The Grey Chronicles Part Two: Under Siege.

Chapter 27: Alcoholism and Weird Fetishes.

Anarchist landing site, surface of Stonehaara One, August of 8096 AL.

Augustus holstered the smoking revolver, grimacing at the corpse and the way the dirty puddle changed color; blood flowed freely from fresh wounds, turning the mixture a muddled brown color. He pulled a steel flask from a compartment in the Silverback and took a long swig, almost wincing at the fire that poured down his throat. The burn didn't bother him anymore, it never did.

He grumbled as he screwed the lid back onto his flask and returned it to its place as he strode back to the hallway and a bored Korana; it was empty, despite his attempts to conserve it. It was difficult to refill it while the convoy was on the move. She raised an eyebrow at the flask; it had a leather sleeve with a hole through the center covering most of its surface, he'd carried it as long as she'd known him. She crossed her arms. He stopped, slightly nervous; he'd only seen her do that to Salem.

"This is hardly a good time," Korana scolded him.

"Is there ever a bad time?" Augustus shook off her comment. "Besides, this is the first drink I've had today."

"So, the other swigs you took when we were at the convoy don't count?"

"Little sips, not drinks." Augustus looked at the wall and scratched his beard meaningfully.

"You're going to kill yourself if you keep that up, we've already had to transplant clones of your liver four times. We can only do that so many times before it just doesn't take anymore."

"At least I'm not killing anyone who doesn't want to die," Augustus grumbled, his annoyance showing on his face. He still avoided her eyes, staring at the wall above her head.

"If Aela heard you say that she'd hit you," she berated him still, relentless as ever. "My point is, you'll get someone killed."

"It wouldn't be the first time," his eyes snapped to hers, annoyance turned to menace as he looked down at Korana.

"Oh, right," Korana's eyes shot to the ground as she realized what she'd said, "I'm sorry-"

"Shut up." He growled as he pushed past her, clapping his helmet back onto his head.

Korana stood, frozen for a moment, then followed him silently back to the infirmary. Salem was still sleeping, but Hyde's hologram had reappeared, staring intently at a blue orb. The Baron was plugged into a computer console beside the dialysis machine. Korana was about to comment on this when lights came back on; a loud rumbling sounded at the aft end of the ship, followed by a buzzing of similar volume. The lights turned on, as did the other computers in the room. Every machine on the ship seemed to simultaneously power on, then shut back off.

"What was that?" Korana asked, she noticed the rumbling remained.

"I've reactivated the nuclear reaction in the first core," Jaeger said, his tone slightly improved. "The other two will restart in a few moments, I was surprised the neutron starter was still viable."

"Oh, that's good news," Korana spoke quietly, watching Jaeger change from the blue orb to his normal form; a Viking bowman in furs, with a beard hanging down over his stomach and a longbow in his hands like a walking stick. He stared at Hyde for several seconds, completely silent, then spoke.

"So, now that we've ensured I won't die in the immediate future, Hyde has a plan."

"No I don't, shut up!" Hyde shouted, the eternal grin disappeared from his skull.

"What kind of plan?" Augustus looked at the monocled skull suspiciously.

"I don't have any plan-"