The price of undercover work
Posted on Wed Sep 5th, 2018 @ 5:12pm by Lieutenant Commander Sarah Dufrai & Ensign Sabine Rona
Edited on on Fri Sep 7th, 2018 @ 9:47am
1,946 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Mission 1: The Return to Faltan
Location: Atuginia - farm area
Timeline: MD07 - 2355
The Crystal Fruits merchant convoy was only an hour away from Atuginia as the convoy stops suddenly. Sarah looked up from her PADD and towards the begin wagon and quickly saw Charlotte wagon "Skylar.." She jumped off her wagon and rushed towards the beginning and suddenly she rushes quicker as she saw not Charlotte but Rona almost falling out "SHENA!" Other members quickly requested medical aid as Sarah grabbed Rona "Shena, what happened, where is Skylar?!"
Sabine fell into Sarah’s arms when she was grabbed. The ride had been hard, but she had held on to get back here. But once she was here, she broke down. She was shaking, tears streamed down her cheeks. “She...sh..Commandant...” She closed her eyes and took a shaky breath, “she said to...give a few days...before rescue...” The reality of everything that had happened was hitting her, hard.
The medic arrived at the wagon and started to treat Rona as Sarah checks with the doctor her recruit and removes the mantle from her leg as the medic was amazed at what he saw. Thought Sarah narrowed her eyes "Skinner did this, you were captured by her" It was more furious in her voice one could make out. Sarah was actually more furious about the situation, most likely Charlotte had to sacrifice herself for this recruit life.
Nodding slightly, Sabine didn’t move. “Guard took me...saying I broke a law by,” she swallowed hard, “by the way I spoke to a priest about a plague they have.” She looked back to Sarah, “I didn’t know Skinner was in the prison.”
Looking at the Medic "I need better sentences here doc..." Sarah saw the Medic work as best as he could and shrugs "The damage is extensive...I need time for this Salvatory" With that said Sarah shrugs and nodded as she stood up and signals a few men to carry Rona towards a wagon where she could be treated.
Few hours later
Entering the wagon as the Medic looked at Sarah "She is stable now, most wounds are ...healed up. But I can't fix the leg from scars" He stood up and walked to the door and stopped at Sarah side "Not to mention the mental condition she will have sleep issues for a long time" In his eye corner Sarah shrugs "Go easy on her..." Sarah did not react as she walks towards her and sat down next to her as the Medic exit the wagon "Hey kid.."
Sabine jumped slightly at the voice, but gave a weak smile. “Hey.” She adjusted where she was laying and sighed. “I’m sorry...”
"About what," Sarah said leaning back against a standard and looked at her "You are alive, be glad about that. Well, I am glad that you are still alive...So i guess I am the one that should say sorry to you about even putting you through that hell"
“But I agreed. And then got involved, and ended up in Skinner’s hands.” Sabine frowned. “You have no reason to be sorry.” She looked down at her leg and a shiver went down her spine.
Letting the silence fall "Skinner is skilled and as professional as one can get in her profession" Sarah shrugs and looked at Rona "Tell me what happened, don't let anything out" She knew that it was painful for her to remember everything again after just surviving it. But information regarding the situation was required and needed.
Her eyes went wide, but Sabine knew that she couldn’t leave out details. “I got there, as I was supposed to. The road was lined with guards and sick. There is apparently some plague happening, has been for three weeks I believe I heard. The city itself is quarantined. I was looking for a place to setup shop, and wandered into where a festival was being setup. A priest started talking about how they were going to sacrifice 5 people the next day. One would be..”. She stopped and closed her eyes, “The first would be a 12 year old child. She was the first who had the plague.”
She sat up a bit, “It was then that I spoke up, asking if they’d tried to find where the plague came from. One of the guards was nearby, and I had asked random questions about what was going on, but nothing really came out of it. Apparently speaking up like that to the priest was illegal, because I was told I would...I would ...be put to death the next day...”
Letting the information sink in as she blinks abotu some facts that were told "Continue..." She wanted to ask the questions later on as Sarah crossed her arms over each other.
Gathering herself, Sabine went on. “I was brought into a cell, and Skinner was already there, and already had a victim that she was...playing with. I watched, trying to act tough. Asked some general questions, nothing important. She then turned me into her,” she gulped and sighed. “Play thing. Didn’t ask me anything really, but knew I was hiding my eye color. Stabbed me in the shoulder first, then had me strip down to nearly nothing and...” She closed her eyes, not wanting to relive how she got the other injuries.
