Lost In the System IC: Locked Up

[Voloia]

Music to Mood By –Locked Up

Under the ever watchful gaze of the Peace Keepers, the newly sentenced and convicted inmates are lead in their restraints out of the shuttle. The régime is the same as before with the harsh beatings with the stun batons for those that try to act up and slow the procession down. The first thing they see is the docking port for the shuttle inside the hollowed out asteroid. The artificial gravity held them firmly down and the oxygen was already decompressed. This allowed the prisoners to breathe, as they were forced to walk down the gang plank to the awaiting arms of several white colored power armored peace keepers armed with pulse rifles trained upon them.

The Peace Keepers escorting the procession continued to keep order and lead the procession as the armed Peace Keepers held the area and made sure no one tried to escape. The Peace Keepers then lowered their weapons once the procession of assorted chained prisoners was halted near the entrance of the massive reinforced door that leads into the asteroid prison itself. The first two of the armed Peace Keepers walk up the gang plank into the shuttle too look for any possible stowaways, or prisoners that had somehow been hiding inside the shuttle seeking to escape.

The prisoners themselves are forced to wait as the double reinforced door start too open and the bleach like artificial lighting glows from within. One of the human prisoner’s mutters under his breath, “Abandon, all hope, all ye that enter here.”The prisoner shortly yelps in pain as the stun baton smacks him in the stomach by a short tempered guard. The armored doors finally open to reveal another group of chained prisoners being lead down through the doors.

They seem mixed of sorts some have looks of being more overtly happy in comparison to the majority. Most of them have looks of either depression, or repressed anger as they are forced toward the shuttle. It seems obvious these are the prisoners that had served their time, or received parole. They are more silent, as a group as their guards patrol along their number. They are just as silent, and efficient like a mother hen escorting their chick toward their coup.

They pass the other group of prisoners and say nothing to avoid the cruel beatings that follow with talking out loud. The guards and convict start to get loaded up into the shuttle in front of the on coming prisoners. The armed Peace Keepers in their white power armor keep their pulse rifles trained to make sure no funny business goes down during the loading procedure. The procedure itself was just as routine as the loading process…

The shuttle is promptly loaded with the parolees along with their Peace Keeper guards. The shuttle then begins to start up its engines. The prisoners still in their chains awaiting entrance hear over a loud speaker, “All incoming inmates proceed through the doors. You’re being expected by the Warden of A Block…” The guard waste no time to prod the procession forward through the doors. The sight of security cameras can be seen along the corridor of the passageway just out of reach of the prisoners. The chained group heads down the metallic passageway toward the main access station for the first block of the prison along with their ever present escorts.

The access station is a massive control center with a large titanium reinforced door that leads inside. The camera looking down upon the procession seems to be recording them as they halt at the door. The door shortly opens when the lead guard scans his badge into the control panel. The door promptly rises up to allow the group inside..

The inside is a large room, with three extra guards and one Felinanor in a grey business suite with a red neck tie. He looks upon them with mild amusement as the prisoners enter inside to be indoctrinated into their new home. The Felinanor finally growls up and said, “Welcome to A Block section, the section is the first of the four sections of this prison. You are all in luck in the fact that a group of parolees has been sent down planet side. It means, we have cells available for you all. We can even place some of you together instead of putting you with more harden members of our facility.”

One of the Vulgorian members in the chain gang starts to snicker out loud, only to take a hit in the face by an impatient guard. The Warden unperturbed by this display of violence in his presence merely continues, “I have a roll call for each of you. I will be placing, you in your new assign cells. You will then be escorted too your cells and be given your routines from being in the cafeterias, to your rec time. I must also remind you that lights go out at 2200 Kivosh planet side time. There will be no exceptions to this policy.”

The long winded Felinanor warden began reading off his data pad begins mentioning random names. It takes a while as he goes down the list of people to be sent away and their appropriate cell numbers. You can hear a few yelps as the guards hit anyone that tries to speak out…

“Yo, inmate 4859, you’re assigned too cell number 105”

“Aika, inmate 4860 you’re assigned too cell number 205.”

“Crowley, inmate 4861 you’re assigned too solitary, due to the nature of your crimes…”

“Braag, inmate 4862 you’re assigned too cell number 205.”

“Milok, inmate 4863 you’re assigned too cell number 108."

“Ceeka, inmate 4864 you’re assigned too cell number 108…”

The warden drawls on sentencing the new convicts too their assigned living conditions. It took a while as he finished up and finally the guards start to take their charges toward their new cells. It wouldn’t be fun as the armored door on the other side of the room opens to admit them through. The guards halt the group in a large arena like area that spreads upward lined with reinforced armored doors with barred slot doors in the middle and top for the prisoners to be cuffed and transported…

The sight of security cameras along the corridors that lead through the upper reaches too the cells, and the outer metallic walkways that were patrolled randomly by security guards in some sort of metallic mesh like armor to prevent them from being shived by the homemade weapons commonly used by the local prisoners. The power armored peace keepers relinquish their charges to a five squad group of these lighter armored guards that were waiting at the bottom area. Once they had possession they began to ascend upwards toward the cells of this block.

The Peace Keeper in charge hands over the prisoners chains to the other guards as they lead the prisoners upward too their new homes. They would occasionally stop to “throw” a new prisoner into his or her cell. The cells inside were mostly barren with two bunk beds one on top, one on the bottom. They had a toilet with no privacy in the middle with a cracked mirror, and sink. It was clear the mirror’s glass must have been used to make a weapon of some sort by the shape of the damage.

The Peace Keepers tended to ignore this fact as they lead their charges onward…

[Genomita]

Red in tooth and claw.

That's how the patrol had found them on that planet, gathered around a freshly killed animal, tearing out large chunks of raw flesh to eat. Ceeka's memories of the last few weeks were still blurry and fragmented, but also vibrant and intense in a way the civilized mind couldn't recreate. However, the events of that moment had been etched into hir memory with almost painful clarity, as that had been when Ruki, the oldest of hir siblings had been shot dead right in front of their eyes. After that, the guards had proceeded to hunt them down like animals.

Ceeka and hir siblings, who at this point had neither the capacity to understand their situation beyond the danger to their lives nor the ability to explain themselves had attempted to lose their pursuers in the wilderness, with mixed success. Suuma had been gunned down as ze tried to take the fight to their pursuers, which had triggered a mad rage in Ceeka. When the other guards had caught up, Ceeka stood over the corpse of the guard who had killed Ruki and Suuma, hir symbiosuit's teeth and claws still dripping with the man's blood. Ceeka had fully expected to share the fate of the other two, and had ze still been completely feral, ze likely would've died that die.

Ceeka didn't know why the guards had spared hir life. Maybe it was because ze had offered no further resistance after avenging hir fallen siblings, as ze was too shaken up from the sudden loss of two of hir four siblings, which hit hir full force as soon as the sapient parts of hir brain began to fire up.

"I can't believe they're dead." was all Ceeka had been able to get out before the guards beat hir unconcious. When Ceeka had come to, ce found hirself in a courtroom where they proceeded to act out a sick mockery of a court case. Ceeka, who was completely sapient again by then tried to defend hirself as well as ze could, but hir every attempt was silenced with a slap from a stun baton. Ceeka had felt like bursting into tears when the tribunal was over, but instead decided to remain silent, mostly to avoid more beatings.

It wasn't supposed to end like this. Ceeka and hir siblings had been very prudent in their selection of the planet where they would spend their sabbatical, as the genomitan tradition of going feral was one that was poorly understood by others. They had selected a planet in what was supposed to be neutral territory, unclaimed and inhabited only by flora and fauna. There had been no evidence of anyone claiming this planet, no matter where they had checked. But appearantly there had been a hidden outpost of the Hegemony somewhere near the area they had chosen as their hunting grounds, and only the fact that they had behaved nothing like trained covert ops had saved Cekka from being executed for espionage.

