Cries in the dark

Posted on Wed Jun 22nd, 2022 @ 1:50pm by Commander Antonia 'Tony" Stoffels & Lieutenant Sky Jansen-Carey & Lieutenant Commander Rutherford (RJ) Milton
Edited on on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 @ 6:21pm

Mission: The Lost Brother
Location: Various
Timeline: Evening of the briefing

Warning the following post contains graphic content.


{ON}

Soran was tired after a long day, so he sat down. He looked at the picture of himself with his ex Sara on his left arm at a gathering of her friends. In the background there was his former chief along with CJ, T'Lyn and… Pat.

That picture was taken before their first skirmish with the Klingons. The last time he'd seen Pat his was severed from his body and he had a hand pressing an artery in the Chief's shoulder screaming for help.Things had gone to hell so fast, that was the day his life started falling apart again. The nightmares. Intrusive thoughts. Flustering anxiety. Ticking triggers.

He grabbed a bottle of Skagaran whiskey. Theoretically alcohol suppresses REM sleep… No REM… No dreams… 'Yeah, showing up to work with a hangover is a wonderful idea.' He shook his head.

With a clunk the bottle was placed in the cabinet behind Synthehol. He couldn't focus well enough for meditation. He changed out of his uniform and got into bed. After slowing down his breathing he drew a long deep breath and felt his eyelids getting heavy….

*********

Sky was having a restless night, call it hormones, or whatever it was. Deciding to go for a walk to tire herself she was walking the decks of the ship when she sensed a powerful sensation, pain, terror, fear....focusing her senses she decided to help whoever it was she was picking up on.

*********

He opened his eyes. He tried to fight against the restraints, but he felt a sharp pain in his head. He was strapped to a table with sensors attached all over his body. His head was completely immobilized by the probes on his temples. He could hear hums and beeps from the monitoring equipment.

"Focus your mind," a disembodied voice said. "Honestly if you can't resist this, how will you survive the coming war? The sons of Angosiana must be strong!"

Suddenly there was a face in this field of vision. The skin had an Orangish paler, his dark eyes were sunk back in his bald head. His lipless mouth was curved into a cruel looking grin. It was Councilor Ichatha, he never knew what species this being was. The only thing he knew sure of was that he's telepathic and his government had brought him in to teach them.

"Focus and try again," they shouted. "There will be no food, water or sleep until you get out of those bonds!"

He took a deep breath and tried to push the mental barrier that was keeping his body from moving. He couldn't understand it, he'd passed the test before.

"What's the matter?!" Ichatha spat.

Suddenly he realized that prick was in his head! He could feel his presence.

"The great Soran Wagnor top of his class jumping through every hoop, can't get out of a simple puzzle like this?"

Soran summoned all of his anger frustration and hatred. Focusing it. Pushing the presence out of his mind. The searing, scorching, intensity, compelled Soran to cry out in pain. However his screams were drowned out by Ichatha. Wailing and writhing on the floor drenched in the blood from his erupted occipital arteries.

Soran could move, released himself from the straps and got off the table. The migraine like pain in his head was still intense as he continued to focus his anger on that arrogant prick. The Councilor's eyes rolled back into his head. As several men entered the room.

"Stop, you'll kill him!" Someone shouted.

The voices sounded farther and farther away as Soran felt his knees buckle and his vision blurred. He clenched his eyes shut hoping to end this recollection.

-+-+-+

Sky was appalled at what she’d seen, by what Soran had been through, and by what he’d tried to do to try and make it stop. She needed to get out! To get away from what she was seeing, but she didn’t know how...

-+-+-+

Soran could hear the engines hum and feel the vibrations of the stealth transport. He opened his eyes and he was suited up with his full kit. He was sitting on a bench with the rest of his team.

"Look sharp Wagnor, we're close to the drop zone." The commander said. "Keep your fucking viser down this time! All we need is you getting some kind of eye infection. You're the medic!"

