Oshevkruv Forest, Planet Karzag, Epekkus System, Umbral Dominion, Edge Space
The snow covered conifers of Karzag's Oshevkruv Forest rang out with the sounds of conflict, the staccato of gunfire, the hissing screech of plasma, and the roar of high-powered motors. Juvia bounced in her seat in the rear passenger section of their getaway vehicle as they crested over a ridge, going airborne for a few stomach dropping seconds before landing hard onto snow and frozen earth, the Tachutcha's reinforced shock system absorbing the impact, all-terrain tires still spinning in the air before propelling the vehicle forward.
"That was a hell of a jump!" Slate whooped from his seat next to her, a commbead in his ear and an adrenaline fueled smile on his face, "You okay there Juvia!?"
"Juvia is fine!" Even in the soundproofed cabin, Juvia had to scream to be heard, as Natsu started opening up with the high-powered autocannon turret on the vehicle's roof, "How much further are we from Azravaya?"
"Eight kilometers and closing fast!" Slate yelled back, "We'd be there sooner if these Dominion dicks would quit hounding us!" He flipped off the window before his dark blue eyes went back to Juvia, "Tell your contact she had better be ready to bolt as soon as we hit the city limits. The Dominion is going to throw everything it has to stop us from getting to the starport and we can't afford to spare a single second."
Juvia nodded, "Understood. Aleena we are eight kilometers away! Are you and Georgys ready to go?"
"I'm already packed," Aleena's voice crackled over Juvia's commbead, "You need to hurry though. They already have the city locked down. Citizens aren't allowed to leave their homes and they have the Home Guard mobilized. They're already posting soldiers on every street corner and blocking roads."
"Juvia understands," she was cut off as their vehicle slammed hard to the left, the earth beside them blowing apart as a rocket impacted where the vehicle had been but a moment before. Natsu was already returning fire on the guard post where it had come from, but it got off another rocket and one of the Resistance Tachutchas wasn't quick enough, the rocket slamming through the passenger side door and exploding, sending the burning rapid attack vehicle spinning.
At this rate, we'll be lucky to even make it to the city, Juvia grimaced at the thought before replying to a worried Aleena, "We're doing our best, but Dominion forces are pursuing us hard. We'll get you and Georgys back to your family, Juvia promises that!"
"I'll hold you to that," Aleena wasn't even trying to hide her nervousness, "I'll be on stand by. Aleena out."
"Six kilometers and closing!" their driver, a Kultozian named Reins, shouted as the squat skyscrapers and factories of Azravaya were coming into view, peeking above the snow tops, as Dominion dropships sped by overhead, reinforcements from either the High Priestess' fleet overhead or from Home Guard bases elsewhere on Karzag.
"We're getting close! Now if only these miserable fuckers would just let off!" Slate said to her as Juvia gripped her seat as six Dominion attack drones swooped down on them, chin-mounted plasma guns already firing, only for all six to be annihilated swiftly by Natsu.
"Got' em! Good Gods this thing is fun!" Natsu yelled over their comms as he cycled the heavy autocannon again before turning it back towards the rear, opening up on several Dominion manned Tachutcha's, laughing as he did so. Juvia could faintly hear Happy whooping in delight next to him over the comms.
"Your boyfriend there sure knows how to wield some heavy weaponry," Slate grinned at her as Juvia felt a trace of heat come to her cheeks, "Could use some fire discipline though. He knows that thing doesn't have unlimited ammo right?"
"Juvia doesn't know and Natsu is not Juvia's boyfriend," why she felt the need to clarify that right now, even she couldn't say, "How is Slate so calm right now?! You've lost friends, we might not even make it out of this forest!"
"Hey seven out of nine vehicles making it to the city is pretty good," Slate shrugged, "Couldn't help the minefield, it's not like the Dominion marked that for us. Besides, these people knew the risks when they volunteered to come spring me."
Juvia frowned, feeling disgusted at the man's callousness, but pushed it out of her mind. These are temporary allies, not Juvia's new friends, she thought to herself as they sped closer to the city.
"Now to be fair, I do feel bad spending their lives against the Dominion," Slate stated as Nala was shouting orders over his commset, making him take the bead out for a moment, "Though true soldiers know all tyranny needs to be fought, most of these people signed up to the fight the Empire. Who I agree is the bigger threat,, even if the Dominion is a bastion of evil itself."
