Chapter 11
When my menstrual cycle is over, Yondu has me stand in on a mission briefing and I listen to the lead strategist for missions, Nadrun. "Then the kid will be in the vents to sneak in a hack into security." They all look at me and I freeze where I was putting my hair in a ponytail.
"Wait, what?"
"You're going to be in the vents and you're going to sneak into the security area to take control of it. You've been practicing the reading and writing of other languages, right?" I nod and he makes a slight motion of his hand. "Then you'll be fine. You've just got to deactivate the security system and make sure no one comes in to reactivate it with any amount of force necessary. Easy."
"Alright." I listen to the rest of the plan and it included a lot of stealing for everyone else. Yondu and Kraglin were staying on the Eclector and they were trusting me to pilot a ship with other Ravagers on board in case something went south.
"Don't let nothin' go tha' way, girl," Yondu says as we go to the hangar and I nod.
"Nothing will go wrong. Easy mission. Nearly impossible to fuck up. I got this." He nods and pats my shoulder before I board the Piranha, going to the pilot's seat.
"Don't make us crash, kid," Taz scoffs and I simply flip him off, sitting in the seat before strapping in. "I'm serious. We're the only team that's leaving now to make sure you don't fuck up."
"Fuck off, Taz. I know a guy that I can get Orlonis from. Don't test me." I pilot out of the hangar and follow the course that Nadrun had set to get planetside.
When I land, I get out of the pilot's chair and Taz pats me on the back, making me stumble a step. "Good job not killing us. Get to work and contact us when you got it down."
"See you in about five minutes then." I attach a blaster to my other thigh and slip out of my duster, setting it on the pilot's chair. "Can't let everyone know we're here by the colors and flames, now can I?" I ask at their confused faces and Taz scoffs while the other three(Uttuls, Stradho, and Grugzak) roll their eyes. "See you, boys, shortly." I wink at them and slide down the ladder to land on the empty field in the forest, activating my mask as I land.
"Easy mission... Nearly impossible to fuck up... I got this..." I murmur to myself and take a short breath before moving quickly through the trees, climbing them now and then when someone comes into the area.
I see the facility after a few minutes and climb up a tree to get level with the vent, walking on the branch to get closer to it. I carefully open the vent and go inside it, closing the opening after me. "Alright... Let's do this... This is easy... You've done it hundreds of times..." I move quietly through the vents and get to the security room, two Sheelmoit in there. I take a slow breath and lean myself down from the vent, upside down, before blasting them with my two blasters. They seize up and fall to the floor, unconscious. I pull myself back into the vent before dropping to the floor, wincing a bit, and go over to the security equipment.
"Alright... I know what this says... Um..." I look at it and bite my lip a bit before I just destroy the entire thing. Nothing happens and I watch it for a few moments before I press my right ear. "Alright. You guys are up. Security is blind and taken care of."
"Copy that." I stay in security and just blast anyone who comes in, making sure to keep the first two unconscious.
"Alright, kid. We've got it cleared out. Let's go," Taz says in my ear and I nod, looking around to see what could help me get back in the vent.
"Not so fast!" One of the Sheelmoits grab me and hold me still while I try to get away, the other one standing up as we turn to the door to see a Sheelmoit in some fancy clothes
"You are hereby under arrest for the killing of Sheelmoit nobles and the stealing of all valuable objects in this facility! The penalty is death!" I go pale behind my mask and they drag me out of the building, into a town.
"Let go of me!" I snarl and fight, earpiece activated still. "I'll fucking kill all of you asshats!" They deactivate my mask and I snarl, fighting more. They throw me into a cage and I spin to try to get out but they slam the door, they had taken all but my thigh knife. I snarl and grab my knife, pulling myself up to try to pick the lock once their backs are to me.
"Get the executioner!" I keep trying to pick the lock but can't and bite my lip, arms through the gaps of the cage to hold myself up. Someone kicks the cage and I fall to the bottom of it, quickly sliding my knife into my boot where they couldn't get it.
