Victoria Sequeira, the Queen of Midnight, former General of the Masma under the control of Bel, the unequivocal leader of the galaxy’s underworld. Sonny’s next meeting. Before the war, the Houses had heard rumours of a young, talented and ruthless general who had emerged from within the old god emperor's empire, a newcomer who had quickly gained a reputation for being able to manipulate entire systems without much effort. She commanded an enormous force, bigger than some Houses, that seemed to grow with each of her conquests. The Eshara. Rumours told of her ability to inspire leadership, though when looking closer, her main tool was negotiation, a tool that would be beneficial in her later life.
After the destruction of the Sha-En, the Houses stood against the Kryptea, the war-like House that had committed the crime, but it wasn't the Houses that claimed victory but rather the arrival of a Sha-En child. He had taken the head of the Kryptea Head, Jurgen Krietz. The Kryptea were enslaved into the Autarch's service as punishment for their crimes. Bel, the god-emperor of the Masma, did not see this as fitting, and rather as a way for the Autarch to amass more power, and so war was declared.
It was only after years in the war that the Houses received word from the now prominent figure of Victoria Sequeira, that she would turn against Bel and help the Houses take victory, she would provide plans, intel and her Eshara. Her condition was the safety of her people.
The Houses won the war with the help of Victoria. Her people were brought into House’s space, but there was no parade to their victory or sacrifice, there was no place for them to go, they were not accepted. Seen as traitors, as a plant by the god-emperor, and as too different to integrate. Victoria’s people were on the verge of collapse, with no support, and her requests from the Houses were ignored. She turned like most desperate people do, to crime, but Victoria knew that petty crime would only turn their situation more sour, so she used her forces to take over criminal syndicates, not as an offering to the Houses, but so that they could sit upon those thrones. The Eshara were a battle-hardened army and proved too much for any organisation to stand against, and she knew too well that they would not stand together against her. Soon she united the criminal underworlds, creating an empire of her own, all under her people’s banner.
Her warship, the Imhullu was converted into a place of pleasure, gambling, drugs, alcohol, and men and women, all available on the ship she created a city on, now called the Lotus. It became the epicentre of vice in the galaxy, travelling between systems and offering its services to all in the Houses. It became the place where her empire could manage its affairs, a place of business that was frequented by judges, politicians and members of all Houses. She amassed dirt on all of them and took their power for her own. Naturally, this gained the Houses' attention, but Victoria was now ready to renegotiate the terms of her people's sanctuary.
Her terms were simple, she would do the jobs that the Houses could not, the wet work, the dirty work, the work that placed pressures on planets that would allow the Houses to walk in and save the day, that would give them the opportunity to control more, to defeat the ‘enemy’. She would keep the underworld under control, in line. All she asked for, was the protection of her people. The Houses quickly accepted this, as it was an offer too good to turn down. Her people were now safe.
The Lotus carried out its work, offering the depravity that no one would admit to wanting, but all did, but it was not a home, it was business. She worked to find her people somewhere of their own, somewhere that the Eshara could live without needing to be criminals. The Houses denied this, saying that it would cause too much suspicion, that it would be seen by the public as the Houses offering too much to a criminal empress. She should have seen it coming, but Victoria did not accept defeat, and like before, anything that she had, she took by force.
It was a small moon, in a stationary orbit of a tidally locked planet that she found. A moon that was perpetually on the dark side of the planet, cast in the planet's great shadow. She called it Midnight, and she hollowed the moon out and built her city, the home of the Eshara. Nobody stopped her, nobody would want the planet or the moon, but she did. It became the home of the Eshara and the palace of Victoria and gave her the new title of the Queen of Midnight.
Sonny was not looking at Midnight now though, as he sat in his private yacht, looking out the viewport at her ship. The Lotus still looked like the old warship it had previously been a lifetime ago with its heavy hull, its turrets, and its multiple ports, but she had changed it, now it had an open roof with a suspended atmosphere that glittered as its ceiling. The city with ten square ten-square-kilometre ship had high rises that stretched into the atmosphere all blinking with lights and advertisements offering its latest casino offerings, new drinks, concerts, sex. She had built quite an empire. It was not unusual for Victoria to leave Midnight and take command of the Lotus, it was a way that she normally conducted business. Not everyone gained an invitation to Midnight, but all were welcome on the Lotus.
