Chapter 7: Chapter 7 – Take a stand

Chapter 7 – Take a stand

“Easy there dude... we're not your enemy!” A male voice called out from the darkness, Diego was mid-way through preparing a defensive psyonic burst, yellow sparks arcing across his naked body as the energy coursed through him, upon hearing the voice however, he dropped his guard a little and remained silent. “I was kinda hoping you'd recognise my voice but I guess you can't remember...”

A gentle flame flickered on, produced by a hand-held lighter and revealed a fox man, along with a couple of other people near him, there was a larger crocodilian lady, heavily built with muscle and doing her best to stay quiet and a smaller feline man who looked a bit older than the others, not old aged but certainly older, with greying fur around his muzzle and ears.

“Names Trent, this is Cindy and Geralt, we're trapped down here... like you.” The fox reached out to Diego, offering a hand to pull himself up. “We got one more who offered to distract Leech, she should be back soon... You've cause quite the commotion here, I gotta say.”

“That a good thing or a bad thing?” Diego was still tense but he wasn't feeling like he was an any danger with these people.

“Bad. But it doesn't matter.” Cindy growled out, she was quite long snouted which was rare for her species these days. “I need to get out of here. I'm no ones prisoner or object.”

Trent rolled his eyes and focused back on Diego, ignoring Cindy's words.

“We're organising an escape attempt, i'm trying to break as many people out as I can but I suspect our time is running thin... these things are getting more organised with every passing day, last I heard, the town above has completely fallen...”

Diego's eyes bolted open in shock, he'd taken too long... his mind dashed back to Oxyi, had she been taken and corrupted? Or was she a mark? Either way, guilt took over and he stood sharply from the corner, appearing to walk towards the exit, prompting Trent to speak up.

“Woah there big guy... this isn't yours or anyone's fault other than the monsters who are still doing this, don't just march out there, we need a plan!” Trent called out with a loud whisper.

Diego sighed and stopped, knowing the fox was right.

“Too much of a wimp, lizard?” Cindy asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Knock it off Cindy! You're not helping!” Trent snapped back, obviously agitated by the crocodilian.

“Am I wrong? This 'princess' has been locked up in Seeth's room, getting pampered and his butt fucked whilst these things roam the countryside and take over everything!” The girl spoke bitterly, glaring at Diego. “Didn't think he'd have time in his busy love making schedule to realise that the world is falling apart!”

“Cindy! Give it a break! Its not like you've done anything either, you've been cowering with the rest of us from these things!” The Fox was trying to stay quiet but the argument was growing in intensity.

“I'm not the one claiming to be a 'hero' of some sort! Besides, you always talk me out of attacking them! I reckon I could take Leech...” Cindy growled, flexing her claws and muscles a little in the darkness.

“Fuck off Cindy.” The feline called out behind everyone else. “You wouldn't stand a chance, i've seen what Leech can do, you're all talk and no show, the only reason you're alive is because Trent keeps talking sense into you, stop winding up the new guy with your lack of social skills.” Geralt seemed even more annoyed with Cindy than the fox did but the crocodilian didn't seem quite finished yet.

“Bullshit! I could take her! And why should I lay off him? Anyone who enjoys these alien sadistic fucks should burn along with them, its obvious he likes them! Why hasn't he used his psyonics on them yet?! Why hasn't he used his big ass sword and chopped them all up yet?! Cuz he likes getting his precious little ass filled with multi-coloured spunk, thats why!” Cindy grumbled aggressively, casting angry glances at the male in question.

The Fox and Cat quickly looked up at Diego, afraid he would react badly to Cindy's inflammatory comments but he didn't seem too bothered really, instead laughing gently and turning back to the group, sitting on the floor with them and ruffling his hair shyly.

“Truth be told, Cindy- I am rather fond of Seeth and Plasia. They... aren't the ones responsible for this. My sword has been missing since my first night here and it would be no good in this dungeon anyway, you tried swinging a large melee weapon in an enclosed space, croc?”

Cindy scowled and shook her head.

