Nameless Lawyer #1: *Glances around at the deserted wasteland that is Star's muse* ...My god...what did we miss?
Nameless Lawyer #2: I...I don't know. Star?
Star: *appears like magic* So. You guys decided to show up again?
Nameless Lawyer #1: Yeah...what...what?
Star: *buries head in arms* Find out after...I have a lot of explaining to do...
"Well, I must admit," The shadow who was taking point drawled, her Italian lilt rolling off her tongue, "I was expecting far less. Well done, Lightning, you seemed to have gathered up quite the vast number of conspirators, haven't you?"
"I don't go by that name anymore."
"No, you don't." She lifted her head so the sun's dying rays made her hazel eyes shine with a fevered light. "But I should no longer be surprised by your treachery. Dishonouring our family, betraying us to our greatest enemies, denying your name-"Her lips curled up to disgusted sneer, "-becoming an NBE's whore. Is there no low you will not sink to?"
"I would rather crawl in the dirt than stand tall with you." Elites gather behind her let out poisonous hisses due to the shocking insult the once-royal snarled. Downpour straightened out of her animalistic crouch, teeth barring into a parody of a smile.
"That, dear cousin, can be arranged."
The two stared each other down for a moment, then lunged towards one another as one, their subordinates flying past them to meet in the middle with strangled snarls.
Blaze gave a twisted laugh as the blade missed his heart, leaving a long cut across his chest. There was blood matted in his hair, both his own and others', and bruises already darkening his face. Over an hour had past and they were still fighting the first wave, neither side going down without a fight.
He refused to acknowledge any of the unmoving shapes on the ground.
The Elite he was fighting slashed at him again, eyes burning when Blaze let out another laugh as he missed. In his fury, he decided to attack the blonde in another manner.
This would lead to his undoing.
"So it's not just Lightning who's being an NBE's little fuck-toy?" Miles missed a step, snarling when he was sliced across the shoulder as the Elite smirked and continued, "Thing is though, while I can see Lightning spreading his legs like a good little slut-" He jerked back, barely avoiding the dagger that slashed across his neck, "-I can't see you doing the same. So it must be the NBE who's the little whore. You know, maybe after this, I'll take it for a little ride? See how loud I can make it scream and beg-"
Miles gave a guttural roar of fury, lunging forward as he completely forgo his weapons. He hit the Elite head on, slamming him to the ground and rolling him so he was on top. Twisting his fist through the fabric of the Elite's shoulder, he yanked him up with one hand as his other fist flew into his face over and over again, until both his fist and the Elite's face were bloody. His body was on auto-pilot; the image of his innocent, beautiful Bee being held down and forced by the piece of dirt under him was burning in front of him and wiping his mind. He would happily keep doing this until the fight was over, only to be jerked out of his daze by a horrific scream. He blinked a few times, finally registering the half-unconscious form under him. Panting harshly, he jerked him up until his mouth was at the Elite's ear.
"Before you so much as get within a hundred foot of him," He snarled, nails biting into the Elite's shoulder, "I'll rip you apart with my bare hands. You won't even get a chance to so much as look at him before I tear you to pieces."
The Elite gave a strangled half-moan of pain when the blonde threw him down and slammed his foot into his stomach before vanishing into the fray.
Whirlwind jerked back as the Elite fell forward onto her face, hitting the ground, unmoving. The Rebel's shoulders heaved as she gasped, a vindicated smile stretching across her lips as the instructor who had stole her from her mother and conspired for the death of her brother finally paid for her actions. She gazed around her, a flash of gold stealing her attention. Despite the battle that raged around her, she smiled as she saw Viper's golden hair fan out around her as she spun. Her Pledged, in that moment, looked less like a mortal and more like a daughter of the Goddess of War as she twisted, baring her back to the Elite who has slipped behind her silently.
The Rebel didn't think.
Moving faster than a bullet from a gun and with a strangled cry, she lunged in-between them. Her knife sunk into the Elite's shoulder just as his dagger sliced straight into her chest and twisted. The Elite Viper was dealing with fell as she swung around, just in time to see her Pledged fall backwards, the knife in the other Elite's hand dripping scarlet. Viper caught her as she fell, sinking to her knees as she cradled her Pledged.
