Belle Starr Short Stories: Episode 15 - Omec Overture

Belle Starr, Confessions of an Ark Hunter: Episode 15 – Omec Overture

Note: some elements of this story are not suitable to younger readers.

The mission to the VBI compound outside of Defiance had been fubar from the moment of their arrival, and now Belle Starr and her fire team had to rescue the VBI scientist and his wife from the approaching Votan Collective army of The Beast.

Erika Widowmaker came up to Belle, looking pale but already moving more like her old self, and warned, "Do not be captured by the Beast! He has a well warranted reputation in the Votan Collective of being ruthless and cruel in how he treats humans."

Erika touched the large scar running diagonally down the left side of her face, not burdening her friend with the story of how she received that scar from the Beast and not the enemy. Early in the Pale Wars, Erika was a teenage private serving under the Beast, then himself a young captain, but who already had a reputation as a sadist. The Beast had ordered her to torture to death a human noncombatant, but instead she killed him outright, pretending to misunderstand the order, although that didn't keep the Beast from slashing at her with his charge blade. The next day she was transferred to the Florida front by a sympathetic commanding officer, who she would be eternally grateful to.

Lady Christianna had already blurred out the door and into the Mech, headed to the Vigilant, the team aircraft, when Belle left the lab in the basement to begin her scouting mission, giving a jaunty wave and wishing everyone before she left, "Good luck y'all!"

As Belle went upstairs and was going through Pyotr and Stephanie's home to the front door, she stopped by the bedroom to grab a white sheet, making a makeshift poncho to put over her brightly hued Liberty Trooper armor to camouflage herself in the snow, thinking to her EGO, "Remind me to replace that when I get back to Paradise, MOM!"

Belle almost laughed at the way her mind worked. They were about to overrun by enemies that hated humans, and she was worried about the next white sale. She blurred out the front door, having MOM, her EGO psyche, locate the slow moving enemy vehicle on her radar and flanked it's left side, then paralleled it's course out of their sight. Belle however, had enhanced senses and a control of her own organic structure, so she manipulated her optic lenses to give herself telescopic sight.

Belle saw the vehicle was a truck rather than a car, making another mental note to teach Lexy, their aircraft’s young AI that had warned them of the enemies’ approach, the difference when she had the chance. Belle confirmed the vehicle's destination was Pyotr's compound and noted there was a squad inside of well-armed Collective soldiers, grizzled veterans by the look of them - then with a shock saw that some of them wore what appeared to be human skin masks and that the vehicle itself seemed to be decorated with human heads on pikes!

Belle had just reported to her team her findings, when she noticed she was near the collapsed gulanite mines outside of Defiance where she had looked for Nolan and fought the Monarch. Suddenly, the ground went out from under her, and she fell into the dark for some time, hitting the ground hard in a chasm hidden far below under the snow and dirt which gave way under her weight.

Belle rose up on her arms, her armor and energy shield saving her from any real physical harm. Standing up, she shifted her eyes to infra-red mode as she peered into the darkness, but saw nothing. She then tried to contact the rest of her team via her EGO, but as she feared, all EGO and hailer transmissions were blocked by the natural features of the gulanite caverns - or perhaps something else!

Belle Starr unslung her VBI SMG-EEC, turning on the light attached to it. She looked up to the hole far above, seeing the daylight emanating through it, quickly evaluating that she would NOT be going back outside that way. She was in a tunnel of some sort, and judged that the tunnel seemed to be man-made, Belle figured it must be part of the gulanite mine network outside Defiance. Not seeing a light at either end of the tunnel, Belle took out a coin, flipping it, and catching it with the heads side up. Belle shrugged her armored shoulders, then went to her right hoping to find egress to the outside that way.

It wasn't long before Belle came to fork in the road, both literally and figuratively. She was about to take out her coin again to decide which way to go, when a deep commanding voice spoke out, making her turn towards it, her sub-machinegun at the ready.

A large unarmed man dressed in ornate purple armor and an unusual hat with a sash that covered most of his face said in a voice rich with charisma, "You appear lost young one."

"And y'all appear not to be from around these parts, pardner!" retorted Belle, her narrowed blue diamond eyes noting his purple skin and unusual eyes, telepathically saying with irritation to MOM, her sentient EGO device, "A little warning please!"

"Sorry dear, my systems are completely mucked up down here," Replied MOM, frustration evident in her voice.

"I am not from around here. I am T'evin of the Omec, new to your planet. I sense that you are not all you seem to be on the outside, although the exterior is very attractive in an exotic manner. I sense cyborg enhancements, with a sentient power granting implant as well. Most unusual for a specimen of the dominant native species of this planet, is the Volge genes spliced into your human ones, I assume. I wish I had time to converse to find out how and why, but I am on a mission of dire importance to my people."

Belle found herself completely charmed by his voice, feeling he could ask her to strip naked and walk through fire and she would do so willingly. She slung her SMG, looking him up and down and pleased with what she saw, thinking, "He is just SO yummy! I'm going to have to change my panties when I get out of here!" But saying to him, "I'm Belle Starr of the Earthlings! Pleased to meet y'all! Omec, huh? Can't say I've met any of you folk before, but I should warn you some nasty folk from the Votan Collective are upstairs, and I don't think they hanker to make friends like I do! So T'evin, can you tell me all friendly like what the best way to get back to the surface is, as I've got people up there who might be a mite worried about me!"

"But of course, I will show you. Follow me," Replied T'evgin with a slight bow of his head; a gesture that made her want to make all sorts of improper advances to him, but she fought off the urge. As Belle followed T'evgin as he showed her the way to the surface, he asked her many questions, which she answered completely without even thinking of deception, but every time she asked a question in return, he sidestepped it neatly. When they got to the surface, he took his leave and went back into the mine, leaving her wondering how he could so completely enchant her into revealing everything she knew without telling her anything himself, but also hoping that they would meet again soon in a more relaxed environment, like maybe The Crater.

If you want to read the complete shared story of “Choices and Consequences” visit the unofficial Defiance RP Forum at http://defiancerpforum.freeforums.net/thread/64/choices-consequences