Ties that Bind and Other Space Irregularities (Closed for littlebluebird)

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

Ties that Bind and Other Space Irregularities (Closed for littlebluebird)

“Sixty four million credits!” A portly, red faced man blared as he stalked down the plush carpeted, empty hallway of the executive offices. “Sixty four-What’s the meaning of this Barnaby!?” He demanded as he shoved open the heavy double doors, jowls wobbling as he stopped suddenly in the empty frame, monocle digging in deep on his right cheek. “That’ll wipe seventeen percent of our investment capital for the YEAR!”

Barnaby, a thin man with wide shoulders and a shiny bald head, didn’t even look up from the thin bit of paper that was continuously printing off the press-he just smiled around his cigar, amused.

“It’s just what the board and Mr. Patel thinks we need George oh boy. Voted on it just this morning in fact.”

“Is this about that bloody ship we had built over there?” George wanted to know, his ruddy complexion even redder as he stalked over to the other man’s desk, ignoring the comfortable looking seating around it in favor of leaning against the solid mahogany and panting. He was winded-it’s the bloody diet his secretary had him on, he’s sure of it-he wiped a silk handkerchief across his forehead and made a pointed jab in his comrade’s direction.

“Do they know what maintenance has cost us for that behemoth, in the year since it’s been finished? Not to mention the docking fees-really Barnaby, have you never heard of sunk cost fallacy-”

“Throwing good money after bad money-yes yes George, I’ve been to Sunday school.” Barnaby waved impatiently, chewing on the unlit, snubbed out cigar as he finally looked up from the bits of news being thinly printed. “But this is a good investment! Not to mention the responsibility we have here at RecoverCo. Out bidding Caedelus will permanently remove a dangerous felon from circulation. Topping their bid was moral duty, my good man!”

“That Caedelus is after her to the tune of fifty million credits is all the more reason NOT to have bid. Far as I could see, that particular specimen has a history with gravity wells, not flight.”

“With modern technology, my dear man, any one of those auriga women are fit for flight! By the time we’re through with them, anyway! And the stronger the better, you know that. And this one is very strong. Strong enough for that shining behemoth waiting for her in Templeton!”

George shook his head, troubled.

“And in addition to these ‘noble’ claims of public service, am I also to believe this acquisition has nothing to do with the fact LenovShipping recently bought out Ricardo’s?”

“Now George,” Barnaby warned patiently.

“And gained ownership of THEIR two Auriga ships?”

“Let’s not talk about that. It’s been six months, and the wounds are still fresh.” Barnaby pretended hurt, but really-he couldn’t care less about the implication. Both he and his partner knew full well just how competitive Mr. Patel could get with the Lenov children. What they had, he had to have more of.

“And just how high are they willing to bid on this one?”

Barnaby made a show of relighting his cigar and let the seconds tick by, a quirk to his lips to know something the other man didn’t, something that might blow that silly toupee right off of his head. George waited, brow furrowing further. Impatiently, he began to guess.

“Seventy million? Surely no more than seventy five?” His nervousness and agitation increased. “Seventy six, no more than seventy six.”

“Eighty three million credits.” Barnaby said with relish-and George staggered back, finally collapsing into the plush leather chair behind him.

“Eighty three...eight-eighty...three-that’s thirty percent higher than the last one cost! Oh, our bonuses Barnaby! I expected to be able to buy another vacation home!”

“But it’s a good investment the board is making! Auriga don’t come along every day you know-and as for the cost-well, even ignoring Lenov and Caedelus, it makes sense this one would be more expensive. This specimen’s half the age of the other one, and twice as strong.”

Still mourning the loss of his seventh vacation home, George dabbed at his lips even as he licked them, a sad shakf of his head. “Do you have specs then?”

“Some. Twenty four years old, 192 rating on the Rause scale, stasis only a scarce few years-a good specimen. We might have sent Voivodes after her ourselves, had we gotten the tip Templeton did!”

George felt a little settled. 192 was fairly good, and he imagined the auriga would test out higher in proper conditions. Field tests were never very accurate, after all. “Well I do hope they know what they’re doing, I’d hate to take a hit like the one we did last year. How much more for the rest of the navigation package?”

“Oh, a few million or so. Most of that was paid for when we built the ship.”

“Another ship will be good for profits, and we do have contracts waiting on a fast ship.”

“Exactly old boy. Miss Dorje is doing us a great service, truly.”

~*~

‘Miss Dorje’ was currently several light years from the conversation so glibly being held about her eventual doom-but even if such a distance didn’t prevent her ears from burning, her current state kept her from noticing as such.

The chamber that held her was rather nondescript, even boring. There were no guards posted inside or even regularly patrolling out in the hall-prisoners lived and worked in other parts of the ship, but not here. Here, was a chamber for sleepers.

Three raised platforms were about all that was in the darkened room, white emergency lights on low and scarcely illuminating the place. Two were empty, while the third held a long white and grey capsule, a sheen of frosted condensation over the smooth surface. Wiped away, the serene and restful face of Samir Dorje (so listed on the datapad displaying vitals, anyway) was visible, currently held in stasis and locked into as such with a level 3 encryption code.

She was a younger woman, mid twenties at most and with a warm, golden tint to her skin-a toffee sort of color. Dark, prominent eyebrows and a straight, almost but not quite aquiline nose-she looked distinguished and serious, even in sleep. Squarish jawline, and a full, pale pink mouth. Dark hair pooled behind and wreathed her head, a stray lock of it curled beneath her right cheekbone.

This was a rather beautiful woman, and judging by the vitals and her location on the prison ship, a unique one. The usual stats monitored for individuals were all there in the datapad-but there was more data than usual when it came to brain activity, and the waves…they were rather abnormal.

This woman was one of those-and a quick check on the intranet on that name only proved it. Samir Dorje, Space Distorter-wanted for more crimes in the Free Space Colonies than could even fit on the data pad.

 

[littlebluebird]

“You’ve gotta get outta there, Jinx.”

“-yeah, no shit, Mal. I’m not exactly strolling through the daisies right now,” Jin replied, through gritted teeth.

Jin Hu Li, or Jinx, as she was known in more notorious circles, grimaced while she dragged the two unconscious guards away from the main corridor. At 5’5” with a svelte gymnast’s build, she grunted as she moved the significantly larger bodies out of clear view. Sure, she was currently wearing the same uniform as the guards, but her bullshit could only get her so far, before she had to take matters into her own hands, and tranq them before they could ID her.

This was supposed to be an easy job. Grease the bay engineer, stow away on the prison ship, escort the client from their cell, hop an escape pod outta dodge, and get paid. Bingo-Bango. She’d done a handful of jobs like this without a hitch.

So, when she realized the patrol schedule was different from the intel they were given, and the client had been moved to another ship just before take-off, her instincts went on high alert. Jin began to fast-walk towards the “sleeper” wing of the ship. An area that held prisoners in stasis during transport.

