Isre watched blankly as the Lykaian removed his shirt and tore a strip off. Guy just didn't get it. Course he wouldn't, being on the better off side of this whole mess. Still, he seemed to be - at least a bit apologetic about the whole thing, which, whoop-de-doo, at least the asshole helping literal traffickers felt guilty.
She didn't move as he approached, wrapping the cloth around her leg.
"No promises," she muttered coldly, but even if she wanted to kick him again, she wasn't sure she could. Her body somehow felt heavy and hollow at the same time. Settling back against the wall, she flexed her ankle as he tightened the makeshift tourniquet, fingers curling into fists.
At his question, though - there was a slight break. She couldn't help but - well - not exactly laugh, laughing took too much effort, but she definitely drew a bit more air through her nose than normal.
"Really? Th-that's what you're going with?" she said, leveling her black eyes with his. After a moment, she shook her head. "All m-my stuff's b-back in my bag."
Then, another pause.
"I've got a pocketknife in m-my shoe, if that'd work."
Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there! He wasn't there again today, Oh how I wish he'd go away!
The cut on the cyborg pirate's face brought a certain smug satisfaction as Johnathan's eyes narrowed. He got him. Aiming down the sights of the stun gun, there was no hesitation as the dart fired forth, finding purchase in his opponent's eyes. Electricity crackled to life and the second dart did the work the second dart had not: actually hurt this giant in front of him.
Feeling the giant's sudden release of the detective's arm, Johnathan retracted the nanoblade before backing away from the pirate. His stungun raised itself up, ready to take out the other eye once the man's arms were out of the way and done with removing the first dart. The ex-soldier detective barely registered the giant's words of pain and anguish. If anything, he cared little for the man's plight, especially since this was a battlefield. Especially since the crook was talking about organics.
Cry me a river.
Johnathan's eyes widened as the giant's body leaped forward. The nanoblades extended once more as Johnathan tried swinging the pair at the man's head. The right blade caught against the man's arm as the pirate's hand grabbed the detective's head. The weightlessness that came afterward only put more of a strain on the muscles and bones and ligaments surrounding his neck, head, and upper torso.
A sharp grunt escaped him being manhandled as the left blade swung uselessly, missing its mark and hitting the giant's body as his the front of his head slammed into the side of the ship. Hankshaw's entire body followed suit, slamming right into the wall right after. A shock of pain erupted through the detective's head and if it were not for the raw, overwhelming feeling working its way rapidly into every pore and surface as well as below into the enhanced muscle and bone too, Johnathan might have been amused to find his thick skull had been way tougher than a wall.
Every slam brought its own measure of pain and injury. The first slam created pain. The second: injury. His nose strained under the second strike before feeling the side of his head slam into the wall. The disfigurement could be felt for a moment before the raw pain and heat erupting over the wound to go with the rest of the throbbing and burning sensations in his head, making everything join together in song.
A song that slowly put him to sleep as his HUD filled with a number of ERROR messages and warnings. As his limbs and programming tried fighting back, as he tried swinging his limbs back with whatever little thought and fight left in him, the slow fading of consciousness began as it started to leave him. As the red in his eyes from the blood slowly became black. Became darkness.
Johnathan's entire body went limp. Breathing but limp. His nanoblades retracted as safety protocols ran their course and the hold on his stun gun slowly loosened, dropping it to the ground. His mirrorshades had retracted, exposing eyes that closed under no power or will of his own.Nothing.
</ACTIVATING REGEN MODS. ACTIVATING REPAIR MODS. RUNNING DIAGNOSTICS AND REBOOTING ALL SYSTEMS. ANALYZING INJURIES SUSTAINED.
USER "JOHNATHAN LUTHER HANKSHAW" STATUS: UNCONSCIOUS WITH SEVERE HEAD TRAUMA. SITUATIONAL THREAT LEVEL: HIGH.
