When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yield.

[a_time_slip]

"We still have to complete the mission?"  Janie asked, surprised.  Giovan was gone- Lynn had taken care of that.

"In the absence of your supervisor, you will be required to complete the report and take charge of the team."

"I quit?  Did you miss that part?  My days of this are over."

"We have yet to receive a resignation letter which would begin the processing of offboarding you."

"I-  this is my last mission, and recon is all we're doing.  Anything else wouldn't be successful"

---

Her new team was filled with optimistic agents who were all excited to be part of something with a decorated leader.  They all heard about Oceania, but most thought it was either a conspiracy or that it was an exaggerated rumor.

Janie knew better, and also knew that she needed to complete this as quickly as possible.  Fasni was a very rural place, filled with xenophobic natives who'd stop at nothing to get rid of outsiders.  They were simply to map out the town and record the abandoned palace that stood guard over the area.

The palace was said to hold details about Fasian resources, something that had been a mystery for many years.  It's where they currently stood.

She still didn't want to be leading this group, but she had no choice.  The agents all readied their weapons before entering the building.  Janie would make sure that the final mission was the best she ever completed.
 

Comments

[a_time_slip]

"Are you serious? Take what you need, but you can't have a piece of my soul because souls? They don't go into pieces. It's an all or nothing deal and I've worked far too hard to keep what I have. You didn't come all of this way for that. What do you really want?"

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

"Black mark. Veda pays." Solus flings up a hand, palm toward one of the mortals in the room, he solidifies and a stream of white heat shoots from his palm - it reduces the agent to nothing but ash in an instant.

"I don't like disrespect." He informs Janie. "Life force, spirit, soul. Call it what you will, but I'm hungry!"

The black ooze running from the walls turns a dark red as he raises his voice.

[a_time_slip]

It's at that instant that Janie realizes the situation is completely hopeless. The last agent, Ashi, is trembling as she holds her weapon up.

Janie wants to tremble. She wants to cry and hide somewhere, protect the child she's carrying. She wants her agents back, she wants to go home and listen to Lynn go on and on about some tween idol or even go back to trying to clean the blood stains out of her Jonas Brothers night shirt.

She can't, however. She's standing in front of Solus, everything else around them completely still. Even the trembling agent is standing like a statue. Time itself has stopped.

"I am no ones meal. If you're so damn hungry, go somewhere else and leave me the fuck alone."

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

Solus can feel the power in the Time Traveller. He hasn't experienced their race yet, but he can feel her mortality, the effect on time around them... and the potential for a decent energy source.

"I could enslave you. Keep you.. like cattle." He darts a look toward Ashi as he speaks, and approaches her.

"That won't work." He indicates Ashi's blaster, and as she hesitates, he raises a hand and knocks it away from her. "But cattle are stupid, slow, boring. They lack... joy-de-vivre." Saying that, he places a hand on Ashi's forehead, almost paternally, and swiftly starts to drain her.

[a_time_slip]

"I'm the last" she said, realizing what he spoke of. It was a lie, however. Her Mother, her father- her children. The race would continue to grow.

When he walked over to Ashi, Janie lost it, and barreled towards him. She tried pushing him away, knowing full well that it was hopeless.

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

Ashi falls to the floor, pale, her eyes not yet fully white. Though she's already dead.

"I hadn't finished." Solus snarls, grabbing Janie and slamming her against the wall. "Someone needs to teach you when to leave things alone." He grabs at her , the palm of his hand over Janie's skull as his fingers twine into her hair.

[a_time_slip]

"Is that all you got, Nancy boy?" Janie tried fighting him off. She wasn't going to go down easy.

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

Solus moves her away from the wall, about a foot, and slams her back again. Janie is far smaller than his six foot two, and Solus has the strength of a demon.

"I know what Ravenhead did to you.." He sneers at her, and starts draining Janie's energy. "All I want is some of this excess life force."

She's strong, so very strong this immortal. Solus cares little if she's the last of her kind, he can't kill an immortal. But they're so much more sustaining than the alternative.

[a_time_slip]

She wanted to insult him further, but getting thrown against the wall made that impossible. She looked at him, refusing to show any sign of weakness, tears only welling when Ravenhead is mentioned.

The pain from getting slammed against the wall only seemed to get worse as he drained her energy.

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

Janie is luckier than the mortals. She'll be weakened, her skin will look uncharacteristically pale, but she'll be intact. Solus takes what he needs and lets her slide to the ground, still conscious, and takes a step back.

It's better. But only time and decent feeding will restore him to his full power. He does consider taking her.. as fodder. But that's not the purpose of his visit.

Finding his grandson is the priority. "Is it frustrating? Special Agent Malcolm?" He asks her. "I know so much about you, yet you haven't the first idea about me."

[a_time_slip]

"You killed my team." she accused "They... have families. Why? Why did you do this?"

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

"Death is their only future." Solus is dismissive of any mortals. It's where their destiny lies, as far as he's concerned. The only choice they have is where they end up, and even that's not their conscious decision.

"They're the lucky ones, and they're too retarded to see it." He walks away, de-materialising into the ether, leaving her there. To her own destiny.