Hiei of Alesia
Chapter 7
Too Stubborn to Die
Screams echoed through out Hiei's mind and the room. Men and women being sucked out to their deaths in darkness of space. The sound of people hitting the doors and walls made Hiei cringe. He doubted that very many of them would still alive by the time they made it out of the ship with all head trauma they must be receiving. Yet, he still knew that there would be at least some that would have to endure the pain of the vacuum of space until it killed them. He knew that he could save them. Emergency Shutdown; the button was flashing red on his screen. Thud. Thud. 2 more on their way out to their permanent grave.
The computer screen in front of him began to flash the word 'Murderer' on it. Thousands of voices started whispering to him. The voices seemed to come from every where and yet no where. They seemed to be getting closer and Hiei felt trapped and alone. The shadowy form of someone began to ooze threw the walls that where literally closing in on him.
After a few seconds the Prior was standing in front of him and said, "Soon Commander. Soon thou shall taste our wrath."
Opening his eyes, Hiei jerked up out of bed covered in sweat. He went over to the door and placed a shaking hand on his throbbing head. He pushed the dream aside for the moment and held out a slightly more steady hand and focused on the nearly empty bottle of wine on his desk. After it floated over to him he flicked the top off of it letting it make a nice impacting sound on the floor that resounded in his ears as though it where a hammer that fell on his head. He took a swig of the wine letting the liquid flow freely to his gut, the alcohol calm his mind, and the aroma float up to his nose. Calmer now Hiei turned on the lights and took another swig of the wine while walking over to his desk.
Once at his desk Hiei poured the remainder of the liquid into the glass that was still there. Hiei swirled the wine around the glass a few times before taking a sip and sitting in his chair. He turned on his computer and logged into the sensor readings. The Angelan would be arriving in approximately three and a half hours. He needed to relax and quickly, so he threw on some gym clothes and headed to the closest meditation room.
The room was a simple, about a hundred feet long, thirty wide, with various pillows and potted planets throughout for relaxing the mind. Hiei never made a habit of coming here. Even though he meditated often he figured anywhere was a s good as anywhere else, yet this room had calming spirit to it; and that's exactly what he needed. He sat down in the middle of the room and crossed his legs placing his hand on his knee caps with his palms facing up. He slowly closed off his mind and pushed everything out while slowing his breathing and his heart rate.
A few moments later Hiei was back on Alesia with his parents. They where eating dinner. Back then he had no idea that it was the last time he would see his parents alive. He was seventeen years old and was going to go to the academy the next day. Before he left his father gave him his sword as a memento of where he came from. He went from memory to memory feeling a deep sense of pride as he did. Yet nothing ever lasts forever. Suddenly his body shivered as though a cold wind passed over him and he was in a dark place.
Suspended over nothing and surrounded only by darkness the Prior from the Ori Cruiser appeared before him and said, "Soon."
Hiei's eyes flashed open and as they did everything in the room around him flew out and slammed into the walls. The pots were shattered, the pillows shredded, and the plants ripped to pieces. Frustrated Hiei walked over to the closest wall and slammed his fist into as hard as he could leaving a massive dent in it. Feeling a little better Hiei returned to his room to get into uniform for when the Angelan returned. Once dressed He looked himself over in the mirror. Nothing was out of place. He had updated the uniform just before he was assigned to the Angelan.
"Commander Hiei Jaganshi please report to the northern landing pad," Hiei heard over the intercom as he left his room.
As Hiei made his way through the halls towards the landing pad he figured that his little trip down memory lane must have taken longer then he thought it did. He looked up into the sky and saw the streak of plasma that followed a ship as it entered a planets atmosphere. After awhile the trail faded away and something could be seen in the distance. As the thing got closer the faint outline of the Angelan could be made out. It was almost home, and Hiei wondered if Amann even knew if he was alive.
The Angelan landed with relative ease especially considering the damage that could be seen on the hull, and that was just the external damage. Several mechanical teams rushed ahead of the crowd to assess the damage and start the repairs. There was a flash of light and Amann as well as a few other members of the bridge crew from the Angelan where in front of the crowd. Moros stepped up to Amann and shook the mans acting as though the conversation that he had with Hiei never happened. Amann just shook the mans hand and ignored him moving on.
Hiei walked up to Amann and saluted while saying, "Commander Hiei reporting for duty."
