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Post by Brie on Apr 6, 2005 12:33:53 GMT -6
Pierce seemed very pleased with himself. He was pacing slightly, waving his laser around as if it was a child’s toy. “I think things are going very well,” he said to no one in particular. “Chip, my son, do me a favor.”
“Anything, Master Pierce.”
“I need one of the workers,” Pierce told him. “A woman, preferably someone young. Someone who is incredibly nervous. Bring her here.”
“Why, Master?” Kyla asked uneasily.
Pierce stared at her for a micron. Fear was apparent all over Kyla’s face. Pierce held up his hand in anger but changed his mind and lightly patted Kyla’s head. “Because, my dear Kari, we need to show Apollo that we’re serious. We need to start killing hostages.” He looked at Chip. “Go.”
“Yes, Master.” The door closed behind him.
Brie sprang to her feet. “No!”
“You’re such an idealistic fool, Brie,” Pierce said calmly. “Of course I’m going to have to start killing hostages. Otherwise Apollo will think that we stopped by here for a picnic.”
“You told these people that if they surrendered to you they would be safe,” Brie reminded him. “You want to start your new regime by lying to them?”
“People are going to have to die for me to make my point,” Pierce said. “Consider it a sacrifice.”
Brie said the only thing that she could think of saying. “Kill me instead.”
Pierce looked surprised. “You’re the one who told me earlier what a good idea it was to keep you alive.”
“Things have changed,” Brie reminded him. “This ship has been sealed, and you’ve already told both Commanders that you’ll blow us up if anyone approaches. So whether or not anyone from the Callisto feels any loyalty to me anymore is a moot point.”
Pierce thought for a micron. “True. But it would still make more of a statement if someone a little more ‘innocent’ dies.”
Brie walked over to Pierce, stopping inches away. “You told these people you would keep them safe. You wanted them to follow you. To believe in you. Well I don’t. I openly defy you. In fact...” She spat in his face.
With all of his strength Pierce slapped Brie across the face, almost knocking her down. “Have it your way, Brie. You can be the first to die.”
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Post by Amy81 on Apr 6, 2005 16:37:50 GMT -6
"Nice blasters" Dolet whispered as they crept down the corridor, heading for the rec area. He was admiring the weapons taken from the two men they had jumped. "Too bad we can't use them..."
"We probably should" Ange replied, "at least to free those being held in the recreation area. Pitchforks won't do very well against armed security men."
"True enough" JustinB replied. "We wouldn't get close to them without drawing their fire. You know the layout. What do you suggest?"
"We go right in" Ange replied. "Take them by surprise quickly. There shouldn't be too many guarding the entrance. And if there are too many, it isn't going to make any difference. We have to try and free those people."
"Or die trying?" JustinB concluded questioningly.
"Maybe the prisoners will join in once we start" Dolet suggested hopefully.
Ange nodded. "That they may. If they're as upset about all this as I think they are, they just might start an uprising on our cue."
JustinB sighed, peeking around a corner at the rec room entrance. It was just nearly twenty feet down the hall. They could take out the two people he could see, but if there was anyone else out of sight, that's where the trouble would be.
"Okay" he said. "Ready to do this?" He looked at Dolet, and was satisfied with the grim look of determination on the young ensign's face. "On three then. One... two..."
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Post by JustinB on Apr 7, 2005 5:09:06 GMT -6
"On three then. One... two...Wait..I have a better idea." Ange and Dolet looked and I could see their surprise that I had stopped. "Ange, surely they wouldn't know all the workers on this ship. With that being so, you are going to hand us over to them as your prisoners."
"What the Frack!!" both Ange and Dolet said simultaneously.
"You heard me, Ange you will take us with your laser to our backs. When we get close enough, we should know if there is anyone else around. When we are close enough we will strike them down and knock them out with the pitchfork and shovel. No one deserves to die, even if they have betrayed Human kind. The lasers are for last resort and last resort only."
I couldn't read Anges reaction, but I hoped he understood. "Ok, off you go." he whispered.
Down the hallway at the rec hall entrance, the two people on guard were surprised as they saw the three of us come around the corner.
"So Ange, you decided to join and follow Master Pierce. Good to see, we did'nt think you had it in you. Better yet you bring some more guests to the reunion.
Ange faked a smile and a small laugh. "Why wouldn't I follow Master Pierce. I have always been known to pick the winning team. I found these two in a small storage room. Their voices gave away there location."
