The Kineticist

Authors note:

This story is going to focus on the plot, with sexual elements used appropriately. What fun is there in raunchy depictions if the interactions hold no weight? I hope you all enjoy this first installment of The Kineticist!

*****

The endless humming was driving Kyle insane. He could see nothing but darkness courtesy of the steel faceplate cinched over his head. The slow steady drip of the intravenous tubes speared into his flesh sending soft numbness throughout his body. More steel encased his limbs, anchoring him in place as the Imperial warship sucked the very life from his body to sate its hunger for power. The chemical cocktail kept him sedated, or at least it was supposed to. While the drugs kept his body essentially lifeless, with his heart beating sluggishly in his chest, his mind was still his own.

When he was first installed inside the new Kinetic Driver, a sort of human-machine hybrid engine that fed off of the latent power his body generated in the form of resonance waves. It's brutal design was meant to keep him body alive, whilst the drugs trapped him inside his own mind, ever the obedient slave to the imperium.

Despite the sedation, Kyle was still aware of the sensations his body told him. Whilst there was no pain, he could still feel the cool air wash over his skin, smell the metallic scent of the steel alloy that imprisoned him in the heart of his mobile prison. His hearing picking up the ever-present humming and steady dripping that caused no end of irritation, like mental chaffing.

With the dripping happening every second, he could still tell time. A clock that would never stop ticking. The only solace to his condition was that he could still dream. Imagine all of the things he could do when he got free. The darkness offered him no visual identification of his captors, but he knew the cheap cologne, cigar smoke, and perspiration from the captain of this vessel, and right on queue it appeared once more.

With a groaning of pressurized metallic hydraulics, the door to his prison opened and the infuriatingly pungent odor violated his nose. Heavy foot falls clodding along. A second lighter set of step following at a more staccato pace. They stopped feet away from him, maddeningly close. He wished his body would move. He wanted to rip these people apart one inch of flesh at a time. His power surged around his mind, roaring to be released before it was sucked out of him into the insatiable circuitry.

"As the head of engineering said, the power fluctuations are not due to any technical malfunctions. He believes that the power spikes are directly related to the engine's core being in an active state of flux," The brusque tone of Doctor Hiemshal made his irritation return to a simmering boil. This woman didn't care that he was human, just like the rest. He was just a power source, a tool for them to use until it breaks.

"How do we keep it steady, Hiemsal?" Captain Grant asked. His breath was almost toxic to Kyle. The mixture of those foul smells making his already empty stomach was curl in on itself.

"We suggest increasing the dosage of the sedative, while adding in a mixture of hormones and stimulants. I hypothesize that latent emotional reactions of the subconscious mind of 'Kyle' is what are the cause of the fluctuations. The new cocktail should render him essentially inert for all intents of purposes. It is as close to a medically induced coma without actually shutting down the functions of his brain." Her tone was almost smug. Almost.

At the mention of rendering him brain dead, his fury latched onto those words like a vice. The engine sucking greedily at the surge of power that now radiated out from him in a frenzied deluge. They wanted power. He would give them power. Kyle mentally ran through the past four years of his imprisonment, starting with his capture, then with the flashing through the second by second monotony of his living hell.

While Kyle couldn't see, he could sense the atmosphere change. The engine was working overtime as it tried to consume the power that now erupted out of Kyle like a volcano. The air turned into a shimmering haze as the blistering heat turned the room into furnace. The startled cries of his captors feeding his hunger for payback, the incoherent shouting made little sense over the overwhelming roar of the machinery that held him prisoner.

A series of shudders rippled through the ship. Alarms screamed out around the ships. Kyle Smiled under the steel visor as one more surge of power from him overloaded the capacitors and destroyed the resonance relays that channeled his power through the arteries of the ship. It would seem the ship needed a doctor for this heart attack, and in the middle of deep space, there was no one around to save it.

Kara sat on the edge of the raised balcony overlooking the command bridge. The crew of her ship bustled along on the floor below, attending to their duties as their ship cruised along through the empty void of deep space. They had been tracking a new Imperium warship as it forged ahead outside the protective boarders of its territory.

