Two's Company...For A Plot

Posted on Fri Aug 9th, 2024 @ 2:32am by Lieutenant JG Orion Wolff & Lieutenant Asher Stagg
Edited on on Fri Aug 9th, 2024 @ 8:30pm

Mission: S1 Episode 8: Resolutions
Location: Stagg's Quarters, ISS Gladius
Timeline: Date 2371-12-17 at 1625
2848 words - 5.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Orion stepped of the transporter pad of the Gladius, nodding to the technician on duty, a fresh face and not one of the original crew but a few changes had been made since the meeting between the Vengeance and the Gladius, his transfer being a case in point. Though as far as anyone was concerned his visit to his old ship was to catch up with some of his old crew mates and relax. In truth he did miss the Gladius a bit but he was now on the flagship of the Shadowfleet, so it was something of a prestigious posting even if a scientific posting wasn't quite as glamourous as a military one. Tucked under his arm was a bottle of single malt scotch whisky, one from the collection of liquors he kept locked away that had survived their rough transition into the Delta Quadrant and subsequent merry-go-round of Hell they'd been riding on.

He nodded and greeted people he recognized, making his way through the smaller vessel until he stood in front of the door of the man he'd come to see about a particular issue they shared common ground on.

Andrei Petrov and bringing him down a peg.

Ever since Annalise had moved to the Vengeance and he was left in command, Asher had been in a pretty shitty mood. He was a bit more short with people, and found the general experience of being a commanding officer to be just as arduous and annoying as he thought it would be. He’s taken a couple hours in the gym to work off some of his agitation and had just finished his shower when the chime rang.

“Come in.” He said, walking out into his small living room in shorts and a T shirt.

"Asher, you look as terrible as ever." Orion walked in, holding up the bottle of whisky with a smirk toward the other man. "I thought I'd come over to congratulate you on the promotion since I know it's all you've ever wanted."

A bold face lie, and he knew it, but he did have to take a little dig at the other man since Stagg had always groused about eating the business end of a phaser before accepting command of a starship. But here he was. "Though I didn't come empty-handed."

Asher saw the drink in Orion’s hand and smiled. It was welcome. It smoothed over the man’s unwelcome congratulation.

“Fuck this job already.” He said with a grin, “It’s the perfect occasion to get drunk. Come on in and have a seat.”

Asher went to a cabinet and grabbed two glasses before plopping down in a chair and setting them down on the coffee table.

Orion followed while opening the bottle and pouring them both a few fingers of what was amber gold, handing a glass to Asher and taking his own seat. He laughed at the other man and took a sip from his glass. "Aw, you finally get the biggest room on the ship, enough space for all your weights....oh wait we had to jettison those over that moon to keep that torpedo from hitting us."

As he took a seat, the Terran noble knew that these used to be Annalise's quarters and when he breathed deeply, he still found her scent lingering in the air. A sweet blend of juicy peach with a subtle floral aroma that reminded him of the fields back home after a rainstorm. it also brought a slight smile to his lips before hiding it behind his glass as he took another sip.

"So with the move up to command, you decided to give up the smell of dank gym socks for something more fruity?" Orion smirked as he looked over at Stagg, continuing to tease him.

“As if you’d stepped into my quarters before.” Asher said with a grin as he brought the delicious drink to his lips. He and Orion had never truly gotten on. The noble was snooty and competitive, but the two of them weren’t even playing at the same game. He didn’t hate him though, and understood that the two of them had a greater enemy to discuss. “It’s hard to get the smell of all those girly shampoos and perfumes out of a place.”

"I'll send you some instructions you can use to help remove the lingering scents and make everything more neutral again, not difficult to do, but not something everyone knows." He offered while taking a sip of his drink and considering how he might broach the subject of Andrei. "Aside from being given command, you appear to be doing well."

"I'm pushing on and surviving like I do." Asher said with a shrug. "There's alot of change in the air, but you and I both know that's nothing new for us."

Asher had no love for Captain Petrov in particular or anyone else on the Away Team. It was sad that members of their Fleet had to stay behind, but they hadn't been around long enough for him to feel any closeness to them.

"Seems like it's a comfortable, familiar suit for us at this point." Orion agreed as he sipped his whisky, taking time to consider his words, He waited a moment and picked up the conversation again. "Sometimes with change, accidents happen, especially for individuals that have been doing nothing but making enemies."

