Origins of an Icer

Chapter 24

Bridge of the Iron Maiden

Wren snarled, his pupils tiny slits of black against the blue iris with his teeth bared, his tail curling tight with the tip aimed towards the captain.

(Why? What was the point of resurrecting me, if all you intended to do was kill everything with your position being questioned? This isn't just the Night Mother, or me. This is all on you!) His mind bounced around the room in a yell, startling everyone in the crew as they watched the alien standing tall against their captain who lounged in her chair, sipping a glass of wine.

"Well, no it wasn't just you. I knew eventually someone was going to uncover my secret of the engine, but it was simply ironic it had to be the creature I paid to be excavated and brought back. You were supposed to be the replacement for the Night Mother, being the only remaining Primal race left to take over for her. I never expected you to fall for one of my best pilots, or being too damned curious for your own good, letting the both of you explore the deepest, darkest parts of my ship. Analyzing the trash heaps, finding the lost pilots and vendors took it a step too far, especially when the video surfaced on ship-wide broadcast for everyone to see and hear. I had to get rid of both of you then, but I decided to keep one of you here for insurance you would return. You're no use to me being a rebellious little shit, so I took your lover: impulsive, stubborn, going against every command he thought he could made the perfect double agent. We essentially forced the Avatar state inside him, and wired it to make sure when he was in that form, we could control him fully. There's no way to stop him without killing him, so congratulations on murdering your first love. Such a drama queen," she cackled shrill and high in the room, Wren simply watching her with a cold stare. He glanced to the crew, tilting his head as they started to evacuate the room.

He stepped around the bridge, watching the monitors as the Nevermore had survived, her shields back to full operation as the fleet rallied around her, surrounding the Iron Maiden. A screen appeared as Ravyn's face showed up, her cheeks smudged with soot and cuts, her eyes sparkling similar to his as her voice came through clear.

"Mother, knock this shit off right now or so help me, I'm blowing you out of this plane of existence! You've killed so many, regardless of which ones were yours or ours, and you know you can't win. We have you surrounded, all guns trained on you, and ready to fire at my command. For all the love I somehow still have... just turn in. Stop the killing, let us help you get on a better path than this one, where it ends with you eviscerated from existence," Ravyn's voice stayed clear as she made the ultimatum. Wren glanced to the captain who tossed the glass at the hologram of her daughter, snarling as she held out a hand, curled around a detonator.

"Oh good, I have you all surrounding me. I'll take you all with me!" She grinned, pressing the button as Ravyn cried out, Wren smirking as the detonator did nothing. No alarms, no klaxons or red alerts, nothing happened.

"I think you'll notice your engine is done with your commands..." Wren chuckled as he smacked the detonator from the captain's hand, pushing her hard to land in her chair as he snapped his fingers, ice quickly forming to trap her limbs to the chair.

"Oh thank the gods, Wren you could've fucking warned me!" Ravyn snapped, turning off the hologram as he watched the ships send in troops and medical units to dock and start going into the ship. He perched on the dead control board, watching the captain widening her eyes at the screen showing swarms of people intruding her ship as they evacuated the remaining people, gathering the wounded and dead before the doors to the bridge opened.

Ravyn stood with Wren's twin captains that came over, securing the Captain as she tried to struggle free, kicking and screaming at the boys as one reached around and struck her neck, knocking her out.

"Oh thank the gods, that was annoying to listen to..." Wren chuckled, shaking his head at the twins as he stood up, looking to Ravyn who looked over the whole bridge with her eyes shimmering in tears.

"What happened to her...? She didn't used to be like this, did she...?" she asked, Wren shaking his head as he pulled the captain into a hug, rubbing her back.

"Something tells me she was always like this, she just did a good job at hiding it behind her religious standings and power. C'mon, let's get out of here, the Night Mother doesn't have much time..." He held Ravyn's hand, leading them back to the hangar where the doorways were sealed with tubes leading to the new carriers and cruisers as crew and remaining ship passengers were escorted off. He glanced around, finding Doc moving with a crash crew as he ran over, taking her arm.

"Please tell me you found him!"

"Him? Him who...?" she asked, furrowing her brows at Wren's shocked look.

"Akifa! He's here, I froze him to keep him preserved to be looked at. He has something attached to the brain stem, I can't get it out of him..." he whimpered softly, the doctor handing her pad to the next nurse as she grabbed a briefcase.

"Take me to him." He nodded, grabbing her hand as they raced back towards the elevator shaft, Wren letting the Doc mount his back, clinging to his shoulders as he grabbed the rope. Taking a deep breath, they descended rapidly into the dark, his eyes adjusting to the flickering seldom lights and masses of shadows across the halls leading to the Archives. He ran into the room, sniffing the air as he got down on his hands and feet, crawling across the floor until he sniffed the familiar cologne. Bolting forward, he skidded to a stop beside Akifa who lay still, his skin turning a dark gray with his eyes closed. Doc scrambled up, opening her briefcase to extend a stretcher, both picking him up to lay on the thin material as vital signs and a quick scan listed injuries and conditions to a new pad located at the end of the stretcher.

"Whoa... that's handy."

"It's a SMART stretcher, we never would've had this with the Captain, but Ravyn was quick enough to update all of our equipment with the best. Now... yes, he's still alive, but he's crashing quickly. We have to get him back." She moved the stretcher, having it race beside her as Wren led them back to the shaft, his heart sinking at the rope laying at their feet, shredded from his claws earlier.

"Oops..." He ruffled his hair, looking up as he opened his wings, flexing them as he grabbed the doc, flying upwards towards the hangar floor. Grasping onto the edge of the door way, he dropped her off before swooping back down to grab at the stretcher, panting harder than usual. His heart sank, remembering the open wound, the knife having fell out at some point between the fight and now, but he shook his head. Grabbing the stretcher, he slowly lifted it into the air, his wings flapping hard to gain inch by inch in the air. His heart pounded inside his chest, his arms growing tight and tired quickly as he struggled to reach the landing, watching Doc's team waiting at the opening with med packs and another stretcher.

Finally touching the landing, he handed the stretcher to the teams before collapsing in mid-air when something grabbed his waist. Slowly looking up, he noticed Ravyn with a team holding onto a whip before pulling him up with hard grunts and barking voices. His vision flexed, suddenly growing too tired to keep his eyelids open as the noises melted into white noise. Feeling a faint pressure against the backside of his body, he lifted his eyes up to see Akifa's darker form in his own stretcher, opening those familiar quartz-like eyes with tears filling and overflowing down his cheeks. Slowly reaching out a hand, Wren barely felt the warmth of those familiar tan fingers brushing against his palm before finally giving in, the final prick of a needle going into his neck as Doc started wheeling him away.