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Post by Blindside Tex on Oct 3, 2019 15:11:52 GMT -5
Life isn’t always easy for a young adult. For anyone really. Though for Riley Jameson she had everything at her fingertips, just waiting to blossom into her life. She had friends, family, a beautiful home that her parents worked hard for. She could have anything that she wanted. The city of Varc was beginning to flourish, businesses were booming. It was a time to be alive. Until one fateful day ripped everything away from Riley. She would remember it for the rest of her life. She sat in class with her chin propped up by the heel of her hand, the eraser of her pencil bounced upon the wooden desk as she paused in her doodling. Civics, it wasn’t her favorite subject, but it wasn’t the worst. She glanced back down to the page before her just as the intercom clicked on overhead.
“Code 211. This is not a drill.” The principles voice came over the speaker system.
Riley looked up and her hazel eyes found the teacher Mrs. Stone. A look of fear washed over the young woman’s expression. “Alright class.” She spoke as she walked toward the door. “We’re just going to stay calm, okay? Everything is going to be alright.” She gave a weak smile as she pulled the door closed and she locked it in place. She slid a piece of paper over the thick glass window and taped it into place.
“What’s a code 211, Mrs. Stone?” One of the other students questioned.
The woman hesitated and bit her lower lip. Riley looked to the student whom asked the question, her expression grim. “It is a terrorist attack upon our city. Isn’t that right Mrs. Stone?” She turned her head to look to the woman just as an explosion sounded through the room.
Riley let out a cry as she was knocked from her desk. Debris scattered across the room and smoke filled the air. She lay on her stomach as she fought to catch her breath. Another explosion. The ground rumbled beneath her. Her hearing was nothing but echos from the shell shock, a bright ringing filled her ears as she crawled across the floor. The palm of her hand squished into something sticky, her knees became soaked in the same substance. Blood. Riley could feel the tears rolling over her cheeks as a muffled whimper came over her lips. Her eyes fell upon one of her classmates, a hole blown in her chest from shrapnel. It was a quick death...at least that is what Riley told herself as she and others scattered about. It was a mad dash once she got into the hallway, other explosions, gunfire. Riley didn’t look back to the bodies that riddled the halls as she rushed to what she hoped would be safety. She paused in the rubble as her eyes fell upon the enemy, the pirates of the skies. She watched as they gathered the young students up and tied their wrists. They were taking them. To where? Riley’s eyes widened as one of the pirates saw her standing there, shaking like a leaf in a storm.
She turned and ran. Riley couldn’t ever remember running as fast as she had that day. She ran until her muscles ached, until her lungs burned. She ran until the warm embrace of a soldier took her into his arms. The Arcpool Guard. They protected the entire planet of Arcpool from any threat, but mainly from the pirates of the skies. Riley collapsed into the arms as blood leaked from the cuts upon her arms from the explosions. It was a day that she would truly never forget. The entire city had been swarmed by the enemy, explosive charges were set off across the city of Varc. Riley’s parents? Her friends? The explosions took thousands of lives that day. It was by far the largest assault in the history of Arcpool. It was the beginning of a war to end all wars.
Riley found herself dead set on joining the guard. She wanted revenge for her parents...her friends. The lives that were lost that day. Mrs. Stone...and the others. She couldn’t get the faces of the dead from her mind. Her nights were filled with nightmares and only seconds of sleep for the longest time. As soon as she was of age she joined the Arcpool Guard. She pushed through training and excelled into the ranks. She fought her way into an elite squadron called CRITT, Covert Resistance Intelligence Tactical Team. The pirates so welcomely called them Red Devils from the red shoulder patches that they wore upon their uniform. Riley’s squadron was assigned some of the most trying missions, the most dangerous as well. They had taken the lives of many of the pirates, picking the crews off one by one. She had risen over the years to become the Lieutenant of her squadron, second in command.
Riley stood before her locker. Her chocolate brown hair hung about her face and down her back toward her shoulder blades. She wore a black tank top and her BDU pants, her boots were loosely laced upon her feet. She took in a deep breath as she stared with her hazel eyes to her rifle that was fixed within the locker.
“Having seconds thoughts about this Jameson?” A male voice asked from behind her.
Riley turned and her eyes gazed up as a smirk curved up her lips. “Me?” She asked with a smug chuckle. “Should I be worried?” She asked as she raised a brow. “Our intelligence has gotten us this far, hasn’t it? Why should this mission be any different Mason?” She shook her head as she turned back to her locker and reached forward to grab her vest.
“Riley.” Mason touched her arm, “This is different. Much different.” He searched her eyes. “You’re going deep into the enemy territory. With just two other soldiers. It is nothing like our previous missions.”
Riley turned a soft smile upon her lips as she looked up to him. “Mason, all you have to do is say you’re worried about me.” She winked and kissed his cheek. “You’ll be there. So I’ve no worries.”
“Ten minutes until take off. Alpha One Zero Charlie.” The intercom rang through the quarters.
Mason shifted and let out a long sigh as he watched Riley pull her gear into place. “I just don’t like the idea of us being dropped into the enemies territory like this.”
“You always worry too much Mason.” Riley fastened her vest into place before she tossed her rifle over her shoulder. She grinned to him and cupped his cheek. “You worry enough for the both of us.” She chuckled before she walked forward. “Come on, wouldn’t want to be late would we?” Riley jogged off through the barracks and out onto the airfield where a cruiser awaited them. She stood at attention and saluted her commanding officer before she climbed into the craft. Riley nodded to Woods, the other soldier that would be accompanying them. This was an intel mission. Strictly recon. They were to get in, get information on the enemy camps and get out. That was it. An easy mission by far compared to some of the most recent missions. Riley clicked her parachute onto her back after she checked over the straps.
“How do they plan to get us out?” Mason asked with worry in his voice.
“They will. We have a pick up point, just as we have a drop point. Right Woods?” She looked to the other soldier whom nodded. “Easy.” She nodded as she leaned back in her seat. “We jump, spend a few hours getting the info and hike to the pick up where he’ll be waiting for us.” The craft fired up and the pilot gave a thumbs up to the crew before they lifted into the skies. Riley closed her eyes as they ascended quickly, the forces of the engines never quite agreed with her stomach.
It was a long flight even with a warp through the stars. The distant base that they planned to take down would give a harsh blow to the enemy. It was where they took prisoners, it was their training camp. This would slow the pirates down. This would give Arcpool an upper hand in the war. Riley stood up as the back of the jet opened up she glanced to Woods and then to Mason before she gave a nod. “See you at the bottom.” She ran and leaped from the plane. Riley flipped in the air as the night sky surrounded her. She was nothing more than a shadow to the world below. The silence of free fall was something that had become rather welcome by Riley. The sound of air rushing passed her face as she plummeted to the ground. It was the only silence she would hear for awhile. She pulled the rip cord of her parachute and her body was lifted up swiftly. Riley glanced about over the darkness below as she adjusted her trajectory. She would lead her men to the ground, the would follow her commands, she was responsible for them.
