"Take the safety off." Advised the crewman with her. This far out to sea, the flat ugly cargo hauler was alone on the water. She nodded and clicked it, sighting at waves and firing a burst of bullets. She checked it again and shot a burst into seaweed before trying out single rounds. She wasn't that good with it, but the weapon thrilled her, and it almost made her smile until it clicked empty.
"Reload it." She said aside to him, handing it over. He did and she watched before unlocking the magazine and doing it for herself. She chambered another round and killed another wave, looking over the gun again like it was a good dog before shouldering it. "Where's the rest?"
She'd never met the captain, but the first mate and others called her Cricket. Other than the name, they knew nothing about her except she always knew when she was being cheated. There were other crew around docking boxes and running the ship, but they left the two of them alone as she pried off a crate's lid and picked up a grenade. She turned it around in her hands and slowly nodded. The benzine, oxidized iron, and other chemicals were in barrels, but the shipping manifest confirmed everything she'd wanted was on the boat. Pistols, rifles, land mines, and a 50 caliber completed the shopping list.
"Do you have your part?"
Without looking, she nodded, taking a drawstring bag off her waist and handing it over. After checking the inside and blinking at diamonds, the first mate watched her run her hand alongside the treads of a tank. When he raised his pistol across the space to her head, she snapped to him like a hawk. Her scars burned in the afternoon sun.
"Are you crossing me out?" She asked, calm and cold. He nodded. "Captain's orders. Sorry, lady, you shouldn't have come alone." She was able to shift before stepping out in a flash, her hand coming out and sharp edges whipping through the air. He'd fired a second after something bladed sliced half his fingers off and jerked him in place. He stumbled while she swung again-
The chain attached to a haft was long, segmented with inch long blades across it's links. She'd worked with it until it was like another limb, and when the hooked tip snapped around his leg in a loop, she wrenched it hard behind her with both hands. The first mate fell on his back, and she was already there, drawing a heavy knife in an upraised grip.
She didn't say anything, just dropped to a knee and stabbed him in the solar plexus so hard ribs broke.
Hauling the body with her, she jumped behind another crate, listening to the yelling on deck and grimacing. As far as she could see, a win-win situation had turned into a no-win disaster in an eyeblink. She couldn't escape, so she'd kill as many of them as she could before she died. It was so, so, so, stupid the bitterness and anger almost gave her a headache. Checking behind her at the group taking rifles out of crates and advancing, she took a deep breath.
"This is my only offer! Surrender now and-" Gunfire cut her off and she snarled before breaking cover, holding the corpse under the arm like a shield until she got close enough to a group to raise her other hand, black and purple light gathering around her palm like writhing flames and backlighting the decks around them. Clouds were slowly gathering in the sky, and the sunlight was fading, leaving the stacks of cargo looking ominous. She hurled the blight out and watched grimly as the explosion ripped outward, crackling flames dancing and and drowning out the screams with their roar.
Darting back and then scurrying away from a box of grenades, Blake poked out her head and looked for another group. She'd started strong, but it wouldn't last, and she had to keep them off balance. The more she killed now, the less chance she'd have for fate to fuck her later.
When she reemerged, blacklight shone on her. More armor would've helped, but she hadn't expected things to turn this bad this quick. Once again using a corpse as a shield, she dropped it and lashed out with her chain again and again. With room to swing and space to control it, she wrapped it around a man's neck before kicking him hard in the face; she lashed it behind her and then slashed upward, ripping a furrow through a head and body. The lights around her body grew as she killed, making her faster, making her hit harder.
Surrounded by torn bodies and covered in gore, she turned at the approach of more, clenching her fists. Her black hair dripped with blood, and she was breathing heavy, but she finally looked like she was feeling something.
"AAAAAAAGH! YOU WANT SOME?!" She screamed, and there was a pause before she started hurrying away and trying not to get shot. Embarrassment was surprisingly bracing.
Eventually she stumbled toward the last few, bleeding heavy. Her stomach and chest had been shredded, and she'd lost her left arm. Gasping, dying, she was still coming, ices still like ice. She choked when she died, before falling onto her face in a puddle of her own blood. The men looked between each other, terrified, none of them noticing the barrels that had been tipped over and cut open further down the deck.
When the last explosion almost cracked the boat in half, hours after everything sank, night fell around the choppy ocean and all was still again.
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