“I didn't think so, you're obviously inexperienced in combat, you have expectations of people that aren't realistic. The reason I haven't used my psyonics is because randomly assaulting these things with no plan of action afterwards is just going to get me killed. These aliens are strong... like... really strong. They're stronger than they should be anyway and I doubt we've seen them actually fight properly yet. I can't just fling concussive bolts out willy-nilly and hope everything turns out fine.” He sighed heavily, eyes drifting towards the floor. “I did fuck up though. If the city is completely gone then that means my friend is gone too... I promised to keep her safe and I reckon i've failed. I told her to get off planet but I doubt she did, she didn't seem like the type.” He sighed again, eyes fixed to the floor.

“Oh boohoo lizard. Geralt is still looking for his daughter who's obviously dead or corru-” Cindy went to continue but felt all three men staring at her intensely. She paused, taking a deep breath, feeling like she might have crossed a line. “Sorry Geralt. My temper got ahead of me.”

“You're like a child Cindy, you should think before you speak. I think you owe our new guy an apology too, he played it smart and he's still alive, its not his fault he hasn't saved 15000 odd people at this point, is it?” Geralt spoke firmly, but it obvious the crocodilians words had hurt him. Cindy turned to Geralt and huddled close to him, the two continuing to talk in private, Trent however turned back to Diego, giving him a “Sorry about that” look.

“I get the feeling there is some friction in the 'team', Trent?” Diego asked, still feeling pretty shit, even if Cindy was just lashing out, her words still stung.

“Yeah... don't worry about her. She's a loner, lived out in the swamp lands by herself, only ever came into town to get supplies. Suddenly shes being forced to interact and work with people, doesn't come naturally to her... Not to make excuses or anything for her. She was out of line.”

“Eh, she had some points. These creatures are difficult to resist... Seeth is like nothing i've ever encountered.” The lizard noticed that Fox's mood changed quite suddenly, a serious expression furrowed his brow.

“Diego, do you want to get out of here? You're not thinking of staying are you?” He asked genuinely, lowering his voice so Cindy wouldn't hear him.

“No. Absolutely not. If you guys are arranging an escape attempt, then count me in!” Diego nodded firmly, he had his own thoughts about Seeth and Plasia, which he wasn't sure this lot would agree with, but for now, escape was his priority. He held it hand out and the two exchanged a firm handshake.

“Then... I think I know where we can find your sword.” Trent nodded back, smiling warmly at the lizard. With Diego willing to aid them, the fox thought they might just have a shot at escaping...

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Oxyi strained with all her strength to push Seeth off, but the alien didn't budge, she was far too strong to break free from, the two staring at each-other deeply, Oxyi's heart pounding in her chest as she tried to figure out what her aggressor was going to do.

Oddly, every other figure in the room departed, slowly walking off in silence as they dragged the wounded and the dead with them. Seeth continued to stare down at the powerless Lioness as the block of flats was emptied out, just leaving the two of them in the badly damaged ruins of Oxyi's home.

“S-so what now huh?! Didn't want to be watched as you kill me or something?!” Oxyi cried out in between pained breaths, still shaking all over, yet Seeth remained silent, watching down over her prey. Oxyi observed her carefully, the aliens huge amethystine eyes were staring down at her, pinging between the girls eyes and her body. As she lay on the wrecked floor, body aching, her flat bathed in darkness, nothing but the pained, baited breaths of her damaged body and the massive creature bearing down on top of her.

Eventually, the tense silence broke as Seeth quietly spoke, but it appeared to be to herself...

“Come on now Seeth... you know this is the easier thing to do...” She sounded unsure. “Just... just corrupt this girl and things will... continue as planned.”

Oxyi's heart thumped loudly in her chest, try as she might, she couldn't move the massive beast off her, she remained powerless in Seeth's overbearing grasp.

“I just need to finish this and I can be on my way...” She spoke softly, almost whispering, floorboards creaking gently as her weight shifted a little.

Seeth suddenly looked off to the side, huffing loudly.

“T-this isn't fair. None of this is fair.” Seeth hissed, tightening her grip on Oxyi.

