JL | Empress Xue'Daio, LCDR Stacker | "The Empress Came to the Control Room"

Posted on Wed Apr 4th, 2018 @ 3:40pm by Commander James Stacker & Xue'Daio Nox Tr'Verelan

Mission: Lacuna
Location: Control Room | Deck 685 | Cold Station Theta

There was a joke about intelligence, whose origins had long been lost to the winds of time, whose punchline ended in "- but the weather was great!" It was a play off an even-older truth: that intelligence was a game of secrets that came in all sorts of sizes, and with all sorts of varying impacts. In the course of his career James Stacker had had opportunity to amass his own fair share of secrets: for example, he was only one of four people on the starbase who knew this room existed.

Its function as a control room, and its age, were fairly clear. A variety of consoles and workstations were tucked into the back, behind the rectangular configuration of windows that came out a little, turned to run parallel to the room, and then turned back in to meet the wall again. Upon entering the space he had noted the darkness outside, for the lights beyond the windows weren't turned on. Inside the room it was so dimly-lit that he had briefly considered pulling out a hand lamp. Shadows lurked in all corners, masking the thick coats of dust that belied a simple truth: this room had not been used in years.

Which makes it perfect for this meeting, he thought, not unkindly but yet not with any degree of warmth. He welcomed this newly-returned feeling of cold. It served to hide his inner pain and agony, which ever since that horrifying discovery had been wrapped in miles of heavy chains and dragged down into the core of his soul. One day he would let them out again. But not today. He turned away from the darkness outside and towards the door as it hissed open.

The sound of foot steps, small and delicate, hung in echoes through those shadows. They were steady, even, a perfect metronome that kept time as they brought their conductor across the dust bidden deck plates of an old, hollow, nearly rotting room filled with a jungle of hanging wires just waiting to ensnare a lesser being in their grasp. There would be no spiders waiting, no venom, just the kiss of death that came with loneliness and the hardlined display of loathing by Starfleet's Intelligence operatives that clung to such a place. Dark, dank, perhaps even hanging with a humidity that shouldn't have been there, the old room stank of misuse... Or was it lack of use? Xue couldn't quite decide. Regardless... For ever force, there is an opposing one - where there was darkness whipping savagely through it's yawning strong hold, came light. At first it was shivering, blocked by old crates. Then it steadily grew as the white queen came out into the open and regarded the human man who's second eye remained covered by a patch of fabric. Not trustworthy, her senses warned, but she wasn't there to trust him.

She was there to warn and use him.

"Commander James Stacker," she began, floating to rest mere feet from him. She harbored no fear, no concern, only the near pious strength and conviction that someone of great power could hold when in the face of potential death and adversity. He couldn't kill her. He could try, but the likelihood of his success was slim to none - and she knew it well. The energy tingling at her fingertips remained ever at the ready, barely concealed as she folded those hands in front of her and regarded him with a polite smile, "We are two halves of a very interesting whole, you and I. I will not bore myself or waste your time by mincing words." The albino spoke, her chin tipping in what could only be defined as defiance, "You are the eyes and ears of this station. Nothing happens without your knowledge, and yet a member of the Ascendancy is missing and the whisper on the wind is that she's been kidnapped." Silence hung as the last bell-like note of her voice clung to the stagnant air, "This is the second injury against her during her time in Starfleet. She refused my offer to have her return to Apsha and take her place within my cabinet where she belongs. I know why, and that's not what concerns me... What concerns me is how little control you all have over this station and how close this lack of control is to where I call home." And there it was, the threat thinly veiled by a regent who sought to protect her people, "I ask myself how Starfleet can be so careless... And then I wonder," Her head tilted, those bright rose eyes shining as she locked them onto his only exposed one, "if this is an underhanded assault against my people... And I know that you are, perhaps, the only shred of honesty that I will find in such matters because the command team will panic, the Admiralty is too caught up in appearances... And you..." Her lips dared to quirk into the briefest of actual emotion as they found a whisper of a smile, "actually seem to have a vested interest - perhaps as much as I do."

The hint of a smile was not returned. In fact the man who stood before her now was quite different from the individual she'd briefly encountered at the masquerade. The smile was gone, the lines around the eyes and nose were back, and when he spoke there was a firmness there that could have been carved from granite. It was as if Stacker had aged overnight. There was also a quiet darkness there. Something without form, and yet willing to do great harm if it ever slipped its chain. "You and I both know, Your Majesty, that it's not in Starfleet's interests to target Ascendancy citizens. As for control ..." here he paused, jaw flexing. "Yes, I'm aware how this must look from your perspective. But I'm sure you must be a little aware of my background, and can agree that someone's made a very dangerous mistake."

"I see more than what Starfleet, or your Federation, want me to see." The starling replied with a quick chuff of a chuckle, "I see your Fleet Admiral, the mother of this station's Captain, stabbed and near death mere months ago. I see your Chief Medical Officer nearly ripped apart on your own promenade and only one soul coming to her rescue... And now she, along with Si'a Dai'xun, a member of our royal caste, is missing. Gone. Stolen by someone raiding the proverbial cookie jar and not being caught by any until it's too late." The Stenellis was in motion again, the silvery light of her shining through the darkness as she walked a slow, languid circle around him as she spoke. She could feel his pensive nature, hear it in the way his heart thud like a war drum in his burly chest. While it wasn't the warm man she'd seen the night of the masquerade, it was a man that couldn't lie worth a damn when push came to resilient shove without proper readying and provocation. Even if she wanted to hate him, she couldn't bring herself to - but she would plant that seed and see where it went within him. "Whether or not it's in your government's best interest to launch attacks of subterfuge against the Ascendancy or not, I'm sure you can see why it appears that way." Soft as snow, she sighed and shook her head, "This feels personal, Commander... It feels like I should be preparing my people for war after being injured in our own backyard by ever encroaching neighbors..."

