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Futuristic Blacksun (Notorious x C.DEX)

"Thank you, Wraith. Good luck." Axel said before turning towards the door, showing the droid appreciation for making this a bit less complicated. He even came up with the idea himself so he seemed premeditated to him but Axel didn't care, all he wanted to do was destroy the Icarus and kill everyone on board. A basic, almost primitive task in his mind. The Exodlites had taken so much from him and at this point he was ready to give them some pay back, even if Nephilim had orchestrated this mission without telling them. "Vitor, walk out first then me and Dayle are gonna break off from you. Stay radio silent, find a place where you can do the most damage."


Vitor nodded confidently, "Yes Captain. Follow my lead, we wouldn't want to get caught in this inspection. Exodlites are notoriously efficient, they will board the ship any moment." And with that the Crusader began hulking his massive body through the halls, leading the way to the airlocked hallway that would lead them out into the Icarus. He stood at the gates as Axel faded from view as Dayle did, his cloaking device clicking on and obscuring him completely from view. The gates opened and they were luckily not greeted by a welcoming committee, with the influx of Exodlites coming and going from the massive hub ship they were fortunately short handed for their entrance. Vitor felt his heart sink as he walked out from the Icarus-2 and onto the walkway into the Icarus, recognizing the halls from his days as a slave to these people. He wasn't quite sure if he had ever been aboard this particular ship but the halls were already haunting him.


Staff passed by them with haste in their steps, avoiding the massive Crusader who took up a lot of the hall. While others they would scold for taking up room they knew better than to insult one of their greatest warriors, one that could kill them at the drop of a hat. Crusaders followed a religious code, one that if a fellow Exodlite got in the way of meant their own destruction so most generally avoided them for that reason. They had no jurisdiction, as long as it was for the cause in one way or another Crusaders roamed free answering to nearly no one. Vitor had forgotten how this felt, people avoiding him. They hardly even looked at him, averting their eyes to avoid his attention.


Soon they had passed by the main docking bay area, Vitor went left down a hallway while Axel and Dayle went the other way. Dayle nearly missed Axel leaving, if it wasn't for her radar she'd have no idea where he had went. Vitor took note of them leaving and went to go find somewhere he could hit fast and hit hard, where he could be the most effective and potentially disable the ship from sending a distress message or escaping. It was going to be a big job for so few people so they needed to be smart about this. Axel led Dayle silently through the halls until they came across a security room. He opened the door with the hacking tech they used on the doors on the Icarus-2 and stepped inside.


There was a single Enactor, sitting at a terminal watching everything go on about the ship. This was one of several security stations, if one was disabled the others would take over. So Axel did the seasonable thing of approaching the Enactor from behind, his cloak dissipating from the sudden swift movement as he closed in on him and snapped his head clean and easy. He thought to himself how that had been too easy, that the Enactor deserved a much worse fate.


"Dayle, get over here and fist this interface. Tell me what you see, where we should all hit." Axel rushed over to the security door and sealed it, letting them have a few moments without having to sneak about. While Dayle was given access to the security systems the Captain walked over to the silenced Enactor and picked him up, hoisting him over his shoulder and bringing him into the connected bathroom in the checkpoint and shoving him on one of the toilets. "No one is gonna bother you while your pants are down huh, guy? Even your Exodlites value some privacy." He smirked at his own comment, walking back out to Dayle. "What we got? We need to help Vitor find a place to hit."
 
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Dayle took the dead Enactor's place, sitting down in the more-than-comfortable chair and plugging into the port in front of her. Interestingly enough, it took a long while for her to interface properly, her arm being the theoretical key to the locked ship. "They're upgrading their technology." she murmured, with an air of discontent to her voice. "Okay. I'm in. It looks like... Damn. This ship is big. The harvester was one thing. It was filled with ore and a laser cannon, but... No. I'm behind you, Winger. Analyzing the systems now." she said, and fell silent.


A moment of time passed. A moment of time that Wraith spent locking the systems of the Icarus-2. His goal had been to garner as much attention as possible, and a good way to do it was to attempt to keep the nosy prying eyes of the Exodlite inspectors outside. Even with the bustle of the docking bay, the zealots were on point in every manner. Soon, a set of two yellow-smocked humans with the Imperial symbol emblazoned on their chests were waiting impatiently outside of the small crime scene. For several minutes, they made small talk with each other, waiting for the Icarus-2 to obey basic commands. Then, the smaller of the two reached his hand up to his headset. He wasn't calling security; not yet, at least. His voice came over the telecomms of the Icarus-2, hijacking its systems and pushing out the empty static drone that had filled it since the cabin went dark. "Icarus-2. Please continue proper docking procedure. The ship needs to be inspected before you unload any cargo. We've detected some discrepancies with your weight readout and what you should be carrying." Silence. "Icarus-2, you're holding up the inspection schedule. Open up."


Inside, Wraith was at the bridge command. His hand grabbed onto the lever in the door controls, pulling it down. Red lights flashed above all the doors inside of the ship as they all locked shut. This was a sight that both alarmed and deeply annoyed the inspectors, as there generally wasn't anything wrong with the ships they brought in, but there always was a sliver of doubt.


"Icarus-2. Open up. Now. Or we override your systems, call in security, and open it up ourselves. I'm not sure if you think you're playing a joke, but stopping progress on a Receival ship is grounds for serious punishment. I don't care who you have on board, and neither will the Warden."


Not wanting to break the radio silence and potentially compromise their position, Wraith remained silent. He relaxed in the Captain's chair, his eye focusing in on the camera feed of the outside. He'd wait a while to open the doors. At least until there was a sizeable force outside. Maybe he'd make them pry it open themselves, but at the very least, it would give the team some time to disperse.


"Looks like there's multiple entrances to the bridge, on all axis. If we try to hit it directly we could get overwhelmed. But..." she hesitated. "They have a grand hall with one entrance. Meeting place and canteen, basically. It's a wide hall. Looks defensible, but there could be any number of zealots inside. It'd be the place to hit. Lots of people, can take out a big chunk of them offguard."


To anyone other than their team, taking out a bunch of civilians and soldiers eating lunch would seem like a horror, even with their opponents being Exodlites. To them, it was another day in the park.


"Extraction point is going to be close to the armory. We're gonna need to take that out, too, but... it looks like the systems are local, over there. I can't do anything, or even see the cameras from here. They probably got a panel there that controls the on board defenses, doors, alarms and what not, because that's all out of access for me. I might want to hit there myself, but if it's heavily guarded and there ain't no way in... well, we can hide, but I can't phase through walls. What do you think about controlling the canteen while Vitor gets me into the armory, Winger? From there I could begin blocking bridge doors, and by the time I get in you could start making your way down residence into the cockpit."
 
"I'll take out the hall." He replied to her, liking her thinking. She inadvertently gave him more targets than even Vitor and her combined causing him to smirk underneath his visor. They would be armed enough but caught off guard, especially from a hidden assailant mowing them all down at once. It was the ideal situation as from the scene he had caused in the Icarus-2 bridge he had no trouble with pulling the trigger or slaying any sort of Exodlite, combatant or not. "Good thinking Dayle... Real good thinking. Plus Vitor gets mighty lonely on these things, he could use the company." They heard a grunt come from communications from Vitor but nothing else in response, causing Axel to chuckle. "The confusion when we detonated the Icarus-2 is gonna cause the whole ship to be on alert, they won't send out a distress beacon unless they truly need it so we have some wiggle room here. Wraith, you still listening Eyeball? With Vitor and Dayle focus on getting to the armory and patching in to security I'll need you to go after communications or the engine. We beach this whale and it won't go anywhere, or we can cause it to not wail. Your call, I ain't your Captain."


"Whale... Wail... Well..." Lucy chimed in from the Gaius, watching the Icarus reengage its stealth drives and disappear into the void once more. The phantom ship was once again missing but luckily for her she was able to keep a rough count of the crew's position from the ship, meaning she could keep the Gaius just within range without being detected. "Captain, you sure do have a way with words."


"Thanks kid." Axel chuckled, but instead of a light hearted joke back he replied with, "Now stop your words, we're on mission." It was a light snap but it immediately shut Lucy up, the poor pilot in training looking down at her lap disappointed her Captain reacted that way. "Vitor, we're uploading a map of the area to your HUD. Meet Dayle at the meeting point then you two are gonna have to make your way that direction. This is a big ass ship so you're gonna have to cover a lot of ground and our cover is probably gonna get blown before too long so... Stealth optional when that ship goes."


"Understood Captain..." Vitor whispered back, walking the halls of the Icarus in a zombie like fashion. Just as if he never left, he had reverted back to how he held himself as a former Crusader. He had been walking with purpose towards no particular destination and was still receiving the same treatment from the Exodlites. It wasn't uncommon to see a lone Crusader patrolling, it just made the former Exodlite uneasy how natural it had felt to be back in this capacity. Usually going about a stealth mission among the Exodlite was fine, something was different about this ship. Too much nostalgia and self doubt had crept in, especially with how Casar betrayed them. Betrayed him. Maybe... Maybe the Exodlites were too far gone to help? "Heading to meeting point now."


Axel pulled his assault rifle off his back and quickly checked the magazine that was loaded, making sure all was accounted for then swiftly snapped it back in place with a satisfying click. He aimed down the sights and was satisfied with his once over then looked back up towards Dayle. She was still interfaced and while they were about to go he felt compelled to ask her, "Can... Can you pull up the interrogation record of Brim? We only got part after all and Vitor needs a few to retrace his steps, we're closer to the armory than him. We got time." He felt the air in the room change, it was a request he could tell she didn't want to fulfill especially with how unhinged Axel had been behaving. "We don't know how much information he really gave them... We only caught them talking about Terram. We need to know if he exposed anything else..."
 
Dayle remained silent and still as a statue at the panel for a period of a few seconds. There was hesitation in her face, but she knew that the little time that they had couldn't be spent debating on whether or not to bring up the footage. She remembered back to the day they had intercepted the Icarus' transmissions, and did a quick calculation on Standard years versus Exodlite, and then punched the date into the console. A huge archive of footage appeared on the monitor before them. Interfaced, she zoomed through each one until they had finally landed on a scene in a small interrogation chamber.


