Tyain Haleron stopped writing as a sandy haired man entered her room. His green eyes took a glance around the room; it was damn near spotless and very plain. There was nothing personal in her room, not even a picture of a loved one. A smirk crossed his face as he realized she had no intention of letting anyone in. Taking a few steps closer, Rupert nodded to her and spoke. “We are ready to dock, Ma’am.”

Placing her now closed book in a drawer, Tyain locked it before standing. “Good and what will be done with our crew?”

“They shall be kept under lock and key in their rooms until we return. There will be men patrolling the area frequently an—“

“That will do.” At her interruption Rupert quieted down and waited further orders. She took her time, fingering a piece of paper on her desk. It was a document on one of their “unusual” cases. His name was Leo Rigmont and he was from a small planet, Nigural.  It said he murdered his entire family and yet he claimed to have no memory of it. They were found frozen to the bone with no explanation as to how. Something about this case interested her.  “Lieutenant Fwakes, I will ask that you stay behind in my absence. “

“Of course.” Was his only reply; if he was startled he knew enough not to show it which gave her a sense of respect for the man. As she grabbed her cloak, Tyain headed out the door. “I mean no offense, I trust you however I think you would do more good here.”

“I understand, however I would suggest you take a few armed guards as extra precaution.”  He remained a step behind her, mindful of his rank, thinking only of her safety.

With a smile, Tyain threw on her cloak; she was now covered completely, head to toe. “Only a fool would go into Jer’rrid territory blindly. I have those who are necessary, you needn’t worry.”

“Then I shall not worry any longer.”


“Tsch… figures they’d still treat us like common criminals.” A scrawny pox faced man yelled. They were all waiting on line for their third meal of the day and already there was tension. Most people were mumbling to themselves or yelling belligerently at each other. A few of the soldiers tightened their grips on their guns; always watching.

Leo Rigmont however sat with his head bent over his meal; alone.  It’s been a month since they locked him up for a crime he knew he did not commit. Yet no one believed him, and now here he was. Toying with what was supposed to be mash potatoes but looked more like the runs. A part of him was sure there was some kind of drug in them yet what, he didn’t know.

“Five minutes until lock-down.” Called out a man with curly black hair; he was known as the Onyx or simple, Jappie. The man was big and he was mean, with a couple of scars across his face to prove his experience. He took shit from no one and made it a point to make your life miserable once you crossed the line. There was always a thin line around here.

Sitting at a table with six other criminals, Zoe attempted to focus on eating the slob the cooks passed off as food. It was revolting, but her stomach was betraying her by growling constantly.  Finally giving in, the blonde picked up the utensil and scooped up what was either oatmeal or mashed potatoes. Staring at it in slight irritation, the wrongly accused finally took a bite. It felt just as horrendous as it looked and for a brief second, she thought about spitting it out.  Forcing herself to swallow, she felt her body shuddering slightly. Her already stick figure frame was slendering down even more and if it wasn’t for the ability to work out, she would probably be in really poor shape.

Shoving her fork into a piece of meat that was probably old and imitation, Starwind munched on it thoughtfully as several inmates complained about the newest order. Something had to be going on if they were to remain in their quarters until further notice. That made her very curious and her blue eyes shifted over to a few of the soldiers. Over her time, she made a few friends with the soldiers and wondered if she could get information from them.  Finishing the slop on her tray, the eighteen-year-old climbed to her feet and grabbed receptacle and tossed it into the sink with a sigh. Paying no attention to anyone commenting towards her, Zoe stepped towards a fair-haired soldier to converse with him. However, before she was able to reach the man, her left slender arm was grabbed by a butt-ugly, buck-toothed, whore-looking black haired woman.

“I don’t want any trouble, but I suggest you let go of me.”

“What ya gon’a do ‘bout it, skel’ton?”

Arching a brow, Zoe stared the inmate down before shifting her attention back towards the soldiers. They were gripping their guns even tighter, watching the two closely. Even as Onyx reminded them that there was five minutes until lockdown, neither chick moved.  As always, the Tartarusian was calm and collect and perhaps even a bit cocky. It was obvious that if the crack-head attacked her first, she could easily dispatch the moron.  Shifting her feet slightly so that they were shoulder width, Zoe once again looked at the older woman, who others called Bertha.

“Unless you want to nurse a broken arm, you’ll remove your grimy fingers off my arm.”

