Riza

Chapter One-Hundred-Three: The Cruelty of Hope - Part Three

Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant

Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation

Solar System: D-447

Planet: Ora

Location: Daska City, Outer City

***

Ten years ago

***

My eyes open, they still haven't killed me yet. Yuna lies dead before me. I stare at the barrel of the soldier's energy rifle. Regrets come crawling up from the dark crevices of my soul. Am I afraid to die? No, I am ready. This is as good a time as any. My only regret is that Yuna died too. At least I will see her again soon though.

"Unauthorized target," the weapon says, flashing red.

Silence falls, until it's broken.

"Never gotten that error before," the man says turning the weapon on its side to inspect it.

"For frag's sake," the second man says, shoving him out of the way and pointing his weapon at me "Useless sack of…"

"Unauthorized target," this man's weapon says as well.

"How the frag is she unauthorized?" he asks, but it does not respond, he points the weapon towards me again pulling two more times, this time his metal suit freezes in place.

"Warning… Unauthorized actions detected… Locking Exosuit," the same voice says.

"What have you done?" the first man asks me.

He takes the weapon and swings it at me, my eyes close waiting for the strike… that never comes. A loud clang sounds next to my ear. My eyes open slowly and I see the weapon on the floor next to me. His hand is open and frozen like the other man's. What is going on? Are they trying to give me hope? Is this some kind of sick trick? My hand reaches toward the weapon on the ground. I can see his eyes through his visor, he struggles to move the suit, but it is… frozen in place. The servos no longer hum and the power has turned off to the extremities.

He is trying to speak through the mask, but his voice is muffled. My finger grips the trigger of his weapon now.

"Authorized user detected, unlocking system," the voice says.

Molten metal rolls down into his chest cavity as he screams in pain. I fire again, and again even after his body has bubbled into ooze inside of his suit. What is this feeling? It comes to me in waves as I look toward the other man. Is this hope… no, this is something else… revenge that sings a melody of death.

"I need one of these suits," I say aloud.

To my surprise. The man who still lives, his armor turns back on, and the gears on the arms and legs spin, opening the suit.

My heart thumps as he pulls himself out of it, jumping on top of me. I'm so surprised I don't even react for a few seconds. My fingers scratch at his face to no avail. My eyes bulge as he strangles me. My hand feels for anything I can use as stars fill my vision.

"Die you slagging…" he never finishes.

Blood erupts from his throat as my hand holds a jagged icicle. I try to stab him again with it, but my hand's grip on it slips as it melts rapidly from his hot blood. His hands try to stop the bleeding as he falls to the floor, his eyes wide. I watch him struggle. The man who watched Yuna be murdered. Staring down at him in his last moments of agony. Shooting him through the chest only after his body begins to show dark lines. Looking at his suit, I am not entirely sure how it works. I used to clean them as a girl to help my mother, it was her duty to tend to the Clan guards and their armor. Should I take it? Yes… I think I should.

Lingering regret fills me as I turn my head to her body. Kneeling next to her now. My hand strokes Yuna's hair, sadness stirring in my heart once more. I cannot leave her like this, to become food for Shulka. In her hand, I place the cartridge of the rifle which I used to take revenge for her. Taking off my bloody coat, I wrap her in it tightly and place her inside the metal pipe that I hid. Perhaps here she won't be desecrated by the creatures. It is not much, but it is all I can give her. She would not want me to linger and waste her sacrifice. Besides… there are more that will hear the death song. More that will pay for taking her from me.

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I enter the suit now, and the display hums on as it tightens around me, forming to my body and shifting the gears to become tighter. Moving toward the man I killed first, I grab him with the suit. To my surprise, he is light with the suit's help. In my other hand, I drag the man who died by ice to the throat. I must hide them, there is no telling if others will search for them. If I can delay them, my chances improve.

***

This suit makes everything easier, I disposed of the men into the waste chute where they belong. Now I move toward the shuttle bay, Yuna's command chip around my neck. If what my mother taught me is correct, it should allow me to use the ship… if she came in one. There is much I don't know. Much that I must learn quickly.

"Why are you by yourself, Corporal?" A voice asks from behind me.

Another soldier in a metal suit, with three more behind him. I am so close to the shuttle bay… do I run or fight?

"Corporal?" the voice asks again, stepping forward, and inspecting the blood on my armor.

Backing away slowly now, he tilts his head in his own helmet. I turn and run, unsure of if I could fight them all. I am not trained in these suits. Even though it makes everything easier, it is cumbersome to my normal movements.

"On me!" the man yells.

I hear the pounding of boots behind me. I only need to be faster than them.

The suit slams into one of the doors that lead to the shuttle bay, breaking the bolts that once held it. Moving in, I see there are twenty more metal soldiers, all bearing the crest of House Helenius, the House that owns our world, the same that owns this solar system.

Those inside turn to look at the noise.

