Chapter Three
I was up and about a few hours later, staring at the small screen on that usually displayed Ai's chosen digital form, my eyes endlessly searching readout after readout. No matter how I sliced it, there was no way to get around the terrifying experience of teleporting to the Erchius Facility... it just wasn't happening, not with my ship in this kind of disarray. "...dammit..." I mumbled, glaring daggers at the screen.
"Staring it down won't change things, Captain." Ai mused to me.
"I fuckin' know... I'm just not looking forward to it at all." I responded with a despondent sigh. I pushed off the wall – resigned to my psuedo-fate – and gave a nod. "Well, guess no sense putting it off, huh?"
"Before you go, Captain, it might be worth noting we have no idea what might be waiting for you. I would suggest arming yourself before leaving." The little panel beside the console slid open to reveal a small holdout pistol I kept in extreme emergencies. I may not have been a fighter, but I knew which end of the gun the shots came out of, so I wasn't completely inept. It was a small gun – bought off a black-market weapons dealer who had the serial number scrubbed off for me – with a three-inch long barrel and a tiny charge pack. I think I remember the guy saying it would only be able to fire three, maybe four times before the charge pack was depleted, but it would regenerate pretty quickly. "Do you require an instruction manual?" Ai asked when she noted me studying the gun.
"You're fuckin' funny." I responded, tucking the gun into the waistband of my panties. "Just keep an eye on me through the scanner, and pull me out if it gets too hot. I'd much rather be laid up in bed for a week with a broke-ass ship then risk getting killed to fix it."
"Confirmed." A beep. "I've tied your vitals into the ship's teleporter. If they drop to a critical level, you will be instantly transported back here." I may not have liked teleporting... but I liked dying even less. I nodded to Ai and took a deep breath, and stood on the teleporter pad.
"Alright, Ai. Keep the girls in the cargo hold-" I could get away with calling it what it was out here. "-and if I'm gone too long and people start bitchin' about being hungry, send Nakadi out to hunt again. She seems rather keen on it."
"Yes, Captain. And..." She paused. "Do be careful." I smiled a little at her concern.
"Don't you worry, Ai. I'll always come back to you."
"Engaging Teleportation." She didn't even bother acknowledging my comment... typical Ai. The pad below me lit with a soft amber as it engaged, my body feeling suddenly lighter then air for a second as my vision was consumed with a bright yellow light. Really, the worst part about teleportation was how bloody cold it got while you were in transit. It... felt really strange. Like, you could see into forever... but it was like one of those old-world first-person games where if you looked down, all you saw was air. It was like that. I could feel my body, but I couldn't for the fuckin' life of me see it.
And just about as fast as it started, it was over. I found myself standing in a dark metal room with a teleportation pad below my feet. I took a deep breath to fight off the chills I had, and instantly regretted it. The next thing to leave my mouth was a hoarse, rasped cough. "Wha' th' fuck...?" I choked out. "Can't... hardly breathe..."
"Captain..." Ai's voice came over my radio, I reached to answer it. "...don't respond. Don't talk, don't do much of anything. Scans indicate life-support has been cut off to this section. I estimate you have around three minutes of air, before you suffocate. I've located the local-area shunt for life-support. It's close. I recommend moving quick. Out the door before you and take the left path down the hall. At the far end will be an open door. Enter it and the life-support shunt is in there." I nodded to her and slowly walked out of the room. I did my best to control my breathing, taking slow, long breaths as I moved. I would hold each breath for a few seconds before releasing it, just to get the most out of each one. Why would they shut off life-support? What would they hope to accomplish? The floor was cold on my otherwise bare feet... shit, should have put some damn shoes on... I moved with a relative quickness, but not so much as to chew through too much of the already dwindling air supply. Slipping through the open door, I found two things of interest. The first, was the life-support shunt on the back wall, it's panel open and the switch thrown into the 'off' position. Beside the main switch were two smaller switches that referenced other areas of the station. The large one was labeled 'Reception and Sales' while the other two were 'Miner's Quarters' and 'Mine'.
The second interesting thing I found would be a corpse lying against the wall under the shunt. It was wearing a high-visibility vest and a durasteel mining helmet, complete with light and shatter-proof face shield. I believe at one point the corpse was human, but it's skin was so bloated and pink (not the normal, healthy pink you'd associate with a human's 'natural' complexion, but a bright, almost cartoonish pink) that it was almost impossible to distinquish. It's eyes were shut and it's chest had stopped moving... it was probably dead. I opened my mouth to ask a rhetorical question, but quickly remembered my rapidly diminishing air supply.
"Captain, it seems the station only has enough power to keep one area oxygenated at a time. I am currently detecting seven life signatures – all human – in the Miner's Quarters below us. I believe the life-support was diverted there." Oh, well, that's a simple solution then, isn't it? Without a second thought, I switched over the Miner's Quarters shunt to 'off', and the Reception and Sales one to 'on'. "Captain, if you shut off life-support to the Miner's Quarters, all seven humans will be killed within minutes." The lights clicked back on and the fans began to turn, the droll hum of air flowing through the station. I took a deep breath of the newly flowing air.
"I know they will." I mused, slamming the shunt panel closed. "With any luck, they'll be dead before I get down to that level, so I won't have to deal with the pleading." I shrugged. "B'sides, what's the difference between 'they're were dead when I arrived' and 'no survivors'?" I grinned as I answered my own question. "They both get the same point across, and only one's a lie." Ai fell silent. "Look, Ai, you can sit here and argue semantics with me, or you can realize there's no other option right now. If I want to do what I need to do, there has to be sacrifices. Seven of them, to be exact." She silently agreed with me and allowed me to continue on my way. I turned to leave the breaker room only to have a sharp moan assault my ears. "Jesus fuck what is that?" Turning around, I watched the corpse – or what I previously thought to be a corpse – moan and stand to a lumbering six foot eleven inch height. I noticed that under it was lying a massive miner's sledge hammer, usually used to dislodge otherwise stubborn formations of ore or – in this case – Crystalline Erchius formations. But for now? In this thing's hands... it was a weapon. I didn't bother asking what I should do, the answer was right in front of me. Taking the pistol in my waistband into a shaking hand, I pointed it towards the hulking brute and fired three shots. Each blast struck the beast in the chest, it's skin seeming to ripple with the impact. The semi-solid slugs formed no holes as they burrowed inside, only a slight sizzling sound assailed my ears. Wrapping a nearly tentacle-like arm around the hammer, it rose it over it's head with impossible strength before trying to bring it down on my head.
My right food tried to clip through my left, which caused me to stumble and fall backwards... which as the hammer came crashing down right onto the metal where I was standing not a few seconds ago I found to be a blessing of the highest caliber. I managed to pick myself up and take a few hops backwards, assessing the beast best I could, as the pistol recharged. Once the small indicator light turned green, I let loose a second barrage of gunfire. This trio of shots also found homes in it's gelatenous body, causing nothing more then a ripple – as though I had dropped a pebble into a river. I quickly scanned it with my eyes... this thing had to have some kind of visible weakness... something I could use to exploit and kill it. Everything had a weakness, be it physical or metaphysical... there was always something to exploit. It's grip on it's hammer tightened as it lumbered towards me, lifting the great weight over it's head effortlessly. As though it were a feather, I swung the hammerhead around in a horizontal cleave, nearly catching me in the side, had I not struggled to put some distance between us.
