Starborn: Origin of the Stars

Thinking back, his memories were blurry.

For a long time, Robin couldn’t remember what exactly had happened that day, after the door suddenly opened. Everything he could hear or think about, each time he shut his eyes, there was just that *BANG* and then...all turned red, red like the blood that flowed.

Only after he was back in Seka and rested for a few days - sometimes lying curled up in his bed and at other moments fleeing into the bathroom, throwing up and waiting under the shower until the nightmares receded - did he slowly recover and come to terms with the events.

***

When the door suddenly opened and Robin and Patience heard the shout, they froze in shock and did not know how to react.

Robin was near the room's exit and thought about running back to the ship, but Patience stood only a few meters away from the door.

Before they could decide on anything, a small man came through the new corridor. He had long, blonde hair and was probably in his 50s. A nasty scar reached from his left eye down to his right mouth corner. Robin could remember that the man was as surprised to see them as they were.

“Hey, I asked ya’ a question! Who the fuck are ya’? How did ya’ get in here?” He snarled, clearly not in a mood for long discussions.

“Hello there! Great to see you, didn’t think we would meet anyone here in the outskirts. We passed this facility by pure happenstance and saw the door was open. We just came in and wanted to take a look around. ‘This your home?” Patience tried to salvage the situation and he had to give her credit for the proper attempt. But alas, the dude wasn’t as dull as he looked and didn’t bite her story.

“The fuck are ya’ talking about, bitch? The door was open? Coming here by accident? You think I’m that stupid?” The scarred man moved closer to Patience and clearly felt more assured, after realizing that they were just some kids and not officials or security.

“Mate, we will just leave, ok? You don’t wanna have us here, we don’t wanna stay here - everyone will be happy if we leave, right?” Patience responded and Robin was, despite the situation they were in, amazed and in wonder about her calm demeanor. Where was the Patience with the short temper he knew?

As the guy stepped closer to her, she began to slightly jump from one foot to the other, her training kicking in as she slid into a fighting pose.

“Stop jumping around like a bunny and shut up” He said with a grin and grabbed her left arm, “Let’s get this over with and I’ll be happy to have your company later in my room. There can be lots of jumping then!”

Before he could even react, Patience's right fist flew forward and hit the man's left temple. He groaned in pain and stumbled back. Robin was surprised to see him still standing on his feet. He was sure she had used her Enhanced Strength for that punch and didn’t hold anything back.

Meanwhile Patience didn’t dally away, she changed her stance and once again threw a punch. The guy, still dizzy from the first hit, couldn’t defend himself and caught the blow directly between his legs. His eyes opened wide and without any further ado, he fell forward. Knocked out cold.

“There is no getting up from that for quite a while, asshole!” Patience said, slightly huffing, and turned to leave.

“We should get out of he…” She began when Robin heard a loud *BANG*.

Screaming in pain, Patience fell to one knee, holding her right thigh. Blood seeped through her fingers and dripped on the floor. As he saw her shivering and whimpering in pain, he began to panic and started to run over to her. When another man came out of the open door, he stopped in fright.

The guy was tall and lanky, without any hair on his head. His clothes looked like they yearned for a wash since some time and at his belt was a holster for the weapon he held in his hand, pointed directly at the kneeling Patience.

“What the heck happened here? And who the hell are you? Oi, Mick, still alive?” He kicked the guy on the ground a few times, getting a low groan in response.

Robin didn’t move a muscle. He really wanted to go over to Patience and help her, but that guy had a gun in his hands. Not one of the fancy energy-based models that the armed forces and most security used, but a cheap firearm with propelling charges. They did not have as much impact and the need for ammunition was a hassle, but they got the job done and were easy to acquire - if one knew where to ask.

Robin felt absolutely out of place, he had no experiences with weapons at all or even fistfights at that. Patience should be his saving grace, but she was seemingly already out of action. What to do?

However, when the man came over to Patience, she threw Robin a glance and kicked for the feet of the guy. He dropped the gun and had to take a step back but didn’t fall. She stood up, trying not to strain her right leg, and threw a fist again.

This time the man was more prepared and blocked with his elbows. Patience didn’t let him retaliate and kept on boxing. But every hit was skillfully blocked and with how little the man was pushed, despite her quite forceful ability, it became clear that he, too, was using his mutation. Probably something defensive- or reflex-aligned.

With her leg injured, Patience couldn’t keep up for long and began to slow down before long. The guy became more active and threw a few punches on his own, making this a proper fistfight. Patience had enough experience to hold her own even under these conditions, but in the end, she took a nasty blow to her wounded leg and couldn’t hold back a scream while stumbling to stay on her feet.

Such a distraction was immediately punished. The guy didn’t show any mercy and hit her directly in the face with his pointy elbows in rapid succession. Robin’s innards clenched as he could only helplessly watch Patience retreat backwards until she came to a stop near one of the cooling devices.

“You aren’t that bad, girl!” The lanky man said and used her befuddled state to grab her throat.

“You really shouldn’t have come here.” He shoved Patience backwards some more, ignoring her struggle. After she crashed into one of the fridges, he bashed her head against its metal door again and again. The sharp pain and the loss of breath made her feel even more dizzy.

She still tried to throw some punches every now and then, hoping for a lucky hit, but the man always seemed to know exactly when and where her fists would land and dodged all attacks.

As he slowly tightened his grip, Patience finally let all resistance slide and began to wheeze frantically. Blood flowed down her leg and from the many nasty wounds on her face. She paled and her eyes began to squirm around.

Robin saw all that. He saw it and he knew they had lost. No…she had lost, he was just a bystander. No one even paid him any attention.

He just stood there and watched as Patience was fighting for her life… and as she was dying.

His mind was in turmoil, he absolutely didn’t know what to do and looked around with a blank face.

Then his eyes fell on the gun that dropped on the floor. It apparently slid over to him in their fight. Someone must have kicked it. Robin bent over and picked it up.

He never used a gun before, but he had seen enough movies to know how to use one. The guy had fired a shot just before, so the safety should be unlocked, right?

He could see his friend looking over to him with a hazy sight and no power left to fight on.

There was no time anymore, he had to do something.

Slowly Robin raised his hand, took aim and closed his eyes…

*BANG*