Infab
The Demon Fanatic
Prologue - Lighting the Fire
Shadespear Terminal. A haven for pirates, criminals, outlaws...really anyone with a warrant out for their arrest somewhere in the galaxy. The second most popular spot next to Rook's Wharf, but much farther south in the RQ. It used to be an Upyri Federation colony, but an old Hellion captain by the name of Shadespear helped change that. It floated silently above Gostoth, the planet itself a ball of storms and ship debris from the battle that the Federation lost so dearly.
Ships came and went, loaded with either cargo or crew. Shadespear was often used for a sort of trading outpost, as its location was perfect for the various crews and factions that operated in the area. All types of people showed up here, ranging from those of the big named groups down to those smaller crews just starting out on their journey to riches and glory. Lately, though, the later group was starting to grow smaller and smaller. The galaxy was changing. The Upyri, Elysium Commonwealth, Sol, the Ayr, even the kanads and newly formed Achaemenid Kingdom were starting to move in. Grabbing up territory and resources. Clashing with those already inside the Renegade Quadrant. There was also threats from the inside. Privateers. Pirates employed by the various larger factions of the galaxy to turn on their own, in exchange for pardons and money.
Piracy in the Renegade Quadrant was slowly starting to die, the glory days long gone. And everyone knew it. Still, most fought against the change. Determined not to give up or turn on their own. To push on to the end. Blackwell's Reavers was one of these groups, lead by the notorious Valencia 'Valkyrie' Blackwell. Once a bit of a rogue, bouncing between groups and crews, she finally started her own faction in 2385 with Upyri criminal (and psychopath) Jester as her first officer. Years past, and the Reavers grew in size and notoriety. They became a titan in the Renegade Quadrant, seemingly unstoppable.
That is until a former Upyri Federation Marine, Anora Cortus, and her crew collided with them.
Anora had been hunting pirates in the Renegade Quadrant since 2385, starting with small time groups. Now, several decades later, she's achieved a pretty big following. Using her massive fleet of warships, she ambushed the Reavers at an opportune moment, and managed to virtually annihilate them. The Guillotine, the Reavers' capital ship and mobile base, was heavily damaged by bombardments from the Paragon, Anora's own capital ship. It was promptly boarded once the fighting had died down, and eventually Anora and Valkyrie came to blows. Valkyrie wouldn't go down without a fight, and wouldn't dare abandon one of her greatest creations. This bought the survivors of the battle enough time to escape. Lauren Blackwell, Valkyrie's daughter born of an affair with another pirate captain, escaped from the ship. With her, Reavers engineer Zadra Masir and her drone Loudmouth.
Valkyrie would meet her end aboard the Guillotine at the hands of Anora Cortus in one-on-one combat. After the battle, Anora would abandon the Guillotine and Valkyrie's corpse, departing to regroup and search for other targets to eliminate. Lauren and the others would be found by Slade Beckwith, a close friend of Valkyrie and leader of the Red Phantoms pirate group, and Slade would return to the Guillotine to retrieve Valkyrie's body while the Guillotine itself would be hauled back to be repaired.
Now here on Shadespear Station, a month and a day after the death and burial of the legendary leader of Blackwell's Reavers, Lauren searches for a proper crew. Determined to rebuild the Reavers, and seek vengeance for her mother's death.
- - - - - - - - - - -
February 7th, 2426
Shadespear Station, Renegade Quadrant
Morgan's Chalice
Morgan's Chalice was one of the few relatively cleanly run bars aboard the station. The booze was good and plentiful, and cheap too. It was the Reavers' prefered dive whenever they were docked with the floating colony. Now, it was quiet. There were maybe two people at the bar itself, with one or two at the tables in the center. The old booths were empty, save for two. One in particular was where the Reavers' chief engineer was sitting, talking to the leader of the Red Phantoms. The other was where the new leader of the Reavers was sitting in silence.
"She's been awful quiet since we got here."
"Wouldn't you be after all that has happened?"
"No, I'd have said something by now. She shouldn't just bottle it all up like she is. Its not healthy."
