My Way

Posted on Mon Feb 19th, 2024 @ 8:34am by Lieutenant Commander Annalise Faulkner & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov & Lieutenant Asher Stagg

Mission: S1 Episode 7: Prime Factors
Location: ISS Gladius
Timeline: Date 2371-09-12 at 1530
3442 words - 6.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Andrei stood in one of the rooms he and Lyra had locked down in their forbidden floor, where they made demons out of castigated slaves. He visited the Lovarr regularly to check the progress of the Legion and had even secured one of his followers, Master Sergeant Lucas Kane, as the Legion’s ‘Tribune’. The Marine, one of the few left alive aboard Vengeance, had the care of the Legion when he and Lyra were away, though his official job title was “slave master” aboard the Lovarr.

Before him stood the man himself, cold eyed and deadpan, along with four huge slaves; two Kazon, and two Numiri.

“Four strong slaves, sir, as requested. None of them from the inside.” Kane said, his voice like a whisper of dark wind. Andrei wasn’t put off by him, but he could see why everyone else was.

The fact that none of these slaves were part of the Legion was important, considering it didn’t technically exist, and besides him, Andrei, and Lyra, no one else knew about them. All that the slaves knew was that something terrible happened to men who were brought down to the floor they had started to call “Hell”. They knew they never came back, and heard the screams while they tried to sleep at night.

“Excellent,” Andrei said with a satisfied half-smile. He looked up at the huge men, unafraid, and completely in command. “You will follow my orders to the letter, and no one else’s do you understand?”

“Yes, Master.” The slaves replied in unison, their heads lowered. Even the new Numiri slaves seemed to thoroughly know their place after such a short time in the “care” of the Terrans.

“Good.” Andrei said with a stoical furrow of his brow. “You are going to experience an… uncomfortable situation. I need to put some Terran friends in their place, just as I have put you in your place. You will have to fight. And, if anything happens to me, you will have to kill. Serve me well, and you will be rewarded handsomely above other slaves. Fail me…and I will drag you down to Hell with me. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Master.” They repeated again. Not one of them gave any indication that this would be a problematic task for them.

In the next few moments, after explaining to the slaves exactly what his plan was, they disappeared in the shimmering orange light of the Lovarr’s transporter, and materialized in the crew lounge on Gladius. The room was sparsely populated, as most of those who weren’t on duty were down on the planet. There was an exception, and he was sitting by the window chatting with an enlisted man in science blues.

As soon as Andrei appeared with the four large slaves at his back, Asher’s eyes were on him. He furrowed his brow and stood up, irritation and confusion mixing in his expression.

“Petrov? What the fuck are you doing here?” He asked as several present crew instinctively moved to the margins of the room.

“The last time we spoke, I made a request of you which you rudely denied.” Andrei said, his visible eye locked on Asher, “You are new to this Fleet, so perhaps I shouldn’t blame you for not understanding exactly how things work, but I thought it only good I show up to give you an education.”

“Honestly, man. Get the fuck out of here.” Asher said, taking several steps forward. “Your ego is bruised because I told you no? Are you serious? Get the fuck off my ship before I smear you across the deck!”

Andrei smiled at his threat, clearly not intimidated.

“You aren’t in a position to tell me no. I’m here to make that crystal clear for you.” Andrei said, unfastening his uniform jacket and letting it fall to the floor, leaving the command red shirt underneath. “And, if you smear me across this deck, I’ll admit my inferiority.”

“But you brought along some bodyguards to even the odds?” Asher asked with spite in his tone. “Are you going to have your slaves beat me up?”

Andrei had given clear orders that the slaves should stop anyone else from interfering with his confrontation with Stagg. They knew this well, so when another security guard started moving toward Stagg, to stand with him, there was a quick response.

The Numiri slave who was closest to the approaching officer immediately turned toward him and presented a wall between him and Stagg. When the officer was within reach, the Numiri reached out, grabbed the man by his jacket, and flung him backwards over a nearby table and chairs. The officer let out a groan and was immediately tended to by the enlisted in blue that Asher had been speaking to. The slaves were ready to enforce Andrei’s will.

“These slaves aren’t here to protect me, Stagg,” Andrei began with a smile, “they’re here to stop anyone else from protecting you.”

