From jefftrock@hotmail.com Sun Jun 28 00:27:54 1998 Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 09:51:54 -0600 From: "Jeffery D. Trock" To: INDIGO FLEET List Serve Subject: [INDIGOXO] SB OMEGA: Execution of an Admiral ---OFFICIAL INDIGO FLEET TRANSMISSION--- Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 10:53:04 -0500 From: jefftrock@hotmail.com (Jeffery D. Trock) Subject: [INDIGOXO] SB OMEGA: Execution of an Admiral WARNING: This post contains a graphic torture scene. Reader discretion is advised. Stardate: 100627.1000 FMD : 7.0045 Scene: Runabout NEWPORT James Phaser (it would be pointless to precede his name with his rank, for he lacked the integrity and honor of a Star Fleet officer) hustled his two hostages into the back of the runabout, prodding them in the back with his Type II hand phaser sidearm as they moved. He still nervously clutched the Bajoran explosive device in his other hand, although he found that he had to frequently adjust his grip because the device began to slip in his sweaty, trembling palm. INDIGO Fleet had no specialized counterterrorism response team available. While security personnel and Marines underwent antiterrorism training, participated in simulated hostage rescues, and learned how to detect indicators of sabotage, the closest equivalent to the late 20th century's Delta Force or the 21st century's Rainbow Six was based at Starbase Alpha and would take weeks to get here. These dedicated groups of elite operatives were trained to quickly respond to acts of terrorism, mostly with the use of deadly force. They called it counterterrorism... "they" being those in charge of deciding which things got called what. Most people not familiar with the field freely, yet incorrectly, interchanged the term with "antiterrorism", which only dealt with reducing the vulnerability of an individual or property to terrorist acts. Counterterrorism implied a more active response to such circumstances. However, Phaser did not consider himself a terrorist at all. He was not trying to make a political statement. His intentions were not to get public attention via the media. He was merely providing for his own safety... knowing that without his hostages, he would have been immediately captured, court-martialed, and imprisoned for his crimes against the United Federation of Planets. Or even worse, during a time of war, executed. As a flag officer, the UFP and Star Fleet had trusted him with the information he needed to make decision at that level in the chain of command. James had abused that precious trust, and neglected the responsibility of safeguarding the important information he had been trusted with. The fact that such a high-level officer had been bought and used by the Dalriadan intelligence community would be very humiliating for Star Fleet. Most likely, once word had gotten to Star Fleet Command, a witch hunt would ensue. Records and behavioral patterns would be closely scrutinized. Those who had supported Phaser's advancement in the past would be questioned and closely monitored. Not to mention the shame his children would have to live with as they tried to continue their careers in Star Fleet. The name "Phaser" would leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Many people wouldn't be surprised if Star Fleet Engineering decided to change the name of the standard energy weapon used by all the personnel and ships in the fleet just to avoid the feelings of disgust everytime someone reached for their sidearm or re-charged the ship's capacitors. James forced Vice Admiral John Brooks and his son into separate isolated compartments on the runabout and engaged a containment field to restrain them. "Honestly, Jim... you have no intention of releasing us, do you?" CINCINDIGO inquired, sitting down on a bench and addressing his captor through the forcefield. "Of course he doesn't... a triple agent like myself and the commander of INDIGO Fleet will surely fatten his wallet. What are they offering you, Phaser?" the younger Brooks demanded. "Shut up... both of you!" Phaser hissed. Thoughts of his wife's death still buzzed around in his head, preventing him from thinking clearly enough to respond any further. After checking to make sure the two Brooks' were satisfactorily imprisoned, James moved to the cockpit of the runabout to guide the vessel out of OMEGA's shuttlebay. "OMEGA, this is Phaser. Clear the grid, I'm departing with my hostages. My escorts will surround me in a diamond formation at 100 kilometers and will prevent other vessels from interfering. I will release them from escort duty once I'm safely at my rendezvous point," he carefully declared as his grief was pushed out of his head by the task at hand. [[Phaser, this