Stage Act

Prologue

Deep in the Reef, between Mars and Jupiter, amongst a cloud of violet dust sits an immense space station known to Guardians as the Prison of Elders. A spacecraft of shimmering blue could be seen approaching, a sigil of purple, gold and white printed onto the side, coming to a stop at an outcropping of scrapmetal, like Eliksni scrapwork but more refined. Transmatting onto the landing pad was two Awoken armed with bullpup rifles, their eyes and mouth concealed by a helmet, designed in such a way that their noses were exposed. The third individual was a Psion, Cyrax, his arms cuffed behind his back as one of the Humans went ahead of him, the other staying behind him as he was led into the station. The large door opened, and a scratchy Eliksni voice was heard over the intercoms.

Intercom; "Prison of Elders welcomes you. Impress your warden, yes?"

Cyrax glanced up when the announcer spoke, his eye scanning the cells overhead as he was escorted into a large cell guarded by a pair of Eliksni with Arc spears in front of the door. Once inside, the cuffs popped off and fell to the floor into scrapmetal, the door closing simultaneously. Cyrax massaged his wrists as he turned to look around the dimly lit cell, barely furnished with only a mat on the floor to sleep on and a separate chamber that can be closed off, presumably for showers. At one end, overlooking an open area was a Cabal Centurion up against the bars, hands on them as he stood, his prosthetic fingers tapping the metal. Cyrax narrowed his eye as he used his psychic power to skim the mind of the Cabal, learning some basic information before speaking mentally to the Centurion.

Cyrax; "Baurg, Blood Infernal of Firebase Hades."

The Cabal turned to look at Cyrax and grunted, speaking audibly.

Baurg; "Didn't take you long to figure that out. And who're you?"

Cyrax approached, clasping his hands behind his back.

Cyrax; "Cyrax, bridge crew of the Immortal."

Baurg grunted and turned back to look out of the cell, letting out a slow exhale.

Baurg; "Well... Good to know all Red Legion are equally indignified here."

Cyrax huffed in amusement, but his facial expression didn't change.

Cyrax; "Bold of you to assume dignity has a place here. I would not be surprised if we cannot die with honor here."

Baurg rolled his eyes under his helmet, letting out an audible sigh.

Baurg; "Don't talk to me like that now. They'll be lucky to get me in the arena; I'm not going nowhere until I get a gun!"

Abruptly, the lights went out, the only things visible were the eyes of the Centurion and Cyrax, before a the intercom shouted again.

Intercom; "Security systems malfunction. Emergency shutdown and reboot commencing."

When the lights came back on minutes later, the bars were lowered and the doors open, and the Eliksni guards slowly turned to look at Baurg, who let out a lone chuckle before slamming his fists onto their heads with the crack of polymer armor and chitinous exoskeleton. He proceeded to pick up the spears from the guards, one in each hand.

Baurg; "Come, Cyrax! Without victory, we cannot go home!"

Cyrax watched from the back of the cell as Baurg went on a rampage on the guards, Eliksni and Awoken alike, slowly stepping towards the exit with his hands still clasped behind his back.

Cyrax; "Unlike you, I do not need the pretense of victory."

After a few minutes more of watching the fight, Baurg was incinerated by three bolts from an Exo that transmatted into the hub area, fanning the hammer of his revolver once the flames around his body dissipated, firing down more prisoners that had escaped.

Exo; "Woo! And you thought dropping the soap was the worst thing to happen in prison!"

Cyrax rolled his eye as he slinked away from the firefight, walking at a leisurely pace back the way he came, looking around with a hand to his head as he could not hear the chaotic thoughts of all the escaped prisoners. Once he reached the dock, he found that the ship he'd come in was still docked, a cable plugged into its right broadside. Keeping a pair of fingers to the side of his head, sparks of electricity shot out from his forehead to the plug, dislodging it as the ships engines came to life. More sparks shot out into the ship itself, and he was transmatted inside it, using his telekinetic power to maneuver the ship to depart from the prison while his physical body activated and hacked into the comms system, sending out a long-distance signal. The ship was already leaving the dust cloud of the Reef and entering FTL speeds by the time the voice of a female Cabal came through.

Comms; "This is Princess Caiatl of the Cabal Empire. To whom do I have the dubious pleasure of speaking?"

Cyrax responded by using his psychic power to vibrate the air inside the cabin and mimic an auditory reply.

Cyrax; "Princess Caiatl, this is Cyrax of the battlecruiser HGS Immortal. I have commandeered an enemy vessel and am returning to Torobatl."

Caiatl let out a satisfied chuckle through the speaker.

Caiatl; "I would've expected Ghaul himself to tell me of his victory."

Cyrax paused before continuing.

Cyrax; "... Dominus Ghaul has perished. The Red Legion is scattered and unable to rally behind one singular leader. I myself have escaped from an enemy prison, but there are still more inside it, not to mention those still carrying out orders on other celestial bodies."

There was a pause on Caiatls end as well; Cyrax could ascertain the emotions Caiatl was feeling, but he feigned ignorance in his tone.

Cyrax; "... Princess?"

Caiatl took in a deep breath before replying.

Caiatl; "Return, Cyrax. It will be time before we are able to gather the forces necessary for another incursion to Sol. Funeral rites will be prepared for Ghaul once you have arrived at Torobatl."

Cyrax nodded silently, ending the call once he finished speaking.

Cyrax; "Yes, Princess."

Once the comms were off and the course was set for Torobatl, he sat in the pilots seat with an audible sigh, allowing his mind to wander about how Caiatl will approach the situation in Sol.