Tales From Sirca Chapter 10: Violence Breeds Violence

Aries scowled at everyone who dared to look at him and Icarus as they walked into The Resistance base, Icarus had not taken his helmet off since they had carried each other back to the truck. Aries glanced around, looking for someone. That someone finally walked out of a connecting hall with a smile that dropped when he saw Aries' death glare, he held out his hands silently as if to say 'what' and Aries beckoned him closer.

"What's wrong, whaddya need?"

"Icarus, go find the short one." Aries lightly patted his helmet. "Sammy, I think it was- York, we need to talk. Now."

The taller tan chupa was taken aback. Aries was a relatively serious guy, probably even more so than Wash, but from what he could tell Aries hated talking to anyone who wasn't Icarus.

"Just me and you," York raised a brow.

"No. Get Miranda and Astrid. We need a private place to talk, can you do that?"

"I think I know just the place."

---

"Seriously?"

Aries scoffed angrily, still steaming at something he wasn't telling York. York walked past the annoyed ninja chupa, pulling a bar stool and taking a seat.

"It's the best I can do on short notice," Aries mirrored him and reluctantly took a seat, "CT's keeping Wash out of our business, for now, we're just waiting on the ladies. Now, what happened? You look like you're ready to kill someone. I thought you were taking Icarus to see-"

"They're dead, York," Aries' flat tone silenced him, "Someone burned them alive in their home, by the time we got there whoever had done it was long gone."

"I'm sorry."

"Why would you be," Aries snapped, fists clenched so tight he was drawing blood from his own palms.

"What do we need Jersey here for?"

"I have a..." Aries paused to massage his forehead, "I think I might know who did it- but... I need Jersey's memory. She was there, she can help me remember what escapes me."

York simply nodded, not wanting to irritate Aries any further. Aries didn't seem to cool off even slightly until the two they were waiting for made their way into the room, both stared at the angrily stewing silent chupa who watched them right back. The yellow of his eyes seemed predatory and malevolent in his silence, they would have rather him talk than give them the glare of a serial killer. The two females grabbed stools and sat creating a square-like shape between the four of them.

"Astrid," Aries started, but Jersey cut him off.

"It's Jersey dammit!"

York tried to butt in, "Hey, J, it's really not that important right now."

"I could care less what the fuck you prefer to be called, shut the fuck up." Aries stood up from his seat and looked Jersey in her eyes. "The sole reason I even asked to talk to you is that I need your help. I need you to help me remember the events of when we met."

"When you shot at me on that bridge?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Astrid."

"Why do you keep calling me that?"

"Because it's the one thing that never left my goddamn head from that day! Your fucking name! That's what they called you, right? Lieutenant?"

The Freelancer's eyes went wide for a moment.

"J," Miranda scrunched up her face looking at Agent Jersey, "What is he talking about?"

Jersey - or rather Astrid - leaned over, burying her face in her hands in defeat. "I thought I- A long time ago, years ago. I was a different person, Robin, way before all of The Resistance- I was given an assignment. One I almost followed through on."

"And we'll both tell you how it went, the true story."

Aries stared at Jersey, maintaining his murderous scowl as she looked up and her cyan eyes met his sickly yellow.

---

Eight chupas in straight jackets and matching pants came to a halt in the woods, one with a long black mane leaped over a fallen tree and motioned for the rest to follow. They did so in a hurry, wanting to stay as close together as possible. The group was all of different ages and various colors, the youngest in the group not even an adolescent. The black-maned leader helped the youngest over the log and sat down, with an exhausted smile.

"I think we made good distance everyone," The dark almost black chupa with golden yellow eyes had something printed on the collar of his restraint jacket, the name 'Hope'. "We've still got all eight of us, right?"

"All accounted for, Goldie," Another one in their group huffed out, his fur was a pale greenish-yellow with a little fiery ginger fauxhawk. On his collar read 'ClF 3', "But if you considered my suggestion we would cover a lot more ground, something we should consider seeing as we're still wearing this blood-soaked shit."

Hope planted his hands on the sides of the youngest sky blue chupa's head who had the name Nym branded on her collar, "Language, C-l-F 3. And no. We aren't leaving anyone behind. We're in this together."