Heat signature views showed it was the least monitored area. Her cloaking program would keep her off the ship’s sensors, but she wasn’t invisible to personnel. If she could get there and lay low, maybe she could reevaluate another escape plan.

“Mal. The engineer. He still in play? If I get over there, can I leave solo?” Jin inquired, as she took the lift down several floors. Her nerves went on edge when the doors didn’t open fast enough.

A few beats passed without a reply.

“Mal!” she whispered, hoarsely.

Her operator’s voice finally came through, “It looks like…he’s being relieved? I don’t understand-"

Jin’s stomach bottomed out, and all of the color drained from her face. A set up? Were they being targeted from the go?

She kept her response clipped, “I’m going dark. I’ll call you on the other side.”

“Wait! Jin-“

The hacker cut the line before Mal could finish. There was no time to see if their communications were somehow compromised. She needed laser focus right now, and the worry in Mal’s voice would be the ultimate distraction. Fuck. This was bad. Worst case scenario bad.

Just as Jin reached the seemingly empty wing, a voice barked behind her, “Hey! Stop right there! Identify yourself!”

The young woman ignored the commands, and maintained her stride instead, deftly slipping a hand into her tech vest to grab two small spheres that fit within her palm. Her fingers pressed at each tragus to activate her earpieces’ protection mode.

“I said, STOP!” the voice roared with authority.

When Jin heard the familiar sound of rifle batteries being charged, she took a quick glance behind her, and flung the flashbang and MagDust grenade. Four guards. That was standard - she had a little more time. She dove into the adjacent hallway, just in time to miss their answering shots, and rolled into a dead sprint. Even if by chance the flashbang wasn't enough, the magnetic dust clumped to their weapons rendered their firearms useless.

She cut through several hallways and picked a seemingly random chamber, making quick work of bypassing the door’s security. Once she stepped in, she placed a disc on the door and typed in a set of variables. This would override any entry codes, and maintain the lock mechanism until the door was manually broken down.

With some degree of safety ensured, at least for the next minute or so, Jin leaned against the door to catch her breath and think. Panic was threatening to settle in. No doubt they were going to send more armed guards to sweep the floor. Truth of the matter was, she was outgunned and outnumbered. There was no possibility of escape that didn’t involve a shootout and/or her own capture. Neither of which she was the least bit interested in.

If she was going to have a fighting chance, she needed firepower.

Jin looked up, took in the surroundings of the dimly lit chamber, and approached the three elevated platforms. The first two were empty, while the third held a long white and grey stasis capsule. Condensation covered the viewing window, so she wiped her sleeve across the surface. She nearly gasped at what she saw. Within the capsule lay a strikingly beautiful woman; dark features with a regal air, even in slumber. She was a veritable Sleeping Beauty.

The hacker lifted her sleeves to reveal wrist gauntlets that doubled as her computer and weaponry. She typed the name displayed on the capsule’s datapad, and within seconds, a holographic projection of information beamed off of her wrist.

“Ohh. . .what do we have here?” she said, with intrigued amusement. Her finger continued scrolling motions in the air, as she sped read the woman’s extensive file: Grand Theft. Aggravated Assault with Battery. Arson. Terrorizing by Destructive Explosive(s).

All of this preceded by the key term that could be Jin’s salvation: Space Distorter.

Firepower, thy name is, Samir Dorje.

Pounding on the chamber’s door, along with voices outside, brought her attention back to the task at hand.

“Let’s get you out of here, shall we?”

Jin’s fingers danced along the datapad, initiating the revival and unlocking sequence, only to be locked out by a level 3 encryption code.

Goddamnit!
A code of this level typically entailed a 10-digit cipher that cycled and changed every quarter-hour. This wasn’t the issue. Her program can decode it within a fraction of the cycle. The question was if she’d have enough time before the guards figured out a way in.

As if on cue, a plasma welder started scorching a line at the perimeter of the door. Shit.

Jin’s fingers flew between her gauntlet and the datapad, and a new holographic display of ten digits started scanning through. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon. . .” she chants like a prayer, while her heart races, and her gaze flicks between the settling numbers and the plasma welder’s progress.

Her dark eyes study the unconscious woman within the capsule, and a frown slowly creased her brow. Level 3 coding meant someone wanted an absolute guarantee of delivery. Or more likely, a corporation. Auriga Trafficking. The idea makes her want to spit. It’s a topic spoken in hushed tones or glossed over in idyllic martyrdom, whichever side of the room you were on. Jin however, was in the business of information, and the acquisition thereof. She knew better.

One digit remained in the decoding sequence, while the plasma welder was about three-quarters of the way around. The hacker pulled another disc from her vest, typed in variables, and threw it in front of the door. This emitted a force field that took up the expanse of the entryway. If the guards came in weapons blazing, this could buy them some time, but not much.

Jin took a steadying breath, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?” quoting the parable like it’s a verbal talisman. She removed her guard’s uniform, revealing a black catsuit and tech vest, and pulled her black cap, which had hidden black locks that framed her face and were interspersed with vibrant highlights of turquoise and violet.

The last digit chimed denoting the decode completion, and the hacker quickly entered the cipher onto the capsule’s datapad. “Here’s to fuckin’ friendship,” Jin declared, as she punched the last number in.

The datapad lit up in green with confirmation, and the locking mechanisms disengaged with a hiss.

YES!

Jin wasted no time, and lifted the capsule lid faster than it was designed to do so. She slipped her arm under the space distorter’s shoulders, and hauled the unconscious woman up so that she sat upright; her head slumped over towards her own.

“I know it’s been a minute, and you’re probably going to be exhausted, and all sorts of angry, but I need your help, because we’re in trouble. A lot of fucking trouble,” Jin nervously rambled, as she glanced at the scorch marks on the door. Her hand slid up to Samir’s cheek then rapidly tapped against it. “Please. Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up. . .” The arm around her shoulders jostled her in time with her desperate invocation.

The glimmering sense of hope that she had just a moment ago, faded fast with each second Samir remained unconscious.

When the metallic door crashed to the ground, Jin didn't bother looking up. She had anticipated it with dread, and knew it was coming. This was it. Her spontaneous back-up plan failed. She closed her eyes and took a breath. Tears threatened to well with the realization that she was truly caught this time. She had put everything on the line, and rolled snake eyes. "Fuck me. . ." she muttered low, under her breath.

Behind her forcefield was the view of a heavily equipped and armed tactical force. These weren’t the regular prison guards from earlier. The armory of this unit would easily breach the forcefield in seconds.

“Step away from the Auriga!”

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

She’s had too much of something-the pull of fatigue and sleep was strong, very strong-strong enough Samir almost didn’t care someone was touching her, bothering her-maybe she had overslept and was late for something. Or maybe she’s indeed overdosed on something she shouldn’t have, and was on the verge of a medical emergency. Maybe she’d taken a hit to the head, and was missing half of her face-the possibilities swirl lazily around without any real cause for alarm, because so long as she just stayed sleeping...well, she’d eventually wake up at home. Yes, that’s what she’s avoiding-schoolwork. Training. Those bloody bovine tyranitores. Forget it-no one was going to know if she slept for another hour. But...

