[center][h1][color=00a651][b][u]NERO KAYAKOS[/u][/b][/color][/h1][/center]

So...as things went on, their little discussion had hit upon the idea that if the pirates had any sense at all, they'd be using a little shuttle in any place that was civilized, not their main pirate vessel.  And that's as maybe, considering that they were out here on a little tugboat to take them basically unawares.  Then, there was the comment that pirates were just bad assassins, and this might've erupted into an actual argument if Ki'Tlex hadn't made a comment that just made Nero bust out laughing.

[color=00a651]"Oh no!  An assassin who's killed people on their own side is bad!"[/color]

Take it from his perspective for a moment: Nero had [i]never[/i] been on the Ascendancy's side.  They forced him through this mess they called a war, and he'd killed a number of people who rubbed him the wrong way or that he simply didn't give a damn about, so he let them die at the very least.  Now, after the Rau've had been technically good hosts after capture, they were all fighting against the Ascendancy, big time, since...you know...they were [i]always[/i] the bad guys.  But anyway, planning continued because there wasn't much else to do around here, and since Nero didn't hate anybody on this boat, he wasn't planning on stuffing anybody in a ventilation shaft.

But then...[i]disaster[/i].  A message sent to their ship, along with news of [i]apparently[/i] civil war, the mission had been called off.  The pirates had been 'dealt with', which could've meant they fled or were killed or [i]anything[/i].  This immediately put Nero in a bad mood, making one of the access panels at the rear of the ship the sufferer of the end of his boot.

[color=00a651]"Goddamn fucking kill-stealing [i]bastards![/i]  I just wanted to stick it to those assholes for making life shitty for us, and now we don't have that!  Can't even get a simple mission without something going wrong!"[/color]

This went on for a bit, at least until someone reminded him that announcements of whole planets going up in arms to attack the Ascendancy meant that he'd be seeing the most serious action he'd been in since the last war.  [i]That[/i] would probably calm him down.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[center][h1][color=ed1c24][b][i]From The Field...[/i][/b][/color][/h1][/center]

The message regarding the pirates had to come from [i]somewhere[/i], of course, and who better to tell that little ship to get back and regroup than those who had done the deed, and now stood with among the dead?  It was hard to tell if they got 'em all.  Probably not, but you could definitely say for certain that this [i]particular[/i] group of pirates was done for, a glorious mess of blood and bodies.  She watched the message go out on her Omnitool while the others checked things out, one hand still wielding a [i]very[/i] heavy blade while other implements of gory destruction remained on her back.  She read the message again, their rebel band's marching orders, and let off [url=https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/bc6584e7-1a2c-4d8b-8105-bf45a2d184f2.jpg]a vicious grin.[/url]

[color=ed1c24]"He'll hate it.  It will absolutely [i]infuriate him[/i].  But he'll [i]love it[/i], after that."[/color]

Mary, the Berserker of Squad 0, was like an incarnation of war.  They had seen a temper and a lack of restraint in her, and they decided 'Let's run with it', creating the war child that grew to be this dark-haired killing machine with eyes like fire and a delight in pushing forwards into combat and coming out the other end covered in blood that was not her own.  She didn't care about the Ascendancy and its politics, only the glorious sensation of battle, the delightful sounds of flesh ripping and bones crunching in her ears, and the freedom to just cut loose and think of nothing...but kill.

You can see, then, why she saw something in another, saw such potential and...kinship...in another among the squads.  He was [i]perfection[/i].  He [i]hated[/i] the war, but instead of making him a whining coward, he exceeded expectation and killed every single person who ever crossed him, taunting them all the way.  It was keen workmanship too, such skill with so small a blade...  She was hardly sloppy with her own weapons, but it always impressed to see him slip in and out of danger like water.  That was why it actually hurt when they had to betray the other squads, the other marines.  Most of them were nothing to her, but [i]Nero[/i]...  She'd told Crowley they shouldn't have left him, that he had a place among them.

That corpse, Ophelia, agreed, but that's because she wanted to possess him, keep him like a [i]pet[/i].  Pathetic...  May as well try to own [i]fire[/i], but that witch muttered about the boy at every opportunity, and if she thought [i]for one minute[/i] that she was going to [i]take him away-[/i]  ...No.  Not now.  Not like this.  This was a [i]good[/i] day.  They could finally show their faces again, and some of them might even understand.  Nero would, because what he wanted was the same exact thing she hungered for.  And in her secret dreams, she would be by his side as they happily killed everyone on Earth...

[color=ed1c24][i]Not so unrealistic as that, of course.  War is coming, Nero.  They'll look on in envy as we carve the battlefield apart, and then we can take our time putting them all out of their misery...[/i][/color]