Nexi's Team

Posted on Tue Jul 4th, 2017 @ 8:32pm by Captain Enalia Telvan & Commander Mal Xustos & Lieutenant Misty Stormes & Warrant Officer Cato West & Staff Warrant Officer Nexi & Chief Petty Officer R'Tor

Mission: Death is in the Details
Location: Selen VI Orion Starport
Timeline: During "Savoring the Past"

Misty and the rest of the team materialized in a courtyard in what was on the outer edges of the port. Several inhabitants were in the area but paid the team little mind; people beaming in was nothing new.

She pulled out her tricorder and began scanning for anything out of place. She wondered how long it would take, given that it was a replica of the type used at that time as opposed to the current one—regulations regarding the bringing of modern technology into the past were quite strict.

Out on the concourse, a short walk from where Nexi's team had beamed in, Daytona Ral, most recently Detective Chief Inspector Daytona Ral of the Rigelian Constabulary, sat by himself. He held a flimsy in his had, some local news rag. To the casual observer, he appeared to be simply drinking his drink, eating his pastry, and reading. A highly trained observer would realize that he was watching the crowd, either looking for someone or actually observing someone, waiting for them to make a move.

Detective Chief Inspector Daytona Ral had thrown his badge in his bosses face and walked out on a fifty year career in law enforcement just a few months before. Politics and corruption and let a criminal slip through his fingers. Deshok wasn't the first criminal to slip away, but this wasn't the first time Deshok had slipped away. Daytona had been chasing him for decades and had never been able to make anything stick. Deshok had help from inside the constabulary. Witnesses were frequently silenced, evidence frequently disappeared, prosecutors frequently flat out refused to prosecute, magistrates failed to issue warrants and even overturned jury sentences, though often the jury was either bought and paid for or simply intimidated into a not-guilty verdict. This time was the last straw. If rigelian courts wouldn't allow justice to be done, Daytona was going to get his own justice. He'd come here to kill Deshok and he had no intention of leaving until he'd done just that.

"Remember, be discreet," Nexi cautioned Misty while they got their bearings. Nexi had her nose ridges removed and was now a rich shade of green. She kept close to Cato, who was supposed to be her 'owner' for this ruse. "We're just observers at this point, so stay-" Nexi stopped short when she sensed something familiar nearby- Daytona?! She gave her ear a tap to activate the Ferengi translator she had; this translator she had modified to act as a communicator so she could give commands to her ship, and she had long since used it to tap into Starfleet comm lines. "Daytona, why are you away from your team?" she said. He shouldn't be this close their location!

=^=Uh...I'm not,=^= Daytona replied. =^=Oh! You found me! That was fast! Honestly, though, I was laser focused on killing that bastard Deshok back then. I remember a sexy orion slave girl who looked a lot like you, but green of course, but shockingly I was more interesting in killing a man than bedding a woman. Maybe you should go say hello...just to make sure that the whole space/time continuum doesn't fold in on itself?=^=

"You- WHAT?!" Nexi couldn't believe what she was hearing! "You mean to tell me you are here in this timeline and you didn't say anything to anyone?! I'm not an expert in protocol, but this is something that should have come up during the briefing!"

=^=Yes, well, that would have spoiled everything,=^= Daytona said. =^=I needed to meet you and then I need to find the man I'm here to kill already dead...killed with the knife I have with me now. In fact, I took the knife out of the body and kept it as a souvenir. You see, 2160 me came here to kill that bastard Deshok and if 2160 me doesn't find him dead with this knife in his putrid heart, 2160 me won't leave the station. If 2160 me doesn't leave the station, then he gets blown up with everyone else. If he gets blown up with everyone else, then he doesn't go on to become me and everything I did between 2160 and 2394 will be undone, including the two hundred and thirty-four years of vital intelligence missions I undertook for Starfleet.=^=

"This is- you can't-" Nexi squeezed her eyes shut, resisting the urge to scream obscenities that would surely give away their positions. "Wait, if past you takes the knife that you-you left there... is it the same knife?! Fucking hell, I hate time travel," she grumbled. "Look, once it's done, tell me where so I can 'find' it. Don't worry about tipping anyone off by contacting me, my comm is in my ear, only I can hear it," she said to Daytona, then she looked to Cato, "Come on, 'Master', time to make a sales pitch to an idiotic Rigellian."

