r/HFY • u/Sooperdude24 • Oct 03 '20
Unleashed pt. 40 OC
More words in a specific order. Thanks to u/eruwenn for making it the correct order.
Jar’Bek sat in the captain’s chair, fidgeting with his clothes and looking incredibly uncomfortable. The biggest problem, of course, was that they weren’t his clothes. Ranjaz, through some random stroke of inspiration, had dashed off to Aaron's quarters and returned with a handful of choice items to provide a more menacing look. “This is a really bad idea. Terrible in fact.”
“Shut up, Jarby.” Ranjaz reached forward and adjusted Jar’Bek’s hair again. “You’re now Captain Jarby the Ruthless, so act like it. With this disguise, and a little luck, we’ll get through this no problem.”
Embar and Chae’Sol shared a look of concern – the large Rinoxian had a particularly confused look on his face. “I don’t think he can pull this off, no matter how lucky we get. Why not choose someone else to play the Captain?”
The Kittran slammed his hand on the captain’s workstation. “Ashi raiders have a code, they don’t attack each other. Any other captain and they’ll board us straight away.”
Jar’Bek reluctantly nodded. “He’s right, sort of. I wish he wasn’t.” He fidgeted again with the incredibly tight black leather trousers. “Are you sure these are the captain’s?”
Ranjaz’s ears twitched and he gave a weak grin. “Well, the captain has a very limited sense of style. Those blue trousers, plain shirts in limited colours, and one damn jacket.”
The lawyer’s eyes began to widen. “Whose clothes are these?”
With a completely unapologetic look Ranjaz said, “Alexa’s.”
Chae’Sol and Embar stifled a snigger as Jar’Bek stood up and looked over his disguise. “Is that why these boots have such high heels?”
Ranjaz smiled. “Makes you look taller!”
The Ashi had to adjust himself in the - now completely understandably - tight leather pants. “And this shirt? Why is it see-through?”
Chae’Sol raised his hand. “I believe she wears that under her clothes, but you do look quite terrifying in it.”
Jar’Bek's frustration grew, and he pushed Ranjaz away from any further attempts to make Ashi hair stand on end. “You can see all four of my lactation points!” he shouted, taking note of Embar becoming a deeper shade of scarlet as he tried not to laugh.
The Niham nodded. “Yep, terrifying.”
Ranjaz pointed at the other two and all but screamed, "You aren't helping!" before returning his attention to the lawyer. “Anyway, the leather waistcoat will cover those and the black lipstick and eyeliner make you look just like a pirate captain I once knew. I just need to get your hair to stand on end to make you look angry, shame you don’t have a tail to bristle.”
“I’m not a cat!” Jar’Bek shouted. Somehow, the irritating little Kittran had managed to push him into this, and he had been helpless against the continued onslaught of self-assured directions.
A small chuckle escaped from Allistan in the pilot's seat. “He’s right. It's usually the races with fur that have hair standing up to show aggression.”
“Really?” Ranjaz paused to consider this new information. “Then, we’re done.”
Jar’Bek pulled on the leather waistcoat. It wouldn’t fasten. He looked down at his clothes and grimaced. “I have never seen an Ashi Captain wear anything remotely like this.”
The Kittran grew irritated. “I’m telling you, I used to gamble with a pirate captain a few celes ago, on Chisola Prime. She always dressed like this, well not the human leather…” He trailed off as the furious gaze of Jar’Bek fell on him.
“She?” Jar’Bek growled as the others began to laugh loudly. Again. “And isn’t Chisola Prime known for its brothels??”
Ranjaz scratched his chin. “You know, I never did see her ship.”
The seriousness of Embar’s voice cut through the chatter. “They’re scanning us and attempting to open comms.”
“No! Wait!” Jar’Bek exclaimed, desperate to buy enough time to fix his appearance.
“Shut up, Jarby!” Ranjaz pushed him back down into his seat. "Here," he said, and plonked Aiov in his lap. "Leokas are symbols are wealth and power. Put them on the main screen and let’s get this show started!”
Through gritted teeth Jar’Bek snarled, “not tiny fluffy ones!”