Dessarosa has ordered her and her crew to depart from their bastion at Elysium once the warship had passed their sensor nets along the border between their territories. There had been an uneasy cease-fire agreement between the Imperium and the Coalition. A century of war had taken a blood toll on both sides. A billion lives had been lost over that time, which lead to the cease-fire, purely because the fighting had become so bad that preservation of life became an urgent topic.

With the Imperial ship now in Coalition space, the cease-fire now seemed tenuous at best. A single ship wouldn't be enough to resume the war, but why was it here now? That question had bugged Kara for the better part of three weeks as they trailed the ship at extreme distance. Her ship, The Cerberus, was on the smaller side of cruisers at just over four hundred feet in length. Her vessel was built for speed rather than power, but as the name suggests, plenty of bite to go with the bark.

The central spire the dominated the bridge with its three dimensional holographic display showing the space around the ship, long ranged scanners picking up the imperial ship on the extreme range, but it seemed to have stopped.

"Mercy, has the Imperial ship tagged us?" Kara shouted down to the meadow colored Komodous.

Mercy's fleshy tail jerked up as the girl jumped at the sudden noise. She looked up at Kara, then down at her console, tapping out a few commands. "No, from the power readings I'm getting, and the erratic changes in trajectory and speeds over the past few weeks it looks like something finally broke. Maybe they are testing a new warp drive?"

"A new warp drive? Their drives have been top notch the past few years, they have become close to the custom drive you made. What was their maximum speed in comparison to ours?" Kara hopped down from the balcony and strode over to the central grid, her finger tapping her chin in thought.

"They achieved light speed in thirty seconds, and then subspace warp in under two minutes. We are too close to a few nebulous bodies for any hyper warp readings," Mercy tapped at her wrist display, comparing the factors between both ships and her tail lashed in irritation. "They are closing in to about seventy percent."

Troubled, Kara blew up the scanned image of the Imperial ship. It was warship alright. It bristled with heavy weaponry ranging from heavy ordinance drives, forward mounted warp cannons, and 100mm ant-ship turrets. Bulbous protrusions on front and rear of the ship indicated some level of shielding, making it one tough son of a bitch.

"Hold our position at extreme range, I need to contact Dessorosa and see what he wants us to do. This could get nasty," Kara said as she strode out of the bridge.

She jogged down the corridor to the captain's quarters and sat behind her desk. Clicking a button along the side of the unit, a translucent pane of glass slid out from the surface and proceeded with a retinal scan and access code authorization. The panel turned opaque and she tapped her contact log and made the call.

The panel went black and the familiar black bearded face of her commanding officer appeared. His bushy beard was wild and unkempt as it always was, and atop his crooked nose were a pair of wire rimmed glasses. The man looked exhausted from the deep bags under his eyes.

"Kara, what a pleasant surprise! I didn't expect you to report in for another week," Dessorosa greeted her with a tired smile.

"Sir, we've followed the ship for the past few weeks. It's movements have been erratic and the power fluctuations have been the same. It seems they have finally lost power and we have maintained observation distance, how would you like us to proceed?" Kara's fingers drummed on the desk while Dessorosa folded his hands and seemed deep in thought. His dark eyes flashed and his smile returned.

"It seems that the Imperium has given us a gift, and it isn't even our birthday!" Dessorosa chuckled. "Go unwrap it and make sure the roaches are gone before you take it for a spin. You have a green light to do as you please, just don't damage the ship too much."

"Finders keepers?" Kara said with a grin.

"I'll make you a deal. You can keep whatever is on board, but the ship is mine," Dessorosa suggested. "Happy hunting Captain, come home in one piece."

"Understood, sir," Kara saluted him before ending the call. She pulled up the display of the ship once more and studied it closely. The Cerberus was the fastest ship in its class, and well armored. The Imperial battleship would still chew through them if it came to a full on brawl between the two. Striking while they were repairing their engines would give them an advantage, but they only had one shot at crippling the vessel before it could recoup and start retaliating.

