Warning: Slash, male/male pairing
My fanfiction archive: www.broken-epiphany.net /impulse
OBEDIENCE - CHAPTER 1 - ESCAPE
"You keep what you kill."
The statement burned in Riddick's brain long after its echoes had faded into perfect silence. Every soldier in the room was holding his breath, waiting to see how the infamous Furian would react to this concession of power. He kept them waiting. They owed him a universe- for they'd taken his, Kyra. Time was a small payment in comparison. His eyes fell over her body, carefully laid beside the throne he was sitting on. After rising from his chair, Riddick leaned over and pulled Kyra's light frame into his arms. She had been bathed in the same light fragrance he remembered the seductive Necromonger wearing. The scent was all the more alluring, simply because it came from his Kyra.
With her in his arms, he began to walk, muttering, "I'll kill the first one of you that moves."
Knowing that his threat was not an empty one, nobody moved until the doors of the acropolis closed him out of their view. The soldiers relaxed, however Vaako called over them, "No one is to leave this building without permission from myself or Lord Marshal Riddick. One of you send word to the team in the air. No one is to leave this planet, shoot down anything that I don't authorize, anything." He followed after his superior, a frighteningly determined gleam in his eye.
As he suspected, Riddick disappeared into a closeby hangar, still clutching the girl's body. Vaako speeded up to a run until he reached the hangar, where he carefully peeked inside. So far, the Furian was unaware of his presence, but Vaako would remain careful. He was bodily throwing soldiers out of one of the spacecrafts, and then he gently lifted Kyra's body from the ground and walked her inside. As Riddick had probably anticipated, the frightened soldiers split. They didn't even see Vaako, who was crouched in the shadows by the entrance of the hangar.
He rose now and jogged to the spacecraft. Quietly as a cat, Vaako padded into the ship. He immediately found a shadowy hiding space among cargo boxes, which he ducked behind as the door to the ship closed automatically. When he felt the craft begin to taxi out of the hangar, he tiptoed into a corridor which led to the flight deck. There were doors leading into cabins on either side of him, as well as another hallway that led to a war room.
A sudden scuffling coming from the flight deck caught Vaako's attention. Shadows moved beneath the door. Taking a step back, he pressed a button to open a cabin door and fled inside. It was dark, and he floundered, knocking something off the table. Cursing himself, Vaako huddled in a corner and gripped the blade at his side. The door to his cabin slid open. Rays of light stretched onto the floor in front of him and outlined Riddick's bulky frame in the doorway, though Vaako was still cloaked in shadows. That wasn't any help, considering his opponent could see in the dark, but he saw something on the floor...
Once the door closed, Vaako was in pitch darkness. All he could see was a pair of shined-up eyes searching for him.
"I said I'd kill the first one of you that moved. I guess I shoulda included anyone that followed me," spat Riddick. He took a step in Vaako's direction, a menacing shine glimmering in his stellar eyes. "Are you afraid of the dark?"
Not bothering to answer, Vaako lunged to Riddick's side, his hand flailing in search of the thing he'd seen earlier. The Lord Marshal's foot connected with Vaako's side, and the man flung against the door of the cabin, but not before his hand had closed around his most valuable weapon- a flashlight. Fate was being kind to him. He kept it to his side as Riddick came at him, grabbing him by the collar of his armor and raising him against the wall. Vaako struggled, his free hand tight around Riddick's wrist. The dagger he'd carried was long forgotten, probably under one of the bunk beds.
"What the Hell are you doing? Don't you have an army to babysit?" Riddick snarled in the man's face. "I thought my leaving that damned ship was a clear enough message to you, commander!"
Grimacing, Vaako swung the arm holding the flashlight and decked Riddick on the side of the head with it. "You keep what you kill," he hissed.
He tumbled to the ground, free hand flying immediately to his abused neck, but found his feet quickly enough and darted out of the cabin. Riddick was half a step behind him when he ran into the flight deck and spun around, flashlight aimed into Riddick's eyes. The effect was as Vaako desired. The Lord Marshal's eyes were so sensitive that he was temporarily blinded, and he took a step back as he let out a curse, a hand shielding his eyes.
Vaako dashed to the controls and began punching buttons. They had not been taxing for long. An arm slung around Vaako's throat a second later, and a hand above his head threatened to twist his neck.
"You came here armed with a flashlight and no reason for me to let you live. Biggest mistake of your life," Riddick rasped into Vaako's ear. He was moments away from putting the commander to his death, when a voice blipped over the radio system.
"Spacecraft 213-B, this is the acropolis ordering you off the runways," the speaker said.
"The biggest mistake of my life was leaving you for dead on Crematoria," Vaako snarled, jabbing an elbow into Riddick's stomach and throwing the man backward. He pushed a button and spit out, "This is Commander Vaako, hold for authorization."