The Lioness stared up in shock, processing what the alien was saying, her throat creaked slightly as she went to speak but stopped herself, watching Seeth's every movement and expression, so she laid still and continued to watch and listen.

“If I just... I can... He won't know. It'll be fine.” She nodded to herself firmly. “It doesn't matter if he does know. There's nothing he can do anyway. He'll be mine.”

Oxyi had no way of knowing, but her gut told her that she was talking about the same guy who'd come to help out. She remembered that this alien had bargained for him to come peacefully in exchange for the Lioness getting away.

“Y-you're talking about Diego, aren't you?” Her voice shook, the words were wobbly but the message was received loud and clear as Seeth recoiled back at hearing his name.

“You- You don't say his name.” Seeth said firmly, scowling back.

“O-or what?! I'm already beaten!” Oxyi snapped back, her every limb still trembling but she couldn't help herself. “I should already be dead! What do I care if you threaten me now?! Why don't you want me saying his name?!”

“Be quiet! Or i'll...” Seeth initially snapped but her aggression trailed off hard, leaving her looking nervous.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Oxyi screamed back, tears stinging her eyes again. “I'm fighting for my life here and you're banging on about a crush!? Is this a game to you, creature?!”

Suddenly Oxyi was ripped from the floor, Seeth's hand fixed firmly around her neck and she was shoved backwards into the wall.

“You have no idea what's at stake here!” Seeth placed both her hands around Oxyi's neck and squeezed as hard as she could, the room filled with the dying chokes of the kicking Lioness.

Oxyi's vision began to blur, she clawed at Seeth's arms but it was useless, she couldn't even break her skin at this point, through the bleary dark air she could barely see, but she swore that the alien was crying too, her eyes shiny, her face pained.

The lionesses light began to fade, strength drained from her limbs, her legs stopped kicking...

Seeth continued to strain but broke into a heart wrenching cry, her pained sobbing echoing through the ruins of the flats, down the corpse filled and ashen corridors.

“I CAN'T DO THIS!” the alien screamed, releasing her grip on the now limp Oxyi, who fell to the floor and gasped loudly for oxygen, life slowly returning to her. The alien fell back onto her rear, cracking the floor as she sat, hanging her head low.

Oxyi's blood-shot, tear filled eyes slowly flicked open and she pressed herself up painfully, stumbling around as her battered body propped itself up against a wall once more, witnessing the sorrowful form of Seeth sat in the middle of the room.

The two remained quiet, one sobbing, the other gasping.

“Are you still functioning?” Seeth asked quietly, too ashamed of herself to even look at Oxyi anymore.

“Barely...” The lionesses voice was even more pained than before, growling through her bruised neck. “Why did you stop...?”

“Because I can't do this anymore. I should never have started.” Seeth hung her head low, bathing in the guilt of her new life. “I don't deserve to be with anyone. Never-mind him. I don't even deserve to be alive.”

The Lioness continued to watch the alien, still holding onto the walls and slowly making her way towards the now ruined front door of the flat, treading on smashed glass and splintered timber. But she felt something within her that needed to know more, after all of this, this creature suddenly falls apart right at the last moment?

“What do you mean you can't do this anymore?” The Lioness quizzed.

“This.” Seeth held her arms out to the room, gesturing the destruction, “The rampaging, the corrupting... This isn't right... its beyond awful. I hate being part of it. My best friend thinks its what we're born to do and now I just... I did it because I trusted her and I didn't know what else to do... But I've still contributed to it. I am scum.”

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“So... What are you going to do about it...?” The lioness enquired, checking a wound on her mid section and wincing in pain. She didn't know why she was even asking, this creature was choking the life out of her just a minute or so ago.

“I... I don't know.” Seeth looked around the room, seeing the destruction laid bare, Oxyi thought she was going to die and she gave it her all...

“Well, if you're serious about hating all this stuff... why don't you go do something about it? Stop sitting there like a big bitch and go do something useful.” Oxyi growled out, still unable to stand up properly. “What does it matter anyway. Whole cities lost, p-planets fucked. Your friend won.”