"Stop them!" the man from before says "They are not one of us!"

Weapons point at me rapidly, this man's words appear to bear weight amongst them.

"Remove the suit and your life may be spared," the man says. I can hear the lie in his breath.

"Sergeant stand down!" another man yells.

"This one is not one of ours, Sir," the first man says, pointing his weapon at me still.

"I served with this Corporal in the Verantha campaign, put your slagging weapon down!" the man who appears to be in charge says.

"Sir, this is not him," the first warns.

Weapons move up between both as I back away slowly.

"Remove your armor Corporal, let's end this stupid argument," the man in charge says to me with a hand on his hip shaking his head at the one he called Sergeant.

Looking around, I only see one craft that is Arasha in the hanger, it must be hers. Can I make it?

Plasma strikes the ground near me.

"Oi! The Lieutenant said remove your slagging helmet," the sergeant says.

"Hey! I did not give the order to…"

The sergeant aims for my leg now, pulling the trigger, and his weapon flashes red.

"Unauthorized," it says like the others.

My weapon fires at the sergeant before he can make sense of it. I don't understand what is going on. But the only chance is to fight and hope their weapons cannot hurt me. My next shot slams into the Lieutenant's head, killing him instantly. Sending the rest into disarray as they try to fire on me but cannot. My lips curl into a grin as I feel the sensation again. Power… power to fight against the odds, for once I feel powerful as my rifle unloads into their deserving flesh. Retribution for all the pain I have suffered. Finally, the scales of justice are balancing.

They all lay dead or crawling by the time my last cartridge ejects. Taking more from the fallen, I finish my work and move to the craft. How do I work it though? My eyes squint at the display as it fires on after I put in Yuna's command chip. Will I be able to escape? Hope dares to flutter in my chest again as I try to make sense of the controls.

Pressing buttons randomly, different systems fire on. The shuttle shakes loudly. I can do this. I can grasp destiny with my hands. I can escape my life of hellish constraints.

***

I am frustrated. Angry. I can't figure this ship out. It's been hours and none have approached, yet I cannot leave either. I feel I am close though. Perhaps soon… my eyes look through the front viewport of the shuttle. The shuttle bay's large door to the outside grinds open slowly. Hope falls from my chest, despair's melody close in my mind.

The sky erupts as counter burners fire on a shuttle entering the hanger at an extreme speed, landing so swiftly that it cracks the stone and makes the metal landing braces bow. A hundred soldiers file out from the craft as hope flees entirely. The shuttle shakes violently as they hit it with some kind of weapon from theirs, the power turns off moments later.

There is no choice, I must fight them, I must rely on this strange trick. I have not lost yet, do not despair. Have courage. Leaving the shuttle, I take up position behind it, waiting for them to descend upon their deaths like all the others.

"I don't know how you managed to disrupt the system interface," a tall man says, walking from the shuttle toward me, holding a hand up to the soldiers to halt. His boots clip the ground and sound like they are metal tipped, but he does not wear a suit of metal like the others.

The gun does not fire as I pull it.

"Unauthorized," my weapon says, the light turning red.

The tall man comes forward slowly, the air around him seems to swell with Maka. I try to run but the suit does not stir, as though it is being ordered not to. He picks me and the suit up with one hand, the suit locks up further as I try to fight him, and his head tilts to the side looking at the carnage I have wrought. Slamming me against the ground now, I feel the suit bending under his raw strength. How can a person be this strong…

My head feels concussed as I try to get to my feet, the servos in my armor sputter in protest. He kicks me, and I am sent flying into Yuna's shuttle, spitting up blood into the helmet, I try to stand, but the gears are too bent and a warning keeps popping up in front of my eyes. One of my legs is sideways and it throbs desperately in pain.

"A little Kuwathi that dares to rise," the man says, picking me up again "But you do not know how high the ceiling of your cage is. How deep your shackles run. You are the bug beneath other's heels."

He slams me against the craft, my helmet denting into my cheek, blood spilling from my lips as I feel my face fracture. The man grips the helmet now, my eyes quiver as I see him tear the metal back as though it were simple cloth. The Maka swims around him, filling his body and powering his movements as he holds me closer now.

"You were permitted to exist because you served a purpose, now you are permitted to…"

Taking the last breath of defiance in my body, I spit blood onto the man's face, flashing my Kuwathi eyes to him. His hand draws back to kill me but stops when he hears a chime from his wrist device. He pauses, his expression changing.

Looking at a notification. His face turns back to me, curiosity in it now as he says, "Interesting."

My eyes widen as I look closer and I see his face fully now… I know him, all Kuwathi know him… he is the Governor of our Solar System… our master, Lord Helos. He releases his grasp and I crumple to the ground, blood oozing from my body.

"Collect her," Lord Helos says to the soldiers as he walks back to his shuttle.

Darkness swells in my eyes, until there is nothing.

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