Like most interrogation chambers of the Exodlite army, the red-and-gold symbol of Damaris was emblazoned on the door. It was a stark white room, with no care put in to make it anything less than clinical. That was how they conducted their business, generally. Clinically. In the middle, a damaged man sat slumped over a table. His back heaved heavy sobs, the sign of a broken man. It was sad in its own right; while Dayle herself hadn't seen Brin before due to the secretive nature that his department had held, there was something primally disturbing about seeing a Renegade warrior so absolutely destroyed. He may as well have been a knight, only then... They didn't even have to handcuff him, because at that point, they had already taken off his arms. Then, his breathing quickened. The insignia on the door fell out of view as the door opened, giving way to a black-smocked, Chaplain-esque man with a grin on his face. He bore the same garb that Warden Leviticus had, indicating him as a Warden. The Warden sat across from Brin. His demeanor was oddly calm for the situation; a sharp contrast to the weak grimace upward that the ginger-haired Renegade knight had given him.


"Cooperate, and we can end this quickly." the Warden said. In an instant, his sidearm had been drawn and placed to Brin's temple. It was a strange offer. Had he really been so far gone that his only reprieve was death, not release?


"I've ... I've been ... I've been c-cooperating..." he said. "P-p-please."


"P-p-p-please!" the Warden mocked, with a laugh. He sat back in his chair. "You were cooperating. For a while. And then your little mind dried up, and for some reason, you couldn't remember anything anymore. In your years upon years of being in the Renegade, you could only remember one core planet? That's... well, unbelievable. I refuse to believe that you're as stupid as you want us to believe. I choose to believe you're a fountain of knowledge." he smiled. Then, he stood up from his chair. Dayle, having already absorbed what was about to happen next, stopped the footage. It was to Axel's detriment, but in her defense, they also didn't have enough time to watch. Vitor was making his was over to the point where they had to meet. She skipped forward, looking for anything that could have helped them to know what exactly Brin had given up.


"Names." the Warden demanded, to a bloody-faced Brin. "NOW!" he screamed, an action which made the formerly proud knight flinch in his place. "I can do this all week. Or, we can end it easily. Believe it or not, I find this absolutely exhausting, and I'm sure you do too. Your friends are never going to find you, so it's not going to matter anyways. You'll never see their disappointment, their pain, or even their happiness again. It is a thing that no longer exists in your world. Now, you can spend the rest of your pathetic existence as a stump on life support that refuses to give up intelligence that won't even effect you, or you will... and I can end you mercifully. Quickly. No more begging, crying, and your existence will no longer be painful and restless."


A measurable amount of time passed. Then, the Warden moved again toward Brin. The former Renegade warrior flinched away, and before the Warden could descend upon him again, he submissed. "OKAY!" he nearly shouted, in fear.


"Glad to hear." he said, with a grin, stopping his advance. "Tell me about your Chancellor ... and your teammates."


The transmission stopped. From the panel ejected a small, silver data disk. Dayle pulled it out and handed it to Winger. Then, she un-jacked. "It's time for me to go." she said, looking to Winger. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry about Brin. We'll turn it into Intelligence later on. If there's anything that'll shut up Nephilim, this will be it. Getting the information was a good call. But we can't spend all day here."


Near the Icarus-2, a crowd had begun to congregate. Several security officers, an engineer, along with the annoyed inspectors had begun descending upon the exterior panel of the Icarus-2. Wraith had deployed every countermeasure to keep them from getting inside, and thus decreasing their numbers, short of holding the doors closed himself. He was an override charge away of proceeding with the next part of their plan. Knowing well that the next step for the Exodlites would be to break open the entranceway themselves, he made his way toward the engine room and synced up with the charges.


"Alright, humans. Hurry yourselves to where you need to be. They're getting antsy."
 
Hate fueled Axel to the core, he was practically shaking in his suit as he watched the once proud Brin be reduced to nothing. Reduced to something vaguely resembling the Captain himself. Missing his arms, broken, beaten, scarred. Not only was his friend gone, but he had begged for it to end. Begged. His friend had been a proud warrior, one who had done countless campaigns against the Exodlites and had saved thousands of innocent people in the universe. That very same friend was in his final moments a husk of a man, missing limbs and hitting Axel all too close to home. He thought of how he felt on that hospital bed, on how he never wanted to feel like that again... Only to feel it once more vicariously through his long dead comrade. He stood there, pocketing the data card then clenching his augmented fists until his pain sensors began to kick in from how much pressure his hands were under.


"Let's... go." Axel said quietly to Dayle. "We have to split up down the hall but I'll walk you out." It was a strange remark, something uncharacteristic of Axel especially recently. Maybe he wanted her company just a little longer before he lost himself again, or perhaps he didn't want to lose another friend like that after witnessing it before his very eyes. He led the way, re-activating his stealth tech. With gun in hand, he opened the door from the security room and led them out into the hallway.


There was more action in the very same hallway they had entered from earlier, Exodlites rushing past the invisible agents as they had to duck and weave between the groups of rushing soldiers to not compromise themselves. They were all headed towards the docking bay, the disturbance caused by Wraith was creating quite the scene as dozens and dozens of security forces rushed to the ship.


"Almost time Wraith." Axel whispered into the comms as they weaved in and out of rushing Exodlite forces. One of the soldier's guns grazed Axel, luckily for both Dayle and himself the guard didn't notice as he continued to rush forward. "Give it another minute then let them in... Then, when you're clear... I want that section of the ship destroyed and those bodies either burnt to a crisp or sucked out into space. Good luck." Axel then went back to radio silence, continuing down the hall as more forces ran past them. It was beginning to dwindle down however, this section of the ship beginning to be much less guarded than it was before.


The Icarus never dealt with problems like this, they foolishly sent in more than necessary to take care of the problem. Many Exodlites were in the docking bay now, completely surrounding the ship on all sides. To them it had been compromised, all of the ship's functions fighting against them. Then, a lone soldier with a hacking charge was making his way through the crowd. It was almost time for Wraith to act. Vitor was getting close to the meeting point while Axel and Dayle came across a split hallway where Axel had to go left and Dayle had to take a right. The Captain looked to Dayle using the tech in his helmet, allowing him to see his cloaked comrade. He walked over quickly and pulled her into a half embrace to her surprise, wrapping one of his arms around the back of her helmet and pulling her in lightly.


"Don't... you die on me." He said, ironically so as he was about to rush into the most danger out of the two of them. Seeing Brim be tortured the way he was not only deepened Axel's anger, it made him fear the worst for his team. "You see that Warden you let Vitor do the heavy lifting, Lucy needs you. I need you. You got that? Don't be a hero." He let out a long, deep sigh. "And your niece wants to see Auntie Dayle again. Please, be careful."
 
Under her helmet, Dayle's face went from surprise to a small smile. When Axel had let her go, she reached up and gave the side of his face two light taps. "Your daughter wants to see you, so... This is a big ship, Winger. If we need to pull out, we pull out, damnit. No bullshit, no bravado, we just go. You don't face any Wardens, and if you need support, you go on and just let us know over the radio and we'll come charging over. No matter where we are, or how many walls are between us. You know damn well Vitor doesn't care about walls." she said, with a light chuckle. She was happy to see compassion from her Captain, even after seeing Brin, even after the brutal scene he created in the Icarus-2, even after losing his legs. She wasn't sure she would be the same way. "If you die here, Winger, so does all the rights you intended to put on them wrongs." She said with finality, giving a nod. "Alright. Stay in communication. And if you need a backup, Wraith's a floater; take him with you."


"I'm a floater... that's programmed to put your safety before my own. Looking at the outside cameras, that's... well, that's a lot of humans with guns, scientists that perhaps have advanced scanners, and annoyed Imperials." he said, with about as much unsureness as an android could muster. "But, I have practiced my longjump recently. So, if I die, don't do anything I wouldn't do. But if you do, clean it up." His communication cut out. That was all they would get from him for then, apart from a countdown. It was the inevitable sign for them to speed up their pace, and it was getting easier now that the commotion of the security force flooding the halls had dissipated into the docking bay.


Inside of the Icarus-2, Wraith had almost looked overwhelmed. He was back in a cockpit full of bodies, his hands moving over the controls faster than almost he could manage. But it was getting to closing time, and that was an inevitability. The soldier that pushed through the crowd had finally made his way up to the locked outer door into the Icarus-2, and placed the charge onto the frame. With expertise, the door began to stutter open. In the cockpit, Wraith looked up. His being shimmered away just as it had done before. Advanced scanners would show him jumping up to latch onto the ceiling of the cockpit he was in, and any normal set of eyes would see it being decimated as if a blade had been cut through it. Luckily, there weren't many who were at eye level with the ceiling of Icarus-2. He pushed his way through the top, and uttered one last cry for help through the telecommunications.


"He's ... He's in the residence." the voice of the fallen Exodlite Captain begged. "P-pleas- oh Gods, no!" Wraith mimicked, along with the exaggerated sound of a man dying. To the Gaius crew, he let out a chuckle. "Ten seconds."


Finally, Dayle met with Vitor in the halls. Due to the nature of her helmet, which muffled her voice and broadcasted it only to her own crew, she was able to talk. However, Vitor was a different story. While most strayed their eyes from him - shuffling away from the commotion if they were civilians and to it if they were soldiers - that didn't mean he didn't have to be covert. The pilot joined actually to the rear of Vitor, finding that his massive frame parted the sea of people quite well. "Howdy, Vitty." she said, in greeting. "We're far enough now that the blast ain't gonna effect us. Whatever happens in the loading bay - it's gonna draw a lot of the goons from the armory toward it. But there's gonna be some left behind. Need ya to create a good defense while I jack in and mow em all down with their own turrets. Now, it's coming up. Minute out. Look sharp. We're under strict command by Winger not to die."


A blur, perceivable to the naked eye though just barely, catapulted off of the Icarus-2. It soared over the crowd, and a significantly more audible thud and massive dent had appeared above the large open doorframe that lead from the dockingbay to the main halls. It would have been a tell if a massive explosion - hard and large enough to shake the entirety of the Icarus - hadn't occurred. What was once a clinically crafted ship bay with tons of smaller ships dotting its floors was now a superheated inferno that extinguished itself with the cold deadness of space. Sound itself sapped out of the bay like oxygen, and soon what was a morbidly violent scene was a cold, desolate wasteland where the remaining survivors floated haplessly, clutching their throats in a feeble attempt to survive what was a devastating bomb placed soundly in one of the more heavily populated areas of the ship.


