts these critters came from the rock naturally," he said, taking a breath as he eyed them all.

"No, but I heard Fell calling from an asteroid! We need to get to him, Captain! If there's any chance that he's alive, I must!" Jolani told him.

Shadi pulled off her helmet with the cracked faceplate, shaking off the beating rendered her by Arivek only moments before. "Nay, sir. They came out of the asteroids!"

"Evil bastards didn't even give us a chance," Tsabina said bitterly. Then her eyes fell on the striking pose of Remas with his sword, and she gasped. "Are you injured? Or anybody else?"

"Ensign Hawkins took a staff blast to the shoulder, there's a medic on the bridge tending to him as we speak. I believe Dr Kal is working on triaging the wounded in sickbay, but we've still got villains within our walls. I'm sure she could use-" Remas began to say, before coming to an abrupt halt as another figure stepped out from the transporter room flanked by two of Victor's trigger pullers.

The alien's armour, upon closer inspection, did not look to be in the best of repair. There were scuffs on the plating, and the metal buckles and catches held the polish of excessive use. It stood in a stance best described as calm, a dull wheeze of breath coming from it its angular faceplate.

"...well it's nice to know they're not all for hacking and slashing," Remas said slowly. "Would someone like to fill me in as to our new friend?"

"We fought hungrily across the ship's outer hull until I brought it to heel," Shadi boasted.

"Something like that," Tsabina said, brow raised with incredulity. "The creature appears to be in a catatonic state. If I had to guess, it suffered a telepathic injury of some kind, though I would have to run neural tests to be certain."

"Yes, they do have a habit of getting into our heads to pull out little secrets now don't they," Remas said. He looked at the alien, quirking an eye brow. "Do you understand us?"

And to everyone's shock, it replied.

"Yes." The voice sounded human, a man's voice low in the chest with a purr to it. Remas' raised eyebrow turned to a scowl.

"You like using other peoples voices to speak? Could I ask you not use the voice of my father?"

"Languages are not universal, but understanding is. We know the minds of others, see the patterns of thought that represent what is needed to know. It is easier for us to speak like this, to use the borrowed words of others who seek shelter in our reef," the voice continued. Now it was rising up the scale, losing the bass rumble and becoming a woman's voice.

"Do you speak for your people?" Remas asked. "Why are you attacking us?"

"This one speaks for itself. And we do not seek to attack you from spite, it is merely our way. We wait in the shallows for the wounded of the Myriad to stray here, to seek shelter here. You're kind, the Wandering Kin, have a word this one finds suitable to name the flock."

It reached up slowly with its three-fingered hands, the four knuckles of its fingers making quick work of the catches to its armoured helm. With a hiss of equalising air pressure, the helmet came free and was placed under one gangly arm. The being was indeed avian form, with a thick scarred beak like that of a parrot. To the side of it that peak matted purple and grey feathers were sweat-soaked to the side of its head, matted down by the helmet. Its four eyes, two on either side of the beak, narrowed ruby slits at Remas.

"We are the Reka."

Jolani put her hands on her hips and demanded, "What have you done with Fell? Or why have you invaded my thoughts?!"

"More importantly," Tsabina interrupted, her tone calm but firm, "why did you surrender?"

"Because I would have pulvarized it!" Shadi interjected, adding another boast to the growing tale of her personal valor.

Tsabina disagreed. "No, she could have escaped," the Risan said. What she left unsaid was the momentary bond they had shared. Repeating the same question she had asked outside, Tsabina fervently asked the Reka, "What are you?"

"A Spy," it said. Its voice was the name human tone it had used before, but it's beak did not move. Its lower eyes narrowed slightly, but it was still unnerving. "The other who are attacking your ship are of a rival den. My own den sent me here, knew my skills are evading questions and detection by their matriarchs would allow me to gain intelligence and perhaps a chance at a killing blow. Instead, their foresight finds me here, among those who I sense have bested a Myriad. That would make us...allies. Allies would help rid you of your infestation if we were so."

Was it Remas's imagination, or did the Reka sound smug in his mind.

"Or this is all a setup," Jolani grumbled.

"What do you get out of an alliance?" Shadi asked, wary of being outsmarted. "Other than not being tackled to the ground and eaten alive, that isss."

The Reka flicked its left most eyes towards Shadi, a look of contempt and disdain radiating from them along with a sibilant knot of hissed syllables in Suarian.

"We are a younger den, the Seven Dancing Shadows, and so are not awarded the consideration that is our due. We are held as subordinate to the larger dens, and it is only through the guile of my sisters that we have any standing at all. As of this moment you are beset by scavengers of the Bone Shard Crowns, a light flock of rockhoppers scraping minerals from the planetary shard you hide behind. They will have sent a laser pulse into the debris cloud to one of their den nests, and soon their Shard Craft will be here," the Reka continued. "I have seen the scans of this vessel. It is...impressive, but damaged. Ally yourself with the Seven Dancing Shadows, and we can aid in your escape and repair. And in return, you will help us with a task."