"Viser up, visor down. Don't matter, his eyes will water! His tears will fall, that's why he's our Ren." Thatha said with a chuckle. As she adjusted her own viser. "Are you going to play a tune for the dead?!"

The Ren was an anamorphic creature in Angosian folklore. It was said that a Ren would weep for the suffering and play music for the wounded. Wagnor's eyes were sensitive to the smoke, so Thatha called him Ren. The name stuck. Soran responded to her with a rude gesture.

"We can make time for that later sugar," She said with a raised eyebrow.

"Cut the chatter,'' the commander barked. "Let's hear the Credo!"

"Stand behind us, we protect you.
Fight beside us, we respect you.
Stand against us, we will end you.
The Sentinels of Angosiana stand fast!"

They called in unison.

"Go time!" The commanders shouted as they were beamed off the ship.

The team materialized at the edge of a forest near the enemy command center, it was dark but the sky lit by a battle raging a few clicks away. As they advanced on the back of the building, Soran heard a twig snap behind him and turned to a young man frozen with fear. He couldn't have been more than seventeen or so. He was dressed like a civilian, but had a rifle. Soran stepped in and drove a knife where he knew Tasian lung to be. The boy's eyes went wide with terror his mouth dropped open but there was no sound as blood ran down his chin. He pulled out the blade and slit the youth's throat for a silent kill. His armor was covered in blood. He had to keep moving.

They moved quickly and quietly to the top of a hill. The silence is broken by an explosion and a blinding flash of light, Soran could hear high pitched screams. When his eyes adjusted, most of the team was engulfed in flames, Thatha's entire back was on fire. He pushed her into the mud to put out the fire, there was nothing he could do for others. His eyes burned from the smoke and ash of his comrades. He opened Thatha's helmet and fixed an oxygen filter mask to her face and gave an adrenaline injection. Her eyes snapped open and she stared at him.

"The smoke… must be… in your eyes… Ren." She reached up and brushed his face.

The smell of molten metal and burning fresh was unbearable. His team was an unrecognizable pile of ash. His eyes were burning from the thick black smoke that completely obscured his vision…


-+-+-+


Soran opened his eyes. He was in the ruin of the capital city of Davin III, their enemies had orders not to surrender and they had orders to give no quarter. The civilians had been evacuated, but there were always stragglers. He'd seen one or two but he wasn't here to hurt civvies. Just burn their world to the ground. There was sudden movement from behind the rubble and an animal ran out into the open beams from the rifles of the comrades hitting the creature burning holes straight through it.

"Relax you idiots! you're wasting ammunition" He growled.

He was one of the only officers who survived the last battle and now found himself commanding a bunch of green recruits. He cursed under his breath, then stopped. He heard a child crying.

"Hold!" Soran barked. He moved in the direction of the sound. He saw a small being who looked frail and malnourished was most likely a child.

"Get out of here kid!" He pointed the way they came.

The child ran, he didn't know why he’d pointed in that direction. There wasn't anything that way, but they'd be out of the line of fire. He heard another noise, someone trying to be quiet and he pointed his rifle in that direction.

Another small being taller than the other child. He was wearing a helmet and an officer's long coat, both of which were far too big for his small body. The sleeves of the coat were rolled up and the hem touched the ground. It would've been comical if it wasn't so sad. In the second it took Soran to switch his rifle to stun the child threw a ball to his left. There was an explosion and several soldiers were thrown through the air like rag dolls.

Soran's ears were ringing, the child was activating another device. He let out a shout and charged at the boy! He fired the rifle, but the shot went wild. He swung the butt of the rifle and struck the boy in the side of the head, his neck made a sickening popping noise and his helmet rolled off. Soran brought the butt straight on his head, caving it in with a thump. The device fell from his hand and detonated. Soran was thrown into the air he could feel his skin burning and his armor heating up. He hit the ground hard and it all went black…


*********

Sky reeled from what she’d just witnessed, she had to get out of this nightmare!!” Sky looked around the sudden blackness that surrounded her. She paused to think to stop panic setting in. “Soran?! Can you hear me Soran?... Help me!!!”