=^=As I recall, you caused a bit of a scene when I rejected you and Deshok, who I was stalking at the time, saw me. He sent his bodyguards to deal with me and hopped on a tram headed towards the section I'm in now. There's a scuffle with the thugs, I got disgusted and stormed off to catch the next tram so I could try and track down Deshok before he left the station. By the time I found him, he was dead. I took the knife that killed him as a souvenir and left the station. I started hiring myself out as a mercenary after that. I only left the station in time to avoid whatever it is that's going to happen here because Deshok was dead so I had no reason to stay here. But don't worry about that. Just do what comes naturally to you and they'll be a scene, Deshok will run and I'll deal with the rest. And Nexi...I really appreciate this. I know what a pain in the ass this is. Tell Cato I said thanks and sorry for what's about to happen to his knackers.=^=

"You ass," Nexi grumbled, then remarked dryly, "I've got half a mind to ignore him and let the timeline implode!" Then with a heavy sigh, she looked to Cato. "Did you get all that?" she asked him.

Gritting his teeth, Cato nodded "I'm gonna break his fuckin' jaw." he took a deep breath and exhaled with a heavy sigh. "I hate time travel." he said, gently leading her via the chain and collar around her neck. "Come on, slave!" he smirked. "We'll have to keep the chains, it's a good look." Cato grinned back at her before going back into character.

Though she didn't show it, Nexi detested the collar and the chains; she had been collared once before by a Ferengi troll who was not nearly as benevolent as the Orion slave broker Cato was passing himself off as. Making their way through the port to the area where the younger Daytona was. Nexi had been many things as her time as a mercenary and Collector for the FCA; seducer, bounty hunter, hitman, treasure hunter, smuggler, even invisible... Nexi was especially proud of being so unseen in her career; some people might be a bit miffed at being uncelebrated for doing feats that were often thought to be impossible, but Nexi reveled in the fact that no one ever knew it had been her. Of course, there were other schools of thought; when doing a job, either no one notices you, or they only notice you. It was the latter Nexi was going for now; with eyes on her as she moved through crowd, seducing potential customers with her gaze, the rest of her team should be able to move around freely, discreetly taking readings to find the entrance to the lab they were looking for while she pandered to the crowd looking for a potential buyer. Of course, she already had one potential in mind, the young Daytona, and she still couldn't believe the Daytona from her time had put them all on the spot quite like this!

Tugging on her chain as she moved towards Daytona, she turned her big doe-y eyes (what does that even mean?!) to Cato. "I like that one," she said with a sultry smile, taking up enough slack with her chain so that she could hold it above her head as she swayed her hips and then twirled towards Daytona, an enticingly provocative display for most anyone else, but if what the other Daytona said rang true, then this one would not be interested at all.

