Die Tonight, Live Forever: Chapter II: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 01:29, 31 May 2011

SD 240605.02, The TCV Nodlan, Du'Ji Cluster (Five LYs from Trill)

Few things seem as vast as the emptiness of space. For imperceivable distances the only visible spectacles are stars lying so far out of reach, civilization had to harness the power of suns in order to find them. Areas of space still exist where no living thing has ever been, even now. Yet in this emptiness, the tiny TCS Nodlan slipped silently from it's high-powered subspace flight. A quick flash shown million of kilometers away, and then she popped almost out of nowhere. Her silver-line hull glistened as the speckled lightshow of stars danced invitingly on the metallic surfaces and artistic curves of her frame. Landon sat at the helm near the bow, a wide but sleek position, with windows both starboard and port meet ing the center viewer. Nodlan wasn't a small ship, by a shuttle's standards. She was in fact much larger than any Starfleet ship in the same class, but was still small enough to fit inside most shuttle bays of any starship. Sitting in someone else's hold wasn't really Neyes' style, however, and he would have probably landed his ship on a hostile planet rather than imprison her in docking moors.

The cabin door to the rear slid open with a subtle hiss as Gregory stepped into the control room. There wasn't a great distance between the helm and the back of the room, but it was enough for Neyes to have to anticipate Greg's solemn impatience as he moved to the co-pilot's seat. And sure enough it took less than a moment for Greg to clear his thr oat, ever so conspicuously.

"Yes?" Landon chimed, sarcastically.

"I see we dropped out of warp, friend. But there's nothing here-" He barely had time to finish the sentence when Odalla came stomping through the doors as well.

"You might give us a little warning next time, Ensign! SOME people have to catch up on their sleep after c hasing around a neurotic Trill pilot for the last week!"

Spoiled, that's what they were. Both Greg and Counselor Odalla were used to going on a mission after a Starfleet briefing. They wanted to know how, when, where, why and what. Now he carried them around in his most prized vessel (whose sound insulation wasn't designed to keep the thrum of a decelerating starship out of the sleeping quarters) and it was all they could do to keep from tearing his head off at every slight. Neyes slowly to turned in his seat to confront her, but hi s intentions to scold her were suddenly thwarted as he looked upon he r disheveled appearance. It seemed she had neglected to take the time to put up her hair, and it was strewn about carelessly in her face, dark curls messed and twisted inside themselves. His brow shot up and he pointed at her. "You. You don't look half bad first thing in the morning." He teased. "We're where I want us to be. Now we just need to wait here for a moment."

"Wait for what?" Greg asked.

"Yes, PLEASE. Enlighten us to whatever mysterious plot you've dragged us into. I'd like to know what's going on." Odalla spat, taking the queue from Neyes and quickly tying up her hair into a small bun. She was a beautiful woman, but she didn't need to look bea utiful in the current company. It would have probably been a wasted effort anyway. Greg was a noted 'good-man' type who courted for the long haul and Neyes was... well... a joined Trill. They tended not to take on relationships. Even the Neyes symbiont talked a big talk, but she knew she was in no real danger of being approached for anything substantial.

As if summoned by their complaints, a ship immediately blipped on the sensors. Greg quickly took to the sensor controls and tried to analyze it. Landon simply sat and watched.

"I've got a small ship off the port bow. 1 million kilometers. Looks like they just dropped out of warp." Greg looked over at Landon. "Is this what we're waiting for."

"It's who... not what. And yeah." Neyes said, a little smirk gracing the corner of his lips. "He's here."

Odalla's eyes narrowed. "Who, HE. Ensign? Is this some contact of yours?"

The comm system came to life. "We're being hailed. Landon. I'd guess you want to speak to him." Greg looked over at him.

Landon began tapping the controls of the helm. "Open a channel." The computer chirped in response.

The man who sounded over the comm system had a relaxingly ch arming sound to his voice. He spoke with flawless intonation and a seductive flair. "Hello Neyes. It's been a little while." His attractive face lit up a side monitor. The man was slightly older than Landon, probably 27 in Earth years, and was just as physically fit. His jaw-line practically cut the edges of the frame. His metallic-silver eyes carved an intimidating look onto each of them as he nodded to both Greg and Odalla.

