STF

Side Sim - No, I'm not!!

Posted Nov. 22, 2020, 9:29 p.m. by Master Chief Petty Officer Irida Kovacenkov (RTF Agent) (Jennifer Ward)

Posted by Ensign Juliet Anders (Security Officer /RTF) in Side Sim - No, I’m not!!

Posted by Lieutenant Casela Synthi-er (Counsellor / RTF) in Side Sim - No, I’m not!!

Posted by Ensign Juliet Anders (Security Officer /RTF) in Side Sim - No, I’m not!!

Juliet’s check ins had gone as well as can be expected. Except for an incident here and there of ‘wow, you look just like her’, it had been a fairly typical check in day. But now she wanted to lose herself in stretching and hopefully hitting something with enough force to work off the pent up energy of a long shuttle ride, check in and lack of sleep that was keeping her from settling down to crash for the night.

With the main holodeck being used, she managed to find one that was ‘open’ to anyone to join. Seeing a training program on the list, she stepped into the RTF training holodeck and turned immediately to the wall to set down her water bottle and towel. She was rolling her head and swinging her arms to start loosening up when she froze like some creature being sighted down an energy scope. If anyone had checked, her heart had actually skipped a beat and she had to force herself to breathe once more.

IT WAS HER

Here was the woman who had confronted her this morning and swore she was someone she wasn’t. Arur wasn’t a part of her anymore, hadn’t been for years. And her family was dead, so that only left one possibility in her mind. She had been sent here and there was someone who knew her past and was set on her to watch and report back to Spec Ops on her behavior. Technically, she was still an on call operative. The question was, at least to them, was she still capable of performing her duties if called upon? She tried to turn and leave, but found her feet rooted to the spot as she watched the woman move in the center of the room with a grace that actually, much to her surprise, impressed her.

Ensign Juliet Anders
Security/RTF

Casela wanted to freeze in place and stare at the woman. But years of training kept her going and moving through the forms she was practicing. She’d heard the door open, the foot steps not one that belonged to any other person on the Black Devils. They were always the first to arrive. She grinned, becasue she knew they did it to tray and suprise her the same way she did them their first night training together. But despite the foot steps not being familiar the feel of the mind entering the room was, and as loath as Casela was to admit it, it nearly broke her. All this of course hidden behind a mental barrier and strength that would not be cracked. Juliet…Sorellina (little sister)…after all this time. But why? Did the section find her? Train her and send her here to watch her, tame her, break her? Was it something else? Was it Mad Man? Had he gotten ahold of Juliet and turned her? Casela moved away from that though before her stomach tried to rebel at the thought. She knew how hard it was to resist Mad Man’s ‘persuasions.’

Casela continued to move through each form working from simple all the way to the complicated. Putting on her ‘mask’ and slipping into instructor mode she spoke, “Anders, right? You’ve been assigned to RTF and your in security. I haven’t heard from Cpt Manhattan on what your specific role for RTF will be but this is just general training so it won’t matter at the moment. We’ve been working with Tonfas because they are very similar to the Mark VII batons RTF is issued.” She points over to the left wall where there is a rack of wooden dipped foam rubber tonfas. They are paired and can be chosen by size. “Feel free to grab a pair and experiment if you want, or whatever you feel like doing. Training starts in 45 minutes so it’s open mat till then.”

The room had several heavy bags hanging along one wall, storage lockers with equipment along the back wall and plenty of matts around the room to work on. Casela wasn’t sure if Juliet would stay or not, and her body language nor thoughts would betray her, but deep, where she had thought she was dead, (before she met Cobb, okay honestly before she met Ryder), she hoped Juliet was really still Juliet. And then she cursed the crew, forgave them, and then cursed herself for being stupid.
Lt Synthi-er CNS/RTF

A momentary touch to her mind, then nothing. Blank. Black. Or rather, lack of blackness.

That’s what Juliet felt. She was used to people’s minds being chaos or hums of chaos. She was used to other minds being calm. Or training minds humming with counts and moves and counter moves. But this woman was different. She was … or more to the point… she wasn’t anything. Cas didn’t have the shields up enough to make herself disappear to psyonics, but she was certainly walled up enough that not a shred of thought was gleaned from the surface of her mind after that initial touch. Juliet just stared. For a moment, she panicked. Had she been watched? Was she being scrutinized? It didn’t matter. She was here to do her job, earn her place back and retire with the black marks as footnotes, not blaring headers in her record.

