Hardwired
three.
The I.E.C. ship-- a beautiful example of the finest craftsmanship in the Yuhunr Galaxy-- docked against the hole in her hull which was a sting to Kaja’s already trampled pride and weighed the options in front of her. There was no way she could try to evade the Enforcers who were no doubt going to arrest her and bring her back to Pharsouk. There would be no trail, since there was a bounty on the ship, and her punishment would be to serve in a work camp like the rest of the humans who broke the Pharsii laws until it was deemed she was rehabilitated.
“Or I can fight to the death,” Kaja thought bitterly as she watched the doors to the Enforcer ship begin to part and she couldn’t help but be amused at the path her thoughts had taken. Like all good Junkers, pirates in their very own right, she would rather go down with her ship than to be taken alive, “Just like my father before me.”
Leaving the plasma cut hole in her hull, Kaja limped towards the cockpit, her eyes dancing over the buttons and gauges, hand trailing over the captain’s chair as she hobbled by. All her hard work, gone. All thanks to the damned Kvasirian and his greed. Grabbing the last blaster from its assigned holster, she walked over to her captain's chair and sat down, holding back a sigh of relief. Never had she been so battered in all her life, which said something considering she grew up on a ship the the galaxies most vicious criminals.
Taking aim for the cockpit’s threshold, Kaja waited much like she had done when Rickenn had made his unwanted entrance. Her death would be the talk of the galaxy, news of her standoff would spread from Arnuarva to Zakar Prime.
She would be legendary.
That thought brought her a shred of peace even as she heard the hard steps outside the cockpit, “This is Commander N'Vorti of the Intergalactic Enforcement Corps. Your ship has been boarded and seized under Pharsii law. Set down all weapons, including blasters or hand-to-hand combat weapons and surrender yourself into our custody or we will be forced to use whatever force we deem necessary to bring you to heel.”
Kaja listened to his words, all clearly punctuated with a very apparent Pharsii accent, though she wasn’t surprised-- most true Pharsiian men joined the I.E.C when they came of age. It was a tradition that brought honor to one’s family. When she didn’t reply he spoke his mantra in full again, though added a bit extra to the end, “Ship DH032-H6E, known as The Culprit, is being seized for acts of piracy, illegal salvaging, and black market trading. You will not receive another warning. Surrender yourself immediately.”
“Make me!” Kaja called childishly as she fired a series of rounds towards the doorway.
She heard the scramble of men outside the door before blaster fire was returned, many of the glowing balls missed her and she wondered how any of them could have managed to joint the I.E.C. with such horrible aim. Kaja had just begun firing back when one finally landed square in her chest.
Kaja’s body seized, arching in the chair as fifty thousand volts of electricity bounced inside her body. As she spasmed uncontrollably, she realized that they had their blasters set to stun. While effectively subduing her, it would not kill her as she had planned.
She wouldn’t be going down in a blaze of glory after all.
As her body stopped convulsing, she came back to reality slowly; as if her brain had decided to check out of her head once the seizing had started. The first thing Kaja noticed was she had fallen out of her captain’s chair and onto the hard metal floor, her face pressed against the grated material, her body sprawled indecently.
As she reached for the blaster, which laid only an arm's length away on the floor, a booted foot pressed against the small of her back and she felt the pressure of a blaster between her shoulder blades.
Kaja immediately retracted her hand, not wanting another fifty thousand volts to the body and laid defeated beneath the boot of whatever lowly Enforcer hovered above her, “You four go and search the rest of this piece of shit for those parts she salvaged. And I want your name, Junker.”
“Not a lowly I.E.C. pawn,” she thought bitterly, “Commander N’Vorti.” She decided to stay silent, they obviously had no clue who she was and she would give them no indication. “Name,” he barked again as he pressed his foot down harder.
“Eat me, red devil!” Kaja yelled at him, the insult was a popular one, referring to the red skin that full-blooded Pharsii flaunted proudly. She cried out when her arm was grabbed and yanked behind her back as cuffs secured her wrists. Once she was restrained she was hauled up to her feet by her arm with one firm tug. “Dirty military dog! Let me go!”