"If you are so concerned with the Empire, why are you even here in Edge Space?" Juvia's question was rather pointed, "The Empire isn't here, just all the independent groups. Why are you so deep in the Dominion if you're so concerned about sending people to die against the Empire?"
"Hey what's with the third degree there?" Slate held up his hands, "It's a noble fight! We're trying to free the galaxy, but that doesn't come without sacrifice. I know that and so do my subordinates."
Juvia looked unconvinced but let him continue. "To answer your question Miss Juvia, I was scouting out the Dominion as a location for a new base. Figured the Empire wouldn't think to look here, nor do they have any sort of good relations with the Dominion to ask or investigate even if they wanted to. I figured the Dominion might be receptive to the offer, one of those the enemy of my enemy is my friend sort of deals."
"Isanada above, was I wrong on that. The Dominion was far less open to negotiations then I thought. In fact, they didn't even bother to hear my proposal, just arrested me, tortured me, and threw me into Belsenkov. I'm not even sure they knew or cared who I was, I've got quite the rep back in the Empire," he shot Juvia a sly grin and despite the fact this man was not Gray, she did feel her heart quicken, "Now that's my story. You three are the interesting ones though. Not many mercs or smugglers would come this far into the Dominion heartland, pro bono no less. And that magic, you guys aren't some common Edge sellspells. I'm guessing ex-Magisters, correct me if I'm wrong?"
"Slate wouldn't believe Juvia if she told him. Suffice to say, neither Juvia, Natsu, or Happy are from the Empire. We're Fairy Tail wizards, and that's all you need to know."
"Fairy Tail?" Slate wrinkled his brow, giving Juvia a piercing stare before shrugging, "Fair enough. Keep your secrets. We'll have a full conversation with some intimate details over dinner after we're off this planet."
Dinner? Is he really asking Juvia out on a date?! Juvia felt her pulse quicken. The man wasn't Gray and she found a lot about him questionable but she would admit he was very easy on the eyes. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to do a real date for the experience...
Focus Juvia! Now isn't the time for these thoughts! She thought to herself as their driver shouted out that they had reached the city limits and to brace themselves.
"We're here! Roadblock up ahead! Eat lead you Dominion bastards!" Natsu shouted through the comms as he opened up full force on the Dominion roadblock ahead, Home Guard soldiers diving into cover as repeating plasma cannons set up behind barricades opened up on their vehicle and the ones following behind.
"We don't have time for a firefight!" Slate shouted into his own headset, "Ram through! We have to get to that starport yesterday!"
"On it sir!" Reins shouted as he floored the Tachutcha through the roadblock, the armored front of the vehicle smashing through a weakened barricade, the impact sending both Juvia and Slate crashing forward into the backs of the front seats. Reins didn't slow down as Natsu kept his finger on the trigger, the heavy auto-cannon spitting depleted uranium death at any Dominion soldier unable to get out of his sights, pulping them into red mist and crimson chunks onto the pavement.
"Take that ya pricks!" Natsu yelled, vibrating as the cannon emptied shell after shell, "Speed up guys! We're almost there!"
"Push through! To the starport and to freedom!" Slate's voice boomed out, a rousing cheer answering him on the comms as the commandeered Resistance vehicles sped through the ruined barricade, tires kicking up blood and dust as Dominion soldiers recovered and opened fire on the convoy.
"Aleena, we are in the city limits!" Juvia yelled as the rest of the convoy sped through the barricade onto an open and deserted stretch of Azravaya's highway system, "Can you make it to the starport?"
"Already on my way. Georgys and I are taking some shortcuts. You've drawn all the Dominion's attention. I should be able to get close to the starport," Aleena spoke rapidly and in a hushed tone, "Be careful. I'll see you soon."
"You too Aleena," Juvia whispered back before looking out the front viewport of the Tachutcha. The starport loomed before them, already Dominion dropships were in the air and speeding towards it. They were so close, Juvia could almost taste their freedom.
Yet she couldn't shake the fact that something was about to go horribly wrong.
"ETA to the starport at two minutes, thirty seconds Commandant!" the pilot's voice came over Yuri's earpiece, "Heretic convoy is set to hit the starport in four minutes!"