I felt the rush of air waft by my face as the hammer missed me by mere inches. As if enraged by my constant dodging, the creature barked a rough roar into my face, it's mouth hanging agape to show a pink crystal inside, as though it had choked on an Erchius Crystal. Quickly bringing the pistol up, I fired another trio of shots, the first two peppering it's face, while the third and final struck the crystal and shattered it. I watched as the collection of pink goo that was it's body suddenly turn liquid and fall to the ground. My reaction was just about as instantaneous. I barely had time to turn my head before my gag reflex failed and what remained of my last meal in my stomach was clawing it's way up my throat and spilling out over the deck.
"Captain, are you alright?" I fought hard to think up a snarky response to Ai's question, but the only thing that came out was the truth.
"I just watched the thing melt. You tell me, Ai... F-fffheck..." I stayed doubled over, hands on my knees, as the last of my stomach's contents purged themselves on the floor. Fuck that was damn gross. After a moment, my diaphram stopped spazzing out so I could actually continue with this stupid-ass suicide mission of mine. Spitting the last of whatever was in my mouth out to the floor, I quickly quit the hallway I was in. I hope that was the last one of those ugly-ass things I'd have to meet...
"...gonna be tasting that for a while..." I muttered as I came to a door which read 'EMPLOYEES ONLY' in big, bold lettering on a gunmetal plaque bolted fast to the door. I saw no handles, but a small panel on the right-hand side did tell me that it was designed to be used with either a card, or some kind of code. I pressed one of the buttons on the panel and waited... nothing.
"Life support aside, all power seems to have been re-routed to the lower levels of the mine... Captain... I'm detecting more Chaotic Erchius readings from the lower levels... it seems that previous one was not the only one."
"Great." I rolled my eyes. "I need to get to the lower levels for that Crystal. Can you plot me a path?"
"Confirmed. You will have to take the service elevator down... however, it is jammed on the lowest level, and-"
"Lemme guess... the power's out." I interrupted her with a heavy sigh.
"That would be correct, Captain. I am, however, checking the inventory manifest of the facility, and have concluded that it does contain several HazEnv suits, as well as repelling gear in the crew quarters Armory, which is not too far from your current location. I would advice acquiring both a suit, and repelling gear, in preparation for your descent." Well, on the plus side... if this little adventure of mine got me nothing more... it's netting me some pretty neat toys. A Matter Manipulator... and now some repelling equipment and a HazEnv Suit. Ai directed me to the crew quarters armor on this level, which proved to be jut a few turns away. Down another corridor, I saw signs of a struggle, pink and red smears coating the walls and floors of the hallway.
"U-ugh..." I groaned, looking around the room, noting that was much more red then pink on the walls... and what pink there was on the walls, it appeared to be more of a... splatter then a smear? If that makes any sense? Like it was launched as a projectile, not splattered like blood. I took a step forward, my toe kicking something at my feet. "Augh! Ffffuck!" I growled at the spike of pain from kicking something metal. "Sonuvabitch... mmmm!" I growled, looking down at what I kicked. "Is this a-" It was. Dipping down, I picked up the assault rifle that had been discarded by some poor sod, and checked the weapon over. It was in good condition, and it's charge pack was full. "Alright... take two."
Like I mentioned earlier, I'm not a fighter. If some lanky bitch comes at me with a stick, I'm probably going to lose that fight instantly... but that doesn't mean that I can't fire a gun. If it's strange human/Erchius hybrids that don't have any weapons, I can play keep away with them all day. I just hope this particular weapon serves me better then whatever poor sod owned it previously. Tucking it close to my chest, I continued on my way.
"I see you've acquired a better weapon, Captain. My scans indicate that that particular weapon is a cast-off assault rifle sold to all Lethia LLC employees. To say it is a poor excuse for a weapon would be an understatement."
"True..." I responded with a nod. "But considering this stupid little hold out pistol is a cast off of a cast off, it's got to be better, right?"
"True. Just do keep your eyes open for better equipment." Lethia LLC... the scumbag of the universe. They were the quintessential big-government business conglomerate that dealt in everything from Erchius-powered FTL engines, all the way down to varieties of weapons and armor. Before they were shut down, the United Systems Colonial Marines were funded and trained primarily by Lethia LLC, and because they were provided most of Lethia's good equipment, they were often bribed to be Lethia's 'enforcement' branch, sent to 'enforce' Lethia's rather loose corporate standards and protect the two most important things to them: Their pixels and their equipment... which would cost more money to replace. Yeah, they're paragons of human decency. A lot of people thought Lethia went under a few years ago, but that's just something the Terrane Protectorate told people, because Lethia was supplying them with equipment for a while, and it caused this huge spat between the TP and pretty much everyone else in the universe.
Shit weapon or not, it was better then nothing, so tucking it to my chest, making sure the safety was off, I pushed forward, trying not to think that the red covering the walls was probably human blood. "Take your next left." Ai told me, causing me to turn and open a heavy, if not rusted, iron door which had it's lock shot off in a hurry. I scanned the room, looking at everything I could find. It was a standard armory; lockers lining both left and right walls, with a long rack of weapons (or what would have been weapons) monopolizing the back wall. A few free-standing lockers were set in the middle of the room with benches in front of them. One look at the locker room would tell me that hardly no one had a chance to get here. Aside form the blown lock, only one locker was showing any sign of damage, the door torn off it's hinges and tossed to the side. The red inside told me that someone tired to hide inside the locker, and were about as successful as you'd imagine.
"All the weapons have been taken..." I wasn't surprised at this fact, just more miffed then anything else. I scanned the room, hoping to find the hazardous environment suit that Ai mentioned. "Where are you...?" I really hated clashing my style, but if it would help me survive here, I'll take a hit to my Fashion Score.
"I'm detecting several functioning suits within assorted lockers, and one set of repelling gear in a crate near the rear of the room." Ai helped me narrow the search down a little. I took the handle of one locker and pulled. Locked. I moved on the the next, giving it an equally firm tug. Also locked. To make a boring, slightly comedy-sketch-like story short, every locker seemed to be locked... I don't know why I expected any different, they're called 'lockers' not 'unlockers'.
"Alright, fuck the quiet approach." I took a step back and shouldered the assault rifle before firing a single shot into the handle, blowing a hole in the cheap steel locker. Careful not to cut or burn myself on the now jagged, heated metal, I pulled the locker open. I had expected to see a bright-yellow suit with the large, bullet-proof glass hood... you know, what you'd expect to see as a HazMat suit. Instead, I was greeted by a somewhat thick black metal collar with a few triangle-shaped bits that were mounted onto elastic bands. "D'fuck is this?" I asked rhetorically to Ai, picking up one of the collars.
"An experimental Enviornmental Protection Suit designed by the Disavow Corporation to replace the large, bulky, back-mounted units. According to my records, it creates a barrier of ionized air around your body that provides pressurization as well as a breathable atmosphere, without the use of bulky equipment. According to my records, the suit can be worn almost all day without it interfering with any of your daily activities, including bathing, eating and sleeping." I blinked. Okay... now that was cool. I put the gun in the locker and held the collar with both hands.