It’s the smell that’s off. Nothing had ever been scented so sickly sweet in something so impossibly sterile at home.

A great crash of metal and-had that been a woman’s voice? This didn’t match up at all-

Samir’s left hand moved to take hold of the one that had been tapping against her face, brow furrowed and her lips pursed as her amber colored eyes finally opened-peering at the tightly closed ones of some woman she’d never seen before.

For a brief and incredulous moment in her fog laden mind, Samir thought she was being prayed over.

But no, not prayed for…prayed to.

“Step away from the Auriga!”

That roused the woman more than a slap would have-her head snapped up and her eyes lit on the doorway, fingers tightening slightly on the wrist of the unknown would be supplicant.

The shield mattered not a whit as a hazy circle of translucent sienna orange appeared just above the men’s heads-and drew them all violently upwards as if they’d been dropped on their heads. Gun barrels flew up and weapons even left a few surprised hands as they found themselves clustered together and mashed in a gravity defying-or rather gravity compliant-pile against and around that circle, shoving and kicking at each other in their confused upset tangle.

The ‘witch’ doesn’t hesitate-she releases Jin’s hand and gives the smaller woman a shove with her shoulder as she draws her long legs up, turning out of the opened capsule with a hand still on the edge of it.

Her eyes move from the men to the foot of it, and the gravity well disappears-dropping them all to the floor. A new gravity well at the foot of the capsule draws it a scraping few inches towards the doorway-where the guards were scrambling to get to their guns.

Too late-a crackle of static electricity would raise the hair on near everyone present before the entire capsule blipped briefly out of existence-and then back in in a violently shooting blur, crashing full on with the forcefield and mowing down the half rising cluster of men with prejudice before EXPLODING into flames out in the corridor.

The object had barely left her touch before Samir had dropped down to take cover behind the raised platform, jerking Jin down with her. It was a noisy first few seconds of consciousness-noisy, and violent. Who would have thought she’d be waking up to such excitement? Who would have thought she’d be waking up ever again, at all?

Not Samir Dorje.

She rises from cover and surveys some of the damage with almost absent appreciation before stretching her arms out a little, working her fingers and giving a roll to her shoulders, stiff from sleep. Samir was a tall woman, but not rail thin-no, just tall, as tall as some men and with an athletic, shapely build befitting a woman-currently on display in the form fitting catsuit she was wearing and...not much else.

It’s beneath her notice, for the most part. As was the scent of charred flesh and the weak, unconscious groans of whoever was still alive over there. She actually takes a seat on the raised platform.

“Hi.” Samir greets simply, voice oddly sensual, throaty. “What encryption level, on the casket?”

Was that all she wants to know?! In the middle of an escape!?

Apparently.

 

[littlebluebird]

What-the-fuh . . .

Everything was a blur.

One second, Jin was coming to terms with running her computer’s self-destruct sequence. The next, she was being pushed aside by Sleeping Beauty, and her call for fire power was being answered with no holds barred, apocalyptic-level destruction.

The hacker sat up and swallowed hard. She was familiar with ‘space witches,’ and their ability to pass objects through the space-time continuum. She even understood the theory behind gravity wells. But this? The utilization of ‘space magic’ to purposefully blow shit up? This was a completely different level of power and execution.

This woman was a terrifying force to be reckoned with.

Wary eyes took in the aftermath of the scene before her while she questioned the current level of her own safety. Emergency lights were flashing. Extinguisher jets were dousing the flames. The debilitated groans of whoever was left to survive, lined the cacophony of blaring alarms, and the distinct stench of burnt flesh marred the air. Jin turned her head and closed her eyes while she hummed a sound of displeasure. She lifted the cowl of her catsuit to cover half of her face in a futile effort to grant her nose some sort of reprieve.

What sort of bullshit Pandora’s Box did she open?

“Hi. What encryption level, on the casket?”

Jin returned her gaze to the space witch who happened to be perched prettily, and rather smug on the the platform. Her eyes narrowed while she tilted her head a few degrees off center. Out of all the questions she could’ve asked: How long have I been out? Where am I? Who are you? Hers is one with the least amount of relevance in relation to the direness of their present situation. And, her tone. It mirrored that of a new lover asking how you took your breakfast the following morning.

Just who exactly was she dealing with?

The young woman pulled her cowl back down with an abrupt jerk that brooked no nonsense. Her complexion was fair with beige-neutral undertones. A heart-shaped face framed fine, black brows that sat upon dark, expressive eyes. Her nose was small with a low bridge, and her lips were balanced, neither thin or full, with a subtle cupid’s bow. Her hair was slashed at a severe angle, with shorter layers in the back that flipped up like black licks of flame, and transitioned into longer flat strands that fell along her face past her chin.

“How is that even remotely import-“ Jin cut off her exasperated tone when the scent of charred flesh served as an immediate reminder for own self-preservation. She briefly closed her eyes and bit her tongue before continuing with a quiet sigh. Fuck it. “Whatever. Level 3.”

The hacker posts her fist onto the ground, and moves into a technical stance with fluid grace. Determined strides positioned her in front of one of the far walls where she took a knee, and started tracing her fingers over the lower panels. “Whoever placed you in that capsule paid a great deal of money to ensure both your safety and delivery,” she explained with her usual, pragmatic tone which comes easier now that there’s a level of distance between herself and this goddess of destruction.

“And, I bet they would be none too pleased if they found out you were no longer in your previous state of undisturbed slumber.” Essentially rendered defenseless, she left unsaid, while her knuckles rapped against each panel; listening for the subtle tone variance.

Jin’s eyes danced as settled in front of one with a confident query, “It’s you, isn’t it?” Her fingers followed along the panel’s border and pressed a specific point which revealed an otherwise invisible keypad with backlit keys. “Ah, there you are!” she exclaimed with a satisfied inflection that came with years of experience. A quick command on her wrist gauntlet returned another holographic display of numbers that she copied over onto the keypad, and bingo! The panel popped forward which allowed her to slide it to the side, and revealed a maintenance duct lined with excessive wiring.

She stood back up, and met the taller woman’s eyes again, “So we really need to get off this ship.” The tech genius reached into her vest, to procure a black wristlet. She held it up between her index and middle finger, signaling that it was for her new companion to wear, and nodded her head towards the crawlspace.

“Quickly.”

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

“How is that even remotely import-“

Samir seems amused, eyes reminiscent of a cat’s-a predator that knows it can outpace its prey, in no hurry to finish it off. Her brows raise at the answer; Samir was impressed. Seems like it’d been done under no small amount of pressure, too.

She’s useful, then.

Samir watches the other woman knock on wall panels, hears her muttering to herself-when she apparently finds what she’s looking for. A codelock, one that she cracks in half a second. Yes, very useful.