As we got within a few steps, they noticed the pitchfork and the shovel. "Hey what is this felgercarb?" No one answered as at exactl the same time, the handle of the pitchfork and the end of the shovel came crashing down on the traitors heads.
"Ewww, now that had to hurt," Dolet said with a smile and a chuckle.
Ange disarmed the two guards of their lasers. Meanhile, I opened the rec hall door and said to and amazed group of people, "Sorry for the interruption, but these two bovines out here got in my way."
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Post by Amy81 on Apr 7, 2005 6:35:54 GMT -6
Ange looked around the room and a smile spread over his face as he saw his friend Randy stepping forward.
"I told you he'd find a way" Randy said to those nearby as he shook Ange's hand. He may have been the only one to believe that a rescue was coming. "What took you so long?" he asked.
"It's pretty bad" Ange replied as he watched JustinB and Dolet drag the unconscious guards inside the room. "These viper pilots are the only help we're going to get if we're going to topple 'Master Pierce'."
A farmer stepped up. "Maybe it's Pierce we don't want. More than a few of us think that daggit Brie is behind all this, or at the very least involved up to her eyeballs. Now that we're free, we'd like to get some justice done."
Randy shrugged his shoulders. "I've tried to explain that I saw Brie in shackles, being led by Pierce..."
"A clever ruse" another farmer interrupted. "I'll bet it got them all the way to the bridge before anyone knew what was really happening. I'll bet Brie's in the captain's chair right now."
"Why all the resentment toward Brie?" JustinB wanted to know.
"She's responsible for what's become of Captain Amy" a female farmer broke in. "That darling little girl is our pride and joy. Such a sweet child. And she made it big. Nobody had done that from our ship before. And now she's... she's..."
"Brie's responsible" the first farmer said flatly. "Court proved it, and now she's on the run, throwing herself in with traitors. Well, she picked the wrong ship to flee to." With that, nearly the entire crowd of farmers began to shout out with agreement.
Dolet looked around with wide eyes. "We've freed a mob of lunatics" he muttered.
"Nobody is going to take out mob justice on Major Brie" JustinB said. He pulled out his blaster to underscore his point.
Ange held up a hand. "Now, now. Let's not be too hasty here. It might not be a bad idea."
JustinB stared at him. "You're crazy."
"No I'm not" Ange replied. "These people have given me an idea. An angry mob out for Brie's blood might just be our ticket to the bridge."
"And to Pierce..." Dolet added approvingly. "It might work!"
The farmer grew indignant. "You're not going to use our quest for justice for any..." A tug at his arm stopped him, and the woman farmer whispered into his ear.
In a soft voice only he could hear, she said "If it gets us to the bridge, just go along with it. Once there, we can have our justice."
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Post by Logan on Apr 7, 2005 8:25:38 GMT -6
'A disgrace to Gold Squadron and the Colonial Military.' Logan couldn't get Brie's words out of her head. Well, obviously, her ruse to make everyone believe she was in with Pierce had worked...possibly too well. She still had no idea how she was going to get out of this, but felt that somehow she was exactly where it was important for her to be...right in the middle of the chaos. Logan took a moment to check her scanners and saw that since the two Vipers had covertly landed in the Repair Bay no other ships had approached. She had no idea on the location of whoever was in those ships, but hoped they kept their wits about them. There had to be people on the Agro Ship who could aid the unknown Warriors. Someone had sent that piggyback message to them after all. The tension on the bridge was thick. Pierce seemed to be completely losing what little grip on reality he had, walking around, waving his blaster, spouting all kinds of nonsense. He seemed even crazier now that he'd talked to Apollo and Sheba. She couldn't believe that he actually thought they would give in to him for a micron. Logan realized that Pierce's ramblings had just become even more dangerous when she heard him tell Chip to bring up one of the workers. "We need to start killing hostages," Pierce said. Logan shifted in her seat, knowing that she wasn't going to sit here and let him start killing innocent people. But she knew if she did anything to stop him now, it would blow her cover and she'd be dead herself. She had to wait for the opportune moment...she just didn't know when that was yet. Then Brie volunteered herself, which didn't surprise Logan a bit. From what Logan had seen of Brie during this whole thing, she couldn't believe that anyone in the Fleet would actually believe her guilty of negligence. Pierce wanted to hurt Brie, that much was evident, but he didn't want to kill her yet. He might still need her for leverage with Apollo and Sheba. Then Brie spit in his face and Logan almost laughed out loud. 'You've got guts, Brie, thats for sure," she thought to herself. But Pierce wasn't laughing. He hit Brie, hard and it was all Logan could do to remain in her seat.