Her fingers drummed faster on the desk as she pondered the best way to accomplish the mission. Dessorosa would be pissed if she brought back the ship in tatters, much more so if her ship took a beating. Boarding was risky, minimal ship combat but the crew under her command would be at risk. She frowned at the battleship, as if its existence was a personal slight at her.

Finally making her decision, she tapped the ship's coms and spoke to her crew, "Alright ladies! We are going to snag us a pretty new souvenir. I want four assault teams geared up in ten! Assemble in the shuttle bay. Mercy, bring us into range and be prepared to engage."

Kara leapt out of her chair and strode purposefully over to her locker. She stripped quickly and pulled on the ballistic polymer weave strike suit that hugged her body in its protective embrace followed by the twin shoulder holsters that held her two favorite revolvers. Finally throwing her black and red leather trench coat over her shoulders, and securing her black captain trifold hat atop her head. She looked at herself in the vanity mirror on the other side of her office and couldn't help but grin. On a fleeting thought, she pulled a few long strands of her blonde hair and twirled them around her finger, leaving two bouncing curls framing her face.

Her ensemble wasn't exactly up to standards with the rest of the Coalition, and she only got away with it due to her status as an independent captain and it did help that her father was on the Coalition counsel. The combat suit that flowed over her body was a dark grey color that was ambiguous enough that it could blend in to most surroundings; it was also non-reflective and strong enough to stop a 50. Caliber round from penetrating, although it hurt like a bitch, common consensus was broken bones were better than missing limbs.

The two shoulder holsters housed her twin long barrel revolvers that looked straight out of an old western movie from back before the twenty-first century, and she absolutely adored the classic design. They had been heavily modified, as the classic revolver wouldn't have the same stopping power of a modern tactical assault rifle. The long barrels were made out of the same material that housed warp cores in spacecraft's and allowed for the miniature core in the handle of the gun the generate a small warp field around the bullets before the ignition system kicked it out at eighty percent of warp speed. Strike suit or no, these revolvers were enough to sheer through heavy plating. They had cost her a small fortune, but it was so worth it.

Her black and red trench coat was a gift from Dessorosa when she finally managed to become a captain when she turned twenty-two, being the youngest captain in the coalition. The broad shoulders of the coat allowed her to be able to wear it over her combat gear, with the red velvet inlay keeping her nice and warm, while the cool black leather exterior held light absorption properties, so movement and any changes in the dimensions couldn't be detected, amazing for sleight of hand. Mercy had added two silver fastenings along the collar, that held a pair miniaturized shield generators. She had been very clear that it was for emergencies only, and Kara was glad she never had to use them so far.

Kara swept out of her quarters and took the privet elevator down to the hanger. Her four strike teams were waiting for her as the doors opened. Four squad leaders stepped forwards and snapped to attention.

"Alright, we got one shot at this. Celtic, I want you and your team to secure the bridge. Hunter, engineering. Buck and Frank I want you to shut down all boarding response. Give them a chance to surrender, and if they don't, space their asses," Kara jumped into the nearest shuttle. "Celtic, you're with me."

The four teams packed themselves into the boarding shuttles and took off once the hanger and out into the black nothingness. The pilot announced they would be making contact in ten minutes. The silence only breached by the shuttle rumbling along towards their helpless prey. The tension in the air was thick and Kara's body was responding to it. Her heart was hammering away in her chest, the adrenaline singing through her body. She missed this feeling. She felt so alive in these moments.

"Breaching charges in place," The pilot's voice crackled over the coms.

Kara tapped her ear piece, speaking to the four teams in place around the ship, "Breach in five, four, three, two, one. Go!"

Four explosions rocked the battleship as its protective armor was ripped away. The shuttle pulled in close and attached its magnetic docking claps onto the hull. The atmospheric shield enveloped the breach as Kara jumped through the gaping hole.

"What the fuck was that?!" Captain Grant snarled as he struggled to keep himself upright.

"I don't know!" Doctor Hiemsal shrieked in alarm.

