[IRW Aylhr] Penumbra - Honour Restored

A Mission Post by erie'Riov T'Imina t'Verelan
Mission: Penumbra
Location: Romulan Outpost Rh'Nen
Timeline: ~ 1.5 Years Prior (2420)

[Guest Quarters, Romulan Outpost Rh'Nen, Near Iconia System]

[Part 1]

"Daughter. You have made me proud and have restored honour and integrity to the name t'Verelan. I am pleased to reinstate your position within the Tal'Diann and your rank of erie'Riov." The voice of T'Imina's father, Khre'Riov Vamim tr'Verelan echoed through a dark void within the newly restored erie'Riov. The words should have brought pleasure and satisfaction within the formerly tarnished reputation of her position but this satisfaction had been ruined by the fact her father had chosen to do this within the same place as her now deceased twin-brother, who lie lifeless before them both.

"Thank you Khre'Riov." T'Imina dare not show emotion or reaction to the situation, it would warrant weakness and that would not be tolerated by the cold and heartless man who had just replaced her rank symbol of Arrain with that of erie'Riov once more. It took great effort to refocus the tears that were desperate to form in the corners of her eyes. T'Imina's only hope was to focus that energy on the hatred she had convinced herself to feel towards her now-dead brother - it was her only line of defence.

"I can see that you are shaken from this experience, daughter." Despite her best efforts, Vamim had a well-trained eye and knew that his daughter was putting on the strongest of shows she could muster. To anyone else, she may have been able to fool them but he was impervious to her attempts. "I feel your low-level service in the Galae has weakened your resolve over the past two years erie'Riov. You will attend retraining at the Academy, to help strengthen your resolve." There was a grin now, her father almost taking pleasure in the thought of the suffering she would endure in the coming months. Vamim had ensured that she would undergo Special Operations training, designed to push officers to their absolute brink of insanity. He did not quite care if she made it out with her wits intact - his children had proven to be absolute disappointments to him. Although T'Imina had in some way provided him with a sense of pleasure and closure just moments before he had entered the interrogation space.

"T'Imina…. Please see to that... disgrace… He will certainly not be worthy of any sort of burial. I will be striking his name from existence within our family line as well." Vamim's voice filled with hate and disdain. "As far as we are concerned. That disgrace of a Romulan never existed. Understood?" The Khre'Riov spat on the corpse of his deceased son on his way to exit the space.

"Oh… Best wishes in a successful training course… Daughter…" The man smirked, taking note of his daughter's change to an attentive stance in recognition and respect of his departure. He knew of her hate and disdain towards him - his only hope now was that she could use that to be productive and not tarnish the name of their house any further. She had always been so weak.

[Moments later…]

T'Imina crashed through the doors of her guest quarters on the Rh'Nen outpost and collapsed onto the deck plating. Her body shook as tears finally broke free from the confines of her resolve. She had ensured that this space had been protected from monitoring on arrival and knew it was safe to process what had just happened.

The past two years, she had allowed herself to place hate and blame on her brother Rilol. It had ultimately been his fault that she had been disgraced, stripped of her earned rank and exiled from the Tal'Diann family she had worked so hard for. T'Imina had been certain she had won the battle in exiling her brother from her heart, her twin, the only protector she had growing up against the cold and harsh natured parenting of their father.

Rilol had been there - to take the beatings of the heartless man. He had been both her confidant and her closest friend. There had been only one person T'Imina let herself love in this life, and it was him.

Her brother…. Whom she had just in the headshot point blank moments earlier…. Whom she had executed at the behest of her father's orders. A traitor to their people. There was an unspoken promise made between Rilol and T'Imina years earlier when she had orchestrated his escape, that he would not let himself be captured.

That promise was broken - and T'Imina was placed in a position in which she could not win.

She would be forever haunted in the look of her brother's eyes, and she took his life.

"I will never forgive you Rilol…. Never…" The proud and usually stoic woman sobbed in a fetal position on the floor. It was one of only a few moments in her life in which she let her emotions and heartache win.

[To be continued….]

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