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Rediscovery, Chapter Nine: So Be It
Posted By: Smackblasta<Natemeep@aol.com>
Date: 1 December 2006, 5:09 am
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Arla' slowly felt consciousness, if it could be called that, coming back to her. Part of her murky, half aware mind registered the sound of someone groaning in pain, but couldn't determine why it was important. Voices fluttered in and out of her hearing as she struggled to focus, and then she felt her head turned to the side.
"She's coming around." She realized that the groaning was coming from her.
She focused on the feeling of physical contact, and forced her eyes open. Kneeling above her was a Sangheili she didn't recognize, sporting a combat harness that held several varieties of blades and guns. His hand was holding her head to the side and partially obscuring her view, not that there was much more to see as her right eye was swollen halfway shut. The Sangheili snorted in amusement and pulled her into a sitting position against the wall. She shut her eyes, clenching her jaws as sudden nausea made the room spin.
When her stomach settled, she opened her eyes again. She could see over a dozen Sangheili, much like the one who sat her upright, in clear control of the room. In the corner across from her, she could see the bridge crew and what was left of Tase's security team sitting against the walls, being watched by half of the invaders.
The one that woke her up spoke for a moment to another, who turned his attention to her. He was the most extravagantly attired one of the bunch, his clothing made from finer fabrics and his gear plated in precious metals, and he had the darkest skintone she had ever seen on a Sangheili. Everything about him screamed smug as he sauntered over to her, his mandibles spread in a grin.
"I am Baron Yasu' Blackhide, and I welcome you to the bridge of my new ship. I apologize for the mess, she wasn't in the best shape when I acquired her." His voice was deep and rich, dripping with arrogance. He bowed elaborately to her, absently twirling a gaudy, gold-leafed baton, then straightened. "Although, I must say, this ship isn't the most valuable thing that I have found today." He leered, chuckling as she curled up tighter against the wall.
He was interrupted by a commotion from across the room. Two of the pirates were hardpressed to restrain Dukat', who was striving against them in an attempt to reach him. "Don't you touch her, you animal!"
Yasu' frowned, then smiled as he turned back to Arla'. "One moment, my sweet. This won't take long." She watched in dismay as Yasu' crossed the bridge to where Dukat' was being held. He eyed the dishevelled captain up and down, then brutally slammed the baton against Dukat's left knee. Dukat' collapsed as his leg gave out, and Yasu' caught him under the jaws with a heavy kick. The older Sangheili flopped backwards onto the deck, moaning in agony as Yasu' planted a foot on his chest and pinned him to the ground. "I do whatever I please on my ship, Captain of Nothing! Remember your place before I make a real example out of you!"
As if someone threw a switch, he turned back to Arla', all smiles and cheer again. "Now my dear, where were we?"
Arne' whirled as the blast doors leading out of the bridge slammed shut. He heard muffled shouts from the other side as he ran up to the door, typing in the code he had guessed from before. The panel remained stubbornly red, and he cursed. The Sangheili technician stuck in the room with him pushed him out of the way and started interfacing his datapad to the door terminal. Arne' watched as he quickly linked to the door with the codebreaking software in the pad. "How long?"
"I don't know, the software has to adapt to the system first. Hold on, just a few more T-uni... what?" The technician stared dumbly at the datapad, then looked back to Arne'. "Something just wiped the memory storage!"
Arne' looked back to the screen in time to see the leftmost symbol change once. He pounded on the door, shouting so he would be heard through the thick plating. "Zaki'," he said, naming Quso's squad assistant, "We can't get this door open. The ship is counting down to self destruct! Get everyone out there back to the Rediscovery!"
"Supervisor?!" Arne' could hear the worry in Zaki's voice. The soldier didn't want to leave them behind.
"Do it, Zaki'!"
There was a moment's hesitation. "Yes, sir."
Arne's hurried out of the way to let Quso' and another soldier attempt to pry the doors apart. In the front of the room, he saw that the hologram of the cloaked figure was still manifested on its stand, seemingly frozen in place. He stood and watched the symbols on the view screen for a few moments, his mind racing. His eyes dropped to the hooded figure. "Why are you doing this?"
The hologram started moving again. "Expect no mercy where your own hatred has burned away all scraps of compassion." The blue glow under the being's hood flared brightly for a moment as it stared at him. "Because you must suffer for your sins."
He gritted his teeth. "We've never seen anything like you before today. What actions could we possibly have taken to cause you harm?" He gestured around the room, vaguely indicating the bodies. "I don't know what happened to this ship, but we had nothing to do with it."
The figure turned and watched the leftmost symbol change once more. "Your excuses mean nothing, and your fate is sealed. Pray to your deities, for it will take a miracle to save you."
Arne' opened his mouth to reply when the figure vanished. It's voice echoed through the air a moment later, tauntingly. "If you do find a way to survive this trial, then we shall speak of your innocence."
Hickers could feel that the tension in the air inside Storage Bay One was thick enough to slow down a Lek'Golo. Three different security squads were arranged inside the compartment with several placements of manned barricades in the corridor. The leaders of the three teams were gathered with him next to a holoterminal, looking over a tactical display of the ship. Looking over their shoulders stood the menacing form of Goro'tesh, clad in the ancient battleplate they had found.
