Nia sighed inside her suit, her arms secured around her as she had Atlas inside her suit. It was the best option for them as he was still too small for anything else.
They all sat in the pod waiting for Raven to steer them toward the new ship. His watched out the window as the safe haven they had known for 6 years drifted further from them.
None of them knew what to expect with they sailed toward the other ship. But if whoever was on board saw them approaching they might shot them out of the sky. The thought was something Nia chose to ignore as she tightened her grip around her son.
"Boys and girls, meet Eligius IV." Raven announced the name that was plastered on the side.
"'Powering a better tomorrow'." Emori added the slogan.
"Must be a mining ship." Raven informed.
"Mining in space?" Nia said finding the notion rather odd.
"I've heard stories. Missions sent to mine asteroids or search for habitable plants, but that was a hundred years ago." Monty explained but had no further details.
Raven continued to remark the ships appearance to the others. Emori called out their entrance making Monty comment again about the possibility of them being inside making Echo reply with what they had before.
Finally, it was time for them to begin their dock. But instead of Raven doing it herself, she allowed Emori to take over fully believing she was ready for it. The two began to communicate with one another before the ship began to shift uncomfortably for the the passengers.
Something went wrong making Raven take over but she wasn't able to slow the rocket down before it entered the bay. Murphy stated sarcastically before Bellamy pulled his helmet off and already going for the hatch.
Inside the cargo hold a loud alarm was blaring. The sound put Nia on edge as she thought of them facing the worst.
"Come on. We gotta move fast." Bellamy called out to the others.
Echo pulled out her sword and was on defense. In Nia's arms, Atlas had woken up from all the turbulence and was still not fully awake. Bellamy looked at Echo unsure of her action.
"We don't know what we're walking into." She responded. It was better to be on guard than to let you guard down only for it to bite you back.
While the others began to talk about the alarm, Emori tried to walk behind the others into the ship. Raven stopped her and recommended a system check.
"Hey, hey." Bellamy stepped up to prevent an argument in breaking out among them. "Nia can stay and help." He added knowing they couldn't necessarily bring Atlas into danger.
"No, Harper can stay with Atlas." Nia spoke against it before handing Atlas over to Harper who simply complied. Bellamy shot a look her way still wanting her to stay behind. "Echo and I are the best damn fighters among all of you. You'll need us both in case something happens." She finalized before unsheathing her own sword.
The two grounder warriors nodded their head in understanding before moving ahead aware of their surroundings. They took many turns as all of the corridors looked the same.
"This place is like a maze." Bellamy commented before they looked up at the sign above them. "'No inmates pass this point'."
"Inmates?" Echo questioned unfamiliar with the word.
"Prison labor. The mining missions were dangerous. They sent people they thought were disposable." Monty explained what he could remember about the ships.
Murphy made another side note making Raven talk back and began to lead them toward the bridge. The sight wasn't what they expected as a giant hole was blasted through the doors.
Monty and Raven got to work on the technical stuff, while the others glanced around the room, trying to find any trace of what might've happened. They got the alarm off before taking a look for what they needed.
Raven began to tell them of what she had discovered, but it wasn't what she expected. Their fueling was different than the one they needed. Monty went to explain the differences but they only matter about whether it might get them back down. Raven typed in a couple more keys before finding what she needed.
"So we have a way down?" Echo asked for confirmation. Raven agreed before Monty spoke of his findings.
Voices began to be heard everyone listened closely. Monty began to explain the systematics of their radios as oppose to the ones they had. What they were hearing seems to make them all glance at each other unsurely. This wasn't just them on the ground. They were fighting against another force.
"They're hunting out people." Raven spoke the dreaded words.
"We don't know that." Monty said hoping the statement wasn't true.
"We know there was no left on the ground." Bellamy spoke with a time in his voice that he agreed with Raven.
"Whatever this is, Octavia can handle it." Echo hoped to settle the nerves going around.
Nia stood in a state letting the thoughts consume her. The girls were still down there and now, they might be hunted. This would change everything.
Bellamy, Nia and Raven stayed aboard the bridge, while Echo, Murphy and Monty went to retrieve the hydrozine. The couple were going through all the files that could be found on the prisoners while Raven found whatever else she could.
"Murder. Murder. Murder. Arson resulting in murder. Armed robbery resulting in murder." Bellamy listed while Nia continued to look over her files. They were all the same result. They were all killers. "300 inmates, 25 guards, and 12 crew."
"Oh, wait. Shut up. I got it. The Captain's log." Raven called to their attention. Bellamy made his way to look over her shoulder while Nia was studying the files.
"The last entry was over a hundred years ago. Play that one." Bellamy told her making Nia look at the screen as the video began.
