Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has been so long. As always GW and FFG own all original material.
Harken lowered his mug and looked around him, half-consciously seeking an answer to his problems in the walls and furnishings of his quarters. None were forthcoming, the same as the other four times that he tired it. In some ways things were going quite well. After killing Helmond, Harken had claimed the Reaper as his own. A few of it officers had objected when Harken had given them the opportunity to join his crew and so they had joined Helmond instead. That had allowed Harken to place his own people in positions of power, thus ensuring that he had officers he could trust, at least to a certain degree. The Prosperity had to be abandoned and towed far enough away from the asteroid in case it exploded and then Athena, her colleges and crews began to disassemble it for parts and materials. The Reaper; however, more than made up for it.
While it was smaller than the Prosperity had been, it was a proper warship, being faster and more heavily armed. Flying in the Prosperity had felt like sailing a giant crate. In the Reaper, Harken felt that he was a predator and he was eager for prey. He smiled at the thought and then the smile soured. If only the rest of his life was going so smoothly. The fallout of the failed raid had been immediate and extensive.
While most of pirate ships had survived several of them had not returned, clearly they had lost faith in the Admiral and had decided to take their chances elsewhere. Of those who remained most of them appeared to also be considering running, if they only had somewhere to run to. Damas was now openly speaking ill of the Admiral and claiming that he would make a better leader and that those who remained should install him as leader and thrown in their lot with the Crimson Corsairs. If any opposed him, then they held their peace and said nothing. Of the Admiral there was no sign; after the failure of the raid he had sealed himself in his chambers and refused to leave them. Occasionally Captain DeVamart or other officers of the Admiral would be seen, but they were subdued and appeared to be trying to be as unnoticeable as possible. While it was clear to all those the Admiral's days were numbered, it seemed that Harken's future might also be insecure.
At first, he had not noticed it, not being very sociable most of the time, but Harken began to notice that many were avoiding him and his people. First it was the crew of the Glory who did so, but it soon spread to the rest of those supported Damas. There had been no violence, not yet, but it was clear the possibility of such was there. Harken had not been able to decipher what the source of hostility was, but was aware that the hostility was increasing. In desperation he decided to take his courage in both of his hands and went to the quarters on the Reaper which had originally been for the ship's navigator and which now housed Cleitus. After the battle the witch had become, if not accepted, more tolerated and there had been no argument when Harken installed in his new quarters, it helped that they were as far from everyone else's quarters as it was possible to be.
Harken paused at the door, took a deep breath in an effort to slow his pounding heart and then entered the suite. He was somewhat surprised to see that the young witch had kept the quarters relatively clean. Surprised, but pleased. It was a sign that he was becoming moreā¦normal, for lack of a better word. Cleitus himself was sitting cross-legged on the floor, a number of small objects lay before him. To Harken's discomfort several of the objects floated off the deck and began to rotate around the younger man. Harken steadied himself and coughed to gain Cleitus's attention. At the sound the younger man turned to face Harken, the items falling to the deck.
"Good day." Harken said, careful to show that he meant no harm. It seemed to work as the young witch made no effort to attack.
"Hello." Cleitus said simply and returned to staring at the objects. For a moment there was silence as Harken tried to decide how to ask what he had come to ask. Not thinking of anything which sounded terribly clever, he just took a deep breath and went for it.
"Cleitus, a lot of things are happening and we could be in danger. Can you see what is going to happen?" The younger man looked at him for a moment and then turned he head to stare at the objects on the floor.
He closed his eyes and began to rock back and forth. Harken felt the hairs on the back of his head rise as the objects began to float from the ground and began moving about in seemingly random directions as Cleitus mumbled under his breath. He was beginning to regret his course of action when Cleitus ceased his mumblings and the objects dropped to the ground. He opened his eyes and turned to look at Harken.
"Confusion, fear, blood and death.
"The Fool falls, the Prince will flee." He paused and chocked his head from side to side and closed his eyes tight, as if he were trying to see something.
"The Serpent will try to slay you. The Hound you can trust." He paused and opened his eyes again to lock them with Harken.
"We should leave this place." With that it seemed that he had said all that he was going to say and returned to staring vaguely at his objects. Troubled by the witches' words, but relieved to be going, Harken turned and left.
Once he was away from Cleitus' quarters and back in more normal parts of the ship it was harder to take the witch's words so seriously, still they might very well be true. So he decided that he would seek answers from a more mundane, as well as more reliable and pleasurable source. Alia.