“Then we got called up to what I can only assume is an office. The commandant and Skylar were there. He didn’t want to let her come over to me, but did after telling Skinner to back away.” Sabine bit her lip, “She told me to tell you to wait a few days before trying to rescue her. She..said she’d marry him in order to free me.” Her eyes shut tight, tears starting to hit her cheeks.
"So there is a plague and the priest are...who?" Sarah asked ignoring the emotions for now.
Trying to think back, Sabine finally remembered. “Sacred Bones if I am remembering right. They want to purify the city.”
"Crap another player..." Sarah mutters as she leans a bit forward and thinks "Wait...the Red Guards are to support a religious group. That priest is from a faction called Sacred Bones" She brings "Support required in operations of another city. They were talking about them" She looked at Sabine "Regardless, you did well on scouting. But I would advice you next time to keep shut in public"
Sabine lowered her head, “Soft spot for children, especially if they are going to get killed,” she stated in a whisper. She let her eyes go back to Sarah. “I slipped up, and completely screwed up. I don’t even know how to make it right.”
Letting go of a deep breath as Sarah looked back at the door "You don't, you got captured and even thought Skinner did not know that you are Starfleet..." Looking back at her "She knows you now and per definition a danger towards the operations of Fruit Skills. Its the same as Skylar... when retrieved she will be dismissed for her failures"
Sabine shot up to a standing position, regretting it immediately when her leg began to throb. But she didn’t let it show. “YOU are the one who sent us in there! How the hell are we supposed to do our jobs properly without enough intel to get around?! We didn’t know about a plague, we didn’t know about the killings! Would you rather me have not acted human, a robot, numb to what was going on?! Any outsider would have questioned a child getting killed!”
Her eyes looked at Sabine and narrows them "I order you to go ahead, scout the area, stay low and out of the way from Skinner. You pretty much failed on every step on certain level" She harashly replied and moved to her with her face closer towards hers "You got involved with the citizens on emotional level, you spoke up when they touched a sencetive topic and you got captured, tortured and played with by SKINNER!" With that she had her hand on Rona leg and gribs it tied to let her shiver in pain "You failed...and almost endangered about 15 people here at Crystal. If Skylar did not sarcifice for YOUR foolish actions then she would not have been stuck in the position she is in RIGHT NOW!" With that she lets go and backs up growling a bit.
Although she wanted to wince, Sabine didn’t. She kept her eyes on Sarah, taking the beating. She deserved it. But she wasn’t going to back down. “You think I don’t feel bad about what I did? Where I left her?! You saw how I was when I got here, I couldn’t do anything to help her! You think I don’t realize that I screwed up?! I do! If I could go back and change it, I would in a heartbeat. But I can’t, and now I want to make it right!!”
"And how are you possible going to do that?" Sarah looked back at her "You are known in this region, people have seen you and Skinner is on the lookout to get you back. She has a habit of finishing the job, like it or not she is hunting you" Sarah shook her head as she looked back at the door "If Skylar requires time, then I give it to her. But that means our entree into the city is gone for good at this current stage. We have to operate in the shadows..." Looking back at Rona "Support element is the best I can give you...screw up and I drag you out of it. Trust me...you wish then you were in Skinners hands" Being death serious of what she just said.
She kept a straight face, and simply nodded to Sarah. “I won’t screw it up. I will earn your trust again.” She too, was dead serious about the statement. She wasn’t going to let this mess anything up. Even if she had to start from the bottom again, she would do it.
Tapping her shoe on the floor as she pounders about this situation "Even if it means to go back towards Skinner if I had to order you to do so?" Sarah said with a smirks and yet calmness in her eyes trying to see how she would react towards this situation.
Her eyes going wide, Sabine did her best not to start shaking in fear. That woman already left a scar on her mentally that likely would never heal, let alone the one on her leg. “Anything to make it right,” she said as calmly as she could, but there was a hint of fear in her eyes.
Taking a deep breath as she lets her hand slide softly over Rona cheek "Get some sleep, you work as support from the shadows for now" Sarah spoke and without any chance to let Rona defend herself she stood up and walked to the door "You battle is done for today, but war is still raging" She mutters as she steps outside and closed the door.
Falling back to a sitting position, Sabine shook her head and closed her eyes. "What the hell did I do," she asked herself as she opened her eyes back up and looked down at her leg. The memory was fresh. Sarah had told her to sleep, but there was going to be very little of that. She curled up underneath a blanket and laid, staring up above her, begging a dreamless sleep to come.
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