Chapter Text
Captain Yasuo watched the blip on his radar with mild curiosity. It was probably just a below average asteroid, but the only thing out here for miles. He, and the Morning Star crew were out in deep space. They were heading to a job they had picked up in the galactic exurbs. It was just some rogue creature wreaking havoc in the outer rings of the galaxy that he and his crew would be paid handsomely to deal with.
Yasuo's pet lizard sat on his shoulder, purring gently. He had rescued it a few months back, and the pair had become inseparable. Despite having his crew, it was still nice to have something with him to pass by the boring hours like now. He brushed his fingers against its spines.
The asteroid grew nearer, beeping on his sonar radar with a lazy thrum.
Then the distress call sounded. Radiating from the blip on his radar, and reaching likely hundreds of miles. There was no asteroid out there.
"Jinx-"
"Already on it."
Jinx, his pilot, turned the ship towards the signal, and Yasuo prepared the docks. Jinx was reckless, but a good pilot. She did her job well, as well as helped out with maintenance. Yasuo was aware that she had gone by a different name in her past, but he had never asked, and she had never told. So Jinx it was, his lucky pilot.
"Heading down. You keep doing what you're doing." He said.
"On it boss." She replied, a little too chipper to be dealing with what might be a life or death situation. Yasuo passed by his other two crewmates on his way down. Malphite watched him with mild interest, and Yasuo handed the lizard off to him. Promptly, it wrapped itself around Malphite's massive shoulders while the big guy smiled adoringly.
"Distress signal. Malphite, let other ships in the area know we have it covered. Sona stay put."
Yasuo dipped down into the manhole leading below deck. From there, he could use the air locks to bring the target in.
He's dying. Sona's words broadcast directly into his head. She was the newest member of their crew, a templar currently being hunted for her knowledge of the ora gates.
Yasuo did not have time to question what she meant by that, or that she knew the target was a man, so instead he continued down.
"If you think you can help, come with me. If not, stay put. I need eyes and ears on me as we prepare for interception."
Sona followed him down the hatch. Yasuo punched in the code to open the first hatch.
This is a bad idea. We should not take him in.
"Why is that?" Yasuo asked, not really listening as he put in three more codes, put on a helmet, and hooked a rope to his belt. It shouldn't be necessary, but there was only one vacuum chamber between him and open space. He opened the last hatch, and listened to the whir of air leaving the chamber.
"Target in sight. Velocity at five percent, declining at a rate of fifteen meters per second. Interception in five, four-" Jinx's voice called out in his ear. Yasuo saw the target, not much more than a black blob in front of him.
"Three."
The figure got closer, and Yasuo could see a pool of golden light pouring across the figure. It bubbled and floated away into space, being pushed away by the air coming from the ship.
"Two."
A strange sinking feeling washed over Yasuo as the figure was bathed in the light of the lower deck. He looked oddly… familiar.
"One."
The figure floated into the vacuum chamber, and Yasuo slammed the button to close the door behind him, then began to fill the room with air again. The figure dropped instantly due to the artificial gravity in the ship, hiding from Yasuo's sight. All he had seen was a shock of blue hair, and pools and pools of ora.
"Good job, Jinx." Yasuo murmured over the coms.
"My pleasure!"
There was no use in waiting. Yasuo opened the door once the pressure stabilized, and saw their new passenger fully for the first time. His blood ran cold. It was the body of the ordinal that had been chasing them across the galaxy.
***
For one very crucial second, Yasuo considered stepping back inside, opening the port door, and letting his body float back out into space. Kayn. Here on this ship. Alone, lifeless, bleeding out. There was no telling if this was a trick, in fact it almost certainly was, but… that was a lot of blood. His uniform had been ripped open, and unless he was really good at hiding them, he had no weapons on him.
Still, Yasuo's burning fury for the man who had killed his brother and cast him out from his life of ease and comfort was nearly enough to let him die. Revenge would be sweet, only this didn't feel like revenge. Kayn would never know it was him who let him die, and some sick part of Yasuo wanted him to be present when he drove the knife through his heart.