Now, as the guards in power armor led hir through the corridors of the penal asteroid Ceeka felt oddly hollow inside. Seperated from hir people, beaten, sentenced to jail time on ridiculous charges "Use of unlicensed combat stimulants? Really? These people understand nothing!" and surrounded by cold steel and stone, Ceeka felt pangs of autophobia inside hir. Only hir symbiont's keen senses and a small dose of serotonine allowed Ceeka to stave off a panic attack and instead focus on hir surroundings . Ze had designed several asteroid habitats in Genomitan territory, and although hir current surroundings were a far cry from the inviting terraria and beehives ze had designed, focussing on the details of hir surroundings and the similarities between this place and hir work (slim as they were) still gave hir some measure of peace.

The symbiosuit's large sea green eyes went here and there, taking in positions of security cameras and guards as they were herded along. When they reached cell 108 and Cekka was shoved through the door along with another inmate Ceeka spent some time getting hir bearings, absentmindedly rubbing hir four wrists as ze checked hir surroundings. The lack of privacy on the toilet didn't really bother Ceeka, though ze was grateful that symbiosuits were designed in such a way that ze could expel what little waste hir efficient digestion left without taking them off. As Ceeka took a look at the cracked mirror, ze was greeted by the symbiosuit's familiar face, it's dark green chitin-like carapace in some places still splotched with dried blood. Ceeka turned on the water and wiped the dried blood of hir hands and face before gargling the cold water for a bit, partially to give hir new roommate some time to get more used to hir presence. Afterwards, ze decided to turn around and get a good look at the other person hirself, finally succumbing to curiousity.

The other prisoner was somewhat smaller than the genomitan, and admittedly rather cute in Ceeka's eyes, with very pale blue skin and glowing blue eyes that immediately intrigued hir. Her (or so Ceeka assumed) eight slender fingers reminded hir of the tendril finger mods some of hir friends had decided to get, and Ceeka had been sorely tempted to get some hirself, but ze had decided to put it off for after the trip that had landed hir in prison. The lack of any visible ears struck Ceeka as slightly odd, but nothing that bothered hir too much.

"All things considered, not the worst inmate I could've ended up with. Nope, not at all." thought Ceeka before forcing hirself to focus again. "Hi there, I'm Ceeka, a Genomitan. I guess the two of us will be roommates for now." said Ceeka as ze took a couple steps forward with hir lower right hand held out, hir voice coming out slightly lower and more gender-neutral thanks to the symbiosuit. It sounded calm, which Ceeka was grateful for.

[The Miaphysite Church of Coptic Archism]

Arah had wanted to scream and cry for days now. She was not built for prison! And especially a prison like this, it was no place for a gentle, sexually appealing female of any species! All she had done was try to support a family in poverty. And where had she ended up? The wrong end of a shifty space-port. The only way out of that metallic death trap was to take the job on that smuggling ship. She didn't know it was going into the Hegemony. And then, of course the were caught. Nothing could ever go Arah's way. Who knows what had happened to the rest of the crew of that stupid little ship, Arah had legged it the second they were in the port. And then she was stuck hiding in that disgusting captain's office for days! Arah was almost thankful to be out of that mess.

Things only seemed to go from bad to worse in Arah's life. She'd heard a saying once, 'Out of the Frying Pan, into the Fire'. That was like her life, but below every fire was an even bigger one. At least, she thought, it was hard to get any worse than this. There really was only one fire bigger than a Hegemonic Penal Asteroid, and Arah thought, well, more like she hoped, that the Hegemony didn't pass out that punishment for smuggling runs. The journey to the Asteroid had been characteristically awful, she had sat in silence praying to any gods she'd ever heard mentioned in her few travels. And then the processing. That was awful. Arah hoped they only had to do that once.

She was quite surprised when they had left her Visual Implant enabled. Maybe the idiots had never seen one of her species before and just assumed it was part of her biology. In any case she was quite thankful because she needed that damn implant to even see properly. Her family had saved for several years to buy that implant and she didn't want to lose it. However, once she was thrown in her cell she almost wished she was near-blind, considering the sight of her cell-mate. It was covered in a green carapace, with four arms and... blood stains? It appeared her cell-mate was draped in ever-recognizable life fluids. Arah sat on her bed, her chin on her knees and her arms wrapped around her legs, staring at the blood-soaked creature. It rubbed it's wrists, and then it seemed to gather it's bearings.

Arah watched the thing wash away the blood stains, and gargle the unclean water in it's mouth. It then stood up and turned, staring right back at her. It seemed to be sizing her up. And then, out of the blue, it stepped forwards and extended one of it's arms, and spoke a gentle enough greeting in one of the lingua franca's of this area of space. Arah was completely silent and still for several seconds, staring at the hand. She had no idea what the gesture symbolized but assumed hopefully it was a greeting. Arah mirrored her, holding out her right hand, and said in what she knew of the language, "Uh, hello. I'm Arah, an Andna. Yeah, I, I think so." Well, at least the creature before her was friendly enough.

[New Pyrrhius]

there is nothing left to hide from

[Imperialisium]

Doc:27/2.....ACCESSING
SECURITY LEVEL:SECUNDUS-5 EXTREMIS
KEY:??
********
ANALYSIS COMMENCING
ACCESS GRANTED
WELCOME: Master Inquisitorus Falkin

DOC: 27/2, Report Subject: Operative 97013
Subject Name: Sonya G'weven Tas'zaedar....Emperian.
Age: 68
Height: 6ft2
Weight: 184

Operations in Hegemonic space has gone on for some time now, first under Falkin and now under myself (Inquisitorius Executer Horatius). In the full operational and field reports our operations in the Hegemony have so far gone unnoticed. However, Operative 97013, and tasked to Hegemonic Operations Division 1, was apprehended by native police forces. No doubt uncovering a trail no matter how small back to our Operative. Thankfully, Operative 97013 was rather low level, and I believe the Hegemony is still unawares of our dealings within their space.

As per the nature of this documentation, Operative 97013 is still alive, and poses a threat to all Operatives and assets inside Hegemonic space. Therefore, I request a kill team be sent to silence this loose end, or if possible bring her back to Imperial space.

Inquisitorius Executer Horatius signing off....

DOCUMENTATION ENDS

Inquisitorius Base: Gamma 34, just outside of Hegemonic Space

A lone figure sat back in a leather high back chair, Human made, hands clasped before his mouth. Horatius was competent, but his disregard for certain operatives was going to cost him some days. Sonya was one of the Divisions best, one of her pupils. He would need to retrieve her, she knew to much and the Psi-Locks on her mind might be breached at any moment. There was only so long a Psi-Lock and a series of Mem-Barriers can hold out in such a situation. She posed a threat, but a threat made by a moments incompetence from her direct superior; accordingly, it was not Sonya's fault she had been arrested.

The lone figure pressed a blue rune and worked his left hand over a screen sphere. Bringing up the desired holo-screen he pressed the green rune floating along side it. The screen went white momentarily before portraying the face of another Emperian, an older looking and white haired male with purple eyes.

"Yes Falkin?" said the Emperian in a deep voice.

"Grand Inquisitorius Adexius, I have read Executer Horatius case report on the apprehension of our operative Sonya." replied Falkin in his own more guttural tone.

"Yes, I have read the report myself. Most disturbing, I have put the entire Division on alert for situation Extremis." said Adexius.

"Indeed, Horatius wishes the deployment of a kill team; I, on the other hand believe that to be too soon. We should work through diplomatic channels to get Sonya back." replied Falkin.

"What if those talks fall through, Humans are an impulsive species and noted for letting their egos get in the way." stated Adexius in an all to matter-of-fact fashion. Falkin's brow furrowed.