Odalla watched with a careful eye as she witnessed the exchange begin to take place. Landon had visibly shifted his body language. He no longer had the cocky, terse tightness, and a kind of familiar relaxation radiated off of the young man. Odalla couldn't tell if it was their past dealings or some es tranged sense of security, but Landon definitely knew a good deal abo ut the man to whom they were speaking. He seemed comfortable, but also cautious. Sneaking around in the corners of space and meeting up with unknown ships wasn't exactly in her job description. She found herself wondering if they hadn't gotten themselves into something terribly personal; if this wasn't some kind of a 'off the record' issue she'd missed.

Neyes' response was just as comfortable, and he also found himself using the same refined speaking form. "New body, new life, all that. I've gotten used to being a man, though. Sounds like you agree?"

"Of course. I haven't been a woman for a while now though, you know. Not since before I met you, I think." He replied. The words seemed to imply more than gender discussion, and everyone in the cabin felt it. To the unknowing listener, however, it would appear to be little more than play-talk. The two men obviously had had dealings with each other before, and given their talks so far, the meeting place and the similar ships, Greg and Odalla both felt like outsiders stepping into a private conversation.

Greg looked from side to side, and locked a quick mutual gaze with Odalla. "Who is this guy, Landon?"

"Sorry. Greg, Odalla, please meet my old friend. Na'jan Daeryx."

Odalla's brow furrowed, and Greg merely sat staring, ignorant to what it meant. "Your Daeryx?" She asked, implying her knowledge of his file and the symbiont's history.

Landon sighed. "Yes. My Daeryx."

His enthralling voice came back over the comm system. "Pleased to meet you both." He made a motion at one of his controls and his ship came to a stop about 100 meters off the Nodlan's bow. Greg leaned a little forward, as the small Trill ship came into view. Landon's ship was impressive, but this Daeryx... his was indescribable. Sleek curves and edges came to a melded round at the nose of the fighter, if that was indeed was it was. The ship obviously had warp capability, but the nacelles were built into the rounded wings of the ship. It was more like art than craft, and it looked like it was deceptively limited in it's weaponry.

From the corner of his eye, Neyes could see Greg looking at the ship in awe. Landon had been the same way when he'd seen the ship for the first time. It was almost fr ightening to be at the helm of that vessel, and Neyes had only experi enced in once. Daeryx was extremely touchy about letting anyone else man the helm.

"I suppose there's a reason you asked for me to meet you here, Neyes? I can't say I don't love getting to see you every few decades or so, but you usually don't ask on such short notice." Daeryx raised an eyebrow and cracked a thin smile.

Landon looked back over the viewer, "Yeah. Well..." He looked over to Greg and Odalla, hesitating to say anything out loud. A few moments was all it took for him to damn it all and just go with it. They were both already in this until the end. "I need you help to wipe the organization that killed my family of f the chart, Daeryx. I've got a lead on them, but I have a hard time thinking i'll be able to do it all alone."

"You? You think you can't do it alone? I'm honored, truly." The other Trill man chimed sarcastically.

"Joke all you want, Na'jan. I'm asking for your help."

"You have it, old friend. Always."

Greg's panel shouted an alarming serie s of blaring beeps as the tracking computer moved Daeryx's image to a smaller side screen and brought up a local map of space. Red dots flickered at them, and they appeared to moving at terrifying speed right in their direction. "Something just dropped out of warp! They're on an intercept course, headed here at full impulse!" He looked up first to Landon, who was already charging the engines, and then to the comm channel. Daeryx's image was gone however, and his ship was no longer in front of them.

=/\= TBC=/\=

Forward to: Die Tonight, Live Forever: Chapter III, Return to: Landon Neyes, Die Tonight, Live Forever: Chapter I

