Shadow of a Freelancer Ch 11.) Betrayal
#12 of Shadow of a Freelancer
Well here's Ch 11 of Shadow of a Freelancer. I've been messing around the new site trying to figure out what's what so sorry this chapters a little late. Yeah I added something in this chapter, you'll notice dates now as well as times. It shows what time they go by which is the same as earth's time at GMT (0). Also, to anyone who likes reading my stories, my bro who is the creator of Freelancer Delta has finally decided to write about him when he was very young. If you're interested in reading his stuff, look for 'The Delta Journals' by Murazar. Haha side note on that, he's relative new to Furry.
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"Sedate him NOW!" someone yelled.
"Anymore and we'll overdose him." another voice said.
"Who needs to be sedated? And where am I?" Shadow thought as he got a view of several people trying to hold someone; who was badly injured, down on a table.
"Does it look like he's anywhere near sedated? Dose him again!" the first person who talked said.
Shadow started moving but not on his own; he had no control of himself. When he got to a certain point he finally realized what he was seeing as a white furred arm grabbed the guy who was talking and threw him across the room.
With a shaky voice he said "Lliam?"
Suddenly he moved and tried to hold Lliam down, after a few seconds Lliam noticed who was holding him down and stared into Shadow's eyes. Lliam calmed down but as he did Shadow noticed something or rather someone behind Lliam's eyes. As they stared into each others eyes the entity that later would call himself Severo passed from Lliam into Shadow.
After Lliam finally passed out, one of the people who were trying to help him saw Shadow and said "Captain Sutarra! Please go and wait in the waiting room." as he herded him out of the OR.
When he left the room everything turned black and Shadow heard the familiar laughing of Severo. "So now you know where I came from. Amazing isn't it? If your brother would have died that day then I wouldn't be in you...but if you hadn't showed up I might have taken control of him that day." Severo said as images of the transport Lliam was on, blowing up, flashed in front of Shadow's eyes.
"But how? I thought you came about because my own genes activated." Shadow asked.
"Oh Rrahkarr, but I did. I see you don't fully realize the full extent of that yet, but soon it won't matter. I can feel your resolve weakening. It's only a matter of time before I take control once and for all...and we have all the time in the world. Just look at Murazar...how old do you think he is?" Severo said and started laughing.
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October 9, 2337 - The Cupidita (4:36 AM)
Shadow woke with start and sat straight up in bed; trying to remember where he was, which woke Lure from her sleep. When she looked at Shadow she saw he was sweating badly and his breath came to him in short bursts.
"Rrahkarr...what's wrong?" Lure asked as he ran a paw through his hair; pushing it out of his eyes.
Once he heard her voice he remembered she had asked him to sleep with her. She had said she was feeling lonely, that she had trouble sleeping by herself. When they went to bed she snuggled up to him and fell asleep very quickly. He too fell asleep quicker then normal which now surprised him now that he thought about it. "Nothing...just, bad dreams is all." Shadow said to her.
She sighed before giving him an annoyed look "I know there's more to it, you're trying to hide something." She said as she reached out and made him look at her. "If it was just a bad dream you wouldn't be sweating as you are, and I wouldn't be getting these feelings from you."
He looked at her for a few moments before saying "Oh right...you can sense when people are trying to hide their feelings" He sighed before he said "It was a memory of the day my brother's genes activated like mine are."
"So he too was like you? Did...did he have a split personality like you too?" She asked.
Shadow looked down and seemed a little confused as he said "Actually...from that dream I had...the split personality I have may have been his. Somehow he entered me when I went to hold Lliam down so that doctors could fix him up. He was acting savagely...and when I touched him, he was himself again and passed out shortly after.
Then, he started to torture me by showing me the images of the day Lliam died. Then he said that a few more years he'd be able to take control of my body before I woke up." Shadow finished
"Is there no way to stop that from happening?" Lure asked fearing the answer.
"I'm not sure." Was all Shadow could say to her.