"Get her out of there! She will fight to the death!" A couple of people drag me out and throw me at the feet of this huge guy, a Krelzol. I quickly stand and grab my knife from my boot. The Krelzol had a staff that looked like a mallet and I tighten my hand around my knife handle. "Fight!" The Krelzol comes toward me and swings the giant mallet.
"Shit!" I duck down and roll out of the way, looking around a bit. "Come on, come on, come on... There's got to be something I can use here..." He swings the giant mallet at me again and I barely manage to avoid it, going into a backbend before vaulting myself back onto my feet. I slide my knife back into its holster and see a huge blaster, behind the Krelzol. "That'll work." I take a deep breath and look at the guy.
"Hey! You big stupid idiot!" He looks at me and advances on me. "Yeah! Come get me, you little bitch!" I back against a wall and he swings his mallet at me. I duck and it gets stuck in the wall. "Good job, ya big lug!" I duck under the handle and run for the blaster. "Ooh! A Chaos Phase Blaster! Rocket is gonna be so jealous!" I hold it on my shoulder and point it at the guy.
"Hey! Idiot!" He turns toward me and I shoot him in the face before he falls to the ground, dead. "Damn! That was a big boom!" I point it at the group of people coming toward me and shoot, sending them all flying in different directions. "Hell yeah!" I grab my weapons and attach them one-handed before shooting a few more groups. "This was fun! But I've gotta go! BYE!" I hold onto the Chaos Phase Blaster and bolt back toward where the Piranha is landed.
I get there and there's nothing. The ship isn't cloaked, it's just gone. "Fucking Hell, dude!" I activate my mask and look around, blaster hanging at my side. "Well... Let's try this..." I point the blaster down and shoot it. The blast sends me flying in the air and I quickly activate my boots as I contact Yondu.
"Wha'cha want, girl?"
"Where the Hell is the ship?!" I land in a tree and deactivate my boots.
"Yer ship jus' docked." I hear him go into the hangar and wait. I hear him yelling at Uttuls, Stradho, and Grugzak and find out that Taz is unconscious.
"I'll be there shortly." I end the transmission and activate my boots again, flying toward the atmosphere. "Hopefully this works..." I leave the atmosphere and use the Blaster to send me through the deep a bit more.
My boots suddenly stop working and I use the last bit of fuel to get me as close to the Eclector as possible, sending out a distress signal as I float in the freezing deep. I use the Blaster one last time to get closer before it stops working and I look to see the Cawl coming toward me. I get sucked into the ship by the tractor beam and collapse on the floor, the frost and ice sliding off of my body quickly.
"Yer insane!" Kraglin yells and comes to grab me, putting me on the bunk before he covers me up with ten blankets. "How..." He looks at me and I shiver slightly, deactivating my mask.
"It worked..." I smirk a bit and he hits me in the head before he goes back to the pilot's chair to pilot us back to the hangar. "It was either risk the deep or risk getting caught by the Sheelmoit again... I may have some dumb luck, but not enough to want to risk another fight..."
"Yer lucky Cap'n's pissed a' them idiots tha' left ya there!"
"Yeah, for sure..." I agree and wrap one of the warmer blankets tighter around me while he docks. He comes over and helps me up then off the ship. "Krags, I'm fine... Just a little cold... My mask helped with the oxygen..." He doesn't respond and I give up arguing with him, noticing Yondu striding over with Doc.
"Ya a'ight, girl?"
"Yes, Captain... I'm fine... Just a little cold..." Doc takes Kraglin's place and I fight back an eye roll.
"That'll be for me to decide. I'll make sure she's good as new, Captain." Doc takes me to med and I go with them, not bothering with fighting them.
They lay me on a bed and cover me up with warm blankets, hooking me up to machines to make sure I'll be OK. I let them and they do a full-body scan to check for any more injuries or frost from the deep.
"You should have more frost than you do... And more hypothermia..." They murmur to themselves and check me over some more. I let them and close my eyes, just tired now. "You rest, Rogue. I'm going to do some research on Terrans." I just nod and drift off to sleep.
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"Captain, could I speak to you and Kraglin in my office?" Doc asks over their wrist com and they don't get a reply.