PREPARING ADDITIONAL MEDICAL MODS TO FORCE USER AWAKE FROM UNCONSCIOUS STATE.>
A cold sensation overtook him as his entire back slammed hard into the body of water than enveloped him. Sunlight pierced through the cool and clear blue-green ocean while pieces of debris surrounded him, floating ever downwards past him. Broken glass and floor paneling surrounded him. Shrapnel of ammunition and broken cybernetics floated easily around him while metal walls and frames of broken vehicles floated downward to the bottom. And here he sat, floating and sinking at the same time under the water. Unable to breath. Little strength and power behind both himself and his augmentations to even try to swim up to the surface.
His head was below the water.
A pair of arms slowly wrapped around his shoulders and neck before those elegant pair of hands held to each other and locked themselves together on his chest. A tender warm breath and a pair of lips found themselves softly pressing into his neck.
"Get up, John."
Last Edit: Apr 2, 2023 23:18:40 GMT by Paperbag Fill
Relief washed over Sevvi in a wave. She addressed the captain first, hoping to secure a way to save themselves from the pirates. "As long as it's in the next few minutes, Captain, I figure you'll be right on time. Some of the folk on board have been givin' 'em hell, slowin' 'em down. Should even be some left for when you get here," she said. Typically, she wouldn't have relied on military, but she wasn't exactly in a position to be picky. None of them were, if everything that had happened up to that point told you anything. With the next bit of correspondence sent, the Dokka turned to her companion.
With a look of relief and a voice to match, she nodded. "Any one worth what it took to make it, yeah. Don't doubt they pack up 'n run the second they see the damn thing." She leaned back in the chair, allowing herself half a moment to relax. Maybe they would make it out of this. She had to make it out of this, actually. Her family was depending on her, to a degree. Maybe her sister was picking things up around the house and helping out, but she was...
A second question came from the Asteri. Sevvi blinked, then shrugged. She leaned forwards, smile dropping, and reached out for what essentially amounted to a keyboard. A few quick taps, and the screen sectioned itself off, before several images flicked to life, displaying various locations aboard the 604. "Huh, surprised they still work. Ain't used 'em since everybody loaded up, didn't wanna snoop on folk," she said, her eyes beginning to parse the information available to her now.
'Oh shit.'
Sevvi's hands shot back to the comms unit, quickly reopening the link with the White Fang. "Howdy captain, situation update, I've got wounded and missing passengers, they're takin' folk from my ship. Anything you can do to get here quicker would be much appreciated." The panic was coming back. She kept her eyes away from the camera feed, instead reviewing the diagnostics of the ship again, looking for any possible way out of this. She couldn't leave, not without the few that she couldn't see on the cameras. Just another tether added to the two physical ones.
Oh god, this guy was well and truly psycho wasn't he? Siobhan couldn't say anything as she watched Voraan tear into the paneling of her ship. Here she was about to offer him a place on their crew - well, maybe not a real spot, seeing if he was worth keeping around was one thing, and keeping their end of the deal was another.
On top of that, she had an invisible mercenary in the ready-room with Lukan banging on the airlock. This whole raid had gone horribly wrong, but maybe she could set things right when they met the client. "Bloody hell, you've fucking lost it haven't you?" Siobhan keyed the security console, and the floors of Voraan's hallway began to gather and electrical charge.
~ ~ ~
Her bag, right, shit. If things had gone to plan they would've stripped the ship for everything they had onboard, now they didn't even have the time or manpower to get their fallen crewmates bodies back. Who the hell were these clients and why did they want the Iron Promise to drop off her marks so soon? Maybe Siobhan was even further behind than she'd let on.
"Really? Th-that's what you're going with?"
Fuck, he'd given her that one for free, didn't he? "Just shut up and lemme help you." He smirked in amusement, but tried to hide it. He set the tourniquet high on her thigh, and took a moment to look at the dark green blood on the pad of his hand - he'd never treated a Silwin before, it had been the other way around. While his experience with her kind was limited, this one seemed much different than the medic he'd met years before.
"A shoe-knife? Tsk tsk, would've kept that lil trick secret if I was you," Lukan reached for her shoe, feeling for the knife. It was cute, and keen - he wondered if she would've used it on him if she had the strength. As he found it, he weighed it in his hand. "Then again..." he looked down at her again - somehow growing even paler than before, she was gonna need every drop of blood she had left. His hands worked off muscle memory, tying in the knife and twisting it tight.
