Eyan Sund blinked furiously as he attempted to see through the blinding light that pervaded his eyes, ears ringing and concealing the sound of his opponents just as the light was doing so with his sight of them. He had encountered his fair share of flash grenades throughout his career but having one go off right in front of his face was something new. Something very painful too, were it not for his quick thinking in dropping his head to let his helmet take the brunt of the blast then he had no doubt that he wouldn't be drawing the ragged breaths that he did now.
Through the brief glimpses of what could be seen when he blinked and the light faded ever so slightly, the corridor around him was already battered with blaster marks and the bodies of his fallen compatriots. They were no real loss in the grand scheme of things, just mercenaries such as himself that were hired to guard this shipment and knew well enough the risks inherent in it. Competition in Wild Space was ever present and it seemed like they had found themselves on the losing side this time. Eyan grimaced and huffed a pained breath through his mask as he saw a leg step into his line of sight. "-got a live one here!"
The voice of the enemy barely reached his ringing ears as his gaze fixed upon the boot, his hand shooting out to grab hold of it before the soldier could put a blaster bolt into his head to finish him off. A Kyuzo never went down this easy and Eyan was no different. The soldier, evidently not expecting the sudden hand on his leg, stumbled and fell back in surprise. His blaster fell from his hands as Eyan pulled himself up and readied to swing into the soldier's black visor, his fist stopping in mid-air as though something had caught his wrist. " Zinot nie naile, lyteti malsini ir cezura. "
Unfamiliar words echoed in his mind as his body froze and a gloved hand wrapped around the wide brim of his helmet, forcing his head back to look up at another foe. This one was no soldier, this one was like some spirit from an old myth in the flesh. Eyan grunted and tensed as the free hand of the imposing figure came up to reveal a sleeppack injector, one quickly stabbed into his exposed throat before he could even attempt to struggle out of the supernatural and unseen hold that gripped his body. Darkness swam over his vision and his body went limp almost immediately, falling to the floor as his consciousness slipped away.
" Sis wo kash viekis, fenorto jis nuo vezioti. "
"Oi!" Eyan grunted as something slapped him, his eyes squinting as he blinked awake and saw a familiar Klatooinian standing over him. Othen Buri, the right hand man of his current employer and the one that had been expecting the shipment. "Come on you Bantha, get up!" Othen thankfully stood up to give the Kyuzo some breathing room, allowing him to sit up despite the protestations of his body. His neck felt sore, although not from where the injector had touched him. Rather it was the back of his neck that irritated him. He glanced around to see the corridor of the transport ship, somewhat surprised to find no bodies of the fallen enemies that had boarded them as Othen's gang picked through the mercenaries for other survivors.
"What...happened?" Eyan's throat felt dry and his voice cracked like he hadn't had a drink in days, or like it hadn't been used at all over the course of such days. "That's what I want to know." Othen huffed and reached down to help prop the mercenary against the wall rather than letting him slide back down onto the floor given the trembling of his arms as he held himself in an upright position. "You're the only one we've found alive, no one else made it."
Not surprising given the sudden and violent boarding action but something that didn't clarify the situation at all. "What happened Sund?" The Kyuzo gestured to the blaster marks on the walls and the bodies around them with a slow wave of his hand. "Boarded." He didn't see why the question needed to be asked, surely Othen's gang had already dispatched of the boarders or forced them to flee by now if they were looking for survivors. "I figured that out you oaf!" The Klatooinian scoffed and smacked the top of Eyan's helmet in frustration. "I mean what happened after?"
"After...?" The Kyuzo drew a glare from Othen, as well as a muttered curse that he couldn't quite catch. "Yes, what happened after you were boarded. This ship's been drifting for a week." Eyan tensed up instantly. "Week?" Surely he hadn't been unconscious that long, surely he hadn't been forgotten about so quickly after the boarders had incapacitated him. The confusion in Eyan's tone made Othen's brow knit together in surprise and concern rather than frustration. "Sund...what happened after you were boarded?" Not a request for information but rather a probing question. Eyan reached up to feel the back of his neck where it ached, his fingers running over a scar that hadn't been there when the ship had been boarded. "I...I don't know..."
Othen grimaced and gritted his teeth together, glancing away from the Kyuzo for a moment. "Chit." He sighed and called out for one of his gangsters to come over before looking back at Eyan. "Alright let's get you back to Daxam IV before we worry about that, come on." With the help of one of his gangsters, Othen slipped the mercenary's arm over his shoulders and hauled him up to his feet. "The boss will still want to chat with you, but we'll get you some rest first." Eyan complied with the carrying, still trying to process the whole situation in his mind. It didn't make sense, how had he been knocked out for a week? Why was he still on the ship? Where had the boarders gone?
A few scans and a general checkup had revealed little about the lost week. Eyan had been examined and while the scar was initially believed to be the incision left behind by a tracker implantation nothing could be detected on the scans, nor did his body have any real injuries to speak of besides from some general dehydration which was fixed easily enough. Othen's boss hadn't seen him yet, letting the mercenary rest after his visit to the gang's medic before a proper debriefing could be done. But sleep didn't come easy even after the adrenaline and shock had worn off and left his body sore and slow.
