Chapter Text
Lime emerged in security –only to come face-to-face with Blue, running in to check the cameras. She reacted faster: she whipped out her tablet and locked the door before he could turn to leave. As she looked to him, he backed away with precipitation towards the camera monitors, not that the tiny room had any protection to offer. Lime opened her palms, desperate to show her peaceful intentions.
"Blue, I know how it looks but I beg you, please hear me out," she pleaded.
"You don't have anything to say to me, Impostor!" he spat in response.
Lime sighed. "Yes, I am what your people call an Impostor, but I'm on your side! I swear on everything I ever held dear that I mean you and the others no harm. I'm a defector. A few of us resist from the inside, and we were able to steal top-secret intelligence; I'm bringing it to Mira HQ."
She became more and more animated as she went on, "That's why you can't tell the others about me. I must not die before I have delivered the information to Mira. This is bigger than you, or me." She shook her head with conviction: "Think about it, Blue, with this information, Mira could hit our forces where it really counts. It could mean the end of the war!"
She darkened. "But we have to stop Purple before he kills us all. He was sent precisely to prevent me from contacting Mira, though I don't think he suspects the truth about me." Which didn't surprise her. Information was always given on a need-to-know basis, and operatives didn't need to know what strategic importance their target held. Not to mention the mere existence of rebels within their ranks was in itself a state secret.
Blue's voice interrupted her train of thought. "The asteroids," he muttered with a bitter laugh.
"I'm sorry?"
He pointed an accusing finger at her. "That's what had been bugging me since the meeting. You shouldn't have been able to see me fire at the asteroids at all: the first time, because you arrived from behind, and the second time when lights were sabotaged, because you never came close enough for me to even see you. You shouldn't have been able to see Red in O2 without going all the way in either, or Yellow in admin."
"I may have underestimated how little your kind can see in the dark," she admitted. "But mostly, I wanted to reinforce your alibis. Red and you were the obvious targets for Purple to frame."
"Purple, Purple, Purple," he snorted. "Stop spinning your yarns, I see through it all now."
She felt a cold shiver run down her back. "Blue. Did you listen to anything I just said?"
"What a touching story, but that's all it is. A story. Did you also serve it to Brown? Did she look to you as a hero up until the moment you butchered her?"
"I didn't kill Brown!" Lime protested. "We already went through that: you know I couldn't possibly have had the time."
"Yes, yes, you gave yourself an airtight alibi during the blackout. You tried a little bit too hard, in fact. But she was already dead by the time you sabotaged the lights, wasn't she? After passing by me in weapons, you went to nav', vented to shields, murdered her, came back the same way, then cut the lights and made sure everyone could confirm how far from the body you were!"
She shook, jolted by his accusation. "What? No!" Why did it have to sound so plausible? And even worse, what if Purple concocted similar allegations! "I had no idea where Brown was at the time, and even if I'd had, I spent most of that time talking with Red in the hallway!"
Red could've confirmed it, if she hadn't likely been dead somewhere by now. Well, Red and… The cameras! Oh, the evidence had been staring her in the face the whole time! "Blue, I can prove Purple's an Impostor!"
"Humph. I'm all ears."
"Before Brown's murder, just before the lights sabotage, someone was watching the cameras."
Blue tautened his muscles in preparation. Any second now… "So?" he prompted her to elaborate.
"It was Purple! He vented–"
The moment the door opened, Blue dashed forward. Lime reacted in the blink of an eye: chest mouth gaping open, she hurled her hunting tongue at him. Blue didn't have time to suffer. The spear-like tip pierced visor, flesh and bone, and for a second, his body hung limply in the air before she retracted her tongue, bringing the taste of his blood into her mouth. The body slumped like a broken puppet.
Oh no. Please no. This couldn't be happening. Things couldn't possibly have gone worse.
"Forgive me…" Lime whimpered before devouring the top half of his body. If there had been anything left of him, she doubted he would have. She certainly wouldn't forgive herself.
She felt sick. She wanted to lie down and cry, or to vomit, or to throw herself out of the airlock. Probably all three in varying order. But she couldn't afford any.
Full of despair and self-loathing and bitterness in the back of her throat, she slipped into the vent.
Purple had taken his time with Red, and thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of chasing her while he left her a glimmer of hope, before finally closing a door before her to cut her escape. It had almost made up for the fact he'd had to chase her to begin with, instead of winning her trust to better crush it. Damn Lime had to spoil his fun, didn't she?
In the rush of the hunt, he had registered in the corner of his eye that the door to security was closed. Odd. He'd only shut the one to electrical, to keep Lime out of the way and better scapegoat Blue.
As he traced his steps back and discovered the bloody remains, he first felt a burst of anger. His superiors hadn't trusted him to succeed, and they'd sent someone else too? And without even informing him to boot! Oh, there would be explanations to be had once he got back! Someone was going to pay for his humiliation.
The second Impostor had to be Yellow, as he'd confirmed Orange's medscan. He likely kept her as a walking alibi, ready to vouch for him, and had only taken matters into his own hands when he'd deemed Purple too slow to carry out another murder. Fine. Purple could work with that. After all, it meant victory was already theirs. Oh, how he looked forward to Lime's reaction when she realised she had ignored a second Impostor the entire time.
