Imposter [Part 46]
May. 23rd, 2021 07:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonv2Fandom: Noblesse
Summary: The capture.
Contains: Dead bodies.
Notes: Among Us AU! :D
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Sci-fi
Word count: 2,002
Total word count: 51,451
Status: Work in progress
Kentas and Muzaka jogged back to the base, Kentas' breathing loud to his ears. They'd heard nothing since Tao's last message, and Kentas wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It would be nice if they had clarification the others were all right.
He kept an eye out as they went through the base, but even if the snow was easing, it was still enough to block most of his - he squinted to their right as they passed the office.
There was an red light there that he was sure hadn't been there before. It was too big for a start. Almost like - The snow thinned just enough to see the vague outline of a silver 'suit with his back pressed against the wall.
Kentas sucked in a breath, and shoved the water barrel into Muzaka's arms. [You take it to the ship!] he said as he dashed towards the light. Muzaka was the one who knew where the fuel would go. Kentas wasn't needed for that.
The lights -wings? feathers?- flared out and Kentas gritted his teeth, putting in as much speed as he could. He wasn't as fast as Muzaka or Takeo, but he was still made them work for their lead.
He slammed his shoulder into the imposter's back, the wings flickering like a dying light and they stumbled.
It was enough. No weapons on hand and he had no idea how to deal with imposters, if there was anything different he needed to do, so he grabbed Em's arm, dodging the feathers by their feet, and ran.
*
Tao was leaning more on Takeo than the wall as he checked on his pad. Not damaged after all that. Good.
The alert flashing in his visor finally stopped, which meant the other crewmates had finished fixing the stabilisers. Which meant more people would be milling around.
That would make it a little harder to hide but so long as...
Movement caught Tao's eye, and he frowned. Kentas was with Em. Why wasn't he with - Tao sucked in a breath, seeing Black following the pair, their transformation looking like blood red wings at their back.
Shit. Em and Kentas were heading north, but a clump of crewmates made them detour back into the eastern building. It would look weird if it was obvious they hadn't come to help with the stabilisers, and where was Muzaka anyway?
Muzaka was carrying the water barrel as he headed north, parallel to Em and Kentas. ...Dammit, right. Em and Kentas couldn't go straight to the dropship, or else they'd bring the imposter to them while Muzaka and Takeo were still setting up.
That was three people accounted for. Which just left - Tao sucked in a breath, finding Boss' purple 'suit on his screen by the other western building entrance.
*
Frankenstein panted, wavering a little as the agent collapsed, dark blood pooling out from the agent's injuries. Had it truly been that long since they'd transformed?
Yes, it had. The last time had been when they had killed Yuri, and before then...
They closed their eyes, trying to catch their breath. Was the weakness worse than before, or were they just no longer used to fee-
[Boss!] Tao yelled in their ear, making them jolt. [Move!]
Where? Didn't matter. Anywhere that wasn't where they were standing right now. They lunged to the left, seeing something small zip past them. Not a bullet. It wasn't something Frankenstein had seen before and they span around, trying to-
Something thudded into their chest. They had enough time to see it was the same small thing that had missed them earlier, and that it was connected by two thin wires to the agent they hadn't seen before it lit up.
They stumbled back a step, hearing a high pitched shriek as their transformation flared out of their control.
W-what? Why were they-? Frankenstein tried to stop the transformation, but their body wouldn't listen, Frankenstein feeling the tendrils lift out of their body, clawing at the inside of their suit.
Like.
Like it was trying to get away from the sound.
They wavered, the sound not stopping and they sucked in a breath as they collapsed to their knees, toppling over.
They were already drained from using their transformation to kill, but if they hadn't...
The machine would make sure they had no energy to run.
Em had said the agents would have items made specifically to disable imposters.
Of course.
There was nothing Frankenstein could do as the agent approached them, and slung them over a shoulder.
[Boss? Boss!] Oh, the sound must have stopped, a faint ringing in Frankenstein's ears replacing it instead.