"I, uh... I'm sorry," he said as he twisted it tighter, cutting off the blood flow to the wound on her thigh. "Can you hold that?" Lukan pressed the rest of the shirt against her leg, tying the sleeves together and giving it pressure. She'd lost a lot already, but maybe she'd make it out - he certainly hoped so. He looked back up at the Silwin, his eyes focused on hers. "Still with me?"
~ ~ ~
Minutes? He'd be there in an hour at best. He was already way out of line for responding to the call - breaking radio silence on a covert maneuver was bad enough, he was still trying to figure out how he would get off the hook for actually showing up to the rescue. That was if there was even anyone left to rescue by the time he arrived.
"Helmsman, maximum hard burn for the -" He began but stopped as Sevvi's next message came through he paused, there wasn't enough time to get there without a jump, even if it threatened to break the secrecy of their stealth mission. "Received, Sevvi. We're going to plot a subspace skip to your location, maybe a hundred kilometers out - we just need time to plot the course without, you know, warping right into you." It was the best option they had but if they wanted to make it there with any chance of saving the passengers, this was it.
Once he keyed in the order to the warp deck, Hale took a step back and sighed. He was losing his commission for sure.
. . . I could never hold enough of you in my hands . . .
"Yeah? W-want to hand it to me so I c-can stab you?" she replied. She laughed - less of a laugh, more of a sarcastic huff - and smirked, closing her eyes partway. The wolf tightened the cloth around her leg, twisting it with the blade until it dug into her skin. It didn't hurt - the numbness helped with that, however concerning it was that her leg was numb in the first place.
"Thought I s-said I wanted to die, furfuck," she muttered, but her heart wasn't really into it. She took the knife, holding it steady while he tied off the tourniquet. She fell silent while his hands worked, watching through half-lidded eyes, chest rising and falling with a steady rhythm. The room was so fucking cold. Why was it so cold here? Was life support down?
Still with me?
She blinked.
Was she? She might've - nodded off for a second there. The room was getting dark around the edges, the face of Lukan filling the small portal that was left. Fuck. She was dying. Wasn't she. It felt like what she thought dying felt like. She felt like she was supposed to be holding something, but instead she grabbed at the wolf's wrist, fingertips digging tight enough to hurt.
“That’s…” Again Sienna’s hand found its way over her lips as she stared at the monitor. They were kidnapping the passengers? For ransom? To sell? Sienna felt something heavy drop into her stomach, as her skin turned dull. She continued to stare at the screen as Miss Sevvi again keyed the communication rig to contact the warship with her update. She wanted to pull her eyes away, but she couldn’t help but watch as the silwin vanished from the gaze of the camera. What was her name, Isra? Isre? It was something like that. The few times Sienna had seen her, the silwin had been plucking away soundlessly on a syntharp so it seemed rude to interrupt, and now what would happen to her? And the man with the hat, she couldn’t even think of his name.
Sienna swallowed, but her mouth was dry. A feeling of helplessness nipped away at the strength of her knees and Sienna swayed, bumping against the side of the chair. Her grip on the pistol loosened, but the weight remained against her fingers. Always heavy, like it wanted to pull her down.
“Is there nothing more we can do?” She muttered.
//... into the dark she stepped, but never did she feel free of the gaze...//
She was awake well enough to swear at him, so that was a start. He tried to laugh, a chuckle or two came out - then the blood. Fuck, he'd almost forgotten about that. A let out a hard cough, and took out a few shaky breaths. It was easier to deal with the pain and the dread while he was busy - even if his patient had the attitude of gas station produce. Fuck, who could blame her? Shot and then dragged off to be - what? A slave? Lukan didn't even know.
He turned his head and spat the blood a good ways away from her. "Yeah? Well, too fucking bad. I didn't work this hard just for you to end up dead." When Lukan looked back at her, she seemed almost gone. While she still breathed, her eyes began to close, quickly Lukan held the back of his hand to her cheek. He half believing this was all a ruse, expecting her to snap out and bite him - he hadn't yet realized she didn't have teeth. Fuck, she was getting colder by the second. He gave her a couple taps with the back of his hand. "Still with me?"