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October 14, 2337 - Inner Haven (12:23 PM)
A few days later they dropped out of hyperspace at Inner Haven. Once in view the staff attending the I.H. Control Tower welcomed them back and gave them directions to dock in hanger bay-C7. After skillfully piloting the Cupidita into place, Lure sat it down gently and turned the ship off. Before they disembarked Shadow and Lure told Timmy and MaiGhan to stay on the Cupidita and not let them selves be seen by anyone. If either of them were seen it could mean big trouble for both Shadow and Lure; Shadow however wasn't worried about the Freelancer Code but worried about Delta and what he had learned.
As usual; after they disembarked from the Cupidita, they headed towards the automated kiosk to receive payment. The only things the kiosk provided was the job name, Freelancers who completed that job and its pay. That way, no one but those involved would know any details about the job.
Once they had their pay in paw, Shadow turned to and handed Lure his cut of the pay. She looked confused so he explained why he gave it to her and that she should use it to buy anything she would need while she went into hiding. She smiled as she took it, and then subtlety; yet quickly, looked around. There was no one around and they were in an area where no camera could see them. After taking a moment to consider it, she quickly grabbed him before he started to turn away then hugged him before kissing him.
He was surprised at first by the sudden physical contact and intimate kiss but after getting over the initial shock he returned it as he pulled her into a tighter hug. He hadn't had much intimate contact with a female in over three years; he always kept himself distant from usually everyone, and here she was flying right by all that. She broke the kiss off and then looked at him.
"Rrahkarr...there's something I want to tell you." She said as she looked into his eyes.
He looked back into her eyes as she tried to build the courage to tell him what she had on her mind. He closed his eyes and sighed as he knew what she was about to say before she started to speak.
"Rrahkarr, I lov..."
"Don't" Shadow said; not coldly or rushed but just a little slowly, cutting her off.
He opened his eyes and looked at her. She had a sad and hurt expression on her face and her mouth was still open in mid sentence.
"But..."
"It's not that I don't...it's just...you know there's a part of me that would hurt you if it got loose. I didn't tell you this but a few months ago...it nearly made me kill my little sister." He said and looked away "I don't want to hurt you."
After a moment, her paw found its way to his face and made him look back at her. She was smiling at him as she said "You wouldn't hurt me. Remember I stood my own against Delta when we fought and didn't get hit."
He sighed and nodded. She did have a point, and Delta so far has always been able to overcome Severo and get him back to normal. She smiled and hugged him again.
"I love you Rrahkarr." She said, and held him there.
"...I love you too, Kathy." He said after a moment of searching his feelings; something he hadn't done in a long time, then she let go of him "Here" he added as he dug into his pocket and pulled out an Information Chit "I filed everything we learned and put it on this. Take this to Obsidian before you leave."
He handed her the chit then smiled "Stay safe." He said then turned around and started walking. She did the same and headed towards Freelancer Obsidians office, while Shadow headed off to find Delta.
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Shadow searched all the places on Inner Haven that Delta may have been at but had no success in finding him. He asked several Freelancers if they had seen him but none had. He caught a lucky break when someone said he saw Delta heading towards hanger bay-E3.
When Shadow reached hanger bay-E3 he spotted Delta speaking with Stone. He also noticed Falsch heading towards them from the other side of the hanger bay. As Shadow approached them, he caught the last words of the conversation that Stone and Delta were having.
"You're sure about this Delta?" Stone asked.
"I'm positive my friend. You don't have to worry but if it comes down to it, you know what to do." Delta said as Shadow arrived.
"Ok then." Stone said as Falsch neared them "Shadow" Stone added as he past him and left.
"Shadow, how did the mission go?" Delta asked.
"Well we got the info...but it turns out someone tipped off the Outcasts that we were there." Shadow started as if everything was normal.
"Hmm, did you or Lure tell anyone about the meeting?" Delta asked.
"What meeting?" Falsch asked as he arrived.
"Not important... and no, but we heard them mention who tipped them off." Shadow said.
"Who did it?" Delta asked.
"You" Shadow simply said.
That caught Delta off guard and he had a confused look on his face. He put his hand up to his chin and scratched it a couple times before saying "It wasn't me Shadow, but I did tell eight people. The only people who needed to know."
"Oh..." Shadow said, unconvinced "Who were these eight people then?"
"Obsidian and the Zel'tar." Delta said, and by the sudden name drop both Shadow and Falsch were surprised.
"S-So you're saying that one of them tipped the Outcasts off?" Shadow asked with slight confusion in his voice.
