Wake of the Red Witch

[Silver]

--Two years ago--

The Black Dragon sped through the open space of the Omega-47 system. The local chatter indicated the early stages of a corsair attack on hessian interests. Namely Viernheim. Just another random battle in a war torn system. Just another day in her life.



The Reaver Mercenary Company was at the forefront of the business, generating more income everyday. From a short team of less than a dozen mercenary drunkards, killers and rapists (Lazuli), the company, or just plain The Reavers grew to at least 150 strong, raging from support crews to security teams that were hired to keep the peace in several locations, Freeport One being the most famous one. All since Silver became the owner of it. Ever since she left the ownership to Cerulean, the famous Silver Reaver was seen in random spurts, finally free of the shackles of leadership and diplomacy.
And now. Free to enjoy the incoming carnage.

-- Two hours later --

After being chased by two Titans into the nearest cloud, the Black Dragon was hurt. More than hurt. It was damaged beyond belief. Silver knew the craftsmanship was exquisite when it came regarding her Betty, but in the end it was nothing more than a paper plane. Surely sleek and deadly, but frail. Her comms were down, two gun mounts were destroyed and the core was losing power by the minute. Her radar flashed a contact, and it was not the contact she could hope for. More corsairs, coming to look for their lost brethren. She looked for a way out and there it was. Not far, a jump-hole was flashing. Salvation or Death.



The engines were spewing H-Fuel and burning hot, with flames that were green in color. But still she pushed her Betty to the utmost limits. Silver started the launch sequence and as soon the jump-hole started to open, the Black Dragon lunged into it.

But something was wrong. Instead of the shaky tunnel of light, it was a brief explosion and quake, felt throughout the entire ship. Engines got ripped apart. The energy core melted. And a cloud that she did not knew came into view. Cracks in the cockpit duraglass started to appear, and Silver knew she wouldn't have a minute before starting to breath cold space dust. With quick reflexes, she pressed the commands to prepare her cryopod and the emergency beacon. Not a moment too soon, because as the cryopod closed, the duraglass broke with the pressure and all the air in the cockpit got sucked out and exchanged with cold deadly void. As she felt the cryopod humming and starting to perform a pre-cryo diagnostic, Silver wondered if this was finally the release she yearned for so long. The small console beeped, indicating a change in the standard preset values. She selected the information screen and there it was a surprise she did not expected. She was pregnant. And as her mind was still trying to process this new information, the sleeping agents dispersed and her eyes closed for a long, long wait.

.

---

[8:32:45 PM] Dusty Lens: Oh no, let me get that. Hello? Oh it's my grandma. She says to be roleplay.
[12:12:00] Traxit: this is smut stop

[Aphil]

It was supposed to be just another routine scouting mission for Junior Lieutenant Alexander Skip. He had been assigned the dubious task of scouting the Cayman jump hole in Omega-47 after he had gotten into a drunken brawl with a superior officer. His XKR-151-A "Partisan" light fighter moved silently through the system, moving quickly away from the Coalition People's Warship Trotsky and its battle-group. It was little consolation to have them "nearby" of course, it was doubtful that the lone Partisan would be able to survive long enough for the battle-group to come to the rescue. Still, Alexander trudged forward, knowing that this assignment was far better than the one that would have awaited him had his superior officer not shown a rare display of leniency. It was said that there were few fates worse than death, but toilet duty on the Havana after burrito night was a fate no member of the SCRA wished on their enemies, with the exception of the Outcasts naturally.

Alexander shuddered at the thought as it crossed his mind. As he neared the Cayman jump hole and entered the asteroid field his Partisans upgraded sensors proved their worth as they were able to cut through the debris and provide accurate scans further than most vessels. Suddenly, his ship began to receive a faint signal coming from the far-side of the field. The signal provided no clues however Alexander was prepared for an ambush, given that the SCRA was still facing light resistance from the remnants of the force that once occupied Cayman. He moved in, cutting through the asteroid fields swiftly as he closed in on the signal.