Asher was clearly upset at seeing one of his officers tossed like that, and his breathing increased substantially. He moved forward then, intent on attacking Andrei in a white hot rage. Andrei simply smiled, though he moved into a defensive stance.

Asher threw a punch which Andrei dodged and repaid with a fist to Asher’s gut that made him real back defensively and double over for a brief moment. He breathed and looked at Andrei, hatred burning hot in his eyes. Somehow, he had underestimated the senior officer, but no more. He approached again, more cautiously, this time.

Andrei stepped forward, attempting to catch Asher by surprise, with a swift right hook, but the man swiftly ducked beneath it and returned Andrei’s punch to the gut with three of his own. Andrei gave three quick grunts, but unlike him, didn’t seem to be as affected by the pain. He took two steps forward and struck Asher’s shin with his foot, then used the moment to ignore the man’s guard and slap him hard against the face. It was hard, loud, and full of disrespect.

Asher reeled back several paces, his hand on his face, as the crowd of onlookers reacted with winced and gasps at the aggressiveness of the slap. Then, like an animal bursting into frenzy, he charged at Andrei and tackled him to the ground. The impact forced both of them back, knocking the wind out of Andrei’s lungs. Asher climbed on top of him then, and started mounting a campaign of punches toward his face. Andrei blocked some, but others hit the mark roughly and accurately. His patch flew off of his eye following one strike, and skidded across the room.

Suddenly, the doors opened, and three officers in security gold entered. Drawing their phasers, they pointed them at the slaves.

“Stand down, NOW!” Shouted the dark-haired man in front. The security guard the Numiri had swatted aside joined the three guards.

The slaves turned toward the security officers and immediately fell into a line together blocking them from Andrei and Stagg. Though they were not armed, they provided a rather imposing wall that would give even seasoned veterans pause.

“I said stand down, slaves.” The man said, sounding less confident than before.

“No, you stand down!” Asher called out, landing a hard punch on Andrei’s face and causing a sickening crush from his nose. “I’m showing the pretty boy who’s boss!”

The security guard slowly lowered his weapon, prompting the others to do the same. His eyes stayed locked on the slaves, however. He was slightly intimidated, but most of all, he was offended they had been brought here like this by the XO of Vengeance. Were they animals, to be handled by lowly slaves?

Asher landed a few more strikes, each time pulling back a bloodier hand. Andrei, who suffered beneath him, tossed his head to and fro, blocking fewer and fewer of the strikes. The room was quiet, besides the sound of the strikes and accompanying moans. Eventually, Asher slowed and stopped. Laughing, he stood up and stepped back.

“You fucking twat. Who runs it now?” He asked.

Andrei groaned, but sat up immediately and, much to the surprise of everyone in the room, pulled himself quickly onto his feet. Blood was streaming out of his nose and was caked on his chin and lips, turning the red of his shirt a darker red still. He smiled then, a bloody smile.

“Still me.” He said, wetly, a strange and alien confidence in his tone. “I’ve seen your best, Stagg. Now I’m going to show you mine.”

Andrei moved forward then, faster than a man his size should be able to move, and took Asher by surprise. He head butted the man in the chin, causing a snapping sound of his own. Then, grabbing his arm, he lengthened it into a weakened position, and threw his shoulder up against the man’s elbow, breaking his arm with a crunch everyone in the room could feel. As Asher wailed and cradled his broken arm, Andrei swept his legs out from under him, causing him to fall roughly to the floor. Then he began to kick, and kick, and kick, until silence overtook Asher’s wails.

In the stillness, Andrei turned to the room, blood on his face, his hands, and his uniform.

“Drop your weapons.” He said to the security guards. His voice echoed in the relatively large room. “Now.”

The security guards looked at each other, Andrei, and the slaves with disbelief and discomfort. One voice told them they should arrest them, but the other bent to rank and intimidation. The lead guard slowly lowered his phaser to the ground, looking uncertain. The others did the same.

“Slaves.” He called out in a loud voice, looking at the large men still keeping watch over the guards. “Pick up those weapons…and follow me.”

