Locked Away - (A Mini Story) - End 3/3
17 Dec 2021Isabella Levine
For practically all of her time on this Prison Ship, Isabella had stayed in her cell to fester in her own thoughts. She did this during her 'free' time if she wasn't ordered to maintenance sections of the ship and work like a dog. While in her cell, all she could think about was what got her here. To think about who put her here. To think about how she felt betrayed. Think about what she had planned to do next. The thought of her partner, Thallia, came into her head and a rush of memories from what felt like ages ago came soaring back. Her mind was stuck back on when she last saw her. Seeing how upset she was. Isabella was there again. She wanted to hold her but couldn't. He was in the way. IIS Agent Corbett. Her sorrow filled with rage. Her plan after this if she managed to escape alive was to find him. Find and kill him. The only way that made sense was to bait him out and capture him. Anything else wouldn't work, he'd just disappear. He'd be impossible to find. If going on a warpath was required, she would. The Empire never treated her fairly after all and if this was what needed to be done, so be it.
Her cell doors opened suddenly and her deep thoughts washed away as reality snapped back. It was now lunch. Which meant, as discussed the day prior, the grand escape plan. As Isabella took careful magnetic steps out of her cell her nerves hit overdrive and she felt anxious about what happened next. She knew her job. Halfway through their meal break, she'd have to start a fight. Didn't matter how but she needed some kind of long-lasting commotion. From her several weeks of being here, she knew that there were two angry groups of people that inhabited this block. People usually tend to create tribes or clans when they're in prison. A group of those with the same beliefs and views. Some part of gangs from outside the metallic walls. She knew that with this came rivalry and that the one group she didn't bother to know the name of had a rivalry with another on the same block. It was perfect, she thought to herself as once again she was ordered to line up on the floor and follow the guards along with everyone else. Like every other day, she was marched out to the courtyard lunch room and given the trays with the same nutrition bar and water packet as yesterday, the day before and the day before that, and so on and on. It had only been a few weeks and she was already losing her mind. If it wasn't eating garbage then it was working in dangerous areas of the ship. If it wasn't that then it was avoiding angry people. But now she was at her point of breaking being locked up here. Especially on false charges.
Finding her spot, as usual, Isabella placed her tray down on the standing table as usual and began munching away on her bar. Her eyes scanned the area carefully and she found who she needed to speak to. To create a lie that would get him and his rival to fight each other. Isabella waited on her move and while she did, she tried to look for Sabrina but found her nowhere. Unusual but moreover, quite concerning. It was her plan.
"You don't look hungry so...I'll take that." Came a voice to her flank. She shot a look as a hand came down and snatched her nutrition bar. Instinctively her hand came out and grabbed the man's wrist to which a fist came forward and smacked her in the face and hard. She snapped. The next few seconds happened in slow motion as she fought back. Her foot came down on the man's calves and his knee buckled while her hand gripped around her metallic tray and struck hard against the face of her adversary. Blood only splattered in the zero-g as the corner of the metallic tray made connection to his face leaving a deep laceration across his face. In a shocking uncontrollable rage, she struck again and again and again until there wasn't much of a recognizable face that could be easily identified. The body hung limp in the low gravity with pools of floating blood. Completely tunnel-visioned, she couldn't see but she felt arms wrap around her from behind and she instinctively kicked back hard enough to have them let go. Without hesitation, she spun around with the same bloodied tray in hand and struck at the nearest target making a positive connection. Her second assailant went down holding his face as she stepped in to strike again and did so successfully. Again and again, she delivered strikes until she was stopped by another who grabbed her like before. This time much tighter. Her arms were wrapped around her backside and she was restrained. Her eyes moved towards the farthest door and she spotted several guards with shock batons in their hands as they approached. They yelled for the fighting to seize but to no avail. None of the orders deterred the person who held her arms as another person came at her from the front. A broken piece of plastic fork in hand. A makeshift shiv to bring down on her. The woman delivered an underhand jab that surprisingly broke through her clothes and stabbed her in the side. Isabella yelped out in pain, her rage only became more focused and intensified as fire coursed through her veins.