As he came closer, the signal grew in strength until finally his sensors began to scan the source itself. It appeared to be a wrecked Black Dragon, heavily battle-damaged with the cockpit completed vented. Inside however, there was a faint power-signature as well as a faint life sign within what appeared to be a cryo-pod.

Alexander opened a comm-channel to the Trotsky. "Trotsky-Actual, this is Junior Lieutenant Skip, I've found a Black Dragon wreck with faint-life signs. It's very badly damaged."

"This is Trotsky-Actual, can you repeat? Did you say a Black Dragon?"

"Correct sir, a Black Dragon."

"That's not something you find in this region often. I'm sending a Storm and a fighter wing to your location now. Perhaps we can recover some information from the ship or the pilot."

Alexander breathed a sigh of relief as he acknowledged the message and closed the comms. Now that reinforcements were on their way to deal with this new development, the chances of his survival grew ten-fold.

The Storm and its escorts arrived uneventfully and soon the cryo-pod was pried away from the wreckage of the fighter craft. Once inside the Storm the cryo-pod was connected to the power-plant of the Gunboat in order to ensure that the occupant remained alive and relatively well.

It wasn't long before the Storm arrived in Omega-52, the capital of the Sirius Coalition and a nearly impenetrable fortress of the Revolutionary Army. Once the Storm had docked a team of marines and medical personnel boarded the Storm. After doing a diagnostic scan, they opened the cryo-pod.

A cloud of cold air briefly created a fog within the Storm. The doctors were about to begin removing the occupant when one of the marines recognized her. He pulled out a data-pad and compared the occupant to a file that the Coalition had created on the Reavers.

"Inform the Field Marshal. Tell him we have the Reaver known as Silver in our custody."

Suddenly, Silver began to stir in her pod, the cryogenic stasis beginning to wear off.

"She's waking up."

[Silver]

The haze in her mind was something horrid. Not like the mornings after the parties filled with Jack Daniels and mistakes. Her eyes felt like they had been glued shut, and took all her will and strength to push that haze away and force herself to open her eyes. Slow at first, all she saw was dark clad figures, holding what it seemed weapons. But one symbol in their arm stood out. Red as the bloody dawn. Something stirred. Something wailed. And white coats with white gloves showed up all over her. She tried to lift her hand to stop them, but her strength was gone. She once again forced herself to make her body move. And her eyes darted to her hand.



Bony, white, frail. What happened to her? How much time did she spent in that pod? How did they found her? And suddenly her mind raced to the biggest question she had. Was her baby alright? The white hands covered her eyes, pushed her back. Needles were injected. Once again, the haze started to pull her back, and she let out a small laugh. Her voice dry and raw sang a small tune. One of the white men came closer to listen what she was saying.

"Booony hands...
Blue and white."

Her breathing was shallow as darkness was coming.

"Reeeeed veins...
Filled with fright."

She felt so weak. And this exertion was taking its toll.

"Cannot move...
Cannot hide."

The white man shook his head and was starting get away from her. Her bony hand grabbed his coat. He turned back and came closer once again.

"Hope that Death will take ya tonight."

Her hand darted to the man's face and shoved an finger through his eye. The man started screaming and fell to the ground. Hands came all over her, pushing her against the pod. A gun was steady and aimed at her face. All she could do was to grin at it, as her body was done with this last spurt of movement. Darkness finally came, as the man started to convulse on the floor and finally died.
Last one before i die, she thought. Last one before the void.

.

---

[8:32:45 PM] Dusty Lens: Oh no, let me get that. Hello? Oh it's my grandma. She says to be roleplay.
[12:12:00] Traxit: this is smut stop

[Aphil]

The Commissar on duty at the time simply shook his head at the now dead body of the young medical doctor.

"Such wasted potential, all due to simple carelessness." he said dryly.

As he watched Silver slip back into a slumber he ordered the rest of the medical team to move her to a hospital on board Mykolaiv Station for a full examination. He wanted to ensure that his Prisoner of War was healthy enough to withstand his "enhanced" interrogation techniques.