Bertha let out a god-awful laugh that sounded like a donkey braying and dug her meaty digits harder into the space pirate’s arm. Without wasting another breath, the orphan grabbed a hold of piggy’s hand and as she removed it from her arm, squeezed together the fingers, grinding the bones as painfully as possible. Snapping around with her left leg, the fighter connected it against Big B’s side.  Still holding onto bucky’s right hand Zoe grabbed a nearby tray and slammed it against the woman’s face.  Backing off, Starwind dropped the tray to the floor, putting her hands up to the soldiers that were rushing to get between the two as Bertha previously known as Bartholomew cried like baby.

“Mess with the best; die like the rest. I warned you to let go of me and now you know I wasn’t bluffing.”

Three guards stood silently in the Thruster Chambers, their weapons pointed directly at a heavily bearded man who, too, silently watched the three guards. 'Mr. Yasif,' the bodyguard in the middle spoke, his fellow compatriots creating a semi-circle around the convict. 'Mr. Tinkerbell,' Yasif said with a glee-filled smile. The two bodyguard from the left and right slowly moved in, their weapons still locked onto Yasif Khalif. 'Did you not hear the announcement, Mr. Yasif?' The guards hesitated for a moment as Yasif shook his arms around his form.

Smoke billowed from around, slightly noxious but not deadly. Having worked around the Thruster Chambers for a few months now, Yasif had already memorised all the routes in and out of the compartment. He had even drawn a detailed map and stuck it in his room. 'I heard. But do you heard the sound of raoring fire before?' Yasif taunted the men, his smile growing ever larger with each passing moment. The guard on the right tossed his gun around to his back, pulling out a pair of handcuffs. These were no ordinary handcuffs; they were used to tie down the down-right insane sons of bitches that had been tossed onto the ship from the get go.

As the guard moved in from, the other down moved their fingers over the trigger, safety off. Yasif's brown eyes scanned the area, watching every movement the three men made. 'Raise your hands, Mr. Yasif. You know the drill,' the guard in the middle said, his optical sensors now switched on to monitor the inmate. A light blinked silently on the guards' eyepiece, all the cameras around the compound suddenly fizzing to life, and their attention completely on Yasif.

Raising his hands above his head, Yasif turned to face the guard with the handcuffs. 'Yes. I give up. You take me to dinner, meet your family and friends, yes?' The guard stopped immediately. Raising a brow, he asked: 'Why?' The wild smile on Yasif's face suddenly died, turning into a gloomy frown. His eyes concentrated on the man's face. A pink, slithering object exited Yasif's mouth, circling his lips. Pulling down his hands, he placed them infront of his chest. 'So I can burn them with the fires of hell. Send all of you to your doom,' a deep, satanic voice spoke, Yasif's eyes suddenly turning blood red. After taking the opportunity to cuff the madman, the guards took a step back and pressed a button on a remote. The cuffs expanded, covering Yasif's arms, chest and waist in a metal straight jacket. They slowly escorted him to his room, on the top most floor of the ships chambers. 'You see no peace...' Yasif let out a final few words before getting tossed into his room with the jacket still all over his body.

It was seriously hard to pretend to be innocent after just snapping a freak’s arm and breaking its nose, but Zoe tried her best. It seemed that no matter where the poor girl went trouble seemed to follow her.  Keeping her hands up and fighting to refrain from commenting more to the bellowing freak that started the whole mess, she turned her attention instead to Onyx who appeared to be quite heated. Bertha was sobbing hysterically as several people had to move her off the floor and to the medical area.

Not only was she wrongly accused of being a Space Pirate, a sentence, which caused her to end up here, but now she was being blamed for the scuffle that occurred.  If the stupid donkey would have kept her grubby fingers to herself, then everything would have been fine. Hell, Zoe was on her way to a nice peaceful nap, but now would probably be thrown into the pit. Life certainly was crapping on her at the moment and it was starting to piss her off.  Her normal cool and calm nature was beginning to wane, leaving a temper in its wake. This was becoming more apparent as Jappie the douche began to berate her.

As he turned his meaty back towards her, Zoe couldn’t help but make faces behind it. Sometimes her teenage maturity dipped lower than normal and this was one of those times.  It wasn’t but a second later that her visage returned to its normal tranquil and nonchalant expression, even as his pig mouth continued to insult her.  Her foster parents taught her not to care what others thought and that stuck with her even through all the bashing that seemed to find its way to her sensitive ears.  This jerk would get what was coming to him that was one thing the cocky chick was quite sure of.  Not even batting an eye as a large hand came flying back towards her face, Starwind was surprised when another figure suddenly appeared in the way and was promptly knocked towards her.

