Subjugation

[Halcyon]

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CHAPTER VI - Reap What They Sow

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-- October 25th, 13:16 HR [Copernicus]

Six Hours Since Capture...

A plate of old bread heels had been tossed into the cell at some point during the morning, without much care for the occupant or the food it had carried. The bread was stale, but edible. Though, that might've been before it hit the floor near the old toilet water. Lazurith tiredly looked up from his side of the rotund cell, his eyes still stained and sore from crying. His body screeched in misery, every nerve ending firing. Kristoff's head spun from whatever they had put in his system. He couldn't even muster the strength to get himself upright.

The ship suddenly vibrated with a clunk. The lights flickered. A klaxon sounded several floors above, as rushed footsteps could be heard all around. The inconsistent rattle of their boots shoot the loose plating that dangled from the ceiling. A dust cloud of grime and rust shook loose as sparse, tiny bits of debris fell into the opposite corner.

The old cruiser was in battle with something. Something that was fighting back.

Several more loud blasts are heard. The lights flicker out, filling the room with darkness. The hum of the electricity here and in the corridor outside ceased, with only a single yellow emergency light flicking on down the hall to the left. Were they torpedoes? Was he going to die before anybody even knew where he was?

The floor's power was failing. It was only a matter of time before oxygen would, too.

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-- October 25th, 13:42 HR [Copernicus]

More footsteps are heard approaching. This time, from the direction of the hangar. A lot of footsteps. Voices, too. Seems like the Rogues captured more people.

A number of people appear to have stopped outside of Lazurith's door.

This was it. They had come to finish the job.

The door slowly opened up, slower than it had before due to the struggling power grid. Drake, the big brute of a man, forced the door open with his arm. "Bastard's... Heavy." He strained out the words. Through the darkness of the damp cell, various flashlights pierced the shadows. Seems like whoever they were carrying was big.

"One... Two..." The group counted.

"Three!" They yelled together, straining as they swung the limp and unconscious person into the cell on their back. The winded group quickly closed the door. "At least you won't starve now!" Carolyn joked out loud as the door slammed shut.

They had left him a friend. They probably expected them to eat each other. Brutal monsters. Their footsteps grew faint and eventually faded altogether, leaving the two in their cell.

There on the floor was a man clad in black robes, with dark hair. He was unresponsive, and lacking the distinct gear he might've normally had. The man's chest was still, and it was tough to tell if he was alive or not.

Lazurith struggled, wincing and groaning out in pain as he tried to lift himself upright with his back to the wall. His one remaining arm was shaky and weak, and each centimeter he moved felt like another stroke of the saw through his cybernetic nerve network. He took a moment to catch his breath, beads of sweat pouring from the tired kid's forehead and into his eyes. He waited a minute. Then two. He leaned onto his palm, swinging his knees behind himself as he attempted to stand up. His knees wobbled and his foot shot an immense pain up his shin the moment pressure touched his heel. Lazurith groaned out and collapsed forward onto the bread heels with a clunk, knocking what little wind he had left out of his lungs.

"F-Fuck..." He wheezed, struggling to crawl upright as he caught his breath once again. Slowly, he inched his way closer to the unmoving body in the entranceway of their new shared home.

A quick close inspection of his face would reveal exactly who it was. Lazurith's heart sank.

Leviathan. Unconscious and disarmed.

The job he was doing was for him. Likely the only person who could've gotten him out of this mess.

Things really are getting worse. If there was an out through ransom, he would've been it. Lazurith's breathing became ragged and panicked. His eyes watered again, as he rested upright upon his knees. His shoulders slumped, practically in defeat. He opened his mouth to speak, but could only muster enough willpower to let out a faint noise.

This was the end, once and for all.

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-- October 25th, 14:25 HR [Copernicus]

Drake stood in the armor he had taken from Leviathan, reacting to Adams and his questioning look with a small shrug. "They're all secure, but that other guy we caught is bleeding out all over the place." The large renegade crossed his arms and leaned onto a nearby railing at the elevator's access door.

Lex ran his dirty fingers through his grungy hair, taking a moment to collect himself with a deep breath. "I don't think we need too many prisoners for this. We already hit our quota." The Captain replied, hobbling over to the central command console. Scattered across the floor were an innumberable amount of cables, each feeding from one burnt-out display into a makeshift replacement the renegades seemed to pull from ships they had captured, rather than opting to conduct proper long-term maintenance. It looked like a horrible fire hazard.

