Dark Unions

She awoke with a gasp as forced memories flickered through her mind, quick flashes of a capsuleer's life being fed into her new body after her podding.

The last memory settled into place. There had been a fight to gain control over a military complex. They were overpowered, and lost their ships one by one, and then she warped out. She realized her mistake before she landed. She had accidentally chosen a star-gate, a mistake that would cost her her life. The smart-bombing pilot, Mystical Might, had been there waiting, like a leech clinging to a bloody animal.  Her pod was eviscerated, her corpse offered up to the darkness of space as her consciousness was ported into her new clone.

She settled her blue gaze upon her medical pod technician, staring blankly at him as she sorted her memories.

The past few years jumbled into a kaleidoscope of hazy moments of time. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she remembered her wedding. She had married Tigerfish Torpedo in an impromptu, spur-of-the-moment wedding at the cathedral he had built for her on her estate. Reginald Sakakibara married Katerina Tzestu at the same time.

Her honeymoon. A long stretch of time, of nothing but her and Tiger upon a luxury cruiser exploring star system after star system.

She blinked several times as the happy memories shifted. She shook her head as if she could force those horrible, dark memories away. Learning of the death of her daughter- a child she'd never held, or even acknowledged. A child no one should have known of, one that she tried to hide away from her enemies, and his.

Zenton Karvash. A sweet reprieve from her torturous memories. Zenton, once her corp mate when they were in PIE. And then he'd left to pirate, but that didn't stop their love. Not at first, anyhow.

Tears slid from the corners of her eyes as she remembered finding out she was pregnant. It was an impossible situation. She couldn't tell him, couldn't be with him, couldn't bare the thought of their child being used against them. She had cloned jumped out and adopted the child out, far away from their wars and troubles.

For five years she had stayed away, though she'd kept the child in the back of her mind. The little girl was always there, haunting her from afar. And apparently it became too much. A part of her, the part of her that manifested when she slept, the part that activated the holonet and holodrones in the form of a red headed child searched for her daughter.

...and that is how they found her.

The Aposi, a sect of Sani Sabik so secretive that very few even knew existed, found the child and used it against her. Her torture was slow and precise. And deadly. It was a reminder. They hadn't forgot the sins of her Father, nor the promises that were made in her behalf.

Their power was immense. Unfathomable.

She shook her head again as she sorted the memories. No. Her daughter died. She closed her alliance and corp, to stop them from using those pilots against her- or even infiltrating to get close to her. To stop them from using what little power she had within the war-zone.

She blinked again as the memories slid into place. Death. Closing. And then marriage.
But why? Why did she marry? The image of Tiger flashed through her mind. Her emotions swirled suddenly; a tempest of love, lust, and darkness. Betrayal.

He betrayed me?

She shook her head again, trying to make sense of what was falling into place inside of her mind, memories falling like rain.

Betrayal, the emotion pulsed hotly, smothering out all others.

She suddenly felt as if she couldn't breathe. Her pod tech neared her, "Lady Lianne?"

Her stormy gaze settled upon him and she nodded, "It's okay. I'm okay." She forced a smile to her mouth, one to hide the sea of emotion that was threatening to drown her. As she pulled herself from the clone vat, she inhaled deeply and exhaled, forcing herself to accept the one thing that kept forcing itself to the front of her mind.

Tiger was Aposi.