Pennybrooke stories

[Karst]

IMPORTANT NOTE: This chapter is no longer canon. I am keeping it here as a legacy reference.

CHAPTER SEVEN - ELISE

Elise had finally found a moment of independence after a harsh tour of medical examinations and procedures, and endless interviews and instructions.
Her mind had shut off during much of it, which she had told herself she had to do - it was enough of a miracle that she managed to sit still for so long and not attack any of the personnel examining her.
It was a strange sensation, being so...passive, just allowing things that she normally would have killed people for attempting to simply happen to her, but the only way she could process all of it was to just blank out her mind, and focus on the vague effort to change she was pursuing.

But the hard part was behind her. Now, she was sitting in Valravn’s main bar and lounge, sipping a gin and tonic. When someone sat down on the barstool next to hers, she didn’t even snarl at them, she kept her cool, even managed a broken smile towards the seemingly exhausted pilot.
The atmosphere was comfortable: There were no fights in the background, none of the furnishings were broken, and nobody had approached her in an inappropriate way.
Just large, elegantly rounded windows, soft music, warm magenta mood lighting, and Auxo personnel relaxing, plus a few other random visitors, corporate representatives from abroad, and some people that clearly looked like militaries but didn’t act like it.
She suspected that in this environment, the level of drunkenness she would normally aspire to achieve in a remote station’s bar would be frowned upon. But to her own surprise, she didn’t even have the desire to.
It was different now, she would use her skills to help this society of outcasts and try to fit in with them. Sure, she didn’t know anybody yet, but she always worked well alone, that wouldn’t be an issue.
As she took in the scene, uncharacteristically slowly nipping at her drink, she felt a strange absence in her heart, the source of which wasn’t immediately clear to her. She simply had the distinct impression that something was missing.
Weirdly, the hole wasn’t bothering her all that much, it was just a minor itch, but she couldn’t stop herself from wondering what it was that had previously filled it, until she figured it out:

Dread.

All her life, she had some shadow hanging over her, her unloving parents and abusive school as a child, the authorities as an outlaw, her superiors as a Kusari military agent, her wartime enemies as a mercenary.
That spot was strangely blank now, and all the paranoia and hatred and self-defensiveness she had always carried with her was fading.

Maybe things really would be different now, maybe they would even be different by her own efforts, and not some outside force that simply happened to work in her favour.
For perhaps the first time in her life, Elise was motivated to do something that actually seemed like it would be both beneficial to her, and to those around her at the same time. It was a combination she wasn’t used to.

***

A week later, Elise was lying on her back under the Bluefin, fumbling with the burnt mess of auxiliary reactor cords, several small cuts already on her hands after a grueling hour of barely productive work on her damaged ship.
There were obviously skilled technicians available here, but she hasn't let any of them touch her beloved Marauder. After almost a decade with it, she knows it as well as her own body, and besides, she really needed something to do to distract her.
Today however, neither her attempts at repair nor those at distraction were going well. She lets out an exasperated groan, dropping her hands from the uncooperative cables and closing her eyes in frustration.

Nobody had approached her about the incidents yet, but it was only a matter of time. She could sense that she was in trouble, and that oh-so-familiar feeling of looming consequences for her stupid mistakes had returned after a long absence.
She had to chuckle at how absolutely in character all of this had been for her: Breaking the rules, messing up instructions, and causing a disastrous incident.
But it felt different this time. In the past, she would have just been amused by the chaos she had caused; if it had been in the Kempeitai, she would have endured the punishment for her disobedience with a silent vow that she would do it again.
This time though, she was experiencing an emotion largely unfamiliar to her: Regret.
She genuinely hadn't wanted to cause an international incident, and the feeling of guilt over her mistakes only confirmed what she had always known about herself: She was a fuck-up, and she would always find some way to fuck up anything good that ever came to her.

