ｔｈｅｒｅ'ｓ ａ ｂａｄ ｍｏｏｎ ｏｎ ｔｈｅ ｒｉｓｅ

[exastris_scientia]

t e r r o r must be maintained.

a mirrorverse open post





1. pick a character and tag them in the subject line.
2. post pictures, starters, whatevs
3. profit!

Comments

[thousandeyes]

[julian had been on his own for so long that being on the narada, large as it was, with all the people coming and going from it, made him exceedingly cautious. there was no such thing as certain safety in this world, and no one he truly trusted but jim and thomas.

he certainly didn't trust these new passengers. he hadn't argued bringing them aboard, that was jim's decision, but he tried spending as little time around them as possible--without shirking his duties, of course. for the moment, the infirmary was his, and he was treating one of the acrobats for a pulled muscle and torn ligaments. he'd done quite a number on himself, really, and it would be tricky to repair--he had to focus on the delicate work at hand with the laser scalpel--

it was why he didn't expect the knife in the other hand until it was already biting into his throat. his hand jerked, slicing through nerves and tendons. the man screamed. time seemed to slow, julian's awareness going peculiarly foggy at the edges and yet laser-focused on the man in front of him. traitor, vicious snake, diediedie--

one of julian's throwing knives slipped into his hand as the assassin tried to escape, running for the door--as if escaping this room would spare him. it didn't matter. he wouldn't escape.

the knife buried up to the hilt in the man's back with the force of a phaser bolt, sending him sprawling into the hallway. if the blade itself didn't kill him, the poison coating it certainly would.

julian's strength fled him then, legs buckling. he collapsed into a pool of blood and jewel-bright silk.

jim...

everything went dark.]

[caelus]

[ they'd been called to planet q at thomas' insistence. there were few people in the galaxy that the emperor, of all people, would detour the iss narada for. thomas was one of them. it was only after he and julian had visited with thomas and his wife, that he got the call from the ship who was supposed to pick up the troupe of actors.

it was hardly their usual, but jim figured the human crew might enjoy something of the sort. hell, maybe even the augment crew would. they left planet q's orbit without incident. it wasn't until they were four days into their trip, jim having spent most of it dodging lenore karidian's affections, that he received the comm from leighton's wife.

now leighton's widow. why hadn't thomas told him any of his suspicions? of course he would have wanted to take his vengeance himself after losing all of his family to that monster, but---gods, that meant they were a part of the troupe. and julian---

he bolts for the door to his quarters, swallowing back a panic that should have ended ten years ago with the sound of phaser rifles charging and the sounds of four thousand screaming. of feeling like his body was trying to tear itself apart for how hungry he felt. then there was nothing, just lethargy, and julian. julian found them, collar around his neck from the mansion. ]

Move---MOVE!

[ jim barrels past everyone, putting some into the bulkheads that hadn't moved in enough time, but as he rounded the corner (some people already gathering around the body of the unfamiliar man in the passageway)---his heart sank. julian wouldn't have just left him there to die easily. he pushes the way through, heart nearly stopping for the second time in his life when he sees the bright silk splashed with too much crimson, and he's at julian's side in an instant.

there's too much red---he's not sure where to put his hands, or if it will even do anything to help. he puts shaking hands to his throat, terrified to move him, and his breathing is ragged and panicked. ]

No. Nonono. Julian. Julian, open your eyes and look at me. Look at me.

[ bones had been off duty, but he'd been summoned at the disturbance. jim hasn't even noticed. ]

He's supposed to be dead. He's supposed to---[ jim is very far from the emperor who has taken the galaxy by storm in this moment. he's the small, half-dead child that hid in garbage with his best friend for weeks. the child that huddled with the older augment and listened to persian lullabies. ] --Thomas is gone. You can't---not you.

Julian? Bones, do something!

[thousandeyes]

[blood is bubbling in his throat, he's choking on it, drowning in it--he's managing shallow breaths but it's through the gaping wound, nearly to his spine, not through his mouth. he can't feel anything. he can't feel the hands on him.

he hears, though. that's the last sense to go.

opening his eyes is a struggle. he almost wishes he hadn't. jim shouldn't look so afraid, so desperate. there's no reason for him to anymore. but it's hard to look for long for other reasons.

his vision tunnels, goes dark. his eyes slip closed.

his labored, drowning breaths stop, and do not start again.]

