Author's Notes
This was written for my English test this week. We had to write a Sci-Fi story and this just happened to be what I created. It's in an alternate universe and there are hints of spoilers for those who haven't read the manga so far. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Pandora Hearts.
Elliot Nightray was known for his courage, charm, wit and wisdom.
But he was nothing like that.
Only Elliot's crew, and the soldiers of Pandora, knew what kind of person he really was: loud, impatient, short-tempered and impulsive. Not to mention that he never let anyone tell him what to do.
Not even the high commander, Xerxes Break.
Even when Commander Break had told Elliot to find a suitable right-hand man, the young captain refused and stated as to how he "didn't need one." and that he could, "handle his crew himself."
Once he finally got his way, he stormed back towards his ship.
He had worked under the influence of Pandora for twelve years, but had only just been promoted to captain of his first ship no more than six months ago.
Pandora was a large space craft which lived within Earth's atmosphere. Elliot couldn't understand why Pandora still monitored Earth, it had been destroyed one-hundred years ago: long before Elliot was born.
Earth fell under attack when an alien-race, known as the "Baskervilles", invaded and only 15% of Earth's population survived and fled to Pandora. Since then, Pandora had been tracking the Baskervilles' movements, while monitoring the destroyed planet below. They created schools for Pilots and managed fleets of ships and crews.
And finally, after twelve years, Elliot had become a captain and he could finally take revenge on the Baskervilles for killing his family.
He had only been seven when the Baskervilles attempted to attack Pandora, it seemed a blur to him even now. He remembered seeing ships being blown-up and hearing the Commander yelling through the speakers of Pandora's space craft. And then the brief memory of hearing his Brother's ships being destroyed. Moments before their ship went under attack, his siblings had left Elliot a recorded message which Elliot didn't hear until the Baskervilles retreated, because the intercom had been too busy through the attack.
When the seven-year-old was called to the Commander's office to hear the message his siblings had left him, he didn't believe that they were dead at first and was convinced that their ships would return to Pandora: unharmed.
But when it was confirmed that their ships had been destroyed in the attack, Elliot swore that he would become the captain to destroy the Baskervilles and kill their leader, Glen Baskerville.
Elliot pushed by the many people in the hallways of Pandora. He made his way to the Storage deck, where his ship was being repaired. His last mission had left his ship badly damaged. Somehow his crew had navigated their way into uncharted space and they barely escaped the meteorite shower which followed.
Upon entering his destination, everyone looked towards him. He ignored their irritating gaze and continued to make his way towards his damaged ship.
Someone quickly sat up and joined the young captain's side. Elliot glanced at the man at his side, it was the Commander's right-hand man: Reim Lunettes.
"How much longer will it take until it's able to fly again?" Elliot asked lazily as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Reim nervously pushed his glasses back up his nose and looked down at the clipboard he held.
"It should be ready by tomorrow morning," He replied slowly as his eyes slid along the papers on his clipboard, "Have you filed your report for your last mission?" He asked and tucked his clipboard under his arm.
Elliot sighed loudly and watched as the engineers worked and welded his ship, "I have. You don't have to keep asking me about it." He said in an irritated tone.
Reim looked up at the ship too and breathed in deeply, "Is it longer than half a page this time?" He asked with a small smirk.
"It doesn't matter how damn long it is! I've filed the report and that's that!" Elliot snapped, turned on his heel, and began to walk out of the room, "I'm going to retire for the day! Wake me up when she's ready to fly again!" He yelled to Reim and exited the Storage room fully.
Elliot didn't really sleep in the end, although he had tried. Instead he just lay upon his bed, staring up at the low ceiling. The room was lit with activities of crews and ships out on deck. It may have been irritating for some people to have to watch ships and pilots walk and fly past their windows, but somehow Elliot managed to block all of it out, he had to because he never shut the curtains.
If Pandora was ever going to be attacked again, Elliot was determined to be ready for it. And that was why he never shut his curtains.
Somehow he did start to drift off, but was quickly awoken when someone banged rapidly on his door.
Elliot sat up quickly and groaned loudly with annoyance. He climbed off of his bed and walked over to the door. He would have pulled on a shirt before answering it, but the knocking was so rapid that Elliot had no doubt that whoever it was had urgent news.
"What?" Elliot snapped, he had meant to sound sharp but his voice gave away how tired he was.
The man on the other side of the door looked frantic and worried, he was one of Pandora's soldiers, but he looked more like a cornered mouse than a fighter.
