Belsenkov State Reeducation Facility, Planet Karzag, Epekkus System, Umbral Dominion, Edge Space
Natsu creaked the sliding door of their train car open with a grunt of exertion, hoping the heavy steel was oiled enough that it didn't make too much noise. As he did so Juvia and Happy peaked through, scanning the area.
They were in the walled off train depot, the area filled with crates, cranes, and spare parts. Snow was falling, icy flakes twirling in the cold breeze from the overcast skies above. Happy spotted several security cameras, pointing them out to Juvia. The depot was alive with noise, shouts and the sound of conversation filling the air.
There were no guards in sight and Juvia nodded to Natsu. He slid the door open just enough for her to squeeze through, followed by Happy and then himself, shutting the door as quietly as he could manage.
Before them loomed the slate gray walls of Belsenkov, looking like some dark overlord's fortress. Barbed wire lined the walls next to gun turrets and spotlights and while the coast was clear here, guards could be seen making their rounds on the walkways in the distance. Juvia fixed the comm-bead in her ear, as the three crouched low and hid out of sight of the sweeping security cameras as Juvia contacted Aleena.
"Aleena, we made it to the train depot," she whispered low as Natsu watched the passenger cars disgorge dozens of men and women in black combat fatigues, "Which way are we going?"
"Thank the Void, it's good to hear your voice," Aleena said, "Find a way up to the maintenance walkways. They run all throughout the prison and they aren't patrolled regularly. I'm going to run feedback loops to the train cameras. I can only do it for a few minutes though, so hurry."
"Thank you Aleena, Juvia will find a path," she blinked a tear away as she tried to get the last of her emotions under control.
Natsu just had to apologize now, she grumbled in her mind, He couldn't just keep being a jerk for a while longer? It made it much easier for Juvia to concentrate.
"Well? Where are we going?" Natsu asked as Happy took his usual perch on his shoulder. Juvia looked throughout the depot, before spotting a fenced off area that had a staircase leading up to a similarly contained area, a long metal tube that went into the prison itself. She pointed to it.
"Aleena said we need to use the maintenance walkways. Juvia thinks that is the closest one," she said blankly, trying to focus on the task at hand. Natsu followed her hand and frowned.
"Shit, that puts us past a passenger car and through two cameras. That's not gonna be easy," he complained as Juvia waved a hand at him.
"Aleena is taking care of the cameras and we should be able to sneak past the guard change, as long as Natsu is quiet."
"Hey, I can be quiet!"
"Shhh! Geez Natsu, just tell the whole prison we're here!"
Natsu glared down at Happy, before cursing as Juvia started to move. She kept low, moving from cover to cover and was already by the passenger platform by the time Natsu caught up with her. Natsu did his best to be silent, but Juvia was like a ghost. He barely heard her footsteps even when he was right by her.
The platform was full of dozens of men and women, all in black fatigues, carrying suitcases and duffelbags, some looking excited, most just looked dead tired. None of them seemed to be looking out past the platform, but Natsu and Juvia hugged the lower section tightly, tiptoeing around them.
"Eight days done and over with, eight days off here I come!" An excited, girlish voice said as they came near the end of the platform.
"You're telling me, I'm glad to be getting away from this place. These last fourteen hours have been crazy," an equally young sounding male voice replied, "The High Priestess is running riot drills, security has been stepped up. Something big is about to go down."
"Yeah, tell me about it. I haven't put on riot gear since we did the last drill six months ago! And they have purge squads on standby! I'm really glad I didn't draw that duty, those poor bastards have to stay here till further notice!"
That caused all three Fairy Tail mages to stop, Natsu and Juvia sharing a concerned look as they listened in.
"Yeah I heard they were supposed to just go ahead and purge them but Commandant Duskin stepped in and said to hold off unless an attack occurs. That man, he has some serious balls on him standing up to a High Priestess. That or he's got a deathwish."
"Deathwish definitely. I only saw her at a distance but you could feel the Void on her," the female voice shivered, "I'm definitely glad we're leaving. Oh good, the line is moving! Come on Geveny! To home and comfy beds!"