Daytona didn't even glance up at Nexi or look up from the flimsy he was pretending to read. He was here for Deshok. Even sex couldn't assuage the hatred he felt for Deshok or cool the rage he felt when he thought of the vile man. Daytona had tried to do what any other rigelian would have done when hurt or angry. He found a partner and had sex...had sex until he was exhausted. It didn't matter. The morning after he was once again filled with rage and hatred. Only one thing was going to solve this problem. He had to kill Deshok. So when a young orion girl came sauntering towards him, using her body in ways that would have brought another man to his knees, Daytona only found it irritating. Extremely irritating. Daytona tried ignoring her to see if she was actually headed for someone else, but no such luck. She was really hot and attracting a lot of attention, which was the last thing he needed. Then it happened. Deshok was standing across the promenade from where Daytona was sitting. He was talking to someone on a handheld communication device. The orion sex slave attracted the attention of one of Deshok's bodyguards, a large orion male. He tapped the other one, a very large and fierce looking kaylar. The Kaylar nudged his boss so he'd get a chance to see the show, and, if he was interested, buy the girl. Deshok looked over in the sexy slave girl's direction and grinned. Then, it happened. Deshok locked eyes with Daytona. First a look of recognition passed over his face, followed quickly by a look of horror. Back on Rigel V, or anywhere in the Rigel System, he was mostly safe from the police or comparable authorities. He paid plenty of bribes and blackmailed or simply threatened anyone he couldn't bribe. Back on Rigel V, Daytona had thrown everything he had at Deshok and failed because the system was rigged. But if Daytona was here, he'd obviously given up on the system. The former policeman wasn't here to arrest Deshok. He was here to kill him.

Deshok grabbed the arms of his thugs and then pointed frantically in Daytona's direction. Daytona could read lips and from what he could discern Deshok had just said something to the effect of 'kill the bastard!' The two super-sized thugs started over towards him. Daytona ignored them at first, trying to keep track of Deshok. He saw the son-of-a-bitch jump on a tram.

He's got quarters in that direction. He must have something stashed there that he needs to pick up before he unasses this station. And that damn girl is still wiggling her ass at me...along with everything else she's got going on!

Daytona was a sitting duck where he was. No room to maneuver, and he might need that. The Deshok's orion bruiser would be difficult, but not too. The kaylar, on the other hand...he was big even for a Kaylar. He had to be eight feet tall, heavy, and all muscle. Their bones were as hard as rock and they did not go down easy.

Well...might as well get this over with. But first...

Daytona stood and approached the orion slave girl.

"Sorry," he said, hoping if he shut down her advance that she and her master or boy toy or whatever he was would just leave. "Not only do I not have time for you, but you probably can't afford my rates. I know, you're heart broken, but it's for the best. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Daytona walked past the girl and her keeper and stepped out onto the promenade to face Deshok's bodyguards.

Wow, who knew Daytona was capable of such a cold shoulder and monumentally insulting burn! Behind those dark eyes of hers, Nexi was following every thought, every presence; despite her oblivious facade, she was completely aware of Deshok and his guards even though she had not yet laid eyes on them. Thinking through what her Daytona had already told her, Nexi decided that now was the best opportunity to make a scene. She stepped to him and looped her chain around his shoulders to turn him away from Deshok.

"My master does not care for your disrespect, little man," Nexi said with a sultry pout that could melt any heart, but also with a glare that promised pain and anguish if he did not tread carefully.

Daytona rolled his eyes.

"Really?" he said. "Look, normally if a woman as attractive as you came to me begging for sex like this, I'd oblige her. Charity is one the virtues my dear, sweet mother instilled in me. But right now, I've got bigger problems, as in those two large creatures over there."

He pointed to the larger orion and the even larger Kaylar.

"I don't suppose you want to offer yourself to the Kaylar to distract him for me while I deal with the orion, would you? I mean, he's a slave, and he's definitely a double-bagger, but he probably has some walking around money and..."

"Daytona Ral!" the Orion thug shouted. "We're going to kill you and then we're going to take your woman and your boy toy!"

"Oh...frazjak!" Daytona said. He turned to the Orion and the Kaylar. Up close, he saw that the Kaylar was the one known as The Club (with Nails). True to his name, he was carrying a nasty looking club with nails stuck in the business end like spikes. Daytona unwrapped Nexi's chain from his neck and held her out towards the two gargantuan thugs. "Look, you can have the woman and the boy toy. I just want Deshok. Seriously take them and have your way with them. I mean, look at the ass on that guy! That's prime meat right there! What do you say? Do we have a deal?"