"T-there's a m-message being s-sent live to o-our speakers." The soldier stuttered quickly.
Elliot rose an eyebrow in confusion, he opened his door fully and leant against it's frame, "Well, who's sending it...?" He asked, growing impatient.
The soldier gulped before replying: "G-Glen... B-Baskerville.."
Elliot's eyes widened and grabbed ahold of the other man and shook him frantically, "Where is it being sent to?" He asked desperately.
The soldier stuttered nervously before replying: "I-in the f-flight deck."
Elliot bolted from the doorway and ran through the halls, wearing only his pajama trousers. No one questioned his attire when he darted into the flight deck. Everyone was too fixed on the hologram message that covered half of the room to notice.
The hologram showed a figure up-close, however their face was covered with a red hood.
"Greetings," The hooded figure said, his voice was smooth and very feminine, "I am Glen Baskerville." They added.
The room was full of tension and unease. Elliot gritted his teeth and stepped closer to the hologram. He stood beside the Commander Break, and listened intently.
"It is true that...attacked Earth," The hologram jumped slightly and flickered, causing Glen's voice to break and fade, "... Because we..."
Break growled lowly and asked the pilot what was happening.
"We think he's out of our range." The pilot replied quietly.
"Well, try and reconnect the signals! Make it clearer, we're losing most of the message!" The Commander yelled frantically.
Elliot ignored the conversation and focused his attention on the hologram.
"... we will return... and we... destroy..." The hologram continued to flicker and then it completely crashed.
Commander Break slammed his fist down on the desk in front of him, "Get it back!" He yelled.
Elliot continued to stare to where the hologram had just been, but now all he was staring at was this own reflection in the large window on the flight deck. He unconsciously placed his hand over the mark on his chest, a tattoo which every member of Pandora would eventually get, a "seal". Some wore it like a badge of honour.
But Elliot wore his with the burden of revenge.
"Did you track it?" He asked aloud. His voice had grown weak and feeble and no one had heard his words.
He gulped and turned to Commander Break, gathering a bit more confidence before repeating himself: "Did you track it? Do we know where he is?" This time, he caught everyone's attention.
The Commander turned to face him and he captured the young man's blue gaze before replying, "Yes. In fact, there was absolutely no trouble in tracking it," He paused in mid-sentence, "It's probably a trap." He muttered.
"Even so," Elliot started and stood up straight, "I would like to personally go to him and give him what he deserves." He stated confidently.
Commander Break blinked in shock, as did many other people in the room. The older man cleared his throat and leant in closer to Elliot.
"I know that you want to avenge your siblings, but this seems too easy. Who knows what could happen." He whispered kindly.
"I'll take full responsibility." Elliot replied sternly.
Break groaned and leant back. His red eye looked around the room and he finally sighed with defeat, "Alright, you can go to him. On one condition." He said and raised a finger.
Elliot grinned slightly, but he was uneasy as to what this 'one condition' would be.
"Yes, Sir?" He awaited the older man's reply with tension.
"You allow Reim to accompany you as your right-hand man. And if anything does happen, you must contact B-Rabbit right away." The Commander said simply.
Elliot's eye twitched with irritation. B-Rabbit was the name of Oz Vessalius' ship. And if Elliot had to name one person in the universe who annoyed him the most, it would be Oz Vessalius.
"But that's two things! You said 'one' condition!" Elliot said loudly.
The Commander smiled slightly, "That's what you're going to do if you want to go to Glen Baskerville." He said simply.
This just annoyed Elliot even more, besides himself and the Commander, no one had the guts to stand up against the Baskervilles. Let alone, to personally volunteer to confront their leader face-to-face.
"Fine." Elliot finally sighed.
Everyone in the room gasped at the young man's response. He would have never allowed Oz to back him up, or have Reim Lunettes act as his right-hand man in any other situation.
But maybe this showed how desperate he was to get revenge on the Baskervilles.
Commander Break nodded his head with satisfaction and gave Elliot the specific details of how the mission would be played out.
Elliot wasted no time getting ready, luckily his ship, "Humpty-Dumpty", had been fully repaired not long after Glen Baskerville had sent his message.
Elliot quickly ran into the Docking Bay and made his way to his ship. Many people from Oz's crew were quickly rushing by, getting ready to take off after Elliot. Someone walked in front of the young Captain's path and stopped him in his tracks.
"Hey! What the hell-" Elliot began, but once he looked up at the other man, his words were cut short, "Oh, sorry Jack. I didn't know it was you." He muttered.
