Return to the dockyards
13 Aug 2020Aeryn Airstryder
Continued from Captured!Ao awoke in agony, his side sticky with clotting blood, the bullet lodged there still burning away at his insides.
It was dark on the still floor of the vehicle, how long had he been in here? moments? hours? he couldn't tell.
The one thing he was sure of however was that they had moved, the roar of ship engines overhead and brightness of the lights streaming in through the tiny rectangular windows in the vehicles side's made his aching head want to split in two.
The double doors through which Ao had been thrown into the vehicle were wrenched open, two armoured figures stepped up an into the back of the vehicle, hoisting Ao to his feet and directed him towards the door;
Ao stopped at the door and peered out, he was on one of the large docking pads, raised to the surface, in the shadow of the mighty bulk of an imperial cutter, white as ice.
"MOVE IT!" came a shout from behind him, a few seconds before a boot was firmly planted in Ao's back propelling him off the back step of the vehicle.
Unable to put his hands out to break his fall Ao shifted his body weight to come down on his shoulder, but twisted the wrong way and landed on the side where he had been shot.
He bit his tongue! Ao was not about to give them the satisfaction of seeing him weakened.
From his new position he saw that the vehicle was a large, four wheeled armoured van in gunmetal grey, rather like a cash transit van of old.
The next thing Ao spotted made his blood run cold, nearly all of the surrounding pads were occupied by ships with similar ID tags, and milling about was a small army of armour clad men and women...
The ship on the pad nearest had only just finished shutdown, but within seconds, the ramp had been dropped, and the ship disgorged more of the ice white soldiers with weapon's and supplies.
August was preparing to turn the gateway into a goddamn warzone!
As if to confirm his fears, two more ships flew in fast and low overhead, and docked slightly further up rotation at a 45 degree angle from the pad Ao was on...
He recognised those ships! The TS03 Starlight Lady, a midnight black Clipper, had docked near a blue, white and yellow Anaconda he would have recognised even without being able to see the name stencilled on the hull...his ship! The I-401A Yamato II, further behind her and closer to the 'mail slot' the Yamato's sister ship I-402 Unicorn, a Cutter with the same colour scheme as the Yamato.
What in the name of all that was holy was going on?!! Tiberius must have somehow found out that August was on the station and on the offensive.
"You idiot!" Ao hissed to himself.
Tiberius was challenging August's show of strength with one of his own...but with that many boots on the ground...one spark, one itchy trigger finger or one crossed word would turn the dockyards into a battleground.
Where were station security during all this?! Surely an arms race on their front lawn was a little more important than finding a handful of fugitives?!
A kick to the gut brought Ao back from his musings to the real world
"On your feet maggot!" This proceeded another kick, this time to the back, right in the bullet's entry wound.
Grunting and eyes watering in pain, Ao struggled to his knees and then to his feet.
A hand on his shoulder turned Ao to face the stairs up and inside the Cutter.
Ao took the hint and obeyed, staggering forward.
As they walked a pair of the soldier's, both wearing no head gear walked past; the one closest to Ao, an ugly fellow in his late 30's with no hair and a pockmarked face hacked back and spat a glob of something wet and slimy into Ao's face.
Boiling and shaking with rage, Ao made a mental note that if he ever made it out of this alive he would ensure to return the favour one day!
The jab of a rifle barrel in Ao's back encouraged him to pick up the pace, with difficulty Ao climbed the steep stairs, and inside the ship...