"It's a deal!" Called an old large albino Klingon wearing white steel spiked shoulder pads and white steel armor and white fur. He was armed to the teeth and had more honors plastered on his bandolier than any Klingon had any right to. "My apologies for the interruption. My name is Dahar Master Qu'hang and I happen to be in charge of the Klingon battle group running security of this sector. Is there an... Issue? That I should be aware of?"

What the fucking hell, why couldn't she just beat the ever loving shit out of this guy without interruption, why did this damned Klingon have to stick his unwrinkled nose into their business?! Nexi stilled her hand before she could bring it up to hit Daytona or anyone else. She was going to kill their Daytona once they got back to the ship!

"Remove your hands from me!" Nexi barked out at Daytona, then turned her attention to the Klingon. "This man is attempting to barter me off when he has no right!" Nexi asserted firmly. "He has not purchased me or any rights to offer my services to anyone else."

The orion and the kaylar were standing their looking confused. This wasn't unusual. They usually looked confused. They didn't want any trouble with the cops, but their boss had said to take out Daytona. Besides, there was only one klingon. How tough could he be. The orion looked at his partner. Though the orion wasn't much brighter than The Club (with Nails), he was the closest thing to the brains of the operation, in the absence of Deshok, that is. He nodded, and the eight foot tall Kaylar swung his club above his head, aiming at Daytona. Daytona had heard the massive being grunt before he swung the club. His training kicked in and instead of just moving out of the way, which would have left Nexi to get hit by The Club (with Nails)'s club, he grabbed Nexi and tried to get them both out of the way. They got out of the way just in time, the club smashing a table near where they stood.

"Look, miss," he said. "Your attempt to coerce me into wild denebian banshee sex already let the guy I came here to kill get away. Will you please get the hell out of my way before you get us both killed!"

Qu'hang pulled out a mek'leth and used it to disarm the Kaylar quite literally. The arm that was holding the club may have been no longer attached to his body but true to Kaylar stupidity, that didn't seem to deter his attack so the albino Klingon parried the next few blows with relative ease. "Detective Ral, it seems you've chosen a dangerous prey to stalk. I commend you for your courage!"

"How did you...?" Daytona started to ask. "It was Detective Chief Inspector Ral, if you want to get technical, but that's behind me now. Oh, never mind...whoa!"

The Orion thug suddenly appeared behind Daytona. The Rigelian ex-police officer barely had time to turn and raise his arms when the Orion clasped him in a bear hug and lifted him up.

"I...don't...have...time...for...this!" Daytona managed to gasp out. He placed one hand to each side of the Orion's skull, palms facing the green giant's ears. There was a crackling sound that built until there was electricity arching between Daytona's palms, traveling through the Orion's head. The thug's eyes rolled back into his head and he tensed up and began to shake. The thug went over backwards like falling tree. Daytona rode the body down, then rose to his feet. The orion was quite dead. Daytona looked over at the Klingon fighting the now one-armed kaylar. He rolled his eyes and pulled a dagger from his boot. He ran up behind the kaylar and jumped on its back. Once there, he began to stab it repeatedly in the neck. This wasn't the first kaylar he'd killed. He knew he was stabbing in exactly the right place.

Qu'hang nodded satisfied with the battle as he sheathed his weapon and pulled Daytona to the side. "Indeed, who you were is behind you now. A bounty is now on your head, placed there by your quarry and I suspect these two of being bounty hunters. Go now, while I distract them."

Without waiting for an answer, Qu'hang pushed Daytona away and attacked Cato first, pulling him into a headbutt before raising his knee into his crotch. "To the victor goes the spoils!"

Daytona didn't have to be told twice. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the station's trams pulling in. The destination screen said it was headed for the same area Deshok had likely fled to. He glanced over at the Klingon.

"I owe you one, Qu'hang!" he said. "Survive and succeed!"

Daytona bolted for the tram and jumped inside just as the doors were closing. The tram pulled out, taking him away from the scuffle and off towards his destiny.

