OCTAVIA BLAKE + ANISSA PIERCE
HIGH | CHARACTER DEATH | COMPLETE
Octavia was in bed but still awake when she started to hear the rumblings outside. She’d spent most of the day at the base and had nearly stayed over but had decided to come home for a few hours of sleep. Trying to convince Becker to do the same was fruitless, so she promised to be back early with breakfast. She was exhausted after the last few days of going non-stop, but she knew that wasn’t exclusive to her. Everyone was stressed and working on fumes at this point after the attack on Intake.
At first she was going to ignore whatever the noises were outside and go to bed, but a minute or two later she heard someone yelling followed by firefight. “What the hell..” she mumbled to herself and got up to peer out the window. One look and she could see what she swore were COS agents converging. Not thinking twice, Octavia grabbed her weapons and was rushing out the door. She had no idea if Bell or Katie were at home, but she yelled out a warning to them anyway.
Fire and bullets were flying, but Octavia had her sword and a gun attached to her side. A group of people started to fight back while others began working to help evacuate people from the housing area out of the line of fire.
Sword in hand, she knocked back an agent with a strong punch with the hilt of the sword and quickly moved into her next attack. Seeing Anissa a few feet away, she yelled out a warning to her that an agent was coming fast from behind. Octavia rushed forward, but she didn’t know if she would be there in time. “Behind you!”
The noise had drawn Anissa into the fray as well, suited up and angry as hell that COS had brought the fight directly to them, engaging in warfare that put everyone at risk. It was cowardly as hell, as far as Anissa was concerned. There were children here, people who weren’t fighters at all.
She’d parted ways with Shamara in a rush of be careful and don’t do anything stupid, and she’d taken to the streets, ready for a brawl. The first one she’d grappled with hadn’t been much of a match for her, and it wasn’t long before she got the upper hand. It left her defenseless from behind, however, until a voice shouted at her. Anissa spun around and had just enough time to shift her position and send the agent sprawling from his own momentum.
“Thanks!” she called back.
There was so much chaos that it was hard to tell where attacks were coming from and how many agents were in the area. People were running in all directions, and Octavia saw another agent start to raise a bow with a fiery arrow aimed at one of the houses. Rushing forward, she managed to knock the arm of the shooter off course, but it still landed in and ignited the grass.
She wasn’t able to do anything about the fire right then, but she knocked the agent down and kept moving, joining Anissa who was still fighting nearby. “We have to try to drive them away from the housing,” she called out. It was an obvious statement, and she was mostly telling herself more than anyone.
“If you head them off there, I’ll cover the--” Octavia’s words were cut off when a loud and strong blast blew both of them backwards. The explosion knocked her back several feet, and a sharp pain hit her suddenly. She looked down and touched her right side with her fingers coming back with blood. Her head had a large gash, and her ears were ringing, but she managed to stand up anyway. She’d had worse right? Her sword was several feet away, but she looked around and saw Anissa starting to get to her feet too. “Are you okay?”
Dazed from the sound of the blast and by the force with which it tossed her to the ground, Anissa groaned as she struggled to her feet. She knew that her suit would have been able to protect her from shrapnel, but that didn’t mean she was immune to impacts. That one had caught her off-guard, without enough time to take a full breath. The sharp pain that surged through her torso now told her all she needed to know: she’d broken a rib, maybe several.
She’d live, but it was going to hurt like hell.
When she finally swung her gaze around to Octavia, her eyes widened reflexively. Despite the time of night (probably due to the multiple fires being started, Anissa thought), she could see the blood oozing at Octavia’s side. The shocked expression only lasted a moment before she steeled herself and hurried over, the medical student in her taking over. Her hand hovered over Octavia’s side. “We gotta get someone to look at this,” she stated.
Shaking her head, Octavia waved her off. “No, I’m fine. There’s no time, and we have to keep them from destroying more of the housing.” She winced a little, but steeled herself and pushed past the pain. “Really, it’s fine. I’ve seen a lot worse.” She’d lived through a sword to the gut and so many other injuries in her home world, and she could live through this.
A few agents were on the ground, but there were still more left trying to do all the damage that they could. The battle tactics were all over the place, too. Some were modern and technical but others reminded her of home. Octavia hated guns most of the time, but she saw one from a fallen agent and picked it up, ready to use if needed.
