[RPG]Star Trek: X

[Valathous]

~ Odium, Cockpit ~

Theo nodded in acknowledgement to Parker. He didn't mind taking the helm for a while. It gave him something to do rather that sit around and wait until they arrived. Perhaps he would have some fun with the ship and scare the crew?

Theo looked back at Toren who was acting arrogantly. Theo sighed.

"Hey. The role of arrogant ass is already taken," he said to Toren, "Get your own damn identity."

[Ziona]

Odium, Cockpit

Aika turned a half-closed eye on Theo and then at Toren, half expecting a brawl to break out right there in the cockpit. After a moment she shut her eyes again.

Her mind only registered that Theo was moving towards the helm of the ship but the thought of pure disaster arising from this didn't even cross her mind.

"There ain't enough room for the two of you." She whispered under her breath and went back to her half-nap and half-concious state.

[Lord Borg]

Jack sat down at a station near the where Aika was, and where Theo was about to be. He took a quick look over the station and sat back.

"Off to another world..."

[Founder]

-Odium, Quarters-

James plopped into the bed, extremly tired from all the escapades. He closed his eyes, letting his mind focus on the soft hum of the engines at warp. A part of him didn't want to sleep, because then the nightmares would begin. James heard someone whisper and he immideatly sat up. He looked around the cramped bunker and noticed that no one else was there.

"Getting paranoid..." He said to himself, chuckling.

He laid back down and closed his eyes, trying to focus on the hum again. Suddenly, what sounded like a voice underwater, began to speak. He sat up and looked around, a bead of sweat sliding down his face. His vision began to blur and he recieved a splitting headache. James clutched his head and groaned. He shut his eyes tightly from the intense pain.

"Open your eyes." A familiar voice said.

James slowly opened his eyes and looked for the source of the voice. His vision was blurry, but suddenly began to clear. He looked up to see a man, possibly holographic, stanging in front of him while surrounded by a bluish glow. He looked more like a shadow. James wondered if that was his real or hologrpahic form or that his eyes were simply a huge blur.



"Who are you?" He asked, cringing from the headache.

The being looked down at him, standing over him like a divine figure.

"You know me," The voice replied, "James Parker. Starfleet coward."

James connected the voice to the shadowy admiral from the unknown ship in the Gamma quadrant.

"How are you here?" He asked.

The man chuckled at his question.

"When you were unconsious," He said, "I implanted a device into your head. It send a carrier wave and allows you to see me. No one else sees what you see."

James clutched his hair, wanting to tear it out from the pain.

"What are you doing to me?" He asked.

The man stood still, not moving an inch.

"The device is Romulan in origin," He said, "Not made for Humans. You will always feel intense pain as long as I speak to you..."

James' teeth clicked together tightly.

"Then make it quick..." He muttered.

The voice chuckled and literally took his time to speak.

"Don't make demands to me," He said, "With one word, I can have you all killed. I'll make it simple Mr. Parker. Your pathetic band of losers murdered Starfleet officers. We told you to take out the target. If the target has bodyguards, kill him. If he has non-Federation civilians with him, kill them. But you can NEVER kill Starfleet officers or Federation citizens. Is that understood?"

James fell to the floor from the pain. He spit onto the floor, feeling liquid boil into his throat. The hurt man could only nod in pain.

"Good," He said, "Unfortunetly for you, the team must be punished. We've discovered that it was Mr. Rendar and Mr. Th�odore that killed the Starfleet officers. Now they will suffer for it. You too. You're the team leader and should have controlled them. Mr. Rendar's entire crew of illegal idiots on the Outrider are going to be killed. As for Mr. Th�odore? His punishment will come from a different source. Goodbye Mr. Parker. I'll being seeing you soon..."

The image faded and James blacked out on the carpet from the pain.

[Republican_Man]

--Odium, Cockpit--
"Hey. The role of arrogant ass is already taken," Theo said to Toren, "Get your own damn identity."
Rendar smirked, chuckling slightly. He turned his head back to the console, doing a few things. A couple minutes later he turned back around, inquiring to the man, "What's our ETA?"