"Then we form a rescue team, keep it small, but enough to break her in and out." said Falkin. It was Adexius turn to furrow his brow in contemplation.

"Very well Falkin, but, where do you know she is being held?" The elder Emperian's question was a good one. Falkin had his guesses of course, but the chances for hitting the wrong place was far to great. Information gathering was needed.

"I don't. But if I find her, I will bring her home personally." stated Falkin, Adexius just nodded; clearly, the face of admiration for his younger colleagues determination showing on his face. The conversation was terminated by Adexius with a press of a holo-rune.

Falkin sat back in his chair, and was lost in deep contemplation...

Penal Asteroid 18

The shuffling of manacled feet along gun metal decking. A ring of metal with brass nobs injecting neural inhibiters into her cranium, golden and silver hair ran past her shoulders; Sonya, was beautiful to say the least. Her lean figure was not lost after the abuse of incarceration had begun. The worst was the inhibiters, it made her sluggish, she could barely use her Psionic potential. By barely that was an over statement in the extreme, she hadn't even bothered to try at her trade. Her manacled hands ached, the irons were heavy, the guards having added triple the weight after noticing the first time when she simply walked about like nothing was chained to her. That was the advantages of her Emperian physique.

Evolving on a beautiful, but harsh world that now bore the dignified status of Throne World: Imperia. It was so far away, seemingly countless light years separated her from anything Imperial. But that harsh world, not even the world of her birth, had changed and adapted the species she was a member of. The Seradite crystals that were abundant throughout the planet having altered her ancestors into Psionics, the harsh climate making their metabolisms efficient, muscles and bones stronger and reflexes nimble.

All that served little purpose here, with these oppressive shackles binding her hands and weighing on her ankles. She shuffled along the walk way, face down, alert but down.

[Huerdae]

Penal Asteroid 18

Aika hadn't made a sound almost since the trial. At time she had wimpered, and the resulting blows had earned various responses. On the way down from the shuttle, a strike from a 'peace-keeper' caused her to laugh, but when several more descended on her the laughter turned to pained screaming until she was barely able to breath, bleeding, and was hauled forcibly to her feet, bent over and spitting blood on the ground. Within a few short minutes, the blood had mixed with tears again, but she no longer whimpered. Instead, she seemed completely oblivious to the world around her, stumbling along in the line to the sound of chains and dripping blood, tears, and drool.

At times, it seemed her eyes would scan the area, as if she were planning an escape, but they invariably fell within moments, and the tears that washed in among the blood running from her nose fell only a little faster. The salt in the sore wounds burned, and her mouth bled painfully, leaving a streak of red down the front of her otherwise identical clothing. He hair had gone without any care since she was first 'cleaned' by the facility, and what had once been a fine, straight mane down past her shoulders now was jumbled, knotted, and scrambled in such a state that it clung to her face, the ends colored red and sticking together with spittle, blood, and grime.

Of them all, she was easily one of the shortest, and her bent back and shaking shoulders made it seem even more so. She didn't even listen as her name was called, waiting for yet another blow before she moved toward the intended cell, locking her into the chamber with a creature massively larger than herself. Her eyes, a bright green, were discolored and bruised, leaving one eye completely swollen shut and the other with a broken vessel causing a splotch of red where it did not belong. Almost immediately upon entering, she sank to the ground, clutching her knees to her chest and sobbing, giving all the appearance of a frail, broken little girl in a cage with a monster. Her hair fell about her face and shoulders, concealing her behind a tangled wall of raven black, and she simply leaving the slowly growing smear of water and blood to speak of her thoughts.

She seemed thin, even for a small human her size. Gaunt, almost, as if she had spent her life half-starved. She didn't have the misshapen form of someone truly malnourished, but she also seemed to lack the full-cheeked health of someone who knew well the feeling of eating her fill. Her clothing was slightly ripped from the beating, but she didn't care, and only scooted away from her 'cell-mate' when he neared. It was several minutes before she spoke, the weight of defeat heavy on her voice as the soft words rose up to the much larger fujikaman trapped with her. "So, you gonna get this over with, or are you going to pretend? I've seen it all, just make your choice and let's be done so I can sleep."

Audibly, she spat blood across the floor at her cellmate, leaving a wide spray upon the rock as the bruised eyes rose to his face, waiting expectantly.

[Xiscapia]

Body aching, Yo stumbled as she was shoved into her new home, tail lashing as she caught herself before she could hit the ground. Whipping around, she slammed her body against the door as it clanked shut, snarling and wrapping her hands around the bars as if she could break it down through sheer hatred alone. "Fuck you!" she screamed the words, echoing through the cell blocks before a blow to her muzzle through the bars sent her reeling, muscles spasming from the baton's jolt as she fell heavily against the bunk. "I'll fucking kill you," the kitsune slammed against the edge of her cage again, a guttural noise forming deep in her throat, but the guard had lost interest and moved on so all she saw was other prisoners being led along to their own fates. She stared at them as they were pulled along, gold, predatory eyes watching them go by for a moment before she turned away.

As cracked and broken as it was, the mirror let her glimpse her own face for the first time in...how long had it been? She'd lost track of time, but she could remember how she'd gotten every scar, every bruise, every torn and mussed patch of fur that crossed her head and body, showing tears on her prison suit where she'd been hit by batons and thrown around by the guards. At first even she would have admitted that they were justified, but after a while it seemed like news got around that she was a "problem" and then they hit her to try to knock the attitude out of her. Or just because they could, she didn't know how their minds worked. It had just made her swear at them and try to strike back even more.

Her hands balled into fists, muscle-memory turning her body into a weapon reflexively as she thought about it. They'd hit her more than some of the fucking scuts that had been crying on the trip over. Crying, for Emperor's sake, like this was the worst thing to have ever happened to them, as if the other prisoners weren't going to eat them alive as soon as they saw those tears. Yo's scowl was fractured in the mirror, but all it really told her was something she already knew: count on no one but yourself. Trust no one but yourself. The weak would die and the strong would die, just how it was supposed to be.

The vixen's eyes slid across the cell and landed on a man she hadn't noticed before. He must have gotten thrown in before she did, or had already been here, and now that she focused she could smell him, the scent of a Voloian in the close quarters with her. She stared at him for a moment, not bothering to hide that she was sizing him up, trying to get a handle on what he was capable of, wondering if she was going to have to beat him. That would be a way to start off her stay. Unsheathing her claws almost idly, she cocked her head a little, studying him.

"Alright," her voice was low and rough to the point of being husky. "You and me, let's lay down some ground rules, huh? I'm on that top bunk, I don't care if you were there before, that's where I am now. I don't give a fuck if you watch me take a shit, but if you touch me I will kill you. Anything else we can handle as it comes up. Got it?"

[Sennai]

Penal asteroid 18, Cell block A

The guards wernt sure what to make of him, quiet in demanour and merely blinking at the stun rod shocks he recived Trygon Braag paciently waited for things to run their course like they would. his slow nerveous system neglectign to mention the volt shocks the Officers inflicted on him except for a passing tickling sensation.