Riley landed gracefully and she slipped her chute from her back before she began rolling and packing it back away. She glanced to the two others as they landed and followed suite. They would have to rely upon the intel that they were given. Two clicks to the north, northwest. That was their destination. Riley slipped through the thick of the forest easily, she had a set of goggles pulled down over her eyes that allowed her to see in the night, Mason and Woods also had on a set of the specialized goggles. The infrared would also pick up heat signatures and warn them of close-by enemies. They wouldn’t be easy to sneak up on.
Riley glanced to Mason and gave a nod as they came to a clearing after hours of traversing. She could hear chatter of the enemy ahead. Her goggles picked up several heat signatures. She moved swiftly as she listened to the conversations she watched as captives were shoved from the crafts of the pirates. Her mind strayed to that fateful day that Varc was attacked.
“Hey!” One of the enemy soldiers called out. “Did you hear about that Arcpool craft?” He lifted a bottle to his lips, liquor most likely.
“Oh yeah. I helped bring it down a few hours ago. Weird though, only 1 soldier on it.” The other man shrugged.
“Yeah, yeah. That’s why we are on alert.” He punched the man in the shoulder. “Where there’s 1 there are always more.”
“It was a tiny craft. Couldn’t have held more than 5 soldiers on it. What are we worried about? That was their ride home anyway huh? Poor guy is nothing more than barbecue now. That craft went up in flames.” He snickered happily. “Serves them right. Fucking soldier scum.”
Riley took in a breath, her jaw loose. She backed up a bit and glanced to Mason, a look of worry washed over his expression, Woods had the same look upon his face as well. Riley nodded and bit her lip then as she pulled them back into the forest. She paced and placed her hands on her hips as she let out a long breath. “We don’t know if that was our plane….right?” She looked to the two.
“We are screwed.” Woods spoke. “Stranded on this planet with nothing but the enemy surrounding us.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Alpha One Zero Charlie, come in.” He spoke into the radio on his chest. Nothing but static followed.
Mason turned his eyes stared to Woods. “Don’t try to call our craft. If they took it down and you call it….”
“This is Alpha One Zero Charlie. Go ahead.” A voice spoke through the radio.
“Don’t.” Mason spoke. “That’s not our guy.”
“How do you even know.” Woods gripped his radio. “What’s your location Alpha?”
There was static on the radio for a moment as the three stood in silence. “Location. Latitude 39.74. Longitude Negative 104.1. Do you copy?”
Woods smirked as he looked to the other two. “Loud and clear Alpha, thank you.”
Mason shook his head. “What if that isn’t our guy, Woods?” He questioned quickly.
Woods rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a notebook. “Well, if it wasn’t. He wouldn’t be at our proper pick up location.” He lifted the printed document to show it to Mason. “We need to get our information and get the hell off this planet.”
Riley nodded, “He’s right. We don’t know if they were talking about our plane.” She swallowed hard, “We found their base camp, we know where they are keeping captives. That was our mission...right? In and out. Quick and easy.” Her voice shook slightly.
Mason shook his head. “We are screwed.” He spoke quickly. “Our plane isn’t there. I guarantee it.”
“Don’t make me knock you out brother.” Woods glared to him. “Now come on, listen to our lieutenant.”
“I’ll go get a few snaps of the location. You guys stay right here.” Riley nodded. She turned and rushed through the forest. She spent enough time getting images of the location, the machinery, weapons. This wasn’t the first time she’d been on an intel mission. Riley moved swiftly and within an hour she was back to the two. “Alright, we meet back with Alpha.” She nodded. “Come on.”
They traversed through the night, through a valley and up the side of a mountain. It was nearly pitch black. Riley gripped Mason’s arm as he slipped at one point. “Careful.” She gave him a gentle smile before they pressed on. As they made it to the top of the mountain Riley could see a craft in the distance. “See?” She gave a smile. “Almost there.” Her heart was pounding within her chest. The thought of Mason being right, the thought of this being a trap. It was possible.
Riley moved forward swiftly toward the craft with the two at her heels. She glanced around, looking for heat signatures, nothing. Only the craft held any heat. As they drew closer the scent of burnt material filled Riley’s nostrils. She slowly lifted her goggles from her eyes as she looked to the charred metal of the craft. “Run.” She shoved Mason as gunfire sounded. “Go!” She pushed Woods. Riley grit her teeth as a bullet grazed her thigh. She watched as they became surrounded, the pirates wore some form of armor that blocked their heat signatures from sight. Riley let out a cry as Mason drew his gun and he tried to protect his comrades. Gunfire ensued. Riley had her own gun drawn as she began to take down those that she could. She reached down and gripped onto Mason, the familiar feeling of the warm sticky blood leaked over her fingertips. She pulled him behind a boulder. “Mason.” She looked down to him as her lower lip trembled. “Mason...” She choked out. The gunfire had ceased. It was silent.
“Lieutenant.” Woods’ voice quaked. “Lieutenant please.” The sound of a gun cocking seem to echo through the night.
Riley slipped Mason’s eyes closed. “I’m sorry...” She breathed as she slowly stood. Her eyes fell upon Woods whom was held with a pistol to his head. She could see the barrels of several other guns as they glistened in the dim light of the night. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she held her rifle firmly in her hands. Riley stared at Woods as the gun to his head fired. Blood splattered across the cool rocks of the mountain. Within the next moment Riley opened fire and rushed forward as a scream of agony slipped over her lips. Though something hard connected against the back of her head...and darkness followed.
**
Sometime later Riley regained consciousness. Her vision was blurry, the taste of blood and dirt filled her mouth. She had been stripped of her armor and her weapons. Riley was left in her black tank top and her BDU pants. Blood soaked through a tight pressure dressing on her thigh. She had several scrapes on her arms. She reached up to feel the welt upon the back of her head. As she pulled her fingers away she looked to the fresh blood upon her fingertips. Her mind went back to Mason. To Woods. To the look of defeat in their eyes just before they died. Why was she kept alive? Her mind then went to what Woods said. He’d called her Lieutenant. Any smart enemy would know that she was high ranking. The information that she held was priceless. Riley leaned her head back as she let out a long breath. She could only imagine the things that they would do to get information out of her. But she wouldn’t give in. Not to the scumbags that stole her parents, her friends...her city. No. She would find a way out of this mess and she would take them all down...
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Post by Nyte on Oct 3, 2019 20:38:12 GMT -5
Life in the city of Varc was peaceful. Protected by the Arcpool Guard the planet was relatively safe from invasions or any kind of disturbances. Most of the trouble that found the citizens of Arcpool was caused by its own residents. Teenagers and young adults that had found boredom in their safety and sought ways to entertain themselves. Asher, a young boy that often found himself in front of crossed arms and disappointed gazes, was part of the group that caused the trouble. He painted graffiti and created intrusive computer programs for kicks.