"All freaks of the same lab, I guess. Worth a shot, Goldie."

"The name is Hope, and that's something we haven't lost yet."

"Okay that was corny," Hayden, the indigo chupa chuckled laying in the grass.

"Corny or not, we still got it."

"We're like a band of rogue cowboys," One of the young red chupas shouted holding up finger guns and walking like she wore spurred boots, unlike everyone else her teeth seemed to be razor sharp and they'd taken to calling her Byte. "On the road, rough and tough."

Hope hummed amused at the idea; he swore his positivity was contagious at this point.

"Rogue? Eh, it kinda has a ring to it. Just not that violent- Get some rest, we can get moving in the morning. Maybe find some food too."

- 150 Miles South of That -

"I hope you boys ain't too green now, we're doing some hunting."

"Staff Sargent Kovich, what are we hunting down," One sitting soldier asked as the pelican rocked slightly.

A red chupa in special ops armor stood at the door of the cockpit with a shotgun.

"I'm glad you asked, Private. We've been tasked to take down a runaway group of feral test subjects, they've already brutally murdered a lab of scientists and security personnel leaving very few lucky survivors. Don't let their size fool you, they will not show you mercy. This is a kill order and we've been granted a Freelancer for this hunt. Lieutenant Astrid Valentino."

He pointed to the chupa in full grey armor with red and gold highlights, the helmet resembled an ornate headpiece, and the letters 'N-J' scratched into the left wrist guard. The 6'6 wide framed chupa stood with its arms crossed unmoving as the pelican rocked again, long navy-blue tail swaying slowly.

"Let's just put these freaks down and be done with it," She muttered clearly irritated with the task that seemed beneath her.

The staff sarge chuckled, "She's all business as you boys can tell, stay the hell out of her way."

"I'll stay right on her tail sarge," One soldier muttered with a giggle.

Without turning her head Astrid barked, "You think I'm deaf or somethin'? I'll rip your fucking tongue out."

That shut everyone up.

---

Hope peeked out from his bush hiding place, the sun shone strongly but not too uncomfortably. Nym and C-l-F joined him, looking out into the bustling town within twenty meters of their hiding place. Chupas walked back and forth, talking, socializing, and going about their day.

"See," Hope offered, breaking into a wide grin, "They're normal just like us. And there's our goal right there."

Hope's eyes seemed to glitter at the rather shabby establishment that had a decently sized sign that read 'Bar and Diner', an odd combination of the two things. Or it would have been if Hope knew what a bar was, or a diner. Just off the sound, a lone diner sounded like dinner so he assumed there must be food there.

"Normal," C-l-F said incredulously. "I saw you use your teeth to rip out-"

Hope frowned at him, Nym raised her eyebrows in confusion. The green chupa sighed, looking apologetically at her.

"You're right- Sorry. Normal, just like us. Even though the place looks sleazy. I feel like we're gonna draw a lot of attention. We get in, eat, and blow this popsicle stand."

"I agree. Let's be quick. Hands, everyone."

C-l-F groaned; he hated that Hope forced them to hold hands to stay together. It was something that he made them do since they had escaped, and he could only assume it was to make him feel better rather than keep them all safe, but he complied with it. The eight of them joined hands in groups of four and walked out and down to the town, to say they got stares would be a gross understatement. All action in the street even down to conversation came to a standstill as the group walked down the street. Hope kept his eyes on the prize, the diner that he'd scouted out before. They entered the establishment, but it offered them no break from the unwanted attention, all conversation dropped to a hush meanwhile the chupa behind the counter was turned away from them speaking in a hushed tone.

"Yeah," He muttered, Hope walked up to the counter and freed a hand to ring the bell on the counter.

"Excuse me, sir," Hope inquired softly in order to not be rude.

"They're gonna get you," A low voice whispered next to Hope's head, he just smiled and ignored it just like he always did. It would go away. It always did.

"Mmhm. Soon as possible. Alright," The large maroon chupa in a loose-fitting trucker hat and dingy apron turned to face the small group with a smile that made C-l-F uncomfortable, but Hope didn't seem to notice. "Whaddya want?"

