Smugglers Cove (Love2write and Silence)

"I don't know." Shrugging he looked at one of the little chocolate looking things and opened one. "Guess I'll see if I can figure it out. Just grabbed whatever looked good in the kitchen." That was his typical method of collecting food. "I've never had chocolate unless you mean hot chocolate." It was perhaps his only experience with it. Now he had an idea of what to get Star in the future. Popping the little non-chocolate bite into his mouth he swished it around a few times and frowned. "I don't know...Tastes kind of like....Uh...Oh I got it." Tucking the brown chunk into the side of his cheek he continued, "Ginger coffee ground beans. I used to eat those things all the time. Not so bad if you need a little energy." It was a little bitter but, he didn't mind it. "Sorry I'll try to find chocolate next time. We've got that other stuff, crackers, cheese, some fruit." Hopefully she liked some of the other things better.

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Taking in a deep breath the doctor nodded. "If the pain has subsided I would expect that the growth is just about at the end. Based on the records I have it seems that when the growing pains subside it is a marking of the bones settling as they are."

Anna nodded. "I just wanted to know if it would change his personality or anything like that. Kinda like him as he is."

"Well," sighing he looked between the two of them. "I don't think it would. Considering what I've seen with the Chippequoti that you have here. He's different than many of the records. Perhaps a bit more compassionate though not much more. My theory is that they are more prone to violent behavior but, given the right circumstances they could be like the one here. If you don't have any further questions I need to check on him as well. See how he is healing." The last that the doctor had examined the patient there was heavy bruising and he figured that the only reason he could perform the surgery was due to the advanced healing of the Chippequoti.

Once he was up the stairs the doctor knocked on the door and then entered. It looked like the Chippequoti was still sleeping a lot. There was something not quite right with that kind of behavior from his kind. "Did you know him before the planet here? Was he like this then?" Looking to the others he whispered so he wouldn't wake the patient.
 
"Yeah...that's fine." Star avoids the fruit that looks like some strange version of a strawberry and goes for the grapes and cheese." They sit silently for a minutes while they eat. She glances up at him from time to time watching his face. "Ok, the silence is killing me." She finally says. "What are you thinking?"

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"Before his enslavement into the Killing fields, no. He was always up early and quite active. After the killing fields his spirit and body was pretty broken and he spent days on end sleeping. Then we got his girlfriend back and he's been much better. Almost his old self." Kato says quietly.
 
None of the food seemed to be particularly bad and he tried to eat what she didn't want. The fruit was alright. A little sweet tasting. Killian figured Star was nervous and he wasn't sure what the reason would be. That was until she spoke up. "Oh..." Smirking he tucked the food he had in his mouth into the side of his cheek. "Well uh...You." There were other thoughts too and he sighed. "I'm a guy and you mentioned sex so that's where my brain has been. In the gutter." At least it wasn't dark and brooding thoughts of the Killing Fields.

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The doctor's eyebrows raised slightly. "It's already noon and this is much better?" Stepping into the room he observed the color and tone of the Chippequoti's face. It was as it should be. One give away was their eyes. "Leave us for a few minutes." Once the door shut he waited for a few more minutes while he got the scanning equipment out and a special injection. Finally he set a hand on Killian's shoulder. What he hadn't expected was for the Chippequoti to fly out of the bed ready to fight. A little bit of blood had seeped through the towel wrapped on the man's arm and he beckoned for Killian to come closer. "I'm here to help. Remember me?"

Killian nodded. Walking back over to the bed he sat down and let the man scan his chest and back and legs. Almost without thinking he opened his mouth and then turned his head so the man could see his ears. He knew the whole exam by heart now.

Clacking his tongue the doctor peered over the results that he recorded. Nothing really seemed out of line except for the blood work. A small scan was indicating some distress levels. "I'll need to make a scan for something besides the soft tissue." The bones hadn't been his first concern since he was looking at a nearly indestructible source but, the bruising wasn't fading like it should and he began to wonder if you could bruise the bones of the Chippequoti like you could bruise human bones. Taking a density scanner he ran it over the body and his face grew more grim. He could see where they had taken the bone marrow sample from and it was healing. Many of the other bones including some in the Chippequoti's skull had little hairline fractures. That was the indication of a bruised bone. It just looked like mosaic on the top surface. It explained the extreme fatigue. Thankfully his bones were tough enough to withstand most everyday things and a little beyond. After a good harsh warning to the patient he left the room and stopped to talk with the others. He had a release to speak with anyone in this house signed by the patient a few weeks back.

