by Mike Doom
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“Haze.” Stardust mutters as they step into the station.
“Haze?”
“Haze. Looks like someone beat us here.”
“Isn’t that their ship outside?”
“Obviously.”
“So didn’t you notice they were here before now?”
“Yes, but that ship could be anyone’s. This haze effect means its Pepper, and probably Epic too, who got here before us and not Toro.” Stardust says as she opens a door and peers quickly in either direction. No one yet, and she can’t use her wetwiring to pick up anyone either. Fucking Pepper, always playing it safe.
The ship looks exactly the same as Stardust remembers it looking when they arrived the first time, down to the blinking lights warning of an invasion force. Only thing that is missing is all the people she had to kill that day, none of those people seem to be around this time. Federali holiday?
“Hello?” Stardust tries. No response.
“Is it really okay for you to yell out like that?”
“Darling, they know we’re here. See those blinking red lights?”
“Yes.”
“They mean shut the fuck up or I’ll throw you out the nearest airlock.”
“Oh.”
“Is anyone here?” Stardust tries a little louder, pulling her gun up preparing for anything.
“Yeah, but I’d prefer if you don’t make a big thing out of it.” Pepper says, leading around the corner by his gun. Stardust smiles, at least the fun hasn’t started without her.
“You know who it is yet?”
“No. Do you?” Pepper raises an eyebrow.
“I have an inclination.
“You should get that looked at. Epic is up ahead. We were waiting for you to get here.”
“Yeah well you can’t rush catastrophe.”
“I heard that.”
“Are we all going to die?” Last asks Pepper, mostly.
Pepper and Stardust give each other a significant look, both turn to Last. “Probably.”
“Hey, you guys coming? I am going to assume that the last stand location will be our big shoot-out moment.” Epic says as he turns the corner. Stardust gives Epic a smile, Epic nods in return. Officially working in tandem.
“Last Chance.” Stardust states like she isn’t there.
“What? Yes?”
“I officially revoke my claim to your bounty.”
“What?”
“You’re below me. In so many possible ways that I cannot possibly hold the breath in my lungs to state them all. I can only take one hit at a time, it’s the rules.” Stardust says as she walks away from Last.
“Really?” Last murmurs to Pepper mostly.
“Yep.” He sort of chuckles, starting to walk towards the others.
“But you?” Last gets defensive, terrified that she is being given the cold shoulder. Knowing that Toro will be here soon, to do... what to her?
“I’m protecting Sunshine. This is an extension. Also I have a hit on me, and am acting in self-defense.” Pepper kind of tips his hand side to side, wishy washy. He has a good enough lawyer that this flimsy reasoning will probably only result in fines, slapped by the flaccid cock of GovPlex.
“I was paid to protect Truckee Dumpstar, and to get the jewel thing back. I am under the impression that the jewel is here.” Epic says, feeling Last’s eyes on him without turning around.
“I have to bring you here, but then I’d be ready to go. So I was planning on glomming-“ Stardust says, turning to walk away. Leaving Last Chance alone to do... what exactly?
“Protect me.” Last blurts out suddenly, the three hunters turn to look at her. Stardust looks at Last, then at Pepper who nods slightly. Stardust exhales deeply, swearing under her breath, then rights herself.
“Against who?” Stardust raises an eyebrow.
“I’ll give you every rico I have to protect me from Toro Abobo.” Last says quickly, before she can regret it. Stardust grins widely, too widely. Last takes half a step backward.
“I accept.” Stardust laughs. “Fantastic this means I can go all out.”
“And we don’t have to forge anything when we get back.” Epic says.
“Perfection.”
“Do you guys have some kind of plan?” Last says with hope in her voice.
“Not really. Pepper?”
“Figure we see what this person wants with us. Go from there?” Pepper shrugs.
“Whatever gets this shit on the road already. I haven’t shot anyone in like five hours.” Epic mutters.
“This is why I’m madly in love with you.” Stardust grabs Epic loosely around the shoulders. Last gasps until she realizes that Stardust doesn’t intend to kill the tall man.
“Yeah. I really kind of doubt that.” Epic says through a smirk.
“Well let’s get this over with then. Cannata isn’t going to watch the airlock forever.”
“You two go on ahead. I’ll make sure the hatch is locked behind us.”
“Good thinking.” Pepper says over his shoulder as he rounds into the next junction. Stardust grabs Last by the shoulder and spins her around, smashing her face only slightly violently into the outward wall.
“Wha?”
“Shut the fuck up you dumb, bitch. I need you to listen precisely to me.”
“Yes.”
“I am not going to play nice because your filthy whore ass is paying my way. Quite frankly I have no need for monetary functionality from flat-scans such as yourself.”
“Of course.”
“Quiet.” Stardust pushes harder on Last’s face, testing the tensile strength of her cartilage. Last grits her teeth.
“Good. Now, I need you to stay the fuck out of my way. If you get yourself killed it will blow my cover.”
“Huh?”
“I’m not going to explain myself to you. I am only going to tell you this, when you see Corialis grab his big motherfucking necklace, I need you to run directly at him. Do not run away. Do not hide. Run directly for him, and grab him like your decrepit ass depends on it.”