"How does it work...?"
"One moment. Accessing Disavow Corporate Records." Did I mention Ai was programmed with pretty much every record of every major corporation in the universe, so I had a veritable wealth of information to go off of. "Place the collar around your neck, and the two smaller bands on your upper arm, over your shoulder. The larger bands wrap around your upper legs – the plates attached to your thighs. The leg sections and arm sections sync with the collar, and create the barrier of ionized air between them, covering your body." I nodded.
"Okay... let's see here..." I slipped the collar around my neck and closed it with a click. It wasn't what I'd call comfortable, but it was certainly a lot more comfortable then the bomb collars Yuzuki and all them had to wear. Slipping the arm bands around my arm and pulling them all the way up – so that the elastic was in my arm pit – I kept my eyes and ears open, just in case one of those freaks showed up. Next, was the leg sections. Like the arm bands, the leg bands were pulled all the way up my legs – the elastic setting in my groin between my torso and thigh – the whole set up seeming to lock in place. There came the sound of something powering up around me neck and after a second, the stale, recycled air of the mining facility was replaced by the scent of fresh, clean air. I couldn't seen the barrier around my body but... I could feel it... the short fur on my arms and legs stood just a bit up and my skin tingled with the suit. "Okay now... this is cool..." I chuckled to myself, looking the system over.
"Captain, it would be in your best interest to admire your newly acquired assets at a later time, when you are not in danger. I would recommend finding and equipping the repelling gear at your earliest convienece." I stuck my tongue out at Ai.
"Fun Nazi." I mused, turning to the crate near the rear Ai mentioned earlier. After searching for a moment to see if I could open it, I eventually just settled on smashing the decaying wooden lid open with the butt of the gun. You know... I keep forgetting I've got a Matter Manipulator... huh... go your whole life without something... Within the crate was a single piece of equipment for climbing or rapelling, a body harness with full back, chest, and leg support. The only difference between this and more 'archaic' versions, is this one had a reel – about a foot and a half in diameter – mounted flat against it's back, and a long glove on the right hand, that ended in a whole-hand rope brake.
"Do you require assistance putting this on, Captain?"
"I've gone rock climbing before..." I muttered. "Can't be too much different." I wasted no time in dressing in the lightweight, but noticable equipment. The glove seemed to be a feed mechanism for the grappling hook, and the hand had a brake installed in it... neat, I didn't need any extra equipment to use this. Donning it like I had done it a thousand times already, I made sure everything fit perfectly before looking myself over in the broken mirror. "You know, I'm not one for the tomb raider look but... this matches my outfit quite nicely." Ai didn't deign to answer my statement, instead just kept quiet. Huh... at least I know how to keep her quiet for some time. Looking at the grappling hook mounted under my right wrist, I played with it for a bit, just to see how it worked. Apparently, just pulling it out of it's sheathe would cause it to expand to it's full size. After that, it was just a matter of attaching it to something and control-falling where I needed to go. "Alright, Ai, where's this elevator?"
"Down the hallway you came from, six doors down on the right. You may need to manually override the control panel." Most Lethia equipment was easy enough to override... they didn't spend much money in cyber security, loathsomely enough. With my new gear donned and ready for whatever this place had in store for me, I tucked the rifle to my chest and made my way down.
The farther down I got, the more spastic the lights became, as though the power grid was still failing this far down. I squinted as I moved – cautiously – down the hallway towards my destination. I was still giddy like a schoolgirl that I didn't have to breathe that stale, stagnant air that permeated the facility. My musings took me straight to the elevator in question, which went from the facility level, all the way down to the mines, and eventually the Miner's Quarters. I knew as a fact, the mines were only partially oxygenated, enough to let people work, but they didn't waste gravity or much pressure keeping things comfortable here. Typical Lethia... maximize production and profit... without maximizing worker health and safety.
"There's the elevator." Ai's voice came to me again, the double doors on my right signalling the path down to my objective. "If you've been skimping on your exercises, then I would advise tripping the explosive bolts to blow the door off. Though, a warning. Destroying to door will explosively decompress the Sales and Reception area."
"Not like I care. It'll be a good chance to test out this EPP." I touched the collar on my neck to make sure it was still there. Satisfied it hadn't disappeared strangely, I turned back to the door. "And why waste time with bolts?" The Matter Manipulator came off my belt and was pointed at the elevator door. "...when I can just do this?" I clicked the trigger while pointing at the door, expecting the door to fizzle into a cloud of digital code and be stored in the Manipulator. Instead, what I got was a flashing red 'ERROR' message on the screen. Quirking an eyebrow, I looked at the screen and read it. "H-hey, Ai? Check the Protectorate Database and tell me what a 5-99 Error is..." While she did that, I tried to take the door off it's tracks once more.
"5-99 Error. Category: Matter Manipulator. Cause of error: GeeZo-class Glepnir Shield is in use on the premises. Matter Manipulator cannot penetrate GeeZo-Class Glepnir Sheild." I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily.
"Yer fuckin' shittin' me."
"I only read what you wanted." I sighed once more, going to the control panel after re-stashing the Manipulator on my belt.
"Bolts it is, then!" I announced loudly, prying the small panel off the wall with my claws, exposing the access panel beneath. There was a small lever which read 'E-Bolts' over it, and two small buttons on the side of it.
"To prime the E-Bolts, you must slide the lever all the way to the bottom, then press the top button. Once the bottom button turns green, you can press it next. Caution should be advised, as the E-Bolts could back-feed, and blow the door inwards towards you. I would advice seeking cover before hitting the second button." I knew these damn explosive bolts were notorious for killing people by blowing inward when they're supposed to blow outward, so her warning was not unwelcome. Unnecessary, but not unwelcome. Doing as instructed, I quickly yanked the lever down and pressed the first button as it turned green. After a few seconds, the second button clicked over from red to green as well. Ducking so I was well behind the wall, I placed a finger over the button and pressed it. Quickly following a charge sound, the elevator door exploded inward, slamming into the rear wall with enough force to temper Durasteel. Looks like Lethia really skimped on safety. "Oxygen is draining from the Sales and Reception area to the mine below. Ambient pressure is approximately one third Earth's atmsophere. You would be suffocating without that suit." I could feel lit, the ionized barrier around me becoming – heavier, I suppose is the right word? - as the pressure dramatically shifted.
"Alright-" At least the suit let me continue to talk when I otherwise couldn't. Slipping the grappling hook from it's sheath on my right wrist, I looked around for a place to anchor it. The hook itself was an adaptable kind... the one where it could either be a hook, claw or anchor, adapting to what you need.
"Captain, I detect you will have just enough cable to reach the bottom of the elevator shaft. You should anchor the hook somewhere close, to maximize the amount of cable you have." I know Ai's just trying to help but... man, she's talking a lot more then usual.
"You're being awefully chatty, Ai. You're not usually this chatty." I told her, tossing the hook onto the ground at my feet. Instantly, it deployed into a four-pronged hook and burrowed into the durasteel floor like a steel drill through dirt. Turning around, I dropped off the ledge – rope in hand – and began my descent.
"I am simply attempting to guide you through your heroics. This is very unlike you."