"Acknowledged Lieutenant," Yuri spoke back, not even bothering to hide the irritation in his voice.
He had less than a minute and half upon landing to organize a defense and lockdown of Azravaya's starport, with troops that were used to bullying the locals and drinking away their leave, who almost assuredly hadn't had even experienced a true firefight. Failure would see him either die in battle or be executed for incompetence and dereliction of duty. Success would still probably see him executed for allowing the worst prison break in Dominon history to happen on his watch.
Zeffia, you stupid fucking corpse of a woman, you had it out for me as soon as you were assigned here, he fumed and in the cramped confines of the dropship, his troops were doing their best to give him a wide berth. Whether it was the murderous aura on him or that none of them wanted to be to close to a dead man walking lest they catch his fatal affliction, he couldn't say.
Zeffia didn't even have the good manners to die in her fight with the Magisters. She had been rushed in orbit to her destroyer, currently in a Sphere of Regeneration. But even missing a limb and on the verge of bleeding out, she had still made sure to spite Yuri by assigning overall command of the whole debacle to her subordinate. Who had made sure to hang close to Yuri like a fly to dung.
"You are lucky that I have forbidden air strikes, Commandant Duskin", a voice that sounded like crackling paper came from behind Yuri, practically spitting out his title, "You can make up for your blasphemies in personal combat. The Void will be pleased with your atonement offering."
That was Kaus Vant, Yuri's nominal superior and most likely his awaiting executioner. Yuri didn't even bother to reply to the man, just shooting the tall, willowy man a glare. Even through his ebon robes, Yuri could see how skinny the man looked, his skin a dry pale that looked cracked in places, almost as if the man was starting to mummify. The Void Priest just smiled at him with teeth too white.
Oh don't worry Vant. I'm going to give you and the Void an offering you'll never forget.
"Keep moving, don't let yourself get pinned down!" Slate yelled as he launched an ice spear into a Dominion soldier, impaling the man into a poster emphasizing the qualities of a good citizen. Natsu was but a pace behind him, unleashing a Fire Dragon's Roar onto a security checkpoint, incinerating the soldiers that hadn't rolled out of the way in time.
Azravaya Starport was in chaos. Smoke from his flames and plasma scorching filled the air, the staccato of projectile weapons mixing with the hissing whines of plasma weapons and explosions of grenades. People were shouting, screaming, as Resistance fighters and Dominion soldiers traded fire, the Resistance only barely able to keep pushing thanks to Slate and Natsu's magical blitzkrieg. They had already left behind several Resistance members who had paid the ultimate price for this rescue.
"Happy, how's that mainframe hacking coming?" Natsu yelled back to his blue furred friend, who was ducked down beneath a desk with a portable tablet, his paws smacking the screen at a rapid series of thuds.
"That's not how this works!" Happy yelled back in agitation as a blue bolt of plasma sailed over his head, "I got the blast doors overridden, but shutting down AA guns is not something I've done before! Military systems are hard!"
"Well just smack the screen harder!" Natsu yelled as he took cover behind a duracrete island that served as what passed for decoration to Dominion sensibilities, "We need to go now!"
"Yelling at me won't make it go faster!"
"Cut the chatter, Dominion fireteam coming from luggage!"
Natsu turned at Slate's warning, black-armored soldiers spraying plasma as they took up firing positions. They weren't in the way, so Natsu kept moving, trusting the Resistance rearguard to keep them busy. Behind him, Juvia was escorting Aleena's family, dragging them along with hands linked, pausing only to fire a few rounds from the shredder pistol she had taken back at the prison to keep Dominion goons from drawing a bead on them. Natsu trusted her to keep them safe, focusing instead on clearing a path with Slate.
"Not much further Natsu! The tram station to the docking bays is just up ahead!" Slate said as they turned the corner in the commercial thoroughfare they were in, passing by shut down shops and cafes. If there was one thing they hadn't run into, it was civillains. The Dominion had at least cleared out anyone non-military from the starport. It made their escape from Karzag much less messy at the very least.
"Aleena, we are almost to the tram station! Where are you?!" Juvia's voice was strained, panting. They had been nonstop for almost a full day. Even with the healing magic, she was starting to lose steam.
