digitized remorse

[thereforeiham]

who ; AM & his prisoners
what ; Time to begin capturing people.
where ; Begins in various places; ends in Garden Zone 12.
when ; Saturday, Sunday.
warning(s) ; Terror! AM!

Comments

[hows_the_knee]

York and Tucker had gone out for supplies, taking Junior and Delta with them. Sarah had opted to stay behind; things had been tense between her and York since their discussion a few days earlier, and she desperately needed some time alone. To her credit, she'd managed to resist any snide remarks about how it was really better for her to stay safe at home when he'd asked if she wanted to come along.

She was sitting in the kitchen, practically the entire armory of the house spread out before her, methodically and a little sullenly cleaning and checking over them all.

When the crash came from the direction in the living room, Sarah swallowed a shriek, leaping to her feet, instantly on alert. Delta, still linked to the house network, immediately popped up his hologram next to her, jabbering something about how his sensors indicated that the integrity of an exterior wall had been compromised, and did she require assistance?

"I noticed," Sarah hissed under her breath, grabbing for the nearest weapon, fingers fumbling as she worked to reassemble it as fast as possible - and oh shit oh fuck, where was the goddamn ammo. "Shut up!"

[deadlyenforcer]

As he pulled himself into the house, knocking more of the wall out of the way by virtue of his sheer size, Ridley brought up his large snout, sniffing the air. He let out a low growl. The stench of Noradrenaline flooded his nostrils. He let out a roar just loud enough to let her know he was coming and stormed through the house trampling through the living room and eventually into the living room.

When he saw her, he couldn't help but feel that she looked less impressive than he had expected. At the least, he respected her quickness in putting together a means to defend herself.

He reared up, his heads and wings scraping against the ceiling, and roared again, significantly more loudly this time.

[hows_the_knee]

She managed to slam the pieces together and grab a clip off the counter, just barely getting it in when there was another crash and a loud roar. Her first, wild thought was that it was Red, back on the station but without her control chip this time.

And then the kitchen wall shuddered, and Sarah looked up, and up some more.

It was a fucking dragon, and it was roaring at her.

She gaped stupidly at it for a moment, and then took a deep breath in, expression hardening in determination as she brought the gun - York's assault rifle, bigger and more powerful than anything she owned - up and began firing, one shot after the next, directly at the thing's chest.

[deadlyenforcer]

As the bullets pounded his chest, Ridley snarled in agitation. He'd recognize the feel of anti-material rounds anywhere, and it fucking hurt. Everybody always went for his goddamn chest. He considered blasting her to bits right then, but he figured that would displease A.M. quite a bit.

He swung an arm out, smacking the rifle away. His tail slowly reared up, then like the sound of a whip cracking, he swung it at Sarah, aiming to hit her with the flat side. All he needed was to render her unconscious.

[hows_the_knee]

The rounds didn't seem to be doing anything more than annoying it, and oh, wasn't that all too familiar. At least he wasn't smirking at her.

She was just about to try aiming for the dragon's head instead - if she could put out an eye, maybe it would be disoriented or hurt enough to retreat - when it reached out and slammed the gun out of her hands, catching her a good clip on the forearm in the process. She cried out, grabbing at her arm, and caught the movement of its tail out of the corner of her eye, ducking aside at the last possible second.

Unfortunately, the sudden movement caused her to slip on the slick tile floor, and she fell, knocking her chin on a kitchen chair in the process. She landed hard on her hands and knees, dazed and in pain, forcing herself to try to crawl forward and away, though she knew it was probably useless, by this point.

She called out as she went, to the only person she could, though she knew just as well that that was useless, too.

"Delta-"

[alaspooryork]

Instantly, he was there--though without a video transmission, he couldn't actually see what was going on. The network did let him project his hologram anywhere, though, and even without a direct open line he always had his sensors on the apartment.

"Sarah. Please remain calm. York and I are on our way. What is happening?"

[deadlyenforcer]

Ridley's head snapped in the direction of Delta's hologram. He hadn't expected this. Was it an Auroura Unit or something else? Rather than ponder it, he shook the thoughts away. He didn't have time for this. Apparently, they were on their way back already. He needed to get out of here and get to the teleporter before they came back.

He lifted his tail up again, placing it beneath Sarah's, and wrapping it around her before she would get an opportunity to answer her little friend. He tossed her struggling form into the wall and watched her tumble to the floor, unconscious by the time she touched it. He grinned. Such things always amused him.