[caelus]

[ bones doesn't dare try to move jim. he tries, futilely, to work around him. he's keeping pressure on the wound and that's good---but for a wound like that. there's nothing he can do.

jim tries to stay in julian's range of focus, but he's struggling. blood is bubbling past his fingers, and the sounds---jim shakes his head, fighting back tears of equal parts shock, pain, and rage. ]

Jim---[ bones tries to get his attention, but he can't look away from the life ebbing away in his hands. it isn't the first time he's seen death, but it's the first time that death meant a damn thing to him. it's dangerous for jim to be here. a moment of weakness that could be exploited and bones is already on high alert. he wishes that damned augment jim's grown so fond of was down here right now to talk some sense into him, but he isn't. god damn this is a mess.

jim watches julian's eyes close, and hears the labored breathing go silent. it's like something changes when that final breath goes, and the body under his isn't the same anymore. he jerks his hands back suddenly, shock giving way to pain as he looks between the red on his hands and his dead friend. he shakes his head, little abortive movements as his shoulders bunch up and tense, like a child trying to hide themselves by becoming too small to be noticed. ]

Jim, I need to get you out of here.

[ his moods have always been mercurial to say the very least, but ever since the transfusion to bring him back via khan---it's been so much worse. it's their fault. thomas knew, but he thought he could handle it. that bitch trying to sidle up to him and knife him in between the ribs is kodos' spawn. she killed thomas. she had julian killed. like father like daughter. he'll drown them both in each other's blood.

he doesn't realize that he's bunched up the fabric of julian's robes in shaking fists, bloodying them more as he shakes from the rage suddenly burning through him brighter than a supernova. that entire deck hears his scream of rage. ]

[thousandeyes]

[anyone who mistakes that howl as a sign of weakness isn't long for this world. it pierces the air, haunting in its intensity.

it catches joaquin's attention immediately, amd he recognizes the voice. he doesn't know what it is, but he does know that khan is on the bridge now, and he's in a better position to respond to whatever is happening.

he tears through the gloom of narada's darkened corridors towards the infirmary, expecting blood. he's not disappointed, as the recently declared emperor stumbles out of the room, covered all down his front and reeking of blood.]

Sir...

[he and kirk are not necessarily on a first name basis. cautious respect is safest.]

[caelus]

[ jim has torn himself away from julian's body and bones' grasping hands to keep him from running blindly from the room. though blind is hardly the best term. he has only one goal in mind, a singular desire. there is no where to go on this ship. there are no shuttles they can take.

they will die choking on their own hearts, and then he will throw their corpses into the heart of a sun to burn away that they ever existed.

the human crew scurries away from their blood-soaked emperor quickly enough, but it's joaquin's voice that stops him briefly. he knows him, of course he knows him, he's khan's second and most trusted. jim trusts him as well, under normal circumstances, but there's a madness in his eyes. ]

I'll drown them in each other's blood. There aren't words for the kind of things they are.

[ he stops, looking down at the dead troupe member, and hunkers down to pull julian's poisoned knife out of his cooling corpse. in his burning rage, there are still tears streaking his face. ]

Get rid of it.

[ and he turns to go down the corridor to find the bitch and her father. ]

(for astheyknow/khan)

[unfeel]

[astheyknow]

[ the world the augments left behind and the world khan was woken into are not so very different in the end.

he was forced into service, and while he attempted to free both himself and his people from under senator marcus' heel---he had failed. his escape was only to free himself, and as he left he had no reason to believe that marcus would not execute the rest of his crew as punishment.

so he began to plan his revenge. he was not surprised to learn that a bounty was placed on his head. many tried, over the next few months. all failed. this new one was no different. his latest planetary move had landed him on the arid wasteland of delta vega which only held an unmanned lithium cracking station.

taking out this post would hinder any travel past this system. and his long-term goal was still yet to be realized. while it might be simply a splinter in paw of the great beast of the empire, it would still call into question what was being done.

one lone augment causing all the trouble? that certainly doesn't look good for admirality. ]

for mizrach

[victoris]

[ there are few things in james t. kirk's life guarded more closely than his time spent on an outer rim colony by the name of tarsus iv. he guards that time for many reasons, but most of all he does not wish for anyone to know of the only two people aside from his mother that he considers to be his family.