The arms behind her released and without a second's hesitation, Isabella brought her arms forward and stopped the Shiv holder from delivering another jab. Isabella's hands gripped around the shive wielders and twisted in uncomfortable ways to break the grip. Once broken, Isabella obtained the shiv and delivered it down upon the wielder's neck only once. Their hands reach for the new wound to cover as their eyes widen in the desperation to cling to life. The realization that they might have met their end. This of course didn't stop Isabella from delivering another blow to the neck, finishing off her perceived threat as their body floated motionless and bleeding. Finished with her target, she turned to whoever held her and saw that Sabrina was the one fighting him. A backhand struck across Sabrina's face as the man fought back. Seeing this, Isabella lunged forward and clung to the man's back. He attempted to shake her off but to no avail as Isabella brought the plastic makeshift shiv down into his clavicle. Blood shooting up over her hands and on her chest. The first strike didn't stop him so she brought it down five more times until he stopped and she let go.
"Behind you!" Sabrina yelled. Isabella didn't hesitate and ducked low letting an energy shock baton soar over her as she twisted and delivered a quick jab with her free hand into the guard's side which had little effect. The baton came back but Isabella brought up both hands and blocked the counterattack. She struggled to his strength for only a moment before his went soft when Sabrina struck the guard with a well-placed kick in between his legs. His grip weakened on his baton and she snatched it from his hand to deliver it upon the back of his head. One strike was enough to incapacitate him and the fight was immediately over. Isabella panted heavily as she took a step back at the multiple bodies that lay around her. The hyper-focus and rage finally subsiding slightly to realize what she'd done.
"Holy shit, Isabella. That's one way to start the party. A little preemptively too." Sabrina noticed the bodies and the blood that covered her. Whatever Isabella did, she managed to turn everyone on each other. She watched as multiple fights went on as some fought because they could. Others defended themselves because they had to and a select few cowered in corners. A few more guards moved in to quell the rioting adding more to the chaos and dismay. "Status on our way out of here?" Sabrina simply shrugged both shoulders. "Soon. They haven't - shit, watch out!"
"Halt immedi-" Isabella turned and brought a two-handed swing of the shock baton into the helmeted head of the guard that attempted to stop her. The strike was solid making an audible CLUNK as the guard stopped, dazed out of his proper mind. She took the reprieve to deliver another strike across his helmet which knocked the guard unconscious. "My goodness…." Isabella noticed a holster and reached for the floating guard's sidearm. Pulling it from its holster, she was disappointed to realize it wasn't an actual gun but instead a taser. "I need a gun."
"No, Isabella, we need to get the hell out of the way. We created a big enough distraction I think. We still have a few minutes unti-" The entire deck they stood on shook subtly. A reverberating shockwave from somewhere on the mega-ship. Only the two women realized it as the rest of the room had people fighting or people running away to stand clear of the chaos. No one noticed the deck vibrate but everyone noticed the flashing lights and the blaring alarms. Now everything became serious.
The chaos ensued around them as the alarms began to blare and the light flashed red. Isabella looked at Sabrina with widened eyes as she held the stolen taser in her hand. An odd tool it was. Looked exactly like a real gun m with a mag well and a slide but the rounds were shock bolts. Pressure loaded to fire a charged bolt and incapacitate a threat. It wasn't a gun but it would do. "Where do we go? We have to get out." Isabella said, looking towards the only two sets of heavy steel doors in the room. "That one. We go through that one and head down the corridor, I think." Isabella looked to the doors she mentioned but snapped back at the I think comment. "You think? Is it or not!?"
"Yes! It is!" Sabrina was the first to move and Isabella followed as another heavy shock wave repelled through the deck. This one much more intense than the first. "Jeeze, they're really tearing it up, huh?" Isabella said as they approached the door. Sabrina ignored her as she looked at the door. "Can you open it? I thought you said it should open in emergencies?"
"It's hardly an emergency right now, is it." Another explosion rocked the deck. The two stopping for a moment to see if something around them might give. "Kinda seems like an emergency!" Isabella said as Sabrina continued to scan the door. Becoming more frantic and flustered as she could figure why it wouldn't open. "Hey! Can you get this door open or not?" The woman turned on her heels and shouted~ "I'M TRYING!" before she turned around and continued. Another heavy shock wave reverberated throughout the deck floor they stood upon. Isabella starting to get an uneasy feeling from the situation before them. "They know people are inside, right? They're going to bring these walls in at this rate. You said they were targeting Power capacitors."
