Day 3 | Night | All By Myself

[Kannon]

Careful what you wish, someone could say. Lydia had all the space for self-reliance now. She had been left alone, wounded. The rockslide the Atreides thopter had caused had isolated her from her team, she had barely escaped being buried under that avalanche. Then she had seen them evacuate from the onslaught of mercenaries, with the thopter shooting at the sky as if there was no tomorrow. The cartel thugs had poured out to the jungle below, soon followed by Atreides strike teams deployed from the monstrous carrier hovering above them. They were performing an air-ground corralling operation, compelling surrender or delivering death on any mercenary they would encounter. She could join that hunt if she wanted, though the body would protest...

[Lydia Storm]

Ironic. I knew this would happen.

Lydia had been moving quietly and carefully, keeping an eye out. She couldn't even be angry, there was too much to focus on around her. Normally she'd happily take up the task of hunting down the idiots trying to run from strike team, maybe even revel in it, but this wasn't the time and she wasn't in a condition to fight if one caught up with her. So for now she listened while sitting behind a tree, she'd have to do the terrible thing of actually approaching one of the strike team but she had to make sure it was not a trigger happy group first.

[Kannon]

And yet, against her intent, in yet another irony, she got on trail of one of the fleeing mercenaries before she would come close to any of the Atreides. It was obvious because the trail was marked by signs of staggered movement on the vegetation, and blood.

[Lydia Storm]

Lydia managed to resist sighing, and pushing herself up began to follow the tracks. Nobody was getting away, even if she had to do it in her condition. The blood made it appear that the person wouldn't last long anyway.

[Kannon]

Sohee.jpg (26.49 KiB) Viewed 1836 times

She found the woman flopped under a tree, bloodying from the wounds she had suffered. She seemed to have no weapon beyond her knife. This was the one that had exchanged fire with Hadrian, to the detriment of both. She raised hands on approach.

"Oh, hello sniper. So this is how you look like. I surrender. Though I won't hold it against you if you shoot me. May be nicer than what can still await me either from the Atreides or the jungle."

Her accent made Lydia skip a bit. She was from Grumman.

[Lydia Storm]

"You're a long way from home" Lydia commented as she came to a stop, glad there wouldn't be a fight. She looked at the girl without getting closer to gauge how much she was bleeding out.

"I'm not gonna execute you if you're surrendering girl. Not my place to decide your punishment. Assuming that" she motioned to the wound "isn't gonna kill you first everyone has to answer for what they did in the end. You're smart enough to get down here though without being tracked, surprised you didn't keep going."

[Kannon]

"...As are you." She finally said, having placed what had been bugging her. "Funny how it has worked out."

She leaned back and covered her wounds with her hands. There was certain stoicism in her, likely from resignation.

"It as well may. I am no doctor to tell how quickly though. I have just run out of... everything. Finally, I suppose." She sighed. "You are in no great shape either. Better get patched up. Name's Sohee by the way, if you care."

[Lydia Storm]

"Still a step up from Grumman" Lydia offered, moving to the side so she could keep an eye on the path she came from as well as the girl "not really a medic either, so can't help you with the wounds. Best I can say it keep pressing it or something. Or don't, I'm not gonna finish the job either way."

There was a pause, before a shrug.

"Lydia. I'll survive, gone through worse. First time someone's dropped a cliff on me though, hope I never see that idiot again or I might drop something heavy on his head."

[Kannon]

"I see you have a great relationship with your employers." She almost laughed, but it would hurt. "I mean, it's not that weird. Since Shaddam threw us off the cliff, pardon the pun, it has been like this for most. I wouldn't call any of this a step up, though. Through the brothel on Gamont, to the asteroid belt off Pliesse, to this accursed jungle, doing the bidding of a disgusting Tleilaxu, it has felt like dancing round the same circle of hell."

[Lydia Storm]

"Sucks. I just had to die and get out of the problem I guess" Lydia shrugged "didn't end up in the circles after that. Not that I wasn't having to go through all the work before that for the lost cause Moritani fools."