Finding the others in the living room he sighed. "Well I looked the last place I thought of. All the soft tissue has healed nicely. Even with his bones, after a months of severe beatings it did begin to wear on his bones. Might have shattered the bones of an average man time and again. It will heal but, it seems that it could be taking a while." Taking the scans he had of the bones he showed them to Kato. "Lots of little hairline fractures though they don't appear too deep anymore. Just make sure he keeps on sleeping it will be good for him."
 
Star laughed, her body relaxing. "I was hoping so." She ran a fingers through her short hair and leaned in close to him. "You haven't said anything about my cut. Do you hate it?" She asks, in a flirtatious tone. "I can color it a color of your choice if it'll help. Maybe pink." She smirks.

She leans against him. "I want this, Killian. That gap I mentioned...part of it was cause you weren't really sharing what was going on in your mind...but the other part of it I think is this. Being close to you. It hurt so much, not being close to you these last few months. And I know you've been careful, trying not to trigger me..." She looks up at him with a smile. "You don't need to anymore. I love you, Killian." She stretches her neck up to kiss him, the dark red and white burn scars on her neck peeking from the scarf she seemed to wear constantly now adays.

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Kato observed the scans. It was rather incredible to see this little damage to one who'd spent months in the killing games. He looks up at the doctor chuckling slightly at his sleep comment. "I think he already instinctually knows that, but I'll let him know. Glad to know there isn't anything seriously wrong with him...physically. Mentally though..." Kato shrugs and hands the scans back to the doctor, putting an arm around Anna's shoulders. Killian had never been that stable of a guy in the first place.

Kato glanced over at Mike. He hadn't seen the man that much in the recent days. "What about you, Mike? Need the doc to look over you for anything while he's here?"
 
Mike shook his head at the offer for medical attention. "No I think I'm just dandy." In fact it had been nice to be around a spot long enough to find a new favorite lady. Sounded like they were just supposed to let Killian sleep at least that was the news he got and Mike shrugged. "Eh, well it wasn't like he would get up anyway." Glancing at Kato and Anna he smiled then nodded to the doctor. "I'll be out tonight again."

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Waking up earlier in the mornings was becoming more natural now. Killian sat in a squat position in the garden. He was peering at the little rock alignment he made. It was to indicate approximate ships and then he drew in the sand the rest of the stadium, different out lets that he knew of. There were several and he no doubt hadn't learned about all of them. Biggest part was getting in and then he started to worry. Where would Star go? He couldn't trust that she would be ok by herself. How could she be? They would just as likely throw her into a game to see if he would charge in to get her.

A little hand rested on his shoulder and he peered over at the owner of it. "Just looking." Already he could see disaster falling if they tried. Yet if there was a chance for success what better way to destroy the masters and gain a fleet. He could do so much more smuggling with that.
 
Star sipped her cup of coffee as she peered over his shoulder. She was wearing a large sweatshirt that seemed to swallow her and comfy sweatpants to boot. "You know they have this app where you can draw blueprints on a tablet now?" She teases. "Maybe then we can see whatever it is you're seeing with these...rocks." She ruffles his hair. "Wow...you trying to grow a bush here or something?" She laughs pulling at the long strands. "We should cut your hair too."
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The former crew sat at the table with a hearty breakfast of eggs, fruit, meats and biscuits in the middle of them. They were talking casually, waiting to begin the discussion of this new mission Killian was determined to embark on. Kato and Andy were not present, having made it abundantly clear they would not be taking part in this "revenge crusade" as Kato called it. Star was teasing Mike about his new lady friend and trying to get information about her out of him. "C'mon...not even a name?" She asks teasingly.
 
Sometimes with the wave and curl to his hair Killian didn't notice how long it would get. When he had a chance to stay clean the hair would try to curl and so he barely took notice of its length. It was almost long enough to pull into a pony tail. "Hmmm....Maybe you should cut it." Still staring at the ground he smirked slightly. Of course she would recommend using technology. That was something he'd forgot about to a degree. Used to wander around with the different pads and sketch little things all over them.