Asher looked at Orion with a quirk of his brow. At first, he had no idea what the man was talking about, but after a few seconds of consideration, I dawned on him and he nodded slowly.

“Yeah, that’s true. Change can be totally perilous.” He said before sipping his own whiskey too. He would see what Orion was really about in coming here.

Cautious. That was good, more than he initially expected from the brutish man or maybe he was counting Asher's slowness to catch on as being caution. Still he'd already cracked an egg, why not go for the whole basket. He pulled out a small device from his pocket and set it on the coffee table between them. It was no larger than the probe from a tricorder and with a press of a button Asher would hear a momentary shrill sound before everything returned to normal. While it would stop someone from listening into their conversation, what they'd hear would be either too faint to understand or their words would be gibberish. There were ways to defeat it but it would also mean they'd have to complete a complex reconstruction similar how the universal translator constructed its database but with this device you would have to find the language key, which often was a time consuming task or you were betrayed by someone who knew your secrets.

"What we discuss here doesn't leave this room, if something about this should come to light, this conversation never happened, I was merely here to congratulate a former crewmate on his well deserved promotion, however unorthodox that situation came about." Orion laid very simple ground rules before taking a sip of his whisky.

"Obviously." Asher said with a nod, his face neutral. "That's all this is. I've got nothing to say about it being anything else."

Asher studied the other man, holding his own drink still against his own lips. He knew there was some wound that Andrei had inflicted on him as well, but he didn't see any physical signs, so he figured it must have been a wound to his pride.

"What did that psychotic fucker do to you then? I don't see you with a broken arm."

"Let's call it familial rivalry," Orion shared as he held the other man's gaze and considered his words for a moment as his mind went back to what he'd ultimately set himself up for in the end. He gave the other man a slight smile before continuing. "Its no less personal for me, I promise you that but I want to show him how far he can fall from his golden perch."

"Doesn't really seem sportsmanlike, Orion." Asher retorted. "After all, you know exactly what he did to me. But fine, keep your secrets. I'm willing to hear any plan that makes that crazy motherfucker suffer. What do you have?"

"Mine is more a matter of principle," Orion began as he sipped his drink, his mind going back to the last time he'd seen Andrei before their reunion on the Vengeance. Growing up, Andrei and I were made to interact. Our families believed that it would allow us to build up a camaraderie and that we could have an ally in the ever-shifting world of nobility and politics. Ivan was considering that Andrei and my sister be betrothed."

He let that lie briefly as he worked his glass around in his hands. "All my father did was make it clear that he would decide on the proper union since such alliances must always prove beneficial, but I'm wandering." He shook his head and returned his gaze to Asher's. "Back when we were in the Academy, Andrei enjoyed trying to be a big swinging cock, and he forgot his place, ordering me to some menial task like I was his servant; I reminded him that I wasn't beholden to him, and when I didn't back down in the face of physical violence, he decided I wasn't worth his time, and it's been my mission to remind him that he's little better than a near-rabid cur, something he is desperately in need of given his recent behavior against not only you but the crew of the Gladius."

Asher narrowed his eyes just a bit. It didn’t make much sense to him that Orion would risk so much going against Andrei Petrov, considering how little stake he said he had in some rivalry. But still, he wasn’t one to call another man a liar in a situation like this.

“His family’s gone. He’s weaker now than ever. And our Annie is in charge of the Fleet. This is the best time to act, I can think of.” He said, taking another drag from his glass.

"We agree there, but whatever plan we enact has to be subtle and something that would strike at the heart of what Andrei holds dear," Orion paused for a dramatic effect, refilling both his and Asher's glasses before sitting back. "Andrei himself, he's a vain prick who considers himself the gift from the gods to the universe, my plan might not be immediate, but it will leave a much deeper impact since it would take away that physicality that he's so proud of and would leave him twisted and neigh crippled so that the outside finally matches the inside."

Asher furrowed his brow at that. He was pissed off at Petrov and thought he needed to be taken care of, but he preferred taking on the issue head-on rather than going the route of poisoning the man. It seemed cowardly to him.

“I thought maybe we would just fucking kill him.” He said, drinking some of the freshly poured alcohol. “If we get a few guys together, we can take him.”