She sighed, then peered back at the girl again to make sure she wasn't moving away.

"Rare to find someone who's life sucked worse than mine though."

[Kannon]

"It's not a competition, Lydia. If I had a pissing match now, it would have my blood in it. I used to think of myself as a survivor, but right now... think it's as far as it gets." She didn't look like she intended anything. She sighed, looking at her bloodied hand. "I agreed to this because I felt like the Atreides deserved a punch in the gut for what they had done at Ritka. And the money was good, for once. Sticking with the Uchani had its moments. You making peace with them though, fighting on their side... that's just confusing... Guess vendettas should die at some point. Maybe they have never been ours in the first place, just the nobility's. Fucking faufreluches."

[Lydia Storm]

Lydia studied the girl for a few moments before sighing.

"Shame you had to actually die to realise that nobody is on anyone's side but their own. Even the Atreides lot are no different, even if they're less likely to force march you to your death than the others which puts a tiny mark in the W column. Simply put, I'm repaying a favour and that's it. Then I get left alone to live out my days. If I'd said no, nothing would have come of it either. All this shit though? Well bit late to say it wasn't worth it, but I think you worked that one out on your own. Who's smart idea was it up the kidnapping from Muadh to Idaho and the Dukes son anyway, that was always going to bring hell down on this place."

There was a pause then a small chuckle.

"Sheesh the more I think about it the worse it gets. Someone got cocky in high command there. I could almost feel sorry for you if I had any humanity left in me, you and the other were fed to the lions. Just hope the high command also got caught too but I bet they had an escape plan."

[Kannon]

She wanted to say something but then she let go.

"Hey, it was Marek's call! I was very far from calling any shots." She winced. "All I knew coming here was that we were about to protect a secret business operation sponsored by a Great House. Figured it out with the Uchani boys it was Londine's. CHOAM directors, Landsraad politicking, the Noble Commonwealth, yada yada, high pay not that suspicious. If we had known a Tleilaxu was in command maybe a third would have signed up, tops. After they put us here and we got a good idea what was really going on with ailar, the primitves and whatnot, there was no easy way to leave. When Idaho and that kid walked on us, there were no good choices. Most of us hoped for some evac in couple days but only Marek knew and controlled the flight schedules." She sighed. "Too late for dumb excuses though."

After a moment of contemplating her wound, she spoke again.

"Don't gloat, Lydia. You're a precious something. By your description, the life you have is hard to come by for any Moritani out there. Who knew the Atreides are so... forgiving."

[Lydia Storm]

"Tsk. Typical. Well, nothing can be done now. As for gloating?"

There was a shrug.

"You could have the same. Maybe. Just gotta have the right thing to say, and do something for it. Maybe it's too late, maybe not. I'm not gonna say what my price was, but if the graveyard I've created in my life is any hint then I'd say you got enough you could barter with. Floors yours, assuming you make it. As far as anyone outside of this planet is aware I'm dead anyway."

[Kannon]

"Wait."

Sohee squinted, looking at Lydia.

"Well, yeah, I can see the likeness."

[Lydia Storm]

"No you don't" there was a firmness of her statement "whoever you think I may resemble, I'm not that person."

[Kannon]

'Sure you aren't." Sohee mused. "But if you ever meet your lookalike, you can tell her to get in touch with that guy in the Harmonthepi restaurant in Cala City."

[Lydia Storm]

"Hmph."

Lydia looked back towards where the strike team was starting. She put a hand on her side to check her own wounds, she didn't think she was too wounded but there was blood.

"If I meet her I'll let her know" she finally said "least I can do for a dying woman I suppose."

[Kannon]

Sohee relaxed, as she had done something important and could rest now. They both heard the Atreides approaching.

"I won't go through this. It's either your bullet or my knife. I'd much prefer it quick." She removed the helmet and took hair from her forehead. "Be kind, for auld lang syne."

[Lydia Storm]

"So at the end you choose the cowards way out?" Lydia narrowed her eyes at the girl.