[Did...Muzaka...get the fuel...?] Even words were hard to form around their tongue that felt too large for their mouth now.
[Yeah, Boss. He's headin' to the ship right now.]
[And...everyone else?]
[All good.]
Frankenstein closed their eyes, exhaling. [Then go.] There was no way they could make it back, not like this. They could barely gather up the energy to say the words, let alone fight themselves free and run to the dropship. It was better the rest of them escaped than wait for them.
*
Tao stared as Boss was carried off, the agent dragging the other agent behind them as well, leaving a trail of dark liquid that the snow slowly hid.
That...made the most sense. They couldn't wait for Boss, not if it meant Em would be grabbed too, and who knew what the agents' orders were once they'd secured the base's imposters.
[Hey,] Tao heard as he and Takeo exited the western building and he winced, recognising Muzaka's voice. Muzaka wasn't going to like hearing the news and it wasn't as if they could hide it from him.
[Hey, Muzaka...] Tao said.
[What's wrong?] Muzaka jogged past, keeping within comm range.
Tao took a breath, and exhaled, bracing himself for Muzaka's reaction as they followed him to the dropship. [It's Boss - he's been captured.] Tao saw the exact second Muzaka heard him, Muzaka's steps faltering.
[Wh-]
[And-] Tao continued before Muzaka did, [he said to go on without him.]
[No.]
Tao had a feeling Muzaka would say that. [We don't have time-]
[We do. How long does it take to prepare the dropship?]
To prep-? Tao glanced at Takeo.
[From a dead start,] Takeo said, [on a first run where I have to make all the checks... Fifteen minutes.]
Muzaka nodded. [Right,] he said. [An' where're Em and Kentas?]
Tao glanced at his pad. [Still in Medbay.]
[They still need to make their way here, or are we gonna leave them behind too?]
[We're not-!] Okay, okay, their plan had fallen apart right from the very start, but snapping wasn't going to help. [Fifteen minutes. Maybe longer-] Probably a lot longer, with how Black was aiming for the eastern building's entrance. Em and Kentas would have to go around the long way. [-so bring him back in time.]
[I will.]
Their original plan had fallen apart, but they had a new plan now, and the best Tao could do was look out for Muzaka, Em and Kentas.
*
[Why are you here?] M-21 hissed at Kentas, as stayed near the medbay doors.
[Huh?]
[I thought you were with Muzaka!] Had they failed? Had they lost the fuel?
[I was. Then I saw you were in trouble.]
[And you just put a target on your back by helping me!] M-21 had already seen enough of his comrades die at the hands of scientists! He didn't want to see another die because Kentas had decided to help him!
Kentas shrugged. [I wasn't going to leave you to die.]
[Ghhh!] Everyone in their group was so fucking weird. But. M-21 leaned back against the wall. He had to admit he was glad for the company. That he wasn't alone. Even if Kentas wouldn't be able to follow him through a vent when they needed to run.
M-21 eyed the door before pulling out his pad.
[What are you doing?]
[Locking the door.] With Tao no longer in his ear, he needed to do something to give him more time - he hadn't done it before in case he fucked himself over, but now he needed to make as many advantages as he could.
*
Tao couldn't help but groan as he finally removed his helmet. It was nice they made sure he didn't die outside, but he didn't like hearing his own breathing all the time. And feeling it bounce back at him if he was breathing too hard.
"How's it lookin'?" he asked as he settled down in a corner of the cockpit. No point going to Security if he was still using the base's cameras, and it would be faster talking to Takeo than over comms.
"The ship's accepting the fuel."
"Good." Good good. They needed all the good news they could get. Muzaka was going to take a while to get to the Union ship, even if he was almost as fast as Takeo, so Tao could focus on Em and Kentas until then.
The pair were right to not head straight for the dropship, since Black was at the medbay entrance, their wings gone.
Tao frowned. Black had been there a while, staring at it. Was something wrong?
He flipped his helmet's speakers on. "Did you two sabotage the medbay doors?" He couldn't see a blockade or anything blocking the doors, but that had to be the reason.
