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RE: Aphrodite - Sombs - 08-29-2018
July 26th, 825 - Sigma-13
"You know he'll kill you." Samantha's words were matter of fact, neutral in tone. She was clearly testing the bindings, but seemed to be calm despite the situation. Her eyes, as always, were narrowed. The recording ended, and Ezrael turned around, facing Lorena with a frown.
"Convincing enough?" he asked her, absolutely not amused. Lorena however was, smirking at their handcuffed guest.
"Both of you will die. Your father will die as well. It is up to you how many other people will die with you. And how much you will need to endure until you beg for the mercy of death. You Darklings have almost no control over the mechanics of your body, especially not on those that control pain. I can't wait to find out where the borders are for each of you. Although, Vertiga, I think I'll leave it to your girlfriend. I'll probably just show her some of the lines you said about her in your personal logs and let her decide how to treat you. Maybe she'll even allow you to live. Wouldn't that be something?"
Ezrael exhaled, leaning against the wall. He rubbed his tired eyes for a moment, feeling very exhausted.
"You know what happens if you fall asleep. The girl here can even witness it."
Agitated, Ezrael yelled at her. "I did everything you want! Just let me sleep for a few hours!"
"Feel free to sleep. I'll still do it if you do."
Nick had already been in his Nyx when he sent the message. He was mad. Mad, but focused. They hadd trained him for situations like this. Now he had to decide whether he wanted to save his daughter, or keep something that might change everything. A live nomad, captured and severed from the hivemind. At least they had thought it was severed. The fact that Ezrael wanted it showed that something was making noise somewhere. The ships engines blaze to life, as Nick begins to enter coordinates. He knew where to find the Apahanta. He just needed time.
And time was a luxury he could not afford. Realizing Nick didn't indicate cooperation in his transmission - the response to Ezrael's demand - Lorena leaned in to the girl on the bed, smirking at her.
Black space became cloudy nebula. It was here somewhere. There were only so many places one can hide a battleship in a nebula like this, and fewer still that he wouldn't find. But first, the main event.
A thought resulted in the appearance of two ships that had vanished shortly after the Forlorn Hope disbanded. The Haven and the Night Fury. A jump capable carrier and a crayterian cruiser that they had acquired long ago, and never revealed. Aboard the two ships were the other assets that the Forlorn had never sold off. Four hundred or so custom combat droids, all fully networked for Vergil access.
A second thought brought up a comm interface, and he directs a message to Ezrael, before settling into his seat to wait. He would only get one chance. Finding the Apahanta in Sigma-13 was not that easy. A moving warship, possibly cloaked, in a system with sensor-dampening, partially even explosive gas pockets. And the Apahanta had mighty sensors. Lorena stroke along Samantha's cheek, smirking at the girl.
"What do you think? Will Daddy play along nicely? Or will he try something stupid, even with your life at risk?"
A short break before she obviously enjoyed listening to her own voice further.
"You find this surely unfair, to suffer for the mistakes of your father. Vertiga is suffering similarly for the wrong-doings of mankind. And the Light has been suffering from the wrong-doings of mankind. If anything, you have the priviledge to feel a little shard of the pain we are suffering every day because of mankind."
Lorena chuckled, then smiled at Samantha.
"You should hope for your father valuing your life."
Ezrael stood a few meters away from them, listening, watching, angry, stressed and frustrated. Hoping Nick would play along, while knowing he is rather pugnatious. "What if he doesn't take the bait?" he asked, chewing on the inner walls of his cheeks.
"How about you rape her in that case? Her father surely will be more likely to comply if he sees you harming her by doing what you can best," she returned, chuckling.
"I will not do that," Ezrael replied in anger. "Think of something else, but not that!" Lorena's only response was another chuckle.
Samantha, carefully having kept her expression neutral through out the exchange, started to smile. "Neither of you know what you're dealing with. A fake name and a body declared KIA years ago. You care about the Vagrant, worry about what might happen to it, but haven't considered that Nick is the only one who knows where it is. Hurt me, and he makes sure you never find it."
"She is right and you know it," Ezrael said, frowning at Lorena. "Nick is not the kind of person that reacts well to such things. You should have tried it the diplomatic way from the very beginning!" Sighing, Lorena let go of Samantha and moved out of her range.
"We will see about that, won't we? You humans are always trying to outsmart the ones superior to yourself. Usually, that backfires. It will backfire this time as well. There is no scenario in which it will end well for you, Vertiga, and only one scenario in which it will end well for you, Samantha. It is the same scenario in which this innocent crew will survive, and the only scenario in which your father might survive. Risk an open conflict and the only one who will suffer from it will be you people. Because you can not harm me. It is in your best interest to not oppose me. Nothing else makes sense for you."
Lorena giggled for the moment, guessing she made clear by now she was not a human.
"I imagine failing to recover the nomad will lead to your masters having immense displeasure in you. Perhaps fatal disappointment when they find out that it died because of your actions." Sam was struggling against her bindings now, desperate to get free. Lorena laughed out loud about that.
"Masters. Disappointment. What do you think I am? One of those braindead Order operatives who do everything their Grand Admiral tells them to do without questioning it? There is no failing. There is no disappointment, and there are no masters. We never needed a hierarchy based on your very human values."
"And yet, here you are threatening a mercenary with his daughter for a captured nomad, hoping that it works and failing to realize that there is no way you leave alive." The smile is bitter, and the words cold. "If you had no masters, no one forcing you to act, you wouldn't be sitting in a metal cage, recognizable to many, waiting for someone to decide if they will or won't cooperate." Lorena sighed, sitting down cross-legged on the bed.
"You are trying to provoke me, is that correct? Desperate words to try and make me rethink my approach? You have no idea what values are important to us. You even imply patience is a bad trait. Do you believe you are the only key to us to achieve what we wish to achieve?"
Samantha only reacted with spiteful silence, and Lorena smirked over at Ezrael, who tried to keep his eyes open.
"By the way, I would like you to compose another transmission, headed to Omicron Lost."
"Convincing enough?" he asked her, absolutely not amused. Lorena however was, smirking at their handcuffed guest.
"Both of you will die. Your father will die as well. It is up to you how many other people will die with you. And how much you will need to endure until you beg for the mercy of death. You Darklings have almost no control over the mechanics of your body, especially not on those that control pain. I can't wait to find out where the borders are for each of you. Although, Vertiga, I think I'll leave it to your girlfriend. I'll probably just show her some of the lines you said about her in your personal logs and let her decide how to treat you. Maybe she'll even allow you to live. Wouldn't that be something?"
Ezrael exhaled, leaning against the wall. He rubbed his tired eyes for a moment, feeling very exhausted.
"You know what happens if you fall asleep. The girl here can even witness it."
Agitated, Ezrael yelled at her. "I did everything you want! Just let me sleep for a few hours!"
"Feel free to sleep. I'll still do it if you do."
Nick had already been in his Nyx when he sent the message. He was mad. Mad, but focused. They hadd trained him for situations like this. Now he had to decide whether he wanted to save his daughter, or keep something that might change everything. A live nomad, captured and severed from the hivemind. At least they had thought it was severed. The fact that Ezrael wanted it showed that something was making noise somewhere. The ships engines blaze to life, as Nick begins to enter coordinates. He knew where to find the Apahanta. He just needed time.
And time was a luxury he could not afford. Realizing Nick didn't indicate cooperation in his transmission - the response to Ezrael's demand - Lorena leaned in to the girl on the bed, smirking at her.
Black space became cloudy nebula. It was here somewhere. There were only so many places one can hide a battleship in a nebula like this, and fewer still that he wouldn't find. But first, the main event.
A thought resulted in the appearance of two ships that had vanished shortly after the Forlorn Hope disbanded. The Haven and the Night Fury. A jump capable carrier and a crayterian cruiser that they had acquired long ago, and never revealed. Aboard the two ships were the other assets that the Forlorn had never sold off. Four hundred or so custom combat droids, all fully networked for Vergil access.
A second thought brought up a comm interface, and he directs a message to Ezrael, before settling into his seat to wait. He would only get one chance. Finding the Apahanta in Sigma-13 was not that easy. A moving warship, possibly cloaked, in a system with sensor-dampening, partially even explosive gas pockets. And the Apahanta had mighty sensors. Lorena stroke along Samantha's cheek, smirking at the girl.
"What do you think? Will Daddy play along nicely? Or will he try something stupid, even with your life at risk?"
A short break before she obviously enjoyed listening to her own voice further.
"You find this surely unfair, to suffer for the mistakes of your father. Vertiga is suffering similarly for the wrong-doings of mankind. And the Light has been suffering from the wrong-doings of mankind. If anything, you have the priviledge to feel a little shard of the pain we are suffering every day because of mankind."
Lorena chuckled, then smiled at Samantha.
"You should hope for your father valuing your life."
Ezrael stood a few meters away from them, listening, watching, angry, stressed and frustrated. Hoping Nick would play along, while knowing he is rather pugnatious. "What if he doesn't take the bait?" he asked, chewing on the inner walls of his cheeks.
"How about you rape her in that case? Her father surely will be more likely to comply if he sees you harming her by doing what you can best," she returned, chuckling.
"I will not do that," Ezrael replied in anger. "Think of something else, but not that!" Lorena's only response was another chuckle.
Samantha, carefully having kept her expression neutral through out the exchange, started to smile. "Neither of you know what you're dealing with. A fake name and a body declared KIA years ago. You care about the Vagrant, worry about what might happen to it, but haven't considered that Nick is the only one who knows where it is. Hurt me, and he makes sure you never find it."
"She is right and you know it," Ezrael said, frowning at Lorena. "Nick is not the kind of person that reacts well to such things. You should have tried it the diplomatic way from the very beginning!" Sighing, Lorena let go of Samantha and moved out of her range.
"We will see about that, won't we? You humans are always trying to outsmart the ones superior to yourself. Usually, that backfires. It will backfire this time as well. There is no scenario in which it will end well for you, Vertiga, and only one scenario in which it will end well for you, Samantha. It is the same scenario in which this innocent crew will survive, and the only scenario in which your father might survive. Risk an open conflict and the only one who will suffer from it will be you people. Because you can not harm me. It is in your best interest to not oppose me. Nothing else makes sense for you."
Lorena giggled for the moment, guessing she made clear by now she was not a human.
"I imagine failing to recover the nomad will lead to your masters having immense displeasure in you. Perhaps fatal disappointment when they find out that it died because of your actions." Sam was struggling against her bindings now, desperate to get free. Lorena laughed out loud about that.
"Masters. Disappointment. What do you think I am? One of those braindead Order operatives who do everything their Grand Admiral tells them to do without questioning it? There is no failing. There is no disappointment, and there are no masters. We never needed a hierarchy based on your very human values."
"And yet, here you are threatening a mercenary with his daughter for a captured nomad, hoping that it works and failing to realize that there is no way you leave alive." The smile is bitter, and the words cold. "If you had no masters, no one forcing you to act, you wouldn't be sitting in a metal cage, recognizable to many, waiting for someone to decide if they will or won't cooperate." Lorena sighed, sitting down cross-legged on the bed.
"You are trying to provoke me, is that correct? Desperate words to try and make me rethink my approach? You have no idea what values are important to us. You even imply patience is a bad trait. Do you believe you are the only key to us to achieve what we wish to achieve?"
