(Thanks to Events team for yesterdays event, it was really interesting and left lots of things to puzzle outAlso thanks to everyone that participated from all three sides, it was awesome. Anyways, heres what Fali saw, and be gentle, haven't written in first person in a while
)
A beam of light fell across my face, warming me slowly to consciousness. I rolled onto my stomach, propping to my elbows and squinted at the clock over the doorway on the other side of the room. Four hours of sleep. Great. I knew my neighbors wouldn’t of been blessed with sleep either; it’s hard to get any rest with someone screaming all night. Unfortunately, that someone was me.
My life has been the stuff of nightmares a long time, really I do get used to it; everyone on RubiKa does. What other place can you say the body count and the true casualty rate don’t match, and because of that people get creative... Who’d of thought there were so many ways to –almost- die.
I needed a shower, badly. I can’t wash away the reality of yesterday, but damn it, I can try. Lilac soap and shampoo are a good start, a friend that gave some to me as a gift had gotten me hooked on it. I’m forever importing bath products, silly, but true. The room is foggy with steam and I step into the water, rolling my shoulders chasing away the tension. In the quiet of the water I start remembering…
A drop-ship landed a few feet away from us in Borealis, and soldiers spilled out. Red armor, masks, blasters and moving in perfect formation; they knew what they were after, pity it was us. They surrounded us and told us they wanted information, and if they didn’t start getting it, they’d kill us one by one.
My HUD information unit scanned them, I like to know who’s threatening me at any given moment, all that came up was breeds and affiliation. Clan. Something about it was bothering me, and I couldn’t put my finger on it until their commander turned her masked face to me. I’ve seen these helmets before, over a year ago in Newland Desert. Dust Brigade. Fan-bloody-tastic. She was aiming her blaster at Redstalker standing just next to me, and demanded I answer her questions or she’d kill him. I thought to myself that they wouldn’t shoot him, he was still a champion to the clans after killing Midia’s lover, the Sentinels seemed to respect that if nothing else why not the Brigade right? Wrong.
His head exploded at the impact splattering blood and thicker things down the side of my face and onto the others. I needed to get everyone out, now, I felt responsible for the body at my feet and I didn’t want there to be more. She had turned to my first officer, Simehiri, and was screaming something at him. When the ringing in my ears from the shock and the gunshot quieted I could hear her demanding he remove his blade, and him responding that he couldn’t. He was telling her the truth, but she didn’t seem to care, he had his blade fused to his right hand several months ago and it had been a permanent procedure.
“Remove it or die!”
“I told you, I can’t, see!” He was holding up his hand, with the mantis attached.
“You have 10 seconds. 10… 9… 8..”
He had turned and looked at me, then back to her gripping around his wrist with his left hand and pulled. If you have never heard the sound of joints popping and the tearing of flesh, I do not recommend it. In a wet sucking pop he had ripped his own hand from his body, blood flowing from the stump of his wrist down his right side to the ground.
Two of my friends so far dead or seriously injured, this had to stop. I had their captain’s attention again, she wanted me to go with her away from the group or they’d finish him. I walked forward without protest. She grabbed my arm and dragged me forward and to my knees in front of one of her minions.
“Is it ready?”
“Yes, no one can resist one of my programs.” I could tell underneath that mask he was grinning, sadistic bastard.
I glanced back at my friends, MY friends… seven guilds… three factions. They were being interrogated, I saw Quool being hit in the stomach; Killchain, and Ramid were both bleeding from different places, bullet holes showing plainly through their armor. The woman I had just met from Tiger Claw as so far unharmed, but the body language of the man demanding information from her suggested she wouldn’t stay that way.
A wave of nausea, and burning pain had gotten my attention. He was laughing at me as I threw up onto the ground. He had forced my NCU to run something I’d never seen before and I couldn’t reverse it, resisting it was making me nothing but sick.
“Don’t fight it, you can’t stop it, no one can. You will be answering our questions.” He laughed, as his commander strutted toward me.
I was on my knees and looked up at her through blurred vision, it felt like I’d lost a few minutes, but I couldn’t concentrate enough to tell.
“Oh pretty Miss Phare. You’re going to tell us everything we want to know aren’t you?”
I wanted to scream; burn her into a crisp, but all I could do was shake my head while to my horror a “yes” left my lips.
She was asking me questions about the attacks recently by the Dust Brigade, what they looked like, when and where they went. I told them everything I knew, vomiting at her feet. The enemy of my enemy is my friend just doesn’t hold true ever, I’d really like a word with whoever came up with that one. I was being dragged to my feet and toward the rest of the group. I could see Justhealin kneeling near Simehiri trying to keep him conscious. A large enforcer woman going by Tinicarri was trying to guard the way, protecting those she could.
The commander had turned to me again and was whispering to me while I watched the horror of what they’d reduced my friends to.
“We’ve left you something in your NCU. Just so we can keep tabs on you. Want to make sure where our little puppy is.”
“If you try meddling with it...as much as think of the idea of hacking the program...”
I was staring at her, trying to memorize what I could about her.
“Then today will seem like a christmas day to you. And to your people.”
“Do you understand?”
She jammed her gun into my stomach, as I stared at her, it would leave a nice bruise in the least.
“Do you understand me?”
I was nodding but could feel some of myself under the fog their program had me in.
“Piss off.” I said and she pulled the trigger.
The show water was growing cold and I stood there shivering. Note to self: Bigger water heater. I fumbled outside the shower curtain for a towel and wrapped it around myself and tracked water across the carpet and started dressing into my armor.
“Let’s see what today has in store shall we?” I said to myself, and stalked out the door.
