November 20th, 2264. 05:35 Pirate Base – Alliance Ship - Rear Engineering
Lisa was running down the hallway frantically. She had been so caught up in the fight and hadn’t noticed her power reserves or the repeated warnings about its diminished capacity. They weren’t just critically low; it was doubtful it’d last another three minutes. Unlike the Confederate suits, her prototype was a power hog. Mercantilist hardware was every bit as strong and deadly as Confederate, but it wasn’t known for its efficiency.
She was cursing at herself and was so surprised that the suit had been drained of that much power. And this only came to light after she had been tossed halfway across the room. There was some good news though, replacing the core with a fresh one would take only a few seconds. The obvious downside was that they were in the engineering room where the pirate boss, Tyler, had made his command room. They weren’t exactly in an accessible location.
Judging from the sounds in the corridor behind her John was hot on her heels. But still at least a minute, maybe more, behind her. In a rather terrifying turn of events, she could feel the suit slow down as she ran. Thoughts of what would’ve happened had the suit run out of juice while they were fighting began to pop up in her mind. None of which were good.
Still, she found it surprising that John didn’t particularly feel like he was really fighting her. There was no heart in his attacks. None of that vitriolic hatred she had faced many times in the past. If anything, he was pulling punches. Even more disturbing thoughts began to flood her mind, how would this fight have gone if he wasn’t following orders?
Lisa shook her head as she continued to the room and possibly her salvation. She then transitioned from a Confederate ship to an Alliance ship. The corridors weren’t the same size and had a radically different aesthetic to them. It was much brighter here but more cramped feeling. It was wider but nearly a foot shorter.
Then more thoughts flowed through her mind about her powers. What exactly was happening with them? The ice was annihilated unless she drew a substantial amount of power from bother her abilities and amplified them substantially using her suit. And even then, the attacks amounted to nothing more than an annoying gnat attacking John.
Lisa shook her head. It wasn’t her powers that were weak, it was something to do with John. He was doing something to weaken them, but what exactly was it? Especially curious was that there were no psychic attacks from him either. There was that odd aura that he was emitting though. It felt so disturbing when she looked for him psychically. If she didn’t know any better, it was as if he was a walking anathema to her. What had happened to cause such a change within him?
Those thoughts were stored for later. She slowed down and stopped in front of the doors to the command room. She pressed the button to open the door. Nothing happened. She pressed it again but still nothing happened. Just as her anger rose up again the door opened.
Lisa ran into the room and removed her helmet. She was franticly scanning the room. Terry looked down at her from his throne.
“Problems my dear?”
“Don’t give me that bullshit. It seems the Confederate scum built a new class of power armor, which was significantly more armored than expected. I need another fusion core. Where is it?” Lisa said as she walked toward the throne room.
“A micro-fusion core?” Terry said curiously, “The same ones you use to power your suit?”
“Yes, of course, one of those. Stop stalling or else he’ll be here.”
“You mean the ones you said you’d bring over from your ship but never got around to it because you were too busy whoring it up with one that boy you found to be attractive?” Terry said, “You never gave us permission to go into your ship. So, we’ve never had those which means whatever you brought with you initially is all that you’d have at your disposal. How many did you bring with you?”
Lisa’s eyes bulged. She quickly brought up her left arm and activated a holographic terminal. Several screens were swiped away until she got to the inventory. That was selected and she frantically scanned the list.
“Fuck! FUCK!” Lisa shouted, “How long will it take to charge this core?”
“It’s too bad that your spares were on your ship. Had you given direction to move them over we would’ve been happy to oblige,” Terry grinned as he looked at her, “Worry not, we can recharge the current one, but it will take thirty to forty minutes and it needs to be removed from your suit?”
“We don’t even have ten minutes you asshole! The Confederate freak was on my heels”
“The port is over three. My people will help you,” Terry said while still grinning
“Some help they were, one of your squads betrayed the other,” Lisa said as she walked by him.
Lisa looked down at the holographic display. There was barely a minute of power left in the fusion core. An overwhelming amount of dread began growing in her. She had gone from the hunter to the hunted in the span of minutes.
Terry stood up and cocked his head, “Did they know? That treacherous little bastard, I didn’t think he’d betray me this suddenly. I figured it’d take him much longer to openly betray him. I wonder though…”
“Wonder about what?” Lisa spat as the suit’s armor plates began swinging open slowly.