Commander N’Vorti turned her to face him before saying, “Give me your name or I will add noncompliance with galaxy law to your sentence,”
Kaja stared him down, not that he would be able to tell though the oneway faceplate. He wore a suit much like her own but the mask had been lightened to reveal his features. Kaja was always so amazed by how human the alien species looked, with the exception of their red skin and yellow irises. He was built in the same way Phariians were; their average height ranged from six and a half feet and taller. Just looking at him though, if Kaja had to guess he was at least seven feet.
She scoffed, he wanted a name because he knew she wasn't chipped like the humans who lived planetside, most outlaws weren’t. When Kaja didn't reply he slammed the side of her helmet with an open palm, the helmets blast shield lightened so he could see her features. When his eyes roamed over her face she grinned, “Like what you see, you Pharsii bastard?”
“What I'd like, outlaw, is your name or I'll throw you out into space,” Kaja knew the threat was empty, even as the captain of a pirate vessel, there were laws that protected her.
“Do it,” she goaded her hazel eyes locked with his golden ones in defiance, “I fucking dare you.”
She heard the other enforcer approaching even before she saw him, he appeared in the doorway and spoke to the commander in rapid Pharsiian. Kaja could only scoff because they assumed she had no knowledge of the language, while she was only passable at best she could clearly understand them saying there were no spare parts.
Commander N’Vorti clenched his jaw and fist simultaneously before asking, “Who disabled your ship and took the parts you salvaged?”
Kaja burned with hatred, of course they had no idea it was Rickenn who had destroyed the only thing she could call her own and the only home she had ever known. It would have made her shittastic day to give the I.E.C. and Commander N’Vorti all the information on The Thrule Tereshkova but there was honor amongst thieves. “Death before dishonor, don't ever trust the Enforcer bastards even if it means your life,” Andon Sorkin had instilled that life fact into her once she was old enough to understand. Never, ever give anyone up to the I.E.C. even if it meant your own demise. “I didn't salvage any ships,” she denied.
“The damage?” he questioned, his grip on her arm tightening painfully, but she didn’t show him how much.
“It’s none of your business so if you're going to take me in do it. Otherwise, leave me the fuck alone so I can figure out how the hell I’m going to dock my ship.”
The two glared at each other, neither looking away as they dared the other to act, finally Commander N’Vorti spoke, his eyes still locked on hers, “Take her to the ship and put her in a holding room.” With a rough shove, he sent Kaja reeling towards the other enforcer, she staggered dramatically and would have fallen had he not caught her by her arm, steadying her. “And make her take off that helmet, I don’t know how a Junker managed to get their hands on I.E.C grade suits but I intend to find out.”
“Or I can fight to the death,” Kaja thought bitterly as she watched the doors to the Enforcer ship begin to part and she couldn’t help but be amused at the path her thoughts had taken. Like all good Junkers, pirates in their very own right, she would rather go down with her ship than to be taken alive, “Just like my father before me.”
Leaving the plasma cut hole in her hull, Kaja limped towards the cockpit, her eyes dancing over the buttons and gauges, hand trailing over the captain’s chair as she hobbled by. All her hard work, gone. All thanks to the damned Kvasirian and his greed. Grabbing the last blaster from its assigned holster, she walked over to her captain's chair and sat down, holding back a sigh of relief. Never had she been so battered in all her life, which said something considering she grew up on a ship the the galaxies most vicious criminals.
Taking aim for the cockpit’s threshold, Kaja waited much like she had done when Rickenn had made his unwanted entrance. Her death would be the talk of the galaxy, news of her standoff would spread from Arnuarva to Zakar Prime.
She would be legendary.
That thought brought her a shred of peace even as she heard the hard steps outside the cockpit, “This is Commander N'Vorti of the Intergalactic Enforcement Corps. Your ship has been boarded and seized under Pharsii law. Set down all weapons, including blasters or hand-to-hand combat weapons and surrender yourself into our custody or we will be forced to use whatever force we deem necessary to bring you to heel.”
Kaja listened to his words, all clearly punctuated with a very apparent Pharsii accent, though she wasn’t surprised-- most true Pharsiian men joined the I.E.C when they came of age. It was a tradition that brought honor to one’s family. When she didn’t reply he spoke his mantra in full again, though added a bit extra to the end, “Ship DH032-H6E, known as The Culprit, is being seized for acts of piracy, illegal salvaging, and black market trading. You will not receive another warning. Surrender yourself immediately.”
“Make me!” Kaja called childishly as she fired a series of rounds towards the doorway.
