The Ashlanders - Chapter 6: The Blind Man's Last Gambit (Closed, Started)

[Daystar Clarion]

"At least I ain't dating a kid!"

Lilith narrowed her eyes, blowing a raspberry at the doctor, pointing at her eyes before reversing her hand to the aim at the doctor.

Standing next to Sprout, she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Damn, what's takin' them so long?"


"Maybe trouble with Sandy?" Lilith suggested quietly. "Bloke is pretty much being kept together with pleasant thoughts at this stage."

Grabbing the binoculars from Sprout's hand, she took another look at the gate. Clenching her jaw, she smirked slightly.

"If the distraction doesn't work, we can take 'em."

===========================


Asad furrowed his brow throughout Tsu's explanation.

He gave me my squad. He gave me... you."

Asad smirked, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Not getting soft on me, are you Commander?" He teased, winking at the woman. "As for the rest of what you said?" He raised an eyebrow. "The man could give you the world. That still doesn't entitle him to take what he wants from you. Remember that."

 

[ProtoChimp]

"You can too, Aesop. You 'ave that within you. I know you do. I reckon it may seem impossible now, but trust me, you'll find the strength."

She spoke so simply yet with such sense. Yet it didn't change how he felt, nor did she realise how much she had defined him.

"Pixie, do you know how much you defined me? A year ago I would have killed anyone and not given a shit, like at all. Now I... I feel guilt again. If I do the right thing or we save someone, or kill someone who really fucking deserves it, I feel good. I feel great!

You don't know how much you changed me. I'm pretty easy to manipulate Pix, you can't tell me not to be." He added the smallest smirk as he turned to her.
==========================
Hannibal could feel Viola's concern. It was nice she was concerned it really was. She was the first person in years who actually was concerned about him. Other than that boy so long ago.

"Besides, you didn't answer my other question. Just who is this person that your meeting?"

"His name is Beard. He's um, kinda um, sketchy, but he knows things. Believe me I want you watching my back, but this guy hates attention and um, you kinda draw attention sorry. Look I'll be back as fast as I can, he's the only guy in Feroxi I can think of who might know something, but if you come he'll get spooked."

Hannibal picked up his sack and strapped it around him, pulling out his luger. "I can shoot, thanks to you." He gave her a soft, almost sad smile.
==========================
From his hiding place he had seen the day turn to night and back again. His stomach grumbled and urged him to feast upon the bread filled basket. But he couldn't. They were waiting on him. Those who a week earlier would gladly have shot him and taken his Deputy badge as a trophy. Yet such a terrible situation forced co-operation with the worst kind of people.

He saw his chance and he took it, finally ducking out from the attic that had been his home for the past day and sprinting like mad back to his companions, constantly checking over his shoulder to see if 'the children' were following him. He used his crowbar to lift the manhole cover before descending into the sewers. Walking across the murky waters finally he found his partner in crime, who happened to be a criminal even before Austin lay down his law. The man held his flashlight up along with a revolver at Vidal before sighing relieved and lowering them both.

"We thought you were dead."

"I got pinned down by the brady bunch. They knew someone was up there but they don't know where I went. We gotta move everyone today." He replied moving with the other man, handing him the bread basket.

"Aw sweet!" He pulled out one piece of stale bread, just one, and slowly began nibbling on it. "Fucking french bakeries. By the way, the fuck is a brady bunch?"

Vidal shrugged his shoulders as the men made their way to the underground encampment. A little over a dozen people all cramped together in the smelly warmth of the sewers. They all jumped to their feet to greet Vidal, thinking he was dead, and each one taking a few pieces of bread. Enough to tide them over for another day.

"Everyone pack up, they saw me up there but I got away, but they know people are hiding around here. If we can move to embankment, I'm pretty sure there's strong resistance in the neighbourhoods over there. At least, stronger than all the others if that shitty radio picks up right." He pointed to a radio an elderly woman was holding onto. "Grab what you need and lets go, we move in now."

 

[Dogmatic99]

Spoiler: If you open yourself to me

"Whatever do you mean, Father? I'm here for you. Whatever you need."

'No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no...'

He couldn't look her in the eye, if Florian allowed himself to get lost in her he was damned. When was the last time he'd slept properly? His eyelids were so heavy that closing them felt like bliss. Why couldn't they just let him stay in the dark?

"No, no, no." Was he talking out loud? "No one's father." His head was shaking pathetically. "I'm Florian. I was never a father. No one's father."

He'd drowned himself. They dunked him in the water and they told him he died and was reborn. The old him dead and washed away and a new man rose up in his place. But they lied.

A sad smile formed on Severa's lips, "Florian. Would you prefer I called you that? Is that the real you?" She rested her forehead against his once more. "I don't want you to feel like you need to be something you're not, Florian. With me, you can do anything. Be anyone. I will never judge you."

Anything. All the pain, all the suffering. Wasn't it just for the flesh? No more than the torture he'd put on his own mind. And she offered him anything, everything. Everything came with a price. She was so close to him now, so warm and close and gentle like none of the others had ever been. They clutched and clawed and tried to claim him like a prize, like a thing. He'd always been someone's thing, their possession.

'Stop this! You're tired and breaking, you think she hasn't done this before, that you're the first? This is what they want, this is how they'll claim you!'

His eyes opened slowly, dry and bloodshot, reeling against the light and drinking in the sight of his captor. She seemed so kind, so beautiful. "I should never have come back. I did this... I started it."

"No," Severa shook her head. "You didn't do anything wrong. Whatever it was, you can't regret it, Florian. No decision you make is the wrong one. There is no 'right' and 'wrong'. You do what your soul tells you. That's all that matters." Her eyes pierced through his. "What is your soul telling you, Florian?"

Florian's hands fell to the floor and what strength he had left pushed upwards as he staggered to his feet. Half stepping, half falling into Severa as he found his wobbling feet.

"Out... I want out!" He rasped, turning every which way as he tried to find the door.

"Why?" Severa asked, grabbing hold of his wrist. "Why would you want out when I'm so willing to let you in?" Holding the back of his head with her other hand, she kept his eyes locked on hers. Gently, she guided his hand to her abdomen, right above her crotch. "I've told you before, Florian. If you stay, I'll give you whatever you desire."

Anything. Anything he wanted of her. How long had it been since he'd felt that kind of touch? Why not let go for a moment? Experience a few moments of pleasure before agony and death. Ever so slowly he found his hand gently sliding down her body to between her thighs, with nothing but the fabric of her clothes between them.

'Coward! This isn't the path you chose! You swore to be a servant, to step aside and stand apart from people like her. Think of why you joined the maidens in the first place.'

But where were the maidens now? They'd sent him away into the cold with a monster who'd see them all burn if it weighed down his pockets. They'd forgotten him, abandoned him. Tired of their plaything, they threw him away!

'Like how this woman's been toying with you for days now.'

Florian's other hand lashed out, wrapping itself around Severa's throat as he pushed against her, pinning her against the wall. Though seeing how much the effort blurred his vision it was far more likely that she let him. "Who are you to let me in? What the fuck are we?!" He snarled through gritted teeth.

She quivered, her grin wider than ever, "We're whatever you want, Florian." She shifted her thighs, allowing his hand to slip between them and lifted her chin. "Do you want to hurt me? Do want to make me scream? Make me cry?" She giggled. "Make me beg?" She pressed herself against his hand. "Maybe I'm begging already."

'You should kill her. Crush her throat and get out before the other one gets back.'

She was so close, it would be so easy but his blood was up, his heart was pounding in his ears. The grip of both his hands tightened around her. Had he ever been or done what he wanted? He thought he had, once. They were getting closer together now as Florian loomed over her like a broken husk. Severa's breath hot on his neck.

Her hand was still wrapped in his hair, angling his face towards hers. Their faces were almost pressed up against each other completely now and all Florian could think was, why not? Why not use her? Just like everyone else had used him. The blood was quickly leaving his brain for other areas now.

"Florian," She whispered. "Florian." She repeated. Searching his eyes for a moment, her breath remained calm and steady despite the hand around her neck. "Such a beautiful name." Again, she pressed herself against his hand and bit her bottom lip. "Do you want me down on my knees?" She giggled, softly. "Do you want me to call you Father? Master?" Gently grasping his wrist once more, she began to move it up and down, slowly. Closing her eyes, she moaned in ecstasy. She hummed, pleased and she opened her eyes. "Or, perhaps... God?"

Florian let out some guttural growl and squeezed tighter around her throat, his temper flaring as her mockery sank in. He didn't pull away though. She was so warm... and it all felt so good.

Oh to hell with it all!

In a second he'd muffled her cries, kissing her forcefully and breathing the scent of her in deep. His hand rushed away from her neck and moved to caressing her body. The other didn't need her direction anymore.

Severa's moans were lost between hers and the priest's lips. Her legs quivered, finding it difficult to stand as Florian took control of the situation. Wrapping her arm around him, she dug her long nails in to his back. Though it drew blood, Florian likely didn't feel it. He'd suffered far worse since he'd been with her.

For a moment their lips parted. Exasperated, Severa met his gaze and smiled, "I found you." There was a tear in her eye. "You're beautiful. So, so beautiful." Their lips met again.

Their hearts were beating in tandem, just as she said they would.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"His name is Beard. He's um, kinda um, sketchy, but he knows things. Believe me I want you watching my back, but this guy hates attention and um, you kinda draw attention sorry. Look I'll be back as fast as I can, he's the only guy in Feroxi I can think of who might know something, but if you come he'll get spooked." There was a look of sincerity on his face as Hannibal spoke, he did want her to come, but there was quite a risk involved.

He then picked up his rucksack and strapped it in place, pulling out the Luger pistol that he had been carrying. "I can shoot, thanks to you." He then gave Viola a soft, almost sad smile. This made the bounty hunter shake her head slightly for a few moments then looked back out the window.

"Do I really stand out that much?" She asked rhetorically before turning to face Hannibal with crossed arms.

"I guess whether I like it or not, I'm staying here then. I guess... I guess you better get going then." She then added with reluctance.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

There was only the tiniest snick of sound as the lock pick effortlessly parted the old, rusting locks inner workings, the hinges swinging inwards slightly, before The Gentleman put his hand to the door. He only opened it just enough to slip through, and did so slowly, so as not to give himself away with any creaking. Inside, placing the door back behind him, he took a second to survey his surroundings. The entrance hallway was dusty and dark, with plaster peeling away from both the walls and ceiling, exposing the loose wooden planks beneath. He could see the stairs leading down to the basement, the most logical choice for Florian's location. He didn't start towards it though. It was likely that at least one of the Lombardi's would have thought far enough ahead to have a plan in case of their safe house being breached, and it was not in The Gentleman's nature to play by his opponent's rule book.

Smiling slightly to himself, he got to work. Within a could of minutes, he was ready and waiting for whichever one of them decided to come up for air first.

===========================================================================================================================

"Never forget their faces. It'll be what separates you from monsters like Austin."

Amy sat, staring blankly out at the Ashlands. For her at least, Bennie's words changed nothing. Had she not just wanted to get through today without raising any more issues between the pair of them, she would have told him that, as far as she was concerned, what separated her from Austin, was that she wasn't going to grasp at excuses to justify the cruelty. She had thought about the children a lot, the past few days, ad she had given them faces of her own, the faces that she remembered of the other children who had joined her for one period of another during her captivity. All she had to do was add some appropriately eye-popping, fanatical stares, and the scene was perfect. Both groups were victims, but at some point, both had lost themselves to the weakness of their character. Both had chosen submission, complete in both physicality and psychology, over the threat of suffering.

'You're going to kill everyone who gets in your way today, and unlike the others, you'll sleep easy afterwards, because the ugly truth is that you're doing them a favour. They could have resisted, like you did. They could have held on to the one thing that no-one, not even Austin, can take by force. They should have been smarter, stronger, better... They died the day they made the choice, subconscious or not, to become mindless thralls. All you're doing today is laying ghosts to rest. You're better than them. You survived what they didn't, what they couldn't. You've earned the right to end them.'

Excuses, loopholes, dozens of them all making varying degrees of sense. None of it mattered. In a month, nobody on the Rock would care one way or another about the slaughter of today. In a year, nobody would even remember.

"There are no monuments on shifting sands." Amy said quietly, not particularly caring what the others made of her contribution. They were just the words that sprung to mind.

=========================================================================================================================

"This is insane!"

"Never said it wasn't."

"We don't stand a chance!"

"Not unless you stow that attitude, we don't."

"The girl was always a bargaining chip. I still don't see why-"

"Enough!"

It was a credit to the level of professional respect Sandringham had earned that, even in this dire situation, and even in the state he was in, he only had to raise his voice a little to make everyone else zip it tight. He looked at his men and suppressed a sigh. They were all capable, and all hardened. It took a lot to wear down men like this, but even they had there limits. Privately, Sandringham cursed the whole mission. It had been FUBAR from day one, and now he, and likely the rest of these men, men who still had years ahead of them at been just about the best at what they do, were all probably about to die for the sake of a few dumb teenagers who's value existed only in the sentimentality of someone very, very far away, who wasn't going to appreciate their sacrifice in the slightest. Right now, they were in dire need of a rousing speech. They needed someone to convince them that there was something about this situation worth going up against impossible odds for, and they were looking to Sandringham, who'd first gone into mercenary work to get well shot of exactly that sort of manipulative bullshit.