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''=/\= SD 240604.22, Trill Homeworld =/\='''
+== SD 240605.02, The TCV Nodlan, Du'Ji Cluster (Five LYs from Trill) ==
-The lights of some unseen energy shone down on a pallid face of apprehension and hidden uncertainty. Just as they shown on the young Trill, they shown on a man who'd seen the faces of the past. A man who had seen the centuries of old through the eyes of more than nine ferrymen, right up until his sudden and violent end. There were so many life lessons that probably could have kept the more villainous emotions at bay, but Landon apparently lacked them. His face turned to the side as he looked upon the cold remains of the man beside him. The white hospital beds held them next to one another before the surgery was to take place, and Landon was about to receive a gift and a burden. Few Trill had the joyous pleasure and stony determination to reach this point. Landon had his doubts about himself, but there were those who would disagree with him.
+Few things seem as vast as the emptiness of space. For imperceivable distances the only visible spectacles are stars lying so far out of reach, civilization had to harness the power of suns in order to find them. Areas of space still exist where no living thing has ever been, even now. Yet in this emptiness, the tiny TCS Nodlan slipped silently from it's high-powered subspace flight. A quick flash shown million of kilometers away, and then she popped almost out of nowhere. Her silver-line hull glistened as the speckled lightshow of stars danced invitingly on the metallic surfaces and artistic curves of her frame. Landon sat at the helm near the bow, a wide but sleek position, with windows both starboard and port meet ing the center viewer. Nodlan wasn't a small ship, by a shuttle's standards. She was in fact much larger than any Starfleet ship in the same class, but was still small enough to fit inside most shuttle bays of any starship. Sitting in someone else's hold wasn't really Neyes' style, however, and he would have probably landed his ship on a hostile planet rather than imprison her in docking moors.
+The cabin door to the rear slid open with a subtle hiss as Gregory stepped into the control room. There wasn't a great distance between the helm and the back of the room, but it was enough for Neyes to have to anticipate Greg's solemn impatience as he moved to the co-pilot's seat. And sure enough it took less than a moment for Greg to clear his thr oat, ever so conspicuously.
-The man beside him was still alive as far as the monitors were concerned. A plethora of tubes and connective instruments kept his body just charged enough to keep the symbiont from dying. His body was still just as lifeless as anyone else would be, however, had they been impaled by a Jem'Hadar blade. Landon had spent a moment imagined what it must have been like for Neyes. The symbiont at least. What must it be like to be stabbed in the chest? To die... yet continue living on in a new host. It had happened at least eight times before. The deaths were all different, from what he was told. Most of natural causes. Landon still had to wonder what it must have been like to die, then come back to life again. Born again.
+"Yes?" Landon chimed, sarcastically.
-Soon he wouldn't need to wonder.
+"I see we dropped out of warp, friend. But there's nothing here-" He barely had time to finish the sentence when Odalla came stomping through the doors as well.
-''Would he still love his family? Would the memories of all the others blot out what little he still clung to?''
+"You might give us a little warning next time, Ensign! SOME people have to catch up on their sleep after c hasing around a neurotic Trill pilot for the last week!"
-"Landon, son, we're about to begin." The surgeon said, somewhere off on the far side of the surgical bay. Landon cringed as the man called him 'son'. A name he'd reserved only for his parents to call him.
+Spoiled, that's what they were. Both Greg and Counselor Odalla were used to going on a mission after a Starfleet briefing. They wanted to know how, when, where, why and what. Now he carried them around in his most prized vessel (whose sound insulation wasn't designed to keep the thrum of a decelerating starship out of the sleeping quarters) and it was all they could do to keep from tearing his head off at every slight.
+Neyes slowly to turned in his seat to confront her, but hi s intentions to scold her were suddenly thwarted as he looked upon he r disheveled appearance. It seemed she had neglected to take the time to put up her hair, and it was strewn about carelessly in her face, dark curls messed and twisted inside themselves. His brow shot up and he pointed at her. "You. You don't look half bad first thing in the morning." He teased. "We're where I want us to be. Now we just need to wait here for a moment."
-He swallowed the urge to take the man's slight personally, and clenched his jaw in preparation.
+"Wait for what?" Greg asked.