"Oh no no no no, baby?" Whirlwind's head lolled to the side as she coughed wetly, more sick scarlet spraying out over the ground. Viper cupped her cheek, tilting her head so she could see her face. Whirlwind stared up at her for a moment, her face breaking out into a relived smile.
"Krissy. You're...you're okay."
"Maya...Maya, baby, what were you thinkin'?"
"Hadda'...hadda keep you safe. You're always getting into trouble." Maya let out a weak laugh, a bubble of blood bursting at the side of her mouth. Kristina brushed a strand of dark hair back from her face, not even trying to stop the tears rolling down her cheeks. Maya's face crumpled as they splashed onto her cheek, clumsily brushing them away with one hand. "No...no Krissy, don't...don't cry, honey...It's okay"
She shook her head, trembling as she tried to stop herself from sobbing. "Maya...baby..."
Maya gazed up at her, chocolate eyes soft and adoring as she shakily pulled Kristina's head down. The blonde kissed her Pledged, forcibly ignoring the horrible copper taste. "Maya...my Maya, my baby. Love you."
Maya smiled against her lips. "Love you...cya on the other side, honey. I'll...I'll wait for you."
"No. No Maya, baby, no. No, you stay with me. Maya, Maya baby, please. I love you. I love you so much, Maya. Please-
Maya didn't look away from Kristina's eyes. "Love you"
Chocolate eyes went blank. Kristina stared down at her for a moment, trying to form words as she shook her. "Maya. Maya, wake up. Wake up, Maya. Baby? Baby?!"
She looked up. The Elite was still standing there, staring down at the two of them. He dragged his eyes away from his victim to meet Kristina's eyes.
"Why?"
He stared at her, then stumbled back, dropping the knife before he turned on his heel and ran. Kristina turned her attention back to the body in her arms. "Come on, Maya. Come on baby, don't do this. Wake up. Wake up, Maya. Maya!"
Before she knew it, she was screaming, rocking back and forth as she buried her head in the smooth curve of her Pledged's neck. Hands grabbed her, grabbed her Maya and she snarled and bit like a cornered animal, curling herself around her Maya until they backed off.
Downpour laughed as she darted out of the way, twisting around the Unspeakable.
"My, my cousin. You have gotten better with your swordplay."
"Yeah?" Sam spat out a mouthful of blood, knocking Downpour's feet out from under her, "Well, I have an excellent teacher."
"Ah, yes." Downpour rolled back onto her feet, swiping her Schiavona off the ground, "The NBE. Oh...we are going to have so much fun with him."
She jerked back, stumbling at the sudden, murderous fury in the other Unspeakable's eyes as he lunged forward, the bottom of his sword slamming into the side of her face. Spitting her raven hair out of her mouth, she sliced her blade across his side in retaliation. Sam gave a guttural snarl in the back of his throat, ignoring the shooting pain slicing up his side. She smirked at him, her arrogance going to her head.
"You have no idea what we have planned for him. And don't think we don't know about your little NBT."
Her smirk widened at the flash of fear in his eyes.
"Oh, we know all about them. Had fun playing 'Daddy' and 'Whore'? 'Cause that's all over now, little cousin."
"I won't let you." Sam shook his head, trembling, "I won't let you hurt them. You'll have to kill me first."
"Oh Sammy, "She laughed as her blade left a deep cut on his leg, his blade skidding across the ground as his leg crumpled beneath him, "We aren't going to kill you. Not yet. We're going to make you watch."
Sam looked up at her, face drawn in horror. "No."
"We're going to tear them apart bit by bit, then build them up again, then tear them apart once more.
"No"
"We're going to make you listen to your little NBT scream for her Daddy to come and save her, make your NBE beg for death, while you can do nothing-"
"NO!"
It happened so fast, the dark-haired Unspeakable didn't have time to react. One second her cousin was staring up at her in horror, the next he had lunged to his feet in a blur of black. Not even bothering to try and grab his own sword, he grabbed the grip of hers. In a sharp movement, he twisted it and the blade sliced into her stomach like a hot knife through butter. Her chest slammed into his as the sword jutted out of her back. She choked, mouth open in shock as Sam pulled back a tiny amount to put his lips to her ear.
"You'll touch them...over my. Dead. Body."
With a grunt, he pulled the sword back, chest heaving as he stumbled back. Downpour crashed to her knees, dragging her eyes up to meet his, even as darkness started to cloud her vision. He stared back at her, lips set even as a thin trickle of blood from his forehead made its way down his face.
