Stakar
Yondu was confined to his cell for the few days following his fin removal, save only for the times that he was escorted to the bathroom and the showers. His first shower after his punishment was possibly the worst shower he’d ever had. Normally it was fairly comfortable, but now he only felt the sting as jets of water hit the tender wound on the top of his head.
He sat on his cot, curled up around himself, water still dripping off of him and a small, steady trickle of blood ran off his head and down his face. In a few more days it would hopefully scab over and he wouldn’t be covered in blood for training.
On his third day of confinement he heard unusual sounds coming from the hallway outside his door. He’d heard blasters and guns be fired before, but never in the hallways. He climbed off of the cot and carefully approached the door, ready to jump back if a soldier or a guard happened to open it. He couldn’t move the small slat that covered the window on the door, but he could hear what was happening just beyond that fairly clearly.
“All clear, Captain!” He could hear being shouted, followed by many heavy footsteps. “There’s keypads on all these doors, it’s too small a space to blow ‘em up like the ones outside, unless you want to blow us up too.”
Yondu perked up a little, realizing the people outside his door weren’t from the facility and, hopefully, not from the Kree Empire. He stood on his toes and got his face as close to the little covered window as possible. “H-hello? Who’s out there?” There was no answer, but the voices past the door were suddenly silent. Yondu spoke again, louder this time, “Hello! Hello, can you let me out?”
They must have heard him that time, because the small slat on the door slid open and a pair of eyes glanced inside. Yondu stepped back and looked up to the young man, relieved to see that he was correct - they weren’t Kree.
“What’re you doing in there kid?” The man looked Yondu up and down and furrowed his brow; the boy was wearing only a pair of small shorts and a tank top, both of which looked worse for wear. Stakar knew instantly he was a slave. “Never mind. How many kids are there in here?” When the people around him heard there was a kid inside, Yondu heard murmurs echoing around the hallways.
“There’s thirty, including me.” He stood stock still and straight up, unsure if these men would harm him if he dared to slouch or shift on his feet. “Can you let me out?”
The man looked to those around him and sighed, “shit.. Kid, we can’t blow the door off, the blast’d kill you. We’ll get a hold of Nova and they-”
“Three, six, seven, four.”
“What?”
“The code for my door. The one at the end of the hall is seven, four, eight, one, two, nine. I know most of the other ones too, but you need to hurry, they’ll change soon.”
The man outside the door paused, mouth hanging open slightly. How could a slave know the passcodes? He punched in the four digit number that the boy had given him into the keypad next to the door and the lock made a small clicking sound. He opened the door and Yondu took a few steps back. “ ‘s alright, kid, we aren’t going to hurt you.” He turned to one of the men behind him, “get the key for the collar off that guard.”
Key in hand, the young man gestured for the boy to come closer to him. “I’m Stakar, I’m a Captain of this group of Ravagers. These men here are a part of my crew, we aren’t going to hurt you. I’ll take that collar off and get you out of here if you give us the passcodes, deal?”
Yondu nodded and stepped forward shakily. It wasn’t easy to move with the pain on his head reverberating through the rest of his body. He stood before Stakar and winced only slightly as the collar was removed from his neck. He let out a sigh and carefully touched where the piece of metal had been as it clattered to the floor. He’d never felt more free.
Stakar stood and removed his coat before gently placing it over the boy. The insignia on it looked nothing like the ones on the Kree uniforms, but the bronze coloured flames stood out to Yondu, especially on the black coat.The Captain spoke softly, “What’s your name, kid? Do you even have a name?”
The coat was far too large for the boy and he had to hold onto it to make sure it wouldn't fall off. He looked to the floor and licked his lips, did he call himself his number? If these men were going to save him, did he really want them to know the number that he was given? He took a steady breath and spoke barely above a whisper, “my name’s Yondu Udonta.”
Stakar nodded, “alright, Yondu, let’s get these doors open. You know where the weapons are stored here?” They’d get the children out if they could, but they were more than likely going to drop a tip to the nearest faction of the Nova Corps. They would have a better hold on how to deal with a group of children.
Yondu nodded and began to shuffle along down the hallway. He didn't get very far before Stakar crouched down and picked the boy up. “Soon as we get outta here we’ll get your head all cleaned up. Looks like you got into a hell of a fight, kid.” He inspected the wound, realizing it had started to become infected. There was still a bit of red flesh around the edges of the wound. “You a Centaurian? Had a fin there?”