The platform erupted into cheers and the sound of footsteps as the guards started boarding. Not wasting any time, Juvia bolted to the maintenance entrance, Natsu close behind. Juvia put her hand on the chain link door and shot a quick torrent of pressurized water, slicing away a section big enough to fit her hand through. She quickly unlocked the door, moving in long steps up the stairway that led to the catwalks above.
Purge squads? Juvia thought to herself, The Dominion knew Tez hacked in but Juvia thought they would just move them to another prison…We need to find Gray and Aleena's family now. Before this Priestess gets her way!
Behind her Natsu was also having troubling thoughts. High Priestess? That can't be good. I only fought Acolytes and a regular Priest before and they were tough enough as is. Dammit Gray! Why'd you have to land here of all places?!
All three Fairy Tail wizards were too caught up in watching the walkways for maintenance personnel and their own dark thoughts, they didn't even notice the back train cars opening up, disgorging dozens of mask-wearing figures in patchwork armor, all armed to the teeth.
The first thing they all noticed was that the interior of Belsenkov was colder than the outside. Happy shivered, pressing his body closer to Natsu, while the Dragon Slayer was once again thankful that his magic made him largely immune to the cold. Juvia, however, wasn't faring as well as he was, her breath visible in the air as she stopped at an intersection on the catwalks and seeing that it was clear, commed Aleena.
"Aleena, we are in the prison. We're at Junction 4-H," Juvia whispered low as she pressed herself against the wall and wished she had chosen a warmer outfit than this black dress. They hadn't run into any maintenance workers, though from the announcements they had heard on Belsenkov's PA system, it sounded like most of the workers were busy doing tests on the exterior defenses. Hopefully their luck would hold out and they wouldn't run into anyone on their way to Gray.
"Okay, so the quickest way to the Seg Pop cells where our people are at," there was a pause, "Go right, follow the catwalks, then go straight at the next junction. That will take you over the guard barracks and lead you into Cell Block 2. You'll have to get off the catwalks then and make your way to the northern corridor. There will be a sealed bulkhead door that leads to Seg Pop."
"Thanks Aleena," Juvia said quietly and went to go before Natsu put a hand on her shoulder. She tensed and her eyes darted around the junction, thinking Natsu had spotted a patrol, but there was no one. She then felt something warm and vaguely cinnamon scented be wrapped around her neck and she looked down in surprise at the scaled white scarf. She turned to Natsu, who gave her a small smile.
"It's not a coat, but hopefully that helps a little bit," he said as Juvia stared in shock. As long as she had known Natsu, this scarf had been practically glued to him, no matter the weather or occasion.
"Thank you," she said softly as she lightly stroked the scarf, the material feeling like smooth, warm, reptilian scales to her as Natsu shook his head.
"No problem, but I will be needing it back. That's a family heirloom, so take care of it," he was smiling but his voice was serious. She nodded, appreciating how the warmth seemed to flow from the garment into her body, before she felt a weight on her shoulder as Happy jumped forth.
"It's cold and he just gave you my blanket, so I'm staying right here!" the little Exceed said indignantly and Juvia, despite all her nerves, couldn't help but giggle.
"Oh I see how it is. You traitor," Natsu said at the feline before shifting, "Alright, that's enough of that. Let's move!"
Move they did, Juvia using Aleena's directions to move them through the catwalks. They went at a brisk, but cautious pace, Juvia feeling her stomach go in her throat anytime they passed over guards on patrol beneath them. Fortunately, this part of the prison seemed to be a little thin on patrols for the time being, until the newest shift of guards got their briefings done. They used this to their advantage and soon they were passing over the northern guard barracks.
They were careful to step lightly here, but their footfalls echoed throughout the metal tube far more than either of them liked, but fortunately, the guard barracks was filled with noise. The slamming of lockers, laughter at crude jokes, and the sound of yelling and metal striking hard plastic. The three soon found themselves over a training area, where it looked like a full drill was taking place. Over fifteen guards in full riot gear were doing their best to push back twenty others dressed only in fatigues and armed with clubs. They used the noise to their advantage, making their way over the catwalks, until Natsu stopped, sniffing the air.