“Take them both to the pits.”

Unsure whether or not to help out the one who had taken the blow for her, the silver-haired femme instead bit down on her bottom lip.  The thought of being thrown into the pit wasn’t appealing to her as this was the first time she had done something worthy of being noticed. It didn’t matter whose fault it was because she was going to be persecuted anyways. She had to fight her instincts as she once again was grabbed and instead of fighting the soldiers, the energetic inmate leaned towards the boy as much as possible.

“You didn’t have to do that. I am quite capable of taking care of myself, even against scum like him.” She paused, as if fighting something internally before continuing, “…but, thanks…”

“Oh, and Jappie, the next time you feel the urge to backhand me, don’t be surprised if you wind up just like fat ass Bertha.  Where I’m from, it’s not polite to hit women.”

About to say more, she only narrowed her eyes dangerously as the soldiers pulled her out of the mess hall and down to the pit.  The smell reminded her of past events, which wasn’t really that reassuring. Still, hell would freeze before she gave anyone the satisfaction of seeing fear upon her face. Even as she was thrown into the pit, her expression remained serene with a touch of smugness.  They wouldn’t keep her in the abyss long and the moment she had a chance, the teen would jump on the first ship and change her appearance once again.

“That corpulent cow better be punished too.”

As the guards left, a few moments later the jacket enveloping Yasif's form unraveled; but the cuffs were still tightly binding his wrists in place. Wiggling his wrists a few times, the cuffs came off. This was not a problem for Mr. Khalif. Having gone through this situation many times over, at times on purpose, he had understood the mechanical, electronical and technical details surrounding the cuffs. In one fell swoop of his wrists, he obliterated the cuffs from his hands. Now free, he knew a few of his 'guard' friends would be on the way to investigate since the cuffs carried along with them a sensor that detected any damage that the cuffs would sustain.

Resonating footsteps ascending the stairs leading into Yasif's holding pen. Guns automatically cocked themselves, as sensors picked up on the danger awaiting. Safeties were turned off. They knew it would be one of those days where the man would do something stupid to annoy them and they'd eventually be on their merry way after a little lecture from Yasif on how people should die. But this time they would be wrong.

As the five man squad approached the holding cell of Yasif Khalif, they set into their overly used position -- the semi-circle. The squad leader scanned his palm, retina and DNA into the database. "Verifying Data," the computer prompted, a few moments later a blue light emanated giving the all okay to the squad. Sighing, the squad leader motioned to his squad mates to ready themselves.

Hydraulic hinges slowly lifted; plasma bearings and negative enforcer shields shut themselves down temporarily. But something was wrong. The floodlights that circled the inner portion of the six by twelve room did not light up. Turning on the torchlights embedded into their weapons, the team of five slowly moved into the room, their weapons poised to annihilate the threat. As they slowly moved into the room, their formation slowly shattered as the space required was not sufficient. The two men on either side had to move in, ruining their much trained formation, while the the squad leader stood as a sentry outside.

Walking on a what-seemed-to-be an oil-laden floor, the men eased their way into the room, their lights trained on a bed with a figure lying down on it with wet sheets curled up around it. 'Mr. Yasif...' a hand extended to touch the form, '... are you alright?' A foul smell began filling the room as a silhouette whizzed past the squad. 'Who's there?!' a guard yelled out, his voice reverberating around the minuscule room.

Lights from the guards' weapons danced around the room in search of the moving object. Somebody was there, and they knew it. It was obvious.

'Bye-bye Mr. Guards!'

The squad turned to the direction from which the voice came from. Their weapons lowered while their eyes filled with fear. Yasif was outside the room; in his deathly clamp was the squad leader's head. The door slowly shut, the hydraulics came back to life while an electric blue line of lasers blocked the exit. The men could not shoot, their leader was Yasif's meat-shield. Grinning at the squad, through the crevices of the massive door, they say and heard the grueling sound of a neck being snapped, before hearing the sound of shearing flesh.