"Hey now... let's not jump to conclusions. There's nothing 'heroic' about this, okay? I'm doing this to fix my ship and get mobile again. There ain't nothin' 'heroic' about that."
"Of course. We also cannot forget the... four... five... six counts of murder." I chuckled at her.
"Yep, can't forget those, either. Remember Ai. 'No survivors'." I told her to remember her only half-lie. W-wait... wasn't there seven before? I mentally shook the thought out of my head, it wasn't important right now... she could have been counting the Erchius freak in that count, I don't know. The trip down was slow going, the cable slowly reeling out with each step I took down the wall, the brake on my hand keeping my pace consistant, but not too fast.
"H-hello! Hello up there!" I heard a voice call from far below me, echoing off the durasteel elevator shaft. It was female, but strong. "Are you friendly!?" Pausing mid stride, I looked down to see a faint nearly-human shape at the far bottom of the shaft looking up at me. "I heard the door blow, and thought it was a rescue team! How many of you are there!" Without asnwering, I faced forward.
"Ai... I thought you said there were no survivors."
"I am apparently incorrect. I'm detecting an EPP around the woman's neck as well. Apparently, you are not the only one who has one. My suggestion is to play it off."
"Fine fuckin' suggestion, Ai! She's a liability!"
"Then kill her." I shook my head, eyes wide.
"What!? Ai, that's-"
"-Asking too much? Your options are this, Captain: you can either work with her, and explain away what happened to her friends, or you can dispose of her." Gotta leave it to Ai to break everything down into a binary choice...
"Fine fine fine..." I grumbled, closing the channel to her.
"H-hello?! Can you hear me up there!"
"H-hey!" I called back, with a smile. "Hey, are you okay down there!" I heard her sigh in relief from here. I continued on my descent.
"I'm fine but... I think everyone else is dead!" A pause. "I... I told them to keep the EPP's close but... they didn't listen!" She continued to ramble as I got closer, eventually able to dislodge the hook with a flick of my wrist and drop the rest of the way down. When I stood fully from the landing, I came face-to-face with a blonde-haired human woman with deep pink eyes. "You're... dressed rather scantly, don't you think?" I shrugged to her comment.
"I like being free. Sue me." I shrugged.
"O-oh no! Please don't misunderstand my comment! It's just... are you military? Protectorate?"
"Protectorate?" Shit, think... "Y-yeah... My name's Risky Boots, Terrane Protectorate." Keeping the lies consistent is always a good choice. Her smile brightened.
"Oh thank God!" She clasped both hands together and smiled. "You're just in time, Risky! I... don't know how to explain this but... there's a... giant living Erchius Crystal at the bottom of this mine." I blinked. Once... twice... three times...
"A... giant... living... Erchius Crystal?" She nodded firmly, like it didn't make her sound crazy.
"Yes. You and your assault force need to get a message out. Lethia Corp shut our outbound communications off a month ago after we uncovered it, and we've not been able to get a message out since."
"W-wait... this thing's been out for a month?" She nodded. "How have you survived so long?"
"Lethia Corp had us stocked with six months of rations for our two hundred and fifty man crew... everyone but we seven were killed instantly. The rest of them had been holed up in the Miner's Barracks, going out only to bring back more supplies... but... I guess the power finally failed? I went back after collecting more food and... everyone had suffocated..." Good... good, she thinks it was a power failure. I looked her over, noticing a familiar black collar just under her golden hair, and familiar objects on her upper arms and thighs. She was also wearing a similar EPP to me. "I see you've got one of the new M2's that came in a few weeks before the assault."
"Y-yeah, I found it in the upper decks. Barely had time to get it on before I suffocated."
"And the rest of your force?"
"What 'rest'?" She blinked.
"It's... just you?" I nodded. "You... you can't hope to destroy this Horror by yourself! We've tried! Explosives, rockets, bullets, lasers... nothing has any effect! The only thing we've found that does is the mine's Heavy Excavation Laser... and that takes five people to operate with any efficiency!"
"I mean... do we have to kill it? Can't we just... grab a few crystals and skidaddle?"
"'Grab a few crys-" She looked at me in disbelief. "N-no, we can't just 'grab a few' and run! That damn thing is giving off some kind of emission that's blocking our ability to teleport in and out of the facility... come to think of it, how did you get here?"
"Getting in was easy. I guess getting out is harder, huh?"
"You have to call in reinforcements! We'll need at least three more people if we want to have a chance at-"
"There is no 'reinforcements', girl." I decided to put it bluntly. "It's just me. I was sent by Penguin Pete to find out what happened to his shipment, and get him a crystal to fix my ship. Hell, I didn't even know this place existed until about six hours ago."
"The damn pirate, of course! All that sonuvabitch cares about is his shipment! Look, I'll get you your crystal, I swear... but you have to help me kill that damn Horror! I know we're just a bum-fuck-nowhere mining facility, but a lot of my friends died when it was released. I want..." A pause. "...no... I need to give the closure! Please." She practically begged me.
"Alright, look. I'll help you kill the damn thing. You said there was a mining laser, right?"
"It's actually a Type XV Heavy Excavation Laser, used to vaporize rock and-"
"It mines Crystals." I told her forcibly. "It's a mining laser." I told her firmly, causing her to sigh, and nod. "Okay, why does it require five people?"
"The laser has four breakers connected to the station's reactor. They're designed to trip in the event that there's not enough power to power the laser. Now... I've done the math, and I can probably eek enough power from the station's reactor – even in it's state – to power the laser long enough to kill it... but it's spitting out those Erchius Abominations like a machine gun spits out bullets. We need five people to keep the breakers from tripping, in the event I'm wrong. Or we could jam them..." She shook her head, as if getting back on track. "Not important. If you could keep the Abominations off me... I think we can actually do this. We have to trip all four breakers and keep them on until the laser has enough charge to fire... then we just have to survive until the laser does it's job."
"Is this thing mobile?" She shook her head.
"No! No, thankfully. It's set about halfway into a stone wall. It woke up once it was exposed to air, and took over the facility almost instantly. Don't worry, though, it can't move, and if we work quickly, I'm sure we can destroy it permanently." A pause. "By the way, I know you didn't ask but... my name's Emma. Emma Windsor." She sighed. "Can't wait to get out of here, and go back home. I'm quitting this job and going back to work for my dad. Maybe visit Earth, you know?" She had been here for a month... she wouldn't know. I... don't have to tell her, do I? No... I won't spoil her fantasy.
"Alright fine, you've convinced me. Let's... kill this thing, then get out of here."
"Okay... sounds good. Here, follow me, I'll take you to it. If we're careful, we can avoid the majority of the transformed workers... if there's nothing in the vacinity to attack, they just kind of... shut down? I guess... it's like they fall asleep. If you get too close, they'll wake up." Knew about that all too well.
"How many of the things are there?"
"There were two hundred and fifty people in this mine before we uncovered that Horror. Now there's one. Sans the poor sods who died in the power failure, do the math." That really was not a comforting number. We were looking at swarm numbers of the things, and if they all attacked us at once... we were dead. So... quiet does it.
She was definitely versed in how to move about these things without disturbing them. She kept at least a ten foot distance between any one abomination, and her footsteps were so light I barely thought she was moving.
"You're pretty quick and quiet..." I muttered in a low tone to her, careful not to wake the babies.