“Why?”
“Well, isn’t that the ten million rico question.” Stardust laughs as she lets Last crumple to the floor. She starts backward to the airlock, using some sort of small torch she welds the seal shut. Locking them in, but permanent. Like a tomb. Last coughs as she gets back on her feet, gingerly feeling at her nose. Still in one piece for the moment.
“Follow me, unless you want to be locked in this corridor for the rest of your life.” Stardust says flatly as she walks on ahead. Last knows then that she picked the wrong person to protect her from Toro, because she is pretty sure they might put apart their differences to rip her limb from limb.
“Guys have fun back there?” Epic says mildly when the girls meet up.
“Traded tampons and everything.”
“Gross." Sunshine says without looking. She turns and gasps.
"You!" Last says through gritted teeth.
"You!" Sunshine says with venom. Pepper chuckles by the door. Epic tries not to laugh, mostly because he is easily seen by both women.
"You ruined my career!"
"You never had a career you filthy prostitute."
"I was in six movies before you started stealing my parts by sleeping with the directors."
"I slept with one director. One. And you didn't even audition for that role."
"I wanted to, but i could smell you there before me."
&nb
sp; "What?"
"And you took my prom date."
"That was over a hundred years ago, Last. And he was my boyfriend, we'd been dating for eight months when you attacked him in the locker room. The men's locker room, and tried to force yourself on him."
"He was just shy."
"He didn't even go to our school. You broke into a rival school's bathroom and attacked him, which is why he refused to come to our prom and I had to go to his."
"Oh, big loss."
"You are impossible."
"Ladies ladies. I need you to focus." Epic decides to step in, as this argument appears to be going literally nowhere. Cannata nods to Epic, literally giddy that someone stopped those two.
"Sorry. We just have a lot of... catching up to do. Pepper, is it okay out there?" Sunshine says cheerfully, pushing down the venom of seeing that psychopath again.
“Looks clear.” Pepper says, shifting his head back and forth, his dreadlocks floating in the low atmosphere. A rumbling in the structure alerts them that someone else has docked. Presumably Toro.
“Oh great, that fuck is here.” Epic grumbles.
“Yeah, well that means that it is officially on.” Pepper mutters and waves the rest to follow him around the corner, another long hallway filled with nothing. If memory serves, it’s two more hatches to the center crew common area. The ship spokes out from there, with a big area stuck out in the spoke farthest ahead, which would be where Toro’s dad vented the station from. That is probably the destination. Everyone knows that.
“Where do you think he is? The guy doing this?” Last Chance asks Cannata. Everyone but those two.
“There’s a big common area, probably we’re going to hit some resistance there, but if this person is holding a grudge for back then. He is going to be at the end of the main spoke. That is where Toro’s dad had his last stand, and-“ Pepper starts, sort of coughing awkwardly at the end.
“Where he vented all of us into space.” Epic finishes, locking a couple of side doors with a small laser, no need for surprises. Cannata and Last share a look, understanding what might be the result here. Stardust notices the look, yawns and walks ahead of the girls. Sunshine follows closely behind Pepper, which Epic notices immediately.
“He probably won’t just do that again. Not exactly fitting revenge after all this time.” Stardust says brushing her hand back and forth in the air, dismissing the thought of someone doing something so crass as a tit-for-tat revenge plot. No, it’ll be something way worse.
The corridor goes silent as everyone imagines what possible trap they have all willingly docked with. Somewhere ahead and to the right they can hear gunfire, a dull rumble takes to the walls. Someone triggered a local decompression; the lights go a bright yellow for a full ten seconds, then switch back to their regular red hues. Sealed bulkhead. Toro isn’t taking any chances on the vent happening again. Not after last time.
“What are we going to do when we get to the big room?” Cannata asks Pepper.
“We’re going to wing it.” Pepper says dismissively.
“Seriously?” Epic asks, actually surprised that Pepper would allow for such things.
“No. I have a plan, but my plan involves everyone acting as non-stereotypical for them as possible. Whoever this is, he’s been studying us this whole time. This is nothing but a personal vendetta that has dragged on for way too long. He has been plotting for this moment for years, probably going over every detail of every step we made that day, and likely everything we have done afterward. He will expect me to plan, for Stardust to go in guns blazing, and for Epic to go in and try and sweet talk him. He will expect us to act how we do, to play our roles in this fucking game, but I’ll have none of that.”
“Nicely put.” Stardust admits as they hit the last airlock. Pepper puts his hand on the door’s crank. Pauses.
“I want everyone to think, what would my exact polar opposite do, then do that.”
“Wow. So I am going to need a longer skirt.” Stardust laughs, Epic grins slyly, and Cannata rolls her eyes. She can’t stand a woman who uses her sexuality so flagrantly for her own personal gain. Cannata is positive that woman has some angle here, but she just can’t finger it.
Last Chance and Sunshine Apocalypse trade barbed looks, which Epic laughs at. Getting glares from both women. He raises his hands in submission, and when that is grudgingly accepted, pulls out his gun.
Pepper opens the airlock, and it all goes south in a hurry.