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RP A Light in the Dark

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Ethereal

Banned Member
RP Date
YE 40
RP Location
Reservoir System
Reservoir System

The patched-together hauler was eerily quiet in the dying evening sun as it set behind a nearby planetoid, the last few rays piercing the grate far over the head of where the sobbing Kaya was slumped. Her normally vibrant snow-toned hair was dirty, the dyed pink ends faded and covered in dust. A simple, torn smock was tugged tight to her form, all that had been given to her for dignity.

The Helashio's monkeylike tail was tucked firmly underneath her in dismay as she raised tired, golden eyes to the vent as the final light blinked out. Her large ears twitched and swayed sadly as the disused room faded into dusk around her, its tight walls and stuffy air making it hard to breathe.

This had been her life for so long, as far as she could remember, she wasn't even sure why she was crying. Her shock collar bit into her neck, the scar tissue underneath softening the pain ever so slightly. There had been a brief window of freedom, when she had learned how to fly a ship and haul cargo but ever since being captured that seemed more like a cruel glimpse of true life than anything else.

Since the abandonment of the Baba Yaga, Lazarus had roamed taking odd jobs like this. He didn't care about the money, what the point was, or the why. He just needed something to do, and the idea of getting some kills excited him. He drew slowly closer with his ECS engaged, his XM1 finally seeing some use for once.

Kaya gingerly pushed herself to her bare feet with a wince, her left shin throbbing from where her current masters had hit her with a rifle stock. Whenever she failed to perform exactly to their standards no mercy was shown, sometimes no mercy was shown anyways.

The slim girl padded to the side of the room closest to the flimsy entry door, crouching down slowly before it, the lengthy cracks in the metalwork towards the hinges allowing a miniscule amount of cool air to circulate inside. To her, it was paradise, despite the fingertip-shaped cuts dotted under the curve of her jaw complaining at the sensation.

Lazarus glided up to the hull, the mech's feet only a couple meters from the metal. There were a few weapon systems on the crawler, some fixed, and some in turret mounts. Not enough to really put up a fight against any large decently armed ships. Lazarus uncloaked before the bridge his plasma scythe drawn.

"This will be your only warning. Shutdown and prepare for boarding, or be destroyed.", he transmitted to the bridge.

The bridge 'crew', a motley bunch of lowlives and street thugs seemed to take a moment to register what was happening. Their muttered conversations petered out as they collectively glanced around for the unknown source of the demand. One, with a godawful amount of acne, stood bolt upright from his chair, sending it crashing down behind him. "THERE!" The gangly teen hollered, pointing a gloved finger out of the grime-coated viewscreen to Lazarus' mech.

"Shit, shit, shit." An elderly man wearing a surpringly sparse amount of clothes panted from his cushioned armchair, fingers trailing above a battered shotgun. "If we fight we ain't gonna make it outta this." He wheezed to the other men, who growled like he was senile. "Let 'im in and we can jump 'im as soon as poss."

"A wise decision gentlemen."

Lazarus glided around to the open bay, his mechanical feet touching down on the deck plate. "Oh before I forget," Lazarus said before letting loose some mini missiles back through the bay door, hitting the turret mounted weapons and bridge. His ordinance having come from inside the shield completely bypassed them to hit their targets, keeping close to the hull on their flight path.

He laughed as he exited the cockpit in his revenant armor, all black with a skull painted over the face plate. With a maverick configured like an SMG, he advanced. "You're all going to die in here fools," he shouted before continuing his laughter.

The various faces of the unfortunate crew blanched stark white at the words, decrepit and bulky alike. There was no response at all to Lazarus' manical laughter for one.. two.. three seconds. A strong, middle aged man with salt-and-pepper hair hefted his heavy machine gun from his side; "I ain't fuckin' dying in this shithole!" He roared in defiance, bringing the barrel level as she squeezed the trigger.