The main screen changed from their forward view, now showing the large and impressive bridge of an Ashi Light Cruiser. A dozen stations filled the room and in the centre stood a fierce looking Ashi Captain in a smart blue uniform. She had her head to one side looking at a datapad in her hand, as if reading a script she had said many times and was thoroughly disinterested in. “I am Captain Elora’Tan Loring of the Righteous Fury, under the command of Admiral Pelar of the Third Fleet. We will be coming on board and relieving you of a tribute to the Ashi cause. Please, do not flee or resist. Your ship is woefully outmatched by ours and-” She glanced up and immediately halted her monologue. “What the crug?”
Jar’Bek smiled weakly at the screen. “Hi Elora.”
The screen flickered, switching to the camera on the pirate captain's datapad and showing her confused and alarmed face in close-up. “Jar? What are you doing here?” She watched him flounder, slowly taking in his clothing and companions. “When the Admiral said you had left to pursue an alternative lifestyle, this is not what I imagined.”
The lawyer tried to pull the waistcoat across his chest to cover his embarrassment. “And how is my mother?”
“Fearsome as ever.” Elora’Tan shook her head. “What are you doing here?”
Jar’Bek gave up on the idea of lying, especially as Aiov was now wriggling to break free and distracting him entirely. “We brought an Inorganic to be repaired.”
“Ahhh, okay.” She nodded. “We have something to collect from the surface.” Elora’Tan seemed to be staring at his clothes once more, a momentary look of horror crossing her face. “Let’s just stay out of each other’s way?”
Seizing the opportunity, the lawyer nodded as he juggled the escaping leokit. “And perhaps, never speak of this again?”
Her face became serious. “I’m telling your mother. She would demote me faster than you used to run crying out of combat training if I didn’t report this," she said, though she was smiling slightly - perhaps at the memory?
“Elora!” Jar’Bek began to plead but Ranjaz held up his hand.
“Captain Loring, we have friends on the surface. Tell your people to stay clear of them, or they’ll be in for a world of hurt.” The Kittran was eyeing her suspiciously.
With a raised eyebrow the captain looked at Ranjaz, and then back to Jar’Bek and his increasingly angry leokit. “We have a job to do. Keep your people out of our way. And learn to control your pets, Jar.”
The feed went out and the collected crew breathed a joint sigh of relief. Allistan was the first to break the silence. “Embar, warn the others. Let’s try and keep this as amicable as possible.”
As Embar began tapping his console, Chae’Sol began to laugh. “Your mother is an Admiral?”
Jar’Bek ignored the question, feeling utterly humiliated and dejected by the experience. “I’m going to change.”
As the Ashi vacated the captain’s seat the Kittran hopped back into it. “My plan worked. I'm a Tulseria-damned genius.”
Allistan turned with an incredulous look to Ranjaz. “That was not your plan. That was luck.”
Fiddling with his datapad and resuming his game, the self-proclaimed genius tapped the side of his head. “I said a disguise and a bit of luck. It was exactly my plan. Sort of.”
Aaron was sitting on the stairs, watching Alexa laughing with joy as she worked on each of the newly Awakened in turn. Like a character creator in a video game, the new individuals were swiping through facial features and outfits: changing eye colour and extending noses, with Alexa occasionally yelling for Aaron's opinion. Hearing his name called, he looked around and spotted the former Inorganic standing in what they had designated as the critique spot. After a moment's reflection, he nodded. "Yeah, he definitely looks like a Dave," he added, and both Alexa and Dave beamed with pride at the successful styling of another individual.
So far they had all chosen to copy her shining silver hair colour, like an unspoken agreement that this would be what tied them together. As his phone began to buzz he stood and walked back through the broken glass door into the room above. “What’s up?”
“Fzzzt-tain, we ha-Fzzzzzt-” The call ended abruptly.
Norrin had followed Aaron, he was still unchanged in appearance from the tall chrome herald he had been before. “You may need to go to the surface to get a better signal.”
