[One-shot?]
“Is it petty of me to seek some kind of revenge? Is it even revenge to begin with? Or me just wanting to see what I’ve risen above and see it crushed under my heel? Personally I like how the latter sounds, the Amarr Empire isn’t anything worth getting revenge on, it’s just something for us to look at in pity. To see the weakness that plagues the minds and bodies of this society that postures itself as some envy of the cluster… To take pride we broke off the path their clergy paved for us and discovered empowering truth that has made us stronger than them…”
- Lord Atox
“I am showing him the truth!”
February 10th YC 124
Delve - Deadspace pocket somewhere in the region, Personal outpost and shipyard of Lord Atox
“Kegamot… It’s time to wake up.”
“W-What? Huh…?”
“Ah good! Here I was worried you might’ve gotten too strong of a dose… Good Morning Kegamot! It’s a new day…”
“A-Atox?! B-But how… I… W-What is this?! What am I in?!”
“Ah yes, a particular favorite of mine. The tubing you see all over are all hooked up to your body’s blood arteries. On the other end of these tubes are pumps that will - Kegamot - Do I really need to spell all this out for you? You know quite well the situation you’re in…”
< Kegamot struggling >
“Atox! You let me out of this right now!”
"You are in no position to make orders for me. Your desperation however is noted…I’m afraid I couldn’t stop this even if I wanted to. See, the tubes are all grafted into your skin… This machine is apart of you now, Kegamot. Detaching any of the tubes would kill you, your blood would spew out uncontrollably - wasting it all…’
“You’re a product of a whore’s diseased ridden ■■■■, Atox.”
“Colorful language is about all you can harm me with now, Kegamot. Have at it.”
“You piss smelling swine! How did you know I was on the ship?!”
“I didn’t.”
“What!?”
“Was just another vessel like any other Kegamot… Thought nothing of it beyond it being an opportunity to harvest a few warm bodies and loot provisions… I was just as surprised as you are now when one of my officers reported that they found your biometrics when scanning the emergency shelter you cowered away in. A small cluster I suppose. Just what were you doing on that vessel anyway? Not like you to travel aboard some dingy cargo ship.”
“I was in a rush to make it to another Lord’s holdings for important business. I took whatever transportation was available regardless of the prestige it would provide or deduct.”
“Never pegged you as the humble type Kegamot…”
“Humility is a virtue. Something heretic scum like yourself would never understand.”
“Its just you were never this humble and content when you started winning house Kador’s favor…”
“Is that what this is all about…? You’re upset that House Kador saw more value in me and my bloodline than your wretched inbred household?”
“I was disgruntled that the moment House Kador showed you an ounce of attention that you gleefully took every little piece of land, every ship and slave those fools gave you… Abandoning everyone that built you up to earn that favor, tossing us aside like trash.”
“You people were trash… My house was being called on for a higher purpose! We took on responsibilities given to us by-”
“-You were given POWER Kegamot… Not responsibility. Power and Influence is what dripped from Kador’s teat. You were on the path towards discovering true power, yet strayed from it the moment Kador gave you the shortcut.”
“I was not gonna be dragged down by heretic scum! I wasn’t gonna turn up like you… Consumed by this filth, by this degeneracy and barbarism!”
“I recall you being quite Invested in the message when your House fell on hard times… Then Kador threw you a bone and you turned your back on us without hesitation.”
“God blessed me with fortune and saved me from that path of damnation.”
“I’m sorry, was it God Or Kador that lifted your house out of squalor?!”
“I-”
“-And if we truly are to believe it was God’s own hand that came down and blessed you with one of Kador’s teats to suckle on to ‘save’ you from a so-called ‘Heretical message’ what does that say of me and my colleagues that were still in the gutter of the Amarr Empire? Why did God not show us this kindness? How were we any less redeemable than you? I’m too believe God gave you an out but left us? If that is the case, then I thank him for leaving me… For I am far stronger than I once was having committed to the message you ran from.”
“You’re nothing.”
“You’re the one in the machine Kegamot, not I. Look at where you are now compared to me. Your path of comfort and excessive has landed you here while mine of hardships has brought me here to see you now in a powerless state….Your favor with House Kador has no value here. It will no longer afford you anymore comfort.”