"We are in the starport!" Aleena's voice sounded as tired and on edge as Juvia's. "Give us two minutes. I'm going through the east access."
"Be careful," Juvia cut the feed as they followed Slate and Natsu, their rapidly diminishing Resistance escort keeping a hail of suppressive fire down the hallway. There, there were in the transit plaza, the tram station unguarded and still online. That sent alarm bells in Juvia's mind, but who was she to question a lucky break. Gods knew they needed one.
"Juvia!" that was Happy, who had attached himself to Anton's broad shoulders, still clutching his stolen Dominion data tablet, "I got the AA defense offline. Sort of. I have them reclassifying starships and aircraft as local birds, but that change won't go for long before they see what I did. We need to leave as soon as we can."
Juvia opened her mouth to answer before Slate and Natsu both called out a warning.
"Tram is coming our way! Death Corps!"
"Shit its a trap!"
Juvia knew this was too easy, she thought darkly as she let go of Albert's hand, tucking her pistol away and gathering her mana to her. She looked back to see that Happy had already gathered the Stukovs to a position of other Resistance fighters were taking up firing positions or keeping their rear covered. She readied a Water Cane, her stomach in knots. Every delay they had was costing them time they didn't have.
The tram started opening its doors before it even docked at the station, Death Corps soldiers firing plasma rifles and light automatic plasma cannon, hosing the plaza with superheated death. There were screams as three Resistance fighters, including their driver Reins, were blown into steaming chunks. Juvia snarled, whipping her Water Cane into the tram just as it settled into the station, grabbing ahold of two soldiers and whipping them out, releasing the spell and smashing them into the wall with enough force to crack the duracrete. Natsu had abandoned all caution, jumping straight into the tram, a flurry of limbs as skull-faced soldiers were smashed into the floor or tossed out to be speared by Slate. In less than ten seconds, it was over, Natsu snapping the neck of the Corp officer, poking his head out and motioning for everyone to get on.
"Everyone move! On to the tram now!" Slate yelled as he joined Natsu in hurriedly throwing out the Dominion corpses. Juvia stood, letting the Stukovs and Resistance members go past hr, eyes desperately scanning the plaza as she reached for her earpiece. Only to stop, as Aleena came into view turning the corner to the east, Georgy in her arms. Juvia stiffened as she saw the woman was bleeding from her side, before running towards her.
"Juvia, take Georgys, they are right behind-"
Whatever the woman was about to say was stopped dead in her throat as a dark shadowy tendril erupted from her chest, lifting her into the air. Georgys fell screaming from Aleena's limp arms. Juvia reacted, whipping another Water Cane to grab the young boy before he hit the ground, only peripherally aware of the heart-wrenching screaming in the tram. Her spell grabbed Georgys, whipping him back as Aleena was enveloped by fanged shadow, before a sickening crunching sound was heard, crimson spraying through the umbral cloud. Juvia caught Georgys, her mind running on instinct as the shadow withdrew, revealing a tall, thin, deathly pale man dressed in black robes, surrounded by a cadre of Death Corps soldiers and officers, including a older but burly man in a trenchcoat who was surveying the scene with disgust.
"Aleena! Aleena!" a deep voice rang out as Anton pushed his way through the tram, running past Juvia, who was just holding the crying Georgys as tight as she could. How, why, we were so close, the thoughts sped through her mind like bullets, Aleena guided us, she was so careful, we had this. She could hear Natsu and Happy screaming for her to come back to the tram, but she could only watch as Anton went down, a particle beam searing through his head as he ran to where his wife had been but seconds before, red steam coming from the thumb sized hole in the back of his head.
He smiled. The vile pale corpse priest smiled, smiled as he and his thugs murdered innocent people. Even in her shocked exhaustion, Juvia felt the Leviathan's call. A desperate tug at the collar of her dress snapped her back as Georgys tear and mucous covered face refocused her energy. She ran, hyper aware of everything around her, dodging another beam rifle shot as the Resistance opened up, a flurry of lead and ice shards keeping some of the focus off of Juvia.
"Hit it!" Nala commanded, as another fighter hit the controls for the tram just as Juvia jumped in, a shadow tendril piercing the duracrete where she had stood but a moment before. The tram started moving, far too slowly for Juvia's liking. She was numbly aware of the people groaning from injuries, of Albert and Fyra crying as Fyra scooped Georgys from her arms.