It was only Jax and Sonny on his yacht, as it always was when he came to meet with Victoria, more of a cover than anything else. He wanted people to think that his character, ‘the young, powerful playboy of the Houses was heading to the Lotus for debauchery’ worked perfectly for him, and the fewer people that knew about his real relationship with her, the better. He looked out of the viewport of his yacht at the old warship, remembering seeing it during the war, and what fear it would bring.
“How are you feeling?” Jax asked from the yacht controls. She was one of the very few people in the galaxy who did not need to learn how to pilot a ship, she just did. Her shifting abilities were rare, her ability to be an interplanetary shifter was even rarer and highly sought after. Jax was Jax though, Sonny thought, she had learned how to pilot a ship because that was what was expected of her as a commander of the Artelis.
“I’m worried about what she’s going to do,” he said softly, opening his true thoughts to her. She didn't answer immediately, but considered and then said,
“Just find out what she knows, tell her what we do, and then see. We can’t get worried about what we dont know yet, right?” she said imitating the mantra that he gave her when her anxieties arose.
“Yeah, yeah, you're a fucking sage Jax,” he said in good humour. “The whole thing is a mess”. Jax orbited the yacht around the Lotus moving to the private port that was always given to him when he arrived. His position in the Houses warranted such treatment so it was not something that they needed to hide.
“Whatever, do you want me to come in with you?”
“No, you may need to jump to the idiots if I hear anything too bad, and I want you to be able to move at any time. If we hear something, particularly worrying, I need you to get out and get them without being noticed”
“Lemons” she said which would have seemed strange to most, but they used a fruit-based code word system and always had. He had found it easier to give her operational orders this way, she had been ten when she had started working for him after all. It had stuck. Lemon meant that things could go wrong quickly, and people would need to be extracted. At this point, they were running out of fruit. Sonny also could not remember all of their fruity plans anymore, but Jax did.
“Fucking lemon,” he said more to himself than to her, still gazing at the Lotus. Once they had made their way to the port, Jax masterfully docked the yacht and Sonny got himself ready. He would wear his military colours, his character demanded it. He had always been the ‘seen’ House Head, even in places like this. He also wanted to make sure that the Houses did not suspect him of trying to get onto Yeley, so this would offer a good cover.
“Make sure that you find out everything that she knows, and don’t drink too much” she said straightening his jacket.
“You know I only drink by myself in misery. I dont like it when people see me cry” he said smiling at her as she adjusted his coat.
“Well dont do that either” she said her focus firmly on his uniform. “Find out if she knows anything about the Dorlec, she has people in that space, and in the core, she may know more than we…”
“I know, I know”
“Tell her I say hi,” she said without smiling.
He made his way to the vestibule and waited for the doors to open. The entrance of his ship had a great viewport, usually used for people to see him and his party as he entered a planet, now though, he saw the atmosphere from the Lotus move over his ship like it was being engulfed by a giant bubble of life-giving oxygen. He saw his welcoming party walking behind the bubbles line and he made his way down once the door opened.
“Cotton,” Sonny said with a giant smile and his arms held wide open,
“Lord Matise,” said Cotton with a bow, his bald head shining as he did so. He was somewhere between a monk and a hitman. Sonny knew him from the war, he was one of two of Victoria’s closest advisors, and a formidable soldier, though his slight stature would not tell you that. His black suit hid the wirey strength beneath it and his features always portrayed a man who was very zen. Sonny always suspected that this was in compensation for his more base nature. He was accompanied by four people, assistants, bodyguards, and advisors, Sonny never really paid attention to them, and he knew that they were not to be noticed by people, but rather offer functions to Cotton. They never spoke aloud.
“Good to see you old friend,” Sonny said wrapping the man in a big hug, which Sonny always knew that he disliked, but was in line with his character, “Business good?”
“Through celebration and commiseration, we thrive” he said with a big smile as Sonny released him, “Jax not here?”
“Waiting in the ship, she said she’s still trying to work off the headache from the last time she was here” Cotton smiled.
“Lady Victoria is waiting for you, but I must tell you,” he said leaning in, “She’s currently in a meeting with a Dorlec Commander”
“Is she now?” Sonny said understanding the warning from Victoria’s advisor, “Well isn't that interesting?”. Cotton took Sonny into the ship and once again he marvelled at the hull of the former Imhullu warship, its thick steel walls. Once inside they got into a glider, with an antique style, always the mark of forced class.
