A Reka Ball

Posted on Sun Oct 27th, 2019 @ 9:48am by Captain Remas McDonald

2,590 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: S1.5:1:A Time To Heal
Location: Holodeck 2
Timeline: MD13

The Reka soldier materialised out of the deck in a crouch, its purple armour plate gleaming like oil as it rose quickly to a charge. Remas stepped towards it, ducking quickly to the left as its phase staff was lunged forward to plant the emitter tip on where his solar plexus should have been. Instead the alien went limp, the staff falling from its three-fingered hand, and it fell over.

As it did so the Reka soldier dematerialised into holographic pixels, and Remas made a show of bolstering the short boarding sword he had hung at his hip.

"A foot and a half of valerian steel with a monofilament cutting edge," he said, batting the guard as he turned to look at Gaz. "Not exactly standard issue for Starfleet, but my father swore by it on his homesteader and I'll be honest it served me well when the Reka boarded us at Beacon."

The pair stood in a holographic recreation of the Traveller, deck 12 just forward of the main engineering compartments. Remas had created the program as a training aid, programming in the random appearance of the deadly Reka as they used their damnable site to site transporters to quickly outflank security detachments. Not only a good way of showing his new Chief of Expedition Security what he was up against but a chance to speak to the man.

"But then again I imagine you have a few thoughts on improvements to ship security you'd like to see as well?" Remas asked.

Garrett had found himself in one of the holodecks on board the Traveller, getting to grips with the combat simulation. It got his blood pumping and his mind thinking. This was one of the times where he felt most comfortable, even when he was on board a vessel with an entirely new crew. Gaz watched as a hologram of a soldier had appeared in front of the two of them, raising his phaser in a force of habit, in case anything had gone wrong but it seemed that his captain had the situation under control, seeing the soldier dematerialise into pixels. The lieutenant looked on as Remas displayed the sword that he had used, describing the day in which they had been boarded by these creatures - the Reka. He had remained quiet, lowering the phaser as he looked around - scanning for any other threats. Though he was more than aware that it was a simulation, Gaz never treated them as anything less than real.

It kept himself alive and most importantly, it kept the crew safe. And, trusted with the safety of the USS Traveller's captain and the crew was an honor that he was going to live and uphold to the best of his ability. So the more he could learn now, the better off that they were going to be when it came to facing the real threat.

Then the Captain rounded on him with a question on whether or not he had anything regarding the improvements to the ship security. Gaz narrowed his eyes, folding his arms cross his chest, phaser still in hand. "Anything you can tell me on the Reka, Captain?" The better he knew about them, the better he could prepare should they ever find themselves boarded. "Then I might be able to tell you about any improvements."

"I might be a more able source of information," came Gaz's own voice spoken back to him.

Behind them, the holodeck arch was just dematerialising as two ExpSec officers escorted a Reka into the holodeck. Tall, with two pairs of eyes stacked above a narrow beak, the gangly form was not aided by wearing a billowy paper jumpsuit. It was the sort of uniform given to a prisoner, but the tall Reka carried itself with a regal bearing. Its three-fingered hands and claws weren't bound, nor cuffed, and a flush of violet plumage rose along the nape of its neck and crown.

"Gaz, I would like you to meet First Among Liars And Traitors, a spy for the Reka den called The Seven Dancing Shadows. They were of aid to us during the boarding action by telling us how to counter the Reka's rapid site to site transporter system," Remas explained as he nodded for the two guards to leave.

"It was fortunate that I happened to be on that comet shard, hiding among the other Reka's of the Bone Shard Crowns when your ship arrived," Liar said, its beak not moving but Gaz's voice still ringing in his hears. A telepathic projection perhaps? The Reka's attention turned to Gaz, its four eyes blinking out of sync as it regarded him. "What would you like to know?"