The tiny food input hole popped open. A small flame was flew into the room. Time slowed. Eyes rolled to watch the match twirl before landing into the bed. An explosion ripped through the tiny room in seconds, engulfing the four tightly packed sardines in a ball of an oil fueled fire. 'Fire! Fire! They all burn in fire!' Yasif danced outside his room, his hands running a blade over the squad leader's nude form.

To the tune of death and th smell of burning guards Yasif sang a song of demise.

'Burn! Burn! You burn in the fires of hell! Your oil is my fuel! Your body is my coal!' A laughter of pure insanity filled the air. Hell had just been unleashed.
 

The streets were noisy and smelled disgusting. On almost every corner resided a hooker dressed in practically nothing, flaunting the only thing they had at their disposal. Aysel hated people like that. They didn't respect themselves so she didn't respect them.

It was at about this time a feeling rose through her chest--it was uncomfortable and made her heart hurt. Something was obviously wrong...she just didn't know what. That was frustrating. Aysel hated not knowing what was happening when it affected her--and she could tell this was going to affect her. Why else would she feel like this if it wasn't?

But she had to focus on her mission at hand, so she made sure she only focused on was immediate. In her attempt to get a better view of any possible threat, she stayed in front of the envoy--her eyes hawks to any sudden movements in their direction. They reached an intersection and a voice behind her murmured, "Go right." So she did.

This street was slightly cleaner, but still extremely noisy. Aysel suddenly decided she hated this place...this planet that might have begun with a J. She remembered the quaint town her father had ruled over in Flutania. Those streets were always clean and mostly quiet--the only sounds to be heard were the hushed conversation of merchants and buyers and occasionally the soft plop of animals going by.

As they continued down the street the decrepit houses slowly grew more and more grand, eventually giving way to half-way decent townhouses that looked as if they could possibly hold life. It was at one of these that voice behind her told her to stop. She looked behind her, awaiting some kind of order--knock down the door, break through a window--something. Instead, she was told to knock on the door. Politely. Even though she wanted to argue and say that this was a dangerous place and the person inside would probably kill them before the door even opened, Aysel remembered her place. It had been drilled in her by her father and the soldiers she used to train with, and also here all her superiors in the Guard reminded her again and again of her place. She hated her place.

She threw this hate aside, however, and walked up the broken stone steps to the old wooden door and knocked. Softly. Politely. She waited. And waited. And waited. Her adrenaline pumped. And pumped. And pumped. After what seemed to be a thousands years (but what was in reality about a minute and a half) the door was opened by a glutinous, short man with mangled hair and a squished in nose. Aysel hated the sight of him. 

There were times when Cody would wake up in the morning, and have this deeply settled feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was a feeling that was altogether unpleasant, like she had eaten something bad the night before, and it kept her from getting a good night's sleep or keeping a good focus on the job she had that day. And she had lots of jobs, often shifting to all different places in the transport ship she was now housed on. This engine needed recalibrating, this gear or that gear needed to be re-torqued. So much depended on her expertise, including the sanity of the men who worked underneath her. In light of the environment she worked in, it wasn't uncommon for the other engineers to go stark raving mad just from the catcalling and the mental torment some of the inmates put them through. What was Cody's solution? Simply ignoring them. She had to, because she couldn't risk going nuts like so many of her underlings had.

At eighteen years old, the young engineer had alot going for her. Why she ended up on this back-water prisoner transport was beyond her, but it had been one of the few jobs available to her at the time, and she wasn't one to turn down an opportunity. At any rate, she was here now, and she was madly successful and well-respected. Good deal.

So this was one of those mornings when she had woken up with that deeply unsettled feeling. She knew, just plain knew, that something awful was going to happen. It would throw a wrench in her day, set her back on her work, and possibly get her killed. But hey! It was something new. For kicks, she thought she might entertain the sense of foreboding as a possibly pleasant experience. This was another one of her tactics that kept her from going nuts.

So, she suited up, pulling her grunged overalls on over her long-sleeved black shirt. She fitted her gloves to her slender hands before lacing up the heavy laces of her fitted leather work-boots, and grabbed her tool-belt in order to fix it about her waist. Knotting her hair at the base of her neck, she made her way out of her private quarters in the bowels of the ship, taking the freight elevator to the upper levels so that she could go get something to eat.