Before the breach doors came down, Wraith gave one final glance back to the carnage, then slipped back into the halls.


"Task accomplished." He said, after the violent sounds had finally calmed down, having been replaced by the angry shouts and confused cries of civilians and soldiers alike. "Am I needed elsewhere before I proceed to the exit point?"
 
"Hello my friend. We will be sure not to perish." Vitor replied heartily to Dayle, as much as he could so whispering, providing her cover while they began to traverse the halls. The explosion hadn't gone off quite yet and they had just mere moments before the ship went on full alert. "Stealth is for the weak, once they have left the area I am going to charge them. The confusion may even cause some Exodlites to cease fire, or join our side. Temporarily." He made a good point, seeing a Crusader charge into battle was usually the tall tell sign that other Exodlites were supposed to join in. In fact, it was law. A Crusader led the way and if you didn't assist them you were as guilty as the enemy. "When it gets out a Crusader is attacking however... I am the only known heretic. They will know who is attacking them."


"Good." Axel chimed in over the comms to their surprise. "They'll need to know. I want them to know. If that Warden is on the ship we're gonna space him." The Captain ducked into a side room in which four Exodlite soldiers were getting ready to suit up and see what all the commotion was in the docking bay. Axel unceremoniously raised his assault rifle and popped off four quick consecutive rounds, taking out the soldiers where they stood. They quickly crumpled over to the ground, giving Axel some privacy to adjust his helmet's feed. He tuned in to Wraith's eye cam to watch what the android was doing, watching as he expertly left the Icarus-2 only to see it blow up in his peripherals. Seeing the way the android narrowly escaped his own demise in stunning fashion brought a smile to Axel's face, he was impressed. "No Wraith you've played your role and you played it good. I ain't your Captain, what you do next is up to you. Just keep us posted, Winger out."


The whole ship shook when the Icarus-2 detonated, sending countless personnel into space for an extremely painful death. Even those with suits on were sent spiraling away from the ship, cursed to the slow death of spinning in space with no rescue. That was, if the star they were in the vicinity of didn't burn them alive from the cosmic radiation.


"Almost to the armory." Vitor whispered to Dayle, seeing that many Exodlites were leaving that location after getting suited up. Many ships were departing the Icarus out of protocol, an attack on the ship meant a temporary evacuation until the situation had been identified and solved. A ship wide alarm went off ringing above them until Vitor reached up and ripped it out of the wall. The Exodlites around them were confused but were frantically going about their business now, unsure of what that Crusader was doing. He stomped right up to the armory doors and ripped his arm through the security desk's glass and grabbed the Exodlite inside and slammed his head against the table killing him. He then reached deeper inside and hit the switch for the door, allowing Dayle entrance. "Only got a few moments before they start attacking us, that should get their attention."
 
"W-what? I can... do what I want?" Wraith replied, incredulously, a quiver to his voice. Then, he snapped out of it just as quickly, showing to the team that any semblance of emotion had been for show. "Ah, who am I kidding? I'm just gonna keep going. See you on the other end!" he cheered. "Now, if you'll stop looking through my eyecam. Or keep doing so, but I tend to be more accepted in teams that let me be mysterious. Humans like ninjas." he said, dropping from above the breach door and dropping soundly to the hall floors. He looked forward. The security forces hadn't arrived yet, and while a few bodies had been strewn across the halls in an attempt to escape from the blast, they had succumbed to their injuries not long after having barely escaped through the breach doors. The heels of those that had begun their escape had soon disappeared. A holo-blade appeared from thin air, and he followed like a shadow.


Over in the armory, Dayle had raised her weapon as soon as Vitor reached through the armory window and slammed the poor attendant's head into the table. The act had been witnessed by a soldier who had just gotten suited up, who confusedly raised his weapon up to the armored Crusader from a slight ways down the hall. His hesitance is what had killed him, as Dayle had rushed him unbeknownst, grabbed her knife, and dispatched him quicker than he could fire off a confused round. He fell to the ground silently clutching his throat. Then, she raised her silenced sidearm to his head and shot a round off. It had stopped him from raising the alarm, but there was also the problem of the body lying on the floor. A second had been bought, but it wouldn't get them far as the men and women that intended on defending the Icarus rushed to acquire their armaments and their commands.


In an instant, she disappeared into the door that had opened up. Inside of the armory. Dayle looked out; there were swathes of Exodlite weaponry propped up behind energy shelving. Every piece was on display, an identification away from being grabbed. Unfortunately for Dayle, each piece of mass-produced weaponry only acted as an incredibly expensive miniature grenade, as they had all been protected by genetic trigger guards. In the far back, the door to another surveillance room ripped open. An Enactor with a high tech eyepiece raised his weapon blank at the stealthed pilot. He could see her well, and unlike the soldier outside, he didn't hesitate. Shots fired out from inside the armory. Dayle ducked behind a vertical row of shelving, letting the barrier deflect the energy shot. The Enactor didn't chase, showing a calmness and tacticality that hadn't come with having a loyalty chip installed.


"Vitor!" she shouted out. "Start mowing them down outside. I need time in here!"


"This is Enactor Aston! Ignore the directive DAR-C; the Crusader is part of the party responsible for the explosion in the bridge. SHOOT HIM DOWN. NOW!" he yelled, into telecomms. "One stealthed in the armory. PREPARE TO DIE, HERETIC!" he screamed, reaching out and hitting a button on his wrist.


The energy shelving all fell.
 
As the energy shelving fell Exodlite weapons went spilling out onto the floor around Dayle, leaving her coverless as the armory had began to turn against them from the actions of the Enactor. Vitor wanted to turn and help Dayle but he had to guard the entrance or the Exodlites would swarm their position and overrun them before they could do anything about it. Vitor raised his heavy machine gun towards the lone hallway towards the armory and began to open fire on the torrent of Exodlites streaming in to the hallway towards the armory. Luckily for them the armory was built to be defensible, the Exodlites never thought it would be against themselves though. Vitor roared as he open fired, the Crusader's gruff and hoarse roar sending fear into the invading Exodlites on top of being ripped apart by his onslaught.


Luckily for them he had to reload before too long, jumping over the bodies of the fallen many began rushing Vitor and spreading out on all sides. They began to open fire on the Crusader's armor only for their energy blasts to be dissipated. Vitor raised his arm up and his energy shield formed in front of him, the very same energy blasts that were dissipating on his armor was now redirected at those attacking him riddling themselves with energy bolts from their own weapons. The Exodlites had never fought a Crusader before, merely only seen them in action. Now they knew why the commanded such a prescience first hand, that was, until they were mowed down by Vitor.


The alarms began to wail louder as another voice spoke over it, "This is Captain Daedelus. Icarus-2 was a Coalition trap, a distraction as they boarded our great vessel. We've identified the intruder as Vitor Frede, one of the few foolish heretics who spat upon Damaris' good name and our people. Counter measures are being deployed, your time is limited Frede. Pray to our lord that you will be dealt a swift death, as we intend to grant you the opposite." Vitor took this as a challenge, whipping his rifle around and taking out two Exodlites that were rushing towards him. He continued to roar as he pumped round after round into his attackers, showing such ferocity without a hint of mercy towards his former people.


Elsewhere on the ship Axel had began making his way to the hall in which he'd planned something terrible for those inside. They had predictably sealed the bridge and most entrances but the hall, they were beginning to set up defenses and predictably fortify the area now that they had been compromised. No doubt a signal to other Exodlite ships that they were under attack had been sent by now too, especially with Vitor being identified by the ship's Captain.


"We do like ninjas, Wraith." Axel said, sulking about the hallways and avoiding direct attention. "We also liked cowboys but that didn't get us too far... How about-" He turned the corner and shot an Exodlite in the back that was rushing to reinforce those that were fighting Vitor. A lone body would confused the Exodlites in the area, everyone assuming that all the action was happening at the armory. "-we play ninja later and just kick ass. Keep up the pressure Vitor, more are headed your way." Axel said as he seen a whole squad rush past him, completely ignoring the body he had set up as a distraction. "Well fuck me, they're already out of sight for me. You're on your own for now."


"I AM A ONE MAN ARMY!" Vitor roared into the comms, his true primal, Crusader nature pouring out when he was in the heat of battle. "I WILL DESTROY EVERY EXODLITE ON THIS SHIP AND FEED YOUR BONES TO YOUR CHILDREN!" He screamed, his pure savage nature coming to a head as he took on so many on his own. Axel couldn't help but smile, Vitor was fucking crazy.
 
Dayle ducked and rolled, slamming her hand down on the same button that had sent her into stealth in the first place. Power filtered back into her suit's other functions; it was obvious that being unseen wasn't doing her any good. If it was in the way of augments or tech, stealth didn't mean anything if your enemy could see you. She raised a hand and her own - albeit significantly weaker - shields came on. She deflected another shot from the Enactor, the sheer force of the beam having pushed her back a ways. Immediately the pilot dropped her sidearm and violently pulled her rifle off of her back and slammed her augment into the spot that had been custom-fitted just for it. She lifted it up, part of the gun herself, and began firing back at the Enactor.


It was a stalemate, with both of them unable to move from their positions. The Enactor warded off Dayle's shots until both of their shields were at their breaking point. Then, he stopped his fire for the quickest moment, reached down, and lobbed a piece of armor at the jack pilot. She stopped her own fire to bat the object away, and in that time, Aston rushed her just as she had rushed the soldier outside. He was inhumanely fast, an attribute that separated Enactors from their less valued counterparts. And, as Dayle would find as her rifle was ripped out of her hand and augment, he was strong as well. Instead of backing down, instincts kicked in.


The seasoned pilot jabbed her augment into his neck, using his own momentum to stagger him. Her augment was strong, but his armor was stronger. If it was a game of endurance, he would unfortunately win, as his kind were known to keep fighting until the very last tendon had been torn. So, she had to think quickly. They fell to the floor, engaged in close quarters. As shots rang out outside in the halls, the two of them haplessly fought to land any purposeful hits on each other, with Dayle being quick and smaller, using her metal arm to deflect the more violent blows. After a few seconds of the same game, she suddenly drew her augment away and craned her neck to the side, allowing his fist to puncture the tile to the left of her neck. Before he could draw back, the pilot sandwiched his arm between her upper right arm and her ribs, and wedged her foot between them.


She activated her boosters.


