The Last Will and Testament of Belle Starr: Episode 12 - Belle Starr, Confessions of an Ark Hunter

Belle Starr, Confessions of an Ark Hunter: Episode 12 – The Last Will and Testament of Belle Starr

Belle Starr was going home in a box, and on New Year’s Eve, Sadly thought Lady Christianna, the tiny thin sixteen-year old Castian dressed in black like a Goth biker, dwarfed by the solemn seven foot tall muscular Irathian woman in camouflage garb standing next to her. Lady, as her clan liked to refer to her, hoped that the much older woman wouldn’t notice the tears welling up in her pink eyes behind her outlaw shades.

Belle would so much rather be partying at the crater, probably by this time dancing on top of a table with a glass of champagne, and not spilling a drop, Lady almost smiled at the thought, until she remembered the tragedy of the present situation.

The box was actually a modified Gulanee life support pod, holding the comatose body of Belle Starr, located in the cargo bay of the VBI prototype stealth aircraft. The two women could see Belle’s pretty freckled face, much paler than usual, through the window at head level in the metal coffin. A honey blond strand of hair hung over Belle’s closed blue eyes, as it was wont to do when she was awake; both women fondly remembering Belle’s manner of always swiping the wayward bangs to the side before she spoke. The two women could feel the slight vibration in their feet as the experimental aircraft took off, beginning the long trip from Lima to Paradise.

Looking with jade green eyes down through the metal box’s small window at the peaceful look on Belle’s unblemished face, Erika Widowmaker thought to herself as she stood at attention with folded arms, You’d never know that her body is riddled with inert nano-parasites or that just a day ago Belle had infected half her fire team with those same nano-parasites and was hunting the other half with glowing red eyes and a large butcher knife.

Erika was a Votan veteran of the Pale Wars, a long deep scar crossing her right cheek to her chin as a continual reminder of that fact, and had seen many dead and wounded soldiers, so seeing another body didn’t affect her much. However, even though Erika had only known Belle Starr for about a week, in that time she had grown to respect and even like her, which was no small accomplishment. As Director of State Security for the Votanis Collective, she had suspected that Belle and her team of misfits were enemies of the State when they secretly entered the South American boundaries of the Collective.

Going against the orders of her superiors, Erika had decided to shadow Belle’s team, and was watching their camp in a forest near a major Collective city when they were attacked by an EGO empowered and heavily armed third party force. Belle had quickly recognized Erika as a bystander in the battle, and had blurred to Erika’s rescue with a wide grin on her face. Erika had thought it odd for a human to rescue an Irathian stranger and to do so smiling, until she later got to talk to Belle and realized that it fit Belle’s philosophy perfectly. Erika realized that Belle was one of those altruistic self-sacrificing heroes who Erika believed often turned the tide of battle but usually died in war. Foolish in her pragamatic soldier’s mind, but also awe inspiring to see.

Erika had been convinced that the mission of Belle’s team was in the best interests of the Votanis Collective as well, so she joined them in their endeavor. Unfortunately, the mission was sidetracked when Belle was infected by hostile nano-parasites, than infected both her Irathian boyfriend as well as Erika herself. Erika remembered the rage and paranoia she felt as she tried and almost succeeded in battering down a metal door to kill those within before she was stopped by a well placed shot. Belle’s uninfected team mates had jury rigged a Votan Thunderer pistol to fire an EMP that rendered the nano-parasites inert, but put those infected into a coma. Dialysis removed the tiny robots from the blood of the infected, but could not remove those that had burrowed into their bodies. Although the two Irathians awoke from their comas shortly after they were shot with the EMP, Belle did not.

The Votanis Collective doctors and VBI scientists who examined Belle did not know why she did not awake: if it was because of her being human, something in her genetic makeup, or the fact that some of the inert nano-parasites had attached themselves to her nervous system; but the latter were taking her to VBI headquarters in the Bay Area for further examination. Erika had felt it her moral duty to accompany Belle there, so she resigned her commission with the Votanis Collective, said good bye to her son who was a Senator in the Parliament, and boarded the VBI aircraft which was where she met Lady Christianna.

When Lady Christianna was tasked with the job of bringing home Belle’s comatose body by her Castian father, Bocar, an elder and quartermaster of the Team Evolution clan, she was shocked and dismayed. As a clan officer and close friend of Bocar’s, Belle Starr had taken on the role of mentoring Lady Christianna in the clan when she joined. Belle was the closest thing Lady had to a mother since she was an infant, although when she once told Belle that belief, Belle had merely laughed and said, “I’m much too young for that – let’s just say I’m your big sister with a better suntan and leave it at that!”

