clever-cleavers

[clever-cleavers]

The Leviathan was home, for as much as one could call a giant, world eating fish with a place on top of it 'home'.

Ajax was created there, underneath the floorboards, build with bits of Calus himself and royal wine and a number of other things that he didn't really want to go into. Some used to joke he very well may have had Warbeast in him, with how feral he acted, coming out of the chamber, and how much the Warbeasts liked him.

He had to be careful, about the Warbeasts liking him.

Didn't want to end up like the Princess, Caiatl.

Batch 001, specimen Seven, named 'Ajax', was one of the first, few stabilzed, lab grown cabal to walk the Leviathan, briefly rivaled only by his elder, specimen six, unnamed, who survived long enough to take a few uneven steps-

And then fell apart into a pile of wet, flesh material.

In comparison, Ajax is something of a genetic marvel, every bit as well formed as an adult Cabal, and the scientists and scribes monitor him for a long while, keeping a close eye on him, and the plug in the base of his spine. When he fails to fall apart, they drain the chamber, unplug the stabalizer, and Ajax comes alive with a desperate gasp, his first taste of air.

His first experience with being awake is pain.

Life on the Leviathan is.. good. At first. Train, guard, clean, fight the Guardians, and if you survive the encounter? You get your own little feast, you get patched up if it's bad enough, and then you keep going. None of the Guardians Ajax met were really... challenges. They were good, certainly, but they weren't interested in sticking around, not really. They ran into the room, killed enough to get the next area open, and left.

And then he came along.

Ajax was scheduled to entertain the next group of Guardians, along with a small group of Cabal clones he was nearly certain would likely not survive the encounter, Gladiatorial Cleavers sharpened and armor undented and buffed. The limbs he'd had replaced with a number of mechanical prosthesises ache faintly.

The Guardian in question, he thinks, is a Hunter, based on the little knifes, the way they leap about, weaving in and out between the other Guardian's paths. The other Guardians attack head on, and this Guardian, along with the other Hunters, watch their backs.

The Guardian in question uses electricity to fight, unlike the Void and Solar ones, chaining attacks to kill multiple enemies next to each other. Dangerous.

Fun.

Ajax targets him, slowly backing him away from the group, sending his Warbeasts to herd him, until Ajax can take a swing at him, cleaver raised with threatening intent. The Hunter dodges up, and then around him in a circle that Ajax is, perhaps, not quite quick enough to follow. A dagger in the side between his armor pieces, and Ajax turns.

He's gone.

A dagger dangerously close to hitting the back of his thigh, and Ajax spins again- gone.

Ajax pauses, waits. Out of the corner of his eye, a bone shifts, and he lunges. The edge of the Hunter's cloak crumples in his fist and he yanks, gratified, and slams the Guardian back against the wall nearby.

Whoever he is, he's hurt, cursing in Earthspeak at him, and they go, again. Ajax is getting cut up, but the Guardian isn't exactly doing so well, either, and before long, they have a sort of dance, an ebb and flow. Ajax is alive with the fight, fixated with the amount of spitfire in this little thing. He thinks, perhaps, the Guardian feels the same.

A high whistle rings, the end of the room's game, and the Guardian pauses, reluctant. A Titan pauses on his way out, and calls, "13!", before running on, and the Hunter, '13', grunts at him, and turns on the heels of his little digitigrade legs.

Ajax lets him go, watching him with a strange sort of feeling building, a sort of.. gratification, and apprehension- a longing. He wants to see 13, again. He hopes to see him, again.

In order to see him, again, he has to survive the next games.

..Ajax has never been the sort to turn down an interesting challenge.

#The Leviathan Logs: Chapter One #Organically Inorganic | Ajax

[clever-cleavers]

Sorry 13, but your Nemesis is in full gear, now. Tucked under his arm, Ajax begins walking in a direction- mainly, the direction of the Last City. "I WOULD NEVER ALLOW EGREGORE TO TAKE ME! CALUS CAN.." And then he pauses for a moment, helm tilted, as he thinks of the Earthspeak term for such an insult, before deciding there is no good one and switching back to Ulurant.

[CALUS IS HIVEMUCK SMEARED ON ELIKSNI SPEAR AS CHEMICAL WARFARE WEAPONS, WHICH IS TO SAY, DISGUSTING, BUT ENTIRELY USELESS. I MAY BE BEHOLDEN TO CALUS FOR MY CREATION, BUT I SHALL NEVER THANK HIM FOR WHAT HE HAS TURNED THE NAME OF THE CABAL INTO. THE LIVES HE OFFERS IN THE NAME OF HEDONISM. THE CABAL ARE HONOR BOUND TO FIGHT, BUT HE DID NOT FIGHT FOR HONOR, NOR TO CHALLENGE HIMSELF, NOR FOR THE GREATER GOOD OF THE PEOPLE UNDERNEATH HIM.]

There's an audible gnashing noise, of Ajax's teeth as he grinds his jaw back and forth.

[I CAN NOT WILLINGLY PLEDGE MY LIFE AND MY BLADES TO SOMEONE WITH NO SORT OF REGARD FOR THE RESPONSIBILITIES THAT COMES WITH THAT LEADERSHIP. CAIATL IS, BY FAR, A BETTER LEADER THAN GHAUL OR CALUS COULD EVER HAVE BEEN.]

"R A B B I T-"

"R A B B I T-"

"Fuckin'-- HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO PUT YOU DOWN, OLD MAN?!"

Bunny's brought his shotgun to bear, but he's pretty blatantly aiming for Ajax's prosthetic arm rather than anything fleshy. Honestly, it's like he's not even trying to do damage...

"You asshole, where have you actually been, though? I haven't seen you since Nessus."

#Ajax: in this essay I will #fated nemesis | 13 #redeyedefiant

[clever-cleavers]

With a laugh that is more roar than laughter, the massive Gladiator Cabal bounds forward with the assistance of his jetpack, and lands just in front of the exo with something like an earth quaking thud.

His Fated Nemesis, his soulmate in arms, Bunn-13, within his sights, again!

Another roar, and Ajax grabs the exo around the middle with both of his large hands, lifting him clear above his helmet. "AhHA! DID YOU THINK YOU WOULD EVER BE RID OF ME! DISHONOR, TO EVER BE BROUGHT LOW BY ANY OTHER GUARDIAN! ONLY YOU SHALL HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRINGING ME TO REST- IF YOU CAN!"

Unaware of his volume as always, Ajax gives 13 a well natured jostle, and then tucks the exo against his side.

"R A B B I T-"

"R A B B I T-"

"Fuckin'-- HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO PUT YOU DOWN, OLD MAN?!"

Bunny's brought his shotgun to bear, but he's pretty blatantly aiming for Ajax's prosthetic arm rather than anything fleshy. Honestly, it's like he's not even trying to do damage...

"You asshole, where have you actually been, though? I haven't seen you since Nessus."

#Fated Nemesis | 13 #redeyedefiant