The More Intense the Workout
Posted on Tue Dec 4th, 2018 @ 4:38am by Mazzin Vayri & Captain Rueben Gregnol
Mission:
Mission 8 - Shattered
Location: ISS Fenrir, Secondary Hull
2144 words - 4.3 OF Standard Post Measure
The XO jogged through the darkened corridor of the secondary hull trying to work off the excess energy before he had to meet with the Captain. He knew he had to be careful in how he presented his concerns to Gregnol about the major crossover. Sneaking Malone and Saa through was one thing, but bringing 190,000 metric tons of starship through an interphasic rift would be noticed. He just hoped Admiral Kita’s plan was worth it, or the very least that they would survive it. Hump almost lost himself in thinking about contingencies and contingencies to the contingencies, but the sounds of someone running headlong through the darkness brought him back to the here and now.
It was an incredibly inept attempt at assassination, he thought as he thrust his arm out grabbing the figure by the throat. Picking the form up with ease he slammed it into a stanchion, revealing it to be a Tellorite. As it clawed at Hump’s arm he noticed the blind terror in his eyes. Eyes that were looking behind him. The hilt of a blade protruded from its shoulder, and it was bleeding from over half a dozen well placed but non-fatal cuts. It was running from someone, and the Commander had just pinned it leaving both of them exposed, vulnerable in the light.
Drawing his heavy disruptor Hump shot out the one light in the area, causing the fire suppression systems to activate. Water started cascaded down the walls and emergency lights blinked on and off bathing the area in a surreal red glow. Still as intermittent as the light was, Hump could make out a figure in the shadows. Water was starting to plaster her clothes to her lithe figure and water dripped from her hair onto a face still mostly in shadow, except for the smile on her lips that could be seen as either immensely cruel or salaciously inviting. Glancing down at the metallic glint in her hand Hump smiled back “Ms. Kavi, Should I ask why you have a knife there?”
Mercia looked over the man and her prey, "Hunting. I see you have captured my prey." she said as she stepped forward, a thin white off duty dress clinging to her form, blood drops scattering across the fabric. "Do you wish to join me in the hunt or let my prey go so I can continue." she smirked.
Hump narrowed his eyes, and lowered his disruptor by a millimeter. The Tellorite was from astrometrics, one of the crew who helped find the crossover point. Made sense, the twins were being used to tie up loose ends. They were relatively new to the crew, and therefore owed loyalty no one, yet. Still, flushing a target to catch him off guard, that wasn't a bad plan, draw his focus away from the real danger, keep his attention busy,,,, "Tell me Ms. Kavi, where's your sister?" he asked, mirroring her smile as he searched for movement at the periphery of his vision, "You know, the prettier one."
"Aw I wouldn't say she's the prettier one, unless you're in to the fact she dyes her hair blonde." the redheaded sister chuckled as she moved forward a little. She licked the flat of her knife and strolled ever closer. "You think we're here for you Van Wayden?" she asked with a slow purr in her voice.
Hump cocked his head, as much to appreciate Mercia's form and movement as to try and catch any sounds coming from behind him. He found himself in an odd position. The disruptor gave him an advantage only as long as the woman was an actual threat, if she wasn't than it was overkill making him appear weak. Also with having the Tellorite pinned, he was a static target. He quickly ran the numbers and smiled at beautifully lethal woman. "Ah, Vanity." he sighed, holstering the disruptor "Poor girl doesn't appreciate what nature's given her." he shrugged, almost regretfully, "Now that I can really get a good look at you, I can see what true beauty is."
Turning his back on Mercia, Hump plucked the blade out of the Tellorite's shoulder releasing his throat. Moving impossibly fast, in an almost beautifully fluid fashion, the Commander drew his personal blade and drove it through the same shoulder. Hump could feel his blade cut through ligaments and tendons destroying the joint, before the blade bit into the stanchion, pinning the crewman to the post like some grotesque butterfly. The crewman's eyes went wide before passing out from the pain, and simply hung on the knife like an old broken marionette.
Turning back to the redhead, he raised his eyebrow, "Well I guess I just ended his pro-baseball hopes, but let's both admit it, he wasn't going make spring training this year." he said spinning the blade in his hand as he stepped away to Mercia's left, "Nice balance," he noted, then looking into her eyes added "Now since I know it's 'we' please ask your sister to come out and join us. Skulking in the shadows is so beneath her, even it she's embarrassed by her looks."
"Ah but you said I'm the prettier one." Tali said from behind him, closer than he likely would have liked. She had a near silent foot step as she approached in the flickering light. It was her first day back and her sister already had a target to take out, someone who had wronged her fragile senses, but also was on the list of possible targets they'd been assigned. "Why would I be embarrassed?" she asked.
"Beauty that needs to get her hair color out of a bottle?" Hump shot back, with a ghost of a smile on his lips. "But as I see you together the difference is a wisker and a hair. Hat's off to the wonders of genetics." he added, impressed at the effectiveness of her stalk. He would have placed her on the other side of the room. It was good to see the twins' reputation was proving to be more that bluster. Glancing back to Mercia, Hump couldn't help but see her look of disappointment as she glanced at the Tellorite.