Samantha only reacted with spiteful silence, and Lorena smirked over at Ezrael, who tried to keep his eyes open.
"By the way, I would like you to compose another transmission, headed to Omicron Lost."
RE: Aphrodite - Sombs - 08-30-2018
July 26th, 825 - Sigma-13
Time was running short. Multiple chains of events had been initiated. One heavy bomber was headed to the Omega-49. One heavy bomber was orbiting Curacao. Ezrael didn't realize it, but when Nick said what he would do would be nothing compared to what the Order threatened to do, he was literal about it: Those bombers were carrying ultra-heavy payloads. It was sleep deprivation that limited Ezrael's brainpower right now. He felt the exhaustion trying to pull his eye-lids together, but Lorena was here and he couldn't let her be around without him watching her every move. It was a very awkward situation, as Samantha had been quiet for a while, Lorena was quiet, too, and Ezrael himself as well. The silence was weird and uncomfortable, but Lorena enjoyed her play.
But not only those bombers were waiting for to make their moves. The Haven and the Night Fury were doing the same, heading straight for the Apahanta, knowing their exact location no matter where it moved. None of them knew, however, what else was on the move.
"Time is up, Vertiga. What you will do now is opening a stream to Nick Stenn. Then you will undress Samantha and-"
"Shut your mouth, I will not do such a thing. Just kill me already, I can't take this anymore. I won't do anything you tell me to do," Ezrael yelled at her, angry and frustrated, which caused Lorena to smirk widely.
"Alright then."
The blonde moved off the bed and stood up, facing Ezrael. Her smile was vanishing more and more with each second. She made her steps towards him, very slowly, and Ezrael realized she was not kidding. His frustration was replaced by primal fear as she closed in, his veins suddenly filling with adrenaline. What was she about to do? Infect him? She couldn't, he was certain of it. A telekinetic attack? She wouldn't need to get close for that. Or did she? Ezrael backed to the wall and closed his eyes as she was stopping infront of him.
"It is a shame you never figured out the absurdity of this dream. Encapsulated in a virtual reality for so long, you forgot about the real world. I will grant you the mercy of death, in this world. We got our answers anyway. All your belongings are ours now. We got your ship and will put it to good use, and your crew was sold to Malta long ago."
Her weird words made no sense to him. What was she talking about? Why couldn't she just end it? He kept his eyes closed, feeling the gloved hand of Lorena at his cheek. It was over now, he was sure of it. Finally...
A slap against the cheek where her hand used to be, and Ezrael opened his eyes both in annoyance and surprise. Things were significantly different now, and he felt horrible. Every sensation was different. This was not his room on the Apahanta anymore. This was somewhere else. It was a room, grey walls of rusty metal causing discomfort, and the only light source was a tiny window at the upper end of the wall to his left, allowing white light to shine in without illuminating the rest of the room at all. Ezrael felt dizzy. What was going on!? There was a table with a bunch of monitors on it, one chair only. In the darkness he was barely able to see the door ahead of him. It was closed, thick metal. It was cold in here. The air was disgustingly humid and smelly, a mixture of rust, mold, human excrements and other things he couldn't identify right on spot. Looking down at himself, he realized he was naked, dirty and stinking himself as if he didn't get a shower for a long time. His hair was all greasy, his skin felt uncomfortably oily. His feet were moist, and he could only guess it was a puddle of urine he was standing in. Looking up, he saw the contraption which held him in place. His wrists were cuffed to a metal pipe construct above him, and his arms felt incredibly tired, the wrists were hurting and partially blue, slightly bloated. From one moment to the next, Ezrael felt incredibly weak, hungry and thirsty, trying desperately to breath. Only now he noticed the cables attached to various parts of his body, all leading over to the monitors at the table.
For a few minutes, Ezrael tried to understand the situation. What was this? It didn't feel like a dream. It felt horribly real. It smelled real. The hunger was real. He looked down at his body and saw he had lost muscles and weight. Everything hurt. "... hello?" he sounded, barely with voice. Throat aching, he tried it again. "Lorena," he said quietly, feeling like he wanted to cry but there was no liquid available to do so. "... help!"
A loud sound coming from the door. As if suddenly something very heavy hit the metal door. It opened, revealing a little bit more light. There were cockroaches on the floor, Ezrael just realized. The sudden increase of light was hurting his eyes and he was unable to identify the silhouette that just entered the room, only to close the door again, taking the light away. The shadow moved over to the chair. Well well, Ezrael.
This was a familar voice. Ezrael tried to identify the person infront of him, narrowed his eyes, but blur and darkness made it almost impossible. Nevertheless, the voice caused goosebumps despite not being horrific. You can't imagine how surprised I was to see you giving up already. Sleep deprivation? Of all things I would not have expected this to cause the end of the interrogation.
No. No. No! This was impossible! Ezrael shook his head in disbelief while watching the man unbuttoning his jacket in a very clear and professional manner, taking it off and hanging it over the backrest of the single chair in the room. In fact, Ezrael, you were one of the most interesting subjects. More entertaining than many others, the man said and made a step into the light. The illumination of half of the face was enough to confirm Ezrael's fear. This was the man known as Goro Yoshida.
"... impossible..." the Curacaoan breathed, and for a mere moment, there was an amused smirk on Yoshida's face.
Fortunately for you, you have contributed to the greater good by feeding us with the information we required to heal you from the alien influence you have suffered from. One week ago, Miss von Westefeld was hunted down by one of our assassins and eliminated, together with her alien parasite. Yoshida's glance moved down to Ezrael's legs, where a cockroach was hanging. Then his head turned to face the monitors. The Lane Hackers are no evil people, Ezrael. We are grateful and forgiving. The truth is, you only had to endure all of this as it is the only way to cure you from the influence Miss von Westefeld has had on you. This suffering is now over. You have broken free from the proverbial chains of the aliens, and now I am here to free you from these physical chains as well.
While Yoshida stared Ezrael into his only half-opened eyes, the Curacaoan blinked, looking away unfocused in disbelief. This was not real. It couldn't be. Maren was not dead. He was still on the Apahanta. This here was not real. A mind trick? Mind-merge. Was Yoshida Lorena? This felt so incredibly real. Even the way he was talking was matching perfectly from what Ezrael remembered, and he remembered Yoshida very well. The few comms with him were enough to fuel nightmares. Of course, there is one final condition to it, Ezrael.
Ezrael looked up, a weak glance at Yoshida, who just returned the glance with a cold expression. Since we took all your belongings, including your battleship and the few people you did not kill during your defection from the Core, you won't have a place to go now. No ship. We even confiscated the Hoffnungsschimmer. Your credits have been transfered to us. You might believe this is a criminal act, but I would like to ask you to see it as a punishment for having betrayed mankind by allowing yourself to get seduced by an infested woman. As I said, we are generous people, and offer you, instead of twenty years of slave work on Malta, a civilian shuttle and a bit of money. Just enough to ensure you can find your way back into the human community.
This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real.
The condition for this would be to say something, in a public place. The truth. You probably heard about the rumors of people who praise the Lane Hackers all over Liberty, Yoshida sounded, only to have it followed by another rather creepy smile. These rumors are true. All I ask for is that you admit, system-wide in New York, that you have misjudged us and that you now admire the cause of the Lane Hackers. If you do that, we part as friends.
Ezrael left his head hanging, looking down at the cockroach at his leg. It was not moving. This is not real, he thought. He was still on the Apahanta. This was not real. A lie. An illusion. "... I will do it..."
Very well, then. I myself will prepare everything, Ezrael. Since there is nothing further to discus, I will leave you for now, Yoshida said, turning around to fetch his jacket again, putting it on again in a similarly professional way. Elegant but quick. The preparations should be finished in three weeks. Until then, Mr. Vertiga.
This was not real. Ezrael's eyes grudgingly chased Yoshida as he moved to the door, and his entire body shook the moment the door was shut with force, echoing through the room, causing the cockroach at Ezrael's leg to move. It moved up, running up the leg, the belly, then the chest. It stopped at his cheek, despite Ezrael panicking as the giant bug remained unmoving in his face. Bugs like these did not exist on Curacao at all, and Ezrael always was suffering from intense entomophobia.
But not only those bombers were waiting for to make their moves. The Haven and the Night Fury were doing the same, heading straight for the Apahanta, knowing their exact location no matter where it moved. None of them knew, however, what else was on the move.
"Time is up, Vertiga. What you will do now is opening a stream to Nick Stenn. Then you will undress Samantha and-"
"Shut your mouth, I will not do such a thing. Just kill me already, I can't take this anymore. I won't do anything you tell me to do," Ezrael yelled at her, angry and frustrated, which caused Lorena to smirk widely.
"Alright then."
The blonde moved off the bed and stood up, facing Ezrael. Her smile was vanishing more and more with each second. She made her steps towards him, very slowly, and Ezrael realized she was not kidding. His frustration was replaced by primal fear as she closed in, his veins suddenly filling with adrenaline. What was she about to do? Infect him? She couldn't, he was certain of it. A telekinetic attack? She wouldn't need to get close for that. Or did she? Ezrael backed to the wall and closed his eyes as she was stopping infront of him.
"It is a shame you never figured out the absurdity of this dream. Encapsulated in a virtual reality for so long, you forgot about the real world. I will grant you the mercy of death, in this world. We got our answers anyway. All your belongings are ours now. We got your ship and will put it to good use, and your crew was sold to Malta long ago."
Her weird words made no sense to him. What was she talking about? Why couldn't she just end it? He kept his eyes closed, feeling the gloved hand of Lorena at his cheek. It was over now, he was sure of it. Finally...
A slap against the cheek where her hand used to be, and Ezrael opened his eyes both in annoyance and surprise. Things were significantly different now, and he felt horrible. Every sensation was different. This was not his room on the Apahanta anymore. This was somewhere else. It was a room, grey walls of rusty metal causing discomfort, and the only light source was a tiny window at the upper end of the wall to his left, allowing white light to shine in without illuminating the rest of the room at all. Ezrael felt dizzy. What was going on!? There was a table with a bunch of monitors on it, one chair only. In the darkness he was barely able to see the door ahead of him. It was closed, thick metal. It was cold in here. The air was disgustingly humid and smelly, a mixture of rust, mold, human excrements and other things he couldn't identify right on spot. Looking down at himself, he realized he was naked, dirty and stinking himself as if he didn't get a shower for a long time. His hair was all greasy, his skin felt uncomfortably oily. His feet were moist, and he could only guess it was a puddle of urine he was standing in. Looking up, he saw the contraption which held him in place. His wrists were cuffed to a metal pipe construct above him, and his arms felt incredibly tired, the wrists were hurting and partially blue, slightly bloated. From one moment to the next, Ezrael felt incredibly weak, hungry and thirsty, trying desperately to breath. Only now he noticed the cables attached to various parts of his body, all leading over to the monitors at the table.
For a few minutes, Ezrael tried to understand the situation. What was this? It didn't feel like a dream. It felt horribly real. It smelled real. The hunger was real. He looked down at his body and saw he had lost muscles and weight. Everything hurt. "... hello?" he sounded, barely with voice. Throat aching, he tried it again. "Lorena," he said quietly, feeling like he wanted to cry but there was no liquid available to do so. "... help!"
