For Goodness Sake: Lucky Devil
13 Nov 2024Maul Montresor
"Tell us why you're here and this can stop." Anderson's monotone voice and sluggish way of speaking seemed more intimidating now in light of this new situation. Maul's nose bled freely as Anderson wiped the blood from his own fist with a rag. With the amount of beatings in such rapid succession, Maul mentally blanked for a moment getting lost in his thoughts. That didn't last long."Wake up." said Anderson, with hard smack to Maul's face, derailing his train of thought.
Maul grumbled and spoke with conviction. "Told you fuckhead, was here looking for Willow. She contacted us asking for help. Nothing more than that."
Anderson sat down at the table opposite of Maul, who was strapped into his chair. "Right. Is she one of your 'Network' buddies? How about Vasilescu?" Anderson had read over Maul's file from the PDB and made himself familiar on what little knowledge the FIA had gathered on The Network. Willow and Vasil came back clean but as far as he cared, they were guilty by association for harboring a known terrorist. Maul chose not to dignify that question with a response. He knew what happened to rats, they get offed. Maul’s continued silence lead to Anderson becoming further agitated with the man.
"Explain to me who paid your multi million galaxy wide bounty back in 3305. There are remnants within a nearly corrupted file that mention the credits had came from Hondo City. That's Black Dragon territory, isn't it? What were you doing with a gang of wanna be pirates, Mr. Montresor?" Maul remained silent still. The Black Dragons weren't pirates at all, they dabbled in crime but were focused mostly on protecting their home system and its residents. Good people, all things considered.
"Hmpf, the payoff came through the very same week their leader Shin reportedly died. Now isn't that something?" That one caused Maul to narrow his eyes on Anderson. He knew things that he shouldn't. "Even more interesting is that just a few months later on January 23 3306, your name appeared in the Cleve Hub corporate leaks. Did you know that the FIA were investigating corruption within Eravate at the time of the leak? Not only did it shine a light on them but it exposed our backdoor into their systems. Good agents...good men and women died because of that. But that's okay, because your name was cleared of the murder charge that haunted you, wasn't it? You were no longer a wanted man in Federal space. Well, that was at least until the PDB found The Network's hidden comms system."
"See, my money is on you and the Network being a part of the reason the leaks occurred in the first place, but the Winking Cat movement was taking off back then. Unknown copy cats were popping up left and right and they very gladly claimed responsibility for the leak. You lucky devil."
"How about Robigo?"
That was the last thing Anderson managed to say before a loud pop from the next sector over interrupted his barrage of accusations.
"Son of a bitch. What'd you do?" Anderson again threw another accusation at Maul, causing him to look down at the restraints keeping him in the chair.
"How could I possibly d—"
"Shut it." said Anderson, unholstering his weapon as he peaked outside the holding room.
Blaring alarms began to sound off as red flashing lights accompanied them. A voice over the PA mentioned an explosive breach in sector C. Massive doors began slamming between the sectors to contain the damage of the sudden breach. With all of the sudden chaos, Anderson rushed over to Maul and pushed the barrel of his plasma pistol against his head.
"That bitch friend of yours was in C. She's behind this, isn't she?! You fucking terrorist pieces of shit!" Anderson had abandoned any semblance of his calm and collected demeanor. He became animalistic, scared and desperate. Choosing to fight rather than flight. Maul, being presented with the same conundrum had chose the same. "Yeah we're behind this!" shouted Maul, his mind desperately racing, looking for any path out of this. "You zero me and the rest of the bombs on this fucking station detonate!" Anderson's angry expression softened to one of concern and confusion. Maul saw the opening and dove further in. "You've got a gun pointed at the lives of all those residing within the Golden Jackal at this very moment. I suggest you choose your next step wisely."
"Bullshit!" Anderson shouted, pressing the gun harder against Maul's temple.
"If my people within The Network don't hear from me within the next hour, we're all dead. That gun may as well be against your own head!"
Anderson wrestled with this newfound information in a brief frustrated silence, ending with him momentarily breaking. "How do I know you won't just—" Anderson was cut short by a bullet to the brain. Maul squeezed his eyes shut and winced as blood splattered across his face and chest, mixing with his own blood.
"Got here just in time, huh?" A voice came from the doorway. Maul peeked one eye open to see another battered man wearing a prisoner jumpsuit just like his. "Lucky you." The man said as he then approached and started to release Maul from his restraints. "You know, they've got the public convinced that they've purged the galaxy of the NMLA, but look at us. Still fighting, still here."
"Damn straight." Maul lied, jumping out of the frying pan and directly into the fire.
"C'mon, they've got emergency suits down the hall here."
"Shit, thanks." said Maul as he stood from the chair, reaching down to pick up Anderson's plasma pistol. "What's your name?"
The man stepped back through the doorway and out into the hall, making sure both directions were clear before responding. "Rion Nuelund, you?"
No good. The plasma cartridge was empty, at least he knew Anderson wasn't fully committed to blasting his brains out. "Maul." he replied, discarding the empty mag over his shoulder as he bent down to check Anderson's body for an extra. "So Rion, what's the plan to get out of here?"
Rion grinned a crooked bloody grin. The beatings he'd endured had disfigured his face. A glimpse into Maul's narrowly avoided future. "I offed one of the guards near the lift down here. He was heading down to the emergency AV vehicles. This badge I've got should get us down there. I figured we could ride one of those out of here and steal a transport ship at the docks."
"Perfect!" Thought Maul, pleased that he'd finally found an extra mag for the pistol. The thing had been modded and had a higher magazine capacity than the standard. Anderson clearly knew his guns. "So, what if there's more guards down there? We just blasting our way through?"
"Nah, the emergency suits should help us blend in and this badge will unlock the AV's manual controls."
The mag slid into place with a satisfying click and Maul stood upright again, raising the gun at the NMLA lunatic. "Thanks Rion, you're a life saver." With a swift pull of the trigger, Rion's eye suddenly became a smoking fleshy tunnel. Light from the ice giant outside reflected through the window and bled light through the hole creating a beam of light.
With the pest eradicated, the path forward seemed clear.