CAP/Station: Benefactor

Posted on Sun Apr 20th, 2025 @ 7:55pm by Lieutenant Ainkara "Kara"

Mission: THE KINGDOMS COME AND GO
Location: Dark Harbor
Timeline: Current

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In her wanderings around the community known as Dark Harbor, Ainkara had been given a hand comm by Guard Captain Claire. This was so that when Kara did not show up at a particular gathering for labor, Claire could then contact her and ask why. Kara had to admit she had been given a great amount of leeway, and her wanderings were reported to Claire only, as Claire had ordered. As the time passed Kara began to realize that Claire would use this knowledge to make a power play for control of Dark Harbor. Get enough people behind you, know the layout of everything and how to shut certain sections down, and one could take over with a minimal effort. But, Kara had to ask herself. Do I let Claire have her way, or do I intervene in my own way and vie for power, as well. She could imagine the wealth, prestige and respect she would earn if she were to save Ezzok and his administration. Or, she could kill them all and take over completely. That one was still on the books for possibility.

In her wanderings Kara had discovered what appeared to be some kind of small village that had been built makeshift in a far, dark corner of the sublevels to the Harbor. Meandering natural lava tunnels and passages that had been cut out to be used for power allocation. Dark Harbor was powered by the thermal energy of a massive volcano, kept from erupting by the technology being used to harness that power. Often Kara had hidden and watched as work teams came down and saw to the power maintenance to keep the metropolis illuminated and the air filtration systems functioning to full capacity.

The makeshift village was small huts, rounded like igloos, with each structure meant for a single occupant. There was bedding, small power generators, small lights, and a smattering of other items. It took a couple of days but Kara had finally taken the largest hut and made it her own. Fire pit in the center, burnable goods set next to it. Bedding that she had shaken out, then washed in a leaking water main some distance away, then bringing them back and shaking them out again and leaving them to hang dry. With all that done she now had her own little home away from 'home'. As was her way, Kara would often be squatted next to her fire pit, the mesh shelf over the flames as she had a small cauldron steaming and boiling as she added spices and flavoring to it. Her face was lit up in a constant show of happiness when here. No one else around and she could be herself.

Without realizing it, several times while cooking, Kara would slip her right hand into her pocket, clasping the red plasma crystal. She would hold it, feeling its surging power not only on a spiritual level, but also physically. It often led her palm to heat up to the point she had to release the crystal for a while. But, no matter what, the crystal went with her everywhere. She could feel its warmth through the material against her leg and it gave her a sense of security. A shellback, the name she had given to her least favorite snack, came out of hiding as it sought a morsel to make off with. Kara's hand shot out and she scooped the creature up, which curled itself into a protective ball in her fist. Like the roley-poley on Earth, it was a defensive mechanism that worked against critters equal to the animal itself. However, this unfortunate member of its species had made the wrong choice in showing itself. After holding the critter with an open, flat hand, Kara watched it. What it would do.

Slowly, after a couple of minutes, a section of layered armor split apart and the animals eyestalks poked out to look around. Kara remained still as a statue, observing. The creature must have felt safe because it began to relax its curl and ended up arranging itself flat on its legs/belly while laying in the palm of its hand. Its antennae and eyestalks continued to move around, examining the immediate area. "Boo." Kara said softly.

Again, the Shellback snapped into a curled ball of defensive armor. "Boring." Kara said to the animal, before reaching her hand down to the floor and letting the bug roll out of her hand and across the floor. It came uncurled and tried to get its legs right in time to begin to run. "Nope." Kara picked it up again, the Shellback rolling into a ball. "I wonder how long I can do this before your body is too tired to respond? Here, go away. Quickly, now. The next shellback I see goes in the pot." Once more, Kara rolled the bug away from herself, the size of a tennis ball when curled up. Out of the corner of her eye Kara caught movement so she angled her Sense that way and sure enough, life. Another shellback. This one was being overly cautious. Too bad.