"Yes, my lord," replied the mechanical voice.
"You were a fool for thinkin' you could kill me," Riddick shouted. "Twice for comin' after me this time."
"You knew I'd come after you," Vaako answered through gritted teeth. "I can't let you leave this place alive and alone. It would be one thing if you were commanding the army, but there is a population millions wide waiting for your orders."
"Then I'm ordering you and your goddam army to fuck yourselves, got it?"
Riddick swung at Vaako, but Vaako deflected the fist and launched his own into Riddick's gut. Seeming unperturbed by the blow, Riddick was about to charge at his opponent when the radio blipped again.
"Acropolis to spacecraft 213-B, awaiting authorization."
"The entire armada is going to come after this ship," Vaako said. "They have orders to follow and shoot down anything that dares leave without my authorization- even you."
Eyes narrowed, Riddick walked over to the intercom. He hissed, "Get them off my neck, and maybe I'll let you live."
"You'll kill me as soon as I give the word."
"Sounds like a personal problem."
Vaako's jaw twitched, and he pressed a button. "This is Vaako. Initiating protocol 1220 for spacecraft 213-B. Authorization has been granted."
When the woman on the other side accepted his answer, Riddick asked, "The fuck is a protocol 1220?" He'd grabbed Vaako by the collar of his armor and pulled him close.
"I'm required by the protocol to make a weekly report to the acropolis. If something goes wrong, say, I stop reporting, the entire armada will be after this spacecraft."
"Tch, we'll be far from Helion Prime within the hour, Necro."
"There are more tracking beacons hidden on this thing than even I know. You'd have to tear the ship apart beyond repair to destroy them all. Do you ever get tired of running, Riddick?" Vaako questioned, glaring.
Growling, Riddick punched Vaako in the jaw, sending the man sprawling to the floor.
"I don't know what your game is, but you're gonna make this a very hostile ride," he said, standing over Vaako. "I'm sure as Hell not going to let you waste me."
"I didn't ask for permission," Vaako muttered. With that, Riddick dropped to the ground, as his feet had been kicked out from under him. Vaako pounced on top of him, clamping Riddick's arms down above his head. He admitted through gritted teeth, "It is not my intention to kill you, Lord Marshal."
"You're doing a better job of convicing me otherwise. What exactly is it you want, commander?" was the angry reply.
"Will you listen without attacking me for two minutes?"
"Two minutes starting now," Riddick growled furiously.
Vaako immediately rose and offered his superior a hand, which was ignored. Riddick got to his feet and stalked the flight deck, glaring viciously at Vaako.
"I understand that you are not of the Necromonger faith..."
"Damn right I'm not," Riddick interjected. "Bright idea putting me in charge of all of you."
"...but when I say, 'You keep what you kill,' I mean it. The entire army is at your feet."
"And I. Don't. Want it," the man roared, scowling hard at Vaako.
"That's not how it works, Lord Marshal. We must follow you or kill you, that is our way," Vaako impressed gravely.
"Then find another way, because I ain't gonna babysit a bunch of converts, and who's gonna ghost me? You?!" He snickered maniacally. "Funny, very funny."
"We can lead you to the Underverse, lord. It is a place you could not imagine- Even your Kyra had a wish to see it."
Her name lighted a fire in Riddick's veins. His hand lashed out and grabbed Vaako by the neck. He warned, "Don't go there. I don't care who comes after me, I'll kill you in ways you couldn't imagine."
Despite the hand around his neck, Vaako dared, "I believe...she used...the word...perfect..."
As the commander expected, Riddick's hand tightened painfully around his neck before dropping. Vaako inhaled ashthmatically, but continued, "And it is. Miracles happen there. Powers beyond your wildest dreams can be yours, Riddick..." And now for the clincher, he fixed the Lord Marshal with a serious look. "There may even be a way...for Kyra..." That was all he was brave enough to say. The implications would be enough for Riddick.
"How do you know her name?" came a quiet question. Riddick was now leaned calmly against the wall of the flight deck, staring out of the window at Helion Prime.
Vaako lowered his eyes. "She...The men found her on the ship...They tried to..."
At this, Riddick's head snapped in Vaako's direction, and there was a fire burning in his eyes.
"I did not let them touch her. She...stayed with me..."
"If you touched her-" Riddick exploded.
"I am loyal to my wife," Vaako explained, as though that settled everything.
"You just tried to kill your superior officer back there, and you expect me to think you're a loyal man?" snickered the Furian. "Excuse me if I'm not convinced."
After a moment's reflection, Riddick asked, "Why would you try to kill the other guy, but let me lead the army?"
"He had weakness," Vaako answered. Then, slowly, "You have none."
"Don't you forget it. Get this ship off the ground. That's an order," he said, and then he left Vaako alone on the flight deck.
END
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