A New Beginning

by Alexander W Meurant

  "Grab something for yourself Mehrasa, we could be down there a while" Sojun stated and Mehrasa heard the woman scoff behind them.

  "Won't need it. We be done quick when Navy comes" the woman stated and Mehrasa scowled. She wasn't particularly hungry, but she leant forward and grabbed a water bottle. She knew it would be swelteringly hot beneath decks, considering that they were well into the middle of the day.

  Mehrasa stashed it in a pocket on the leg of her trousers and then made her way out of the room, slipping past the red-haired woman quietly. She made her way down the staircase of the tower, her feet thumping on the metal steps. She heard other steps behind her and knew the others were following.

  Before long Mehrasa reached the bottom of the stairs and turned left, making her way to the door that led below decks. As she stepped inside, she saw there was a staircase that ran inside the ship and then turned backwards, running down a short hallway below. Mehrasa made her way down the staircase and turned with it, then walked along the hall to the end. The end of the corridor was marked by a metal door with no window and it hung open. Mehrasa could see people inside and she stepped into the mess hall that lay beyond the door.

  She was instantly hit by the smell of sweat and cigarette smoke. The people down here had evidently been smoking inside and she coughed, faltering in her steps. Feeling a hand on her back between her shoulder blades, Mehrasa let out a surprised yelp as she was shoved hard from behind and she stumbled forwards.

  "Move woman" came the voice from behind Mehrasa and she recognized the voice of Jimmy and scowled before stepping off to the side so the man could walk past. The rest of her team moved past, shortly followed by the red-haired woman and they all stopped in the center of the mess hall, gathering around tables covered in empty plates, bowls, cups and bottles of liquor. Looking past them Mehrasa saw a few score other people and recognized Garka who was flanked by one of his men and Mehrbad, the latter looking rather full of himself, his chest puffed out. Mehrasa guessed he had become a henchman to Garka and she scowled.

  "Now you pirates are here, I fill you in" came the voice from the red haired woman and she looked around even as a man stepped up to the red haired woman and spoke to her in another language, a turban wrapped around his head as well, even though he looked as pale as the sand that could be found on the beaches of Mehrasa's village. Mehrasa flicked her eyes over the whole group of mercenaries and saw that they were all wearing clothes that one might find in the Cassar Kingdoms. Were they trying to pass themselves off as Cassars? They would certainly look the part, at least from a distance in her opinion.

  "This is Barte, our leader. He says that you all stay here in hall. Get behind our men. Twelve of us will stay above in container. Navy men will come down here. We trap them. You do what Barte do. Don't shoot until he shoot" the woman called out and then looked to the one called Barte and spoke to him quickly in her own language. Barte shrugged and then called out some names. Three men stepped forward and pushed through the group of people and made their way past Mehrasa and up the stairs to the deck. The red haired woman followed after, pulling on the door to the hallway, closing it behind her and Mehrasa wondered if the woman was this Barte's second in command. She shrugged figuring it was none of her business.

  Looking back to the crowd Mehrasa watched as the mercenaries pulled on a black piece of fabric. It looked like multiple table clothes sewn together and she watched as they threaded a rope through a sort of tunnel they had made in it before tying the rope to light fixtures on either side of the mess hall's wall even as other mercenaries started to pick up tables and tip them on their sides, stacking them against the walls of the hall.

  Standing close to her group of pirates Mehrasa noticed a few perplexed looks on their faces and she frowned, wondering what the mercenaries planned on using the cloth for, and why they were moving the tables and creating a large empty space in the center of the hall. The one called Barte yelled out and pointed at Mehrasa and her group and she felt her heart leap into her chest. She didn't understand what he said but it sounded like an order. The man made wide hand gestures, beckoning for the group to approach.