[Yeah,] Em said. [The imposter's there?]
"Yeah, but..." Tao squinted. Black still wasn't moving, just staring at the door. "I don't think they know how to get past it." It was something they could use. An imposter so specialised in killing, they didn't know how to operate or fix any problems on the base, huh. Or maybe they couldn't see the light flashing at the side of the door. And there were benefits to Boss hogging half a building to himself too - no-one else really passed through, so wouldn't be around to fix the door for Black either. "If you let them in-"
[What?] Em interrupted. [Why?]
"-then you can lock them in Medbay or the lab, and then go around the long way." It would take more time that way, but it would give Muzaka more minutes to get back, and would mean less surprises if Black was stuck in the eastern building.
[Oh. Okay.] A pause. [I can't unlock the door from here though.]
Tao huffed, chewing on a nail. Another difference between Skeld and the base - on Skeld, they would just have to wait for the door to unlock. But they couldn't just-
[I'll do it.] Tao saw Em's head snap to Kentas.
[Will you stop being a fucking idiot?]
[The imposter is after you, right? You shouldn't go, in case they try to kill you through the door or something.] Kentas shrugged. [So I'm the one who should open the door.]
[And you just attacked them!] Em retorted. [They might start attacking you now!]
"But Kentas is right," Tao mused. "It's not like there's windows on the doors, so until the doors open, they won't know Kentas is on the other side, unlike if you went." And Kentas was fast enough to get out of range before that happened. It would depend on how fast Black reacted and what their transformation did, but it would still be a decent head start.
Em didn't have anything to say to that.
[All right, I'll get going,] Kentas said as he started moving towards the medbay doors. [Where we do lock them in?]
"The lab or specimen room," Tao said, glancing at the map. That way there would be more doors for Black to go through. "Go for the lab." If Black got past the doors and tried to follow them, they'd get stuck in decontamination anyway, and the earlier they dealt with Black, the quicker they could concentrate on just running back.
[Got it.]
[You're still a dumbass,] Em grumbled, heading through to the lab.
Summary: The capture.
Contains: Dead bodies.
Notes: Among Us AU! :D
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Sci-fi
Word count: 2,002
Total word count: 51,451
Status: Work in progress
Kentas and Muzaka jogged back to the base, Kentas' breathing loud to his ears. They'd heard nothing since Tao's last message, and Kentas wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It would be nice if they had clarification the others were all right.
He kept an eye out as they went through the base, but even if the snow was easing, it was still enough to block most of his - he squinted to their right as they passed the office.
There was an red light there that he was sure hadn't been there before. It was too big for a start. Almost like - The snow thinned just enough to see the vague outline of a silver 'suit with his back pressed against the wall.
Kentas sucked in a breath, and shoved the water barrel into Muzaka's arms. [You take it to the ship!] he said as he dashed towards the light. Muzaka was the one who knew where the fuel would go. Kentas wasn't needed for that.
The lights -wings? feathers?- flared out and Kentas gritted his teeth, putting in as much speed as he could. He wasn't as fast as Muzaka or Takeo, but he was still made them work for their lead.
He slammed his shoulder into the imposter's back, the wings flickering like a dying light and they stumbled.
It was enough. No weapons on hand and he had no idea how to deal with imposters, if there was anything different he needed to do, so he grabbed Em's arm, dodging the feathers by their feet, and ran.
Tao was leaning more on Takeo than the wall as he checked on his pad. Not damaged after all that. Good.
The alert flashing in his visor finally stopped, which meant the other crewmates had finished fixing the stabilisers. Which meant more people would be milling around.
That would make it a little harder to hide but so long as...
Movement caught Tao's eye, and he frowned. Kentas was with Em. Why wasn't he with - Tao sucked in a breath, seeing Black following the pair, their transformation looking like blood red wings at their back.
Shit. Em and Kentas were heading north, but a clump of crewmates made them detour back into the eastern building. It would look weird if it was obvious they hadn't come to help with the stabilisers, and where was Muzaka anyway?