Thankful for the nonchalant greeting, she nodded. “Yes, Ma’am. Ensign Anders. Call me “Jewels”. Easier on the tongue.” She moved to the rack of weapons and chose a pair before moving to a corner and setting them down to begin stretching. She sat on the mat and began there, grateful for time to gather her own shields and thoughts around her. Her legs wouldn’t have held her very long if she had had to be in a formation at that moment, or even square off against the woman. Averting her eyes to keep from staring, Juliet worked on her own stretching for as long as she dared without seeming like she was stalling. She them took up position at one of the furthest practice dummies and began her own kata moves with the tonfas, her back to Cas so she wasn’t distracted. Unfortunately, being overly tired, and anxiety ridden now beyond what her fatigued body and mind were used to in a long time, her own surface thoughts could easily be read if Cas listened hard enough.

Casela didn’t smile, she resisted the urge. Jewels she said. A call sign maybe or a nickname? It suited her. Juliet had always been beautiful, inside and out. From the moment she opened her eyes the day she was born. Casela had been fascinated at first by the small bundle of person and blankets in Aunt Olivia’s arms. Then she’d gotten to hold her, her father helping of course, and she’d looked into those shinny obsidian eyes....but they weren’t black anymore. They were startling blue now. Temporary or permanent? And why? Why had she....Casela sighed, too many questions. “Jewels” she said trying it out. “It’s really nice to meet you.” She didn’t bring up the meeting on the counseling deck. She didn’t offer her name. Casela as a unique name, her last name was as well. Juliet didn’t seem to be ready to acknowledge her or she’d been told not to. Gods she hated her life, and the person the section had made her into.

No… it can’t be. She’s dead. They’re all dead. That’s what they said. Mom and dad, my young body standing over them. The others, too. Uncle, Auntie, Lala, Nephi, Jaden… all of them… dead. She growled under her breath and struct the dummy a bit harder than she should have as a flare of rage welled up a moment then was quickly squelched. “NO!” the word growled out between her grit teeth in a huff as she damped the anger down as swiftly as it had risen.

Jewels
Security

Casela didn’t use her talents on her crew. People of suspicion those she was after, sure, but not crew. Now granted she wasn’t sure about why Juliet was suddenly here, but she was family. But Casela did hear, probably because she was hyper aware of her cousin in the room, so close but so far from her at the same time. Lala she’d forgotten that. Juliet couldn’t say Casela and had called her Lala when she was really little and starting to talk. Nephi and Jaden she’d found their bodies herself. She’d missed getting them out too. The guilt and the anger getting to her she spun a hook kick to the bag and nearly knocking it off the chain if the holodeck safeties hadn’t been on. Casela turned at the sudden outburst and waited. It was unwise to walk up to someone that angry. She took a calming breath and walked over. Ignoring her outburst she maintained topic to training. “The tonfas can feel a little unwieldy at first. I’m here. I’ll help if you need it.” Was it coincidence that was what Cas had told her when she first started showing her how to control her telepathy? Yes it was, but it was the same exact words none the less.
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

“Thanks…” was all she said to the comment of meeting. She wasn’t sure if she was all that ‘glad’ to meet the other woman. So she let it slide without another thought.

Always aware of what was around her, even in rage, even with her back turned, she felt and heard the overly hard thud of Cas’ attack on the dummy. She paused, never turning, as she felt the nearness of the CNS behind her. I’m here. I’ll help if you need it. It had been a mantra to her young ten year old mind when she first started realizing her telepathy. Cas’ constant presence in her mind from that point. Even when she couldn’t reach out to talk back. Nights in bed, sensing Lala a few houses away. Knowing no matter what, she wasn’t alone and what she was learning wasn’t anything new to others who had gone before. “Thanks,” was all she managed, though she didn’t resume her training. “How long have you been on the Leviathan?” Since she was worried, why not find out if it was warranted. After all, it was an innocent question. Wasn’t it?

