Trail of the Forsaken

Chapter Three: Break

Taak pulls himself out his seat, plopping himself into the seat where the sergeant was sat. "I'm guessing you aren't running any time soon" He says sarcastically, knowing full-well a woman of her status wouldn't be running into battle, let alone handcuffed. The sergeant left behind his holo-file disk before he ran, Taak opens it up revealing files on the mission. He flicks through in a blasé manner before reaching Maya's files. He nods "impressive, looks like you inherit the company, I can see why you haven't mentioned that yet".

"I don't need to reveal anything to you" Maya shoots back. Taak closes down the disk sitting back in his chair. "what is someone like you doing here anyway?"

Taak stumbles on his words for he doesn't know the reason himself, "we're here to cut a deal with you. For the shipment". Maya picks apart and analyses Taak like a hawk, she can feel his insecurity, how uncomfortable he really is, she senses his confusion.

"No, I meant why are YOU here..." just as Maya gets her words out a red laser sight dot appears on Taak's helmet, then another appears at his chest. She kicks him to the ground in one instinctive move and they both crouch under the table shielded from the windows.  She makes a swift run for the door "come on!" she shouts, probably expecting a soldier to have more whits about him. In the hall gunshots are heard close by and Maya dives into the nearest door way. "Get these off me!" She turns shaking her shackles at Taak. He thinks for a moment before unlocking them, it's the only way he'd get her out alive, he needs her alive. " Thank you" she breathes. The two work their way down the corridor, bodies of both sides litter the floor not many soldiers could be left alive. Further down the halls the lights flicker, and a barricade of furniture is blocking a quick exit. Instead they take the elevator up to the top floor and out onto the landing pad. Not much to their surprise the cruiser had already left. A strong breeze hits them both making it nearly impossible to hear each other.

"Down there!" Taak points down to a well parked line of combat spacecraft that dozens soldiers are bundling out of. Overhead battle cruisers the same as the one Taak flew in fly over dangerously low. Maya runs back into the elevator leaving Taak to follow, keeping her in his sight. After reaching the bottom floor its apparent that all hell has broken loose. Soldiers run back and forth, aircraft fly over head dropping explosives and civilians are left to fend for themselves on the streets. Maya makes a run for it, and Taak almost feels a sense of hope for her. She darts through the first barrier narrowly avoiding gun fire, a security guards makes a dive for her but Taak makes quick work of decking him.

Much to her demise shes caught mid sprint by the sergeant. Taak follows behind at walking pace, after cuffing the girl the sergeant turns to Taak. They speak in Baobo'an and Taak notices their temple is bloodied and his communication tab smashed. Taak, however, is quite sure he was commemorated, and they are all taken aboard ship.  A captain laughs, and pats the sergeant on the back as the girl is brought forward. "Take her to the confines warrior" The captain says to Taak with a smile. In return he nods and ushers Maya away. Something tickles inside him, a feeling of fulfilment. 

They arrive in a large square room, a small white table fills the space at its middle but the walls are dark and bleak with just a porthole letting in the light, similar to the rest of the ship. Immediately Taak sits at the table leaving Maya to roam the room. Her once beautiful white overcoat is now stained with dirt and her hair no longer meets at the top of her head in a bun but it droops sadly at her nape. She stands at the porthole watching as the ship takes flight and breaks through the atmosphere gearing up for the leap, she gazes and wonders at the stars. Maya had only been off world a few times in her 19 years of life, the vibration of this ship and deepness of the vacuum made her queasy. Yet, she urges for the exploration, she wasn't made to be confined to one planet. But all that's gone now she thought, she'll be spending her days on Boaba.

Taak ponders his words before speaking, "what did you mean...when you asked me why I'm here?"

"It doesn't matter anymore" Maya is visibly upset, she barely turns away from the window. Taak wonders for a minute his hands fiddle restlessly in his lap, spinning a small medallion hanging from his Karambit knife holstered in a Mosqaloo horn at his hip.  "Your accent... you're Selneronese right?" Taak is more confused than he  was before, he never should've asked but now he's invested. "I wouldn't have expected anyone from Selneron to be working for the cult, what made you leave?"

"I don't remember."

"You don't remember?"

"no" In all truth Taak had no idea what a Selneron was. A planet? A country? A city?

Maya comes towards Taak inspecting him again, she knew for certain now that something was off with this man. " and what with this, the skull?" she points him up and down. She picks at his poorly made clothing, most of the soldiers wore the same. Although, different to the soldiers she encountered, she noticed a hose running from under his furs to a small box bolted at his waist, it made a soft whiz and wurr with each rising and falling breath. She decided not to mention it.

"Baobo'an  custom" Taak thought it was common knowledge, the tradition of the Baoba. A skull worn over the face, to many signifies the strength and courage of a warrior but to him it separates him from the outside world. You can be whoever you want to be if people don't know who you are or what you look like in the first place. As Maya moves back to the window to watch her planet rapidly shrink away Taak catches a glimpse of a weapon hanging under her coat. "Let me remind you that it will be a lot easier on you if you give me the shipments route before we arrive to Boaba Land" Taak switches on the recorder hung at his belt in hopes to catch any information he can. 

"And let me remind you that I will not be giving up the location, for the simple fact that I would prefer to preserve the lives of my people aboard that ship" 

"They will not be harmed" 

Maya looks appalled "Is that a promise or a sad attempt at persuasion?" she shakes her head barley containing her anger. "You make me sick, you're cold and empty, do you even feel empathy?" she pulls a pistol holding it at Taaks temple "you've ruined my life"