The only thing that had changed was that this time around, she had not wanted to. She had, for one moment at least, actually believed she could escape her own self-destructive patterns.
It pained her in a way she was unfamiliar with, and she kept her eyes tightly shut to retain the gathering moisture within.

The background noise in the engineering bays was substantial, but Elise had enough situational awareness to filter out a perfectly synchronized pair of heavy footsteps through the machine tool noises and irregular shuffling of the engineers, getting louder.
She quickly wiped her face with her sleeve, slid out from under her ship, and sat up.
Two heavily armored figures, faces fully enclosed in sleek helmets, were swiftly approaching her.

It was time.

“Warden Bluefin, the Directorate has summoned your presence. Immediately.”

The figure’s voice was distorted and robotic - in fact, their entire appearance showed little to indicate there was a human underneath their shells at all, a single mechanical “eye” surrounded by several smaller ones upon their masks.
Elise forced down her apprehension and tried not to appear intimidated as she stood up, wiping her dirty hands on a hardly less dirty rag.

“Yeah, I figured. Let’s not keep them waiting then.”

She felt very small walking between her two hulking escorts as they made their way to the docking bay.

Minutes later, they were on a shuttle heading towards Elgin’s surface. The silence was far from comfortable, but the two troopers did not give her the impression that they would appreciate any small talk, sitting dead still, their unblinking lenses glowing in the dark interior.
Elise could handle this, she told herself. She had been through worse, worse than...whatever this would turn out to be. She just had to keep her cool.
The shuttle landed in a settlement of striking crystalline architecture that blended in with the frozen landscape. She had been to the surface before, but it was still stunning to behold. Faint, wispy trails of a protective shield shimmered overhead - she assumed it had something to do with heat management.

She was still cold in her thin mechanic’s suit as they disembarked, shivering slightly.
They walked wordlessly for a few minutes before her escorts guided her inside, into a very dramatic looking courtroom, guiding her to what must be the accused’s stand in the center - next to someone she didn’t recognize in their full armor.
Several raised booths with important-looking officials faced her, and a raised platform off to her side held a small group of observers, some sort of jury maybe?
Lights illuminated the officials and her own stand. Everything here just had to be so extra, she thought to herself, taking the scene in and trying to appear stoic.
The android occupying a clearly-important central position read out the names and service numbers of those present.
When the codename “Krauklis” was mentioned, she glanced over at the person by her side, who hadn’t turned to face her yet.

Oh. Well, that made sense. She was strangely relieved not to be facing this alone.

The robot spoke again in harsh monotone.

"Delegates, Bluefin - Warden - service number: 276348953, Krauklis - Paladin - Service number: 073345924. You have been charged with: 2.5, Espionage, 4.4 Gross Failure of Vigilance, 4.2 Socialising with adversaries. This tribunal is now in session. All speech will be documented and recorded. What you say may affect your sentence. "

One of the military officials - a man in a long, dark coat, with fuzzy hair and little in the way of visible augmentations, spoke up.

"This incident has undoubtedly been one of the worst occurrences of utter insubordination to date, such actions have caused a bitter conflict with one of the most powerful Houses in Sirius. Your actions were all recorded, and observed by our adjudicators. Your life form signals were observed entering the California sector, proceeding to Ontario, Colorado, Kepler, and back to California - you were both noted splitting up. What could you have possibly been doing?"

Elise shot a quick glance at Krauklis, wondering if they would answer first, and when it didn’t seem like they would, cleared her throat.

“Okay, so.”

She wasn't normally nervous when explaining herself and her mistakes, she would simply spit out some half-baked excuse that no listener would consider sincere, but now she found herself rambling a vaguely accurate stream-of-consciousness explanation with her gaze to the floor.

“I wanted to check out that new Freeport in California, and we would be absolutely stealthy about it, which we were, and then we heard a report about some Xenos and we split up, and I went to go wait for Krauklis and that turned out to be a bad idea as you know, but it’s not their fault, I could’ve moved but I thought, well, if anything comes along I’ll just - leave, and it’ll be cool, but it obviously wasn’t cool as it turned out, and-”

She took a deep breath.