It was a relatively comfortable hospital, all things considered. Though, to call it a hospital was under-stating its true purpose. The "hospital" within Mykolaiv station was designed specifically for prisoners of war, it was comfortable and friendly in its appearance if only to help lower the guard of those within. Through various hidden cameras the scientists, doctors and military personnel could keep an eye out on the prisoners and monitor them. It was here that various subtle psychological experiments took place. Experiments which, when successful, usually gave the Sirius Coalition a new asset.

Silver was resting now in a white bed in a white room, the health monitors keeping an eye on her. The Coalition had managed to save her and her babies life after detailed scans confirmed that she was indeed pregnant.

"Initiate the experiment." the Commissar said. An experimental system was activated and soon Silver would begin to receive subconscious messages.

For the Red Dawn.

[Silver]

Her dreams were vivid, almost real. Like a drum, right near her head, every heartbeat that came to. And with every heartbeat came the words, repeated with obsession.

"The Coalition is Truth."
Thump.

"For the Red Dawn."
Thump.

"Sirius is ripe with corruption."
Thump.

"To trespass New Moscow is to invade. To invade New Moscow is to die."
Thump.

Each thump, driving further more into her head. Red.

All she saw was Red.
And then a laugh. A single chilling laugh that held everything at bay, in silence.
In the darkness, a set of eyes burned. Her eyes. She tried to wake up. She tried to clench her hand.
Those eyes kept burning, looking at her. They did not go away. They did not relinquished.

"We are not done yet. There's Red in your ledger. Time for the 'verse to pay. Wake up."
"Witch."

.

---

[8:32:45 PM] Dusty Lens: Oh no, let me get that. Hello? Oh it's my grandma. She says to be roleplay.
[12:12:00] Traxit: this is smut stop

[Aphil]

It would not be until several months later that Silver would wake again, the words still pounding in her head.

"You're awake, that's good." said an unknown man, holding a baby. "This may all be overwhelming for you and you're probably experiencing confusion." he paused, looking around the hospital room while comforting the baby. "You're in the care of the Sirius Coalition, we found you near death. Scans revealed that you were pregnant and it was decided that due to the extent of your surgeries it would be best to keep you in a medical coma until such a time as the baby was ready to be born." he paused for a moment, letting the information sink in. "We performed a C-Section with no complications and your baby was successfully delivered." he slowly moved the baby closer to Silver. "Would you like to meet your daughter?" he said, giving her the baby to play with.

"Now, I know that you and the Sirius Coalition have never seen eye to eye however, the Sirius Coalition has always been a place for second chances. It's somewhere that you can rebuild a life. Somewhere you can raise your daughter in safety, without fear of being hunted down and without running every day. It is a stable place." as he said these words, Silver could almost hear words thumping in the back of her head.

The Coalition is Truth

"This is a lot to take in, I'll give you time to get acquainted with your daughter." he left the room, leaving Silver alone.

[Silver]

The small children looked at her, slightly sleepy. Silver was fazed. She, a mother, again. Only this time, instead of being lost like the first time, there she was. Ten fingers. Ten toes. And her eyes. In a long lost past, she was to be a mother once. She was to be married once. And she lost it all, due the capricious nature of a dead man and life. But now, those eyes were smiling at her. And she smiled back. A warmth filled her, in a way she did not remembered in a long time.

"Hi..."

She whispered, her voice coarse. Her mind still didn't registered everything.

"What will be your name, kiddo?"

The baby laughed once and then became silent, solemn. She knew those eyes. It was her eyes that she saw every time in the mirror.

"Helene to me and your own."

She reminded the name she wanted to give to her firstborn. A fitting name for whom she hoped to grow to be the most beautiful woman to ever exist. The baby laughed, rosy cheeks spread apart. Silver tickled her nose and hugged it slowly.

"Hel to the rest of Sirius."

The baby laughed once more, and Silver smiled. A fitting nickname for whom Silver hoped Helene would be.. Death. Silver pulled her from her embrace and placed her on her lap, watching her. Helene was well fed, happy for all accounts. Well treated. Like her. Her hands were not the white bony ones she remembered last. And she could feel her own strength coming back in full. The Coalition treated her well. The thought assaulted her mind. She looked at Helene. Was this another twisted way of torture of the Communists? Was she to be ripped from her hands like a bad joke for them and a bad nightmare to her?
Her mind throbbed.