The aliens moved to comply once more, quickly grabbing up the surrendered weapons and checking them in their hands. They then turned quickly and followed Andrei out of the room. For a moment, no one made any sort of move to assist Stagg for fear Andrei might turn and attack them as well, but once the heavy footfalls were sufficiently away, his crew moved to his side.

The five men made their way down the corridor, each of them fearsome and terrifying in their own way. In particular, Andrei looked like a mad man. Besides his bloodied appearance, his hair was matted and askew. He ran a hand through it to put it in some order as he walked.

Eventually, they came to the door to O’Shea’s quarters. Andrei checked to make sure he was still there when they were en route.

“When we get in There, seize the man and guard the door.” Andrei said with a determined frown.

Pulling out his phaser, Andrei set about the task of cutting through the door. He smiled as the light touched the surface, getting closer and closer to finishing his work.

When the cutting was done, Andrei delivered a swift kick to the door, causing the cut out portion to fall in with a loud thud. The slaves surged in first, just as he had ordered, and he followed right after them.

O’Shea had been sleeping peacefully in his bed. He worked the Gamma shift, so this hour was his own personal night time. Unlike most Terrans, the man was a heavy sleeper and didn’t hear the sound of his own door melting. When the cut out portion fell with the metallic thud however, he woke with a start. Bleary eyed and dressed only in his boxers, he sat up in time to see the four massive alien men enter his room. He scrambled for his weapon, but ended up getting caught up in his blankets and tripped out of his bed with a groan. His first thought was they were being boarded, but then he saw Andrei enter bloodied and bruised.

“Wh-wha…?” He questioned ineffectually.

“Miss me?” Andrei asked with a grin. “Don’t worry. I’m just here to prove a point. If I were you, though, I’d keep my mouth shut before I have one of my men shove your fist in it.”

Andrei looked at the watch on his wrist and took a steadying breath, considering all the adrenaline that was surging through his system.

“Only a matter of time now before Pretty Annie comes down to stop me from stealing her beloved criminal.”

“What… what the fuck do you mean?!” O’Shea finally warbled out, pulling himself up though he was immediately pushed down by one of the Kazon slaves again. “The fuck are you doing?!”

“So brash; so stupid.” Andrei said with an annoyed shake of his head. “They think I’m brash too, you know. They think I’m impulsive and unhinged. Nobody knows what Andrei Petrov might do next.”

Andrei reached down and pulled off O’Shea’s socks with two quick motions. Folding one inside the other, he then stuffed both into the man’s mouth.

“You are helping me reinforce that belief.” Andrei said with a grin, tapping Malcolm on the side of his now bulbous chin playfully, like a friend. “No harm will come to you…I think.”

The man spit out the socks immediately and glared up at Andrei. “You’re fucking crazy. You were told to leave me alone!”

“Oh, I was told, hmm?” Andrei said, his tone mocking. He laughed, and slapped the man on the face, harder this time, but still not overtly violent. “Sure; crazy. That works too.”

Andrei picked up the socks and shoved them even deeper into the man’s mouth.

“Now, if you spit that out again, you might be able to tell your friend Stagg about the difference in taste between Kazon and Numiri cock.”

O’Shea gagged slightly on the socks this time and glared up at Andrei. He looked like he was about to spit them out again but his attention moved to the door as the broken halves were forcibly split open and four officers armed with rifles at the ready entered the room. They were followed closely by a very angry Annalise who was dressed in a pale blue blouse and pair of dark blue jeans. Behind her, another three security officers filed in.

“Lieutenant Commander Petrov.” She greeted coldly.

“Lieutenant Commander Faulkner.” Andrei responded, turning with an aggressively bloody smile. All his typical handsomeness was marred by his broken nose, and he looked more a cannibal than a charmer. “Twelve minutes is a very very slow response time. Did you take time to visit your strong right hand in sickbay first?”

Annalise didn’t rise to his bait and simply remained calm. “Have your slaves lower their weapons and release Mr. O’Shea.”

“No no, Annie, you’re missing the point completely,” Andrei said with a smile, calm, even in the face of the rifles. “I wanted your XO to see that I don’t really have to ask. I could have taken O’Shea a thousand times over. I stopped only out of respect for you.” Andrei said with a grin. “After all, we’ve grown so close over the past few days.”