"Barely anything she does is healthy."
"She's been sneaking off more often since we buried Valk. I hope she hasn't started doing Red Ice again. I don't mind the drinking, but that shit will kill her eventually."
"...you think she doesn't know that? She probably doesn't care. Valk was all she had in terms of actual family after Uric left. Valk watched over her, kept her out of trouble. And now she's gone. Lauren needs us now more than ever."
"Yeah..." said Zadra Masir, looking down into the mug before her. The beer was practically untouched, as Zadra was preoccupied with keeping an eye on Lauren Blackwell. She was sitting nearby in her own booth, her legs stretched out across the seat next to her as she gazed down at the plasma saber in her lap. The saber, an old model that had belonged to Valk, bore scratches and marks from years of use. It had been in Valkyrie's possession since the 2380s, after she had killed the previous owner with it. It had changed much since then, barely containing any of the original parts.
It also bore a few splotches of dried blood here and there. Her mother's blood. Lauren hadn't bothered to clean it, and wouldn't let anyone else touch the thing to do it for her. She even held Zadra at gunpoint once, after Zadra attempted to take it to fix it up. From where Zadra was sitting now, she could see Lauren's emerald eyes locked onto the saber, never wavering. Piercing through the cyan colored bangs of her hair.
How Lauren was acting...it worried Zadra. Valkyrie was Zadra's best friend, so of course Zadra had grieved in her own way just like everyone else that had known her. She even broke off one of her alpha horns on her forehead, and left it at Valk's grave site. A symbol of great respect and honor for her race, the Garlon. The problem was Lauren wasn't stopping. She wasn't taking the time to grieve properly. She was bottling it up and letting her rage bubble inside. She wanted vengeance. They all did, but none more so than Lauren.
"...so, any recruits so far beyond the two we found at Rook's Wharf?" asked the man that was sitting across from her. Zadra looked back to him. Slade Beckwith. He wasn't wearing his helmet like usual, choosing instead to come to the bar dressed in street clothes. No armor to hide his tanned skin and the lines of age on his face, or the large scars cutting down over his left eye and the cybernetic implant that had replaced it. "No...nothing beyond some pirates offering condolences. And some jackasses that thought it'd be funny to joke about Anora killing off most of the Reavers." responded Zadra. Slade grunted a bit, scratching the side of his face. "Let me guess. Some of those Bloodrunner dickheads."
Zadra nodded, looking back down into her drink yet again. "They just don't know when to shut up. Lucky for them, they didn't bug Lauren with it. Only me. I had Drav teach them some proper manners. Think she went to the restroom." Lvishka Dravko. Drav, for short. One of the recruits that they had hired on back at Rook's Wharf. A Khergian. Tall, blue, muscular. They needed that muscle, and lucky for them Drav was quite talented with weaponry and gear. A good find, honestly. She grabbed up the pair of Bloodrunners, knocked them together, and tossed them out into the dumpster in the back. Piece of cake.
"Ahhh, good. How'd the Ayr hire turn out?" asked Slade, tilting his head. "Well, he's a smartass. But he can handle a flight stick pretty damn well. That's him over there." she responded, pointing towards the bar. Sitting at the bar was another blue being, enjoying some of that strange 'tea' that most of his kind liked. Roku Saito was his name. That, along with him being an exile and his piloting skills, was all Zadra really knew about him. He kept his reasons as to why he was in exile to himself. Frankly, she didn't care why as long as he was loyal to this crew and he could do his job right.
A moment later, Roku glanced back at the two of them and raised an eyebrow. Must have read their minds, the damned ayr. He stood from his stool and walked over to their booth with his tea. "For your information, the reason for my exile is purely personal, and not professional. That's why I choose not to talk about it," he said, insomuch as one could speak without a mouth. The Ayr were telepathic, and that, along with their nearly blank, yellowish-gold eyes, was something Zadra always found a bit unnerving about them. Roku grabbed a chair from one of the tables in the open, and sat down with them. "...And I'm probably the best pilot you'll find out here, so you guys made a damn good choice hiring me," he added, raising his eyebrows in a sort of pleased manner.