The moment the Uylsses had pulled out of system without him he knew this was how it was going to go, normally the Ultor Private legion would have brought forth threatening sanctions through it's business wing and parent company but it was simply a stop over in a place with slow pickings for contracts where the formidible sen Ultor corporation weilded little if any influence at all. That left one option, go quietly, hope for a lesser sentance and endrue prison. there was little to worry about, Few sentients in the milky way (and beyond) had the height weight and strength of a Fuji, he was goign to be the biggest fish that people would think twice about bothering with. keep his head down and move on

Lookign around at his chain gang "freinds" he saw not a few familiar and unfamiliar races, a Xiscapian and a Huerdaen struck him as the most familiar. It must have been some kind of cosmic joke that the biggest guy there was paired with the shortest. not to mention a Sen national with a huerdaean.
Since the start the Sen and huerdaean's had at first not seen eye to eye. but time had told and the less warlike alliance had proven itself to be somewhat trustworthy in the eyes of the HSE and unlike alot of neighbours hadent been invaded and conquered yet. The idea of that happenign was a place in alot of peoples minds but considerign how much trade flowed through the Sen jaunt gate nowadays to and from the HSE it was seemign less and less likely.

once the cell door shut he took in his cell buddy. thin, female and like a beaten dog, as likely to whine and bark as bite his hand if he tried to help. Again the slow shunting train of thought steamed along in his mind. Leave her be, she'll come around eventually.
the fuji eyed the bunk beds and the facilities avalible to them and merely shrugged. "If you want the top i'll grab the bottom bunk, More room that way for us both and stops me accidently crushing you if it's built wrong. Also you'll catch cold sitting there."

With that Trygon Braag lay down on the bottom bunk and relaxed. Wondering exactly what kind of work was goign to be instore for them.

[Huerdae]

Penal asteroid 18, Cell block A

Aika found it hard to believe, no matter what the massive fuji said, that he had no interest in trying to take charge. It simply wasn't that kind of prison. She'd seen a few, now, from the psyche prison in the Star Empire to a dirty little dive on a station that she had been able to simply pull the door apart on. It seemed everywhere she went, she was finding a new prison to stay in for a few weeks or months, but the same thing held true in every single one.

The big ate the small. Or tried.

The Huerdaen Slayer hadn't made her challenge idly - an arrogant fool was easier to beat, but if the big guy wanted to play it this way, he may strike later, and it gave her a bearing on where the man's head was. He was big, sure, but he probably knew she was Huerdaen from her size and the subtle hints in her eyes and skin tone just as well as she knew he was Fujikaman. Still, it gave her the bunk she wanted, and she could deal with him later. It wouldn't be the first time she lost a fight or two, and it wouldn't be the last. As long as she survived.

With the big guy taking the lower bunk, she pulled herself up to the top one, wondering if he had chosen the lower one in the hopes that she would have trouble reaching the upper bunk. If that was his hope, he was out of luck. It was a little uncomfortable, but she was easily able to pull herself up, sitting on the bed with her legs hanging as she looked at her neighbors. Most had chosen to assert dominance or try to make friends already, but she found herself desiring the solitude. A few stuck out, the first being the fuzzbutt. Aggressive, as they all seemed to be, she'd be one that Aika would probably have to take down, or make out with. Not that it mattered, either would get her what she wanted.

Something else in that cell seemed to be of less interest, and was likely to get killed by the fuzzbutt rather quickly anyway. Others were of little interest as well. A woman who walked with her head down, but alert. Sure, someone probably smart enough to know she wasn't getting out without doing it herself, but who cared? She was almost as thin as Aika, and she didn't have the weight that said she would be heavily augmented. All likelyhood pointed to her being broken down here, a half-clothed plaything, maybe even for the Fujikaman.

But the one that caught her eye was the Genomitan. It wasn't the voice, it was the form. The cold, hard face of Aika faded into deadpan blandness, but her eyes widened slightly in a remembered fear. The caves of Il'Kaskah surrounded her again, and she felt her hands shaking. But this time, instead of her powered armor, her rifle, and her blades, she had nothing. A bed, cold and hard, and bars. The place even smelled like the pathogen. She could feel it, sinking into her flesh, could almost see it turning her skin and flesh black as it ate at her body.

Screaming, she curled forward, tearing at her arms in an attempt to get it out, but the jarring impact of falling from the bunk and slamming into the stone floor, shoulder first, brought her back, leaving her stunned, and looking at a small, bug-like creature that skittered across the ground in front of her. Without a thought, she snatched it, throwing it into her mouth and chewing it to death, swallowing one of the first meals she'd had in some time. Her arm was sore now, arm already bruising from the fall, and she could taste her own blood in with the creature's guts, but it was something. Forcing herself back to her feet, she made a point to glare down at the ones who still watched her following her scream, and used the washbasin to clean her face.

Once she had done a rather shoddy job of washing some of the dirt and blood off, she turned back to fujikaman, sizing him up for a moment before she went running straight at him, jumping at the last second and planting her foot in his gut as she used his laying form as a springboard to get back to her bed. Once there, she lay down immediately, staring at the ceiling above her.

It didn't hold her interest long, and she found herself scratching at her arms again, blood starting to seep along the wounds, nearly forgotten as she remembered her trials. The terrors, fears, and isolation returned to her suddenly, and she curled into a ball, hands holding her own bleeding arms as she sang softly to herself, barely audible as she fought against the isolation and solitude of the glass prison she had been in so recently.

She sang it over and over, sometimes skipping lines as if she forgot them, sometimes adding new ones that didn't quite fit in, but she seemed to have withdrawn within herself, no longer interested in the world around her, even as drops of blood started to very slowly fall atop the fuji who lay below her.

[Genomita]

"It's nice to meet you Arah." said Ceeka as ze gently closed hir hand around Arah's and giving it a couple friendly shakes before practically forcing hirself to let go of her fascinating slender digits, hir eyes meeting the Andna's glowing blue ones. Ceeka smiled what ze hoped Arah would recognize as a friendly smile, though ze made very sure to keep hir symbiosuit's sharp teeth hidden. "An Andna, you say? Ah, I thought something about you looked familiar. I'm no expert on your people, but I heard that you have very fine hearing. In that case I'll make sure to keep my voice down when talking to you. And I'm pretty sure I don't snore, so you won't have to worry about that either. What else, um... Oh yeah, the blood! In case you're worried, most of that was from animals my siblings and I were hunting before I was arrested. How should I explain..."

Ceeka took a step back and began to pace around the room, lower four arms folded while ze scratched hir chin with hir upper left. Hir train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a scream from a nearby cell. Ceeka whipped around to see what happened, just in time to see Aika slam into the cell floor. Ceeka reached the bars of hir own cell before ze fully understood what ze was doing, and for a moment ze only wished ze could reach through the bars, wrap hir arms around the fragile human and tell her it would be okay. Then Aika raised her head to glare at those who were watching her and their eyes met. Although the glare was meant to be intimidating Ceeka thought ze saw something in the human's eyes, or perhaps the human had recognized something in hir. Ceeka was no psychologist, but ze recognized someone in pain when ze saw one. Ceeka briefly considered testing the bars, but ultimately decided against it and, with a heavy sigh, turned around to resume pacing.

"That poor thing. I don't care what that girl did, but she doesn't belong here. She needs professional help, not guards who will beat her up with little provocation!" thought Ceeka as ze turned hir eyes to Arah, hir sadness fully visible in the symbiosuit's face. Ze stopped pacing, and sat down on beside her, making sure to give Arah enough space in case she tried to back away.

"You don't belong here either, huh? I don't know what they condemned you for but you don't seem like such a bad person, so I guess I can tell you this." Ceeka took a deep breath, placing hir lower hands in hir lap and meeting Arah's eyes as ze spoke. "My people believe that all civilized beings aside from completely artificial ones obviously, still have some of that animal they evolved from inside them. We believe that, rather than enslave that animal or pretend it's not there, people should occasionally try to get in touch with it, spend some time in it's skin to balance out their lives as civilized beings. To do this, many of my people have an implant that effectively disables the higher brain functions for a certain amount of time, essentially turning the user into an animal for the duration. The process can be reversed ahead of time, but usually there's no need to do so, as my people are always very careful when choosing the place where we want to 'go feral', as we call it. It was during one of those trips when I lost two of my siblings and when I was caught by the Hegemony's guards. You see, we decided to take our vacation on a planet that was in neutral territory, with no people around who could misunderstand what we do. Everything went well at first, but appearantly that planet wasn't as uninhabited as we thought. Turns out there was a Voloian outpost where it shouldn't have been, and we unknowingly made camp a little too close to it. The first thing we saw of the Voloian troops was the bullet that struck down Ruki, the oldest among us."