Jack was Oz's second in command. He was also the one who had chased away the Baskervilles twelve years ago. Elliot didn't even know he existed until the Commander had praised him and rewarded him greatly for saving them. But Jack had refused all the rewards and said that he was just happy to have "played his part".
Elliot just saw him full of crap.
The tall, blonde, man smiled down at the young Captain and placed a hand on his shoulder, making Elliot raise an eyebrow at the older man's touch.
"This is a very brave thing you're doing. It's about time that Glen met his match." Jack said gently.
Elliot stepped aside and wriggled his shoulder free of the older man's grasp.
"I'm not just doing this for fame and glory," He stated and walked away, "I'm doing this for my family." He added simply over his shoulder.
Once Humpty-Dumpty's crew was in position and Elliot had reached the Flight Deck, Oz sent the ship a message. Elliot sat down in the Captain's seat and rolled his eyes as the large window in front of him flickered and Oz's face filled up the frame.
"Ahoy there!" The energetic blonde boasted.
"No one says that!" Elliot complained and leant back in his chair.
Oz continued to smile, despite Elliot's temper.
"Ready to set out?" Oz asked, his emerald eyes widened with excitement.
Elliot growled lowly and tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair in annoyance, his eyes narrowed as Oz's face continued to smile.
"This isn't a joy ride, Oz! This is a life threatening mission, you can't just ignore that fact!" He snapped and griped the arm rests as he leant forward in his chair.
Oz flinched slightly at Elliot's raised voice and his smile ceased slightly, "I know that. But if this really is the last conversation we'll ever have, then, we shouldn't be yelling, right?" He replied kindly.
Elliot scoffed and loosened the grip on the arm rests. He rubbed his temples and calmed down, "Whatever." He muttered quietly.
Oz smiled once more and his eyes regained their shine, "Good luck!" He said in a cheery voice and then disappeared.
Elliot waited until the large window was completely clear of Oz's image before letting out a loud groan of relief. He leant back into his chair and hung his head over the back of it.
"Let's go already." He mumbled and lazily waved a hand towards his crew members.
They didn't hesitate and quickly began navigating the ship and headed off into space. Following the coordinates that led to Glen Baskerville.
Reim tried to make light conservation with Elliot, but the younger man only responded in grunts and groans. The journey was long and quiet, boring and slow.
Elliot wished he could just close his eyes and when he reopened them, Glen would be in front of him, on his knees, with a gun to his head. And then it would all be over.
But nothing was ever that easy.
"What?" Elliot muttered and looked towards Reim, who had been talking about... Something, "I wasn't listening."
Reim sighed and began to clean his glasses, "Apparently we're heading towards an electrical storm field." He stated sternly.
Elliot sat up straight and looked towards the window across from him. He could see a magnetic storm in the distance and his brow furrowed.
"We have to get through it somehow! Glen's over it somewhere!" Elliot stated loudly and looked towards the flight crew.
"Our ship is too big, Sir. There's no doubt that Humpty-Dumpty will be destroyed if we go through." One of the crew members stated.
Elliot's eye twitched and he stood up from his chair, "I'll take a shuttle and make my way over it. While I'm doing that I want Humpty-Dumpty to stay here until the storm clears." He stated and began to walk away.
Reim widened his eyes and spoke up, "Wait! Are you sure-"
"Captain's orders!" Elliot yelled, cutting off the older man's words.
Nothing else was said as Elliot exited the Flight Deck and made his way to the Docking Bay.
Elliot had no problem in flying a shuttle. He had been trained in flying space crafts long before he became a Captain.
The shuttle was built for two people, normally a Pilot and a Soldier. But because Elliot knew how to be both, he went alone.
As he was strapping himself into his seat, the shuttle's intercom went off and Reim's voice filled the small space craft.
"Why don't you send someone with more experience in this kind of thing?"
Elliot rolled his eyes and switched the shuttle's intercom off. But Reim's voice reappeared once again in Elliot's earpiece.
"What if you get killed?" He asked. He didn't sound fazed about the fact he had just been cut off moments ago.
"I've made up my mind. Stop trying to talk me out of it." Elliot replied as he watched members of his crew move out of the shuttle's way.
"And what if Commander Break checks in and you're not here?" Reim asked.
"If he does, just tell him the situation." Elliot replied simply as he began to move the shuttle towards the ship's exit.
"And what exactly is the situation?" Reim questioned with an amused voice.
Elliot readied the shuttle and smirked to himself, "It's obvious: I didn't listen." He said simply and shot off into space.