One day, during school hours, Asher had managed to convince his instructor to excuse him from class for a few minutes for a restroom break. It was all the time Asher needed to slip into one of the rooms the school housed the mainframe for the entire complex in. Combination locks had never been an issue for Asher to figure out so the school’s security was mostly a joke to him. Once inside he hooked up his PDA to one of the large computers and waited for his fun, mostly harmless, virus to download.
Just as the loading screen reached 98% he felt the impact of an explosion rock the building and he was sent sprawling out on the ground, pulling his PDA free from the cable he was using. The practical prank he was pulling was all but forgotten as he heard the sound of gunfire and screams coming from the hall outside. He got up to his feet and opened the door just in time to come face to face with a rather grizzly looking man in black and red holding a gun. The man smirked as he saw Asher and reached forward and grabbed Asher’s collar and yanked him from the doorway.
Asher fought against the man. He pulled away, kicked, screamed, and flailed the entire time as he was hauled down the hallway and then to a ship that was waiting for other raiders to return with victims they had gathered. All the kids that were gathered up were tossed into bare cargo rooms, like small cells, and the doors were locked with physical locks from the outside. Physical locks were always Asher’s bane as he couldn’t hack them like normal. So in was in this little room, with a couple dozen of his schoolmates that he waited as the screaming and gunfire continued until finally it grew silent then they felt the ship moving as it gained altitude to take off into space.
One of the kids in the room started to panic and a brawl quickly broke out in the cramped room which resulted in several kids screaming as they were hit, kicked, or bit by those trying to get away from the others. Asher had been pressed up against the door yelling for whoever it was that was crushing him to move when suddenly the door was ripped open. Asher fell out, toppling the man who had opened it, and then as soon as his feet found purchase on the metal floor beneath him he darted away from the prison in and effort to run.. Anywhere. When he reached the back door of the ship, where they had been brought in, he could see Arcpool cruisers chasing after them. He slammed his fist upon the thick glass between him and the void of space, yelling for the soldiers to rescue him, but to his dismay he saw the cruisers turn away.
They had simply given up. Deemed the chase not worth it and turned back home to face other matters rather than worrying about a group of highschool brats that had been taken in the midst of war. In his shock and dismay Asher wasn’t aware of the men coming up behind him until they grabbed his arms and quickly tied them behind his back to take him back to the cramped room with the others, after the hysteria had calmed down.
***
Years passed and Asher was subjected to the training and conditioning that all new pirates were forced into. They were tested again and again to find their aptitudes and natural skills. At first Asher pushed back and resisted their training, but when he was presented with a test that determined his value in programs and coding he finally submitted and they were more than happy to find a kid who had such a talent for tech. Asher was thrown into a program where he was allowed to learn and improve upon his skills, as well as still learning the basic soldier’s necessities of combat and warfare. Not to mention he was fed a steady trickle of propaganda to ensure he hated the Arcpool as much as the upper echelons did.
After finishing his “training” Asher was given a different name. Codex. It was like a medal of honor to officially welcome him into the ranks of the pirate organization that spirited him away from his home and given him the change to truly thrive. Codex was the one responsible for decoding the encrypted communications between the Arcpool forces and learned about the recon mission. He fed them some false information and managed to hijack their entire operation to play directly into their hands.
***
Only a few short weeks and Asher was humming to himself as he took his time getting ready in his private quarters. Looking in the mirror, after shaving the stubble from his chin, he looked over his bare torso. He was fit, near constant training regimes kept him in shape, and he sported many scars from whips or combat injuries. His skin was darkened from hours under the duel suns of the planet. His sandy blonde hair partially covered the optics that had been surgically installed into his temples, to help with interfacing with the systems he oversaw, and his dark eyes seemed a little tired from staring at monitors for hours on end. Otherwise he was healthy and kept a somewhat jovial attitude.
“Codex.” He heard a man’s voice say next to his ear, a communication from the device installed into his face. Reaching up he tapped the small button on the device. “Codex here.” He replied as he continued to wipe the remaining shaving cream from his jaw and neck with a damp towel. “We have a prisoner in interrogation. I want you there to help collect and verify the data we pull from her.” It was the commanding officer of the base he was at, and happened to be a friend of Codex’s so he almost asked rather than demanded like he would have of any other soldier on the base. “Sure thing. Let me dress up a bit for the lady though.” Asher replied with a chuckle. A chuckle was heard on the other end of the communicator as well in response. “Just get the info, Codex. I’ll take ya out for a drink afterwards and you can have your fun then.” The voice replied and then there was a small beep signalling the end of the transmission.
Asher sighed and tossed the towel down on the lip of the sink and then turned away from the mirror to head back into his room and picked up a shirt from his bed. He tucked the red shirt down into his pants and then pulled on a black vest over it, the pockets weighed down with a few small bits of equipment he kept on him, and then lastly he strapped his gun to his hip. It wasn’t an attire that would impress a woman but he did look a bit like a mercenary.
Making his way from his room he headed down to the interrogation room and glanced through the one way glass they had the woman trapped behind. Two more soldiers were simply watching her and it looked like she had just woken up, a little worse for wear if Asher was honest, but that wasn’t the most striking thing. He recognized this woman. It was like seeing something from a long forgotten dream, but he knew he had met her before and vague memories of the day he was taken started to work their way back into his mind. He quickly pushed them aside and turned to his peers. “So, we gathering intel?” He asked with a smirk and then gestured towards the door for them to lead the way. He outranked them and so they immediately nodded an affirmative, one of them picking up a hardshell case of unknown supplies, and then they punched in the electronic code to unlock the door and all three of them entered the room. Asher made sure to close and lock the door behind him.
“Lieutenant.” One of the men started as he set his case down on a metal table that was situated in the middle of the room. “Mind answering a few questions for us? The more you comply the easier this will be for everyone.” He said with a smile.
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Post by Blindside Tex on Oct 4, 2019 19:54:30 GMT -5
Riley brushed her hair from her eyes. They had taken everything, down to her boots, her hair tie, anything that she could use against them. She let out a long breath as she looked about the room in a haze. It was then that the bolt of the door slid from its place. Her muscles stiffened and she became hyper aware of every noise in the room. Her hazel eyes lifted to the three men that stepped into the room. The first two were brutes, soldiers just doing as they were told. Her eyes looked to the hardshell case, she could only imagine the horrors that lie inside. Click. The bolt of the door was locked back in place. Her eyes lifted to the man in the red shirt, her brows tucked together slightly as she gazed up to him. He was familiar somehow. In some way she knew him.