Alternatively, there was a bounty on the ordinal's head. If he found the right buyer, he and his crew could be set for a very long time. Alive, bounties were often worth more than dead. They also still wouldn't have to worry about being chased if this lunatic was locked behind bars, and he could get a little bit of satisfaction by locking him up and dishing out his due justice.
"He's alive?" Yasuo asked again.
Barely.
"Can you fix him?"
Sona shot him a look halfway between disgust and contempt. She had probably been listening to his thoughts, and knew his line of thinking, but still, she was the one here most affected by the ordinal's presence.
"I can leave him there, call for another ship to come pick him up." Yasuo offered, trying desperately to sound nonchalant. "If you're not comfortable helping him, or him being here, then he goes. I won't put my crew in jeopardy for the sake of a distress call."
He won't last until backup comes.
"Then what do you want to do?" Yasuo asked.
Sona took her sweet time mulling it over considering the guy was probably seconds away from death.
Bring him in. Cuff him. Take him somewhere stable. I'll heal him, and we'll turn him in.
Yasuo nodded. He could have expected as much. Sona was compassionate to a fault. Her abilities to heal came with a soft sort of obligation to use them. It was like an unspoken hippocratic oath. Still, it was clear she shared Yasuo's feelings towards their new passenger, and probably felt even stronger.
Yasuo stooped down and picked up the listless body. Pools of ora ran down his arms, coating him in that golden glow that kept the ordinal's body running. With this much inside him, he could have probably survived a little while longer in open space, even while bleeding out. Would it have sustained him in the vacuum? Was it only now that he was under an atmosphere of pressure that the ora could no longer keep him alive?
He carried the body up the ladder, Sona at his heels. Mounting the gap, he watched as Malphite and Jinx realized what was happening. On the former, a look of mild curiosity turned to fury, and on the latter, a look of boredom turned to excitement. The lizard leapt off of Malphite's shoulder and clambered up Yasuo's leg, depositing itself on the chest of the man he held in his arms.
"Woo! Yeah! That's fifteen units baby! Hand 'em over." Jinx squealed, punching Malphite in his stony arm. She probably did more harm to herself in the act, but didn't seem to care. She was jumping up and down, trying to get a better look at the ordinal as Yasuo swept by her towards the medical bay. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Malphite begrudgingly transfer the units on his communications device. He wondered what their bet had even been on.
Sona floated along silently beside him, and he heard the couch creaking as Malphite slouched back down. He would speak to them later, if he needed to, and probably remind them that all their currency was in a shared account. It had been a unanimous decision a few months back, where each crewmate could take and leave as they wished. It had encouraged among them a stronger sense of honor and loyalty; no wasting a paycheck on getting hammered alone, and no worrying about not having enough to pay for a repair.
Once in the med bay, with the doors sealed shut, Sona began preparing the operating table. Her control over ora was something far beyond the captain, who merely watched as her floating ceremonial garb tethered to her from the corner. He set down the ordinal on the table, and stepped out to gather any restraints and Demaxian steel they had on board. His lizard leapt from the unconscious body on the table to Yasuo's shoulder as he left, and curled up, promptly falling asleep. They went together to gather any techno-magical suppressants they had, as they would be put to use keeping their new guest stationary.
Sona had already started the healing process by the time he had returned, and he tried not to disturb her as he bound the ordinal to the table. It wouldn't be comfortable, but frankly, he didn't give a shit about the ordinal's comfort. He would live, and that would be more than enough generosity than he was owed.
It's strange… Sona's voice echoed through his head. It was never expected, always a little jarring when she did that, but Yasuo also appreciated the softness of her inner voice. She was not loud and menacing, but delicate and comforting, if a little otherworldly. She hardly seemed the stern templar, or witch the rest of the galaxy would make her out to be, more of a free spirit, bound only by her extraordinary powers.
"What is?" He asked.
He seems… different.