Reim sighed loudly and turned off his intercom. He peered out of the large window in the Flight Deck and saw Elliot's shuttle flying towards the electrical storm.
The older man took off his glasses and began to clean them before turning to the crew members in the room.
"I guess we have no choice," Reim muttered and slumped down to the floor, "We have to wait." He stated with a loud groan.
Elliot knew he was a good Pilot, but even the most skilled Pilot would have trouble flying in this kind of storm. The shuttle rocked and jolted savagely within the storm. It was a lot worse than he had expected it to be.
As he came to the edge of the electrical field, a powerful shock struck the shuttle and caused the entire space craft to shut down. Leaving Elliot adrift in the storm.
The young man scoffed and cursed loudly. He began to rapidly switch the controls on and off, but nothing happened. Eventually he gave up and slumped into his chair in defeat.
Someone was bound to find him. But this was Baskerville territory, and even if he was found, he'd probably wish he hadn't been.
After what felt like a day had passed. Elliot's earpiece went off and a message came through.
"You are... Baskerville..." The voice was full of static and impossible to understand, "...State... Name... Purpo-" And then it broke off.
Elliot tried desperately to start the shuttle once again. If the Baskervilles had sent a message, there was no doubt that he could be seen on their radars.
As if luck was on his side, the shuttle burst into life once again, and Elliot wasted no time in flying out of the giant storm he had been in. Once clear space was within his vision, Elliot thought he was safe. But he was wrong.
A sudden shock wave pulsated from the energy storm and it struck Elliot's shuttle once again. But this time, instead of shutting down and simply floating; the shuttle shut down and began crashing.
Elliot cursed as the space craft was pulled into an atmosphere of some kind and soon began shooting down, gathering speed as it went.
Then everything went black.
Elliot groaned loudly and opened his eyes. He was still inside his shuttle, but the craft had been badly damaged. The window was shattered, which meant that wherever Elliot was; there was oxygen.
The young Captain slowly undid his seat-straps and crawled out of the shuttle. He reached for the gun in his belt and held it firmly as he glanced around at his new surroundings.
He had crashed on a planet, one he had never heard of before. It's skies were black and full of storm clouds. The surface of the Planet was uneven trenches and destroyed buildings. But the most interesting thing above all else was the large space ship planted into Planet's surface.
Elliot quickly made his way to the large space craft. There was no doubt that it had crashed, just like he had. But the real question was; how long ago did it crash?
Elliot carefully stepped inside the decaying ship and held his gun up, he had expected some sort of jump attack, but there was nothing.
The young Captain raised an eyebrow in suspicion and continued with cation. He was familiar with the basic designs of space crafts, so he had no trouble finding the Flight Deck.
Once again, Elliot was prepared for an attack and he held up his gun quickly before stepping inside the room. But there had been no reason to shoot.
It was clear to the young Captain that the ship had belonged to the Baskervilles. Because every decaying body on the Flight Deck was wearing red cloaks; the Baskervilles trademark.
Elliot was shocked, it looked as though the ship and these bodies had been on this Planet for years. But Pandora had received a message from Glen Baskerville no more than ninety-two hours ago.
And if this really was the Baskervilles' Mothership, there was no doubt that Glen was supposedly siting on the Captain's seat in the centre of the room.
Moving carefully across the room, Elliot reached a hand out towards the hooded figure who sat upon the Captain's seat. As soon as his hand touched the fabric of the decaying cloak, the figure fell from the chair and landed on the floor with a loud 'crunch'.
Elliot's eyes widened when the hood came down and revealed a decomposed skeleton. Was Glen Baskerville really... Dead?
Somehow Elliot felt disappointed, he had wanted to be the one to take the Baskervilles' lives. But instead they had just died by the hands of starvation and bad luck.
And unless Humpty-Dumpty or, B-Rabbit turned up. Elliot was going to meet the same fate.
After the shock had ceased, the young Captain slowly exited the ship and went back to his shuttle. But something stopped him from getting there.
There was a small storage unit built into the side of the Baskerville ship, and when Elliot had entered it: it had been shut. But now as he exited the ship, it was open.
Elliot's eyes narrowed at the door and he clutched his gun tightly, as he approached it cautiously.
He peered around the corner of the door frame, and saw nothing but piles of crates. Relaxing, he lowered the gun and stepped into the storage unit. There was a thumping sound within the back of the unit and Elliot raised his gun once again and he cautiously took slow steps around the piles of crates. By the time he reached the back of the room, the thumping had stopped. But that only caused Elliot to grow even more wary of the situation.