Seeth turned to look at her directly, running her hands down her face.

“Its about to get a whole lot worse.”

“Wha-what do you mean?” Even in her gravely wounded state, hearing those words put some fight back into her. “How can it possibly get worse?!”

“The planetary freighter, it lands in a few hours right? Last trip here for the remaining survivors? My colleagues are going to ambush it. And I strongly suspect they will overpower the crew.”

Despite every inch of her body crying out for rest, Oxyi felt the pit in her stomach drop once more. They both looked at each-other as the realisation hit the Lioness like another explosive going off.

“I-if they get the freighter... t-then...” The lioness was almost afraid to say it.

“Then it stops being a lost Nomad city and starts being a full scale invasion of all the surrounding systems, stations and planets. A Nomad space station has no hope of stopping an attack coming on a freighter like that with no warning.” The grim realisation of how serious this was going to become continued to weigh down on the pair.

“It grows out of control, doesn't it? This won't stop here... I-is that what your... 'colleagues' want?”

“They do. They want it more than anything.”

The lioness took a second to think, remembering she had some stashed guns not too far away from here and she began to limp off slowly, dragging a wounded leg behind her as she staggered forward, the sound of heavy boots scraping across battered wood floors gently ringing through the flat and down the corridors.

Behind her, Seeth stared in amazement, watching her work her way out the flat, she stood sharply and followed her out, seeing she'd only made a small amount of progress down the war-torn corridor.

“W-what are you doing?” Seeth stumbled over her words, trying to figure out what this badly wounded girl could possibly be up to. “You should tend to your wounds, surely?”

“I don't have time for that, I have to stop that ship from landing.” She spoke firmly, still shaking, but firm none-the-less.

“How?”

“Suppose I can tell you, no sense in allowing me to live if you weren't messed up about all this...” Oxyi reasoned. “If I can reach the major's office, there's a hail station there I can use to warn the ship mid-transit, its just a matter of getting there.”

“That... that could work. That could work!” Seeth began to put the puzzle pieces together in her head as Oxyi worked her way down the corridor. “I-i think i'm gonna...” She stopped, suddenly feeling a tightness across her chest, seeing this lone lioness fight like hell, she knew what she needed to do. “I think i'm gonna put a stop to all this.”

“How?” The lioness quizzed, still making her way down the corridor.

“I'm...” Seeth paused for a second before swelling with anger and confidence and turned back towards the flat. “I'm gonna do what I should have done when she started doing all this... i'm going to kick her fucking ass!”

And with those words uttered, Seeth charged through the flat and leapt through the window, landing on the ground below with a powerful thump. With a flick of her fingers, she sent the entire horde back into the forest and heading towards the dungeon, leaving Oxyi alone once more in the dead city.

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“We need to leave today, as soon as possible ideally, i've heard the aliens talking and something big is happening soon.” Trent had refocused the group and him, Diego, Cindy and Geralt were huddled together in the darkness of the scaffolds and plastic sheeting. As they were speaking, a small, snake-insect hybrid creature scuttled into the group and leaned on Trents leg, apparently out of breath, it took Diego off guard but no one else seemed startled.

“Tivy! You're back! Everything ok?” Trent asked, patting her gently on the back.

“All good!” The creature had a strange twinge to its voice but sounded rather friendly, if tired. “Oh, I mean 'All good'” She mimicked Diego's tone perfectly with her repeat.

“Holy shit! Listen to that!” Diego laughed, taken-a-back by the near perfect impression.

“They like you, boss!” Tivy placed her hands on her hips and she recovered her breath. “Soon as I started mimicking you, they went crazy!”

“Whats going on then Tivy? You get eyes on whats happening?” Trent asked, leaning in close to her.

“They're really not happy this guy is missing, Moltezz and Leech are starting to lose their patience and they've got Nodes searching everywhere. I heard them talking about the planetary freighter too, I think they plan to attack it.”