"I would like to get something for all of us, a plate of the..." Hope squinted at the chalkboard over the man's shoulder, "The... pan-cakes. And a cup of that hot liquid that man is drinking."

"Tea? You gonna be able 'ta pay for all 'dat?"

Hope and C-l-F reached into their jacket sleeves and placed money on the counter.

"I hope this is enough. Nym, Kix, and Byte have to eat."

The chupa leaned on the counter, "It's certainly more than enough. Those your younger sisters?"

"Yes."

They weren't truly his sisters; Hope was certain of that, but it didn't mean he wouldn't treat them as such. If he didn't, he couldn't imagine who would.

"Take a booth, I'll bring your stuff right on out."

Hope threw the green chupa next to him a radiant smile before herding the group over to an open booth at a window, making sure to help Nym into the chair sitting last.

"That man was very nice."

"I guess so," C-l-F sighed, "I guess you were right, for once. Hope."

"You really have to start trusting me, C-l-F."

The chupa came around with the food and dropped it off quickly placing the steaming cup in front of Hope, Hope and C-l-F sat back and allowed the younger of them eat first. The green adolescent didn't like the idea, but it made sense, Hope brought his legs up and crossed them. He shut his eyes and allowed his hands to rest on top of each other, one palm up and one palm down. He felt the world dropping away from him and the sounds of his packmates fading into nothing, completely withdrawn into his own mind until he could only smell the tea in front of him.

His own memories bombarded him, the torture, the experiments, needles, the blood- Murder.

Hope opened his eyes, feeling like his lungs were temporarily robbed of air.

"Are you okay, Hope," Nym asked, wiping a hand on her jacket.

"I'm fine, just," He stood up in the chair and looked around the diner that was now empty, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

He looked down at his drink that was cooled off by now, the steam long gone, and the dark liquid was still.

Then it rippled. Once. Twice.

By the time it had rippled thrice it began to look like a rough ocean and it didn't stop. There was a deafening roar of engines outside, Hope peeked outside and his packmates couldn't help but look as well.

---

A pelican swooped down over the end of the forest that Hope's pack had entered the town through, twenty-five armed soldiers hopped out with the Lt. following close behind with her SMGs drawn.

"Set up a perimeter," Astrid shouted. "Squad one. Go in."

"Us," The private who'd made the sly comment on the pelican sounded worried, much to the annoyance of the Freelancer.

"Yes, you. Don't be a fucking coward, they're smaller than you."

"Movement at the window!"

Astrid raised her guns and ripped off a burst from her submachine gun, it pierced the glass without shattering and struck one of the eight in the chest multiple times splattering blood across their faces.

Hope caught his packmate and dove to the checker-patterned floor, "Everyone get down! Nym, Kix, now!"

The group huddled together on the floor as the black-maned chupa pressed down on the bleeding wound of the indigo chupa in his arms, he tried to speak but only struggling gargles escaped his throat. Hope pulled his blood-soaked hands away and watched his packmate's eyes roll back and give a shuddering last breath, feeling bile rise up as he stared down into his unblinking eyes. Byte turned her head away.

"Hayden?"

"Hope," C-l-F looked over to Hope with fear written all over his muzzle, "What's the plan?"

"I... We can try the back door- But I don't want to leave him here-"

"Do you hear yourself, Goldie? If we stay here... We won't be here very long."

"I-I know! Nym, Kix, and Byte- follow me and stay low. Bear, Bluey- Stay with C-l-F. Do exactly as I say, and we'll get out okay. Let's go."

Outside of the building, the perimeter was set but civilians still stood by watching. Astrid approached the window and looked through at her handiwork, one of the subjects lay dead on the floor. He was large, nearly up to her shoulder if he had been standing but not too large in build. There were only seven more to deal with and she would go home a hell of a lot richer, certainly give her some bragging rights after getting rid of some feral freakshows.

"One dead," She called over her shoulder, "Seven more to go, stay on your toes."