That smell, he thought as his stomach started to feel queasy, it's the one from before.
He started creeping back, breathing in the scent as Juvia realized her companion was no longer behind her.
"Natsu?! We need to keep moving!" She whispered as she turned, gesturing for him to come back as he bent down as a loud voice drowned out the yells of the drill.
"Oh no, I think he smells something!" Happy whispered to Juvia before jumping at a loud voice below.
"Enough! Cease this pathetic display immediately!"
Natsu narrowed his eyes as he saw the owner of the voice. A tall solidly built man, clad in ebony armor with white pauldrons, his helmet shaped like a human skill. He had his hands behind his back as he stomped out into the middle of the training room, the other guards standing at attention, but even Natsu could smell the fear on them.
"This was abysmal! If this was a real riot, the heretics and scum in here would have rolled right over all of you!" the man shouted, as he rounded on a guard in riot gear, "You especially! Officer Milkovitch, if this was real, you would be dead or captured! You are a disgrace to the Dominion!"
Natsu narrowed his eyes. He could smell the tainted mana on the skull-faced guard, but it was only residual. He wasn't the source, but he had been by it frequently, enough for it to cling to him. Juvia had joined him at this point, having given up on whispering at him and was also curious to see what the commotion was about. It was then the skull-faced soldier withdrew his own baton that was magnetically attached to his thigh and without any warning struck the guard across the face.
The man spun to the right, falling down as he did so, blood spraying out from his ruined nose. Despite the fact that everyone below was an enemy, Juvia felt herself tense up, her mana ready to be called as the skull-faced man kicked the downed guard.
"You worthless, incomptent parasite!" the soldier gestured to all the other guards, who were frozen in fear, "Let him be an example to all who would disgrace us! The Void cares not for us, unless we prove ourselves worthy! Officer Milkovitch is not worthy!"
"No please! Let me run the drill again! I will do better, I swear to the Void!" the man on the floor cried as he tried to get up, only for the skull-faced soldier to smash his baton into his face hard enough that even up in the catwalks Natsu and Juvia could hear his jaw break.
"Incompetence is heresy Officer Milkovitch. There are no second chances for heretics," the skull-faced man's words were low and deadly and he struck again, Milkovitch crying out like a wounded animal while his comrades watched on. Natsu felt his blood boil at the sight, as the man hit Milkovitch over and over again, until at last with one final baton strike, Milkovitch's head caved in, showering the floor and the skull-faced man with crimson and skull fragments. The abuser turned to the other guards, who were as pale as ghosts.
"Clean this up and run the drill again. Let Officer Milkovitch be a reminder that the Void, High Priestess Ostmich, and especially myself do not tolerate incompetence. Is that understood?"
"Sir, yes sir!" They were all quick to salute as the man put a hand to his helmet and nodded to himself.
"I have business elsewhere. Lieutenant Zallben, you have command," with that, the man left the training area as two guards drug Milkovitch's corpse out of the way and the drill started to resume.
"Natsu, who was that man?" Juvia asked, her voice low. She felt guilty, like they should have intervened.
"Personally, no idea," Natsu said as he glared at the door the man had gone out, "But by the look of his armor, I'd say he was a member of the Dominion's Death Corps."
"Death Corps?" Juvia didn't like the name.
"Elite shock troops, tend to hang around high ranking Void Priests," Natsu explained, "Never fought one yet, but I've heard stories. They're supposed to be tough and absolutely merciless."
"Juvia would agree on the last part," she muttered, "Come on. We can't keep wasting time."
Natsu nodded, sparing the murdered body of Officer Milkovitch one last glance before following his blue haired companion. They made their way out of the guard barracks, passing over several blue-lit hallways before emerging in a massive open room. Natsu suddenly felt very exposed as he took in where they were.