“If the Confederates had a mole in my organization. Or advanced intelligence on us. We’ve been careful to avoid attacking them because their military isn’t as easily convinced to not fight us as yours and the Alliance is. They like hunting pirates as much as the Alliance likes hunting genetic freaks like you.”
Lisa entered some orders into her suit and stepped out of it when the armor plates opened. She quickly stepped to the rear and opened the rear hatch that contained the micro fusion core. A stream of curse words was uttered by her as she pulled out the core. She walked to a workstation near Terry’s command dais.
“My dear, I’m afraid that station will be of no use to you,” Terry swung his seat around to face her.
“Whatever. Help me…”
Just then two loud impacts were made on the main door to the room. Then another impact was made. And two more impacts, though these sounded different than the previous ones. Lisa stood there stunned. Then the doors were forced open slowly. A long and loud scratching sound could be heard as the doors were forced open.
“Fuck, help me!” Lisa shouted.
The doors behind her were then forced wide open. In stomped John. The twin plasma blast gun on his wrist flipped up and began charging. Everyone, except Lisa who slowly moved to the far part of the room, stood still and watched.
“I doubt very much we’re going to be of any more assistance to you, or any resistance to that,” Terry said sarcastically as he pointed at John.
“Who’s the boss here?” John asked.
Tyler stood up, “I am, would you ever so politely get the fu…”
John’s arm shot up and the wrist-mounted gun fired. The plasma balls incinerated most of the pirate boss. His legs fell over lazily while his head, right shoulder, and the arm fell to the ground at the foot of the chair. The pink mist of blood, muscle sinew, and other bodily fluids covered his throne and consoles behind him.
“The jig is up Lisa. Stand down so no one else has to die,” John stepped forward.
Lisa was a terrified animal being backed into a corner. The problem with situations like this is the randomness that is exhibited by the trapped critter. John legitimately didn’t know what she’d do. But he was positive she’d lash out in some way.
And lash out she did. She moved her hands to look like she was squeezing a basketball. At the central point between her hands, a small but incredibly dense ball of psychic ice was forming. Just as she was about to do something with it, she was taken surprised by John’s actions.
Several thrusters activated from John’s suit. His VI was moving the nozzles in the optimal directions to increase the speed he was moving without throwing his balance or momentum off. He closed the distance dangerously fast. So fast that Lisa wasn’t able to react entirely to it.
But she had anticipated the path John would take to get to her. John was many things, but to her, he was a brutish thug. He crashed through Terry’s remains and shattered his quasi-throne. Lisa sent her attack at John just after the chair exploded because of his bulk.
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The small sphere lengthened to a point. When it appeared to contact him, it shattered causing a surprising amount of ice and snow to appear in the room. Lisa was horrified when the water, ice, and snow cleared up. There weren’t any new scratches or marks on his armor, and the psychic water and ice were annihilated when they got near to John.
Before she had a chance to even formulate a thought John’s giant bear paw of a hand slammed into her chest. Lisa could feel the hand grip her slightly as she slammed into the rear wall. The wind was knocked out of her in addition to several of her ribs were broken. The lights went out when the hand let her go but then she was quickly backhanded.
John watched as Lisa crumpled to the floor. With his eyes, he ordered a small storage compartment to order on his breastplate. Odd-looking restraints dropped out onto the floor. The twin plasma blast gun was charged and pointed at Lisa as John pointed at one of the terrified pirates.
“You, put the cuffs and choker on her now,” John growled.
The terrified pirate nodded and quickly complied with his request. Once the odd restraints were in place John hoisted the unconscious and injured Lisa over his shoulder. He walked over to the suit and pushed it over and began dragging it out of the room by pulling on a leg. But before he left the room, he gave the pirates one final order.
“Turn off the jamming device now.”
A pirate sitting at his console nodded quickly and gave John a thumbs up.
“Package retrieved, heading back to ex-fil,” John said to his Marines.
That was great news to the relief of all the Marines left at the station. John jogged out of the room and headed to where their friendly dropship was docked. He recognized the angry stares they gave the petite girl slung over his shoulder.
The looks didn’t change any on the ride back. It was a very somber affair, but the Marines managed to control their emotions. Most of the Marines were letting their imaginations run wild, they all desperately wanted revenge for the deaths of two of their platoon mates.