"Different? Different how?" Yasuo asked.
Sona did not answer. Her eyes were alight with the power of the ora running through her- and his- veins, but they were soft, too. She no longer wore the stern expression of someone thoroughly disgusted with the ordinal, but rather something akin to sympathy.
"Sona…" he said in a warning tone. She had an unfortunate knack for taking on the emotions of those she was bonded with, as was the disposition of many with her gifts. It would not benefit them if the ordinal's emotions were false, and could lead to further manipulation down the line. He would do best to keep the two separate, as emotional manipulation was both a learned talent of the Demaxian ordinals, as well as something Sona in particular was susceptible to.
I know what you're thinking, She said. But he's not cognizant enough for that. What he's feeling now can’t be faked. I guess I just didn't think he was capable of… never mind. You can go. He'll be fine. Maybe a few days of recovery, and then he'll be back to his murderous, lunatic self.
Yasuo turned, ready to obey, but then paused, leaning against the door.
"What is it he's feeling?" He asked.
Sona looked at him, a knowing look in her eyes that only assured Yasuo more that he would need to keep the pair separate.
Sona looked back down, and Yasuo slipped through the door, but not before catching her last word.
Grief.
***
He tried not to dwell on anything. He had to be the captain, and make sure that first and foremost, his crew was safe and comfortable. Instead, he ran through all his possible options, and the best course of action for the next few days. Only when he had a firm grasp of two possible plans did he start to make his way towards the rest of his crew in earnest.
He walked back into the lounge area where Jinx and Malphite were talking in a hushed whisper- or about as hushed as either of them could get- and took several deep breaths to try and calm himself. He ran his fingers over the spines of the sleeping body on his shoulder, and felt the purr vibrate against the column of his neck.
"So," he said, addressing the pair, and snapping them out of their conversation.
" So, " Jinx echoed mockingly. The barely concealed glee coloring her tone.
"So we found the ordinal that's been chasing us."
"I know. He's even cuter in person!" Jinx giggled. Malphite slowly, almost imperceptibly nodded his head.
"Jinx, please, this is serious." He said.
"So what are we gonna do with him? I know you want to kill him, but like, how long until you do that? Do I at least get a chance to shoot my shot? C'mon, don't give me that look!"
Yasuo pressed his fingers to his temples, willing whatever gods were out there in this vast universe to please give him strength.
"No shots will be fired, and I mean that both figuratively and literally," he said, and finally made up his mind on the next course of action. "We're bringing him in. There's a bounty on his head for abandoning the empire, and the emperor wants him back in his control. We'll take the money, and have one less hunter after us. In the meantime, we will take it in turns to watch him. We will conduct ourselves civilly. We all have a history with him, but we aren't trying to get any war crime charges against us, so we will treat him with the protocol appropriate for prisoners of war. Jinx, you have to listen to me when I say he is not our friend. He will use every opportunity to try and get in your head. He will not give us any information we might want, or cooperate in any way. We only need to bear whatever he throws at us for a few days before we are rid of him forever. Is that clear?"
Jinx's look of disappointment was profound, but also probably not all together honest. It was obvious she was still too excited to have a potential new friend of a passenger to really be upset with the rules he had established. Optimistic to a fault.
Malphite, on the other hand, looked concerned.
"What is it, big guy?" Yasuo asked in a gentler tone. Malphite looked at Jinx, then back at Yasuo.
"He came to us hurt." He said. "Jinx says it could be an act, but he wouldn't do that to himself, right?"
Yasuo nodded. The thought had crossed his mind. He had been genuinely hurt. No one, not even Kayn was insane enough to mortally wound himself, then cast himself into deep space with nothing so much as his own ora-infused body to keep him safe. He had no way of knowing anybody, let alone the people he had been hunting, would be anywhere near close enough to pick him up.
"It’s hard to believe all of his injuries were self-inflicted." Yasuo confirmed.
"Then that means there's something out there. Something that not even he can stop."