Samir slips to her feet and pads over, but it’s not a vault or a cache of weapons the would be supplicant reveals; it’s a maintenance duct.

“What, through there?” A rich, throaty laugh. “Why would we need to skulk around like a couple of rats? You’re with me.”

Still amused, she plucks the wristlet out of her fingers with a raised brow-then slips it on without further prompting. She doesn’t know what it does, but assumes it’s useful if the little tech wizard was offering it up. Still, a maintenance shaft? She’s not climbing through that for any amount of time, thanks.

“C’mon, let’s take the hall.” Samir says casually. She gives her nails an idle look, a complete and utter lack of urgency. The alarms don’t seem to bother her, nor the threat of more guards-she was completely confident in her ability to tank them all. If a Deadspacer was aboard, they’d have known it by now.

 

[littlebluebird]

“Why would we need to skulk around like a couple of rats? You’re with me. C’mon, let’s take the hall.”

Jin scoffs a laugh. Wow. This woman was cocky, that was for sure. She just killed and seriously injured a series of guards - granted, they had it coming, but still - any sense of urgency to get the fuck out, was simply non-existent. The space witch is far too arrogant and lax for her own comfort, and her wariness slips into mild annoyance.

“Yeah, and you’re with me, and I need to get out of here alive.” She nods towards the destroyed, foam-covered entranceway, “With or without you, each step I take out there drops my chances ten-fold. Security is on high alert, and the lifts are on lockdown. Meanwhile, this duct leads directly to one of the smaller bays, which means less eyes.”

“But, by all means, princess,” her hands flourish, like she’s presenting all of her cards, and she dips into a slight mock curtsy, “if crawling around with a duct rat like myself is beneath you, we can always part ways here.”

Jin shrugs with a wry grin and meets her eyes, noting their amber coloring, “Either way, this’ll keep you off the ship’s monitoring systems.” She takes the taller woman’s wrist in one hand, while the other pinches the width of the wristlet. A thin band of turquoise light winds around it. “As long as this light band is on, it’s mirroring my cloaking program. You won’t show up on cams or heat sensors.”

A proximity alert pings off her gauntlet, notifying that more guards were heading towards their position. The hacker rolls her shoulders with the decision for her next move solidified, “And that’s our cue to shit or get off the pot.”

She drops into a low crouch, and glances back at the space witch, who’s been watching her like an amused cat this whole damned time. The woman’s sultry bravado is still throwing her off, and in turn drives the flip tone for her parting response.

“Get the wall panel for me, will you?” Jin says with a grin, before pushing off the balls of her feet and into the maintenance shaft.

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

“Yeah, and you’re with me, and I need to get out of here alive.”

Samir snorts, and remains idly amused as Jin goes on, the same predator like but lazy attention-though her eyes narrow a fraction on the ‘princess’ bit.

Mostly, she does hear the bit about the duct leading directly to a smaller bay, and that’s where Jin once again proves her usefulness. She can easily kill anything on this transport, but that wouldn’t get her off of it as fast as she’d like. This other woman knows the layout. She did not. That meant more annoyances between her and freedom, and what’s more-possibly having to force the knowledge out of some gibbering simpleton.

The wristlet gets closer attention. Very useful technology-what a little sneak this woman was! Samir supposes she can approve of such methods-not everyone was capable of just blowing up the opposition. Speaking of which; Samir nearly offers to crush the approaching guards into a cubic foot if it meant getting to take the hallway-but ultimately decides against it. Space witch or no space witch, the little sneak was set to move through the maintenance shaft.

”Get the wall panel for me, will you?”

Samir’s brow lifts. Her coiled catlike amusement turns to sudden interest in moving prey, and she acts-bending swiftly down to wrap her fingers around one of those slender ankles, Samir reels Jin back into the main room with surprising strength. It’s quick, but also controlled-her grip doesn’t pinch, and the motion wasn’t so much of a jerk as it was a steady pull.

“I would think,” She says in the same throaty, sultry tone, no apparent offense taken-almost patient as she maintains her grip on that ankle, still bent over the hacker. “One would want the woman who can explode things with a touch and crush things with a look between them and whatever external threats might show up?”

She woke her up for a reason, after all.

Confident in the argument, Samir releases her and moves to scoop up one of the laser rifles, checking the make and model with some familiarity as she strolls back over. It’s not often she bothers with such a thing, but in so tight a space, blowing things up would hardly be as ideal as in the open hallway.

“Shall we?” And now Samir drops low to start down the tunnel, not bothering with further complaints-though the space is small enough she’s reduced to crawling on her hands and knees. She won’t be doing this again.

“I’m assuming you know my name.” Samir's voice is a low murmur, but out of view the woman grimaces, and with noted disdain adds, “Unless they just labeled the casket ‘Auriga’ and dispensed with it, I suppose.”

It’d been an odd stroke of luck-for both of them, really. And a very, very bad one for anyone else they came across.

'But what do they call you, Miss Tech Wizard?” Samir inquires as she makes her way through the shaft, idly wondering what she’d been doing on the ship in the first place. She was wearing a partial uniform...a spy of some sort?

 

[littlebluebird]

Jin isn’t even a full body’s length into the maintenance shaft before she feels the firm grasp on her ankle, followed by the strong and steady pull. Her lips purse in frustration as her body slides back towards the very room she’s trying to escape.

She can’t be serious?

It’s the controlled level of strength that keeps the tech genius’ instincts of kicking out and firing back, at bay. Instead, Jin spins her body mid-pull so that she’s facing the space witch. She doesn’t bother hiding her exasperated sigh when she pointedly glances at the woman’s grip on her ankle, before meeting her eyes for an explanation.

The space distorter is looming over her when she answers with that sensuous tone of hers, “I would think, one would want the woman who can explode things with a touch and crush things with a look between them and whatever external threats might show up?”

The fine hairs at Jin’s neck stand on end, while she determinedly holds the other woman’s amber gaze. Before she can even think of uttering some smart remark, the taller woman releases her hold and starts scanning her choices of laser rifles amongst the fallen men.

Tch.
She isn’t wrong, and she does have a point. Not that Jin would admit that out loud.

“Shall we?” With her newly acquired rifle, the space witch drops low and starts making way down the maintenance shaft.

Jin huffs a laugh then, tapping her fingers along the wall, “Yeah, after you.” Like there was an actual choice.

The hacker ducks and follows suit, sliding the panel closed behind them. Dim LED lights barely illuminate the tunnel, but even in the darkness, Jin is in full view of the woman’s curvy, athletic backside. Her grey catsuit covered everything, but hid absolutely nothing. She’s so distracted that she almost doesn’t hear the question that preceded the slur.

“I’m assuming you know my name? Unless they just labeled the casket ‘Auriga’ and dispensed with it, I suppose.”