As the world faded, the last thing she could see was a set of burning blue eyes.
"Ready?"
Aqua nodded silently, pulling her hair into a tight bun to stop it from getting in her way. Fault Line covertly handed her something which caused her blood to run cold when she recognised the device.
"Jason...what-?"
She recoiled from the thin black tube like it was a poisonous snake, mouth falling open in horror, stomach twisting as the two sharp blades at its 'mouth' gleamed. "Jason...you cannot be-"
"If you get close to him, make sure the blades go into his neck, or it'll be useless-"
"Jason, this could kill-"
"We need information from him, Aisling. This will extract it-"
"-Are you insane?! Jason, you know how this works!"
"Aisling, you're overeating-"
"Overeating?! Jason, this turns his body against himself! This...This sets his nerves on fire until he answers our questions! This is torture!"
"We need this information-"
"He is our blood-!"
"He is nothing!"The car swerved as Jason roared at her, eyes half-mad. "He is not our blood, not our own. He is a traitor of the lowest!"
She shrank back in her seat, suddenly terrified of the man who would have been her brother-in-law. He continued to seethe at her, fingers white as he gripped the steering wheel. As they sat in silence, Aisling glanced down at her wrist, absentmindedly playing with the fading thread around it.
"Aisling, I don't wanna make bracelets, they're for girls!"
"Come on, Sammy, please?"
"Urgh, fine, I'll make you one!"
"Thank you, Sammy! You're the best cousin ever!"
She dragged her eyes away from the faded memory as the car jerked to a stop. Her hand, which had been moving to her knife, froze.
The NBE base was burning. And her little cousin was standing in the centre, Downpour's sword in his hand and dripping crimson. His eyes were shut, he was covered and cuts and bruises and he looked like he could barely stand. But when Jason slipped out of the car and slammed the door shut, his eyes snapped open.
The two stared at each other, then Sam tilted his head to the side. Twenty-four shadows slipped out of the smoke, standing behind him, to attention. Fault Line did likewise, thirty-two filing out behind him. Sam's eyes slowly roved over the Elites, his eyes briefly landing on Aisling, before moving on once more. Fault Line ran his eyes over Sam in a way that caused Aisling to shudder, the girl once again thrown at how quickly the other Unspeakable's attitude to Sam could change, like it was balanced on a see-saw.
"Where are they, traitor?"
"If you really think you'd get an answer that easy," The words rolled off like her cousin was bored and Aisling was taken back at just how grown-up he sounded. What had happened to the fourteen year old who tried to change her mind? "You are terribly mistaken."
"Tell us where they are, and we all walk away from this. We know they went in this direction. Step aside and we will spare you."
Sam glanced back, causing Aisling's eyes to narrow. Was he-? He was. 'He's asking them their opinion? But...he's their superior...does he...does he let them have a say?'
The Rebels met their Unspeakable's gaze unwaveringly, then each put their fist over their heart and nodded. Sam returned the nod, meeting Fault Line's eyes again.
"I'm afraid we simply cannot let you do that."
Fault Line smiled slowly. "Oh I was so hoping you would say that."
This wasn't a fight. This was...this was sheer madness. Rebels and Elites were snarling and screaming, darting in and out of the smoke. Blades flashed, moans of agony echoed and black shapes fell-friend or enemy, Aisling could not tell. She stumbled blindly through the smoke, coughing and choking as she tried to make heads or tails of what was going on. The Director had told Fault Line to try and get as many Rebels back home as possible, and try not to harm them. But this...the Elites were butchering the ones they came across. This was wrong and twisted and-
The palms of her hands burned as they took the impact of her fall, her blade skidding away from her, leaving her weapon-less. She twisted to see what she had tripped over, hear leaping to her throat when she made out the image of one form cradling another, their face buried in their neck. The other form was not moving. She reached out to touch the other's shoulder, jerking back when the head snapped up.
"Kr-Kristina?"
Her face was streaked with soot, blood and...tears? From the girl who never cried? Like she was trapped in a horror film, Aisling's eyes slowly dropped to see who she was holding.
"Maya?"
She reached out to touch the cold face, only for Kristina to jerk her back and produce a gun from nowhere. Her inexperience with the weapon obvious by the way she held it, but her fury and agony was making up for that. "You. You did this."
"No"
"Your precious Director ordered this!"