“Look, I get it, I fucked u- am I allowed to swear here?”

She glanced over the people observing her. None of them looked amused.

“I, uh, messed up, I get the uh, ‘gross failure’ charge. But I certainly didn’t do espionage or fraternize with enemies!”

The Admiral furrowed his brows, providing Bluefin a sharp glare.

“Your vessel was sighted at the gate, according to official reports from the Liberty Forces and from data tracking. These espionage charges fall under the intrusion of a restricted zone. Operative Krauklis, you were the overseeing provisional officer for this flight sortie. Elaborate upon the separation. “

The armored individual peered downwards then looked upwards towards the crowd, they would state - maintaining a mechanical stoic tone.

“My vessel had reported a major malfunction, requiring emergency maintenance. I had to land upon the Freeport within the California system. I will admit to fault, as I had ordered the Warden to return to Technocrat space, when I should have kept them under my wing.“

Krauklis held their arms behind their back, keeping their pleading glare towards their peers.

One of the other individuals, appearing to be one of the Military Advisors in their more decorative attire - although cybernetic in nature, behind the booth would ask out, more calm and composed through their vocoded voice than their outraged Admiral, they inquired in a softer tone.

“What were you doing at the gate, Bluefin?”

Elise hardened her expression. She was intent on giving a proper explanation this time, lifting her gaze up to the many eyes - and lenses - scrutinizing her.

"I wanted to be ready to assist Krauklis if necessary. I considered ready access to the lane to be a risk worth taking in case there was trouble, and I had assumed that if necessary, I could swiftly extricate myself from the situation if prompted. That was an error in judgment, clearly."

Her voice doesn't sound familiar to her. A memory of a forced Kempeitai report maybe, but she wasn't forcing it this time. It was what she had truly meant to say.

The familiar man in the long coat spoke up.

“Yet, you decided to risk it all for a mere shortcut instead of utilizing the Jumphole? Are you aware of the impact of your actions? Our disappointment is immeasurable, especially towards the protégé of Rear Admiral Duris. “

A subtle glance was seen from the operative adjacent from Elise, peering at her for a brief moment before returning their glance to the board. The moment was interrupted with a statement from the Advisor.

“The damage you two have done here is irreparable, punishments have been demanded from the collective. Although we cannot repair the state we have with Liberty, you both can owe us what you lost us. Security. Trade. “

The fuzzy Admiral peered over to the Advisor, and in turn, their robotic head turned to the Admiral and the rest of the board, nodding in synchronized agreement.

He continues on, pressing out harsh justice in his bristly voice, he smacks his palms down upon the booth, proudly declaring:

“Your fate will be decided by the wilderness, and by the unruly. You will be sent to the Phoenix Reformation center to serve in three passes of overseeing mining operations. If you find yourselves in one piece at the end of that term from the feral Crayterians, you will be re-assigned to outer-world operations. You will be indebted to us. You must make amends, whether it be through finding objects of interest, or subverting groups. Until you are forgiven, you will not set foot upon our homeworld without our grace. If you abandon us, you know the consequences of such. “

There was a moment of pause as he raised himself off of the booth, standing upright in pride. Krauklis had peered over to Elise once more, although their face was not visible - the sensation of guilt could be discerned from their lowered posture.
The Admiral continued.

“Unless you have anything more to add or to refute, we are done here. “

Krauklis peered over to the board, offering nothing but a small shake of concern. The robotic Jury coldly states out.

“Session concluded. Subjects vessels compounded. Living quarters have been re-assigned to the new post. “

Elise blinked. The wilderness and the unruly? That sounded like exactly her cup of tea. More of an exciting adventure than a punishment. She wasn't going to question that further, though. She was just going to go through with it. Part of the last statement hung in her head. Make amends. Something she would have loathed to hear, previously. But now, it just sounded like an opportunity.

"Sure. Should I start packing?"

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