Chapter 71

***This article contains spoilers.***

## Highlights

* Malifica is Tashana's persona to cope with the cruelties inflicted on her since she was banished to the Unclaimed Wastes thirteen years ago.
* Malifica and her crew on the Infernal Retribution are set up by Hades, the pirate leader of the Underworld, who tries to sell her to the Enshunu, Yil'magur's boss, in exchange for activating his station's defenses.
* Alyssa marks in red all the guilty slavers, rapists, and murderers at the marketplace on the way to get Tashana, and the team slaughters them all.
* John and the girls find Tashana, but she understandably blames Irillith for everything that happened to her.

## Summary

A Maliri girl has one of her frequent nightmares.

She was naked, standing legs parted and arms upraised, shackled to the floor by her ankles, and to the ceiling by her wrists. An inhuman monstrosity slithered up her body to her face. She screamed until it forced its way down her throat.

She woke up and heard Bull's voice. "*Cap'n? Are you alright?*" He let her know they'll be arriving at the Underworld in 20 minutes.

Most of her body is layered with a patchwork of scars, most of which she'd picked up as a victim, but there'd been plenty more she'd accumulated while she learned to fight back, clawing out a life for herself in the Unclaimed Wastes.

Over the years she's been there, she's been a slave in one form or another. She pulls on a golden mask, the features of which were twisted into a mocking smile, her own modification to the original one she'd been made to wear.

Malifica was the woman who had torn away her shackles, and now that she had her freedom, she lived her life as that merciless persona. She slides twin Enshunu duelling pistols into her pair of holsters. *Twin. An apt adjective for the vicious weapons, designed to inflict pain, and destroy lives.*

Bull has reservations about the upcoming job. But the only choice they have is to deal with Hades.

Malifica's ship is named the Infernal Retribution, an Enshunu Destroyer. Her crew consists of:

* Bull: First Mate. Grizzled appearance. He persuaded her to start a life as a smuggler.
* Groluk: Gunner. A hungry Drakkar.
* Plex: Engineer. A Slarmian.
* George: Pilot. Wants to be nicknamed Talon.

The Underworld is a huge, ancient refinery, and dwarfs every stronghold in the Unclaimed Wastes. Octagonal and squat, the tan-coloured orbital platform was in high orbit around a helium gas giant, on the third orbital path around the star. A daunting network of defensive platforms surrounded the station.

There were many legends and rumours about the species who created the colossal facility, but Malifica was the only person in the Unclaimed Wastes who knew exactly who’d built it.

After Malifica had been banished and supplied only a weaponless ship, pirates boarded it and gang raped her. She first "visited" the Underworld when she was herded into the station in chains by those pirates, who had gotten bored of her once they’d broken her spirit. Wildly exotic and beautiful young women fetch good prices from slavers at the station.

As the crew passes the merchants and slavers on the way to meet Hades, she has a weird feeling that itched in the back of her mind. It was something she hadn’t felt for nearly 40 years. It must just be her imagination playing tricks on her.

The pirates made her crew wait outside as Malifica visited Hades.

Another pirate crew, called Obsidian Scorpions (now based in the Lesath system) owned Underworld before Hades and his Bloodnovas took over. When the Bloodnovas routed the Scorpions, the Scorpions looted everything, and took something useful to Hades: a three-foot-long brass rod that their leader, Madclaw, keeps as a trophy. He'll pay Malifica 500,000 credits to get it for him. He gave her a data stick with the map of their base.

On her way out she noticed a three-foot groove in the middle of the biggest console in the room.

After Malifica left, Hades confirmed his deal with a cowled and masked Enshunu named Yil'magur. Hades will give her to Yil'magur's boss once he's activated the rest of the station’s defenses once they have the control rod.

Malifica dreams about something she hadn't thought about in years.

Tashana excitedly shows her twin Irillith the proof she finally found: a vambrace with a deck that powers an AI, holding recorded testimony from the last days of Mael'nerak's rule over the Maliri.

Irillith just scowls and tells her to leave it with the rest of the junk she brought her. Tashana puts the vambrace on the table, dejected. Irillith tells her their mother wants her. Irillith had gotten backhanded when she couldn't tell her mother any more about Mael'nerak.

Malifica wakes up, still feeling the sting from the moment she realized that matter how hard she tried, her relationship with her twin was irrevocably broken.

Malifica suddenly feels that same itching sensation at the back of her mind, that she'd only ever felt around her sister, when they’d been close as children. They used to whisper together that it was because of their own special bond that only twins could share. Those nostalgic thoughts are more painful than her nightmares.

They arrive at the base called The Nest, which is located on Lesath IV in the Upsilon Scorpii system. Malifica had a flashback to her final victory in the dueling pits when her Enshunu master rewarded her victory with a Drakkar rape. Enshunu savor mental suffering, and his delight at the look of shock and disbelief on her face was what finally made her snap.

Around the back of the base, four Scorpions were playing cards. Malifica killed three with her dual Enshunu sonic-disintegration pistols, and the fourth gave up Madclaw's location: on the upper level in the workshop.

