Hell and Back

Posted on Mon Jun 22nd, 2020 @ 12:44am by Captain Nycolas Temple & Tisar Zemel & Balek The Butcher [Deceased]
Edited on on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 2:09pm

Mission: Into the Wild
Location: The Carnage
Timeline: After the battle

A Mission Post by Captain Nycolas Temple & Balek The Butcher & Tisar Zemel
Mission: Into The Wild
Location: The Carnage
Timeline: After the battle
Fri Mar 9th, 2018 @ 1:39pm

ON:

Leaning against a panel on the Carnage's Bridge, Nyx could hear the constant conversations between the Pandora and the boarding team over his comm badge, as they made their way through the labyrinth of levels and corridors of the Carnage, hunting for the remaining Ravagers. A medical team had come by and tended to his leg wound with an auto-suture and a soothing dose of pain treatment from a hypospray. He was feeling tired from the emotional events of the day, but still buzzed at having taken out the Ravager vessel and making the region a safer place.

Nearby, still on the floor, their enemy commander Balek snored loudly through his breathing mask. The medics had also healed his wounds too but kept him under sedation until it was safe to move him into a secured cell on the Pandora. Nyx watched him with a curious eye; their once frightening foe now snoozing away peacefully. He wondered if Balek was dreaming of a world where he was still King of the Inconnu Expanse and Nyx almost laughed at the thought.

Temple finally turned to look at Tisar, his co-pilot and co-conspirator in their rocky adventure in undercover operations. There had been a heavy silence while the Boarding Team arrived and the Medics administered their healing. Now the two were alone again, with nothing left to talk about except what had happened.

"Long day, huh?" Nyx spoke.

Tisar had pretty much been standing in the same place he had been when he shot Balek and people had just been walking around him as they worked to patch people up. He blinked at Nyx as if it was the first thing that he had heard in a long time. "A very long day, Captain." He sort of slumped, his gaze falling to the floor. "I'm sorry if I hurt you..." he made his way to a seat and sat heavily. "It's been awhile since I've been in combat. I don't think I enjoy it as much as I did when I was younger..." He looked over at the Human with a little smile.

"No, I'm sorry I put you in that position," Nyx replied, "I promised I would protect you from that madman, and I ended up delivering us both right to him. What you did to take control of the situation is to be commended."

Tisar shook his head. "No, Captain. All is fair in war and this was war. It was the only way. I only did what was necessary and it was very necessary. You now know the truth of the matter as well." He gestured a little to the sleeping Balek and leaned forward in his chair. "You are to be commended, Captain. You have not just saved me... but saved all that he would have continued to torture and kill, your own Pandora, as well as the planet below." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, surveying the bridge. "I think I am done with combat though. I don't have the taste for it anymore... it is amazing to me that I can go through a whole war and never bat an eyelash... but this one incident terrified me."

Nyx couldn't help but grimace at the Cardassian's war. He still felt responsible for bringing Tisar back to this ship, where he was forced to make terrifying decisions. "I don't blame you. Hopefully now you can have a nice quiet life, making instruments and teaching music. A life far, far away from all this... brutality."

"I hope so as well, but I'm afraid that is not to be." He turned his gaze to Nyx. "Life is brutal... As long as I am out here there will continue to be brutality." The Cardassian chuckled suddenly. "Sometimes the price for what we want out of our lives is very high. We complain about the cost, but continue to pay it on time." He grinned a little. "I am just glad that out of all of this, I have gained a friend."

Letting out a laugh himself, Nyx rubbed his weary eyes, "What a way to cement a friendship, hey? You could have killed me. Twice!"

Tisar nodded. "Yes, but what good would that have done me? I would have only killed you if I had really wanted back aboard this flying nightmare. At least now you really know I won't... So when people tell you that I'm scheming against you and part of the Obsidian Order... you can laugh." He shook his head, smiling a little. "You do know that if you ever need me again, you are free to ask, possibly even demand... Although, I do think this makes us currently even. You didn't kill me... and now I haven't killed you." He laughed again.

Nyx bellowed this time. It was partly relief after what had been an incredibly tense day, but almost mostly the ridiculousness of these events. "I suppose you're right, we are even now." He sighed and looked to Balek again. "I knew you were still good when you didn't shoot at me immediately. That was your tell."

Tisar chuckled. "I kept trying to figure out what to do. It's not like I don't have plenty of training in subterfuge, but it all seemed to fail me. Fortunately, none of these people are very bright or expect anyone else to be very bright. I was actually a very good marksman, especially when I was younger. I wouldn't have shot you. I wanted to shoot him, but it was hard to pick the right time and I've seen the man flat out kill people with no warning. I was just hoping that that wouldn't be our end result. You were also very good at letting me know that what was happening was acceptable. I'm just glad Balek didn't give you to Dekker and let me handle it instead."

"Pure ego, I think." Nyx nodded along. "Balek thought he had me under his thumb and you by his side. He was willing to toy with me because he believed he had it all under control. Just like he did with the Pandora, he wasted time on drones and preparing his claw instead of just attacking. Little did he know that you were stronger and smarter than he could ever imagined, and that he had never broken you. That man has spent far too long in the Expanse listening to his own voice."

"And destroying things... and eating like a pig... and building this hulking monstrosity of a ship. Disgusting." Tisar growled softly. "He knows nothing. If he did he would have known that he would be unsuccessful torturing me. My people didn't get a reputation for being sneaks, liars, and spies for no reason. We're actually very good at it, and he knew I was military. So I don't get it, but it's his loss... and ho boy is it his loss. I'm just glad it's done." He looked sidelong at Nyx. "Did you spend time in combat, Captain? I know you Starfleet are highly trained as well."