"Yeah... I've learned a lot in the last month..." She responded in a nearly inaudible tone. "You're not bad yourself... do a lot of sneaking around in your line of work?" I shrugged, and before I could realize what I was saying, I answered.
"Yeah, it's a thing I have to do." She giggled at – what I could only imagine she thought it was – my joke before we came to a check in station, with a big 'EMPLOYEES ONLY' sign over the door.
"C'mon, we gotta squeeze over the bag scanner." It looked like one of those airport queue lines, a tall pod with a through-fare standing beside a belted x-ray scanner for scanning carry on bags. I watched her hoist herself up onto the conveyor belt and then crawl over the machine to slip out on the other side. Following her example, I grunted as I climbed up.
"Take it we can't just walk through there, right?" I nudged my head to the scanner.
"No. It's on automatic, and with as much metal as we've got on, we'll trigger it in a heartbeat. It'll set an alarm off, and all these pink bastards will wake up."
"Figured..." I grunted, setting a foot on the conveyor belt.
"You're pretty limber." She complimented me.
"Thanks... you're not bad yourself." She sighed.
"Trust me, I wasn't always like this..." She pushed open the door at the end and stepped in. "The thing's just this way. Once we're through the decontamination process, we'll be at the thing proper. Just... be careful, okay? It's not friendly."
"I didn't think we'd be trying to kill it if it were." She nodded gently, holding the door open for me. Squeezing in right beside her, I found myself in a small decontamination chamber – like one you might see in a military checkpoint, or the like. It was clearly not designed to hold two people, as we found ourselves uncomfortably close.
"Sorry... it's a small room." I shrugged best I could.
"Doesn't bother me none." I answered, my chest pressed almost flat against her back. That wasn't a lie, being this close to a pretty girl was always one of my favorite ways to spend an evening, but two major factors stopped it from being anything more then a line on my resume. The first factor was the overwhelming sense of dread and death we both felt, about to go kill a giant, sentient Erchius Crystal... but there was also something nagging at me from the back of my head.
This kid thought I was TP. She thought I was some gallant hero riding in on a white steed to save her, to deliver justice to her comrades and spirit her away from this hell-hole when it was all said and done. The truth couldn't be farther from her belief. I shouldn't be helping her... hell, she shouldn't have even been alive right now... daft bitch should have suffocated like the rest of them. But that was neither here nor there. I couldn't just let her walk out of here... and I certainly couldn't take her back with me. The fast answer would be just to leave her here and get out when everything was said and done but... that could backfire on me if someone else happened across her between then and now, and rescued her. Who knows? Maybe this damn thing will kill her and save me the headache.
With a cheery ding, the door across from us opened to reveal a large, well-lit cavern with a feel of incompleteness. Unlike the rest of the mine – which had been donned in supports and struts, as well as proper flooring, this place looked rough and unfinished, the rough stone walls supporting little more then temporary lights and sensors of many makes and models. Oh, yeah... and also a giant Erchius Crystal that was the size of a starship. It's half-buried form must have been a football field long and at least half as wide. What was exposed appeared to be a diamond-shaped Erchius crystal with a huge chasm cut out of the center, out of which a single eye glared daggers at us. The crystal shuddered and released a phantom shriek – both inaudible and deafening at the same time – as it spotted us. I noticed four breakers along the sides of the room – spaced a good distance apart – along with the bulky form of the mining laser near us.
"It knows we're here-" She stated the obvious. "Grab the right two breakers, I'll grab the left. If they trip, you'll have to restart them. We need to be fast."
"Why do we need to be fast? You said it wasn't mobile, so we can just take our-" My asinine statement was interrupted by a pink laser of pure Erchius blasting forth from the creature and penetrating about six inches into the wall next to me. "Shit shit shit!" I recoiled, ducking for cover behind the laser's control console. "You didn't say it could shoot fucking lasers!"
"Would you have come?!" She retorted, throwing one breaker on the left side of the room.
"FUCK NO!" I responded before taking a deep breath and launching myself out of cover towards the right-side breakers. Thankfully, it's attack was telegraphed pretty heavily, a pink tracer of energy highlighting it's path before it took it, so it made dodging much easier. Reaching the first breaker, I took a firm hold of the heavy toggle switch and yanked it down, the red light above it turning blue.
"That's two! Two left!" I turned towards the second breaker to see a laser slice across my vision, near inches from my face, causing me to inhale sharply and freeze. Shit if that so much as wings me, it'll liquefy whatever it touches! I had to keep my head, and in turn the rest of me in tact if I wanted to get paid anytime soon. Breaking into a dead sprint once the laser had finished firing, I slid to a stop by the breaker, my hand grappling it fast and pulling sharp down on it, the light also flickering blue. "Alright! I'll fire the laser! Don't get hit!"
'Don't get hit' she says... as if I had a fucking choice. Seeing Emma break for the laser, the beast roared as two large tears of Erchius rolled out of the shattered window it saw through and splattered loudly on the ground, both pools of Erchius standing up to form the bodies of two vaguely human abominations. Unlike the first one I fought, which seemed to be more of a human hybrid then a being of pure Erchius, these ones seemed to be more the ladder, which may or may not make them weak. I didn't bother questioning it, just hiked up my assault rifle and fired, the burst ripping into one figure and tearing it to shreds. At least I knew the gun worked...
The second figure growled at me and broke into a dead sprint my way, it's dead, featureless face bore holes into my eyes as it closed the distance. Leveling the rifle to fire again, I managed to get only three of the usual five shots off, which blew what would have been it's head clean off it's shoulders, but didn't do much else to slow it down. Reacting before it reached me, I shoved forward with the gun, knocking it over, giving the weapon enough time to recharge it's powercell. Great... only five shots per cell? Ai wasn't kidding about this thing being a cast off...
"Move!" I heard her shout. Leaping to my right, I watched a searing white-hot beam of energy slice clean into the abomination and strike the crystal dead-center in it's eye. The beast roared in pain, it's eye closing against the searing pain. "Haha! That one hurt it!" The beam persisted for a few seconds before it stopped. "Daaaaamit!" She swore. "Breakers tripped! Same deal, get those two, I'll get these two." She was agile and had stamina for days... I didn't think I could keep up with her. Okay, note to self... if I survive this, I'm taking up running... or some kind of cardio exercise. Because I was hella out of shape. I was much slower throwing both breakers this time then I was last time, heaving by the time I got back to my spot in cover behind the console.
"This... this better kill it... I don't know... don't know how much more of this running around I can take..." The laser charged once more, the beam of pure energy slicing through it's crystalline facade and causing the beast great pain once more. C'mon you son of a bitch, just give up already! I watched as it's eye spazed against the power of the laser, the crystalline face of the creature bucking sharply as a large gash-like crack shattered it's near perfect cut, causing it to roar in pain. "Oh come on! What does it take to kill you!"
"Last push! I think this next one should kill it! Hit the breakers again!"
"Give me a damn second to catch my breath! I've been doin' nothin' but running around for-" My complaint was cut off by the top of the console above me getting melted by a pink beam of impossibly searing heat. "Oh hey, look at that. All recharged." I dipped out of cover and mustered the rest of my strength to barrel towards the breakers, throwing them as I passed without slowing down. As my fingers threw the final breaker, I heard Emma shout one last order.