The room went dead silent. The true horror of their situation dawned on them all. Yasuo was loath to admit the idea hadn't even dawned on him that Kayn was way above them in almost every regard. If something had nearly killed him, then there was no way his ragtag crew of misfits could stop it, and it would surely come back to finish the job once it realized the ordinal had survived.
"Then we need to keep a low profile. Do not send or pick up any more distress calls unless absolutely necessary. Do not document what we are doing. No logs, no research, nothing. Nothing that can indicate we have anybody other than the four of us onboard. We will speak only to the bounty collectors when we meet in person, and we will take as discreet a route as we can to the heart of the empire. Jinx-"
"You can count on me cap! I'll get us there. I know this galaxy like the back of my hand."
Yasuo nodded, finally a little appreciative of her enthusiasm.
"And Malphite-"
"I can take it. If anything does come after us, I'll do everything in my power to keep you all safe. I likely can't stop whatever will be after us, but I can at least slow it down so Jinx can get the ship to safety."
Yasuo nodded, and Jinx burst out in exaggerated sobs. She leapt into Malphite's lap, which utterly dwarfed her, and buried her face in his tattered old knit shirt.
"I'll come back for you!" She sobbed.
Malphite smiled, and patted her as gently as he was able on the top of her head.
"I know you will."
Yasuo allowed himself a small smile before slipping back into the command room. Their destination was currently set for the outer reaches of the galaxy, and it would take them three days to reach the heart of the empire if they turned around now. Three days wouldn't be so bad, but unfortunately, if they wanted to keep a low radar, they had to finish their current job before turning around. So another day out, a day to finish the job, a day to make it to their employer and collect their reward, and then by that time it would be an additional five days to deposit the ordinal. That was eight days. Eight days that they had to keep a low profile. Eight days that they had to deal with the ordinal.
The ordinal would need constant attention. Despite all of his precautions, there was no guarantee the Demaxian technology would hold him. He could divide the day into four parts, so that they would each only have contact with him for six hours at a time, but he was still uncertain about Sona. And he was uncertain about himself. He could ask Jinx and Malphite to take turns, as certainly Jinx would oblige, and Malphite wouldn't refuse, but that would be a lot to ask of them, especially when he was expecting Jinx to pilot as well.
He slumped down in the captain's chair, rubbing his temples. The only fair way to manage would be equal sharing among all of them, but multiple times a day instead of just one stretch. They could probably get by with three two hour shifts a day, and he'd be sure to put Jinx at the most regular times so she would be able to pilot and sleep without sacrificing too much. He could ask her to do mornings around seven hundred, noon, and evenings at nineteen hundred. It would be rough, but not overnight.
Malphite was easy. He rarely slept anyway, and his jobs on board were the most flexible, so he'd let him set his own schedule. Then the problem was just him and Sona. Sona, he decided, could not be left alone with the ordinal. There was too much risk, as she was a past target, and her abilities made her susceptible to all sorts of issues. She would still need to come in to perform medical examinations, but she could not be alone.
And then there was Yasuo himself. Easily the most problematic of the group, as he himself still wasn't sure he wouldn't kill the guy in his sleep. He was sure that feeling would not go away, and might even worsen the more they spent time together, but he was disciplined enough not to act- yet. If he felt the urge overtake him, he might need to step back and reevaluate, take on more of Jinx and Malphite's roles. He could manage them, he just wasn't as good, and it might take them an extra day or two if he was piloting, but he figured it would be necessary to have this contingency plan for the time being.
Ten days at most. Eight days if everything went well. They could do eight days, and would manage ten. They had done it before, and they could do it again. They just had to hope and pray whatever had done this to the ordinal would not find them. If it did, well… it was best not to think about that.
They were fucked. Completely and expeditiously. If whatever had mortally wounded the ordinal was a malicious force hunting him down, they had no chance of stopping it. Malphite's offer was generous, and more than the captain could ever ask for, but the plan he had that he would not share with the crew was that if that force came back, it would not be Malphite who was cast off the ship to stop it, but Kayn. Kayn was the first to go, and hopefully that would be enough to appease the forces to let the Morning Star go. He was not sacrificing his crew for the neck of a man who had been hunting them across the galaxy for months, no matter how big the paycheck was.