"Might want to be careful about trusting someone who claims to be an ally," came the voice of Arivek Zhuri, who was casually leaning against a bulkhead behind the Starfleet crew. He didn't look up at the group, apparently more concerned with whatever he was reading on the PADD in his hand. "They might turn against you and then the entire crew will consider you a traitor." He looked up. "That would suck, wouldn't it."

"Hey..." Shadi muttered, deep in thought, "that'sss a lot like what happened with Abborax..."

The Reka turned to regard Ari, it's head cocking to one side in a gesture not so dissimilar to an Earthen raptor.

"You are...not present, but you do not style yourself a Myriad. You have steel souls? Interesting," it said slowly, before turning back to the others, "But it speaks truth. Trust in words is like air in vacuum, it does not bring life. Bring me to your engineering section and I can tell you how to disable the Bone Shard Crown's flash dancers. It will keep them from matter syncing away from your own security forces. I do this as a measure of good faith."

"You're only a traitor if you knew about it the whole time," Chet offered as he rounded a corner with several others in tow. They had been just down the hall and had only heard the tail end of the alien's offer as well as the following conversation. "Anybody should know that," he added pointedly. "Anybody hurt? We've got medical supplies."

"This deck and the bridge are covered, but there's likely more wounded all over the ship," Tsabina said, relaying Remas' previous update to Chet.

"Even I know that," the blue striped droopy eared Bar'soon said as he joined Chet and the others. "This is why its very important to make sure secret conspiracies stay between you and your most loyal of servants, especially the ones you know will never suspect you of slipping acid into their drinks to toast a successful coup d'etat! You'd have thought after the forth hiring frenzy they would have caught on to it, but when you've tanked the planetary economy for five decades in a row people will do anything for a semi-stable paycheque."

"What in the desiccated viscera are you talking about?" Shadi blurted, then snapped at Chet, "Did you have to bring him?"

"Of course they had to bring me! Why my leadership qualifications aside, I am a keen huntsman, diplomate-" Bar'soon began to drone on with his many qualifications.

"It was either keep him coming along or sedate him. And that option only worked for a short spell," Kella said, the horned Chadrian pilot hefting her phase pistol. "And I'm not sure this on its highest setting could shut him up."

"-not to mention my keen sense of danger!...Wait, what did you say?" Bar'soon finished.

"She said go eat yourself," Shadi snapped. The annoying little rodent was getting on her already rattled nerves. Turning to the Reka, she said, "You're not going anywhere near Engineering, Dancing Shadow. Tell usss, here and now, how to neutralize your tech and we'll call it even. If not, I can kill you now." The snikt of her talons were the only warning before they were held to the Reka's neck.

The comm cut into the conversation before the Reka could respond, "Raynolds to McDonald, Hey Cap things are getting hairy in engineering! We've taken down a few of these whatever they are but they keep coming, not sure how much longer we can hold out!" he finished as another phaser whine could be heard over the channel.

"Trust is a leap of faith here, but the Seven Dancing Shadows are no friend of the Myriad. No Reka should be, but few have memories that go back that far to the shattering..." the Reka slowly raised one arm, using its three fingers to gently pick out a command on her suit computer. "Have your shield's harmonised at 2.34hrz. That will disable their flash dancers, and the particle throwers as well. It will make them easy prey for your hunters, and prove my worth to you."

Remas nodded, and then look at Shadi and Ari.

"Whatever drama is happening here, stow it and get to work you two."

"Keep her out of my Engine room," Arivek said, glaring at Shadi as he shimmered and disappeared.

"And keep him out of my galley!" Shadi shot back.

"You," Remas said with a nod to Reka and pointed at Chet. "Go with this man to Engineering. Chet, you and your medical irregular's go there as well. Victor's folk sound like they're having far to much fun at the fair."

As Remas turned to address the others, a purple glow grew out of one wall, and a Reka materialised in their midsts. Caught off guard the gaggle of officers scattered, but the Reka interloper had been planning their moves from the moment they began the transport. The staff swung around, connected with Jolani's left arm, and a brilliant spark of energy lit up the corridor as the helmswoman flew back into the wall.

Before Jolani had fallen, Remas's already blooded sword had gone to work, carving into the armoured slits between plates and pushing the Reka back on the length of tempered battle steel. With a heft the Reka's bleeding corpse fell to the deck, staff falling from its hands.

"Tsabina, get Jolani to sickbay and assist Dr Kal. Locke, go with her," he grunted and looked at Shadi. "Come with me to the bridge. We need to get the ship moving and fighting."

"Yes, sir," Tsabina said. She knelt down to help Jolani off the floor, shouldering the other woman's weight on her way up to her feet. "Come on, Lieutenant. The turbolift isn't far."

Shadi snapped to attention and shed her EV suit with a few grunts. "Upon your word, Captain Remasss." Clad in only her service uniform, Shadi fell in behind her captain.

Jolani held onto the annoying nurse. "My arm..." she whined. "What...what happened? I don't... I don't feel well. Perhaps I will finally join Fell." She collapsed against Tsabina, a smile on her face.

 

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