Gaz had found himself inwardly startled when he heard his own voice repeated back to him, looking around just as the holodeck arch disappeared around them. He found himself looking straight at a Reka; an avian looking species. He straightened up a little, his movements stiffened as the grip around his phaser tightened. He inclined his head slightly upwards to look at the Reka as Remas went about making the introductions, his eyes only leaving the alien briefly to watch as the guards were dismissed. Certainly, there was a sense of trust that seemed to go between First Among Liars and Traitors and the captain but Gaz hadn't quite reached such a feeling.

Until proven otherwise, the Reka were the enemy.

"Why did you aid us? Could have easily used such a situation to the Reka's advantage." Gaz questioned.

"I did use the situation to my advantage, and to the advantage of my Den," the Reka said with an air of contempt. It stepped closer, moving a little closer to Remas than Gaz, but regarding the ExpSec officer all the same. "The Seven Dancing Shadows are a small den among the cohort of the Reka. We do not have power amassed in territory, but we do enjoy a greater degree of freedom without those ties. We seek out the grit in the machine of Myriad occupation and see that it is used to our best advantage."

It gave a very human shrug.

"Had you not happened along, my mission was to sabotage the Bone Shard Crowns resource gathering operations on that shard. A task that would likely mean my death, but would see to my kin's elevation. Seeing how you fought, and the story of your flight from the Myriad Abborax's plans...it would seem we share a similar course," Liar & Thieves stood up straighter. "We too seek the downfall of the Myriad, to once more become the owners of our own destinies."

Gaz continued to watch Liar & Thieves with little more than a neutral expression which leaned more to one still suspicious of motivation. Recapping the past few moments of how the Reka had behaved whilst guided in through materialisation, he had no other way of believing otherwise if the Reka seemed to be siding with the captain. He would keep an eye on the Reka all the same as they seemed to be headed for the same objective.

"Right, Captain. All good with you?" He asked, blue eyes flickering over to Remas with a slight raise of the left brow. He was seeking confirmation, trying to push aside any other thoughts about what the Reka's actual objective could have been. He paused for a moment, gaze lingering before they swept back over to the Reka. "You able to tell me about the prominent points which would hurt the Reka - weak points in their defenses? Ships? Or is that information we have to find out for ourselves?"

"Reka are ferocious fighters when young, but become more cunning the longer they live. Each ship will have a cadre of Ancients who would fill in what you would think of as an officer class. Without them, the Reka flock would become more prone to chaos and disorder. OUr shared subconscious makes it easy to guide a flock in battle, but also easy to confuse it with misdirection should a controlling influence be lost," Liars & Thieves said. "As for our ships, many of them are from the time of the Sundering, the day the first Song Stealer took our ships to the stars enmass to challenge the Myriad directly only to see our home destroyed and our people debased."

A barbed growl croaked from the beak of the Reka at that memory.

"The poorer Dens, those like the Seven Dancing Shadows who I belong to and the Bone Shard Crowns you have fought, our ships date back to the Sundering. They are old, poorly maintained for lack of parts and expertise. There are other Dens, whose loyalty to the Myriad is unquestioned, who gain from that alliance. Their vessels are far superior to those you have faced. The plasma lance weapons will be more potent, and some Myriad allow their Reka Den's to wield far more advanced weapons. Antimatter torpedoes, bladder mines, and Wormhole Guns. Your best tactic would be to engage them at range, so as to not allow them the chance to board your ship."

Gaz folded his arms across his chest as he listened into what the Reka had to say about its own kind, taking the information in and deciphering what it could possibly mean for the crew on board the Traveller. The fact that they had a shared conscious could be used to their advantage, but they could not afford to show their own hand too early - if they were to engage those that they called ‘Ancients’. However, if only for a brief moment, his features softened at the mention of the Reka home being destroyed for he could only imagine the pain and shared suffering that must have rippled through them.

“Sounds like some heavy firepower.” He reiterated once Liars & Thieves had stopped speaking. “Long range combat seems like the most likely option, as you said, to prevent boarding.” And mass casualties. Gaz shifted his weight once more on his feet as he locked eyes with the Reka. The Expsec certainly had a burning question. “And, from earlier, you’re able to mimic voices?”