She blinked, and slowly began to awake. "Thank the Alpha..." Lukan mumbled beneath a sigh of relief, and withdrew his hand- but before it could come back to her leg, she reached for his wrist and grabbed hold. She must've mustered all the strength she had in her grip, as her nails dug into his hide. He meant to say something snarky, somewhat horny to get back at her for the jokes before, but when she said her name all he could do was sit in silence for a moment.
"Isre..." He repeated the name, trying it with his own tongue. He reached his other hand for hers, the one she had clasped on his wrist. It seemed to disappear under his massive paw. "Lukan." He said again, but this time his name held an honesty where there had been nothing before.
The hiss of a pressure exchange sounded as the door to the Iron Promise unlocked and opened for the Lykaian and his catch. He lifted her again, but this time it was far gentler and considerate. Lukan ran an arm beneath her knees - careful not to nudge the wound on her thigh too badly while the other held her back. He'd make certain if she couldn't hold her head alone he'd make sure it rested well against his chest.
"Alright, supernova. Let's go."
. . . I could never hold enough of you in my hands . . .
It was obvious how little she meant it, just being difficult out of habit.
There was a beep, and a hiss. Cool air washed over her face from the airlock door. Isre turned to face it, frowning, trying to peer inside. She let out a sharp breath as the Lykaian lifted her again - but it was with a slow and careful movement she hadn't expected, almost delicate. She squirmed a bit in his grip, but was too worn to really resist, eventually settling to the side against his chest.
"Y-you don't have to do this."
There was no venom in her voice now, no aggression, just a flat, tired plea.
"You guys g-got pretty fucked up. W-we could just - leave. You need h-help, you're b-bleeding bad."
Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there! He wasn't there again today, Oh how I wish he'd go away!
"Well, I guess we can't all be winners, troublemaker."
He smiled to hide the pain, even if she couldn't see it. She wasn't too heavy, but even the slight added weight brought a sharp pain in his side. She squirmed at first, but soon settled into his chest, she was almost fragile this way as her defense slowly dissolved with fatigue. He pushed himself through the airlock, his knees shaking as he stepped down into the ship. His legs were getting weaker and numb, breathing started to become manual - a chore.
"Y-you don't have to do this."
"I know..." Lukan said softly, he wished he could follow through on her words. He held her closer as his arms grew weak, he dared not drop her - he feared without someone to hold onto he'd have nothing to push him forward.
The lights were becoming blurry now, and each step sent shots of pain up his legs. Her words echoed in his ears, distant and sweet but still true. Leave? He wanted nothing more than to leave, he wanted to carry her back onto that shuttle and leave this whole business behind.
Obviously she was looking out for herself, but why did she mention his wound? Why did she care? Had he truly saved her, or just kept her alive for a worse fate. "Bleeding? Huh, hadn't noticed." Jokes, he hoped she'd laugh. He struggled to laugh and took a shaky breath, "I didn't know you cared so much."
The lights were echoing. Lights weren't supposed to echo. She stared at them through half-lidded eyes, trying to cling to the conversation. She wasn't sure if falling asleep meant dying, here - with how tired she felt, she was afraid it might, and she was even more afraid of accidentally doing it and finding out the hard way. She didn't want to die. She didn't.
Easy to say, never to do, huh?
The motion was like a boat. She'd only been on a boat once before. It made her nauseous. Not just the motion - the claustrophobia. All that open space, but you were stuck in a little floating box with nowhere to go.
Another blink. Shift over. Time to go home. Had Lukan said something? About caring. Right.
Isre scoffed. Or, more coughed. Or just breathed a bit harder than normal?
"Course I f-fucking care. If you pass out, y-you drop me. M-might hit my h-head."
Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there! He wasn't there again today, Oh how I wish he'd go away!
The hallway seemed - longer - growing maybe? Lukan looked out for any indication of the med-lab, but all he could see for what seemed like miles was just more and more corridor. He looked back over his shoulder to see the hall going back just as far if not further - his trail of blood was the only evidence how far he'd come. "M-maybe you're right. Maybe I'm running a little light." His voice was airy and growing weaker.