[Founder]

-Odium, Cockpit-

James stumbled onto the cockpit, his head still hurting. He leaned against the door frame for stability. His eyes immediatly went to Toren and Theo. Theo was at the helm and Toren stood behind him talking.

"Theo!" He said, "Drop warp and engage the cloak! Now!"

He looked over at Toren in sadness. James didn't like the man, but he certainly didn't wish death on his friends. Possibly even people he considers family. For a moment, James was tempted to not tell him anything. To ignore all of this to the bitter end, but that wasn't James.

"Toren," He said, "Your crew...they're in danger..."

He looked at Theo, who sat oblivious to whats coming.

"So are you Theo..." He said.

[Ziona]

Odium, Cockpit

Aika startled awake as she heard James enter. She glanced around, a little groggy from sleeping.

"What's going on?"

[Republican_Man]

--Odium, Cockpit--
Toren turned as James entered the room. He was about to joke about him being drunk or something, but when the leader said to him, "Your crew...they're in danger..." he was just stunned.
It took him a second to realize the scope of what he had just been told. Once he comprehended it he said, "What the hell are you talking about? The Outrider? In danger? How the hell do you know that?" He paused, very briefly. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Now...now he was very worried. His friends were in danger. No, his family was in danger. If anything was going to happen to them, he wouldn't give a damn about this mission and would do all he could to help them.

[Founder]

-Odium, Cockpit-

James looked around the tiny control area. Aika sat in a seat, groggy from just waking up. He looked back Toren.

"It doesn't matter how I know," He said, "But I do know. They're in danger. They're going to be killed. I don't know how, but its punishment. For killing Starfleet officers..."

[Republican_Man]

--Odium, Cockpit--
"Why those sons of bitches," Toren said, shaking his head, furious. "Don't they know that we had no God damned choice!?" he shouted. His fury was more than evident. "For God sake, the bastards...Where the hell are they? Do you know anything more? We've got to stop them."

[Founder]

-Odium, Cockpit-

James fell into the nearest seat and rubbed the temple of his forehead.

"Please don't yell..." He said.

He wasn't sure about any of the questions Toren had asked. No specific information was ever given.

"I don't know," He said, "Wherever your crew is I suppose..."

Suddenly the last piece of information registered and clicked. Toren wanted to warn them.

"No!" He said, "Look, I'm sorry, but we can't. That jeapordizes everything."

Then again, Starfleet were being bastards for this.

"They probably want us to go and help them," He reasoned, "Thats a trap waiting to happen..."

[Republican_Man]

--Odium, Cockpit--
Rendar's face was a shade of red--all over. His fury was, as this narrator said before, ever-apparent.
He put his finger up and pointed it Parker. "Look," he said, "they're my friends. Hell, they're more than my friends--they're my family." His voice was calmer there, but now it grew louder and more stern and forceful. "God damn it!" he proclaimed, banging his fist on an area in between two consoles. He looked back up and glared at James. "They can't die for something I did! They did nothing wrong! They didn't do anything, and now they're going to die!? Those bastards are gonna kill my crew because I defended myself."
He walked closer to Parker, his finger in his face. He was powerful as he spoke his next words.
"This is my family, Parker. My fam-il-y! They did nothing wrong and now you're just going to sit by here, knowing that they're about to die--that people are about to die when you have the power to save them. You have that power, and yet you don't give a damn about it." He paused, pursing his lips, pacing a bit, shaking his head. "Put it this way. If you knew Starfleet's gonna kill your family, what would you do?" He shook his head, looking around at everyone.
"For God sake, man. When I escaped Starfleet I had no where to go. I almost died a few times, and then--then these guys took me in. And not just as an operative like the first iditos I worked with, but as a friend--as a member of their family." His right hand went to his forehead. "They took me in. I became their brother. These aren't just my friends, you bastard--they're my brothers and sisters!"
He was now in the front of the cockpit, and didn't look back. "But you don't give a damn about that." He was serious in expression and demeanor as he looked back at Parker. "You don't like me, I don't like you. But I know you don't like killing! I saw you back on Cardassia! You were appauled at the killings. And now you're just gonna sit by and allow my friends--my family--to die. You hypocritical bastard. You're a real hypocritical son of a bitch."
He was on the verge of punching the man out but decided against it. Not the best thing to do, hurting the person you're trying to convince to help you.
He paused. "No way in hell am I gonna let this happen. You decide whether you're gonna help me or I'm gonna do it alone." He shook his head, done with his tirade.

