Lunar Conspiracy

So Close, Yet So Far

Tava slowly raised her head as the locks slid back and the door opened.  She had been kept waiting for several hours.  Long enough Yggdrasil and Quorra should have caught on that something was wrong.  She just hoped they had some sort of plan in the works as Major Aanga stepped into the cell.

"Tava Bismark.  Former Colonel of the Allied Militia until you went rogue.  I must say, I expected that an attempt to reclaim your husband would occur, I just didn't expect it to happen under my watch.  You managed to track him down much faster than anyone had anticipated.  How?"

Tava smirked, figuring tales of a skeletal creature with precognitive powers that collected up species from across the universe wouldn't sound believable.  Better to just skip the claims of lies.  "What have you done with my crew?"

The Kaldorian frowned, light colored eyes narrowing.  "I'd be more worried about myself if I were you.  They should be let off with a quick death for aiding you in your crimes.  You, on the other hand, are in for a very rough time of it.  Even before we hand you over to General Hask."

Tava met the cold gaze head on, not about to flinch.  "I don't care what happens to me.  Do your worst.  But my crew doesn't deserve death.  They're just a crazy bunch looking for a little excitement to pass the time."

Major Aanga shrugged.  "Be that as it may, they can't claim ignorance of what you've been doing.  Perhaps a claim of insanity would save them, but I doubt they'll give in that easy.  They were loyal to a fault, I'll give you that much."

Tava slowly smirked.  "Yes.  And they've earned as much from me in return.  Leave them alone.  Keep them unharmed, and I'll tell you everything you want to know."

Tava pressed her lips together as the Kaldorian smirked, stepping across the cell to tower over Tava.  She grunted when the four armed woman bent, snatching up a handful of her shirt and jacket to jerk her to her feet.  The woman snarled in Tava's face.  "You're in no position to be making deals.  You'll talk, just as they will, by any means necessary.  And once I'm satisfied I've got every shred of useful information out of the lot of you, then and only then will they be released into deaths sweet embrace."

Tava grit her teeth and jerked a knee up, catching the Kaldorian low in her ribs.  She grunted in surprise, grip loosening a bit.  Tava wrenched backwards, trying to free herself from the grip.  Major Aanga wasn't quite so easily stunned.  Tava threw every ounce of strength she had into a punch, her prosthetic fist connecting with the larger woman's jaw with a resounding crack.

That earned her release, along with a pained howl.  Tava ran for it, skirting around the Kaldorian and rushing for the door.  Her chest went tight as she clawed at the edges, finding it locked tight rather than slightly ajar as she'd been hoping.  But she didn't manage to get anything else worked out before a body slammed her against the door.

She groaned as Major Aanga crushed the air from her lungs and hissed around her broken jaw.  "You're going to regret that."  Tava's eyes flew wide when a heavy hand closed around her prosthetic bicep and squeezed.  Then she screamed as the grip crushed and twisted.  Wiring sparked and fizzled, sending jolts of pain through her shoulder as the metal squealed in protest.  With a sickening crunch and enough pain to make her vision swim, the prosthetic arm gave way, parting from her shoulder.

Tava fell to the floor when Aanga stepped back and released her.  She huddled against the wall, shivering in pain as her left hand clutched at her right shoulder.  Anger welled up, combatting tears as she glared at the triumphant look on Aanga's face as she held the prosthetic aloft in victory.

"Keep fighting, Tava Bismark.  I'll continue to tear pieces off until there's nothing left of you but a shattered mind in a broken shell."

Tava bared her teeth, breathing deep through the pain.  She didn't manage to spit out a retort before alarms began blaring.  Glancing up, she wondered what was going on.  Judging by the way Major Aanga cursed and hurried to unlock the door, it wasn't anything good.  The door slammed shut and Tava shut her eyes, turning her attention to dealing with the pain and resting up.  If the alarms turned out to be her rescue, she wanted to be ready.

~ ~ ~

The alarms continued to go off with a randomness that was almost routine.  First there was the general warning.  Then an emergency alert to abandon the station.  A couple hours later and there was commotion about a problem with the water filtration and dispersion system leaking, shortly followed by a security breach warning.

It seemed everything was going wrong with increasing regularity over the course of what felt like two days.  The guards had begun to lose their wariness.  She could hear them complaining about it periodically when they walked past her cell.  Every alert was a false alarm and the constant blaring was just making everyone sleep deprived and irritable.

Tava was just going more and more tense.  It had to be Quorra messing with things.  Somehow, he had hacked into their systems without detection and was busily desensitizing everyone before the jailbreak occurred.

When the locks on her door clunked open, she jumped to her feet.  Adrenaline surged, putting her fight or flight response into overdrive.  If it was a rescue, she'd have to run.  If it was Major Aanga again, then she would fight, despite the warning and the missing limb.

Both reactions short-circuited when the door opened and admitted someone else entirely.

The creature was unlike any Tava had ever seen the likes of before. It was humanoid, and a little shorter than her, though with an impressive set of jet black horns coiling up and sweeping forward in sharp points on either side of it's head. The top of the creatures head was protected with a thick black plating that made Tava believe the horns were not just for show.

Bright purple eyes flickered across her in a quick study, the color even more vibrant in the distinct lack of color elsewhere. The same black plating protected the creatures shoulders, back, and the outsides of each limb. It stood on heavy hooves, but its hands looked versatile enough with an opposable thumb and three fingers. The softer, more vulnerable parts of the creatures body, were a pure white and looked like normal flesh. The creature smiled, showing off blunt teeth.

"Li'Coby."

Tava blinked.  "Uh.  Tava?"  The creature trilled in apparent pleasure, then clipped out of the way of the door as another came pushing through.  Tava grinned, relaxing in thankful recognition.  "Kartk!"

The big man nodded.  "Come on.  We haven't got much time."  He shoved the door wide and checked the hall before ushering her through, only sparing a single worried glance for her damaged arm.  He handed over her heavy pistol before turning to the alien.  "H46."

The alien nodded and trotted off, hooves clicking as the creature took the lead.  Tava glanced at Kartk as they hurried after the creature.  "Who's this?"

Kartk frowned, shaking his head.  "Li'Coby is someone Kit picked up.  Apparently he ran into some trouble and this critter helped him out so he promised the alien its freedom.  Been a good guide though."  Kartk regarded the horned alien's back contemplatively, then shrugged.  "Either way, next stop is to pick up Jornea and then we're out of here.  I'm afraid they managed to move your husband before a rescue could be put underway.  Quorra says he knows which direction they were headed but..."

Tava frowned, feeling her stomach drop.  "I was so close."  She huffed out her frustration and shook her head.  "Never mind.  We get Jornea back and we chase him down again.  It's all we can do."