Prisoners
Posted on Sat Sep 20th, 2014 @ 3:05pm by Captain Liarra Von & Lieutenant Commander Drewe Reed & Captain Jeff Smith & Lieutenant JG Erica De'Havean & Hyram
Mission:
Aggressive Negotiations
Location: Myaz Capital, Sovereign's Palace
Liarra kicked at a piece of debris lying on the faded carpet. It could have been a rock, or a large piece of plaster. It may very well have been something else entirely given the Myaz's propensity for collecting things. She really didn't care what it was, but it was something to do while the team could think.
It hadn't felt like that long since Vaishaa took Hyram into the other room. It wasn't too difficult for Captain Von to figure out what she wanted. She knew that Vaishaa wanted the Creator, and Hyram was the key to getting it. Liarra still didn't know what the creator was, but she knew that Vaishaa wanted it. She wanted it badly enough to invade the planet.
While her thoughts wandered, considering the predicament the away team found themselves in, Liarra looked back to her team to see how they were faring. There were several armed guards in the room, but while they weren't right next to the Starfleet officers, there were enough of them at an attempt to rush them and take their weapons would result in the team getting slaughtered. And Liarra was not about to die here today. All they needed to do was stall long enough for Lieutenant Kelly and Major Griffiths to stage a rescue attempt.
Smith was sitting there wondering at his own ineptitude at not sensing the possibility of an ambush "Oh man we just got a major wedgie" he said and looked around "We had our underwear pulled up over our heads and tied in a knot, there seems to be a jamming device active my comm has gone dead Captain" he said discreetly indicating the sub-dermal implant.
Von nodded. "I had a feeling we'd probably lose communication. I don't like being in the dark. Keep trying to reach the Carthage, Captain. Maybe we'll get lucky and find a way through."
"May be" Was all he could think to say.
Drewe was concerned but thus far had managed to keep calm. Though they were prisoners, things could've been worse and Reed tried to remember that. There was a solution to every problem, they just had to remain observant and wait for their opportunity. In the meantime, she focused on offering a wan smile to those who met her eye. The situation was not something to smile about by any means, but she had to appear calm and assured for the rest of the team. No one would trust a counselor who wasn't.
Liarra continued her brief stroll, occasionally stopping to inspect some piece of junk that she found lying on the ground. She moved close to Captain Smith. "Jeff, have you heard anything from the Carthage?" she asked at a low whisper.
Looking at her and just as quietly "No, still being jammed all I am getting is static, but you can be sure something is going on up there" He said indicating the Carthage.
"I'm sure Lieutenant Kelly and Major Griffiths are working on some sort of a plan, assuming that they haven't already blasted them out of the sky." Von continued to pace. Partially it was out of boredom, and partially because she hated to sit still at a time like this, but mostly because she was hoping to come up with some sort of idea. Maybe the solution was simpler than she thought. She had nearly forgotten about Hyram's aide, who was left behind with the Starfleet delegation. They guards didn't seem to be paying her much attention as she moved closer to the aide, which she took to be a good sign. Liarra took a seat on a pile of junk next to the aide. "What's your name?" she asked him.
"Does it matter?" The dejected, disheveled man said through his hands. He sat at the foot of the pile upon which Hyram's throne stood and barely seemed to be in the room. His voice seemed distant and lacked the misplaced pride of the last time they had spoken. "You wouldn't have cared about my name if this hadn't happened and this wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for you."
Liarra shook her head. "I may not have asked, but I may not have had a chance to ask. Our mission was to speak with your sovereign." She sat in silence a moment, trying to come up with a reply to his second accusation. "I'm afraid that this would have happened without me. Vaishaa is a warlord. She's ordered her troops to attack other worlds. There was something here that she wanted, and she would have stopped at nothing to get it. The only reason we are here was to stop her. Admittedly, we failed. But the Sojourners would have attacked whether I was here or not."
"Says you." The Aide's voice was full of mistrust. To him the two parties were no different- it just so happened that the Sojourners showed their teeth first.
Liarra hung her head. "Fair enough. I get that you don't trust me. Maybe that is for good reason. I'll be honest, if it wasn't for the Federation fighting with the Sojourners, we wouldn't be here at all. But it's not because we wanted to conquer Myaz for ourselves. We only wanted to keep them away." She took a deep breath and let her eyes wander over the throne room, hoping to find some clue that she could use to gain his trust, but she didn't find anything. "My name is Liarra Von. I come from the planet Trill, and I'm a captain in Starfleet and a representative of the United Federation of Planets. I command a space station, in orbit of Archa IV. My friend and mentor was killed in a Sojourner attack, and yes, I hold Vaishaa personally responsible. My eagerness to stop her clouded my judgment and it affected my ability to meet with your king. But I hold no ill will towards the Myaz people, and I will do everything in my power to restore the power to His Majesty. I don't want the Sojourners here any more than you do. Maybe that's not enough to get you to trust me, but at this point, I'm not sure there is anything else that I can give you."
"My name's Niru. I come from here, the great and bountiful City of Mya," the Aide sounded less than convinced and his sweeping hand gesture followed the same, "for what it is. I have a family here. A husband and a child."
"I've been a mother and a father in past lives, so I know how important they are to you. I will do everything I can to get you reunited with your family, I promise." Liarra wasn't sure if she could live up to that promise, but she would certainly try.
"I just hope the Sojourners have confined themselves to the centre of the city. They live away from me, in a farm in the outskirts. There is space there. Peace." Niru seemed to lose himself in the image of his home. "This collecting hasn't reached there- god knows why. Hyram's grandfather believed that everything which landed on Myaz Sovereignty territory belonged to the Sovereignty."