  Mehrasa watched as the man lifted up the bottom of the black fabric and then disappeared under it, many of the mercenaries following suit. She saw Garka and his team follow suit and then Jimmy moved forward as well, disappearing shortly after. Mehrasa shrugged and moved forward too, Sojun flanking her. They both lifted the fabric and went under it, finding all the mercenaries and other pirates standing ready, their fingers on rifle triggers. About a dozen of them stood in the front, with no weapons, and Mehrasa heard them murmuring softly. She recognized the pattern of speech and realized these must be mages.

  Sojun, Jimmy and Roole joined them, followed by Garka and two other pirates from his crew. Mehrasa gulped and slipped through the crowd of mercenaries until she found Mehrbad who was sweating profusely and no longer seemed to have his chest puffed out. If anything, he looked nervous. Coming to stand beside him, Mehrasa turned back to face the black cloth, noticing Cabhar was now on her other side. The three of them now stood in the third rank of pirates, all loosely packed together. Gulping, Mehrasa jabbed out her right elbow, feeling it connect with her brothers. She still had a lingering hatred for him, but he was still her brother, so she would at least try to be nice to him for the moment.

  "How are you feeling? Ready for this brother?" she asked of him and heard a sound of annoyance come from him.

  "As ready as I'll ever be. So be quiet" Mehrbad muttered back and Mehrasa felt a stab of anger. Why did she even bother trying sometimes? Mehrbad was just a colossal douchebag and he seemed to have grown a backbone recently. Perhaps Garka was feeding her brothers ego?

  "Hope you don't die then you fuck head" she snapped and shuffled in front of Cabhar and then onto his left, leaving Cabhar standing between her and her brother. The youth just looked between the two sharply and then sighed. He likely didn't want to be between the two siblings if they were at each other’s throats.

  Not hearing a reply from her brother, Mehrasa just stood in her new spot, her eyes latched on the black fabric to the front of the group, her right hand resting casually on her slung rifle. She stayed silent now, just waiting for the time to pass. There was practically no sound from the group, even the mages no longer muttering to themselves. So, she just stood there, feeling sweat start to run down her forehead and into her eyes. It was sweltering inside the ship. Reaching down to her pocket, she pulled out her water bottle and opened it, sipping from it occasionally. She would need to keep her fluids up down here.

  After what seemed like an hour a crackle sounded, and words broke out over a radio somewhere. Mehrasa whipped her head around, seeing a number of people tense up. Barte lifted a radio up and spoke into it, a reply coming back quickly. Then he said something else and those around him cocked their rifles and turned off safety switches. Mehrasa gulped and did the same. Everything went silent again and she tensed up, just waiting.

  Footsteps sounded loud and heavy and then there was silence once more. It was eerie. After a few minutes a bang sounded, like a shot from a shotgun and then a slam like a door had been flung against a metal wall. Two metallic thumps sounded, and something rattled along the floor before two loud bangs sounded and Mehrasa blinked as a ringing sounded in her ears. She felt herself sway a little and quickly caught herself. Then there was shouting, the words seeming as if in the distance, the shrill ringing in her ears seemingly drowning out every other noise.

  Somewhat disoriented, Mehrasa watched the mages in the front ranks throw up their hands, their fingers wrapped around clear crystals. A surge of wind rippled forth and the black fabric blew upwards at the same time that everyone around Mehrasa lifted their rifles. She followed suit, everything seemingly dragging on slowly. As the black fabric rose above her eye level, Mehrasa saw people appear in the mess hall. Over a dozen heavily armed men and women, their own rifles pointed at the pirates and mercenaries.

  Me
hrasa saw evident shock on their black faces right as the pirates and mercenaries opened fire, the sounds of gunfire extremely loud and echoing in the enclosed mess hall. Mehrasa brought her rifle up and lifted it so it was positioned between the mages and mercenaries standing in front of her. She aimed at the group and pulled her trigger a few times, a couple of rounds bursting forth and the shells ejecting from the weapon.

