Voidwalker Requiem

Chapter Nine: "Chapter 9"

The crew stood in dead silence, staring at Vren's frontal lobe scattered across the ground. Eve wiped his blood off her forehead, holstering her gun. "Job's finished, let's go." She says. The crew starts to head back to the ship. "Hold on, how much was on his head?" Hana interjects. "His notoriety is high, so his bounty should be as well."

"500k" Eve says calmly. "Nothing more, nothing less."

Uncharacteristically, Hana loses his cool. "Then why the fuck aren't we taking him with us? That'd slice the money we owe damn near in half?"

Eve's pupils dilate for a second, widening dramatically, as if she had witnessed something horrific.

"Wait a fucking minute, you—you guys are collecting bounties? What the fuck happened to the noble cause? That was all bullshit was it, huh?" Antaris replies angrily.

"That's what you guys have been using the money for? Who do you owe? Who even are you working for? And why the fuck didn't you tell us?!" Ditto interjects. The crew delivers piercing stares of concern and frustration into Hana and Eve's eyes, who are both unable to form words at this point.

Eve exhales for a minute, her eyes glowing an even more intense turquoise. "Listen. I owe some really powerful guys some money. We made some decent progress, but we still owe 1.4 million credits. We brought you guys to help us, but I knew that you wouldn't actually want to risk your lives and reputation over some random's debt—so I lied. I'm sorry" She walks up to the rest of the crew, Hana standing behind her with a concerned expression painted across his face. Eve's voice suddenly echoes with a hypnotic but heavenly aura to it. "But please, don't leave, help us." The crew stands still, their once angry and confused facial expressions immediately fade to normal and understanding ones. Eve's hypnotic abilities worked mysteriously well.

"It's okay, we understand. What's next?" Ditto replies in her signature bubbly tone.

"Perfect. We're bringing Vren's head to the Capital" Eve says calmly "Hana, darling, load up the ship, we're getting out of here."

Hana, who at this point is shocked at Eve's ability to manipulate with no remorse whatsoever, forms a pale expression across his face. "Can—Can I talk you for a second, Eve?" They move to a hallway away from the rest of the crew, stepping over rubble and the bloodied bodies of Vren's bodyguards.

"What's up?" Eve asks, as if nothing happened. Hana, who at this point is stressed out beyond belief, dumps everything on his mind.

"Eve what the fuck. Why the fuck are we manipulating them? What's the end goal? What are we gonna do when we pay this debt off and we have no more use for them? Are we just gonna kick them to the curb? What about all the 'take down the Galactic Empire' spiel we gave them to get them to join us? I can't lie anymore, I'm—" Eve interrupts him, smirking calmly.

"Sweetie, there's no need to stress out about this. Once we're done, we're done. Simple. We'll all be done when this is over, including you." She replies as she pulls out a pack of cigarettes. "It'll all be over soon, babe, don't you worry."

Hana pauses for a second, attempting to gather his thoughts. "Including me? Remind me what my incentive for being here even was? Because as of right now I don't want any part in this bullshit anymore."

"Ah, but you do though." Eve replies softly. At this point she had finished her cigarette, putting out against the wall. "As far as I know that venom is still in your bloodstream, babe." Eve pulls out the vial of Trapinose V, dangling it in his face, taunting him once again. "Hana, baby, need I remind you of our deal? It's you and me in this. Alone in this unforgiving universe. You stick with me until this debt is settled, and the vial is yours. I'll even give you the needle you need to inject the antidote. Or you can leave right now, feeling safe and sound, and just end up dead on some planet. You only have so much time left, it's definitely made it's way to your main arteries. I give it about two months. Then you're as dead as Vren over there. But hey, it's your choice."

Hana calms down for a minute. He raises his hands up, looking desperate. "You got me. I'm all yours." Eve smirks. "Good boy" she says as she puts the vial of Trapinose V away. She lifts his head up slightly by the chin. "You're so cute when you're obedient. Let's go."

They head back to the ship, the crew at this point had gotten the flight systems ready, Lielle, in her holographic form, setting the flight path to the Capital. Ditto, noticing them first, signals at them optimistically. "Come on, the ship's ready for take off!"

Eve and Hana take the pilot seats, both sitting in silence for a minute as they coast through the Celestium Formation, a tear runs down Hana's face. Everything up to this point felt empty and hopeless. He wondered where it all went wrong, where everything changed for the worst. He hadn't been home in ages. All he wanted was to be free and go back to the simple life of smuggling.

"You okay?" Eve asks softly. She noticed his tear almost immediately. Hana nods no, wiping his tear away. "Come here." She motions for him to come closer and hugs him tight.

"Why me? Why'd you choose me. You could've chosen anyone else back on Alteris. Someone with Ten running through their veins, but you chose me." He asks, his voice quivering.

"I...I don't know. I just chose the first ship I saw." Eve replies softly. Hana doesn't budge.

"How do I even know you're telling the truth right now." He replies. Eve struggles to hold eye contact with him for more than five seconds at a time. "I swear, it wasn't intentional. I didn't plan for this."

"You didn't plan for this? You held me at gunpoint back then, immediately shooting me with the Alaya venom. You're telling me that wasn't intentional?" Another tear runs down his cheek. Eve at this point breaks down, also tearing up. "I...I didn't think you'd help me...I had to." Her pitch rising slightly. "Hana, please, I'm sorry."

Hana wipes his tears once more, pausing for a second to gather his thoughts. "Give me the antidote. I'll still help you settle this debt. But after this is over I want nothing to do with you."

Eve's face goes pale. She considers her options for a moment. Caving in, she pulls out the vial, handing it to him, with a needle from the first aid kit in the cockpit. Hana injects the Trapinose V into his arm, his veins glowing purple as the antidote rushes through. Breathing heavily for a moment, he feels a huge wave of relief throughout his body.

"Thank you." He says calmly. Eve, the tears drying on her cheeks, nods softly. They both pause for a moment, looking at each other briefly. "Come here." She leans in and gives him a kiss. "It'll be over soon, I promise." She whispers.

At this point they had arrived to the Capital, approaching the spaceport. After making their way to the ISA headquarters and collecting the bounty, they went back to Ditto's hideout, calling ending off their night peacefully.