It was then that the man spoke. Her eyes drifted to him as she slowly stood herself up. She looked to the other two men a moment, she was taking in her surroundings. Only the man in red held a gun, on his hip. In the open as if he was asking for her to take it. The other two had empty holsters, they didn’t want to chance her becoming a threat. Though with their posture they didn’t seem to think she would be a threat. A woman of her frame. She wasn’t large, especially when compared to the men before her. “Easier.” Riley spoke as she let out a breath. She looked to the man that spoke her eyes stared into his as he kept the smile upon his lips. In the blink of an eye Riley lunged forward. Her fingertips gripped around the holster of the only pistol in the room and she ripped it back. Riley had the gun pressed against the neck of the man in red just as a jolt rushed through her body.
One of the other two men held a taser to the back of her neck. He followed her to the ground with it, holding the trigger down until she lay limply on the floor. “Didn’t the commander tell you not to bring weapons in these interrogations?” The man glanced to Asher and shook his head. “She might not look like a killer, but I guarantee she’s taken out more of our men than you can count on two hands.” He lifted her limp body up then and placed her in the chair in front of the table.
**
Riley stood before the class, her palms were sweaty from nerves. Presentations weren’t ever her favorite thing, it involved speaking in front of the entire class. She glanced over the eyes that watched her before she let out a breath and she lifted the remote into her hand to click through her slides. “Arcpool was founded in the year 2874...” She began, her mouth felt dry. She clicked a button to open up the new slides. “As the colonies were built they were built upon the premise that every family that came here would thrive. No fear would be set before us.” She paused and clicked again. “But then 200 years ago rebels began to emerge, those that have risen against the Arcpool Guard. Those that feel that the guard….” Riley stopped speaking then and clicked the remote a few times. The screen had turned black. “Um...” She drew her brows together. “Uh...” She moved to the computer. “S-sorry.” She choked out as she clicked about trying frantically to fix the presentation. Suddenly the bell rang, fire alarm.
“Alright class, you know the drill.” The instructor stood and began shuffling them from the classroom.
Riley let out a breath and shook her head as she stepped from behind the computer and she shuffled into the hall. “You’re welcome.” A voice came from behind her.
Riley glanced back to the slender build, a smirk curved up the young man’s lips. “What?” She asked with confusion on her face.
“I saved you from that presentation.” A chuckle came from Asher as he grinned to her.
Riley drew her brows together and shook her head. “You what?” She asked and let out a sigh. “This...” She looked to the flashing lights as the alarm continued to ring. “Asher that’s not...” She crossed her arms uncomfortably. She was friends with Asher, in the sense that he hung with the same group of friends she was in. “Th-thanks.” She finally choked out as she pushed the doors open and stepped into the crisp fall air. That wasn't the last time that he would step forward to help her. In a way Riley grew to enjoy the help that Asher gave her. Though she never really got the chance to get to know him. She was always busy with extracurricular activities that her parents enrolled her in. She was busy from the moment she opened her eyes to the moment her head hit the pillow...
Fingers snapped before Riley’s face as she slowly began to come to. “That’s it.” One of the men chuckled. “Rise and shine princess.” He tapped her cheek. “There you are.” He gazed into her eyes. “Now. Care to answer some questions?”
Riley drew her brows together. She gazed into the man’s eyes a moment before she spat blood into his face. “I’m not answering any of your questions. I most certainly won’t make this easy for you. You took away my home, my parents, my friends.” She was breathing quickly. This, she knew this could get her killed. But at this point...wasn’t that better than these pirates getting information out of her?
The man backhanded her harshly and he let out a growl. Riley’s head snapped to the side and she let out a heavy breath to hold in the cry that she wanted to let out. The soldier then gripped her jaw and forced her to look to him. “You can make this easier on yourself, Lieutenant. We will kill you swiftly rather than drawing it out.” He stepped back and looked to Asher. “Your floor, Codex.”
Riley stared to the men before her, the other man’s hand rest upon the hard case that he’d carried in. “Go ahead and kill me then, you’re not getting any information out of me.” Tears had welled in her eyes. She pulled against the cuffs that held her hands behind her back. She was defenseless. “I would rather die than help you in killing any more people on Arcpool like you did in Varc 10 years ago.” Her eyes glared to the man in red then. His face was so familiar.
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Post by Nyte on Oct 4, 2019 20:57:20 GMT -5
It didn't take long for the interrogation to turn sour. Codex expected that, but he also expected it to take at least twenty minutes or so before brute force was needed to bring everything back down to a dull roar. The speed she used to lunge at Codex and then take his gun was rather impressive and even with his quick reflexes he wasn't quite fast enough to prevent her from taking the weapon. Even with it taken from him though he didn't seem worried as he calmly held up his hands with a smirk playing on his lips. When his comrade managed to taze her and knock her out without her being able to squeeze the trigger he lowered his hands once more and sighed. "Oh fuck off." Codex snapped back at the man who complained about him bringing a weapon.
Leaning down he picked up his gun from the floor and pressed the clip release button on the side of the grip. When he held up the clip the other two could see that it was completely empty. "All it is a bludgeoning weapon at the moment. If she can take all three of us out by pistol whipping us then we all need to off ourselves." He replied which made the first man grumble and the other one chuckled with amusement.
While she was out Codex moved to the hard shell case still sitting on the metal table and pressed a 5-digit code to unlock it. Opening the case he could see the various electrodes set into the soft foam and a monitor in the top half of the case that gave a few flat lines at the moment as he had yet to hook anything up to Riley. He picked up the first electrode pad and carefully removed the plastic backing from it before placing it against Riley's temple which gave the monitor a feint signal. He placed three more electrodes on her, on the other temple and then on the back of her neck, then pressed a reset button on the monitor in order to begin reading a baseline while she was still out cold. From the readouts he could tell she was dreaming of something, or at least that her mind was still working rather than being completely blank. "Huh, this girl never stops it seems." He commented and then moved to sit on the table next to the monitor while his companions began to try and wake her up.
As soon as she came back to the waking world her sharp tongue returned and she was asking to be killed since she was dead set on not giving any information. The interesting part that Codex noticed was her mention of Arc ten years ago. It was the same time that he had lived in Arc, but that place seemed to distant to him now. Like a dream he could barely remember. "Eh, we don't really need you to talk. Just take a little longer to get what we want out of you." He looked down at the monitor. "You're lieutenant Jameson, correct?" He had gathered that much from her earlier interactions with the other soldiers and then her name being sewn into her uniform that they had removed from her. He watched the readouts for her brainwave activity on something that was the truth. It was sort of like a lie detector but concentrated specifically on brainwaves, for now. Eventually it could do a lot more but like with any machine it needed data in order to perform its full functions.
"For the record." Codex began, not being able to simply drop the comment about Varc. "Ten years ago, the Arcpool let us take those kids and kill those people. The only reason they showed up was to save face with the rest of the citizens on the planet." He shrugged. "Your precious Arcpool doesn't want this war to end. It makes them money and so they'll let it go on until either we crush them or they find another way to exploit its citizens."