thomas is guarded because any weakness could be exploited. julian is guarded because of who he is. rumor is dangerous, sometimes far more dangerous than the truth, and jim knows what the empire will do to the augments if ever the faerie story that is theirs becomes a truth. but of course, few things go as anyone plans in this violent universe they live in, and though he is first officer of the iss enterprise, he is not yet her captain, and so when the ss botany bay is found, the spoils go to the captain. the highly logical, worthless captain spock.

jim would be rid of him already were he not a vulcan. but perhaps---perhaps he is here to end this little experiment. there are few records of the vessel and her people, exiled from earth as they were some 300 years ago. jim already knows the story, julian bashir told it to him while they huddled for warmth in garbage on that colony.

spock has decided that it would be more logical to wake one of the lower ranking officers from cryo rather than damage the infamous khan noonien singh. bones is the only medical officer there, and while he is forever loyal to jim---he can't let anyone know that. not yet. for now, he is still subject to spock's captaincy. so when the cryotube begins to lose power, kirk's pacing becomes more prominent, and he hisses his displeasure at their captain.

"if he is unable to survive the awakening process we will learn from it by his death. this is simply a means of natural selection. clearly he is too weak to survive the empire, and is therefore of little use to us. do nothing."

jim usually does his best to not rock the starship. he bides his time. he doesn't waste resources trying to outwit the vulcan, not yet. but he draws the line here. perhaps it is weakness. it will also cost him when he stalks across the room against orders and helps bones to stabilize the man dying in the cryotube. "stand down, commander kirk." once that's done, spock's men flank him and he grits his teeth as the vulcan calmly strides up to him.

"you disobeyed a direct order. your agonizer."

the look jim levels on spock even as bones levers the cryotube open to reveal the now very alive augment speaks volumes: one day you will not be captain anymore. on that day you'll look up and see me covered in your blood. he hands the device over, and keeps glaring at him as the first wave of pain lances through him. it isn't until the second that he drops to his knees, crying out through gritted teeth.

"you are sentenced to 4 cycles in the agony booth, commander kirk. and one more so that you might finally learn your place. take him away." ]

[mizrach]

[joaquin weiss was not a man of faith. despite their intelligence, he was also not a man of science, not an engineer. he didn't know how the cryotubes functioned, their designs or their flaws.

he hears, as if through water, as his body fights to come out of hundreds of years of stasis. he wants to snarl, he wants to fight, he wants to show the arrogant prick exactly how weak he is.

his body is failing him.

then there's someone else, two fogged forms fighting to drag him back from the murk, and joaquin latches onto that lifeline and pulls.

as he's dragging breath into still half-frozen lungs and ignoring the bursts of pain from reawakening nerves, he hears the pronouncement, the shout of pain. he wants to get up then and there, fight them off, but trying to move sends daggers of shrieking pain like acid shooting from his fingers straight to his toes, he's paralyzed.

there's a hand on his shoulder, it grips him as if the man it belongs to is telling him: wait. we need a plan.

joaquin is the sharp end of the spear. he is willing to wait. but when he strikes, there will be bloodm]

[victoris]

[ jim is no stranger to the agony booth. his fury usually outweighs his rational thought. he reads as both predator and prey, depending on what he wants or needs. his mother taught him well: everything is a weapon, dear boy. everything. he can bat his eyes at you and pledge allegiance just as soon as he can rip your throat out with one of the many blades he keeps on his person.

the crew runs bets on how many he wears daily.

none of that is worth much in these moments. pike loved trying to break him down when he was back on earth. his deadly pranks could only be tolerated so far. but he's never learned. he doesn't learn. he rewrites the rules and makes his own way. no one chooses his fate. he'll carve it out of the beating heart of this empire, and leave a bloody trail for others to run after him.

four cycles in the agony booth is already more than he's endured before. typical duration is just over two. he'll survive it. he'll survive spock. he's already survived far worse and no filthy vulcan is going to stop him now. there's no getting used to the booth, though. and he's pale, shaking and sweating already. every change in which part of his nervous system is affected pulls a silent cry out of him from where he's near doubled over in the booth. ]

[mizrach]

[the low pained sounds are interrupted by the moaning of straining metal, the heavy steel door pulling away from the wall until it comes free with a tearing shriek. On the other side is joaquin, whirling to face the heavydoor out like a shield. the reason is shortly evident, when phaser fire splits the air, disappating against the door with a crackling hiss.]