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Mike twiddled his thumbs while Killian played on the pad between bites of food. He was back to himself always thinking about something and sometimes getting nothing done while he was at it. Glancing up at Star he shook his head. "Only reason you know about the lady is cause the captain said so. All you're gonna hear is what I told him. She's got a marvelous rear end on her. Good hour glass shape and I like my women with curves." Taking a few more bites of the breakfast he looked up at Killian. "When you gonna show how us how this works?"

"In a minute." Killian tapped furiously at the screen and then turned it around. He'd played almost all night to try and get the building specs to be approximately the right size. "If you two take the east..." Pausing a little he frowned. "Don't get caught." While it seemed to be a given he figured it was still a good thing to specify. "If you get caught and they know who you are, you'll go straight into the games. I'll take the North entrance and sneak in. You two secure a ship and keep in contact with me. Once I'm in I'll be opening the cages. Any questions so far?"
 
"Pretty straight forward." Star nods. "We have the clothes from the party so Mike and I can blend in like nobles, hide our weapons in our clothes. Getting close to the ship might be a little tricky but I have some ideas." She smirks, taking a bite out of a biscuit. "And say one of us does get caught some way or another. What's the plan then?"
 
Killian took a deep breath. "An ugly one that I don't like. One of you notifies me of the capture and I get caught too. We go into the game together and whatever happens if you get caught you will listen to every word I say." He almost shuddered at the thought of having to take someone into the game. Getting them over the wall would be possible. Once they were in center field it would be a nightmare to keep them alive. "Just nobody get caught."
 
Star nods. "I've been doing some research on the tech on this world. Looks like they have some pretty cool gadgets including personal shields and modified weaponry. We should stop at one of the shops and purchase some before we do this. Won't be cheap though."
 
Of course Star was going to recommend something that cost an awful lot of money. Something that none of them had except Andy. "You'll have to talk with her. Kato wouldn't support the idea if it was mine. If you talk about it he'd be more willing to see Anna throw money toward the venture."
 
"Kato doesn't own Anna just cause they're together. But you're right that he might be able to talk her out of it. Star takes a sip of her coffee. "So I guess the big question is, when are we going and how are we getting there?"
 
The captain shook his head slightly. Star always had to make it sound like he was saying something else and then acknowledge that she knew what he actually meant. "We're going next week and I've already spotted a ship we can steal from the bays." It was an easy target and if they ever returned he could drop a better ship at the spot and hope that nobody complained too much about it.
 
"Phew...hard to believe this time next week we may have a whole fleet of ships at our command." Star took another drink and looked over at Mike. "You're awful quiet. What are you thinking? We missing anything?"
 
Mike shook his head. "Nah...I'm just here for the ride." That was his usual statement and way of taking care of these things. He couldn't really say that he wanted to stay here forever, didn't want to run on Timo's crew cause he was used to living the way Killian did things. For the most part there was a lot of freedom running in a crew with Killian. "Just make sure to make a good breakfast for us before we go." Winking at Star he chuckled a little and rose from the table with his empty plate. "I'll leave you two love birds to twitter about whatever it is you need to."
 
Star gives him a playful shove as he passes by and looks back at Killian who was staring way to hard at his datapad. Usually meant that he was deep in thought. She lay a hand on his arm. "Hey...I'm going to be fine. We'll all be fine. None of us are going in the games this time." She said in an attempt to reassure both of them. An empty promise...but a determined one.
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Star, dressed in an elegant blue green dress and scarf walked down the ramp of the ship with Mike on her arm. They'd registered the ship under a false i.d. and held out their tickets to the games to the guard standing at the door to the ship bay. Star pretends to trip falling into the guard. The needle to a tranq pierces his side as she smiles at him. Stepping away he crumples to floor. One guard down, a gazillion to go. They make their way through the halls surrounding the massive arena. Even here there were t.v. screens allowing people to see a portion of the current game. It was sickening to see how many cheered as young boys were beaten to death. No wonder killian wanted to blow up the whole damn stadium. He'd had to suffer through this every day for months.