He watched his feet, seeing the hallway grow hurt his eyes. This wasn't a place he wanted to die, not that he wanted to die or had even considered where he'd end up - but the thought of him falling over, breaking his neck or bleeding out on some shitty pirate ship was more than enough to convince him to keep moving forward. That, and Isre. He'd gone through all the trouble - ruined his favorite shirt - and was near dead for this girl, it would be a waste to have her die now, right? Keep telling yourself that, jackass.
Lukan looked up - there, at the end of the hall was the signature weird stick and snake thingy. Humans used such weird symbols for everything, he missed the simplicity of Lykaian ships - couldn't say the same for the company.
"Y'know, you're not like any Silwin I've ever met." Lukan said as if the single medic who'd patched up a bar fight wound was representative of an entire race. "What makes you special?" He didn't expect Isre to tell him her whole life story, but was damn near falling over and needed something to keep him upright.
From her silence, he might've thought she'd fallen asleep, or even possibly passed. Her eyes were still half-lidded - but if he'd watch, he'd see them blink once.
Twice.
Three times.
"Yeah? I'm not? G-g-good," she spat, voice a low hiss. "M-maybe they're not worth f-fucking... f-f-fucking... being like."
She didn't elaborate, instead falling silent again, obviously back to being a little bit more on edge.
Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there! He wasn't there again today, Oh how I wish he'd go away!
That seemed to hit a nerve - not exactly what he'd hoped for but at least she was still awake. Standing was a struggle, but the med-lab was only a few paces now. "That so? W-well, fuck 'em..." Lukan stumbled and turned, slamming his shoulder into the wall rather than Isre's head. "R-rather stand apart than..." Weakly, he stood himself up straight and moved into the doorway.
The med-lab was remarkably clean, with nearly a dozen beds - all empty. Mustering the last of his strength, he took a long stride towards the nearest medical bed and set Isre down in it - a line of lights along the frame activated as she touched the sheets and a holographic display flashed to life at her side and feet.
Silwin patient - Severe thigh wound, ballistic? - Severe blood loss - no sign of contaminant /// beginning plasma synthesis - beginning routine wound care - administering painkiller ...
The automated treatment bed seemed to get a handle on the situation fast, and with little hesitation the systems would begin treating Isre. Lukan stayed to watch for a moment, something inside him wanted to know she was safe. Would that make up for all the shitty things he'd already done today? Probably not, but it was a start.
The edges of his vision grew cloudy first, then dark. His eyelids grew heavy and so did his limbs - reality was fading away and he was growing cold, so so cold. He missed holding her, having something to focus his thoughts and intention - and damn she was funny. Where was she now? Through heavy eyes he looked down at Isre. There she was, safe and under the care of a robot bed.
Bed, a bed sounded so good.
Lukan smiled one more time, took a step forward, then felt his knees fail him. The ground met him hard, and he came to settle on the next to Isre's bed. He felt warm and comfortable - most importantly he was happy. He'd finally met someone as pissed off as him, and he'd managed to keep her alive. He didn't want to die on this ship - but he could die knowing maybe he saved Isre.
Sleep took him - and death? Death would have to wait.
. . . I could never hold enough of you in my hands . . .
A metallic mass of a man slammed into Six, a pirate clearly with the Lykaian, who was certainly looking worse for the wear. A massive arm locked around the gunslinger’s neck, and another scrabbled for his gun. Six immediately felt his breath being cut off, his eyes felt like they were gonna bulge out of his head as his cigar tumbled to the ground. His grip tightened on his gun, finger on the trigger.
He couldn’t muscle his way out of this, this guy was several weight classes higher. He could try firing off a shot, use the recoil to shake him loose if he didn’t use the dampening. That wouldn’t work though, not with the way Ugly was fighting to pry his weapon away. Six made a feeble attempt at getting away, pulling his body forward and down. It was then he saw something that could help. Or rather, two somethings. As Ugly pawed for the six shooter, he had pulled the hammer back, and Six could’ve sworn he had just enough leeway to aim his gun downwards, towards a massive foot, and squeeze the trigger.
The cyborg's head buzzed as a message came through his internal communication system.
"Sygan, we're dusting off! Grab whoever you can and haul your metal ass or you're getting left behind!"