That particular morning, it was Zoe's turn to be the bitchy commotion. Why was Cody eating with the inmates, one might ask? Because Cody had respect from most, if not all, of the inhabitants of the ship. After all, if one tried to mess with the head engineer, who knew what the hell would happen when the ship broke down? No engineer meant everybody died. Ergo, Cody was protected by her position. It was this freedom that had allowed her to frequent the public places that the inmates usually dwelt, ate, and communed, and during that time she had struck up a sort of friendship with one inmate in particular, a Leo Rigmont. He was there. He was always there. She had planned to talk to him too, until Zoe went and screwed everything up.

Much to her irritation, Leo got himself in the middle of the squabble between one of the thug-guards and Zoe, and got his sorry ass dragged down to the pit. Her stomach turned a little, heart pounding uncomfortably in her chest as she contemplated what would happen to the young man while he was down there. Her radio on her hip frazzled, but she reached down to switch it to the 'off' position. She'd go try to visit him. Cheer him up if she could. It was rare that she ever tried to make anyone other than herself feel better.

But, as luck would have it, she wouldn't have to take time out of her day in order to go see him after all.

Soon after eating, she was called down to the Pit, to the area of solitary confinement, in order to do a prep-check for another prisoner who was going to be loaded into the cell. It was her job to make sure everything was functioning properly for lock-downs and other routine functions. She was in the cell now, running the callibrations and eyeing every nook and cranny. She prided herself on her thorough checks. Rarely anything bad escaped her notice.

Since her radio was off, she didn't hear the harrowing message from one of the inmates, but she could hear the gunfire, the screaming, and the grating of metal on metal. Throwing herself against the opposite wall, she grit her teeth as she heard the outer doors go into lock-down mode.

"Fuck." she hissed, pocketing her instruments as she cautiously peered her head out of the cell. Blood. She could see it seeping down the hallway, coming from around the corner. She slipped out, scooting backwards on her heel as she tried to peer into each of the rooms to see where Leo was. One, two, three rooms passed. She could hear footsteps.

Fourth room, and she found him. Punching in the access code, she ripped the door open and gestured wildly to Leo. "We need to get the fuck out of here. Oh, and hi. Ask questions later, alright?" She stepped back, looking to her right. He was coming. No doubt about it. "Engineer's route. We have to get moving now."

A low giggle built in Jakom's throat before cascading from his updrawn lips as he peeked around a corner, tightening his grip on his companion so as not to leave him behind.  He really had no idea what he'd do without the man, that wonderful man who'd guided him through the halls of this rather dreary and lifeless ship.  Jakom was a little worried, the man he carried already had bloodsoaked clothes and even more was pouring out of his numerous and, unfortunately, greivous wounds.

"Oh....don't die on me, man!  I just...I just couldn't go on.", Jakom exclaimed with a look of horror on his face.  This look however quickly turned to confusion at the man's unusual response, "Gurgle gurgle?  I'm sorry...I just have no idea what you mean...."  Jakom had come to an intersection, "So is 'gurgle gurgle' supposed to mean left or right?"  He brought his blood-soaked finger-tip to his chin, tapping lightly as he considered the possibilities behind the alien language the man had spoken to him. "Hrm, damn...we really need to get out of here before you die, bud.....Oh!"

Jakom had just spotted a young woman and a prisoner coming out of his cell, "Maybe they can help us, Marlo!"  He walked over to the duo, his grip on his traveling partner tightening at the new beacon of hope he'd just encountered. "Eya, doll!  Think you could help me out with somethin?"  As he came near the woman he lifted the guard from the ground with a single hand, his grip still on the front of his neck, tightening even more so he could ensure the man was removed from the ground.  With a single, almost casual motion he hoisted the man up so that his name tag was even with the woman's eyes, the guards feet dangling from the ground as blood dripped from his boots to the floor.  "This nice lil fella brought me to my cell, he tried to put me in there and well.....I didn't quite like that idea....Or the other 2 of his buds who, honestly, smelled pretty bad."  Jakom reached his hand up, soaked in blood up to the wrist and attempted to wipe the very same crimson liquid from the name tag again, "Shit, Marlo, if you didn't bleed so damn much I'd know what your ACTUAL name is!  The heavy bleeders are always the worst am I right, doll?"  He looked around the back of "Marlo's" body at this woman, dressed in engineer's clothing, "Ya know what?  Fuck em."  Jakom flung the man into the wall next to the cell, his body landing with a disgusting splatter of blood as he slid down the wall, now entirely dead, his last fleeting moment's of life having left him as the inmate spoke.

