#jentari

Team Whump - Nightmares

First Marra-centric fic I've written despite her being my oc for 10 years? Yup. @whumpawoman

“Who would’ve guess an alien society would have problems quite similar to our own?”

Marra nodded in reply and took a sip of her tea. She and Admiral Jentari looked out through the window of the viewing deck at the blue and green planet below. Clouds swirled over its land and oceans like dusted snow. It was pretty, she thought, when you ignored the good point the Admiral made.

“I guess you’re bound to see the same problems in a galaxy as big as this.”

The tea was warm, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint the taste. It was far off, more like a memory on her tongue than she could describe in the moment. She felt a smile of excitement coming on, but did her best to keep her composure. A personal meeting with the Admiral was no small thing. It was a great honor, everyone always said it meant future favors and opportunities very few would ever hope to achieve. Marra wouldn’t deny she felt excited sitting here with her.

Even if she couldn’t quite remember why she’d been summoned.

“Always the same problems,” Jentari mused as she took a sip from her own cup, “Traitors everywhere.”

“What?” Marra suddenly felt a growing feeling of worry when she saw the look of disdain on the Admiral’s face.

“You’re a traitor, Jylrosh,” Jentari growled as she stood up from her seat. The feeling of worry turned to dread in Marra’s stomach as she dropped her cup to the floor. The table between them was gone, but she couldn’t bring herself to get out of the chair and run. She was prey in the face of a terrifying predator.

How did she know? She can’t know!

I have to get out of here. Why can’t I move?!

“I should’ve known you were a spineless coward,” Marra struggled not to scream at the sight of Jentari’s signature blades eject from her fingertips, “My only regret is that I didn’t deal with you sooner.”

“Admiral, I—I didn’t—Please, I would never—I mean, I—”

“A traitor’s blessing won’t be enough punishment for you, Jylrosh,” Jentari raised her hand in the air. “You will die like the rest of them.”

“No, please!”

Jentari’s knives came down and plunged deep in Marra’s chest. She felt every inch of sharp metal cutting through her, slicing through muscle and bone as if it were paper. She screamed as Jentari pulled back, her blood spraying into the air before she stabbed her again. The smell of blood was overwhelming. It choked the air and bubbled up from her throat. Hot tears ran down her cheeks as she was stabbed over and over again. She stared up at the Admiral, still hoping she could somehow beg for mercy in that icy cold stare.

In Jentari’s expression, Marra didn’t see anger or hate. Only disgust and disappointment.

Traitor.

A scream ripped through Marra’s throat as she bolted up. Her heart raced painfully as she reached up to her chest, desperate to stop the flow of blood. But there was no blood. She thought she could still smell and taste it, but none came away when she looked down at her hand. As the seconds passed, she saw that the room was dark, and she sat upright in a bed. Her bed, with her own blankets and pillow in the Pax Rebels’ sleeping quarters. There was no viewing deck, no Earth to see, no tea, no gaping wounds in her chest.

No Admiral.

It was just a dream.

Even so, Marra trembled and pulled her knees close to her chest. Maybe Jentari wasn’t here, but the fear of her was. She tried to put it out of her mind, tried to forget that look given to her in the final moments of her death. The image had to leave her mind in time, right? She just had to think of something else, anything else. Something funny, some chore she had to think about for the next morning, even something more frightening than her just to get that look out of her head. But there was nothing more frightening than the Admiral as an enemy. Try as she did, the nightmare stayed with her the rest of the night.  

Whumptober’s finally heeeeeeere and it’s time for some canon content!

@whumptober2021 

CW: prisoner of war, slapping, mild blood

Titan Guard tag list: @nightly-whump, @whumped-cream, @whipper-whumper, @ghostcomit, @yet-another-heathen @why-not-whump-it (let me know if you’d like to be added!) 

He thought the ropes were a little excessive.