"No."

They have treated her and her child right. They would not go through all of this for one twisted joke. The Coalition was nothing like this. Determined yes, but not true monsters. All they did was in truth a response to something she had witnessed first hand.

Sirius is ripe with corruption.

With that thought in mind, she cuddled Helene the best she could and cherished the moments to come.

.

---

[8:32:45 PM] Dusty Lens: Oh no, let me get that. Hello? Oh it's my grandma. She says to be roleplay.
[12:12:00] Traxit: this is smut stop

[Aphil]

The men watched through the hidden cameras as Silver played with her baby. It seemed that she was adjusting well given her present situation. Indeed, so far it could be said that the experimentation was going well. Still, there were tests that needed to be run.

The same man that had given Silver her baby back re-entered the room. "I see your meeting has gone rather well." he said with a smile. "What did you name her?" he said, feigning ignorance.

When he heard the name he chuckled a bit and smiled. "It's a very beautiful name. Now Silver, I know that today has been rather overwhelming but do you remember anything about what happened? We need to make sure that you're healthy both physically and mentally."

[Silver]

She cuddled the kid in her arms like a cradle. Felt natural doing so. She was slightly surprised with the revelation of her instincts. Seems there was an inkling of truth to what they say about motherhood. She turned to the man and tried to recollect her memories.

"Omega-47... A 'sair attack was imminent."

The baby started to doze off in her arms, feeling safe. Silver caressed carefully with her finger the forehead of Helene.

"Was there huntin'. Managed to shoot down some snubs, but got too much heat on my behind."

Helene shook a little, as she entered an early stage of her sleep. Silver let out a warm smile. This was not the bloodthirsty Reaver. This was a mother. Even her memories seemed not her own.

"Two followed me to a cloud. Only i came out. In a pretty bad shape. Another snubs came lookin'. And all i had was a jumphole to hells know where."

Her memory of the duraglass breaking was vivid. She reminded every bit of it. Every second. Every move.

"Took the Betty to the jumphole, engines burnin'. Jumped, but somethin' went a-wire. Was probably too damaged to get through the jump successfully."

That last moment when she saw she was pregnant. Her mind jumbled. A red finger. Her head throbbing. She looked at her left hand where the Reaver R was tattooed. She then with her finger trailed the forehead of her child. Like she was softly painting something in her head.

"Got slingshot to someplace, dunno where. Betty was all ripped apart, core went full dead. I activated the pod.. And here i am."

She looked at the man, a man she knew was Coalition. Sometime ago, full fledged enemies. Now... Not certain to where she stood with them.

"What will be of Helene? And of me? There is blood of your own in my hands. Blood that must be repaid, no doubt."

Silver asked, preparing herself for whatever would come. War, Death, Kane.

For the Red Dawn.

The throbbing once again, but somewhat pleasant. A direction perhaps?

.

---

[8:32:45 PM] Dusty Lens: Oh no, let me get that. Hello? Oh it's my grandma. She says to be roleplay.
[12:12:00] Traxit: this is smut stop

[Aphil]

The mans smiled dropped from his face. "I see. Yes, that seems to match what little we recovered from the wreckage of your fighter." he looked at the baby and then back to Silver. "As for the both of you, well, it has put us in an interesting position. On the one hand, you're a clear enemy of the state but on the other, certain circumstances have changed things." he said, looking at the baby. "You'll need a safe place to stay, somewhere stable where you can raise your baby. We have need of someone of your considerable talents." He paused for a moment. "You have two options. Join the Revolutionary Army and help make a difference in Sirius. Sirius is ripe with corruption and the Coalition offers truth in an otherwise bleak world. Help make something better for your daughter. Should you refuse, you will be sent on your way and banished. But know that Sirius is a dangerous place, you would be constantly on the run. Things are more... complicated, with your daughter in the picture."

"I will give you time to think." he said, before leaving the room.