Get Me out of Here

[Cat]

Unknown date in the future (as of the time of Kyle's message being received)
A hulk of metal floating in Gallic Border Worlds

The entire ship went dark for a couple of moments when the primary power core went out. The secondary core kicked in shortly, and the much more dim red lighting illuminated the escape pod compartment. Kyle shook his head as he tried to get rid of the ringing noise in his head. He wiped his eyes below the glasses and blinked quickly a few times as he attempted to stand up from the floor where he ended up lying after the explosion.

He found Kiara lying next to him, confused, as she tried to figure out where she was, why she didn't hear anything, and probably whether she was alive. Kyle helped her up and tried to tell her something, but realized that she couldn't hear him for now, just like he couldn't hear himself. Kyle then remembered that the Brigand was still nearby, and this wasn't over, so he just nodded to Kiara, giving her a warm smile, as he turned away and headed to the place where he had last seen his adversary.

The Brigand was lying on the floor, immobile for a few moments, until he tried to get up on his fours at least. Kyle only tilted his head, feeling some twisted sympathy towards the man who just had a flashbang explode in his face. And unlike Kyle, the 'old geezer' didn't have the visor to shield his eyes. For a few moments Kyle just stood there, his gun in his hand, deciding if he should put an end to the man who had almost taken so much from him, or just leave it up to fate. But then...

Kyle felt a dumb burst of pain in his back. The pain immobilized him, made him release his hold on the gun and drop it on the floor. In a moment, Kyle himself ended up on the floor, gathering only enough energy to turn around as he fell. As his head hit the floor, the visor fell off his face. Everything in front of him seemed blurry, like through dirty lenses of some old spectacles. He tried to blink, but even blinking was hard. As his eyesight cleared, he saw a silhouette of a person standing over him, holding his own stun baton. A person with white shoulder-length hair and green eyes. It was Kiara.

She was standing over him, stunned, with the same confused expression, as if unsure whether she should've done what she just did. But her remorse and deep sadness were evident as well. "He... He is my husband, Kyle... I couldn't let you kill him." She mumbled on the verge of tears, still holding the stun baton in the same position as when she had shocked Kyle.

"Nothing is as simple as you think it is, Cross." Kyle saw the Brigand limping towards Kiara. His expression was pretty sour, and his eyes were narrowed after the explosion, but he still made something akin of a smile as he approached Kiara and kissed her on her forehead. The woman was too dumbfounded by her own actions to respond in any way. She simply turned her head a little towards her husband, Remy Moreau, as he took the stun baton from her hand.

"You know, she always was Aurora Moreau. It's 'Kiara Garlow' who is a fake. You think we'd let you run around our ship unchecked? Neither of us would let you rig the power core to explode." As if to confirm his words, the lights turned on; the primary power core was back online. Remy looked at the stun baton that he still held in his hand. "Curious toy."

The Brigand aimed the stun baton at Kyle and made a quick move to prod him. The last thing Kyle saw was Kiara reaching for Remy's arm with a pleading motion, as if not willing any more harm to come to her unlucky rescuer. But then it all went black.