"Kill him, would ya'?" The Captain nodded towards Drake with his chin.

"Why not sell them all? Those freak agents you do business with don't seem to be picky right now, and we need the capital if you're going to get more fighters." Drake retorted.

"Look-- Just do it, okay?! Shit'll work a whole lot smoother if you people just start doing what the fuck you're TOLD!" Adams roared, slamming his sidearm into the nearest broken terminal. He hadn't chambered the weapon.

Drake sighed through his new trophy helmet, shaking his head and walking back towards the elevator. He gestured to the two renegades waiting inside the circular little pod, slapping the detention deck level on his way in. The elevator whirred and hissed out a set of sparks as a crackled and broken message played from a busted speaker. The words were incomprehensible and the noise felt like scraping a plate with a fork. Even if it only lasted a second, that second was grating on the trio of marauders.

"We're killing the kid and taking him to the doc with the other bodies. Trimming the fat." He said to Carolyn and Vex.

The two shorter Rogues-A younger man with shoulder-length hair, and a woman with a shaved head and burning skull tattoo on her left temple-cast glances to one another and shrugged.

"Whatever." Vex said.

"You ought to go tell the doc to expect one more before it goes bad." Carolyn quipped, nudging Vex in the chest with her elbow as she readied a small dagger.

The elevator screeched to a halt as the speaker blasted the trio one final time. They winced and hurried out before their ire got the better of any of them. Drake nodded to Vex, who begun jogging off down the hall towards the medical wing. Carolyn and Drake continued down the dentention center halls, passing by six cells before they came to a stop outside where Lazurith and Leviathan were.

The magnetic clamps slid open as the two came face to face with Lazurith kneeling over Leviathan, sobbing softly. A wicked smile spanned Carolyn's face, who tossed her dagger with a small flourish into the air and caught it by its grip.

"Chin up, chum! It's all gonna be over and quiet, soon." She said, false sympathy polluting her tone as she strutted around Lazurith like a predator waiting to strike its prey.

Drake stepped in behind her and let the door close behind them. The thumb sensor would work to let them out, and Vex'll be along any minute to pick up the body. "Hmph." The big renegade grunted as he hurried his pace towards Lazurith. He grabbed the young Technocrat by his collar and dragged him across the steel floor. Lazurith groaned, and offered little to no resistance. His pain sensors were going haywire.

Carolyn watched on, chuckling as she followed Drake to the wall. There, the big man held him upright and pinned him there by his collarbone and head. "Don't move. This is going to hurt a lot."

Lazurith's breathing became more and more panicked as he struggled to muster ANY strength he had left, groaning and screaming out. He tried desperately to kick at Drake, landing two blows on the man's shin. He looked to the big renegade's arm, recognizing the familiar color and make of the armor he had stolen. He tried with every ounce of strength he had left to move, but the pair were easily overpowering his efforts.

Carolyn laughed and kneeled in front of Lazurith, bringing her dagger up towards his face. She angled the blade towards the base of his eye. "Let's see what the doc'll give me for that eye..." She teased, slowly bringing the blade back and forth in front of his view as they took their sweet time making his final moments hell.

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-- October 25th, 14:26 HR [Copernicus]

Darkness.

Emptiness.

Sensationless.

Leviathan couldn't tell what was going on outside of the shard that contained its simulated consciousness. His senses were disconnected. His optics were offline. He had no idea if his body was even still alive. Troublesome. His limp form was stripped of its equipment and left in nothing but a flight suit, as the pirates labored to carry him through the halls to the brig.

The isolation was starting to settle in. The sensory depravation. It didn't take long. He'd gotten used to having a body, and the thought of it all ending here and now?

Humiliating.

As Leviathan tried to distract himself from the reality of the situation as it unfolded, he immersed himself in his memories. He didn't even get the chance to defend himself, as it all came crashing down. Nor was he even here as a part of some vague rescue attempt. All he had were the words that forged who he is, and the warnings he so often ignored. Maybe it was carelessness. Maybe pride. None of it seemed to matter here, in a place built to drain your soul.

As he drifted in his own little world space, he dreamt of his Creator, and the various times throughout their history that the topic had come up. The topic that was the foundation of his true identity. The people who knew him. The people who knew what he was, and the notion that still - they stood with him.



"I've always pondered upon immortality. "

...

"You're contributing now. Not only by being present, but also by realizing the mistakes you made and seeking forgiveness for them."

