Board Thread:The Mech Bay Bar'n'Grill/@comment-24930445-20140526230330/@comment-24930445-20140605020409

The Taming of the Shrew

She had been standing at the window, not really seeing what had been laid out before her on the other side of the glass. She was pissed and the stiffness of her body made that very very clear. How *dare* he call her a fool. How *dare* he presume to question her judgement! The bastard really had no clue what he had been messing with.

She had become too damn comfortable in her domain. There were no threats here apart from her own rage at others. Though she had weapons secreted around the office, most of them had been lost to her memory. She simply had no use for them what with the people surrounding her bowing and scraping. All except him. She cursed him both mentally and verbally and, again, she felt the rage as that one word rang out in her ears; fool.

Her fists clawed at her side and she itched to sink them into his snowy white fur to draw blood. Again his voice echoed in her head. Fool.

She never heard him. He had always been good at stealth when needed. His own rage at her stupidity sent him back into the room, raring for round two of their fight, but seeing her at the window, then remembering the look on her face when he had grabbed her, he suddenly had better ideas.

His hand was around her neck in an instant, claws digging into her tender flesh as he lifted slightly. His free hand came around and stripped the rags that had once been her silk shirt from her chest, freeing her to his whims. This is as it should be. Her, bowing to him. She belonged to him, not, as she believed, the other way.

She had gasped then cried out at his assault, her first instincts to fight. His claws in her throat and now in the tender flesh of her left breast through the lace of her bra made her think better of it. In a swift movement, he pressed her up against the glass, his breath hot against her ear..

“Never again, Joslynne. From now on, you will do as you’re told or I will rip your throat out. Nod if you understand.” She bit her lip, seriously considering telling him to go fuck himself, but he understood her well and the flexing of his fingers wiped the thought from her mind. Her nod was very slight. “You’d better do better than that, bitch. You’ve pissed me off royal this time and I don’t have a single problem hurting you to get what I want.”

Her nod was a little sharper, the movement causing blood to ooze around the claws in her neck. “Very good. Now. I do believe you still need to learn a few lessons, if I’m not mistaken. Perhaps you’ll even enjoy some of them… but don’t count on it.”

___________________________

Axin had kept Jos occupied for three days so by the time she heard of the escape, it was a pretty sure bet Lenits, Michaels and Dramnel were in Katrylle’s hands. The fact that Lantis’ security force had been unable to stop them from leaving made his life very very precarious.

Still, Lantis stood before them, Jos with Axin behind and to her left leaning against the huge window that was the back wall of her office. His own thin, bony form was rigid as he remained at attention, his eyes glaring out through the glass. He knew the escape had been his responsibility and he had seen fit to punish those of his subordinates who had survived and had been a part in not stopping it by sending them to section five. He would be searching for new members soon, provided he lived that long.

“I’ve read your report, Lantis.” Surprisingly, she did not stand and come around her desk to sidle up to him as she often did. He had noticed she was holding herself somewhat stiffly, but he didn’t contemplate the reasonings behind it. “It was direct, and to the point as usual. But tell me, what really happened?”

“His eyes dropped to her face. “No one was prepared for the runt to up and run. He’s not a fighter so my men figured he wasn’t a flight risk. I have seen to those men personally. They will not be making that mistake again… ever.”

She nodded slightly, her fingers lifting to absently play with a thin band of silver around her neck. “I see. And what about you, Lantis? In your report, you take full responsibility for the lack of reaction of your men. Should you receive the same punishment?”

“I cannot stop you from killing me, Joslynne. We all know that.” His gaze flicked to Axin who was smirking at him before settling back on her face. “There is nothing I can say that will excuse what happened so I will not bother trying. You will do as you wish. I will, however, state that if you restrained yourself from my demise and replaced the men who failed with you new…. prototypes, that sort of mistake would never happen again.”

“And what of that mistake, Lantis? How will you correct it now?” Still, the fingers lightly rubbed the metal at her neck, the movement almost hypnotizing.

“At the end of my report, I have given you plans for a coordinated assault on The Company’s assets including home office, homes, businesses and the space dock that currently houses Vextis and Krita as well as several others of their ships. Not only will we be able to regain the escapees but you can test your prototypes to their full extent. Consider it a practical demonstration, if you will.”

Axin growled behind her. “You will have your forces too spread out. Restrict the attack to the space dock and the home office. More concentration of forces. The spacedock will be a big enough problem on its own, so concerning yourself with smaller targets would be a waste of time and manpower.”

Jos didn’t even blink an eye. She did not contradict Axin’s proposal, something she seemed to take great enjoyment in on all previous occasions. Instead, she merely nodded. “You’ve heard your orders, Lantis. Take the prototypes and find my runt.”