In his efforts to determine what was going on he had set her to employing the contacts that she had made to determine what the inhabitants of the asteroid were planning. She was currently in one of the numerous drinking-holes. Harken had planned to wait for her to return aboard the Reaper, but now he decided to go to the station and speak to her there. Accompanied by Kristofer Harken left the ship and began making his way towards the tavern where Alia was supposed to be. While the walkways were as crowded as usual his standing as a captain and Kristofer intimidating presence cleared much of it away and allowed him relatively easy passage. He was almost to the tavern when a voice called out behind him.
"Harken!" Turning, he was surprised to see Sarina and several of her people approaching him. Harken halted and allowed his fellow captain to approach him. As she drew near he found himself feeling somewhat intimidated.
It was not just her size, though he was not sure which of them would come out the winner in a fight. No, it was something else, it was her demeanor. She radiated violence, it was always just beneath the surface, ready to be released. She was also fearless, Harken was convinced. He had no doubt that she would gladly fight everyone on the asteroid and would not show a hint of fear. Looking over at her hulking crew, he was sure that her people would join her without a hint of hesitation. His thoughts were interrupted as Sarina came up to him.
"I would speak to you." She stated without preamble. Harken nodded, curious as to what she might have to say. They had never spoken before, indeed, he had not been aware that she even knew he existed.
"Regarding?" Harken asked, surreptitiously making sure that his weapons were lose in their holders. She seemed to notice this and smiled in amusement, at least he thought it was amusement, seemed more like bloodlust to him.
"Be calm, Captain, I am not here for your head." Harken nodded, trying to make it seem like he thought that she was kidding.
"That is good to hear.
"So, what did you wish to talk about?"
"You should leave this place." She said bluntly, as if that explained everything.
"Excuse me?"
"You should leave this place." She repeated.
"The Admiral is finished. I know it, you know and so does everyone here with half a brain. When that happens, that snake Damas will seize what he can and he desires your life." When she spoke of Damas her voice became a hate-filled hiss.
Harken barely noticed that, his mind elsewhere. When she had called Damas a snake his mind flashed back to his talk with Cleitus and his speaking of a snake. He felt a shudder of fear run down his spine as it began to look like the prophecy was coming true. With an effort he forced those thoughts to the back of his mind and focused on the conversation with Sarina.
"Why would he want to kill me? We have never even spoken."
"He has long desired power, or claims that he does. In truth, he is nothing but a dog looking for a master. Once he is in charge he will take all that he can and pledge himself to that honorless dog Huron Blackheart." She paused; anger clear in her voice. After a moment, she spoke again in a calm voice.
"To answer your question; you earned Damas's enmity when you killed Helmond. The man was worthless, but he was a supporter of Damas and his death has hampered his plans. He will win in the end, but you slowed down his plans and he is a vindictive man. Otho is already running, coward that he is; though I suppose it is the smartest decision that he could make." Apparently having decided that she had said all that she intended to say, she turned and began to walk away.
"Wait." Harken called out before he fully realized that he was doing so. She turned back to regard him.
"What?" She demanded.
"Why are you warning me? You do not strike me as one who operate out of charity."
"You are right, I am not." For a moment it looked as if she was again done talking, but after a moment she seemed to change her mind and elaborated.
"At the moment you are nothing, another glorified petty thief, but that will change. One day you will become great, in your own way and when that day comes, I will claim your head for the Blood Wolf. Until then, I desire you to remain alive." Harken stared at her in shock.
"You are telling me," He said once he found his voice again; "You want me to stay alive so you can kill me later?!" She nodded, as if such a thing was the most natural thing in the world.
"Yes." She said simply, turning to leave once again. As she did so, something that she had said occurred to Harken and he called after her again.
"Who told you this?!" She looked back for a moment, but did not speak again. Feeling shaken, Harken continued on.
They reached the tavern, a group of prefab sheds welded together call the Lucky Landing and pushed their way towards the back of the tavern to the table that they usually used when they came to drink or do business. It seemed that Alia was already there and had been expecting them as they had barely taken their seats when she appeared and slid into the seat that they had saved for her and took the drink proffered to her.
"You have news?" Harken asked. Alia nodded, resting her elbows on the table and running her hand over the stubble which had sprouted on her head.
"Yeah, Boss and none of it is good." She took another drink and then continued.
"The Admiral is finished and everybody knows it. After the raid pretty much every other captain is speaking against him. People are afraid that the Navy will be coming for us and it is only a matter of time before they find us here. Most of them are now agreeing with Damas; that he should be in charge and we should throw in with this Blackheart character. Even some of the Admiral's people are agree, deserting him to throw in with Damas and his allies. Here's is the bad part for us." She paused and her tone became grim.
"With his new popularity Damas is now moving to silence any who oppose him, including those that simply do not support him. I heard several people placing bets on how long it will be before the Admiral's head is found on a pike, with Sarina's and Otho's heads next to his; though several people have said that Otho has already fled." She paused again to take another swallow before continuing.