She heard the scramble of men outside the door before blaster fire was returned, many of the glowing balls missed her and she wondered how any of them could have managed to joint the I.E.C. with such horrible aim. Kaja had just begun firing back when one finally landed square in her chest.
Kaja’s body seized, arching in the chair as fifty thousand volts of electricity bounced inside her body. As she spasmed uncontrollably, she realized that they had their blasters set to stun. While effectively subduing her, it would not kill her as she had planned.
She wouldn’t be going down in a blaze of glory after all.
As her body stopped convulsing, she came back to reality slowly; as if her brain had decided to check out of her head once the seizing had started. The first thing Kaja noticed was she had fallen out of her captain’s chair and onto the hard metal floor, her face pressed against the grated material, her body sprawled indecently.
As she reached for the blaster, which laid only an arm's length away on the floor, a booted foot pressed against the small of her back and she felt the pressure of a blaster between her shoulder blades.
Kaja immediately retracted her hand, not wanting another fifty thousand volts to the body and laid defeated beneath the boot of whatever lowly Enforcer hovered above her, “You four go and search the rest of this piece of shit for those parts she salvaged. And I want your name, Junker.”
“Not a lowly I.E.C. pawn,” she thought bitterly, “Commander N’Vorti.” She decided to stay silent, they obviously had no clue who she was and she would give them no indication. “Name,” he barked again as he pressed his foot down harder.
“Eat me, red devil!” Kaja yelled at him, the insult was a popular one, referring to the red skin that full-blooded Pharsii flaunted proudly. She cried out when her arm was grabbed and yanked behind her back as cuffs secured her wrists. Once she was restrained she was hauled up to her feet by her arm with one firm tug. “Dirty military dog! Let me go!”
Commander N’Vorti turned her to face him before saying, “Give me your name or I will add noncompliance with galaxy law to your sentence,”
Kaja stared him down, not that he would be able to tell though the oneway faceplate. He wore a suit much like her own but the mask had been lightened to reveal his features. Kaja was always so amazed by how human the alien species looked, with the exception of their red skin and yellow irises. He was built in the same way Phariians were; their average height ranged from six and a half feet and taller. Just looking at him though, if Kaja had to guess he was at least seven feet.
She scoffed, he wanted a name because he knew she wasn't chipped like the humans who lived planetside, most outlaws weren’t. When Kaja didn't reply he slammed the side of her helmet with an open palm, the helmets blast shield lightened so he could see her features. When his eyes roamed over her face she grinned, “Like what you see, you Pharsii bastard?”
“What I'd like, outlaw, is your name or I'll throw you out into space,” Kaja knew the threat was empty, even as the captain of a pirate vessel, there were laws that protected her.
“Do it,” she goaded her hazel eyes locked with his golden ones in defiance, “I fucking dare you.”
She heard the other enforcer approaching even before she saw him, he appeared in the doorway and spoke to the commander in rapid Pharsiian. Kaja could only scoff because they assumed she had no knowledge of the language, while she was only passable at best she could clearly understand them saying there were no spare parts.
Commander N’Vorti clenched his jaw and fist simultaneously before asking, “Who disabled your ship and took the parts you salvaged?”
Kaja burned with hatred, of course they had no idea it was Rickenn who had destroyed the only thing she could call her own and the only home she had ever known. It would have made her shittastic day to give the I.E.C. and Commander N’Vorti all the information on The Thrule Tereshkova but there was honor amongst thieves. “Death before dishonor, don't ever trust the Enforcer bastards even if it means your life,” Andon Sorkin had instilled that life fact into her once she was old enough to understand. Never, ever give anyone up to the I.E.C. even if it meant your own demise. “I didn't salvage any ships,” she denied.
“The damage?” he questioned, his grip on her arm tightening painfully, but she didn’t show him how much.
“It’s none of your business so if you're going to take me in do it. Otherwise, leave me the fuck alone so I can figure out how the hell I’m going to dock my ship.”
The two glared at each other, neither looking away as they dared the other to act, finally Commander N’Vorti spoke, his eyes still locked on hers, “Take her to the ship and put her in a holding room.” With a rough shove, he sent Kaja reeling towards the other enforcer, she staggered dramatically and would have fallen had he not caught her by her arm, steadying her. “And make her take off that helmet, I don’t know how a Junker managed to get their hands on I.E.C grade suits but I intend to find out.”