"Not all bargains are created equal." Sandringham continued "This'll be the last time I'll say it. We're a loose end to Basilio right now, handing over the girl wouldn't change that. She's important to him for some reason, so right now, the best thing we can d to subvert him is to get her as far beyond his reach as possible. That's our job, and we don't quit before a job is done, not ever."

"Just because you're already dying, doesn't mean the rest of us have to be so keen." Came a bitter voice of dissent. "Maybe you'd like to explain how you figure subverting Basilio is gonna make any difference? Does it look like we're on the winning side right now?"

Sandringham looked up, unflinching. It was true, he didn't have any 'Once more unto the breach' material to make the hopeless seem abstractly worthwhile, but he did have something better...

"Have you forgotten who you're working for?" he asked, plainly. "Do you think The Gentleman doesn't know a losing side when he sees one? Shall I remind you why some of the richest people on the planet have half-bankrupted themselves to hire him for just one job? Reputation. Proven, and utterly guaranteed. He is the Trump Card. He does not quit, and he does not fail. Idiots think he does the impossible. No, he redraws the line of where everyone else thought 'possible' ended, every time. That's what you have to do in this world, to get to walk in through the front door of the guy who wants you dead, and name your price.

So yeah, if you break today before the job is done, or you trade to save your own skin, then maybe that skin stays fresh for a few more days, but don't kid yourself for a second that The Gentleman is going to tolerate an associate of his damaging his reputation, and don't believe that there is anywhere you can hide where he won't find you. Or, you could do what I say, fight like hell, and just maybe live long enough to get the hell out of dodge after the job is done. Basilio might have the biggest army and the shiniest toys, but when you're deciding whose side you're on, the only comparison you need to make between him and your boss is, who has the 100% success rate?

I'm not trying to get you all killed, I'm trying to save your lives. Now, are your heads on straight?"

Even Sandringham had to smile when, in unison, all heads nodded, their expressions fixed with new determination.

"Good. Start broadcasting. From now on, all real orders are in hand signals. Let's do this."

 

[Fappy]

"Good. Start broadcasting. From now on, all real orders are in hand signals. Let's do this."

Cranston clicked his tongue and bobbed his head to the side. He had to admit, considering the hopelessness of the situation Sandringham had a surprisingly firm grip on his men. Those in the service of the Gentleman had always perplexed the old assassin. They were all mercenaries, for the most part. Few were truly loyal to the man himself, but rather, the influence and power he wielded. He was surprised they were so willing to die for a cause the truly didn't believe in.

He had made it through stickier situations before, of course. But then, he'd been younger back then. He woke up this morning in much the same boat as the others: expecting death. That would not, however, keep him from doing his job to the best of his ability. He was a professional. They all were. He knew Pixie wouldn't forgive him if he'd gotten himself killed like this, but if it meant Sprout and Lilith could live to see tomorrow? Well...

He'd save a seat for Pixie in hell, at least.

An eternity with Pixie sounds... well, like hell.

As they moved forward, Cranston thumbed his radio, "We're on the move. Be ready. Over."

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************

"You're giving all of the credit that should be yours to me, silly."

Elizabeth blushed and broke eye contact. She'd never been good at receiving compliments.

"Bloke is pretty much being kept together with pleasant thoughts at this stage."

Sprout shrugged, "Don' reckon that don' apply to all of us, eh?"

"If the distraction doesn't work, we can take 'em."

Sprout laughed and shook his head, "'Least I'd be dyin' along side the purdiest lil' lady on the Rock. Er, well..." He gave Lilith a shit-eating grin. "Yer mug ain't quite what it used to be, I don' reckon. Fuckin' knives, right?"

"Sprout!" Elizabeth scolded, but before she could say anything more their radio's cracked to life.

"We're on the move. Be ready. Over."

"Roger that, Baldy." Sprout replied. His grin was all but gone when his and Lilith's eyes met once more.

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"And sister, 'looks like' don't even begin to describe it. Personally I reckon he's some kinda skin covered robot from the old days."

Mila chuckled, "Yeah, well he certainly looks like he's cold to the touch. Seems like he'd get right along with your Commander. Uh, no offense, of course."

Gossip about Commander Saburo was commonplace with Feroxi soldiers. For a second there, Mila forgot who she was talking to.

*******************************************************************************************************************************************************

"The man could give you the world. That still doesn't entitle him to take what he wants from you. Remember that."

After a few moments, Tsubaki gave an almost absentminded nod, "Yeah. You're right." With a subtle sigh she turned to face Asad and patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks." As she approached the door she looked back at him from over her shoulder. "Making a run. Getting some 'real' coffee from my place. What do you want?"

Careful, Tsutsu.

*******************************************************************************************************************************************************

"Pixie, do you know how much you defined me? A year ago I would have killed anyone and not given a shit, like at all. Now I... I feel guilt again. If I do the right thing or we save someone, or kill someone who really fucking deserves it, I feel good. I feel great!

You don't know how much you changed me. I'm pretty easy to manipulate Pix, you can't tell me not to be."

Pixie grinned and shook her head, "Yer a fuckin' basket case, Aesop," She found his eyes briefly and added. "But yer my basket case." Rubbing his shoulder she nodded to him. "One way 'er another, it all ends today, Aesop. Take solace in that fact."

********************************************************************************************************************************************************

"There are no monuments on shifting sands."

"No," Bennie agreed. "They've all been buried. A long time ago."

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************

A few hours later and their destination was in sight. The light of the Rock's two suns reflected off the surface of the dome, nearly blinding them as they came up over a ridge. Not much further from them now was a motionless crawler, lying in wait for them. The leader of the Wilkes-Vines army, Bradly.

After they pulled up alongside him, Pixie signaled for Aesop to shift into the driver's seat as she strapped on her breather and hopped out, "Reckon yer Bradly?" Pixie asked as she leaned inside the window of his vehicle. He had two others with him.

The man nodded and stepped out of the crawler, "It's nice to finally meet you, Pixie. Payton sends his regards." He said as they shook hands.

"Yeah," She chuckled. "Payton's also a lyin' fudge-packer. Skip the bullshit, Bradly, ar' yer people in place 'er what?"

Though her demeanor was... blunt, he wouldn't let it get under his skin. He addressed the issue without missing a beat, "That ridge ahead? I have the majority of my forces waiting in the shadows, ready to pour into Yuteni at a moment's notice."

"An' the gate? I reckon a few pounds'a explosives'll do the trick, right quick." Pixie's accent was extra hard to understand when wearing a breathing mask, but Bradly got the gist of what she was asking.

"We had our inside men set the charges an hour ago. They're awaiting our signal."

"Good," She crossed her arms across her chest and looked down at the dirt. "What about the sisters? Any werd on whether 'er not they're takin' 'er down?"

Bradly shook his head, "Not yet, we haven't heard a peep. We may need to take her down by force."

"No," Pixie immediately shot back. "That ain't an option. We take ar' forces, split 'em up across the city like we discussed. By now Austin will 'ave blown most'a 'is load an' the only way he's gonna deal with us is by takin' the Maiden in nice 'n low. Short range weaponry's smaller caliber an' there's a lot of it. I doubt he's gone through half of it yet."

She turned and looked towards Yuteni, "We wait fer 'im ta' fly in low an' that's when the hit squad jumps 'im. Leap from windows, roofs, whatever. We'll figure it out. Once we're on top of 'er we're as good as inside."

That's what she said.

"What about those on the road, running interference? They'll get torn up if the Maiden drops in on them."

"I reckon yer men studied the city's layout, right? The fuckin' place is riddled with winding back alleys an' shit. There ain't no way that ol' fat hunk'a iron's gonna be able ta' get a clear shot on shit in there. Plus, once we're inside the Maiden'll be under ar' control in no time."

"You make it sound easy."

She looked at him from over her shoulder and chuckled, "You make it sound like you ain't never commandeered an anti-gravity ship before." Bradly didn't say anything to that. "Great, payin' top dollar fer a bunch'a rent-a-cops."

"No," Bradly narrowed his gaze. "You paid for killers, Ms. Monroe. You paid for those of us who don't have reservations. Who won't hesitate to pull the trigger when we're told. You bought resolve."

The he couldn't see it, Pixie frowned in pleasant surprise, "Alright, well, I ain't gonna argue that. Child killers don' grow on fuckin' trees, I s'pose."

"Are you ready?" He was wasting no time.

"Yeah," She walked around the side of the crawler and booted the man riding shotgun to the back seat. Moments later their crawler was on the move with the three Maiden Ash Crawlers in tow.

Spoiler: Instrumental Version for all y'all metal haters, lol

As they got closer to Yuteni, Pixie stood up in her seat and planted a boot on the dashboard. Holding her radio to her mouth, she pointed towards their destination with her other hand, "MAIDENS! WE RIDE TO VICTORY TONIGHT! TO AVENGE AR' FALLEN BROTHERS! TO PROTECT THE GOOD FEW PEOPLE'A THIS FUCKED UP WORLD! WE'LL TEAR DOWN THIS WOULD-BE-GOD FROM ATOP 'IS THRONE! WE'LL MAKE 'IM WATCH AS 'IS SICK, DELUSIONAL WET-DREAM CRUMBLES DOWN AROUND 'IM! WE'LL BEND I'M OVER A TABLE AN' FUCK 'IM RAW! SHOW THE WORLD WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU WHEN YOU FUCK WITH THE IRON MAIDEN!"

Her mask concealed the insidious grin that had begun to form on her face, "TONIGHT, WE WALK INTO THE MAWS OF DARKNESS! OF OBLIVION! OF HELL ITSELF! NOW TELL ME MAIDENS, AR' YOU MOTHER FUCKERS READY?" She gave herself a second to breath before continuing. Barking like this came naturally to her, but it didn't mean she had a steel throat. "TAKE HOLD'A MY HAND, MAIDENS! YOU'RE NOT IN THIS ALONE! TOGETHER, WE'LL MARCH INTO THE FLAMES OF MADNESS, AND TOGETHER, WE'LL MARCH RIGHT BACK OUT! ARE YOU READY TO LOOK INTO THE HEART OF THE BEAST!? TO TEST YOU METTLE?! YOUR HEART!? YOUR FUCKIN' SOUL!? I ASK YOU, ARE YOU FUCKIN' READY!?!?!"

The warcry that followed had to have echoed across the whole of the ashlands.

A rousing response like that would normally get Pixie's blood pumping. And it did. This time, however, it was muted.

She was scared.

Terrified.

Please, Merry... please don' lose yerself this time. Please, God...

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"Making a run. Getting some 'real' coffee from my place. What do you want?"

Asad shook his head, smirking slightly. "I dunno, did you do any grocery shopping since me and O'Lafferty cam over?" Asad asked, raising a hand. "Pretty sure we ate and drank all the good stuff." He rubbed a hand over his uncharacteristically smooth jaw.

"I'm good, don't worry about me."


==============================

Spoiler: tunes

"Yer mug ain't quite what it used to be, I don' reckon. Fuckin' knives, right?"

Lilith smiled ever so slightly, her eyes unmoving from the binoculars. "I dunno, I kinda like it."

'Gotta cut the cloth to make it fit properly.'

As the boy's aunt began to chastise him, Cranston's voice crackled in over the radio.

"We're on the move. Be ready. Over."

Lilith turned her head to lock eyes with the boy, her expression hardening slightly. The game was on, no turning back now. The girl was restless, but it wasn't for what she expected.

It could be the adrenaline that was beginning to pump through her veins, or it could have just been the desire to get out of the city, but she was itching for a fight so bad she could taste it.

There would be no hesitating, no mercy, every man that stood between her and that gate could potentially kill either one of them if given the chance.

Lilith wouldn't give them that chance.

"It means being like water, calm one moment, then pounding down in a torrent the very next."

Bennie's words echoed in her mind as the anxiety drained from her body. "You ready for this? No hesitating, understand me?" She smiled at the boy, her eyes glinting with something he couldn't put his finger on.

The fresh scar on her cheek was a reminder, of humility, of not underestimating an opponent, of how life and death and can flip at any given chance, but also, despite how one changes on the outside, they can still, fundamentally, remain the same.

Every time she looked at herself in the mirror, it would be there to remind her, just in case.

Today she would be the torrent.

 

[The Funslinger]

"Yeah, well he certainly looks like he's cold to the touch. Seems like he'd get right along with your Commander. Uh, no offense, of course."

Oh, fuck you.

But it wasn't the first time he'd heard the snide comments Basilio's other soldiers made about her, was it?

"Be honest there, Mila," Bryan said, scowling. "What's with all the bullshit you lot sling at Tsubaki?"

===========================================================

Fargo moved silently through the streets, turning down an alley until he found the doorway he'd been told to look for. Two men were standing outside, smoking. Rifles hung from straps at their sides. Two staccato pops from his silenced pistol. Two dead bodies.

Circling the building, Fargo found the window and stretched up to look. At this time of night, the light pouring from the building made it as good as a one way mirror. He could see them, but they couldn't see him. Several Bejics were sat around a table, playing poker. He marked their positions, and the weapons he could see. He marked the Lieutenant as well. He'd save him for last.

Holding the pistol to his cheek like a duelist, he booted the door, damn near taking it off of its hinges. The moment the light spilled out he was stepping through, firing. The first two went down with their backs to him. More went down as he strode across the room. Some even got guns up.