Before Belle had left for the ill fated mission, she had given Lady Christianna an envelope and instructed her not to open it unless something bad happened to Belle. It had been snowing in the Bay Area, very unusual in Paradise, and Lady had a bad premonition feeling when Belle took her aside. Belle was extremely serious as she spoke to Lady Christianna, which was not Belle’s usual way unless there was imminent danger or she was on a mission. In retrospect, Lady guessed both applied to this venture, so she had brought the envelope with her, although she wasn’t quite sure what to do with it, so she reached into her black messenger bag and handed it to the closest authoritative adult figure near her, Erika Widowmaker.

Erika took the envelope from the young Castian with a puzzled look. Written on the envelope in Belle Starr’s flamboyant hand writing was, “To whom it may concern in the event of, you know, I’m dead”, with a happy face at the end of the sentence. Erika knew Belle was not dead, but the doctors and scientists had not given much hope that she would ever wake up, so Erika frowned as she tore open the envelope. In it was one page with several handwritten paragraphs on it and written at the top of the page was “The Last Will and Testament of Belle Starr.”  

Erika read out loud, “If you are reading this, I guess things didn’t go well on my last mission and I’m dead! I’d sigh, but I’m, you know, dead! Huh, writing it down a second time doesn’t make the possibility seem any more real to me, but that’s beside the point! When I took on this adventure with my friends, my family, I knew it was probably a suicide mission, but there was good chance we could save a lot of innocents, and I knew it was worth it! I hope we succeeded before I died! As somebody once said, I knew the job was dangerous when I took it! Come to think of it, I think it was a cartoon character that said it! That figures!

Now to the important stuff: who gets my stuff! I have about four million scrip saved up, so give it all to the Orphans of the Pale Wars Charity – I was one so I can relate, but I was luckier than most! If my boyfriend Vo survives the mission, give him my vehicle collection, he’ll love that! If she survives the mission too, give my sister Rose my legendary weapons, except my Carving Knife Sword, Demon Hunter Pistol, and VBI SMG-EEC, which I want to be buried with fully loaded! You never know what hostile critters you might find in the afterlife, so just in case the ancient Egyptians who built the pyramids are right, I’m going to be prepared! Oh, also bury me with the white teddy bear on my bed – it’s all I have left from my parents! Taffer, I know you always admired my Headshot Custom sniper rifle, so it’s yours! Chase and Iri, you got each other, so there is nothing I can give you that even comes close to that, so be happy and make lots of babies! Most importantly, give Lady Christianna my large collection of outfits! Lady, you’re going to have to alter them a bit since you aren’t, um… as well-rounded as me!

Give to the chief of my clan, Somedude, my sword collection except for the Carving Knife Sword, which I know he really, really wants but he can’t have, because I’m taking it with me! Picture me sticking my tongue out at you Somedude! LOL! Give my clan Team Evolution the rest of my weapons arsenal! Bocar, I trust you to give them to the clan mates who need them, but be sure and keep one for yourself! Y’all are totally awesome!

Bury me on the bluff under the twisted tree above the San Francisco Bay! You know the one near the entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge and behind the race course by the Bug N’Chug! If Vo is still alive, and I sure hope he is, he can show you cause we used to picnic there a lot, but don’t forget the hell bug repellant! They like to nest up there too!

Y’all don’t be sorry for me, I got no regrets! At twenty-one, I’ve had quite a life of adventure, especially the last year and a half in Paradise and it was FUN most of the time! I made lots of friends, joined a great clan in Team Evolution, saved lots of innocents, and if my epitaph is she did more good than harm, I’ll be happy in the afterlife! – written and sworn to as God’s truth, Belle Starr!”

Erika stopped reading and said, “That’s all there is. That’s the end.”

Lady Christianna’s EGO informed her that it was midnight as she had asked it to do. Lady wiped a tear from her pink eye, than reached into the messenger bag hanging at her side with her slender chalk white hands, pulling out a bottle of champagne and two plastic wine glasses. Putting the glasses on top of Belle’s metal coffin near the window by Belle’s honey blond head, she popped the cork out of the bottle, pouring champagne for Erika and herself, which they then drank in an unspoken toast to Belle Starr.

Belle would like that, Thought Lady Christianna to herself, but smiled thinking, Although she wouldn’t have approved of us not using real champagne glasses.

If you want to read how Belle got into this predicament, read the Aftermath and Return shared story in the Defiance Role Play Forum at  http://defiancerp.freeforums.net/thread/36/aftermath-return

Happy New Year!