The Messenger

Posted on Mon Jun 29th, 2020 @ 2:51pm by Linza (Lin) Esni & Captain Abigail Laurens

Mission: Into The Delta Triangle
Location: Kessik III

Meka coughed, rubbing the dust and particulates from her eyes before fanning in front of her face. Compared to the fresh air outside, inside this building was positively dingy. The lighting barely seemed to work, dust and matter filled the air making it difficult to breathe and it smelled stale. Pulling her tshirt up to cover her face, Meka grimaced as she followed Lin deeper into the building. "You really think this is where they are going to be?"

Digging in her pocket, Lin found a piece of cloth she used as a spare mask from the dust and tossed it to Meka, already having one on herself. "That'll help a bit. And, not sure where else they would be. I hate this place as much as the next person but it seems to be the best spot."

Taking the mask, Meka covered her face as she kept walking slowly behind Lin, eyes darting side to side as she continued surveying their surroundings. Even in the low light of the building she could clearly see everything, and that was possibly what she found the most unsettling. Marquez had said that this was where the meeting was meant to be happening, and the best way to resolve this once and for all was going to be to catch them in the act, dispose of who ever was trying to hone in on their ground and send a message that this territory was taken.

Stepping in front of Lin, Meka held her hand up for a moment before she started inching toward a part open door. She nudged it with her foot, her weapon unholstered and in her hands as the door slowly opened. She drew in a sharp breath, her weapon dipping slightly before she corrected herself, a litany of curses escaping her lips as she stepped into the room proper.

The room itself appeared to be largely untouched, the only sure sign they had missed the exchange was the lifeless body of Marquez laying in a pool of his own blood, a d'k tahg in the center of his chest, a Romulan disruptor on the ground where it had fallen from his hand. "They wanted us to see this," she said quietly as she looked around uneasily. "This was a message."

Gasping as she saw Marquez laying dead on the floor, Lin went over and knelt down next to him but didn't touch him or any of the weapons. "I don't like this...but we can't stay here. Someone had to know we were coming. They wouldn't have done this otherwise." She stood back up and looked around. "I really don't like this."

"I think we should get out of here," Meka said quietly, her weapon still gripped in her hands. "We have to leave him, we can't move him..." she paused, holding her hand up toward Lin. "Ssshhh..." she murmured softly.

Stopping in her tracks when Meka put up a hand, Lin's hand slowly went fo her weapon. She listened carefully, trying to hear whatever it was that could be there.

Meka looked around slowly, a steady gaze finally settling on one small blinking red light almost hidden right near Marquez's body. Her eyes widened as realisation dawned on her and she reached out, grabbing Lin's arm and yanking it hard. "RUN!" her voice was an urgent hiss as she started running, hauling Lin behind her.

Spotting what Meka did, Lin didn't need told twice. She took off on as fast a sprint as she could. "What the hell..." she seethed in a whisper, angry that whoever it was killed Marquez, and then was trying to do whatever it was to them.

The small shrapnel bomb exploded heartbeats after the had fled the room, the sound of the explosion echoing inside the building. The bomb wasn't strong enough to make the building crumble, but it was definitely set to cause pain and likely death to one, or both of them. As they cleared the building, Meka glanced around quickly, taking note of the small handful of people in the vicinity that had heard the explosion. "Head down, keep walking," she hissed as they headed toward the Market place. "Don't make any moves to draw attention to yourself."

Not bothering to pull off her mask, Linza nodded and just kept walking, looking like she was glancing through the shops. "We need to get back to my place," she said softly, "make sure that no one has done anything there. They wanted to get rid of all of us...but why?"

"My guess is this has something to do with your Klingon friend from the market place, the one with the Romulan disruptors. If words gotten around about what you're doing, I'll wager they want you out of the way so they can get in on the action," Meka said quietly as they kept walking. "What they've done, Lin, is waged war."

"And my turning him down. Damnit, normally I'm better at reading people than this." She looked out ahead, trying to see if she could find her place without giving too much attention that she was frantically looking. "And now we have to keep an even closer eye on newcomers too, Meka."

"Coffee first, let's see if your Klingon friend is still in the marketplace or if he's hightailed it out of here." Meka's expression remained dark as they walked into the marketplace, heading toward the central eating area. They'd barely started into the markets when Meka's gaze fell on a new group, one she hadn't seen before, five or six of them, being spoken to by a Bolian. She nudged Lin and nodded in their direction. "When was the last time you saw a Bolian around here?" she asked quietly, the two of them watching quietly as the group broke off into smaller numbers and headed off in different directions. "Well then," she said quietly. "Isn't that interesting?"

Nodding to the coffee, Linza followed but slowed down a little when she too caught sight of the Bolian and the new group of people. "More people to keep an eye on. I think we have our work cut out for us this time. Come on, let's get our drinks and go figure some things out."