The Lieutenant had been sat facing the door, and Fargo could see him reaching for a shotgun. He planted his foot on the circular table, slamming it into the Lieutenant's chest and overbalancing him. There was a deafening bang, and part of the ceiling vanished in a hail of wayward buckshot. Leaping over the table, Fargo slapped the shotgun barrel away. Another misdirected shot obliterated the window. As the Lieutenant tried to stand, Fargo pistol whipped him across the temple, sending him sprawling.

Kicking the troublesome shotgun from the man's hand, he hauled him up by the scruff of the neck. Holstering his handgun, Fargo pinned him to the wall. "I hear you Bejics know how to handle the cold," he said, reaching for the pistol gripped hose on his belt. It was connected to a small canister at the small of his back.

"Fuck you."

"I'm saying that's what I've heard is all," said Fargo mildly. "Let's find out." He squeezed the trigger, and a mist of liquid nitrogen sprayed out of the nozzle, blasting the man's face. The Lieutenant screamed, and Fargo slammed his head against the wall. There was a faint tinkle under the thud of the slam as his frozen eyeballs shattered. Fargo kept spraying, and the Lieutenant's body jerked violently. At last, Fargo stopped spraying and released him. The body fell to the ground, twitching. The man's frozen hair was plastered to his equally frozen face.

Crouching, Fargo peeled off one of his black gloves and took the Lieutenant's wrist, placing his index and middle fingers to it. He felt the man's pulse slow. With the brain frozen solid and unable to send commands, it was nosediving into a flat line. Pulling on his glove, Fargo stood up, reached into a pocket under his Kevlar, and deposited a business card on the Lieutenant's chest. The card was red, adorned with a komodo dragon; the mark of Wilkes-Vines. That done, he turned and left.

==================================================

Ruffles didn't cheer at Pixie's speech, but he did work up a smile. Turning to face the others, he said, "well, let's see if we can't save some lives."

 

[Terratina.]

"We're on the move. Be ready. Over."

And there it was.

Well, there was no time to smile at Elizabeth's poor method of taking compliments. In all honesty, Maria had just deflected Elizabeth's prior compliment since the doctor herself was also bad at taking them. Such irony.

Maria stretched, it was time to go.

She didn't dare think about the trials ahead.

 

[ProtoChimp]

"I guess whether I like it or not, I'm staying here then. I guess... I guess you better get going then."

Hannibal kept looking away from her. "I'm sorry. I'll be back as fast as I can." He headed towards the door before stopping and turning back to her. "Thanks for, well, all the, um, yeah." He left awkwardly, closing the door behind him. It still perplexed him why Viola cared so much. She had no stake in his survival other than simply not wanting him to die. Ones like her were so rare to find in his travels. The most he'd ever heard about those who kill also caring were the fabled Iron Maidens. He wished he could have met them beyond the bald man. He wondered if they were truly like the stories.

Now however, he had more important issues rather than stories about killers with consciences, much like Viola. Beard was the only man in the city dirty enough to not care where he found his information. Checking with the matron of the hotel if he could use the back exit, she agreed. Starting off down the back alley he began his trek through Feroxi. For a city that he had never been to, every city had that same vibe when it came to free running.

Hannibal was in his element. Leaping over gates and fences, scaling fire escapes and water drainage pipes, running full pelt across the ground and rooftops whenever he could. It calmed him. Soothed him to see the sights of the city without men and bullets trailing him. He was still in a rush and running as fast as he could, but knowing he wasn't immediately going to die set him at ease, as much as it could at least.

After a long time running and checking in the likely dives Beard would visit he found a place just disgusting enough for Beard to visit. Hannibal couldn't read the name of the bar, but he didn't need to know the name of the place. That said it was rough enough that he'd probably get beaten up if he came in through the front door. Taking on Beard's old tactic he snook in through an open window, half expecting the man to come out of it as he did. He'd already checked over a dozen similar places today, would here hold any luck?
===================================================

Spoiler: His namesake is much cooler than the character

Aesop gripped the wheel so tightly he could rip it off if he was so inclined. 'It all ends today. Take solace in that. Pixie's words reverberated around his mind, her words battling the whispers and screeches of Austin's own. Except it wasn't just Austin's words. Alex's were there too, along with Keats, Arin, Emilio, everyone who had died that day, as well as those who hadn't. Those few friends who had survived and he had forgotten about as if they never existed. He only thought of the dead, and those thoughts were getting louder and more violent each inch closer to the dome.

But some words gave him comfort. Simple words, nothing complicated. 'Rip his fucking eyes out.'

His own.

'Stick your knife in his spine and pry out his vertebrate.'

He banged the back of his head against the driver's rest of his seat a few times before sighing out, his body stiff and rigid as he charged ahead. Pixie's words fell on open ears, ready and willing to recieve her blessing as he charged full speed across the ash. He roared his loudest battlecry, his voice becoming hoarse and rough as he screamed louder and louder and louder and louder and louder! He wouldn't stop, his voice would be heard across the whole damn world if it could be! And they would be the last voice that sick bastard would here this day, because it would be his last day in the world he sought to rule. This time tomorrow Sillah would hold Peter's dead heart in his hands as the Maidens soared out of his old home, flying aboard the new one.

Aesop was a maiden this day.

 

[Fappy]

"Pretty sure we ate and drank all the good stuff."

Tsubaki rolled her eyes, "I noticed."

"I'm good, don't worry about me."

"Okay, I won't be long." She called out from behind her as she stepped out into the hallway. The trek back to her apartment was a long one. Unfortunately, there was no direct route across the compound. Navigating the labyrinthine design of the base always gave her time to think, at least.

She didn't like this situation one bit. Not only was she being benched, but her own squad was under someone else's command. Asad... maybe even Bryan; they were on the brink. Tsubaki could feel it. She could see them inching towards the edge. From where she stood now, she'd be helpless to stop them. Nothing would break her heart more than to see one or both of them turn traitor or abandon their post. She told herself she'd warm up to them in order to bring them in line, but in truth... she enjoyed it.

They're your subordinates, not your friends!

Tsubaki frowned. She'd never found it difficult to separate her personal life from that of her professional before now, but if she was going to be honest with herself she really didn't have a personal life to begin with. Her free time was spent sleeping, eating and... dreaming. Imagining what if's. Reading through magazines and books, wondering what it would be like if things were different. If she'd never picked up a gun.

If she'd never become a soldier.

She could have died. Easily. Not just five days ago, but so many other times before then. What would she have left behind in her wake? A decorated soldier? Maybe to a few. Most, however, would remember the rumors more than they'd remember the soldier. If she had died to that old man she'd have been remembered as that '***** who hung on Basilio's knob'. She had no friends, no family.

She had nothing.

Just... stop, Tsutsu.

After returning to her apartment, she poured herself a mug of fresh coffee. Before she could take a single sip, however, a knock came to her door, "Coming!" She shouted across the apartment as she marched over to the door. "Can I help you."

A fully armored man snapped into a swift salute before delivering his orders, "Ma'am, I have a request from Lord Basilio."

She cocked an eyebrow, "What does he want?"

"And audience. Come with me," He nodded towards the direction of the hall.

Tsubaki looked down at the mug in her hand and shrugged.

Fuck it.

She'd take it with her.

After a long, awkward elevator ride, she arrived at the penthouse floor at the top of the tower. The two guards stationed in front of the door let her through without a fuss. Holding her coffee in both hands, she stepped out into the middle of the room. She noted the eerie silence and scanned the marble walls. He wasn't here yet, apparently.

Walking across to the back of the room, she stood by the enormous window overlooking the city. The same window she'd seen Dio stand by so many times before. She took a sip of her drink and placed a hand on the windowpane, studying the traffic as it flowed all throughout the city. They were like ants from this up high.

This must have been what he felt all the time. Looking down at all others. Feeling... larger than everyone else below.

'Kneel.'

Tsubaki winced, holding her fingers to her forehead. She shook her head, banishing the memory. Just as she was opening her eyes once more she heard a voice from behind her.

Spoiler: Ominous

"Brilliant view, am I right?" That was not Dio's voice. Turning around in surprise, she spotted a bearded man sitting behind Lord Basilio's desk. The audacity! "I envy it, you know. I can think of few things that can exemplify power as well as a really tall building does. And Lord Basilio? Well, he's got more than the two of us can ever hope to have." He grinned.

Cocking an eyebrow, Tsubaki remained where she stood, at the opposite side of the room, "Who are you?"

He chuckled, "Oh, my manner. I'm so sorry, Commander. My name is Doctor Adrian Pym, Feroxi R&D. I'm a scientist with a focus on neuroscience and cybernetics. I also made a living as a forensic scientist in my youth."

Tsubaki narrowed her gaze. She'd completely forgotten she was holding coffee at this point. Now, the entirety of her attention was focused on the man before her. Who was he, really? Sure, he'd listed off his credentials, but that didn't explain why he was being such a creep or why he was getting cozy in Lord Basilio's chair.

Before she could question him, however, Dio appeared, "Sorry I am late." He apologized, uncharacteristically. Tsubaki turned her head, her face glowing bright red in embarrassment. He had apparently just finished a shower and was only wearing a towel around his waist.

Without looking at him, Tsubaki spoke in a respectful tone, "What is the meaning of this?"

Walking over to wear she stood, Dio took her face in his hand and made her look at him, "Do not avert your eyes, Tsubaki."

"M'Lord..." She muttered, blushing far more than she had a moment ago.

"Put some fucking cloths on, Dio," Adrian laughed.

Tsubaki's eyes widened. How could he talk to him like that!? The gall! She'd never heard anyone---"You know me, Adrian. I am far more comfortable when I can feel a breeze on my skin. Reminds me I am still a man." He looked over his shoulder at the scientist. "Tell her why she's hear."

Throwing his feet upon onto the table, Adrian crossed his legs and leaned back in Dio's chair, "Chimera squad is my group. They do my dirty work. Some of the best soldiers on the planet. I understand that's Dio's made you privy to our little project?"

Trembling now, Tsubaki looked at Dio, unsure of what to do. He simply nodded. Looking past the hulking man, Tsubaki set her eyes on the scientist, "Yes. You... intend to terraform the planet."

"And do you know what that entails, Commander?"

She hesitated for a moment, "T-time, resources, uh---"

"Resources, we have. Time?" He hummed to himself for a moment before getting out of the chair. "Time is precious to us, Commander. Our ancestors left the job half-done, so we know we have what we need to finish the job. Finishing the job will be a long, long, process, however. Decades to get the whole program up and running. As long as a century before the planet is completely terraformed. That's a long time."

Dio stepped aside as Adrian made his way over to them. The doctor's eyes were focused squarely on Tsubaki, "We need a system to protect that investment. We need control. Do you understand what that means?"

"I already explained it to her, Adrian. She has the general idea of what we have to do."

"Does she?" He snapped at his 'superior' before looking to Tsubaki again. "Do you understand what this means, Commander? How many people will die before this is over. Before we have control."

Tsubaki furrowed her brow. She didn't know what to say.

"Chimera squad is vital to our operation, Commander. The loss of half the squad is unacceptable. Ortega is getting older. His integrity may not be as sound as it used to be."

"I-is this a proposal? Do you want me to lead Chimera squad?" Her resolve was reinforced now that she understood what was happening here. She didn't want to appear any weaker to them than she already had.

"Would you want the job if it was offered?"

"No," Tsubaki said, without missing a beat. Dio leered at her. Adrian simply smiled. "I have led Samsara for a long time now. We're a tight group. We get things done. I rely on them. I trust them."

"Do you understand what we're offering you, Commander? Your name will go down in---"

"My name means very little to me, Doctor Pym," She interrupted him. "And Ortega is a good squad leader. We clashed with one of the strongest forces on the planet the other day. Perhaps you should stop underestimating your enemies."

Dio looked like he was about to scold her or last out before Adrian held out a hand and stopped him, "It's okay. Let her think on it. We weren't intending on doing anything drastic until after the Maribel case had been resolved, anyway." He checked his watch and cocked an eyebrow. "Well, I best be heading back to the lab now. Supernova's quite a long trip, especially considering what a pain it is to get out of the dome during this lockdown.

'Supernova?!'

"Will you consider the proposal, Commander?"

She hesitated a moment before nodding, "I would be a fool not to." She replied, half-heartedly.

The scientist chuckled and took a step closer to Tsubaki, "Good," He looked at Dio and then back at her. "You know, just because he pulled you out of the muck, it doesn't mean you have to go through with everything he tells you to. I was an orphan to, you know. I know that loneliness too, Commander." After exchanging nods he looked to Dio and offered an exaggerated bow. "A pleasure as always, Dio."

"Yes, quite," He didn't look pleased. "Escort the Commander out, will you?"

"Of course."

Adrian stayed behind to coordinate his departure as Tsubaki was left to ride the long elevator trip alone.

So much for, 'I won't be long'.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************

"What's with all the bullshit you lot sling at Tsubaki?"

Mila scoffed, trying to conceal a guilty smile, "I'm sorry, did I hit a nerve? Look, she's got the big guy wrapped around her finger, okay? Of course we're going to gossip! I mean, to be fair, I've talked to the woman. She doesn't seem that bad." She broke eye contact for a moment, running her tongue along her gums nervously before adding. "Sorry, it won't happen again."