There was a small locker built into the back of the unit, and Elliot was entirely convinced that the noise had originated from inside of it.
He took a few more steps closer and held his ear up to the locker's door. Nothing could be heard apart from the pounding of his own heart.
He stepped back again and shot at the padlock on the metal door. It made an ear piercing sound which echoed off of the walls, it even made Elliot jump foolishly.
He slowly pulled the padlock off of the door and griped the cold, metal, handle with one hand while clutching his gun with the other. He counted to ten in his head and pulled the door open quickly.
Elliot yelped in surprise as someone fell out of the locker. They had clearly been leaning against the door when Elliot had opened it, because they fell on their face from a standing position.
Elliot jumped out of the way and clutched his gun tightly. He pointed it at the figure as he rolled them over with his foot.
He was surprised to see that the body hadn't decomposed, in fact, it looked as though they were breathing.
Elliot quickly dropped to his knees and put his fingers on their neck and searched for a pulse. And his assumption was right: they were still alive.
He withdrew his hand and studied the figure's appearance. They were male, and looked around the same age as himself. They had pitched-black hair that stuck up all over the place and covered most of their facial features.
He didn't wear a red cloak, and that gained Elliot's trust and he was put at ease.
He put his gun away and rubbed the back of his neck in thought. Clearly this survivor had an interesting story, not to mention that he could probably explain what had happened and how he had survived from being locked up for however long.
Elliot sighed and glanced back at the dark-haired stranger, he'd have to carry him.
The young Captain sighed and laced his arms underneath the younger man. Elliot was relieved to know that the dark-haired stranger was incredibly light and easy to lift.
He carried him out of the storage unit and took care not to get stuck in the door frame. At first Elliot had no clue where to take the dark-haired survivor, but he knew that waking up around a pile of decaying bodies wasn't the best idea, so he walked away from the Baskerville ship and made his way back to his shuttle.
Elliot didn't think that this Planet would grow any darker, but once the scenery began to dim, he acted quickly and gathered supplies from the Baskervilles' ship and started a small fire outside of his shuttle. The air got colder too, and the young Captain had no choice but to retrieve the red cloaks from the dead bodies and use them as blankets.
He covered up the shattered window of his shuttle with most of the hoods. After that he managed to remove the Pilot's seat and set it outside by the fire. He had laid the survivor down on the other seat inside the shuttle and covered his lean form with the remaining hoods.
It was all he could do at the time, the only other thing to do was wait until he woke up, or wait until Humpty-Dumpty and B-Rabbit showed up.
The young Captain had began to fall asleep in his chair by the fire, but a noise from behind him kept him awake. He hadn't realised that he was in danger until he felt the cool feeling of metal at the back of his head.
"Finally awake?" Elliot questioned. His voice was calm and he didn't panic.
The dark-haired man slowly walked around the seat that Elliot sat on until he was face-to-face with the young Captain. Elliot glared slightly when he had remembered how he had left his gun in the shuttle.
His blue eyes looked from the weapon and up to the younger man. He couldn't see his face expression because he had stood between Elliot with the fire behind him. The young Captain wondered if the young man had done it purposefully.
Elliot's eyes squinted when he thought he saw a speck of gold shine from the other man's face.
"Who are you?" The survivor finally spoke. His voice was smooth and feminine, and somehow familiar.
"I'm the guy who saved you," Elliot replied, growing irritable, "Do you always point guns at people who save you?" He added as he crossed his arms.
"Do you always undress Baskervilles?" The dark-haired man countered as he threw a red cloak onto the floor. Eliot could have sworn he heard amusement in his voice.
"Look," The young Captain started and leant forward in his chair slightly, "If I was going to hurt you, I would have done it while you were unconscious." He stated simply.
"Even so.." The dark-haired man muttered and loosened his grip on the gun slightly.
Elliot used that opportunity to move. He threw himself at the other man and tackled him to the cold ground. He didn't show any mercy as he took ahold of his slim wrists and straddled the smaller man: keeping him from escaping.
The younger man hadn't seen the attack coming and was slightly dazed once he was pinned to the floor. After a few moments he shook his head and blew the dark hair out of his eyes.
"I was about to put the gun down." He muttered childishly with a small pout.
Elliot hadn't heard his words, because he had been far too fixed on the unusual pair of eyes looking up at him. They were pitch black, with a hue of deep violet in them. Flecks of gold and silver sparkled rapidly as the fire revealed their beauty.
