Chapter 3 - Interpersonal Connections
While this drama unfolded in the lives of the COs, a janitor was cleaning one of the many corridors that the Black Hole Headquarters had to offer. His name was Sam, and he prided himself on being good at what he did, even if what he did wasn't particularly difficult. Unaware of the emotional catastrophe that was occurring, he simply kept mopping, contemplating lofty thoughts such as what was going to be on television tonight, what would be for dinner tonight, and where he would be having to drive his blasted teenage daughter to this time. Probably one of those stupid rave clubs. He couldn't see the appeal at all, the music was the same "uhn tiss uhn tiss uhn tiss" rubbish throughout the whole song and-
There was a noise from one of the sewer gratings. It sounded almost like people were in the sewers, talking. The first time Sam heard the sounds, he ignored it. People surely wouldn't be in the sewers, and if they were it would no doubt be the Sanitation Squad, prisoners forced to sanitize parts of the sewage as punishment. However, the second time he heard it, he was more curious. The Sanitation Squad weren't allowed to talk, and to do so incurred a beating and loss of food rations. In addition to this, the voice sounded too...cultured to be down in a sewer. Curious, he moved closer to the grate. The voices started to define themselves. There were three of them in total; a cultured female voice, a childlike voice boiling with permanently repressed anger and what seemed to be some sort of robot. He could catch the tail-end of a sentence, spoken by the cultured one, something along the lines of, "-burning with them!"
The two other voices responded, "Yes, Lady Kindle!" before the sound of footsteps masked by sludge cut short the conversation. Sam considered the possibilities. They were lost, that much was apparent. The name Kindle was familiar as well. He knew it from somewhere...of course! A memory returned to him, of passing by the War Room one day and hearing someone addressing someone else with the name of Kindle. She must be a CO then, and it was his civic and patriotic duty to help his leaders. Sam was a kind soul, and he hated to see someone in distress.
Coughing, he shouted down, "Hello? Excuse me? Miss?"
The footsteps froze in their tracks. There was some hurried whispering, and then the one he thought of as Kindle replied, "Hello there, common sc-uh...my good man. I wonder if you could help myself and my serv-uh..." There was some more frantic whispering, including the words "what on EARTH is the plebecite slang for friend?" before she continued, "...good chummy chums here find a way out of the sewers, I'd be most grateful."
"Certainly miss," Sam said, nodding to himself. "There should be a ladder about...oh, twenty paces in this direction." He moved to the left and stamped his feet, indicating the way. "It should take you into the generator room."
Kindle laughed gleefully. "Splendid! My good man, I must thank you for your help. Meet us at the generator and I will reward you incredibly well! Come, Jugger, Koal! We have a sewer to emerge from." The sounds of footsteps melting into the sewage quagmire squealched through Sam's ears, and then there was silence. Sam paused for a few seconds, and then shrugged. A reward would certainly be nice. It would actually be very nice. Wonderfully nice, even! Maybe it'd be money, and he'd be able to retire and never have to mop a floor again. He could hire other people to mop his own floors! Grinning, he almost skipped down to the generator, his mind fuelling dreams of grandeur and no mops.
The door to the generator opened easily, and Sam slipped inside. The three people were already there. Now he could actually look at them, he started to worry. The one at the front must have been Kindle, as she was the only female of the group. A tower of red hair crowned a face that had gone to great lengths to look beautiful, before nature had gone to great lengths to make the effort utterly pointless. Leaves, twigs and various other mementoes from a forest were embedded in her hair and clothes. A long skirt hid her legs from view and, if it were not dripping with sewage, would have probably been considered very elegant. The other two stuck to the shadows, but the outlines worried him. One was impossibly small, the other impossibly impossibly spherical. It was quite imposing.
Kindle stepped forward. "So, you are the one who helped us out of the sewer...chum," she said, flashing a million dollar smile. Sam nodded, his eyes still warily looking into the menacing shadows behind her. "Well, I believe a reward is in order." She reached into a pocket in her jacket and pulled out a gun. iOh God, no.../i It was a simple handgun with a silencer attached, designed to give simple, silent death to someone via bullet injection.
"I'm going to reward you," she said, raising the gun and aiming, "by ending your miserable, low-brow existance. No more living in slums, fighting through garbage for food and listening to the sounds of your fellow troglidytes being murdered for their alcohol. And no chance to tell anyone you saw us. Won't that be nice?"
