"I don't think there's going to be an easy way, you don't mess with Pikaya," Ali said as she hooked her scanner back onto her belt and quickly forced off the cover for the door controls to the adjoining lab and engaged the emergency seals to lock the door down.

"Yeah, but we still make them work for it, right?" Pixie agreed with a mischievous smile as she holstered her pistol to go back to the rifle she'd secured to her back.

Ali couldn't help her wry grin as she looked around to see what they could use as a barricade. In the end she shoved everything off one of the gurneys and wheeled it to the door Pixie was waiting at, ready to shoot the moment it opened. The pair of them flipped it onto it's side across the door. It wouldn't do much, but it might buy them a few seconds.

Ali knelt at one side of the door whilst Pixie took cover on the other side, both using the walls for cover more than their makeshift barrier.

"How do you feel about a preemptive strike?" Ali half joked, waiting made her nervous and she was trying not to make it too obvious she was fidgeting.

"Captain, are you actually crazy?" Pixie asked with a giggle.

"That's not a no," Ali retorted.

Pixie shook her head as she laughed again. "Well, it's kept you alive this far," she said after a moment. "After all, waiting gives them time to get reinforcements, and we won't have any chance once they do. We're cornered, so if they're smart, they'll bide their time till they're sure."

Ali nodded, that had been the excuse her subconscious had been working on to justify her eagerness to get this over with. She could feel a niggling feeling in the back of her mind warning her not to do anything too stupid and to just survive. All she could do was apologise to the familiar feeling and hit the door release.

They stayed pressed against the walls as the first barrage of shots came their way, before Ali took her chance first, staying low and balancing her arms on the gurney she aimed down the opposite side of the corridor to the side of the door she was using for cover. She got off a few shots before she ducked back again, not really having an opportunity to wait till they stopped firing to avoid overheating their weapons, there were too many of them, so long as they coordinated who was shooting when.

Pixie follow suit, taking aim at the group that Ali couldn't see on the other side of the wall behind her. She decided to use that as her cover and fired another series of shots at the mercs she could see.

By coincidence they happened to retreat back into cover at the same time. "This might be a little late, but you still got any grenades left?"

"Just the one," Pixie replied as she reached for it. "This beats having it confiscated…" She added as she pulled the pin.

"Don't throw it instantly, it'll give them a chance to return it!" Ali warned as she took a chance to distract her group.

She pulled back when she saw Pixie move to throw the grenade at her group, both of them shielding their eyes as best they could. They heard the minor explosion and the shouts of confusion as the flare went off and neither hesitated before picking off the mercs they could before their senses recovered from the shock.

In the end, it didn't make much difference. They were seriously out numbered, but both were proud of the time they were able to hold out in their little make shift fortification. Their short lived resistance was brought to an end because they realised, far too late, that the guards in the corridor were a distraction to stop them noticing that there was a team working on the door that Ali had sealed. As the door slid open they both glanced at it but Pixie yelled at Ali to keep shooting down the corridor as she opened fire on the new team.

Without any flanking cover Pixie couldn't really do much other than pick a couple off before they overwhelmed her and she fell to the floor next to Ali. She whirled around at the motion and noise, but before she could even take a shot at the new group they had already landed a hit on her and she found herself sliding down the wall as pain lanced through her body emanating from the impact site. Her pistol slipped from her hand as she failed to reaffirm her grip as she faded from consciousness.

~-x-~

Ali groaned as she automatically stretched before she'd even realised she'd woken up, everything hurt. She hated getting shot. She took a breath to brace herself then opened her eyes to a dull grey ceiling.

"Morning sleepyhead," a voice greeted from her side.

She winced as she pushed herself up just enough to turn to it's source and saw Pixie sat with her back against the wall nearby. Then she realised she had been lying on the floor of a cell. Not even the luxury of an uncomfortable bunk. Made sense, why bother for prisoners? "Miss anything good?" She asked, trying to hide how much her body ached as she sat up properly.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Other than me working through the usual energy weapon hangover, not really," Pixie reported. "They've been ignoring us the whole time I've been awake."

Ali nodded as she manoeuvred herself to sit against a wall as well, knowing why Pixie had positioned herself as such. "I hope we pissed them off," she muttered vindictively, mainly because that was the only way she could say the aftereffects of being shot felt worth it right now.

"That I think we did," Pixie agreed with a wry laugh, that Ali shared until they both winced. "Feck."

"Yeah," Ali agreed.

They stayed where they were for a while, before Pixie finally felt like she could stand up. Though the way she flinched when she did make Ali chuckle before clutching her ribs as she instantly regretted it.