After a moment of silence, Elliot blinked frantically and sat up, still straddling the younger man's chest.
"Who are you?" He asked after clearing his throat.
"I asked you first." The younger man said with a small smirk.
The young Captain retrieved his gun and released his grip on the dark-haired man's slim wrists. He put the weapon away and stood up slowly.
"I'm Elliot Nightray, Captain of the Humpty-Dumpty." He said, building his confidence once more.
The younger man raised an eyebrow in amusement, "Isn't that something from a children's nursery rhyme?" He mused.
Elliot's eye twitched slightly and he turned around to hide the red forming on his face, "Shut up!" He snapped, he then took a deep breath in and calmed his nerves before turning back to face him, "Well? I've told you who I am, now you tell me who you are." He barked impatiently.
"Leo." The younger man replied as he propped himself up onto his shoulders.
"Leo?" Elliot repeated with a small frown.
"Well sorry for not having a mighty name like yours, Mister 'Humpty-Dumpty'" Leo mocked as he hung his head back and yawned loudly.
Elliot's eye began twitching with annoyance once more. He began to regret saving the other man.
"What the hell happened here?" The young Captain snapped. He just wanted to get the talking part done and over with already.
Leo lost the cockiness in his expression and he lifted his head back up to meet Elliot's cold, blue, eyes, "You mean the Baskervilles?" He asked quietly.
"Well, what the hell do you think?" Elliot yelled, he ran a hand through his beige hair and calmed down, "Yes, the Baskervilles." He said and slumped down into his seat by the fire once again.
Leo sat up and looked towards the cold ground, he allowed his long hair to cover his face as he began to speak; "They were running from something, had some bad luck and then crashed here." He stated simply.
"That's it? That doesn't explain enough! Nor does it explain how you stayed alive while everyone else decomposed and disintegrated!" Elliot complained, "What the hell would the Baskervilles be running away from anyway?" He added with a frown.
Leo ran a hand through his dark hair and groaned, "They were running from Pandora. Running from the one who invaded their Planet." He replied in his light tone.
"What?" Elliot asked loudly, he quickly leant forward in his seat and stared intently at the younger man, "The Baskervilles invaded Pandora's Planet! Not the other way around!" He claimed.
Leo looked up from the ground and frowned at the Captain, "The Baskervilles' Planet was invaded by a member of Pandora one hundred years ago. Then when the Baskervilles tried to form an alliance with Pandora, they chased them away." He protested with a frown.
Elliot stared at the younger man in confusion.
"Why do you care so much about the Baskervilles? They're all dead now anyway." Leo asked slowly.
Elliot snapped his eyes away from Leo's face and fell back into his chair, "None of your business," He muttered, "How do you know so much about the Baskervilles?" He added in an irritated tone.
"You have your secrets, I have mine." Leo replied simply.
The two fell into a comfortable silence, all that was heard was the crackling of the fire and the rumbling of storms in the distance. Somehow they grew into a silence of respect, of some sort, for each other.
When the fire had almost gone out, Elliot spoke up; "Care to explain how you managed to survive?"
Leo had been poking at the fire most of the time with a piece of metal. He didn't look over his shoulder, or stop playing with the fire, as he replied, "The locker I was in was actually a stasis tank. The only one on the entire ship." His voice was quiet and soft.
Elliot raised an eyebrow sleepily and yawned, "Why were you the only one to get it? You're not even a Baskerville." He questioned with curiousity.
"What makes you think that?" Leo asked, turning his head away from the dying fire.
"You weren't wearing a red cloak when I found you." Elliot stated simply.
Leo smirked and turned back to the fire and began jabbing it once again.
"How did you get here? What could have possibly made you want to come to this cursed place?" The dark-haired man questioned.
Suddenly that reminded Elliot about the message Pandora received. If the Baskervilles have been dead for over a decade, then how could Pandora get a message from Glen Baskerville?
But before Elliot could speak up, his earpiece went off and a familiar voice was heard; "B-Rabbit to Elliot. B-Rabbit to Elliot, hellooo?"
"Shut up, Oz. Where's Reim? I'd prefer him to you any day." Elliot snapped. But deep, deep, down; he was relieved.
"Reim's staying put, like you ordered. But Jack knew a different way around the storm and now we're coming to get you!" Oz replied happily.
Elliot groaned loudly and crossed his arms, "Fine, just hurry up!" He barked.
"Okie-dokie! Over and out!" Oz said cheerily before hanging up.