Searing hot flame bridged the gap between them, forcing the Enactor to attempt to draw back. Only, his arm was still in her grasp. His other went to his side and drew a blade, prepared to slam it into Dayle's ankle. She kicked at that moment, using her booster to slam him up and away.


He caught himself, though not before suffering so much heat to the chest that it had melted the dead center of his armor into flesh beneath. Luckily, he couldn't feel. Unluckily, that was where his power supply was. His suit powered down. Knowing well that he wouldn't survive if they both had attempted to get to their weapons, Aston charged at Dayle once again.


This time, his holodagger met the side of her helmet before she could react on time. It cut through her armor with a small amount of trouble, but its decent into her cheek was stopped by her metal arm, which slammed into the back of his elbow. He was strong, but she was older and more tactical than him. In a quick moment, his arm had been snapped with a sickening sound. Her hand gripped the blade she'd used to kill the soldier outside and jammed it into the chest of the Enactor.


He stayed up for a surprisingly long few more seconds before falling limp.


She shoved him to the side and staggered to her feet, relatively exhausted. Dayle ran toward the monitoring room he had come from, tucked neatly into the corner of the armory.


"Vitor, I'm giving you support. Jacking in now. Give me a second to deploy the turrets and I'll be able to mow them down before they get to ya! Same for you, Winger. Tell me where you need em and when!"
 
"Pull back." The Exodlites heard over their own comms and not the intercom, followed by their Captain's booming vice to go right back to the intercom. "I must say, your age hasn't slowed you down one bit Vitor. Neither does your pilot's handicap, Miss Benskett." Daedelus spoke, his smile could be heard over the loud speaker. This was very, very bad news. If the Exodlites had figured out who was in what team on the Coalition that could prove to be some disastrous piece of Intel. "The Agent... Bran... Brom? Brim? I forget his name. Our Warden had made quick work of him and who would have guessed he'd give out full crew rosters, it was easy pinpointing who belonged to what crew after your foolish attempts at combating us these past few months." The Captain sighed, "I assume Captain Winger is our guest here as well? The Cowboy. Listen, cowboy..." Daedelus said quietly. "Muzzle your dog and stand down. Comply now before the Warden arrives from the Exodus and I will silence you before he gets to you himself. You seen what happened to Braum, he gave up everything he-"


"HEY! ASSHOLE!" A loud familiar voice said hacking her way into the intercom system back. "HOW ABOUT I MUZZLE YOUR FACE WITH MY FIST!" Lucy shouted back, tuning out Daedelus and practically deafening everyone on the ship. She had managed to get her way in when Axel arrived at the communication's center. It was right before the bridge and although he hadn't been quick enough to stop a distress beacon he had been sly enough to patch Lucy in to the Exodlite's horror. "OH YOU'RE QUIET NOW? YOU GOT SCHOOLED BY A GIRL!" She giggled over the intercom, causing the Gaius crew to take a moment to appreciate how awesome their cadet was.


"I can't believe this... So uncivilized. If you will not submit then we will be force-"


"TO KICK YOUR FUCKING ASSES! WOOOO!" Lucy shouted back, infuriating Captain Daedelus to the extremes. He stood on the bridge slamming his hands into his terminal, the loud thumping noises could be heard as he left his microphone on. "OH, I'M SORRY... Am I breaking your concentration?" All of a sudden a loud guitar riff started to shriek across the Icarus followed by Lucy singing over it. "ICARUS!.... YOU GOT US... VERY PISSED!... ICARUUUUSSS-" The guitar got louder as Vitor continued to fight back the Exodlites that seemed to be withdrawing. "-Y'ALL ARE GONNA DIE... ICARUSSS!!! FUCCCCK- DAMAAARIIISSS!" The Exodlites were assaulted with not only the worst sounding singing they had ever heard, but the blasphemy coming from that girl's mouth hit them on a psychological level that insulted them to the core.


Unfortunately, while Lucy was distracting them things did not calm down over at the armory. Loud footsteps were heard down the hallway as the screeching continued, masked by the sound of her voice. Vitor kept his eyes peeled, the action temporarily ceasing and he knew that could only mean one thing. When Exodlites and even Enactors fell back it meant that their big guns were coming out. The loud thumping sound began to quicken to a rapid pace until a massive armored Exodlite came rushing towards Vitor. Vitor couldn't react in time as another Crusader came charging in and slamming himself into his former comrade, shattering Vitor's energy shield and crushing him against the outside of the armor. The whole room shook as the two giants collided nearly throwing Dayle off balance from the force.


"TRAITOR!" The enemy Crusader shouted, slamming his fist into Vitor over and over again as he tried to push back. He hammered Vitor's armor with his armored fist several times until a small crack formed in Vitor's otherwise near-impenetrable armor. With a grunt, Vitor grabbed the Crusader by the helmet and pushed back with all of his force sending them off the wall and back into the center of the room. Vitor roared as he slammed his fist into the Crusader's helmet, causing the glass on the outside to splinter off into small cracks on the surface. Dayle had already seen such a battle before when she had first met Vitor, this was going to be a close one.
 
Hearing the familiar clang of metal, Dayle rushed forth into the small combative control hub after snatching her rifle back up from the floor. She found herself in front of many, many screens. All of them showed the chaos that they had brought forth to the Icarus; people rushing away and to the scene of the combat, surveillance cameras that showed the carnage of the loading bay, and eerily calm scenes in devoid hallways only inhabited by the fallen, who slumped to the walls. The jack pilot focused in on the one right outside of the room she'd tucked herself inside of, however, noting the fight that had been occurring. She shoved her jack-arm into the port and attempted to unlock the panel. It took a decent several seconds - long enough for the assaulting Crusader to continue his assault. Then, as the metal rods of her arm were rotating to attempt to unlock the panel, a deep shock coursed through the metal of her arm into the rest of her body. Teeth gritted, she fought through the pain until it stopped with a satisfying click. Finally, Dayle fought her way through to the security interface.


The blast doors on either end of the hall they had been fighting in slammed violently closed, isolating the small group to themselves. Unseen to Vitor and the other Crusader, Dayle began shutting the next doors in line, cordoning off groups of offending Exodlites. Turrets began deploying from the ceiling, the first of which focused down on Vitor's opponent. It began to heat up, threatening to assault the gigantic man not only from the front, but from behind as well. From then, it was a game of not hitting Vitor, firing off timed blasts as if shooting them from her own weapon. She worked on his armor's shields directly, for his augmented arms were busy deflecting and dealing blows to Vitor. If he hadn't been careful - which was something she was relying on - his armor would melt away to reveal his vitals.


Down the hall, Dayle had been less careful. The trapped teams on either side's sections were mowed down without finesse. That was, until they were forced to turn on their own ship. As soon as the fire had started, the trained teams of soldiers lifted their armaments and dispatched their own turrets, ceasing their fire. That didn't mean they weren't still trapped - as long as Dayle was still at the control panel, those doors weren't getting open.


"Vitor, keep him occupied! If you can get his front, I'll work on firing at his back! We'll be able to hit vitals - just stay up!" Dayle cried out.


In the shadows of the ship, a lone figure weaved between the slowly dissipating crowds. It used Lucy's siren song as a much needed distraction, as Exodlites turned their eyes and ears upwards to the intercoms. The ship was not only being assaulted physically, but spiritually, as what sounded like a wounded teenager shrieked through every room and instance.


"Keep distracting the Captain." Wraith said, to Lucy. "He'll die to the sound of your voice, and have the worst last moments as of thus."
 
The Exodlites had begun to shoot at their own ship, firing at Dayle's turrets and trying to shoot the source of Lucy's voice but to their dismay the speakers were hardwired into the ceiling panels to ensure that all announcements were heard by all. Lucy put the microphone in her mouth and began screaming directly in to it emitting out a hellish warped screech, causing the Exodlites to cover their ears in pain as the wounded sounding teenager began to wail. Axel couldn't help but laugh hysterically, thankfully having the ability to turn down the volume that was played into his helmet as he continued on to the hallway.


"I'll make a hole in their defenses Wraith if you're going for the Captain. Give me a few then during the chaos you'll be able to slip by undetected." Axel spoke, right at the entrance to the hall they had fortified right before the bridge. "Just keep him alive long enough to look me in the eye as we destroy everything he's built." As he stood at the entrance he had to think smart, knowing that there was dozens of guns pointing at that very door so the front entrance alone was suicide. Then, he took a risk that would have got other agents spotted immediately. "This is Lt. Ezekiel, requesting... Delta squad to rendezvous at the Mess. The intruders will be assaulting the bridge we need reinforcements." Axel said, throwing a name out into the air as he hacked his way into Exodlite comm channels. They didn't realize they had been compromised before, arrogantly so as he was able to use his old access codes. Sure enough, he heard someone respond almost immediately.


"Delta is dead, Lieutenant. The traitor took care of them when he and the pilot assaulted the armor. Squads Zeta 2 and Gamma 5 are on their way. Over."


Axel sighed as he called in for more people then he intended but it was going to have to work. Luckily for him he liked a challenge. Soon a dozen men came rushing down the hallway, all led by two Enactors who ran up to the door to the mess hall and banged on it loudly. "Zeta 2 and Gamma 5 reporting for duty, stow your weaponry." The doors opened and both squads began to funnel inside, as did a cloaked Axel. His movements were slow and precise as he weaved in and out of the Exodlite reinforcements as the doors sealed behind them all. The hall was grand as Dayle had said with tall ceilings and open lines of sight, perfect for a sniper to post up or for Wraith to infiltrate from while Axel took a more direct approach. At least thirty people were aiming their guns at the door, all hiding behind over turned tables for cover as their guns traced the entrance. Now a dozen more added to the ridiculous amount of people in the room, this was going to be a war all on its own.


Captain Winger began dropping small explosive charges as they walked, inconspicuous as the tiny charges fit well in the cracks of the tiled floor as they faded into view as they left Axel's cloaked hands. He continued to follow the group that just arrived, his cloak beginning to fade so using their bodies to blend in better as he continued to lay down charge after charge. In the corner of his view he kept Vitor's situation in his peripheral, he couldn't devote his whole attention only having one eye unfortunately but what he caught a glimpse of was brutal.