He tapped a few commands in, and the view zoomed in to focus on the bridge. The raiders had failed to disable the security surveillance systems in the ship, giving the defenders a much needed edge in their planning. "I count fifteen of them on the bridge. They have most of the command crew gathered right there." He squinted, adjusting his rebreather mask. "They're keeping Arla' seperate from the rest. Judging from the way their leader is paying attention to her, I think he wants to keep her for himself."
Goro'tesh tensed, and the deckplates seemed to vibrate under Hickers' feet as the massive creature growled. The rumbling sound was the first vocal noise he had ever heard a Lek'Golo make, and the diminutive Unggoy found himself suddenly nervous. A quick glance at the three Sangheili standing with him showed them to be dsconcerted as well.
"We will not allow that to happen, Monitor Hickers. We will sweep through the ship from front to back and neutralize the invaders." Goro'tesh thundered his way to one of the walls and ripped a sheet of metal off of it, rolling the section of plating into a makeshift club, as long as a Sangheili was tall and as thick as one's leg. "We and Raso'tesh shall lead the charge into battle. Assemble your soldiers and order them to finish off what we leave behind."
Hickers took his hands away from his ears as the squealing of tortured metal subsided and stared at the giant, then nodded in unison with the Sangheili. The alloy sheet had been as thick as one of his digits and Goro'tesh had bent it like it was made of aluminum foil. None of them felt lucky enough to try and change the Lek'Golo's mind.
Arla' steeled herself as Yasu' lifted her from her sitting position. The pirate had demonstrated to her quite clearly that any noncompliance on her part would be taken out on the other members of the command crew. As much as she loathed the idea of letting him do anything with her, she hated the idea of her crew suffering in her place more. She had handpicked them from hundreds of volunteers, and felt responsible for them. Still, her teeth grated as he teased the back of his hand down her face.
"My, but you are beautiful. Beautiful enough that I may not tire of you after you become complacent." He laughed as he started to fiddle with the seals on her uniform, only to be interrupted by another raider. His face twisted in irritation as he grated his acknowledgement. "What is it?"
The Sangheili looked on edge. "There seems to be some sort of commotion in the foredecks, Baron. Some of the former crew appear to be fighting back."
Yasu' sighed dramatically as he retrieved his communicator. "What is so important about this that you have to bother me with it?" Annoyance was plain on his face as he held the speaker to his mouth. "Well? What is it?"
"By the gods, nothing stops it! It's ripping us apart, falling ba-" The voice was cut off by a short, anguished scream and the sound of bones breaking. A feral, animalistic growl unlike anything Arla' had ever heard came through the communicator before Yasu' turned it off. The scowl that had started on his face gave way to trepidation as the growl they had heard loudened into a savage roar that was felt as much as heard, shaking the deck beneath their feet. Even as the sound diminished it started again as another rumbling cry echoed in answer, and it sounded very close.
Yasu' narrowed his eyes at Arla'. "What manner of creatures do you carry on this ship?"
Before she could answer, a resounding boom shook the air in the room as part of the blast door dented inward from a blow of massive proportions. Arla' smiled smugly as she spoke, her words the only noise in the silence following the strike. "Perhaps you should have thought about that before you attacked us."
Arne' stood by the window, staring out at the convoluted event horizon of Oblivion. Everything they tried had come to nothing, and the doors leading out of the bridge stayed closed. In the reflection, he watched Quso' come up behind him, and he turned around. "I'm sorry."
Quso' shrugged, glancing out the window. "I suppose there are worse ways to die, Supervisor. Chances are that we won't really feel much, since it'll probably be over fast." He smirked. "Nuclear explosions are like that, from what I understand."
"One minute until reactor detonation."
Arne' had to laugh as the warning played out through the bridge speakers in several languages, including their own. "At least it has enough courtesy to let us know how much time is left."
Quso' looked at him quizzically. "You know how long a 'minute' is?"
In reply Arne' motioned to the countdown on the main screen. "Not exactly, but one of the columns just finished there. I spent a few units watching the countdown while you were at the door, looks like one of their 'minutes' comes to about twenty T-units."
"I can't believe you took the time to figure that out."
"It wasn't exactly hard, and what else could I do? The being won't reason with us, and you all were trying everything you could at the door already."
They stood in silence watching the timer count down the last few moments. As the second column finished, Arne' looked back out the window at Oblivion, and let out some of his frustration. "This is nokh-shit, Quso'. I'm not ready to die."
He returned his gaze to the countdown just as it finished. There was a moment's pause, and then a dozen red warning lights started flashing on the consoles around them, as alert messages scrolled on the view screen. Arne' and Quso' looked at each other in confusion.
Through the bridge speakers a monotone, computerized voice announced the message in the aliens' languages and in the Sangheili dialect. "Warning. Insufficient reaction mass to initiate fusion core meltdown. Fusion core self destruct sequence aborted. Repeat. Insufficient reaction mass..."
Arne' stood quietly for a moment, savoring the feeling of relief that flooded through him, then looked up at the ceiling. "So. Let's talk."
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