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Post by Blindside Tex on Oct 5, 2019 13:29:12 GMT -5
Riley kept her eyes on the man. What was so familiar about him? She couldn’t place it in her memory. When he spoke her name her jaw stiffened slightly. She glanced to the back of the hard case, it was in that moment that she became aware of the electrodes that were stuck to her skin. Her eyes followed the wires. “It doesn’t do you any good to ask me questions if you don’t really need to speak to me.” She pipped up. “Does it truly matter my name if you just plan on disposing of me?” She glared to him. “I’m not going to help you.” She took in a deep breath as she pulled against the cuffs, the metal pressed against her skin but she didn’t gain any ground. She wasn’t going to get out of this easily.
Her attention was caught again when Codex began to speak. His words were like daggers. The words couldn’t be any further from the truth. Her jaw tightened again as she pressed her lips into a flat line. It took a few moments of silence before her lips parted once again. “Is that the lie that they tell you in order to gain such a following?” She questioned, her voice wasn’t sharp this time. It was soft. “I’ve always wondered what the leaders tell the young children to get them to kill so many innocent people. To take the lives of children their own age or even younger perhaps.” Her eyes locked on his. “The guard did no such thing. If you were there you would know much better than you do. I, as well as many others were saved from the likes of you during the attack. Do you know who saved us?” She paused but her eyes didn’t pull away from him. “The Arcpool Guard, men and women in the same uniform that I wear. I fight to defend our planet against you scumbags.” She pulled against the cuffs again. “You all can rot in hell for all I care. Every last one.” She pushed back against the chair causing it to rock back before she brought her knee against the table. The heavy table rattled slightly as her weight pushed the chair off balance.
Just as she leaned further back one of the other men grabbed her shoulders and pushed her forward so that her stomach was pressed against the edge of the table. He adjusted one of the electrodes that had nearly been pulled off from her quick movements. “Your story is filled with glory, but that certainly isn’t what the Arcpool Guard is truly about.” He chuckled. “You think we are the scum of the system?” He scoffed. “Take a look at your commanding officers.” He crossed his arms.
Riley took in a deep breath the best she could with the table pressed against her body. “You’ve all been brainwashed into this. I’ve heard horror stories of the camps that they put you through. We’ve spoken to pirates that went awol before.” Her eyes looked to the brute of a man that had set her back upright. She pulled against the cuffs again, her wrists were becoming bruised by this point. She then looked back to Codex and smirked. “What sort of name is that anyway? Huh? Codex.” She laughed. “What are you a computer? Huh?” She pulled against the cuffs once again. “Is that a code name? Or were you cursed by your parents?” She chuckled as she continued to assess her situation. She just had to find her way out. That was it. Find her way out and use every possible thing she could to escape. That was the plan. Easier said than done she imagined.
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Post by Nyte on Oct 5, 2019 18:52:18 GMT -5
Codex scoffed at the sound of pity in her voice. Like he had been tormented by those that gave him the life he had now. He had been put through brutal training regimes sure, but so had she most likely, but nothing close to torture as he was sure she was imagining. "Codex is a name, and a badge, and yeah I'm a bit of a machine so it fits." He said in response to her quip over his name. He knew he should just proceed with his line of questions. Get the answers he knew his superiors were waiting for, but he couldn't let the familiarity he felt in her go and the more she spoke the more he realized that she was at Varc when it had been raided, same as him. He was the lead in this interrogation as well, well highest rank officer at least, and could get away with a few liberties.
"So, you were saved by the Guard on Varc ten years ago." Codex said as he leaned forward a bit that his eyes were level with her own and his face only a few inches away. "So was I." He let his words hang in the air for a moment before leaning back once more to sit casually on the table. "I was fourteen and easily swept up by the pirate raiders who came to gather new recruits for their cause. It wasn't a pleasant experience, I'll admit, I was shoved into a tiny room with about a dozen or so other kids while they finished up their raid. I managed to get out though. I managed to get to a bay window after we had already broken out of the atmosphere." His eyes grew a little distant as the memory of that day came to the forefront of his mind. "I saw the Arc cruisers chasing us. Then I saw the glow of their engines as they gave up. Turned back home once we were out of sight of the citizens on the planet. So that way they had put on a show that they were trying to stop the pirates. Sure, they saved you, you probably made it to them, right? Ran all the way till you found soldiers that swept you up to safety? Well, they couldn't just hand you over after that so you were spared and now your head is filled with ideas of revenge on us. The victims of a war Arcpool perpetuates for profit."
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Post by Blindside Tex on Oct 5, 2019 19:25:32 GMT -5
Riley drew her brows together as she watched him. His reactions. Though as he leaned in close she leaned her head back slightly. Her eyes looked to the machinery that was attached to his head. But his words drew her eyes back to his. Everything came together rapidly in her mind. His familiar face. She blinked a few times. “That. Didn’t happen.” She choked out after a moment. “You are lying. They made you believe that.” She struggled against the cuffs on her wrists. “I won’t let you warp my mind.” She winced slightly, she could feel her skin breaking down from her own struggling against the metal shackles. Riley grit her teeth as she pushed back with her feet again. Though the other soldier was behind her almost instantly, he held her shoulders firmly. “The soldier saved my life. I would have died. They saved me.” She struggled more. “They saved many others...so many others...” She took in quick breaths as she pushed back against the soldier that held her.
“He isn’t lying, Lieutenant.” The other soldier spoke with a chuckle. “The Arcpool Guard is a corrupt as it comes.”
Riley shut her eyes, “No.” She spoke with a strong voice. “You are wrong. If….if the Varc incident happened again today...I...I would save as many as I could, just as they did 10 years ago. They saved as many lives as they could. They can’t follow ships into warp space, not back then...we didn’t have the technology.” She opened her eyes again. “Now we do. That’s how we found your planet, where you were hiding your camps where you torture people into following commands.” She shifted and elbowed the soldier behind her before she kicked back the chair swiftly this time. She pushed her feet against the side of the table and kicked it forward sending her toppling onto her back on the floor as the table skidded across the room and pinned the other soldier against the wall. She groaned as she tried to get her arms free.
The soldier that she elbowed grabbed her harshly and lifted her and the chair back to its feet. “Enough of this.” He snapped as he gripped her chin.
Riley brought her leg up between his legs with a harsh blow before she leaned forward and stood swiftly with the chair still attached behind her. She spun and slammed it into the soldier before she rammed it against the wall causing the old wooden chair to shatter. Riley glared to the man in the red shirt her breaths heavy as she looked to him. “It’s sad that they took you.” She spoke as she stared to him. “It’s sad to see you like this, controlled by those that were our enemy as we sat next to each other in class.” She shook her head, her voice was broken as she spoke as if she was holding back tears. “I always hoped that you survived, Asher...but not like this.” Her voice was filled with a sadness that would sweep even the most stone hearted off their feet.