Slade smirked, as Zadra frowned. "I like his attitude." said Slade, glancing to Zadra before looking back to him. "Yeah." muttered Zadra. A few moments later, a Khergian approached them and sat in the booth next to them behind Zadra. Drav. "No luck?" she said, rather gruffly. "Nah, not yet. Just gotta wait." said Zadra, glancing back to her.
Drav grunted. "Need recruit. At moment, bare ship. No gunner but Drav. No doctor. No engineer but you. One driver. One raider. We die quick." she said, cutting a glance to Zadra and Roku. Khergians were known to be terrible when it came to foreign languages, but if you needed something akin to a one-man demolition team, they were good choices. Roku spoke up. "I'm choosing to remain optimistic. This is practically pirate central alongside Rook's Wharf. We'll find others here." he said, before inhaling some of the aroma wafting up from the cup in his hands.
"Yeah, you will. Trust me. I've never went wrong stopping here, so you won't either. Anyway, I'm gonna go talk to Lauren then head out. Good luck." said Slade, tapping the table and looking between the three of them before standing. Roku gave him a sort of faux salute, while Zadra and Drav simply waved him off. He departed, strolling across the bar past a few other patrons before arriving at the booth where Lauren was.
"Pops." she said, without looking up. It was rather blunt, as well. "I'm not that damn old." he muttered. He slid into the seat across from her, resting his elbows on the table as he clasped his hands together. "What is it?" she asked, still staring down at the saber in her lap.
"Blue...Zadra's worried about you."
"...and? She always worries about me."
"You know what I mean. You've been quiet. Sneaking off when nobody's looking, doing who knows what...How many times have you visited her grave this past month?"
"..."
"...you can't just keep everything bottled up inside forever. You're practically running off nothing but anger. You need to talk to someone. Be it me, Taur, or Zadra...please." said Slade, his remaining eye locking onto her face.
Taur Gorgon was an old friend of Valkyrie, having helped her construct the Guillotine back when the Reavers were first founded. Taur was also friends with Valkyrie's father, and had constructed with him a prototype version of the warp engine that the Guillotine's was based off of. He and Zadra, along with her drone Loudmouth, were the only surviving members of the original Reavers. The rest either died in Anora's attack, or had died or left long before that. Taur was now assisting Zhao Chang, the leader of the Ironbloods and another friend of Valk's, and her crew in repairing the Guillotine back on Sielia. Where the ship and Blackwell's Reavers were first made, and where Valk now rested in eternal slumber.
Lauren finally reacted, her eyes drifting over to look at Slade. Then, she turned to face him, clipping the saber back onto her belt. "I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me. And I'll be even more fine once I cleave that fanged bitch in two." Slade looked into her eyes for a few moments, then down at the table before sighing. "...dammit, Lauren...fine. Once you get a few recruits, shoot me a message. I've got a mission for you. I know you want the recruits to prove themselves to you, so I've got the perfect chance for them to do it. A trial by fire." Lauren glanced over to Zadra and the others, then nodded. "Good. Better than fucking fist fights." she muttered.
Slade looked at her for a few more moments, before speaking again. "...please take care of yourself. Valk sacrificed herself so that you and the Reavers can live. Don't throw your life away. Be smart. Like she always taught you. If you need me, I'm only a call away. Same with Chang. We still care about you, even if you don't give a shit about anyone else right now." Lauren glanced to Slade, before muttering a soft "...alright." Slade faintly smiled, then stood from the booth and departed without another word.
Lauren sat there in silence for a bit, before eventually standing from the booth herself. She fixed her jacket, an old faded leather bomber with the Reavers logo emblazoned across the back, before walking over to where the others were sitting. She slipped into the booth where Zadra was sitting, resting in the spot that Slade had been sitting in a short while before. Zadra watched her for a moment, then said "...you alright, Lauren?"
"Peachy. Where are we on recruiting?" she responded, looking about before turning her gaze to Zadra. "Nobody yet." said Zadra.
