Betazoids had been such a peaceful people, they had no weapons, no fleets, no warriors, but they were not defenceless, when the Dominion forces had swept away the piecemeal Federation forces assigned to protect Betazed they assumed that the occupation of the planet would be an easy affair, after all, how hard could it be for a military superpower like the Dominion to subdue a planet with no weapons?

At first the Cardassians and Jem'Hadar had rounded up Betazoids by the hundreds, the reasons for that had not been clear at the time, but it was later revealed that the Cardassians had been trying to find the secret to Betazoid telepathy, the ability to read minds, to know everyone about a person simply by being in the same room as them...they intended to turn it into a weapon, to use the innate Betazoid abilities as a weapon against the Federation, or, failing that, to turn the Betazoids themselves into obedient slaves.

For the first few months the Betazoids had been docile, rounded up or slaughtered like sheep, offering no resistance, and those offering what little resistance a weapon-less society could muster, would put down with no effort.

But the Betazoids weren't as defenceless as the Dominion forces had first believed. The Betazoid people had abilities that even they weren't entirely in touch with, in fact, what was later dubbed by the Federation as "Offensive Telepathy", was outlawed by Betazoid society millennia ago as an abhorrence to a peace loving society.

Even the annihilation of their society wasn't enough to cause the radical reaction needed to throw off the yolk of the invaders, but every society has its rebels, those who will go against existing convention for the greater good. There were those who knew that the only way to defeat the Dominion was to use weapons that they would never have anticipated, weapons that only Betazoids can wield.

Toren joined them without thought, he had seen school friends burned alive by the occupying forces or dragged away to gods know what fate, he had seen his home burned to the ground, he had seen the piles of "failed" experiments, Betazoids left to rot in the sun, their heads drilled open by the brutal Cardassian experiments and he knew that the only way to bring it to an end was to fight back.

Despite the horrors, the surviving elders had condemned the rebels, they were tapping into abilities that had been outlawed since before Betazoids had been capable of space flight and to use them, even in the defence of their homes, was a crime that could not be encouraged.

They didn't care, the elders were just that, old, out of touch, and most of them were dead, and Toren and his comrades had made the decision to fight back, using whatever means available.

It hadn't been easy, the ability was natural, but it had to be focused, or it could destroy the mind of the user as surely as the intended victim. As they learned, many had died, unable to focus their minds to the extent needed, and dying in agony on mountaintops fair away from civilization. Taught by a Betazoid serial killer, Hent Tevren, a man freed from imprisonment solely due to his experiences of killing using only his mind, Toren and the survivors became efficient killers, shunned by Betazoid society but needed in order to throw off the invader.

By the time they were ready, there were only a few hundred of them on the whole planet, but they has been effectively, devastatingly so.

Things were changing, the war was turning against the Dominion, so the stories went, the Romulans had finally joined the war, the wormhole has been closed, the Klingons had invaded Cardassian space and the Federation were counter-attacking in all sectors taking back worlds and inflicting defeats on the Jem'Hadar who were now cut off from reinforcement.

But Betazed was far from the fighting, the Cardassians were cut off, alone, but they were still heavily armed and now, they were desperate, they had learned to fear the Betazoid resistance, there was no defence to the brutal psionic attacks of the Betazoid warriors, the effect was so agonising that Cardassians couldn't even muster the composure to return attacks with conventional weaponry.

Toren didn't know what it was like to have your mind attacked, but he knew that it was painful, the screams of the dying Cardassians told him as much.

And the dream was always the same...

He was back on Betazed, but it wasn't his home, it was a burning ruin, the once shining city was rubble, the deep blue lake had turned black, the sun filled sky was filled with smoke.

He wasn't alone, beside him were his comrades, people who, a few months before, had been strangers to him, but now they were his closest brothers and sisters, they had fought and died together, they had been friends and lovers, the tensions of war released in a flurry of gallows humour, semi-friendly jibes and more than occasional sexual encounters, all towards the goal of coping with the horrors that they witnessed on a daily basis.

He walked through the rubble, before the war it had been a city of thousands, it had been a happy place, there had been no crime or violence on Betazed, everyone knew each others thoughts and weeks could pass without anyone saying a word, communication being between minds.

