Archive of Our Own

Jesse Blue has never had a simple life. He’s not one of the boys who grew up with a proper family or much in his life that he just needed to wait for. He’s learned early on that if he really wants something, he has to take it. It's the rule of the jungle. The strong survive and only those willing to fight for it will get to the top.

And here he is now: the outsider who is going to betray his own people.

But there is no other option left to him now, because he's not going to end up like one of the pathetic small town gangsters haunting the new territories. No, he's Jesse Blue. And if he can't get his way as a part of the human military, then he's going to do it by joining forces with the enemy.

His not a fool.

He knows this means he's cutting all ties, once and for all. A criminal can redeem himself, but a traitor like him has nowhere to go. He can only come back as conqueror or not at all.

So he better makes sure that he'll come out on top in the end, whatever the cost.

In his head it all sounds like a simple enough plan to ensure his own survival - and maybe a way to get back at all the people, who think they can look down on him. And it is even simpler than he would have imagined to make contact with the Outriders. It seems that someone had his eye on Jesse since his obvious defection from Cavalry Command and that someone is no other than Nemesis himself.

Jesse takes it in stride, because it suits him just fine to be close to power, no matter who wields it.

He has no intention of trusting his new master, and Nemesis would be better off not to trust Jesse either. But Jesse likes to play games and he's more than ready to play this game to his advantage.

He's one of Nemesis top guys now, put in command of the important missions that the Outrider leaders have failed at. It doesn’t earn him friends. But he's not here to make friends anyway.

“So this is Vapor Zone?” he asks Nemesis, who is standing beside him to look out of a dark window. There is nothing much to see, but more military installations. “Looks pretty boring.”

Nemesis chuckles, then his chuckling grows into laughter. It's not a nice sound and Jesse feels himself tense up. “Boring,” Nemesis agrees. “Make yourself at home.”

Jesse doesn't know what to say to that. He hasn't stopped even once to think about this part yet. He's going to live in the Outrider dimension now, at least when he's not back in his own dimension to carry out missions and a few plans of his own. That is going to take some time getting used to.

==

“So, you're the fleshling everyone is talking about,” an Outrider commander says to him with a sneer when they come upon each other in the hallway. Jesse is growing tired of the unwanted attention his presence here is drawing. He'd feel better if there were some impressionable recruits around like there always were at Cavalry Command facilities. Making an impression is usually a good way to gather a small following. And a following he'll need in the long run, to make sure his future is secure even when Nemesis decides he'll no longer need him.

“For a race of people who pride themselves with not feeling human emotions, you guys are a gossipy bunch,” he returns, showing his disdain with a sneer of his own and walking past briskly.

He's sent down to what he supposes is a mess hall to get his breakfast, annoyed that he feels Nemesis is wasting his time by holding him here, instead of sending him back into his own dimension where he can actually do something. The food in this dimension he discovers isn't worth speaking of. He eats it, because he hasn't much choice in the matter, but it's worse than anything he's ever been fed, even on training missions command had sent him on.

“Not to your taste, fleshling?” a haughty voice asks him.

When he looks over he sees a young male, not as high in rank as most of the aliens he's so far been in contact with, slim of built and staring at him, challenging and half-amused. It's clear to Jesse that his friends are cheering him on.

More human than they want to admit after all, Jesse muses, and stops eating to stare back. “I've had better. But I'm not really here, because I heard a rumors of the amazing culinary achievements of your dimension. I'm here, because your people are doing a shit job of beating mine in this little war you people started.”

His answer causes all conversation around them to cease. One of this guy's friends gets up. His expression makes it easy to discern that he is ready to show Jesse who is beating who here, but Jesse thinks he can take him. After all close combat is one of his specialties.

The guy who started the whole conversation off in the first place laughs and looks Jesse over with something Jesse knows quite well in his eyes: respect. He waves off his friends and takes a seat right in front of Jesse, who returns the favor and gives his new “friend” a critical once-over.

“So, fleshling, you're here to get the job done?” He grins and Jesse thinks it strange that all the people here express emotion so easily at least when it comes to posturing and unpleasantness, but seem to not understand the more complex human emotions on the softer side of the spectrum. Maybe it's just a cultural difference and not really a sign that they can't feel these emotions?

“Seems like it,” he answers cautiously, not ready to give too much away.

“Takes spunk. To come here and work for the enemies.”

Jesse thinks about that for a moment, because he's not sure that he's being accused of being stupid or of being a double agent. “If you want to go far, you have to take risks.”

“And you want to go far?”

“That's the general idea.”

“Everybody talks about the things you've done already. Getting Eagle here.” The Outrider holds out his hand. “That's what your people do, yes?”

Jesse stares at the hands and nods, not sure that shaking hands with an Outrider over breakfast on his first real day in that Vapor Zone is something that factors into his plans. He's been playing the loner for too long to not distrust the simple gesture.

“My names Garntel, and I respect people who take risks.”

“And you want to go far?”

“Yes.”

That he understands. He takes the hand and shakes it, aware that his new friend's friends are watching this exchange closely.

A following, he thinks. Maybe even companions.

His life among Outriders suddenly doesn't seem so boring anymore.