Kyle sagged in his restraints. His breath came in ragged gasps as sweat poured from his body. His self-satisfied smile was painted on his face, as nothing could ruin this victory for him. He is power had surged through the ship, blowing the power relays and electrical capacitors throughout. He could already feel the engine dying as is tried to suck out more of his power, but there was nowhere for it to go. Another explosion deep in the ship rocked it once more, the beast's stomach had finally burst. The constant consumption that drained his very life had gone, and he could feel his body begin to tingle as it was revitalized.

Kyle began to laugh. It hurt, but it felt good too. His unused vocal cords rasped as they found proper use for the first time in four years. "You better run. Grant. Doctor. You better run and hide before I get out of this fucking machine and rip out your hearts!"

He could hear their hearts scampering around in their chests, fear and panic flooding their systems. Now that the humming was finally gone, he could hear other things too. The distant echoes of combat reached his sensitive ears. The chattering of gunfire and yelps of pain, even the wet sounds of flesh being ripped apart by metal. The sounds of battle were music to Kyle's ears.

"You have guests, Grant. It would be rude to keep them waiting," Kyle said, his voice on the edge of mania. "I'll follow soon enough."

"Rupert!" Captain Grant screamed. The soft clicking of the coms was the only thing that let Kyle know he was contacting his chief of security.

"Captain, we've been boarded!" Rupert yelled. The din of battle was deafening. "They've seized the bridge, and security forces have been pinned down. You have to get out of there, the escape shuttles have been primed and ready!"

"We'll be right there," Grant snarled. Kyle could almost imagine him turning to the doctor. "We need to get out of here, head down to engineering and take the maintenance hatches down to the shuttle bay."

"What about him?" Hiemsal squeaked in fright. "We can't let the Coalition have him!"

"I'll take care of him. Go!" Grant shouted. The hydraulic doors groaned open and Kyle heard her distant footsteps fading away.

A strange clicking noise drew his attention back to Grant. There was a loud crack and a sharp piercing pain rocked Kyle to the core. Grant had shot him. The bullet had missed his heart by a few centimeters; His blood ran hot over his skin as it poured out of the hole in his chest. The blackness around Kyle's mind began to encroach. His head felt dizzy. The sounds of battle grew hazy and undistinguished. He had been shot. He was bleeding out. Was he going to die? No. He couldn't die. Not yet. He was so close to freedom. He refused. With a titanic effort, his forced the darkness back, focusing his mind into a razor fine focus.

He needed to stop the bleeding. He probed outwards with his mind's eye, picturing the gaping hole on the left side of his chest. He forced his power into the hole, feeling the pressure filling the space, stopping any more blood from leaking out of his body. It was a temporary fix, he would need to find a more permanent solution if he were going to make it to see a doctor. The fact that he had no idea where he was didn't strike him as important at that point in time.

Focusing his will once more, he gripped tight to the resonance he could feel between his mind and his steel prison. In his mind's eye he could see the waves rippling out from him; similar pulsing waves came from the metal around him, singing to him in a deep baritone chorus. He focused him will to slow down the pulses and match the tone that the metal sang to him. Once the harmony was complete, the metal seemed as fluid as water, no longer rigid and strong. His prison willingly let him go, as if it had only been holding onto him languidly.

Kyle crashed onto the floor, the IV's ripped from his body unceremoniously. He was free, and now that he was, his body was a riot of pain as the drugs began to ware off. He could feel just how weak he was. He raised a trembling hand and gingerly pulled the metal visor from his face and opened his eyes for the first time in four years. Sudden glares off lashing red seared his eyes, he groaned as the stabbing light pierced into his brain.

He heard a commotion outside, muffled voices speaking to each other. The hydraulic door groaned open once more, and fresh waves of light flared over him, his raised arms offering scant protection. The sounds came screaming in, echoing around the chamber and into his head. His stomach couldn't take the nauseating sense of vertigo coupled with the horrendously painful sensory overload, and he wretched onto the floor.

Kyle was suddenly gripped by two sets of gloved hands that hoisted him up by his upper arms, hauling him out of the chamber. He opened his eyes slowly to see two muscular men half carrying, half dragging him down a long hallway. Panic surged inside of him, his power flared, sharp and clear inside him mind. His feet found the cold metal ground and he shoved off his new captors, waves of force rolling out from his hands.