Yondu nodded silently and kept his red eyes locked to the end of the hallway, hoping the man wouldn't ask any more about it. When they reached the door, Yondu gave them the code again and many of the men swarmed into the training room. He heard a few shots fired and doors opening, and more shots fired. This continued on for several minutes before they heard a crew member give the all clear.
The training room looked so strange with no children in it, and even stranger with most of the guards, trainers and soldiers dead on the floor. He spotted the trainer who’d taken his fin and felt a sick feeling in his stomach and an ache on the top of his head. He shook his head to snap out of it and looked up at Stakar, “I don’t know where any weapons are, other than the ones we train with. Those are there.” He pointed to a door to their right and again he put in the passcode.
There wasn't much in the small storage room, definitely not as much as their intel had led them to believe. It definitely wasn't anything that was worth pissing off the Kree. Stakar barked an order for his crew to split up and check each of the hallways that led away from the training room. Yondu opened all but two of them, his memory seeming to fail him momentarily.
After a short time, a green man approached Stakar and Yondu. “Cap, there’s a bunch more kids. Way more than thirty.” He glanced to Yondu, “you sure you meant to say thirty?”
Yondu nodded, but began to question himself. “I only knew thirty.”
“Did they give you a number, kid?”
The boy looked up at Stakar, then straight ahead. “Two-Thirteen, Sir.”
Stakar gently placed the boy down onto his feet and walked away, his hand covering his face in frustration. “Shit! Frawe, get a hold of the Nova Corps, give ‘em the coordinates and tell ‘me to get their asses here before the guard’s backup gets here. We’re leaving.” Frawe nodded and jogged down the hallway that they had entered through to get back to the ship.
The green man spoke again, “What about the weapons, Captain? We gotta get what we came for.”
“There’s nothing here for us to take. The kids are the weapons, they’re battle slaves. Hundreds of ‘em. We don’t deal in kids, even if they are worth a fortune.” He faced the rest of the crew, “back to the ships, we’re getting out of here.”
Yondu still held Stakar’s coat tightly around himself as he looked up to the Captain. “Take me with you.. You said you’d get me out of here.”
Stakar’s men lumbered off down the halls toward the ship, but he was left staring at the kid who’d done all he could to help them try to find what they were looking for. “Ravagers don’t deal in kids. We’ve got a code and I’ve got to stick to it. The Nova Corps will be here to pick you up soon, alright?”
“I don’t know who that is! I want to go with you. I want to escape now, with you. Captain.” His face was hardened, seeming to be completely determined. But in his head he was close to breaking down. He was so desperate for this man to take him away. Things would be better with him than they were in the facility, they had to be.
“Kid..” Stakar sighed and shook his head, not believing himself. He picked up the Centaurian and started off down the hallway. “If you change your mind, though, you have to tell us. You’re free to do what you want. You’re not a slave anymore.” When Yondu spoke a soft ‘okay’, Stakar paused and spoke once more, “How’d you know all those codes?”
The boy shrugged, “I paid attention. Soon as I knew what number made what sound it was easy.”
Stakar stared down at the child and laughed softly in disbelief, a crooked smile on his face, “nice work, Yondu. Hope to see more of it.”
Yondu simply nodded and rested his head on the young man’s chest as he was carried out of the facility. The air felt cool and crisp against his skin and he felt a sudden wave of calm rush over him. A small smile crept across his face and a single thought crossed his mind - he made it out.
The crew member known as Frawe approached Stakar and gave him a curt nod, “got a hold of the Nova Corps, they’re on their way.” He pointed to Yondu, “what are you doin’ with this one, Cap?”
“Kid wants to come. So he’s one of us now, understand?” Stakar looked to the rest of the crew members, who were just staring at him, “Understand?!” This was met with various accepting tones from the crew.
Once they were on one of the three ships, Stakar sat Yondu in one of the seats on the wall near the Captain’s chair and fastened him into it. “Ever been on a ship before?” When the boy shook his head, Stakar nodded. “Right. Just don’t puke on my coat, got it?”
Stakar sat in his seat and began to lift off toward their larger ship, which was waiting not far from the moon that the facility was on. His First Mate sat next to him in his own seat and grinned, “what’s Aleta gonna say to this?”
Stakar only shrugged, “she’s got a soft spot for kids.”