With the halls sealed off it left only Vitor and the Crusader fighting one another while a screeching woman filled the air. They were both nearly evenly matched if it wasn't for Dayle, Vitor held the Crusader in place as the turrets went red hot as the rounds hit the behemoth over and over again. The Exodlite grunted as he felt a massive heat on his back, his shields shattering leaving only his armor to do the job. Vitor headbutted the Crusader cracking his helmet more but also as a result cracking his own, trading blow for blow, damage for almost identical damage. They broke away for a moment only for the Crusader to jump up and rip one of the turrets out of the wall, throwing it at Vitor who caught it and ripped it in half. It was as if watching two gods duke it out, both evenly matched and both equally deadly.


"General Knox told us you were still alive, heretic." The Crusader said to Vitor as they got locked up again, completely ignoring the other turrets firing at him as he used Vitor as cover. "Said your chip was fried, you should know better than anyone that they aren't for controlling us. They are for enhancing us..." With that the Crusader reared back and slammed his fist hard into Vitor's stomach, the force from the blast so rough it rattled his insides as the Crusader had an opening finally. He raised his arm up and a small cannon appeared from the side of his wrist in which he fired two small missiles. One detonated immediately sending Vitor skidding backwards while the other was deflected by Vitor's shield that he had raised just in time. The other missile deflected and went flying towards one of the remaining turrets taking it out to his misfortune. "It is why the General is stronger than you, it's also why I'm stronger than you. Submit."


"NEVER!" Vitor roared, immediately clashing with his former Crusader brother once again.
 
"Fuck!" Dayle exclaimed, as her turrets were either ripped out of the walls or fell to direct assault. She looked for something, anything that would help her to assist Vitor. Tacticality didn't really work when it came to an opponent that could crush someone with a single blow. She wasn't as quick as Wraith, or as strong as Axel or Vitor. Fist balled, she watched them duke it out, trying to find something that could help him. Another few seconds had passed where Vitor didn't have backup, left alone in the hall fighting a monster. He was equally matched, but what happened when the Crusader used updated technology, or called upon backup? She had to do something to give her friend the advantage. Dayle unjacked with quickness and pulled out of the control room. She lingered near the doorway of the armory, attempting to formulate a plan.


Each second that passed was a second that the other Crusader could gain the upper hand. She had to work quickly. She pressed into stealth again, unsure if it would mean anything at all.


In a moment of necessity, Dayle shoved her augment back into her rifle, kneeled just out of the doorway, and aimed her gun upwards toward the Crusader. She was behind Vitor, as their fight had taken them deeper into the hall. Vitor, unfortunately, was being pushed back toward the blast doors due to the Crusader's own tactility. That meant there wasn't much room for him to slide back any further; not without leaving Dayle's own position compromised. Another cacophony of shots began to penetrate the air as the seasoned pilot joined in, giving Vitor and her the small advantage of suppressing fire.


Her hand left her weapon for an instant as she reached to her side, intending to pull out a small grenade.


"That sound is horrible. Even for me, and I have no appreciation for xenid or human aesthetics. Also, if you eat the equipment, I'm supposed to remind you that the RCN is not going to replace it." Wraith said in turn toward the caterwauling Lucy. He had been making his way toward the bridge, though he had come across a particularly heavy-looking blast door. His feed switched to Dayle's armorcam, and he wondered temporarily if he could ask her to lower it. When he found that she had fallen out of position, he had to think of something else. And quickly. Axel had drawn the Gamma team from the bridge, but the android was taking a different route. Theirs had sealed behind them as they rushed, anyhow. He was in a long hallway with viewing windows dotting the sides, making for a particularly aesthetic walk up to the bridge.


He approached the window to the left of himself, wrapped steely fingers around the pane, and then jabbed his holosword into the glass. It jittered, and then passed through. A long diagonal slice appeared in the window and the hall began sirening, sealing itself down as a breach was detected. It flooded with yellow warning lights. Wraith opened up the hole more fully, allowing the oxygen - and in turn, the caterwauling - to fade out of the hall. He braced himself against the vacation of gas, and then when he found he could move without being ripped into space, he thrusted himself to the outside of the ship right as the breach shutters violently slammed down.
 
"SOMEONE STOP THIS HERETIC BITCH FROM SPEAKING!" The Captain roared over the intercom trying to mask Lucy's voice but the only thing he managed to do was add to the orgy of sounds rocking the Icarus from room to room. There was a group of Exodlites trying to breach the communications room but for some reason the doors had been melted shut, thanks to the clever thinking of Axel. His plan to involve Lucy in on the fight was turning things in their favor no matter how ridiculous this whole situation was, especially when she started to breath heavily into the microphone to catch her breath.


"You're all gonna die." She said, her voice low but the sound ridiculously loud due to the proximity of her mouth. "No one can save you, not even your Crusader. Cause we got our own, it's not too late for you..." She said, her voice hypnotic and irritating at the same time. "What I want you to do... Is take your side arm and put it in your mouth. Pull the trigger, meet your god." Out of no where she began to screech again, sending a shockwave of sound over the station as her loud screaming in the Gaius translated into just pure banshee like yelling in the Icarus. The room Axel was in he seen a soldier literally fall to his knees in anguish, now was the time.


With a push of a button the dining hall erupted into an inferno of shrapnel and disembodied body parts resembling the horrors of the docking bay they had destroyed. Being a much smaller and controlled blast the room filled with smoke instead of being breached and that's when Axel acted. With the background of raging screams from Lucy and the Exodlites trying to figure out what just happened he open fired on the closest man to him. He missed, his shot going too far left. For the first time in a long while he felt that without a certain augment he was useless, his missing eye giving him a bigger handicap than he expected. He grunted and adjusted his aim, hitting his target as he regained his bearings and began to open fire on the group of Exodlite's backs.


Panic filled the room as the explosion and their comrades mysteriously dropping one by one all around them from an unseen assailant. Axel was completely uncloaked he had simply just stayed behind them, with the distraction up front and all around them they wouldn't even expect to look his way until it was far too late. Soon he had mowed down entire squads before the first person spotted him, clumsily firing at the Renegade as he charged forward. He had to reload whilst underfire with no cover, he was going to have to break in his new augments even further. He rushed forward to the Exodlite firing at him and released one of his arm blades, the blade heating up from being released and glowing red hot as he leaped ahead and jabbed the Exodlite in the helmet. The blade went burning straight through and out the otherside, followed by Axel reaching down and ripping the already dead soldier's gun out of his hands. He pulled the trigger and that familiar whirring sound of the Exodlite's counter measure activated as Axel flung the gun into the confused crowd causing further detonations as the gun detonated.


Axel used the body his blade was sunk in to as cover from the blast, aiming the corpse towards the group as the detonation happened all the while reloading his gun by tucking it under his arm reloading with one hand free. He yanked the blade back and completed the reload action by slamming the magazine into place and began to open fire on the remaining Exodlites. Once the smoke cleared and the panic stopped only low moans and groans filled the room, excluding Lucy now beatboxing and rapping into the microphone obnoxiously loud.


"Hey my name is Lucy and yeah this is true, annoying the fuck out of you is what I'm gonna do. Spitting into the mic is eazzzy, shit boy, it might sound bad, but each of y'all Exodlites dying makes me glad." She started to laugh at how bad her rhyming was but she went along with it. "Little white girl rapping, my teammates be scrapping, Daedalus's leadership be lacking and OH SHIT! Look what happened in the mess!" She giggled even harder, "My Captain is crazy, he just made a big mess! Ahh shit... Rhyming mess with mess? That's too weak... Can I get a do over?" She paused, then started dancing in her seat. "SHOULDA WORE A BULLET PROOF VEST!" Lucy then continued to rap, while objectively speaking, was much better sounding than her screaming just moments ago.


Axel shook his head smiling as he turned to walk towards the bridge, although Lucy had given away his position it wasn't like they didn't hear or feel the battle that was going on just a few doors away. As he made his approach, Vitor and Dayle were having a much rougher time near the armory where the Crusader was continuing to back Vitor into a corner while Dayle open fired on him. Dayle was hitting weak points on his armor after being gunned down by turrets and after getting beaten up by Vitor he was starting to finally feel pain. He growled as Dayle managed to expose his bare back by shooting at him over and over again, angering him to the point of switching targets. He knocked Vitor door with an impressive show of strength and then turned, beginning to barrel towards Dayle at a frightening speed.


Just as she was about to be flattened by the enraged Crusader Vitor boosted in the way, getting nailed directly with the Crusader's most powerful attack yet. Vitor groaned in pain as the charge had broken up bits of his armor in the front, exposing his chest to even more dangerous attacks. "DAYLE! BACK UP!" Vitor shouted, "HE IS GOING TO FOCUS ON YOU NOW!" Vitor and the Crusader were locked again as they had been doing, their strength and tactics too similar to get a good foot hold or advantage. As much as Vitor didn't like it, Dayle was going to be the deciding factor here.
 
As Vitor took the blow for Dayle, she reared back. A deep knot welled in her stomach. She wasn't getting anywhere, and each shot that Vitor took was bringing him closer to finality. The other Crusader was evenly matched in strength, but he'd gotten the edge on Vitor more times than she had liked. Whether the Renegade-aligned former Exodlite liked it or not, she wasn't going to run and hide.


Dayle's hand slipped to her side as the Crusaders distracted each other. She pulled a small fire charge and slyly dropped it behind herself. Then, she roared out. "Look here, you big 'ol son of a bitch! The reason you're so mad is because the chip in your head is bigger than your actual brain. Come get me, you stupid lug of meat!" She taunted, taking her grip off of her rifle, finger flicking it back into assault mode as she walked backwards further into the room, tempting the Crusader into stepping into the charge while she got into position to put the rest of magazine into his chest. "Is Damaris going to save you from the massive hole in your docking bay? The massive casualties we've given to your frail little girl-soldiers?!" She placed her foot onto the top of the fallen Enactor's head. "Come on, big boy. Grab your diaper straps and try something! Don't shit yourself while you rage!"


It was an insult on top of an insult. While Lucy belted out sick (in the medically ill sort) rhymes, Dayle's small speech on the immasculinity of the Crusader had hit close to home. She steeled herself, preparing to detonate the charge as soon as he walked in and duck into the control room from beforehand. As soon as she had fallen out of view, she raised her rifle, prepared to shoot the larger man down from the front and expose his rear to Vitor. She was dealing with a Crusader's rage, which she had seen firsthand on multiple occasions, however, and anything at all could happen.