Cell Block 2 was a tall, multi-level affair, consisting of three floors, counting the ground floor. Cells lined the walls, though instead of the steel bars that Natsu had seen a few times back home, these cells were durasteel slabs, with two-way mirrors that let the guards see in but kept the prisoners from seeing anything outside. The room was long and wide, at least six hundred feet long and two hundred feet wide. The maintenance catwalk they were on was at least thirty some feet in the air, with numerous stairwells leading to the top most level.
There were guards everywhere. To the point of being excessive, or at least Natsu thought so. Black armored figures carrying semi-auto shotguns and full-auto carbines patrolled everywhere in pairs or groups of four and Natsu spotted no less than nine cameras just from his perch above.
The most concerning detail however, were the red armored guards. They were waiting in groups of four at special areas all over the cell block, what looked like flamethrowers attached to the large tanks on their backs.
"Natsu, do you see them too?" Juvia asked as Natsu nodded.
"Yeah, those must be the purge squads. They weren't kidding when they said they are on standby. One alarm is all it's going to take for these guys to roast all the inmates alive in less than a minute," he said grimly as Juvia frowned.
"Then Juvia is going to resolve to be even quieter," she pointed ahead, "That stairwell should take us down to Seg Pop."
Natsu nodded as the three made their way down the stairs, eying the cameras that followed them. Aleena was in Belsenkov's network and had full control of the camera systems, but Natsu still didn't like being watched.
They slinked around the corner at the bottom of the stairs, past two guards who had their backs to them, talking in low voices to themselves. In less than a minute they were in the corridor that led to the Seg Pop cell blocks and Juvia felt herself getting hopeful.
We're almost there and we haven't even come close to being spotted, she thought happily to herself, Just past this door is Juvia's beloved! Juvia is almost there Gray!
They came to the large bulkhead and Juvia hit the open button as Natsu prepared to launch himself at anyone who may have been behind the door, only for an error message to flash on the door panel. Juvia frowned, hitting it again, only for the same message to pop up.
Oh no, Juvia jinxed it! she thought worriedly to herself as she hit her commbead, "Aleena, Juvia has run into an obstacle. The door to Seg Pop won't open."
"No issue, give me one second," Aleena answered back, before swearing, "Well I have some bad news. It looks like someone has put additional security measures into Seg Pop. Manual access only. You're going to need to grab a keycard off of somebody who has the authorization to go to and from there and bring it to the door. That's the only way in or out right now. I guess they switched back to manual after Tez's data breach."
"Of course it couldn't be easy," Juvia pinched the bridge of her nose, "Juvia thinks trying to pickpocket guards is a recipe for disaster. Is there somewhere we can check for these keycards?"
"Pulling that up now," Juvia could hear furious typing in the background as Natsu kept a wary eye on the way they had come from, "Looks like you can go back on the catwalks and head to the west. That's where the Commandant and Subcommandat's offices are. If anywhere might have a spare, I'd check there."
"Okay, thank you Aleena," Juvia said as she turned to Natsu, "We need keycards. We have two locations that might have them, we should probably split up to cover more ground." Natsu nodded at her.
"Makes sense. Which way?"
"Back the way we came, but we'll split off at a specific junction," Juvia said.
They wasted no time in heading back up to the catwalks, but Natsu was thinking to himself as they walked, watching Juvia as Happy snuggled up in the scarf. It looked good on her.
As they stopped at Junction 14-A, Juvia turned around to him.
"Juvia is going to search the Commandant's office," she pointed off to the left, "Natsu can search the Subcommandant's office. We meet back here as soon as we're done and then head back to the bulkhead."
"Yeah sounds good," Natsu went to step forward but stopped himself, "Hey Juvia, there is something I need you to know."
She gave him a puzzled look before comprehension dawned on her. "Natsu, this is not the time to do this. Lives are at stake!"
"Yeah I know, which is why you need to hear this," he stepped forward and put both of his hands on her shoulders, looking her directly in the eyes, "You are not the wrong girl. I wanted it to be Lucy in there, I'll admit that, but I rescued you and I was so, so happy that I did. This past couple of weeks with you have been some of the best I've had since we got dropped into this crazy place and you've become someone I consider to be a really good friend. I'm not going to pretend like you don't exist when we find Lucy, you have my word on that Juvia. I'm sorry I made you feel that way. That's on me, I'm kind of an idiot if you hadn't noticed!"