Andrei raised his phaser, followed by the slaves he brought, excepting the one restraining O’Shea. He leveled it at Annalise for several quiet seconds.

“Now, lower yours, or we might make the history books today.”

“Have we?” Annalise asked, lifting her brows but giving no order for her people to lower their weapons. “You say respect for me and yet you beat my XO bloody and abuse one of my crewmen. I don’t believe if our roles were reversed you would be particularly accepting of this situation, would you?”

“For the record, your XO attacked me and broke my nose. Ask anyone in the lounge, and they’ll tell you that.” He said, his phaser arm raised yet still relaxed. “And, you’re right, I must admit. If the roles were reversed, it would be completely unacceptable. But then that’s my point really, isn’t it? You might say…I do whatever the fuck I want.”

He winked at her, his eyes locked on hers.

“If that is true, he will be punished accordingly.” Annalise replied - she wouldn’t have been surprised, but she also knew Andrei would have deliberately provoked Asher.

“Oh, I would say I punished him already, Annie.” He said with a jovial tone.

Outside the quarters, behind Annalise and her security team, blue lights shimmered and Captain Ivan Petrov, along with four security personnel from Vengeance sparkled into existence. The older Russian man had a scowl on his face that said it all. He moved forward with stalwart stomps.

“Make way!” He called out loudly, prompting the team in front of him to move aside.

The Gladius team parted with only Annalise remaining where she was. She turned to look at Ivan, a frown on her face and her eyes a mix of mild distress and much more present anger. “Captain Petrov. Your XO here was just saying to me that he ‘does whatever the fuck he wants’.”

“A gross dramatization,” Andrei said, having lowered his phaser as soon as he'd heard his father’s voice. “I came here to have words with Lieutenant Stagg, and he attacked me and broke my nose.”

“Was this before or after you cut a hole in the door to Officer O’Shea’s quarters?” Ivan asked, his voice raising loud, bass, and dramatic. “And what are these slaves doing with you, phasers in hand?”

Andrei’s smile melted away. He didn’t bow his head or show any shame, but he did stop the act very quickly.

“No one got hurt here who didn’t attack us first.” Andrei said with a frown. “I showed up to settle a personal score with Stagg, and these slaves are here to stop his men from getting involved.”

Annalise crossed her arms under her chest, looking at Ivan and then over to Andrei. She considered a moment, then looked back at Ivan. “Mr. O’Shea has been under constant surveillance since the incident on the station that resulted in loss of life. I can show you the recordings of both of the commander’s visits to this man’s quarters.”

Stagg had fought her on this matter, saying the surveillance was unnecessary and unreasonable given the crime and perhaps he had been right, but she hadn’t been willing to budge on the matter and for that, right now, she was glad.

Andrei’s dismay increased. He hadn’t anticipated recordings of someone guilty of second-degree murder. Who could?

“Well, in that case, I’ll stay here and you can show me.” Ivan said before turning to his sun. “And you can await my judgment from your quarters.”

Ivan pulled his phaser from his holster, quickly set it to kill, and leveled it at the alien guards his son had co-opted. With quick blasts, he vaporized each of them, leaving Andrei standing alone.

“I’ll see you in your ready room, Commander.” Ivan said to Annalise before turning and stepping out of the room.

As soon as the captain was gone, Andrei looked at Annalise again, grinning through his bloody teeth again, clearly not surprised or dismayed by the events.

“Imagine what could have happened if I meant business, Annie.” He said, his visible eye expanding and taking on a haunted, nearly deranged quality. “Give my regards to Asher Stagg.”

“Get off my ship, Petrov.” Annalise replied, looking away from him in disgust, but not necessarily fear. She had to go and meet Ivan, but she also sorely needed to check on her XO. She would do neither with this man still on her ship.

“I will do just that. But, just so you know, if I need to teach my lesson again, I won’t hesitate to do it.” He said calmly. He understood the true effect of fear. It wasn’t a feeling; it was hesitation in the moment of decision, the next time he made his wishes known. I was wondering what he might do if he is displeased enough. He was good at this part. “Until next time.”

He tapped his combadge then.

“Petrov to Vengeance, one to beam directly to my quarters.”

With one final wave, he was gone.

END