The sky is red and the clouds fluffy, more than a thousand feet below. You're standing in a pelican drop ship as it teeters from side to side, fighting the atmospheric pull. Below you is a green planet, everything shrunk down to toy-land size.
Ephemera laughs, helmet off, as the ramp lowers. One by one, the armored soldiers next to him jump into the atmosphere, and fly.
"C'mon! What're you waiting for?"
Rage (cw for torture, violence, off screen sexual assault)
The first thing you smell is gasoline. The second is blood.
The warehouse is blackened and cold, industrial lighting flickering on and off. You can see the stars through a hole in the ceiling where, some time in the past, an artillery shell struck home. This is a warzone, but the soldiers here are not fighting. They're standing in a circle around a group of prisoners, all of them bound with mag cuffs. All of the prisoners are in full armor.
As are the soldiers surrounding them. Ephemera and his teammates.
Ephemera himself is down on his knees, helmet and gauntlets off. He's several years younger and unscarred, though someone has wrecked his hands. Stomped on them with armored boots and snapped most of the little bones there. There's blood on his face and he's crying furiously while one of his teammates sets his broken fingers, one after the other.
Next to him, the twins - a man and a woman with kind faces - are trying to put their armor back on. It was cut off them with a blowtorch. Neither of them speak.
But they do laugh. They giggle as their commander smokes a cigarette, an axe in hand, and watches the prisoners. They laugh as Ephemera screams getting his fingers set, as the prisoners beg for their lives.
They're covered in gasoline. Soaked in it.
And all the while, Ephemera's commander works on his cigarette. Taps the ashes onto the ground, scraping them out with his boot.
Ephemera staggers to his feet, tears running down his face. Hands swollen and red. "Light those fuckers up!"
The commander takes one last drag. Exhales.
And drops the cigarette.
They go up like dying stars.
Hope
You're on a beach, gray sand crunching under your feet and the ocean spray not far off. Industrial buildings dot the coastline. It's not a very nice beach and the air smells like engine oil more than salt, but beggars can't be choosers. And this isn't about the beach. Not really.
What you're here for is something a little further out, splashing through the surf. Look closely and you'll see Ephemera dragging a soldier in red and black armor out of the water. Her helmet is off and her blonde hair, once perfectly controlled, is tangled into knots. She's beautiful in a harsh sort of way, and utterly limp in his arms. Look closely and you'll see blood at the back of her skull.
She's not breathing.
Ephemera drags her out of the waves, cursing. He doesn't notice you. All of his focus is on the soldier. And though he's begging her to wake up, to breathe, he takes the time to lay her down gently.
"C'mon, c'mon, sis...."
She won't breathe. Ephemera glares at you suddenly. "Help me get her armor off! Fucking help me!"
Terrence Ephemera/Sharkface | ota
The sky is red and the clouds fluffy, more than a thousand feet below. You're standing in a pelican drop ship as it teeters from side to side, fighting the atmospheric pull. Below you is a green planet, everything shrunk down to toy-land size.
Ephemera laughs, helmet off, as the ramp lowers. One by one, the armored soldiers next to him jump into the atmosphere, and fly.
"C'mon! What're you waiting for?"
Rage (cw for torture, violence, off screen sexual assault)
The first thing you smell is gasoline. The second is blood.
The warehouse is blackened and cold, industrial lighting flickering on and off. You can see the stars through a hole in the ceiling where, some time in the past, an artillery shell struck home. This is a warzone, but the soldiers here are not fighting. They're standing in a circle around a group of prisoners, all of them bound with mag cuffs. All of the prisoners are in full armor.
As are the soldiers surrounding them. Ephemera and his teammates.
Ephemera himself is down on his knees, helmet and gauntlets off. He's several years younger and unscarred, though someone has wrecked his hands. Stomped on them with armored boots and snapped most of the little bones there. There's blood on his face and he's crying furiously while one of his teammates sets his broken fingers, one after the other.
Next to him, the twins - a man and a woman with kind faces - are trying to put their armor back on. It was cut off them with a blowtorch. Neither of them speak.
But they do laugh. They giggle as their commander smokes a cigarette, an axe in hand, and watches the prisoners. They laugh as Ephemera screams getting his fingers set, as the prisoners beg for their lives.
They're covered in gasoline. Soaked in it.
And all the while, Ephemera's commander works on his cigarette. Taps the ashes onto the ground, scraping them out with his boot.
Ephemera staggers to his feet, tears running down his face. Hands swollen and red. "Light those fuckers up!"
The commander takes one last drag. Exhales.
And drops the cigarette.
They go up like dying stars.
Hope
You're on a beach, gray sand crunching under your feet and the ocean spray not far off. Industrial buildings dot the coastline. It's not a very nice beach and the air smells like engine oil more than salt, but beggars can't be choosers. And this isn't about the beach. Not really.
What you're here for is something a little further out, splashing through the surf. Look closely and you'll see Ephemera dragging a soldier in red and black armor out of the water. Her helmet is off and her blonde hair, once perfectly controlled, is tangled into knots. She's beautiful in a harsh sort of way, and utterly limp in his arms. Look closely and you'll see blood at the back of her skull.
She's not breathing.
Ephemera drags her out of the waves, cursing. He doesn't notice you. All of his focus is on the soldier. And though he's begging her to wake up, to breathe, he takes the time to lay her down gently.
"C'mon, c'mon, sis...."
She won't breathe. Ephemera glares at you suddenly. "Help me get her armor off! Fucking help me!"