His bravery seemed to inspire the normally brawling men to shout their own crass retorts, bearing everything from bats to plates to guns as they fought for their lives. Down the hallway, Kaya's fluffy ears perked up a little, swivelling this way and that to the sounds of commotion. 'What was that?' The Helashio frowned, leaning forwards to try and peer through the tiny fissures in the door through which outside light bled, trying to get a peek of anything at all with her flowing gold eyes.

Lazarus used his thrusters to dash back to the safety of his mech's shields before signalling it to let the hard shell chainguns to let it rip. The guns on its legs and waist hardpoints began to spin up.

Lazarus waved at the advancing men, "bub bye birches."

The guns began to spit rounds as it's aim of all four guns was swept across those in the hold and just within this end of the hallway.

The roar of thunderous gunfire boomed through the tight interiors of the patchwork ship, deafening in such a enclosed space as the Bridge. The shouts and screams of the unfortunate crew were barely audible over the godlike volume until, suddenly, silence consumed the air.

Crimson fluid covered the metallic walls in abstract patterns where bodies had slumped, the dusty ceiling dripping gently onto the floor with its own scarlet burden. Most of all, piles of dead and dying sobbed and choked, darkest red rapidly coating underfoot with sticky lifeblood.

Kaya was blindsided by the sudden crashing noise, throwing her hands up to her sensitive ears as the cacophony of suffering bounced down the corridor. She sat like a statue for a good half minute, petrified at what had happened, thoughts slowly formulating. If she did nothing, she might be left in here forever, she had to take a chance. The lithe slave leaned forwards once more, cautiously lowering her palms from their positions as she did. "H-Hey! Anyone?!"

Lazarus heard the call even over the sounds of those who's lives barely held on. He strode forward giving each life a quick end. His armored boots made sickening squishes as he casually walked through the Gore. Kaya would hear him coming, Only the sound of the boots to signal his approach.

He steps would stop outside her door, having not heard any other pleas for help. Whether out of fear or dead mattered little. The door was locked, but that wouldn't be a problem. The point fingers of his armor easily pierced the shoddy metal with his already enhanced strength. With a quick tug the door was removed from the frame and tossed aside. He looked at the sad figure before him.

The Helashio's glistening eyes widened as she stared through her cracked portal to the outside, the imposing figure of Lazarus thudding directly towards her. This was it, her gamble had failed, the painted skull of the grim reaper quickly filled the slither of corridor she could see. The encroaching steps halted, the rise and fall of Kaya's chest and her petrified breaths the only sound - the cries of the fallen having gone silent.

Kaya hung her head in defeat, one hand holding together the great tear down the side of her clothing best she could - at least she would die with a modicum of dignity. If you could call having your life end as a slave, half-starved, beaten and confined dignified. The hefty metal door was ripped easily from its hinges, the barrage of outside light baring down on her along with the shadow of death.

The discarded door clanged heftily against the floor, reverberations thudding through the rickety ship, causing a strange remote-looking device on a flimsy hook beside where it had used to hang to fall to the floor with a clatter. Kaya whimpered softly, her white-pink hair trailing over her face as the slave slumped forwards, awaiting her fate.

Lazarus slowly picked up the device, recognizing it as a collar control. He glared at it before tossing it to the woman causing it to clatter to the deck. He simply said, "Follow me if you want live. I'm wasting this place before I leave, and you don't want to be here when I do."

He began to walk back towards the hall.

Kaya was paralysed as the imposing figure before her bent down, convinced he was about to grab the back of her neck and snap her spine like a toothpick. When instead Lazarus tossed what was essentially to Kaya as strings were to a puppet at kneeling form, all the snowy-haired girl could do was stare at it blankly.

It was right there, just.. sitting there. She waited for a moment as this strange man spoke, anticipating someone would appear from the woodwork and claim her once more. Nobody came. It was only when her apparent saviour began to clunk down the hallway that Kaya pounced forwards, grasping the remote as if it was a rope from a bottomless pit.

Scrabbling up without delay, the Helashio's feet slipped a little on the smooth deck, the gilded-eyed girl almost sprinting over to follow Lazarus. She wasn't going to stay there to have someone swoop in like a carrion crow.