He laughed. He'd gladly leave Orange to Yellow while he took care of Lime. This was going to be glorious.
Lime returned to electrical; of course the door had opened now. Even as she knew she needed to get as far away from the scene of her crime as possible, her feet brought her to the nearby engine room despite herself, and she peeked into the hallway leading to security.
Further away, Purple had discovered the corpse. To her relief, but confusion too, he didn't report it immediately. Instead, he glanced in the direction of… medbay? Did he think it was one of the others? Did he believe her too innocent to kill?
Purple's low, cruel laugh ignited a bout of unadulterated hatred. Focus. Right now, he thought he'd won, so he would take his time. Should she report the bodies? But he might accuse her once he realised his error, and she was unsure she could sound convincing with the weight of Blue's death on her conscience. She needed to expose her proof to Yellow and Orange first.
She turned away and ran to find them.
Lime didn't have to go far: she met with Yellow and Orange in storage. "Have you seen Red?" she asked as if she didn't already know. At least her anguish could easily pass for worry. "The door slammed on me in electrical. I just got out and I don't know which way she went."
The other two exchanged a worried look. "We should go looking together. I don't want to worry you, but…" Yellow hesitated.
"No, I'll call an emergency meeting, it's our best chance to stop Purple if she's still alive." As Yellow was about to speak, she cut him short: "I remembered something. Before the lights sabotage, I noticed the cameras were recording. But Blue was in weapons, Red and me in the corridor between O2 and nav', and we now know Brown must've been in comms or on her way. Same for you in admin, Yellow."
He nodded, "Now that you mention it, I remember noticing the cam was on."
Orange shivered. "I thought my eyes had been playing a trick on me because it didn't last and when I reached security, it was empty," she added in a hollow voice.
"Purple was supposed to be making trips between medbay and caf'. But he never actually returned to caf'. The vent," Lime announced with perhaps more glee than she should. "It's the only explanation. He vented from medbay to security, checked on cam where we all were, then I suppose he vented to electrical, cut the lights and got to Brown. He spent a lot of time with her before, she must've told him where she was going."
Orange nodded tensely. "I saw them together in caf'." She turned to Yellow. "Just before he went to medbay and she towards storage…"
After everything that had happened, Lime allowed herself to revel in the excitement bubbling within her. "Let's call an emergency meeting before he has time to kill someone else."
Purple was almost singing as he walked casually to the meeting table, belly full but mouth salivating in anticipation for his last meal of the mission. He glanced to Yellow: did the other Impostor want to play this game and let the suspense drag until he revealed himself at the last moment? Worked for him.
Orange gasped under her breath when she realised two more people were now dead. "Red and Blue?…"
Hands pressed on the table, Lime leaned forward and looked daggers at Purple. "There's no point in pretending anymore. We all know."
"Oh, well. Congrats. You got me." He crossed his hands behind his head in a relaxed stance. "Red tasted absolutely scrumptious, by the way. Did you know she called your name right up until the moment I shot her cold? Poor Lime, all alone in electrical, powerless to save your friend this time. How did it feel?"
Lime couldn't help but let a slightly distorted growl escape her throat as she struggled to keep her self-control –and her form. Thankfully, both Orange and Yellow were too busy reeling in horror to notice, and Purple too blinded by his own arrogance. She shook violently as she willed herself to press a finger, and not a claw, on his icon.
"Do we even need a vote?" Yellow asked in a coarse voice.
Purple's confidence wavered and he glanced to him. What was the other Impostor waiting for? Now would be a good time for the dramatic reveal.
In response to her friend's question, Orange stood up. "Yellow, with me."
By the time Purple processed his incomprehension, the two of them held his arms firmly in a grip. They dragged him to the airlock in storage, Lime marching behind them with grim determination. It was over. Purple was about to reap what he'd sown.
Realisation dawned on him just as Lime opened the inner airlock. His people hadn't sent Yellow to watch his back. They had sent Purple after a filthy traitor. Lime had vented in an attempt to save her precious Red. The rest was obvious.
Enraged at having been played, he opened his maw and hurled his tongue at her; but she'd expected the attack and easily dodged out of the way. Without giving him time to try again, Yellow and Orange shoved him into the airlock and the door closed before him. A split-second later, he was sucked into the vacuum of space. Not for an instant did his glare leave Lime.
After Yellow and Orange had left, Lime stayed behind to let her anger subside. Despite the tragic deaths of their comrades, despite the grief of her failure to save Red, despite the indelible stain of Blue's murder on her conscience, the Skeld was safe now. She was safe, and more importantly, so was the information she carried.
As she threw one last look to her enemy's body floating in the void of space, her mouth twisted into a nasty grin. Finally, perhaps she understood what Purple and his ilk enjoyed in deceiving hapless crewmates. His air of betrayed shock, in the fleeting moment when he'd finally understood the truth before being sent to his death, had been delectable. She simply disagreed on who was an acceptable target.
Before going to help Orange and Yellow bring the Skeld safely to its destination, Lime took a moment to savour the the sweet, sweet taste of victory on her tongue.