Juvia failed, the righteous anger had been replaced with emptiness, Juvia failed you Aleena. Juvia should have gone for you, should have met up with you. She sat down on the floor of the tram as people began wrapping up scrapes or applying burn gel from near-misses from plasma. The Stukovs were on the floor too, holding each other and their child, crying. Slate and Natsu were having a heated discussion, while Happy looked as dejected as Juvia. No Gray, no Aleena, no Anton, all of these people dying to get us out. What was the point in coming here?
She would have swam in her own negativity forever if she hadn't heard the snapping of fingers and looked up to see Natsu. He looked like he had been punched in the gut, but his face read control and determination.
"Juves, Juves, you there?" When the bluenette nodded, Natsu continued, "Slate's ship is closer to the tram than ours. He's going to take Albert, Fyra, and Georgys and get them somewhere safe to start a new life. I made him promise and told him we'd be following up on that. When this tram hits, we need to run back to the Express. We are going to have to Jump at unsafe distances, it's almost guaranteed that the High Spooky Bitch's fleet has a cordon above the city.
I know this is horrible, but I need you to focus. I need you to fly. Can you do that?"
His tone wasn't demanding, but understanding. Juvia nodded, grimacing, an idea coming to her mind as she felt the anger surge again.
"Juvia will be ready."
They had made it to the Express in record time, both of them using their magic to fuel their speed while Happy clung onto Natsu for dear life. They hadn't even bid goodbye to Slate and the others, time utterly of the essence. Juvia already had the engine startup sequence going before she even sat down, Natsu taking the copilot's seat while Happy set himself up in Natsu's lap.
"Fuel lines activated," Juvia mechanically sounded off the takeoff procedure, "Stabilizers green, thrusters online, shields online, weapon primed. Let;s go."
"Wait, weapon primed?" Natsu was shoved back into his seat as Juvia punched it, the Express shooting out of their docking bay like a bat out of hell. Juvia swung the Express in a hard turn as they climbed into the atmosphere, sensor alarms screaming out as the Express' onboard AI informed them of incoming fighter craft. There, Slate's blocky Laden-class freighter was lifting into the air, concealed plasma cannons coming out of gunports and opening fire on the approaching Dominion Vipers.
"Juves, why are we not going up?" Natsu asked worriedly as he caught the look on Juvia's face. Her normally cheerful blue eyes were as hard as ice, the woman's face stone cold. She had the flight stick in her hands, finger above the trigger they had installed that connected to the Express' new light plasma cannon…Oh no.
"Juves?!"
If Juvia heard him, she didn't register it as she lined up the targeting sights of the cannon and hit the trigger. Green bolts the size of a bicycle shot out of the Express' ventral cannon, raking the starport below with indiscriminate fire. The slate-gray roof exploded into dusty chunks, walls collapsing as Juvia did not let up, aiming for anything that looked important. She let up just enough to let the cannon's cooling system kick in and vent its heat before turning her attention to the AA turrets. She zoomed by in a strafing run, blowing through five of the turrets before diving the Express underneath Slate's ship, coming up and opening up on the underbelly of a Viper, blowing the dagger-shaped craft to pieces, the Express blowing through the smoke and debris like a breaching shark.
"Juves, I get your mad, but we aren't built for dogfighting!" Natsu's voice was pleading, "We need to go now before we get swarmed!"
"No, Juvia is going to hunt and take what is owed to her!" she whipped her head back to him, her face contorted into a snarl, "What is owed to Aleena! The Dominion needs to pay!"
"I know that, fuck I do!" Natsu felt real concern now, if Juvia only had vengeance on the mind they were all going to die here, "We can get payback later, right now we need to get the hell out of here!" She snarled again, but he pressed on.
"Please. Us dying above Karzag is not what everyone would want for us. Please Juvia. Let's go."
He bit his lip, praying he got through to her, only to let out a sigh of quiet relief when he saw her shoulders sag and she turned the Express away from an incoming squadron of Dominion fighters, instead angling upwards and hitting the rear thrusters.
"Happy, put us to Keru's Hollow please. Juvia will jump as soon as she leaves the atmosphere," his partner's voice was deflated.