"They are!" Sabrina retorted as the doors suddenly slid open. Isabella would have celebrated but she didn't as another guard stood in front of them. Two eyes met each other and Isabella tried to be the first and the fastest by bringing up the taser but the guard countered her move by grabbing her hand and pushing to the side. She struggled and he struggled before the taser was released from her hand and floated away. The guard's strength was overbearing and Isabella lost footing via magnetic contacts. Any leverage was lost and she was pushed over and up against the wall. The guard's forearm came across her neck and began crushing her windpipe as she looked to Sabrina for help. To Isabella's horror, she fled down the corridor and turned into a small alcove disappearing. She was betrayed. But why? Her brain searched for answers but the crushing forearm over her neck didn't add favours. Isabella looked to the guard and spat in his face. In disgust, he loosened his grip and that gave enough leeway for Isabella to strike her arms down over his breaking the hold completely. She clenched her fists and delivered a straight punch to the guard's throat making him instinctively bring both hands to it as his own windpipe closed. "Doesn't feel good, huh!" She reeled back and delivered another punch to his face. The strike was hard enough to send him back and daze.
"Sabrina! You bitch! Where are you!" Isabella grabbed the floating taser and followed in her betrayer's footsteps. She turned the corner to the alcove and found a set of smaller doors. Some sort of access way into another room. She approached slowly and stopped coming to a pad. She pushed it and the doors opened to a room with tables and seats. Some sort of common area for staff that obviously weren't inmates. When she entered, taser raised, she found Sabrina surrounded by two staff. The one looked but it didn't matter as 4 taser bolts popped from her gun and made their mark. Her target seized and so she moved to her next within seconds and fired 3 more shots. Just like the previous, he seized and stopped moving. Isabella then switched to Sabrina and aimed at her but never pulled the trigger. "You trying to backstab me? Huh!?" She stepped closer with the taser and pointed it at her face. "You going to tase me?" She mocked with a smile. "Don't tempt me. Plus, next time; don't corner yourself."
"I wasn't trying to betray you and flee. I was trying to ge-" Another explosion rippled throughout the deck and this time seeming to cause the lights to flicker. A moment after another one reverberated throughout the bulkheads and this time the lights cut out leaving the room in sudden darkness. A second later and red light eerily illuminated the room. "We have to move! This is worse than I thought!" Sabrina bolted for the exit and Isabella followed not having much of a choice. The duo made it to the corridor that was like the room they left, flooded with ominous red light. Sabrina knowing where to go, Isabella followed her until they came to another set of doors that automatically opened for them. The connecting corridor had holographic signs. All of them saying //WARNING! EMERGENCY// on them as they raced down the corridor stretch. As they ran they reached a four-way split in the corridor. Sabrina approached the corner and peaked to quickly draw her head back and look at Isabella with large eyes. "Go back, go back! Hide!" She said in a loud whisper. Isabella gave a frustrated sigh and compiled turning back trying to find a place to hide or stay low. She couldn't find anywhere besides a large pillar that stuck out from the bulkhead. With the low light and pushing herself into the corner, whatever Sabrina saw probably wouldn't see her, so Isabella pressed her body into the pillar's corner and held her breath as moments later the telltale sounds of metallic footsteps came storming past and 7 armed guards with kinetic and laser weapons in their arms passed by. They didn't see her and they certainly didn't see Sabrina on the opposite end in the same type of pillar and corner. They were lucky.
"Come on. Just gotta go where they came from. Down that stretch and make a left at the final set of doors. We're more than luck." Sabrina said as she rushed to the 4 way split and cornered right. The duo moved through the red-lit corridor as several more explosions detonated throughout the hull. Pipes began to burst and Isabella swore she saw flames at the very far end of the corridor. Of course, even if there was, it mattered not since they both reached the door on their left-hand side. Sabrina was first to tap the keypad on the door to open it but to no avail. It didn't open. She tried again and again but it didn't work. The deck below their feet shuttered again and this time at the far end of the corridor, an interior explosion sent a pressure wave towards the two and a mini fireball erupted from what just looked like the wall. "Screw this~" Isabella punched the keypad several times to no effect. She swore out loud, drew the taser still in her hands, and shot the pad with a shock bolt. The pad flickered between a red and a green light before keeping green and suddenly opening…
Isabella moved in first and looked to check if it was clear to which it was. Sabrina followed second. "The main airlock for this block. They move supplies in and out here." Isabella glanced around the large open room. Dimly lit with that same ominous red glow from the emergency lights. Crains and loading vehicles on tracks filled both sides of the room. To her front were a set of heavy large pressure doors. Only freezing vacuum on the other side. "So that's our exit? How do we escape?" Isabella asked, looking at the door. She could hear Sabrina to her left fiddling with something just as another explosion rippled through the deck. Isabella felt a gravitational shift but it was subtle. She figured maybe the main thrusters activated to move the ship. Regardless, her question wasn't answered and so she approached Sabrina who was rummaging through lockers. "Suits. We need pressure suits unless you want to suck vacuum. Plus we're out of time." Isabella moved to find a pressure suit and began fitting herself into it as Sabrina did hers. "Out of time? What aren't you telling me? This was timed?" Sabrina finished fitting her suit on, the helmet snapping on last before handing her PDA to Isabella. "I went to that room because before this kicked off; they confiscated my device. I wanted it back since I communicate with my crew from time to time while in here. If I have the chance to use it. We're out of time because local security forces just arrived I'm told. Plus the Megaship is falling."