Of course, his captors might have thought it more than necessary based on the amount of trouble Lulan had been giving them. It took being outnumbered four to one and a small explosion before he finally fell to their strength. Even then, he never gave them a moment’s rest since getting captured. The handcuffs on his wrists grew tighter the more he struggled against them.

The ropes around his arms and torso were just annoying, even if it somehow made them feel safe. In any case, he wasn’t planning on making it easy for them.

“Hey, watch it!” Lulan growled as they gripped his shoulders painfully and pushed him forward towards a set of closed doors. The doors hissed as they opened, the bridge of the Dicio Council’s flagship in full view. Lulan’s jaw tightened as they shoved him towards the commander’s seat, knowing well who was waiting for him there.

“Admiral, we encountered this Pax Rebel on a scouting mission on the alien planet,” one of the Diçian’s leading him said as she and the other pushed him down to his knees in front of the commander’s seat, “He’s already severely injured one corpsman before we managed to subdue and restrain him.”

Lulan felt his nerves creeping under his skin as the ship’s commander turned and set her eyes on him. There was an instinct to keep his eyes down, to avoid fanning the flames of anger he knew was coming for him in time. But then again, not every instinct needed to be followed.

He kept his head high as he locked eyes with Admiral Jentari’s look of mild amusement. He already knew that this was making her day, capturing another Pax Rebel after managing months of hiding and silence. Lulan had loathed every minute of it, the will to fight back itching at him every moment of every day. He’d gotten his fill of that today, perhaps a little too much.

“Welcome aboard the Maverick, Captain Quioph,” Jentari said as she stood from her seat. “I sincerely hope that you think all the trouble you caused today worth it. I certainly don’t appreciate having one of my soldiers hospitalized.”

“Honestly, it has been so far,” Lulan smirked with a toothy grin. He tested against the strength of his bonds, growing uncomfortably tight. “I’m just disappointed I didn’t have time to take out more of your lackeys before now.”

“And here I thought your General placed diplomacy over conflict and violence.”

“Only for those who really deserve it.”

His arms fidgeted against the cuffs and ropes as Jentari stepped closer. His teeth gritted behind his forced smile. It wavered slightly as she leaned down and gripped his chin, raising his head until he barely remained on his knees.

“You and the rest of General Shorvakon’s meddlers have dragged this game on long enough. Most of your Guard division is dead, and the rest of you hiding like cowards, yet you keep fighting. And for what?”

Lulan wished he could punch her square in the jaw. His shoulders shifted as he tried to pull away from her grip. “Believe me, we think it’s still a hell of a lot better than living under the Council’s rule.”

“You’ll have to come up with a better reason than that.”

Lulan growled from deep in his throat. He had to maintain the façade, had to keep this up and keep her distracted as long as possible. The longer he kept her focus on him meant that she wouldn’t look for the others. They would be safe, hidden away until they could find a way back home. Or simply survive.

“I’m giving you one last chance to tell me where the other Pax Rebels are on this planet, before this gets ugly,” she said as her nails dug into his skin, “I will not be this nice if I have to ask again.”  

Lulan groaned, feeling beads of blood slowly run down his chin to the floor. He let out a harsh chuckle. “Yeah, right. Like I’m gonna tell you one fucking thing, you Diçian kharra.”

The satisfaction in his word still lingered after Jentari released him and slapped the back of her hand across his cheek. He fell to the floor on his side, the cuffs digging into the flesh of his wrists and threatening to bring forth more blood. Angry murmurs from the other Diçian officers echoed around him. That was worth it too, he thought to himself. If he was going to suffer by their hands, then he was going to make the most out of being their greatest inconvenience.

“Take him down to the detention block,” Jentari turned to one of the other officers, “Tonár, I believe you will take the greatest pleasure in conducting his interrogation. Drag out any information on the Rebels’ whereabouts. And… have some fun with it.”