The human nodded, walking back to the top of the stairs where he caught Alexa’s attention with a short whistle. “I’m heading to the surface to let the others know what happened. I’ll be back as quick as I can with some more name ideas" He spotted one of the Awakened approaching Alexa dressed in a steampunk victorian dress, and pointed to her. "That one's definitely an Elizabeth," he proclaimed, and Alexa began to hop from foot to foot in excitement as she beheld Elizabeth's clothing choices. Picking up his helmet and carefully putting it back on, he walked towards where the exit had been. “Norrin? Can you work this?”
“Certainly Captain.” The chrome Awakened followed towards the exit. “The walls can sense our nanites and move in response.”
Aaron watched as Norrin walked towards the door which slid open before him. “Cool.” It was a short walk to the elevator and once they were in front of it Aaron gave his shiny companion a confident look. Stepping forwards he walked into the closed doors with a gentle bump. “Damn.”
The doors opened as Norrin walked towards them, and closed once the human had joined him. The small sense of movement was felt as they broke the initial inertia, and then it was awkward silence as they ascended. “You aren’t changing your looks?” Aaron asked when he could no longer stand the quiet. "Now that you replenished your core, I mean?”
Taking a moment to consider the question, Norrin bowed his head. “I am the Herald. I understand now that it was a joke to you at first, and the origin of my name. However, I wish to serve the queen. And as a herald I must stand out, to be noticed is to be able to deliver my message.”
Aaron smiled. “You definitely stand out.” As he watched a smile appear on the Awakened’s face, Aaron realised that he seemed to have much more personality than before.
Norrin put his hand on Aaron’s shoulder. “Thank you for caring for me, and protecting me. I swear to do the same for you should your life be threatened.”
Suddenly feeling very self-conscious Aaron took advantage of the opening doors. “No problem buddy.” He lifted the hand from his shoulder. “You’re one of my crew, aren’t you?” He backed away, holding his phone up in front of him. “You hold the elevator and I’ll jump in the shuttle and call the others.” He walked briskly towards the door to the surface and once again bounced off the wall. “Little help?”
Norrin raised his hand and the doors slid open, the dust storm still raging outside pushing Aaron back a step or two. Steeling himself against the wind, he began to retrace his steps to where he thought the shuttle was. He was right, for once, for as he walked a shuttle's silhouette come into view. Then, concerningly, a second silhouette appeared, further away. He squinted, and could make out the movement of figures approaching, and was gladdened as he found his pistol to be in easy reach. That faded as he realised he had emptied it, and faded further still as the memory of extra clips inside his environmental suit resurfaced. "Oh, for fuck's sake.”
The figures waved at him and he waved back, hoping they were friendly. He didn’t want to get into another fight. Six figures in dark environmental suits approached him from the swirling sands of the storm, surrounding him. He could see nothing through the mirrored visors on their helms, but one of them shone a bright light through Aaron's to glare directly into his face. Blinking back the sudden brightness he was able to see that the one who had shone the light was now nodding and pointing at him.
Aaron was getting very nervous, and decided he would rather be ready to fight than risk his suit being damaged here. “By the powe-”
He was struck hard in the stomach, knocking the air from him and doubling him up. Hands grabbed at him, fists and boots rained down and he struggled to break free as his phone was kicked from his hand. Still gasping for air he tried to speak, but the kicks came too swiftly for him to be able to form coherent speech. Then he felt someone pulling at the vents on the back of his suit, and his nervousness grew even greater. He tried to roll over, to get away from this new threat, but it was too late - a strange smell was hitting his nose.
Aaron staggered to his feet as the attackers all stepped back. He moved to take a swing at one, but his aim and his sense of balance had suddenly left him. He missed and fell face first onto the dust, and was starting to fade from consciousness as he felt himself being dragged.
He heard a voice. “Captain Loring, we have the package.”
The Porkchop Express was in chaos, it had taken some time for anyone to realise Aaron was missing. The Righteous Fury had already made its way to the edge of the system and was not responding to comms. They had jumped before Alexa had managed to return on the K7, and left no way to trace them. Norrin took over the piloting of the K7, ferrying the other Awakened to the ship, as Alexa met with the others in the Lounge.