[Later]

Nexi managed to extricate Cato from the cluster fuck of a scene involving Daytona. Daytona.... Fuck that guy! She was tempted to toss him off the ship once they got back! As she helped Cato limp back to a secluded area, Nexi turned on her comm once again.

"Daytona, heads up, you and your prey are inbound," Nexi said as she settled Cato onto a bench. Then, without any warning, she unbuckled his belt and shoved her hand down his pants. "Bruised... but nothing feels torn... You'll live," she said in assessment as she 'inspected' what he was packing.

=^=Copy that, Nexi,=^= Daytona replied. =^=Thanks for the assist. I'm sure Cato will want to settle up with me later, maybe you, too, but please understand, I was under orders not to reveal any of this until right before things needed to happen. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to kill a man...no, a monster. The monster who killed my daughter. If that means I have to take a punch from one or both of you, well, I'm sure you can see why that doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.=^=

Until now, Daytona had mostly displayed his pleasant side to people, what some people referred to as his 'cheerful idiot' aspect. What he had just shared with Nexi was anything but cheerful. There was something very cold and very deadly in his voice, yet very calm.

"Go, you moron," Nexi said, though 'moron' wasn't exactly a precise translation of what she'd actually said in Ferengi, but it was close enough.

By the time Nexi replied, Daytona wasn't even listening anymore.

Deep underground, sixty floors under the spaceport and forty floors under his labs to be precise, the Master sat in a darkened room listening in on several channels he found interesting. The comm channels were unusually high frequencies and he couldn't unscramble them with his hardware in the next fifty years or so... But he had listening devices nearby. One of which was in the eye of a man named Gadj or somesuch.

It wasn't the people that he found the most intriguing though. It was what they had just obviously said to each other. One of them was old enough to be here from this time period... The year 2160? But the one talking was from the year 2394. Of what calendar though? At least the universal translator sorted their language out easily enough. This would take some research.

In the end, time travel agents meant only one thing. His research installation was compromised and he was in danger. Archer may have inadvertently exposed his last facility, but this one had a chance of at least surviving. He'd still take measures to safeguard his research. Immediately, he began transferring all remaining data to his new facility and prepared for immediate departure under the guise of a business trip. His ship's gate was near this female Orion's location, but it wasn't like she was psychic or anything. He could easily slip past her just like any other Vulcan dignitary.

Taking his personal express elevator, he was soon at the surface, just a few hundred meters from his ship. Glancing around, he saw the trio from the monitors only a few meters from him. Yes, he'd remember her face and her name. He'd have to make sure to catch up with her in her time and see if she'd be interested in a good time with him. A slight grin on his face, he confidently stepped towards the gate his ship was berthed at, Nexi's features engraved in his memory.

The communicators of all team members then crackled to life through some interference. =/\="All teams, this is an emergency broadcast from Ensign Gonadie. What appears to be Captain Telvan has beamed to the surface nearest Commander Eneas' team. She is in possession of the explosives discussed in the briefings. You are to terminate on sight. I repeat. Terminate on sight. Backup is unavailable at this time."=/\=

"Fucking hell, can nothing go right with this crew?!" Nexi exclaimed as she heard the announcement. "Seriously, just once I-" she started to rant, then stopped. She sensed something, eyes and determined mine, but it was... where was it? Nexi looked around, scanning the faces of the crowd. "He's here," she said with certainty.

As the Master rounded a corner, he decided to take one last look back at the temporal agent known as Nexi. His smug smile faded though as their eyes met and locked. The electronic music from a nearby trash club seemed to fade as time seemed to slow. He'd made a mistake looking back and he knew that she knew who he was. He could still get away though. Time was still on his side for now. Maybe she hadn't gotten a clear view of his face.

She most definitely did get a good look at his face! "Hera, we've got a suspicious Vulcan down at the docks!" Nexi called out as she unlatched the collar from around her neck, discarding it at Cato's feet and bolting after the Vulcan.