"Well, we're not leaving till we get some. Even if we have to start trying to steal people from other crews...shoot Pearl a message and tell her to come join us at the bar. I think she's spent enough time alone with our favorite talking trash can." said Lauren, sitting back in the booth.
Zadra drew out her holotablet, and fired off a message to Pearl before pocketing it again.
"How can you guys stand that thing? I swear, if he keeps spewing bullshit, I might go insane." said Roku, looking between Zadra and Lauren.
Both of them smirked. "You get used to it." responded Lauren.
Drav spoke up next. "Talking can not know when to stop. Drav give him these hands." she said, holding up her hands which were now clenched into fists.
"Don't break the drone...its Zadra's and its one of the few things my mother left us." said Lauren, her voice going a bit soft as she spoke of Valk. She gently touched the saber on her belt, as things got a bit quiet.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Three months ago...
The Guillotine, Renegade Quadrant
Port Side Training Deck, Melee Room
"Nice job, Lauren. You broke it. Again." said a voice. "Hey, I was only doing what you told me to do. You said show some aggression and attack the dummy, so I did. You didn't specify that I couldn't throw the thing at it." replied Lauren, putting a hand on her hip as she wiped sweat from her forehead. "Don't be a smartass. Now I have to fix the saber again. This is what...the third time in a span of a few weeks?"
"Maybe you should just build a new sword instead of piecing that ancient one back together all the time."
"Maybe you should use your brain. Like you keep refusing to do. I'm not always gonna be here to help, you know."
"Really seems like the opposite, mom." said Lauren, cutting her mother a look.
Valk narrowed her eyes as she looked up from the broken saber in her hands. "...I care about you, Lauren. You know that. I don't want to lose you like I did Uric." she said.
Lauren turned to face her completely, tilting her head. "Mom, Dad fucking ditched us. Plain and simple. He just up and left, and you've spent fucking forever searching for any sign of him. He doesn't want to be found, mom. He doesn't give two shits about us."
"He does care about us. He always did. And I'll find him eventually. I'm sure of it." responded Valk, returning her attention to the saber.
"Right. Sure." muttered Lauren, rolling her eyes and looking back to the dummy. Her mother always taught her to focus on the dummy during practice, and imagine that it was someone she really hated. She always pictured her father, Uric Corbett. He vanished when she was thirteen years old, abandoning the both of them as well as his crew. The Stray Dogs. Without a leader, her mother offered them the chance to join the Reavers. Then, as the Reavers continued to do what they did best in the RQ, Valkyrie would scour the galaxy in search of Uric. And she still continued this wild goose chase. He was either dead or didn't want to be found. Lauren bet that he probably got in good with the Black Masks and got them to hide him. Fucking spooks in suits.
The effect it was having on her mother was pretty obvious. Her mind wandered rather often, usually to the point to where she was oblivious to what she was doing. Dark circles had formed under her eyes from long nights of scanning through reports and star charts of where Uric might have gone. She had let her hair grow out, to the point where it almost touched her shoulders. At least she still kept it that mauve color that she always liked. Her tattoos had faded a bit, instead of being touched up like usual to keep their appearance. Lauren had even seen her start crying once, while she was working on engine schematics for one of the other Reaver ships. Why her mother cared so much about a man that clearly didn't care about them, she would never understand.
Lauren sighed. "I'm gonna hit the shower." she said, turning and walking by Valk. "Fine, but we're continuing your saber practice tomorrow. Got it?" said Valk, looking back to her as she walked away.
"Yeah yeah. I got it." replied Lauren, waving a hand over her shoulder before stepping through the door of the practice room. Valkyrie sighed as the door shut, before stepping over to a nearby table to inspect the damage to the saber.
- - - - - - - - - - -
"Well, activity is picking up. Maybe we'll get some bites now." said Zadra, looking up as more patrons started to enter the bar. "Fingers crossed." said Roku, finally setting his tea cup on the table in front of him. Lauren simply sat in silence just as she had been before, dwelling on memories.