-The procedure took just under an hour, and he'd been settled down next to the man he was about to know far more intimately for upwards of twenty minutes. It was unnerving to be next a dead person. It brought up thoughts of what his family's bodies were going through. It was morbid, and
+"Yes, PLEASE. Enlighten us to whatever mysterious plot you've dragged us into. I'd like to know what's going on." Odalla spat, taking the queue from Neyes and quickly tying up her hair into a small bun. She was a beautiful woman, but she didn't need to look bea utiful in the current company. It would have probably been a wasted effort anyway. Greg was a noted 'good-man' type who courted for the long haul and Neyes was... well... a joined Trill. They tended not to take on relationships. Even the Neyes symbiont talked a big talk, but she knew she was in no real danger of being approached for anything substantial.
-painful. He wanted it to be over. He wanted to be new, someone else. He wanted to be someone who understood more about why this had happened to him. He wanted to be the wise and seamlessly graceful joined Trill that he'd imagined he would be, unfettered by feelings that normally trip and fumble the less fortunate intellectuals of his race. He wanted to be someone else. Anyone.
-''He'd dropped the PADD. It just dropped out of his hands. His fingers couldn't hold it after the Commander had given him the news. Shuttle accident. Mom. Dad. Tristan. They were killed instantly...''
+As if summoned by their complaints, a ship immediately blipped on the sensors. Greg quickly took to the sensor controls and tried to analyze it. Landon simply sat and watched.
-A tear slipped a cold path down the crook of his eye, then tumbled down an icy line of forced torture. Landon felt it pass over his skin and collect at the bottom of the water-proof bed lining. Stuck between it's previous owner and the elements.
+"I've got a small ship off the port bow. 1 million kilometers. Looks like they just dropped out of warp." Greg looked over at Landon. "Is this what we're waiting for."
-"Okay. Nurse let's begin."...
+"It's who... not what. And yeah." Neyes said, a little smirk gracing the corner of his lips. "He's here."
-A hypo-spray touched his neck. Landon's heart slowed. It's steady rhythm faded into a steady and enveloping darkness. Landon looked with tired eyes as the anesthetic's freezing hands took their hold, and gazed once more upon the face of the man. Taylor Neyes.
+Odalla's eyes narrowed. "Who, HE. Ensign? Is this some contact of yours?"
-He felt his head press firmly against the bed's pillow, and he drifted into unconsciousness. Soon he'd leave the name Irelle behind, and take his place as a Neyes. The eleventh in the line of hosts to bear the name...
+The comm system came to life. "We're being hailed. Landon. I'd guess you want to speak to him." Greg looked over at him.
----- ~ ----
+Landon began tapping the controls of the helm. "Open a channel." The computer chirped in response.
-"Protect our flank!" An explosion ripped across the rocks near Taylor's head as he spoke. He cringed and wiped some blood from his brow. "We have to maintain this position or the enemy will push us too back to maintain a stable defense!" Several other marines near him nodded and resumed
+The man who sounded over the comm system had a relaxingly ch arming sound to his voice. He spoke with flawless intonation and a seductive flair. "Hello Neyes. It's been a little while." His attractive face lit up a side monitor. The man was slightly older than Landon, probably 27 in Earth years, and was just as physically fit. His jaw-line practically cut the edges of the frame. His metallic-silver eyes carved an intimidating look onto each of them as he nodded to both Greg and Odalla.
-firing into the mist. Taylor needed to check on the repair team taking care of the damage to his troops transport. He hurried along through the trees, keeping his phaser rifle aimed and ready. Every crack of a twig or rustle of the canopy made the hairs on his neck strike out like knives. In the distance he could hear weapons fire and trees falling in the battle, a scream every now and then. The attack had come from nowhere. They were on mission when someone fired tricobalt devices in their path. Really, they were lucky they weren't incinerated immediately. The concussive explosion tore through their engines like butter and sent them careening to crash on the surface of this marshy planet. Taylor didn't know how long repairs would take, but he was banking on just long enough for them to evacuate back into space before more of these attackers came to help their angry friends. He wasn't in charge, not really. Their commanding officer was injured and unconscious on the transport. He was just the runner, keeping information going. Communications didn't seem to work here, so it was necessary to have someone keeping everyone up to date, and Taylor volunteered. He didn't mind, he liked a good fight.
-'''SNAP'''