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Post by Nyte on Oct 5, 2019 20:26:26 GMT -5
Codex didn't really think that she would break so easily, but the way she reacted to what he said about Varc told him he had struck a nerve. He did expect her to try and struggle against her bonds again, to fight her way out of the restraints that held her to the chair, but he didn't expect just how strong she could actually be. When she kicked the table Codex was knocked to the ground, sent sprawling out as he slammed against the ground rather hard.
Codex groaned and reached to the side of his head, that had connected with the ground, to check if he was bleeding. He was not but by the time he figured that out and oriented himself once more Riley had managed to dispatch both of the other soldiers. He was just getting to his feet when Riley started to speak once more. She was sad they took him? What a ridiculous idea. Then she said a name he hadn't heard in almost ten years. "That's not my name." He told her with a harshness in his voice. "My name is Codex. I earned that name." He closed the distance between them.
Any strikes she attempted to make in order to bring him down were easily countered. His training was more extensive than that of his peers. After a few exchanged blows he managed to grab Riley's wrist and twisted her arm behind her back and pushed her forward to pin her up against the wall with no room for leverage. He stood directly behind her and held a firm grip on her forearm. "Don't think that something like sentiment is going to get you out of this. I'm glad I was taken away that day. If you had been taken as well then you would be able to see the Arcpool for what they are." With a free hand he pulled another set of cuffs from one of his pockets and cuffed her hands together behind her back.
The ruckus in the room alerted other soldiers and within a few seconds three more men burst into the room and they carried guns at the ready. "Seems our little session comes to an end. We'll pick up where we left off later and you will give the information we want from you. Then we'll decide what will be done with you after that."
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Post by Blindside Tex on Oct 6, 2019 14:26:22 GMT -5
Riley stepped back quickly as he closed the distance. She tried to gauge what he would do. “Really you earned it?” She shot back at him. “You’ve earned nothing.” She tried to hit him to make her move to escape. But he was quick. Much faster than she’d expected. Riley groaned as he blocked her punches and he twisted her arm behind her back. Her face was pushed against the wall harshly, his weight against her pushed the air from her lungs. She took in quick small breaths. She struggled against him. “You are being fooled, Asher.” She choked out. “I am an Arcpool Guard...I would never allow you to be taken...” She tried to wiggle from beneath his weight but he was too strong and had her in a vulnerable position. “They dug through the city for weeks...there were so many that were unaccounted for...” She grit her teeth. “Your name was among those that they could not find. So was Lila.” She gazed up into his eyes then as he spoke that tomorrow she would answer his questions. “Or do you even remember us? Hm?” She scoffed slightly, her nose was bleeding from her impact with the wall. “I forgot, you’re not Asher, hm.” She stared to him. “Well...Codex.” She paused slightly. “Good luck tomorrow.” She smirked. “You won’t be gaining anything from me.”
Two of the guards stepped forward. “Codex.” The third guard spoke. “Are you injured?” He looked him over quickly. The two guards grabbed Riley by her upper arms she struggled against them. “That will be enough of that.” The guard that spoke to Codex spoke as he pulled a gun from his holster. Though it wasn’t a normal gun, it had a barrel on top of it that was filled with a bright green liquid. He pushed it against Riley’s neck as she struggled against the guards. A hissing sound came from it as he pulled the trigger. Riley elbowed one of the guards and broke her arm free she took a step forward as her eyes grew heavy. “Hm.” The guard chuckled as he watched her fall to the floor in a heap. “You think you can crack this one, Codex?” He grinned as he looked to him. This guard was Rancor, one of the officers of the base. He was named for his liquid toxins that he mixed and placed into the chamber of his specialized gun that he developed. He could kill just about anyone with one of the small chambers of toxins. Put them to sleep. Make them ill. Hallucinate. You name it. He could make a potion for it. He was on the same level as Codex ranking wise. “If you would like some help.” He lifted the now empty gun. “I’ve got something that will get her talking. Or we could have fun, cause her to hallucinate. She will be begging for you to make it stop.” He snickered as he tapped the chamber before he holstered it. “Think about it, Codex. The commanders would be just tickled if we got information out of her. I’ll let you take the glory of course. You did help me with that terrible virus in my lab computer.” He grinned. “So I owe you, don’t I?” Rancor smiled as he turned and stepped from the room.
The other two guards had dragged Riley’s unconscious body of to the cells of the facility. It wasn’t until several hours later that she woke. Riley lay on the floor in a dark damp room. She could hear the scurrying of tiny rat paws upon the cement floors. The smell of the cell was musty and caused her nose to turn up in disgust. She grit her teeth as she slowly sat up. She rubbed her wrists where dry blood rest along with bruising. Her eyes moved about the dim room, water dripped down one of the walls of cement blocks. Riley slowly pushed herself up, she winced as she was reminded of the gunshot wound to her leg. She looked down to it, all of her struggling caused blood to push through the gauze that was tied around it.
“Good morning, Lieutenant.” A voice spoke from the other side of the bars. “Sleep well did you?” The greasy guard spoke as he chuckled and slipped a tray through a slot. “Foods up.” He chuckled again.
Riley nearly vomited as the stench of the food filled the cell. She looked to the slop that he’d offered her as she turned her head away. “I’m not hungry.” She replied, though her stomach felt as though it was eating itself alive. She kicked the tray back through the bars causing it to spill on the guards freshly polished boots.
Suddenly the guard’s arm shot through the bars and he gripped onto her pulling her forward forcefully and slamming her body against the bars. “You’ll learn to respect us.” He spoke, his face inches from hers. “You’ll learn to obey our commands, Lieutenant.” He snickered as he released her. “There’s water in the corner there. Why don’t you clean the blood from your face?” He lifted the tray and disappeared into the darkness of the dungeon.
Riley gripped onto the bars and closed her eyes, this was not what she had in mind when she tried to think of how to escape. She moved and sat on the pallet that lay upon the cold damp floor. The material was damp as well. She found the bucket and dipped a cloth into it to wash the blood from her face and arms. She then ripped off a piece of her pants before she inspected her wound on her leg. Riley grit her teeth as she began washing it clean of the dirt and grime. They hadn’t done anything other than wrap the gauze around it. She wasn’t meant to survive this. They would kill her as soon as they got what they wanted, if not before...if she didn’t cooperate she would die eventually...right? She would rather suffer than allow these pirates to kill more innocent people. This war had to come to an end somehow. Riley eventually scooted herself against the wall in the corner, her knees were pulled to her chest and her arms hugged around them. She looked about the cell for what felt like hours. She watched rats scurry across the floor, eating the slop that had sloshed off of her tray. Eventually though her eyes grew heavy and her head leaned forward to rest upon her forearms as she slipped into a slumber that her body begged for.