“She’s worried,” said Cotton, now that they were in the safety of the glider, “And this Dorlec Commander suddenly coming in has not made her feel any better”
“I’m sure” said Sonny as the glider left the walls of the ship and into the city where he was met with towering buildings, blinding lights and an open sky which showed the swirl of the galaxy and the planets within reach. It reminded him of his own Home ship the Artelis, though his ship offered far more green lands and a natural setting, this was a hard city. “Anything that I should know before I get in there?”
“We were not contacted for the job, usually when destabilising a planet, we will at least get word of it, if not receive the contract directly. This time, we heard nothing”
“Wonderful” he allowed the cityscape to take him in as they drifted through the streets of the Lotus. It hadn't changed much since he had been last, although that was only a few years ago. Each building had vibrant neon signs, advertising the delights within, people littered the streets dressed vibrantly in the maintained warm weather, walking arm in arm, cheering, and spilling their drinks off for their next adventure. Sonny noticed the ever-present Eshara guard patrolling the streets too, some marked with the hand print tattoo offering hommage to their Queen, all had the tattoo under the Eshara, it just depended where on the body they wore it, the most zealous had the print on their faces, used as a warning to all who saw them. It was shown in defiance of the Houses, the space that never accepted them, and now the Houses came to them, they wanted to show them who they were. “Who is the Commander?”
“Sheppard, youngster, apparently on his way to Yelean space to stop the uprising if need be” said Cotton also fixed on the city. They didn't even send a heavy hitter for this. Nothing here was making sense. Since when did Victoria take a meeting with a Commander anyway?
Her tower came into view, the only building that did not show any lights or advertisements, it was at the epicentre of the city, for all to have a reminder of who held the power on her ship. It was the tallest building, and stark in comparison to the rest. The glider came to a stop and Sonny stepped out onto the street, hearing the crowds of the buzzing street as he got out, he heard a few shout out,
“Lord Matise!” with a wave and then a cheer from the crowd around them,
“Come party with us!”
“Where?!” one screamed as Sonny looked around, he plastered his large smile on and waved his arms giving them all a rigorous wave and shaking his hands in the air, they cheered more for him.
Once they made their way into the building and the doors closed off the people's view from them, Sonny caught Cotton with a rueful smile,
“Shut up,” he said, giving a small smile himself. As always, Cotton's posse didn't say a word, they just followed. The lift opened and they stepped in, heading to the top of the building. The elevator was adorned with gold and showed the luxury that the Lotus needed to exude.
“She would like you to join in the meeting with the Dorlec” Cotton said, clearly having just received the information himself. So she was communicating with her people even while in the meeting. He was quite sure that Commander Sheppard would not be aware of that. The doors opened and Sonny was met by the other most trusted advisor to Victoria, Penna Oryel. Taller than Cotton and slightly broader than her counterpart, she held a shortcut fringe and an irritated expression at all times. Sonny did not hug Penna.
“No trouble please, Lord Matise,” she said in her flat way, “The Dorlec are waiting outside, we would appreciate it if you did the same” she finished to which Cotton gave her a nod. Covering their asses, Sonny thought.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“No problem,” he said walking into the room, he smiled at the occupants and relished in their terror at his arrival. There were five Dorlec here, four in Exo-suits that were standing and shifted uncomfortably, and one who sat on a high back chair whose face was construed in pure unadulterated terror,
“Lor…Lord Matise, sir” he said standing and saluting in his full military colours. A Luitenet, he had the usual look of a Dorlec, made, formed. The hair was too neat like it was plastered on, his skin too smooth, too pale, his build too manufactured. Sonny tossed his eyebrows at them and gave them a wicked smile. He made his way to the double doors of Victoria’s office but before he could open the doors he heard the Luitenet plea, “My Lord, Commander…”
“Okay,” Sonny said brightly as he pushed the doors open before the Luitenet could finish. He was greeted by a room that defined her, dark, with a massive window that looked over the city before her, two sofas that faced each other for one-on-one negotiation, and a small bar that held the finest liquors in the galaxy. Commander Sheppard staggered on his seat on the sofa, trying to look composed. Much like the Luitenet in the lobby, he had all the hallmarks of the Dorlec, neat, tall, created. He looked in shock at Sonny,
“Lord Louis” he said straightening his uniform as he stood,
“Sonny, please,” he said in his playboy way, as he looked at the window and the silhouette that stood blocking the lights of the flashing neon from the city and the star landscape above her. Sonny waved his hand to get the Commander to sit down again, which he complied with. She turned and faced him to which he nodded and said,
“Lady Victoria, ravishing as always” She turned to face him, and he was met by the familiar sharp lines of her face, the severe bob that barely grazed her chin emphasising her slender neck. Her eyes shone like sharp jewels, predatory, always looking for a weakness, Sonny knew, with a sharp straight nose that rested above her slightly curved, unreadable lips. She wore an all-black dress that was form-fitting and reached up her neck and down her arms, she was the epitome of elegance and danger. She wore no jewellery as it would deter from her.