The Myaz chuckled distantly. "That's the reason for all the junk. For fifty cycles, everything that landed here was kept and Hyram doesn't see the fact that the Galaxy has changed. He thinks that everything belongs to us- he keeps sending our ships to 'invade' useless planets in the name of the Myaz Sovereignty. I know it's stupid and these Sojourners could be your fault but the Federation would bring the Galaxy to Myaz and the King would see that it wasn't all about junk."
Liarra nodded along. She was beginning to reach a better understanding about the Myaz people. So much of the information that had been available had been the result of Hyram's, for lack of a better term, ambitions. "There certainly is more. A lot more. The galaxy is a big place, full of wonders that he couldn't imagine."
"If you'd landed here forty cycles ago, the Hyram's Grandfather would have kept you as property of the Myaz Sovereignty." He said before laughing again. "I'm sitting here, willing to die for an idiot. You think we're all like Hyram, I bet. Not even close. The Creator is the worst kept secret in the Sovereignty- the royal house just live in blissful ignorance."
"It's not the worst kept secret. Tell me, what is The Creator? I have a feeling that that is what the Sojourners are after, but I don't know what it is." She grimaced. "No offense intended, Niru, but the Myaz Sovereignty is not very strategically significant." She held up a hand to stop him for just a moment. "Culturally significant and very valuable; I know the Federation would very much like to get to know the Myaz people and learn more about you. But I don't think that's Vaishaa's goal. Her motivations are very different than ours."
"Culturally significant." Niru echoed mockingly. "A culture obsessed with dust-bowls. Very significant. The Creator is a terraformer. A survey team found it on one of the outlying system worlds about two hundred cycles ago. It 'creates' lush worlds from the dust bowls. The Royals think it's a god. Inbred idiots."
Liarra wasn't really sure how to respond to that, though her suspicions had been pretty much confirmed. A powerful terraforming device would allow the Sojourners to gain more planets with more ease. Though how effective strategically it would ultimately be was yet to be determined. She had considered pressing the matter more when Captain Smith interrupted her thoughts.
Smith had been thinking "Captain,may I have a word a moment, please?" He asked and waited till she approached him and sat down.
Von took her leave from the Myaz aide and approached her security escort. "What is it, Captain?"
Speaking quietly "I have worked with Major Griffiths long enough to know that she will initiate a SAR mission, all we got to do is bide our time." He said paused.
"Agreed. Lieutenant Kelly would think the same way. We don't leave any one behind either."
"My assessment of Vaishaa and the Sojourners is that she would have both communication jammers and transporter inhibitors set up to block Federation signals, but not her own. To limit her contact with her forces would be.... suicidal and Vaishaa strikes me as any thing but this. I would have to guess that Major Griffiths will attempt to get a team to the Sojourner jamming units and to destroy them, but having no contact with the Major I do not know what she will actually do about the Jamming frequencies the Sojourners have set up" He finished.
"That would certainly explain why we can't get through to the Carthage, and why weren't beamed up at the first sign of trouble. You're probably right, a shuttle would be the best way to get in. Taking out the jamming devices in the local area could help us reestablish a link to the ship. At the very least we might be able to warn the ship that we're incoming. But if the Sojourners have jamming devices on the surface, they will in orbit as well." Liarra rubbed her temple as she considered the situation. She looked back over at Niru and had an idea. "Captain, without knowing what's going on out there, it's hard to come up with a concrete plan. But if the major does send a shuttle to rescue us, it may be worth it to access the Myaz communication network and send out a message across the planet. We may not get the signal past the ships in orbit, but at the very least we could get a signal out to the other cities, maybe alert the Myaz to the invasion."
Looking at the Captain "Sir, when we get out of this, it might be wise to have all of you have the sub-dermal comm unit implanted, that way we have back-up communications should our commbadges go down, it is also a useful tool" He said then looking glum as he indicated the room "Well only useful if no jamming devices or frequencies are involved" He said.
"I'll consider the recommendation, Captain, but I'm not sure I want to hear voices in my head. I have enough trouble keeping track of all of my previous personalities. But thank you for the suggestion. Keep me posted if anything changes."
Smiling "Yes Sir" He said as he watched her walk to another.
Liarra walked away from the marine and back to the aide. She took a seat next to him again. "Niru, is there any communication equipment in the palace that we could use to broadcast a message to the whole planet?" she asked at a whisper. The Sojourner guards were close, but they seemed oblivious to the dangers of letting the prisoners talk. Vaishaa must have hired mercenaries with the lowest bid.
"There's probably something kicking around." He said without any real commitment. "Knowing this place it'll probably need repaired but there should be something in one of the old ante-rooms."
Liarra nodded along. "If we were to find a way through the communication jamming, do you think it would be possible to send a signal out across the planet? Unless a much bigger force has arrived than I'm thinking, the Sojourners may be focusing on the capital. If so, we might be able to get a warning signal out to let people know of the invasion." She paused a moment. "We might even be able to warn your family to go into hiding, to make sure that they stay safe."
"Yes, I think so." Niru said tentatively. "I don't know how to do it though."
"Maybe we can walk you through the equipment if you can get us there. If I know my crew, they'll plan some sort of rescue attempt. We don't leave anyone behind. And that includes you and your people. Unless we can get in reinforcements, there's no way that my one ship can fight off the Sojourners. But that doesn't mean we can't give you a fighting chance."
Niru looked forlornly at the door. "Okay- I can get you there."
Captain Liarra Von
Commanding Officer
Lieutenant Commander Drewe Reed
Chief Counselor
Captain Jeff Smith [NPC: Griffiths]
Marine XO
Niru [Played by Jordan Gunning]
Sovereign's Aide