He gave her a smile, hoping what he said was enough to, if not outright earn him forgiveness, at least make her feel better. She frowned at him, looking away from his eyes.
"Thank you for the apology, though Juvia isn't sure if she fully believes Natsu. Regardless, we need to get going. Juvia will see you back at this spot soon."
She wrenched free of his grip, already walking towards her destination. Happy gave Natsu an unreadable look before giving him a thumbs up. Natsu raised an eyebrow but put it at the back of his mind as he ran off towards his own objective.
Well you meant what you said, Natsu thought to himself as he crept above the walkways, noting the many Death Corps troopers mixed-in with the regular guards below, Just have to hope she forgives me. I really didn't mean to hurt her feelings and I'm for sure not going to ignore her once Luce is back. Juves is my friend, and a damn good one at that! And we still need to have a proper fight once we get back home, that water magic of hers is nasty! Plus, I might just move her into my house to be my own personal chef!
He took another left, imagining her homecooked meals everyday as he did, salivating at the thought. He'd get her a special apron and might as well do a chef's hat then too right? A couple of high-paying jobs could get a new set of cookware for her to use in his kitchen.
He could see it now. Coming home after a long job, only to smell the most delicious food in the world, Juvia in the kitchen humming to herself, wearing nothing but the apron and the hat.
Okay, cool it, he chastised himself, Just because you're hungry doesn't mean you can think that! Wait, isn't that the asshole from before?
He crouched down and indeed, walking below him was the Death Corps trooper from before, being flanked by two regular guards. Natsu narrowed his eyes as he strained his ears to pick up their conversation over the hum of the pipes and machinery.
"I want another full drill in six hours time. A surprise one, no warnings. We must be prepared for any treachery from criminals and heretics," the soldier said as he came to an office. The Subcommandant's office actually. He took a keycard off of his belt loop and Natsu's eyes lit up.
Jackpot!
"Captain Detronov, I must remind you that Commandant Duskin has just suspended the practice drills. And he wants to see you immediately regarding the incident with Officer Milkovitch," one of the escorting guards said, only to step back as the Captain turned on his heel faster than one could blink. He reached out and grabbed the guard by the neck, black armored gloves gripping the man's flesh hard enough to lift him up in the air.
"I do not take orders from a washed-out groundpounder with delusions of grandeur!" the Captain hissed, "I am going in to file my reports. You two worthless sacks of dotchya shit are going to wait outside. I am not to be disturbed unless by order of High Priestess Ostmich or if an alarm is sounded. Is that clear?"
The guard not being choked saluted and sounded out a 'Yes, sir!' as the Captain dropped the other guard, going into the office and slamming the door shut. Natsu watched the guard go to his companion, helping him up as he coughed, gasping for air
"What a fucking asshole," Natsu muttered to himself as he crept forward. A minute of searching turned up a vent that he could barely squeeze through to drop down into the office. He took it without hesitation and without pausing to look, kicked the vent open and slid out, landing next to the main desk, right beside a very confused captain, who had removed his helmet, revealing a pale face marred with plasma burns.
Natsu moved first, grabbing the man and putting him into a chokehold. He wrenched the man away from the desk, only to have an armored fist fly upward, knuckles cracking into his right eye. Natsu groaned, releasing the man, but not before tripping him, the soldier falling backwards on his chair, flipping it completely over.
"The fu-" Natsu didn't give him time to finish, slamming the man into the wall, pictures and medals falling off the wall. He grabbed the man's head and slammed it into the wall as hard as he could, several times, blood smearing on the slate-gray walls as the man's nose broke. He squirmed in Natsu's grip, but the Dragon Slayer held tight.
How's it feel to be on the receiving end ya prick?! Natsu thought to himself as he brought his knee into the man's face, hard enough to hear bone snap.