Kara's hand shot out again, snatching up the new guest. This time she got it by the tip of its 'tail', pinching the shell between thumb and fingers as she lifted the animal and brought it down, flicking her wrist at the last possible moment for the downward swing to smack the animal's head off of the stonework floor. There was a distinct thud-snap-crack and the animal stopped moving. Bringing her knife up Kara carved out the section including the head, tossing it into the shadows before the rest of the critter went into the cauldron. The other shellbacks set out for the tossed morsel, ending up in battle over it. Using a cooking fork, Kara stabbed into the pot and brought out a well-cooked shellback, the liquified innards now solid meat due to the heat. Setting it aside to cool, Kara watched the bugs fight over the tossed away head of their comrade. The one she had played with came out the victor, taking up his prize and moving off into the dark. Insect politics. Not for the faint of heart.

Feeling a bit tired, Ainkara went to her bedding and laid on her back, pulling the red plasma crystal from her pocket. With the soft glow of the firelight, and the crimson illumination from the crystal, it made for a relaxed, yet garish scene. Focusing her eyes on the crystal, slipping into meditation while doing so, Kara was almost there when the voice in her head spoke up. It had been a while. So long that Kara thought it had stopped. That maybe it had been PTSD from all she had gone through. That was before she realized she did not have PTSD. What she had was rage. Anger. Hatred. Her own body not realizing it as it happened, Kara sat up and placed her legs lotus style. Her right hand came up, crystal between finger and thumb, holding it up directly in front of her eyes by about eight inches. She let go of the crystal and through her own effort kept it floating in place, spinning this way and that as the sparkle of crimson light would keep her eyes locked on the red plasma. Her hands ended up in her lap, her body a living statue, with Kara fully engrossed in her meditation and falling deeper and deeper into it due to the assistance of this crystal. She never felt a thing, never realized the time that went by until she blinked her eyes a few times and shook her head to bring her back to the here and now.

The images and mental exercises while under meditation seemed to stick, with Kara remembering a goodly portion of it every time she went into Red Plasma Meditation.

"It is the right fit for you, Ainkara." A woman's voice, coming from behind her, yet Kara could sense no one.

"Just because something fits does not mean I should wear it." Ainkara stood up from her crossed legs sitting, no hands used, spinning to face the voice. At first it was just a distance into darkness, her small fire the only illumination in this section of tunnels. But, a woman came forth, dressed in all black. Not too dissimilar from Kara's own catsuit outfit. Except, this woman's outfit seemed to be drawn from the darkness itself. There were no solid lines around her, as if she were a mirage that could not quite turn solid. The face, though, Kara recognized. "Qeritas." Kara said without any emotion.

The woman before her was several meters away yet, but when that name was said she blinked, instantly being meters away, then right in Kara's face, Q's right hand coming up and slapping Kara across the face so hard that it sent her reeling to her side on the floor. "I am not Qeritas, and you would do well to NEVER use that name in regards to me, again."

Kara had not been hit that hard in quite some time, enough to cause her to shake her head a few times as she got back to her feet. She could feel her body beginning to heal and she focused her Control to make it accelerate. "My mistake, Mistress. It will not happen again." The rage in Kara's heart was burning like fusion. All she wanted was to shred this Q and play with her guts. If she had any.

"I don't have time for weakness," Q said, stepping in and planting her hand atop Kara's head, fingers splayed and flat on the cranium. Q saw Kara wince at the sudden rush of knowledge. "Root it out yourself. That knowledge will aid you greatly. You need to be able to secret away technology to accomplish this. Can you do this or do I end you now?"

"I will succeed, Mistress."

"You are chosen, Kara. If you prove too weak to accomplish the goals I set before you I will destroy you." Again, a statement of fact. There was no emotional connection here. It was master over minion, pure and simple. It reminded Kara a lot of her days serving the Iconians. Different master, same fate. At some point she would break free of all who wanted to control her, and on that day Kara would become 'The Risen'. She would arise above all those working to keep her down. Murder any who got in her way. Claire would be her minion, not the other way around.

With her mind already going over the schematics for what Q had put in her brain, Kara realized that many of those items could be found lying around the corridors of the pit. Looks like it's time to rejoin the dilithium miners and gather resources. "It will get done, Mistress. Now, leave me to my rest."

"As you wish," Q said. "You have ten days. If you do not have a working model by then I will destroy you and find another. Do not fail me." With that said the woman became a cloud of black mist and then dissipated.

Shrugging to herself, Kara went and laid down on her bedding and within minutes was asleep. She could hear the shellbacks in her subconscious, moving about as they sought for food. If that sound changed in the slightest in her subconscious, she would wake up.

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