*** UNSC Allegiance, Victoria Orbit ***
Andrew sighed heavily, then turned to face Blaine. "What I am about to explain to you... is complicated. When this is all over, tell ONI whatever you want. But understand that there are some things in this galaxy... that ONI doesn't understand, nor should they. Some things... are better left buried and forgotten. Clear?"
*** Meditation Room, Indari Manor, Dragon'taan ***
"Izzy?" Kyle spoke. An AI appeared, similar to Cortana, but wearing Jedi robes.
"I'm already in - Sergeant Major Reece never changed his login info," the AI replied. She scoffed. "Sick b*****d kept all his files, including those that corroborate Private Fawn's testimony."
Mathayus looked to Fawn. "And I know where he lives. If he's home, we end him. If he's not, we hunt him down," he said.
"Here," Kyle said, twirling briefly and then handing, grip first, a disruptor pistol to Fawn. "Just in case you're not packing."
*** Flagship Chimera, Tau Dewa Orbit ***
Kyle held Gypsie close, whispering an old tune he found soothing in her ear. He gently pulled her away to look her in the eyes. Trying to be as clear as he could, he spoke to her: "Metal man not evil... look evil, to scare evil men. But metal man not evil." he paused, then continued, "When I first met him, I feared him, too. But I grew to trust him... and he saved my life. Twice."
"Correction: Three times, master," the droid said. Kyle rolled his dragon eyes, which had shifted to that sapphire-blue color.
"He still counts that business on Cato Nemoidia," Kyle said. He sat down on the bed, gently trying to get Gypsie to sit down next to him. "Listen to me, Gypsie... it can be easy to see technology as evil. The people on my home world... were similar to you. They feared technology, hated it... but the difference was they used it in spite of how they despised it. Hypocrisy, thinking back. Technology... can perform miracles. Give sight to the blind. Heal the sick and injured. Even make one normal again... to a degree. Technologies aren't evil. Well, some can be, but the people who design them, who use them for terrible things... they are evil. I know. I've been a prisoner to one." His face portrayed a melancholic look, his eyes going purple. He raised his black, mechanical hand to show Gypsie. "See this? This arm is as much a part of me as my other arm... I move it, swing blades with it, hold my rifle with it... but it was not originally mine." Kyle sighed, offering his mechanical hand for Gypsie to feel it, to examine it. If she did so or not, Kyle would continue, "This arm... I keep as a reminder. It was something that resulted from my stay on LV-426. A desolate world, still being terraformed... or it was, before it was destroyed... I was living there after I escaped Order 66... I lived as an 'unregistered colonist'. The Colonial Authority didn't pay too much attention, back then... I had been living there for months... when the demons appeared." Kyle closed his eyes, shuddering as he remembered them. "I know not what they were called, nor where they came from... all I know is when they swarmed, they took everyone. Cocooned them, to be hosts. Used them like... sacrificial surrogates. I managed to evade them, but I had to help." He picked up his rifle, the one he had when he met Gypsie. "I took this from the armory of a friend. She... didn't make it." A tear left his eye, followed by another, before he continued, "I tracked the demons to their nest. Killed many of them on the way. She... Gunny... kept saying, kill them from afar. I never understood why, till I killed them." he looked to Gypsie. "The burn on my shoulder, the acid burn... that's what their blood does to anything it touches. It's concentrated acid. When I got to the nest, I barely had any ammo left in the magazine. When I got to the nest... what I saw..." he shuddered heavily. It was the droid that continued.
"Continuation: According to Master, he witnessed the Xenomorph lifecycle - with his friend, Gunny, giving the show, as it were. He often has nightmares of killing her," HK-70 said.
"I had to!" Kyle snapped, his voice shaking and standing up. "I couldn't... couldn't watch her suffer... I... put a bullet to her head from her pistol - just to end her suffering." He sat back down slowly, then continued, "That was when another of the demons rushed me. I didn't have time to draw my lightsaber, and my rifle was already pointed at it, so... I pulled the trigger. I got him, but his blood sprayed on my arm. I had to act fast - if the acid melting my arm spread to my chest, I'd have to have replaced more than just my arm, so..." He took out one of his lightsabers, activating it. The Imperial Crimson blade came to life with a *snap-hiss!* He then turned the blade to point to his shoulder. "... I cut it off. I had to. After that, I slung Gunny's rifle, fought my way out, and escaped... After that, I was in medbay."
"Explanation: Master was in despair after losing his arm and his friend. I would venture he felt for her, but he never confirmed it. I tried consoling him, but was ineffective," HK70 explained. "So, I suggested making him combat-effective again. Master was hesitant to go with the mechanical arm, but the course he wanted to take was far riskier. I was able to convince him to take a mechanical arm that was as close to what he wanted as was possible. It was a long search, but I was able to locate that arm. When I got it, I installed it, myself. There were initial side-effects, but those went away after six-point-two months."
"And for more than thirty years... this arm has been a reminder to me. A reminder of what can happen when you let your enemy get too close," Kyle concluded. He leaned forward and rested his head in his mechanical hand. "But now... I have you up here with me. I told you to run, that I would keep the enemy from coming after you, but... you chose to help me. And while that was a noble decision... it has consequences. My enemies will be after you as well as me. We have to go, leave this system... but I don't know where to go. I'm... I'm scared. I didn't want to put any of this on you. I took you to safety, only to be left with nowhere to hide."
As though a whisper, that voice told Gypsie, "He is confused, desperate - he is not thinking clearly, on account of trying not to offend you any more than he already has and what he is beginning to feel in his heart. Ask him of Belsavis."
Kyle sighed tremblingly, his natural hand balling into a fist. "Even if we stay here, cloaked... they can deploy an ion flash and find us," he said, his voice nearly crying.
Topic: Galactic Society (Open/Lounge RP, but READ FIRST POST) (Read 380471 times)