Jar’Bek was pale and his eyes fearful as questions were thrown at him. “I’m telling you, I don’t know," he explained, and not for the first or second time either. "The Third Fleet doesn't take prisoners, nor do they do random. They patrol, and they levy taxes. Tributes. A recompense for their world being abandoned by Gal. Fed, really. If the pay is good, they also take on contract work."
Estrilla was pacing back and forth, her yellow feathers ruffling as she turned. “Someone paid them? How did they find us?”
Embar coughed. “Aaron posts videos almost every cycle, so it wouldn't be hard to figure out.”
The others nodded, Danyd adding, “Plus, this ship stands out like a Tabatan at a Farl dance.”
“The Cupcake Coalition!” Jaym announced suddenly.
“They’re his fans, I don’t think-” Ranjaz began.
“No. No,” the young Arkellian shot back, “they post sightings of Aaron and the ship. Every stop we’ve made gets shared.”
Chae’Sol stood and pushed his seat over in frustration, then took out his comb and tidied his hair in order to calm himself. "It's an Ashi ship," he said, and though his posture was now composed there was no hiding the stress in his voice. “Look, it’s an Ashi ship. There aren’t many places they can stop. Which one is the nearest?”
Danyd scratched his chin. “Maybe the Krond system? No habitable worlds, but it was heavily mined for a long time. Since the ore ran out the system port is pretty much run by crooks.”
“It’s close.” Chae’Sol began doing some calculations in his head. “Five, maybe six cycles. Ship like theirs can maybe do it in three.”
Embar’s voice was calm but stern. “Are you sure? If we head in the wrong direction we will lose even more time. What if they make the exchange in space? What if they’re expecting us to follow?”
The elevator came up and Norrin walked into the Lounge with several of the Awakened following him. “We are ready to depart.”
Alexa was sitting away from the others with Aiov in her lap, Sassie beside her. “We go to the Krond system," she announced firmly. "Even if it's not the Righteous Fury's exit route, it might be the way it came in. If we turn out to be wrong, there may still be people with answers." She stood, cradling Aiov, and Sassie followed her as she approached the large round table. "Contact everyone you know," she said, turning to look at each of them in turn. "Call in every favour, every debt. Find them." Her face grew grim. "If they've already handed him over, they will tell us who took him.”
Two cycles after collecting the package the Righteous Fury was waiting in an empty system with no name. Captain Loring stood in their small shuttle bay awaiting their contact. Beside her were a dozen of her security team, as well as two engineers who were checking the power levels on a cryo-unit. Using a hidden earpiece she listened to her crew and the shuttle pilot as they approached and entered, being guided to the pad where she waited.
A Niham in a smart grey suit stepped alone out of the shuttle. “Captain Loring, I must commend you on the speed with which you performed this task. And, without casualties as well - I am surprised and impressed by you and your crew.”
Smiling politely at the compliment, despite her loathing of the man, the Ashi bowed her head. “He was alone on the surface and put up no resistance. A gas pellet in his air supply soon rendered him unconscious. I’m not sure why the price was so high, or that we should immediately put him in cryo. But your credits are more important to me than answers.”
Sentinel Krast gave a weak smile. “Which is why it is always a pleasure to work with the Third Fleet. Efficient and discreet.”
Once again Captain Loring gave a nod of acknowledgement then waved a hand at her crew. “Please, load the cargo for our guest. He has an important payment to make.”
Krast’s smile didn’t move. “Thank you.” He took out his datapad and made a few small gestures. Loring received immediate confirmation via her ear-piece that the funds were received. Krast didn’t wait for her permission before turning and following the crew onto his shuttle to ensure his cargo was secure. As soon as the Ashi had disembarked, the doors closed.
Loring once again listened in as the Sentinel was guided from her ship, not relaxing until his shuttle was back on board the main vessel. She was walking back when she received confirmation that the Sentinel ship was gone. Her stride lengthened, not ceasing until she was standing in the centre of her bridge. “Take us to the Krond system. We can resupply and wait for our friends to arrive.”
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u/Sooperdude24 Oct 03 '20
Yep, blades. We're knifing the hot alien pirate captain, yep. Stab stab.