Shadespear Terminal. A haven for pirates, criminals, outlaws...really anyone with a warrant out for their arrest somewhere in the galaxy. The second most popular spot next to Rook's Wharf, but much farther south in the RQ. It used to be an Upyri Federation colony, but an old Hellion captain by the name of Shadespear helped change that. It floated silently above Gostoth, the planet itself a ball of storms and ship debris from the battle that the Federation lost so dearly.
Ships came and went, loaded with either cargo or crew. Shadespear was often used for a sort of trading outpost, as its location was perfect for the various crews and factions that operated in the area. All types of people showed up here, ranging from those of the big named groups down to those smaller crews just starting out on their journey to riches and glory. Lately, though, the later group was starting to grow smaller and smaller. The galaxy was changing. The Upyri, Elysium Commonwealth, Sol, the Ayr, even the kanads and newly formed Achaemenid Kingdom were starting to move in. Grabbing up territory and resources. Clashing with those already inside the Renegade Quadrant. There was also threats from the inside. Privateers. Pirates employed by the various larger factions of the galaxy to turn on their own, in exchange for pardons and money.
Piracy in the Renegade Quadrant was slowly starting to die, the glory days long gone. And everyone knew it. Still, most fought against the change. Determined not to give up or turn on their own. To push on to the end. Blackwell's Reavers was one of these groups, lead by the notorious Valencia 'Valkyrie' Blackwell. Once a bit of a rogue, bouncing between groups and crews, she finally started her own faction in 2385 with Upyri criminal (and psychopath) Jester as her first officer. Years past, and the Reavers grew in size and notoriety. They became a titan in the Renegade Quadrant, seemingly unstoppable.
That is until a former Upyri Federation Marine, Anora Cortus, and her crew collided with them.
Anora had been hunting pirates in the Renegade Quadrant since 2385, starting with small time groups. Now, several decades later, she's achieved a pretty big following. Using her massive fleet of warships, she ambushed the Reavers at an opportune moment, and managed to virtually annihilate them. The Guillotine, the Reavers' capital ship and mobile base, was heavily damaged by bombardments from the Paragon, Anora's own capital ship. It was promptly boarded once the fighting had died down, and eventually Anora and Valkyrie came to blows. Valkyrie wouldn't go down without a fight, and wouldn't dare abandon one of her greatest creations. This bought the survivors of the battle enough time to escape. Lauren Blackwell, Valkyrie's daughter born of an affair with another pirate captain, escaped from the ship. With her, Reavers engineer Zadra Masir and her drone Loudmouth.
Valkyrie would meet her end aboard the Guillotine at the hands of Anora Cortus in one-on-one combat. After the battle, Anora would abandon the Guillotine and Valkyrie's corpse, departing to regroup and search for other targets to eliminate. Lauren and the others would be found by Slade Beckwith, a close friend of Valkyrie and leader of the Red Phantoms pirate group, and Slade would return to the Guillotine to retrieve Valkyrie's body while the Guillotine itself would be hauled back to be repaired.
Now here on Shadespear Station, a month and a day after the death and burial of the legendary leader of Blackwell's Reavers, Lauren searches for a proper crew. Determined to rebuild the Reavers, and seek vengeance for her mother's death.
- - - - - - - - - - -
February 7th, 2426
Shadespear Station, Renegade Quadrant
Morgan's Chalice
Morgan's Chalice was one of the few relatively cleanly run bars aboard the station. The booze was good and plentiful, and cheap too. It was the Reavers' prefered dive whenever they were docked with the floating colony. Now, it was quiet. There were maybe two people at the bar itself, with one or two at the tables in the center. The old booths were empty, save for two. One in particular was where the Reavers' chief engineer was sitting, talking to the leader of the Red Phantoms. The other was where the new leader of the Reavers was sitting in silence.
"She's been awful quiet since we got here."
"Wouldn't you be after all that has happened?"
"No, I'd have said something by now. She shouldn't just bottle it all up like she is. Its not healthy."