"Hit the deck!" I threw myself to the floor as the laser sliced inches above my back, slamming into the beast's eye once more. With an ear-splitting shriek, the beast's eye rolled around in it's socket before the cracks glowed a brilliant pink, the crystal exploding, sending shards of Erchius in all directions. A thick viscous liquid spilt out over the ground, several half-digested human corpses floating amongst the goo.
"Oooh and that's just lovely, isn't it." I heaved, looking at the pile of half-digested corpses as they slid closer to me. "Ew, go away..." I got to my feet and walked away from the crap.
"We did it!" Emma called, running over and hugging me.
"Whoa, hello, yes, welcome to my personal space. Can I help you?"
"Aaaah, c'mon Captain! Don't be like that! We just beat the thing!" She let me go, all smiles. "You, uh... you need a crystal, right?" I nodded. "Alright, there should be some in the other room-" She pointed to another door off to the side. "-right there. You go grab a couple, and I'll get my stuff and we can go."
"Wait... 'we'?"
"Yeah." She nodded. "I'm coming with you. You... didn't expect me to stay here, did you? I mean... everyone's dead..."
"Y-yeah... sorry I..." I laughed it off. "I'm not thinking, go get your stuff." She brightened up and nodded, trotting off to get her things.
"Should I prepare for another guest, Captain... or do you plan on leaving her?" I sighed to Ai's question once Emma was out of range.
"No, she's not coming."
"Shall I begin teleporting you, once you've acquired a crystal?"
"No. There's... a loose end I have to take care of." I entered the other room – barely a storage room for the mined Crystals pending transit off world, and collected a few of the soccor-ball sized crystals, setting them gently on the ground around where I wanted Ai to teleport me. Emma returned a few moments later with a bag in her hand and a smile on her face.
"Ah, you can't imagine how happy I am to get off this rock. I thought for sure I would die in these tunnels. So! Ready when you are." She looked so happy to be standing there.
"Yeah... about that." I mused. "See... taking you with me would... complicate things. So... I'm going to have to say no."
"What do you mean it would 'complicate things'? You're... you're Terrane Protectorate, right? You can't just leave me here! I don't know how long I'd last."
"I can give you a hint." I gave a grim smile, then ripped the EPP control collar off her neck, snapping it in half and tossing it away, before shoving her to the ground. "How long can you hold your breath? Ai, engage teleportation." As Ai spooled the teleporter, I watched her struggle to breathe, her body writing on the ground as she choked on dead air. "Sorry honey. You're just excess baggage." I shrugged as the teleporter finished. Before long, I found myself – and three beautiful Erchius Crystals – safely aboard my ship.
"Welcome back aboard, Captain. Alive, I see."
"Well, one of us is." I answered with a nod, looking to the crystal. I watched Nakadi and Yuzuki staring at me with very disappointed eyes.
"Mistress..." She didn't say anything else then this. I knew the pair of them were watching, and I could see the disappointment in Yuzuki's eyes.
"Why you kill other miner? Sshe seemss usseful." Nakadi muttered.
"I killed her... because she's a problem. I-" I scoffed a laugh. "C'mon, you two really could not have forgotten I'm a slaver. Do you know what would happen if I let that woman aboard my ship?"
"Could have chained her up. Like rest of them." Nakadi shrugged. She had a point, but getting her to the chained up point would have been the hard part.
"Could've. Didn't." I looked at Yuzuki, who looked positively ready to explode with some comment she was dying to say. Her three eyes were welling with tears. "Alright, Yuzuki. You clearly want to say something so... out with it."
"When you said you weren't a good person, Mistress... I thought you were just short-changing yourself... but after that?" She sniffed. "You really are a monster."
"And proud of it." I nodded. "Now, let's get back to Pete and have this thingie installed." I moved the three crystals to protective storage near the rear of my ship for safe keeping. I stopped for a moment, before turning back to Yuzuki. "And didn't I rape you last night? Like... twice?" I quirked an eyebrow.
"I..." She looked down, her cheeks red. "I... wouldn't call it that..." I smirked at that.
"Mm, Freaky Fishy..." Ai's voice interrupted me, getting me back on track.
"You'll be happy to know, Captain, that I've synchronized the ship-bound teleporter to the Tele-Shop that was set up at the Outpost."
"Neat." I nodded. "I'm still walkin'." To be honest, the portal was a lot less... jarring then teleporting was... as ironic as it sounds. Picking up one crystal, I made sure it was resting gently in my arms. "Alright Ai, crack open the ship."
"Are you planning on taking-"
"Nope goin' solo." I shook my head at her question before she could open it.
"Very well. Opening hatch." She opened the hatch to let me descend. "Shall I lock the ship down."
"You know it, sweet thing." She chirped a mechanical acknowledgement before lifting the ramp and putting the ship into a full lockdown, my own happy ass walking through the portal back to the outpost. I got a lot of happy looks as I walked past with the Erchius Crystal, happiest of all was Pete.
"There ya are, girl! I was startin'a think somethin' happened! What news from my supplier."
"I'm afraid, Pete... that you'll have to find your Erchius Crystals elsewhere. There were no survivors."
"No survivors?! What happened!?"
"They uncovered some living Erchius-based entity that killed most of the crew, and turned the rest into Erchius abominations. I managed to destroy it, but not after it killed everyone."
"Everyone?" I nodded. "Aw... dammit... I was hopin' at least my daughter would'a survived."
"Your daughter worked there?"
"Aye... she was the one who supplied me. Sweet girl, my Emma." Oh now I just felt like a real bitch, didn't I?
"Emma... Emma Windsor?"
"Yeah, did'ja meet her?"
"She... helped me destroy the Erchis Horror but... it... damaged her EPP. She suffocated trying to help me kill it." I may be a monster, but I am not about to admit I just murdered a man's daughter. 'Specially when I need said man's help fixing my ship. "I didn't realize her EPP had been damaged until it was dead but... by that point, she had already died herself."
"Ahhh..." He sniffed, tears forming in his eyes. "Hero to th' end... that'a girl." He gave me a hug. "Thank ya girl. Give me... give me some time, eh? Give me some time, and I'll be there to fix yer ship."
"Take all the time you need." I turned to leave.
"Ah! B'fore ya go, Esther wanted'a see you. Should prolly pay her a visit."
"Can I like... rest for a bit?"
"Sounded important. You may wanna talk to her sooner, rather then later."
"I... I dunno, I mean... I guess." Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! FUUUUCK! I mentally threw the tantrum I couldn't throw outwardly. I didn't want to get further wrapped up in Esther's dumbass plan to save the universe! I wanted to have a working ship... AND PEACE THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!
"You go talk ta her, I'll have yer ship fixed by the time ya get back." I nodded and inwardly rolled my eyes. As I started towards the back of the Outpost, to the Ark, I brought up my radio.
"Ai."
"Captain?" She responded curtly.
"Get Yuzuki and Nakadi into the Guest Bedroom, and put that end of the ship into Class-A lockdown."
"Class-A, Captain? Shall I run faulty subroutines, as well."
"You know it, sweetie. You're about to have a man boarding the ship to fix the FTL. Let him fix the FTL, and don't hinder him... unless he tries to go where he shoudln't, if'n you catch my drift."
