"Akari 5 answer your damned comm. Unit, Akari 5 this is Akari 2."
A loud Clang of a ricochet from a blaster bolt drowned out all sound and she reflexively ducked, she fired several shots back down the stairwell blind and ducking down as low as she could she pressed the communicator to hear ear say again Akari 5 I did not receive
The cacophony of weapons fire around her was amplified tenfold in the enclosed space of the stairwell, she grimaced; "Akari 1.. falling back to the. Get your squad out of there. Cut off you must.." She surveyed the scene around her quickly: there were only a half a dozen of the girls left, crouched above and below her they laid down an almost constant barrage of fire onto the positions above and below them keeping the heads of the Corsair infantry down, Dammit she thought she turned slightly, quickly leaning over to Sgt Makashi beside her she screamed above the racket "Theyve pulled back, we have to get.."
At that moment, another blaster bolt ricocheted off the rail behind them and caught the Sgt in the jaw, before either of them could react the lower part of her face was blown off in a grisly eruption of blood, sinew, teeth and bone and she was tossed wildly back down the stairwell, her remains spattered the young Lieutenants face and jacket. Lieutenant Zhang leapt back against the wall and screamed, not sure if she had been hit or not she struggled to reorientate herself when she saw it:
Almost in slow motion a small, metallic object bounced down the stairwell towards them. She knew, instinctively what it was, knew also what the increasingly fast lights spiraling around its circumference meant, knew that there was nothing she could do beyond .... She screamed.. "Get dow..." But the words were unfinished before the grenade exploded in the middle of what remained of their group. She was flung hard against the wall, the sheer force of the explosion tossing her aside and then down the stairs, perforating her eardrums and drowning out the silent scream that she somehow knew she was making and should be able to hear.
She hit the floor of the lower level, her head spinning and her eyes unable to focus, she struggled to breath, to speak, to move. Rivulets of blood pooled around her though whose it was she did not know. She couldnt hear anything, she tried to move but was unable, she saw beside her her hand, her fingers, covered in blood and she noticed that they were burned, in that moment she wondered what she would do if she had lost a leg or an arm, boots appeared in her view, black ones, contract issue, she wondered why Corsairs would be wearing them when silently, unexpectedly, unconsciousness took her.
Smoke filled the corridor and the sound of weapons fire began to diminish. He strode through the wreckage of the stairwell until a Hogosha soldier appeared before him. The young man saluted sharply “Targets down Captain.”.
The Corsair returned the salute, such military formalities were not the norm for a Corsair, far more used to the personal loyalties, “merit” and respect systems employed by his own people, nevertheless such things were valued among the Kusari, and in his time among the Hogosha, Captain Raul Dominguez had learned to adapt.
“This one’s still breathing!”.
Another Hogosha soldier was crouched above the body of one of the fallen Chrysanthemums. He tugged at her uniform roughly and Dominguez noticed the crest on the woman’s shoulders. “A Lieutenant”, he said to no one. He crouched over the woman and turned her over slightly. The woman was covered in blood, debris and various fragments of gore and filth. Her hair, tied back behind her head in the GC norm was matted with the same; he lowered her back to the floor.
“Have her sent to the medics” he ordered, the Hogosha soldier clicked his heals in acknowledgement and began barking orders to his men.
Raul stood up and brushed some of the blood from his hands, another Kusari, this time the captain in charge of the Hogosha squad approached. “So” the other man said, “That went well?”
Dominguez scowled slightly; “Yes, well enough, yet we still don’t know how they knew to hit this ship out of all the others on the convoy, if that one survives, ill need to question her.”
“As will we Captain.” The Hogosha officer interjected, “and as it was my men that handled this situation and captured the prisoner, I think it only fair that we are the ones to interrogate her.”
Dominguez cocked his eyebrow slightly; “Do I need to remind you that this is a Corsair lead mission and I have command here?”
Slowly, the Hogosha officer frowned “No captain, I just thought that….”
“Well, you thought wrong captain, and while I appreciate what you and your men have done here today, we have a lot riding on this mission, and I’d rather have the prisoner in one piece and with a tongue still in her mouth with which to speak before your jailers rip it out of her.”
Dominguez turned and strode back down the hall, as he did so, his communicator sparked to life: “The last GC ships are out of gun range, they’re making a run for it…”
Ever so slowly sounds began to form.
She had been aware of the sounds, yet they had somehow incorporated themselves into what she had decided must’ve been a dream. She was in the village on New Tokyo, trying to buy some food however the local shopkeeper had refused to serve her, calling her “Gaijin”. The very word offended her, and although her family and many of her village were not of the same stock as the native Kusari they had arrived on the sleeper ship with the rest of them, they spoke the language, but reserved the right to preserve their own, ancient heritage as well. Her father had been loyal to the state, and yet still, she suffered, as a woman, as a member of an ethnic minority.
She had cursed at the man, telling him to shut up and leave her alone “Bie Shou hua le, bie mafan wo!” she had yelled at him… but the persistent beeping sound was ever present, she had turned to the shop keeper “Na shi shenme?” she had asked….
And at that she had began to wake.
The room, dimly lit around her began to coalesce. Gunmetal grey walls and a life monitor sensor next to her… its steady beeping sound the source of the interference in her dreams. She turned her head slightly and as she did so, an agonising pain shot down the right hand side of her body and unable to suppress the sensation she grunted loudly.
“I wouldn’t move all that much if I were you.” A voice spoke in the gradually lightening darkness. She didn’t know the voice, but as her head cleared she recognised two things very quickly: The voice was male, and carried a thick, heavy Hispanic accent… upon that realisation and despite her training, she felt an immediate wave of apprehension.
“You were injured in an explosion” the voice continued, “You have been treated for your injuries and the Hogosha medics have informed me that you will suffer no long term ill effects.”
She struggled to clear her mind, to recollect what had happened… “Hogosha?” he managed to utter. She tried to lick her lips, they were dry and stung and she could taste blood in her mouth.
“Yes.” The voice returned, “you are onboard the ship you and your people attempted – unsuccessfully - to raid, this is a Hogosha vessel”. The voice paused. “You are a prisoner, yet you are my prisoner and not that of the Hogosha… Senorita… and you will find that status quo much more preferable if you have any idea of survival I assure you”.
She tried to move, yet her legs did not respond and she felt the heavy weight of bindings upon her arms. She gasped, her mouth parched and dry, trying to speak only hoarse raspings managed to make themselves audible.
“Water shall be brought presently Senorita”. The voice said again. “Until then I’m afraid I must prolong your discomfort momentarily and ask you some questions…”