Undocumented Military Facility
“I want the surviving members of the SRA freed too.” His voice was ragged from lack of use. He had long scraggly hair, and a full beard. A guard stepped from the rear of the room, with a touch of a finger the locks around his ankles and wrists snapped open. Simultaneously the five guards behind him snapped to attention, their rifles aimed at him. A sudden move and he’d meet whoever his maker was. The remaining guard who had unbound him almost lept back, avoiding his arms reach. They were wise, and all of them were almost on a familiar level. He knew their names very well and on more than one occasion he’d fought with them. “We have a shuttle prepped and waiting for you on the landing pad. There’s a document of our inventory on the data pad, if you would like to put in a requisition for equipment before you leave, you should do it now.” The suits voice was like velvet, deep and rich. “I hope we are making the right choice, if it wasn’t for our need your scheduled execution next week would be on track.” he finished with a smirk. His whole persona had changed in a heartbeat, it made him seem almost human. Roy gave his retort with little emotion in his voice “Too bad the Grand Duchy is slow to make a decision. I guess this is what we get when bureaucrats rule a society huh?” He stood slowly, not wanting to get gunned down from behind. He took the pad in hand, and began to swipe through their inventory, everything was as expected.
They were only going to offer him whatever scraps the military didn’t actually want. Useless weapons and equipment, things that never passed the Duchy’s basic standard, a standard so low they were basically useless. “What about my old equipment? I know they’re on station. They’re probably out of date but better than this crap, you want me to help save humanity but your broken government can’t bring themselves to giving away anything that could help me.” he said with a snarl. The suit gave a small shrug, pulled out his own pad and with a couple swipes another file appeared on his. It was simply called “SPA, TGF roster.” He raised an eyebrow. Instead of opening the file he turned and left. Walking down the hall the echo of his shadows’ boots was almost unbearable. They guided him to out processing, this part took equally as long as the meeting. Though only about fifteen twenty minutes it seemed like an eternity. He hadn’t had a breath of fresh air in over seven years. The final room before exit was one full of memories good and bad. His armor stood empty to the side of the exit. He approached is carefully, his hand laying gently on the shoulder. It was apart of him, of who he was. He’d used it in the service, and in his own personal war.
There were scorch marks, scars and dents each with its own memory. He looked at the data pad he was still clutching, his thumb tapped the roster, it was filled with names, three thousand seven hundred and twenty one names. He knew the exact number without having to look. The key in the corner said red, for killed and green for alive. As he scrolled he found only one name in green, it was his. His heart sank, and he tossed the pad onto the table. After getting suited up he stood before the door, with a deep breath, a final taste of incarceration he stepped through the exit. The wind blasted him first and the air was sweeter than anything he’d ever tasted. He was rushed towards the shuttle which was hot online and ready to go. Once on board he found the lock box, with the final bit of his gear. His rifle had as many memories as his armor. He looked over its utilitarian design, setting it on his lap, he grabbed hold of the hand hold made to prevent a person from falling over during launch and soon the ship was on path with the final destination. Roy eyed the crewman who was riding with him, he could kill them here and now, hijack the transport take it to the capitol and really show The Duchy what vengeance means. The crew chief spoke up interrupting his thoughts. “They should have killed you when they had the chance. Now we’re setting you free with weapons? I hope they know what you’re doing.” he said coldly. Something happened inside of him, it started low and bubbled to the surface, he burst out laughing, and couldn’t stop it was hysterical and uncalled for. “You...you’ve no idea, I couldn’t… I couldn’t agree more with you!” he doubled over with laughter. The Crewmen stared at him with some confusion. “I was just thinking about killing you and taking this craft.” he breathed out, regaining his composure.
Baelzarus VI
The rest of the flight was less eventful, the crew watched him like hawks now. The scene below was chaotic as they did a flyover they were landing at an old space port the crew was a bit jumpy. “There’s been some sort of civil conflict here, your team should be meeting us down there. It looks like we might be the first to arrive. Don’t try to run we’re here to make sure you don’t escape until your new handlers arrive.” The crew chief spat out as they made their landing. The doors were wide open now, when they got close he and the crew jumped out and they secured the landing zone, his weapon drawn. “Clear left” he shouted to the crew, his stance was slightly hunched his eyes scanning the horizon. He heard the all clear and they took a knee. The Shuttle was hovering ready for a speedy take off in case of ambush. “We’re ten minutes ahead of scheduled landing, we hold this position until other shuttles arrive or the handlers arrive.”