Leo stood up slowly and brushed the dirt off of his clothes, "Was that your crew?" He asked bluntly.
Elliot sighed and stood up too, "No, they're my rescue team." He replied and stretched.
It seemed that the Planet's night was over, because the scenery began to lighten up.
"They'll be here soon. Then we can take you back to Pandora and get you a proper medical check." Elliot said with a loud yawn.
Leo's eyes widened in surprise, "Pandora? You actually work for Pandora?" He questioned frantically.
"Didn't I explain that already?" Elliot asked with a small frown.
"No! You said that you were a captain, but you never said you were a captain of Pandora!" Leo yelled in panic.
"Is that such a big deal?" Elliot replied. He didn't like where this was going.
"Of course it is! They've destroyed planets!" Leo yelled.
"So have the Baskervilles!" Elliot yelled back.
Leo shook his head and began running back towards the Baskervilles' ship. Elliot didn't hesitate to follow the younger man.
"Where are you going?!" The young Captain called out and tried to run faster.
"Back into stasis!" Leo replied and picked up his pace.
"But Pandora is safe!" Elliot cried out and almost tripped up on a mound of rubble.
"Not for people like me!" Leo exclaimed and continued to run.
"What do you mean, 'people like you'?"
Elliot never got a response.
A low rumbling sounded in the distance, it caused the Planet's surface to vibrate frantically. Elliot looked up at the dark sky and saw a large ship coming into land. Leo saw it too, he then missed his footing and tripped up.
Elliot quickly ran over to the younger man and helped him back onto his feet.
"You can't take me to Pandora! They'll kill me!" Leo shouted desperately as he tried to push Elliot away.
"Why would Pandora want to kill you?!" Elliot asked loudly. He loosened his grip on the younger man slightly.
Leo's response was cut short as the large ship landed just a few feet away. The space craft's landing caused a giant wave of air to rush across the surface of the Planet fiercely. Causing Elliot and Leo to desperately try and stay on their feet and not be blown away by the powerful gust.
Once it died down, the ship opened up and a large ramp lowered itself onto the Planet's surface.
Elliot frowned to see Jack standing among many soldiers armed with guns.
"Why all the heavy weaponry?" The young Captain asked with a nervous smile.
Jack ignored him and yelled one simple word; "Fire!"
Elliot's eyes widened once the soldiers raised their weapons at Leo.
"No! Wai-" Elliot yelled, but was cut off by the many, many, many gunshots.
There was nothing he could have done to stop it, it happened too fast. All he could do, was stare with unbelieving eyes.
Somehow Leo managed to remain standing until the soldiers ceased their fire. The dark-haired man took an unsteady step backwards and finally fell to the ground.
Elliot rushed to Leo's side and quickly dropped to the floor, he laced his arms underneath the younger man and pulled him onto his lap. His blue eyes scanned the wounds covering the body in his arms and he was filled with rage.
"Why did you do that Jack!? He wasn't a threat!" Elliot screamed at the tall, blonde, man, "There is no threat! The Baskervilles died years ago!"
Jack's emerald gaze drifted from the screaming man, to the one in his arms, "Didn't you even notice that he took your weapon?" He asked simply, "The Baskervilles may have died years ago, but Glen died today." He added with a proud voice and then turned to the soldiers and began giving them orders.
"What?" Elliot whispered aloud and looked down to Leo's hand. It was true, he had taken his gun.
Elliot frowned and looked up at the younger man's eyes had opened slightly and they were looking up at him. Leo tried to speak, but it was impossible to hear. So Elliot slowly bent down and allowed him to whisper into his ear.
"He's... The one... Who destroyed... Our... Planet.." Leo whispered through chocked breaths.
Elliot's eyes widened and he withdrew his head and looked back at Jack.
Everything seemed to finally fit: Jack suddenly comes into existence when the Baskervilles retreat. Pandora monitoring their movements, despite the fact that had died over a decade ago. The Baskervilles keeping their leader in the only stasis tank on the ship. And Leo taking Elliot's gun, only so he could shot Jack with it.
"Jack, you're under arrest!" Elliot yelled through anger and sadness.
"Honestly? For killing a Baskerville?" The older man scoffed.
"No. For killing an entire planet." Elliot replied sternly.
Jack's eyes widened in surprise and his face turned white with panic, which only confirmed everything.
"You have no proof!" He spat angrily.
"Yes I do," Elliot replied and looked back down at Leo, "Right here." He stated.
Jack growled in anger and took a gun from one of the nearest soldiers. He didn't hesitate to point it at Leo, determined to finish the job this time.
