"Following One's Heart"
[Previous post: 'Waiting Game']
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Stardate: 60298.1435
Setting: TOLAT IV, Atop a Snowy Hill
The cold mattered not. They had been breed to be one thing and one thing only: soldiers who lived and died for their masters. Through Serul, the Vorta in charge of this expedition, the wishes of the Founders had been relayed to them. Their desires were all that mattered. If the Founders wished to have the artefact known as the Yal-Tonil in their possession and to have all who would stand in the way of this quest eliminated, that is what the Jem'Hadars would do. Not because they wanted to return by the Vorta's side and the warmth of the ship, but because of a single thought. Victory was life.
Invisible, the three pale skinned warriors stood guard over the entrance of the ruins, patiently waiting for the object of the Founder's desire to be brought to them. Then and only then would the Jem'Hadars make their presence known and take what they had been sent here to get, leaving no one behind to tell the tale of what had happened. The only witness that would be left would be the blood stained snow beneath the bodies of their victims, and that witness would be easily taken care of with a few well placed torpedoes. The ruins, the legend of the artefact and all of the traces of those who had come searching for it would be forever erased from history.
The cold mattered not. The Jem'Hadars had been sent here for one single reason. Success meant life and glory; failure meant that they had died in the service of their gods.
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Stardate: 10298.1440
Setting: Inside the Cloaked Ship
Sitting in the CO's chair, the Vorta studied what little he could see of the bridge of the Romulan scout ship that they had 'borrowed'. The Founders had thought it wise to not give their Vorta servants acute eyesight, and in this same wisdom the Founders had decided not to send one of their own ships inside Federation space. Should the ship be spotted by others, the blame of its actions would fall upon the Romulan Star Empire and not the Dominion. Should the ship be spotted it would also mean that all onboard be sacrificed to make certain that nothing pointed to the Dominion, but chance had been on their side thus far. As long as the two engineers who had been *invited* onboard to keep the cloaking device working continued to do their job, chance would also be on their side.
"The first patrol is in place," the Jem'Hadar First said, the absence of the main light not affecting his ability to move about the ship. In their wisdom the Founders had chosen to give their soldiers exceptional eyesight, something that Serul envied at times. It was the price the Vorta paid for not being on the front line, something that he was more than happy for.
"Good," Serul said, using his heightened sense of hearing to figure out where the Jem'Hadar First had been in the darkness. "How are our two engineers doing?"
"Confined to the Engineering section of this ship with one of my men standing guard outside," the First replied, "and from what they have been saying they have no idea that we are onboard. They believe that they were transferred to a Romulan ship with a Romulan crew during transport."
"Perfect," the Vorta said in the usual condescending tone of his race, "not that it really matters all that much. You and your men will be given the pleasure of disposing of them once we have the artefact and we are safely back on our way from this planet. In the meantime see if you can get them to increase the heat on the bridge. I swear the temperature has dropped again since the last time they were asked to do this."
The Jem'Hadar bowed and withdrew from the bridge, content that he was doing the bidding of his Masters.
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Stardate: 10298.1950
Setting: Unknown Planet: Forest
It felt weird. Lea had woken up in the forest happy that she and Luke had finally escaped their prison, and here they were heading back to it. Logic dictated that Lea followed him so that they could send a signal to the Federation or one of its allies, but common sense screamed the opposite.
Lea had never been all that good with military tactics, something that Luke seemed to know a great deal about. The SFI Agent could see the benefits of having their captors spread out in the wilderness searching for them while they returned to the compound, but still it felt weird. All that Lea wanted to do was to run away from that place as fast as she could regardless of her not knowing where she was or where she would go. Her instincts of self preservations demanded that she put as much distance between that building and her, but still she followed Luke's footsteps.
Luke’s calmness was a source of strength and reassurance for Lea. He had proven himself to her on more than one occasion so there had been no reason to believe that he would want any harm to come to her now. Still there was something about the way he acted at times that made the SFI Agent speculate as to the man’s true motives. Most of the time Luke appeared to be just what he had claimed from the start, another agent down on his luck, but ever now and then he would say or do something that didn’t seem to fit. Like a wondering glance, a confidence in his steps, a few softly whispered words beyond Lea’s ability to hear. It didn’t make any sense but still Lea felt like all of these things pointed to something more.
Moving through the brushes like a great-cat, Luke suddenly turned around and placed a finger against his lips, telling Lea to be quiet. Even in the darkness of night Lea could see Luke’s piercing eyes making her forget all of her doubts. Maybe it had been because she had been imprisoned for so long, or because she had been tortured as she had, but Lea felt like she had been ready to follow Luke wherever he would lead.
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Tiffany Rose {lady_tiffany_rose@mail.com}
Ensign Lea Summers
Currently:
Undercover SFI Agent
Once assigned as:
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS ANUBIS