A loud sound coming from the door. As if suddenly something very heavy hit the metal door. It opened, revealing a little bit more light. There were cockroaches on the floor, Ezrael just realized. The sudden increase of light was hurting his eyes and he was unable to identify the silhouette that just entered the room, only to close the door again, taking the light away. The shadow moved over to the chair. Well well, Ezrael.
This was a familar voice. Ezrael tried to identify the person infront of him, narrowed his eyes, but blur and darkness made it almost impossible. Nevertheless, the voice caused goosebumps despite not being horrific. You can't imagine how surprised I was to see you giving up already. Sleep deprivation? Of all things I would not have expected this to cause the end of the interrogation.
No. No. No! This was impossible! Ezrael shook his head in disbelief while watching the man unbuttoning his jacket in a very clear and professional manner, taking it off and hanging it over the backrest of the single chair in the room. In fact, Ezrael, you were one of the most interesting subjects. More entertaining than many others, the man said and made a step into the light. The illumination of half of the face was enough to confirm Ezrael's fear. This was the man known as Goro Yoshida.
"... impossible..." the Curacaoan breathed, and for a mere moment, there was an amused smirk on Yoshida's face.
Fortunately for you, you have contributed to the greater good by feeding us with the information we required to heal you from the alien influence you have suffered from. One week ago, Miss von Westefeld was hunted down by one of our assassins and eliminated, together with her alien parasite. Yoshida's glance moved down to Ezrael's legs, where a cockroach was hanging. Then his head turned to face the monitors. The Lane Hackers are no evil people, Ezrael. We are grateful and forgiving. The truth is, you only had to endure all of this as it is the only way to cure you from the influence Miss von Westefeld has had on you. This suffering is now over. You have broken free from the proverbial chains of the aliens, and now I am here to free you from these physical chains as well.
While Yoshida stared Ezrael into his only half-opened eyes, the Curacaoan blinked, looking away unfocused in disbelief. This was not real. It couldn't be. Maren was not dead. He was still on the Apahanta. This here was not real. A mind trick? Mind-merge. Was Yoshida Lorena? This felt so incredibly real. Even the way he was talking was matching perfectly from what Ezrael remembered, and he remembered Yoshida very well. The few comms with him were enough to fuel nightmares. Of course, there is one final condition to it, Ezrael.
Ezrael looked up, a weak glance at Yoshida, who just returned the glance with a cold expression. Since we took all your belongings, including your battleship and the few people you did not kill during your defection from the Core, you won't have a place to go now. No ship. We even confiscated the Hoffnungsschimmer. Your credits have been transfered to us. You might believe this is a criminal act, but I would like to ask you to see it as a punishment for having betrayed mankind by allowing yourself to get seduced by an infested woman. As I said, we are generous people, and offer you, instead of twenty years of slave work on Malta, a civilian shuttle and a bit of money. Just enough to ensure you can find your way back into the human community.
This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This is not real.
The condition for this would be to say something, in a public place. The truth. You probably heard about the rumors of people who praise the Lane Hackers all over Liberty, Yoshida sounded, only to have it followed by another rather creepy smile. These rumors are true. All I ask for is that you admit, system-wide in New York, that you have misjudged us and that you now admire the cause of the Lane Hackers. If you do that, we part as friends.
Ezrael left his head hanging, looking down at the cockroach at his leg. It was not moving. This is not real, he thought. He was still on the Apahanta. This was not real. A lie. An illusion. "... I will do it..."
Very well, then. I myself will prepare everything, Ezrael. Since there is nothing further to discus, I will leave you for now, Yoshida said, turning around to fetch his jacket again, putting it on again in a similarly professional way. Elegant but quick. The preparations should be finished in three weeks. Until then, Mr. Vertiga.
This was not real. Ezrael's eyes grudgingly chased Yoshida as he moved to the door, and his entire body shook the moment the door was shut with force, echoing through the room, causing the cockroach at Ezrael's leg to move. It moved up, running up the leg, the belly, then the chest. It stopped at his cheek, despite Ezrael panicking as the giant bug remained unmoving in his face. Bugs like these did not exist on Curacao at all, and Ezrael always was suffering from intense entomophobia.
RE: Aphrodite - Sombs - 08-31-2018
KDOY 26GL, 825 - TEPNM-13
Ezrael opened his eyes again. The situation was still the same. The same horribly stinky room. The cockroaches were still with him. There was no indication on how much time had passed. He couldn't move much, his entire body was aching, his feet hurting from carrying his weight while standing in the moisture his bladder released. It was uncomfortably cold and the entire area between his nose and his lips was red. If he would have had facial hair, he would have been able to guess how much time had passed, but his ability of growing a beard was removed many years ago with a laser surgery to get rid of all hair roots. The same for other parts of his body.
He didn't remember when was the last time a drone was sent to feed him. They didn't even send a human, as the room was so incredibly disgusting to enter. The treatment however was affecting him heavily. Multiple times had he tried to move away, to get rid of the cables attached to his body or the chains around his wrists. Everything hurt, and the worst aspect of it was being forced to stand the entire time.
At some point, Ezrael felt a cockroach moving up his neck. Remaining quiet and unmoved, by now having accepted that those horribly disgusting bugs were sharing this room with him, he opened his mouth. The motion was weak, without any force. Then Ezrael began to twitch without any control over his body, barely able to fathom what he was hoping for. Keeping his mouth open, he remained like this for minutes, but the cockroach didn't move. Growing impatient, Ezrael shook his head, slamming it against his shoulder which caused his chin to slightly touch the cockroach without harming it. It started to move, turning around to wander over his arm pit to his back. Giving up, Ezrael closed his mouth again, his chin shaking, spazzing slightly. "... Yoshida..."
But nobody appeared. More time passed, and every now and then, Ezrael called for Yoshida. He was sure days had been passing. A week maybe? He knew they were toying with him. He still had no idea what was going on. What they said made some sort of sense, but was it true? This was not real. This was not how things were. Ezrael was convinced. This was all just a trick by Lorena.
But then two weeks had passed. Two weeks of this situation. At some point, the cockroach moved up to Ezrael's face, and again he opened his mouth, disgusted by the idea of what he was doing. The cockroach moved to his lower lip. Snap!
Then the third week had passed, and Ezrael wook up again as something heavy hit the metal door from the outside. Then the door opened, light shone in and burned Ezrael's eyes until the door closed again. It was the same procedure as last time. Yoshida put his jacket over the chair and moved into the small spotlight, his face becoming visible. There was a long silence of Yoshida merely staring into Ezrael's eyes, which returned a begging stare. The loathing in Yoshida's glance was not just hinted at this point. Then, however, the Lane Hacker shook his head. He moved away, but didn't leave the room. There were noises in the distance but Ezrael had no idea what they were about. Until a cold stream of water hit the floor with high pressure. It was aiming for Ezrael's feet, and the Curacaoan panicked. It hurt. Being forced to stay in place by the metal contraption above him, Ezrael was unable to dodge and screamed when the water hit his body, desperately trying to not lose his footing. The icy beam moved up further and further. The kinetic power was painful, the low temperature pure torture. The stream stopped and silence returned. Ezrael was wildly shaking, his eyes closed, head hanging. Yoshida came back, audibly by his footsteps on the wet ground. The Hacker moved the chair, but instead of lifting it, he pulled it, which caused loud noises. With the chair stopping in the spotlight, Yoshida sat down infront of Ezrael, a bit less then two meters between them. He grabbed into the pocket of his jacket, retrieving an in wrapping film covered sandwich. Orange bread, the sudden scent of cheese and synthetic ham was instantly noted by Ezrael, who looked at it. Yoshida held it in a presenting way, the light shining directly onto it. I was not lying when I said it would take three weeks, Ezrael.
Raising his head a bit more, cold water dripping from his chin, he gave Yoshida a questioning stare. Three weeks have passed since I was here the last time. Back then you were already in an unfortunate shape. Feces all over the ground, cockroaches on your body. I heard you even ate two of them when they were just too curious to find out what was stinking to horribly, just to find out it was your breath. Demonstratively, Yoshida took a bite of the delicious cardamine-flavoured sandwich. He took his sweet time to chew on that bite and then took another bite. Then another. At some point, half of the sandwich was gone, and all Ezrael was able to do was to witness it. In his usual precise movements, Yoshida wrapped the remaining half in the film and put it back into the pocket of his jacket. By the way, I came here to inform you about the assassination of your terrorist friend, Miss Nancy Sweetwater. It happened last week, on a Freeport. Admittedly, she was a rather beautiful woman. In fact, I can't blame you for allowing her to seduce you either.
Nancy was dead? Why? What did she do? Ezrael's eyes were unfocused staring against the ground. There was a young man with her. Blond hair, toned body. A man people would colloquially call a sunnyboy. He sadly made the mistake to attempt to defend Miss Sweetwater, so he was shot, too. I was curious and later found out it was a student of yours. Leon Isley. Ezrael's expression changed, and despite being clearly dehydrated, his eyes managed to produce a few tears. The long-haired man began to hyperventilate, pressing a few disturbed and sad sounds of his weak voice out of his throat. Yoshida merely watched it until, minutes later, Ezrael calmed down again, as it was leading nowhere anyway.
You see, with all the information I extracted from you, the Lane Hackers were enabled to eliminate both a so called Wild and a terrorist who used to do anything for the right price. We also killed someone who supported the latter, and by keeping you incarcerated here, we prevent a hedonistic corporate slug from hoarding credits other people of the society could have used to survive and increase their quality of life. You have to admit, our cause is for the better of mankind. Maybe, in a month, you are able to admit it without lying. Yoshida stood up again, smirking only for a short moment. The Inner Circle looks forward to that.
Shaking uncontrolled, Ezrael had no options as to just watch Yoshida moving away again, leaving the chair where it was. He just took his jacket and left the room. For an entire month...
He didn't remember when was the last time a drone was sent to feed him. They didn't even send a human, as the room was so incredibly disgusting to enter. The treatment however was affecting him heavily. Multiple times had he tried to move away, to get rid of the cables attached to his body or the chains around his wrists. Everything hurt, and the worst aspect of it was being forced to stand the entire time.
At some point, Ezrael felt a cockroach moving up his neck. Remaining quiet and unmoved, by now having accepted that those horribly disgusting bugs were sharing this room with him, he opened his mouth. The motion was weak, without any force. Then Ezrael began to twitch without any control over his body, barely able to fathom what he was hoping for. Keeping his mouth open, he remained like this for minutes, but the cockroach didn't move. Growing impatient, Ezrael shook his head, slamming it against his shoulder which caused his chin to slightly touch the cockroach without harming it. It started to move, turning around to wander over his arm pit to his back. Giving up, Ezrael closed his mouth again, his chin shaking, spazzing slightly. "... Yoshida..."
But nobody appeared. More time passed, and every now and then, Ezrael called for Yoshida. He was sure days had been passing. A week maybe? He knew they were toying with him. He still had no idea what was going on. What they said made some sort of sense, but was it true? This was not real. This was not how things were. Ezrael was convinced. This was all just a trick by Lorena.
But then two weeks had passed. Two weeks of this situation. At some point, the cockroach moved up to Ezrael's face, and again he opened his mouth, disgusted by the idea of what he was doing. The cockroach moved to his lower lip. Snap!
