You know, since this was adapted from a RP between me and my buddy Cypher, it's kind of an ordeal, trying to adapt it so it makes sense. Between deciding what to salvage, what to change, and what to scrap, especially when things get busy and all over the place, I find myself getting writer's block every time I buckle down to write. So a million thanks to Cypher again for picking up my slack.
Onto other things, I be placed in a bewilderment. The further we've gotten through this story, the more I felt like this had to be something meaningful. You know, beyond the shameless wish fulfillment it started out as. And… I kinda don't know what I want out of it. Feels unfocused. Granted, I'm way too far in to even think about giving up, and Cy and I got the ending planned out and mostly RPed to write from, but it still feels messy. So I ask you guys, to whoever's willing to PM me or leave a review; What
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"Agent Delacroix, the collars are no more!"
"Understood! Thank you, Captain!"
"Status on the others?"
"All ze gladiators are finding ways off ze station. I will regroup with Nicole and Tiffany and wait for you and Tala."
"Wait, what? Where's Tala?"
"She and Celezte went back for Feroza."
XXXXX
Feroza sat up as the automated door swished open. Tala Stone strode into her quarters as casually as if the rooms were her own. At one point, they had been. Following at her heels, the bounty hunter Norai and a T-COM unit assumed defensive flanking positions. The Terran set her blaster on the nearby weapons rack.
"Let's cut to the chase: come with us and let's get the hell out of here."
The silver huntress barred her fangs pin disapproval. The Norai stepped forward. "If you value your life, you will accept my alpha's offer now."
Tala put her hand on the hunter's shoulder. "Celeste, I need you to secure the hallway. You too, Teeko."
"But M'yorah -"
A quick kiss silenced her. "Go. This won't take long."
Without another word, the lesser female and the worker droid slipped out, leaving the Amazon and the Silver Blade alone together. Feroza broke the silence.
"I cannot go with you."
"Feroza..."
"We know one another well enough, Tala. I knew you would come back for me; you knew that I would refuse, hence your willingness now to fight." Tala could tell Feroza was summoning all her will power to call forth each word. "But tell me, why should I entertain this?"
"Isn't it what you were waiting for?"
Feroza chuckled in amusement. "Who would I be if I tucked my tail and fled at your approach?"
"And yet, that still doesn't change your decision, does it?"
"You came here to make a request. I decline that request. But knowing you better than that, I suppose a formal goodbye is in order."
The Stygian fighter rose and approached, the slow and deliberate pace of a hunter approaching a cornered prey. Tala stood her ground, betraying no reactions, not even when the huge, scaly female stood chest to chest with her. Even as hooked talons curled behind her head, primed to crush, Tala held steady. A fanged mouth opened over her own.
Feroza's kiss was soft and lingering. Tala loosened her jaw, letting that forked tongue dance and mate with her own one last time. She closed her eyes and moaned as Feroza's arms enveloped her, allowing herself this one last moment of vulnerability, abandoning herself to the warmth and protection of this taller, more powerful woman. Her woman's woman.
Their lips broke all too soon. The air rushed out of Tala's lungs as Feroza stepped back. With feigned disgust, the Stygian female wiped the spittle from her snout. "There. I suppose you'll be leaving now?"
"Why, though?" Tala's voice shivered in protest. "Don't tell me you'd rather stay with a scumbag like Rogan. You're probably the only one that hates him more than me!"
"That would be the prudent course of action. But I am not simply here for my sake."
It took Tala a moment to rack her mind and figure it out. "You… owe a debt?"
Feroza nodded. "I doubt you'd understand, but if you must sate your curiosity then call it pride. Warrior's pride? Perhaps. Either way, I've been able to flourish as a warrior and find an opponent that could defeat me in a fair fight. As far as I can see, that part of my life has come full-circle. That much, I owe to Rogan. And to pay it forward, I will at least see to it that he doesn't die in the mess you caused."
"So you trust Rogan not to coerce you into more servitude? If you're all he has left, he'll probably be hard-pressed to let you just walk off into the sunset once you're both even."
"Either way, the debt must be paid."
"Okay, that's where I'll have to draw the line." Eyes scanning the rack, Tala reached and grabbed a sword and shield. If she wasn't mistaken, this was the same set she had the last they fought. "Methinks you were planning for this all along."
Feroza responded in kind by pulling up the large blade that Zathra had gifted her. "You are as stubborn as I am."