Jin clears her throat, “Y-yeah. I know your name, and I pulled your file. Samir Dorje. Space Distorter. Wanted by every known agency. You’ve wreaked your share of havoc and then some.” She recites the details in a pragmatic fashion that helps her re-focus on the task at hand.

“But what do they call you, Miss Tech Wizard?”

The hacker hesitates at first. She’s always believed that there was a certain level of power to knowing someone’s name, but she acquiesces. After all, she has pages of information on Samir. “Jin. Jin Hu Li.”

She reaches into her vest, and pulls a compact head lamp. She clicks the light on, and slides it forward so that it hits Samir’s hand. Ships’ maintenance shafts are like a second home to Jin, but to others it can be a claustrophobic hell. “This’ll help you see better. Just slide the straps over your head. We’re gonna to take this tunnel all the way down, until there’s a drop with a ladder. Then, we’re gonna take that ladder down a ways, to another tunnel that will take us straight to the escape pod bay. I’ll direct you as we get closer.”

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

“Y-yeah. I know your name, and I pulled your file. Samir Dorje. Space Distorter. Wanted by every known agency. You’ve wreaked your share of havoc and then some.”

A self satisfied smile curves Samir’s mouth at the understatement, but then she considers just how desperate the situation must have been for this...Jin to risk waking a known ‘terrorist’. She certainly hadn’t done it out of stupidity, nor did Samir suspect nefarious purposes-not with the way her voice had sounded earlier.

“What were you doing here Jin?” Samir inquires, holding conversation as easily as they might have over coffee...or maybe wine, given the sensual nature that seemed to come naturally to her voice. “You weren’t here for me, convenient as it was. And I’ve yet to see armored security equipped the way you are.”

She pauses just long enough to finally slide the headlamp over her head, having moved with it in hand a few paces. The image isn’t an inspiring one, and Samir briefly wonders just how it was that she'd been talked into this tunnel, and now-a head lamp.

Outright rejecting the arguably thoughtful gesture seemed...well. Suppose being a benevolent force of nature needn’t always be out of the question. She finds the ladder and indeed-the head lamp illuminates the drop for as far as it goes. She reaches past the opening so she can swing her legs down into it, catch the rungs with her bare feet-and down she went.

“And what went wrong?” There’s no blame to the inquiry. More of the same idle curiosity as before, but thankfully it lacks the amusement. As quick as she was to royally ruin a person’s day-with explosions no less-Samir was no sadist.

She had been watching the space beneath them, but it's quiet enough they'd hear someone coming-so she glances up at the descending tech wizard instead. There's an ease of movement in the other woman's limbs, and it speaks to either familiarity or athleticism. Possibly both.

She's a trim creature, all told. Samir decides that, aside from the practicality of it-Jin's appearance might have more than a little do to with the current traverse through the tunnel, the sporting of this headlamp.

It was good the little sneak was escaping the bloody tin can-be a waste otherwise, really. Samir touches down and steps away from the ladder, casts a glance down each of the pathways available to them. She waits for Jin to point the way.

 

[littlebluebird]

“What were you doing here Jin? And what went wrong?”

Jin presses her tongue to the roof of her mouth and takes a steadying breath; a careful pause before she answers. Sharing information always has consequences - even with a space distorter that’s been in cryostasis these past few years - however, she figures once they reach safety they’ll go their separate ways.

“Was here on a job, and shit went sideways,” irritation threads her voice. Her mind is still trying to figure out what happened. Bad intel? A setup within Obscura? No. Mal has her back, and her dead man’s switch guarantees her immunity from the agency.

She shakes her head, “Ended up breaking you out instead of someone else.” To save my ass, she leaves unsaid, knowing Samir would be able to read between the lines. The hacker scans the corridor as they touch down from the ladder, “There’s more fireworks involved, but I get the feeling that’s a constant with you.” Her lips curve into a smirk as she pushes past the taller woman.

Jin finds their next pathway and stands next to another set of rungs. “One more ladder; this time we climb up,” she candidly informs Samir while her fingers dance along her gauntlet. They were so close to escaping - the next few steps were going to be crucial to their survival. “This leads straight to the bay and the panel opens up on the floor, opposite the escape pods.”

A holographic display of the bay’s video feed appears in front of Jin, and her hand makes swiping motions in the air to scan the room. Her brow furrows when she counts the number of guards; there were already more than she anticipated, even with the ship being on high alert.

“Looks like ten guards are waiting on the other side,” she mutters while she types a few lines on her gauntlet. “I’m running a loop on the bay’s video feed and I can jam the bay doors, but once they realize the guards aren’t responding, they’re gonna send fighter pilots after us. Hopefully we’ll have gained some good distance by then.”

She finally meets Samir’s eyes, “Can you take care of the guards while I get to the engineering panel and escape pod?”

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

While Samir’s brow doesn’t furrow, the ten little holo figures also give her pause. Usually, uniforms were smart enough to clear out. Perhaps poor communication, and they didn’t realize she was in play. Jin the tech wizard was doing a lot to interrupt and jam their digital eyes and ears, after all.

If and when they did manage to put it together, she doubts they’d send more. If anything, she’d think they’d be rather relieved her goal was getting off of their ship. Better that than than violent revenge for having housed her or some such. Jin had surely been something of a surprise herself-what was it to them if the stowaway sneak went off with the space witch?

“Can you take care of the guards while I get to the engineering panel and escape pod?”

Samir’s catlike amusement visibly drifted back over her features-a slight curl to her mouth and an arched brow in response before she reached for the indicated ladder and began her ascent. It’s not long before the chute ends in what Samir assumes to be Jin’s panel, all that separates them from ten men and their getaway.

One foot leaves the rungs to dangle a moment as she braces her back against the opposite side of the shaft, hands likewise leaving the rungs to give the laser rifle a longer look than she had when she’d scooped it up. It’d certainly do. She held onto it with her right hand and gracefully lifted the left to press lightly against the underside of the panel, all that separates them from ten men and their getaway.

Rather than look up at that however, Samir’s eyes shift past the weapon and further down to Jin.

“I’ll be curious to see who finishes her task first.” Samir notes. Combined with that lowered tone, her already sultry voice seems that much more sensual.

That lazy amused smile of hers was accompanied by that odd feeling of skin tingling static electricity-and then Samir shoved upwards on the panel, and was gone.

~*~

The noise of the panel bursting open caused the two closest men to start-but not near as badly as the ensuing disappearance and reappearance, the carbon fiber panel transformed into a flaming comet that summarily exploded before it quite made contact with the ceiling.

Every man in the room spun to face the noise and ensuing explosion, weapons drawn-when a streak of black likewise burst from the shaft, resolved into a woman just short of the fiery explosive. There was only a moment to spot the hazy brown orange sphere that had appeared and taken her into a brief floating standstill-because in the next the laser rifle in her hands snapped up and she promptly took out one of the two men standing agape nearest her. The second went down just as quickly as the first even as she reoriented herself to be vaguely pointing starboard.

“It’s an Auriga!”