Hope helped Kix out last and pushed a large trashcan in front of the door, a heavy kick nearly bowled the can over, and he scrambled away catching up to his pack. Astrid kicked the door open, and the air filled with the sound of gunfire from seemingly every direction. The soldiers dropped three more subjects as they bolted across the street for cover, C-l-F burst through the doors of a nearby antique shop with Hope, Byte, and Nym tumbling in after him. He and Hope slammed the door shut and hid.

"Headcount," Hope whispered trying to calm the children who were trying to stop hyperventilating, "We're missing Kix, Bear, and Bluey! C-l-F, where are Bear and Bluey?"

He could only look over at Hope and shake his head, "Same thing that happened to Kix."

"What kind of leader are you? You just gonna lie down and die?"

"Alright everyone," The black-maned chupa dipped his head low and his eyes were hidden by his messy bangs, "Here's the plan..."

"Lieutenant Valentino," The private called to her.

"It's Astrid. What's the sitch'," She corrected, stepping past the soldiers who put the other bodies in black body bags before she could confirm the kills herself.

"Lieutenant Astrid, they've holed up inside the antique shop."

Astrid gazed at the big glass window at the storefront next to the door, she could just hurl a grenade in there. With the amount of glass and wood in there, the blast would settle this. But she had a better idea, a more amusing idea.

"Great observation, Private. Go in and get them, drag them out for me."

He looked as if he had something to say but the glare of the Lieutenant's visor was more than enough to resign him to do as he was told, raising the assault rifle to his eye and leveling it at the door as he approached. The private opened the door and stepped inside allowing it to close behind him. The store was silent as a tomb, with him being its raider in uncharted territory. Hope glared at the soldier from his hiding place then back at Byte who was hidden behind a display case, Hope knocked on the floor and the soldier pointed his rifle at the sound approaching it. Byte sprang from her hiding place landing on the soldier's back and sinking her teeth into his neck, he shrieked and ripped off a burst from the gun before dropping it and attempting to rip the razer-toothed from his throat gushing blood everywhere. C-l-F charged the soldier in an attempt to tackle him but the green chupa didn't have enough strength, Hope bolted forward and jumped slamming into the soldier's upper body. Byte flew off and tumbled to the floor and the soldier thudded against the hardwood floor, his helmet bouncing and landing over near Nym who was still in Hope's original hiding spot.

"Byte," Hope looked over at the small chupa dusting herself off and holding her shoulder gingerly, "You alright?"

"I think I hurt my arm." She shuffled past Hope. "What do we do now?"

Hope stepped on and over the body, struggling but managing to pick up the now scuffed-up assault rifle.

"Do you know how to use that?"

Hope looked over at C-l-F, who herded Byte and Nym together. "Well, if it's the same thing as the weapons the security had... Just point and pull this trigger thing."

The flashing indicator of the ammo counter read out twenty-nine. He would have to make those twenty-nine count, every single shot.

There was a static noise from the discarded helmet and an irritated female voice came through, "Private! What's the hold-up? You discharged your weapon, is something wrong?"

Astrid sighed; she was going to have to do this herself. She always had to do everything herself. The Freelancer began to jog toward the storefront, Hope lined her up in his trembling sights and fired. The shot narrowly missed her head striking her through the shoulder, and she dropped to the ground, the round struck a soldier lined up behind her and killed him instantly.

"Open fire!"

"Nice shot, Goldeneye," C-l-F commented, peeking out from his cover and dipping back in as bullets began to tear up the store, shattering glass and splintering wood.

"All that stuff they pumped into us has to be good for something, right," Hope offered a nervous smile to try to put them at ease, "Stay down, I'll handle this."

"By yourself? You'll die!"

Byte and Nym sat looking frightened by the loud noise, staring up at Hope. The terror in their eyes hurt, and he forced his smile wider.

"I got us into this. I'll get us out, just like I always have."

Astrid dragged herself backward, contributing to suppressing fire and creating space between her and the now armed subjects. To her knowledge, they shouldn't know how to operate a firearm. She was told they were feral, making her wonder what exactly they were subjects of.