But Elliot saw the attack coming this time and he shielded Leo just in time. The bullet would have penetrated the younger man's skull for sure, but instead, it penetrated Elliot's back.
Everything seemed a blur after that, even now. Elliot remembered Oz giving orders and Jack screaming loudly. The last thing he remembered was his earpiece going off and Reim's voice yelling desperately to him.
When Elliot woke up, he was greeted by the familiar face of Commander Xerxes Break. The young Captain groaned loudly and winced at the pain shooting through his body.
"What happened...?" He croaked. He was surprised to hear how weak he was.
"You uncovered the biggest mystery of our time," Commander Break replied, "You're name will go down in history no doubt."
Elliot frowned and tired to remember the previous events.
His eyes suddenly widened, "The Baskervilles! Their Planet was-"
"Destroyed by Jack." Commander Break finished for him, "We know. Once he shot you, Oz ordered his arrest. You'll be surprised as to how easy he cracked." He added.
Elliot wanted to ask so many questions, but his throat couldn't find the strength.
But the Commander could read his desperation like a book, so he got comfortable in the chair beside Elliot's bed and gave him all the answers.
According to everything Jack had said, he did destroy a planet. But he hadn't intended to.
He had been working on a project called L.A.C.I.E on Glen Baskervilles' Planet. The two had been allies and generally good friends. But after the incident, Jack fled without a word and retreated to Pandora. He fiendishly shifted the blame on the Baskervilles by using the same weapons and tools he used with L.A.C.I.E on Earth.
After that, he fled to Pandora along with the remaining population of Earth and put himself in stasis. He had programmed the tank to wake him up again one hundred years later, and when he did, Pandora was attacking a fleet of Baskerville ships. He managed to scare the Baskervilles away with a threatening message and they retreated.
The Commander Break praised Jack greatly and offered him great treasures. But Jack refused and chose to simply join B-Rabbit's crew.
"And what about the message? The one that gave the coordinates to the Baskervilles' ship?" Elliot asked weakly with a frown.
Commander Break shook his head slightly, "Jack didn't know the Baskervilles had died, one of his greatest faults it would seem. He created the message himself, altered the voice, distorted the image and then sent the coordinates to the Flight Deck. With all the experience he has, it was a simple task that only someone like him could pull off. All the evidence was in his room on the B-Rabbit," He explained and stood up slowly, "I'll let you rest."
Elliot watched the older man walk away and sighed. And then a sudden thought crossed his mind.
"Commander! Did Leo come back to Pandora?" He asked frantically, not caring about his sore throat anymore.
Commander Break sighed loudly and turned to look back at the young Captain, "Elliot. You have to understand that he was severely injured. I don't think he'll make it." He replied sincerely.
Elliot nodded slowly and closed his eyes.
"I want you back to to work in three weeks and no later!" The Commander called and left the infirmary.
"Yes, Sir." Elliot muttered and got himself some rest.
Elliot slumped into slumped into the captain's chair and turned on the speakers.
"Could the right-hand man please come to the Flight Deck?" He asked lazily.
"You know that right-hand men have names, right?" A voice replied.
Elliot smiled to himself and spoke through the speakers once again, "Just get up here already, that's an order." He stated and leant back into his chair.
Sure enough, moments later Reim walked into the Flight Deck and a young man followed closely.
The two walked over to Elliot and the young Captain handed Reim a file before waving him away.
"You called?" The young man, who had followed Reim in, asked.
Elliot glanced up at the younger man and smirked, "Yeah, I just wanted to know how you're liking your new glasses." He said simply.
The younger man hid a small smile and ran a hand through his messy black hair, "That's it? I'm not your personal servant you know." They complained, their voice was smooth and feminine.
Elliot leant forward in his chair and sighed, "You're right. I should treat you with more respect," He said with a fake, guilty, voice, "Mister Leo, you are a true inspiration to us all." He said with a smile.
Leo laughed lightly, "Don't tease me, Mister Humpty-Dumpty. I'm only here because I owe you a debt, not because I want to be." He replied with amusement and stood beside his Captain's seat.
Elliot slumped back into his chair and smiled with satisfaction.
He had uncovered the truth of one hundred years ago. Sentenced Jack for his crimes. Pandora and Glen Baskerville had formed an alliance. And Elliot finally gained a suitable right-hand man.
His name was sure to go down in Pandora history.
'Elliot Nightray, Captain of Humpty-Dumpty, and the avenger of Planets'.