Sam didn't get time to answer, as Kindle squeezed the trigger. The urban landscape of the HQ had calmed her nerves following her shouting and ranting at her fellow COs, therefore enhancing her aim. The bullet pierced his jugular vein, blood spurting, flooding from the wound. He clutched at the hole desperately as he collapsed, but to no avail. Within a very short space of time he had stopped moving entirely, his life extinguished. Kindle prodded the corpse with her foot to make sure, and then nodded to Jugger, who stepped forward and lifted the body before unceremoniously dumping it into the sewer.
Koal nodded at Kindle. "Your shot struck true, like an eagle's talons! And now, we have the Headquarters' source of power at our disposal! Heh heh!"
Kindle smirked. "Yes, yes we do. Jugger!" The robot lumbered back. "See what you can do to disrupt the Generator. It will confuse people and we can...deal with them in their confusion." She placed the gun back in her pocket and looked down at her clothes.
"Oh dear," she muttered. "I have blood on my beautiful clothing. How disgusting."
-
Hawke's footsteps echoed solemnly through the corridor as he made his way towards his private chamber. He was not in a good situation, that much was apparent. He would have to vacate his own country for such a silly reason as dodging a lovesick teenage girl. Well, a lovesick teenage girl with a mind as twisted as a corkscrew and a novel mind when it came to inventing torture devices. He could not put himself or Sonja in danger. Or Adder too, unfortunately. Hawke sighed. As much as he'd like to leave Adder to deal with this mess himself, he could not let someone with as much potential as Adder did go to waste. For all his egotistical mannerisms, Hawke recognised a good CO when he saw one.
One massive gloved hand reached for the doorknob and twisted it gently. The door opened silently and Hawke slipped inside. He didn't want to disturb Sonja in case she slumbered still. However, he was surprised to discover that she was already awake and examining the contents of his room, currently inspecting one of the drawers next to the bed, the place where he kept a book to help him sleep.
A light cough came from his lips and Sonja spun around guiltily, quickly slamming the drawer shut as she did. "Hawke! Uh..." she mumbled, trying to think of a good excuse, "I was just...uh..."
"Looking around?" Hawke replied, intending for it to come off as light hearted. However, surprisingly enough for the imposing CO clad all in black with a naturally menacing voice, that was quite tricky. "It is fine," he added. "What do you think of my reading material?"
Sonja, obviously relieved, turned round to reopen the drawer. "Hmm..." she pondered, eyeing the contents. "How...very you." She removed the book from its natural place, examining it carefully. "Immaculately kept, with a leather bound cover. And the book's contents?" She opened to a random page. "Ah. War tactics." A smirk played across her thin lips. "Why am I not surprised. This is your light reading?"
"I wouldn't call it light or even remotely interesting, but it certainly helps me get to sleep," Hawke replied, aware that he had made another humourous remark. That was two in the same day. Perhaps he should see a doctor. Sonja laughed though. That was good. Hawke liked it when Sonja laughed. It was calming to hear someone laugh amidst the recent drama.
Oh yes, why he'd came here...
"You know Hawke, this is actually an interesting read," Sonja said, snapping him out of his short internal monologue. "It's certainly quite rare. How did you get it?"
"Many months of searching." Hawke paused, while he sat down on the sofa. "Take it. I have no further need of it. I have read it too many times for it to be of any further use."
"Oh, Hawke..." Sonja glanced at him cautiously. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Hawke smirked, a dark look on his face. "It will give you something to read when we are fleeing for our lives."
Sonja looked nonplussed. "Wait, what?"
Hawke nodded. "I have something to explain to you," he said, before telling her about everything. Starting with Lash asking him about putting Lash Cameras in his room, he progressed through his stages of suspicion to the events of the morning, the words "Lord Hawke! Step away from the coffee!" probably implanted in his memory forever simply due to the sheer absurdity. He was not sure what the reaction of Sonja would be. Apparently people were not very happy when they discovered that someone else had romantic inclinations towards his or her partner. Throughout his telling of the story, the only sign that Sonja was paying attention at all during the whole explanation was a slight narrowing of her eyes when he touched upon Lash's romantic inclinations towards himself.
As he finished, he fixed her with a steely look. "What is your opinion regarding this? I would like to know."
Sonja didn't reply for a few seconds, as she moved to the sofa and sat down beside Hawke, the book still in her hand. Placing it carefully on the floor by her feet, she then said, "I'm...worried, Hawke. I'm very worried, and I believe I have a very good reason for being so."
Curiosity filled Hawke with these words. "Why is this, Sonja?"