But now the people were gone, they were either dead, killed by Dominion air-raids or the Cardassian death squads that had been assigned to round up "rebels" and "enemies of the Betazoid people", or taken to the internment camps that the Cardassians had labelled "medical centres".

Ahead of them was an outpost, perhaps 20 or 30 Cardassian soldiers inside, they were probably frightened, demoralised and hungry, the war was all but over, the only reason the Cardassians didn't surrender was cultural pressure, and the fact that the Betazoid militia offered no mercy, any Cardassians who survived the attacks usually died a horrible death at the hands of the vengeful telepaths.

Toren approached slowly, his comrades picking their way over the rubble, in the beginning, the Cardassians had opened fired immediately, and the rebels had died in their dozens, but they had learned quickly, and the tide had turned, they knew that they could remain in cover and burn the minds of the Cardassians simply by reaching out and "feeling" their targets.

But now, the war was done, they were confident, and drunk on blood, death and most of all, victory. Toren walked over piles of rubble in front of the outpost, a shot rang out, but it passed well above his had, it was a panicky warning, the fractured nerves of the soldiers showing through, Toren smiled a cold smile, he didn't stop walking, even as he focused his mind, he could feel the Cardassians in their concrete bunker, the screams began a few moments later, a few soldier stumbled out into the street, clutching their heads and falling to the ground, writhing in agony.

A few maintained their composure long enough to level their weapons, one got a shot off and a comrade to his left fell, he looked over his shoulder, it was a woman, they had been intimate the night before, and now she was dead, but Toren only felt cold, he had seen enough people killed for it to be nothing to him now, even if the victim was someone he had lain naked with only a few hours before.

The shooter was dead within moments, his mind burned out, his face twisted into a picture of pure agony and horror. Toren walked on, approaching the bunker, he sensed a Cardassian behind the door, he was emitting fear like a foul odour, and Toren smiled, he picked up a handful of gravel and tossed it through the open door, the Cardassian inside gave a short yelp and fired several rounds into the wall and the floor, moments later, Toren latched on his fear and turned it against him, the Cardassian began to scream as if he were on fire, he fell into view, collapsing in front of Toren and looking up at him, his eyes blazed with agony as he died, Toren only gave a cold grin, a brutal parody of the friendly grin he gave so frequently aboard the Olympic

He stepped over the body, picking up his rifle, and hefting it at the waist, stalking through the bunker, he could sense the fear of the men inside, he opened doors, filling rooms with gunfire, taking down Cardassians as if they were inexperienced children, not hardened soldiers.

Then he woke up, it wasn't a sudden jolt, a harsh return to reality, he simply opened his eyes and smiled, there was a cold place in his soul that was capable of brutality, of slaughtering without remorse, it was also the part of him that had bent Micah Glass over his desk, regardless of her relationship with the 2O, and without even considering her as anything other than an object for sex.

He threw his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, there was a part of him that missed those days, the camaraderie, the day to day thrill of not knowing where you would go, who you would kill, who would share your bed at night and who would die in battle the next morning.

But this was good, the stability of the Federation was...different, but it was also calming, it had changed him, before Starfleet, there had been no one like Larren, he had never had a "romance", but now Larren was gone, and it was easy to revert back to his old self a little, he wasn't about to start burning out minds like he had during the war, those days were truly over, but Micah was...intoxicating, she was pure sexuality, no words were needed, they had connected on a deep, primal level, and they would do again, but, he had to wait, if he pushed it, she would resist, if he waited, he knew the thought of it would excite her, and she would come back.

Humans were all different, but once you got to know them, they were delightfully predictable, and Micah was like him in so many ways, she hadn't killed as many, but she had killed, she had defended herself with lethal force, and she took that as a part of her, it's what drove her, and he found it intriguing, and he knew their next encounter would be just as intense as the first, all it took was time.

He stretched and smiled, groaning and stripping off his pyjamas, he stepped into the shower and relaxed as he felt the soothing waves of sonic energy washed over him, today was a new day, and it was full of possibilities.

Lt.jg Nalar, COS