Sev kept her gaze focussed on the ground, seeming to shiver slightly as Eva touched her fur. She listened to what the girl ahead of her had to say, and stood perfectly still for just a few moments, taking in the strange point of view, that nobody had even expressed to her before.
"No." she whispered, and in an instant, her gloved hand removed Eva's arm from her body. She looked up, and her eyes seemed to shimmer lightly- But behind the thin film, the only thing she seemed to be was angry. She focused the piercing gaze on Eva, seeming almost ready to attack her there and then. After a moment of the silent glare, she whispered in a deathly voice. "We are here...for business...only." she muttered, each word seeming to take serious effort to force out.
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
*After seeing enough, Bret walks up behind Eva, moving her hand away in attempts to get back on track...He gives her a stern look for a moment before turning his attention back to Sev* Bret: We have more pressing matters at the moment then you doing such Eva...And I intend to see it done, afterwards you can do as you wish, I just want to make sure my wife is alright...Got it?.. *And with that, we walks away, leaning back against the wall*
-"If we do not learn at least one thing a day....Our minds turn to stupor"- Kyle Sparrgrove -2005
Evangeline all but ignores Bret's words, her mind solely focused on the threat before her. Without even looking at him she replies to his statement and actions.
This stopped being about Vixen a long time ago. She can't be trusted. She looks like one of Vixen's kind but she doesn't live like one.
If you actually cared about Vixen you'd not be trying to take her away from us.
Her gaze locked on Sev, she continues speaking.
You are here to conduct your business. I shall now conduct mine.
That suit you're wearing, it's bulletproof, isn't it?
Maintaining her cold, unfeeling glare, she utters one final thing.
Fumika.
There is a bright, awful flash in the background, followed instantly later by a deep, overwhelming thud felt in Sev's chest again followed immediately by a surging barrage of intense pain. The suit, of course, is designed to stop a mortal wound, however, a thirty aught six to the gut is not something one can just walk off.
Sev stumbles backwards, the force of the impact ramming hard into her gut, before she falls to her knees with a stifled sob. It took her a few moments to compose herself, managing to get her knees underneath her, but no more. She looked up at Eva, holding back the tears from the impact. "Now that was...unexpected..." she rasped, a slightly bitter smile on her face as she looked out the window. Her threatening disposition had all but vanished, and for a moment she could've almost been Vixen. "Well thats that then..." she giggled, feeling slightly drugged from the pain. "You don't even know what happens when we fail, do you?" With a slight smile, she drew a finger slowly across her neck. "I'm done..." With a small shudder, she tried to stand and proceed through the airlock, but feel to her knees almost instantly as pain flared up in her stomach.
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
Evangeline stood proud over the fallen woman before her, the Junkers' subconscious lust for dominance now clearly tainting an otherwise inoffensive persona, her eyes portraying a disgusting satisfaction with the procession of events; a corrupt and damnable smirk across her face.
I think... you misunderstand your position.
If I wanted you dead, I'd've killed you when you boarded.
She pauses for a moment, collecting her words.
You know, some of the best friends I've ever had were made by shooting them.
Evangeline pulls her own firearm from her waist, much smaller than the rifle her chaperone bore but no less dangerous amidst the cramped quarters of the frigate's airlock. She takes aim at Sev, heaped on the floor; partially disabled and unable to defend herself.
You're about to be befriended.
Evangeline fires a single round from her pistol, hitting Sev in the lower back; right across her spine. The deafening scream of the pistol lasts for only a moment before all of the woman's senses are blinded by the immense pain of the impacting bullet. The armoured vest does its' job in protecting the wearer from mortal injury, yet much like before it does not prevent the immense volume of energy from being transferred into flesh and bone.
The victim screams loudly, her chilling cries echoing throughout the ship's vacant hallways. Her back arches in reflex to the injury almost instantly, however it would prove useless in abating the torture afflicted by the bullet.