“Sonny,” she said in her calm tone, controlled, practised, “Allow me to introduce you to Commander Leigh Sheppard of the Dorlec,” she said not looking at him at all, “He was just delivering a warning to me” Sonny didn't stop that smile that came to his lips,
“Ah tugging that leash are they?”
“Please, my lady, this is not a warning,” he said standing again, to which Sonny again waved him down giving him an expression of, don’t freak out. He sat again, and Sonny could see the anxiety he felt as he looked between himself and the Queen of Midnight.
“May I?” Sonny said pointing to the bar, he didn't wait for an answer as he saw that Victoria made her way to the opposite sofa as the Commander, who cleared his throat trying to compose himself. Sonny picked up a very rare bottle of whiskey that had not been opened yet, a forty-year-old Hellen, he poured a large glass, for his character, and for him, and made his way to the sofa.
“Please my lady, we merely express our interest in your travelling to…” he looked over at Sonny who sat next to him, and clearly didn't want to say the place's name in front of him,
“Yeley” she finished tauntingly. He sighed,
“Yes, all we want to know is why you are heading there?” he said nervously, shifting as Sonny placed his arm on the spine of the sofa giving the Commander an encouraging smile before taking a large sip of the whiskey. Gods, it was good.
“My movements are a concern to the Dorlec, Commander?” she said looking at him with that predatory stare that she had, like a wild cat finding the best way to open him up.
“We…we are aware of instability on the planet, my Lady, so naturally when a ship like this moves towards a planet like that, we would have some questions around it” She allowed the silence to hang.
“I can assure you, Commander, the Dorlec have nothing to fear from me starting anything” she said allowing the rest to remain unsaid. The Commander seemed to be at a loss as to what his next move should be. He looked at Sonny for something and seemed to regret it immediately as Sonny just gave him another wicked smile.
“Very well then” he said standing and correcting his uniform again, “Thank you for your time Lady Victoria” he said with a short bow, but as he was walking away he dramatically stopped and turned on his heels, “I am aware, Lord Sonny of your orders from the Autarch to stay away from Yeley, and it’s representatives, I would hate for any suspicion to come against…”
“I am aware that Lor…Sonny has been given orders to stay away from Yeley as well, I would hope that this meeting has nothing to do with that” Sonny smiled and gave a look of confusion at him,
“You are well informed,” he said smiling, “No, I am here to drown my sorrows, Commander. I find that the Lotus has just the right level of depravity for a man like me”
“Yes, well, if this ship stays on its current course I would suggest departing. We wouldn't want the Autarch to suspect that anyth…”
“Changed my mind!” Sonny said, placing his glass of whiskey on the table in front of him and standing in front of the Commander. He made sure to keep smiling, “I can be fickle like that, I’d like for you to call me by my official title, the whole one,” he said staring down at the Commander, “And don’t leave anything out, I know that the Dorlec have an extra moniker that they add there”
“My Lord?” Sonny just smiled down at him and nodded, “Lord Louis Matise”
“No please, that’s my title within the Houses, my other title please” The Commander was now sweating, and faltering, and with sheer terror pressed on,
“Prince Louis Matise, Head of the Artelis, Destroyer of the Bridge” Sonny spun his finger in the air to get him to continue, “The crying/laughing Prince”
“Ah, that’s it, there we go, doesn't that feel…right” he said taking the smaller man by the shoulders, “You see that’s my title, Commander, that’s who I am, a part of the Autarchs family, not just a House Head. Why would I of all people defy him?”