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"I'm sorry. I'll be back as fast as I can." Hannibal said, averting his gaze from Viola, was he ashamed by saying no? He then headed towards the door, stopping briefly and turning back to face the bounty hunter. "Thanks for, well, all the, um, yeah." Hannibal then hurriedly left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Just... be safe out there Hannibal. The world's a frightening place, though, I guess you already knew that." Viola said somberly, knowing well in advance that she wouldn't be getting a reply. After just standing there in silence for a few minutes, she decided to go freshen up a bit. She made sure to tidy up the room first, both her rifle and one of the revolvers were stowed away in the small closet that came with the room, the other revolver was holstered on her hip, in case of an emergency.

Outside the hotel they stood waiting. They had seen Hannibal run off, but he wasn't their primary concern. First was his muscle, the one who had protected him. One of them spoke up as he waited for his comrades, "Why the fuck are we even after him? The pussbag can't even shoot why'd he-"

"Just, shut up for once okay!" His ally replied annoyed. "Its what he wants so just shut up and do it. Besides he wants this one taken care of first."

As soon as he was finished explaining that to his friend the rest of their men had come. "She still in there?"

"Yeah, but the kid fucked off."

"We'll get him later, this comes first. No show boating and no fucking around, she's good and she has friends so just be quick." Replied the leader. The rest nodded in response before making their way into the lobby, silencing the guests with weapons drawn. The leader smirked at the woman at the counter. "We'll be outta your hair shortly."

Meanwhile, Viola was giving herself a strip-wash across her upper body, making sure she was at least clean up top. After she was done and was busy putting her shirt back on, Viola could hear the sounds of many footsteps beneath her; something about it didn't seem right. So she quickly done up the rest of her shirt before unholstering her pistol and aiming it at the bathroom door.

The Gunderson men ran up the staircase like stampeding elephants, while the leader remained at the back pulling his hair out. "Stop being so fucking loud!"

His men ignored him and rushed into the hallway, quickly finding the room they had been told belonged to the grey haired boy and the Gunslinger. One of the grunts took charge and kicked the door in before a few others filed into the room. The leader remained at the back, the attempt at a sneak attack clearly out the window.

The sound of the door being kicked in made Viola pulled the hammer down on the revolver as she counted the number of people entering the room, five?, six maybe? She couldn't accurately tell given all the noise they was making.

Not really subtle are you guys. Viola thought to herself as the saw the handle of the bathroom door being jiggled about a couple of times before it began to turn. Seconds later, a head popped around the corner, instantly noticing Viola.

"Hey Guys! She's-" The man called out, before being interrupted by a bullet to the head, dropping him instantly.

"Un fucking believable." The leader simply wandered back down the corridor, sipping from a flask as the imbeciles under his command rushed into the room. They were hopeless and he knew it. He was smarter than this, why the hell was he working for these amateurs? Why did the one with the brains have to die? Well, actually that was pushing it.

Meanwhile the others pulled out their guns and fired in unison through the bathroom wall like the dumb gun grunts they were.

Almost immediately Viola made for cover behind the bathroom cabinet as the bullets came a flying, she didn't risk returning fire in case she got hit.

Bloody hell! Must be the damn Gundersons out for Hannibal again, though I may suspect that I am the target this time. She breathed deeply trying to remain calm and focused, waiting for the moment that these goons would have to reload; judging by the bullet casings, they using .45 ACP ammunition, most likely with pistols. Eventually, the sound of half a dozen empty mags falling onto the ground could be heard. Her chance had arrived.

Pulling back on the hammer of her revolver, Viola charged out of the room, firing a shot into the Bandit on her right then followed up with a punch to the chest, which sent the man toppling onto the bed. Holstering her revolver, Viola assumed a fighting stance, and aimed a kick at the next Bandit.

The leader sat on the floor, leaning his back against the wall as he contemplated his life with a flask in his hand, barely paying attention to his men getting their asses handed to him. With this was going on, the other three Bandits pounced on Viola; but she couldn't react in time and was sent hurtling to the ground, her revolver forcibly out of her hand. One of them held Viola down by the legs, whilst the other two began delivering a series of punches to her chest. Even though it did hurt a bit, her years of endurance and physical training meant that the worst she'd be getting would be some painful bruises; though with every punch came an appropriate sound of pain.

Whether by fate or a stroke of luck, Viola caught one of the punched with her hand, but it certainly hurt to do so. Using what strength she, Viola managed to redirect the blow to the Bandit on the other-side which provided enough of a distraction to allow her to kick the man holding her down in the head. It took a few seconds for the adrenaline to kick in but eventually Viola managed to get up, but was swaying a little from side to side; she definitely hadn't had a fist fight like this for a while.

Recoiling back to the ground, the men were stunned for a moment, while the other two still standing had finally reloaded their weapons.

Viola staggered towards the closet door as the Bandits reloaded, grabbing her rifle and a took a moment to focus as still she felt some disorientation. Finally managing to concentrate for a couple of seconds, Viola fired at the two who had their guns out, making them fall backward and shoot into the ceiling, one of them taking out the light and shrouding the room partially in darkness.

No doubt by now someone from outside heard the commotion and called for help, but that wasn't her concern at the moment. Viola found herself clutching at her side, the pain of the numerous blows managing to break through. Trying her best not to fall over unconscious, Viola used her rifle to support herself whilst limping towards the the other bandits and delivered a smack around the head with the butt of the rifle. From the looks of things, that did it.

Hearing the sounds of a rifle, the leader got up and made his way silently to the doorway of the room. The woman inside totally focused on the men she was beating up. He pulled a blackjack out of his inside pocket and snook up behind the woman.

"Impressive." By the time she could register what had happened he slammed the blackjack down across the back of her head. Looking at the men around him, he nudged the bodies with his foot before shrugging his shoulders and leaving.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"Come with me." Georgia said forcefully, after checking nobody was around to bother them, and slipping inside the medical bay, where she found Franklin, Isabel, and Troy all in attendance. They would be going to get Sandra (who had spent most of her time aboard making as many or her new 'Brothers' as possible very, very confused about their feelings) before heading down to the engine room. All they needed to do was temporarily force the ship down, and then they'd be away. If anyone tried to stop them, then Isabel would play the Concerned Birth Sister Act, giving Georgia the second's advantage she'd need to deal with them. It was clear that the Family had given up on Franklin, and would even probably gun down Isabella in a pinch, but Troy was something special, a talisman to these nut-jobs. Having the baby in harm's way would make them hesitate even in the event that no-one believed their story (of course, she had sugar coated that last point as much as possible when explaining the plan to the parent's).

Franklin, following behind on a pair of crutches as Isabel walked alongside him carrying Troy. She felt disgusted that she would need to take the same tactic Austin had taken a week earlier, using the youngest of children as human shields. Yet she was smart and pragmatic enough to know that it was their best and only option right now; if Austin thought so few people would be afraid of killing youngsters then surely he himself along with everyone else would hesitate at the sight of Troy. Franklin meanwhile felt just as bad, Isabel walking in front of him and being his shield, being so slowed down by the barely treated wound in his leg which the best he could say about it was 'at least it isn't infected.'

Their shame however would need to be pushed to one side as they walked alongside Georgia, making haste towards the engine room.

As they made their way towards their destination, Sandra fell in beside them, silently. The party progressed without incident until they were right outside the doors.

Two of Austin's men were standing guard, either side of the doors with sub-machine guns slung over their shoulders and cradled in their hands. Georgia and Sandra didn't stop or slow their pace. They moved deliberately, as if they had every right and good reason to be there. The guards didn't move to stop them at first (the one on the left even looked at Sandra and smiled. The pair were only a few feet away when the two guards saw fit to ask them their business.

"Hey, what're you all doing down h-"

Flashes of light and whispers of sound, when as one Sandra and Georgia drew blades from inside their bodices, and stabbed the guards, slipping the blades in almost effortlessly just under the ribcage, angled upwards into the heart. At the same time, they used their spare hands to cover the guards' mouths, muffling their cries of shock and pinning them to the wall behind. As the two girls twisted their blades and withdrew them, the guards sank down onto the floor, their eyes rolling upwards into their heads.

"We don't have a lot of time." Georgia said, turning round to face the others as she cleaned her knife and sheathed it. "Let's do some damage."

"Right." Isabel answered as the group pushed into the room. Inside were a small group of engineers simply monitoring the systems. Among them was the maiden traitor Banks, ignoring those he was forced to work with but maintaining a friendly enough attitude that it wasn't suspicious. He hated working for them but he knew when he had lost.

"I'm gonna get a drink, you guys want anything?" Asked one of the children busy at work, no older than 15 at the most. Everyone else shook their heads as the boy made to leave the room.

"Hey." Georgia spoke up and moved swiftly over to the boy, taking his hand and manoeuvring him away from his path.

"If I come with you, maybe you can get me a drink too. It must be thirsty work down here." she said, batting her eyelashes at him. As Georgia was stalling for time, Sandra was making her way around the edge of the room, positioning herself quietly behind one of the others, within striking distance From there, she shot a very meaningful look at Banks, who was nearby.

"Uh... okay." the engineer agreed, his face flushed not just from the heat inside the room, and started to escort Georgia back towards the door. She let him lead this time, as standing behind him, just off to his right, she was able to draw her knife once again with her free hand, just out of his peripheral vision, and slash his throat, blood drawing a bright red brushstroke over the door he had just been reaching for in that moment.

Before the others had time to react, Sandra was on them. She closed the gap between her and the other engineer that she'd been standing directly behind, and pierced the soft spot at the base of his skull with her knife, the blade severing his spinal cord and travelling in his brain, killing him instantly. Drawing it out, she then threw the blade across the room, at a third man standing opposite. It tumbled end over end, before striking home in the man's throat, putting him down.

As the boy she'd killed was still falling, Georgia grabbed a pistol out from the holster under his arm, and swung back around to point it at the last of Austin's men standing, who had just managed to touch his own holster, the shock on his face turning quickly to grief and rage at the sight of his fallen brothers.

"Hands up." Georgia said coldly. "Nice and slow."

She wasn't afraid to kill him. Rather, she was afraid of how far the noise of a gunshot inside this space would travel. They'd done everything quietly so far, but if she was forced to shoot him now, or let him fire off his own weapon in turn, the plan would be blown before the first hurdle.

The last man standing was seething with anger and grief. His brothers were dead and so quickly too. But he could still send these bastards to hell! If he forced her to shoot him, then everyone would know. They would be torn to shreds by the family, and his brothers could be avenged.

Except before he could even grip his pistol, Banks had already slammed a wrench over the back of the man's skull. He struck him repeatedly, mounting him and grabbing his hair as he slammed it against the back of his head again and again and again. He was already dead for a while but Banks couldn't help himself, the fear and rage and fear of being a prisoner in his own damn home finally letting lose on this brainwashed fool beneath him.

For a few moments, Georgia just watched, with some satisfaction. Obviously being cooped up with these crazies had got under her skin more than she's thought, and it wasn't even like she'd been forced to do their bidding in her briefer stay here. However, they still had an escape to enact, so as much as she would have liked to she couldn't let the poor guy wail on the pulpy mass that remains of the engineer's skull all day.

"Hey, look at me." She said, striding over and snapping her fingers in front of Banks' face. "We're getting out of here, and we need your help. We need to force the ship to land, ideally without alerting everyone else on-board of what we're doing. Can you help us with that?"

Blood splattered all over his cheeks, he took off his shirt and used any peice of the cloth that wasn't covered in blood to clean up his face. He then grinned at Georgia before throwing the wrench up in the air and catching it. "Oh yeah." He chuckled before literally leaping into action over towards his work station. "How're ya planning to get off the ship once its down? My ship is swarming with those fuckers." He took pride in saying 'My' ship, reminded him of his maiden brothers and sisters. His true brothers and sisters, not this fallacy.

"Well, the cargo bay is the only option that I can think of." Georgia replied, raising her eyebrows a little at his sudden enthusiasm. "But I've only been on this ship a few days, nowhere near enough time to explore it properly, especially with these creeps breathing down my neck... er, present company excepted." she added, nodding her head towards Franklin and Isabel.

"If you know a way that's less likely to run us into trouble, then I'll hear it, and then you can leave with us and team up with the other Maidens, they're going to try and take the Maiden back today."

If Banks wasn't motivated already, he would be now.

"Hmmm," Banks put the bloody wrench to one side and mumbled to himself before answering, "there's a boarding ramp near the bridge. There's six escape pods there with utility hatches on top. But even then nutjob spectacular's up 'n' down the bridge all the time." He was quiet for a while as he considered the possible solutions. "If you're quick, and you're careful, you can do it. I know its riskier being so close to him but its the quickest way off the ship."

"Hmm..." Georgia thought for a moment, looking round at the others.

"Let's do it. Austin's a mean bastard, but I'd still rather face him on his own if that's what it comes to than his entire army. As soon as the Maidens roll into Yuteni, the rest of the ship is going to be crawling with them."

She handed the pistol she had taken off the other engineer to Banks, grip first.

"Do it, and then lead the way to the escape pods."

Banks grinned as he took the pistol off of Georgia. "Watch the magic happen." He eagerly set to work on picking apart what he has so meticulously put back into place a week earlier. Bit by bit he lowered the efficiency of the ship until it was ever so slightly losing altitude-well, it wouldn't be subtle for long. But for now he was just setting the pieces into place.