After you, doctor.

[joaquin has been awake for a few hours only. you wouldn't think to look at him that he'd nearly died. there's a wild, feral look to his face, his eyes flashing and mouth turned up in a cocky smirk, hair falling wild into his eyes.

if they'd meant to see him dead, they should have struck the blow themselves. joaquin would not be so accommodating.

he laughs madly as he darts forward, makeshift greatshield describing a wide arc in the air with a security officer on the other end. there's a crack of bome breaking on impact, and he's flung up to hit the ceiling with deadly force.]

He's freezerburned in the goddamn head. Jim. Get up.

[joaquin isn't quite ignorant of mccoy's comment. he can hear extremely well. but it amuses him, and he's slightly busy.]

[victoris]

[ the rending of the metal of the door is enough to short circuit the panels, and the pain from the booth suddenly stops. jim braces his arms and pushes himself back up to his feet fully, watching through blurring vision as the augment from the cryotube makes short work of Sulu's security teams.

he nearly falters when he takes a step out, but bones' hands are there to steady him and they start moving. he casts a glance back to the impressive display, and a manic grin comes to his face. oh, he's fun, whoever he is. ]

Oh, but he's great, isn't he?

[ jim kirk has never been one to believe in stories about love found in this world of theirs, not unless they came from his mother. his devotion and love for her was obvious by his sacrifice. but he knows how they met. the vicious bloodletting at the academy that put them in the other's sights.

he wonders, now, if it felt something like this for either of them. they are nearly to the door, and he looks back again. ]

Hey, we need to get out of here before more of Sulu's security arrives. Come on.

[ they can hole up in the medbay for a time---but they've definitely stirred up a hornet's nest. they'll be lucky to make it off the ship alive. but jim doesn't plan on running.

if they run they leave behind the others still sleeping to a fate of slavery. jim has seen that before, and he won't abide it happening here. so much for secrecy and furtive plans---he has to kill spock. ]

[mizrach]

Great, yeah, sure. That's the word.

[joaquin smirks as he lets go of the metal door--it falls to the deck with a clang and he stalks across the room.]

Oh, you wound me. I thought we were getting along so well.

[joaquin seems rakish, but he truly is looking over kirk with a practiced eye. he might not know how to put people back together, but he's rather skilled at taking them apart--kirk doesn't look well. he's not in apparent immediate danger, but he really can't tell. he's not familiar with whatever tech he'd been tortured with.]

I'll cover us. Go ahead.

[he bends to pick up a phaser. he's not immediately familiar with the weapon, but it can't be too much more complicated than 'point and shoot.']

for puddlejumped because.

[skippedthatcourse]

[Hatred is complex. An obsessive all-consuming constant in Evan Lorne's life, he knows how to live it, breath it, use it to his advantage. His entire live has been consumed by the struggle of staying on top, to survive but he has never, ever, hated anyone like he hates John Sheppard.

It's the obsessive center of his universe, a loathing, a predatory respect. It's desperation, it's running out of time, it's the knowledge that he has been in the XO position for way too long and needs to move up the ladder soon before people will stomp all over him.

Only that.

Only that his every attempt is thwarted, goes wrong, backfires. And everytime John Sheppard walks away, usually with a grin and jab in his general direction. Oh yeah, he knows it's Evan. There's no proof, never, but he knows and Evan knows that he knows. They're almost used to this song and dance now. In a different universe it could almost be fun.

What makes Evan livid is having to admit that his constant failure can only mean two things: Either Sheppard is just really good at what he does (an admission that makes Lorne's skin crawl) or Evan is actually incompetent (a thought that keeps him up at night, because in this universe being incompetent means being dead sooner than later).

When he's being summoned to one of the most remote areas in the city he thinks that's it. Finally Sheppard is going to make his move. That he's had enough of Lorne's intrigues and murderous attempts, that he wants to get rid of him. There's small comofort in that. It means Sheppard a) takes him seriously, at least somewhat, and b) that whichever way this plays out, at least it will be over. Either Sheppard is going down or Lorne is.