"Barely anything she does is healthy."
"She's been sneaking off more often since we buried Valk. I hope she hasn't started doing Red Ice again. I don't mind the drinking, but that shit will kill her eventually."
"...you think she doesn't know that? She probably doesn't care. Valk was all she had in terms of actual family after Uric left. Valk watched over her, kept her out of trouble. And now she's gone. Lauren needs us now more than ever."
"Yeah..." said Zadra Masir, looking down into the mug before her. The beer was practically untouched, as Zadra was preoccupied with keeping an eye on Lauren Blackwell. She was sitting nearby in her own booth, her legs stretched out across the seat next to her as she gazed down at the plasma saber in her lap. The saber, an old model that had belonged to Valk, bore scratches and marks from years of use. It had been in Valkyrie's possession since the 2380s, after she had killed the previous owner with it. It had changed much since then, barely containing any of the original parts.
It also bore a few splotches of dried blood here and there. Her mother's blood. Lauren hadn't bothered to clean it, and wouldn't let anyone else touch the thing to do it for her. She even held Zadra at gunpoint once, after Zadra attempted to take it to fix it up. From where Zadra was sitting now, she could see Lauren's emerald eyes locked onto the saber, never wavering. Piercing through the cyan colored bangs of her hair.
How Lauren was acting...it worried Zadra. Valkyrie was Zadra's best friend, so of course Zadra had grieved in her own way just like everyone else that had known her. She even broke off one of her alpha horns on her forehead, and left it at Valk's grave site. A symbol of great respect and honor for her race, the Garlon. The problem was Lauren wasn't stopping. She wasn't taking the time to grieve properly. She was bottling it up and letting her rage bubble inside. She wanted vengeance. They all did, but none more so than Lauren.
"...so, any recruits so far beyond the two we found at Rook's Wharf?" asked the man that was sitting across from her. Zadra looked back to him. Slade Beckwith. He wasn't wearing his helmet like usual, choosing instead to come to the bar dressed in street clothes. No armor to hide his tanned skin and the lines of age on his face, or the large scars cutting down over his left eye and the cybernetic implant that had replaced it. "No...nothing beyond some pirates offering condolences. And some jackasses that thought it'd be funny to joke about Anora killing off most of the Reavers." responded Zadra. Slade grunted a bit, scratching the side of his face. "Let me guess. Some of those Bloodrunner dickheads."
Zadra nodded, looking back down into her drink yet again. "They just don't know when to shut up. Lucky for them, they didn't bug Lauren with it. Only me. I had Drav teach them some proper manners. Think she went to the restroom." Lvishka Dravko. Drav, for short. One of the recruits that they had hired on back at Rook's Wharf. A Khergian. Tall, blue, muscular. They needed that muscle, and lucky for them Drav was quite talented with weaponry and gear. A good find, honestly. She grabbed up the pair of Bloodrunners, knocked them together, and tossed them out into the dumpster in the back. Piece of cake.
"Ahhh, good. How'd the Ayr hire turn out?" asked Slade, tilting his head. "Well, he's a smartass. But he can handle a flight stick pretty damn well. That's him over there." she responded, pointing towards the bar. Sitting at the bar was another blue being, enjoying some of that strange 'tea' that most of his kind liked. Roku Saito was his name. That, along with him being an exile and his piloting skills, was all Zadra really knew about him. He kept his reasons as to why he was in exile to himself. Frankly, she didn't care why as long as he was loyal to this crew and he could do his job right.
A moment later, Roku glanced back at the two of them and raised an eyebrow. Must have read their minds, the damned ayr. He stood from his stool and walked over to their booth with his tea. "For your information, the reason for my exile is purely personal, and not professional. That's why I choose not to talk about it," he said, insomuch as one could speak without a mouth. The Ayr were telepathic, and that, along with their nearly blank, yellowish-gold eyes, was something Zadra always found a bit unnerving about them. Roku grabbed a chair from one of the tables in the open, and sat down with them. "...And I'm probably the best pilot you'll find out here, so you guys made a damn good choice hiring me," he added, raising his eyebrows in a sort of pleased manner.