Then the third week had passed, and Ezrael wook up again as something heavy hit the metal door from the outside. Then the door opened, light shone in and burned Ezrael's eyes until the door closed again. It was the same procedure as last time. Yoshida put his jacket over the chair and moved into the small spotlight, his face becoming visible. There was a long silence of Yoshida merely staring into Ezrael's eyes, which returned a begging stare. The loathing in Yoshida's glance was not just hinted at this point. Then, however, the Lane Hacker shook his head. He moved away, but didn't leave the room. There were noises in the distance but Ezrael had no idea what they were about. Until a cold stream of water hit the floor with high pressure. It was aiming for Ezrael's feet, and the Curacaoan panicked. It hurt. Being forced to stay in place by the metal contraption above him, Ezrael was unable to dodge and screamed when the water hit his body, desperately trying to not lose his footing. The icy beam moved up further and further. The kinetic power was painful, the low temperature pure torture. The stream stopped and silence returned. Ezrael was wildly shaking, his eyes closed, head hanging. Yoshida came back, audibly by his footsteps on the wet ground. The Hacker moved the chair, but instead of lifting it, he pulled it, which caused loud noises. With the chair stopping in the spotlight, Yoshida sat down infront of Ezrael, a bit less then two meters between them. He grabbed into the pocket of his jacket, retrieving an in wrapping film covered sandwich. Orange bread, the sudden scent of cheese and synthetic ham was instantly noted by Ezrael, who looked at it. Yoshida held it in a presenting way, the light shining directly onto it. I was not lying when I said it would take three weeks, Ezrael.
Raising his head a bit more, cold water dripping from his chin, he gave Yoshida a questioning stare. Three weeks have passed since I was here the last time. Back then you were already in an unfortunate shape. Feces all over the ground, cockroaches on your body. I heard you even ate two of them when they were just too curious to find out what was stinking to horribly, just to find out it was your breath. Demonstratively, Yoshida took a bite of the delicious cardamine-flavoured sandwich. He took his sweet time to chew on that bite and then took another bite. Then another. At some point, half of the sandwich was gone, and all Ezrael was able to do was to witness it. In his usual precise movements, Yoshida wrapped the remaining half in the film and put it back into the pocket of his jacket. By the way, I came here to inform you about the assassination of your terrorist friend, Miss Nancy Sweetwater. It happened last week, on a Freeport. Admittedly, she was a rather beautiful woman. In fact, I can't blame you for allowing her to seduce you either.
Nancy was dead? Why? What did she do? Ezrael's eyes were unfocused staring against the ground. There was a young man with her. Blond hair, toned body. A man people would colloquially call a sunnyboy. He sadly made the mistake to attempt to defend Miss Sweetwater, so he was shot, too. I was curious and later found out it was a student of yours. Leon Isley. Ezrael's expression changed, and despite being clearly dehydrated, his eyes managed to produce a few tears. The long-haired man began to hyperventilate, pressing a few disturbed and sad sounds of his weak voice out of his throat. Yoshida merely watched it until, minutes later, Ezrael calmed down again, as it was leading nowhere anyway.
You see, with all the information I extracted from you, the Lane Hackers were enabled to eliminate both a so called Wild and a terrorist who used to do anything for the right price. We also killed someone who supported the latter, and by keeping you incarcerated here, we prevent a hedonistic corporate slug from hoarding credits other people of the society could have used to survive and increase their quality of life. You have to admit, our cause is for the better of mankind. Maybe, in a month, you are able to admit it without lying. Yoshida stood up again, smirking only for a short moment. The Inner Circle looks forward to that.
Shaking uncontrolled, Ezrael had no options as to just watch Yoshida moving away again, leaving the chair where it was. He just took his jacket and left the room. For an entire month...
RE: Aphrodite - Sombs - 08-31-2018
MVOY 26DL, 825 - UEFPG-13
The feeling for time was gone entirely. There was no indication of when a day had ended, when a week ended or when a month ended. Ezrael simply didn't know. For all he know, he could have been imprisoned here for years. The drone which force-feeded him every now and then with a barely sufficing pile of tasteless nutrients had no pattern in their approach. Sometimes he received two rations a day, sometimes nothing in two days. He knew perfectly well by now that they were keeping him alive, giving his body all it needed to not cease functioning, yet his body had begun to resorb most energy depots of his body. Fat gone. Muscles decreasing. He had the feeling they gave him medicals to prevent him from getting sick despite of the harsh conditions he was experiencing. Cold humid climate, cockroaches and flies, urine and feces on the floor. Sometimes Ezrael wondered whether Yoshida was used to visit people in such circumstances.
The vast amounts of time Ezrael had in here were problematic, and once he started to believe that this was the actual reality, he wondered how it was making sense. Was all the previous stuff just a simulation, created by Yoshida? Was this a mania-interrogation? He tried to remember when this must have started. In the end he came to the conclusion this must have been somewhen after he requested information on Cordelia Lyell from the Lane Hackers. Yoshida back then presented him the fact of Auxesia having denounced him as nomad-supporter infront of the Lane Hackers by claiming Maren was infected. The latter was true, sadly. But that didn't mean anything anymore. Maren was dead. Nancy was dead. Even Leon was dead. Everything was horrible.
Everything.
Ezrael looked up, at the metal contraption he was cuffed to. His entire body felt heavy, despite of the intense loss of weight, Nevertheless he tried something. His hands grabbed for the actual chains that forced him to stand with his arms up the entire time. With all the power left in his body, he tried to lift himself up. Unfortunately, it did not work. He was too weak. Yet he tried again, over and over again. It never worked. Frustration and depression were everything that was left. He couldn't even kill himself like this. Or could he? Ezrael sticked out his tongue and slightly pressed his teeth against it, just to aim. If his existence in this situation was pure pain, as everything hurt and there was no hope left, he might as well just end it here, nonchalantly by biting off his own tongue, bleeding to death.
Just as he opened his mouth wide enough, sticked his tongue out as far as possible and prepared himself mentally to do it, the loud smashing sound of something heavy hitting the metal door sounded again, and Ezrael pulled his tongue in again. Same procedure as the last two times. It was Yoshida. He moved to the chair, took off his jacket and moved into the spotlight. Once more I find myself in the unfortunate position of having to visit you, Ezrael. Each time I enter this room I need to take a long shower to get the stank off my body, and my clothes need to be cleaned. Nevertheless, I don't feel like anyone else should go here. You are one grotesque eyesore, and that because I want you to be like that.
Once more he vanished into the darkness, and Ezrael knew what would happen now again. A cold stream of water forcefully hit him. If only the stream was a bit less hurtful, he would have tried to catch some water with his mouth, simply to drink it. Being at the constant border between dehydration and starvation made him think like that. He was hoping for Yoshida to aim for his head.
The icy water stream ceased, and Ezrael realized how well connected the cables were to his body, as the stream must have hit them a few times as well. Yet they were all still in place. Once more he was all shaky from the cold liquid all over his body, and he just let his head hanging, his eyes closed. He heard Yoshida's shoes with each step the Lane Hacker made. He sat down again. This entire setting here is quite the opposite of what you prefered in your past. You are one of the few people who have been born on Curacao, a warm, bright world. So I put you here in a dark, cold place. Curacao is full of people and there are no insects native insects, so I put you here all alone, together with the some of hte most disgusting insects mankind has ever encountered. Cockroaches. You put much value into your body and your hedonistic freedom, so I put you in chains and force you to stand in your own feces, feeding you with the minimal amount of nutrients to keep you alive. And now you serve as a monument of what corporate swines, like you used to be, don't care for. A dirty soulless husk, experiencing the same boring routine every day while other people earn the cash of your hard work. Figuratively, since you don't work actively. In fact, you contribute passively to a study about our reknown mania-interrogation methods. You have never been more helpful to the Lane Hackers than now.
Slowly, Ezrael lifted his head, staring weakly at Yoshida. Today I visit you for the probably last time, Ezrael. You are no longer worth the oxygen you steal from Mactan by breathing. It is my belief that I owe you an explanation on what happens next. The Inner Circle has been discussing about what to do with your stolen warship, your personal toy you killed people for. Two weeks ago we decided to hand it back to the Core, as anything else would be unjust. We ourselves don't have the need for a costly giant target, as you know. We don't operate with brute force. In fact, I personally am tired of hearing about all these people with their stolen warships. The Lane Hackers are better than that. We earn what we need. Yoshida smirked for a moment. It is quite ironic, is it not? We got in touch with Guildkeeper Cordelia Lyell and negotiated about a deal. If it was for her alone, she would have just taken the Apahanta back. And then I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Nova Hawken and Mister Jack Daniels. You remember them for sure. They were requesting us to hand over another asset of the Core. Once more, Yoshida smirked for a second. You.
Almost hyperventilating, Ezrael shook slightly. Lowering his head, he eyed the wet floor. You know what they do to people who violate their eternally glorious agenda. They stuff you into an defenseless Sea Serpent and deploy you somewhere in the very depths of the alien territory. If you make it back to Durban, they will give you a second chance. Maybe.
Then something dropped to the floor and Yoshida's eyes followed it. The lighting was bad, but since it was followed by blood, he realized Ezrael just bit off his tongue. Remaining seated, Yoshida just watched it. For minutes. Then, to Ezrael, everything went dark.
Ezrael opened his eyes again. Lorena was infront of him, smirking cheekily at him. They were on the Apahanta, in Ezrael's personal quarters. Her hand was at his cheek. Samantha was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling.
"We can't let you die, Mr. Vertiga. The Core has agreed on paying a good price for your head, as if it was worth anything. They still want to statute an example. So you will get to enjoy the continuation of your favourite simulation. I personally am curious to see how you deal with all the things that will happen now. We tailored it specifically for you, after all."
Samantha turned her head to the side, frowning at what Lorena said. Then she saw Ezrael, he was shaking wildly, sinking to the ground, visibly shocked and in incredible distress. Was he dead? What was the reality now!? He remembered all of this only vague. Lorena, infected. The Apahanta. Sigma-13. This was all more than two months ago, or in his perception, years. At least the pain was ceasing. He felt better. Warm. His stomach was not trying to dissolve itself. The only issue was a drowsy feeling.
The vast amounts of time Ezrael had in here were problematic, and once he started to believe that this was the actual reality, he wondered how it was making sense. Was all the previous stuff just a simulation, created by Yoshida? Was this a mania-interrogation? He tried to remember when this must have started. In the end he came to the conclusion this must have been somewhen after he requested information on Cordelia Lyell from the Lane Hackers. Yoshida back then presented him the fact of Auxesia having denounced him as nomad-supporter infront of the Lane Hackers by claiming Maren was infected. The latter was true, sadly. But that didn't mean anything anymore. Maren was dead. Nancy was dead. Even Leon was dead. Everything was horrible.
Everything.
Ezrael looked up, at the metal contraption he was cuffed to. His entire body felt heavy, despite of the intense loss of weight, Nevertheless he tried something. His hands grabbed for the actual chains that forced him to stand with his arms up the entire time. With all the power left in his body, he tried to lift himself up. Unfortunately, it did not work. He was too weak. Yet he tried again, over and over again. It never worked. Frustration and depression were everything that was left. He couldn't even kill himself like this. Or could he? Ezrael sticked out his tongue and slightly pressed his teeth against it, just to aim. If his existence in this situation was pure pain, as everything hurt and there was no hope left, he might as well just end it here, nonchalantly by biting off his own tongue, bleeding to death.