Lulan growled under his breath as his weight pulled against the ropes, lifting him to his feet as he was led off the bridge. His cheek still stung, and he kept the same smile on his face even as he felt his courage waver. He would keep up the defiance, the strength, as long as he possibly could. Even so, he chuckled to himself sadly.

Titan Guard© Masterlist

Main Story: 

A race of aliens known as Maltrinites have been fighting a war for over 400 years, a bitter conflict between the Pax Rebels who seek freedom from oppression, and the Dicio Council who seek to regain total control of the planet Maltrina. The war devastates the lives of all involved in some form or another. In the Earth year 2041, a group of elite Pax Rebel fighters crash on Earth during a mission to acquire new weapons and gear. They now find themselves struggling to find a way home, all while a Dician ship hunts them across the planet Click here for the full list! 

Alek and Banévar: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

The Downtrodden: Alek’s Backstory

The story of a young Pax Rebel caught in the worst of circumstances. 30 years before joining the Titan Guard, Alek was taken prisoner by the Council’s forces. A year passed before he was found, the only one left alive. Click here for the full list! 

Revolution: The Early Years of the War

A young Rebel joins the efforts to help his people and his world against the ruling Dicio Council. It’s a time when those close to him show their true colors, and he finds that people aren’t always who they seem to be.

Beginning of a Rebellion

Assassination attempt

Character Art:

- Alek 1, 2, 3 (Lovely fanart 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

- Alek and Macxè 1, 2

- Ganex

Mood boards:

Probably my main antagonist, Jentari, even if she’s not the Big Bad, she’s the most dangerous.

She’s an Admiral and second in command of the entire Dicio Council military. She was the Council’s most successful assassin who killed top generals in both the Pax Rebel and Red Licent armies. She’s trained in multiple forms of combat and oversees her own regiment of elite fighters, one of which will take her place when she becomes Grand Admiral of the military. She also has special implants in the tips of her fingers that extend into razor sharp knives, good for a quick assassination. Her name alone strikes fear into the toughest Pax Rebel fighters.

She’s also a well rounded character. She’s older, 665 which would be equivalent to 66-67, and has been in the game for a while. Unlike some commanders, she actually cares about the wellbeing of her soldiers and wouldn’t think to put them at risk for her own gain. She also refuses to harm civilians directly (at least if she can help it because there’s always casualties in war), won’t hurt kids, and keeps the agreements she makes with enemies.

Admiral Jentari's record does not extend past the last 300 years of the war, which has been ongoing for 400. Despite being in her mid-600s and one of the most recognizable faces of the Dicio Council military, there is no evidence of her previous work prior to becoming an assassin for the Council and eventually being selected at the next successor to the military leadership chair.

The chains around her wrists and ankles clink when she sits down after being led down a hallway by two silent, scowling Maltrinites. She flinches slightly at the sound but does nothing about it.

Not that she could. She's not the one in control here, as the two, three aliens, batons b and she knows it. It's not her first time being seated in a room such as this but she's accustomed to being on the other side of the table - the one the Maltrinites woman, who's staring holes into her right now, is seated on.

Lehan would never let her live this down. She almost smiles at the thought as the memory of their first meeting plays out in the back of her mind.

"Your Majesty."

Zeria looks up, allows herself to wince at the title and watches the woman's reaction to it. She's sure the Maltrinite woman is watching her the same way.

She gives her nothing but a slight quirk of her brow and an even slighter twitch of her ears which, Zeria knows from watch Aleks, means she's taking the information in and processing it.

Good.

"Commander Jentari," she replies softly.

"Good," The woman nods sharply, "you know who I am. I won't waste time with formalities."

"Why am I here?" Zeria asks. She makes her eyes wide and cocks her head. She leans forward. The chains clank.

"Don't play dumb, Your Majesty. It insults us both. You're far too intelligent for that and I don't have time for it."

Zeria shrugs. Leans back.

"You're going to ask me about Alekoran. Lexus. Talic. Ganex...."

"The Pax Rebels, yes."

She shrugs again. Meets the woman's eyes.