He slipped his hands in his pockets and and sulked down a bit, his lean body starting to lose it's initial adrenaline rush as the joy of beating the guards with his own two hands beginning to leave him.  With almost no interest in the duo he meandered past, his boots leaving small prints of blood as he slipped past seemingly on to bigger and better things.  Then he paused mid-step, looking back at the man who'd just came out of the cell "Hey, kid....why you shakin?  That guard wasn't REALLY that big.  I was just holdin em up, ya know?"  Jakom couldn't help but laugh, a high-pitched sadistic giggle that echoed through the halls as he spun back around and continued his stroll.  The laugh was cut short the same as his initial departure as he heard gunshots down the hall and the sickeningly beautiful screams of life's being torn away. "Oh!  That sounds like fun!"  The criminal was no longer walking but all-out sprinting down the hall towards the commotion leaving his dear friend Marlo alone with his new band of traveling friends.  They probably wouldn't treat him nearly as well as I did he thought with a demented smirk twisting his features.

Once shoved into her new home, Zoe took a moment to glance at the interior before sauntering over to a bed, flopping down on it.  The room could definitely use some personal touches like perhaps an escape hatch to a life outside of this shithole and a closet full of clothes. It would also be awesome if it had a stash of weaponry and neat gadgets.  Perhaps a mirror, sink, washer and dryer, and some pictures on the wall would be great as well. But no, the dull walls were bare of anything exciting and the bed was less comfortable than the one in her other holding cell, if that was even possible.  Stretching out on her back, the mishandled female crossed one leg over the other, her arms folding behind her head.

“I am getting tired of being blamed for things, especially when I was just defending myself against Fatty McFatFat.”

Staring up at the unimpressive ceiling, Starwind was just about to snatch a nap when a commotion down the hall caught her full attention. Unfortunately she could only hear parts of what was happening, but what she caught was plenty enough. One of the inmates was breaking through his door and as the gunfire and screams echoed throughout the halls, her wide blue eyes stared at her own door wondering what was going to happen next and which inmate got free. There were quite a few psychotic criminals on the ship and if one of them got out then shit was about to hit the fan and she didn’t really feel like becoming just another casualty.

“Fuck. 

Her feet hit the floor as she climbed off the bed, scooting closer to her door. She wasn’t sure what was going on other than a lot of agonizing killing and gunfire. From what was being screamed the unnamed he was growing closer to her current location and for the first time, she was glad to be behind her safety net. Well, it was safe as long as he didn’t bust through like the psycho did with his own door. At least she was assuming that was what happened.  Hearing footsteps nearing her location, Zoe moved away from the door as quietly as possible while perking up her ears to pick up what was going on outside. It was hard because of the thick steel, but her acute hearing managed to pick up on another inmate (or so she assumed) that sounded like he had jumped off the deep end quite a while ago. How many insane prisoners were on the damn ship anyways? Tensing up as movement neared her own holding cell, the fighter bunched up her muscles and prepared to leap on whoever it was.

However, the moment her door opened and a female stuck her head in, Zoe couldn’t help but blink in confusion for a mere millisecond. Briefly recognizing the stranger as the engineer, Starwind struggled to remember her name, but realized it didn’t matter at the moment. No, what was important was being freed and with a leap, the lithe teen sprinted out of her compartment and followed behind the other girl and Leo who also had been freed. The moment they were out of the pits and away from the crazies, she was going to find the bitch who deserved to pay and collect the bill from her. First, they needed to keep from being slaughtered by insane convicts. 

“Go towards them? Well, sounds good to me…”

As Zoe practically flung herself out of her containment cell, Cody had to admit that she was thoroughly pleased with the other woman's enthusiasm and lightness of foot. Her relief was so great that she actually compulsively smiled. The joy, however superficial, lasted only moments as a fresh wave of grotesque battle noises echoed down the hall. Commanding her body to calm, Cody stepped back and glanced to the left, toward Zoe who had gone slightly ahead of she and Leo. "Don't let them see you yet." Cody cautioned, pulling her gun from its holster and grasping the handle with both gloved hands. Neither she nor Leo were armed (for good reason), which left the job of defense and possible offense to Cody. She was formulating a plan, and it was sketchy as a whole, but the step by step made good sense. She just needed to get Zoe to go along with it, because Leo she knew wouldn't give her too much trouble.