"Falling!? How?" Sabrina gave a quizzical look to Isabella. "You haven't seen outside yet?"
"I don't leave my cell that often." Sabrina frowned. "Well, that's a shame. We're~" A loud metal clunk echoed throughout the entire airlock. Nearly deafening. Then came an awful buzzing sound. "Helmets. Now. There's zero time!" Sabrina shouted as Isabella quickly scrambled to fit the rest of her suit on. She found her helmet and snapped it on creating an Internal pressure. Extremely important since the horrible sawing and metal grinding ended and the airlock doors rapidly opened to the vacuum outside. Explosive decomposition lifted her off her feet and sent her careening into a railing to which she held on to. "This is suicide! Are you insane, Sabrina! Sa~" A large crate slammed into her upper torso and sent Isabella backward and through the pressure doors. Her chest felt like they just collapsed as she kicked and grabbed desperately at only space now. There was nothing to hold as she drifted out with the loose debris and cargo that blew out the airlock with her. One piece of debris slamming into her head and knocking her back. Her vision blurred as she spun head over heels until she was dizzy.
She took five heavy breaths to regain her composure before she thudded against some large crate that stopped her spin and she could see what was before her. The first thing that stood out was the flaming Megaship. Spots of erupting flame were visible all across the observable parts of the Megaship before her. The spots where the Power Capacitors once were. The second biggest noticeable thing was the deep blue Gas Giant behind the Megaship. The blue gaseous clouds of the upper atmosphere stretch to her right and left. It was impossible that they were this close to the Gas Giant. No station or Megaship could hold an orbit this close, she thought and that's when it hit her; we're falling. It all connected now. They were close but the damaging of the Power Capacitors must have caused the power to malfunction. Explains the light going out. Then the engines must've broken or spontaneously malfunction and changed course. One or the other.
The last thing she saw was the flashing laser show of golden rods of light and streaking lines where missiles arched across space towards their targets. A full-blown attack from this pirate crew and defense from the Security Forces now in the system. But seeing all this chaos, Isabella wondered if she'd be found. Picked up and rescued. Being blown out of the airlock wasn't the plan because if it was Sabrina would've been with her. Not only that but the now noticeable crack on the bottom right of her visor. She'd just noticed it and her suit had been warning her since the breach. "Sabrina? Hello? If you can hear me I need help. My suits damaged and I'm...losing oxygen and fast. Already at thirty percent. Activating the suits emergency beacon." She hoped the broadcast to her was heard. She had to be alright or onboard a ship by now. Or she was taken out as well. Drifting as hopelessly as herself. Isabella sighed and watched the beautiful chaos before her knowing that this might be a last. She oddly didn't feel scared or sad. She felt relaxed. So she closed her eyes and thought of the closest people to her. Aurora, Sharales, Solix and Novus but mainly Thallia. The love of her life. The whole situation on facing death once again reminded her of the Carrier a month ago. How she almost died there by invaders. It was like that all over again but a slower death. One where she'd suffocate in her suit when the O2 meter reaches 0%. Then she'd be swallowed by soft dark blue clouds as she fell into the crushing atmosphere of a Gas Giant. She opened her eyes to the view once more as her hud flashed red showing depleted oxygen. Her time was now and she'd be one with the Gas Giant. She'd meet her end. Once more she closed her eyes and took in one last breath before falling into her own darkness.