"It would have to be, and you do know they are the only ones besides the client and whoever accepts a client's job who has to know about it. They know which Freelancer goes where and when and for what client and the job it self. It would explain how come so many of us have been killed by the Outcasts."
This surprised Shadow but he countered it with "I thought you didn't have to tell anyone anything?"
"That's usually the case but when I send someone on a job they have to know. It's a law that was created to keep anyone from having too much power and be able to do anything they want." Delta answered.
Shadow was a bit confused on what to do. One side of him wanted to fully trust Delta like he always had, but the other side of him wanted to keep him at arms length just to be safe. As he was contemplating, Delta spoke up again.
"There's another job I need you to do Shadow...as well as you Falsch." Delta said which surprised both of them.
"And what is this job going to be?" Falsch asked.
"I need you two to go to the location listed here in this data chit." Delta said as he handed them the chit.
"What's at the location and what do we need to do there?" Shadow asked after Falsch inserted the chit into his own personal holo-viewer.
Delta looked around and signaled them to follow him, when sure they were out of ear shot he explained. "The location on that chit is to a planet that survivors of the Zu'Nara incident colonized. It's basically New Zu'Nara; officially it's called D'gari. The reason the colonists didn't name it Zu'Nara was so they could forget the incident all together. The locals call it Be'lal-Ayende in their own language."
"So what do we have to do?" Falsch asked.
"As of right now, I just need you two to head out there. I'm having Stone and Blade meet us there after they get done with the job they're going on. By the time you get there, they should be done and on the way. I'll be there shortly after you two. It seems that there is an Outcast base located on the other side of the planet. I hope to find info there on where other bases are as well as to see if we can locate any of the Electus." Delta finished.
Shadow; still on guard, agreed to go with Falsch. He didn't have to worry about him, it was Delta he was concerned with, and if they got into trouble; Falsch too was very skilled (as all the members of the Cardinal Sin Fleet are).
"Ok then Delta...we'll go and get ready. We'll take my ship the Avaritia ok Shadow?" Falsch said.
"Yeah that's fine. I need to go and grab a few things, and then I'll meet you at your ship." Shadow said and headed towards the Ira.
Unknown to Shadow was the quick confirmation between Delta and Falsch. As Shadow left, Falsch and Delta glanced at each other; Delta pointed his eyes at Shadow then looked back at Falsch who did a quick nod before boarding the Avaritia.
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November 30, 2337 - The Avaritia (3:40 PM)
A few weeks later, the Avaritia was well underway and close to its target. To pass the time both Shadow and Falsch concentrated on honing their CQC (Close Quarters Combat) and martial arts skills and sparred with each other often.
Falsch soon found out that he was nowhere near Shadow's level but tried his best to keep up; even learning a thing or two from Shadow. Having music tastes similar to Shadow Falsch had 'Indestructible by Disturbed' playing as they sparred with each other that day.
"Come on! I'm hardly breaking a sweat here." Shadow taunted.
Falsch; who was a tad bit winded, threw a left jab at Shadow. Shadow; being as quick as he was, had grabbed Falsch's arm and twisted it and him till he had his arm behind his back. Already having been put in this position before Falsch twisted out of it and Shadow's grasp and proceeded to do a downward heel kick and connected with Shadow's shoulder.
Shadow however anticipated the attack and when Falsch's heel made contact with his shoulder, Shadow grasped it then flipped Falsch onto his back and proceeded to do a follow up attack only to have Falsch call it quits.
"Enough I give, I give already."
"Doing better that's for sure." Shadow said as he offered Falsch his paw.
Falsch grabbed the paw and Shadow hoisted him back to his feet and patted him on the shoulder as the song ended. "Thanks" Falsch said.
"No problem... (Sniff)...oh damn. I don't know about you but I'm heading back to my room and taking a shower." Shadow said and left.
Falsch was going to go do the same thing in his room. He started grabbing his stuff when his comm buzzed and a red light flashed a couple times. He stopped and stood there a moment before hurrying off to his room.
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A little while later Shadow stepped out of the room Falsch gave him to use, dressed in black jeans and a black T-shirt. He headed towards the Avaritia's bridge; he was able to get there quickly because the Avaritia is only one fifth the size of the Ira, made from several transport and fighter craft.