Yondu and Kraglin come into their office after a few minutes and look at them. "Wha'cha want, Doc?" They pull up the images from my full-body scan and one from Dad when he was my age. "Wha' we lookin' a'?"
"Rogue's body scan compared to Quill's when he was her age. Their nervous systems look similar but Rogue has more of the irregularities compared to Quill's. We know Quill's was caused by Ego being a celestial, making him half Terran. This is too many irregularities to be a quarter celestial." They point them out on my nervous system and the other two look at them.
"Wha's tha' mean?"
"Is it possible Rogue's mother was a celestial as well?" They shake their heads and Doc looks at the images. "What do these mean, then? She should have more injuries than she does for being in the deep like that. This is more than just some dumb luck." Yondu shrugs and looks at me sleeping on a bed.
"Girl's a'ight?"
"She's fine."
"Tha's all tha' matters." He shrugs one shoulder and leaves. Doc looks at Kraglin and he just shrugs, leaving too.
"I'll figure it out..." Doc mutters and starts to try to figure it out.
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When I wake up, I sit up and felt fine so I move to get out of bed. "Not so fast!" I stop and Doc stands in front of me. "I've got to clear you." They check me over and I let them.
"Alright. You're cleared. The captain said we were landing to celebrate a mission well done and for you not dying."
"Nice." I get out of bed and leave med, grabbing my duster when Doc hands it to me. "Thanks, Doc!" They don't respond and I see them go into their office. "OK..." I go to controls and notice we were just landing on Contraxia.
"How're you feeling, kid?" Taz pats my shoulder and I look at him.
"Feel fine. You?"
"They got a good hit to the head in. I'm fine."
"Good." The rest of the crew goes planetside and I run to my quarters to get my warm clothes. I put them on and go planetside with Yondu and Kraglin.
"I oughta kill ya fer tha' stunt." Kraglin rests his elbow on my head and I roll my eyes, pushing it off.
"It was a stunt that worked. And I'm probably wanted by the Sheelmoit for killing nobles and stealing valuable objects. Not my fault they had shitty security."
"How didja turn it off?"
"I destroyed the whole damn thing," I say with a bright smile. Yondu cackles and Kraglin scoffs, rolling his eyes with a smirk.
"Yer an idiot."
"Yup. I'll meet you guys at the bar with all the games." They head that way and I stay outside for a bit, just looking around.
"I see Udonta is still an asshole that uses kids for his dirty work." I turn and see an Ukzan looking at me. "Who'd he steal you from, kid? Or did his First Mate manage to get him pregnant and you're their freaky kid?" He snickers and I lose my temper, tackling him to the ground. "You little bitch!" He kicks me off of him and gets up before kicking me in my stomach. I grunt and roll away, getting to my feet quickly.
"Glad to see they've taught you to fight instead of running your mouth as they do," He snarls and punches me in the face. I stumble back a step and growl, attacking him.
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"Captain!" Yondu looks up as Taz comes in and raises an eyebrow. "The kid is in a fight with someone from another crew, Captain. I have no clue who's winning." He goes out with Kraglin and I get thrown against a wall.
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I snarl and get up easily, going back over to him. I swing at him and he catches my arm, punching me in the stomach before throwing me to the ground. He puts his boot on my chest and glares down at me. "Stay down, kid, like the slave your Captain and First Mate should've taught you to be." He spits on me and I feel a switch flip inside of me.
I grab his leg and fling him onto the ground, pinning him down before I start punching him anywhere I can while growling low in my throat. Someone grabs me and pulls me off while Yondu whistles, his arrow between me and the Ukzan. I stand next to whoever pulled me off, panting slightly, and Yondu comes over, looking pissed.
"What the Hell is this?!" Charlie-27 comes over and the Ukzan stands carefully.
"She attacked me, Captain," He says and I snarl at him.
"Then maybe you should learn to shut your fucking mouth, cunt!" The person who grabbed me, Kraglin, elbows me and I shut up, glaring at the Ukzan.
"Rogue, what the Hell are you doing attacking my crew?" Charlie growls and I flex my right hand slightly.
"If he doesn't want to get the shit beat out of him, maybe he shouldn't spew it from his mouth and shouldn't talk about shit he doesn't know jack about."