Without being given a chance to recover, Evangeline fires another round into her back - deliberately hitting an area protected by the vest whilst at the same time avoiding the previous shot.
How many of these can that vest of yours take, Seventeen?
Or, rather, how long until you feel like surrendering yourself to me?
You never know when I might miss and hit something important, sweetie.
Sev tensed through her entire body, letting out a very small whimper. She tried to pull herself up, shudders running through her body, visible even under the suit. With some effort, she managed to pull herself up, before her arm fell from under her and she hit the ground on her side, pain flaring up again. Looking away from Eva, she let the tears flow freely for a moment, not answering. But as the blonde-haired woman above her lowered the pistol to point at her stomach, the sharp click roused her to speak, if only quietly.
"Fine...fine, just don't...if I'm going to die I want to die quickly..."
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
I told you, Sev, I don't want you dead. You're more useful to me alive, you just don't know it yet.
Evangeline pauses for a moment, standing watch over Sev as she hiccups in obvious pain on the floor in front of her, desperately trying to hold back the urge to wail out in agony. Eva clearly hears her heavy, laboured breathing as the thumping pain - both physical and emotional - overloads her senses.
You didn't come here to save Vixen's life, did you?
Why would you need this armour plating and that stupid helmet if you did?
Evangeline arches up her leg and angrily kicks Sev's long-discarded helmet across the floor, the steel toe cap of her utilitarian, borderline masculine work boot creating an almighty crash as it impacts the device, sending it smashing into a wall. Unidentified small parts of the device shatter and spread around the area like shrapnel as the main body comes to rest in a corner.
Vixen has a life to call her own now. The stupid mongrel staring at me made her the mother of a beautiful little girl. She has friends who love her. She has a place in society that she can call her own despite being different, despite being unusual and even despite being frightening - and you saw fit to take all of that away from her.
I don't know what kind of ****ed up person made something like you but if you can honestly consider acting against one of your own kind in the way you were intending to do so you do not deserve to live.
Evangeline lords over Sev as she crouches in the floor in the middle of the airlock in a pained, sobbing heap. With her pistol trained on the woman she leans her body across to the wall and, with her free hand, presses a large button on a stainless steel command console.
I don't want to kill you. I'd rather see you living like Vixen does.
But is it worth my time helping you, or should I just vent you to space right now?
The exterior blast door of the salvage frigate begins to close, locking off retreat to the guested liner.
As her helmet shatters, Sev goes still for a moment, completely frozen. She muttered a quiet "no..." once, then started almost chanting the word, starting to fumble with the clips on her armor, unable to remove them as she doubles over in pain again. Releasing a frantic whine, she tries her best to remove the complex locks that held the armor together. All the while, a subtle glow started to grow from the powercell on the leg of the suit, a flowing, blue glow that flickered wildly from within the cell. Looking up at Eva, her eyes were full of desperation - Something was very, very wrong.
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
Evangeline meets Sev's desperate gaze with silent, apparent disregard. For only a moment their eyes are locked, Sev falling out of sanity as she approaches a fate unknown to Evangeline - yet clearly hinted at by her expressions and actions.
My question is answered.
Fumika.
Evangeline crouches down and begins examining the protective suit and the locking mechanisms on it. An instant later Fumika was beside her, the two girls working furiously to undo the air-tight harnesses of the sectioned suit.
Each and every metallic clasp required several intricate motions to operate it - first depressing a small, hidden button and then winding the adjustment band out of the jaws thereof. A number of them had been damaged by gunshot injury; even before Sev's writhing mass was considered in the scenario.
Evangeline and Fumika rampantly worked the first pair off Sev's legs before Evangeline's passing eye caught a glimpse of something lying on the floor. She, without hesitation, lent across Sev and picked it up - a pair of tin snips.