"Aye sir," Happy gave a half-hearted salute and quickly entered in the coordinated before overriding the safety on close range jumps. The sensors were blaring that they had fighters on their tail, but the Express had been custom built to outrun Imperial customs cutters. They were left behind in short order. In a few more seconds, the AI announced they had left the atmosphere, the looming predatory silhouette of the Dominion heavy destroyer in direct orbit above them.
"Ready!" Happy shouted as Natsu squeezed him tight. Juvia hit the sequence for the Jump and the Fairy Express slipped through the dimensional portal before disappearing with an azure pulse.
The mood onboard was wrong. At least to Juvia. The Express had quickly become a place of jokes and warmth, a temporary home away from home while they searched the galaxy for their friends.
There was no warmth here now. Their mission had been an absolute failure on multiple accounts. Gray was nowhere to be found, just an Edolas-esque doppelganger. Aleena and her husband were dead, only a few hundred feet from salvation. They weren't getting any payment for this job and now, they had no more leads to any of their friends. The only thing they had acquired on this trip was trauma and wounds.
"We've got a twelve day trip ahead of us," Natsu was trying to keep his tone light, but he looked as crestfallen as she did, "We've got enough supplies at least and plenty to keep us occupied. Happy downloaded a ton of shows for us to try out. I'm going to be hitting the weights most likely, I gotta keep my figure slim!"
He tried a goofy pose, but Juvia didn't even look up. She had been staring at the common room floor since they had entered the Jumpstream. She heard him sigh as he sat down next to her.
"Okay, I'm not going to beat around the bush. That sucked. That sucked hard," she glanced over at him, seeing he had his face buried in his hands, "I don't think we've had a job go more wrong since our trials at Tenrou. We got nothing out of this other than hopefully making sure Georgys and his parents go somewhere safe. I'm sorry Juvia."
She looked up at him with a glazed over expression, too tired even for tears. "This is not Natsu's fault. Please don't apologize." Her words were hollow. She was so tired. Natsu looked at her, really wishing he knew what to do in this situation. Lucy would have wanted a hug, but he didn't know Juvia well enough to get an accurate read on her. He sighed, wanting nothing more than to go to bed and forget all about the last twenty-four hours.
"Do you wanna talk about it Juves? It might feel good to just let everything out?" He stumbled over his words a bit, not sure how to phrase it. Juvia just shook her head, but he felt his heart flutter just a bit when he got the smallest smile from her.
"No. Juvia does not want to talk. Not…right now anyways. Perhaps another time?" Natsu just nodded.
"That sounds good Juvia."
"Juvia would like to go to bed. For a long time." Natsu yawned loudly, blinking his eyes
"I agree. We'll talk tomorrow okay? Goodnight Juvia," he got up, about to grab Happy who had already passed out on the common room couch, when a pale hand seized his arm with more force than he was expecting. He looked over to see that Juvia would not meet his eyes and her face was as red as a tomato back home.
"Uh you need something Juves?" he asked cautiously, confused over her behavior.
"Juvia…Juvia does not want to sleep alone tonight," her voice was a strange combination of embarrassed and absolute certainty, "Juvia knows this is highly inappropriate and Natsu will most likely refuse, but Juvia just wants to sleep by someone. Juvia…I do not want to be alone right now."
Natsu's mind stopped for a moment, little Natsus running frantically in his brain to try and rationalize what Juvia Lockser had just said to him. His miniature brain selves were in the middle of a crisis meeting with graphs and pie charts when Juvia let go of him and shifted away.
"Juvia understands. She is sorry she asked."
"No!"
He yelled louder than he intended, causing Happy to startle awake and Juvia to flinch. He grabbed her hand back, making her look up with wide eyes.
"Shit sorry, didn't mean to yell," he felt a bit out of his depth for reasons he couldn't pinpoint at the moment, "No, Juves. I have zero problem with you sleeping with me. I love cuddling, I did it with Igneel, I do it with Happy, hell me and Gray used to snuggle with Erza when we were younger and too tired to make it to our own beds. I'm not going to make you sleep alone. Especially not after today."
There was an awkward silence between them as Natsu felt his own face heat up at rambling like an idiot, while Juvia just stared at him. It was thankfully broken by snickering.
"Natsu and Juvia are in looooooooove!"