“Apologies, Prince Matise,” he said bowing his head. Sonny slapped him on the shoulder and then turned back to the seats,
“No problem Commander Sheppard of the Dorlec, now, you can take your leave. It seems that I don't have long on this ship and I want to get as much pleasure packed into that time as possible. I wouldn't want to arouse any suspicions” he said grabbing his whiskey up again and taking a big gulp. Commander Sheppard gave a deep bow and left the room, “I would like my usual apartments, six bottles of this whiskey, some of that blue stuff…” Sonny said keeping up the act as he waited for the Dorlec soldiers to leave, “I’d also like whatever celebs you have here to come and see me” There was a knock on the door telling them that it was clear.
“What is going on here, Sonny?” she said with her usual tone, but there was a desperation in it now,
“We aren’t sure yet, I did get that order that the young Commander just mentioned, and I also got a warning from Oso,” he said looking at her seriously, “It looks like they are going to be taking Yeley”
“You told me it was safe,” she said, now looking at him the way she had been looking at Sheppard. She took in a breath knowing that it was not Sonny who was doing this, “Do they know?”
“We are trying to figure that out, I am barred from any contact with the planet or any of its representatives, which means any move I make will cause a stir. I can’t find out what’s happening on the planet, but I have people looking into it. So far we have seen no evidence that they do, but it doesn't change the fact that the Dorlec have been given permission to move into Yeley”
“If they don’t know, why didn't they ask me to help with this?”
“Cotton mentioned that,” he said, only now having time to consider it. It was strange. This was the type of work the Eshara did, this was their forte. Why wouldn't they have been contracted for this? “A Dorlec Commander?” he said, that setting in for the first time. Victoria did not entertain Commanders,
“Valentine requested the meeting, he didn't give much away though. He just came from a moon called Gol, nothing there, seems he was there for a while and has now moved into Yelean space”
“Seems a bit green to be taking a planet” Sonny said looking at the door that the Commander had just left through.
“There are another two Dorlec Pillars moving into Yelean space” she said being as well informed as Sonny had hoped, “I’m handling it,” she said as though this was a passing conversation, “What other reason could they have to want Yeley?”
“It’s a gateway to owning seven independent planets” Sonny said, having thought about this question since Oso had handed the order over on Artelis. It seemed that his words confirmed her own thoughts, but he knew that her mind would be sitting firmly in the worst-case scenario right now. “Take Yeley, you get the rest. The problem is that the Traes have never given any reason for the Houses to take them. Pac Traes has always been aware of his position and has carefully danced through any issues that give cause to the Houses stepping in” he said taking another sip of his whiskey, “Still, we should have seen something like this coming”
“What do you need from me?” she said, as always looking for how a problem could be solved.
“Intel, I need to know what’s happening on Planet, and what they are looking to do, you have people on Planet, I need you to activate them”
“They already have been, I have people in the Temple, the guard and in the revolutionary group, but nothing has come from it yet, which leads me to think that this is going to be an attack. The Rebel group is led by a Professor, Grasci, but they are not organised enough for this, and he isn't disrupting the government enough to create a coup. The temple guard knows nothing about what’s happening, and the other country heads are not planning anything. If we didn't know about the Dorlec moving in, I would say it was business as usual” She had wrung her hands twice now Sonny noticed, he didn't need this woman getting nervous, that would not be good for anyone. She hurriedly stopped and delicately grabbed her glass of wine, trying to elicit some control back. Sonny felt her gaze heavily on him and he knew what she was going to ask, but didn't want to risk the question coming up if he was wrong, he wasn't. “Have you heard from him?”
“By proxy, Az got in touch but he was cryptic, he could already be on planet” She seemed not to be able to decide whether this was positive or negative news. “I know it’s not the best solution, but we don’t have many options here”
“Well something best happen, Sonny,” she said in a warning tone, all of her power seeming to be on show, “Or I take the planet myself”
They ended the conversation shortly after, dealing with logistics for communications and response plans for the worst-case scenario on Yeley. Sonny needed to do whatever he could to ensure that she did not act herself, it would cause more problems than were necessary. He really didn't need that at the moment.
On making his way back to his yacht, he caught something out the side of his eye as he moved through the city on the glider, it wasn't much of anything really, but he had seen a man looking directly at his glider, speaking, what made it strange was that the man was alone trying to cover himself in shadows between buildings. Nothing that was too suspicious, but suspicious enough for Sonny to take notice. He tapped the comm behind his ear and spoke,
“All good?”