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Post by Brie on Apr 7, 2005 12:23:35 GMT -6
“If anyone has ANY suggestions, I would like to hear them,” Commander Apollo announced to the bridges of both the Galactica and the Callisto.
“Maybe Brie will come up with an idea,” someone suggested. “She’s always been pretty good in crisis situations.”
President Tigh moved close enough to Apollo so that no one else could hear. “After what we’ve done to her, she doesn’t owe us a damn thing.”
“Brie’s a survivor,” Apollo whispered back. “And she’s always had the best for the human race at heart. She’ll understand.”
“If she lives long enough to find out,” Tigh quietly replied.
Apollo spoke up again. “We can’t count on Brie, we need to come up with a plan ourselves. I repeat, if there are ANY ideas or suggestions, I would like to hear them. No matter how small or insignificant you may think it is. Pierce is going to start killing hostages in a couple of centons.
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Post by Brie on Apr 7, 2005 14:26:24 GMT -6
Ironically, it seemed like a victory of sorts to Brie. She was going to die, be murdered by Pierce while the Galactica and the Callisto watched, but her death would save a life. One life. It wouldn’t stop him from killing someone else five centons later, but it would give Commander Apollo five more centons to come up with a plan.
Brie couldn’t help but wonder just who on the Callisto would watch her die. She was fairly sure that Skyler wasn’t on the Callisto’s bridge. As good a warrior as he was, he was also impetuous and if he had been on the bridge when Pierce announced that he had taken Brie he would have made his presence known. He would also soon be on his way to the Agro Ship, forcing Pierce to destroy it and everyone aboard. She didn’t doubt that Pierce would do it for a micron.
How would she be remembered? She hoped that the past couple of sectars would be forgotten. She didn’t want to be remembered for her court-martial or for what had happened to Amy. But she knew deep down that those were the types of things that people would remember. The human race always seemed to look for the worst in its members.
She thought for a micron about the people who meant the most to her. No matter her condition Amy always came to mind. Amy was the little sister that she had never had. Maybe too young for a sister, but they were connected nonetheless. There had been such a potential in her that no one else, not even Amy, had been able to see. But it had been there, it had shined like a great light on the moon mission. Amy had sacrificed herself for her team, which was what a true leader, a true hero, would do. But then Pierce turned it into something that is wasn’t, doing his best to make Amy look incompetent. It was a battle that Pierce won in some people’s eyes, but he was so wrong. Amy had been one of the most capable people that Brie had ever known.
Brie thought briefly again about Charybdis. He had become one of the biggest disappointments of her life. So much time wasted on their ‘friendship,’ only to have him show how much he really cared at the tribunal. And after the tribunal. He had never believed in Brie, and never thought of Amy as anything but...
She decided to not waste the last few centons of her life thinking about Charybdis. Strangely her thoughts turned to Justin. She had the feeling that if she lived for several more decades she still wouldn’t figure him out. She wasn’t happy about the thought that he would never know that she didn’t hate him. He would never know how she felt about him. She would never even know how she felt about him. The micron their relationship crossed the “rival squadron leaders” line everything changed.
Several other faces popped in and out of her mind. Her parents, childhood friends, instructors, squadron mates, superior officers, so many people had influenced her life. But there was one like no other. The upside of dying was that if there was an afterlife, which she believed that there was, she would finally be reunited with Turner. Pierce had ended Turner’s life, and was about to end Brie’s as well.
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Post by JustinB on Apr 8, 2005 5:26:00 GMT -6
I was a little worried when the freed workers completely changed their tune in relation to helping us storm the bridge. I had a feeling Brie would be targeted by them. I went over to Ange and asked him for one of the lasers. He hesitated at first but handed one over. Good, I thought to myself. Obviously one of the guards liked vintage weapons as this one was at least ten yahren old. Hopefully, I could get this to Brie when we got to the bridge. She would need a little something to protect herself.
Ange's friend Randy gathered all the workers and they followed Ange Dolet and myself.
"How long to we get to the bridge Ange?" I asked.
"Just as long as we don't run into any more traitors, I'd say five to ten centons."He replied.
I looked at Dolet and he seemed calm. "Watch my back Dolet and I'll watch yours."
"Thanks Major." With that we cautiously made our way to the bridge. Whoever was on the bridge was gonna get one hades of a surprise.