Meanwhile outside the office, Correctional Officer Zaytov looked nervously at the door as the obvious sounds of a struggle sounded out. He looked to his partner, Officer Votanoff, who was rubbing his bruised neck.
"Shouldn't we investigate that?" He asked
"Shouldn't you shut the fuck up?" Votanoff replied coolly, "He said he didn't want to be disturbed."
Natsu let the man drop to the floor, his face a ruined, blood-soaked mess. He bent down to his belt and grabbed his keycard. He tucked it into his pocket, before trying the door to the office. Surely the guards outside had heard the struggle. Though considering who the captain was, Natsu wondered if his guards had elected not to hear anything.
Doesn't matter, I got what we need, he thought to himself triumphantly as he scurried back up to the vent,
He hoped Juvia was okay.
Juvia and Happy had just entered the Commandant's office and Juvia thought she was going to vomit, her stomach a swirling mess as she stepped further into the dimly-lit room.
That smell. The tainted mana from before. It was everywhere here, soaked into the furniture and the very air felt heavy with it. Juvia was sure if she let off a Water Slicer she could actually cut through it.
"You okay Juvia?" Happy put a paw tenderly on her cheek and she forced a weak smile. The little Exceed must not have been able to feel it.
"Juvia is okay, let's hurry up and search this place," she said weakly as Happy nodded, hopping off her shoulder and started to ransack his way through the drawers on the filing cabinets. Juvia went to the desk, which was barren aside from a small spiraling statue with a floating black orb above it on the center of the desk, looking like a miniature version of the Void shrine she had seen at the starport.
If Juvia was a keycard, where would she be? she thought to herself as she went to the Commandant's desk and started rifling through it, Juvia hopes Natsu is okay. And that he finds a keycard.
Natsu. Natsu. Juvia wanted to believe his apology, but she knew how that song and dance went. As soon as Lucy was back in the picture, she'd be the center of his world and he wouldn't have time for Juvia anymore.
At least Juvia will have her beloved back before then, she thought to herself as she moved to a different drawer, Though Gray only hangs out with Juvia if he has a reason to…
She suddenly became very worried what Gray might do on a small starship if he was trapped in close proximity to her. She wasn't an idiot. She had gotten Gray to tolerate her far more than he originally had when she first joined Fairy Tail, but he still only saw her as a very distant friend. He wouldn't want to be around her all day and every day for weeks at a time. He very much needed a lot of personal space. He wasn't like Natsu at all in that regard.
Juvia can see why Lucy likes him so much, she thought to herself as she closed another drawer in frustration, He's so nice and carefree. He's fun to be around and tries to make you feel happy and tries to get you to laugh all the time.
She felt sad as she thought of him like that. He was a good friend, a bit dense and insensitive at times, but he had made her laugh and feel warm when she had every reason to not feel that way.
Juvia knows that once Lucy is back, she'll have him wrapped around her finger. Natsu will stop being friends with Juvia, even if he doesn't mean to, she thought glumly to herself before sighing in frustration. She hadn't found anything that wasn't old war medals, old paper memos, or a few photos of the Commandant with what looked like a military unit and a picture of him next to a tall pretty blonde woman and a small boy in a suit, smiling goofily at the camera.
No keycards though. They had wasted enough time here. They needed to move before they were discovered and before Natsu got worried enough to come looking for them.
"Did you find anything Happy?" Juvia asked as the Exceed shook his head. Juvia sighed.
"Alright, let's go. Hopefully Natsu found something," Juvia mumbled as Happy jumped on her shoulder.
"Speaking of him," Happy whispered to her, "You do know he meant every word of that apology right?"
Juvia looked at the feline with a dubious expression. "Juvia thinks Natsu meant it, but Juvia knows Natsu will ignore her for Lucy when we find her. Juvia isn't the right girl for Natsu."
"He has his favorites but he's not going to stop being your friend just because Lucy will be back!" Happy narrowed his eyes at her, "And you're one to talk! You're telling me you weren't going to ignore Natsu the moment we bust Gray out?"