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Post by Nyte on Oct 6, 2019 16:16:09 GMT -5
As soon as Codex saw Rancor enter the room he felt his nerves stand on end. Rancor was the type of guy that made everyone's skin crawl when he entered the room. Like Codex he had a reputation within the pirate organization but it was very a very different sort of reputation. Codex was known to be reasonable, level headed, and a master at problem solving. Rancor was brash, ill tempered, and tended to simply smash his way through the issues he encountered. He was also, what Codex considered to be, the evil of their organization. Prisoners who were proven to be less than useful were often given to him to run his experiments on new serums he was developing. Codex hated it, but there was nothing he could do about it either. The worst part of it was that Rancor seemed to have a liking for Codex and whenever they happened to work together on something he liked to act as if they were the best of friends and Codex hated his guts.
"I think I'll pass on that favor for now, thank you." He replied to Rancor when he offered to assist him on Riley's interrogation. He wasn't going to stoop so low as to ask the man for help on something like this. Codex was more than capable of handling it on his own. Watching as they took Riley away Codex sighed as he realized they would need a new method to pull the information from her. Fear tactics wouldn't work and though he still had faith in his little machine in the hard shell case he wanted to get her to come clean without it, for some strange reason. So while she was taken down to cells for temporary holding Codex returned to his office in order to prepare for the second round of questioning.
His next method was a bit unconventional but he felt it might work better for someone like Riley. His memories of her back in school didn't match up with the woman he had faced today. She had been so shy, timid and soft spoken back then. He remembered bailing her out of projects so that she didn't have to speak in front of a group. Maybe that shyness had turned to physical outbursts as she grew older. So he wanted to make her more comfortable than being intimidated by a group of three men baring down on her.
A few hours later the door to Riley's cell opened up and a handful of men came in with a pair of folding chairs and a card table. They set up a small sitting area and then a silver tray with much nicer smelling food was set down in the middle along with bottles of fresh water and a small leather pack next to that. When the soldiers finished, only taking a few seconds, they left and Codex entered the cell. He was still wearing the same clothes but this time his holster was empty and he had no ominous case. "Evening." He told her with a smile as he came around to one side of the table and sat down in one of the chairs and gestured towards the other one. "Care to join me?" He asked then lifted the silver dome off the tray to reveal a spread of fresh food. Vegetables, bread and a bit of what looked like roasted ham. "I heard they didn't give you the best treatment when they brought you down here." He said and set the dome on the ground next to him. "Sorry, I didn't know this is where they would bring you after that little incident."
His tone was much more normal, less threatening and demanding than it had been before. Almost the same manner that he had always spoken with their group of friends when they were kids. Casual and carefree like he didn't have a worry in the world. "I figured I'd bring you some decent food and.." He reached and picked up the small leather pack and held it up for her to see. "A medical kit for that wound in your leg."
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Post by Blindside Tex on Oct 6, 2019 19:54:44 GMT -5
Riley laughed as she stood in the cafeteria. She smiled as she glanced over to Lila, her best friend. “What do you see in that boy, Lila?” She questioned with a playful smile. “He’s trouble you know?” She motioned toward Asher whom was standing in the lunch line. They were the only two in their corner so far. Lila was sitting on the bricks in front of the auditorium, their usual spot.
Lila looked up to her from her lunchbox and let out a chuckle. “He might be trouble but he’s a sweet guy, Ri.” She had blushed slightly. “You can say all you want about him.” She winked. “But he’s saved your ass so many times in civics, truthfully. And don’t act like you don’t know it.” She chuckled as she began digging around in her lunch box again.
“PBJ again?” A boy’s voice questioned. “Lila you need some spice in your life.” He chuckled as he came up and sat down next to Riley. He glanced to her with a smirk. “Don’t you think Riley?” This was Chris, he’d had a crush on Riley since middle school and she’d yet to realize it.
Riley smirked as her eyes looked to Lila. “Oh, she has spice in her life, don’t you Lila?” She giggled as she looked up to see Asher walking up to the group.
“Oh shut up, Ri.” Lila playfully threw an empty balled up lunch baggie at her.
Riley jumped to the sound of keys in the cell door. Her eyes looked up to the men as they carried the table and chairs into the room. She looked defensive as she sat in the corner, though she didn’t move to make an attack. She was taking in what they brought in. Her eyes looked to the tray of food, she could smell it from there. The clear water in the glasses. Glass. Now that could be of assistance if she needed a weapon rather quickly. She watched as the men piled out of the room and Codex walked in. A smile upon his face this time. What game was he playing? Did he think he could win her over with charm? He’d already spoiled that chance. She scoffed slightly when he spoke and her eyes looked away from him as she leaned her head against the damp cement block. “Really? You didn’t know they would bring me here?” Her voice was almost mocking. “Well where else would they have taken me? The palace? Do you have a hotel suite for your guests? I highly doubt that.” She spat the words out quickly. It was true, she wasn’t the shy girl that she was 10 years ago. Uncovering that sweet girl would be quite the feat.
Riley fell quiet when he motioned toward the food and he held the medical kit up. Her expression was that of confusion. Why was he being so nice to her now? She shook her head and looked away from him. “I don’t need your food or the medical kit.” She spoke, though her voice wasn’t as sharp this time. “You’re just going to kill me in the end, why should you care if my wound is kept clean? Whomever wrapped my leg in the first place didn’t give a damn about keeping infection out, so why start now?” The tone slipped back in slightly, though she sounded almost defeated. It was evident that she truly wanted the kit, but she wouldn’t be taking it from him. From the enemy. No. That would open the flood gates, she would owe him at that point and she wasn’t about to owe anything to a war criminal. Riley hugged her arms around her knees as she closed her eyes once again, she expected him to leave or give up on this new approach. Especially after her words that she’d spoken.
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Post by Nyte on Oct 6, 2019 20:13:32 GMT -5
Her words were harsh, but there was a softness to her tone that told Codex that she wasn't completely beyond reasoning. He could still get through to her and of that he was 100% sure. "Suit yourself." He replied and set the medical kit back down on the table next to the tray and simply leaned forward to pluck a piece of roasted potato from the plate and tossed it in his mouth. Buttery, garlic and just a little peppery. Just how he liked them. "There are a bunch of different places that you could have been taken you know. If I'm being honest I thought they would have locked you in one of the empty soldier's quarters and posted guards. Although one of the guys you so thoroughly knocked out was one of the commanding officer's sons so I can understand the less than favorable treatment." He sighed and leaned back in his chair slightly.
