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Posted on Sun Jun 27th, 2021 @ 11:12am by Commodore Phoenix Lalor-Richardson & Commander Arrianna Salannis an Vantar

Mission: Darkness Rising - A Phoenix Lalor Sub Plot
Location: Black Watch
Timeline: MD14 22h00
1268 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure

They had dropped the now freed slaves off at a Starfleet outpost. Malakai had handled that and Lily had stayed out of sight. She had also confined Arri to the cabin she had been assigned. She needed to keep things as quiet as possible. Now the Black Watch was heading back to their asteroid base so they could make their next step. Without Cragen as their link they would have to find another way to their goal.

So now Lily/Phoenix stood outside the cabin where Arri was and hit the chime. Her hair was still the blonde it had been when she had found Arri and Josie, but the eyes were back to their normal blue and the Bajoran nose was gone.

Arri was staring at a padd with Josie's picture on it in a darkened room. "Enter..." She grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes. "My love... forgive me. It was Flossi that said those words, not me." Phoenix never saw this level of pain before. Cragen was truly something more wicked and evil than Mirror Gary. "I'll come for you. Please forgive me. They made me into that thing. They Made me say I didn't love you. But that's not true." She put her finger up to the picture. Caressing it. "Curse you Cragen!!!"

Phoenix leaned on the door jam. "Finished?" She asked, knowing the best way to get Arri to move was to poke at her.

"What do you want from me?!? They told me nothing but 'there's things you are not privy to.' Lies from a Starfleet that didn't trust its own officers."

"Well you are not doing much right now Darling" Phoenix drawled. "My man is in medical because he took a shot tearing that hell hole down. And now I have to find a new path to the big bad, and with him, Cragen."

"That was not.... your man???" Arri was stunned. "Isn't Ken Dead?"

"Oh yes I am pretty sure Ken is dead." Came a soft reply. "No, the man in medical is Mattias, he was my first... and my current. And he is not happy that Cragen got away and that one of his goons shot him."

"Indeed, Cragen got away. With Josephine." Arrianna noted

"So now that you are here Arri I and the Command cannot risk you going back to the ELY and blabbing things about." Phoenix examined her nails. "So you have a choice. Want to hear it?"

"Oh now you want to tell me something, Phoenix? Why didn't Starfleet Command tell me and Josie that maniac was out there, enslaving people when we went on leave because Captain Carrington decided to run the ship like the HMS Bounty. How many lashes did we need until morale improved? 'There are things you are not privy to got me and Josie enslaved. And I almost started fucking people for a living because of Command thought I wasn't privy to information on Cragin. There's only one choice I have; i have to find her." Arri sat down looking at Josie again. "Sometimes I wonder what it's all for."

"Because you were not meant to be out there!" Phoenix snapped. "By the gods Arri you were meant to be executive officer to Gary! I had it worked out. Gary would get promoted to Captain, you to XO, Lia to 2nd officer and I would not have to bloody worry about the ship because it was in good hands. And now you tell me they gave it to Yasmine who, as lovely as she is, has gone through a shit 18 months and is not captain material yet! Add to that she listens to that fiance of her's who is a complete slimeball. He is probably the reason she has been so nasty and I highly doubt she has whipped anyone. As for the backstory she told you, that was the agreed backstory to throw my brother off the scent."

Arri looked at another picture of her and Josie breaking a glass of Champagne on their Yacht.... yacht..... it struck her like a ton of bricks. "Phoenix, I can find Cragen for you.... " Arri showed Phoenix the yacht. "He has it, and I think I can link with the Phoenix Rising's computers."

"he would have ditched it by now." Phoenix said softly "But we can try to trace it. As it is, I need to take some of my group on a side mission, to get a bigger ship. This one has probably been flagged as ours."

Arri sighed. "I apologize Captain. Clearly everything possible has gone wrong with this mission. You have my word, ill find that son of a bitch. And get the woman I love back even if I have to tear this galaxy apart. Consider me a part of the black watch. But Cragin knows me. I need a new identity." Arri noted. "You became Lily Kass. I now become Kate Daniels, and I'll do everything possible to find Cragen and his master."

"We will work together Arri."

"I need to talk to Kara about a new face." Arri noted. As she cut her long hair shoulder length with some scissors and pulled out some black clothing. Leather pants and jacket.

"aw man, Josie is gonna kill me, she loves your hair down and long" Phoenix muttered. "And I am only Lily Kass when in the field or around people who knows Phoenix Lalor. But ship side, safe to call me Lily."

"You are always Phoenix Lalor to me." Arri wondered. "Is this how Penelope Lalor became a Phoenix?"

Phoenix smiled "I became Phoenix when a brave Marine pulled me from the whipping post when i was 16. I took my middle name. It fit."

"I will become a Phoenix too "

"Anyone can be a Phoenix Arri. But only you can be Arrianna Salanis an Vantar."

"Well Phoenix..." Arri noted. "I believe a brave Captain has just pulled me from my own whipping post. And I was whipping myself with self-pity and doubt." She spoke calmly herself. "Thank you my friend."

"Oh don't thank me just yet. You are gonna be very busy here Arrianna" Phoenix smiled. "This will be no pleasure cruise. We are almost back at our base. Once there, Sasha will help you with the equipment and IDs you will need." She paused. "And I think your first mission with us will be a doozy." She turned for the door. "We are fishing for the big shark, we are gonna need a bigger boat."

"Agreed, we require more resources. And I will not fail Captain. Failure wiill mean I'll never see Josie again." Arri mentioned. "How big of a boat do we require?"

"Sasha is working out the specs.." Phoenix said.

"Technically I am still on shore leave, Captain. Perhaps I can ask someone at a small space station or star base somewhere for... 'a tour of a ship.'" Arri mentioned.

"Its Lily. And no, we are not going anywhere near the fleet and you showing up without Josie? weird and strange. You are about to get a lesson in being a .. Privateer" She grinned at Arri.

"I never imagined I'd consider a career in larceny, pilferage, and general lawlessness, Lily. And it is Kate, when we're not in private." Arri noted. "Do not use my Alindari name. Certain parties may take now of my name and deduce how close I am to my Cousin's throne."

Lily grinned and nodded. "Oh don't worry, we already have taken note" she winked. "Now I need to go give Mattias a piece of my mind."

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