Alternate Agendas
16 May 2024Xochitl Khae
Alternate Agendas
Colonia Region
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He was thankful that his queen hunter puppeteer had seen fit to stock the galley. Though tasting like a beef and potato dinner, the nutritional concentrate bar was anything but. It had everything his body needed and more, but it wasn’t as pleasant as cutting into a piece of animal meat with a knife and stirring in butter to a hot spud.
Pirates tolerated raiders only to the point of what they could provide them. They were useful fodder for mucking up the rank and file and creating problems, but they were otherwise useless thugs, with short lifespans and shorter attention spans. Living for the moment was their motto, and he doubted that anywhere within that mantra was a bath ever considered.
Tara sat across from him, her magnetic booted feet resting on the table. “Lianna will live, but I doubt she will repeat her mistake anytime soon.”
Ryuko caught a chuckle at that. None were innocent of her mistake– at least once in their careers.
“Says here that a raider is now leading their merciless band of unwashed thugs.”
Tara maintained her poise, looking between her boots at Ryuko. “I know some of your past history in the region, or more correctly, the one you came from. What’s with these people that this bitch is using to get you so riled up?”
“The original group that I ended up with was shortly after my parents were killed in the Kumo Crew slaughter of civilians in the Amitrite system, during the massacre there, during the Pegasi Pirate Wars. My… our benefactor, was an Imperial liaison at the time, who warned that it would happen, but no one listened.”
“And, you learned this… how?”
“Aby filled in the blanks, the rest I remembered.”
Tara clicked her boots together, nodding at him to continue.
Ryuko sighed, taking another bite and chewing on it as he leaned back in his chair.
“I and some of the survivors were taken to the Munshin system. It was a bit of a stretch for me to recover, but once I did, I linked in with a group, that was fighting against the Crew. We didn’t like the Imperials either, but what we wanted most was payback, and they were the path to it, so we carted along with them for a while, as auxiliaries.” Ryuko glanced at the bar, examining it as if it were a specimen on a platter, debating on whether he really wanted to bite into it again or not.
“Anyway, we ended up in a system the Crew was being run out of and thought it would be a nice place to set up shop. We were wrong. Vacuums suck and fate hates an empty void. A new minor faction stepped up to take its place. They made us an offer and it created divisions within our ranks. That soon boiled over.”
He gestured with the bar towards Tara, who declined with a shake of her head, "I'll stick to something more organic. Anyway..."
"The split turned violent, not the peaceful parting we hoped for. Those in favor of joining the newcomers turned on those who weren’t. The founders and I decided to move on, but the dissenters followed, determined to erase what they viewed as a threat.”
Tara’s nod was somber. "That sheds some light on things. But out here, pursuing someone over a split seems excessive."
Ryuko raised an eyebrow, his voice tinged with resignation. “It wasn’t just about the split. They saw us as a potential rallying point for dissenters, a beacon for those regretting their choice to join the larger faction. Erasing us was meant to prevent any resurgence."
He stood, placing the unfinished bar on the table before heading to the kitchenette for a coffee.
“The fallout lasted years. Some of us tried to start anew, others joined the prevailing pirate lords or went solo. Bounty hunting became my path—it paid better and kept me clear of factional entanglements.”
Tara watched him brew his coffee. "How long did all this take?"
"A good part of a decade," Ryuko replied, taking a tentative sip of the hot liquid. "Then came that incident in Imperial space while chasing a mark, and well, here I am."
"That doesn’t explain the visceral anger towards those sharing the old name."
Ryuko sighed deeply, his gaze distant. “After a brief stint with a new group, my mentor, an old pirate sage, decided to retire—a rarity in our game. I chose bounty hunting over piracy. But those from the split didn’t take kindly to his departure and... they killed him."
Tara's boots hit the floor as she leaned forward, elbows on the table, her expression turning serious.
"That’d do it. So, your 'oopsie' in Imperial space—you were after their bounties?"
"Exactly. They didn’t survive the encounter, and that pretty much landed me here."
Tara bobbed her head. "That explains why she brought us to this particular region of space. She knew it would get you riled up. The kiddos would learn their craft by watching how you worked, getting rid of real pirates."