Just as he opened his mouth wide enough, sticked his tongue out as far as possible and prepared himself mentally to do it, the loud smashing sound of something heavy hitting the metal door sounded again, and Ezrael pulled his tongue in again. Same procedure as the last two times. It was Yoshida. He moved to the chair, took off his jacket and moved into the spotlight. Once more I find myself in the unfortunate position of having to visit you, Ezrael. Each time I enter this room I need to take a long shower to get the stank off my body, and my clothes need to be cleaned. Nevertheless, I don't feel like anyone else should go here. You are one grotesque eyesore, and that because I want you to be like that.
Once more he vanished into the darkness, and Ezrael knew what would happen now again. A cold stream of water forcefully hit him. If only the stream was a bit less hurtful, he would have tried to catch some water with his mouth, simply to drink it. Being at the constant border between dehydration and starvation made him think like that. He was hoping for Yoshida to aim for his head.
The icy water stream ceased, and Ezrael realized how well connected the cables were to his body, as the stream must have hit them a few times as well. Yet they were all still in place. Once more he was all shaky from the cold liquid all over his body, and he just let his head hanging, his eyes closed. He heard Yoshida's shoes with each step the Lane Hacker made. He sat down again. This entire setting here is quite the opposite of what you prefered in your past. You are one of the few people who have been born on Curacao, a warm, bright world. So I put you here in a dark, cold place. Curacao is full of people and there are no insects native insects, so I put you here all alone, together with the some of hte most disgusting insects mankind has ever encountered. Cockroaches. You put much value into your body and your hedonistic freedom, so I put you in chains and force you to stand in your own feces, feeding you with the minimal amount of nutrients to keep you alive. And now you serve as a monument of what corporate swines, like you used to be, don't care for. A dirty soulless husk, experiencing the same boring routine every day while other people earn the cash of your hard work. Figuratively, since you don't work actively. In fact, you contribute passively to a study about our reknown mania-interrogation methods. You have never been more helpful to the Lane Hackers than now.
Slowly, Ezrael lifted his head, staring weakly at Yoshida. Today I visit you for the probably last time, Ezrael. You are no longer worth the oxygen you steal from Mactan by breathing. It is my belief that I owe you an explanation on what happens next. The Inner Circle has been discussing about what to do with your stolen warship, your personal toy you killed people for. Two weeks ago we decided to hand it back to the Core, as anything else would be unjust. We ourselves don't have the need for a costly giant target, as you know. We don't operate with brute force. In fact, I personally am tired of hearing about all these people with their stolen warships. The Lane Hackers are better than that. We earn what we need. Yoshida smirked for a moment. It is quite ironic, is it not? We got in touch with Guildkeeper Cordelia Lyell and negotiated about a deal. If it was for her alone, she would have just taken the Apahanta back. And then I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Nova Hawken and Mister Jack Daniels. You remember them for sure. They were requesting us to hand over another asset of the Core. Once more, Yoshida smirked for a second. You.
Almost hyperventilating, Ezrael shook slightly. Lowering his head, he eyed the wet floor. You know what they do to people who violate their eternally glorious agenda. They stuff you into an defenseless Sea Serpent and deploy you somewhere in the very depths of the alien territory. If you make it back to Durban, they will give you a second chance. Maybe.
Then something dropped to the floor and Yoshida's eyes followed it. The lighting was bad, but since it was followed by blood, he realized Ezrael just bit off his tongue. Remaining seated, Yoshida just watched it. For minutes. Then, to Ezrael, everything went dark.
Ezrael opened his eyes again. Lorena was infront of him, smirking cheekily at him. They were on the Apahanta, in Ezrael's personal quarters. Her hand was at his cheek. Samantha was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling.
"We can't let you die, Mr. Vertiga. The Core has agreed on paying a good price for your head, as if it was worth anything. They still want to statute an example. So you will get to enjoy the continuation of your favourite simulation. I personally am curious to see how you deal with all the things that will happen now. We tailored it specifically for you, after all."
Samantha turned her head to the side, frowning at what Lorena said. Then she saw Ezrael, he was shaking wildly, sinking to the ground, visibly shocked and in incredible distress. Was he dead? What was the reality now!? He remembered all of this only vague. Lorena, infected. The Apahanta. Sigma-13. This was all more than two months ago, or in his perception, years. At least the pain was ceasing. He felt better. Warm. His stomach was not trying to dissolve itself. The only issue was a drowsy feeling.
RE: Aphrodite - Sombs - 09-02-2018
July 26th, 825 - Sigma-13
"Two hours have passed, Vertiga. In the meantime I took the liberty to request your warform to carry out some orders."
Other than before, there was a Kishiro Service Robot in the room now, simply being on standby, right next to the door. Ezrael was still on the floor, twitching uncontrolled. He just died! How comes he was still alive? Did Yoshida rescue him!? And then put him back into their simulation!? To a certain degree, this was way better than any further second in the mania-interrogation room. Ezrael tried to calm down, not acknowledging anything happening around him. Lorena simply chuckled and moved to the table, fetching something from there. Then she moved over to Samantha, climbing over her to do something with her. A minute later she returned to the table to fetch something else. Ezrael's breathing was slowly stabilizing, and now he was facing Lorena who kneeled down to him. She hand something in both of her hands and moved them to his neck. A clicking sound and Ezrael felt something attached around his neck.
An audio channel opened. "Captain, there are two signatures on 16K right now. They are heading for us. One is unknown to us, the other is the Haven. What are your orders?" It was Sherry, who was currently on bridge. Ezrael first didn't react, merely looking at Lorena's purple eyes.
"If you want to avoid any further pain, you should simply play along, Vertiga. Do what I say and nothing bad will happen. You will submit to my commands. You will willingly praise the greate cause of our acting."
"... Yes..." Ezrael replied weakly. The feeling of the pain that drove him mad for months was still lingering in his bones, but he felt the difference. His body was, here, not starving, dehydrating, neither was it standing non-stop for months nor was it stinking. It was fine. He felt fine. Just tired, which was a big improvement to what he used to endure. If playing along Yoshida's rules was necessary to avoid further pain, then be it that way. "I... I'll handle it from here. Ready yourself, though. Red alert."
It was a treat to hear Sherry's voice, if he was honest. Even knowing she was not real, it was nice. He remembered how often they ended up in bed with another. Sherry never caused harm to him, even though she killed one crewman, it was for a good reason. "Copied."
The lighting all over the ship changed to red, sirens emitting the alert sound. KSRs were re-assigned to critical duty and the crew hurried to their stations. Ezrael carefully stood up and glanced at Lorena, who permanently smirked. "What do we do?"
"You will hail them. Tell them to show us the Vagrant. Tell them we will come aboard for the exchange. They will disarm themselves, we bring them Samantha, they release the Vagrant and we return unharmed to the Apahanta. When everything happens successfully, I will send Nick the code to disarm the bomb choker. If he does anything wrong, the chokers will blow up. If I get harmed or die, they will blow up as well. I have you know, Vertiga, that a KSR also put a bomb choker around Noel's neck. Just to ensure you understand the scenario."
It didn't matter anymore, though, Ezrael thought and sighed. There was a certain relief in the knowledge that this was not real. This was just a simulation Yoshida designed for him. Nodding, he signaled her that he was playing along. "Apahanta, open local hailing frequency to the Forlorn|-Haven and the other ship." The ship beeped. "Vertiga here. You're late, but Samantha is fine. Here is the plan for things to continue: You will send us a live stream of the Vagrant. No tricks. I want to see it, and I want to see it alive. Once you have done that, the Apahanta will send a snub to you, containing me, a crewman of mine and Samantha. You will await us, we will come unarmed, so we expect you to be unarmed, too. No tricks. No defense turrets, not robots, no soldiers. Just you and us, Stenn. You release the Vagrant once we are there, then we give you Samantha. She is currently wearing a bomb necklace that will blow up if you do anything wrong. My crewman and I will return to the Apahanta and we will depart unhindered and later you will receive a transmission with the code to take off the bomb necklace. Is this acceptable?"
There were a few moments of silence before Nick sent a short reply: "Yes. I'll be waiting for you." Ezrael turned around, facing Lorena, who grinned widely. She already felt the presence of the other Vagrant.
The tiny and disabled personal shuttle Samantha used to arrive at the Apahanta was ejected into space, and short moments later the Handsome Rover, a dark-skinned Gitano, left the hangar of the Mako and headed for the Bustard. The cockpit was by no means large enough to support all three of them to be there, so Ezrael and Samantha found themselves in the very cold cargo bay of the drone while Lorena piloted the ship manually. The cargo bay was tiny and Ezrael was happy to not be a claustrophobic. He was more worried about the little shutter between open space and them. He sat in one corner, looking over to Samantha who sat in the other corner, wrists cuffed, ankles cuffed. Ezrael looked at his clothed arms. No cuffs. He felt more naked than he was without these cuffs.
"She is a Wild and forces you to do what she wants, correct?" Samantha asked him, knowing the answer already. Ezrael however averted his glance from her, not responding to it. "We'll die both very soon. Nick will kill you two and the bomb choker will go off. You know him."
Yet Ezrael did not reply. The Gitano aimed for the hangar and landed. A few moments later, Ezrael, Samantha and Lorena left the Gitano, only to be met with Nick Stenn, who was everything else than in a happy mood. Without saying anything, Lorena gave Ezrael a little push to have him lead the group towards the mercenary. Nick and Samantha exchanged looks for a moment before Ezrael began talking. "Release the Vagrant, then we'll depart."
"It is already happening." Stenn's words were cold. His eyes filled with anger. Right now, the Vagrant was leaving the Haven's other hangar, pushed out since it was mentally dead, unable to move on its own. "It's in space now." Ezrael looked over to Lorena, who nodded with a wide grin. Nick eyed Samantha, who's eyes were hinting at Lorena over and over again.
"We will depart now. Come, Vertiga. Kapheira will take care of the Vagrant."
It was the moment everything changed as a pulse shot hit Lorena from the distance. Then another. Then another. She fell to the floor, while Ezrael ran away, trying to find something to get cover in this open area. Another pulse shot hit Lorena, who, before she turned silent, laughed out loud. Ezrael, laying on the floor a few meters away from them, carefully peeked over to them. Samantha lay on the ground as well. Nick was just moving towards Samantha, unimpressed by what just happened. "Are you alright?"
"Kill Lorena, now!!" Nick's glance wandered over to Lorena in an instant. She still lay unmoving on the floor, but following his instinkts, he ordered a sentry turret in the distance to use lethal rounds against Lorena. Her body was ripped apart from the pin-point accurate plasma shots.
For a moment, Nick looked up. His vergil-connected mind was just informed about something. "A big one."
Other than before, there was a Kishiro Service Robot in the room now, simply being on standby, right next to the door. Ezrael was still on the floor, twitching uncontrolled. He just died! How comes he was still alive? Did Yoshida rescue him!? And then put him back into their simulation!? To a certain degree, this was way better than any further second in the mania-interrogation room. Ezrael tried to calm down, not acknowledging anything happening around him. Lorena simply chuckled and moved to the table, fetching something from there. Then she moved over to Samantha, climbing over her to do something with her. A minute later she returned to the table to fetch something else. Ezrael's breathing was slowly stabilizing, and now he was facing Lorena who kneeled down to him. She hand something in both of her hands and moved them to his neck. A clicking sound and Ezrael felt something attached around his neck.