Muzaka was carrying the water barrel as he headed north, parallel to Em and Kentas. ...Dammit, right. Em and Kentas couldn't go straight to the dropship, or else they'd bring the imposter to them while Muzaka and Takeo were still setting up.
That was three people accounted for. Which just left - Tao sucked in a breath, finding Boss' purple 'suit on his screen by the other western building entrance.
Frankenstein panted, wavering a little as the agent collapsed, dark blood pooling out from the agent's injuries. Had it truly been that long since they'd transformed?
Yes, it had. The last time had been when they had killed Yuri, and before then...
They closed their eyes, trying to catch their breath. Was the weakness worse than before, or were they just no longer used to fee-
[Boss!] Tao yelled in their ear, making them jolt. [Move!]
Where? Didn't matter. Anywhere that wasn't where they were standing right now. They lunged to the left, seeing something small zip past them. Not a bullet. It wasn't something Frankenstein had seen before and they span around, trying to-
Something thudded into their chest. They had enough time to see it was the same small thing that had missed them earlier, and that it was connected by two thin wires to the agent they hadn't seen before it lit up.
They stumbled back a step, hearing a high pitched shriek as their transformation flared out of their control.
W-what? Why were they-? Frankenstein tried to stop the transformation, but their body wouldn't listen, Frankenstein feeling the tendrils lift out of their body, clawing at the inside of their suit.
Like.
Like it was trying to get away from the sound.
They wavered, the sound not stopping and they sucked in a breath as they collapsed to their knees, toppling over.
They were already drained from using their transformation to kill, but if they hadn't...
The machine would make sure they had no energy to run.
Em had said the agents would have items made specifically to disable imposters.
Of course.
There was nothing Frankenstein could do as the agent approached them, and slung them over a shoulder.
[Boss? Boss!] Oh, the sound must have stopped, a faint ringing in Frankenstein's ears replacing it instead.
[Did...Muzaka...get the fuel...?] Even words were hard to form around their tongue that felt too large for their mouth now.
[Yeah, Boss. He's headin' to the ship right now.]
[And...everyone else?]
[All good.]
Frankenstein closed their eyes, exhaling. [Then go.] There was no way they could make it back, not like this. They could barely gather up the energy to say the words, let alone fight themselves free and run to the dropship. It was better the rest of them escaped than wait for them.
Tao stared as Boss was carried off, the agent dragging the other agent behind them as well, leaving a trail of dark liquid that the snow slowly hid.
That...made the most sense. They couldn't wait for Boss, not if it meant Em would be grabbed too, and who knew what the agents' orders were once they'd secured the base's imposters.
[Hey,] Tao heard as he and Takeo exited the western building and he winced, recognising Muzaka's voice. Muzaka wasn't going to like hearing the news and it wasn't as if they could hide it from him.
[Hey, Muzaka...] Tao said.
[What's wrong?] Muzaka jogged past, keeping within comm range.
Tao took a breath, and exhaled, bracing himself for Muzaka's reaction as they followed him to the dropship. [It's Boss - he's been captured.] Tao saw the exact second Muzaka heard him, Muzaka's steps faltering.
[Wh-]
[And-] Tao continued before Muzaka did, [he said to go on without him.]
[No.]
Tao had a feeling Muzaka would say that. [We don't have time-]
[We do. How long does it take to prepare the dropship?]
To prep-? Tao glanced at Takeo.
[From a dead start,] Takeo said, [on a first run where I have to make all the checks... Fifteen minutes.]
Muzaka nodded. [Right,] he said. [An' where're Em and Kentas?]
Tao glanced at his pad. [Still in Medbay.]
[They still need to make their way here, or are we gonna leave them behind too?]
[We're not-!] Okay, okay, their plan had fallen apart right from the very start, but snapping wasn't going to help. [Fifteen minutes. Maybe longer-] Probably a lot longer, with how Black was aiming for the eastern building's entrance. Em and Kentas would have to go around the long way. [-so bring him back in time.]