Hope broke cover, taking potshots at the soldiers lined up outside as he bound around the store popping up and down in different spots making it hard for them to pin him down. By the time the Lieutenant dragged herself back to a relatively safe distance fifteen of her soldiers had been picked off, each of them with pinpoint accurate headshots. She sat up behind a car and just barely caught the static end of a transmission.

"Negative copy," She blind fired around the side of the car, "Say again?"

"Hocus on deck, approaching on the northeast. Fire mission on mission objective confirmed, danger close."

Her eyes widened.

"Hey! No! Abort fire mission, friendlies still on target. Wave off! We got this."

"Staff Sargent, I'm picking up static from mission objective."

"Sent it, the Lieutenant's unit is gone, and she's failed to report back," Astrid snarled at the sound of Kovich's voice.

"You fucking bastard," She took her helmet off, clenching her teeth in pain. Astrid looked to the sky; she could hear engines approaching and it was only a matter of time.

Hope peeked out the now shattered front window, every soldier lay on the ground dead. Part of him wanted to feel bad, but he remembered. They killed his packmates. Some of them were only children.

"Coast is clear, come on," Hope led the surviving three outside, "We just need to get out of here."

They made it halfway across the street when an armored chupa stood up from behind a car, SMG raised and ready to fire. Hope didn't even have time to lift his weapon before he felt sudden heat from a loud noise behind him and everything went black.

---

Astrid groaned; there was a weight on top of her. Her eyes fluttered open surprised that she was still alive, a long wooden beam rested on her chest. She threw a glance around her, there was just splintered flaming wood, and her helmet that other than being slightly scratched up was still intact. The blue chupa needed to get up before the flames got to her and barbequed her. Her lower half felt numb, she began to panic and attempted to wiggle her toes. She almost relaxed, feeling them move but she still had to get out.

Hope forced himself up to his feet dizzy and confused, he bent down to pick up the rifle and promptly dropped to hands and knees vomiting. The sudden change of adrenaline must have gotten to him, he looked up and around. Everything was burning and broken, his packmates or what had remained of them nowhere to be found. Low-hanging light smoke threatened to suffocate him. Forcing himself to stand up, he grabbed the rifle and cradled it.

"Am I all that's left," he whispered to himself.

A dusty cough responded to his question. He stumbled through the wreckage, running through tiny embers before coming to the source. A green chupa lay pinned under a sizable pile of slowly igniting wood, only his head and right arm stuck out from under.

He was coated in soot, but must have heard Hope approach. He turned his head in the black chupa's direction, but his eyes stayed closed. "Hope... Is that you? This is a real shi- A real sticky situation, huh?"

"I'm gonna get you out." Hope grabbed the green chupa's arm and began pulling. The pile that he was stuck under shifted loudly.

"Stop! You'll kill us both- Just... Just check on Byte and Nym, they were somewhere nearby when everything went bright."

Hope didn't have to look far. He turned to see what he had actually tripped over on his run over to C-l-F, it was a severed arm covered in red fur. He felt sick once more, but the contents of his stomach were already empty. He turned more and saw Nym, a steady stream of blood seeping from her mouth. Blood stained her sky-blue fur. He walked over and fell to his knees at her side, Hope opened his mouth to speak but he couldn't.

"You're useless."

This was his fault, his doing. If he'd had just listened to C-l-F they'd all still be alive. A dark scowl clouded over his face. The black chupa gently scooped her body up and walked it over to the prone green chupa, placing her down just as gently. Folding her arms so that her hands rested on her chest, Hope sat down next to them with his knees pulled up to his chest rocking back and forth.

"It doesn't look good, does it?"

"No. It doesn't. I should have just listened. You were right."

"I couldn't have picked a worse day to be right. It... It's not your fault. You were just... Just doing what you thought was best for us."

"And it turned to shit."

"Hey, language, Hope. Where's that million-buck smile?"

"I don't think I have one in me anymore."

"Can't give me one last one," C-l-F asked finally opening his brown eyes.

Hope sighed flashing the brightest smile he could muster at the moment, it wasn't much but it was enough for the green chupa to close his eyes once more.

"Now get," he coughed, "Get outta here. I'm just gonna rest my eyes... just for a bit..."