"So, all of the independent captains are either siding with Damas, or running for their lives."
"So, what are we going to do?" Kristofer asked, joining the conversation for the first time. Harken took a draught of his own drink and mulled the question over.
At first glance it seemed rather obvious what they should do. They had made an enemy who was now the most powerful person on the station. He had been told to flee three times: first by a witch, then by an apparently honorable psychopath and now by his spy master. But, if they did that, there was a question that had to be asked.
Where would they go?
Without the base that they were on; how would resupply? How would they repair the Reaper? He had no answers to those questions and that was a very troubling thought. Without those things they would eventually starve or have their ship blow up on them. Not that he would see it; he was certain that he would be dead long before that. Just look at what was happening to the Admiral. If he were to be unsuccessful, he was sure that the crew would be more than happy to kill him, starting with Kristofer.
On the other hand, it was clear that they could not stay here. Either Damas would kill him or would have him killed, either by his own crew seeking Damas's favor or another captain or crew attempting to do the same. It seemed that no matter what he did he was doomed. However; the fact of the matter was that the logistical difficulties were problems for tomorrow, while the issue of Damas was a problem for today. He had to get away from violence which all the signs said were coming before someone moved against him, be it Damas, his cronies or his own crew. His decision made he turned his attention back to the other two.
"Gather the others, quietly if you can. We are getting out of here." The others nodded and rose in preparation for leaving. Before they could do so; however, the sound of the door opening and the clang of booted feet drew their attention.
Looking to the entrance they saw a group of men, there looked to be eight of them, forcing their way into the Lucky Landing. From Alia and his own observations Harken knew that all the captains had some form of insignia or others that their crews adorn themselves with to mark their allegiance, these men had none. That fact declared them to be among the numerous unaffiliated toughs who hired themselves out, often as extra muscle on raids, or aid those with money in settling disputes on the station. It quickly became apparent what their business was; for as soon as they saw Harken, Alia and Kristofer they opened up with a variety of autoguns, apparently not caring about collateral damage. Harken and the others, for their part, threw themselves behind the table which Kristofer had flipped on its side and used it as a shield and began to return fire.
Alia's fire was not terribly accurate, she was a spy not a fighter and in truth Harken's was not much better; he had not had much time for practicing. Nevertheless, he kept up a steady stream of shots towards the enemy, who had also taken cover. On the other hand, Kristofer, while his rate of fire was slower, placed his shots more carefully and several of the attackers fell to his fire. The attackers, for their part sent a seemingly endless barrage of fire. They seemed to simply be firing in the general direction of where the three had taken refuge; hoping to bring Harken and the others down through sheer weight of firepower.
"This is not good!" Kristofer called to Harken and Harken had to agree. They were outnumbered, outgunned and had no way of contacting the rest of their crew for reinforcements. While they were under cover they could not stay there forever and all that it would take would be for one of the attackers to chuck a grenade amongst them and it would all be over for them. Then the situation changed again.
The sound of a lasweapon being repeatedly discharged. The sound of shooting was accompanied by the sound of the attackers screaming. The sound continued for several seconds and then an ominous silence fell over the tavern, with everyone waiting for someone else to stick their head out of cover to see if it was safe for the rest of them to do so as well. Harken felt no compulsion to do so and was quite prepared to wait for one of the other patrons to do so when a familiar voice broke the silence.
"Captain Harken. Are you still alive?" Harken looked up and met the gaze of Athena. As he rose to his feet she lowered her mechanical arm, the barrel of a lasweapon retracting into it.
"It is good to you are still alive," she said; "I trust that you are relatively uninjured."
"We are." Harken replied as Kristofer and Alia got to their feet as well.
"Thank you for the timely intervention."
"You are welcome, though my motive was not entirely altruistic."
"Indeed?" Harken said, though he supposed that he should not be entirely surprised. It was a fact that no one did anything for anyone else unless there was something in it for them.
"Indeed." She replied.
"My group has reached the same conclusion that you most likely have, that this place is finished and if we want to survive it is time to depart. We further decided that we cannot risk all our knowledge being lost. Thus, we have decided to split up after downloading what we have learned into our cortical nodes.
"Because of our previous experiences together I decided to seek you out and urge you both to leave and to take me with you. Such an alliance would be to the benefit of both of us." Harken could not disagree, if for no other reason it would give him at least one member of the crew who actually knew how to keep the ship working. Which would mean one less problem among the myriad that he had to deal with. Thus, he nodded his head in agreement.
"Welcome to the Reaper, we leave as soon as we can get to it."
Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has been so long since I last updated and I hope that this was worth it. I will try to be quicker with the next update. Till then Merry Christmas and may Jesus bless you.