Yasuo sent an adjustable copy of the schedule as a hologram through their communication network, and quickly, all but Sona began to check in their times they would be willing to watch the captive. As expected, Jinx asked for more than her share, and Malphite filled up three back to back night watch positions. Yasuo typed in tentative times for himself and Sona once the other two had gotten their schedules squared away, and then set his com down. They ended up settling with Malphite at night, then Jinx in the early mornings, Yasuo throughout the day, Jinx again, and finishing off with Malphite. Sona would come in when either Jinx or Yasuo were present as she needed.
He stood, and then scooped the lizard off his shoulder and sat it down on his chair. He checked their course to make sure they were still on track for their first destination, checked the time, and all other functions of the ship to make sure nothing had been damaged during the pickup. It was strange that the ordinal was alone, but there was nothing else his radar could detect. Not even that gaudy scythe he carried around. Absolutely nothing for thousands of miles in any direction. Yasuo tried not to let his mind wander, instead losing himself in the menial tasks of maintenance- killing time before he had to go back and check on Sona and their new prisoner.
Once he had exhausted all possible modes of delaying the inevitable, he set off again towards the med bay. Jinx passed him by, sliding into her pilot's seat, and Malphite stood behind her, checking the cannons and the ship's armor just in case anything did come after them. Yasuo did not meet their eyes as he passed.
It was quiet when he entered. Sona was sitting in the corner, reading the schedule, and comparing it to a table she had made herself for the ordinal's foreseeable care requirement. Yasuo watched the ordinal's chest rise and fall, strangely smaller and less imposing without the restrictive ordinal attire he was normally sheathed in. He was actually quite a bit smaller than Yasuo had previously thought, clearly still muscular, but not nearly as much as he had assumed under the garments, and a good head shorter than Yasuo himself. He was also littered with scars that shone silver and gold. Old battle wounds, now healed with the ora that flowed through his veins.
He is remarkable. Disgusting, but astonishing. No mortal body should be able to hold that much ora. His body should be eating itself from the inside out, and yet here he is, reliant on it. He will survive, but his care will be brutal. He sustained quite substantial damage, far beyond what most bodies could survive. He was missing most of his vital organs when we got to him, and it was only the ora keeping him alive for so long.
Yasuo tried to move past the sick sense of satisfaction he got hearing whatever had gotten to the ordinal had disemboweled him, but Sona shot him a knowing look that let him know that his thoughts were not safe from her. Still, while the prognosis was bleak, he was alive, and should recover. The advances in medical technology and cybernetics would assure that even if all a body was left with was a functioning brain, it could still persist. It was a cursed life, a life filled with pain and horrors beyond the comprehension of those who had not experienced cybernetic replacement, but it was still life, and that was what mattered.
Yasuo might be concerned about how his captive might react to having his internal organs replaced if he could at all be bothered to give a shit about his brother's murderer's mental health, and if Kayn had not already lost an arm and an eye. He would be fine, and if he was not, it was not Yasuo's responsibility to care.
There's something- ah, never mind. You… um- I believe you did the right thing. Saving a life, even his life, is always a worthy pursuit.
Yasuo nodded absently. It was nineteen hundred. He might as well get their shifts started if Sona was done here.
"I'm going to send the big guy in. Do you need anything else?" He asked.
No, he is doing well. I'll check on him again tomorrow morning, just let me know if he wakes up, okay?
Yasuo nodded again.
"Yeah. Right." He said, sliding out once more. He returned to the galley and tapped Malphite on the shoulder. The titan stood, leveling him with a somber, yet reassuring look. Yasuo gave him a tight lipped smile, and sank back down in the captain's chair.
Eight more days, then the nightmare would be over. Eight more days, and they could forget this ever happened.