"Of course, Captain. Activating Faulty Subroutines. Yuzuki, Nakadi, please locate yourself to the Cargo Hold, and wait further instructions." One thing I loved about Ai. Ai was an amazing actress, and I didn't even think AI could act. Most AI weren't allowed to lie in any way, shape or form, but Ai was jailbroken out the butthole, so I had more freedom with her. I had a completely different set of subroutines for her, just in case something like this happened. Usually, she was curt and polite, but with these 'faulty' subroutines, she turned into a raging asshole as most SAIL AI's could be. She also locked a few sections of the ship off under the premise of 'dangerous levels of radiation and critical levels of hyperbolic sarcasm'. Pocketing the radio, I made my way back to Esther, just to see if I couldn't blow her off.
By the time I arrived, she was all smiles, welcoming me with a wave. "Risky! Hello! I take it your ship is repaired?"
"On the way to be, yeah. Pete's gonna fix it while I'm talkin'a you, apparently."
"Good... I'm sorry to say, I knew about what happened in the Mining Facility."
"You... uh... you do?" I played it off, but those words brought a cold sweat to my brow.
"Yeah... no use hidin' it..." She sighed. "Lethia Corp. is always so careless with their safety proceedures, I'm surprised anyone survive for any length of time. For what it's worth, you did what you had to do..." I slowly let my breath out. She knew what happened to plunge the facility into such disrepair... that's... that's good. I thought she meant she knew what I did there.
"Yeah I... just wish I could have saved someone."
"Aye, but that's the way things go. Is the scan function on your Matter Manipulator functioning?"
"Huh? Oh..." I unhooked the Manipulator from my belt and looked it over. "Yeah, it is. I was doin' a little scannin' while I was there."
"Good. You'll need that for what I'm about to ask. As I told you, the Cultivator entrusted the last of his physical essence to seven major races – the Floran, Hylotl, Avian, Apex, Glitch, Human..." She pointed to me. "...and Felin. I know the location of only two of these artifacts, it'll be up to you to find the other five. I've got an old friend in the Travelers who can get me the Felin Artifact and I know the woman who owns the Human artifact personally. I want you to start with the Floran Artifact."
"Okay, where can I find it?"
"That's just the thing. I don't know. You'll have to visit Floran villages and look for clues we might be able to piece together to find it's location." I blinked, dumbfounded.
"You... want me to traipse across the galaxy... hoping to find a Floran village out in the infinite abyss of space... and conduct an archeological survey? Probably while they're trying to stab and or eat me?"
"Well, to be fair, most villages are only going to try to eat you if you display hostilities, and most Floran like to live in jungle areas of temperate planets around gentle stars... so it's not as big of a goose chase as it sounds." She smiled a little behind her oval glasses, as if this was supposed to make me feel better. Well, what the fuck ever. This was going to be the last time I see her anyway, so it's not like it mattered.
"Yeah... yeah, I guess that helps." I lied. "So, do you have a lead where to start, or am I on my own in that regard?"
"Sadly, being here, I'm pretty much blind. Your ship's computer should be able to get a bead on what stars are what class once you're space-worthy again." She had a point. If Pete's done fixing my ship, I should be able to use the Deep Echo Scanner to get the classes of any surrounding star... and by 'surrounding', I mean any star within ten light years of my current location... which was to say quite the distance.
"Alright, I guess I'll get started then."
"Good! I'll keep digging through databases and books on this end, and I'll contact you if I find anything worth noting." That was decidedly not okay.
"Sure, sounds good." I nodded, mentally crossing my fingers. Turning, I started out from the Ark.
"Risky!" She called back, causing me to turn. "I just... thank you for helping me... after Earth's destruction, I couldn't bear to think that could happen to any other planet in the Galaxy..." Her dour frown upturned into a happy smile. "But now that you're here... now that you're here, the Galaxy has a fighting chance." Boy were you in for a surprise. I nodded gently to her and waved her good bye, turning to return to my ship.
"Confound it ya daft machine! Lower the dern ramp so I can leave!"
"AAAAAAAAAND IIIIIIIII-EIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOU!" I heard Ai singing at the top of her vocal processor's vocal range, Penguine Pete ranting at the top of the ship, wanting to come down. The ramp kept extending and retracting in an erratic fashion, causing the man to stamp his foot (his good foot, mind) angrily on the deck. I couldn't help but laugh at the display.
"Oi. SAIL." I always called her faulty subroutine personality 'SAIL'. "Let the man down, he's doin' us a favor." Ai responded by dropping the ramp fully, while she continued to belt out a digital rendition of Whitney Houston at full volume.
"IIIIIIII-EIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!"
"Yer ship is fixed, but there ain' nothin' I ken do 'bout the AI."
"Ah, I wouldn't worry about her too much. She's always been a little weird." Pete nodded. "Thank you."
"No problem but... what's with yer cargo hold?"
"Aaaaah, I had a leak in there few months back, and I can't get anyone to go in there. Apparently everyone's afraid of a few thousand rads."
"Don't blame 'em. Though, you should have someone fix it."
"Workin' on it, trust me. Everything in order?"
"Aye, FTL should be operational."
"Thanks." I gave him a gentle slap on the back as he headed back towards the Outpost. I scaled the ramp and turned to watch him go, waiting until his form disappeared in the portal. I instantly headed inside and went to Ai's console. She was still belting Whitney Houston as words appeared on the console.
'Captain. Our good friend Mr. Pete installed a small audio transmitter in the cockpit. I would recommend it have an 'unfortunate' accident." I nodded to this and went to the flight console near the front of the ship and cracked open the center console. Sure as shit, there it was hanging between two supports like it belonged. Unplugging the ground wire from the console, I touched the sensative audio tap with the edge – one spark and a small gout of flame later, I could speak freely. Walking back to Ai's console, I tapped out a quick message.
'Just one?'
'Affirmative, Captain.'
"Good." I spoke loudly. "'What is a man but a miserable pile of secrets?'" I spoke deliberately, Ai's rendition of I Will Always Love You ending abruptly.
"I appreciate that, Captain. I hate that song."
"Aaaaah, c'mon Ai. It's a classic." I locked the door and retracted the landing ramp, ready to berid of this damn planet. "Alright sweetie, let's lift off to the great black. Once we're in orbit, set off the Deep Echo Scanner, I want a scan of what the closest planet with some kind of civilization is."
"Of course, Captain." A pause. "You should probably check on your guests. There appears to be a problem." Problem? Fuck what now? I growled and rolled my eyes, heading to the cargo hold after snatching the assault rifle out of the locker I had stored it in. Opening the cargo hold door I was instantly accosted by the sounds of a fight. Not just any fight either. It seemed that Yuzuki and the other Felin – that bitch – were engaged in mortal combat with one another, the Felin hissing like a rabid pussy cat, trying to claw Yuzuki's face off, while Jessi – the human – restrained Nakadi with a Full Nelson. Christ... I kicked the steel door open and came out shooting, the sound of gun fire causing the Felin to look up enough for Yuzuki to throw her off of her and scramble to her feet, then help Nakadi out. The Felin answered by charging me and growling. I answered by firing twice into her, center mass, both shots striking her in the chest. I knew the weapon didn't have the penetration to to anything more the superficial damage, but it had the stopping power to floor her.