Jewels
Sec/RTF
OOC: Oh my…now I have to figure out the timeline…I’m sure my numbers are off but RL it’s only been 6 months. OMG I can’t believe it hasn’t been longer!
IC:
Casela noted she hadn’t resumed her work and let it go. There would be plenty of work to keep her busy when training started. She also noted the twist, soft but only noticed by someone as good as Casela on observation. Juliet was worried about why Casela was there. So either Juliet was VERY good at playing her, and it would be foolish for Cas to think there wasn’t someone equal or better than her, OR Juliet had not been sent here for her. Too. Many. Questions. Not. Enough. Answers. Well there was no harm in this truth. A search of the ship’s records would confirm what she was saying. “I’ve been on board since the refit started. Before Leviathan was, well she was the Leviathan before ARU, but since she was recommissioned the ARU flagship. 6 almost 7 months ago. Onboarded at Starbase 237. Before that I was 4 years on the USS Triton on the Romulan boarder. I’ll tell you though, 6 months here feels like 3 years.” While she talked she walked over to a very old duffel bag, it probably looked familiar. She’d had it since she was a kid and her dad took them both camping every weekend. She grabbed a water bottle out of it and drank about half of it. “What about you? I know you just came on board, but were you with another ARU ship or like the rest of us and working else where in the fleet?”
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

Like the rest of us… The words spiked curiosity, but to questions she wasn’t actually willing to ask yet. The timeline made Juliet relax a moment. If the woman had been here that long, and the Triton before that, then she wasn’t here to watch over Jewels. Her hearing had only been a couple months ago. So Cas would have had to have been here…She shook her head. It didn’t matter. Standing up a bit straighter and rolling her shoulders from holding the half position for longer than she should have in her moment of stillness, she finally turned. There was no expression on her face to give one thought of any emotion going thru her. “I was on the Blatent for the last couple years.” She left it at that. There was no need to mention SpecOps or her Court Martial. If she was inclined to know, it would be available to her. If not, well, Juliet wasn’t going to volunteer, that’s for sure. “Not sure who you mean by ‘the rest of us’?” She was curious just how much she could get Cas to reveal.

Jewels
Sec/RTF

“The crew.” Casela said simply. She picked up a pair of tonfas from the rack and moved up to the bag next to the one Juliet had selected. “We’re all from different fleets, divisions, departments. I think Cpt Manhattan and alpha squadron has been with ARU the longest, but my understanding is they were recruited to ARU specifically for Leviathan. So we’re all newbies.” She didn’t mention that the ENTIRE crew was nothing but what Star Fleet considered misfits. That each of them was here because command hoped this whole boat would go down in a suicide run against the most dangerous of anomalies. Juliet…was different. She used to be open and full of laughter. But then again, so was Casela. What had their time in Star Fleet done to them? No…not Star Fleet. She’d bet all her latinum that she was holding for the orphanage on Delotha that Juliet got roped into some special forces crap like she had. And maybe because she was thinking of her Aunt and the sadness she would see on her face and her mothers at what they had become Casela began to swear in very fluent Italian as she turned to the bag and began a series of rapid fire strikes with tonfas on the bag.
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

As Cas began to swear in Italian, Jewels absently corrected one of her phrases, not thinking. “It’s andare a puttane (1) not andar,” she had corrected Cas a million times on the phrase as a child. “And I doubt anything’s gone ‘that’ wrong around here in some time. From what I’ve gathered, it’s been pretty quiet.” She quickly turned away so the other woman wouldn’t see her face. Something was between them, but Juliet kept pressing it back, refusing to let it out or speak of whatever it was. Unable to concentrate, she shook her head and started towards the racks to put her tonfas away. Unfortunately, there was no way not to pass within arm’s reach of Cas as she did so. “I’ll let you practice and come back in half an hour with the rest of the shift.” Her shields were wavering, and being tired wasn’t helping. The stress was something she was used to. So why was it suddenly so damned hard to keep her shields up against this woman?

Jewels
Sec/RTF
(1) Andare a puttane (Italian swear phrase when something goes terribly wrong)

Casela froze, internally at the correction. Damn, either this was really Juliet or someone had done a spectacular job of back checking Casela. She watched as Juliet put the tonfas up and listened to her words. Oh no. She was not walking away from her. Something broke free and Casela, somewhere winced. Zachariah was going to have words for her, and Ryder…he’d just look at her with disappointment, and it was going to hurt, but she was who she was…or wasn’t…or…and it just fed her anger. “Juliet Arur, Sorellina, Uncle Jo’nar did NOT teach us to be cowards!” Awwww crap....she dropped the tonfas away from her before she did something REALLY stupid.
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

Shock froze her in her tracks. The words she heard made her react, but it was fear that guided that reaction. Without thinking, she reeled on the woman, now just a little over ten feet away. “I’m not her! And they’re all dead!” The words came out with such unshielded vehemence that they would not only be heard, but felt by Cas as well. She hadn’t truly meant to be so forceful, but the woman had dared to bring in family!