As she replied, Sonja fixed Hawke with a look that conveyed the fear that she felt at this moment in time. "Because you are, Hawke, and I know you wouldn't be worried without a very good reason. What worries you so much about this?" She edged closer warily, one well-manicured hand daringly placing itself comfortingly on his broad arm. Hawke couldn't help but smile as Sonja's gentle caress worked its way up and down his arm as she continued, "Why is Lash worrying you so much that you feel the urge to leave the country?"
Hawke paused, as much to savour the feeling of human contact as to think about his answer. After a few moments of silence, he replied, "Lash is...frighteningly inventive when it comes to inventing subtle deathtraps and poisons. As I made previously aware to you, if it were not for the timely intervention of Adder, I would be dead. She will need time to calm down, and I believe that doing this will."
"But you have an army!" Sonja exclaimed. "You could arrest her easily!"
He sighed. "If only it were that simple. Lash designed the weapons with an additional feature in case they were captured, at my behest. The weapons would explode, taking the soldier holding them at the time with them. She of course has the remote to this, which was as I realise just now quite a major hindsight. This is why a...tactical withdrawal is needed." Hawke could never bring himself to say flee. To flee was to admit defeat, and to be defeated was to lose everything.
Sonja frowned, her hand continuing a figure of eight across the folds of his jacket. "But she would follow us, wouldn't she?"
"Not at all." Hawke smiled. "In fact, quite the opposite. She would not let her personal grievances get in the way of being in charge of Black Hole. The responsibilities itself will mature her as well. My plan is well thought out, Sonja, and I am almost certain it will work."
A frown formed on the Yellow Comet princess' features momentarily, before a small smile overtook it. Her hand returning to her lap, she said, "Well, Hawke, if you're certain. We'd better go now. Adder will be waiting for us." A slight curling of her lips indicated Sonja's feelings about Adder, namely that he should be kicked off the helicopter while it was several hundred feet in the air and land on something really painful and spiky. Alas, she would have to cope with him. He was too valuable a CO.
Hawke stood up, and looked around his room for what would be the last time for what could be several weeks. The memories this room had held were few, but precious. Working out strategies for the Green Earth campaign all those months ago, plotting his ultimate betrayal when it became apparent that Sturm was unfit to be a ruler, relaxing after a hard day of blowing up faceless enemy troops with a fine glass of wine and a quality book. It would be a shame to part with it.
He turned around. Sonja had stood up as well, eyeing the door with a look of trepidation. "Let's go," Hawke said, and began to head for the door.
"Wait!" Sonja cried. Hawke spun round, only to have Sonja run at him and grab him in a tight embrace. Her face buried in his jacket, Hawke tensed, unsure of what he should be doing in this sort of situation. Placing one large hand on her back, he ran it up and down awkwardly. This was definately not his territory. He made the effort though, moving the other hand to stroke Sonja's hair smoothly in a way he presumed and hoped was comforting to her.
"You can relax, you know," Sonja said, her voice muffled by the jacket she was embedding herself in at the present moment in time. "A hug is not going to bite your face off."
"I understand that," Hawke replied tersely. "However, emotional tenderness is not a strong point of mine."
"No, it isn't. It's what makes you such a good CO." Sonja paused. "But you don't have to be a CO all the time. You can relax around me, you know that." Hawke said nothing to this. She sighed. "Just...think about it, alright?"
"I will. But this is not the time to express emotions. This is the time for us to leave Black Hole." Hawke untangled himself from Sonja's tight grip, and walked to the door. "Let's go."
Sonja sighed. "Fine," she said reluctantly, following him as he left.
-
The helicopter was not an interesting looking craft, Adder noted as he stepped inside. The exterior consisted of black everything. Black rotors, black casing, black runners. Even the windows were tinted black. When he entered, he found it was the same indoors. The seats were black, the walls were black. Everything, black. So there can be too much of a good thing, he thought. There was only one other occupant in the bland copter, the grunt who was piloting. Adder glanced at him cautiously. Although he was said to be an esteemed pilot by people whose opinions didn't matter much to the snobbish CO, you could never trust an idiot with your flight. However, he was the best he could find at short notice, so he would have to do. Hopefully he wasn't drunk on ale, or whatever the soldiers drunk. Their own urine, probably. Luckily, the black tinted windows allowed him to peer at his own handsome visage as he waited for Hawke and Sonja to finish their kissing and cuddling and join him on board.