He frowned, he was so excited to fight another cyborg. Two in one day - and one was a cowboy?! What were the odds? Still, orders were orders even if they came from a madwoman. He leaned in close to Six's ear and sighed in disappointment. "Sorry cowpoke, gonna have to make this quick." He began to squeeze, but before he could flex he felt his foot explode.
Sygan's eyes went wide as he looked down. Half his foot was gone - a sparking mess of wires and synth-blood. Pain came next. He let out a scream and threw the man off of him and into the fridge. If he'd had another moment he would've killed him - but Siobhan would leave him behind if he didn't bring another hostage
Aha! There, he thought he'd spied a hand poking out from under a table when he walked in. Without hesitation, he flipped the table off of the human. "Hello, darlin'. Make this easy for me, why don't 'cha?" An easy catch he hoped. He hoisted the woman up by the collar of her shirt and slung her over his shoulder before darting out of the mess hall.
As he stepped out, he came face to face with two more mercenaries - Kaz and Grim.
~ ~ ~
Kaz had his pistol drawn and aimed when the massive cyborg rounded the corner, but it made no difference. The man towered above Kaz, blocking out the florescent lights with his massive frame. The guy was armored from the neck down - he'd need something with more kick than a .45 to make a dent.
A blade maybe? He aimed his pistol for the pirate's face and fired twice as he drew his knife from the sheath on his chest. He flipped the blade in his hand and drove it deep into the cyborg's midsection, right below where ribs should have been.
Only - when his blade pushed through, it seemed far too easy, like pushing through jello. Kaz looked up at the cyborg, half anticipating a counter and half in confusion.
~ ~ ~
All he got in return was a smile. Sygan had to give the kid credit, he had guts - but Sygan didn't. He looked up at the cool guy in the hat and chuckled. "You wanna get in on this too, buddy?" He joked, shaking his head. He would've loved to stay and trade jabs with these two, but he had places to be and money to make - he had to make things quick.
He seized Kaz by the throat and lifted him three feet off the floor. As they looked eye to eye, he shot the white haired mercenary a wink before charging up a uppercut and throwing it his way - striking him hard in the gut. Kaz nearly puked as he felt the sledgehammer at the end of the man's arm crush his organs against each other. The wind was knocked out of him, followed by blood - covering the cyborg's left side.
Satisfied, Sygan threw the human towards Grim, hoping to knock him over as he made his escape out the airlock.
~ ~ ~
With Sygan aboard, Siobhan disconnected the Iron Promise from the tunnel, leaving it bolted and closed on the Starskipper. The ship began to accelerate and shoot away from the Starskipper. She took a deep sigh of relief and keyed the PA. "All hands, we're getting the fuck out of here. Secure the take and get ready to - FUCK!"
~ ~ ~
The Silent Fang crashed back into real-space directly in front of the Starskipper and Iron Promise. Amarok's voice came through much smoother than before for Sevvi and Sienna. "Hello Starskipper, sorry for the close jump - still working out the finer details of jumping a ship this size.
"Sir?! The second vessel is taking off, should we splash 'em?" The fire control officer called across the CIC. Hale's head shot towards the viewscreen as the Iron Promise made it's escape.
"Aim for the engines, cripple them if you can - they have hostages." Captain Amarok commanded. Along the hull, half a dozen PDCs emerged from beneath their protective plating and spun up. The first volley barely made it off, blasting the port side of the pirate vessel before the Iron Promise dropped from real space. They were gone.
"Shit..." Hale tightened a fist. "Navigation - lock onto their wake, we'll follow them to their destination once they arrive." That was the best he could do for now. He turned back to the communications console and called over to Sevvi.
"I'm sorry, 604. They're gone but we'll follow them. How are you folks in there? Can you pull in your ship to dock?"
~ ~ ~
Aboard the Iron Promise, the captives began to stir within their single room cell. A massive reinforced glass window looked out into the hallway, with a door of the same material next to it. Two bunk beds laid on either side of the room, as well as a claustrophobic cubicle with a curtain that served as the bathroom.
John would find his implants - aside from basic locomotion, were unresponsive. His blades had been removed.
Isre's leg still bore the bandage of her visit to the med-lab, along with dull pain - some time seemed to have passed.