Ceeka forced hirself to take a deep breath, only now realizing that hir upper right hand was gripping the bunk bed's metal frame so hard hir knuckles turned pale. "There was no warning shot. They gunned hir down like an animal and then chased us down to do the same. Suuma, the second eldest among us tried to take the fight to them so we could escape into the woods and lost hir life to the same guard who killed Ruki. The next thing I know was that I was standing above the man's corpse, surrounded by the other pursuers and slowly regaining the sapient parts of my brain as it all began to sink in. I fully expected to die back then. In stead they beat me unconcious and dragged me into a courtroom, and you can imagine the rest."

As Ceeka spoke the chromatophores in hir symbiosuit's skin began to turn from dark green to red until hir entire skin was almost glowing blood red where it wasn't obscured by the orange prisoner clothes, with only hir sea green eyes providing contrast.

"I'm here because the Hegemony decided they needed a listening post or whatever on a world that was supposed to be neutral. Two of my siblings died because they didn't leave us alone, or at least bother to take us alive to question us! I, I..." as quickly as it had come, the bright red disappeared again, this time replaced by a leaden grey.

"Gods, I miss them so much! I still can't believe they're dead." Ceeka felt tears run down hir face, and for a moment ze just sat there, silently letting hir tears flow before wiping hir eyes. "I... I'm sorry. You have enough problems of your own, and here I am bothering you with mine. I'm done talking now. So please, may I ask why you're here?"

[The Miaphysite Church of Coptic Archism]

Arah sat perfectly still as the creature, Genomitan or something, in front of her grabbed her hand. It was strange, through her hand she could hear the faintest buzz you could imagine. There were some strange creatures out there. It proceeded to wave it's arm up and down, taking her's with it several times, before releasing it's grip. Arah just sat and stared at the hands waving up and down, and when the thing let her hand go it shot back to her, as Arah just kept staring. Then, it.... smiled? It didn't seem like the smiles she had gotten used to, the smiles on the faces of strong men in dark rooms, the smiles of people with guns towards people without them. It was, well, friendly. Then it spoke again, gently as last time.

It mentioned her race, what little it knew of them. Funny, there were few creatures in this area of space to know what an Andna was. A puny race, a few billion strong in a system just about as far away from anywhere important as anything can get. Not notable soldiers, or engineers, or scientists. Andna, the few that left their home system, mostly just... traveled. Or, well entertained, like Arah had. It addressed the blood, supposedly from animals. It started pacing, seeming to be thinking of the words that would fit the meaning, when it was interrupted by a horrible shriek of the cell across the hallway. It nearly sent Arah reeling, but she simply winced in pain and curled up ever more tightly.

It ran to the door and stood there for several seconds looking out longingly, before giving up and turning back to Arah with a visible sadness. The Genomitan slowly walked closer and sat down next to her. Arah just turned to look at it. This thing was more compassionate than some of the people she had known at home. The fear in her eyes started to turn into curiosity. And then it, oh what was the name, Ceeka, started to tell her it's story. The two kept perfect eye contact as the Genomitan began to pour it out. Arah just watched with faint melancholy and listened. She saw the misery seeping into the Genomitan's face as the story became dark. For a moment somewhere in there, sadness turned to rage, and the most curious thing happened.

Ceeka changed color. What was before a deep emerald green shone like the blood that had stained her hands. It frightened Arah but soon passed, and the color changed again, to a grey. What a curious creature, Arah never imagined skin pigments could change according to mood. Oh yes, environment maybe, for lizards, but something like emotions? Arah's wandering mind was brought back to attention by the shimmering of tears down Ceeka's face. Arah, without thinking, placed her hand on the Genomitan's, gently. The two sat in silence for several seconds, Arah gently holding Ceeka's hand, before the Genomitan quickly wiped it's eyes. It began to apologize, and ask Arah her own story.

Arah took a few seconds more silently holding the Genomitan's hand, and said "Don't be sorry, it's okay." She was quiet for several more seconds before saying quietly, half to herself and half to Ceeka, "It's okay." Arah took several more seconds of thought and said "I, well, I... uh. Okay, I was arrested after a smuggling run. There's not much to my story, Ceeka." Arah stared blankly at the space above one of the Genomitan's shoulders, before continuing. "There's not much to tell, a rut of bad luck all my life, betrayed here and deserted there, the only people I ever had, really truly were loved by were my family, and..." Tears started to well up, and Arah was quiet for a while, before she said "There's not much to tell..." as she stared at the blank space.

[Xiscapia]

Cell Block A...

The man standing at the sink stared back at Yo. He was bigger than she was, with large, rough hands and a square jaw, and she could tell that he was looking for curves underneath her prison jumpsuit. "Whatever," the Voloian turned away, crawling into the lower bunk and curling up on the mattress, back to her. She watched him for a moment, then shook her head with a grunt and went back to the door, looking out of the bars at who she could see. A few cells down from hers there were a couple of women speaking softly in accents she didn't recognize, though she couldn't see them. Her whole world was condensed down to the handful of cells that she could see in front of her, one directly across, one on each side and the three a level above that where catwalks crossed through the air.

105 was her cell, she'd heard them call it out. The cell across from hers was 95 and had a Voloian man and a woman in the same bunk, whereas 94 was home to a single slumbering Vulgorian and 96 was empty. Above them a guard was just walking down the catwalk to across in front of the next row of cells. Past him she saw that 205 had two unusual types, a man so huge he had to be a Fujikaman -she wondered how many necks he'd snapped- and a small, pale woman who was probably Huerdaen. 204 had a Felinanori female who reminded her of an Alumina, all long limbs and russet fur, and by the looks of her she'd gone through plenty of fights with the Voloian man who'd dragged his mattress to the other side of the cell. 206 hosted a pair of Psilions who looked like they were playing some kind of dice game, though what they were gambling for wasn't clear.

Then the woman started singing. It was something low and sad and it echoed through the cells, making Yo's ears fold down. She shuddered, a stabbing twinge going through her that awoke something long buried, and for a moment she swallowed hard, staring at the floor...and then she grabbed the bars of the door and shook it loud enough to rattle, the metal clanking under her strength. "Hey. Shut up up there," her tail snapped as she looked up at what little of the woman she could see. "You with the singing! Shut the fuck up! I swear to godlessness if you don't shut up-"

"You shut up," her cellmate groaned from behind her.

"The hell did you just say?"

"I said you shut up, you little furball," he was swinging his legs over the side of the bed, planting his feet on the floor without rising. "Some people are trying to sleep and maybe they'd prefer a song to all your yapping, eh?"

Yo took a step forward, singing forgotten as she balled her hands into fists. "They didn't tell me they threw me in with a suicidal guy."

He stood, arms folded. "What're you gonna do, foxy loxie? Fuck me to death?"

"That's an option." She took another step. "Tell you what. You can be my bitch, or you can die. Which do you wanna do?"

"Your bitch?" he laughed. "Nah. You're gonna learn to love this cock-"

She lunged. Her fist sailed through the air only to slam into the bedframe, denting the metal as he sidestepped, and then there was a flash of light in his fist. Shiv! He'd brought up from beneath, aiming to drive it into her belly, but she'd kept moving after her strike and he slashed along her outer thigh, tearing into the fabric and stabbing into her outer thigh. The man yanked on it as she screamed, trying to free his weapon from the tangle of her suit, and she snapped her tail around his wrist and pivoted, putting the force behind her blow to his nose. There was a crack and he went tumbling across the floor in a spray of blood, shank forgotten.
He tried to get up and she was on him.