"Here's the deal: I win, you let fate decide what happens to our illustrious host. You win, I'll never bother you again. Deal?"
"Deal."
And so, the two combatants faced off for the final time.
XXXXX
From outside, Teeko and Celeste tensed, listening to the sharp clashes of metal as Tala and Feroza began fighting.
It initially came across Celeste as foolish. Why waste valuable time trying - and failing - to convince their tormentor to join in their escape? But she trusted her Alpha, and would stand by her decisions. It still didn't make things easier wherever she heard the distinct clang of a heavy blade against a shield. Teeko would assure her that their battle would not be to the death, but it did little to help her anxieties.
The gunfire and explosions that rattled the station seemed to die down over the passing moments, and when Celeste would threaten to intervene in her M'Yorah's duel, driven by a sense of urgency, Teeko would point out that there was no rush, given that their friends wouldn't leave without them, and that the goal is to leave, not so much destroy the station. There might even be a lengthy salvage process on behalf of Tala's captain, after they'd effectively secured the station.
When the doors did finally slide open, Celeste felt her heart leap through her chest as she whirled to face the door and drew her blaster.
The looming form of Feroza greeted them, and in the split second Celeste took to aim and fire, she felt her weapon veer off course. Her glare softened when she realized that the hand that stopped her from ending the Silver Blade's life was Tala's.
Her M'yorah was bruised and beaten, her left eye swollen shut and an arm clutching her ribs. From her ragged breathing, Celeste identified that several ribs must have been broken and her pack instincts sent her blood raging. And yet, despite her injuries, Tala looked at her with a light-hearted grin.
"News flash, Celeste? Froza here won't be leavin' with us. I'd ask you to carry me, but we got a long way to go, and I'm pret-ty heavy."
Feroza scoffed at that.
"Onward! I'm getting a little light-headed." Celeste immediately scanned her alpha for wounds, and noticing that Feroza's tail was wrapped around her midsection, the Norai idly primed her blaster. But as dizzy as Tala was getting, she was by no means slow. She poked her blue bean in the side of the head, letting her head hang back to look at her upside down.
"Celly, if you hurt Frozy, nooo Tala fun-time for a whole week!"
XXXXX
Through the static feed of the downed F-SEA drone, Rika, Kate and Mack watched the display with a mix of awe and stifled laughter. "Unbelievable," Rika exclaimed. "Seems like it wasn't a bluff, after all."
"Wow," Mack murmured.
"Just peachy," Kate sulked. "That monster-lovin' weeaboo's never gonna let me hear the end of this..."
"Am I to assume his downcast mood came from you, O'Connor?" The sharp tone in the captain's voice quickly made Kate's throat dry up.
"Well, ya see, Ma'am…."
"Save it. I'll sort you out later," Rika declared as she grabbed the remote from Rogan's clawed up desk. "Where's your little friend?" she asked, looking back down the hall for the little horned boy Miss O'Connor and Mister Wolfsbane arrived with.
"Ah told 'em ta wait behind some covah. Didn't want the little guy ta get caught in whatevah trap this Rogan guy had in store." And considering what happened, she was glad she did. That shock therapy just moments ago was unbearable.
"Damn good call. But now, we gotta find him before Wolfsbane does. And let everyone know what to watch out for." Once the girls helped Big Mac back to his feet, they gathered whatever they could find of Al's equipment scattered about the room and headed out of the destroyed office, remote in hand.
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Feroza had encountered many strange and bizarrely-shaped creatures during her battles in Rogan's arenas, but the drooling, canine brute galloping on all fours towards her made her pause. This beast was something entirely new to her.
"Options!" Feroza barked over her shoulder to her armed escort.
Teeko and Celeste jumped ahead of her, weapons drawn. At the beast's refusal to stop, they fired, but with speed that would match Feroza herself, giant arms sent both the droid and the Norai barreling into the walls of the hallway, leaving nothing between it and the Stygian.
"Away!" Feroza ordered, launching her clawed foot at the creature. With blinding speed, the beast batted her limb away, and the power behind that swipe sent both herself and the dazed Tala tumbling down the hall, her tail unbinding from the downed amazon's bleeding midsection. The terran lost consciousness and collapsed. The beast wasn't stopping, it wasn't slowing, and it's jaws were wide and hungry.
"Tala!" Feroza didn't think, she threw herself forward on reflex, ignoring her likely broken leg, crouching low and shielding the human in her embrace. She hoped to the Stygian gods that the beast would be satisfied with tearing through her scales...