“…”
“… I do find it curious this whole time you hadn’t ask about your son…”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about-”
“-You know damn Well I got ahold of him Kegamot. Do not play dumb with me!”
“Fedoshit!”
< Atox pulling out a necklace and dangling it in front of Kegamot >
“…!”
“Look familiar? If you wanted to keep your child’s identity more of a secret, maybe don’t go giving yim jewelry with your House symbol on them…”
< Atox tossing necklace on the floor >
< Kegamot struggling himself forward >
“God damn you Atox! What have you done to him?!”
“Nothing unnecessary”
“■■■■ you!”
< Kegamot spitting on Atox’s face >
“…”
< Atox calmly whipping his face >
“… To be more specific, Kegamot. I have not condemned Tolo to the same fate as you or the other souls aboard that ship.”
“How the hell do you know his name?”
“He told me himself.”
“What did you do with him Atox?!”
“I’ve kept him in the protection of some caretakers is all…”
“What the ■■■■ are you doing with him?! Answer me directly Atox! You ■■■■!”
“I am showing him the truth!”
< Kegamot struggling >
“No… No! NoNoNoNoNo!”
“You wanna know how I found him, Kegamot? In a cargo hold, cowering under some boxes in utter terror as we rounded up every man woman and slave we came across… Praying to God for assistance, for strength… God was not there for him in his time of need. And neither were you…”
“It-… It wasn’t my fault!”
“Don’t tell me this… Tell him yourself… Tolo!”
< Tolo walking into view >
“T-Tolo?”
“… Daddy, Where were you?”
“Huh?”
“W-Why didn’t you come looking for me?”
“T-Tolo I was dragged off by my bodyguards when the ship was attacked! I knew you weren’t with me and I screamed for them to go back! I swear to you!”
“Hmmm, it seems to me your security detail considered you a priority over your own son…”
“T-They weren’t trained to do that? I just never thought…”
“Seems rather sloppy of you Kegamot… You didn’t put much thought into any danger your child may be in.”
“■■■■ you. Atox.”
“Come now Kegamot, let’s not resort to such language in the company of the youth.”
“Tolo! Don’t listen to anything this scum tells you! He’s manipulating you! He’s Leading you astray Tolo!”
“But Atox is showing me how to be stronger! He’s showing me the things about God you had to hide from me daddy!”
“Had to hide…?”
“It’s not like you were oblivious about it Kegamot… You always knew. Just your new ‘responsibilities’ prevented you from being a bit more uhh…‘Open’ about it.”
“What I knew was a disgusting molestation of a righteous cause that you and your ilk conjured up!”
“I’d always wonder how your benefactors would react if they learned of the people you use to associate with… Then again, you did rat them all out to try and wipe your hands clean… Rat ALL of us out.”
“What I did was righteous.”
“It was betrayal, Kegamot… But I forgive you. As now I’ve come to realize how you pushed me towards the direction I needed to go. By exposing us to Kador you ruined our lives as is in the Empire… Everything from assets being seized, family members being enslaved and our very names being stricken from the book of records after a swift execution… Those of us that fled? All we had left was our faith, Kegamot. And we let it drive us…”
“You won’t gain sympathy from me you scum…”
“I don’t need it, for I am in a more formidable and prosperous position than I would have ever had slaving away for the Amarrians and their whore of an empress. I thank you for pushing me over that edge Kegamot. And it is with this thanks I do you a kindness like no other and ensure your son is raised to achieve similar heights as if he was my own flesh and blood”
"You stay the ■■■■ away from him!”
“But my generosity does not end there. As an old friend, I will do you one last act of kindness and make you apart of his development.it is with your blood that Tolo will grow strong and fearless. You will not die today, nor tomorrow. You will be here to see your son grow and you will give him what he needs to do that.”
“Tolo! Tolo! Don’t listen to this psychopath!”
“Come Tolo, let us take the first steps…”
< Atox leading Tolo over to a console >
“Tolo! God ■■■■■■■ damn you Atox! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you!” Damn you!" Damn you-"
“-All you have to do is press this button Tolo…”
“-Damn you! Damn you!-”
“-Will this hurt daddy?-”
“-Damn you! Damn you!-”
“-It will. But only because of the weakness the Amarrians instilled in him. His pain will be enlightening…”
“-Damn you! Damn you! Da-”
< Kegamot screaming in agony as Tolo activates the machine >