[I will.]
Their original plan had fallen apart, but they had a new plan now, and the best Tao could do was look out for Muzaka, Em and Kentas.
[Why are you here?] M-21 hissed at Kentas, as stayed near the medbay doors.
[Huh?]
[I thought you were with Muzaka!] Had they failed? Had they lost the fuel?
[I was. Then I saw you were in trouble.]
[And you just put a target on your back by helping me!] M-21 had already seen enough of his comrades die at the hands of scientists! He didn't want to see another die because Kentas had decided to help him!
Kentas shrugged. [I wasn't going to leave you to die.]
[Ghhh!] Everyone in their group was so fucking weird. But. M-21 leaned back against the wall. He had to admit he was glad for the company. That he wasn't alone. Even if Kentas wouldn't be able to follow him through a vent when they needed to run.
M-21 eyed the door before pulling out his pad.
[What are you doing?]
[Locking the door.] With Tao no longer in his ear, he needed to do something to give him more time - he hadn't done it before in case he fucked himself over, but now he needed to make as many advantages as he could.
Tao couldn't help but groan as he finally removed his helmet. It was nice they made sure he didn't die outside, but he didn't like hearing his own breathing all the time. And feeling it bounce back at him if he was breathing too hard.
"How's it lookin'?" he asked as he settled down in a corner of the cockpit. No point going to Security if he was still using the base's cameras, and it would be faster talking to Takeo than over comms.
"The ship's accepting the fuel."
"Good." Good good. They needed all the good news they could get. Muzaka was going to take a while to get to the Union ship, even if he was almost as fast as Takeo, so Tao could focus on Em and Kentas until then.
The pair were right to not head straight for the dropship, since Black was at the medbay entrance, their wings gone.
Tao frowned. Black had been there a while, staring at it. Was something wrong?
He flipped his helmet's speakers on. "Did you two sabotage the medbay doors?" He couldn't see a blockade or anything blocking the doors, but that had to be the reason.
[Yeah,] Em said. [The imposter's there?]
"Yeah, but..." Tao squinted. Black still wasn't moving, just staring at the door. "I don't think they know how to get past it." It was something they could use. An imposter so specialised in killing, they didn't know how to operate or fix any problems on the base, huh. Or maybe they couldn't see the light flashing at the side of the door. And there were benefits to Boss hogging half a building to himself too - no-one else really passed through, so wouldn't be around to fix the door for Black either. "If you let them in-"
[What?] Em interrupted. [Why?]
"-then you can lock them in Medbay or the lab, and then go around the long way." It would take more time that way, but it would give Muzaka more minutes to get back, and would mean less surprises if Black was stuck in the eastern building.
[Oh. Okay.] A pause. [I can't unlock the door from here though.]
Tao huffed, chewing on a nail. Another difference between Skeld and the base - on Skeld, they would just have to wait for the door to unlock. But they couldn't just-
[I'll do it.] Tao saw Em's head snap to Kentas.
[Will you stop being a fucking idiot?]
[The imposter is after you, right? You shouldn't go, in case they try to kill you through the door or something.] Kentas shrugged. [So I'm the one who should open the door.]
[And you just attacked them!] Em retorted. [They might start attacking you now!]
"But Kentas is right," Tao mused. "It's not like there's windows on the doors, so until the doors open, they won't know Kentas is on the other side, unlike if you went." And Kentas was fast enough to get out of range before that happened. It would depend on how fast Black reacted and what their transformation did, but it would still be a decent head start.
Em didn't have anything to say to that.
[All right, I'll get going,] Kentas said as he started moving towards the medbay doors. [Where we do lock them in?]
"The lab or specimen room," Tao said, glancing at the map. That way there would be more doors for Black to go through. "Go for the lab." If Black got past the doors and tried to follow them, they'd get stuck in decontamination anyway, and the earlier they dealt with Black, the quicker they could concentrate on just running back.
[Got it.]
[You're still a dumbass,] Em grumbled, heading through to the lab.