God, Hawke and Sonja. Adder would have never seen that coming, although if anyone had asked, he would have replied that it was obvious and anyone who hadn't seen it, for example everyone but himself, was an idiot. Sonja he had always envisaged to be in some sort of tryst with that idiotic hillbilly Grit or in a lesbian relationship with Lash based on lots and lots of sex involving leather and handcuffs. There wasn't any proof for the latter, but Adder thought it would be pretty damn sexy. Especially if he was allowed to join. Heh heh heh...ahem. And as for Hawke, Adder just couldn't see him in a relationship full stop. He wouldn't be able to handle the emotional intensity of things such as holding hands or having a conversation that didn't consist of "This is your doom".
He shrugged. Ah well, life's full of surprises it seems. You just had to roll with it. But how on earth did they get together? Hawke had to have been in Yellow Comet at some point during his absence from Black Hole. It may have been quite a long time, if he was now in a relationship. Somehow, Adder couldn't imagine Hawke and Sonja in a whirlwind romance...
"Sorry Hawke, I'm afraid that my calculator has proven that whirlwind romances fail with a probability of 79.156583. However, if we wait a few weeks, that probability becomes only 11.23581321."
"That's alright. You see, I cannot be in a relationship right now anyway, because I would have to spend a few weeks analysing you to make sure the relationship would benefit myself, because I'm an emotionless robot with no sense of humanity."
"Spiffing. Care for some tea?"
Oh, how a career in comedy beckoned for Adder.
The sounds of footsteps approaching brought about an end to Adder's inner monologue. Soon the footsteps identified themselves as Hawke and Sonja climbed into the helicopter. Adder nodded at each of them in turn, and was rewarded by a nod back from Hawke and an angry glare from Sonja. What was that for? he thought. Oh, right. The destruction of half of her beloved country. As if it was any prettier before I came along.
And that's where we're going, he remembered, starting to fret. We're going to a country filled with angry countrymen, headed by an angry Emperor and aided by an angry geriatric, and I'm stuck in an enclosed space with an angry daughter of the angry Emperor. Great.
"Uh...my Lord?" Adder quavered. "I just remembered. I shouldn't be in Yellow Comet."
"Why ever not, Adder?" Sonja responded, her tone innocent but her eyes a-flame, roasting Adder with her glare.
"Possibly my...misguided actions of yesteryear," Adder said, subconciously trying to edge away from her.
"Do not fear, Adder." Hawke's voice cut through the tension that was threatening to flood over. "I shall confer with Kanbei on your behalf. I'm certain that he will understand."
"But-" Sonja tried to interject. Adder willed for her head to fall off so she'd shut up.
"No, Sonja, I do not wish to see anyone harmed...unnecessarily," Hawke said, an underlying tone of menace present. Adder understood that. It said, "Adder, I am saving you, but if you fail me I will beat you to death with your own leg." He gulped.
"You are too kind, my Lord."
"Yes, I think I am." Oh God, Adder thought, his hand starting to shake.
"Heh heh...uh, so, Hawke, shall we take off?"
Hawke nodded. "Yes. We should take off now." As if his words were some sort of power generator, the rotors started to turn, the pilot flicking random switches that made no sense to Adder. The copter began to leave the ground, the nearby sticks and leaves being blasted away by the strength of the rotors. Adder shook as it started to moved forward, presumably towards Yellow Comet.
As Sonja watched the view sprawling out beneath them, Adder turned to Hawke and asked, "So my Lord, do you believe Lash will do a good job?"
Hawke nodded. "As long as there are no complications, everything will be fine." Adder smiled. Hawke was right. What could go wrong?
Oh snap.
-
Lash was, to Hawke's presumable smugness had he known, not preparing to fire rockets to blow them out of the sky. She was in her bedroom once more, surrounded by grotesquely distorted soft toys, thinking about what she could do with the new power in her hands with giddy joy. She was going to create those giant walker robots and have Flak lead them into other countries to break stuff! Tee hee! And she'd have giant airbourne Oozium carriers that would drop them on top of things to crush and eat! Ooh, what fun I'll have, she thought. And when Hawke comes back, he'll see what a good job I've done and reward me by letting me feed Sonja to the Oozium! Tee hee hee! And then-
There was an annoying knock on the door, interrupting Lash's fantasy which was increasingly involving less clothes. "Who is it?" Lash asked, irritated. "I'm imagining smooshing done in the name of love!" There was no answer from behind the door. Now seriously irritated, she stormed up to the door, swinging it open and-
Froze, as the barrel of a pistol pressed itself into her forehead. She looked along the arm, down the filthy clothes and up into a face she had hoped never to see again.
"Hello, kitten," Kindle purred.