She gestured for Leo to follow as she walked up to Zoe and leaned her head in to whisper her furtive and improvised plan. Roughly fifteen yards down, around the corner and in plain view of the ongoing conflict between inmates and guards, there was a hatch that led into the ceiling of The Pit, an engineer's shaft that followed the AC units and major plumbing lines. Once they got into that shaft, she could lock the door behind them and seal the others inside. Getting to the shaft without notice was what the largest problem was going to be. Luckily, Cody had thought of that too.

"Just a few yards beyond the shaft ladder is a pressure valve for one of the major decompression chambers on the upper levels." she said, glancing down the hall nervously. They needed to move while there was still noise and commotion. "I'm going to release that valve. It should cause a minor steam-generated explosion that'll blind the inmates to our escape. That's when you two hot-foot it. For good measure, I'm going to fire a few times to keep them low and cautious."

Stepping back, she quietly shifted to the end of the hall and glanced around. It was a good plan, so long as everyone did as they were supposed to. This included the inmates, who were the over-obvious catalysts for chaos in this equation.

***

Alarms. He could hear alarms blaring in the distance. His dark, lovely eyes fluttered open as he was roused from sleep, a soft groan of irritation escaping his lungs as he drew himself to a seated position and stretched. He rubbed his calloused hand along the back of his neck, eyes flicking toward his door as shadows quickly moved past. He wondered at the commotion, daring to hope that the tables had been turned. He dreamed of escape, dreamed of the day when he would finally be able to feel her again. He remembered so clearly how her skin had smelled, how soft and warm it had felt beneath his rough hands. He remembered her beauty, her allure, mostly from the fact that she was the only one of his victims who had escaped. First and the last, his little lamb, his precious Cody.

Meal-time. Max turned to the door as a plate of food was shoved in. He was provided a fork and a knife due to good behavior, and to date he had never failed to return everything to his lenders. Today would be different, however. Taking the knife, he slipped it into his sock as he laced up his boots, then stopped by the door in order to wait for an attendant to come by.

"Excuse me," he said gently. "Might I have a knife? They've forgotten to give me one."

The young lady, apparently too flustered by what was going on, nodded and passed him one through the door. After he had finished his meal, he gave back the extra knife, plate, and fork, but kept his stowed knife in his sock for later use. He would see that girl again, he knew. He would make her pay for making him wait, for leading him on. He would make her realize that she missed him, and oh was the payback going to be sweet.

Utterly delectable.

Stepping back so that she remained out of sight, Zoe let the other two catch back up to her.  The more she thought about exacting vengeance against Bertha, the more she couldn’t help but grin.  Hearing a slight sound coming from behind her, Starwind took note of the other girl’s gun. That might come in handy, but the odds of getting a hold of it were slim.  No, she would just have to jack a gun from one of the dead soldiers. That would be far easier to do.  Whoever this other chick was she appeared to have a lot of knowledge about the ship, which meant she was either an engineer or an officer.

OH! Her name is Cody! That’s right. She’s an engineer or something!
   
"Just a few yards beyond the shaft ladder is a pressure valve for one of the major decompression chambers on the upper levels. I'm going to release that valve. It should cause a minor steam-generated explosion that'll blind the inmates to our escape. That's when you two hot-foot it. For good measure, I'm going to fire a few times to keep them low and cautious."

Leaning in close to hear what the girl said, the criminal took it all in and digested it quickly.  Something told her time was of the essence and wasting time thinking about the plan would be counterproductive. So, without a word, the blonde only nodded to let Cody know she understood and started forward once again. Facing the insane horde was a little daunting without a weapon, but from the gunshots and the screaming, something told her having a normal gun wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference anyways. As they moved forward, Zoe could hear someone screaming about bacon among other strange things. 

“Fucking insane people… This place really sucks.”

Spotting the corner they were to take, Starwind peeked around it cautiously. There were tons of corpses, most of them missing body parts, scattered all over the floor. The walls and ceiling were splattered with blood, bile, and other bodily fluids and it reminded her of a scene from an overly gory movie. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a flick and at any given moment, her delicate frame could be joining the dead.  Taking note of the hatch in addition to the ladder, Zoe tried to get a glimpse of where the prisoners were at. 

“Mmkay, there’s the shaft… go do your thing, Cody.”

The minute they were in the shaft, safe and sound, Zoe would find out how to get to the other floors, especially to the medical floor and then carry out the rest of her plan.  She would then find out where their personal belongings were out to get her clothing and weaponry.  Once that happened, she would hopefully find a way off this shithole and start yet another new life.