She blipped away even as they open fired on her position, reappearing against the far wall with yet another accompanying gravity well.

Suited them just fine-if she was using it for herself, that meant she wasn’t using it against them.

~*~

It’s been a long time since she’s used a rifle, but as she’d predicted she hasn’t lost the skill or familiarity her father had drilled into her.

Dropping to the ground to make use of an encased fan fixture as cover, Samir pressed against it before she turned her eyes on a man doing the same at another fixture-and tore his weapon from him before he could bring it to bear. Shortening the range of the gravity well while increasing the strength she crushed it-then lifted her own to fire on him, putting a smoking, cauterized hole through his arm.

Hm, maybe some rust. She’d been aiming for the bit of exposed shoulder in his armor-with a double tap and to prove something to no one, she caught him as originally intended, and he went down.

She poked the barrel out in a feint, and as soon as a trigger happy shot of plasma narrowly missed it, she kicked herself upwards again, the same rocket speed and sudden, swinging stop on her own well, raising her rifle back to her shoulder and killing the offender. She expected to have another target, another moron (or six) scrambling to change the aim of all their holofire-but…

They’re firing-and advancing on-Jin.

Samir lowered the rifle with the faintest of frowns as she watched their shots blast into another one of those bright shields. Not a one of the remaining six men were paying her any mind at all, advancing on Jin from where they had encircled her.

“Rude.” Samir’s sultry murmur was easily lost in all the holo-rifle fire. Just as unobserved was her light, testing toss of the rifle in her hands, the suddenly flint-eyed, sharpened gaze she fixed on the lot of them.

“Rude,” She continued to murmur, cat like amusement having vanished and her voice taking on a dark bit of insult. “And fatal.”

Samir launched herself away from the ceiling, blipping out of view only to reappear crashing into one of Jin’s attackers, the rifle in both hands and shoved into his upperbody, blowing him back and to the floor before she killed him with a point blank shot to the face.

She hurled the weapon wholesale at a distant second, the gun blipping out of reality just before leaving her fingers-and reappearing only to burst into screaming, flaming metal as it struck the man and exploded. Samir was already twisting to face another two of the men even as the hunk of molten metal had struck the previous one-she’s decided she’s quite done with this. Out of patience and potentially out of time if the shifting colors of Jin’s shield were any indication, she ended the pair by the expedient method of crushing them with a gravity well.

The haze of orange had no sooner appeared between them when they suddenly flew together and into it, as if being funneled by some invisible force into an impossibly small container-before the orb vanished and a roundish hunk of meat, cloth, and metal thunked wetly to the floor, previously contained blood and minced flesh seeping copious amounts of red.

It was rather disgusting, and Samir’s lip curled in displeasure as she turned away from it. At least they were on the side opposite her-she didn’t want blood on her bare feet.

“Well.” She noted succinctly, voice a little tighter than before. “Seems killing you was more important than their continued survival, Jin. Oddly loyal for the pittance they're paid."

Fools.

Moving to the man she’d shot in the face, Samir absently waved a weak gravity well near his ankle, waving it absently upwards until he appeared to be hanging from it, arms dangling limply.

Samir took the opportunity to rid him of his jacket, dropping him carelessly once she turned back to Jin. She pulls the large jacket on over the thin catsuit. Even with all that activity, she’s rather cold in here.

“Also-” She continues, hands moving beneath her hair to flip it over the jacket collar. “Please tell me we’re not taking that.”

She had quickly regained her composure, it seemed-back to the idle interest and casual observation, if lacking in her earlier amusement.

 

[littlebluebird]

“I’ll be curious to see who finishes her task first.”

Jin raises a brow at Samir’s challenge and the sensuous tone in which it’s delivered then scoffs, “Let’s just focus on getting out of here alive, yeah?”

Besides, if anyone was going to finish first it was going to be her. She was already working on accessing the bay’s engineering controls and applying a force-lock at the entrance.

Within seconds of her reply, Jin feels that familiar, hair-raising current of static electricity then watches the space witch take her leave with an explosive debut through the floor panel above.

The tech genius hangs back in the chute, watching Samir from her holographic cam view of the bay. A flash of movement catches her attention, then her eyes widen in disbelief when she sees Samir instantly disappear then reappear at the far wall.

Sweet-fucking-Andromeda. She can transport through her own gravity wells. The realization is harrowing as it is fascinating.

While her instincts vacillate between being thoroughly impressed and utterly terrified of her new acquaintance, the derogatory slur cuts through the air and reaches her ears.

“It’s an Auriga!”

Jin shakes her head and whistles low. “That’s not going to go over well,” she mutters, only to hear the ensuing holofire and explosions.

“And there’s my cue,” she says with a steadying breath and begins her ascent. Hopefully Samir is enough of a distraction that she can get to work unnoticed.

~*~

The hacker partially pokes her head out of the chute, quickly scanning the area before ducking back to assess. Looks like Samir had already taken out a few of the guards, and the remaining ones seem to be exchanging fire with her while taking cover.

All Jin needs to do is reach the control panel, double check stats on the shuttles, and start the launch sequence. Simple.

She hauls herself out of the chute and remains low to the ground making her advance in a low crouch.

”There she is! There’s our target!”

She barely has time to react before her gauntlets’ automatic shields kick up to protect her from several plasma shots; the deflection nearly knocks her off-balance.

Shit!

Jin hurriedly scrambles back to her feet and sprints; dodging and weaving before throwing down her last disc - which emits a 360° shield around her and the panel.

She has a few moments of protected reprieve to look over the shuttles and initiate disembarkment towards escape, but much like earlier that window of time is ticking down with the constant bombardment of holofire.

“SAMIR!” she yells over the blasts. She can’t hide the apprehension in her voice as her shields flash yellow, indicating their sub 50% threshold. Meanwhile, her hands are racing along the interface screen while her eyes scan the information before her.

No. No, no, no this can’t be right.

Jin checks and re-checks: all three transports have been de-fueled and are out-of-commission. Fuck!

She punches the screen with a series of expletives before looking about in a panic. This couldn’t be it. After coming this close to escape she absolutely refuses to accept that they were completely out of options. Maybe there were extra fuel cells somewhere that they could switch out quickly, or something.

Jin’s eyes narrow as she looks past the farthest transport shuttle and notices what looks like another auxiliary vehicle. She pulls the information on the screen - it’s a maintenance pod designed specifically for hull repair: Older generation model. Short range. Standard life support system. Basic thrusters for maneuverability. No armament or defensive shields.

They’d be sitting ducks.

But they’d be OFF this ship - which is the only incentive she needs right now.

As she inputs the commands to open the bay’s egress gate, she hears a distinctive, wet plop that draws her attention and causes her to viscerally recoil. Jin turns away with a pained groan while she silently wills herself to not start dry heaving from the gruesome sight: two bodies mangled and forcibly compacted into an indistinguishable mass that was now seeping blood (amongst other bodily fluids) everywhere.