The first time his head hit the bars he'd yelled in pain, struggling against her where she had her arms pinning his back, claws digging into the backs of his legs to keep him still. The claws of her hands cut into his neck, drawing hot, steaming blood into the chill of the prison, but she rammed his head against the gap again, satisfied to see blood splattering to color the stubble of his shaved head. A few blows later and she'd crushed enough of his bones to start to ram his skull through, thrusting hard against the spasming body against the stench of sweat, ichor and piss. Yo never remembered the guards opening the door, but she did remember their stun batons, and she remembered jerking and striking out to the sweet, sweet feeling of a body heaving around a blow to the solar plexus. Then they were forcing her back with hot, sizzling strikes and she was falling and snarling and twitching.

Up the hall Sonya G'weven Tas'zaedar may have felt like she'd been wandering in shackles forever. There seemed to have been some confusion about where to put her, from what the guard leading her had said to various men in uniform. Someone said one cell, but it was already fully occupied, and another was sure that she was supposed to be in solitary. One man asked rather mildly if she wasn't due for a Intelligence Ministry black site "On account of her history" and that notion sent a collective shudder through everyone involved. No, it seemed to be decided, better not to disturb H.I.M., they seemed to agree: if they wanted the Emperian then they could come get her themselves. Then, low and behold, there was a vacancy, and she was to be moved there.

The guards marching her up the hallway passed by a pair of medical staff carrying a body between them going the other way. He had been an inmate, judging by the bloodstained orange jumpsuit, and he was definitely dead -living people usually had more head than that. Behind them a doctor was helping one of the guards walk, as he was leaving a trail of blood from where it looked like a chunk had been taken out of the calf of his leg. More blood, little clumps of grayish mass and bits of bone were spread across the floor in front of the cell, stinking horribly as Sonya was held there for a moment, watching a procession of guards troop out with stun batons in hand. "All clear," someone said, and she was shoved inside to the clang of the door shutting.

As the footsteps receded and she picked herself up she found that the floor was littered with scraps of orange cloth. And then she knew that she was not alone. There was someone in the corner on their hands and knees, blending in with the gloom apart from the inmate's jumpsuit thanks to the thin black fur that covered the alien. A bushy tail was coiled against the wall, and the being was breathing heavily as a line of scarlet spittle dripped slowly from a fanged muzzle. The small breasts and wide hips suggested that it was female, but she didn't so much as look up for a long moment even though her eyes stared at the floor. Then she was pushing herself to her feet, fists clenching and unclenching, and two bright vulpine eyes found Sonya.

"Give me those," she rasped, jerking her plume at Sonya. It took a moment to realize that she was talking about the bits of crimson-soaked jumpsuit that were scattered around the cell.

Solitary Confinement...

Crowley found himself in a solitary cell that wasn't entirely unlike the others. It had a bed, a toilet and a sink, though the bed was a single and the glass was intact in the mirror over the sink. Perhaps paradoxically it was cleaner than the other cells that he'd passed, almost sterile, but it was also utterly without stimulation. His new home was tiny, with a metal door and no openings at all except for two slots: one at roughly head height, and another that was cut in around his knees.
Fortunately it didn't take long for some stimulation to arrive.

There was a clank outside the door and the disengagement of a number of locks before it finally swung open to reveal two of the guards with their stun batons on their belts. Both men peered inside in a cursory fashion, then backed away, allowing for a third person to step through. This one was a woman, a few inches shorter than the good doctor with short, precisely cut blond hair and a comely enough if utterly forgettable face. Her uniform was a plain black and carried no insignia, and the only weapon she seemed to carry was a small knife on her belt. Her pale blue eyes didn't so much as blink as the door closed behind her: they were utterly focused on the man before her.

"Hansel Crowley," she said by way of greeting. "I hope you appreciate the accommodations that we have prepared for you. Do you lack for anything?"

[Sennai]

Penal Asteroid 18, Cell Block A

Bragg Snorted a little as the bunk above him shook, the little Huerdaen taking her place. like he suspected she wanted. Such was the way of things really, compromise avoided conflict. Generally.

it took a moment for him to react however when the huerdaen woman started screaming and bucking around.
when he did however he recognised the screaming. the yells of a PTSD victim reliving a battlefeild where several freinds became statistics in some beancounters paperwork. Knowing the Huerdaens, The armour was probably salvaged and the men inside made into protein slurry to feed to the barracks the next morning. Was why he brewed Sac'Ra in the first place, alot of the crew on the Uylesses suffered visions of what they'ed done and the thingws that had happened to the power armoured guys beside them, Liquidated by tank fire, Disintergrated by Weird weapons or just blended in their suits by psykers.

Drink helped but as she picked herself up and ate a bug he figured maybe she had a different way of coping with it.
the woman used the sink to clean the dirt and blood, rather badly off herself, wiping some green bug goo off her cheek and sized him up. Braag tensed himself either the lady was going to attack him on which he would defend himself, or she was goign to-

She used him as a sports springboard to leap onto the bunk above, seemingly treating him as nothing but a athletics object. she began to creepily sing letting blood drip from above onto him seemingly to piss him off. made him laugh privately, she'd run out of blood before he did pacience.
"Know any other songs?" he managed after a while

[Huerdae]

Cell Block A, Unit 205

Aika had managed to ignore the other woman screaming at her to stop. She didn't need to look to recognize it was the fuzzbutt. Seems that fighting would be the answer to this one, not fucking. It made things easier anyway, she wouldn't have to pretend that she liked it. Not that it wouldn't be nice to be touched instead of punched, but that hardly kept anyone alive. No, fighting was better. The adrenaline kept her awake, after all. The fight kept her aware. Without it, she was...just a broken doll.

And then the big monster of a fujikaman spoke, and she snorted at his stupid question. The question was so stupid, it didn't even register with her that he was asking her for a time, until she remembered he was probably not talking across the cells to the others. No, he was bothering her. With his big mouth, and stupid questions. Pulling her arm in and examining the damage done, she smeared the blood away with annoyance while she responded to the stupid man below. The voice which responded was nothing like that of the woman as she sang, however. It was harder, angry, and definately hostile.

"I don't know any songs. She knows songs, ask her."

She spat the words, referring to some unknown woman, but continued with no less venom.

"She thinks they make her stronger. That they remind her of a 'better time'. What a stupid bitch. They just show she's weak and she won't survive. She'd be better off forgetting songs and remembering how to kill. Killing is all that keeps you alive."

It was pretty well timed, all told. A short way out, in some arbitrarily named 'Cell 105' that she had no idea how she knew, she could see the fuzzbutt brutalizing her 'partner'. It seemed like a good move. She'd get plenty more food to cow him now, keep herself strong, and he wouldn't be able to harm her - as long as she didn't hurt him too much. Of course, she fucked that up. The man ended up dead, and she watched with almost sadistic glee at the guards that rushed in, recovering the body and making a particularly unpleasant mess of the fuzzbutt.

She found it almost poetic that the woman who yelled at her so 'poetically' would scream so loudly at the stun batons and beatings. Somewhere along the way her clothing had been ripped, and Aika wondered if she'd lose her fight over who got to be the bitch right there...and to the guards, but she came out of it without that particular displeasure. For now. And she had the particular and grand misfortune of immediately being given a new cellmate - not a single gain was had, and she had done so much as gotten herself beaten bloody. A pleased grin came from nowhere, and she stuck her tongue out at the curled Tail in the corner of the distant cell. At least Aika had a dumb one.

Rolling over, she dropped her head down over the edge of the bed, sneering at the man in annoyance. "So, do you survive, big man? Or is this gonna be the easiest time in my life until I escape?"