He walks, carefully, alert, gun ready. It ends today.

Evan is almost disappointed.]

yesss beautiful and awful.

[puddlejumped]

[ Sheppard has had his eye on more than one person in life, but none have captured his attention like Major Evan Lorne. He's a spectacular creature, full of vibrant energy and all-consuming hate for him. He can see it when he looks at him, and it's exhilarating.

Each time Lorne tries to assassinate him in some new and adventurous way, John still manages to walk away. There's never proof that it is Evan, but John knows and he loves it. It may not be fun for Lorne, but it's a hell of a time for Sheppard. The major is hardly incompetent, but John has learned from years and years of hard lessons from his father on how to survive virtually anything. The traps have taken out others (as John has skipped harmlessly past), but that hardly means anything to him. If they can't watch out underfoot for attempts on their superior officer or their own lives---not his problem.

But today it wasn't Lorne he had to worry about, it's Bates. He doesn't have a huge following (John is popular, it helps), but he has a few skilled idiots and even stray dogs can overpower a lion by sheer numbers. The dogs are all dead save one who has run with his tail between his legs (the coward), and left John dangerously close to bleeding out against a wall in a remote part of the city.

He doesn't hear Lorne as he makes his approach, but there's almost a sixth sense in the city that alerts him that he's no longer alone. She reacts to him in a way no one else can elicit, after all. His breathing is ragged, labored, and sticky, dark blood is slipping past clenched fingers from where he's now looking up at the other man upon his approach. ]

Looks like it's your lucky day, Major. You can either finish Bates' job, or you can get me out of here. I'd appreciate some speed in whichever you choose, either way.

[ Not that mercy is a word any of them really know. Who has use for it? But all of Lorne's attempts would have been quick as well as deadly had he fallen into the trap. The least the other man can do is get it over with. ]

[skippedthatcourse]

You've gotta be kidding me.

[Evan stops, dead track, first stunned, then livid. Son of a bitch, he's fucking kidding him, isn't he. What the fuck is this?

It's a trap, it's a trick, it has to be. Only that Evan is quite able to tell a trick injury from a real one (yes, yes, he tried that) and this one is as real as they get. Sheppard's down. He's really down this time. Lorne can pull the trigger right here and now - hell, he could probably just wait and watch the man bleed out right in front of him.

And he summoned Evan to witness it. To what, rub it in that others succeeded where he didn't? That Bates bested him? Bates, he's been at this for years, how the everloving fuck did Bates manage to do what he couldn't? Bates? That's just unacceptable on so many levels.]

Why should I help you?

[He wants to, already, which only makes him angrier. But it's fucking unacceptable. Bates does not get to kill Sheppard, does not get to set it up for him like that.]

[puddlejumped]

I wish. It'd be a hell of a joke.

[ John shifts, and it sends a lance of fiery pain through him. He growls through gritted teeth, and squeezes his eyes shut, briefly. He's quickly losing the ability to remain coherent and awake.

He can see the myriad of emotions crossing his face, and takes a breath to try and talk again. ]

Bates didn't do this himself, if you haven't noticed the other bodies. He ran like a coward. At least when you try to kill me, you don't run after. You're the first person in years that's even tried to get one up on me.

[His head has slowly been dropping, chin tucking to his chest as he loses more blood, and his hand slips away from where he's been putting pressure on his side. ]

One of us can't run this city by ourselves. Or I would have buried you already myself.

[skippedthatcourse]

[That makes sense. Still, Evan bristles at the underlying insult.] Would have tried you mean.

[Still. It does mean Sheppard's thinks him at least capable of running the city - after all, there's nothing to stop him from replacing Lorne. Atlantis has enough XO candidates out there. Apparently Sheppard doesn't want them.

After a moment's hesitation Evan puts his gun away. It's not easy, all his senses and instincts in overdrive as he approaches Sheppard unarmed (are you a fucking idiot, oh god, you so deserve to die you asshole, what the fuck is wrong with you) and squats down really close to take care of the wound.]

Don't you fucking stab me or I'll be really upset.

[puddlejumped]

[ The laugh he offers is pained and hoarse, followed by a hissed in breath. ] Tried. That's what I like about you.