is OMEGA. You are cleared to depart,]] a voice responded reluctantly. [[Escorts will follow and comply.]] The traitor engaged the runabout's maneuvering thrusters and guided the NEWPORT out of the shuttle bay slowly and deliberately. Once at a safe distance from the starbase, he kicked in the impulse engines and began to speed out of the Terebellum system. Four escorting runabouts joined him, and placed themselves in a diamond formation. Unknown to Phaser, the runabouts were loaded with Star Fleet Marines should he be stupid enough to lower the NEWPORT's shields momentarily, allowing them to storm it. Feeling safer than he had in the past several hours, James Phaser set down his phaser and deactivated the explosive device with his free hand. After it had chirped three times, indicating that it was unarmed, he released his grip on it and placed it on the seat next to him. Stretching out that hand for a few moments, he kicked his feet up onto the navigation console and put his hands behind his head, leaning back in his chair. He would go to D-warp once the NEWPORT's distance from the star was sufficient If he had been thorough enough to check the internal sensors, James would have discovered there was a fourth lifesign aboard the NEWPORT. One that was lying patiently behind a bulkhead panel. One hiding in a space which had previously held life support equipment such as oxygen tanks and medical kits. This small compartment had been gutted specifically for the purpose of hiding one particular Vulcan. ______________________________________________________________________________ FMD : 7.0535 Scene: Runabout NEWPORT, fifteen minutes from rendezvous with the Dalriada The communications console chirped as an incoming transmission was forced through the audio speakers. [[Mr. Phaser, this is General Kronan Bullard, Sub Commander of the Directorate of Information Acquisition. My task force is stationkeeping at a waypoint which will be downloaded to your vessel's navigation computer shortly. Do you have the package?]] a voice came crackling over the comms. The package to which he was referring was of course the senior and junior Brooks'. The task force to which he was referring was poised to attack Starbase OMEGA upon receiving the signal to strike from high command. "That is affirmative. I have received your coordinates and am proceeding to rendezvous. ETA in fifteen minutes. Four runabouts are escorting... I can release them..." Phaser suggested. [[That will not be necessarily. They will be captured and personnel aboard will be interrogated for futher intelligence. We will tractor your vessels in once you're in range. Further instructions will be given to you once you come aboard,]] Bullard declared. "What about my payment?" James eagerly reminded. [[The appropriate funds have been deposited to your account as usual, Mr. Phaser. Good work, as always. Bullard out.]] "It's a shame you'll never get to spend any of it," came a stoic remark from behind him. Startled, Phaser spun around to identify the source. "Sorill!" he barked, fumbling for his sidearm. The Vulcan colonel delivered a chop block to the wrist of the former admiral and grinned at the resulting wet pop and crunch of bone. Being from the three gee world of Makus III, the stout Vulcan was far stronger than his 153 centimeter frame implied. Phaser gasped in pain and clutched at his shattered wrist. He still had the Type I phaser tucked into the top of his boot. His other hand shot down for it. The traitor screamed in pain as the Vulcan, moving faster than Phaser had ever seen a being move, snatched his arm at the elbow and squeezed. The grip continued to tighten, crushing bone and tearing muscle and cartilage. Sorill lifted the traitor by his shattered arm and threw him against the far wall of the runabout. "Don't lose consciousness on me, admiral," mocked the Vulcan as the dazed Phaser looked at him with glassy eyes. "After all, if you aren't conscious, then you can't resist and what would be the fun in that?" A look of terror flashed through the traitor's eyes. Sorill had no intention of bringing him back for a trial. He meant to kill him right there. Phaser used his feet and the wall to lever himself back into a standing position. He jostled his destroyed elbow in the process, causing him to nearly pass out from the shooting pain. Before he could even make a move to defend himself, the Vulcan had taken a long pace forward and delivered a savage downward kick to Phaser's right knee. It collapsed with a sickening -- and to the former black-operations officer, quite satisfying -- crack as the knee disjointed and the bones of the lower leg buckled under the cruel blow. The traitor fell forward