Juvia opened her mouth to retort, only to find she couldn't think of anything to say. Truth be told, she hadn't thought of that. Would she just single-mindedly go after Gray's attention like she always did? She wanted to say she wouldn't, but she had been pining after the icy mage for so long...
Her silence didn't impress Happy at all. "Yeah that's what I thought. Natsu was an insensitive jerk, but he won't abandon you. He cares about you a lot, so before you judge him for something he hasn't even done yet, think about what you may have been planning to do too. At least give him the benefit of the doubt"
It was then they both heard several voices approaching the office and Juvia wasted no time in going back into the vent up to the catwalks. They had closed all the drawers and cabinets. Hopefully nobody would know they were there.
The door opened up and Zeffia Ostmich strode in, two of her Death Corps troopers behind her. She had just finished her noon sermon and was ready to relax for a bit before attending to her other duties. Chief among them being what to do with Commandant Duskin.
That mouthy worm, thinking he is above me, she seethed in her mind, though she had to admit to herself, it felt nice to have a challenger for once. All too often everyone around bent over backwards so far you wear swear they had no spines at even the most trifling of her commands. It had been fun for the first year or two, but Zeffia was getting tired of dealing with bootlickers. The Void consumed people like that, leaving only those with the strength of will to stand. And despite his blatant disregard for her orders, Yuri Duskin had the potential to be worthy in the eyes of the Void.
Perhaps she would invite the Commandant to her quarters to fully see how combative he could be. He was a good looking man. It would be a waste to get rid of him without sampling what he had to offer first.
She stopped in her tracks as she reached the desk. Something felt off. There was a presence here, cutting through her Void magic.
That stench, she thought to herself, I detected that above the planet. What is this?
She closed her eyes and reached out with her Void Sight. There, all over the desk, up into the vent. Blue and pure, burning away her Void aura. She couldn't get a read on it's exact aura however, as it shifted between cool fluid she associated with water magic and something else, bubbling below that. Something hot, hard, and powerful. And ancient. It was interwoven with the cool aura and Zeffia found it disquieting.
We have an intruder, a very powerful one, she followed the aura to the dimly lit maintenance catwalks, A foreign one. This magic is not like anything I've seen before! Which means...
She opened her eyes and turned to her escort.
"Go back to the chapel immediately. Prepare the seven sacrifices for me. Now!" She barked at her guards, who moved swiftly to obey. She followed them out but looked back one more time. The foreignness of the aura and its uniqueness meant that this was undoubtedly an Imperial Magister, though why the heretics of the Empire would be here was beyond her. But most troubling was the shape the aura had taken when she had examined it closely.
It had looked an awful lot like a dragon.
Yuri Duskin sighed as he paced around the second tier of Cell Block 1, his guards saluting him as he passed by. He peaked into one of the cells he passed by, the two Isarang prisoners within pacing nervously. The cells were soundproofed to noises from the outside, enabling total isolation within. But the prisoners could feel the tension in the air, the uncertainty. All of them were on edge. Yuri couldn't blame them either.
"Everything alright Commandant?" that was Petrovic, his second-in-command, walking beside him. Yuri turned his head to the man, not even bothering to mask his agitation.
"No Drazen, nothing is alright. I have a nightmare in stiletto heels running my prison and one of her lackeys beat Milkovitch to death. And I can't do a fucking thing about it," he kept his voice low as he came to the railing of the second floor, peering down at his guards on patrol below, "I have a feeling that no matter what happens, I may not be long for this command...or this life."
Drazen said nothing at first, leaning over the railing as well. Drazen Petrovic was in his early forties, same as Yuri himself, though he looked far older, thanks to having been too close to an empowerment spell cast by a Void Priest during their time in the Scarcean Drift together. His black hair was mostly silver at this point and he was playing with his Void Sphere necklace.
"I wouldn't be so pessimistic Yuri," Drazen said as he gave a toothy grin to his old comrade, "You have connections still and what we did on Hannover still carries weight with the High Council. Ostmich may be a High Priestess, but she's young and arrogant. I still think this whole thing is an overreaction. So someone hacked the inmate registry? Belsenkov is a fortress, in the heart of the Dominion. You'd have to be incredibly brave and very stupid to come here!"