When he stepped onto the bridge, Falsch was already there; his hair still partly wet from taking a shower as well. Shadow sat down in an open seat as Falsch checked some instruments on the ships control board.
"Well we're here Shadow." Falsch said as a planet came into view...but not one Shadow expected.
Instead of the partly green and blue world of D'gari, was the red barren dead planet and asteroid field of Mors Mortis. Shadow was so preoccupied with the view he didn't notice Falsch get up; grab something, and head towards him.
"Falsch why are we at Mors Mortis?" Shadow asked and turned to look at Falsch when he was injected with something. He looked at the now empty syringe that Falsch held in his hand. "Why?" Shadow said as his body went limp and he slid off the seat he was in.
"Delta's order Shadow, sorry." Falsch said as he programmed a decent course that would take them through the asteroid field and towards the Mors Mortis Prison.
"You're working for him?" Shadow asked, realizing that what ever Falsch had injected him with just paralyzed him...temporarily.
"No, not for...with." Falsch answered.
"Are you the spy?" Shadow asked.
"Yes and no. Yes to I do send information to my fellow Outcasts and the Electus and no because I only send what Delta tells me to." Falsch said as he took a seat.
"So you're following Delta's orders, yet you work for the Outcasts and Electus?" Shadow asked, trying to understand.
"No...I don't just work for the Outcasts and the Electus, and my code name isn't Falsch. I was once known as Freelancer Echo, Delta's second. I became the Outcast Leader..." Falsch or Echo said.
"But...if you were Delta's second? Why did you betray him back then and become an Outcast?" Shadow asked.
"Oh, by his order of course." Echo said which left Shadow speechless. "During the war, and everything that has lead up to this was done under his order. He's been building something up that'll make the Freelancers fall. They think their safe in Inner Haven but their sadly mistaken. You see, he knows all about the Galactic Terra; the ship we Outcasts call home, for he was the one who ordered its construction." Echo explained.
"Are you saying he's been an Outcast all these years? Ever since then?"
"No, he isn't that. You see he's supposed to be an Electus leader like me; yes I too am an Electus leader. Only...he was supposed to be the head honcho of the Electus. You see...all the leaders of the Electus were those that were genetically modified after Delta, myself included. But we Electus don't always see eye to eye and fight amongst ourselves as well.
That's where Delta was supposed to come in and lead us all. He's been at odds with the others for that whole time. He's known the whole time that I too am an Electus leader. You see we've been trying to get him back. Or well...now that I've killed off all the original leaders; save one, he's willing to take command now since they won't interfere with him." Echo explained to the shock and horror of Shadow.
"Then...he's just been using us from the start. That means Lliam didn't have to die!" Shadow yelled in anger, and as this anger filled him he regained control of his limbs and forced himself up.
With rage, hate and fury in his eyes he charged Echo with all intentions of shredding him to pieces. As he threw his right fist at Echo's face; sure that it would make contact, he was surprised to not only see Echo smile and easily dodge his punch by sidestepping, but grab his wrist and use his free hand to uppercut his elbow, hyper extending it to the point it dislocated.
Shadow yowled out in pain as his forearm was dislocated. He held onto his arm just above his elbow as his forearm dangled in an unnatural position, and just by the slightest movement caused him to howl out in pain.
"I'm faster, stronger, and smarter then you Shadow. You can never beat me in your current state. Time to sleep." Echo finished and kicked Shadow in the head as hard as he could. As Shadow lay there motionless, Echo sighed then muttered something as he went back to the flight controls and brought the ship to dock with Mors Mortis Prison.
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September 13, 2337 - Unknown Location (Time unknown)
Several days after Shadow and Lure went to the planet Daghain, Delta was in a meeting with several people. They all sat behind several layers of shields and in a completely different room then the one Delta was in.
The door to the room Delta was in opened and in stepped Echo. He walked over to a monitor setup that held a camera and twelve monitors, each with a different face on them. One in particular Delta knew, the others were all new faces.
"Ah Murazar, to think we have you here and we could kill you right now...but from what Ken has told us. You're ready to join us? Why is that?" the face that belonged to Patrick Territh asked.