She gestured at the corpse that was walked past them, blood and brains still dribbling onto the floor as it went by, and she leaned down a little more over Bragg, grinning. "So, how many skulls have you crushed? How many bones have you felt shatter under your hands? What grand and terrible stories can you tell me of the strength that lies in those arms? Have you tasted victory in the blood of your foe as it sprayed from their neck into your mouth, monster-man? Have you?"

Her previously deadpan face had become alive with sadistic glee, but hidden there was a mild confusion in her eyes, like she wasn't sure herself what was happening. Still, she roved on, grinning a death's-head grin that seemed so out of place on her features.

"When did you first kill an enemy with your bare hands? Was it sentient? An alien? Maybe one of your own kind, your own family? Tell me about it, Monster-Man. Who first broke your big, dumb-ass brutality cherry?"

[Imperialisium]

Cell Block A

Sonya looked down, at the crimson covered tattered clothe, and wisely scooped them up and in a smooth motion; well, as smooth as one can get after being shuffled about in shackles with what felt like needles lancing into your cranium every second. They more or less fluttered down at the being across from her in a haphazard pile. The individual scraps setting down close enough together to seemingly form a violent mosaic to the bloodbath that had occurred moments earlier.

At that Sonya moved over to an opposing corner and hunkered down, taking slow deep breaths she took in her surroundings. Her vision changing to suit the dark, murky, gloom of the cell. This was definitely what passed as a shit situation in her book. Her arrest had been to smooth to be anything but partially due to her own superiors. She was in the clear after all! Everything had been for a while at least.

"Emperor save me." she whispered, though she knew He who was so many inconceivably far away would not hear. Though rumors of miraculous events coming to those who prayed to him as if he was one of the Old Pantheon did about in the far background of the atheistic society the Emperian Empire projected. She had not seen any factual evidence, nor had any actually surfaced than some cults or self-proclaimed chosen. Granted most where either suppressed by the Empire or disbursed shortly after, ironic, Sonya thought not.

But for all intents and circumstance, she was in what did the Humans say? Well not all Humans just a few. Hell? Or Heel? She couldn't remember and quite frankly didn't care. This was her torment.

[Genomita]

Ceeka's heart ached as ze looked into Arah's eyes. Here was a young woman who had been forced into a life of crime and misery through no fault of her own. The sheer injustice of it all... If there was even a little Ceeka could do to soothe Arah's pain, then ze would gladly do it. Reaching out almost on instinct Ceeka pulled the young Andna into a hug, gently placing hir upper left hand on Arah's head as ze silently held her close, hoping Arah wouldn't freak out at the sudden embrace. Then, still looking into Arah's eyes ze began to whisper.

"Ssshhh, it's okay. You don't have to tell me if it hurts too much to remember. I'm not going anywhere, so I'll be here for you when you're ready to talk about it. I know what it feels like to lose someone important, but you're not alone anymore."

Moving hir head a little away from Arah, Ceeka kept eye contact the entire time, a determind look on hir face.

"I'll protect you from here on. I won't let anybody here hurt you again, be it the guards or the other prisoners. I'll be your armored shell and claws, and I'll be here to share both your pain and your sorrow. And when we get out of here I'll stay by your side as long as you wish it. I promise."

Ceeka's voice was calm and determined as ze spoke. When ze was finished the genomitan remained completely silent to give Arah some time to digest hir words, briefly closing hir eyes as ze awaited her cellmates answer, a small smile appearing on hir face. "That said, perhaps you should take the top bunk. It'll be harder for the guards to reach you there, and everybody who wants to hurt you has to get past me first." And it'll also make it mlore difficult for me to sneak into your bed and cuddle with you without your consent, so hopefully I won't get any ideas" thought Ceeka, a faint blush appearing on hir cheeks. "Though if you want to keep the bottom one, that's fine with me. It's your call, really."

Ceeka was about to say more when an ugly cracking sound interrupted hit thoughts. Hir augmented hearing had caught every word from the argument and the ensuing fight in the Xiscapian's cell, yet the sound of the other prisoner's skull breaking still sent unpleaseant shivers up hir spine. Ceeka forced hirself to remain still as the guards rushed past their cell and into cell 105 to beat the snot out of the Xiscapian. From the sounds of it it seemed the other prisoner had been killed in the fight, and Ceeka made sure to position hirself between Arah and the inmate's corpse as he was carted out, hoping to shield Arah from the gruesome sight. "Look at me. We can survive this place, together!"

As Ceeka turned around it seemed the new roommate for the furry murderer in 105 was already ón her way. She was quite easy on the eyes, and the heavy shackles they had put on her made Ceeka wonder just how heavily augmented this person was. Then the woman and the guards leading her around passed their cell and she was shoved into cell 105 as ze had guessed. Ceeka quietly wished her luck before turning hir attention towards cell 205, where the large guy on the bottom bunk asked the huerdaen wether she knew any other songs. The huerdaen's answer was so venomous, so completely different in tone and attitude that Ceeka was certain the frail-looking girl had developed some degree of split personality to cope with whatever trauma she had to go through. "If that is the violent part of her personality," Ceeka thought, "it would be a poor idea to look weak in front of it." Ceeka rose to hir feet and approached the bars, putting hir hands around them as ze fixed hir eyes on the huerdaen. There was something in the woman's eyes that didn't match her attitude at all, as though she was confused at the words coming out of her mouth.

"What about you? What was your, or rather her first victim? What did you do to get stuck in here?" asked Ceeka, hir eyes never leaving the Huerdaen's. Ze briefly wondered if the girl would have another breakdown like earlier, seriously hoping she wouldn't. "Good thing she's in the same cell as that big guy. Seems like he's got plenty of patience in him, and if things can get out of hand he can step in before she hurts herself... or someone else."

[Sennai]

Cell Block A, Unit 205

The Short crazy's question was surprising if not unexpected, To Bragg it reinforced the idea that She was a combat veteran attempting to size him up. As a cellmate would he constantly fight with her or let her have her way.

Generaly being on the Bottom step of the totem pole was not too bad, People tended to ignore you but in a cramped cell such as this one there was no escape from the pyscopath above.
"You dont attempt to Piss on me. I dont attempt to make life any harder for us both." Bragg grunted in response to the first question, But as the runt above went on to describe in very specific detal, what his first kill was and what horro stories he could tell her he had to sit back and think
It took a while for him to sort out all of the scenario's he could consider to be brutal and hard but in the context she was talking he could only think of one memorable moment.

"I've killed a few times Runt, and lost count of arms and bones of all types i snapped. but in reguards to your question about the first Foe i snapped like a rotten branch was a human, a pirate of great size on a boarding action. I was in my armour, on the hull of their ship battling droids and pirates alike, losers floatign off itno othe endless starry void and rivers of blood floating in the vaccum. His shot sent my gun floating away...So i punched into his sut and tore him out to face the great emptyness we battled in. he struggled but i broke his neck with my thumb, and threw him in the direction of the engines before i took up his weapon and continued to fight. We left a single one alive that day, Orders came down to throw them into the thruster burn of the Ulysses for the crime of daring to mess with the Ultor corportion's shipping operations, with the last one made to watch and spread the story that if you messed with the ultor crorp..."

Bragg sniggered little

"Prepare to get burned..."

[Huerdae]

Cell Block A, Unit 205

The story was good. He told it...acceptably, but it didn't have the adrenaline. The rush. It didn't have anything that unlocked her and let her out of her head. The simple fact that the question had failed left her angry, fuming, and she kicked the bars loudly, drawing the gaze of the guards, but the metal held, showing it was stronger than it looked. The fact didn't calm her, and instead it only drew out more anger, which she directed at Bragg without the slightest hint of regret.