On the outside of the ship, Wraith was doing a spacewalk. It wasn't particularly easy for his more humanoid comrades to do what he was doing, but it certainly made it easier to bypass their security systems. Wanting to do well and evoke as much structural and life damage as he possibly could, he began running his blade through the windows of the ship on the outside, breaching the halls where soldiers congregated outside of the bridge. They shattered like cold dust and vacated the room, forcing a handful of soldiers to fly out in the process. One caught himself on the ledge of the disembodied window. She wasn't particularly geared up for space, but certainly didn't succumb to the cold immediately as she forcefully drew her side-arm once the oxygen from the room inside had been expelled. Latching on for dear life with one hand and aiming up at the now-unstealthed Wraith with another, she fired off several shots.


Wraith disappeared in an instant, causing the blacking-out zealot to rip her weapon around herself in confusion. Then, he reappeared behind her. Instead of taking her out easily, he stomped down on the hand that latched her to the window, grabbed her by the front of her armor with one hand and ripped her weapon out of her grip with another, and pushed her out into space. Before she could realize what was happening, she was floating out to a cold death. With her last remaining breath she attempted to signal out to her crew what was happening, but the bellows of Lucy's rapping over the intercoms drowned her out.


Then, he continued.
 
Daedalus stood at the bridge of his ship, watching as in multiple areas of the ship went silent. His knuckles were white from clenching his fists so hard, looking down at his terminal in disbelief. The Icarus wasn't meant for a direct assault, it was meant for being a stealth command ship. Not once in Exodlite history had one of these ships been taken out, no one had been smart enough to dismantle them and here this team was beating them at every turn.


To add insult to injury, a teenage girl was harassing them the entire time.


He didn't know if he had insulted their lord or if he had actually failed his team, he stood there silently as Lucy berated them all, Vitor and Dayle fought the lone Crusader on board and finally both Wraith and Axel making their way towards the bridge leaving no survivors. According to the information at the bridge they were being assaulted by several squads at once but Daedalus knew this was a small team, one that was looking for something to prove. Everything on the Icarus was being transmitted to the Exodus, a certain man in particular watching intently as he watched one of his most successful captains fail at every turn. With a great big sigh the Captain bowed his head in defeat, pressing the communications button and said.


"Abandon ship." Those two words said it all. Although the ship had plenty of Exodlites ready to lay their life down for the cause most of them had been lost in the initial blitzkrieg attack. Vitor took out about just as many in his onslaught at the choke point he and Dayle had created while the entire time her turrets were running red on countless Exodlites, turning them into filleted cannon fodder. "Icarus down." He said quietly as the people on the bridge looked at their Captain confused. They knew the policy on a Captain forfeiting the ship, it meant the Captain was going to self destruct or destroy the ship the quickest way. Even in defeat they refused to truly submit.


They were flying awfully close to the sun.


Lucy was dumbfounded by the statement, even stopping her vocal onslaught for a moment until she seen what the Captain had in mind for the intruders and the heavily damaged ship. The Icarus began to turn slowly towards the nearby star, the slow, lurking ship beginning to inch towards the massive celestial juggernaut as quick as it could while escape pods began to jettison from the ship. "Uhhh... Guys!" Lucy exclaimed on their private channel. "We have to hurry, Daedalus is fucking crazy and is running the Icarus into the star! According to the Gaius' sensors we only have a few minutes... Hurry up and disable their defenses so I can scoop y'all up!"


The Icarus began to wail without Lucy, the emergency alarms going off as Exodlite after Exodlite listened to their commander and proceeded to the escape pods. Even the bridge crew began to filter out, walking towards where Wraith had taken out their last line of defense. To their horror, Axel stood in front of them all as the bridge doors sealed behind them. They were unarmed, defenseless and simply just wanting to get past him to get to the escape pods. Axel looked over to the emergency shutters then sighed, activating his mag boots and hitting the shutter release. Soon the entire bridge staff were jettisoned from the hall as the Gaius' captain mercilessly gave them the most painful death he could concoct. He resealed the room once they were gone and began to walk slowly to the bridge, knowing he and Wraith both would be ambushing the Captain and whoever was foolish enough to stand with him as they rode into the sun.


All while this was happening Vitor was brutally slammed away as the enraged Crusader turned to meet who was taunting him. "YOU HERETIC BITCH!" He roared, his voice hoarse and filled with nothing but hate. "I WILL SHOW YOU WHO THE FRAIL LITTLE GIRL IS! I WILL RIP OFF YOUR OTHER ARM AND MAKE YOUR METAL ONE JEALOUS!" The Crusader blindly charged at Dayle, to his downfall. As soon as he ran over the fire charge he foolishly stepped on it as Dayle activated it. A massive explosion of fire engulfed the Crusader, cooking him alive in his armor as it was super heated way past its boiling point. That charge was meant for breaching ships and what it did to the Crusader was something out of a horror movie. Vitor starred in awe as the Crusader took the hit and flailed his way towards Dayle, burning alive as he charged at her not stopping even for the excruciating pain he was experiencing.


She was quickly running out of space as the dying giant closed in on her, spreading fire into the armory as he cornered her. Before he could even graze her Vitor ran through the flames that were still flying out of the charge, catching a flame himself as he grabbed on to the Crusader. He was uncomfortably close to an inferno yet again but this was to save Dayle, he told himself he would face any injury to spare her. Vitor then reached up with his hands as he pulled the Crusader out of his charge and dug his hands into the man's burning helmet. With a great show of force those cracks from before were giving just enough for Vitor to crack in the visor sending glass into the Crusader's face. As even he began to roar in pain Vitor ripped off his helmet and held the burning Crusader in place giving Dayle the perfect opening.

"SHOOOOT HIMMMMM!"
 
Dayle raised her rifle up to point blank at the Crusader's face. She laid down on the trigger, her gun on fully automatic, wanting to berid of the rage-filled man as soon as possible. The shots from her rifle began decimating his skull. The Crusader fought until the very end, screaming and sputtering until he literally could not any longer. Dayle screamed, "LET GO!" as soon as their opponent had fallen limp, not wanting Vitor to die to the inferno as well. When he dropped to the floor, she slammed her hand into a button on the outside of the control room. The sprinklers came on throughout the armory, the hall, and the control room itself, dousing the blazing inferno that threatened to take them both, but mostly slowly easing Vitor's own conflagaration to a thread. That didn't stop his armor from being piping red hot, however, as it began to quickly expend most of his power to keep him from being melted underneath.


When she had seen that the flame that engulfed the exit, she bared her teeth. It still burned, hot as thermite. She looked to Vitor, suddenly more than concerned for his well-being. His armor was still red-hot, the inferno that had engulfed both Crusaders from before not being so easily stopped by the pitter patter of the sprinklers above. It would take more than that. She reached up toward his neck, depressing the button that slid his helmet down. Before he could protest, her hand reached up an the internal switch on the inside of his metallic neck brace. With a click, the outer layer of his armor disengaged, to which the pilot began prying off by shoving her augment between his shoulder pads, abdominal armor, and his legs, before the metal plating could melt through his internal armor - and afterwards, his flesh. He would just have to do without it. They had to make their escape now, anyhow.


"I'll replace it. I'll be the Crusader. You hang back, sweetheart. You done enough." she said. "We're not far from the rendezvous point. We get there, we're in the clear. We did good." she said, suffering a smile form underneath her helmet toward Vitor. By the time she had finished assisting him, the charge slowed to a controlled smolder. Taking the initiative, Dayle leapt up and over the new vacancy in the floor. Wanting not to thrust themselves back into danger, she looked back and forth between the halls. Dead and dying Exodlites stirred in their places, accentuated by red lights flooding the space. But no guns aimed up at them. She looked back to Vitor. "Coast is clear."


Near the bridge, yellow alarms filled the halls, whining the familiar song of a breach. In the room adjacent, Wraith had jabbed through the exterior of the ship. An unseen assailant, unstoppable force, the inevitable shadow that threatened to make its way up. Metal screeched, and much like the previous rooms had vacated, the oxygen being drained out of the room forced the area into silence. Silence and darkness. Only, before the abandoned station's room could seal off, Wraith shot through the doorway like a bullet, sliding through to the other side. The breach doors nipped at his heels, threatening to take them off.


"Calculated risk." he mused. In response, gunfire lit up the cockpit. Wraith flailed to the side, gracelessly now, and shot toward the prepared Captain. The lone Enactor placed strategically outside the room, in the bridge hall, turned heel, prepared to join the fight at the sound of gunfire in the room adjacent.
 
Being reduced to only his under armor Vitor hung back behind Dayle, thankful for her quick thinking and even more impressed with her that she had the ingenuity to take down a Crusader. Not many had fallen in battle to just two. It took heavy weapons to take one out and she had done so with a charge and a crusader of her own, a very impressive act indeed. He felt naked without his armor but he felt a joke tickling his throat, already chuckling at the thought.


"First I save you then you get me undressed immediately? Hmm..." He paused for dramatic effect, causing them both to laugh in spite of things. "Good thing Lucy didn't see us, she wouldn't let us live this down."


"Oh I seen it all and I don't plan on letting you live it down at all." She said smirking, sitting at the pilot seat ready for her other part of the mission to begin. The defenses outside were automated so as soon as Axel gave the signal she would swoop in and breach near Vitor and Dayle's location. "Wow... I can see why you all sleep so much after coming back from a mission, I'm exhausted!" She giggled, "I've been screaming, rapping I've bee-"


"We've heard it all Lucretia, trust me. Even in the heat of battle I'll never forget the sounds of you drowning out the battle. I will carry those horrors to my grave."


"Hey! You gotta admit, when I release my rap album 'Good Luce M.A.A.D. Vitty' it'll go big. Everyone will be listening to it and we'll all be rich! I'm cutting y'all in of course, I remember where I started." She said with a big grin, having a bit too much fun on this mission. She had been given the funnest role out of all of them of course and was pleased with what she was able to achieve whilst assisting the rest of the crew.


Captain Daedalus stood at the very front of the bridge, looking towards the sun as a few Enactors had decided to go down with the ship. There was fighting in all the rooms around them, various hull breaches and screams followed by the eerie sound of them being muted instantly filled the air. He had no idea how many were coming for him, if he had known it was only Wraith and Axel he might have stood his ground but it was far too late for that. He looked to the Enactors that remained and knew they would have one final stand but none of them were going to make it out of this alive. The Captain reached toward his belt and grabbed his side arm, playing with the pistol's grip as he let out a long sigh.