An audio channel opened. "Captain, there are two signatures on 16K right now. They are heading for us. One is unknown to us, the other is the Haven. What are your orders?" It was Sherry, who was currently on bridge. Ezrael first didn't react, merely looking at Lorena's purple eyes.
"If you want to avoid any further pain, you should simply play along, Vertiga. Do what I say and nothing bad will happen. You will submit to my commands. You will willingly praise the greate cause of our acting."
"... Yes..." Ezrael replied weakly. The feeling of the pain that drove him mad for months was still lingering in his bones, but he felt the difference. His body was, here, not starving, dehydrating, neither was it standing non-stop for months nor was it stinking. It was fine. He felt fine. Just tired, which was a big improvement to what he used to endure. If playing along Yoshida's rules was necessary to avoid further pain, then be it that way. "I... I'll handle it from here. Ready yourself, though. Red alert."
It was a treat to hear Sherry's voice, if he was honest. Even knowing she was not real, it was nice. He remembered how often they ended up in bed with another. Sherry never caused harm to him, even though she killed one crewman, it was for a good reason. "Copied."
The lighting all over the ship changed to red, sirens emitting the alert sound. KSRs were re-assigned to critical duty and the crew hurried to their stations. Ezrael carefully stood up and glanced at Lorena, who permanently smirked. "What do we do?"
"You will hail them. Tell them to show us the Vagrant. Tell them we will come aboard for the exchange. They will disarm themselves, we bring them Samantha, they release the Vagrant and we return unharmed to the Apahanta. When everything happens successfully, I will send Nick the code to disarm the bomb choker. If he does anything wrong, the chokers will blow up. If I get harmed or die, they will blow up as well. I have you know, Vertiga, that a KSR also put a bomb choker around Noel's neck. Just to ensure you understand the scenario."
It didn't matter anymore, though, Ezrael thought and sighed. There was a certain relief in the knowledge that this was not real. This was just a simulation Yoshida designed for him. Nodding, he signaled her that he was playing along. "Apahanta, open local hailing frequency to the Forlorn|-Haven and the other ship." The ship beeped. "Vertiga here. You're late, but Samantha is fine. Here is the plan for things to continue: You will send us a live stream of the Vagrant. No tricks. I want to see it, and I want to see it alive. Once you have done that, the Apahanta will send a snub to you, containing me, a crewman of mine and Samantha. You will await us, we will come unarmed, so we expect you to be unarmed, too. No tricks. No defense turrets, not robots, no soldiers. Just you and us, Stenn. You release the Vagrant once we are there, then we give you Samantha. She is currently wearing a bomb necklace that will blow up if you do anything wrong. My crewman and I will return to the Apahanta and we will depart unhindered and later you will receive a transmission with the code to take off the bomb necklace. Is this acceptable?"
There were a few moments of silence before Nick sent a short reply: "Yes. I'll be waiting for you." Ezrael turned around, facing Lorena, who grinned widely. She already felt the presence of the other Vagrant.
The tiny and disabled personal shuttle Samantha used to arrive at the Apahanta was ejected into space, and short moments later the Handsome Rover, a dark-skinned Gitano, left the hangar of the Mako and headed for the Bustard. The cockpit was by no means large enough to support all three of them to be there, so Ezrael and Samantha found themselves in the very cold cargo bay of the drone while Lorena piloted the ship manually. The cargo bay was tiny and Ezrael was happy to not be a claustrophobic. He was more worried about the little shutter between open space and them. He sat in one corner, looking over to Samantha who sat in the other corner, wrists cuffed, ankles cuffed. Ezrael looked at his clothed arms. No cuffs. He felt more naked than he was without these cuffs.
"She is a Wild and forces you to do what she wants, correct?" Samantha asked him, knowing the answer already. Ezrael however averted his glance from her, not responding to it. "We'll die both very soon. Nick will kill you two and the bomb choker will go off. You know him."
Yet Ezrael did not reply. The Gitano aimed for the hangar and landed. A few moments later, Ezrael, Samantha and Lorena left the Gitano, only to be met with Nick Stenn, who was everything else than in a happy mood. Without saying anything, Lorena gave Ezrael a little push to have him lead the group towards the mercenary. Nick and Samantha exchanged looks for a moment before Ezrael began talking. "Release the Vagrant, then we'll depart."
"It is already happening." Stenn's words were cold. His eyes filled with anger. Right now, the Vagrant was leaving the Haven's other hangar, pushed out since it was mentally dead, unable to move on its own. "It's in space now." Ezrael looked over to Lorena, who nodded with a wide grin. Nick eyed Samantha, who's eyes were hinting at Lorena over and over again.
"We will depart now. Come, Vertiga. Kapheira will take care of the Vagrant."
It was the moment everything changed as a pulse shot hit Lorena from the distance. Then another. Then another. She fell to the floor, while Ezrael ran away, trying to find something to get cover in this open area. Another pulse shot hit Lorena, who, before she turned silent, laughed out loud. Ezrael, laying on the floor a few meters away from them, carefully peeked over to them. Samantha lay on the ground as well. Nick was just moving towards Samantha, unimpressed by what just happened. "Are you alright?"
"Kill Lorena, now!!" Nick's glance wandered over to Lorena in an instant. She still lay unmoving on the floor, but following his instinkts, he ordered a sentry turret in the distance to use lethal rounds against Lorena. Her body was ripped apart from the pin-point accurate plasma shots.
For a moment, Nick looked up. His vergil-connected mind was just informed about something. "A big one."
RE: Aphrodite - Sombs - 09-02-2018
July 26th, 825 - Sigma-13
The tension was high on the Apahanta's bridge. Sherry sat in the captain's seat, a PDA right next to her on the armrest. It was linked with the PDA Ezrael had with him right now on the Haven, so she could listen to what was going on. The main screen infront of her, however, was currently drawing her attention - a very big nomad, and it was heading for them. "Captain, heavy nomad warform is approaching. Orders?"
On the Haven, Ezrael was standing up right now, carefully, while Nick was kneeling down infront of Samantha, who lay on the floor. He touched her shoulder, but no reaction. He turned her on her back, only to see her being lifeless. Her eyes were open and there was no visible wound. She didn't get shot. The bomb necklace didn't go off either. Little did he know, his daughter was killed by a telekinetic brain crush. Aphrodite's final act.
"Maintain distance, don't let it get close. Return fire if it attacks. Prepare the jump drive for an emergency jump," Ezrael ordered, watching Nick, who just stared at his daughter's dead body. Ezrael made a few steps towards him, only to receive a deadly cold stare from the mercenary cyborg. Both men realized it: Samantha was dead. "Lorena was a Wild. She held us captive the entire time and forced us to do this..."
A horrible feeling haunting all of them at the same time, both on the Nick's ships and on the Apahanta. In an instant, almost everyone began to shake. A shrieking sound was audible. A grotesque screeching of anger and hate. "It's attacking! Evasive manouvers! Apahanta, please switch to anti-nomad warfare protocols!" Ezrael heard all of it happening via the audio link of his PDA. Anti-Nomad Warfare Protocols - something he came up with. Apahanta took full control of all stations of the ship, going full automated, in order to prevent possible mistakes done by the human crew in case of telepathic attacks.
Sigma-13 was no vacuum. The gas all over the place was dense enough to carry sounds through space, so everything was audible to a certain degree. The Apahanta's turret shots were echoing through the warship, and each time the nomad warform hit the Apahanta, it caused horrible noises.
"Get back to your ship. You will explain everything to me later," Nick said, picking up Samantha, carrying her as if she didn't weigh anything. "You know the stakes."
Ezrael nodded, and ran back to the Gitano. Less than a minute later, the Handsome Rover was back to space, witnessing the fight between the Apahanta, the Night Fury and the Vagrant, Kapheira. This was different from the fights he experienced two years ago with K'Hara. The Vagrant used multiple telepathic assaults. Ezrael switched to auto-pilot, unable to deal with the illusions. The screeching. Each time the Apahanta hit the warform, it shared the pain with everyone around. It was a nightmare, and Ezrael closed his eyes, holding his head. In the meantime, the Rover automatically fired cruise disruptors at Kapheira, preventing it from moving away while the Apahanta and the Night Fury were circling around it.
"Ezrael, get back to us! We're about to jump out of here, we can't take on that Nomad!" Sherry sounded via comm link, and Ezrael opened his eyes for a moment to reconfigure the current orders of the Rover. It was heading for the Apahanta now.
He heard a beeping from his neck. His vision turned blurry. The beeping became faster. And faster. Once more he closed his eyes. He opened them again. The bomb choker didn't go off. It was unable to do so, and Ezrael remembered it. He was against such things being on the Apahanta, so he ordered the KSRs to remove the explosives from them, just to keep them as fakes. It was that decision which saved his life, as Lorena never knew they were only faked, so Aphrodite didn't know either.
The Handsome Rover moved behind the Apahanta, which fought bravely but took many hits. The hangar door opened, and since the shields were down anyway, the Rover landed, followed by the hangar doors shutting as the Apahanta moved in cruise speed. Ezrael sat in the cockpit, shaking in fear like most people on the Apahanta right now, still listening to Kapheira's screeching. It became less as the warform was under attack by both the Apahanta and the Night Fury while the Haven was glowing in the distance. "Please get that jump drive running, Apahanta!"
The Mako was cruising out. The Night Fury did the same, heading for the Haven. Kapheira began to chase the Night Fury, but the moment the Crayterian Cruiser reached the Haven, turbulences ripped the fabric of space apart, pulling the jump bubble of the Haven, together with the Night Fury, into hyperspace. Kapheira then turned around, heading for the Apahanta, which a few seconds later managed to jump out as well.
The giant nomad warform moved to the lifeless Vagrant, bumped it slightly. Then, together with the broken Light, it jumped home. The kidnapped Vagrant was returned. Aphrodite was dead. Lorena was dead. Samantha was dead.
On the Haven, Ezrael was standing up right now, carefully, while Nick was kneeling down infront of Samantha, who lay on the floor. He touched her shoulder, but no reaction. He turned her on her back, only to see her being lifeless. Her eyes were open and there was no visible wound. She didn't get shot. The bomb necklace didn't go off either. Little did he know, his daughter was killed by a telekinetic brain crush. Aphrodite's final act.
"Maintain distance, don't let it get close. Return fire if it attacks. Prepare the jump drive for an emergency jump," Ezrael ordered, watching Nick, who just stared at his daughter's dead body. Ezrael made a few steps towards him, only to receive a deadly cold stare from the mercenary cyborg. Both men realized it: Samantha was dead. "Lorena was a Wild. She held us captive the entire time and forced us to do this..."
A horrible feeling haunting all of them at the same time, both on the Nick's ships and on the Apahanta. In an instant, almost everyone began to shake. A shrieking sound was audible. A grotesque screeching of anger and hate. "It's attacking! Evasive manouvers! Apahanta, please switch to anti-nomad warfare protocols!" Ezrael heard all of it happening via the audio link of his PDA. Anti-Nomad Warfare Protocols - something he came up with. Apahanta took full control of all stations of the ship, going full automated, in order to prevent possible mistakes done by the human crew in case of telepathic attacks.
Sigma-13 was no vacuum. The gas all over the place was dense enough to carry sounds through space, so everything was audible to a certain degree. The Apahanta's turret shots were echoing through the warship, and each time the nomad warform hit the Apahanta, it caused horrible noises.