"Sarah can't answer right now," He answered sardonically as he picked her up in one hand, making himself a way out with his tail, the same way he'd come inside in the first place. He tromped out the new hole he'd made in their now ruined kitchen, spreading his wings and taking flight as soon as he was outside. York would have nothing to come back to except a thoroughly busted up house and a small bit of blood he'd shed when Sarah had fired that rifle at him.

Ridley knew exactly where he was going - Garden Zone 12. Once he was there and had put some distance between himself and the teleporter, he dropped Sarah, waiting for her to come to.

[hows_the_knee]

Sarah came back to herself slowly, initially aware of nothing but the fact that she hurt all over. She opened her eyes, finding herself staring straight up at the sky, and suddenly she was wide awake. She didn't know where she was, she didn't know what had happened - and suddenly she remembered, all at once.

She shot up to a sitting position and then to her feet, ignoring the pain that shot through her as she looked wildly around for the dragon. He wasn't hard to spot.

One hand went automatically to her side, seeking her pistol - which, of course, wasn't there. She glared up at him, defiantly, trying to ignore the sick way her stomach flopped, covering her fear with anger and a bravado she didn't feel.

"You wanna explain just who you are and what the fuck you think you're doing?"

[deadlyenforcer]

He considered her demand for a moment, bringing a hand to his chin. Then, he brought one of his massive legs up and kicked at her stomach. Not hard enough to break anything, just to send a message.

"Sarah Connor," he snarled as he got closer, crawling on his hands and legs. "There is a woman on this station named Samus Aran." He pointed to her arm, where her wearable would be. "You're going to use your device to call her and bring her here." No question. No uncertainty. Just a very simple demand.

[hows_the_knee]

The kick took her off guard, more than anything, and she stumbled backwards, eyes widening in surprise.

And then he was crawling toward her, and she backed up, staring in bewilderment. It only took her a moment to realize what he was asking, and in a split second she'd narrowed her eyes, glaring back at him stubbornly.

Call to John.

She'd been here before, and she hadn't given in then. Like hell she was going to give in now.

"Like fucking hell I am."

[deadlyenforcer]

"I don't think you understand your position." He snarled, getting in closer to her. Curls of smoke and an ominous orange glow came from his mouth as he warmed up his Plasma Breath. "I will bring the Hunter here one way or another. It can be either with your voice or with your charred remains!" His tail snapped behind him, striking the ground once. It betrayed his growing agitation.

[hows_the_knee]

This was a nightmare, it had to be. People didn't just get stolen out of their own homes by dragons, even here.

But she knew it wasn't.

She couldn't help the way her eyes darted to his tail in alarm as it slammed against the ground, but she snapped them back to his face immediately, lips curling up in a sneer.

"I guess it'll have to be the second one, then," she snarled. "Because you can threaten all you want, but I'm not fucking calling anyone, you understand?"

[deadlyenforcer]

He growled loudly. Few things pissed him off more quickly than insubordination, especially from rotten, stinking, monkey humans. He snapped a hand out, grabbing her head and lifting her up. He was going to do it. He was going to crush her like a berry and give AM her corpse to show to the rest of them as an example of what happened when they crossed the fucking Lord of the Space Pirates. He could feel his claws start to gain purchase against her flesh.

Then he dropped her.

"I hope you don't regret your choice."

Her reprieve would be short-lived. His tail snapped out and wrapped around her again. This time, around her neck. He lifted her up as he activated his own wearable. He had meant what he said. He'd bring Samus here one way or the other.

[hows_the_knee]

Sarah cursed as Ridley reached out and grabbed her, hanging on to his arm as he dragged her up by the head. She kicked and flailed uselessly, giving him her best glare as he held her up and looked at her. She couldn't do a thing, and she knew it.

Hopefully, when she died and the teleporter spat her back out, she'd have enough sense to know something had gone wrong and get herself somewhere safe.

Except, instead, he dropped her to the ground again - what was with him and picking her up just to drop her again? - and she groaned, pushing herself up to her hands and knees. "What the fuck do you want us for?" she yelled, gingerly reaching a hand up to her head and wincing at the pain. "Who the fuck are you?"

And then his tail was wrapping around her throat, and she choked, scrabbling fruitlessly at it with both hands as he lifted her into the air again.

[deadlyenforcer]

At her questioning, he laughed.

"I am Ridley, Lord of the Space Pirates. And if I was the one who wanted you, you'd be dead already."

With no answer besides that, he began recording a message on his wearable to send to the Hunter he had mentioned before.