"I'd prefer to keep my skin," Orion sighed and shook his head at the suggestion from his conspirator; he knew that Asher was a much more direct person and always preferred to deal with things in a straightforward method. However, that thuggish approach would be their death. "While I agree there's strength in numbers, we also have to remember that Lyra controls the security of the Vengeance, and if she's half as capable as she seems, then that department is her's; going at him directly is the quickest way to taking a long walk out a short airlock or ending up like the Kazon who decided to betray Andrei,"

"And I've seen Andrei fight. He's more than capable of easily taking on a group of fighters and managing to come out on top." It tasted like bile in his mouth to give his rival a compliment, but he was willing to acknowledge excellence—even if it made Andrei insufferable.

"Then let's kill that bitch too." Asher said with a grown. "I see what you mean, Orion, but poison is for women. We should come at him like men. I'm sure we're not the only people who hate his fucking guts. My entire security team is up for anything at this point. Besides, I don't even know how I could help with your science experiment. It's not exactly my area."

Orion resisted the urge to roll his eyes at such a stereotyped viewpoint and even how incorrect Asher had gotten the idea of the plan. He sipped his drink and let his thoughts simmer so that he could choose his words carefully. "We are not poisoning him; with a man like Andrei, he is an unassailable mountain when being assaulted; the virus I am suggesting to use will strip him of everything that feeds into that pathetic ego of his, his looks, his strength, his intellect,"

The Terran nobleman paused as he silently tugged on the reins of his hatred for the other man before giving Anders a cool, calm smile. "Dead means he does not suffer. This means that he cannot know that he has been beaten and turned into something that women quail at, makes children cry, and gives men an equal measure of mocking laughter and utter dread. I admit that there is a time and place for violence; we have not reached that point."

"Consider yourself and your resources an ace in the hole should my plan fail to bear fruit."

Orion's thoughts turned to Lyra and Asher's statement about how she needed to die, something he considered wasteful, but his desire for the woman also brought to mind a moth flitting towards a flame. One touch and its wings would be singed and useless, though, with Lyra, he suspected the circumstances of the moth would be entirely more pleasant than what would await him, or Asher, at her none-too-gentle attentions. A small part of him thrilled at the idea of the danger; he certainly enjoyed living, and he liked many things about the condition.

"Asher, I knew you were thick, but I didn't think you'd be able to give neutronium a run for its money." He finally replied while swirling the dregs of the whisky in his glass. "First, Lyra is royal blood, and they take extreme exception when one of them dies. If it's found that a third party's hand was involved, they had ended entire bloodlines to satisfy what they feel is owed them, and they are very creative in getting their pound of flesh."

"From listening to you, Ri, I might think you wish Andrei Petrov would just let you suck him off already." Asher said, taking exception to the idea of poison as well as the insult to his intelligence Orion threw at him. He may not have been the sharpest tool in the box, but he knew any man could be killed with a phaser and dead countesses count for shit on the other side of the galaxy. "I don't even know what the fuck you need me for if all you need to do is jab the fucker with a needle."

Orion blinked before he shook his head again and decided that he needed to break it down a little more simply. Or maybe it was a shit idea all along since suspicion would fall on them if either one decided to enact their plan. One of subtlety or one of violence. "Asher, you missed your true calling as a wordsmith,"

"Maybe I just wanted to come and blow off steam with someone I know who wouldn't go running off to curry favor with the cunt," He conceded before shaking his head. "Right now, you're about the closest thing I could count as an ally in the fleet. Should there be a hitch, you'd be the contingency plan."

Orion was a cunt himself, and Asher was reminded of the fact the moment the man had "broken things down." The high-born often talked down to the low. Still, he hated Andrei Petrov far more, and so he merely sighed and heard the man out.

"I understand," he said simply when the man was done. "You'll poison the fucker, and I'll be the backup gun. Thanks for dumbing it down for me."

Orion took a moment to observe the man, finished the last of his drink, and rose to his feet, as it appeared their business was momentarily settled. "I see it as ensuring we're both aligned on our plan. Enjoy the rest of the bottle, since I owed you a strong drink."

"I'll see myself out." The Terran man departed from Asher's quarters. The conversation was not as unpleasant as he had anticipated, and Asher's straightforward nature didn't surprise him. He had his uses and would be valuable if things turned ugly.


END