A rush of air assaulted her back as the beast leapt over her body, and then slammed into the ground, throttling something metallic in its jaws. 'A stealth drone?' Feroza exclaimed to herself. How had she missed that?
There was no time to scold herself for growing dim. The canine monstrosity had finished with its android meal and now stalked towards her once again, fangs bared. Feroza returned the sharp-toothed snarl as she hugged Tala's unconscious body tight, daring the beast to take her away.
The great wolf gave her a cursory sniff, but when its eyes met Tala, thick, sticky, foul-smelling drool came forth from its maw like a bursting dam. It leaned forward, forcing Feroza's already high adrenaline to skyrocket as she rose to meet the beast, her muscle memory making her read it for weaknesses or openings.
As unnatural as this creature was, Feroza knew hunger when she saw it. Not the hunger of staring down the naked flesh of a lover, but… true hunger. This creature was drawn to the blood of a hunt, and a defenseless Tala was ripe for the picking. But it was just… standing there. Staring. Trembling. Feroza dropped her guard.
Resisting?
The beast backed away, shaking its head. "Wrong…" Came its voice, like it came from the grinding of solid rock beneath the Stygian seabeds. "Wrong wrong wrong!"
So it could speak, Feroza told herself. It… he seemed to be fighting his hunger. Feroza's first instinct was to take Tala and run, but her intuition brought a thought to the forefront of her mind. The dried blood on his claws were unmistakably Agorian, and those tattered clothes it wore. A transformed beast. The kind in video entertainment. But what was he transformed from?
A coughing fit from behind alerted Feroza that Celeste and Teeko were still functional, albeit a little worse for wear. Celeste had some blood from the corner of her mouth, and Teeko had some parts littering the floor, but they had the strength to regroup with her, and that would suffice.
"What am I looking at?" Feroza asked aloud, taking Tala in her arms again and securing her tail snugly around Tala's bleeding wound again, giving the troubled beast a wide berth.
"Tala's subordinate, I believe." Celeste replied, narrowing her eyes in contemplation. "Her commander warned us over our communicators to watch for this individual."
"Explain."
"At a later time. Just know that this is one member of the rescue party." Taking charge again, Celeste looked over to the droid. "Teeko, notify the captain that we've found her stray crewmember."
"Yes, of course."
Back to the missing crewmember himself, his mind seemed to clear, as his beastly jaws were now shut and no longer salivating, but his proximity to them still did little to put Feroza at ease.
It gave Feroza a cursory sniff, then lowered its eyes and snout to inspect Tala's scent, then back to Feroza, as though comparing their musk. Its yellow eyes narrowed in a growl.
"Blargh!" Feroza gagged as a great, slobbery tongue like a wreeyak tentacle mopped her face up and down. Her head was drenched in the thick, foul-smelling drool! "You! Why you -"
The gargantuan canine sat casually on its haunches, panting happily like a puppy. "Arooo!" it exclaimed, and the meaning was all too clear: You smell familiar!
"It seems he has gotten control over himself." Celeste's observation was met with a happy bark as Al bowed his head, as if asking for them to climb on. So it was sentient. Good.
Celeste, Teeko, and Feroza climbed aboard with Tala in tow, and rising high enough for Feroza to have to duck her head from touching the ceiling, Al let out another howl that reverberated down the winding hallway.
"Well beast, take us home!" Came Feroza's order, and they were off.
XXXXX
Nikki had all too effectively cleared the skies around the station and blew up a good portion of important-looking structures just for fun.
She had just landed back in the docking bay when the ship received a transmission from Rika. "Nikki? Tiffany? Anyone respond."
Tapping the interface on the monitor, Tiffany answered the call. "This is Tiffany. Go ahead, captain!"
"We've retrieved the master control for the gladiators' collars. What's your status?"
"Oh, um clear skies overhead." Secretly, Tiffany was relieved to hear that the mission was wrapping up. Nikki was starting to enjoy her gunner duties a little too much. "Um, when you say you've got the control -"
"The collars are no more. Tala and the others will be clearing the arena facility for a rendezvous. She's coming home, Tiffany."
The cheerleader fell back in her seat, hands bunched up around her heart to keep the fast-beating drum from escaping. "I can't believe it! Rika, that's wonderful!"
"What about Rogan?" Nikki interrupted.
"Rogan won't be of concern to us any longer," Rika stated. "Nikki, make sure the ship's medical bed is prepped. Mister Wolfsbane is escorting Tala, and she may be in need of treatment."