Franklin and Isabel gave each other the same stare they had exchanged over the past week. They knew what would happen if they were found by him. Even with the five of them, Austin would tear them to pieces like paper. They whispered to each other while Banks took apart that which he had worked so hard on earlier.

"I thought, once I'd get to save your ass instead of you saving mine." Franklin said, looking down at his leg. There was no way he would stand up to Austin in this condition, he was lucky to be walking even on crutches.

"You still might," Isabel said optimistically, "I mean, I just had a baby so..." She smiled sadly at her boyfriend before leaning in to kiss his hopeless lips. "I'll never be done protecting you baby. You can play the macho power fantasy another day." They both chuckled slightly, despite the joke not being funny at all.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

The silence hung comfortably over the fear they both felt deep in their souls before Banks spoke up. "Right its done. I can tell the ship was going down anyway, they must be either dropping people off or pickin' 'em up. Either way we better haul ass to the bridge." Stuffing the wrench into the front of his pants Banks damn near skipped over to the door. "Lets roll bitches! Uh, no offence to the ladies of course." He winked, clearly more god damn happy than he'd been in a long time.

Georgia smiled.

"Well, I don't think you'll be getting any disagreement from them." she said, jerking her thumb over to the bodies on the floor.

They moved out, quickly and quietly, in the direction of the bridge. Just like on the way to the engine room, they moved with purpose, as if they had every reason to be going where they were going. Miraculously, they were not challenged. The few of Austin's men they saw, down adjacent corridors or moving through doors just ahead of them, were in a hurry an did not seem to notice them at all. Had the Maidens started attacking, or were they all rushing down to the engine room, it just having dawned on them that there was a problem? Either way, time was running out to make a clean getaway.

Eventually, they reached the escape pods. Peering round a corner, Georgia saw that the way was clear, before holding a finger to her lips for the others to see, and stepping out.

Banks followed soon behind before rushing ahead to access the escape pods. He was just about pulling up the hatch when he heard footsteps ahead of him. He barely had time to register the face ahead of him before a boot was planted firmly in his face. Whoever it was had came so fast, such inhuman speed that in the span of merely looking down to open the hatch he already could get the drop on Banks.

But Franklin and Isabel knew this man very well. Indeed, he was the one who had saved them from death before they even met father. The one who introduced them to father. The one who had murdered every single person who ever wanted to hurt them.

"Father worried Oliver was a little sweet on the girl." Spoke Heath as he aimed two pistols in each hand at Georgia and Sandra. "I've known some pretenders to be good at acting, but you two are good. Really good." He smiled as Austin slowly walked up behind him, followed on by a sheepish looking Oliver.

Austin held his good hand on Oliver's shoulder with a tight, firm grip. "Now do you see why?"

Oliver nodded quickly, looking ashamed and guilty. "How many did you kill to get here?" He asked, his question directed entirely at Sandra.

"Oliver..." Sandra replied, her lip trembling just slightly. "I was afraid that they were going to hurt me if I stayed, like they hurt you. I know you tried to hide it, but I knew, I know what it looks like when someone's trying to hide that they've been hurt, and I wasn't going to stay and let it happen to me. You understand that, don't you?"

"Understand this!" Georgia snapped, as she lurched into action, grabbing Isabel from behind, and holding her knife, not to her throat, but to Troy's. "Unless you want me to add your newest arrival to our body count, you're going to let us out. Banks!" She called. "Get up. We're leaving. Sandra, get behind me."

Isabel began shaking, turning to face Georgia. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" Troy reached his hand up and danced his fingers across the knife, not understanding the danger.

Austin smirked. He was right, Isabel was a child after all. "You see, I don't think you're actually capable." Heath spoke nonchalantly as he pressed his boot down on Bank's face. "I mean if you are, we'll all regret it immensely, but if you aren't then," he began laughing, "this is all just a show isn't it?"

Franklin stood idly by, he wanted to curb stomp Georgia for even daring to pretend to hurt Troy, yet he knew it was all part of the plan. For Isabel however, still holding her son as this whore held a knife to him. Who the fuck did she think she was?

"They didn't hurt me Sandra." Oliver spoke through gritted teeth before yelling out. "They SAVED ME! And helped me realise that you're a liar. One of the worst kind of pretenders because you trick, and decieve Father. You are a parasite... and I am a fool."

Georgia's eyes darted this way and that, desperately searching for some way, any way, that she could get them all out of this alive. Banks was out of it, Franklin could barely move under his own steam, and Austin and Heath weren't bluffing. They really would let her just slit Troy's throat, because hey, then the fault would be hers, and they could kill her for it.

Fucking maniacs.

Georgia let out a long, resigned sigh, before doing the only thing she could. Slowly, as if in surrender, she withdrew the knife from Troy's throat, before throwing it, quick as a flash, where it stuck in Austin's already injured hand. With no pause for effect, she then shoved Isabel and Troy with all her might into Heath's path, blocking his line of sight and almost knocking them all flat.

Sandra was already on the move, taking the split-second's chance to dash to one of the escape hatches, and wrench it open. Inside the pod, she heard the metal hatch clang shut behind her, and she turned around to see Georgia's face...

Only Georgia was looking in on her, from the other side of the door.

"No!" Was all she had time to say, their eyes locking for just a moment, Sandra's widening in shock, and Georgia's set and determined, despite the tears welling at their corners, before Georgia hammered a button on the console to the side, and her face was suddenly, helplessly, drifting away.

"No! Georgia! GEORGIA!" Sandra cried out, her fists beating on the hatch, her face pressed right up against the small glass viewing port, but Georgia could no longer hear her.

'I saved her at least. I did what you asked of me, Amy.'

Back on the Maiden, Georgia slowly turned around. She wanted to sink to the floor and weep, but she wouldn't. She would not die on her knees. With misty eyes, she looked to Austin, and then to the blade sticking through his palm.

"That was for Kitty, you bastard!" she said, poison in her voice keeping the fear at bay.

Austin had just enough time to block his face with the knife as it lodged in his useless hand. He growled out in pain as Heath went down, Isabel falling into him and clutching Troy tight to her chest for protection. Oliver saw Sandra reaching for the hatch. He aimed, had a perfect shot, and did absolutely nothing. He watched her escape and froze in his tracks. He hated her, but he couldn't finish her.

Franklin meanwhile scrambled to the ground, desperately trying to open another hatch as the others were busy and he wasn't armed to defend himself, relying completely on his crutches. He just got it open when Austin rushed up and threw his knee with all his might against Franklin's jaw, damn near shattering it in the process. He didn't stop there. As he lay on the floor Austin set to work stomping repeatedly on Franklin's face, causing him to jerk violently under his boot.

Banks meanwhile took his opportunity to strike at Heath. After Heath went down he threw Isabel to one side but Banks had already pulled out his wrench and pounced on the man. He slammed the tool down as hard as he could upon his foe-only to be met with a knife stabbing threw his forearm as it came down. Banks recoiled in horror as Heath's speed far outmatched his own once more. Heath kicked Banks off of him like he was nothing before firing four shots into his torso and chest.

Banks and Franklin were on the ground, bleeding and twitching as Isabel held Troy tight. She should have been fighting. She should have been trying to get into one of the pods, yet all she cared about was checking if her baby boy was hurt. She didn't even look up to see Franklin, Banks or Georgia, she just held Troy tight and panicked as he was dead silent.

Austin stared over at Georgia as she spat her bile at him. "Oliver." He addressed his son without even looking at him.

"I-" Oliver had no idea what to make out of the scene surrounding him. Everything had broken down and so fast. Father was already disappointed, and after he had allowed Sandra to live...

"Yes father." Oliver stretched his arms out and held the pistol tight as he aimed square at Georgia's head. Like it or not, Sandra had got to him.

Georgia looked to Oliver, as the first tears finally broke free and started creeping down her cheeks.

"What?" She spat at him "Are you waiting for me to beg? You said it yourself, I'm the worst kind of pretender, I'm everything you despise, so go ahead and do it, and then rot in hell when it's your turn!"

"Oh for fuck sake cut the drama." Heath shot Georgia twice in the knees bringing her down. "Olly, this is ridiculous."

Oliver gulped and looked away as he aimed at her.

"Don't you dare look away." Austin spoke cold. Oliver sniffed and replied as he stared at the woman on her knees, before finally pulling the trigger.

"Now this one." Austin ordered Oliver as he pointed at Banks. Oliver complied and made his way over to the engineer who began chuckling. "I had such faith in you. It appears every maiden is a liar."

Banks spat at Austin's feet but it didn't reach. "I die a maiden mother fucker, and you'll die from the maidens." He kept chuckling until Oliver put a bullet through his skull.

Austin nodded towards Franklin who was tweaking helplessly on the ground now. "NO!" Isabel rushed over to Franklin but was stopped midway by Heath. He pinned her to the wall as Austin raggedly tore Troy out of her hands. "NO! TROY NO!" Heath slammed her head against the wall a good few times. She slumped to the ground as sound and sight began to dissipate, the last sound she heard was some mumbling from Austin, giving some sort of long contrived speech to Franklin. As sight left her, sound stayed just long enough to hear the gunshot.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Several minutes passed since the radio had gone silent. Sprout had kept his eyes glued to the gate the entire time. Eventually, something began to happen, "Check it out!" Sprout passed the binoculars to Lilith. "Looks like they jus' got somethin' called in. Some of 'em, ar' fixin' ta' move."

Elizabeth put a hand on Lilith's shoulder, "What do you see?"

Lilith furrowed her brow as she scoped out the gate. "Ehh, it looks like they're thinking about it, a couple of them seem reluctant." As Lilith watched the silent argument, she tightened her grip around the binoculars.

"Come on you wankers, you want to go, you know you want to." She muttered to herself, clenching her jaw.

Spoiler: GET HYPE

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion echoed across the city. The building shivered, "SHIT!" Sprout shouted.

Elizabeth nearly fell over as she braced herself against Lilith, "Was that us?!"

Unflinching as the shockwave of the explosion washed over the area, A sly smile curled Lilith's mouth as she continued to watch the guards, their faint cries of surprise making it to her ears. "Do we have your attention now?" She cooed gently.

Maria tried to steady herself after the little display but ended up crashing into the trio. Well, she didn't have much experience when it came to that sort of thing...

"Sorry!" She said, an awkward laugh escaping her lips.

Lilith raised an eyebrow, looking at Sprout as she nodded at the two women clinging onto her. "Don't even think about it." She muttered through a smirk as she saw the glint in his eye.

Elizabeth shivered, "Is now really the time for jokes?!"

Sprout's stupid grin widened, "I dunno, we 'ave a habit of jokin' 'round when shit hits the fan. You reckon it's 'bout time we mosey on down there an' start shootin'?"

Lilith tossed the boy the binoculars before wrapping her arms around Maria and and Elizabeth. "Relaaaaz Liz." Lilith chuckled as she pecked her lips against the girl's cheek playfully. "Maria knows how we work, just follow her lead."

Maria could't decide which was worse, the joke or what Sprout would think of it. Nevertheless, she went with it. Just for the hell of it.

"Well now, Lilith." She began, "Being the most experienced woman here, so I could probably teach Lil Liz here a few things... But I'm sure she'll pick it up."

She then added a wink, "So, yeah, just follow me, kid."

Lilith chuckled, a toothy grin on her face. "I'm sure you'll be very gentle with her, just be sure to keep the paddling to a minimum." She nudged Maria with her shoulder.

Pulling away from the two women, Lilith stood next to Sprout, placing a hand on her hip as she leaned on the boy's shoulder at a jaunty angle. "Stick close to my boy here, and he'll keep you safe. I'll pick off anyone who gets too close."

"Of course." Maria replied.

"And, you know..." Lilith pursed her lips, tilting her head she averted her gaze playfully. "If you feel like shootin' some guys, that would be terrific."

The doctor frowned as she thought on it but those thoughts quickly turned to her first kill. The only emotion she had for that moment was disgust.

Maria shrugged, "Eh, I'll pass. Will probably end up shooting you somehow. Wouldn't want that."



Elizabeth furrowed her brow, looking down at the pistol in her hands.

This is it.

"I reckon I'll deserve more'n a few kisses by the time I get y'all outta this. Jus' remember: I like it rough." He snickered.

Elizabeth's anxiety was brushed aside long enough for her to finally burn the snot-nosed bastard, "Kid, you don't even know what you like."

Getting to his feet, the plasma pistol in his hand, Sprout chuckled, "I know enough!" He grabbed a handful of the doctor's butt before skipping towards the stairs.


"Real smooth, Sprout." Maria muttered, "Maybe I should've operated on his balls as well..."


"Didn't know you worked with microscopes." Lilith coughed as she walked past the pair, she lead Elizabeth off to the side as the other two flirted.

"Elizabeth." Lilith's expression softened as she placed her hands on the girl's shoulders. "You know how to use that thing, I saw you in the van the other day." Her expression hardened. "Do you think you can use it again?" Her eyes searched the girl's.



"Yes," Elizabeth replied without missing a beat. "I'm not just a damsel anymore. I won't accept that." She pulled the slide back on the pistol, feeding a fresh bullet into the chamber. "It's time I earned my keep." There wasn't a hint of trepidation remaining in her voice. Somehow, the young noble had managed to conjure something from deep within her. Only time would tell whether or not she'd be able to keep that resolve.