Slade smirked, as Zadra frowned. "I like his attitude." said Slade, glancing to Zadra before looking back to him. "Yeah." muttered Zadra. A few moments later, a Khergian approached them and sat in the booth next to them behind Zadra. Drav. "No luck?" she said, rather gruffly. "Nah, not yet. Just gotta wait." said Zadra, glancing back to her.
Drav grunted. "Need recruit. At moment, bare ship. No gunner but Drav. No doctor. No engineer but you. One driver. One raider. We die quick." she said, cutting a glance to Zadra and Roku. Khergians were known to be terrible when it came to foreign languages, but if you needed something akin to a one-man demolition team, they were good choices. Roku spoke up. "I'm choosing to remain optimistic. This is practically pirate central alongside Rook's Wharf. We'll find others here." he said, before inhaling some of the aroma wafting up from the cup in his hands.
"Yeah, you will. Trust me. I've never went wrong stopping here, so you won't either. Anyway, I'm gonna go talk to Lauren then head out. Good luck." said Slade, tapping the table and looking between the three of them before standing. Roku gave him a sort of faux salute, while Zadra and Drav simply waved him off. He departed, strolling across the bar past a few other patrons before arriving at the booth where Lauren was.
"Pops." she said, without looking up. It was rather blunt, as well. "I'm not that damn old." he muttered. He slid into the seat across from her, resting his elbows on the table as he clasped his hands together. "What is it?" she asked, still staring down at the saber in her lap.
"Blue...Zadra's worried about you."
"...and? She always worries about me."
"You know what I mean. You've been quiet. Sneaking off when nobody's looking, doing who knows what...How many times have you visited her grave this past month?"
"..."
"...you can't just keep everything bottled up inside forever. You're practically running off nothing but anger. You need to talk to someone. Be it me, Taur, or Zadra...please." said Slade, his remaining eye locking onto her face.
Taur Gorgon was an old friend of Valkyrie, having helped her construct the Guillotine back when the Reavers were first founded. Taur was also friends with Valkyrie's father, and had constructed with him a prototype version of the warp engine that the Guillotine's was based off of. He and Zadra, along with her drone Loudmouth, were the only surviving members of the original Reavers. The rest either died in Anora's attack, or had died or left long before that. Taur was now assisting Zhao Chang, the leader of the Ironbloods and another friend of Valk's, and her crew in repairing the Guillotine back on Sielia. Where the ship and Blackwell's Reavers were first made, and where Valk now rested in eternal slumber.
Lauren finally reacted, her eyes drifting over to look at Slade. Then, she turned to face him, clipping the saber back onto her belt. "I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me. And I'll be even more fine once I cleave that fanged bitch in two." Slade looked into her eyes for a few moments, then down at the table before sighing. "...dammit, Lauren...fine. Once you get a few recruits, shoot me a message. I've got a mission for you. I know you want the recruits to prove themselves to you, so I've got the perfect chance for them to do it. A trial by fire." Lauren glanced over to Zadra and the others, then nodded. "Good. Better than fucking fist fights." she muttered.
Slade looked at her for a few more moments, before speaking again. "...please take care of yourself. Valk sacrificed herself so that you and the Reavers can live. Don't throw your life away. Be smart. Like she always taught you. If you need me, I'm only a call away. Same with Chang. We still care about you, even if you don't give a shit about anyone else right now." Lauren glanced to Slade, before muttering a soft "...alright." Slade faintly smiled, then stood from the booth and departed without another word.
Lauren sat there in silence for a bit, before eventually standing from the booth herself. She fixed her jacket, an old faded leather bomber with the Reavers logo emblazoned across the back, before walking over to where the others were sitting. She slipped into the booth where Zadra was sitting, resting in the spot that Slade had been sitting in a short while before. Zadra watched her for a moment, then said "...you alright, Lauren?"
"Peachy. Where are we on recruiting?" she responded, looking about before turning her gaze to Zadra. "Nobody yet." said Zadra.