Samir is barely phased, more annoyed than anything else, and says something about survival and loyalty, but Jin only half-listens while she bids her stomach to hold its contents. She closes her eyes for a moment and bows her head; her hands find purchase on her hips and the toe of her boot taps the ground like she’s kicking it - the steady rhythm and movement helps ground her.

What a fucking mess.

When she clears the initial wave of shock and nausea, she eyes Samir warily and makes her way to the closest shuttle. Out of the corner of her vision, she watches the space witch hang one of the guards from his ankle and relieve him off his jacket, before dropping him like a useless sack.

“Please tell me we’re not taking that.”

Jin raids the transport’s emergency kits, then walks over to the maintenance pod, “Nope. We’re taking this.” With her arms full, she nods her head toward their chariot of escape: a white, 8 ft sphere with two manipulator arms for mechanical repairs.

She doesn’t bother waiting for Samir’s reply when she boards it. The hacker places the kits into one of the storage compartments, then takes her seat at the pilot’s chair of the close-fitting cockpit. She turns on the cabin’s interior lights to help guide Samir to the adjacent co-pilot seat, then shuts the pod door behind her, effectively sealing them inside.

Her deft fingers flip a series of switches back and forth as she familiarizes herself with the layout of the controls, muttering each instrument’s function as she verifies; an act that helps her memorize their orientation quickly and keeps the rising stress of their escape in check.

Once she feels settled in, she takes a deep breath, and stares out the oval window and into inky abyss of space. “Alright,” she shakes her head and swallows, “here we go.”

She moves the hand control forward with a little too much haste, which lurches both of the women towards the dashboard. Jin grunts and catches herself with her hands, then scrambles to modify the controls. “Sorry - this is a much older model than I’m familiar with.” She makes her adjustments, and her second attempt is smoother, albeit still a little awkward. Nevertheless, the pod successfully clears both the dock and egress gate, and Jin activates the thrusters to create distance with the prison ship.

The tech genius rotates the pod so the ship is in view, then releases a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “We’re not completely in the clear, yet,” she explains, while maintaining her gaze on the ship. She can’t bring herself to look directly at Samir because although they’ve escaped, their chances of rescue at this point are slim. Not to mention the life support systems could only tide them over for maybe a few days?

“There’s a possibility they may send pilots out to retrieve us. But honestly, after the havoc you wreaked, I’m hoping they just wish us ‘Good riddance.’” That was their best case scenario.

Jin leans back in the seat and rests her forearm over her eyes. She just needs some time to think about their next course of action.

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

When Jin looks up (having successfully kept her lunch) she’d find Samir watching her. Her amber eyed gaze was steady, reflected neither judgment nor any trace of self doubt or regret.

She merely observed, and while the catlike amusement doesn’t return-the moment of silence passes, and Samir exhales at the indication of their escape with a ‘really?’ sort of expression on her face.

Against her better judgement, she climbs in. Who knows, maybe the sneak knows of a secret bay this stupid thing would fit into, or a fast track to some other hanger. She watches Jin flip switches, listens to her mutter to herself in the quiet space of their sealed chamber. A flicker of amusement returns as she watches the tech whiz suck in a breath and steel herself for launch-only to have to slam a hand down onto the dashboard when the pod lurches.

There hadn’t been any before, but there was a hell of a lot more judgment in those amber eyes now. “Were the stars a bit blinding?”

But then they make it, they’re clear! Samir takes a moment to look over what she can see of the massive prison ship, the make and model. It’s nothing one of her kind are piloting, one way or...the other.

“There’s a possibility they may send pilots out to retrieve us. But honestly, after the havoc you wreaked, I’m hoping they just wish us ‘Good riddance.’”

Samir considers this in the quiet beat or two after Jin leans back, the witch’s graceful fingers lifting to remove the silly headlamp from her brow, click it off in the silence of space.

“I could have killed all of them like that.” She remarks as she absently considers the device in her fingers. Jin had held herself together well, but seeing two men practically run through a trash compactor at close range like that…

“They knew what I was, what they were getting into in taking up arms against me.” She idly dropped the headlamp back into Jin’s lap, and reflected that, perhaps-the extreme use of force was somewhat triggered by the hint of panic she’d heard in the other woman’s voice...both times.

“Just a matter of course, really.”

Movement ahead of them, and Samir’s head turned sharply to stare the two scrambling flyers down. They weren’t firing guns at the very least, but-

“How many more men want to die today?” Her fingertips brush the dash as her eyes narrow on the thrusters of the one, waiting for it to get closer.

The distant orange well was a mere pinprick, the damage fairly minor-but apparently effective given the way the ship spiraled off course suddenly. Contrary to what she’d just said, the pilot was scuttled, not outright killed.

The second rockets over them before Samir can draw a bead on it-the woman turning in her seat with a sudden frown, brow furrowed. “I need line of sight-”

If they disable the pod, if she passes out-they’d be able to ice her again, this time without a fight. She’s not keen on that happening.

“What was your plan here exactly?” The woman wants to know as her attention flits to the controls, attempts to discern how to turn the thing around, get eyes on the other ship.

 

[littlebluebird]

Jin takes advantage of the blessed silence and goes over details and possibilities, mulling them over like a mental Rubik’s cube. Sending out a binary code for Mal to find was an option, but way too risky, especially with Samir - she’s a wild card variable throwing forks into their lines of fate.

Her fingers tap incessantly against her thigh. Time isn’t in their favor, and she has to figure out the next step in their escape.

“I could have killed all of them like that. They knew what I was, what they were getting into in taking up arms against me.”

She hums in acknowledgement with her arm still slung over her eyes. The monosyllabic response hangs in the air, ambivalent, because in between the lines of that statement she's more than aware. . .

The hacker shivers at the thought just as she feels something drop in her lap. Jin lifts her forearm to see the headlamp she had lent Samir earlier. Did she have it on this whole time? A shadow of a smile curves her lips when she recalls the witch transporting between gravity wells.

Samir’s gravity wells.

Jin sits up, tucking the lamp back into her vest while an inkling of a plan takes root.

“Just a matter of course, really.”

“Stars help the poor bastards that cross your path,” she mutters absently. She’s thankful that they’re on the same side, at least until they escape their current predicament. Jin taps at her gauntlet with renewed focus and pulls up information for the planet they’re passing over:

Daedalus IV
Outer Rim Territory. Class: Terrestrial. Atmosphere: Type I. Gravity: Standard. Population: 334,000

The movement of two intercepting aircraft catches her eye from the pod’s single view window, and a communication request comes through. Jin opens the line and a static-charged voice fills the pod’s interior.

“SURRENDER NOW OR FACE THE CONSE-“

The hacker abruptly ends the connection just as Samir uses one of her gravity wells to hinder one of the flyers. Jin huffs a bit of a relived sigh, “They want you alive, otherwise they would’ve just blown us up.”