Mercia watched the creature, pinned and bleeding, "A shame he passed out, I wanted to put the death by 1000 cuts to the test." she sighed shaking her head.
"Ah don't worry Ms. Kavi, I can put that all to rights for you." Hump assured her, as he flipped Mercia's blade between his fingers. Purposefully he directed the intermittent light to flash off the blade and into Mercia's eyes. Time to test some more of the legndary Kavi reputation. "I like your knife. Think I'll keep it as a good luck charm."
“It’s a dagger, actually. And no, you shouldn’t.” With those words, at that frozen moment in time Mercia transcended beauty. The playful yet deadly smile on her lips, water slowly dripping from them, beading up, warmed by her heat, dropping away into an unfathomable abyss. She was a demon, an angel, a Valkyrie warrior. She needed to be tested. Demanding a challenge greater than the pathetic creature she hunted. With a knowing smile Hump gripped the dagger in his hand, eased his leg back into a fighting stance and whispered, his voice somehow cutting through through noise and chaos of the hallway to Mercia's ears, a message for her and her alone.
Cruel and Beautiful,
whisper your gentle lies
and ponder;
what do you despise more,
the Ache or the Release?"
Mercia strolled forward hearing his words and smirked, "The ache." she purred. "The delicious, never ending, tormenting ache." she said sauntering. "You may get lucky enough to find out just how deep the ache can be."
Tali folded her arms and watched the two as she leaned against the wall shaking her head. Her sister... the wild one, she had changed her focus of her attention. Tali was still more interested in the mark, passed out on the floor.
Hump felt rather than saw Tali stand down for the moment, tensions easing behind him. His heart warmed, as he padded slowly to Mercia's left, happy that the sister understood. The next few minutes were for Mercia and him alone. Moving forward, Hump quickly lunged at her, slipping the daggar into his other hand.
Of course she was not fooled. How could she be? Even as Hump tied up her knife arm, she block his upward thrust of his blade with her knee, grabbing his throat with her free hand they found themselves face to face, the heat of each others breath mixing together, for an infinity of moments. Again to Mercia alone he whispered.
engorged with Succulence
bursting with life's Urgency
vibrantly Seductive
tormenting Need, Desire
Unfulfilled
Mercia smirked at the man, "poetically attuned to me I see." she said whispering back at him. She was not a poet, and normally it annoyed her, however this man seemed to have words the struck her. Her hands on his throat, she slipped her hand loose, pulling against his thumb, the weaker part of someones grip. Her silky dress was clinging to her skin as wet as it was, but even still she moved easily.
She reached her arm up and pulled a thin stick from her hair. She'd had half of it up, but now it draped around her face. The stick was called a Vhorl stick, it was flexible, yet stiff enough to cause damage. They were most effective when thrown, and most people would think of them as a hair decoration. The ends however were deceivingly sharp. She pressed the tip against his rib just enough to make it known it was sharp and cause a little pain. "Tell me more." she said in a low seductive tone.
Dropping his arm low, Hump swept the Vrorl stick aside tearing a small slice across his ribs, the metallic smell of his blood mixing with sweat. Spinning Merica’s lithe figure around he crushed her body to his, the warmth of her back sleeping into his chest. With her arm pinned between them, he pressed the stick she still held on her ribs, just enough to cause little pain. In his other arm he still held her blade, his prize, locked together with her own blade, wrapped in a deadly embrace.
Using his strength he brought these arms, whose muscles shifted and tested trying to find advantage, across her, feeling her heart pound in her chest. Bringing their arms to her throat, he carefully pressed the flat of his own blade against her cheek and guided it to her own. There in the soaked manes of hair he could see the predatory hunger in her eyes, the smile on her parted lips with her tongue played achingly across the edge of her teeth. In that face he saw strength, desire, possibly madness. The face warrior, a God damn Valkyrie. Sensually he rubbed the tip of his nose to hers and whispered;
Lay open in offered sweet delight
Velvet pistil of gentle blush
Enwrapped in throat of fiery hue
This vision of tender ecstasy
Entices with a lilting sway
A fragrance to intoxicate
Wafting from the luscious folds
Hump then pressed the tip of the Vrorl in just enough to break the skin causing Mercia to make a sharp intake of breath. Then throwing her free, he bowed slightly. “You are indeed worthy of poetry, and so much more.” He said with a smile readying himself for her next attack, “Come now my Tender Mercy, show yourself worthy of my final verse."
Mercia opened her mouth as she looked the man over. Her side hurt, but she felt the pain was something to make her more alive. She got a cat like look in her eyes as she prepared to run, and darted stright at him. She slid down to the ground and moved between his legs and easily popped up behind him. She leapt on to his back as she kicked his legs out, driving him to his knees.
She held out her hand and a blade flew in to it, courtesy of her amused near by sister. She knocked him in the side of the head with the hilt and pulled his arm behind him. The forward momentum and speed dropped him down the ground. Her weight pressed against him, holding his arm, on one side, the tip of her blade in his ear on the other. "I am worthy of so much more." she whispered. After a moment she released him, and allowed him to turn and whisper his final words in her ear, where he certainly validated what she saw as her worth.
~fin