Nyx nodded along as Tisar listed all of Balek's faults and failings. It was easier to do now that he was safely in custody and they were free from their ruse. Even if he didn't want to admit it, Nyx had been worried that Balek's egotism would have gotten both of them killed. He was thankful it did not. He smiled as Tisar's question and nodded, "It's part of the Academy training, yes. Depending on your chosen Starfleet field, an officer can gain higher combat training and speciality skills too. My background has been Intel and Security, so I've spent some time in battle situations before."

"Ah yes. With your rank, I should have guessed. You seemed familiar. I found it very easy to communicate with you even when we were in the thick of it." The Cardassian leaned back in the chair again and rubbed his face. "I must be getting old. I don't remember all this being so tiring," he said with a chuckle. "How is you leg?"

Nyx looked down his chin to pips on his neck then nodded, "I'm not sure how much of it was acting." He admitted, then sighed, "My leg's okay, I've got that comfortably numb feeling now thanks to the medics."

Balek stirred a little, giving a louder snore as he turned slightly in his slumber. Nyx frowned, "I need to get into his database, find out what he knows. But I don't want to just leave him here. Mind helping me drag him into his quarters? I can work on his computer and we'll keep him tied up in there?"

The Cardassian looked at Balek's giant, slumbering, rolls. "Do you think we can just roll him there?" he asked, but he stood. "We might have better luck breaking into his database in his quarters anyway. Fortunately, they're not far away." He prepared to help Nyx carry the Ravager Captain. "He is actually very paranoid about who has access to what. Even locking out consoles. So his personal access panel is probably going to have the most access."

"Exactly," Nyx nodded as he sidled up to Balek and reluctantly lifted up one of his weighty arms. He indicated for Tisar to grab the other one and they began to drag the sleeping Butcher into his quarters. "I'm hoping that whatever happened in Engineering will have loosened up the levels of encryption for us."

Tisar took the other arm and helped the Captain drag the Butcher's bulk. "Let's hope so. I can't imagine that his encryption could be all that complicated. I might be able to help if we find ourselves stuck. I'm rather good at code cracking. My father used to time how fast we could crack codes." He chuckled sarcastically.

Upon entering the room, the memories of which sent a short shiver down the Captain's back, Nyx looked and nodded towards Balek's bed. "Let's tie him up against the bed, it looks like it's been reinforced to hold his weight." He tried not to snort in derision.

Tisar did snort. "Disgusting man... I'll take care of tying him up, Captain. You should get off that leg and look at the computer. Don't worry. I also know some rather creative knot tying." He was glancing around the room as he spoke, looking for something besides the Starfleet cuffs Balek currently wore, that would withstand any of his efforts to escape. Balek might be fat and out of shape, but he was still strong.

Nyx sighed as he looked around. Next to the large unmade bed, and sitting on top of a round metal table, was a collection of basic plastic cable ties. Why exactly Balek had these in his quarters, right there on his nightstand, Nyx didn't really want to know. He held them up for Tisar and shook his head, "Try these. And then go wash your hands."

Tisar turned and looked at the strips, his face brightening a little. "Ah good. Those are perfect." He retrieved the straps from Nyx and set about zip stripping Balek to the bed. He might have gone a little overboard with the straps, but at least he felt that they were currently in no danger from the sleeping hulk of a man. "Why is it the bad guys never wash?"

"Too busy dreaming up plans to take over the galaxy." The Captain laughed, "Thanks for that Tisar, I'll get started on the database now. Tell me, are you okay with everything that's happened today? I know it's probably hard to answer now, but if you need to you could always talk to me or our Counsellor?"

Tisar nodded. "I'm as all right as I'm going to be, Captain. I do not think that speaking to a counselor is going to do me any good." He smiled a little. "Besides... I feel that perhaps I was able to repay some of my debt to you and your crew for saving my life in the first place, but I promise you, if I feel that I am experiencing difficulties I will speak with your counsellor."

Nyx shrugged, "Look we can't keep going back and forth between guilt and appreciation. Let's just call everything even." He smiled and tapped Tisar on the shoulder as he limbered over to Balek's console. "What are the chances that the Butcher's password is 'password'?"

Tisar laughed. "That would be terribly convenient. Although, you never know. He's not the brightest spark in the box and neither is anyone else on this ship. He might be clever, but he lacks some common sense..."

The Captain chuckled too, "It's probably something self-aggrandising and egotistical. 'Balek is the King' or something." He sighed, "Thanks for helping me bring him in here. Now that he's safely secured, I should be able to watch him myself if you want to return to the Pandora? I don't imagine you want to spend any more time on this ship."

Tisar wanted to bolt from the room, but he stayed a moment longer. "You're more than welcome Captain. I would very much like to return to the Pandora. I hate this ship and that's speaking kindly." He bowed politely to Nyx out of respect and gratitude. "I will leave you to it," he said softly. "If you could call me a ride, I would be much appreciative."

"Thank you again, Tisar." Nyx replied, giving the Cardassian a bow in return. =/\= Temple to Pandora. Tisar is returning to the ship, lock onto his coordinates and beam him...." He smiled, "Home."

Tisar was relieved at the word. He smiled warmly and then disappeared in the swirling blue and white light of the transporter.

Nyx stood looking at the empty space where Tisar used to be, reflecting quietly on how quickly and strongly the Cardassian man had become important in his life. He was a part of the crew now, and that was significant. The Captain's thoughts were interrupted by a loud snore from Balek, and his eyes dropped down to their defeated foe sleeping against the bed. This awful man who had caused Tisar, amongst many others, so much hell and torture. Nyx took a deep breath and considered what to do next.

OFF