"You may be right on that!" Yuri laughed despite himself, before his face grew serious, "Still my friend, if worse comes to worse…"
"I will make sure Yvonne and Alexei are taken care of and out of the Church's clutches," Drazen said solemnly, "You know you put a lot of effort into a plan to keep a woman you are no longer married to safe? Your son, I understand, but an ex-wife? Don't tell me you're still holding that flame for her?"
"I always will," Yuri said as he eyed the blast door entrance and checked his watch, "But never mind that, Halveka's squad should have been here to relieve Dotosky's men. Comm him, find out what the hold up is!"
Petrovic went to his comm unit as Yuri glared at the door.
I swear if those Death Corps fuckers hurt any more of my guards, there will be hell to pay, direct orders from that bitch be damned! He vowed to himself, as Petrovic lowered his comm.
"Commandant, there was no-"
He was cut off when the blast door exploded, sending shrapnel and a shockwave of force outward, knocking guards off their feet. Their old combat instincts kicking in, Yuri and Drazen ducked behind the metal plates built into the railing, before poking their heads up as gunfire and red laser beams filled the cell block. Coming out of the smoke where dozens of figures, clad in patchwork pieces of armor, crimson bandannas tied around their faces. They stormed in, gunning down any guards who had been knocked over by the breaching charge, as several of them ran forward and started unlocking cell doors, tossing weapons in as they went.
"This is Commandant Yuri Duskin! We are under attack! Seal all the exits and initiate Protocol 13B!" Yuri yelled into his comms as his men and women below started to return fire, while the purge squads went to work, taking four cells at a time, opening the small hole used to dispense rations to the prisoners and sticking the nozzles of their flamethrowers in it, a jet of flame roasting whatever scum were inside.
Sirens started blaring throughout the cell block as Yuri drew his plasma pistol, sighting an overconfident attacker who was standing instead of getting behind cover and pulled the trigger, the man's upper torso blowing apart when the blue bolt hit him. He took cover as bullets started pinging towards his position as Drazen him by the shoulder. It took a second for Yuri to recognize that his subordinate was laughing.
"I should have known better than to open my mouth!" he howled with laughter as one of the attackers let loose with a heavy laser rifle, the thick red beam cutting apart steel and two unfortunate guards who couldn't get out of the way fast enough, "This is Hannover all over again!"
Yuri sighed to himself as he got back up and returned fire. He had taken this position at Belsenkov specifically to get away from having people shoot at him all the time.
Sometimes he wondered if Void had noticed him and decided that it just really fucking hated him.
AN: So, this chapter kicked my ass. I ended up rewriting most of it and I'm still not happy with it, though the version you have now is better than what I had before at least. Regardless, this was not an action packed chapter, but fear not, the next few are going to be vicious.
I also wrote this while basically listening to the Wolfenstein soundtrack on a loop. Zellenblock-B especially, though if I had to pick a song to be the theme for this arc, that would be Off With Her Head by Icon For Hire.
There will not be a new chapter next Friday though. Personal life events and such. I'll hopefully go back to Friday posting the week after though. I also want to say this story broke forty followers and almost as many favorites this week. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. I wasn't expecting this story to have much of a readership and was okay with that, but you guys and gals are just motivating me even more to keep writing.
Moshiyari: Years of reading fiction and watching TV have left me with a profound distaste for drawn out arguments, so while they aren't going to be hundred percent back to normal, the two can start repairing the rift between them. Glad you are still enjoying it!
Romicchi: The NaVia fandom needs more love and I'm glad you're liking the story! I am harsh on myself, but I know my writing isn't at the quality it needs to be. This story idea honestly deserves a better author than me, but I am trying my best to get to the level I need to be at to do it justice. But I seem to be doing okay right now if I still have people reading this far in! Thank you for kind words and stick around, we may be over 100K words, but Umbral Hearts is only the end of the beginning. We still have a lot of story left to go!