Sprout scoffed, "Y'all don' know what the fuck yer talkin' 'bout. I'm hung like fuckin' Bennie! Now, quit takin' the piss outta me an' let's get the fuck outta this God fersaken Dome."


"Problem is, Sprout, I've seem 'em." Maria retorted, sticking her tongue out, "Let's just say... they don't match that description."


Lilith said nothing as her eyes continued to search the girl's eyes. It was a familiar look, although she couldn't place it.

A warm smile curling her lips, Lilith nodded as she patted Elizabeth's shoulder. "Just stay focused, okay kid? Worry about going to hell when we're safe."

Brushing past Maria and Sprout as she approached the door out of the building, Lilith adjusted the rifle strap on her shoulder and pulled her revolver out of its holster. "Pretty sure she's got you there, Sprout." She muttered as she wrapped her fingers around the door handle. Pausing for a moment, she closed her eyes for a few seconds.

"Time to go all out guys, fast and free."



Sprout laughed, despite his fear, "Let's show 'em what happens when ya' fuck with the Maidens!"

"I'm ready," Elizabeth nodded.

This was it.

Maria nodded as well, "Yeah, we've bust this boy's balls enough. Time we bust theirs."



Lilith leaned her head to the side, cracking her neck as her gaze remained ahead. "I'll take point, keep your heads down and listen to each other, we're all getting outta here, ya understand? If you die, I will kick your arse."

Wrenching the door open, Lilith took off quickly, pulling the knife from her belt, she clasped it against the grip of her revolver.

'Be water.'

 

[Fappy]

Spoiler: BLAMO

Once the Maidens had passed the ridge, the rest of the Wilkes-Vines army fell in behind them. A convoy of fifty ash crawlers was not a common site. In fact, it was the largest fighting force any of the Maidens had ever been a part of. Pixie couldn't contain her excitement as she leaned forward against the windshield and let the ashen winds pound against her face and chest.

Yer time's come, you piece of shit.

Right on cue, Yuteni's east gate burst open as the convoy drew closer. Pixie's crawler was inside the city before the smoke had even cleared. They poured into the city like ants evacuating an anthill and spread out across the city. Bennie had given Ruffles the wheel and joined Pixie and Bradly in their crawler as the rest of the convoy drove on by.

Sitting behind Pixie, Bennie leaned out the window to get a better view of the skyline, "Is it just me or is..."

"Fuck, yer right!" Pixie pointed past a particularly tall skyscraper. "That's the Maiden right back there, alright, an' she's losin' altitude! Amy's girls really came through! DRIVE!" She barked at Bardly as she snatched up the crawler's radio. "THIS IS RED QUEEN CALLIN' ALL SHIP-FUCKERS! THE MAIDENS DROPPIN' LOW! ALL Y'ALL FORM ON AR' POSITION!"

Weaving in and out of abandoned vehicles and debris, it wasn't until they got deeper into the city that they were able to take in the level of destruction it had been subjected to. As they closed in on the Maiden, Pixie spotted hostiles taking cover around the next bend, "HOSTILES!" She shouted as she, Bennie and the two other hired guns laid down a hail of lead on their position.

They didn't look like kids, but they definitely didn't look very old either. Pixie took noticed of Bennie's pained expression and placed a hand on his shoulder, "You got this, Bennie!" He simply nodded in response and fired on another enemy as he made a break across the street.

Looking over her shoulder, Pixie spotted Aesop driving not too far behind her as well as two other Wilkes-Vines crews.

Good so far...

"Pixie!" Bradly shouted as he pointed up ahead. The Maiden's dissent was slowing. "At this rate it won't be touching down!"

Pixie's one good eye darted around the street ahead. Moments later, she spotted their answer, "Head fer the parking deck! The Maiden's ass'll be lined up nice an' sweet fer us, I reckon!" As she said that she pulled out a large, square device from her satchel. It had two twirling antenna sticking out of it.

"The fuck is that?" Bradly asked he veered the crawler towards the parking deck.

"A lil' toy Ruffles cooked up fer me! Bennie!"

"On it!" Reaching below the seat he produced an RPG.

"It's like you can read my mind, Darlin'!" Pixie winked at him and started barking into the radio once more. "SHIP-FUCKERS, LISTEN UP! I HOPE Y'ALL 'AVE FAITH IN AR' GOOD OL' PAL, RUFFLES 'CAUSE I RECKON I'M PUTTIN' ARE LIVES IN' IS STONER-ASS HANDS! FUCKIN' GRIT THOSE TEETH!"

"I hope you know what you are doing." Bradly muttered as the crawler drove up the ramp and into the parking deck.

Turning the dial on the questionable hunk of scrap iron, it produced a low hum before she hit the switch on the side. As they came up over the ramp and started driving up to the next level of the parking deck, Pixie caught a glimpse of the Maiden.

It was beginning to ascend.

Keep yer ass pointin' over here, lil' lady.

The three other crawlers followed through the parking deck until finally, once they'd reached the top floor, Pixie could see it. The hangar was opening! "FUCKIN' LOVE YOU, JAKE! CHARGE UP THAT ASS, BRADLY! GIVE 'ER ALL YER LOVE!"

"THIS IS CRAZY!"

Bennie grinned as he lined up the sights of the RPG on the concrete barrier at the end of the parking deck, "THAT'S HOW WE MAIDENS ROLL!" The rocket propelled grenade shattered the barrier moments before their crawler passed over the ledge. Everyone inside held on for dear life as the vehicle went airbourne, crossing the gap between the top of the parking deck and the still-opening door of the Maiden's hangar.

"I'M COMIN' FER YOU, AUSTIN!" Pixie laughed like a madwoman as the crawler came down hard onto the edge of the ramp and skidded down across the hangar. One of the Wilkes-Vines enforcers banged his head against the back of the seat in front of him, knocking him out instantly. Thankfully, Pixie and Bennie made it through with but a few scrapes and bruises.

Before they could even get their barrings, however, gunshots began to rain down on them from the back of the hangar, "FUCKIN' MOVE OUT!" Pixie barked as she vaulted over the side-door of the crawler, rolled across the ground, steadied herself on one knee and leveled Mr. Monroe. Within seconds she'd gunned down four of Austin's children. Teenagers from the looks of it.

Bennie came running up along her side to back her up, blowing away three more with his shotgun. As they took up cover behind a nearby crawler, two out of the three crews that had followed them had made the jump. The other group of Maidens were among them.

Pixie grinned as Aesop and the others joined the fray.

Austin had better learn to pray, and fast. Pixie's hands would be around his throat before the day was done.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

As the small crew of Maidens and their noble friend made their way down the street, Sprout ran through the rough plan in his head one last time.

Neutralize hostiles. Cover the girls while Lilith secures the outpost an' opens the gate. Piece'a cake.

Once they arrived at the end of the street, Lilith and Sprout took up positions against the side of the last building on the block and peered around the corner. Half of their men had just drove off in a crawler. Holding his pistol close to his chest, Sprout looked to Lilith.

Furrowing her brow, Lilith bit her bottom lip. "We should get closer before we fuck 'em up." Lilith turned her head to face the boy. "They'll only hunker down if we start picking 'em off now, what do ya think?"


Sprout nodded and turned to look at Maria and Elizabeth, "We're gonna sneak up closer before we lay into 'em. Stay here an' outta sight. Once we've secured the parameter y'all can join me by the gate."

"Right." Maria nodded and patted Elizabeth on the back, "Tigerman, ya up!"

"You can count on me." Elizabeth was trembling.

Lilith smiled reassuringly as she looked at her friends. "If it's any consolation, I'm pretty sure Tigerman is on their 'don't shoot' list, so really, only three of us can die horribly."

Sprout patted his chest, "I reckon I'm already halfway there." Looking back in the direction of the gate, he frowned. "You lead the way, Lil. Reckon Baldy taught you a thin' er' two 'bout sneakin' about."

"C'mon, I did a decent job - didn't I?" Maria replied, mock-hurt. Sprout was busy being... Sprout, while Elizabeth was shaking so much the doctor doubted that the noble could hit anything, let alone a person. Maria turned to Elizabeth and gently gave a piece of advice, "Breathe."

Elizabeth laughed nervously, "Yeah... that would help..."

"Elizabeth" Lilith started, raising her head slightly. "I meant what I said. They will have explicit orders to capture you, as long as you're not an immediate threat, they won't shoot at you." Lilith's eyes locked on the girl's

"Use the gun only when you need to."

Elizabeth nodded, reluctantly, "Okay, you're the boss."

Lilith smiled, nodding her head. "Good girl. Keep safe you two" Placing a hand on Sprout's shoulder, she nodded towards the gate. "Okay kid, don't believe I'm saying this, but stay close to my arse and keep your head down."

Hunkering down, Lilith and Sprout quickly made their way to closer to the gate, crossing the street and hiding behind a parked crawler.

Maria gave the two a thumbs up and popped back into safe, safe cover. Her heart was beating fast, fueled by fear, however it clearly was not the time to give in to that. 'Keep it cool, Dr. Machado.'

There were four armored men standing around the front of the gate, as well as the outpost. In addition, there was a lone shooter on overwatch above them. Though Sprout couldn't hear what they were saying, it was clear they were talking about Cranston's group. They looked anxious. On-edge. Sprout whispered to Lilith, "Plasma should burn right through their kevlar, so I'm goin' fer body shots. Wan' me ta' take out the guy on the catwalk while you handle the rest? He's gotta good vantage point from up there."

Spoiler: moozec

Lilith narrowed her eyes as she measured up their opposition, inching ever so slightly out of cover. "You sure you can hit him from here?" She whispered. "Gotta make sure we don't give them time to fortify their defence and call in for backup, turning the guys who just left right back around again."

"You give me the first shot an' he'll be taken care of, Lil. Trust me."

Lilith's eyes searched the boy's face.

'He really wants to prove himself, and who am I to stop him?

Smiling, Lilith tussled the boy's hair. "Okay, you're up. Soon as he's down, I'll move up and start splitting their attention."

Setting her eyes on a concrete barricade further down the road and across the street, Lilith tightened her grip on her knife and pistol, digging her feet into the dust.

"Whenever you're ready, Sprout."

Sprout studied the man above for sometime. He was leaning over the railing, calling down the his friends below. He probably wanted to be involved in the conversation. See if he couldn't get a handle on just what the fuck was going on. In an instant, he'd created a short narrative for the man and his actions.

Sorry, fella.

He breathed in sharply and aimed up on his target. Then, he exhaled slowly as he pulled the trigger. The pistol lit up bright green as the plasma rolled through its metal frame and flew out the barrel. It was loud, but by the time the sound had reached the man's ears it was too late. The bolt of super-heated plasma splashed against his chest and sent him tumbling backwards. A split-second later, the street was filled with the sound of gunfire.

Lilith bolted from behind the crawler as soon as she felt the hot plasma rush by, firing several shots from her revolver, she managed to hit one guard in the face, the others either missed or hit kevlar. skidding across the ground, she slammed her back up against the concrete barricade, chuckling as her chest heaved slightly.

"Bang, bang, bitches." She muttered to herself as she quickly reloaded the revolver. Glancing up slightly, she could see the other two woman peering from behind their cover.

'I'm sorry you have to see any of this.'

"But fuck, if it isn't bloody exciting." Grunting as she rose out of cover, she closed her left eye as she brought her weapon to aim, shooting another guard in the neck before ducking back behind the barricade.

"AXEL!" She shouted. "LIGHT 'EM UP!"

"FUCK! IT'S THOSE KIDS!"

"CALL IT I---" The soldier's words died in his throat as a bolt of plasma caught him in the face. Sprout nearly cringed, but grit his teeth instead. Lilith was counting on him. He couldn't wuss out now. There was only one left as far as Sprout could tell. The one who had just seen his friend's face get blown off.

"GODDAMN MOTHER FUCKERS!" He broke cover and laid down a barrage of plasma fire down on Sprout's position, forcing him onto the ground.

"COULD USE A LIL' HELP 'ERE, LILY!"

Lilith got to her feet, swearing as she failed to get an eye on the last guard. Hesitating as she glanced to her side, the boy's cover was slowly starting to melt.

"Fuck it!" The woman vaulted over the barricade as she dashed towards the guard-post, holding the knife in front of her as she closed the distance. Slamming her back against the the wall of the guard-post.

"YOUR MATES ARE DEAD, PUT THE GUN DOWN OR I WILL FUCKING END YOU!" Lilith roared as she banged her fist on the thin metal wall, before stepping to the side.


Lilith heard the man gasp in surprise, pausing his barrage. Lilith tightened her grip, narrowing her eyes as the portion of the wall she had previously occupied erupted into a seething hot mass of half melted metal.

Quickly taking a step back, Lilith raised her revolver, steadily firing three rounds into where she guessed the guard was standing. On the third shot, she heard a whelp and the clatter of a weapon hitting the ground.

Seizing the opportunity, Lilith quickly dashed around the side of the building, slamming her back against the side of the entrance to the guard-post as she leaned around the corner, her sights locking instantly on a guard in the middle of recovering his rifle, a bloodstain spreading steadily on his left thigh.

"HOLD IT!" Lilith shouted, the man pausing as his hand grazed his weapon. "Don't even think about it." Her voice lowered threateningly.