Tara pushed herself off the table, leaning back in her chair to look at Ryuko.
"And, then there is Scyles. The one, within their ranks, who was seasoned enough to join in. He was to be honed by your example, and be the mentor of others." Tara huffed, shaking her head. "He's more likely to start his own group of raiders than be a puppet for them to pull his strings. But, you already knew this."
Ryuko looked at Tara out of the corner of his eyes, raising his flask to take a sip.
The voice inside of Tara spoke softly to her, as Ryuko watched her. ‘She won’t be able to control him. He hates them all and doesn’t try to hide it. Your companion only hates this one group and tries to hide it, but she knows all of this. She is hoping you two can tame him enough for her to control.’
Ryuko smirked. "You were thinking of what Scyles could do if he broke his leash, weren’t you?”
Tara cocked her head to one side, saying nothing.
Ryuko took another sip, watching Tara closely. “She's a clever one, but not too smart. His hatred is far hotter than mine. His ruthless nature leads everyone to an early end, even him, but he doesn't care. Sending him out here with me, to watch how I do things, makes him more dangerous and unpredictable, not less."
‘He’s far too dangerous for her to let you two cut ties with him, but your companion already knows this. Listen to what he has to say.’
Tara shook her head. "I doubt she will let us cut him loose, whereas the others are expendable filler. That means the only way to the other side of this and that is through it."
Ryuko nodded once more, pausing to take another sip from his flask. "Or, create a counterbalance."
‘Yes, he sees the path. Let him guide you through it.’
Tara cocked her head the other way, causing Ryuko to laugh. “Aby has indeed rubbed off on both of us.”
Tara’s look turned serious, but she did not feel what would be considered human anger but something more of a disturbed realization.
“That means the faux history provided to me, to be listed as human, and the expulsion of your offense from the courts, was all a psychological form of her placating the decision she had already made about all of this?”
Ryuko's laugh deepened, "Looks like I have rubbed on you as well. Now you are thinking like a proper pirate. Nothing like convincing yourself that your double-cross is noble; if you paid them before screwing them."
He watched her with an affectionate smile on his face, as she searched for understanding, not knowing that inside was the essence of another who was aiding her.
“Through our adventures together, since my activation and imprinting, I never understood how deep your thinking and experiences might be. You silently already knew all of this, and kept quiet as you also knew that its revelation would not make any difference.”
Ryuko shrugged. “You’re correct. I should have said something to you, of all people, but old habits die hard, I guess. If you can’t affect the present, and can’t escape tomorrow, then what can you do inside of it to change it to your advantage.”
“Or, profit from it,” Tara responded with a cheeky smirk that made Ryuko smile.
Ryuko took a knee in front of Tara, looking up at her with gentle eyes.
“Listen, there isn’t anything we can do about Scyles. Either he will pull his head out, or not. I doubt that he will, but as long as he makes credits, then what do I care. Let her have a pet monster. He will bite the hand that feeds it eventually. Jabir and Lianna, we can mold into something more useful, and far less vicious. Who knows, maybe form the foundation of our own little corner of the rim?”
Tara tilted her head, looking down at Ryuko with a curious expression. “You would want to make your own pirating clan?”
Ryuko smiled, looking down at the deck for a moment before turning his eyes back up to meet Tara’s.
“I was thinking more of a little independent operation. The real credit and power in piracy isn’t in the unwashed idiots, blazing themselves and whomever else they choose. They have to move whatever they take, and the fencers are the ones who set the price, get the goods to market, and provide the information on where the next scores can be found.”
Tara calculated that for a moment as Ryuko watched her with a caring eye.
“You mean to start a bar, brothel, and warehouse?”
Ryuko stood up, taking one of her hands in his own. “Don’t forget, thinning out the competition too. Nothing is bad for a business like a competitor, and those morons have raiders in their hierarchy. Not the best or the brightest. Scyles gets his scalps and we get our own little corner of nowhere.”
“But that means double-crossing Zaria?”
"Welcome to piracy dear... tit for tat. She wants us to tame her monster and we need him, as is, to tame the competitors. More of a win-win," Ryuko said with a wink.