+Odalla watched with a careful eye as she witnessed the exchange begin to take place. Landon had visibly shifted his body language. He no longer had the cocky, terse tightness, and a kind of familiar relaxation radiated off of the young man. Odalla couldn't tell if it was their past dealings or some es tranged sense of security, but Landon definitely knew a good deal abo ut the man to whom they were speaking. He seemed comfortable, but also cautious. Sneaking around in the corners of space and meeting up with unknown ships wasn't exactly in her job description. She found herself wondering if they hadn't gotten themselves into something terribly personal; if this wasn't some kind of a 'off the record' issue she'd missed.
-"Sweety come to dinner!" She said loudly. Calling out into the sunlit field. The man Ehryn called her love, was ju-
+Neyes' response was just as comfortable, and he also found himself using the same refined speaking form. "New body, new life, all that. I've gotten used to being a man, though. Sounds like you agree?"
-'''SNAP'''
+"Of course. I haven't been a woman for a while now though, you know. Not since before I met you, I think." He replied. The words seemed to imply more than gender discussion, and everyone in the cabin felt it. To the unknowing listener, however, it would appear to be little more than play-talk. The two men obviously had had dealings with each other before, and given their talks so far, the meeting place and the similar ships, Greg and Odalla both felt like outsiders stepping into a private conversation.
-Grecan felt the tinge of happiness slip into his heart as he looked down on the blades. They were a gift from Drehj. He marveled in awesome fascination at their beauty. Cold. Deep. Deadly. He felt comfor-
+Greg looked from side to side, and locked a quick mutual gaze with Odalla. "Who is this guy, Landon?"
-'''SNAP'''
+"Sorry. Greg, Odalla, please meet my old friend. Na'jan Daeryx."
-A hand pushed against his face, crushing him against the wall. Every muscle in his body was begging to be set free, but he couldn't get a good hold. There was no getting out of this. "Stop! Please!" He cried. But his assailant wasn't letting up. Another strike pounded against his side. The crushing force vibrated up through his ribs, and one gave way under the blo-
+Odalla's brow furrowed, and Greg merely sat staring, ignorant to what it meant. "Your Daeryx?" She asked, implying her knowledge of his file and the symbiont's history.
-'''SNAP'''
+Landon sighed. "Yes. My Daeryx."
-The crack behind him made Taylor whip around and catch an enemy soldier coming in behind him. As quickly as he saw him, the soldier rolled and shot three charges into the trees as Taylor threw himself to the ground, then opened fire and caught the bastard right in the gut. Taylor sighed as he held still for a few more moments. But it didn't help him. He distinctly saw 5 more coming right for him, at a jogging pace. Taylor could either bolt the 400 yards to the ship or stay put and hope against reason they wouldn't see him. Neither choice really appealed to him, and he cursed the federation for being so kind and generous, placing him in this damned situation. So he decided to hop to his feet and run, at full spe-
+His enthralling voice came back over the comm system. "Pleased to meet you both." He made a motion at one of his controls and his ship came to a stop about 100 meters off the Nodlan's bow. Greg leaned a little forward, as the small Trill ship came into view. Landon's ship was impressive, but this Daeryx... his was indescribable. Sleek curves and edges came to a melded round at the nose of the fighter, if that was indeed was it was. The ship obviously had warp capability, but the nacelles were built into the rounded wings of the ship. It was more like art than craft, and it looked like it was deceptively limited in it's weaponry.
-'''SNAP'''
+From the corner of his eye, Neyes could see Greg looking at the ship in awe. Landon had been the same way when he'd seen the ship for the first time. It was almost fr ightening to be at the helm of that vessel, and Neyes had only experi enced in once. Daeryx was extremely touchy about letting anyone else man the helm.
-Landon rubbed his kid-brother's head under his palm, messing it up hopelessly, smiling mischievously as it was tossed about his head. "LANDON! AW WHAT?! Stop! Come on! XID'DGAI!" Tristan's arms shot up to defend his precious hair-do. That morning's ritual must have taken him more than an hou-
+"I suppose there's a reason you asked for me to meet you here, Neyes? I can't say I don't love getting to see you every few decades or so, but you usually don't ask on such short notice." Daeryx raised an eyebrow and cracked a thin smile.
-'''SNAP'''
+Landon looked back over the viewer, "Yeah. Well..." He looked over to Greg and Odalla, hesitating to say anything out loud. A few moments was all it took for him to damn it all and just go with it. They were both already in this until the end. "I need you help to wipe the organization that killed my family of f the chart, Daeryx. I've got a lead on them, but I have a hard time thinking i'll be able to do it all alone."