"Get back to your ship. You will explain everything to me later," Nick said, picking up Samantha, carrying her as if she didn't weigh anything. "You know the stakes."
Ezrael nodded, and ran back to the Gitano. Less than a minute later, the Handsome Rover was back to space, witnessing the fight between the Apahanta, the Night Fury and the Vagrant, Kapheira. This was different from the fights he experienced two years ago with K'Hara. The Vagrant used multiple telepathic assaults. Ezrael switched to auto-pilot, unable to deal with the illusions. The screeching. Each time the Apahanta hit the warform, it shared the pain with everyone around. It was a nightmare, and Ezrael closed his eyes, holding his head. In the meantime, the Rover automatically fired cruise disruptors at Kapheira, preventing it from moving away while the Apahanta and the Night Fury were circling around it.
"Ezrael, get back to us! We're about to jump out of here, we can't take on that Nomad!" Sherry sounded via comm link, and Ezrael opened his eyes for a moment to reconfigure the current orders of the Rover. It was heading for the Apahanta now.
He heard a beeping from his neck. His vision turned blurry. The beeping became faster. And faster. Once more he closed his eyes. He opened them again. The bomb choker didn't go off. It was unable to do so, and Ezrael remembered it. He was against such things being on the Apahanta, so he ordered the KSRs to remove the explosives from them, just to keep them as fakes. It was that decision which saved his life, as Lorena never knew they were only faked, so Aphrodite didn't know either.
The Handsome Rover moved behind the Apahanta, which fought bravely but took many hits. The hangar door opened, and since the shields were down anyway, the Rover landed, followed by the hangar doors shutting as the Apahanta moved in cruise speed. Ezrael sat in the cockpit, shaking in fear like most people on the Apahanta right now, still listening to Kapheira's screeching. It became less as the warform was under attack by both the Apahanta and the Night Fury while the Haven was glowing in the distance. "Please get that jump drive running, Apahanta!"
The Mako was cruising out. The Night Fury did the same, heading for the Haven. Kapheira began to chase the Night Fury, but the moment the Crayterian Cruiser reached the Haven, turbulences ripped the fabric of space apart, pulling the jump bubble of the Haven, together with the Night Fury, into hyperspace. Kapheira then turned around, heading for the Apahanta, which a few seconds later managed to jump out as well.
The giant nomad warform moved to the lifeless Vagrant, bumped it slightly. Then, together with the broken Light, it jumped home. The kidnapped Vagrant was returned. Aphrodite was dead. Lorena was dead. Samantha was dead.
RE: Aphrodite - Sombs - 09-03-2018
July 26th, 825 - Vespucci
The battle was over. The emergency jump rescued the ship before it was too late, and this time it didn't end up outside Sirius, but in the safe haven that was the Vespucci system. The damage control teams were deployed, and robots all over the ship began with a quickly generated repair operation. The internal damage was minor while the outer hull was molten and even pierced in certain areas. Steam was leaking into space, only to turn into ice crystals after seconds, not dense enough to form more than little flakes in space.
The Captain had entered the bridge, just to be met with the eyes of Sherry. The Commander was sitting in the Captain's chair, a PDA in her hand until she stood up, placing the device on the armrest, just to move to Ezrael. This was no ordinary battle, and her reaction reflected that as she embraced him and placed her forehead against his shoulder. Not having expected that, Ezrael returned the hug only slightly while looking around, taking in the view of the bridge. It was alright here, just a few things in places where they didn't belong.
"Damage report?" Ezrael sounded, stroking Sherry's back, patting it two times to signal her to let go, as the other bridge officers were already eyeing them. The Commander then let go of the Captain, making a step back, once inhaling audibly. Only now Ezrael realized that her chestnut hair was a bit messed up, a few strands going all over the place.
"We're in Vespucci now. No crew casualties reported so far. Multiple minor hull breaches port, two starboard. A few turrets will need to be replaced. Nothing on sensors, neither the Vagrant nor Stenn. We're all alone here right now, although I expect one of Locklear's patrols to find us if we stay here." Sherry looked up into his eyes. "Are you alright, Ezrael? I've spied on everything via internal sensors, wondering what I could have done to help you. Is Lorena dead?"
That was confirming Ezrael's suspicion that Sherry, in fact, was even surveiling him from time to time. Creepy control freak. Shaking his head, still tired, shocked and confused about what just had happened, Ezrael made his way to the Captain's chair, sitting down for now. His body felt heavy, but still better than anything he had endured for the last two months on Mactan. Everything was real and not real at all. Everything had felt real. Yoshida, the cockroach, the Vagrant's infernal screams, Lorena's torture on him... he didn't want to think about it and just move along with the present, but the question was still there.
What was real?
"Ezrael?"
Caught by surprise, he looked over to Sherry, who came closer, sitting down next to him in her chair. He sighed. "I don't know what happened. We left the Handsome Rover, stood infront of Stenn and then suddenly things were opening fire at Lorena. First stunning pulses, then plasma bolts. Her body was obliterated instantly, no chance. Horrible way to go. I didn't see all of it, as I was trying to find cover, and when I turned around, I only saw bits of Lorena left. And Samantha was on the floor as well. I believe Aphrodite killed her with her final breath. Probably a telekinetic necksnapping or an aneurism in her brain. It's all it takes, from what I know." As he took in more air, she heard how shaky he actually was right now. He was not a soldier like her. He was not used to such things at all.
"I see," she just added, not knowing what to say.
"I didn't get to explain things to Nick. When the Vagrant engaged us, he only told me to leave, so I left him alone with his dead daughter and the visceral remains of Lorena. He just lost his daughter..." Ezrael exhaled, raking his fingers through his hair. "I'll need to write everything down, sort things out. Can you handle the repair and everything for now?"
There was a moment of hesitation before Sherry's unfocused look at his legs moved up to meet his eyes. "We're patching up the rough stuff, then cloak and fly to the next shipyard. I doubt we can use anything of the Legion, so Bretonia it'll be. I think I can handle it." She faked a confident smile. Ezrael nodded her a thanks and stood up. Before he would file a detailed report on this to share it with Nick, there was one thing to do.
The medical bay was unharmed, and as Ezrael entered it, he found a very - and this is a big very - annoyed Doctor Carr with a look on her eyes that was almost deadly, piercing the Captain's head. "Captain, finally showing up now!? Do you even know how infuriating it is when literally nobody warns me about a battle? And what the hell was that with Hawkins and the bomb choker, some sick joke of-" Suddenly, she turned silent as Ezrael returned a rather surprising facial expression to her, indicating it was not the time to rant. She ground her teeth for a moment, then moved back into her office as Ezrael was clearly not here to see her, but for him. Noel.
The boy lay on the medbed, the blanket covering him to the neck. He was sleeping. The bomb choker Lorena apparently had put on him was no longer at his neck. Not that it ever posed a threat since these things were only bluffs. A bluff that saved Noel's life. And his own, matter of factly. Ezrael had freed himself of the bomb choker already in the Rover's cockpit. Sitting down at the side of the medbed, he just looked at Noel for a moment. There was an incubus inside him and they didn't detect it the entire time. How did they trick the sensors just like that? Nothing was able to enter the Apahanta without Sherry and Ezrael getting informed about it. Bodies were scanned in details at the airlock, the decon and the medical bay. Yet Aphrodite managed to trick them all.
Noel opened his eyes and turned his head slightly to look at Vertiga. It was a weak glance, as his body was still suffering from an incubus transfer. Even with the treatment from Adrianna, this would take more than a few hours to heal up again, and then there was the psychological aspect of it. Ezrael smirked for a moment, just being glad the young boy was alright. Then, however, a tear ran down the Captain's cheek, his facial muscles tensed up. Another tear. Noel had no idea what Ezrael had to endure in the last two months, but he knew a nomad was inside his body, left it to take control of the girl who was starting a relationship with him days before, and now the girl was not here, and Ezrael cried. And Noel joined...
The Captain had entered the bridge, just to be met with the eyes of Sherry. The Commander was sitting in the Captain's chair, a PDA in her hand until she stood up, placing the device on the armrest, just to move to Ezrael. This was no ordinary battle, and her reaction reflected that as she embraced him and placed her forehead against his shoulder. Not having expected that, Ezrael returned the hug only slightly while looking around, taking in the view of the bridge. It was alright here, just a few things in places where they didn't belong.
"Damage report?" Ezrael sounded, stroking Sherry's back, patting it two times to signal her to let go, as the other bridge officers were already eyeing them. The Commander then let go of the Captain, making a step back, once inhaling audibly. Only now Ezrael realized that her chestnut hair was a bit messed up, a few strands going all over the place.
"We're in Vespucci now. No crew casualties reported so far. Multiple minor hull breaches port, two starboard. A few turrets will need to be replaced. Nothing on sensors, neither the Vagrant nor Stenn. We're all alone here right now, although I expect one of Locklear's patrols to find us if we stay here." Sherry looked up into his eyes. "Are you alright, Ezrael? I've spied on everything via internal sensors, wondering what I could have done to help you. Is Lorena dead?"
That was confirming Ezrael's suspicion that Sherry, in fact, was even surveiling him from time to time. Creepy control freak. Shaking his head, still tired, shocked and confused about what just had happened, Ezrael made his way to the Captain's chair, sitting down for now. His body felt heavy, but still better than anything he had endured for the last two months on Mactan. Everything was real and not real at all. Everything had felt real. Yoshida, the cockroach, the Vagrant's infernal screams, Lorena's torture on him... he didn't want to think about it and just move along with the present, but the question was still there.
What was real?
"Ezrael?"
Caught by surprise, he looked over to Sherry, who came closer, sitting down next to him in her chair. He sighed. "I don't know what happened. We left the Handsome Rover, stood infront of Stenn and then suddenly things were opening fire at Lorena. First stunning pulses, then plasma bolts. Her body was obliterated instantly, no chance. Horrible way to go. I didn't see all of it, as I was trying to find cover, and when I turned around, I only saw bits of Lorena left. And Samantha was on the floor as well. I believe Aphrodite killed her with her final breath. Probably a telekinetic necksnapping or an aneurism in her brain. It's all it takes, from what I know." As he took in more air, she heard how shaky he actually was right now. He was not a soldier like her. He was not used to such things at all.
"I see," she just added, not knowing what to say.
"I didn't get to explain things to Nick. When the Vagrant engaged us, he only told me to leave, so I left him alone with his dead daughter and the visceral remains of Lorena. He just lost his daughter..." Ezrael exhaled, raking his fingers through his hair. "I'll need to write everything down, sort things out. Can you handle the repair and everything for now?"
There was a moment of hesitation before Sherry's unfocused look at his legs moved up to meet his eyes. "We're patching up the rough stuff, then cloak and fly to the next shipyard. I doubt we can use anything of the Legion, so Bretonia it'll be. I think I can handle it." She faked a confident smile. Ezrael nodded her a thanks and stood up. Before he would file a detailed report on this to share it with Nick, there was one thing to do.
The medical bay was unharmed, and as Ezrael entered it, he found a very - and this is a big very - annoyed Doctor Carr with a look on her eyes that was almost deadly, piercing the Captain's head. "Captain, finally showing up now!? Do you even know how infuriating it is when literally nobody warns me about a battle? And what the hell was that with Hawkins and the bomb choker, some sick joke of-" Suddenly, she turned silent as Ezrael returned a rather surprising facial expression to her, indicating it was not the time to rant. She ground her teeth for a moment, then moved back into her office as Ezrael was clearly not here to see her, but for him. Noel.