[ There are plenty of candidates, none of them are worth anything compared to Lorne. Lorne rose throught he ranks with vicious intensity faster than any of his other superiors thought possible. Sheppard has pulled files from all his previous commands and marveled at the other man's handiwork.

If anyone was capable of helping him take this city, hold it, and tell the SGC to kindly fuck off back to their own galaxy, it was Evan.

The comment, however, earns another raspy chuckle, and he nods towards one of Bates' guys. ]

Couldn't even if I wanted. He's got my knife. [ In a way that made him very, very dead. ] I want that back, asshole.

[ Not that the guy in question is going to respond. Sheppard moves his hands as Lorne moves closer to inspect the wound. His hands are shaking, and it's only will alone that keeps his teeth from chattering from shock. The knife wound had been given to him by Bates himself while he'd been attacked from the front more heavily. It's right in between the plates. ]

When I didn't go down after the first try, he booked it out of here. Even if I don't manage to make it out of here, do me a favor and feed him to a Wraith or something.

[ He groans in discomfort as Evan hits a sensitive spot. ]

now it's julian's turn to kill some mofos? eventually?

[thousandeyes]

[word traveled quickly, through the empire. even on its wild edges in the scheherazade, julian had heard of the meteoric rise of the new emperor. but he wasn't one to ride on the coattails of his friend's rise to power, and so he'd stayed in the life he was used to, traveling between outlying empire-aligned and independent worlds, brokering information and acting as a medic for colonies that had no-one with those skills.

the hulking black ship of empire that was the narada was already in orbit around his next destination, when julian took his little craft out of warp.

he smiled, knowing that he was going to be hailed--it seems that he was going to get to speak with his old friend after all.]

hell yes. so here for this.

[victoris]

[ Jim hadn't figured he'd see Julian again. He knew he made his way off to the far reaches of the Empire, and he didn't do much to find him. Sure, he sent messages to him still, but this time---so sue him for being dramatic. He wanted Julian to hear about this without any prompting from him.

So when Joaquin calls him up to the bridge, to let him know that a small but somewhat formidable looking vessel just came out of warp, he's curious. When he learns that it's the Scheherazade, he's jubilant. He sends a hail out, and saunters across the bridge of the Narada in order to get a good look at his old friend once the comms open. He's standing in front of the command chair, arms crossed over his chest. ]

Now there's a face I haven't seen outside of holos for years. Your sense of style is atrociously bright as usual. How are you, you old peacock?

[thousandeyes]

[He does appreciate that about his friend. Being the Emperor, he could have commanded Julian's loyalty--instead, he knows he has it, and has left him to his own devices.

If Jim's crew is surprised to know that he has an actual friend, someone he's fond enough of to tease and call nicknames, they have the tact and self-control to not show it. Of course, Julian isn't aware of the number of Augments on the Narada's bridge crew. He simply smiles.]

Well as always, my friend. It's been too long.

[victoris]

[ Someone to whom he owes as much as he does, commanding Julian's loyalty would never have crossed his mind. Outside of Bones, he reckons he has two friends: Thomas Leighton and Julian Bashir.

Well, the Augments have enough tact not to show it. Jim is certain there will be rumors spinning before lunch in the galley at this rate thanks to the humans. ]

Glad to hear it. You should come on board, I can show you around. Not many people get a good look at the new flagship of the Empire in a good way.

[ Khan and Joaquin will likely want to know more about Julian, but as far as Jim is concerned, they'll deal with it later. If there is anyone in this universe he could trust to never put a knife in his back, it'd be Julian. ]

I can meet you in the shuttle bay.

[thousandeyes]

[Let them spread rumors--it's amusing. They can see where they go. And if anyone threatens Julian, he can take care of himself.]

Well, I can't very well turn down that offer.

[He probably could, but he legitimately doesn't want to. It really has been a long time since he's seen either of his friends--it's simply easier to stay out here, where his prior status as a slave would have a harder time catching up with him.

And no, the thought to put a knife in Jim's back would never cross his mind. Everyone else's, yes--and he has enough hidden around his person that he could put many knives in many backs if needed.]

It would be an honor.

[With that confirmation, the communication is cut. The Scheherazade is like a mote of dust against the bulk of the massive Narada, even though it's larger than a standard shuttlecraft--still, there's plenty of room in the shuttle bay for a neat landing.]