"I have to make this fast. The ship has been compromised. The prisoners found out about order eleven. They used an explosion in the Starboard Engine bay as a distract-" His prologue cut off when an explosion went off at the door. The same one they had entered from. "Most of the crew is already dead. They're about to take the bride. Listen to me! With the engine damage, it'll be decade, maybe longer, before they make it back home. I tried disabling cryo, but couldn't."
A person came out from around the side. "That's quite enough, Captain."
"If Eligius makes it back to Earth, blow it out of the sky! Diyoza can't be allowed to weaponize the cargo! Do you hear me?! I said blow it-" Those were his last words as someone came up behind him and slit his throat.
A couple of them spoke to one another before Diyoza walked to the camera. The video cut off entailing it had ended.
"Cryo? He said he was trying to deactivate cryo-" Nia pointed hoping one of them might have the answers. She looked over to them only for her eyes to widen. "Bellamy, look out!"
She pushed herself off the table before stepping forward. Bellamy ducked and sent a punch to his stomach but he wasn't affected by it. The guy punched Bellamy to the ground.
Raven being closer sent a punch to his face but he sent one to her stomach and shoved her away. Nia took that opportunity to advance and swiped her sword across his stomach. The man grabbed her wrist and tightened his grip until she dropped the sword. He backhanded her making her stumble back into the counter.
Bellamy sent more punches his way once he had recovered. He was headbutted making his dazed. Nia jumped onto his back and wrapped her arm around his neck, a technique that had favored her in the past.
He pushed himself back and sent her into a wall. Her hold loosened at the impact. She slid down the wall. Hands wrapped around her neck and lifted her up with ease.
She clawed at his hands trying to pry them away. It was Raven's turn to climb him but she went for his eyes. One hand left as he sent an elbow into Raven's side. Nia coughed as she gasped for air but didn't have time to recover as he grabbed her shirt.
"Hey! Let her go!" Echo's voice sounded as she charged at him. He threw Nia away as the sword cut into his back. Quickly, she embedded her sword in his stomach but that did not stop him. He kicked her away making her fall
With all the girls tried to regather their strength. Bellamy had grabbed a wire and was able to wrap it around his neck. He held on as the guy tried to throw him off. Finally, his tactic worked as the guy dropped dead.
"One down, 299 to go." Raven commented from her spot of the ground.
Bellamy rushed to Nia's side as she was still trying to regain her breath. "I'm fine. I'm fine."
Soon they found themselves in the room that held the rest of the prisoners. Nia was surprised at how many people were inside and how they all were.
"Not too long ago, I'd have thought this was magic." Echo stated which Nia couldn't help but agree.
Raven quotes a saying and Bellamy asked how long they could stay like that. Which Raven had provided the answer.
"Or we can kill them all right now. What happened to you?" Murphy came around the corner and took in their appearances.
"One of them woke up." Echo answered simply.
"Question is how?" Bellamy asked the question that was on all their minds.
Murphy spoke out against them trying to figure out the answer. He simply wanted to kill them all and go back to the ground.
"That's not an option; kill theirs, they kill ours." Bellamy noted about all the death that could come with a quick rash decision. "Raven?"
"The pods are all jacked into the mainframe. I'm guessing they activate this one remortely from the ground, probably in response to us tripping the alarm." Raven ranted. Whoever was on the ground knew they were aboard their ship.
"When he doesn't check in, they'll wake more of them." Nia pointed out the high probablity as they no way to stop them from doing so.
Raven agreed to her words making Murphy resort back to his option again. But Bellamy was out against it and Nia sided with him. There had to be another way to solve this.
"Bellamy, Nia, you know what happens when those guys get to the ground. Murphy's not wrong. This is an army." Echo tried to reason with them both. Since their time from the ground and in space both of them had changed. "I know how you both feel, but it took four of us to take out one of them. Giving them reinforcements when we can stop it is a strategic mistake."
"We've been off the Ring for less than a day, and we're already talking about murdering hundreds of people." Bellamy stated the hard choice they now faced.
Murphy and Bellamy exchanged some heated words but while they were doing that Raven was already thinking. She offered the option to block the signal for the ones on the ground from waking them up further. Murphy mentioned them returning to do it manually giving Echo an idea. If they can activate it from the ground, then maybe they could too. It would give them the upper hand.
"How long do you need to make that possible?" Bellamy asked about the time frame they had.
"I don't know, but I'm on it." Raven announced before going to work.
"Wait. Murphy. I want to know what you think." Bellamy called out to the person retreating from them.
Murphy was still weary of the option but Bellamy pointed out the fact that they wanted to make better choices. Nia smiled slightly at the thought of them doing thing differently. A chance for a better life. A better future.
"What the hell. Let's be the good guys."