Definitely not good. The Master knew he couldn't outrun her in his Vulcan business suit so he just ran a ways towards his port and readied himself for a fight, pulling out a pair of rather wicked looking blades, similar to the one that Daytona had carried with him all those years, but much longer. Turning as Nexi caught up with him, he took on a defensive posture. "So I'm such a threat that people from the future send assassins after me. I'm honored."

He was a fool to get into a knife fight with her! As Nexi caught up to him, her bare feet sounded off on the deck plating; she drew a knife, but from where she was never going to tell (there was some hu-mon phrase, something about a magician and his tricks...).

"You know, I never woulda noticed you if you'da kept walking," Nexi said with a grin, unwilling to confirm that she was a time traveler, or a telepath for that matter.

A thrown dagger? The Master deflected it with relative ease, but not without it nicking him - it had an unusual spin to it that he hadn't accounted for. Thankfully, his unique biology made him immune to almost all toxins and poisons so that wasn't a threat to him. "Yes, that seems to have been a mistake. Nexi, was it? And one Daytona? From the year twenty three ninety four? I'm not sure what calendar you go by, but I look forward to meeting you again in your time. If you survive, that is" With that, he lunged at Nexi with a left handed thrust, distinctly reminiscent of a modified form of Vulcan martial arts.

Chatty bastard! He was fast though, and Nexi narrowly side-stepped the thrust, catching a graze of his knife across her bare shoulder. Another of her throwing knives appeared in her hand, but instead of throwing it, she took a swipe at him, leaving a deep slash on his chest, sparks flying off her blade, delivering enough of a jolt to stop the heart of a human his size, but she had never fought a Vulcan like this before, so she didn't know if it would be enough.

The blood of a Vulcan was green but the Master's was black. He was also in a fair amount of pain and very unhappy. Carefully sheathing the knife that he had cut Nexi with, he took up a defensive stance and started slowly backing away from what he now knew was not an Orion.

=^="Daytona to Hera and all teams!"=^= he said. =^="The crazy bitch has activated three tri-cobalt devices, ripped open the bottom of an elevator car that I betting goes all the way down to the 'secret' labs, and tossed the cursed things down there. This is it. Times up. We need to unass this place RFN."=^=

=^="We copy tri-cobalt devices are in play,"=^= Mal Xustos responded from the Bridge. =^="All teams prepare to be extracted.=^=

The Master, having as good of hearing as he did, didn't miss the main message in Nexi's earpiece. "It seems your friends are serious. I'm sure we'll meet again, Nexi." With that, he threw a glass vial to the floor which exploded into a cloud of smoke, allowing him to vanish into the crowd and get to his ship.

Nexi coughed as the smoke filled her lungs, her eyes darting about as she tried to find the black-blooded Vulcan. She thought for certain she would be able to sense him enough to follow him, but somehow he was just... gone, almost like he'd never existed! As the smoke cleared, she tried once more to find him, but failed. She retrieved the knife she'd thrown earlier, then gave the area one last glance, trying desperately to sense his presence, but upon coming up empty once again, Nexi sighed in resignation.

"Hera, I've lost the target, ready for beam out whenever you are," Nexi reported.

Within moments the transporter shimmer took her and she was standing in the transporter deck of the Bast, one of the Hera's runabouts. The rest of her team had been extracted prior to her return.

The ensign at the controls tapped his combadge and reported in. "Bridge, this is the Bast. I have Staff Warrant Officer Nexi's team aboard."

Nexi looked around with confusion to find that they were in a shuttle, but the ramp was open so she could see that they were clearly on the Hera as well. "What happened?" she asked the ensign at the controls. "Nevermind, I need to get these down to the lab for analysis," Nexi said, gesturing to her knives covered in black blood. "Make sure Cato gets looked at!" she added as she started walking.