"Because the ones responsible for my friend Tro'nens death are now dead, that is the reason I never joined in the first place." Delta said.
"Yes I know they're dead. I know you killed two of them, and Ken killed the rest besides me. I know that he's your second, and also the only one of us that you trusted. I know he's been trying to get you to join us for some time. If that was the reason I could have had all of them here and let you kill them all the day we asked you to join." Patrick said.
"Yes well I didn't know who it was that had created the genes that had made him. I know the others were involved, and Ken said you had nothing to do with it. You were with him when the genes were created in the first place." Delta said.
"Yes that is true. But even so, before we let you in there are a few things we want you to do first." Patrick said.
"And those are?"
"We want you to cripple Inner Haven." One of the other faces said.
"We also want you to kill off the members of the so called...Cardinal Sin Fleet. In a place where we can witness their deaths." Another face said.
"All except one of them. That one is the one I want you to bring to Mors Mortis." Patrick said.
"And that one being?" Delta inquired.
"Your favorite of them all, Rrahkarr Sutarra... your, Freelancer Shadow." Patrick said.
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October 16, 2337 - Inner Haven (2:21 AM)
Inner Haven was in a state of panic and confusion. One day after Shadow and Falsch left Delta suddenly disappeared. The next day, Inner Haven was crippled. Several key spots on Inner Havens structure as well as key system components were destroyed by explosives that were set all about the station.
The whole station knew who must have done it. After receiving the information chit from Lure, Obsidian viewed it in shock. When he came to what Shadow had overheard the Outcasts saying he didn't believe it but as he looked out at the chaos through what cameras remained operational he knew without a doubt it was Delta's doing.
Somehow the long range sensors were still active and they had spotted an Outcast fleet rapidly approaching Inner Haven. It would still be fifteen hours before they arrived but all Inner Haven would need would be five. Obsidian went over to the PA system and activated it.
"Attention all Freelancers, as you already know Freelancer Delta has betrayed us. I'm activating Inner Haven's emergency code A9-EB6. It is time to move Inner Haven. All key personnel to your stations and prepare for the stations first phase jump."
Several hours later, after fires and repairs to the major key systems had been completed. Inner Haven started powering up for its first phase jump; which should instantly transport Inner Haven to a preset location where it should be safe. Once it was fully powered; it started glowing like it was in a transport beam. Then as if nothing had ever been built there, Inner Haven disappeared from known space...
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November 30, 2337 - Mors Mortis (4:10 PM)
Shadow woke slowly; a slight pain in his right arm reminded him that his arm had been dislocated. He slowly moved it and noticed that it was back in place but still hurt quite a bit, meaning it hadn't been long since it happened. Though when he moved his arm he noticed his other arm moved too and that it was hard to move the one arm, he opened his eyes and noticed his hands were cuffed...but not by normal cuffs.
The cuffs that held his arms together were half a foot wide covering most of his forearms and wrist that were one device with a code lock on it. He then noticed it would be impossible to get them off without the code and an extra hand, and that these cuffs were made from the strongest metal found in the galaxy; God stone.
He heard a moan come from his right and looked over to where the moan had come from. That's when he saw he was in a room filled with many other people all in similar positions, only their cuffs were normal ones. The thing that caught his attention the quickest was the fact that he was the only fur in the room. Everyone else was human and all taller then his Six foot five inches.
A door opened somewhere and Shadow heard several people moving into the room. Then the door shut again, and all went quite. He heard someone starting to get up, then heard another person moaning as they sat up. He sat up too and looked around, there were now ten other people in the room; all human as well, each with a rifle of some sort he had never seen before except once.
The last time he saw them was back at the family home when Maya, Ada, David and himself where attacked by Outcasts. Their weapons where similar to those weapons which made Shadow very worried, because nine of them were armed with them while another man stood with only a side arm attached to his waist.
The man with just the side arm was tall; even for a human, and stood at seven foot five inches tall. Not only was he tall but buff as well. He had muscles so large, they were bigger then Shadows head, yet he didn't seem to be encumbered by them. He was bald and had a mustache over his upper lip only, and a scar that looked like someone had taken their nails or claws and tried to scrape out his right eye.
The man smirked and said in a deep almost demonic sounding voice "I see the new meat is awake...welcome to Mors Mortis."