Lazarus slung his weapon, his legs covered in blood even more as he walked through the mess he had made. His long legs did not take long to get him to the hold again. The mech stood there waiting, Its head turning as it scanned the hold. It's attention however was ripped to its owner then the helashio following him.

"Dont bother Osiris, she's far from hostile. Open the hatch."

[Yes sir. Is she coming with us?], Mech spoke as it kneeled, Its chest blossoming open like some armored flower of death. A single chair being extended forward.

"Uh,....shit. well if she is, she's sitting on my lap, this isn't a two seater.", Lazarus said cursing. Why was he even bringing her along?

The non-hostile in question pattered rapidly behind Lazarus as he strode through the carnage, her porcelain face becoming an even starker white than before at the mess. Closing her eyes a little, Kaya focused on the back of the butcher before her, knowing that he must have been the one who did this and trying not to throw up.

The rags that had wrapped her small feet were sodden with crimson liquid, falling off as she drew up beside Osiris. The mech was intimidating, giving off the same feeling of dread one would do looking up to a citadel or momument to a dark cause. Kaya forced herself to breathe deeply, not look down as she stood behind Lazarus. She awaited a command, the way she always had feeling the lukewarm sticky fluid that had splashed onto her shins grow colder.

This must be a dream, of course it had to be. She just had to wait and soon she'd be.. She'd be back in that cell, struggling to breathe with a parched tongue. She'd been forced to sit on laps before and.. worse. If she had to go along with this, that wouldn't stop her. "T-That's fine.. Mast- Mister." Kaya caught herself, the word feeling alien to her tongue.

Lazarus paused at being called master, the sensation that word gave, it was uncomfortable and irritating. The three armored plates over his visor shinked back, a deep crimson visor now apparent as the seals on his helmet released. He removed the helm to stow it and his gun under the seat. His black hair and red eyes now uncovered. He took the seat, and restraints locked over his wrists, ankles, chest, and neck. "There are no masters here, except those of their own fates. You are not the only one who has been a slave. Now decide your fate, die here when I blow this place, or sit on my lap where you'll fit in the cockpit and live. Let it be your first choice as a free woman," Lazarus said in a tone that made it clear he would not wait.

Kaya looked very intelligent at this ultimatum, her amber eyes utterly confused and a silly half-smirk painted on her lips. Nope, that was just confusion. The Helashio's mind whirred at the prospects given to her, discreetly examining the man's features for any signs of hidden agenda - it was like looking at a stone wall. "U-Uhm.." Kaya began, then shut herself up as a breeze blew across her legs, the wet scarlet stains sending shivers up her spine, reminding her of where she was.

There was only one answer here, "Thank you, s-sir." She stammered awkwardly, still in a semi trancelike state as she struggled to process this sudden happening. Never had an event even remotely as significant as this happened to the girl, she thought, clambering as carefully as she could into the mech after Lazarus. Kaya used the restraints Lazarus was using as handholds for purchase, finally turning herself around and settled her soft behind gently into his lap. Her cheeks lit up a fraction, many shades lighter than the blood staining her fair skin - "I'm ready.."

The chair would retract into the machine, and the outer shell closed. For a moment everything would be dark, but the interior would become almost transparent in a cascade of hexagonal shapes. A HUD of various data would come into focus as the mech moved. Lazarus was utterly still, his voice suddenly coming from speakers and not his own mouth, "Osiris, prepare to fire all missiles left. Full spread, make sure there isn't a bolt left."

As they floated some distance away, the rest of his missiles would launch causing the ship to tear apart in the distance on impact. The mech turnedand spread it's plasma jet wings, soon sending them flying back towards Vice.

The slightly furred girl fidgeted as the destructive projectiles soared free, the thoughts of whoever else was still aboard dying as easily as candles in a hurricane not settling easy with her. They hadn't been nice people but they had been people at least. With the sorry-looking craft exploding in an almost divine flash of energy, Kaya felt a sudden release, as if the world had been resting on her shoulders and had finally lifted. It almost knocked those residual thoughts of the crew from her mind completely.

Was she.. Free?

 
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