The boy lay on the medbed, the blanket covering him to the neck. He was sleeping. The bomb choker Lorena apparently had put on him was no longer at his neck. Not that it ever posed a threat since these things were only bluffs. A bluff that saved Noel's life. And his own, matter of factly. Ezrael had freed himself of the bomb choker already in the Rover's cockpit. Sitting down at the side of the medbed, he just looked at Noel for a moment. There was an incubus inside him and they didn't detect it the entire time. How did they trick the sensors just like that? Nothing was able to enter the Apahanta without Sherry and Ezrael getting informed about it. Bodies were scanned in details at the airlock, the decon and the medical bay. Yet Aphrodite managed to trick them all.
Noel opened his eyes and turned his head slightly to look at Vertiga. It was a weak glance, as his body was still suffering from an incubus transfer. Even with the treatment from Adrianna, this would take more than a few hours to heal up again, and then there was the psychological aspect of it. Ezrael smirked for a moment, just being glad the young boy was alright. Then, however, a tear ran down the Captain's cheek, his facial muscles tensed up. Another tear. Noel had no idea what Ezrael had to endure in the last two months, but he knew a nomad was inside his body, left it to take control of the girl who was starting a relationship with him days before, and now the girl was not here, and Ezrael cried. And Noel joined...
RE: Aphrodite - Sombs - 09-09-2018
July 28th, 825 - Omicron Kappa
Two days had passed, and the Apahanta had reached the Livadia Shipyards to receive a full repair. Estimates were talking about a week for the full repair and maintenance. Acceptable, Ezrael thought. It was the late evening of the 28th, and the Captain had called it a day, left the engine room where he helped with the repairs, moved up to his own room to take a well earned shower. The work was good to distract him from the nightmares. The events of the last days were still spooking in his head. With logical deduction he had tried multiple times to convince himself of this, here on the Apahanta, was the reality, and not the interrogation cell on Mactan. That was a trick. Too many things were unanswered. Too many things were too realistic. Too detailed. And then, even if it was a simulation, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. It would be, right now, a good simulation. Apart from the latest events, which had been overcome.
The warm water ran down Ezrael's body, washing off the shampoo he just had applied ot his hair. It was right in this moment when someone used the door panel from outside to ring the bell. He didn't hear it the first time, but the second time. Turning off the shower and taking a towel, he began to wipe the water pearls off his skin. A third ring. "Apahanta, please tell me who is at the door."
"Engineer Trainee Noel Bäker," the ship's synthetic female voice replied. Ezrael rubbed the towel over his hair, then motioned to pick up his Apahanta suit from the bed, putting it on up to the belly to cover his most precious body parts. Then he moved over to the door, opening it. It was indeed Noel who stood there, wearing a long grey T-shirt and black sweatpants. He looked like he was freshly showered as well, and the scent of fruity shampoo was confirming it. The boy looked up at Ezrael, realizing why Ezrael had taken so long to respond to the door bell.
"Hey you!" Ezrael greeted with a smile on his face, only to get embraced by the boy. The Curacaoan dropped the towel, returning the hug. It was a surprise, followed by the surprise of Ezrael hearing the boy sobbing. The hug turned out to take more than a minute, and Ezrael stroked Noel's back and the back of his head, brushing gently through the hair. "Come. Let's move in."
So they did. The door to the Captain's room closed, and Noel moved over to the bed, sitting down while looking up at Ezrael, who was aiming for the bathroom. "I'll just dry my hair really quick, okay?" he asked the sad boy, who just nodded. Instead of remaining, there, he followed Ezrael to the bathroom. It was slightly weird, Ezrael found, but the young man just had lost his girlfriend two days ago, only to find out he himself brought an alien parasite onto the ship. The blow driers waves warm air against Ezrael while Noel stood in the door frame, looking at him with slightly reddened eyes. The sound created by the blow driers was too loud as to allow a comfortable small talk. In the end, Ezrael gestured Noel to come closer, and the invitation was instantly taken, just for another hug. Once more Ezrael stroked the boys back, trying to sooth him down a bit. Noel was a head shorter than Ezrael, so he just placed his forehead against the Captain's shoulder.
After what felt to Ezrael like ten minutes, the blow driers turned off and the warm breeze ceased. The sound was replaced by the almost-silence of the Apahanta's rumbling. "The last time I had a very sad person with me, we just lay down in the bed and watched cartoons for a while until she fell asleep." Ezrael let go of him, signaling him to do the same for now. "We can do that, too,"
Since Noel was not protesting, they moved back to the bed and lay down. Noel lay half a meter away from him, watching what Ezrael was doing as the latter typed something into his PDA. The wall monitor on the opposite side of the room began to glow and suddenly a playlist of old cartoons was playing. Then Ezrael pulled a blanket over himself and looked at Noel. "Come here," he sounded, and Noel scooted closer. Then Ezrael grabbed him and placed him onto himself, sandwiching Noel afterwards with another blanket. Ezrael knew it was probably not the most healthy way to lay for Noel, but he obviously wanted to be close to someone to feel secure. Ezrael's arms slung around Noel, and both faced the monitor like that. "People always pretend there are soothing words. Phrases one could say to voice empathy. But I've learned there is nothing one can say to make you feel better after a heavy loss. Nothing can bring back someone you loved. Nothing can change the past. I always wanted people to shut their mouths when they said things like 'it will be better soon' or 'at least you are still alive'. Such things made me angry." Under the upper blanket, Noel placed his hands on Ezrael's. "So I won't try to tell you things will be better. They won't be better. We just learn to deal with the past and with the inevitable. Sometimes, silence is silver, and just being there for each other is gold."
Noel was sobbing again, shifting slightly in Ezrael's hug, just to make it himself more comfortable. Ezrael was right, he thought. And there was nothing more soothing than being with him in this moment. Right now, he felt protected. He was not alone in this universe, despite of the death of his parents. Ezrael was there, protecting him like a Guarding Angel.
The loss of their biological families was something that connected Noel and Ezrael. The experience of being all alone out there was depressing. Being on one's own foots. It was like moving away from home, just way more tragic. It was this feeling to give Ezrael the drive to continue. Any soul on the Apahanta was on their own. Yet the small amount of people, merely about two dozen of humans living on a warship in the voids of space had a deep connection to each other. Family was not defined by biological origin. Family is the people who trust and protect each other. And Ezrael wanted to protect every single soul on his ship. Despite the few times the Apahanta was in great danger, they held together.
Like a family.
And like that, the Apahanta would continue her many future adventures in Sirius. Many places were to be discovered. And many places were to be rediscovered. And despite all the dangers of space, Ezrael and his crew were still eager to explore the beauty of the Omicrons...
![[Image: lBYZXVm.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/lBYZXVm.gif)
The warm water ran down Ezrael's body, washing off the shampoo he just had applied ot his hair. It was right in this moment when someone used the door panel from outside to ring the bell. He didn't hear it the first time, but the second time. Turning off the shower and taking a towel, he began to wipe the water pearls off his skin. A third ring. "Apahanta, please tell me who is at the door."
"Engineer Trainee Noel Bäker," the ship's synthetic female voice replied. Ezrael rubbed the towel over his hair, then motioned to pick up his Apahanta suit from the bed, putting it on up to the belly to cover his most precious body parts. Then he moved over to the door, opening it. It was indeed Noel who stood there, wearing a long grey T-shirt and black sweatpants. He looked like he was freshly showered as well, and the scent of fruity shampoo was confirming it. The boy looked up at Ezrael, realizing why Ezrael had taken so long to respond to the door bell.
"Hey you!" Ezrael greeted with a smile on his face, only to get embraced by the boy. The Curacaoan dropped the towel, returning the hug. It was a surprise, followed by the surprise of Ezrael hearing the boy sobbing. The hug turned out to take more than a minute, and Ezrael stroked Noel's back and the back of his head, brushing gently through the hair. "Come. Let's move in."
So they did. The door to the Captain's room closed, and Noel moved over to the bed, sitting down while looking up at Ezrael, who was aiming for the bathroom. "I'll just dry my hair really quick, okay?" he asked the sad boy, who just nodded. Instead of remaining, there, he followed Ezrael to the bathroom. It was slightly weird, Ezrael found, but the young man just had lost his girlfriend two days ago, only to find out he himself brought an alien parasite onto the ship. The blow driers waves warm air against Ezrael while Noel stood in the door frame, looking at him with slightly reddened eyes. The sound created by the blow driers was too loud as to allow a comfortable small talk. In the end, Ezrael gestured Noel to come closer, and the invitation was instantly taken, just for another hug. Once more Ezrael stroked the boys back, trying to sooth him down a bit. Noel was a head shorter than Ezrael, so he just placed his forehead against the Captain's shoulder.
After what felt to Ezrael like ten minutes, the blow driers turned off and the warm breeze ceased. The sound was replaced by the almost-silence of the Apahanta's rumbling. "The last time I had a very sad person with me, we just lay down in the bed and watched cartoons for a while until she fell asleep." Ezrael let go of him, signaling him to do the same for now. "We can do that, too,"
Since Noel was not protesting, they moved back to the bed and lay down. Noel lay half a meter away from him, watching what Ezrael was doing as the latter typed something into his PDA. The wall monitor on the opposite side of the room began to glow and suddenly a playlist of old cartoons was playing. Then Ezrael pulled a blanket over himself and looked at Noel. "Come here," he sounded, and Noel scooted closer. Then Ezrael grabbed him and placed him onto himself, sandwiching Noel afterwards with another blanket. Ezrael knew it was probably not the most healthy way to lay for Noel, but he obviously wanted to be close to someone to feel secure. Ezrael's arms slung around Noel, and both faced the monitor like that. "People always pretend there are soothing words. Phrases one could say to voice empathy. But I've learned there is nothing one can say to make you feel better after a heavy loss. Nothing can bring back someone you loved. Nothing can change the past. I always wanted people to shut their mouths when they said things like 'it will be better soon' or 'at least you are still alive'. Such things made me angry." Under the upper blanket, Noel placed his hands on Ezrael's. "So I won't try to tell you things will be better. They won't be better. We just learn to deal with the past and with the inevitable. Sometimes, silence is silver, and just being there for each other is gold."
Noel was sobbing again, shifting slightly in Ezrael's hug, just to make it himself more comfortable. Ezrael was right, he thought. And there was nothing more soothing than being with him in this moment. Right now, he felt protected. He was not alone in this universe, despite of the death of his parents. Ezrael was there, protecting him like a Guarding Angel.
The loss of their biological families was something that connected Noel and Ezrael. The experience of being all alone out there was depressing. Being on one's own foots. It was like moving away from home, just way more tragic. It was this feeling to give Ezrael the drive to continue. Any soul on the Apahanta was on their own. Yet the small amount of people, merely about two dozen of humans living on a warship in the voids of space had a deep connection to each other. Family was not defined by biological origin. Family is the people who trust and protect each other. And Ezrael wanted to protect every single soul on his ship. Despite the few times the Apahanta was in great danger, they held together.
Like a family.
And like that, the Apahanta would continue her many future adventures in Sirius. Many places were to be discovered. And many places were to be rediscovered. And despite all the dangers of space, Ezrael and his crew were still eager to explore the beauty of the Omicrons...