"What, is that all? Is that all? You snapped his neck while you were in armor, and tossed him away? No rush, no adrenaline? Just a corp-thug doing his job? That's not a kill, monster-man. That's just protecting yourself. I bet you were terrified. Pissed yourself in that armor, fighting where a single shot could put you down. Rounds flying overhead, trying to get inside."

Her hands clenched as she spoke, ranting and raving. In a sudden movement, she dropped down out of her bunk to sit next to his, her legs crossed calmly, though her eyes were pleading as she went on to talk about something completely different from his story.

"They caught us there, you know. Caught us on the hull. A whole company waiting for the pioneers to blast through the hatch and get us inside. They had the thing guarded. 'Power is down', they said. 'Hatch defenses wont' work' they said. No, not a thing. Fire came at us from all sides, you know. Shredded bodies, nothing we could do. Not against ship plating. A leg hit me in the face, sprayed blood across my faceplate. I think it belonged to my girl. It was a training mission. A training mission, in a low-combat zone. Who thought they would bring a battleship!? My girl...."

Her hands shook as she looked at Bragg, pleading as if he could stop it. "Why couldn't we save my girl? She was always with me. Always at my side. We were going to join the snipers together. She'd be my spotter, she had a knack for that. And concealment. Could find a place that I didn't even think we could fit and make it into a home for a day and a half. Could keep me warm..."

Suddenly, her eyes hardened and she rose, turning on Ceeka. "Her first victim? She was afraid. It was a pirate, Karkouah. Had a slugthrower that couldn't even break her armor, stupid thing. Didn't matter. She was afraid, and shot it a lot. Wasted almost her whole magazine on it, wouldn't have had enough for the next three if she hadn't broke down. Same mission she died in. Not me, though. I wasn't around until later. Until we were Adrift. I keep her alive when she fails. When she is dead inside, is when I live! And now, she's always dead inside. So I keep her alive, because I can't kill her, too. I will eventually, but I can't now, not yet."

She leaned against the bars, pressing her face against them so that the soft face stretched against the bars, pulling at her skin and extending her slanted eyes. What had been beautiful, almost serene, was now morphed into a twisted mockery of itself, as the pulled back skin bared her teeth to Ceeka's gaze. "My first kill? A machine. stupid machine. It thought I was dead, I was low on power. Stupid, worthless. A hundred machines while I was Adrift. Then the Pathogen. In the fucking Glass Jungle. Downcast, clawing at my suit, at my skin. They tore at me. I got hit by the infection, and I beat. I FUCKING BEAT THE RETHAST PATHOGEN."

He scream reverberated around the chamber, but the look of ultimate joy on her face at the exclamation was gone a moment later, as she continued. "But they didn't like me. No, Baal'Ta went and blamed me for Kal'Ta. I got the picture for him, too, see? I tried to pass it to him, but they wouldn't let me. I turned it to the glass and he shot at it, then at me. They took him away. I was naked. The glass was so cold. Alone."

By the end she was whispering again, until she pressed her face even harder against the bars, kicking at them in glee. "But they let me out! They let me out and I was free, when my tour ended. Ten years of hell, ended in a glass box after the glass jungle. Clothes again, and nobody to watch me! I took it. I took the prototype bomber and I got out. And that is when I killed."

She smiled, baring her teeth in a clearly blood-drunk way, as the adrenaline shot through her at the very memory of it. Her knees felt weak suddenly, and she leaned against the bars, pressing herself against them so one lay between her breasts, as her voice got husky with the memory. "My first real kill was a little boy. He annoyed me in a bar. Picking at me, laughing that I wore black. It's what I wanted. He asked me 'why do you wear black, shorty, you a soldier'? So I showed him. I showed him why I wore black. I reached into his mouth and tore his jaw off. It was...wonderful. Beautiful. The blood sprayed over my shirt, stained my face and hands. You couldn't imagine the joy. I was back. I was real again. I could feel the pain from when he bit at my fingers to try to stop me. It wasn't like firing through my scope at the enemies of the Shield, no, it was personal. Mine. I could taste again, and the world was sweet sugar. But they're so pointless when they fight. No thrill there. Women, kids, they scream. They run. Watching the blood spurt from lungs as they try to scream after their body can't...it's my home. Men, too. You'd be surprised how stupid men are. The brave ones, the dumb ones...you'd think with all of the history many nations give them, men would fight more, but they run. They run like cattle. Oh, how I am glad I had the Hades."

She finally leaned back, looking at Ceeka with a smile, and leaning back from the bars with her feet at their base, so her weight would topple backwards if she let go of the bars. Instead, she hung on, slowly swinging back and forth, grinning. "Why am I here? I went to town. With Hades. Painted the walls red, you see? Painted the world red until the fighters showed up. No fun then. Give it up. Let it go."

Her face fell, and she slumped, looking through the bars forlornly at the smear in the Tail's cell where the victim had been. "No fun in here, though. Fighters. No release. Just emptiness. Just her."

She shuddered, looking away from the bars, and back to a corner of the cell, but it didn't last long. She laughed again, jumping to her feet, she took a step, kicked her leg up, and twirled into the upper bunk, landing it with the practiced ease of an acrobat as she continued to laugh, having forgotten most of what she was talking about already.

After a while, she stopped and fell back into silence, though it was shortly broken by a single statement.

"I'm hungry."

[Xiscapia]

Cell Block A...

Wiping at her muzzle with her sleeve, Yo stepped forward and scooped up the scraps to cup them in both hands. They were ragged and wet with blood, but they would do. At least her new cellmate showed some kind of compliance, even as she retreated to the opposite corner. The smell of blood and sweat and urine was strong in her nose, but the vixen ignored it as best she could as she stepped over to the mirror and studied it for a moment. It was already cracked, so it wasn't too difficult to work her claws in around the fractures and pry out the first sharp, dully gleaming edge of glass. Winding it tightly around the bottom of the shard, she looped it around as best she could and tied it off, giving the weapon a makeshift grip so the user wouldn't cut themselves with it. With the first shiv made she dropped it into the sink and started on the second.

"Emperor save me."

"Ain't no Emperor gonna save you now," Yo looked around to the woman she shared the cell with. She was good looking, she'd give her that, human or near-human or whatever she was. Maybe this latest stint in prison wouldn't be so bad. "But this might." She held up the shiv she'd been making. "Get over here and help me make these. I noticed a lot of the other cells don't have any glass in their mirrors anymore. Means they already got used, so we got ourselves a commodity. We can sell these, you understand?" She quieted as a guard walked by, covering the shiv with her body, now ignoring the ranting and raving coming from the other cell. "You want better food, a smoke, a quick fuck, these'll get it for you."

Somewhere in the gloomy recesses of the unseen ceiling high above a loudspeaker crackled, spilling out an emotionless, disembodied voice.

"The time is 15:50 hours. The schedule for Cell Block A is as follows:

06:30: Wake-up.

06:30–06:45: Morning exercises, personal hygiene and making the beds

06:45–07:15: Preparing breakfast.

07:15–07:45: Breakfast

07:45–08:00: Cleaning the cafeteria.

08:00–08:30: Morning roll-call

08:30–12:30: Assembly floor duties.

12:30–13:00: Lunch.

13:00–16:00: Mining work.

16:00-17:00: Leisure Time.

17:00–17:30: Supper.

17:30–20:00: Shower.

20:00–20:30: Evening roll-call.

20:30–06:30: Lights out.

Remember that all orders given by prison wardens, guards and Hegemonic Intelligence Ministry officers are considered lawful and must be obeyed. Failure to comply will result in disciplinary action. This is a reminder that disobedience will not be tolerated. Any questions may be directed to your cell block supervisor. Cell Block A Leisure Time will begin in ten minutes."