"What are you talking about?"
"He talked shit about Captain Udonta and Kraglin. I wasn't going to let him do that!"
"You don't solve anything by beating the shit out of him," Charlie growls and I look him in the eye, having to crane my neck.
"You're right. I should've shot him in the mouth." I glare at the Ukzan and he looked slightly surprised. "That would've shut him up," I snarl and he takes a slight step back.
"You're fucking insane!"
"That offer of shooting you in the mouth still stands," I growl and he falls silent while I take my glove off, wiping my hand across my mouth to come back bloody.
"Yondu," Yondu looks at Charlie and just nods when Charlie raises an eyebrow, glancing at me.
"Yeah, yeah... Ah know... Krags." Kraglin grabs my arms and holds them behind my back. "Ya can't be beatin' the shit outta other crews, girl," Yondu says simply and punches me in the stomach. I grunt and he punches me again. "Cuz tha' makes me look like Ah ain't teachin' ya wha' ta do. An' Ah gotta beat the shit outta ya." He punches me as he's talking and I take it, grunting at the particularly hard ones.
When he stops, he just walks away and Kraglin lets go of my arms. I wipe my hand across my mouth before I pull my glove back on and go to the bar with the games, Kraglin following. "Ya a'ight, kid?"
"I'm fine." Talking hurts my mouth and I look at the bar then the ship. "I'm going back to the ship. Go have fun. I'm going to sleep."
"A'ight, kid. Have fun," He scoffs and goes to the bar while I board the Eclector, heading to my quarters. Doc holds a tube of stuff out of med and I take it as I go to bed.
"Thanks, Doc."
"No problem." I continue to my quarters and sit on my bunk, taking my gloves off. I take my coat off and shove it under the bunk with the rest of my Contraxia stuff before I flop back on it, sighing.
"Well... Tonight sucked ass..." I mutter and sigh softly, sitting up. I set the cream on the dresser and move to sit against the wall behind my bunk, listening to my music after grabbing it from my pillow. I close my eyes and relax.
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I wake up suddenly when people are stumbling in and open my eyes to look at Yondu and Kraglin, both very drunk. "What are you two doing in here?" I groan and rub my face slightly.
"'M sorry, girl... Ravager rules..."
"The one tha' gits pulled off 'a the other gits beat..." Kraglin finishes and I nod a bit.
"That's nice. Come on. Time for bed, you two." They both collapse on my bunk to sleep and fall asleep instantly. "I didn't- Ugh... Forget it..." I lean against the wall again and close my eyes, not in the mood to deal with this right now. "Morning me can deal with this bullshit... Fuck that..." I put my headphones back on and listen to my music, covered up with a fur blanket from my bed that I get the sneaking suspicion is from Yondu's quarters.
"Yondu's quarters..." I get out of bed and pull my duster on, pushing my headphones around my neck. I wander around the ship a bit and end up in front of Kraglin's quarters. "That'll work..." I hack into it and go inside, locking the door before I clean his bed to sleep in it. "Hmmm... Warm..." I put my headphones back on and fall asleep listening to my music.
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I wake at around 0500 and slip out of the bed, going over to the door before I remember I'm in Kraglin's quarters. I tap something next to the button that will open the door and a holographic picture of the outside of the door pops up. No one was there and I go out the door, going to mess to get some food. "Ah, yes... Silence... Amazing..." I go over to get food from Cookie and he gives me food. "Cookie! How's it going, bud?"
"That... Never mind. It's going fine. Go eat your food and leave me alone."
"I can do that." I take my tray to Yondu's table and sit in my normal spot, eating while I listen to my music.
Everyone else is coming in as I finish and I set the tray on the cart. Yondu and Kraglin get in line for food and I lose myself in the crowd of Ravagers, going to the hangar to get to work.
Jay comes in and wraps his arms around my waist from behind. "Hey, shorty. Whatcha doing?"
"Working. And I'm not short. You're just freakishly tall." He chuckles and bends over to kiss my cheek. I turn my head and he pecks my lips instead.
"Sneaky," He chuckles and pulls away, moving to help me with the M-ship I was working on. "What happened to your face?"