"No!"
"She's dead because of all of you! You killed her!"
"AQUA!"
Cobra saw only his superior being threatened. Before she had a chance to react, the gun flew out of Kristina's hand with an experienced throw of a knife, and a second was streaking through the air, too fast for to stop, it was going to hit Krissy-
A hand shot out of nowhere, snagging the knife mid-air and sending it flying back, directly into Cobra's shoulder. The force of the throw took him off his feet, sending him crashing onto his back.
"I've wanted to do that for years."
She couldn't look up, couldn't look him in the eye as her cousin let out a piercing whistle. Half a second later, a soot-and-blood stained Blaze stood beside him.
"Get Maya."
Though his face was blank, his hands were infinitely gentle as he lifted the fallen Rebel out of her Pledged's arms and put her over his shoulder. Krissy let out a choked scream as she lunged forward to try and grab her back, snarling when Sam's firm grip on her upper-arms stopped her.
"LET ME GO-"
"-Krissy, look at me-"
"-GIVE HER BACK TO ME-"
"-Kristina-!"
"-MAYA-!"
"VIPER STAND TO ATTENTION!"
The blonde automatically froze, staring up at her Unspeakable. "MAYA GAVE HER LIFE FOR YOU. WILL YOU LET HER SACRIFICE BE IN VAIN?! WILL YOU?!"
She shook her head numbly, staring like a lost child. Sam let out a long breath, nodding. "Go with Miles. We've held them off long enough, they're out of range. He's going to take you and Maya to a car and get out of here. Go-"
"Oh Sammy, leaving the party so soon?"
Even under the soot and blood and bruises, she could see her cousin bleach white as he whispered,
"Run."
"Sam-"
"RUN!"
They ran towards the waiting car, Sam pushing Krissy ahead. Aisling stumbled after them, sinking to the ground with a pained noise when Fault Line slammed into Sam's back, sending him skidding across the ground with a harsh cry. Miles spun to turn back, only to be forced on by the Unspeakable's hollered command and the hands that pulled him into the car.
"GO GO GO!"Sam screamed as he dragged himself to his feet, trying to stumble over to the last car. The one containing Miles raced off with a squeal and Aisling let out another choked sob when Jason appeared behind Sam once more, tackling him to the ground and slamming his head against it. Before he could get to his feet, The Unspeakable wrapped his hands around the traitor's neck and lifted him until his toes were off the ground. Sam scrambled at his hands, choking and desperately trying to get a breath.
"How could you, Sammy? How could you lower yourself to be an NBE's whore?"
Aisling looked from left to right, torn more than she ever thought possible.
Sam or Jason?
"You've become so desirable, Sammy. Even with being labelled a traitor. You've grown up to be so pretty"
Sam's head lolled to the side, gasping for air.
Sam or Jason?
"Come home, Sammy. Come home, I promise you I'll make it worth it." He trailed his lips up the side of the Unspeakable's face, ignoring the sick sound of protest.
His lips were turning blue.
Sam or Jason?
Bile rose in Aisling's throat as Fault Line smashed his lips against Sam's, ignoring how the younger's hands desperately tried to push him away. The kiss lasted for only a few seconds before the elder jerked back with a yell and threw Sam to the ground, the Rebel leader rolling and coughing harshly. Fault Line turned and spat out a mouthful of blood as he stalked towards him.
"You bit me"
Sam forced his head up, teeth bared and eyes glowing. "That's what happens when you shove your tongue down my throat."
Sam or Jason?
"Oh, so you'll willingly submit to a goddamn robot but would won't to a real man?"
"'Real man'?!" He let out a harsh laugh "Oh dearest there is more man in his left pede than you could ever be."
"Last chance, Sammy. Come home and I will make sure you never want of anything nor ever spend a day...unsatisfied."
The Rebel let out another harsh laugh, grinning madly. "Oh dearest, I get more pleasure out of my Promised saying my name than you could ever give me. I will never yield to you."
"Very well."
Sam or Jason?
The thin black tube came out of Fault Line's pocket. He sighed, as if he truly regretted what he was going to do. Aisling rose silently, the flash of silver in her hand catching both Unspeakables' eyes.
"Ash-"
"He killed my sister. This is my right."
Sam stared up at her, then shakily got to his feet with an agonised sound. "If I'm going to die, it's going to be on my feet."
