An Alliance Forged in Blood

[Strazio Rockwell]

Isaac grimaced at the sight his fallen foe’s blood. The man had left him no choice, and the Bloodlance had to strike back. Fortunately for his victim Isaac managed to avoid any vital organs. The small tendrils of crimson still danced around his missing limb, each whip of blood seemed eager to fight. Taking a few moments to compose himself Isaac willed the blood back into his veins. The woman who had stepped in to save him seemed none too impressed by his ability, but living in the Omniverse she had probably seen stranger. She kept the hot barrel of her rifle pressed against the bounty hunter’s skull. Her trigger finger seemed to twitch with anticipation.

“Thanks, for the help. Uhhh...” he stumbled his words, subtly begging for her name.

“Christa” she answered curtly, the barrel of her rifle stilled jammed against the man’s temple. Isaac stood up and raised his hand in a non-threatening manner.

“Right, I’m Isaac... Let’s get out of here before they send in backup” he saw the hatred for the soldier in her eyes. How many times had he seen those eyes? How many times had he felt the hatred that she felt?

Christa’s face contorted into a look of disbelief and contention“let the fuckers come, I’ll deal with them the same way I’m going to deal with this one.”

Isaac’s heart sank and his mind scrambled quickly trying to find a way to talk her down. She definitely wasn’t bullshitting and he was mere breaths away from watching her paint a mural of blood. Isaac took a step forward and tried to reason with her.

“Listen, this guy won’t be fucking with us any time soon” he addressed the incapacitated soldier “you’re not gonna come after us if we let you go right? And you’ll tell all your kennel-mates that we’re not to be messed with yeah? So let’s let him scurry back with his tail between his legs and we can go get a beer or something, my treat.”

The man shook his head in the affirmative and Isaac looked at Christa for approval. Her grip on the weapon seemed to loosen and she took a step back. The soldier sighed in relief believing that he had been granted a second chance at life. A slight grin formed on Isaac’s grizzled face, glad that he was able to spare a life.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

With a sickening thud the bullet-riddled corpse crashed into the dusty ground. Isaac had seen countless corpses, but the sight of death never got any easier. His stomach twisted itself into knots as Christa turned away so nonchalantly. How could she just kill him without a second thought? She glanced over her shoulder and smirked slightly.

“You’re still buying me drinks. Think of it as payment for saving your dumb ass.”

“What?” Isaac found himself at a loss for words. Another human had been killed needlessly and all she could think about was Isaac buying her a drink. He knew how callous people could be, but it still astonished him. She snapped him from his stupor and shouted back at him.

“Come on, you don’t wanna be around when the authorities show up.”

She was right, he hated leaving this poor man in such a disrespectful manner, but he couldn’t risk being accosted by more Empire goons. The cocksure female fighter led the veteran down a series of alleys. He hated her methods, but something about her intrigued him. As much as he hated to admit it she reminded him of his younger self. It wouldn’t hurt to share a drink with her. The two made their way back to Christa’s watering hole and she shouted at the bartender.

“I’ll take a shot of bourbon. Put everything on this bastard’s tab” she smirked at Isaac and continued “hope you’ve got deep pockets.”

“You’re not a lightweight I take it?”

She scoffed at the mere thought of being unable to handle her liquor. Isaac knew her type, strong and confident and most importantly competitive. He ordered a shot of the same and sparked a silent competition between the two. They both down their shots and ordered another round. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two before they downed another fiery drink. It began, an unspoken contest of constitution.

“Why’d you kill those men?” Isaac broke the silence with a admittedly heavy topic.

The female warrior responded with an equally heavy answer “the dogs deserved it.”

“No one deserves to die...”

*Thwump*

Another shot, another exchange.

“What’s your fucking deal anyways? Why do you care about those bastards so much?”

Christa was starting to feel the buzz. Isaac felt it, but had a dirty trick up his sleeve. His mastery over his own blood stifled the liquor’s effects and it made him into one mean drinker. He took a moment to mull Christa’s question over and responded.

“I don’t but killing an already defeated adversary is just cruel and pointless.”

“They knew what they were getting into when they went after me.”

*Thwump*

Another shot, another exchange.

Isaac laughed and turned his empty shot glass upside down “they weren’t after you.”

“Bullshit” she shot back.

“No bullshit its true I’ve got a bounty on my head, you think they were chasing me for a cardio workout?”

Christa paused for a moment and glanced away before asking “what’d you do that netted you a bounty?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it” he gave her the cold shoulder and waved the bartender over again.

*Thwump*

Another shot, another exchange.

“Come on fucker, you can’t leave me hanging like that. Spill it.”

Isaac laughed, feigning his intoxication “alright alright. But first one more shot?”

“Deal.”

*Thwump*

Between the two they had polished off enough liquor to knock even the most hardened alcoholic on his ass. Even with Isaac cheating he was beginning to feel the buzzing numb feeling of intoxication. He was surprised at Christa’s resilience, she still seemed rather lucid.

“So?” she asked, prodding Isaac to spill his guts.

Reluctantly he answered her question with as little information as possible. “I used to work for them. Needless to say I don’t anymore, they... Well. Let’s just say we had a falling out and now they want to get back at me. What about you? You seem to have a story.”