[Lord Borg]

Jack walked up his hand on a phaser.

"It is unfourtinate. But if you do something stupid, you kill us to. You can't be sure they'll actually kill the ship or the crew."

[Republican_Man]

Toren looked at Jack. "So then why are we doing what we're doing now?" he snapped. "Didn't you think this was impossible, Jack, that Starfleet would actually send out a team of assassins?"

[Ziona]

Aika glanced from person to person as they argued. She stood from her comfortable seat and stretched, her dark eyes on Toren and then on Jack and then on James.

"It seems strange but they have their reasons."

[Lord Borg]

"At one time. But then again, we're killing people that killed mothers, children, fathers, brothers, sisters."

Jack looked on with concern. He didnt much care for this man, but understood the value of family.

[Republican_Man]

"Let me tell you one thing," Toren said, his finger up, pointing at Jack. "We may have gone around smuggling, but we are not murderers." His finger went down. "There's a difference. And besides, my point was that you did think that they wouldn't do something like this, so how can you say that we don't even know if they're gonna do it or not?"

[Lord Borg]

"Mmnn..." Jack started, "They hired us to do thier dirty work right? So it's reasonable to assume they wont kill your crew unless they hire someone eles. Which.... is doubtful. A person is one thing, a whole crew and ship? that's a whole new ball game"

[Republican_Man]

"I wouldn't put it past them," Toren replied. "Especially not after all this. Besides, the Outrider's not that big."

[Founder]

-Odium, Cockpit-

James listened as Toren went off on him and explained why he had to save his crew. He didn't appreciate be called a hypocrite, but he could appreciate the sentiment about family. The thing about his family being killed hit him hard. He wondered what would happen. James stood up and folded his arms.

"Look," He said, "I don't know if they really will kill them, but its a real possibility."

He sighed and hated himself for it.

"I'll help your crew," He said, "But I'm in charge in this "rescue". Understand? Your closeness to them is a liability. I lead, not you."

[Republican_Man]

--Odium, Cockpit--
Toren let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you," he said. This gained him some repsect for Parker. Perhaps he had misjudged him...
"I'll follow your lead, boss," he said. "It may not seem like much, but you've gained some respect from me, Jim," Rendar admitted, feeling slightly embarrassed at saying such a thing. But giving him the chance to save his crew...
He digressed, saying, "What now, Jim?"

[Founder]

-Odium, Cockpit-

James felt sheepish after Toren asked that. He made this big deal about leading and wasn't sure what to do first.

"Wait," He said, "I need to know that EVERYONE is behind this."

He looked around at the others.

"Are you all willing to help or...feel this is bad?" He asked.

[Republican_Man]

Toren shook his head. Yeah, if they didn't have support...
"Come on, guys," he said to them all. "I really need you on this. They're my friends, my family. I can't let this happen to them, especially when it was my fault..." He was mellow. His sadness--blatent sadness--was absolutely evident. He really hoped they would back him and James on this...

[Ziona]

Aika turned her eyes on Toren. She watched him a moment judging his facial expression. She crossed the room to stand before him. There was a silence.

"Yes, James. I think this is what we need to do."

Aika regarded Toren for a moment longer before she turned and left the room.

[Lord Borg]

Jack sighed and looked around the room.

"Hmmm.... I guess. Although, they seem to know what happens if we don't work on our mission..."