Flashbacks and Flashpoints

"Situations got a strange way of makin' a mess.... No different for my own self either of late... Gorram warbot. That was a flashpoint. Flashpoints. Its when somethin' reaches its maximum befre conbustion. We all got em too...." Pacin' 'round in Hasno was startin' to wear a might thin lately. "Not sure where all it started. Could say as far back as when Kitten went out of existance. Or as near as the warbot's attack on us. Can't say for sure, but it all added its brand of poison."

Not sure why I was talkin' 'bout all this gorram stuff. Just maybe needed to be said. Or maybe to get rid of the poison that was festerin' inside. Purgin' it, I s'pose. "With Kitten gone, my life started doin' a might better. Not how you'd think. My head was clear for the first time since..... Hell, don't know when.... But there was that loss that was there too. It also brought somethin' more... A new light. AuroraBlue, like bright sunshine pourin' through rain clouds." The doorway had a barrier I couldn't get through. G said to keep me safe from my own self... So I didn't go and do somethin' crazy.

The drugs were wearin' off. I could feel it.... Made me a might annoyed to be locked up... Startin' to feel a close in here... "Hale's was quiet for a spell. Even work dried up while the 'liance hit dirtside here. Figures... They come and work goes. Then there was Xoxo.... She was actin' all confused at times, then at others she was mean spirited. Not sure what all's goin' on with her. Maybe she reached her flashpoint.... Or dealin' with her own poisons. But she ain't been 'round of late." Not sure how many times I looked at that gorram wall clock. But time was movin' a might too slow for my likin'.

"Then a few weeks back.... Aiya... Was a nightmare. Xoxo and her spite sent me to headin' for the black. Yeah.... I was pretty angered for a spell... When I got back all hell'd opened up with bullets flyin'. I knew cause a stray caught me in the armor. Nothin' the armor couldn't handle easy." When was G gettin' back. I needed some gorram air. "So, with tryin' to figure who was doin' the shootin', I got into trouble helpin' save Tillery from his captors... And got my own self shot up. Yeah, yeah.... Broke the run of good luck there. At least the explosions and shots from the ship didn't hit us. Woulda ended us if they had."

My mind was racin' to see if I could get somethin' in the room to short the door so I could get out of here... But then there was the gas release I had to deal with.... "Not two days later.... that huan dahn bounty hunter got hold of me. Gorram sick bastard.... strapped me down so I couldn't move or fight back... Tortured...." That set me on edge. The poison balled in my gut. "For days he beat me and tore me up.... Would wake in some med facility to have it all start again." I shook my head tryin' to forget... "Like it'd never stop. Until I woke here.... Hell, in this room. More like a cell now... Says to keep me from doin' somethin' crazy.... or get my own self hurt."

Chuckled at that, but it wasn't funny. None of it was.... "Maybe a week or so later a kid shows up and starts talkin' all strange. Dav took her in... Seems we get a lot of folks lost in the 'verse come our way. Like Hale's is a flame to every moth on the rim. Sometimes they come to their senses and somethimes they don't." Wonder which might happen to her... "Then the warbot showed her green face and set to shootin' everythin' up. Everythin' and everyone in her way..... To find Raids. She looks like Raids 'cept for the color... and maybe the hair. But thats 'bout it. It came fast at Dav and me. Almost too fast to dive for cover. Gorram fast and deadly. Went for me first. Not sure what all happened after that."

Gorram! Had to look at that gorram clock again. "Like no time's passed...." rubbed my face and tried not to think of where all I was. "We were shot up good. Jai was tryin' to help.... but I got the feelin' she wasn't cut out for bein' a medic. Then that kid was sayin' stuff. Like I was her brother. I don't know what all thats 'bout. I don't know her from hole in the wall. My family was gone. My birth family anyway. Says she's Catherine. Hell Catherine... Kitten was gone. She was most like dead by now." Frownin' 'bout that. Was she? "No soon's we wake up and the warbot's back. This time Calina was visitin' in the clinic when it showed. We needed to get out there. The gorram 'bot was outside killin' another poor townsfolk. We could hear the shots and screams.... the sound of someone bein' ended..."

The screams you couldn't shut out as it rang off the buildin' walls. "We didn't have much chance. Dav and I were her targets again. She messed us up pretty bad.... Could feel the bullets tearin' through me as I shot back. After that I don't rem'meber much. Well... nothin' after that.... I woke in the clinic again. Or was it the first time... and I never left. Like relivin' a nightmare. Or was it goin' to be my hell." Needed to purge that poison again. "Had to get out of that buildin'. The chem smell was makin' me sick. Never liked med centers.... And then there was that kid. She kept at me over and over.... Insistin' I was her brother." Who was she, and why.... I'd made my own peace with my family. Why now. "Everythin' was flashin' b'fore my eyes. Shots ringin' out, death screams.... The non stop pain poundin' into my body....Flashpoint....."

My body hurt from all the punishment, while my brain tried to sort it all out. "How long can anyone take the beatin's? Was this what my Pa went through after he lost his arm in the Unification War? Not sure, but he made it through with his life. For that he was grateful to come home to us." Come on G, I need to be doin' somethin' 'sides pacin' in here... "Gotta cast the demons away and step b'yond the pain. We gotta end the warbot b'fore it does more damage to the folks here. Find her 'flashpoint' and melt her for scrap. Yeah, maybe it's wishful thinkin', but hell, we gotta do somethin'. Then with time..." Oh hell. Looked at the clock again..... "Yeah... Time heals all wounds. Hopefully faster then the gorram clock is moving."