“Everything is fine,” she said in a slightly strained voice, telling Sonny that he was right, “We have some lurkers on the platform, they have been organising the same tools for a while now, and two of them do not look like they belong here”
“Alright apples, I’ll be there in five”
“Got it” she responded without question. At least now he didn't need to worry about her being on the ship if trouble stirred up, she would have shifted away now, to the safest place that she could find. Sonny didn't remember all of their fruity code, but he always remembered the important ones. When close enough to the port, Sonny tapped on the console and said,
“You can drop me here, thank you” he got out of the glider and was thankful that the port dock he had come in was blocked off to the public, meaning the streets were empty. He put his hands in his pockets and started to walk through the street towards the tunnel to the platform making sure that he was alert to everything around him. It was only after a few moments that a group of three, he imagined the group that had been outside of his yacht just a few moments ago appeared before him through the tunnel that led down to the dock with open space visible behind them, only the tail of his yacht visible through the end of the tunnel with the backdrop of the stars. So they had been watching him the whole time and knew that he was on foot now. He didn't pick up on anyone watching him though.
He analysed the group in front of him, they walked separately, at an odd distance from one another, occasionally glancing from one to the other as though to see what each was going to do next. So, they weren't familiar with one another, that was telling. A group that had been put together for just this, or rather activated he thought. He had stopped now and allowed them to walk closer, and once they were around ten meters away they staggered to a stop, again waiting to see what the other two would do, reinforcing Sonny’s thoughts that they were not familiar with one another. It looked as though they were taken aback by their target being himself, Sonny Matise, House Head of the Artelis, at least two did, the one on the right looked excited at the prospect of taking out a prominent figure.
“Ortu?” Sonny said out to them not actually expecting an answer, but the cocky one smiled, allowing him to feel as though he had guessed correctly. He had scars on his face and looked like a brawler. Slightly smaller than Sonny but he had all the trademarks of a man who knew how to handle himself in a fight, wrapped in muscle, thick forearms and the way that he moved. The other two did not match him at all, the one in the middle may have been a dock worker, brawny and tough, he looked like a man built from labour, and he was practically jittery, but he must have been the one who allowed them access to the port. The third was a man who had a cautious look to him, a white-collar worker Sonny thought, potentially in a corporate role within the Lotus somewhere.
This was how the Ortu operated, zealots for the old god emperor, they were an organisation shrouded in mystery and secrets to the extent that individual members did not even know the identity of any others. The Houses didn't even know how they communicated with each other, all they knew was that once they were activated, they would do anything to accomplish their mission and end their own life upon capture. He had a few tassels with them previously, but this was brazen, even for them. Their entire goal was the resurrection of the god emperor, Bel, a ridiculous thing to even think about, and it showed how far their misguided beliefs could take them. They were a dangerous bunch though, often being at the centre of assassinations, terrorist attacks and supply chain attacks, they were a bloody nuisance and unfortunately, spread through every rank and position in the galaxy, not just in places like the Lotus and amongst the Eshara, but though the Houses as well. On a few occasions activated members had turned out to be House Commanders and members of special corps that had been vetted thoroughly for their positions, and then one day, boom, they take out a high-ranking official, or minister somewhere and end themselves. It was suspected that they may even have their claws on a House Head because of the intel they seemed to receive. Though nobody could be sure of that.
Why here though? Why would they attack himself, it didn't make much sense, he was already hamstrung by the Autarch if it had anything to do with Yeley, and if the attack was against the Lotus why attack Sonny, surely he was a target that would be too big of a risk?
He watched the brawny one pull something from behind his back and hold it in front of him, pushing some buttons on it, while the brawler looked at him and started to step forward. Just then Sonny heard three shots and reflexively pushed his energy strengthening the barrier that he had around him and felt the bullets hit the barrier, they stopped dead about a meter and a half away from hitting his back, their momentum completely dissipating. A fourth shooter? No, it was Mr. white collar, he thought, he must have set up a turret, or have remotely pulled the trigger with some tech.