“Thats really not good.” Geralt remarked, ruffling his white, wispy hair. “That was our ticket out of here-”

“And now its going to be theirs. Nice. Great job losers.” Cindy huffed, growling slightly under her breath.

“-do you ever stop Cindy?!” Geralt barked at her, raising his voice a little too loud, a sudden panic broke out as they realised what danger they might have put themselves in.

The group went quiet and listened intently. They could hear footsteps scampering about in all directions outside the room and a figure briefly appeared at the illuminated entrance, gazing into the darkness, but after a few seconds, the figure dashed off, leaving the group in relative safety once again.

“Guys. Enough.” Trent sighed, Tivy felt for his hand and gripped it tightly, she stood at half his height and could wrap most of her fingers around a single digit of his. “Cindy, I appreciate you hate this, but you're making this more difficult at the moment... could you please, please cool it with the negative remarks?”

As they spoke, they heard more footsteps approaching, a whole group of figures passed by the room, they were blurry through the plastic sheeting, but they were all obviously holding large boxes or items and were in a hurry.

“Look at that... how are we supposed to move down a single corridor now?!” Geralt's dispair was becoming more apparent and Tivy felt for his hand too, holding it tightly.

“Perhaps we can wait it out?” She asked, looking around the team for support.

“Perhaps you can go fuck yourself.” Cindy spat, standing abruptly.

“Really Cindy?!” Geralt called out again. “Shes doing her damn best and you're just spitting insults and making everyone feel shit!”

“Guys please!” Tivy hopped up and tried to calm everyone, but now the group was standing, she was only at people's waist height and was promptly getting ignored by the arguing pair.

“No- you know what Cindy? you're going to get us all killed! So why don't you go off and have your fight with Leech already! See what happens!” Geralt was whisper-shouting as quietly as he could but was losing what little patience he had left.

“Sounds good! I can get away from you cowards and actually do something about this place!” Cindy did not whisper and instead spoke loudly, turning and preparing to leave, as she did so though, she felt a strong pull on her arm.

“Cindy... don't... please? We can make it out of this together.” Diego pleaded with her, grabbing her hand tightly. “Think about this for a second before you do something you don't walk away from.”

“Get your fucking hands off me.” She hissed back, eyes narrowing. “I don't want your help, princess. Touch me again and i'll kill you too.”

Diego let go of her hand, holding his up to show non-aggression.

“Do us a favour Cindy, try and last more than two minutes so we can use you as a distraction?” Geralt laughed dismissively.

“Get fucked Geralt. If I see any of you again, i'll gut you too.” The crocodilian threatened, before storming her way out of the room and leaving the group behind.

The rest remained in silence for a few seconds, listening intently for any sign of trouble and thankfully, there appeared to be none.

“Good riddance.” Geralt nodded. “We actually have a chance of escaping now.”

Diego sighed sadly and shook his head. It didn't need to be like this but the croc was in control of her own fate now.

“Tivy... you know the way to the armoury from here?” Trent asked, returning to a kneeling stance and bowing his head sadly. “We can fetch Diego's sword and some other weapons, try to make a break for the surface.”

The strangely charming snake-bug nodded her head.

“I don't know how we'll make it past all those Nodes though...”

“Shhh... listen!” Geralt pointed at the door. The group inched towards the door and heard... nothing. No footsteps or ensuing violence from Cindy's storm out. “If a 7ft bitch lizard can make it out without causing a fight, I say we just go, right now.”

“R-right now?!” Trent stumbled, suddenly feeling out of his comfort zone.

“Yup! No time like the present! Tivy lead the way?” He asked, seeming a lot happier all of a sudden.

“Okies! I'll do it!” She bounced on the spot, doing some jabs into the air to prepare herself.

“I-i feel like we need to think about this more!” Trent was obviously panicked but felt a strong hand on his shoulder.

“Trent, i've had my ears to the wall since this conversation started and the activity around us is... dying off. I think everyone is heading upstairs. We should seize the moment, it may not come around again.” Diego reassured him. “If things hit the fan, i'll buy you guys time. I think its time to take a stand.”

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