“Over there!” She yelled above all the noise and pointed between houses 19 and 20. “It looks like they’re about to set something off. Let’s go.”
Although Anissa was doubtful that Octavia was fine, she knew there wasn’t any possible way she could drag the other woman away from the fight, just like there wouldn’t have been a way to drag Anissa away if their roles were reversed. If she were unconscious, maybe...
She tried to shake it from her mind as she ran in the direction Octavia pointed. They had to focus on the job at hand, and even if she thought not getting triage was detrimental in the long run, it wasn’t worth taking time to fight about it. Instead, she gritted her teeth and pushed harder. She could get there in time, she could --
The agents saw her coming, but their gunshots ricocheted off her. With a grunt, she barreled head-on into the first one. Under other circumstances, she might’ve used her shockwaves, but she didn’t want to set off any possible explosives.
Even if she’d rather use a blade over bullets, that didn’t mean Octavia wouldn’t use it if she needed in a fight. As soon as she heard gunshots, she ducked to avoid any ricochets but soon aimed and fired off her weapon at the second agent who now had turned his attention to them. She ran forward past where Anissa was battling the first agent and went for the second. Fight mode took over, and she ignored the pain in her side and the fact that she was losing blood too quickly from her movements.
Shots were fired on both sides, and she felt a sharp pinch in her upper arm. As she neared the agent, Octavia dropped the gun and took hold of her sword with both hands, swinging it as hard as she could. It knocked the agent back, and with another swing she connected and the agent hit the ground. She wasn’t concerned with capturing anyone for questioning since they’d likely end up disappearing anyway. So, with a swift swing of the sword, she made the final strike and made sure the agent wouldn’t be getting back up again.
Mostly fueled by adrenaline at this point, Octavia started running over to Anissa, but the body of the fallen agent jerked and within seconds another blast went off. It was a smaller explosion than the first, and she wasn’t knocked off her feet, but she stumbled enough that she didn’t see the bullets before they hit. One in the leg, another in her shoulder, and the third struck her neck. Clutching her throat, Octavia fell to her knees.
The agent Anissa had been fighting knew her weakness and capitalized on it, aiming his punches in between breaths, nailing her in the ribs right where she’d landed before and twisting her arm behind her back until she felt something pop in her right shoulder. She cried out and tossed her opponent over her head as soon as she could get the leverage. One solid punch - even with her left hand - was enough to knock the agent out.
Anissa didn’t see where the bullets came from. She was straightening up when she saw Octavia fall, blood gushing from under her hand.
She spoke into her comms as she rushed over, alerting anyone who was listening to their position and to the severity of the injuries. The rest of the battle was forgotten in the face of what she saw. Somewhere at the back of her mind, Anissa knew they were vulnerable, but she would deal with that if it came up. What they needed now was back up. An evac. Something. “Hey, hey,” she said, pressing her hand hard against Octavia’s to put pressure on the wound. “Stay with me.”
Octavia had lost count the number of battles she’d found herself in since leaving the Ark. Countless ones on the ground. As the girl under the floor, the Grounder, Skairipa, Osleya, or Blodreina. As Octavia. She was at her best when she was fighting in the trenches, but now as the blood gushed from the wound on her neck and drained from her other wounds, she started to realize that this one might be the last.
Coughing only made the pain worse and the blood drain faster. Breathing became much more difficult, and she could only manage labored, quick breaths. She’d already lost so much blood, and her body wavered, sinking down to lie on the ground. Her eyes met Anissa’s, but she couldn’t speak. Even if she could, she wasn’t sure what she would say.
What was probably only a minute or two felt like much longer, and she could feel her body beginning to grow cold. The hand that had been around her neck was now holding onto one of Anissa’s. Once upon a time Octavia had toyed with or even wanted death, but right now she didn’t want to die. The old words, though, still passed through her mind as she waited for death to come. Yu gonplei ste odon. She coughed once, wheezing as she struggled to breathe and then within a few short moments, the labored breaths slowed and stopped. Her body stilled, and her grip on Anissa’s hand loosened. Octavia Blake was dead. Her fight was over.