  She watched as the enemy front rank simply crumpled under a spray of bullets and then shouting from Barte reached her. The entire group of mercenaries stopped firing as the mages moved forward, their hands up in the air, voices loud as they chanted. The black fabric fell down now, falling from its secure points on the wall and crumpling into a mess on the floor.

  The enemy finally seemed to awaken, and they started firing their weapons back, the bullets thudding into magical barriers and sending sparks of light through the room. Mehrasa just stared at it wide eyed as the mages went forward, blasts of magic crashing into the group of enemy soldiers and crushing them against walls, or simply blowing off chunks of their body. They didn't stand a chance and Mehrasa actually felt sick in the stomach as she watched the people die horribly. It was practically a one-sided slaughter.

  The mages disappeared into the hallway and shouts sounded from above deck, gunshots sounding briefly before silence returned and with it the ringing in Mehrasa's ears. She heard a voice as if far away and turned to stare wide eyed at the mercenaries as they moved forward to the corpses of the soldiers, looking at them, turning them over, going through pockets and bags, basically just looting them. Mehrasa lifted a hand to her mouth and tasted bile. She did not want to throw up, but it suddenly seemed quite likely.

  Mehrasa flicked her wide-eyed gaze to the stairwell and saw the red headed woman appear, followed by the mages that had gone up above deck, Sojun included. He looked over at Mehrasa, his face ashen and Mehrasa saw that he looked to be in shock himself. He made a beeline towards her, his feet leaving behind footprints of blood as he walked across the floor and then the black fabric on the floor.

  "Mehrasa, you look pale. Just sit down" Sojun stated and lifted a hand to pat her on the shoulder. She looked at him sharply, wondering why he was paying attention to her specifically. She looked to her side at both Cabhar and Mehrbad, seeing them both quite pale as well.

  "I am not weak Sojun. Leave me be" she stated and swallowed, trying to crush the urge to vomit through sheer will alone.

  "I wasn't suggesting that, I just" Sojun replied starting to say something before being cut off by a loud voice.

  "You pirates, listen up. Grab one of the sailors. Take them up deck and execute them. Throw them over board afterwards. There are three captured marines. You kill one of them too and throw them overboard. Bring the other two down here. Only six of you go up. The rest of you help clean this mess. Take corpses up and throw overboard" the red-haired woman yelled out and Mehrasa felt that urge to vomit come straight back up. This woman was a monster.

  Mehrasa looked around at everyone and she saw all the other pirates were present in the mess hall, including her. No one seemed to move to obey and Mehrasa flicked a look at Garka, noticing a look of distaste on his face also. He walked forward with Jimmy and they started to have a hushed argument of sorts with the red-haired woman, Barte moving to join the group.

  Mehrasa couldn't quite make out the words but she could tell that the two pirates were angry. After a minute or two both of them broke away from the mercenaries, and walked over to Mehrasa and Sojun, whilst beckoning for all the other pirates to join them. Before long they all stood in a tight group as the mercenaries continued to work around them.

  "So, what's the deal Jimmy, Garka? Since when did we execute people?"Sojun demanded his voice angry and Mehrasa noted a few of the other senior pirates nod, agreeing with the question.

  "We aren't doing it. I refused. That's not what we were paid for. The mercs can handle all that shit themselves. It is going to be real fucking hard to get off this ship for us if they execute people. I am thinking we high tail it out of here at dawn" Jimmy replied in a hushed voice and Mehrasa shot a look around the gathered people, seeing nervous looks on all their faces.

  "I sure as hell didn't sign up for this shit. They said that was the first fucking wave of Samite soldiers. And when the second wave arrives, we have to knock the helmets of all the people, and if there is a blonde white man among the next wave, we are to knock him out and take him alive" Jimmy continued, and murmurs of surprise went around the group.

  "They said that because all the marines died, the Samite Special Forces would be summoned. And I know those will all be mages. Samites gather their mages into special groups" Jimmy continued and glowered angrily. The whole group dropped into silence then and Mehrasa sensed fear and uneasiness from them. She felt it in leaps and bounds herself after all.