and smashed his face on the floor of the runabout. Somehow, he managed to use his good leg to roll himself onto his back. Blood poored from his smashed nose and tears rolled from his eyes. The former admiral had never felt such intense pain in his life. As if reading his mind, Sorill stated in a cold whisper that seemed to come from inside Phaser's head, "It has only begun." Slowly, methodically, the colonel preceded to break every bone in the traitor's left leg. The admiral felt himself slipping into blackness as he body began to shut down because of the intensity of the pain. A hiss in his ear brought him back to agonizing alertness. "That was an inhibitor compound. With it in your system, your body will not shut down from pain. There will be no unconsciousness to save you from your just reward," whispered the colonel as he continued to mangle the body of the traitor. Minutes stretched on like hours as Sorill systematically broke every bone in Phaser's body save skull and spinal column so that the central nervous system continued to transmit its pain signals. The pain was so intense that the traitor could not even scream. All that he was able to do was lay on the floor and quiver. However, he wasn't even dying, quickly at least. The colonel had been very careful not to puncture any organs with broken bones, so as to limit internal bleeding. It would even be possible to sustain the traitor in this state for a day or more even without an advanced medical facility. "The Dalriada wanted you, they can have you," stated Sorill as he dragged the fully conscious James Phaser to the airlock. The Vulcan erected a forcefield across the opening, then opened the lock and pushed Phaser's body into hyperspace. Because of the oddities of the parallel dimension, the body did not decompress, but rather the traitor was left to suffocate. The tri-ox compound that Sorill had injected into Phaser's bloodstream before pushing him out the airlock insured that it would take several more minutes before he expired. Once he had cleaned up the cabin so that there was no trace of the treatment he had given Phaser, Sorill turned the runabout around and headed it back towards SB OMEGA. He idly wondered if the Dalriadan sensors were good enough that they could pick up the body as it drifted past the rendezvous point. At last, he walked back to the isolation cells and released Admiral and Captain Brooks. The three returned to the forward section of the runabout. "Where is Phaser?" asked the younger Brooks. Sorill just gave him a blank, innocent look. "Don't ask," replied the elder. Respectfully Submitted, Jeffery D. Trock - for - James Phaser, Former INDIGOXO Traitor Against the UFP, KIA - SD 100627 Jeffrey J. Jenkins - for - Vice Admiral John R. Brooks, Commander in Chief, INDIGO Fleet Captain J. Robert Brooks, Commanding Officer, USS NOVA Lieutenant Colonel Sorill, Staff Adjutant, INDIGO Fleet FMD 7.0535 Dalriada establish communications with INDIGOXO (Jeff T.) FMD 7.0545 INDIGOXO dealt with by Sorill. (Jeff J.) NRPG: Well, that wraps it up! Thanks to Jeff J. for helping me out with this post. I hope you were intrigued by this surprising little subplot, and very satisfied with Jeff J.'s conclusion of the whole affair. Sometimes the best way to get rid of a character is to annoy an entire starbase and the fleet command staff in the process. ;) I thoroughly enjoyed working with all of the players and units in this fleet. Take care of yourselves in real life, best of luck on your future endeavors, and have fun playing in INDIGO Fleet! I'm off to start my career as a real life Ensign. Effective immediately, please take my jdt7@cornell.edu and jefftrock@hotmail.com addresses off your unit rosters. Mike, please keep only jefftrock@hotmail.com on the INDIGO Fleet listserve... I'd like to watch how the events pan out if I get a chance. Also, Tim, please keep my hotmail account on the PROMETHEUS list so I can continue to read your exploits as long as I can. Say hello to my successor as INDIGOXO, Dana Loeblich. I'm certain a message from her will follow shortly with any instructions she might have as she takes office. Dana, sorry it took so long to get out of your hair so you could start doing your job. ;) JP: Ensign Steven Phaser and LTJG Jack Danger are NPCs in your department on the PROMETHEUS... they're now officially yours to use and abuse if you like. * Tom Clancy buffs will notice the reference I made to Rainbow Six, title of his upcoming novel about a multinational counterterrorist team. ---- Ensign Jeffery D. Trock, USNR jefftrock@hotmail.com ***This message sent by an official member of Indigo Fleet*** Are you also posting your message to the newsgroup?!!! ---END TRANSMISSION---