17 - The Reckoning
Posted on Wed Nov 6th, 2024 @ 8:54pm by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Jenna Ramthorne & Remal Kajun & Patin
Mission:
The Beginning of the End
Location: Bajor
Cabin
Rhenora and Remal watched as the eclipse began, not an uncommon occurrence but one always veiled in mysticism and prophecy. A shiver ran through her, the snow cooling her hot skin. Their decision was whether to stay in the relative open of the beach, or to retreat to the safety of the cabin, complete with hand-held rudimentary explosives bouncing off the walls. Thankfully the aim of the Brotherhood was as poor as their ethos and none had managed to break a window yet.
The explosives had however started a fire, further into the woods. It's warmth was clearing the snowy haze, as it burned slowly through any of the dry brush left untouched. It was a fitting backdrop for the evening's escapades and showed the fight was not yet over.
Movement down the garden path caught her attention, without Aki she now felt vulnerable. Two hooded figures seemed to be picking their way through the garden, unsure of where to step under the deep snow.
"Who are you?" She challenged, expecting the worst. She cursed herself for not bringing anything more than a simple hand phaser with them.
On guard, Remal stood next to Rhenora, ready to step in front should these new intruders turn out to be something other than what they appeared.
"We are clerics" came the reply. The voice was oddly familiar though despite the voluminous robes and falling snow.
"We did not send for clerics." Rhenora started as the couple drew closer. She could not see any weapons openly displayed but something did not seem right. As the male neared she could feel darkness within him, almost surrounding him like a red aura.
"You are Wraith" she stated, fear coursing through her.
"You are observant" Faro replied, deadpan as Brin stood opposite Rhenora. Red energy coursed through his body, unnerving Faro herself but she was not going to miss this opportunity. She hadn't anticipated this eventuality in her many plannings- a second reckoning, one to finish the battle started several years ago aboard DS9. Before she could react further a red beam of energy erupted from Brins chest, his eyes flaring red as it hit Rhenora square in the chest. Instead of knocking her backward her body flashed blue and began to emit its own energy beam, blue and pure as the Prophet's love.
Eyes wide, Remal moved to break the connection but was stopped by a swift kick to the chest by a surprisingly nimble and strong Faro. He gave her a fierce look of a man who would not be stopped, planting his back foot down, grabbing her leg and driving it forward. This threw Faro backward but like some acrobat she recovered quickly, gracefully.
Ikar had been watching from a calculated distance, was now watching his friends in peril. Unsure of which enemy to attack first, he ran, invisible, right through Faro where she stood. This knocked Faro over landing her face down in the snow. He continued, like a charging Rugby player, his phase cloak now faltering, at Brin. The large Dominion soldier slammed into Brin, breaking the connection and bringing both men down into the snow.
It had taken strength of effort to knock the old man, with the red aura, down. Ikar slowly pulled himself back up into a standing position. "You shall not harm my friends." He seethed.
Brin chuckled as he pulled himself up, hiding his true frustrations, "A Dominion soldier, on Bajor, calling Bajorans friends. Well, I have to admit, I did not see that one coming. Quite literally to be sure. Still, matters not, the transference will continue uninterrupted." Physically weaker looking than he was, Brin was prepared to go again.
Remal moved over to Rhenora who was looking weak but still standing. "Are you okay?" He asked concerned for her as well as the baby. "I've never seen you do, that... before." He said just before Faro landed on his back, a difficult place for him to reach to begin with.
"The battle must be fought, the Kosst Amojan will be defeated" the Prophets replied through Rhenora, using her voice but giving it an ethereal quality.
Blue energy encircled her body again and took the offensive, the strain of the battle evident on her face. The Wraith had been weakened but not so much as to be easily defeated.
Faro continued to keep Remal from defending his wife, using whatever tactics she could do keep him off balance of his arms pinned to his sides. Despite his efforts to slam her against a tree she continued to ride him as the Dread Pirate Roberts once rode the Giant Fezzik.
Sparks flew between the two entities, energy flying off in random directions as they fought for supremacy. The front windows of the cottage shattered, sending glass into the garden beds below.
The Prophet pushed forward despite its weakening host, blood dripping from her nose, forcing the Wraith inside Brin back a step. The Wraith had the stronger body though and retaliated, pressing a new advantage, the red energy pulsing from its body. Energy flared into the environment around them, signaling everyone and everything that the battle was being waged.
The Prophet weakened momentarily sending Rhenora to her knees when Ikar acted again, inserting himself into the middle of the energy stream, effectively ending the battle. He took the brunt of the impact causing his arms to fully extend, locked for but a brief moment. He sneered at the Wraith wanting so much to hurt him back but he was not strong enough. His head rose to the sky for a second as the pain intensified before falling limp with the rest of his body into the new fallen snow.
Brin was thrown backward as the energy was cut, and as he fell to one knee he peered the scene before him as a man who had done so once before. "No!" He bellowed his cry of anguish.
Remal finally had enough of Faro and had latched on to her arms. With one fell swing he threw her at her daemon partner. There was a bloody gash in his head where she had landed a blow, and a deep cut down his arm, but his concern was to his fallen wife. Kneeling down to check on her, he saw that she was unconscious.
Brin whispered to Faro, "Now. You must do it now. This is our last chance." This left Faro to question her role.
Faro hesitated, conflict written clearly on her face. They had won, the Ma was dead, or close enough to it, the child would die within her. The Fa would be so destroyed by the day's events that he would most likely never return to Bajor. Yet now the unthinkable, the ending of the beginning they had dreamt of.
"I can't kill you" She whispered, cradling his head in her hands.
Brin reached up and caressed her face in his hands, weakly he grinned. "You have always been the stronger of us. This is not the end, but the beginning." She had started to tear up so he countered, "It's okay, I'm ready to be a sacrifice if it means Bajor will be finally at peace." He closed his eyes and nodded to her.
She carried only a knife, and it wavered in her hands as they trembled. She knelt over him, tears streaming down her face, then plunged the knife downwards "I'm sorry I'm sorry" falling from her lips as she did so.
As the blade found its mark, red energy blazed in Brin's eyes one last time, before the Wraith detected energy in a fresh host, one that could continue to work its cause to their advantage.
"Peace at last." Brin, the real Brin whispered before his eyes shot open. With his final words he declared, "It's so cold." The red energy of the Wraith slid easily into it's new host as a snake slides into ones boot. It coursed throughout her body, energizing and filling her with warmth.
With the transfer complete the Wraith evaluated its new body, flexing its fingers as though trying them out for the first time. There were no more threats here, the Jem Hadar was dead, the Prophet was trapped and would likely die with the Ma and the child, and the Fa would be broken for life.
It's fingers ran across the control device on its wrist, and disabled the scattering field, enabling a clean and efficient transport out. A moment later Faro and the Wraith within, vanished.
For a moment there was silence, punctuated only by the frantic begs of a father and the dying breath of his wife. The snow began to ease, the clouds parting to reveal the moons and the Celestial Temple reappearing from its eclipse.
It was then that Patin, leading Jenna, Zio and Kira crossed the path to within visual range of Remal who was carrying Rhenora back towards the cabin. He called to them, "Quickly, I'm losing them. Help me get them into the cabin."
TBC
Captain Rhenora Kaylen
Commanding Officer, USS Sunfire
Commander Jenna Ramthorne
Chief Flight Control Officer & Mission Advisor, USS Sunfire
Remal Kajun
Counselor Aide, USS Sunfire
Husband of the Captain
Played By Commander Jenna Ramthorne
Patin
Friend of the Captain, USS Sunfire
Played By Commander Jenna Ramthorne