  "Jimmy is right. I didn't sign up for this shit. We said we wouldn't have any part of this massacre and have instead asked to be the night watch. We will be above deck in the night, and in the dawn, we will slip the fuck away on our boats. Leave these fuckers to die under Samite mages. Unless they fucking attack when we are all still here. Then we are all fucked" Garka spoke up, his voice deep and rough. He had such a way with words.

  "They agreed, so go get some sleep before the watch. We start at eight got it. Oh, and if we are attacked before then, if you find a blonde fuck, kill him. Fuck these bastards and their prize. If we go down, then they can fucking shove a hand grenade up their asses. Because fuck them" Garka finished, his voice full of anger and Mehrasa flinched at the evident rage. She nodded though, acknowledging Garka's first words seeing the others do the same. Mehrasa looked up as a scuffle sounded and she turned her gaze to look as two mercenaries appeared from a room at the back of the mess hall, dragging a bound and gagged sailor between them.

  Mehrasa stared wide eyed at them as they went past, aiming for the deck. When they passed her vision, Mehrasa made eye contact with the red-haired woman from across the room who was simply standing there, her thumbs hooked into her belt whilst she stared hard at the group of pirates, her face completely impassive.

  Mehrasa shuddered and looked away, the urge to vomit surfacing once more. These people were all kinds of fucked up.

  Chapter 27

  * * *

  Lesha stared hard at her computer screen. She was trying to write a report but the words simply were not coming to her. She was far too distracted by the thoughts running rampant in her mind. And they all had the one source. Sain.

  She let out a low sigh and slumped forward into her seat, the thing creaking slightly. Resting her head in her hands she gave up writing the report for now, instead letting her thoughts wander somewhat. What was she to do about her situation? She had been seeing Sain discreetly for a short time recently, and had to admit it was rather fun to fool around with the young man, but the longer it went on, the more torn she felt about her duty.

  Remembering Sembak’s orders to test the youth and get information about him she sighed again and wondered what exactly Sembak would say about the whole situation. Perhaps he would suggest it was a means to an end. Perhaps he would call her judgement and professionalism into question. The latter thought sent her a shudder down her spine and she suddenly felt a little bit queasy.

  Hearing a knock on her office door Lesha looked up sharply, her thoughts disappearing. She suddenly became aware of a commotion outside. She could see people through her office window rushing up and down the corridor, mixed looks of concentration, purpose and panic on their faces. Standing up Lesha walked around her desk and opened her full wooden door, coming face to face with a female staff officer, her hand raised as though she was just about to knock once more.

  "Lieutenant Tahl, the commander is asking after you" the woman stated before turning on her heel and walking briskly down the corridor. Lesha watched her go, her brow furrowed. If Sembak wanted to speak to her, he had aught but to call her on her office landline. She pushed that thought
aside and stepped out of her office, closing the door behind her. She turned to the left and walked briskly down the corridor, her eyes locked on the door at the very end.

  The door stood completely ajar and she could see Sembak sitting at his desk, his phone pressed to his ear and in the midst of an apparently heated discussion. She caught angrily spoken words as she came closer and then saw Sembak slam the phone down onto its receiver in anger. She gulped.

  As she entered his office Sembak looked up, an expression of irritation on his face.

  "Lieutenant. Good, you are here. I have a task for you" Sembak stated as he stood up and moved over to a coat rack in the corner of the office. He collected a heavy leather jacket and shrugged it on as he turned to face Lesha, that look of irritation still on his face.

  "I need you to dig up all reports of piracy in the Sirius straight over the last twelve months. Go collect what you can in the next hour and get it onto my Flagship. Make sure you are onboard within an hour as well" Sembak stated as he pulled the zipper of his jacket up. Lesha blinked at him somewhat startled. Even as her thoughts whirred, she nodded. It wouldn't be hard to find the information Sembak sought. Piracy was a well-documented affair after all.