Thane lowered his hackles. He inhaled slowly, allowing some of his perception-enhancing drugs to enter his bloodstream. Mindwarp may have been protesting too much, but she did have a point. He might as well try and see what this corps was like. He could always leave if people got in his way. One way or another...
Jacob turned towards the ship, but stopped mid-step. He realised that he was getting colder. He was confused for a moment; his suit was built to maintain a constant temperature. He brought up a temperature screen, which confirmed his suspicions. He looked around, looking for the source of the loss of temperature. He’d come up against illusionists before, in his campaigns. They were rare, and expensive as hell to hire, but they wreaked havoc on a disorganised army. After a moment of paranoid searching, he gave up and decided to just ignore the cold- he’d been through worse, after all.
He twisted back towards the ship as one of the inmates returned from the ship, mentioning something about another prisoner going down. He looked on impassively. If one of the prisoners couldn’t make this escape alive, then they were better off without them dragging the team down.
Thane got a prickling sensation as Krystaal returned, bloody and manic. She challenged Mindwarp to a duel, of sorts. Jacob cursed. This was too important to disrupt with childish games. True, there was no better way to ensure that only the strong could join the team, but such action could tear apart what chance they had to escape. As much as he was sure that he could make it out alone, Thane would rather avoid the no doubt painful repercussions to his murder of the guards. As the other villains moved in to join the fight, Thane turned his back on them and hefted the suspiciously foul-smelling warden onto his shoulder. He strode into the hover ship, and sat down with his boot on the wardens chest. He leant back, and relaxed.
Now that he was away from the accursed prison, Thane could appreciate the ship they had commandeered. It was much more comfortable than the scarred drop ships he’d flown in- even including his command ship. He was used to worn and battered vehicles, hardened in battle. This was…soft.
Jacob looked up as a large, volcanic island came into view. He furrowed his brow, and ran it through his suit’s database- his eyes widened in surprise as it came up with an error message. This was a well hidden island.
The craft landed smoothly, shrill squeals and pops sounding as the jets slowly cooled. Thane stood up, holding the warden by his neck. He stepped out of the craft, and moved into the main building with everyone else. He passed corridors of sleek architecture, until finally they reached their destination.
They walked into a cavernous command room, furnished with state of the art technology. He was impressed with the extensive tactical maps and software, but he was perturbed at the frivolity of the furnishings- he was used to hurried conversations inside shaking bomb-shelters or behind improvised trenches, not around an ultra-modern table whilst watching a hologram. There were too many distractions. However, he noted with satisfaction that his chair was at the very centre of the semicircle- this would allow him to get as much information as possible from everyone seated. He’d have to replace the chair with a stool, though.
Jacob looked with interest as the huge knight known as ‘Red Abyss’ asked not to work with him. He sneered at him, taking slight at him for some reason. At first, Thane was indignant; what right did he have to ask who to work with? He should follow orders, unless he wished to assume leadership himself. Thane was about to challenge the knight to justify his position, when he remembered the rage and cold efficiency with which he had killed any guards in his way. Jacob nodded to himself. Abyss was too useful to anger- he had proven his worth many times over. It would be pointless to take offence at some minor remark, especially considering they currently had a dearth in front-line cannon fodder. And Abyss looked like he could take on a lot of cannons.
‘I’m sorry, Abyss, for any insult I have caused you. I assure you that it was not deliberate. I have no wish to cause ire among you- or anyone,’ Thane apologised. He’d learned from many battles that keeping morale high was far more important than mere pride. It was worth bowing down to Abyss now than having him leave the corps.
But he better not get in his way.