"I came to offer you a more.. agreeable deal. You say that I don't remember you and the others, and mostly that's true. I tried to forget a lot of those years. Lila is a fond memory but one that doesn't really have a place in my life now, but being that we do have a history I'd like to offer you something that I would never offer anyone else. A fair trade." He leaned forward and plucked another potato from the tray. "These are really good you know, and obviously not poisoned since I'm eating them as well." He smiled and gestured to the open seat once more. "I want information from you and I'm sure your people would love to get some intel from us. So let's swap. I'll tell you anything that you want to know, provided that I know the answer of course, and in exchange you tell me some of the intel I want to know." He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out two pairs of electrodes, like those from earlier, only these had a small sensor attached to them. "These can tell if a person is lying by capturing their brain waves. If they lie there's a little beeping sound that lets the other know it's a false statement. We'll both wear a pair so you know if I'm lying as well."
He knew she was still banking at least marginally on being able to escape and if she got some invaluable information from him that drive would only be increased tenfold. He was confident that wouldn't happen though so he was willing to do the trade. "As proof of what I say is true I'll show you." He removed the protective paper from the sticky side of two of the electrodes and then gently pressed them to his temples. "My name is Codex." He stated and there was a soft green light that stayed constant on the sensor. "I'm eight feet tall." He stated and the little light turned red and beeped to show he was telling a lie. "Also, I promise that I will not allow them to kill you after we are done talking. You will have to remain here of course, I'm not a miracle worker, but I can promise relative comfort and decent life." The light remained green on the sensor.
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Post by Blindside Tex on Oct 6, 2019 20:35:51 GMT -5
Riley opened her eyes when he spoke, one of her brows raised slightly as she saw him pop a piece of the food into his mouth. It wasn’t poisoned? As he spoke of the different outcomes of where she could have been taken she scoffed again. She wasn’t going to just believe him. Not that easily. He’d tell her anything to get her to do what he wanted. At least that was what she thought. She watched him now, he was relaxed. His composure reminded her much of their times together 10 years ago when they sat around in the cafeteria, or in class. That year she had nearly every class with him. With the exception of a few. Lila had been extremely jealous and of course Riley had only laughed and shook her head.
She drew her brows together slightly as he began to speak of the deal. A deal. Her lips flattened into a straight line as she pressed them together. She watched almost curiously as he showed her his device. When he got to the end of his presentation she shook her head and let out a laugh. “Why wouldn’t you kill me?” She questioned. “You know how to fool that device. You know how to fool most things, at least...that is the Asher I remember. You could make any computerized device do whatever it was that you wanted.” She shook her head. “Why would you offer me information?” She asked and let out a breath. Her stomach felt as though razor blades were swimming around in it as it growled. She closed her eyes a moment as she tried to fight back her hunger. The smell of the potatoes...the ham...all it took was him removing the lid for the smell to strengthen. She couldn’t eat it. Poisoned or not. She would owe him. “I’m not going to become a pirate.” She spoke after being quiet for a long time. “If you ask for me not to be killed surly your commanders will not agree to that, Asher...” She looked to him again.
Her hunger was getting the best of her. Her mouth dry. She looked to the fresh water, she could feel the dry stickiness of her tongue. It was as if she’d wandered through a desert. A side-effect of the drug that Rancor had shot into her neck. Most of his drugs had terrible side-effects. “If I do not return to my commanding officer within 72 hours they will send reinforcements. If they do not hear back from our vessel as to why we have not returned on time, the amount of soldiers that will be sent here will be overwhelming.” She looked to him almost cautiously. She’d offered him information. “It was a suicide mission to begin with.” She spoke and shut her eyes. “I didn’t expect to return home.” She leaned her head against the wall again. “I don’t expect to return home now.” Her voice was soft as she spoke this last sentence. Her voice sounded almost how she spoke 10 years ago. Soft. Shy. Riley still didn’t budge from the corner though.
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Post by Nyte on Oct 6, 2019 20:50:34 GMT -5
She was going to be stubborn. He could hear her stomach growl from where he sat so he knew she was hungry. What as her plan? Let herself starve to death. That wouldn't work. If she passed out from hunger they would simply hook her up to IVs and give her nutrients that way. Rancor would get involved at that point and he didn't know if it was simply because of his hatred for the man or because of their past but he wanted to save her from that. He wouldn't be able to do that at this rate, but good thing he was stubborn. He wasn't anywhere near giving up.
"I'm flattered I still have the reputation that I can sweet talk any machine. You're right, that skill has only improved since I last saw you." He put his fingers on the edge of the tray and slid it across the table towards himself, making quite a bit of noise in the process, and then picked it up by sliding his hand underneath it when it got to the edge. He got up from his chair and walked over to where she sat in the corner and leaned his back against the wall next to her before letting himself slide down till he was sitting on the cold hard floor. He held the tray out towards her, temping her even more with the food and drink. "Come on. Eat. It's not weakness to eat when you know you need it." He told her in his gentle tone.
"Besides if you didn't expect to return home you would have killed yourself by now. Cyanide or something of the like. You haven't given up hope just yet." He seemed to completely disregard her words on reinforcements and was more concerned with her opening up to him. "If you want to call me Asher you can. Though honestly it sounds a little foreign to me now." He chuckled, it was the same reserved laugh he always had. It was very rare to see him laugh loudly or uncontrollably. He was always compose and in control of his actions. It was what had drawn Lila to him initially. His cool demeanor was highly desirable to the young girl, but unlike a lot of the "cool" kids it had never been a facade for him.
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Post by Blindside Tex on Oct 6, 2019 21:12:17 GMT -5
Riley kept her eyes closed as she listened to him speak. She heard the movement of the tray and simply thought he was going to take the food away. Though to her surprise he’d stepped to her side. She looked to the food, the scent was stronger now. Riley looked to him with a cold stare. “It isn’t weakness that I am concerned of.” She spoke with a harshness behind her voice. “I don’t want your favors.” She leaned her head back against the wall. Weakness was going to become something of the truth for her soon, she could feel her body ache for the food. “How could I have used a cyanide pill? Your soldiers took everything from my body.” She motioned to her clothing. “Down to my hair tie...my shoes.” She looked to the glass of water, the dryness in her mouth was almost overwhelming.
Riley let out a breath as she leaned her head back once again and shut her eyes. His laugh brought back memories of their times together. His pranks he pulled on the school, or even the ‘cool’ kids of the school. He was great at making them look stupid in front of the class. Though, it wasn’t hard to make some of the jocks look like idiots. Riley let out a laugh of her own. “Your laugh didn’t change one bit.” She commented. “Lila talked about it all the time.” Her eyes were still closed as she fought the urge to eat. The smell of the fresh ham seemed to wrap around her body. The smell of fresh food was like a warm blanket. She shivered slightly, her clothing was damp from the moisture in the cell.
She took in a breath and hugged her legs a bit more tightly to her body. “You’re just a stubborn as you were ten years ago too, Asher.” She wouldn’t call him Codex. She refused to allow herself to believe he willingly took the position within the pirate resistance. “I’m not going to give you information.” She let out a breath slowly as her stomach growled again. “I won’t allow you to kill more innocent people...” She continued to keep her eyes closed. “Enough lives have been lost in this war.”
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