Hope reluctantly stood up, taking the rifle with him, and began to walk away wading through the thickening smoke. His scowl weaseled its way back onto his face, he had nothing to smile about anymore, and he just needed to get some distance between him and this place.

Astrid heaved and coughed heavily, freeing herself from under the wooden beam. They never dropped airstrikes on their own soldiers, she could only assume someone was trying to clean house and she was just the first target on the list. She scooped up her helmet and secured it to her waist, she needed to get out of here before anyone realized she wasn't dead. She took her first step and her whole body protested, sore from the explosion but she pushed herself anyway and began stumbling through the smoke with her SMG draw. Her free hand was clamped on her injured shoulder.

Both came through to a clear area in the smoke, and the instant they saw each other both guns raised, and triggers pulled. Both guns clicked harmlessly, and neither had any ammunition in their gun. Hope got a good long look at his attacker's face and Astrid a good look at his, she grimaced as she realized she'd been lied to by Kovich.

"Put the gun down, kid," Astrid commanded, Hope, pulled back and threw the empty rifle at her before running off into the smoke. It slammed into her shooting arm and nearly knocked the SMG from her grip. "Ow! Hey! Goddamn it, kid! Wait! Fuck this, I need to get the fuck out of here."

She reached inside her suit until her hand found what it was looking for, she ripped her dog tags off her neck and threw them into a random pile of debris. They wanted her dead, and now Astrid was dead to her.

---

Hope had been running, he didn't know for how long but ever since he passed into the thick forest he hadn't stopped. His foot caught a root and he smashed into the grass hard, painting streaks of red in the foliage. He didn't bother getting up. He hadn't been in the outside world as far back as he could remember, only in the cold metal lab.

"You were only met with violence and killing."

The voice, unfortunately, spoke the truth. He and his packmates only sought out acceptance and they wished to exterminate them. There wasn't a place in this world for 'Rogues', as Byte had called them, like them.

"So, what will you do, Rogue?"

"I'll avenge them," Hope snarled.

"Good."

He pushed himself up to a sitting position, just near him was a path that seemed to cut through the trees and out of his line of sight. He felt blood dripping from his open wounds and blocked it out, they were miniscule annoyances now. It wasn't great but a forest was the perfect place for someone like him to hide, he adjusted his sitting to the same way he did in the diner. Legs crossed, eyes closed, hands rested on top of one another. Just to collect his thoughts. He opened his eyes once again to find someone had placed a cup in front of him, it looked handmade. The liquid inside steamed lightly, smelling almost identical to what he had paid for in the diner. He reached out and grabbed it, scanning his surroundings before taking a careful sip.

Bitter.

He placed the cup down gently and returned to his concentrated position, eyes closed once more.

"There's no place like home..."

---

Miranda looked at Jersey in horror.

"Miranda," Jersey started to plead, "Robin!"

"Don't touch me." She scooted away from the SMG-carrying Freelancer.

York, for once, was actually speechless.

"You know, I left to forget all that shit."

"And wouldn't you know," Aries stood up from his seat, "Your past came back to bite you in the ass. Maybe you should have just come and killed me yourself, Astrid. Look at what you've created."

"You motherfucker! I was tricked and you know it!"

"You shot children! You killed my family!"

"I was ordered to do it!"

Aries scoffed and Jersey stood up. They both stood at the same height. "You said it like I give a fuck about what you were ordered to do you bootlicking Freelancer! Is that your defense for murdering seven children? You were ordered to? Give me a fucking break."

"You don't know shit about the fucking system they had us under, Hope."

"You think that name has any power over me? I don't care," Aries turned away from her, "Tell that to my dead brothers and sisters who just wanted to live like normal people. You're fucked in the head if you think you've done nothing wrong, Astrid. Keep trying to shift the blame if that helps you live with yourself. We're done here. I remembered what I needed. I'll find you if I need anything. Thanks, York."

Aries made for the door, and pushed past CT and Wash as they walked in.

"What the hell just happened in here?"

Red vs Blue © Rooster Teeth. Halo © 343 Industries. Concept by Myshu, assisted by The Department of Chupapology.