-Blue blurry flashes shot past him in the forest. They ripped open the sides of trees and made chips of wood explode into his path. Catching a foot by a tree he spun around and layed down several shots and a wide beam phaser blast into the woods behind him. Taylor heard several yells and screams coming from where he had just fired. Satisfied he'd gotten some of them he turned sharply to continue running.
+"You? You think you can't do it alone? I'm honored, truly." The other Trill man chimed sarcastically.
-A second later a surge of cold froze his entire body. He tensed up in every muscle he had. Staring him in the face was a grotesque creature, and it smelled like something burnt and rotten. Also, in his hand was a knife that he'd plunged into Taylor's chest.
+"Joke all you want, Na'jan. I'm asking for your help."
-The world began to blur. Then he started to fall back, his legs giving out from under him. Taylor screamed in his head to get up and run, but he felt so cold and so tired. The blur suddenly shimmered to a blue haze that skittered all over. A transporter.
-And then the world fell out.
+"You have it, old friend. Always."
----- ~ -----
+Greg's panel shouted an alarming serie s of blaring beeps as the tracking computer moved Daeryx's image to a smaller side screen and brought up a local map of space. Red dots flickered at them, and they appeared to moving at terrifying speed right in their direction. "Something just dropped out of warp! They're on an intercept course, headed here at full impulse!" He looked up first to Landon, who was already charging the engines, and then to the comm channel. Daeryx's image was gone however, and his ship was no longer in front of them.
-A world of air rushed into Landon's lungs as he shot up, a sudden and treacherous gasp the only thing he could hear as his eyes shot open. Reality and dreams throbbed just beyond him. Pulsing and fighting for control of his attention. His hands immediately snapped to his chest, clutching it desperately, trying to remove the knife. The knife. Where was the knife?! The waking world smashing into his own in a thunderous explosion. Fast. So fast. His heart skipped a beat, and he felt every second tick off like an eternity of some alien world he didn't understand. Sight. Smell. Sound. Taste. Touch. And something ...else. Something else was here! It was all a thousand times more bright, intense, loud and unbelievably irritating as any other time he could remember. He could practically feel the different patterns of air in the room brushing against his skin... and the strange lingering intuition that someone else was here...
+'''=/\= TBC=/\='''
-The room was dark except for a small light in the corner, which illuminated a smaller box of personal belongings. Wait...
+----
-Footsteps... He could hear them. He recognized them. 110 meters away. 106. 95. He could count the distance without even thinking.
+''Forward to: [[Die Tonight, Live Forever: Chapter III]],
+''Return to: [[Landon Neyes]], [[Die Tonight, Live Forever: Chapter I]]''
-He shot out of bed and took a fighting stance he could neither name, nor remember learning. Yet it felt as natural to him as standing.
-"Landon!" Someone called, as the lights came on. The figure of a man appeared in the doorway. It was sharp and clear, this being. But he couldn't quite make him out well enough to name him. He knew his name though. He did... Who was he?
-"Yju'da! Neixuingya eas illth'jxi!" Landon hissed. His fingers clenched tightly around his sweating fist. This wasn't happening right. He knew he should know what was going on. He knew what should be happening... but he couldn't name it. WHO ELSE WAS HERE?!
-The man had the features of someone he knew. Someone he felt like he could trust, but he was just so confused. Where was he? Where was his family. "Landon! It's me... Greg. Calm down. You're fine. You're on Trill. They brought me here because your joining took, but the melding didn't go as they expected. You're experiencing something known as uh," he paused for a moment, thinking, "...y'djai... or something weird like that. I don't speak Trill so whatever, but come on, man. You're Landon. You're fine. You got our of surgery four days ago." His expression was expectant, as if he thought somehow his words were going to help. But Landon couldn't understand what language he was speaking in.
-Landon's lips pressed together. Greg. He knew Greg. Yet he knew this man too. Greg was a man he'd traded with over the past 4 yours on the USS Ferragut. They'd taken his ship in. Helped make repairs. Wait... no. In the Academy? He went to the Academy? Starfleet...
-His features softened and his guard dropped. This was Greg. It was 2406. But... it was 2279... he could remember it like yesterday... his dry lips parted and his scratchy voice managed to say the only thing he could remember. "...greg"
-It was all he could manage before the pulsing senses in his head overtook him. Pushing him back into the dark.
-'''=/\= END LOG =/\='''
-''Forward to: [[Die Tonight, Live Forever: Part II]],''
-''Return to: [[Landon Neyes]]''
 [[Category:Character Stories]]