Sprout slowly got to his feet, but stayed low, "Lily, everythin' okay in there!?"

Her eyes unmoving from the guard, Lilith turned her head slightly, speaking loudly. "S'okay kid, we're all clear." The guard's eyes moved frantically, full of fear, his ragged breaths quiet as he tried to fathom his way out of the situation he found himself.

"You won't get away with this." The man muttered, his hand unmoving from the plasma rifle. "He'll kill you for this, for that girl."

Lilith remained silent for a few moments.

"Not today."

As the man grabbed his rifle, quickly rising his arm, Lilith put a bullet in his head, her eyes unwavering as she watched him crumple to the ground.

Running over to the side of the guard-post, Sprout checked through the window just in time to see Lilith step over the body she had just made. Looking over to the girls, he waved them over, "WE'RE CLEAR! HURRY UP IN THERE, LIL! I DON' DOUBT THEY'RE FRIENDS'LL HEAD BACK THIS WAY!"

"I know, let's get this gate open!" Lilith leaned over a control panel, searching several switches for what she hoped would aid their escape.

They were alright, she had nothing to worry about - at least for the present. Maria almost jumped at the call, "Right, right."

Afterwards, she grabbed Elizabeth's free hand and pulled her with her.

"Oh!" Elizabeth stumbled forward and Maria tugged her along. The scene that had unfolded before her seemed so familiar. Like an image of hell taken right out of her memory. She remembered screaming, and bodies and blood. She remembered the warmth drain out of Josephine's body as she held her in her arms. Elizabeth furrowed her brow, her eyes glued to the back of Maria's head as she followed closely behind her.

Please don't die, Maria. Please, please don't die.

"There!" Finding the correct switches, Lilith flipped three of them upwards, the gate immediately thundering into life as the huge mechanics behind it roared into motion.

Moving quickly from out of the guard-post, Lilith reloaded her revolver. "Is everyone okay?" She smiled slightly as the two women approached them.

"As okay as it gets after watching fuckin' plasma bolts 'n' bullets go everywhere." Maria sighed. Since when did people decide firing bolts of flaming death at each other was a good idea? Bullets did the job fine.

Sprout noticed the fear in Elizabeth's eyes as they came up next to him but chose to ignore it. It would only serve to remind him of his own, "Alright, yer doin' great so far, girls. We're almost outta this thin'. Let's grab one of these crawlers an'---"

"----zzztttt-----SPROUT!? LILITH!? DO YOU READ ME!?----zzzttt-----"

Elizabeth's eyes went wide as she watched Sprout scramble for the radio on his vest, "Cranston?! What's goin' on over there!? You okay!?"

"----ztttt----Shit's gone FUBAR, kid! They're heading back your way! Most of Sandringham's squad is dead... I'm coming to meet you there! See if I can't distract them!-----zzzzztttttt--"

"Look, Chromey, it's okay, we're about outta here. We're openin' the gate right now an'...." His words trailed off when he spotted a crawler barrelling down the street, headed right towards them. "SHIT, GET DOWN!" Sprout shouted as he pushed Maria and Elizabeth down behind the barricade.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Isabel awoke somewhere foreign. She could't see, and her head was absolutely ringing with searing pain. She opened and closed her eyes a few times as if to blink away the pain. She didn't know where she was-but that ironically made her realise her exact situation. She was in a position she had dreaded being in ever since she first became one of the children. She was locked in an empty, small room, with no light, given no sense of time and wouldn't be given any food for a long long time. Her and Franklin avoided this treatment when they first met Austin, they wanted safe harbour and didn't resist his temptations, thus he didn't need to go to the extreme measures reserved for those who resisted.

'Oh God. Franklin.'

She pit a hand to her mouth to hold back the sobs as she remembered the last sound before she lost consciousness. Oliver had murdered Franklin, along with Banks and Georgia. The love of her life and father of her child-

'Troy! TROY!'

"TROY! TROY!!" Isabel slammed on the door or wall or whatever the hell it was, screaming Troy's name. She didn't choose that name, but it was what he was known as the past few days because of that bastard. "TROY! TROY! MY BABY!" She yelled and shouted and screamed his name at the top of her lungs as her fists pounded against the hard wall, ignoring the pain oh her knuckles as she hopelessly wept.
===================================================================================
Austin was fuming. He stormed his way over to his dear wife's cell, while his son and every other child hostage aboard not yet converted jolted in fear at the sounds of gunshots. Alex's head jolted up, either someone was revolting or Austin was laying down his sick law. The sight of his massive form kicking open her door informed her it was the latter, much to her disappointment.

"I was hoping those gunshots were for you." She muttered bitterly.

"Why do you hate me?!" Austin yelled in her face. "What have I done to deserve such vitriol?"

Alex's jaw twitched at his reaction. "Fucking serious?" She was stunned by his lunacy.

"Yes I am! I have saved you from your captors, freed you from your chains, and yet all you do is reward me with spit and hatred!" There wasn't a hint of self aware irony in his voice, he was serious.

Alex bit her lip sharply, damn near biting it off before answering him, "There's no point talking to you because you're fucking insane! Truly fucking insa-"

"Will you stop this! Think of our children. Think of your son, my son! Think of Austin!"

"I HAVEN'T STOPPED THINKING ABOUT MY SON!" She exploded. "My son who YOU'VE LOCKED AWAY SOMEWHERE YOU ****!"

Austin sighed and relaxed slightly, "Language please darling."

"FUCK YOU! HE'S SCARED AND ALONE AND YOU'VE IMPRISONED HIM AGAINST HIS WILL!"

"Like your father did to our children!"

"Don't you dare go into that again!"

Austin groaned out and kicked a wall. "Look at us. We've had nothing but spats ever since our reunion. What's happened to us baby?"

"What has happened is... God forget it." Alex was tired of this. "What's the point, you don't listen to reason and shouting at you isn't going to do anything."

"Does that mean you won't argue with me anymore?" He ignored her words about 'listening to reason' as if she didn't even say them.

Alex sighed and shot a spiteful look at him. "No, it means I'm just bored waiting for someone to come up here and show you this isn't gonna last." She laughed in his face. "I mean for fuck sake, do you really think you can hold this city? Someone is going to come. A noble family is gonna get greedy and want another city under its belt, or a bandit clan will wanna run like Kings, maybe the Iron Maiden's will want to take their home back, or, and this is my favourite, the people you haven't killed yet will bring you down for what you did to them you lunatic."

Austin sat down on a nearby chair and sighed. "I am tired of you not listening to me."

"And I am tired of you not making any sense!"

"Think of the children!"

"I do think of the children, in fact I think about how the children are 21, 22, 23 24 25-"

"Darling listen to me-"

"Some of them are older than me for fuck sake!"

Austin was going to reply when the words caught in his throat. She was right. Alex was twenty eight years old and yet some of the children were the same age as her, some even a year older than her. Alex meanwhile grinned at him. "You fucking idiot! HAHA! You fucking moron! You actually didn't think this through did you! Its been eight friggin years you've had this downright stupid idea of a cult and you didn't even think how the hell your dumb philosophy works!" Alex couldn't help herself and began laughing uncontrollably, mocking the stupid bastard who had built an empire on an idea that made literally no sense.

Austin meanwhile was feeling humiliated. He had allowed pretenders within his ranks for years, pretenders who he had thought all this time were children. Fakers who he had thought to love and care for all these years, they had lied to him, deceived him! They were not real and there insanity was tainting him. He ignored Alex's laughter and made to leave the room.

"And where are you going retard!" She snickered.

"I'm going to rectify my mistake. I've realised only people the age of 25 and under are true children. The rest are pretenders, liars, and they will be executed accordingly."

Alex immediately stopped laughing. Sure he would be thinning his own ranks, not caring about the might of his army, yet so many innocents would die at his new law. "What will that accomplish?"

"Justice." He snarled before making for the door, when suddenly an explosion rocked the ship.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Aesop had dreamed about this moment a thousand times in his mind and it was even sweeter than he thought. Slamming his foot down on the pedal he was like a man possessed, learning over the steering wheel as he floored it across the ash before finally returning to the city he had abandoned long ago.

It was all so wrong. Everything Austin had wanted, it wasn't this! It wasn't a destroyed city that he wanted, it wasn't buildings torn apart, he never wanted to tear apart the old world and rebuild a new one. No he just wanted to steal what was already there with his group of nutbags! Was he not thinking it through? Did he even care about the children he so desperately claimed to protect? Did he claim it wasn't his responsibility, or did he pretend that it just wasn't happening, so wilfully ignoring the destruction he had caused?

And that was it. Aesop hadn't seen him in years but he knew the man, and that was the answer. He literally did not think anything bad had happened. Aesop wondered if he even saw the buildings he destroyed, or if his eyes pictured them as pristine and in shape. It wasn't stupidity, he was too good at planning and brainwashing people to be that stupid. This was literal insanity, the purest definition of insanity. Austin would be brought up in classrooms as a classic example of insanity, instead of the Godlike figure he wanted the world to know him as. Well he wasn't going to get that! The maidens weren't going to let him take that crazy fucking goal! Not one more child was gonna fall under his spell!

Spoiler: REVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENGE

Following Pixie's lead Aesop drove with one hand while snatching the SMG from his companion in the passenger seat. He was not in a state of mind to make smart decisions, and chose to elbow his driver's side window like an idiot instead of lowering it down. He stuck his hand out of the window and fired randomly at any hostiles dumb enough to get in the way of them. Pixie's crawler had turned ahead and it was as if every maiden was on wavelengths. "Fuck yeah I love you you crazy *****!" Aesop punched his horn excitedly. Following the bends and curves up the multi story car park Aesop could hear the screams as he got some lucky shots, blind firing out of his window at some 'children' stationed within the complex, shouting variations on the phrase, "YOU CHOSE TO DIE!" He wasn't paying attention to them, and thus couldn't see their ages. At this point he didn't care. He had a one track mind and wanted to sink his knife into Austin's face. He was getting cocky, first Rodrigo Santiago and now Father Austin. His bandit ego was kicking in harder than it ever had before and god dammit he was liking the blood lust!

"HA HAAAAAAA! FUCK YEAH!" An explosion, and soon Pixie was in the air. Aesop grunted and roared like an animal as his crawler followed suit, soaring across the sky before crash landing into the Iron Maiden. He was knocked about in his seat but nothing too bad. "Y'all alright?" He was getting weird now with an incredibly satisfied smile on his face, Warren and Brock nodded to him. Aesop handed the SMG back to Brock and continued, "Sorry brother." He then rushed out of the crawler, pistols in each hand and blasting at the oncoming children who were flooding the hangar.

"YOU WANNA DIE **** BOYS!" It was mostly older men and women, delirious enough to think that they were indeed children. Aesop sent them down like dogs before speeding over to one of the vehicles already parked in the crawler for cover. Bullets were flying everywhere and Brock and Warren had rushed over to Aesop. Warren didn't stay for long, just long enough to reload before running off in a berserker. Aesop cackled in excitement as Brock gave him shady looks. "C'mon man, cut me some slack." He winked to the freaked out man before leaping over the hood of the crawler, emptying his pistols into those who were too distracted by Warren before dropping them on the ground, pulling out two extras as he rushed over to the cover of the children.

Aesop was screaming like a violent animal tearing apart his prey with no remorse as they fell to the ground. He didn't see who they were until they were already on the ground. They must have been standing behind the adults. They must have been quiet. They must have been scared. They mustn't have been any older than 10.

He froze, arms outstretched and eyes stuck in place at the fresh corpses. Their expressions were still clear on their faces despite being completely impaled by the many bullets of the guns he was holding. The smoke from his pistols still held in the air as his arms finally dropped to his sides, his weapons slipping out of his hands. His jaw shook as he took in the sight before him, the sight he had caused. The last thing they heard must have been his rage filled screeches, his laughter as their skulls were torn apart by lead. Tears were forming in his eyes and Aesop began to pant but he didn't have the time. More were coming and Brock had to pull him into cover as a maelstrom of fire swarmed their position. Brock needed to fight for the both of them as Aesop couldn't even bring himself to stand.

Children, literal children had been massacred by him and for the first time since Silo, no infinitely worse than Silo, Aesop was feeling guilt about killing. More than guilt, a soul crushing weight that made his head boiling hot, his stomach feel like it was about to explode, sending shivers down across his skin, and shaking uncontrollably. Brock was saying something but Aesop couldn't hear him. Sillah couldn't hear him.

 

[The Funslinger]

The drive into Yuteni wasn't difficult. The dome had been thoroughly wrecked. The gate on their side had been blown clear of its port and they just drove right on through. Once they got in though, Ruffles had to steer in between gargantuan shards of glass that littered the road.

"Jesus Christ," murmured Whiskey, pushing up her aviators to take in the destruction. "You know these domes always feel so fucking impenetrable. But one ship did this? Fuck..."

Ruffles grunted. "Plasma superheats the glass... well it's not exactly glass but yeah. Super heats it, wrecks its structural integrity. Then the ship's like a giant battering ram. It probably wouldn't work on the larger domes. They're cast much thicker. But..." he noticed he was ranting. "Uh, never mind."

As they crossed into the dome, the distant, muffled sounds of gunfire could vaguely be heard. Ruffles drew to a halt behind a gutted building and killed the engine. "We'll go on foot from here," he said. Don't want the engines to scare anyone off... or draw anyone in."