"It has been an honor serving with you, gentlemen. For Damaris." As if on queue, Lucy began to project sad violin music through the intercom system. Daedalus snarled at the girl's incessant annoyances but knew that it would all soon be over, all of it. The cabin filled with a bright yellow light as they continued to plunge towards the massive star, the ship beginning to send off warning signals that they were approaching too close and that the heat sensors were going off the charts. Soon the Enactors left the room to go meet Axel who had began causing a riot in one of the final rooms before the bridge leaving only one to guard the Captain. Moments flashed by and soon the Captain spotted his would be assassin, a droid. He began to open fire on the droid as it returned fire back, the Captain taking cover.


"Of all of the crew they sent... They sent a fucking droid?!" The Captain roared, peeking back over cover and pelting Wraith's cover with energy blasts. "Do you have no honor? No respect for what you have destroyed?" The Enactor that was guarding the door entered the bridge once more, he too opening fire on Wraith. Nothing he couldn't handle as the Captain was armorless and with simply a side arm while the Enactor was much more well defended. It would be a few moments before Axel arrived, dealing with the last of the Captains' guards leaving Wraith to do the honors of taking care of Daedalus.
 
The android turned his head to look at the Enactor, and weaved around, avoiding the fire. He ducked behind the control panel, knowing well that the searing bolts would melt him if he had attempted to brace them. He was a stealth android, and he had depleted most of his power by remaining in stealth for so long, or traversing the outside of the ship. His shielding was minimal at best. But that didn't mean he was weak. Suddenly, his hand slammed through the back of the panel and grabbed hold of the wires. He began siphoning the power from the ship, causing the lights to blink out. The ship's thrusters began to slow in response. The lights went out. The Captain and the Enactor were bathed in darkness, though it wasn't a problem for the latter. Wraith dove again from his hiding place, the only light being the light that emanated from an energy blade.


With a speed that was scarily honed, he shot toward the Enactor, ripping him from his position and slamming him against the wall. When he drew his hand back, it was covered in a sheen layer of blood. The Enactor sputtered, then slumped. That was certainly easier than it should have been, but then again, the resolve of all of the Exodlites on board had been more than tested by the violent and insulting assault bestowed upon them by the Gaius team. The Enactor raised his gun, dying. Wraith reached out, mechanically gripping his arm. Then, when the shot fired off, it had careened through the air, penetrating through the Captain's leg.


"That was offensive. How dare you think any of us have respect for you." Wraith belted out, calmly, as he deftly avoided the sidearm fire from the downed Captain, who now slumped against the control panel. Firing at him was like firing at a gnat; nearly impossible to hit. Shots pockmarked the area around the bridge, careening dangerously close to the windows. Marking the panels. Hitting the support beams. But not Wraith. He was patient, perhaps a bit too patient. He waited, moving here and there, until the Captain had finally run out of ammunition. Then, the android pounced. He slammed bodily into the Captain, tearing him away from the panel. He reared his mechanical fist back and dazed the Captain with it. He was strangely inhuman in his body language; there was no thrashing, no rearing as the Captain slammed his own augmented jack-arm into Wraith's face, leaving small dents in its place. He felt no pain. Instead, he handled Daedalus like a small child.


"Captain -" Wraith's eye buzzed. "No, not you." he said to Daedalus, who was still haplessly fighting against the android. "Captain Winger. As much as I am sure it is in your intents to kill Captain Daedalus, I now find myself unable. He's going to provide valuable intel into Exodlite operations. We are taking him with us. If it makes you feel better, you can start the torture until we get back to the RCN. We will have to extract his tracking and telecommunications chip, so you will have time."


He paused.


"I find myself occupied. Could you deactivate the automated defenses?" Wraith questioned, of Axel.


"Hey hey now, Vitor. Without me, you'da been a damsel in distress. Now, just leap into my arms, and I'll carry you back to the ship." Dayle teased back. "I'll front the cost for yer armor, anyway. Believe it or not, I got a decent nest egg. Probably time I started using it. I always imagined I'd get a bigger ship, back when I wasn't attached to the Gaius, er I'd give'r upgrades, but... well, lets be real." she said.


After the order had been given to evacuate, the halls vacated like ghost towns. It was a relatively easy walk back to the rendezvous point, and now that Wraith had stopped the ship's thrusters (though couldn't make an effort to reverse them), they had a small pocket of time to get to the extraction area. It was a cargo hold. The perfect place for a breach. Wide, flat, and relatively unpopulated.
 
"On my way." Axel said, ripping his bloodied augmented arm from the final Enactor that was defending the Captain. "As for keeping him alive... Death is too quick. I agree." He said to Wraith's surprise. "As for torturing him well... On the RCN or not, that'll be my duty. I've learned a thing or two about extracting information, he'll learn first hand who he's fucking with." As Axel entered the bridge he seen that the entire place was littered with blaster marks, "Who the hell was shooting blind? I'm missing an eye and I can hit my target." He seen the Captain at Wraith's mercy and smirked, "Good work Wraith. You'd been any slower and I'd have shot that motherfucker." He walked over to the terminal and deactivated the ship's defenses, allowing Lucy to land the Gaius. "You're clear to breach Luce, go pick Dayle and Vitor up then wait for me and Wraith to come back. Pull out the nicest... tools we have too. We have a guest coming over."


"Aye-aye Commander! Is it who I think it is?"


"You'll have a live audience soon." Axel said, glaring over at the Captain who almost looked misty eyed at the idea. "As for your... Daedalus. You're in for a long night. You've lost your ship, your people, your command. Everyone on the Exodus has heard of your failure by now already... Let's make one for the history books." Axel glanced up at Wraith and had a sly look in his eye, walking up to the Captain's terminal and punching in a few keys until a screen popped up. "Lift him up." Axel and Wraith dragged the Captain back to his terminal and to Daedelus' horror, the screen showed himself as he looked into his bridge's announcement camera. One that was being broadcast directly to the Exodlite higher ups. "Tell them what happened here... Captain..." Axel said to Daedalus, punching him in the face to get him to talk. The Captain tried to stone face the Exodlites but he had the look of a defeated, broken man.


"The Icarus is down... We- We..." He was hit again. "I... failed." They had already found that out when he called for the retreat but to see their comrade on screen being humiliated was an insult to the Exodus itself.


"Tell them how many did this..." Axel said, being out of frame he smiled down at Daedalus. "Tell them how many beat you today."


"We... counted... four... Renegades... With one shouting at us... Their names are-" Before he could speak Axel slammed Daedelus' head down into the terminal, his face rising back up onto the recording with blood dripping down his face. "-... Praise Dam-" Before he could speak Axel released one of the blades on his arm and quickly slit Daedalus' throat, or at least, that's what the Exodlites seen as he turned off the broadcast and removed the blade from the Captain's throat. A fine, thin line of blood went pouring down his neck from the scratch Axel gave him. "Now you're dead and humiliated to your people. There'll be no rescue mission, there'll be no redemption." He got down to eye level with the Captain. "You're. Fucked."


"Buying me new clothes as well? Maybe I will jump in your arms. Be warned though Dayle, I may not look it... But I am extremely heavy." He laughed heartily as Lucy breached the cargo bay and their ride appeared before they knew it. When the piece of hull that was cut out went falling down, Lucy came down to meet them. She stood in the door way and waved at the two laughing together.


"The Captain and Wraith got us a special guest for the ride back! You two be on your best behavior... I have a live performance to prepare for." As Vitor and Dayle boarded the Gaius, three others soon joined them shortly after navigating the ship finding it uneventful now that the Exodlites had retreated. Daedalus was welcomed to the Gaius by the crew, seeing just how small the task force was that defeated him and his people chilled him to the very core. He was a broken man, one that was greeted to the special sight of being taken up to the cockpit. There, he watched as Dayle took control of the ship once more and flew them a safe distance away from the Icarus as it plunged directly into the sun. After decades of work on board that ship, the former Exodlite captain bowed his head in defeat, watching as his very own ship was engulfed by the star and soon disappeared from sight.


End of Scene 4: Too Close to the Sun​
 
On a pointed scrap heap somewhere else in the galaxy, a figure arose from bed. A dust-caked, unused bedroom housed him, and despite not being in the best of surroundings, he had fallen into a drug addled, injury-wreaked sleep so deep that even entering atmosphere didn't rouse him. Eventually, he had awoken, though the time it had taken him was the time it had taken Imille - the only other person on ship who followed a regular sleep schedule - to sleep twice. Groggily, he drew himself up, feeling sober for perhaps the first time in weeks. And it sucked. He had a headache to end all headaches, various wounds he'd incurred from the last battle that seemed a hell of a lot more painful than they did when he got them, and his muscles felt like he'd ripped them. Adrenaline, anesthetic, hallucinogens, and synaptic accelerators would do that to you. He found himself more attentive of his surroundings, as he sought out clothes that weren't soaked in blood and tatters.


Throughout the downtime, Imille had almost completely fixed Psy. They found themselves in the same room in the morning and evenings, only taking breaks for food. Jagar didn't see much of her, either through effort of her own or due to the workload she had placed herself under. It had paid off, however, as she exhausted the utility of the workshop. Finally, they had found themselves in the cockpit, observing with abandon as Jagar had steered them downwards into the hidden, murky water-planet of Nisela. The seas below reflected a dark sky, the only glints being the long-apart reflectivities of the stars. The cockpit's viewport interface pointed them to a spaceport on Nisela, one of few. There was a reason that Jagar had chosen this place, and it certainly wasn't because it was a bustling cityscape full of life. It was a long, comparatively peaceful drive; one that hovered overtop the water surface for what felt like quite a while, until small lights appeared in the distance. They poked out of the blackened sea like bulbs, enticing those lost above to enter. Only, a tooth-filled maw wasn't waiting.


The crew was entranced into quietness by either standard demeanor or eternal night that awaited them outside. Imille sat captivated in the co-pilots chair, while Jagar sat steely at the helm. Soon, Casar had descended upon them all, adorned in patched grays. He approached the viewport, not fully understanding what he was seeing at first. The horizon stretched endlessly, making a sight that he never quite anticipated witnessing himself. They were on a water planet. Soon, a chill had been sent through his spine, and he was back to the discontented demeanor he'd so brazenly displayed before. Breaking the silence, the recovering techno-mage spoke up against the thickened air.