Then she paused, her lazy circle ending back in front of him as she studied him once more with those strange pink eyes. Valeese would have found a way to turn this into nothing, abolish fear for sake of something different. The same way she'd managed to convince her that the attack on Blyx Red hadn't been anything more than the shenanigans and push back of the unsavory and undesirables that the Ascendancy would gladly be rid of. That it had been proof positive that Starfleet, the Federation, was a good thing. Valeese wasn't there though. She'd fallen prey to the same unknown shadow monster that had consumed Si'a and all that was left now was a man left to chase boogie men into the night until he found and returned them. The question now was whether or not he was worth giving that chance to, banking all of her hope with. "I want you to convince me, though, that you are a vine filled with flowers waiting to bloom and not just another thorn covered weed looking to choke out everything else in the garden. I want you to prove to me that my faith in the Federation shouldn't be faltering and that those who were taken are soon to be returned... And I want you to be the one that returns them because, as I said, you are the eyes and the ears of this operation." The jingle of zills on her robes punctuated the statement as she gestured to him with those dangerous, beautiful hands. "Is that something that is possible?"

From some deep and buried part of himself, he could hear the tinkling of warning bells. What was it Valeese had said? "Assure her that the Federation protects those who require it whether it's the popular choice or not." With years of conviction and ruthlessness, he ground down on the memory that threatened to drag up with it. It was chained, dragged back down, buried. It would not reemerge now. Instead, he eyed the Empress, giving a slight dip of his chin in acknowledgement. "It seems our interests are aligned, Your Majesty. I have every intent of seeing to it that they are rescued, alive. The Federation protects those who need it, whether or not the choice is popular." Yes, they would indeed be rescued. His mind flicked back to that morning's dispatch: the high-priority one so sensitive, it had to be hand-delivered. He wouldn't give the Empress the satisfaction of seeing him smile. It would have been cold and ugly, twisted and maligned by a Ghost who had spent his entire professional career on the frontiers of the Federation. Yes, they would be rescued. The only question was how deep the body trail would be.

The rough gravelly grumble of his voice reverberated through her being even though he spoke low and quiet and without excitement. It left Xue with a sense of confidence, that she wasn't simply being placated for the sake of politics. In front of her was a machine, not a man, set to perform a task regardless of the cost of life that would be paid in his steadily steaming wake. "Then we have an understanding." She said, lacing her fingers together, "You know what is at risk here and you know the depths of my sentiments and what it is that has been lost... What it is I am willing to do in order to facilitate the return." Her simper was velvet against the dustiness, her starshine vibrant against the steel that stood before her - and she knew that if push were to come to shove... No... She wouldn't go there. He wouldn't fail. Failure would be punishment enough against one like him, "You'd do well to involve the Andorian, Anaxar Shran, as an asset. A scientist, not a soldier, but he will not rest until Dai'xun is returned to him... And I have given that sentiment my blessing. Keep me informed of your progress, Commander."

Another nod, little more and nothing less. Would he personally report to her? Doubtful. His Master was not so tolerant of disrespect for niceties like bureaucracy. Yet he also, inevitably, knew that someone would keep her informed - if for no other reason than to show that a Federation still in recovery from the war did not covet, nor especially desire, tense relations with a neighbor whose power was quickly rising. Blood was in the water. It would take little more to convince the Ascendancy that Federation diplomacy and assurances were as worthless as smoke in the wind, and then who knows what'll happen. Rather than saying all aloud, however, he simply settled for the nod. As to the Andorian ... he'll have to be watched he told himself. A scientist, and one with a strong personal stake in this, would either be help or hindrance, and he did not care to place a wager as to which.

The cold snow of her brows raised, and her chin tipped again in brazen impudence against his stoic nature. He resisted her shoves to a degree, but like any proper hound he was ready to hunt - albeit for a far different keeper - and a great part of her wondering if that hunt was more for his own benefit than that of the Federation's... Or the Ascendancy. With that regard, she lifted her head to the sound of a gentle cough from near the lift and knew she'd come to be collected by one of her guards. A quick glance informed her that she'd guessed correctly, the tall, arrogant feature of the robed warrior did little to ease her but everything to encourage her motion away from the ghost. Her presence was required elsewhere, a bigger affair and game of show and tell... One she'd partake in if only in hopes that her suspicious nature was terminally wrong.

"And one more thing..." The albino paused the sweeping motion of her exit, "It would be unwise to return to this sector of space should you fail without iron clad reason." Those eyes, caught somewhere between fire and ice, wove their way back to him, "Alive, or dead, what belongs to the Ascendancy must return. Good luck, Mr. Stacker." And just like that, with the softest of footfalls, the star faded back into the endless night to leave the ghost to his own devices.

He was just turning back to the window when he became aware of a faint vibration in the floor...

=/\= End Log =/\=

Empress Xue'Daio Nox
Queen of Apsha
Ruler of Aleine
Stenellian Ascendancy

Lieutenant Commander James Stacker
Chief Intelligence Officer/Acting 2XO
Cold Station Theta, SB-1170