3 days later, November 23rd, 2263. 17:45 CNS Fargo Brig
John was sitting in an uncomfortable chair staring at the cell. In violation of the ship’s rules, he was finishing his meal. A laughably large mug of coffee was resting on a spare chair next to him. A deep sigh was let out as John thought about how much work they had to go through over the past three days.
Numerous upgrades were made to it. Most notably a psychic nullificator, a rather brutal choice and one that was highly questionable. Its purpose, which it does exceptionally well, is to prevent telepaths and telekinetics from accessing their abilities. It’s so effective that it can cause permanent brain damage. Since they were on a military vessel gave John the slimmest of justifications to use the device.
Two of the ship’s crew were put in medically induced comas and were currently residing in the sick bay beneath several shielding layers. That should prevent any lasting damage to them but was obviously not an ideal solution. Lieutenant Erickson, the ship’s captain, was questioning the need to go this far. His voice was barely heard over the objections from Commander Paul Bettany. The ship’s doctor was not at all pleased with the decision to use the device. John seemingly burned another bridge with a senior medical officer with this stunt.
To say that John didn’t give a damn about their objections was an understatement. Paul Williams, the lance corporal that survived the psychic attack objected to the mission’s orders and recommended that they kill her immediately. John didn’t exactly disagree with that assertion, but these weren’t orders he wanted to mess up.
John had also made modifications to the cell, which made it lethal if she tried anything. The number of safeguards and redundancies John programmed into the monitoring system was dizzying. If she managed to kill anyone or attempt to force her way out, she’d be turned into a crispy critter. The entire cell was much scarier than the electric chairs of old.
Lisa began waking up but immediately grabbed her head in pain.
John smiled as he ate some apple crisp, “That ringing in your head is because of this thing. It isn’t going to stop either. You will be forever diminished slightly as a result of this move to your new home.”
“FUCK!” Lisa shouted, “I feel disconnected.”
“Yeah, it’s not a well-enjoyed object in our space. Its legality is kind of questionable. Don’t worry, you’re going to be doped out of your fucking mind while they transfer you from the ship,” John chuckled to himself, “Oh, by the way, that cell is hotwired to fry your fucked up ass if you try to do anything.”
“Why am I alive?”
“Orders.”
Lisa slid her legs out of the cut and leaned her elbows on her knees, “Bullshit.”
“I’m a soldier. I follow orders that are given to me. It’s kind of a thing we do.”
“Bullshit,” Lisa spat back.
“It is what it is lady,” John said with a sigh, “You really should’ve been more chill like me.”
“Bullshit! I’ve seen how you fight before; you’d make berserkers blush.”
“I’m not winning arguments against several two- and three-star admirals.”
“Then I’ll ask again, why am I alive? What do they want from me?”
“Not really sure on the particulars,” John scoffed, “There is a belief that you can be turned into a force for the Confederacy.”
Lisa began laughing maniacally. She winced and began holding her head as she continued laughing. John didn’t seem surprised by the response and continued eating his meal.
“How long have I been asleep?”
“Three and a half days,” John said as he took a sip of coffee.
“When do I get to eat?”
“Tomorrow probably. You can get water from the faucet. You ripped that IV out of your arm about an hour ago,” John said as he pointed at the needle.
Lisa scowled at John, “According to your little rules, aren’t you required to provide prisoners of war nourishment?”
“Yup, but you aren’t a prisoner of war. Nor are you an enemy combatant. You are undefined.”
“That won’t work, and you know it.”
John nodded, “You are right. I will lose that argument and accept whatever punishment is directed at me. It’s not going to change anything in the here and now though. You still aren’t eating until tomorrow.”
“You think keeping me weak will work?”
“Lisa, I wasn’t lying on the station. You try anything and I’m going to fucking kill you. If you were smart, you’d chill out.”
“You killed my brother you asshole. I am going to get my revenge. Some day I am going to be standing over your broken body and you will beg me to put you down like the rabid dog you are,” Lisa stood up and walked to the edge of the force shield, “Do you have any inkling what his death did to me?”
John ate some more apple crisp and nodded, “You’re missing out on this dessert. Fucking delicious, the chef really did a great job with the crisp. Anyways, your bond is well documented. But yours was different, and I suppose heightened because of the shit Dr. Dumbass did while you were in utero. That screech of yours on the craft when I offed Lex suggested it was pretty painful.”
“I was in a coma for months. It took me several more months before I was feeling like me again.”
