PLOT - JL | Com Ivanova, Capt Neyes, Ael'Riov Tr'Bak, Princess Xue'Daio - "Crescendo e Accelerando" pt Ii/II

Posted on 241511.15 @ 7:32am by Commodore Rochelle Ivanova

"Jolan tru." Neyes said.

"Jolan tru." Vrith responded, his nose wrinkling against the high pitch whine that dared disturb his point-tipped ears. "If it isn't my favorite broken toy." He hummed, kneading his fingers against the Trill's uniform-clad hip. "Still afraid of silence, I see." He grinned almost balefully, tutting his tongue with a shake of his head.

All the while Rochelle, replaced by an ever brazen Landon, found herself taking two steps back and away from the odd couple. Helpless to do much of anything that wouldn't draw a ridiculous amount of attention to the issue at hand, she could only watch in a thick mix of horror and utter confusion as they waltzed on into the second quarter of a song she'd have sworn would never end.

"I wouldn't be too eager for quiet." Landon said calmly, moving gently with the music, "your sage words would be missed under the freedom of silence."

The Romulan's head tilted in genuine curiosity and amusement.

"Whatever you're up to Tr'Bak? I'm aware of you now. Try to remember that." Landon squeezed his hand against the Romulan's and leaned in. "And take a moment to consider why it is I remember a time before starships and the Federation." The captain winked a little as he unfolded his fingers enough to unveil the small nadion particle generator resting between their palms. The expressive end facing Tr'Bak. Neyes gently closed his hand once again and looked to the man who had nearly driven him to the edge of sanity, forcing a glimpse at nightmares imagined and replacing him with a failed clone weapon.

The laugh that ripped through the Romulan's robust chest almost hurt, and likely would have, if it wasn't for the way he coyly threw back his head as if enjoying time spent with an old friend sharing a joke, "School yard threats, and random acts of terrorism, are so far beneath you." He grinned, squeezing the Trill's weapon-clad hand. "Besides," He hummed with a light chuckle, drawing the man closer, "the fact that you are joined with such an ancient symbiont is what made you so much fun to break." Vrith gloated softly before spinning his agile partner around in a flourish before bringing him back, "I broke you once, surely I can do it again and you surely wouldn't want to assassinate a Romulan senator, especially in front of all of these people and risk starting a war." The Ael'Riov smiled brightly, "especially one that would rip like wildfire through the entire alpha quadrant all because you didn't like play time. Hmm?"

"Maybe you're on to something." Landon said while his eyes flashed a second of understanding. They danced around the other diplomats, slowly carving their way through the crowd, and a split second passed with just the sounds the party clamoring around them.
"Or maybe..." Neyes squeezed hard on the Romulan's hand then, and the nadion particle generator chirped.

"It's preferable to what you have planned."

A tiny flash in their hands signaled the discharge of nadion particle emitter. It whined gently as it exposed Tr'Bak's hand to the fiery substance of particles held within, particles usually reserved for advanced research and phaser weaponry. The smell of seared flesh quickly followed as Landon continued to pull the man along in a dance, his powerful strength binding them together as they moved. The music came to a gentle roll, while Neyes acted as if he was simply having a casual step with a professional enemy. Only moments passed before the emitter sealed once again, sparing Tr'Bak's life.

It dropped from between them with a sickening peel as it shed from the blackened palm of the Romulan. Neyes gently stepped on it with a smile, and it vaporized into nothing.

As the little hand-weapon discharged into his hand, Tr'Bak instinctively tightened his left hand around the device and the Trill's hand. The grimace of pain was nearly impossible to mask with one of his infamous arrogant smiles, but he grinned none-the-less as he pulled Landon tightly into an embrace. "You're going to die," he whispered almost sweetly into the other man's ear while casting a heavy look to one of his guards who promptly screamed "BOMB!" as the device fell from his master's scorched hand and fell to the floor with an unheard clatter only to disappear beneath the Trill's next step.

Rochelle flinched at the sound of the perched Romulan's screech. It was a cruel word, a caustic word, and one she could hardly imagine playing into a night of diplomatic hijinx - but it had. Several Stenellis guards swooped in to snatch the Royal family up and into protection, and the soft din of the music came to a violent halt only to be replaced by the sound of alarms. Before she could even think to react, Tr'Bak was peeled off of Landon and covered by two of his guards before quickly disappearing into a whirling flash of transporter beam light. "Shit." Was all she could manage as she, along with several members of the Vindicator's crew, rushed to protect Landon.

Hindsight would remind her that her guards were there for her, a flag officer, but in the heat of the moment it only served to protect one of their own that was, without a doubt, in a great world of trouble. Phasers met disruptors, pulled, primed, and pointed at one another in an obscenely crude arch where Landon and Rochelle stood privy in the center. "Vindicator, this is Ivanova." The chirp of her well-concealed combadge complied, "Emergency beam out of all Vindicator and Enterprise crew requested, NOW!" She bellowed, suddenly all too aware of just how vulnerable they all were while sitting in their finest on that alien planet.

"Vindicator to Ivanova, we're being hailed by Ael'Riov Tr'Bak. He's demanding your audience." The combadge crackled back to life, causing her to flinch yet again.

"He can demand all he wants right now, get us the fuck out of here!" She replied sharply, casting a wary and bewildered look between Landon, the Romulans, and her crew.

Neyes stood there where the monster and his minions had fled from, not moving a step. He let the men and women of their crew surround him and his fiance. His eyes glazing over at having touched Tr'Bak with his own flesh and blood, feeling his breath on the edge of his ears. Neyes could feel the muscles in his neck and his jaw locking up as the sounds around him swirled with the trauma of the memories the Romulan had forced him to associate.

"I don't..." Landon started. "I don't think we have one big enough."

"One what?" Rochelle found herself asking, taking her eyes off the encroaching remainder of the Romulan guards and her own steadfast crew to rest her questioning gaze on him.

He slowly turned to face the Commodore. "That bandage he'll want."

"Lan--" She didn't have a chance to respond in full when the sound of one of the Romulan's voices began a decree she had hoped would never come.

"In the name of the Romulan Star Empire, Landon Neyes you're under arr--"

The fated sentence couldn't be uttered in time. The reaching green skinned hand would only grasp thin air instead of the Trill's forearm as the sickly sweet whir of a transporter beam finally locked on and whisked the Federation crew members away to their appropriate vessels in short order. It was only after they'd rematerialized on one of the Vindicator's transporter pads, that Rochelle released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, cleared her throat, and chose to finish the sentence she'd started before being so horribly disturbed. "I'm pretty sure he wants to fashion a bandaid out of your spotted hide at this point. Maybe mine." The redhead's eyes narrowed slightly in thought as an incoming team of yellow shirts surged into the bay, "Yeah... Pretty sure, actually." She nodded for good measure.

---

Commodore Rochelle Ivanova
Commanding Officer
USS VINDICATOR, NCC 78213-E

Captain Landon Neyes
Civilian Liaison
USS VINDICATOR, NCC 78213-E

Ael'Riov Vrith Tr'Bak
Commander, 3rd Tal Shiar Task Force
Romulan Star Empire