Jewels
Sec/RTF
(wonders what rank is below Ensign at another Court Marshall lol)

Casela felt the wave before it hit her and her eyes widened in shock. It hurt! And the instinct to attack back was dangerous. She clenched her teeth. Juliet was lucky. If Cas hadn’t just faced something so much worse with Hampton not just weeks before she might have attacked without thinking. As it was the backlash wasn’t kind. But the memory of her small cousin looking up at her, trusting her, curbed her rage and shock. So the retaliation was more like a gut punch than a body slam. “Well I’m not Dead!” Casela moved, it was fast and it was shocking. Juliet was taller than her now, but Cas was a power house when needed. She went to grab her and push her to the wall. Her voice was low and growled out. The mental voice with it was none too nice either. “If you aren’t her then who the hell are you and who sent you?” She didn’t scream or yell. The calm in her voice was scary.
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

Jewels froze as she realized her mental attack had actually shaken the Lieutenant. A moment of fear went thru her as another Court Marshall loomed in her vision. But it was swiftly disippated with the physical attack that caught her off guard and had her against the wall before she could react. Her own voice lowered to match the menacing pitch of the woman who pinned her. Jewels had grabbed onto Casela’s arms in reflex, but she hadn’t pushed back yet. It couldn’t be! It was a trap! Her mind screamed at her that there was no way this woman was family. They wanted her to mess up. To fight. To get in enough trouble they could ignore the Admiral’s saving orders to keep her in the Fleet and could finally be rid of her.

But none of it mattered. She swallowed hard to keep the water in her eyes from welling to the point of tears. She refused to cry. “I’m what’s left!” She growled back in a low tone. Both were nearly forehead to forehead. Knowing that merely ‘taking it’ would mean she was weak, and attacking back would show she was reckless, she chose a middle ground. Unable to get a good swing on her head because of the wall behind her, she slammed her forehead into Cas with enough force that she hoped the woman would back off. Unfortunately, she wasn’t thinking clearly and the words she spat out with the head butt were once more screamed into Cas’ mind despite the low verbal tone Juliet voiced. “Who sent you?” She would try and twist down and out from under the arm lock if the head but released the hold enough.

Jewels
Sec/RTF
(oooops… my bad… NOT!)

Irida walked up to the holodeck along with the rest of the Black Devils. She was not surprised to find the program already running. “Synthi-er never sleeps. I’m telling you, she’s a drone or something.” Lehiw, the tall Klingon with a thing for the ladies laughed, “I know why she isn’t sleeping, she’s…”

Ujaw shoulder checked him, hard. “Shut up Lehiw. Last time you went on about her love life she put you through your paces and you couldn’t entertain the ladies for a month. She’s a fighter and good one. You dishonor her that way.” Lehiw shrugged and laughed. He did respect Synthi-er, but still she was a might woman and that was atractive. But everyone knew where her interests were. And honestly he was pleased for her.

Niven grunted, “Can we get to work please?” She glanced at Trainor. “At least Trainor doesn’t gossip. I’m training with him tonight.” Uj’aw frowned, “No look her woman, you’re my mate.” Niven raised one Vulcan eyebrow. “That’s why Synthi-er doesn’t let us train together.”

Irida chuckled. She loved gossip, as long as no one got hurt. It helped distract from the seriousness of the work. She stepped through the doors and she froze and swore in Russian. “Ummm....guys....” The sight of Casela with a death grip on another officer, the rage clear in her eyes....strangling…herself???!!!!

Niven took in the scene, “Who do we call? The other Angels or Cobb, Raauhl, and Manhattan?” The men on the other hand fanned out…if Casela was that pissed this…other Casela…”Ummm Lt. do we have an anomaly?” Uj’aw asked ready to try and trap the thing.
Opperative Kovacenkov, RTF and the Black Devils


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