"Shut it cat, that's not what I meant!" Natsu went to grab his cheeky bastard of a friend, when Juvia got up and pulled him into a hug. A tight hug, the coolness of her mana feeling so good against his warmth. He froze, before wrapping his arms around her and embracing her back. She rested her head onto his shoulder and they stood there for a moment, before he heard her whisper into his ear.
"Thank you."
"No problem Juves. Let's head to bed. I call big spoon though!"
Yuri Duskin coughed as he got up, spitting up dust and gravel as he wiggled his way out form underneath a chunk of what used to be Azravaya Starport's ceiling. He felt like a thousand equines had taken turns stomping on his back, but nothing felt broken and aside from a few minor cuts, he wasn't bleeding. The same could not be said for the rest of Void Priest Kant's personal guard. Judging from the blood, squished out organs, and severed limbs littering what used to be the main docking bay corridor, they hadn't had his luck.
What a shame, he thought dryly, as he heard a cough and sound of rubble shifting. His icy blue eyes went up ahead, where a shadow tendril was weakly pushing a steel beam and sifting rubble off of it, revealing a very bloodied Kant.
Of course I couldn't get that lucky, universe always has to complicate things, Yuri scowled as the Void Priest coughed up blood before turning to Yuri. He looked on the verge of losing consciousness, his right leg punctured by rebar and his left wrist snapped at an unnatural angle. He managed to look both grateful and disgusted when he saw Yuri was still standing.
"Commandant, thank the Void, please, radio the Eviscerator. My commpiece was destroyed when the heretics bombarded us. I need medical attention. Do it now!"
Yuri cocked his head, looking down at this pathetic shriveled walking corpse of a human being. He glanced around and saw something interesting. Sirens were still blaring, deafening and there was no power here, nothing to power the cameras. Perhaps most enlightening to his situation, there seemed to be an abundance of corpses, yet nary a living breathing witness to be found. Yuri Duskin straightened his shoulders and smiled down at the Void Priest.
"I'm afraid that is going to be quite impossible, Your Excellency," Yuri's tone was the most cheerful it had been in years. Kant looked perplexed, then outraged.
"What in the Void are blathering about?! I can see your earpiece! Radio for medical transport immediately Commandant or I will personally see to your execution!" Kant snarled, spit and blood sputtering out of his mouth like a wounded, rabid animal. Yuri kept on smiling as he pulled his plasma pistol out, inspecting the polymer grip.
"Oh indeed, my communications equipment is perfectly functional, Your Excellency. However, I'm afraid that Dominion Emergency Protocol 4-A states that corpse retrieval is a tertiary priority and calling for an evac for dead casualties is considered a major offense."
"Corpses?! You dolt, I meant for…." it was then that Kant seemed to truly see Yuri, "Commandant, please. If you call, I will make sure your punishment for this catastrophe is minor, a mere flogging. Please, think rationally, think of the teachings of the Void!
"Well that is a generous offer Kant, but I'm afraid that as we are both dead men and claimed by the Void that it is truly a redundant offer. Oh," Yuri raised his pistol to Kant's head, "It appears that the falling rubble set off my pistol. Oh if only my safety had been on."
"Wait! Comman-"
A whine followed by the wet explosion of flesh and blood combusting as Kant's head and upper torso were vaporized. Yuri tossed the pistol, before losing his trenchcoat and taking his cap off and stuffing it in the rubble. Petrovic had already sent word to his ex and son. They would be safe for the time being. He fished out a intact helmet off a Death Corps trooper and put it on, safe in its anonymity. Yuri Duskin was now officially dead. Now he just needed to walk his corpse to his hidden shuttle outside the city. Being dead didn't mean he didn't have places to be.
So I'm not dead.
I truly apologize for the almost two year gap here. In the time since I posted my last chapter I thought about blowing my brains out, almost got divorced, got on medication that made not sad or a douchebag, had to work two jobs to help pay the bills, got super screwed on my taxes, got COVID, and just all in all had kind of a shit time.
But I'm back. I can't promise regular updates as I am working over 60 hours a week for the rest of the summer, but I'm back to reading and trying to write at least every other day. I hope this chapter, which I rewrote about five times and still hate, is at least passable and worth the wait.
- TheSilverDragoon94