"Okay bitch." I growled, standing over her writing body. "You really fucked up this time. Yuzuki! Pick her up." Yuzuki had managed to free Nakadi at this point, hoisting the Felin up and restraining her with her own Full Nelson.
"Heh... hehehe... what are you gonna do? Kill me? I'm not worth anything to you dead..."
"You'd like that, wouldn't you? No. I'm not going to kill you. But I'll make sure you don't attack me, or anyone else again." I looked to Yuzu, and nodded. "Keep her there, will you?" She nodded roughly, struggling to hold her in place. I took a step away, my back to her, before turning around suddenly, flipping the gun full-over so I gripped the barrel, and baseball swinging right into her right knee, the oh so satisfying sound of breaking bones mixing in with her wail of agony.
"Uwaaaaauuuuugggghhh! You... cunt!" She dipped a little.
"No no, Yuzu... hold her up, not done yet."
"What do you mean you're not done-" Her last words were cut off with the stock of the gun coming in hard contact with her left knee as well, another fresh shriek of agony meeting that satisfying crunch once more. "Heyyyyyyaaaaaaaauuuuuugh! Fffffuuuuck!"
"Alright, let her go." Yuzuki did so, the woman crumpling to the ground like a heap of clothes, both knees completely shattered and useless. Hot tears streamed down her face, matting her fur to her skin as she bawled, the pain – undoubtedly – unbearable. "ALRIGHT." I bellowed, my voice overshadowing even her pained sobs. "There clearly needs to be some order here, because some of you have gotten it in your heads, I'm a pushover!" I thundered over to the Human, who shook her head pathetically.
"P-please, I'm sorry! She said that... said she's help us if we helped her! I... I just want to see my sister again, I promise I'll be good!"
"I know you will, dear." I patted her head, before placing the barrel of the weapon to her leg and pulling the trigger. The shot pierced her skin and knicked bone, causing her to yell in pain. "And that... is why you'll be good. Because you don't want that to happen again. Right?" Through her sobbing, I could see the tears squeezing out from under the blindfold, the woman nodding vigorously. "Good girl." I dropped to the Felin's side. "Now... you listen... and you listen well. I will not kill you. I will never give you that kind of satisfaction. I will hurt you. I will make you beg for me to kill you... but I never will. You're too good for that. So you open your god damn ears. And fucking. Listen to me." She nodded through the pain. "You will end every sentence. With 'Mistress'." A nod. "You will not speak to me, or anyone working for me, unless I specifically ask you a question." A third nod. "And if you ever... ever attack me... or anyone else again, unless I specifically tell you to... I will break every bone in your body one... by... one." I emphasized my point by taking her left hand in mine, and breaking her pinky. Another satisfying crunch followed by a strong – if slightly subdued – shriek leaving her lips. "Do you fucking understand me."
"Yuh-yes, Muh-Mistress..." She nodded. "I... I promise I'll... I promise I'll be a good kitty, Mistress..." I held my hand out to her, my fist balled up. It was an exceedingly condescending thing I was asking of her. When Felin are young, they lick their parent's paw – it's a sign of affection and trust between parent and child, but when someone who isn't related to you holds their paw out like that? You're basically saying they're a child in your eyes, and demanding they admit it, by licking your paw. She knew full well that by touching my hand with her tongue, I basically owned her mind, body and soul. I watched her hesitate for a moment before sticking her tongue out and licking my knuckle. I answered by patting her head.
"That's a good bitch. Now... are you hungry?" She nodded to this.
"Yes... yes, Mistress." It's been... what? Four days? Three? Somewhere around there, and I suppose I've starved her enough.
"Alright." I nodded. "I'll get you something to eat. Stay here. Yuzuki, Nakadi? Have the others eaten?"
"Yes, Mistress." Yuzuki nodded, causing me to nod.
"Good. How's our food supply looking?"
"Dwindling." Nakadi mused. "Probably two... three more dayss?"
"Mmm, we'll make a pit stop." I muttered. "Ttfn, be back in a sec."
I walked out of my ship back to the gate, going back to the Outpost, but only going as far as the convienence store just by the portal. Pushing the glass door open, I was greeted by the tired looking face of a young human man who was reading a magazine. "Welcome to the Infinity Stop, you one-stop-shop for everything you need in the galaxy. Can I help you find anything?"
"Yeah, actually... I'm looking to stock up on food and the like. Got anything that'll keep for a while?"
"Got some canned meats and vegetables. Not... terribly good tasting, but it'll last for-fucking-ever." He mused, motioning me to a rack of canned goods. Okay... I was a monster. I'd break your fucking fingers, shoot your knees off and even leave you to suffocate on a long-dead mining colony if the bug hit me... but I would never force anyone to eat that shit. "Also got some Protectorate E-Rats, if those are more your speed." Ah, Protectorate Emergency Rations. Not only were they a whole day's worth of calories, but they had the texture of a shortbread cookie and the taste of day-old cardboard.
I purchased a few boxes of the E-Rats and a half-gallon of milk, slinging the two boxes under my arm and happily carrying the milk in my other, walking back to the ship. Storing the E-Rats in the storage locker – they kept for literaly decades – I fished around for something resembling a bowl. "Bowl, bowl, bowl..." I muttered before finding a small bowl-shaped piece of spare parts in the locker. It was clean enough, I suppose. Taking the bowl-shaped piece in one hand and the milk in the other, I sauntered back into the cargo hold, Napkin still crumpled up in a heap. I placed the bowl in front of her and cracked open the milk, pouring about half of it into the bowl. Once I was finished, I sat back and watched as she – still bracing herself on one hand – reached for the bowl.
"Aaat." I grunted, stopping her. "No hands. Lap it up like a good little kitten." She looked at me with pleading eyes, my threat to break every bone in her body stopping her words. "I can take it away, if that's what you want."
"N-no, Mistress... I'll... I'll be good Mistress." She supported herself on both hands, dipping her face near the bowl and licking it up. I put a hand on her head and rubbed her fur.
"That's a good bitch." I gave a coy little smile, waiting for her to finish it up. I looked up to Nakadi, who nodded at me upon noting my glare. "Nakadi, go get the first aid kit. It's in the storage locker in the front. Once she's done with her milk, patch up her legs, and chain her back to the wall, with the blindfold."
"Floran confused..."
"Well, I can't break her legs again if they're still broken. I want them mended, just in case she steps out of line again." She shook her head again under my hand, silently telling me she wouldn't. Well... time would tell. I stood up and stretched, today taking a toll on me. "Ai! How long until the Deep Echo Scan finishes?"
"Seven hours and fifteen minutes, Captain." Good. I could catch some sleep.
"Excellent. Wake me when it's done." I turned to leave, a stilted grunt coming from Yuzuki stopping me. "Something on your mind, Yuzuki?"
"Well it's just..." She mumbled something, shrugging.
"Speak up. I'm letting you talk, don't squander this opportunity."
"I was just wondering, Mistress if... you'd... like some... company?" I looked her up and down. Looks like she really didn't classify it as that... I scrunched my nose in that way I do when I think.
"Yeah, sure why not. Get over here." I guess I wasn't that much of a monster to her...