Tyain stared at the man’s corpse for a moment, who was he? Was this some trick of Luin’s in an attempt to forestall her? Now was not the time to think on this, someone had spoken. "Oi, asini, come with me now if you value your lives!"

They all turned to face the stranger with his rifle already away. Kindel’s hand was now hidden beneath his robes protectively. Raising her hand in warning Tyain spoke calmly. “Be still Kindel. If he wanted to kill us I’m sure we would have been dealt with minutes ago.”  He relaxed.

"The man you were supposed to meet was a spy, and we must leave this area immediately before these streets are swarming with local police and other undesirables..."

With a smile Tyain proceeded to follow with Kindel close behind as a siren could be heard nearby. “Will this be a long trip?” An uneasy feeling had settled over her, something was amidst and she couldn’t help but think of the ship. Once they were somewhere safe, she would call in.

~~~~~~~~~

Leo couldn’t help but tremble as that man looked at them. The way he spoke, it was… unnatural. The corpse he had toyed with was now staring back at them vacantly. "Hey, kid....why you shakin?  That guard wasn't REALLY that big.  I was just holdin em up, ya know?" A light flush crept up to his face as the man ran off. For a moment he couldn’t look at Cody, she had been braver and he well he was afraid.

Like a lost puppy Leo followed her to Zoe’s room and nearly choked on her words. “Follow them? Is there no other way?”  He looked up and down the hall in anticipation and sighed. But there was no time to discuss this, already Zoe was ahead of them and Cody was dragging him off. With a resigned look, Leo picked up his step and pushed on. It was hot. Sweat was falling off his nose and his clothes felt sticky, why was it so hot?

A gun. Cody’s gun to be exact, made him feel nervous. He was eyeing it with great distress as she shared a plan between the three. "Just a few yards beyond the shaft ladder is a pressure valve for one of the major decompression chambers on the upper levels. I'm going to release that valve. It should cause a minor steam-generated explosion that'll blind the inmates to our escape. That's when you two hot-foot it. For good measure, I'm going to fire a few times to keep them low and cautious."

“Explosion? Shaft? Gunfire? Sounds a lot safer than staying here.” A smirk crossed his face and then he became serious, “Do you think it’s wise to go by yourself?” His eyes took a glimpse at Zoe, she seemed antsy and a part of him wasn’t sure if she was reliable. Then there was Cody she could get hurt over this. Would it be wise for them to separate? “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Aysel sighed as she looked down at the quickly cooling body of the fat, unfortunate man who had answered the door. In her old home, death was looked upon as a tragedy to be mourned and feared--but she had no time for that now. Her liege was quickly walking away, following the voice of a suspicious man Aysel had neither faith nor trust in.

Knocking an arrow, Aysel jogged to catch up with the departing party. She stayed outside the group, eyes scanning yet again as the predator overtook her. At the moment, if anything made a threatening move to her or the ones she was supposed to be protecting, they would quickly receive an exploding arrow in their chest.

Absently, she surveyed the man leading them. His presence exuded something...unidentifiable. It was eerie, yet sure. Black, yet gray. Though she would probably never trust him with her life, she felt somewhat safe in the direction he was leading them. There was conversation, or at least attempts at it, going on between the party and himself, but she wasn't paying attention. A small part of her was busy with her analysis of their savior, and everything else was busy keeping them safe. Or trying to.

There was a movement. Out of the corner of her eye, Aysel saw a large man shift to hide behind a dumpster of some sort in an alley they were passing. She paused, then raised a hand to the group to continue on. Stealthily, Aysel backtracked and pressed her back to the farside of the dark, decaying alley. The man moved past her, as if to follow her wards, and this is when Aysel slid from her hiding spot and soundlessly rammed her personal dagger into the man's back, making sure to avoid anything that would instantly kill him.

"Who are you, and for what reason are you following these people, dear sir?" She hissed into his disgusting ear. A laugh--small and distant--chortled from his throat. It was immediately followed by a gravely, deep voice that resonated deep within Aysel's soul.

"Woman, you do not know what you're getting into. You think you're just here to guard them? You're so very, very wrong. They're here to complete a task so ungodly even the demons they're holding in their ship refuse to be apart of it. Remember this." With this, his jaw worked--he bit something. And then she felt his now lifeless body go limp.