"Apparently... Ravagers have a rule. When a crew member gets into a fight with someone from another crew, the one who gets pulled off of the other one, gets beat. And I got pulled off of an Ukzan from Charlie-27's crew. Because he talked shit about Captain and Kraglin," I explain and work on the ship with him. "Hand me that hammer thing." He hands it to me and I use it to hit a piece of the ship off.
It clatters to the floor and I nod. "Nice. Get the replacement." He grabs it and puts it where it goes while I hit it into place. "There." I go towards the Warbird since we had just fixed the Cawl and I had noticed something wrong with the Warbird yesterday. Jay follows and helps me fix it.
Someone comes in and over to us as we're working on it. "Boy, ya finish tha' up. Girl, ya work on somethin' else," Yondu says simply and Jay takes over while I do as I'm told.
"You got it, Captain." I go over and work on some other ships while he leaves. I hear someone come over as I work on The Siren and I focus on working instead of turning to see who it is.
"Girl."
"Yes, Captain?"
"Ah need ta talk ta ya."
"Can't it wait?"
"No." He grabs me by the collar of my duster and pulls me away from the ship, glaring at me. "It can't," He growls and I nod.
"What do you need, Captain?" He just drags me with him to his quarters and I follow, gritting my teeth to keep from saying something stupid.
He throws me into his quarters and I catch myself against a chair before I fall to the floor fully, righting myself. Kraglin was leaning against the wall and I look at them. "What do you want? Since you already kicked me off of working on your ship. Krags, I replaced that part you told me about yesterday. Everything should be working correctly now." He just nods and I cross my arms over my chest.
"Wha' was ya doin' ta m'ship?" Yondu growls and I look at him, getting a little pissed.
"I saw that your right weapon had wires sticking out of it yesterday before the mission. I was fixing that and making sure that it would still work without having to fire it. Why the Hell would I screw with your ship if I didn't have a damned good reason to?"
"Like gittin' beat fer stickin' up fer yer Cap'n an' First Mate?" Kraglin suggests and I scoff.
"You two idiots are unbelievable... How many damned times do I have to explain this? I am not that fucking petty! If I have a problem with somebody, they'll fucking hear about it! I'm not going to sabotage their ship because of something as stupid as that! It's not my fault that you're both a couple of fucking dumbasses that can't seem to get that through your thick fucking skulls!" They're shocked into silence and I start to leave.
Kraglin grabs me and throws me onto the couch. "Still not a damned rag doll," I growl and they both glare at me. "OK, so we're doing this..." I stand and look at them, pissed off now.
"Am I pissed that that Ukzan was talking shit about you two being freed slaves? One hundred percent. Am I pissed that I beat the shit out of him? Nope, he had it coming. Am I pissed I got the shit beat out of me for sticking up for the two of you? A little bit, yeah. Do I understand that you were just following the damned rules of the Ravagers? Yes, because I'm not that much of a fucking idiot! Would I change anything I did? No." I look at them.
"He told me to stay down like the slave you two should've taught me to be. That flipped a fucking switch and I beat the shit out of him. I'm not sorry for doing it. I would still do it if I had the chance to change what happened. And that Ukzan can fuck all the way off to all of the Hells for the shit he spewed."
"Yer outta the hangar fer two lunar cycles."
"Are you fucking kidding me?! Why?!"
"Cuz 'M the Cap'n an' Ah said ya are!" Yondu bellows and I clench my jaw and fists at my side. "Ya got a problem with tha'?"
"No, Captain," I grit out through my teeth and he glares at me.
"Yer workin' with Nudran fer three lunar cycles, now. Cuz ya think ya can talk back ta me. Git outta 'ere."
"With pleasure." I leave and go to the airlocks, pissed. No one was around and I punch the wall. A lot.
When I stop, the wall had my blood on it and I could barely move my fingers. So, I punch the wall with my left hand now and don't stop until it's the same as my right. I go to Med and Doc looks up when I come in.
"What happened to your hands?!"
"Just bandage them up." They look a little shocked at my tone and finish up with the crewmate they're with. They stand and I give Kraglin the Ravager Salute with some difficulty. "Kraglin," I mutter, bowing my head slightly, and he looks at my hands.
