Mirroring Pain

Posted on Mon Jun 30th, 2025 @ 4:13pm by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Lieutenant JG James Phoenix

903 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Wounds From the Mirror
Location: USS Saber
Timeline: After "Sharpening the Saber"

Ashlynn sat against the wall in pain. This wasn't her first rodeo given she was in intelligence and apart of Captain Parker's crew. The situation she found herself in was unique. For one thing her evil doppelganger was making attempts at breaking her. All of them had proven futile.

On the other hand, her best friend was alive and in grave danger because of her evil self. Due to her clearance level and the mission that led her to this moment, she already knew about her busting out the evil Shran. However this didn't stop her concern. If her counterpart played her cards right, nothing stopped her from attempting to harm James or anyone from the Washington.

She must've zoned out, because the next thing she knew the other Ashlynn was standing over her. "So pathetic" she cackled

Ash looked up. "Come here to gloat? Or are you going to make a pathetic attempt at breaking me again?"

Ashlynn slapped the woman who looked just like her, besides the various bruises and fresh scars from being tortured.

Ash laughed and then spat in her face. "Go to hell."

The Terran woman raised her arm to strike her again but was interrupted by the door to the brig opening.

The air seemed to grow cold, and the fear was tangible. The blonde woman that both Ash's knew well arrogantly strolled in in her black leather uniform complete with those damned gloves. Both of them knew what it likely meant with her here now. They had seen what she did to Capt Parker. The brutality of Shran was one thing, but what she did was infinitely worse and there was no stopping her.

She looked at her Ash and then at the prisoner. "You haven't broken her. Perhaps you lack the ability, or perhaps the motivation" she said as she looked at her subordinate.

Ashlynn turned to the woman and scoffed. "Again, with the impatience. No wonder you and Shran are perfect for each other" she said in a smug tone.

She offered a small vile grin as she turned away, then quickly struck her with a hard backhand. "You lack respect. I'm here to teach it to her, but if you require a lesson as well, I am happy to arrange it. Remember you are just a Terran." She then looked at the captive Ash and reached into her mind. "I see, so desperate to protect others. She hasn't told you about you precious James. You'll see him soon. I believe we'll flay him in front of you."

Ash wiped blood off of her chin and chuckled. "You both are so incredibly naive. You fail to see the bigger picture" she trailed off. She kept her thoughts to a minimum. "But if you kill him, that'll be the last thing you do" she threatened in a cold tone.

"Oh, I won't kill him. You don't die just from being flayed. Other things follow such an act. Perhaps he is set ablaze, or we'll cut him open and show him what his insides look like. Would you enjoy seeing that? I know you care deeply for him, but you also harbor such delightful resentments as well. Which do you think is more in control in your mind?" she questioned.

She looked at the Mirror version of Ash who was now bloody, "You don't know my thoughts nor that of Shran. Get this one in line quickly or you'll be under Shran's blades again, or worse, he'll leave you to me." She slowly turned and began to walk out, moving slowly enough to see if either Ash would dare speak, or even think.

The Mirror Ashlynn was about to speak but was interrupted by her prime counterpart.

"You coward. Threatening me and someone I care about before walking away from an easy confrontation" she challenged. "You could have tortured me yourself, yet you delegate to my counterpart which, by the way, is a clear conflict of interest"

Ash continued. "So instead of walking away. Face me!" she shouted.

Her mirror counterpart struck her so hard that she was now on the ground fully. "Be quiet!" She barked at Ash before watching her sit up again and wipe blood from her face.

The woman stopped a few steps from the doorway and suddenly the Prime Ashlynn began to scream in agony. Her hands went to her head but could do nothing to relieve the pain she was now suddenly in. Her eyes began to bulge, and her face flushed red as her synapses were shredded. 30 seconds of this felt like an eternity, but that pain finally ceased. "You have no idea what is happening here. She isn't interrogating you; she is protecting you. You would be wise to comply with her; you can't survive my methods." With that she exited, leaving the two Ashlynn's to deal with the fallout.

The Mirror Ashlynn crouched down. There was a sympathetic feeling in her gut, but she failed to show it. "So pathetic. You're lucky I have elsewhere to be right now. We'll continue this later" she sneered before leaving. In reality she was giving her a break. Perhaps this was because she was dealing with herself or because she hadn't expected her 'colleague' to pop in with worse methods. Regardless, there was other things to be done and despite the deadline Shran had given her, she still had time.

 

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