Ali had got to what she described as the 'gingerly hobbling around stage' of recovery when their cell door opened and a number of well armed mercenaries entered. Ali and Pixie automatically backed up together into the centre of the room. The mercs ordered Ali forward but when Pixie followed they shoved her back. Ali took a step to check on her as she landed heavily on the floor, but they shoved a gun in Ali's face and she stopped short. She gave Pixie an apologetic look. Pixie looked at her through her ginger hair, then nodded from where she had pushed himself into a half sitting position.

Ali saw no option but to obediently follow the guards, and trying not to make it too obvious that she was taking notes about the directions they were going, and the details from security cameras to access points. Their final destination looked like some kind of office, like Ali's ready room but with a larger area for potential meetings. A kentarian was sat at the desk and tapping away at it's terminal, Ali wasn't sure if they were genuinely working or simply pretending to imply that Ali wasn't important. But Ali was far more concerned with who was sat there.

"Tihud?" It wasn't really a question and the only reason Ali didn't fold her arms was because her body still ached.

"Ali," he replied calmly as he stood up, dismissing the guards to the side of the room. "I would apologise for our lack of hospitality, but you did rather make a mess of our facility."

"Yes, I'm sure my five star invitation was on it's way," Ali deadpanned.

If Tihud was surprised she was defaulting to sarcasm, he didn't show it. She didn't know what to make of that, he had known her father, but how much did he know about her? She had to assume he was well informed. So her best bet was probably to stall for time and information. "I must admit, I was surprised to find out it was you blazing your way through the mercs."

"What can I say, I love stirring up trouble."

"Let's cut to the chase," Tihud decided, taking a seat away from his desk, in a plush chair but declined to offer her a seat. "What changed for you to suddenly act on the warnings Bert gave you?"

Ali quirked an eyebrow at that. "A lot has happened recently," she replied cryptically. She decided that right now Tihud didn't need to know that she was confused as to how Bert Barker - assuming it was the same Bert - was involved in any of this. Especially given that he'd been dead over a year and they'd had a falling out years before then that definitely put them on not-speaking terms.

Then again, if her mental walls weren't good enough, Tihud would be able to sense it anyway. "Ali, given the situation, don't you think it's better to cooperate?"

"I don't know," Ali admitted honestly. "I highly doubt you'll let us go unharmed even if we do, so that rather leaves: turning us over to the authorities, keeping us locked in your own facility for as long as you please, or just straight up killing us to ensure we don't cause anymore problems." She paused as she tried to scrutinise Tihud, not surprised he had an incredibly good poker-face and she knew that she didn't have a chance trying to read him telepathically. "I'd point out that you'd lose any bargaining potential if you kill us, but given that it's unlikely anyone would even engage in said negotiations, you're likely to get a better deal on the black markets."

"I see your time as a freelancer was well spent," Tihud observed as Ali finished her suggestions with a nonchalant shrug - or as much of one as she could with the aches in her body.

"What can I say, it really honed my charms."

"No matter, you'll tell me what I want to know," Tihud assured her.

"Then I suppose you're gonna need to ask me some questions." Or at least, Ali really hoped that was the method on the table.

"Quite," Tihud agreed. "Well, the long and short of it is that I want to know what you planned on doing at our facility, and to let you know that you've wasted three years of your life plotting against us."

"I hate to disappoint you, but you weren't important enough to be on my radar three years ago," Ali said, hoping that if she gave a little she'd get some information in return. Though it wasn't information she'd like to give up, it was the least bad of her options. "Well, assuming we're just talking about your business dealings and not your friendship with my father."

Tihud ignored her offhand comment. "What made you finally believe Bert now? After all this time then?"

"Bert Barker?" Ali knew she needed to check they were talking about the same person now. Tihud confirmed. "He never told me anything to do with you." Or tuktutav or Pikaya, Ali thought, but Tihud hadn't mentioned them yet, so better to keep those cards up her sleeve.

"Ali, as you just reminded us, I knew your father, therefore I know you're a hybrid. I know therefore that you and Bert were bonded. You cannot expect me to believe that he didn't share what he knew with you."

Ali shrugged as innocently as she knew how. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think we fell out before then."

"Then why are you here?"

"Oh, I'm free to go?"

Tihud glared at her as if he wanted to slap her down for that remark, even if his voice was still remarkably even when he said, "something led you here, I want to know what."

"And you think I'm just gonna tell you?"

"If you don't want to test my hospitality, yes," Tihud promised. Ali quirked an eyebrow and he remained quiet for a moment to scrutinise Ali. "But first, I'll give you some time to mull it over."