Soran could barely hear her voice; it was like he was underwater…

He opened his eyes, his face was wet with tears, and his throat was sore. He could feel a presence in his mind and then pain… he felt like a hot needle was being pushed into his brain.

Sky clutched at her head letting out a cry of pain at the sensation of a sharp needle being pushed into her head. She had entered Soran’s mind without intending to, and now she was paying the price for it. The pain was excruciating, so much so she collapsed at his bedside.

Soran took a breath and released Sky from his mind,. "What the fuck!"

The pain I his head had begun to subside, he saw Lt Janson on the floor.

Sky slowly stirred but as she did the memory of what she’d seen flashed before her eyes that, and the lingering pain in her head, made her scramble backwards until she was sitting up against his bedroom wall, sitting huddled up in a frightened ball.

Soran pressed the COMM. "Wagnor to Stoffels"

Tony was a very light sleeper and right now worrying about her brother she did not sleep much or well at all. So when her com unit chimed she touched it within seconds. "Stoffels here."

"Please come to my quarters, it's urgent. I'll explain later." He tried sound calm.

Tony knew him long enough to hear that he was hanging on to sounding normal but he was anything but. Be there in a minute." She broke the connection, threw on a robe and sprinted from her quarters.

The dreams had been so intense, he sat up and felt a wave of nausea and ran to the bathroom. He heaved him guts and stumbled back into the room. He looked at Sky huddled in the corner like a frightened child.

"Why did you come here?" He said quietly.

Sky took a few moments to answer. “I... came to help you. I sensed pain, anger, fear...” She massaged her temples. “I didn’t mean to... I touched you to wake you, it must have connected us. I’m sorry!”

Soran helped Sky to her feet, "let's get you into the living area. This looks bad enough without Tony finding us in the bedroom."

Getting to her friend's quarters in record time Tony hit the chime.

"Come," Soran called as he helped Sky into a chair.

Sky looked up as the doors opened to reveal Tony. She only wished her hands weren’t shaking, it didn’t look good for the ship’s Counsellor to be an emotional wreck.

"Sky what happened. What are you doing here in the middle of the night." She rushed to her friends. "Are you alright Ren?"

Sky looked towards Tony. “I sensed someone in terror... pain, I followed it here. I let myself in, I tried to wake Soran but when I touched him...” She paused massaging her temples. “I saw... nightmares! Then there was pain...so much pain. I think I passed out.”

"Aw shit." Tony crouched down next to her. "How are you now?" As she did not have a medical tricorder with her she started to take vitals the old fashioned way. "Ren can you get us some juice? I think you need some as well. And I will be checking you out later."

Sky offered a brief smile. “I have a headache, and I’m a little shaky.” She held up her hands which were still shaking. “I didn’t mean to enter Soran’s mind. I was just trying to check on him.” She offered Soran an apologetic glance. “I’m so sorry! I won’t blame you if you decide to make a formal complaint.”

"No," Soran said walking to the kitchenette. He paused looking at the liquor bottles. Before replacing two glasses of juice. He put juice on the end table.

"I know you didn't mean it." Tony said. "You need to get some fast sugars into you and then plenty of rest."

Sky nodded. “I want to go to Sickbay, I need to make sure everything is alright. Just for my own peace of mind.”

Soran went back to the kitchenette and grabbed the bottle whiskey and and took a long swig he held the liquor in his mouth to allow it to cleanse the tast of the vomit. He stared at the floor as he swallowed the liquor.

"I agree." Tony fumbled for her communicator. "Stoffels for Milton."

Pix was glowing in her alarmed tone, someone she knew was in pain, she had tried to stir a tired Doctor, the the voice woke him with a start.

=^= Milton here what is the problem?" He asked out of reflex as he saw flash images of SToffels and Sky. "Tony, what is going on wwith Sky?" His Little feeling in the gut told him to get out of bed and start towards Sick Bay.

"She has had a terrible shock." She quickly broke down for him what had happened. "I want to bring her to sickbay."

{TBC}