Mountain Fortress

Posted on Fri Mar 11th, 2022 @ 8:26pm by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Commander Jonathan Grayson & Ensign Zack Ravencroft & Petty Officer 1st Class Amethyst Reece & Lieutenant L'Rissa

Mission: The Orion Syndicate
Location: Orion

L'Rissa cautiously looked around as they zoomed through the countryside towards the large green and white mountain. They had left the city, and to her surprise they weren't blindfolded. They had been disarmed and shackled, but that was the extent of it all. It went to the brazenness of the Syndicate, here on their home turf, they feared no one, not even StarFleet. She looked around at her fellow StarFleet officers and wondered what was to become of them.

Jon sat quietly with his fellow Starfleet officers and now prisoners. he was calm and composed. His eyes swept the area committing to memory every landscape they passed on their journey. His hands were bound behind him just like the others but his legs were left unshackled. He caught L'Rissa's glance and winked at her. he was concerned about Amethyst as this was out of the ordinary for her. "How are you holding up?" He whispered as he leaned over to her.

Amethyst offered Jon a brief smile. "I'm okay. Terrified but okay." she shook her head. "I've never told anyone how I got my scars" She paused for a moment before continuing. "I was part of a rescue party that was sent to help the victims of a mass hostage ordeal. During the rescue they set off an explosive device that killed a lot of the rescue party and left me seriously wounded. I did what I could but they couldn't save all of us, a lot of those down there couldn't be saved. Now here we are, but this time we're the hostages."

"I won't let them take or touch you." Zack said, simmering with his anger of the situation.

Amethyst nodded and offered a smile. "Thank you Zack, but I don't want you getting hurt because of me."

"These are slavers. I will not let you be harmed, mentally, physically, or emotionally just to keep me unharmed." He growled.

As much as she wanted to argue Amethyst didn't, she appreciated Zack's concern for her wellbeing. Instead she simply nodded her thanks and went back to watching the scenery go by.

"Mr. Ravencroft, if you want us to get out of here unharmed the trick is to keep your head while everyone else is losing theirs." Jon replied calmly.

L'Rissa purred in agreement. "While the situation isn't purrfect, the captain won't leave us to these miscreants. I almost pity them for what is likely to come next."

"Respect is a two-way street. This..." He held up his bound hands. "Isn't respectful." He didn't fear for his life or injury. However, he couldn’t let others die or get injured because of him.

Amethyst sat doing her best to ignore the men who were sat opposite her, the way they were eyeing her up and down, and smiling at each other was making her skin crawl. To make the matter worse one of them moved to sit between her, and the rest of the away team in an effort to isolate her from her friends.

"I made no mentioned of respect Mr. Ravencroft, I said keep your head and emotions in check." Jon stated calmly as he continued to observe the area they passed.

It wasn't long before L'Rissa took notice of them leaving the open scenery and them going into a complex of some kind located inside the mountain. She assumed that this was a Syndicate installation of some kind and would be were they were going to be processed at the very least. She kept up her morale in hopes of easing any fears that Amethyst might have. Besides, while these Syndicate thugs had bound them and disarmed them, they had failed to properly search them all. L'Rissa still had her comm badge tucked away under her jacket, the comm open allowing for the ship to hear everything and also function as a tracking mechanism. She knew that at least Grayson was aware of this. It was simply a matter of buying time and waiting for the calvary.

Finally they stopped and Akula directed his men to bring them out. He directed his men to take the bulk of the away team over to a processing area for evaluation, separating Grayson from the rest of the team. He had a pair of his men escort Grayson with him as they made their way to a large private chamber where a pair of unsavory characters sat waiting.

"You caught them Akula. Excellent" said the one sitting on the left.

"So this is the human called Grayson. Somehow I expect him to be bigger, more impressive" said the other.

Akula gave a snide chuckle. "Humans often have larger reputations than actual physical appearance. I captured several of his comrades as well. A few of them may be worth quite a profit for us."

Jon looked at Akula and then at the two seated figures. "Appearances are often deceiving. Just look at Akula. for example." Jon replied evenly.

Akula laughed. "He has guts, you gotta give him that."