"Ya win?" I don't respond and offer Doc my hands to bandage them up.
"I can put them in a brace."
"Just. Bandage. Them," I growl and they do that. "Thanks." I glance at Kraglin slightly and turn to leave. "Tell Captain I'm going to go start my three lunar cycles with Nudran now. Since he sent you to Med for no reason other than to make sure I followed his orders. Assure him, they're getting followed," I more or less snarl as I leave med and head to Nudran's work quarters.
Yondu was waiting and I try to go past him. "Ya win?" I look at him and he nods towards my hands.
"I'm getting started on my three lunar cycles of work with Nudran. Don't worry, Captain, your orders are being followed. So you don't have to send Kraglin after me to make sure they are. I won't be stepping a foot in the hangar unless it's to go on missions or supply runs."
"Five lunar cycles." He leans down to be eye level with me and I make eye contact, clenching my jaw again. "Keep pushin', girl. Ah can make it an annual cycle."
"You got it, Captain," I growl and he raises an eyebrow, straightening up.
"Annual cycle with Nudran, girl. Have fun." He turns on his heel and leaves. I just go inside and sit across from Nudran.
"You're working me for an annual cycle, then?"
"Yup."
"This should be fun..." He shows me how he does his job and hands me a stack of holopads.
"What do I do with these?"
"Look through them. Find which one would have the highest reward and we come up with a plan to tackle it." I don't make any move to pick a holopad up and he raises an eyebrow. "Get to work, kid."
"I can't read them."
"What are you talking about?"
"My visor has been on the fritz... So I haven't been able to use it to find problems with the ships, to read signs, or to do my lessons in other languages... I haven't been able to fix it or take it down to tech yet... And it's more than likely that if I leave here before you do to go to Mess, Captain's gonna add more lunar or annual cycles to this and I won't get back to doing what I like to do until I'm twenty..."
"I see... Well." He grabs a toolbox and passes it to me. "This should have what you need to fix your visor and you try to figure it out while I call Gek, the Lead Tech, to come to help you fix it." I take it and take my visor from behind my ear, setting it on the table as I open the toolbox. I carefully take it apart and look at it, biting my lip slightly.
"What is it, Nudran?" Gek asks and she comes over, looking over my shoulder. "I see..." She sits next to me and helps me fix it.
"Try it now," She says after I put it back together and I put it back, trying it. The visor pops up and I smile slightly. "There. Fixed." She pats my shoulder and leaves. I had learned that manners just lead to people thinking they can take advantage of you so I just thank Doc, Cookie, Segs, Yondu, Kraglin, Dad, and his crew. I pick up a holopad and look through it, using the visor to translate it.
When I'm finished with the holopads, I had them sorted from most reward to least and hand Nudran the one with the most. "This one. It's on Givagua. We'd have to send someone down to seduce that rich guy. He's into guys, so sending a chick crew member wouldn't do much good. He frequents the Givaguan version of a male bot Iron Lotus, as in at least twice in the span of seven solar cycles. The establishment has sentient people there too. He likes Xandarians... We got any male Xandarians on here that are into guys?"
"I'd say Jay, but he's too young."
"And into girls. He might swing both ways... Any male Xandarians that like both? Or all? Like, they don't care about what gender someone identifies as or if they don't identify as a gender?"
"How do you know about this shit?"
"Terrans have been advocating for equal rights for women, people who were assigned the wrong gender at birth, and people who identify as either both or neither. And it wasn't going well last I knew. Terra sucks. And so do a lot of the people on it." He nods slowly and looks at the holopad.
"I think we might have some people like that. What else you got for a plan?"
"We use the seducer to get information on how his house is. Once we have the information, we hit his place and rob him blind." He nods and comes up with a more detailed plan from what I gave him.
"I'll go present that to Captain. Good job, kid."
"Maybe leave out the parts on how I was involved."
"I'll just say I bounced ideas off of you and it helped me come up with the plan." I nod and he leaves while I work on studying the lessons to learn how to read and write the other languages, using a holopad I keep in my pocket.