"That is affirmative," the Reka responded in a pitch-perfect mimicry of the ships main computer. "It is mostly a trick of our vocal cords and tri-fold lungs, but there is a mental component to it. It is easier to believe the voice belongs to someone you know. It is a trap laid out by the Reka to lure in rescue teams. Had the boarding action taken longer, your security teams would have found themselves being urged to move forward to chase down wounded Reka who did not exist."

Again, there was a slight quirk of his brows as he listened to the Reka's voice change once more; no longer imitating his pitch-perfectly but the main computer, a sound he had only come to recognise on the Traveller. His brows furrowed as he listened to the information that was given to him. He had to give it to the Reka, they were certainly crafty and intelligent enough to play psychological warfare with the crew and something that eventually, he would come to need to brief the crew about to be vigilant about it should they come into contact with another Reka boarding. Gaz glanced briefly back at Remas, wanting extra confirmation for all this to be true before locking back into the current conversation.

"Psychological warfare." He noted his mild impressed state as he nodded once or twice. "Would have led the crew into a trap." Gaz nodded. Despite this, his stance was staunch. The Reka might have helped the captain but him being a newcomer, what was to say that Liars was telling the truth?

"Can we expect another encounter with more Reka siding with the Myriad?"

"That is an assured certainty. The Reka all serve the Myriad, save for a few minor Den's who have taken to rogue banditry and looting to meet their needs. For the most part, the Reka are vassals of the Myriad. We required their aid medically to procreate, and the Myriad control us by keeping our numbers few. Most dens are 90% female to 10% male, and those few male's born are weak and sickly. It is only through the Myriad's aid we breed enough to survive," Lair & Traitors said, the voice now female but haught and rich in tone. The unmistakable lilt of a Myriad if Remas's ear was to judge. "We rose up against them, and in retaliation, we were infected by a disease that wastes us. Our males die young, and chicks die by the hundred score. Only the most loyal have station,, begging for scraps. The Seven Dancing Shadows remember the old songs of Reka greatness, of a time of our cities and golden skies...we seek freedom for all Reka."

"It's one of the reasons I had a Liar & Traitors brought to the holodeck Mr Davies, I wanted you to get to know our ally in this fight. I imagine we'll need their help to pinpoint weakness in the Myriad operation, as well as confirm any local intelligence," Remas made a gesture to the air and a holographic approximation of a Reka phase staff appeared in the lanky avians hands. The tall creature looked at the staff, and gave it an experimental swing slowly around, stepping along the holographic corridor before moving into a stepping pattern of moves that made the weapon sing through the air.

Gaz folded his arms across his chest, simply listening and taking it all in. There was a lot to process and a lot to review afterwards once he had a quiet moment with the Captain, if he got that much. He could admit to liking those who stepped up against the Myriad, despite his own reservations about the creatures in the first place. Eventually, his attention fell to Remas as he spoke.

Ally.

Gaz nodded, confirming that he understood the reasoning behind bringing Liars & Traitors to the holodeck - and as much as he had doubts, he knew putting them to one side would benefit greatly not only as a source of information and intelligence but a potential ally from a tactical stand-point. He stepped back from the Reka as the staff swung through the air, for a moment, he was entranced by the fluidity that the weapon moved through the air, like a dance. He took a moment before unfolding his arms and looking at the Reka. "Looks like we're in this together then." He didn't know whether they shook hands, but it was the only way he could physically confirm that he was alright with the alliance.

Gaz extended his hand, though with a warning look of 'hurt any of the crew, and it'll be on your head'.

Liar & Traitor look down at the offered hand, her four eyes narrowing as she puzzled over the gesture.

"It is a sign of trust," Remas explained with a wry smile. "It shows that we do not carry weapons, and our intentions are well met."

The lanky alien avian nodded in exaggeration, clearly picking up some of the human idioms, and reached out to take Gaz's hand. The three-fingered claw closed around the man's hand, a surprisingly strong grip.

"Trust...will get you killed," Remas's voice echoed from the Reka thoughtfully. "But is perhaps old way of thinking. Old way of doing. This is new way for all of us. But threat of death is not new to Reka."

 

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