She tightens her grip on Mike's arm as they walk, passing by the security with ease. Star pauses outside the security door leading to the ship's central log in station. Every ship's server connected to this hanger would accessible through here. The guards at the door notice them pausing and approach, telling them to leave immediately. Star shoots the first guard with a silenced energy gun and Mike takes out the second. With Mike's help she uses the guard's hand to pass the biometric scanner and they pull the two guards in out of sight.

Inside 2 people worked at the computer to help log the ships in and out of the system as they docked and departed. Star knocks out one and Mike takes care of the other. She sits at the control desk and inserts the drive and its virus, hacking into the system. "Ten minutes and every ship in this hanger belongs to us." She declares.
 
Killian spent several days programming the virus. He of course didn't have anything to test it on so in theory it worked. Everything worked in theory, but the real test was whether it worked in practice or not. Stealing the ship at the docks was easy enough. Time and again he would check over the data pad to be sure that it was alright. They still had the virus and he still had 3 layers of encryption over it. Should be difficult to break the code in time to lock the ships down. He was still worried that for all his work to be sure that they had a smooth escape that they would get caught. "Hey!" Killian turned his toward Star. "You just had to do that didn't you?" Sometimes she liked to cause trouble cause she could. It was probably one of those times. Instead she surprised him with some sort of conciliatory statement that wasn't quite reassuring. "We'll do our best."

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Putting a pair of regular black pants and a black shirt Killian looked at himself in the mirror. He couldn't remember if the guards tucked their shirts in. Then it came back after a few moments. Shirts were always untucked cause they wanted to have all the motion that they needed to exact punishment as needed. Wearing all black was boring. Killian preferred to have a blue shirt or red one maybe green.

They were landed and he got to play the part of a servant. Stepping out onto the deck he lowered his gaze as Mike and Star passed by. She looked beautiful in her gown. Hopefully it was going to be safe to run in if she had to. Maybe the guards would recognize him? Killian couldn't help the worry that started to rise in his gut. What if they knew it was him? He had to wait for just a while longer to be sure that Star and Mike were far enough away for a servant to be appropriate to begin wandering. Some were allowed to and others not so much.

Keeping his head tilted down he walked till he got close enough to the doors to pose as one of the guards. Unbuttoning a few of the lower buttons on his shirt he lowered his head again and pretended to be buttoning his shirt on the way into the building. The smell made him sick almost instantly. It was filthy, blood, urine, vomit, and almost every vile excretion from humans. This was the first that he stood on the outside of the cages as a free man. All the prisoners really did remind a person of animals. Most of them were hunched over a bowl of food not caring who was there and a few tried to sleep while the rest looked about themselves with growing panic. Killian walked up behind a guard and pulled a knife out from his belt and stabbed the man.

Before the body could hit the ground he snatched the keys from it. Unlocking the first set of doors he stepped into the room of cages and hit the release button. "Go outside and load into the ships. Don't kill anyone you don't have to." As the slaves began to walk past he tried to meld into the group by pulling his black shirt off and letting just the plain gray one show.

A red light began to flash before they were even out of the building. Killian darted for the doors. If they got locked in here all the guards would do is mow them down with guns as they tried to get the gates open. Pushing a man to the side and plowing one over Killian reached the gates barely in time to hold one open. "Hurry up!" Grunting he felt the heavy press of the men trying to funnel out as the guards came to fire on them. It was going to be blood bath anyway. Nothing could have been done and the men pressed harder and harder at the gate as they were bottle necked at it.
 
Star looked up as the alarms went off and people began rushing around the halls outside. A voice spoke over the earpieces of the people they'd knocked out. "Lock down the ships! No one is docking or undocking until the security breach is contained!" Thankfully, they were there and she was the one in control. 4 minutes until the virus finalized its mass takeover. She jumped up in her seat and pulled out her gun as people banged on the door. "Where's the guard? Get this thing open!?"

Star glanced at Mike who nods at her encouragingly and they duck behind a corner in the walls. They both raise their guns. 3 more minutes. The door is blasted open and three angry guards file in. They see the bodies and are immediately on alert. Star and Mike drop the first two and duck from the hail of bullets from the third. A few more shots and he too is down. But now there is no door and they are exposed to the people rushing past.
"One more minute!" Star calls to Mike watching the computer. It was an excruciating 60 seconds. "We're in!"