He couldn't dwell on that though as the brawler had quickly closed the gap between them and was rushing him with a knife in hand, he thrust it up from a low position up to Sonny’s chest, but he allowed his barrier to slow him down making the man look like he was moving through water at first, and then as though he was being stuck in place, he swung the bullets that had been shot at him around his barrier, making them orbit his body at an incredible speed and then slammed into the brawler. The time dilation that the brawler would have felt would have made it impossible for him to react in time and blood sprayed in a delayed and slow manner from his body as the bullets tore through him as though in slow motion. Sonny brought his fist down and the ground beneath him shattered as though hit by a meteorite as the brawler was slammed into the ground under the immense weight of Sonny’s gravity, the sound reverberated through the tunnel as a massive crack! He then stretched out his arm toward the white collar man and pulled him from his feet drawing him in within a moment until he was held in Sonny’s grip by his neck as he felt three more bullets hit his barrier. The white-collar man struggled in Sonny’s grip as his legs flailed unable to reach the ground above the corpse of the brawler.
Sonny looked at the dock worker and saw that he watched him intently, the small device still in his hands, and Sonny now understood, that it was a bomb. Typical fucking Ortu, he thought.
“He will…rise” struggled the white-collar worker and Sonny thought against merely snapping his neck at the stupidity of the statement. He let go of the white collar and allowed his ability to hold him in that position, pressure still on his throat and his legs and arms held spread out so that he wouldn't be able to kill himself before being interrogated. He then allowed his gravity to push against him as he flung towards the dock worker with the bomb, but the man didn't react, he had closed his eyes and it seemed as though he was praying, not doing anything with the bomb in his hands.
“Shit,” he said to himself, it was a fucking dead man switch!
He stopped himself mid-air and thrust his right hand out to the man, with no intention of ever touching him. The flow of gravity was incredible and too much for this purpose but the bomb had caused Sonny to panic. The familiar crack from the initial push on the air molecules, then the roar of air displacement as the man was flung backwards, his body already disintegrating from the sheer force of the thrust, then came the screech of sound as the air compressed desperate to escape, the familiar blue glow that came from this mixed with the spacial distortion of Sonny’s thrust, the tunnel bowed inwards and then cracked, and places shattered around him as the gravitational shift ruptured the tunnel around it.
Sonny watched the man be pulled apart by his attack, atom by atom and then the bomb exploded, but Sonny had added too much force into his thrust and the blast accelerated, compressing the blast transitioning it into a plasma state, the flash of light so was intense that Sonny covered his eyes as the scream of his gravity continued to wail through the tunnel, not quite reaching supersonic levels yet, the temperature rose incredibly. The man’s remnants and the plasma from the bomb shot out of the tunnel into open space like a bullet from a barrel destroying the tunnel around it and the surrounding walls as it accelerated through. It tore through the ship, and Sonny strained trying to keep up the barrier between himself and the thrust, glad for his training which ensured that he always protected himself against any unwanted side effects. He had placed himself and the white collar in a bubble keeping them out of the blast and the consequent effects. Sonny fought to keep his bubble from being pulled into the vacuum that he had just created within the tunnel that was losing its structural integrity, as the cracks spread from the end of the tunnel that was no longer existent into the section where he stood. He felt the bubbles edge warp under the strain of the vacuum.
He took in a deep breath as the chaos before him settled, leaving the remnants of the tunnel and the ship walls smouldering with the heat of the plasma. He moved himself back with his gravity to the white-collar man and looked at him. He placed his hands on his hips, raised his head up with eyes closed and exhaled,
“Fuck sake,” he said into the air. The man had a bullet hole in his forehead, the blood trickled down his face. He had taken the opportunity to end himself when Sonny launched his attack by using the same method he had used to attack Sonny in the first place. What a stupid oversight. He was planning on interrogating him, and because he didn't think for a moment, he now was holding up a corpse in his ability. He released him but didn't let the body fall to the ground, he lowered it to the ground. He knew that they never got anything from examining the bodies of the Ortu, they were too careful for that. The brawler was broken, Sonny had pushed a bit too hard with that as well. He would leave this attack with absolutely nothing now.
His comm went off and he heard the voice of Cotton come through, in a panic
“Sonny, was that you, are you okay?” Sonny took another breath before answering looking down the tunnel back into the city that was now dark. His attack had caused an EMP to go off, killing the power to this section of the ship. He turned and looked down to where he had made his thrust as the dock worker. It was a gaping hold in the ship, metal was stretched and torn from his attack, and he could see that the dock where his yacht sat just minutes ago was no longer there.
“Yeah, I’m good, I’m going to need a lift”