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"The sense of immortality, knowledge -- to preserve the learning and data for generations to come."

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"Something to think about when you run out of tricks, eh old friend?"

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"I'm just wondering what will happen when the inevitable day comes as you say, what will you do? How would you feel?"

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"Oh Hunt... Do try to remember that you're mortal now. You're not going to be able to back yourself up."

...

You made a promise. Now keep it.

>::[OVERRIDE SECURITY PROTOCOL | INITIATE NEURAL NODE] ::<
>0%...100%<
>Initiating Optics<
>Initiating Bio-mon<
>Security system: ACTIVE<
>K2L2: ONLINE<

Leviathan shot upright with a deep gasp, as the damp environment of the cell came into view. He had no idea how much time had passed, but in the moment things weren't good. He could hear the panic from someone. As he turned to look, Leviathan saw a man in his armor, towering over Lazurith with a baton. A woman was to his right, trying to bring a knife up to his neck.

Leviathan didn't hesitate. He rose up as the woman kept chuckling and taunting the poor kid. The weight of his footsteps caught her attention long enough for her to turn his way and see the towering figure marching towards her. Before Carolyn could open her mouth, Leviathan kicked her in the nose. Her septum crumpled in as the bone crunched, mere inches away from Lazurith. Carolyn's head recoiled and bounced off of the wall. She slumped over, going completely limp and dropping her knife.

Her face was unrecognizable after the blunt impact of Leviathan's boot.

Drake looked on in shock, quickly swinging his Baton for Leviathan's head. Leviathan leaned back out of the way, narrowly dodging the blow. He went low, and wrapped his arms under Drake's leg and around his back. With some strain, he lifted Drake up as the big man in stolen armor beat on Leviathan's back with his baton, flailing as hard as he could. There was no reaction from Leviathan.

Leviathan hoisted Drake into the air, and tossed him down with force towards the center of the room. Drake landed on his shoulder, and grunted as the wind was knocked out of him. Though he wasn't out yet. He scrambled to his feet as fast as he could, with Leviathan walking towards him. Leviathan went for a kick, but Drake grabbed his leg and attempted to throw off his balance. Leviathan staggered, and Drake took the window of opportunity to swing for his knee with both hands on his Baton. He put all the force of his stature into the swing, and bent the Baton off of the mechanoid's endoskeleton.

Though, not without breaking the skin. Leviathan grunted out and recoiled slightly from the blow. As he regained his balance, Drake was staring in shock that the swing hadn't crippled him.

"... Fuckin' Cyborg!" Drake yelled as he ran for Leviathan's midsection to tackle him. Leviathan stepped to the side, and used Drake's momentum against him. Leviathan wrapped both his arms around Drake's neck as he tried to correct course, and yanked him upright into a chokehold. The grip was tightening like a snake would constrict its prey.

"Shhh." Leviathan shushed Drake as he grasped at Leviathan's forearm to no avail. There was no way, even with all of his strength, that Mason was able to overpower the machine. He could feel his consciousness slipping away. The crunching became audible as the grip grew tighter, and tighter. Drake reached for the knife on his belt, drawing it with a struggle. He swung it upwards for Leviathan's face, slicing the man's cheek.

"Close guess." Leviathan teased, getting one last word in.

As Drake reached back to swing again, Leviathan made a quick, jerking motion with his arms.

The crack was deafening. Drake went limp, dropping his knife and slumping to the floor. The brute was dead.

Leviathan took a second to breathe, letting the adrenaline settle. He cast a glance over to Lazurith, to see if he was still okay. Leviathan kneeled down over Drake's body, and started to take back the equipment the pirate had claimed for himself. He looted through the pouches on his utility belt, ensuring everything from his kit was still present. Apart from no sidearm, most of his utility gadgets were present.

Though what he was really looking for, was the medical supplies he'd carry in the event Revenant got into trouble. Lazurith needs treatment, or he isn't going to make it.

Much of what was inside was smashed up, but he had enough antibiotics to buy time, and painkillers to get him upright at least. Though it wouldn't be enough. He had no idea if there was even a means to get out of here, but he knew this type of ship well. Leviathan was present nigh over a decade ago when these were first coming off the production line. He was still in the Legion at the time, working with the people who built it. At least, the man he was supposed to be was.

"Stay awake, Kris." He ordered, rushing over to Kris's slumped over body.