Nikki pushed her way over to the comm. "That furry wannabe's gonna need the medical stretcher if he tries putting his hairy paws on my Tala! ... Um, sorry," she added, as stunned as Tiffany and Rika by her sudden outburst. The commander seemed to take it in good stride, and chuckled over the intercom.
"Just make sure you ladies mind yourselves around Mister Wolfsbane's ... paws," she smiled before signing off. Nikki turned sheepishly to Tiffany, who gave her a reassuring hug.
"You're just excited to see her again, that's all." Her own body was trembling uncontrollably in anticipation; she couldn't imagine the heady feelings coursing through Nikki's veins. "We're almost there, Nik. It'll all be okay."
Right?
XXXXX
When Rika got the remote to Teeko after they found Kooz hiding among the rubble, the collars unlocked and were quickly flung like Frisbees as far as their prisoners could throw them.
When everyone reached the docking bay, it was like they made it cross the Red Sea. Cheers, celebration, and customary gestures of thanks were exchanged.
But Rika still had a mission. "Tala and us Terrans thank you all for your help and for your sacrifice! But now isn't the time to celebrate! Now's the time to leave and go home! You're not there yet!"
"May you have safe Travels, Ralcor." Amelie said, doing her best to wrap her small arms around the Grelbin's big belly.
The big guy returned the gesture with a massive arm around her before stepping back to depart. "And you too, Amelie! I'll find a way to repay you one day! I hope you're missed as much as I am." He met with his father, and the two boarded his mining ship.
And alongside Amelie's tanky acquaintance, who could forget her telepathic cat family? Cicinia, Misa Misa, and Gogmagog sprung onto Amelie like an ambush as they nuzzled into her enough friction to start a car, and purred like engines.
"Take care, Amelia Delacroix."
"We miss you already!"
"Go back to your lover. She misses you more than we."
Amelie cried. So feeling her anguish, they did too.
"Come, little one. You and your friend are coming with me." Celeste picked up the boy and carried him on her shoulders with the mechanized combot right behind.
"Ya heard the lady! Let's buggah on outta here!" Kate was all for getting the heck out of dodge.
"Everyone present and accounted for, ma'am!" Mac reported once all their people were on Celeste's ship.
The commander nodded with gusto, watching the Necorians depart in Rogan's personal ship, making them the last ones. "Very good! Sergeant Ross, put away Corporal Wolfsbane's equipment and get me a first aid kit. Lieutenant Delacroix, keep Wolfsbane away from the medical room. Celeste, please take us back to Earth. Nikki, go with her. Kate, take Teeko and Kooz and conduct ship repairs. Tiffany, you're with me." Everyone aboard Celeste's ship scattered like roaches, and as the ramp hatch closed, they got down to business.
XXXXX
Despite being the best pilot Celeste herself has ever seen, Nikki didn't wipe out everything on the station unscathed. But Kate, Teeko, and Kooz were more than enough to fix the little holes and scratches. Nikki, once she got far enough away from other celestial bodies to initiate a warp jump back to Earth, offered to help reset the control scheme for Celeste's use again, but...
"You... piloted my ship with the proficiency of a Galactic Ranger... with this simple controller?" the bounty huntress skeptically asked, picking up the Xbox controller, inspecting the thing like a piece of foreign technology, which for her, it was.
"Um... yeah? Me and Kate spent like a day and a half calibrating the ship's functions to the controller to match a game I was really good at. Sorry about the uh... damage." The bluenette went beat red in the face, nervously raising her nails to her mouth.
But Celeste was far from mad. "So very compact. Hand-crafted for our use. Can you... perhaps teach me when we return to Earth?"
Amelie had a hard time getting Wolfsbane away from Tala, but once a piece of her generously round breastplate snapped off, she found him an effective chewtoy with Tala's scent all over it.
But speaking of the amazon in question, she looked like she was literally chewed up and spat back out. Rika, with Tiffany's help, laid the beaten amazon along the medical bed, and the captain immediately began healing her wounds. Covered head-to-toe in cuts and bruises, two cracked ribs, one broken, fractured jaw, black eye, and a gash across her abdomen that's been bleeding since her scuffle with Feroza.
"Not as bad as our mission in wolf country." Rika muttered before looking over at Tiffany. "Ready for a crash course in medical care, Miss Maye?"
"You betcha," the younger girl chimed. "Hang in there, Tala. You're safe now."