“Boohoo. Cry me a fuckin’ river. You’re lucky I didn’t get you back then,” John said as he set his food tray down on the ground in front of him, “Are you going to answer any of my questions truthfully?”
“What’s in it for me?”
“Your bargaining position is highly dubious,” John took a drink of coffee.
“Yet my question was left unanswered.”
“You’ll have Naval Intelligence’s eternal gratitude. And it’ll make you look good to the idiots that want you alive.”
“Ask away, I will choose what questions to answer though. I’ll answer them but it’s up to you to determine my truthfulness. Oh, and I will be asking you questions.”
“How many operations have you been involved in my territory?”
“Only two that you are aware of. But I’m sure your dossier has linked me to others through the body count I left behind me.”
“Sloppy work really, you lack the focus that a professional has,” John said in a condescending tone, “If you had a tenth of my know-how none of this shit would’ve shown up.”
Lisa had watched John very closely. She did not know John intimately well, so it was difficult to know if he had any obvious tells. The best description she had for how John appeared now was stoic and uninterested.
John continued to speak, “I can’t begin to imagine what benefit they think you could be to us.”
Lisa smiled devilishly, “That wounds me. Why on Earth would you say that?”
John looked up at her disinterestedly, “Would you really give up that bullshit ideology?”
“What makes you think I believe in it? There’s a degree of merit in father’s work but uplifting everyone is a mistake, not to mention unlikely to be accomplished,” Lisa said confidently, “Now then, why did you reject our terms when we first met?”
“Because your father’s dream is nonsense. And I had a girlfriend. You aren’t cheating material, not by a long fucking margin,” John said without a hint of emotion, “Don’t take that too hard, I’ve no eyes for any woman besides my wife.”
“Tut tut, her genes…”
“Are superior to yours actually,” John said with a sigh, “She may not have your gifts but her intellect is far beyond yours and most importantly she isn’t a psychopath. Imagine that, basic biology produced a superior specimen than the lab did.”
“And you aren’t like me?”
John raised an eyebrow, “I’m both different and better than you.”
“The victor always gets to write their history. Of course, you’d view things that way,” Lisa spun about and sat down on her cot, “How will you convince me to join forces with your organization?”
“Because shortly you won’t have an organization to fund or protect you anymore.”
Lisa frowned, “I doubt very much the Mercantilist government would allow you to destroy one of their test facilities.”
“What makes you think we give a damn what your leadership believes?” John said, “Seriously, what would you do if that organization ceases to be?”
“I hadn’t thought of it,” Lisa sighed, “It matters not. I don’t believe you’ll find out where we were based.”
“How are you going to escape?”
“That device that is neutering me will be turned off. Trying anything on this ship is simply pointless. But on the station? Opportunities will become available,” Lisa grinned, “But who knows, perhaps the deal that is made to me is so good it’d be hard to say no too.”
Lisa rolled over onto her chest and set her head on her pillow facing John, “What makes you so certain I won’t be able to murder your wife and others on the station?”
John took a disinterested sip from his coffee, “The number of people on the station you’d have to go through is significant. I also know where she works and where you are heading.”
“Ahh, your no fun. How much longer do we have before we get home?”
“Twelve days, maybe more depending on the tides,” John grinned, “Your head is going to hurt like a motherfucker by then.”
“Let me guess, I am eating every fourth day?”
John nodded.
“What was with that aura? I have never come across that before.”
“Curious, wasn’t it?” John looked up from his data slate, “Good ol’ technology.”
“Bah, that’s no answer. What am I supposed to do here?”
“I am not here to be your entertainment. I’m your goaler. And if you push it, your executioner. Knowing you, I’m willing to bet that one of us is going to be dead shortly after we get to the station.”
Lisa grinned seductively, “On that my dearest asshole, I agree. Perhaps killing your wife is overkill. It’ll hurt her more knowing she can do nothing to me. Though killing her just before you would be rather delectable.”
The back and forth would continue for several hours before Lisa grew tired of the conversation and took a nap. Annoyingly she found John staring at her when she awoke. The interrogations began anew. Sometimes she'd wake up and John would be eating or inspecting her suit. Or reading a data slate but never once did she witness him sleeping or dozing off. This cat-and-mouse game continued for two full weeks. Lisa was still filled with the same amount, if not more, spite and hatred for John. For his part, John was hoping she'd try something stupid so he'd have a legitimate excuse for separating her head from her stupid body.