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Post by Brie on Apr 8, 2005 14:17:19 GMT -6
“We have our first victim, Apollo,” Pierce said after contact had again been made. “If you don’t agree to give me control of the fleet, you’ll get to watch Brie die.”
“I’m not your ‘victim,’ Pierce,” Brie said.
Pierce laughed. “Oh you’re so brave, Brie. Come on, admit it. You’re a little bit scared.” He pressed his laser once again against Brie’s temple.
“I’m not afraid of you, Pierce,” Brie said defiantly, “and I’m not afraid to die. What DOES scare me is what would happen to the human race if you were in charge.”
“You should be afraid of me,” Pierce said, stepping away. “Think of what I’ve done to ruin your life. I arranged Turner’s execution and made sure that it was carried out. I wouldn’t let anyone believe you when you kept trying to tell them that he hadn’t been killed by the Cylons. I made sure that you were committed. I made it very difficult for you to be reinstated. I took your final mission, what should have been your crowning achievement, and turned it around to make it look like you were negligent. I had you arrested, tried and convicted. You had just returned from a suicide mission with most of your team alive, and I had you court-martialed! A career as brilliant as yours, but they listened to me instead. It’s fitting that your life should end now, by my hands.” He stopped for a moment, lost in his own thoughts. He seemed to have forgotten about the Galactica and the Callisto. “There is one way that you can save your life, Brie,” he said.
“I already told you, I’m not taking the seal with you,” Brie said matter-of-factly.
“No, it’s much simpler than that,” Pierce replied. “Call me ‘Master.’”
Brie shook her head. “Never in a million yahrens.”
Pierce took several more steps away from Brie. He was now standing next to Kyla. Millie and Tanya were way in the back, and Logan was seated at the ship’s controls, directly behind Brie. “You see this laser?” Pierce asked, holding it up a bit. “It was specially designed for me. It has the normal settings and stun, but what’s special about it is this little button right here.” He made an obvious move to press it. “The blast isn’t strong enough to kill you, but it is made to cause intense pain.” He shot immediately, reopening the wound on Brie’s right arm. “Call me ‘Master.’”
A tremendous burning sensation tore through Brie’s arm. “Is that the best you’ve got? Trula’s hit hurt worse than that.”
“Oh, you want more?” He fired again, this time hitting Brie’s left thigh. “Call me ‘Master.’”
“No,” Brie said simply.
Pierce shot a third time, grazing Brie’s right elbow and continuing into her side. Blood was everywhere, and the pain was incredible. “Call me ‘Master.’ Get down on your knees and worship me.”
“You can keep this up all cycle,” Brie said, trying to hide how much she was hurting. “The only thing I will call you is what you are, and that’s a madman.”
“Master,” Kyla said sheepishly, “I know it’s intended for torture, but if you keep this up it will kill her. The loss of blood...”
“Very well, Kari, my pet,” Pierce said to Kyla. “I’ll do what you ask.” Pierce adjusted his laser, then pointed it straight at Brie. “I hope you’re ready, because the time has come for you to die.”
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Post by Brie on Apr 11, 2005 5:07:41 GMT -6
“Wait a centon,” Brie said calmly as Pierce aimed directly at her with his laser. “Don’t I get one last look around? It’s bad enough that the final thing that I’ll see before I die is your ugly face.”
Pierce glared at her. “All right. Look around, but make it quick. I do want everyone to know that I’m a compassionate man, willing to grant a dying request.”
Brie stifled a laugh. “Yeah, right,” she mumbled. She turned so her back was towards Pierce, and looked directly at Logan for the first time. She mouthed a few words to her, turned again, stared at Millie and Tanya, then faced Pierce once more. “How about last words? Or am I asking to much?”
“Since I’m ridding the fleet of your increasingly grating voice, go ahead.”
Brie took a deep breath. The pain had lessened considerably, not because the bleeding had stopped but she guessed because it didn’t matter anymore. Standing behind Pierce in a spot that had been empty before was Turner. She should have been surprised, but instead she was comforted. Seeing him told her that even in death, everything would be okay. “There are two things that I want to say. First, Commander Apollo, thank you for the privilege of allowing me to serve for all these yahrens. You’re a great leader and a great man, just like your father. Second, I ask the Lords of Kobol to have mercy on the human race. A few evil individuals like Pierce don’t reflect the species as a whole.” She paused. “Okay, Major, show everyone just how deranged you’ve become. Do it now.”
“With pleasure.”
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