They rush out and try to blend into the panicking crowd. They could already see slaves rushing to the ship-bays, killing anyone who tried to stop them. Star smiles lightly. Killian was getting them out...but had he gotten out himself yet? They didn't have time to look. They had to take control of their ship before one of the slaves did and left them stranded.
 
Pressure on the gate was becoming so great that it bowed. A slight crack started along the cement that the gate was fixed to. If they wouldn't have all been fighting so hard to get through the one gate it would have been easier. Guards were getting closer and they were working their way through the men, killing them without thought. At this rate they were going to lose a great number of them. Grabbing a large man Killian yelled. "You hold the gate, I'm going to take care of the guards." Squeezing along the gate and then the wall he tapped a few men on the shoulder along the way. "Come with me." Only a few came with as the rest were still more concerned with getting out of the gate.

"I'll take the front and the rest of you swing out to the side to flank the guards." There were enough of them that Killian figured they could by brute force or numbers make it. Even if his bones were pretty much bullet proof, Killian was worried. If he got knocked out there was little chance that he would get out of the games. They would either kill him or make him play till he was killed. This wasn't exactly as planned, but it had to be done at some point. The guards stopped and made stance to start shooting again. A small line of men was beginning to form, facing them. Raising his fist the officer yelled, "Fire!"

Instinctively the line of men and Killian ducked. A bullet nicked Killian's ear. Ignoring the sharp, burning sensation he launched from his place. If he could tackle a guard the others wouldn't dare shoot him. They wouldn't want to kill their officer. That was who he wanted to get first. Hitting the man in the legs he tackled him to the ground and punched him in the throat as hard as he could. The butt of a gun slammed into Killian's head and he winced. Turning toward the one that hit him, he tore the weapon from the man's hand and swung the weapon back around and shot the guard. Killian glanced down at the guard he'd hit in the throat. It collapsed the hyaline cartilage and the man was slowly turning a blue from lack of oxygen. Nothing could save him at this point. A new line of defense would be coming soon. Still there were the men stuck in the Games Hospital. Being so close he couldn't leave them.

Beckoning to his men Killian called out one more order. "Get the men from the hospital then we'll leave." Even though the men had fought bravely against the guards it was clear that they were afraid of going deeper into the prison rather than fleeing. Reluctantly they followed.

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Ships began to fill up and only a few prisoners stayed behind. Many of the others had already launched. The man at the gate began to look around anxiously. Where was the 'Beast'. He'd ordered him to stand here and so long as he hadn't seen him fall he doubted that the 'Beast' was gone. They all knew of his reputation and counted themselves lucky if they weren't in the games facing him.

Killian open fired on the guard and any of the doctors that he could see when he stepped into the hospital. Some of the doctors still managed to inject the patients with lethal mixtures of medication. It was protocol to kill whoever might manage to escape and they were devoted to it. Of those in the hospital beds they couldn't carry enough. "Anyone who can walk start now!" Killian counted quickly as he could who was left to carry. "Help anyone if you can." Reaching down he grabbed a boy from one of the beds and tucked him under one arm.

The group of wounded and sick started slowly toward the gate when another round of guards appeared. No matter how fast they moved it wouldn't be enough. Already they were firing at the man holding the gate. "No!" Killian dropped the boy on the ground and charged toward the guards.
 
Star got tired of waiting for Killian. If he was in trouble she sure as hell was going to help him. She stripped off the dress pulling on a pair of pants and a tank top to better move around in and grabbed a pair of guns, running from the ship before Mike could stop her. It didn't take long to figure out that "The Beast" was in the medical bay. Guards were yelling at eachother through their comms and she was listening in. Five guards rushed past her and she followed, knowing they would take her directly to Killian. A man was standing at a gate where a flood of prisioners were trying to push past. The guards raised their guns, shooting more prisioners.

Star activated her personal shield and began shooting, redirecting their attention. Three guards went down in the first hail and she ducked behind a wall as they fired back. She peaked around the wall, trying to take the other two down.
 
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