The Kyuzo stared at the metal wall of the makeshift clinic in silence, the medic having long since left for the night and the rest of the gang having no need to bother him until their boss summoned him for an audience. As Eyan's eyes began to close as he decided to try and at least relax somewhat a flicker of something in his vision made them shoot wide open instead. He blinked and the flicker returned, a crimson triangle seeming to bleed out from the wall before him and glow with an unsettling light. One that wasn't seen or even seem to touch the reflective metal around it at all.
Eyan.
His breathing hitched as his fingers gripped the rough sheet of the cot he laid on, quickly shutting his eyes in hopes of banishing the voice that echoed in his mind and the vision that danced in his gaze. The manifestations didn't leave, instead they were painted on his eyelids as well. He tossed and turned and rubbed at his eyes but nothing could banish the crimson triangles from them. Nor could the voice be ignored as it spoke to him.
Do not fret, warrior, this is no curse. You have been chosen.
"Leave!" His eyes stung as he rubbed at them, blinking at the sensation and dreading how the shapes in his gaze failed to falter or diminish at all even with his best attempts. It was as if the accursed things were emblazoned on his pupils themselves. An odd sense of ease settled over his mind, an unwelcome and unnatural notion that he couldn't dispel even though he knew it wasn't from himself. Eyan felt his muscles relax in spite of the panic that he felt in his core, his thoughts becoming numb as the voice continued.
There is a duty that you must fulfill Eyan. You were spared, set apart for this purpose.
He hated how calm he felt even with an unfamiliar voice seeping into his mind, with an unknown will robbing him of his rightful concern and replacing it with a forced compliance. There was nothing that he could do it seemed. Nothing but reluctantly listen to whatever it was that had overtaken his willpower and condemned him to do so. He hoped it was fleeting, whatever it was. "Will I have peace when this is done?" There was a pause, a breath from an unseen mouth as though speechless. Or amused.
Peace is a lie, Eyan Sund, there is only Passion.
Othen checked his holdout blaster one last time with trembling fingers, the sounds of conflict beyond his quarters growing quiet only to be replaced by heavy footsteps. It was still early in the morning, he wasn't quite sure when exactly, but the screams and blaster bolts that echoed from the hall were more than enough to make him bolt out of bed wide awake. He pointed his blaster towards the door as the steps grew closer, pausing right outside his door as his finger rested on the blaster's trigger. "Othen?" The somewhat muffled voice of the Kyuzo mercenary made him jump and almost fumble his blaster out of his hands.
He quickly moved to the door and opened it, looking up at the Eyan with surprise and relief in equal measure. "You're a sight for sore eyes Sund! What's-" His eyes widened as all of the breath seemed to leave his body at once in a fragile exhale, his gaze shooting down to the vibroblade now buried in his gut. "Forgive me Othen." Eyan withdrew the blade as the blaster fell from the Klatooinian's grasp, the gangster falling to his knees and clutching his stomach soon after. "You were the last." A quick cut across the neck was all that it took to end the last of the gang members, the Kyuzo wincing and stepping back from the doorway as he let the weapon drop to the floor.
As expected, you performed well.
The pit of unease and shame in his mind said otherwise but Eyan didn't bother dismissing the praise. He had betrayed his contract and employers, dishonored himself all to silence the voice in his head. His weakness disgusted him. A true warrior would have found some way to disrupt the voice, to remain stalwart even as it compelled him to fight and kill. Yet here he was, a murderer. But not alone as he had desired. The airlock on the far end of the corridor opened and a familiar spectre walked through it, brandishing a wicked axe rather than a syringe this time.
Peace is a lie, but you will have the forgiveness that I promised you.
Eyan didn't have the resolve nor energy to prepare himself as the figure approached, axe and mask glinting in the dim light. The Kyuzo fell to his knees and reached up to undo the straps keeping his helmet on his head, letting it fall to the floor as he closed his eyes and resigned himself for what was to come. There was no peace indeed it seemed. Nor was there any forgiveness for what he had done, simply the absolution of dishonor.
" Tegu nun dotacij j'us cezura dabar, Massassi. " Eyan barely even felt the axe cleave through his throat, his last sight being the crimson triangles burning brightly in his closed eyelids, haunting his final moments as they had done throughout his entire act of slaughter. One last insult to his pride even with the calm that sweeped over his mind as the weapon ended him.
The executioner gazed down at the body for a moment before turning on his heel and reaching up to tap on the comm-unit integrated just behind his mask. :"It is done my lord.": A resolved hum came first before the response. :"Yes, I felt it was so. Thank you for assistance Brother Thocha, you picked the perfect subject.": Pride swelled in the solemn executioner for a brief moment before he bowed his head and dismissed the notion. :"It was my pleasure to be assistance, Prophet. I shall begin the search for the next subject at once.":