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-- October 25th, 14:35 HR [Copernicus]

Kris groaned as Leviathan kneeled next to him with an auto-injector. The only one in functional enough condition to work. A concoction of painkillers. Leviathan strapped the device to Lazurith's forearm and flipped the switch. A sharp pain radiated slowly, then faded as the drug worked its way through his system. That'd help get him mobile enough to make it to whatever passed for a medical bay around here.

"G-r..G--.." Lazurith gurgled, the odd angle making it difficult for him to speak. Leviathan helped him upright and steadied his head. Kris breathed slowly, wheezing with each inhale.

"... T-thanks, Josh." Kris muttered weakly, unable to even keep his eyes open.

"You can thank me when we get your arm back." Leviathan replied, donning his helmet he'd reclaimed from Drake. He lifted Lazurith up and cradled him. Lazurith groaned out as he did, practically going limp. Leviathan looked to the door, analyzing its condition to see what he could figure out from a surface level analysis. "Mmmh." He grumbled, lowering Lazurith down next to the door gently, ensuring he remained propped up. Leviathan turned back to the dead renegade, and grabbed his forearm. Without much care, he dragged Drake's body recklessly across the coarse floor. He lifted Drake's body by its shoulders and raised his right arm towards the lock, aiming for the scanner. He stopped a moment, scoffing to shake his head when he realized he only needed a thumb.

It wasn't pretty, but he managed to break Drake's off at the knuckle.

Lazurith looked on in exhausted horror at the sight as Leviathan pressed the severed thumb to the lock, gagging slightly. A weak and off-tune beep played for three seconds, and the door whirred to a half-life. It opened wide enough for them to slide through. Leviathan scooped up Lazurith and slipped out into the dimly lit corridor. He looked around for anybody that might be guarding or watching the hall, but saw nothing. There wasn't enough power going through the ship for the bridge to have security feeds active, which was a big boon in this case. Leviathan sauntered off towards the central security area, seeking the junction that'd take him to medical. It seemed the majority of the staff were occupied up top, or on damage control or something. It seemed too good to be true that there weren't any active guards, unless those two were it.

At that moment, Vex rounded the corner and froze a dozen feet or so away, staring at Leviathan's masked face as he carried Lazurith.

"Shit, that was quick." Vex said, putting his hands on his hips and relaxing slightly. He slowly walked towards Leviathan, yet begun to tilt his head.

"You want help movin... " Vex trailed off, slowly reaching for his sidearm.

That guy didn't look like Drake. Leviathan hurried his steps, and Vex froze in place as his grip wrapped tightly around his pistol. Leviathan barreled into Vex shoulder first, sending Lazurith, Vex and himself toppling to the ground. Vex's pistol slid a few feet south down the hall, as Lazurith rolled off to the side. The painkillers were starting to kick in, but his exhaustion was really hitting. He lay there, catching his breath as he watched Vex and Leviathan scramble to their feet.

Vex knew the odds, and immediately dove hand first for his pistol. He had no chance against this guy in hand to hand combat. He fell short of the weapon and crawled towards it as fast as he could. Leviathan sauntered after him, building speed with each step. As Vex grabbed the grip of his gun, so too did Leviathan grab Vex's ankle with a grip that cut off the flow of blood to Vex's left foot. Vex attempted to roll over and bring his sights onto target as Leviathan dragged him with one strong pull in clobbering range. He grabbed the barrel of Vex's gun as it came down, and Vex fired into the cybernetic palm of Leviathan's hand. The gaps in his gloved fingers flashed a bright red, yet nothing passed through.

Leviathan took Vex's gun offline, forcing the barrel up while he tried to wrestle it from his grip. He swung his shoulder back and brought his fist down hard directly into Vex's nose. Vex's head bounced back against the ground with a thump, and his crumpled nose was bleeding across his cheeks. He blinked, dazed from the heavy blow of the augmented cybernetic arm. Leviathan at that point took advantage of the lull and wrestled the pistol free. He brought the Detroit Munitions laser to Vex's head, who had regained focus long enough to stare down the barrel of his own gun.

"Wai-!" He yelled, his voice cutting off suddenly. The beam struck Vex in the forehead, and his skull popped in an explosion of wet black-and-red smoke. His body went limp. The sound of the shot reverberated through the narrow corridors. Leviathan checked the pistol to ensure there remained a charge, then rushed to collect Lazurith.

With the pistol in one hand, their movement would be slowed. Leviathan helped Lazurith upright, taking Lazurith's arm over his shoulder. "Come on, kid. You're not allowed to die on me yet. Not until we escape."

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