“I need line of sight-”
Jin turns the pod, bringing the second interceptor and Daedalus IV into full view.

“What was your plan here exactly?”

The tech genius bites the inside of her cheek. She’s been flying by the seat of her pants since she encountered the space witch, and all she has to offer right now is a single shot in the dark.

Jin runs a hand through her turquoise-violet streaked hair. “Your gravity wells. I saw you launch objects through them, hell, even yourself.” She licks her lips and sets a firm tone, “I need you to do that with the pod and get us planetside. The timing of the jumps should be enough to get us through the atmosphere.” She pulls up a sector map of the planet and points, “If you can get us close, there’s a settlement here with a mining outpost.”

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

“They want you alive, otherwise they would’ve just blown us up.”

“Lucky you.” Samir intones, dark. She glances back away from the controls as soon as Jin lays hands on them again, amber colored eyes hawkishly intent on the glass. The instant she had eyes on the interceptor she crushed the entire back end of it-apparent retaliation for how it’d briefly escaped her.

The way the woman settled back into a reposed position, the satisfied little smile-she was reminiscent of a cat once more, this time-one who had triumphantly snagged a canary.

“Your gravity wells. I saw you launch objects through them, hell, even yourself.”

“Close enough.” Samir allows as she watches the scuttled craft drift, wonders if the pilot inside would dare to try and jetpack back in full view of the ‘witch’. “Accelerating, skirring.”

“I need you to do that with the pod and get us planetside. The timing of the jumps should be enough to get us through the atmosphere.”

Samir’s smug amusement vanishes.

It’s not a bad plan. By all accounts it was some quick thinking on the sneak’s part. The pod is small, there’s only one occupant, it’s a single direction of travel. Even without calculations and without gel it’d be a simple thing-had Jin escaped with any other space witch, and not one named Samir Dorje.

What a terrible slew of choices. She could sit and be recaptured, fry on re-entry, or explode. She should have never climbed into this thing, she had had nothing to fear from prison guards.

She sat forward in her seat as Jin started the pod towards the muddy brown and greenish blue world below them, pressed one of her hands to the dashboard, and the other to the curved wall beside her.

“Well.” Samir notes dryly, brows furrowing as she begins to concentrate. There’s that skin tingling feel of static electricity again but it’s somehow heavier this time, a simultaneous, nonsensical feeling of hair raising lightness and heavy smothering of one’s pores. “Your funeral.”

The smothering flashes to a static shock to smothering to shock again as Jin’s vision blacks out, sears with light, blacks out-sears.

In a blink they’ve skipped thirty six minutes of travel time, slinging past the upper atmosphere and entering the lower one traveling at terrifying speeds. The ceramic insulating tiles of the pod ensured they didn’t burn to a crisp immediately on re-entering the natural world, but that didn’t mean the ride was smooth.

No, as soon as reality flared bright again there was a violent rock and pitch to the transport as several small explosions took place along the outside surface-alarms and red lights blaring, critical damage to the right wing and landing gear.

Samir exhales, not quite calm in the violent buffering of their vehicle-but much less grim than she’d been moments before, and, inexplicably-again almost lazily amused despite the state of things and the rapidly approaching ground.

 

[littlebluebird]

”Your funeral.”

“Wha-“

Time dilates once again and Jin’s expression is priceless: wide-eyed and incredulous as that all too familiar static charge prickles along, and this time smothers her skin. Her question barely leaves her lips before her waltz with consciousness begins.

Tunneling darkness gives way to the searing light of reality before blacking out again. Jin dances along this line until her eyes peer open to a cockpit awash in red warning lights and the sound of blaring alarms.

”Nnnnghh. . .”

Her eyes flutter and she groans feeling like she had been under the weight of five tyranitores.

It’s the small explosions and violent turbulence that jolts her back to semi-awareness with a flood of adrenaline. Her hands clumsily race along the controls, but there’s nothing that can be done; both thrusters are out of commission and they are plummeting. The maintenance pod was never designed for planetary travel and Daedalus IV is approaching faster than she can think.

Fuck.

What happened? Didn’t all space witches have a background in piloting? With the level of power she displayed, launching no. . . skirring the pod should have been a cinch.

Amidst the flashing lights and alarms, Jin glances at Samir who seems to have that same lazy, bemused look of a cat lying in the sun. How can she be content at a time like this?! It just doesn’t make sense.

Annoyance bleeds through the fear and her hand swats at the other woman’s shoulder. Her voice is grim and urgent, “I have no idea what you did while I passed out,” she pauses to point sharply at the view window in front of them, “but if we don’t figure out something fast, we are gonna die!”

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

Breathable atmosphere, lush green colors before them, trees...something rises in her chest as her eyes move over the rapidly approaching field and pick out little dots of yellow, red, purple…

Strange. She had never really cared for flowers before.

”I have no idea what you did while I passed out-”

“What you asked.” Samir’s amber colored eyes move to Jin as she’s swatted, and even this she finds amusing. The space distorter takes in that exasperation, the annoyance that bleeds through the other woman’s urgency, her fear.

This little sneak, this errant tech whiz that had woken her from her slumber out of a desperate need for help-she wasn’t a cornered creature at all. Chewing at her limbs, begging for supplication? No. She was a survivor.

“We’re not going to die.” Samir notes with infuriating confidence, that little smile playing around the corners of her lips. Her eyes glance into the pod behind them as her left hand casually moves to unbuckle anything holding Jin in, the right slipping beneath the other woman’s upper arm with a firm but not biting grip.

“Jin…” Even while plummeting with the blaring alarms around them, Samir’s voice remains sensual, almost intimate. “Are you always this high strung?”

Then an ear piercing screech of metal, an influx of rushing air-the whole back of the ship tore away and what had been several layers of ceramic, metal, and carbon fiber violently compacted into a tight, jagged sphere of metal before flying away out of sight.

The grip on Jin’s upper arm tightens and the two of them are suddenly free of their death trap, the free fall slowing, then reversing as another of those strange, hazy orange circles form in midair without Samir even looking at it.

Far below, the remainder of the ship continues to plummet, then crashes- little more than a shapeless hunk of molten, flaming metal.

Samir was near upside down, the hazy circle above them and near the ball of her foot. She wasn’t quite touching it, and yet there was an impression she was balancing upon it somehow. Her hair floats around her face and the oversized jacket loosely billows, and although she holds onto Jin’s wrist and forearm, the smaller woman’s full weight never pulls on that shoulder. She was almost floating too, not quite as much as Samir, who was closer to the gravity well, but still buoyant, almost as if in water…or at least, lighter than she should have been. Like being on a moon…

It was a little mind warping. The ground was far below, yet had less pull than the hazy orange circle. Indeed, they were lazily almost revolving around it. Samir takes in more of the view below, then the wreckage, and then her eyes shift back to Jin.

There’s a more genuine smile then, small and no longer smug, not even all that triumphant. A slightly reassuring, unspoken expression of ‘See?’