Amann had a hard time hiding his astonishment as he said, "How can you not be dead?"
"I'm too stubborn to die."
Over the next several hours Amann and Hiei caught up on what had happened over the last few days in the Cafeteria. Hiei opened a fresh bottle of wine and they shared a few drinks while they waited for the Estimated time of completion on the repairs. The mechanic told them that it would take 1 week to complete all the repairs. Hiei signed the repairs and suggested that they take some of the attack squads to the main land for some training missions while the repairs were underway.
After Hiei got Amann to agree to the idea he went back to his room where he sent a message to the control room to have them announce that all the strike team members from the Angelan are to report to the armory as soon as possible. He then grabbed some spare clothes and set them on his bed. Upon hearing the announcement he went over to the armory where he waited for the rest of the men. He wasn't just taking them out for a stroll through the forest, he was testing them. He needed a new team since most of his last one was killed in the ambush upon the Ori Cruiser. The though made him shiver slightly.
As the last crew member arrived Hiei said in his most commanding voice he could muster, "We will be spending 6 days on the mainland while we undergo several training exercises. Each of you will grab a bag, a stun rifle, a spare power cell, a dozen food rations. After we are done here you have twelve hours to get ready and make it to the launch bay. Any questions?"
No one said anything so he signaled them to go through the door where each of them signed out everything that they where ordered to take. The only exception being Hiei who only grabbed the rifle with spare energy cell and the rations. Like everyone else Hiei had his own gear. However, unlike everyone else, Hiei was a command officer and allowed to modify his equipment. He had grown used to the modifications that he made to his equipment. Also while his own gear might take a beating it saved the other men's gear some wear and tear. Luckily he had a spare set on the Angelan.
After inspecting the gear, Hiei threw the rations and the energy cell into the bag then headed back to his room and set the gear down on the floor next to his desk. Hiei left the gear behind and made his way back to the Angelan for his spare set of armor. Once there he had a hard time finding the actual ground entrance to the ship as he had never actually used it. The ship was constructed about a year before he was assigned to it and he had never seen the thing on the ground. The more he thought about it the more he was amazed that it was even able to make landfall.
After about ten minutes of looking he finally found the entrance and walked on board. He located the lift and set his destination as the crew quarters. Once there he made the long walk down to his room. The ship felt weird without thousands of people traveling through it going about their business. Instead there was only a mechanic here or there doing a secondary evaluation for minor damage that might have occurred throughout the ship as a result of the ambush. Hiei got to his room and was relieved to find no one there and nothing disturbed. Hiei set the pack down on the floor next to the desk and went over to his closet where he kept a spare set of armor and all of his work uniforms.
Most of his time was spent on the bridge doing mindless tasks. Most of the people on the ship would give him something to sign so they could do the rest of their job. Each one of them acted as though the absence of a signature would actually physically prevent them from doing anything and as such that one small act would cause the ship to plunge into chaos. He would believe that when insects took over the galaxy.
He took the armor out and set each piece on the bed after inspecting it. Everything was good to go so he grabbed the armor and went back to his room. Once there he took the clothes that where on the bed and set them down on the bag along with the armor. He needed to get some sleep. He had trouble falling asleep over the last couple of days and the pitiful sleep he had been getting was plagued by the same nightmare. So he decided to go to the infirmary and get something that would help him but suppressing his dreams.
The doctor looked at Hiei and said, "Looks like you haven't been getting much sleep."
"That's why I'm here doc. When I do manage to sleep I keep having the same nightmare. I wake up in a pool of my own sweat and the sudden urge to shoot whatever happens to be near by. I need something that lets me skip REM."
"have you tried meditating?"
"Earlier today, everything in the room got destroyed when I came out of the trance."
"I'll give you some pills to help you relax. If the dream persists over the next couple of days come back so I can give you something stronger."
"I'm going to the mainland for some training exercises over the next 6 days."
"Well then come see me when you get back for a check up"
"I will."
Hiei took the pills that the doctor gave him and left. He returned to his room for the last time. This time he intended to sleep. He took one last look over his gear and set his alarm for 7 hours. Hiei washed a pill down with water and the effect was almost instantaneous. He felt suddenly tired and headed over to the wall to turn off the lights. He headed over to his bed and the fell into a deep sleep. The deepest he had been in for a long time.