"Well, we're not leaving till we get some. Even if we have to start trying to steal people from other crews...shoot Pearl a message and tell her to come join us at the bar. I think she's spent enough time alone with our favorite talking trash can." said Lauren, sitting back in the booth.
Zadra drew out her holotablet, and fired off a message to Pearl before pocketing it again.
"How can you guys stand that thing? I swear, if he keeps spewing bullshit, I might go insane." said Roku, looking between Zadra and Lauren.
Both of them smirked. "You get used to it." responded Lauren.
Drav spoke up next. "Talking can not know when to stop. Drav give him these hands." she said, holding up her hands which were now clenched into fists.
"Don't break the drone...its Zadra's and its one of the few things my mother left us." said Lauren, her voice going a bit soft as she spoke of Valk. She gently touched the saber on her belt, as things got a bit quiet.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Three months ago...
The Guillotine, Renegade Quadrant
Port Side Training Deck, Melee Room
"Nice job, Lauren. You broke it. Again." said a voice. "Hey, I was only doing what you told me to do. You said show some aggression and attack the dummy, so I did. You didn't specify that I couldn't throw the thing at it." replied Lauren, putting a hand on her hip as she wiped sweat from her forehead. "Don't be a smartass. Now I have to fix the saber again. This is what...the third time in a span of a few weeks?"
"Maybe you should just build a new sword instead of piecing that ancient one back together all the time."
"Maybe you should use your brain. Like you keep refusing to do. I'm not always gonna be here to help, you know."
"Really seems like the opposite, mom." said Lauren, cutting her mother a look.
Valk narrowed her eyes as she looked up from the broken saber in her hands. "...I care about you, Lauren. You know that. I don't want to lose you like I did Uric." she said.
Lauren turned to face her completely, tilting her head. "Mom, Dad fucking ditched us. Plain and simple. He just up and left, and you've spent fucking forever searching for any sign of him. He doesn't want to be found, mom. He doesn't give two shits about us."
"He does care about us. He always did. And I'll find him eventually. I'm sure of it." responded Valk, returning her attention to the saber.
"Right. Sure." muttered Lauren, rolling her eyes and looking back to the dummy. Her mother always taught her to focus on the dummy during practice, and imagine that it was someone she really hated. She always pictured her father, Uric Corbett. He vanished when she was thirteen years old, abandoning the both of them as well as his crew. The Stray Dogs. Without a leader, her mother offered them the chance to join the Reavers. Then, as the Reavers continued to do what they did best in the RQ, Valkyrie would scour the galaxy in search of Uric. And she still continued this wild goose chase. He was either dead or didn't want to be found. Lauren bet that he probably got in good with the Black Masks and got them to hide him. Fucking spooks in suits.
The effect it was having on her mother was pretty obvious. Her mind wandered rather often, usually to the point to where she was oblivious to what she was doing. Dark circles had formed under her eyes from long nights of scanning through reports and star charts of where Uric might have gone. She had let her hair grow out, to the point where it almost touched her shoulders. At least she still kept it that mauve color that she always liked. Her tattoos had faded a bit, instead of being touched up like usual to keep their appearance. Lauren had even seen her start crying once, while she was working on engine schematics for one of the other Reaver ships. Why her mother cared so much about a man that clearly didn't care about them, she would never understand.
Lauren sighed. "I'm gonna hit the shower." she said, turning and walking by Valk. "Fine, but we're continuing your saber practice tomorrow. Got it?" said Valk, looking back to her as she walked away.
"Yeah yeah. I got it." replied Lauren, waving a hand over her shoulder before stepping through the door of the practice room. Valkyrie sighed as the door shut, before stepping over to a nearby table to inspect the damage to the saber.
- - - - - - - - - - -
"Well, activity is picking up. Maybe we'll get some bites now." said Zadra, looking up as more patrons started to enter the bar. "Fingers crossed." said Roku, finally setting his tea cup on the table in front of him. Lauren simply sat in silence just as she had been before, dwelling on memories.
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