They took down Madclaw, but on the way back to the ship she was shot with an Enahunu stun rifle, and the rest of her crew were gunned down. Hades, control rod in hand, told her someone wants a word with her. She was stunned again and lost consciousness.

She dreamed of playing with her sister when they were young. Then Irillith's looked of triumph when her mother ordered her banished. Finally, screaming in horror as a sadistic pirate captain took his knife to her face, her Enshunu Master gleefully telling her how he’d only been paid one miserable credit to ruin her beautiful looks.

As she wakes, Hades tells the Enshunu he'll only hand over Malifica when the Enshunu's boss arrives and activates the rest of the Underworld's defenses.

Hades reveals the Enshunu had asked for his help capturing her years ago. They drug her and lock her in a cell.

A ship arrives that they think is the Enshunu's. It's the Invictus. They're hailed and John says he looks for Tashana. Hades plays dumb, but the Enshunu Captain says she's the Vizier's.

The Invictus vaporizes their turrets. Hades tells his comm officer Breaker to get the Ruiners, the Corpselords, and my ships. He wants to destroy thr white cruiser with the transponder code "the Invictus." There were twenty-three vessels in the flotilla: eight corvettes, six frigates, five destroyers, two Ruiner cruisers (World-Burner and Howling-Pillager), a Corpselords cruiser (Flesheater), all led by his battlecruiser (Brutaliser).

The Invictus destroys every ship. The Enshunu confesses Tashana's a Maliri.

Hades hails the Invictus and says he wants to reconsider. Jade answers. John isn't there anymore. But Hades will see him soon. She recommends that he makes sure Tashana is safe.

Jorgan Marharbor, who was whipping a slave, watches the Raptor hover 20 meters from the deck, 50 meters from him. John and a half-dozen girls jumped down with retro-thrusters. They stood protectively around one girl at the center, who fell into a meditative trance. Lights began to dim, and a burning white light blazed from her eyes.

*Her arms were swathed in swirling white vortexes of energy, and she suddenly crouched down and struck the floor with both fists. A surging pulse of energy blasted outwards from the kneeling girl, making Jorgan flinch instinctively as the wave of energy rushed towards him. It swept over his slaves and the Largath beside him, before surging past and plunging into the depths of the Underworld. As he watched it glide away, he had the sudden epiphany that it might not be wise to be standing around, gawping at these mysterious soldiers.*

As he turned to run back to his ship he noticed all his slaves were shrouded in a soft white nimbus. His hands looked red. Like they were covered in blood.

That's when they started killing everyone with red hands, which indicate people who judge themselves to be guilty.

Malifica's mind tormented her again. This time Irillith told her that their mother killed their father.

Following Athena's guidance, Alyssa had fallen into a spirit-walk, lightly touching the minds of everyone in sight. After getting the dark nature of the souls of rapists, murderers, and slavers, she sent out a pulse to separate the guilty from the innocent.

Hades saw his own hands were red, and realized he was marked for execution. He seals himself in behind a thick door and tells his men to get Malifica. John hacks the door with his sword, sheathes the sword, backs up, then smashes through it.

Irillith seems to grasp hold of the frame of a vidscreen and hauls herself through. Her ghostly-blue form peels itself away from the screen, her face contorted with rage. *Give me back my sister!*

She lunges at Breaker, the nearest pirate to the vidscreens, her hands clawing for his throat. *Her long fingers were surrounded by arcing lightning, and he convulsed as she touched him, white sparks of electricity crackling and hissing as she fried him alive. Irillith’s spectre dropped the blackened corpse, then turned her feral, supernatural gaze on Hades next, eyes narrowing with hate.*

They shot out the vidscreens to stop her, which worked, but now they were effectively blind.

Yil'magur went to get Tashana to use as a bargaining chip.

The Enshunu had spent centuries searching the Unclaimed Wastes for hidden troves of knowledge left behind by the Achonin, an ancient civilization that once ruled that section of the galaxy. Some calamity had suddenly befallen the Achonin, wiping out the advanced space-faring empire in a matter of years.

Malifica embraced the dancing flames in her mind, and the heat burned away the drugs clouding her senses. She melted the door to her cell, her hands now shrouded by flames. She set Yil’magur on fire, slowly torturing him. When they were interrupted she killed six more pirates with flames.

When Malifica heard screams, she poked her head around the door, and recognized the Progenitor features, as if he were Mael'nerak made flesh. Her flames flickered out and fled deeper into the complex, desperate to escape.

When Hades saw Malifica running his way he had his men grab her. She screamed that he'll kill them all. John killed the other pirates holding her, and she ran again. Hades tried to grab her. John cleaved through both of his arms. Hades crashed into her. She tried to untangle herself.

Irillith pulled off her helmet. "*Tashana, it’s me! Irillith! We’re here to rescue you! I’ll take care of you now.*"

Malifica laughs maniacally as she tore away her golden mask, revealing her ravaged features. Irillith’s smile is wiped off her face as she stared at her twin in horror.

Tashana punched Irillith in the face, knocking her back. "*It’s all your fault!*"

Blue blood sprayed from Irillith's nose as John and the girls moved in to break up the fight. Tashana sobbed brokenly. "*It’s all her fault.*"