=================================================================

Spoiler: Appropriate tune

Owain walked quickly down the small corridor to the building's lobby. He would get the wine quickly, and then perhaps see if there was any more fun to be squeezed out of Frostfall. Likely not. The women here seemed hard and homely. Tabby had been a rare treat.

Opening the door to the lobby he stepped out, coming to a halt in surprise. Peering down into the basement stood the Gentleman. For a moment, Owain was too shocked to act. Then he reached for his balisong and stepped forward.

The Gentleman's eyes flitted to the side for just a second. For once, he didn't crack a smile.

"No need for that, Owain." he said, as Owain was in the middle of drawing his weapon. "I'd like to avoid hurting you if at all possible. I'm only here to reclaim what's mine. In return, I have something that belongs to you."

Taking the length of bloody rope out from the folds of his coat, the gentleman dropped it at Owain's feet.

"I have no doubt my disgust means little to you, but just for the record... I trust I'll find Florian in a significantly better condition than I found her in, or this might just have to get unpleasant."

Owain shrugged. "I'd say he's so-so. Though it's Severa's fault that what blood he has left hasn't been getting where it needs to be, really. I don't suppose I can convince you to come back with me quietly?"

"I have no intention of being brought before Lady Contessa bound and gagged, if that's what you mean." The Gentleman replied. "The two of us will be meeting, very soon, but when we do it will be on my terms. We will each be given the chance to say our peace, we will negotiate terms, and then we will both depart amicably, having put this little spat behind us. In short, I intend to re-introduce an air of... nobility, into our relationship; which, in case the implication escapes you, will involve you and your sister staying very quiet and cooperative, lest you cause either of us further embarrassment."

Owain took his hand away from the knife handle. "That's all very well and good, except that if my dear aunt wanted to meet on anyone's terms but her own, you and I wouldn't be having this conversation right now, would we? My sister and I have been given a job to do, you see, so I intend to see it through. I'm sure you understand that."

"Now that, I can respect." The Gentleman answered, calmly. "Today still isn't your day, I'm afraid, but it's nice to know that we have some common ground after all."

The Gentleman's hand went to his pocket watch, and he pressed down on the dial. With three ear-splitting cracks, the blasting caps that he had placed underneath the loose, rickety floorboards detonated just in front of Owain's feet, spraying a cloud of splinters up in front of his face. His body suddenly coming alive, The Gentleman closed the gap between them, twisting Owain's arm behind him, and kicking out the back of his knees. With his free hand, The Gentleman drew his pistol, and pressed in lightly into the small of Owain's back.

"Tell me where to find Florian, and I'll seriously consider not severing your spine."

"I'm sure you can take a wild guess," replied Owain, grinning up at him. "If not, then I'm afraid I'm going to be investing in ramps."

"Tell me..." The Gentleman continued, each syllable a shard of ice. "Your sister has quite the predilection for pain, am I right? More so than yourself? If I were to drag you to her now, and subject her beloved brother to every torture my years consorting with the underbelly of this world have taught me, would she scream, would she curse me, or would she enjoy watching you suffer?"

Owain shrugged as best he could in the awkward position. "A little of each, I suppose. But to be fair, if you can take me to her, there's no need to ask where her and the Priest are, is there? So if you're going to shoot me, just do it."

"Ah, but you see..." The Gentleman answered. "I think that with the racket we just caused, she will soon be on her way to us. Still," he aimed his pistol down, and shot Owain in the foot, before stepping on the fresh wound, and leaning his weight onto it. Owain felt his little toe vanish in a wave of white hot pain. "I don't think there's any harm in calling for her a little louder."

Owain yelled through gritted teeth at the flare of burning pain on the end of his foot. He could feel a hot wetness trickling around his shoe as he stirred against the discomfort.

The agony was hellish, but he made it seem worse than it was. With the gentleman leaning over him, Owain used his free hand to rip the pistol from his grip before throwing his weight at him, knocking him off and giving his foot some mercy.

The Gentleman had to hand it to him, Owain had spirit. Disarmed, he was forced to duck and weave as Owain sprung to his feet, and pressed the advantage with a flurry of blows. Pushing him back towards the wall, Owain drew his balisong again, and lunged for The Gentleman's throat. Jerking his head to the side, The Gentleman dodged the blade, which went right through the plaster behind him, followed by Owain's fist. Seizing the opportunity, The Gentleman hit the pressure point in Owain's wrist with a rapid double strike, stunning his arm, before ducking under the other side and grabbing the younger man round the throat from behind.

With his injured foot, Owain was off balance, and heavily compromised on the defensive. Still, he struggled mightily, swinging his elbow round to strike the Gentleman in the side a couple of times. Nevertheless, he was being dragged back, inch by inch, towards the stairs to the basement.

"You have my sincere apologies." The Gentleman said, his teeth gritted, as he hooked Owain's good leg out from underneath him, spun round out of the way, and gave one last strike to the centre of his torso. Unable to fight the inevitability of physics, Owain was sent tumbling, head over heels, twice over, before eventually smashing though the thin basement door onto the concrete floor beyond, where he lay still.

Not wasting any time, The Gentleman picked up his weapon, and descended also. Keeping his pistol trained on him, he knelt down checked Owain over. He was alive, but out cold. Good. He'd do just fine here for now. Rifling through his outfit and removing any more weapons, just in case, The Gentleman made his way back up the stairs.

'One down, as the saying goes.'

 

[Fappy]

Spoiler: A Choir of Angels

The rest of their strike force took up positions behind crawlers and cargo as more of Austin's cultists poured into the hanger, brandishing weapons from Pixie's own armory. What followed was a confusing clusterfuck of carnage. The smell of gunpowder and copper found its way into Pixie's nostrils, shaking loose memories of battles past. It got her heart thumping. Her blood boiling. She felt alive. She felt in control.

She felt invincible.

After emptying two magazines, Pixie slapped in her third just in time to see Brock and Aesop stumble back into cover. Throwing her back up against a stack of iron crates, Pixie looked to Bennie and signaled towards the door, "I'M GONNA CLEAR OUT THE DOORWAY, YOU GO ON'IN TAKE POINT ONCE I CLEAR THE WAY!"

Despite the ringing in his ears, Bennie understood, "ROGER!" Firing fifty bullets per second in a steel box never did anyone's ears any good. Grabbing a grenade out of her satchel, Pixie lobbed one over the crates, through the door and out into the hallway.

Both she and Bennie remained in cover until they heard the blast, "MOVE!" She shouted as she and Bennie broke out of cover. Charging forward, Bennie caught two adult males in the chest with his shotgun before throwing his back up against the door frame. The grenade had made short work of the next wave.

That's a bottleneck for you.

Pixie covered her companion, laying down several bursts from her rifle at a group of teenagers nearby before throwing herself up against the crawler Brock and Aesop were hiding behind, "THE FUCK'S GOIN' ON, BROCK!? TALK TO ME!"

Brock grit his teeth and shook Aesop. He didn't respond, "HE CHARGED AHEAD AND RAN INTO SOME YOUNG KIDS! HE TOOK THEM OUT! I---"

She caught a glimpse of what he had been referring to. The haunting gaze of a dead eleven-year-old bore into her, "FUCK, GET IT TOGETHER, AESOP!"

Bennie peeked his head around the corner. Another group was headed down the hall from the port side of the ship. "PIXIE, WE GOT MORE COMING!" The hangar was clear for now, but that wouldn't last. There was no telling how many Austin had aboard.

"FUCK!" Pixie cursed and glanced around the hangar to get a handle on their status. They had suffered maybe two casualties total. At least twenty cultists lay dead or dying around them. They needed to take the bridge. The hangar could get fucked for all she cared. She ran up alongside Bennie as he switched to his submachine gun and began suppressing the new arrivals at the end of the adjoining hall. Looking to Bradly, she shouted over the gunfire. "YOU TAKE YER MEN 'ROUND PORT SIDE AN' ME, BENNIE AN' WARREN'LL GO 'ROUND THE STARBOARD. THE BRIDGE IS 'AR PRIORITY! WE SECURE IT AN' WE SECURE THE SHIP! GOT IT!?"

"WHAT ABOUT THOSE TWO!?" Bradly pointed towards Brock and Aesop.

"AESOP'S GONE GREEN ON US! FUCK 'IM, WE GOT MORE IMPORTANT SHIT TO WORRY ABOUT!" Two of Bradly's men took up positions by Bennie to suppress the cultists as he reloaded. Pixie looked to Brock. "IF HE GROWS SOME BALLS Y'ALL CAN FOLLOW US! ALRIGHT!?"

"ROGER!" Brock barked back.

Just as Bennie had finished reloading, Pixie came up beside him and tapped him on the shoulder, "YOU READY, CARMINE?"

"FUCK YEAH!"

"WARREN!?"

"YUP!"

"MOVE OUT MAIDENS! WE'VE GOT A GOD TO SLAY!" Both squads filed out into the hall, laying down fire towards their designated destinations. A small group of cultists had just rounded the corner on time to eat a barrage of Maiden lead, tearing them to ribbons before they hit the floor. Stepping over their corpses as they came around the bend, Pixie deliberately diverted her gaze. They were small, but she didn't get a good look at the beyond that.

The three of the Maiden's best fighters charged through the hollow halls of their home like a force of nature, gunning down anything that moved. Austin's cultists popped out of ever crevasse the main deck of the starboard had to offer. They may have thought themselves clever, but Pixie knew her ship better than her own son. She knew ever crack in every rusted plate. There was no getting the jump on her on her home turf.

These kids never had a chance.

It took them twenty minutes and five-hundred rounds to finally make it to the mess hall. Bennie and Warren took point, charging in and finding cover behind the steel tables they'd kicked over. Not an ideal battlefield, especially given Austin's superior numbers, but they'd manage. Just as Pixie was about to join them, she heard a stampede of footsteps heading in her direction from the long hall that joined the port and starboard sides of the main deck. From the looks of it, Bradly was fighting a war of attrition; one Austin's soldiers were losing.

With naught but improvised weapons and spent firearms in their hands, Pixie turn on her heel and emptied her clip into the oncoming force. Four men went down before they were upon her. Eight of them in total.

Her rifle exhausted, she dropped it and her satchel on the ground and drew her bowie knife right on time to duck under a lead pipe and stab her attacker under the his right arm, "COME ON! GET FUCKED YOU PUSSIES!" She taunted as she threw her leg back, kicking him against the wall. A split second later the next three were in front of her, all of them men in their early twenties.

At least I get real men ta' fight.

The first one lashed out with a crowbar while the other swung the butt of his empty shotgun. Pixie caught the crowbar with her off-hand and ducked under the arc of the shotgun, letting the man bash his ally in the teeth with its wooden stock. Wresting the crow bar out of his hand as he dropped to the floor, she thrust it forward, catching the man who had yet to attack her directly in the crotch. As the the man with the shotgun was still in the midst of his back swing, she rose up from her low stance and stabbed him in the side of the neck, her knife held backwards.

As the man before her knelt down, holding his crippled manhood in agony, Pixie swung the crowbar into the side of his face. Embedded it into his skull, she let it and his body fall to the floor in a heap. She flipped her blade into her other hand and stared down the four remaining cultists; a sinister grin shining through the fresh blood that caked her cheeks.

Seeing her take apart their allies so easily...

They hesitated.

Poor decision.

In a flash, Pixie had drawn her sidearm, blowing away two of their allies before they could even blink. The remaining two, one teenage boy wielding a knife and an adult woman with another pipe, fell upon her. The woman came in first, getting in close and swinging her pipe in a wide arc. Pixie threw her arm up and over, taking the brunt of the blow in her kevlar as she caught the pipe under her arm. Unfortunately for her attacker, the woman wasn't quick enough in withdrawing. Still gripping the pipe, Pixie stabbed down twice into her forearm, forcing her to drop her weapon and stagger backwards against the wall.

Before Pixie could take a breath the boy had crossed the gap between them, his knife coming right for her throat. Ducking down at the last moment, she flipped her blade around in her hand and stabbed him in the gut. Stunned, the boy was helpless as Pixie rose to his level and delivered a swift pistol whip to his jaw, sending him falling head-first onto the floor. Moments later she put a bullet between his eyes and followed through with finishing off the older woman before she could get back to her feet.

After coup de gracing those that still clung to life, she holstered her pistol, retrieved her satchel and reloaded Mr. Monroe. Caked in the blood of her enemies, she had a wild look about her as she entered the hall. Bennie and Warren had managed to hold the fort in her absence, but more were pouring in from the bridge. Many of them children, no older than eight, nine, and ten-years-old.

She didn't say a word as she waltzed into the ruined mess hall, her rifle held at her hip. She simply clenched her jaw, pulled the trigger and swayed her hips. With each bullet casing that was ejected from her rifle, another young soul passed on.

She was their deliverance. Her gun was their redemption. This living hell. This endless nightmare. It would be over for them shortly. It would be over for all of them.

Austin would pay for this. Oh, he would pay so dearly. For every young body she was made to cut through to get to him, she'd make him scream in agony. She wouldn't be finished until every inch of skin was flayed from his body. She'd keep him alive just long enough for him to realize that he was living a lie. A blissful fantasy. And that in reality, he was nothing like God.

No. Before his life was over, he'd see the true face of God. And she'd be giggling in delight as she tore his flesh asunder. And devoured his very soul.