Aisling stared into her cousin's unflinching eyes, his head held high, the top of his shirt torn open and displaying an oddly-coloured stone than hung from a thin cord around his neck. His legs shook from the effort from standing and his hands curled into fists to stop himself from showing any other sign of pain.
She swallowed.
Jason
She fired.
The bullet shot past his shoulder.
Before either of the two males could react, she spun, slamming the butt of her gun against Fault Line's temple hard enough to send him crashing to the ground. She shot forward, grabbing Sam before his knees gave out from under him and half-dragged him to the car, pushing him into the passenger seat.
"AISLING!"
She threw herself into the driving seat and slammed her foot down, refusing to look back as the car disappeared into the smoke. Sam lurched forward, slamming his hand against a non-descript button on the stereo which sent an ice-cold flash to swoop over her.
"What the hell-?"
"Mirroring technology. Everything bounces back, light rays, infra-red, everything else. We're all but invisible except to those who hold the other half of this."
She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he painfully extracted a small device from his pocket that looked like touch-screen music player and pressed a small, almost invisible button. At once the screen burst to life and a series of clicks and whirls were emitted from it, the alien language sending a shiver down Aisling's spine.
Followed by another when Sam exhaustedly replied in the same tongue. Before she was able to say anything, the pain and tension drained from Sam's face as a strikingly handsome man's face, which was drawn with stress, appeared. At once the stress vanished as the man registered who he was looking at.
"Sam! Primus Darlin', what happened? Are you okay? Where are you, Miles said you were-"
"'Rion, 'Rion, I'm fine-"
"Fine?! Darlin', don't try and sell me that. Where are you, who are you with? Please tell me you're okay"
"I am, I swear. You've been in contact with Miles-?"
"Yes. A large number of Elites actually deflected within a few moments. Stop changing the subject, where are you and who are you with?!"
"I'm on my way to the airport. I'm about ten minutes behind the others, please contact them and tell them to hold the plane. I'm...I'm with my cousin. She deflected."
'Rion' dropped his head into his palms, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Okay...okay."
Sam cursed as the screen warped, the image fading and sharpening.
"-am?"
"This thing's dying. I'll be home in a few hours, okay?"
The fuzzy image of the so-called 'Rion' nodded, then reached out to touch the screen with his fingertips. Sam smiled crookedly and did the same.
"'Love you, Darlin'"
"Love you too, Sweetheart."
The man smiled one last time before the device died. When it did so, Sam sank back into the seat with a pained noise. "We're going to Arcata Airport in Eureka. There's going to be a plane waiting there."
She over at him, then hesitantly pressed her hand against his side, yanking it away as if she was burned when he let out a roar of pain. Glancing down at her hand, she had to jerk the car out of its swerve when she realised at how slick it was, staring as the blood trickled down her wrist. Sam's face was as white as it had been when he thought she was going to shoot him and was steadily getting even whiter.
"You're losing too much blood."
"We're not far."
"It's an hour and a half of a drive."
"Drive fast."
Okay. I know I have explaining to do, so I'll keep this as short as possible.
(Read bold if you can't be bothered reading all the text below)
I won't be updating again until after June 14th. I have GCSEs starting on the 22nd so I'll be preoccupied with them. I also intend to rewrite my chapters as I go. At the moment, up to chapter...6 has been updated (I think). I recommend checking the first few chapters out again as I have changed a few things (nothing major, just little things) and have added in a few more Sam, Sophie, Ron and Judy interactions. I'm also going through a lot of emotional crap right now, and since this isn't really a thing you just get over, I might as well tell you for this might affect me and my writing for a while.
As of the last four years, I have been battling against depression, bulimia and self harm. I had been dealing with them well until about a month ago after being very badly triggered. Due to them, my muse...is not doing very well. It's hard to concentrate and be creative when your head is telling you to purge and cut and kill yourself.
So there. That's that out in the open. I am battling through it and I will come out better, but I'm asking you to be patient with me. I may not update every two weeks for the next few months or so, but I am trying. I Promise, I'm not just sitting on my ass all day, I am trying to get you guys new chapters, it's just quite hard.
So, sorry for leaving you guys hanging there. I'll update as soon as I can and I also will reply to all those who PM'd me (Sorry guys, I'm not ignoring you and I will reply to you by the end of the week)
So, hope you liked the chap
Star out.