"Why ... Why are we on a water planet?" He questioned, drawing further to the viewport until he could see the nebulae they had previously been hiding in, stretched across the skies.


"You wanted deep, dark, mysterious, and hidden." Imille replied. "Look, Cas! I fixed Psy." The doctor said, proudly presenting the now holeless android with a lazy hand. "Though I'm not sure how he'll do ... in an ocean ... full of salt ... hrm. Psy! Are you rust-treated?"


"We can find somewhere else to go." Cas stated, drawing the curiosity of Imille.


She leaned back in her chair, eyes falling on the nervous mage from upside down. "Whaaat? We're out of fuel anyway, so that's a no go. Buck up, buttercup. This will give you an opportunity to meet alien's aliens. Deep sea planets get mega freaky. It'll be a learning experience, anyways! How many planets like this can you say you've gone to, anyways?"


"I don't care to raise that number. Let's get the fuel and go ..." he tugged at his sleeves. The ship had been pulling into the port as he argued, yellow bulbous lights permeating the dim bridge lights. "I'd rather be stuck in a nebula."
 
"Baby, rust don't fuck with me." Psy said, stretching as he practically smiled at seeing Casar. "It's good to see you up! And here I was thinking the come down from all those drugs killed you. Now listen Mad Cas... I know you don't like being told what to do, but you... May... Have a drug problem. Not saying this is an intervention, we aren't organized enough for that... Yet. But, yaknow, quit abusing the doc's prescriptions and you should be fine." The robot laughed, that contagious laughter that had long since been hidden underneath the ship while being worked on. He heard Casar's protests to staying on the planet and let out a groan, "But I love mega freaky, Cas! I've been stuck on a dusty desert wasteland in a loop for over 1,548,721 Cycles. I haven't seen much other than a bunch of dirty raider's meat suits. I want to go swimming!"


"Swim here, bad." Jagar said, making sure the ship was docked properly before standing up and turning the systems offline for the first time in a long while. He had been seated for most of the journey, finding an almost meditative trance by watching the stars fly past them. "Many fish love metal here, eat you. Hunt good here, just... Not best hunt underwater."


"Not best hunt underwater huh? Eloquently put, freak. Well... that settles it. We're getting inflatable life vests!" Psy exclaimed, "I want the little arm things they put on your smaller organic sacks. Your spawn. What are they called?..." He searched his data banks until finally, "Children! Your nasty, disgusting children. Those arm flappers have been a dream of mine to wear, I think they'd bring out my eyes." Psy was clearly in a good mood, mostly due to Casar being okay and in a stable condition for once. When they had met he wasn't in the best of conditions and now was the best he had ever seen him before, headache and grumpiness and all.


"Cazzer can stay on ship. No one force you to see water people. Ship stay overnight at least for refuel, big fuel tank, take long time." Jagar grunted. "Be best to go to under city. Big elevator take us down to native people land. Towers and air bubbles underneath, for people who need air. Running low on money too." He announced, to the dismay of those there. "No work, no pay. RCN pay after job done, just bought ammunition so low moneys. Find work here Jagar will. Get us off planet." He paused, looking over at Casar. "Safe, from Renegade here."


"See Cas! Freak says it's safe from Renegades. You should come with us, see what this planet has to offer. I hear Nisela has the best sea food you can eat! I wouldn't know, cause I don't have a fucking mouth, but you two meatbags do and I've love to watch your... nasty... bones growing out of your face holes munch on sea creatures." He paused, "Forget I mentioned the sea food I think I'd puke if I seen you two eat."
 
"Aww, Psy wants to wear floaties!" Imille cooed. "We'll get you floaties, Psy. They might not sell them here, because wearing arm floaties in an ocean is kiiiind of a moot point, you know? But next time we go to a public pool in a suburb, we'll definitely stop by a megastore and pick em up for ya. We should get you a pool noodle too. You fill it up with water and then blow-" she stopped, realizing Psy's anatomy wouldn't accommodate. "Oh. Wait. That was insensitive. Sorry!" She cried, with a short cackle. "I'd love to make the journey down with you all. Maybe I can find a fashionable fin. That'd look pretty nice on me, right?"


Throughout the entirety of Imille and Psy's tirade, Casar stared at them with what could only be considered cold exhaustion. He looked to Psy. "Stop calling him freak." He lightly snapped. It was a pet name that he'd had experience with, and it left a particularly bad taste in his mouth. "Your face is a skull, Psy. You don't even have skin. 'Least we have lips to cover our teeth."


"Awww, don't remind him, Cas! If it makes you feel better, Psy, half of Buttercup's teeth are fake. Implanted, but not the originals." Imille teased, causing the mage to slightly turn away and prod at his own teeth, either in self-consciousness or sudden realization. "And I have a silver tooth! Would you like to watch that eat? It's very metal." She said, giggling again. "Got it when I was stuck on a ... less than technologically sufficient planet. But then I got attached to it."


As Jagar stood up to disembark, and so did Imille, the mage began to panic. The idea of being on an ocean planet was unnerving in itself, but the idea of being left alone didn't tickle his fancy too well. Before the massive Vekht had the chance to leave, Casar caught him. "Do you have equipment? Armor? What if something happens? You don't know that the Renegades can't find us." He rattled off, in an attempt to buy time.


"I saw some old armor in the workshop, but nothing that'd fit you," Imille chimed in. "We can look while we're down there! They might be waterbuds, but that doesn't mean they don't have armor."


The ship, accepted by docking controls, began to slowly lower the Interceptor into its depths. Suddenly, the cockpit was bathed in darkness. It would be a fairly long ride, that way, until it had reached the absolute bottom. In the darkness, Casar sought out the wall, while the only member unable to see in the dark reached out to flip on the lowlights on the control panel. The cockpit lit up in dim light. Then, after a period in which the team was subject to the dull view of utter blackness shielded by glass, light began to filter in. What they saw was a relatively magnificent sight.


There was no warm light in the city of Nehope, whose city name was displayed in brazen alien letters. Blue lights, strung up along the ceilings of the biodome like bioluminescent jellyfish tentacles, illuminatating the interior against the exterior - the latter of which almost seemed darker than space itself. Despite having plenty of room around them in every direction, Nehope felt incredibly claustrophobic. At least, to Casar, whose hesitance to leave the ship dissipated when it began to feel like the glass dorm walls were closing in. Outside of the ship, they had begun being chaperoned by an attendant with particularly incandescent spines and depthy, blackened eyes. The ship practically parked itself as it had been propelled into a spot in the docking bay, which for the first time in a long while, had been relatively empty. It seemed that it wasn't the most frequented tourist spot.


"Lets go!" Imille said, happy to be freed from the metal coffin of the Interceptor.
 
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Psy could sense Casar's discomfort, the entire Interceptor being brought down to the depths of the sea while being protected by several layers of ship and the docking mechanism shielding itself. No part of the Interceptor was exposed to the water, the rust bucket would really be in trouble if it was. Even then Psy felt a bit of hostility from Casar when calling Jagar a freak, so he replied in turn.


"You forget that the freak had destroyed me, almost destroyed you. You're quick to trust Cas. Too quick." His words were cold, not the usual jolliness that came from being his friend. "As for lips... You already know what I'm going to say about those meat flaps. DISGUSTING!" He wasn't overtly hostile, but there was some there in his voice. Telling Psy what to do wasn't exactly the best idea for anyone, especially when it came to instructing him how to speak. "Get back to me when someone has killed you then you become the bestest of friends with him. For now, we swim!" Before Casar could protest Psy had grabbed him and practically dragged him out of the air lock and out onto the Nehope docking platform. They were greeted by the strange black eyed attendant, followed by someone else approaching them.


To Casar's horror there were no metal constructs here, only a thick glass separating them from the depths of the sea. It looked as if they were standing on the water with it all around them, for visitors it was truly a mind boggling experience. It was as close to the water as they could get without actually being in it, especially with the floor also being transparent. The rest of the city didn't have this same construction but to be greeted this way was something new entirely. In the distance the city of Nehope was truly remarkable, the buildings there of all different shapes and sizes rising from the incredibly dark sea floor and up towards the surface. It was as if looking at a busy city at night, only to see a school of fish swim by reminding you where you were.


A strange alien approached them, waving and speaking in a tongue they didn't understand. They kept speaking only for the crew to look at them funny, the alien sighed and continued to speak until his voice was translated successfully by their translators.


"Working with some old translation modules huh? Never been this far out from the core worlds? Common problem that is, not having our language built into your translators!" The creature spoke, chuckling as he did so. The voice was masculine as was his build, standing at a respectable height but no where near Jagar who towered over them all. His skin was actually made up of very small scales, green in color that made him stand out much more than the people before him. There was no hair on his body, simply fins, with a rather large set of gills around his neck. Where a normal person would grow a beard the creature had a set of tentacles that covered his mouth, hanging down towards his chest. "Two humans, a robot and... a?"


"Vekht." Jagar said, nodding firmly at the alien in almost a threatening manner. "We came for refuel, supply. Work if have any."


"Listen buddy, the docks could use all the help it could get but we don't want you scaring away anyone. No offense, but you're terrifying. You and some of the predators down here will get along just fine, you look like one. Just minus the multiple rows of teeth!" As if this place couldn't get any weirder. "We'll take care of your uhh... ship here. We don't get too many people around these parts that don't live here so we'll take care of what you need. It'll take some time though, so I suggest you check out the town! It's fantastic this time of year, it's our summer so the water is just lovely. Though we have some sections of the city for you air breathers a lot of it will be cut off for you, I'd suggest you get some respirators."


Psy scoffed at the idea of needing a respirator. "What are you squiddy? Some kind of fish?"


"We're all fish here, robot. You're on a water planet." And with that, Psy was successfully shut up by a dock hand. "Welcome to Nehope! Follow this hall into the city and enjoy your stay here." While the attendant left to inspect the ship, Jagar followed and told him what he wanted done to the ship. This left Imille, Casar and Psy waiting to enter the city together.


"This is gonna be so much fun!" Psy looked down at their feet. "Hey, Cas! Look, we got fishies under our feet!" While Casar stayed looking ahead and trying his best to keep his cool, a massive shark like creature went up and snapped at the fish underneath Psy who nearly jumped. Then, the shark raised one of its arms and waved happily to Psy before darting away into the depths. "Holy. Shit."
 
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