With absolutely no regard for anything beyond the immediate task at hand Evangeline begun severing the bands one by one, releasing parts of the suit from Sev's skin, her gallant Kusarian partner continuing to remove them by hand. Parts of Sev's fur and indeed skin may have become victims of the hardened blades, however this was of no concern to Evangeline - she knew what she had to do.
The two around her ankles were first, followed by a unit surrounding each knee. Sev appeared to freeze into a state of shock as control of her body left her. Evangeline and Fumika lorded over her like vultures, picking pieces of her "skin" away from her person as she lay unmoving on the cold, steel grate.
The pair encasing her thighs were next, a sharp jolt from Sev's body indicating Evangeline caught flesh amongst her crazed cutting.
A larger, single band at stomach level was disposed of, cut clean in half by the unforgiving steel blades. One final obstacle around the woman's neck was taken care of with an audible clicking noise as it gave way.
Seventeen was, at this point, unresponsive, seemingly lost in shock. Fumika, the stronger of the two women, jumped to her feet and hauled the unconscious being up by her arms as Evangeline rapidly retreated the zipper on Sev's back.
Not a single word was exchanged between the two, the developed and seasoned relationship they shared ensuring each knew what the other was doing.
Fumika shifted her grasp as Evangeline tore the suit off of Sev, first her arms and then pulling the entire assembly down her back and legs. Fumika, despite being bigger than her employer, still struggled greatly with supporting Sev's body, something which was clearly visible to Evangeline.
Her hands fumbling in an adrenalin-powered craze, Evangeline finally managed to wrench the last remnant of the suit off of Sev's body. She grabbed ahold of her torso and, with Fumika's help, hauled her deeper into the frigate; slamming another button on the wall roughly and with clear intent.
The interior blast door closes with a heavy, metallic thud as the seals press against each other. The remains of Sev's armour sit heaped in the corner of the airlock chamber, surrounded on all sides by heavy armour plating.
Nonetheless Evangeline, lost in a crazed sense of impending doom, hauls the unconscious woman as fast as her weakened frame would permit.
Inside the now sealed room, the discarded suit approaches its own self-resolved demise. Intended to claim the life of its' wearer and to protect it from being adapted by enemy forces, it set itself alight. A blinding, ungodly light fuelled by an intense fire escapes the small porthole window of the interior door, placing a beam of light against the wall opposite.
As if it were made of Thermite, the entire suit burns for a significant period of time, however, unlike as expected by Evangeline - it does not produce an explosion.
Evangeline trips up on something, falling backwards and causing Fumika to collapse with her, dropping all three women in a heap on the floor a short distance from the airlock. The light of the burning suit emanates throughout the normally drab hallway, illuminating it in its entirety.
Evangeline pauses for a moment, breathing heavily as she takes in the gravity of the immediately preceding events.
After a short while, Sev finally let out a pent up breath as her conscious thought returned, sensory functions dulled- All she saw was a blur, as was her hearing, ears ringing with white noise. Still stinging from the bullet shots, and several new, if minor slices to her own skin, she looked around at Eva, shivering out of desperate fear and adrenalike, unable to mouth more than a breathless "Thank you"- though from the previous events or the fact that Eva winded her in the fall wasn't certain. Trying to pull herself up, she could feel numbness grasping at her again- and while she tried to hold onto reality, it inevitably slipped away again.
The first thing that Sev realised when she awoke was the odd sensation she had been sleeping for a while. Her vision was blurred, and she stung all over, though from what she couldn't remember. The bunk was comfortable, and she sighed, blissfully unaware until the memories came rushing back, and with them an inevitable sense of guilt and panic. She tried to sit up, the dull ache forced to the back of her mind for the moment as she attempted to roll out of bed, before a single fact popped into her sleep-addled thoughts.
Her under-suit, the skintight, almost organic material that kept her armor from contacting with the skin, wasn't just slashed to pieces.
It wasn't there at all.
Sinking back into the bunk, Sev did her best to make herself as small as possible- deciding it would be better to wait things out for now.
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
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