"Unfortunate for you, I suppose."
Somewhere in the dark, the pirate guard activates a glowrod and waves it in your direction.
"Hey! Cut the chatter! Or I'll string you up by those chains and you'll have nice bruises to show the Master during inspection!"
Trax falls silent. You see him in the dim glow of the glowrod. His face is green and heavily wrinkled, like a prune. You're not even sure how he can see.
"Yeah, that's right..." the guard says, sinking back into his seat.
Somehow you are able to drift off to an uneasy sleep, bound to a standing position by the chains. You go undisturbed until morning, or the time that would be morning, when they flick on the lights in the hold again. There is much groaning at the sudden glare after so many hours of impenetrable darkness.
"Up! All of you! Up!" growls the guard, firing a shot into the ceiling to give everyone a fright. Pirates begin flooding into the room. "Release the newbies! It's time for inspection!"
All the people whom you were captured with are being released from their bonds, though once free they are threatened with rifles and stun clubs to keep them from trying anything.
You, however, get special attention. When it comes time to release you, four guards keep their rifles trained on you while the overnight guard snaps off your stun cuffs. They wait for you to try something, but when you don't, they simply jab at you with the nozzles of their guns until you join the rest of the prisoners.
"Keep an eye on 'im!" the guard says. "That one's trouble!"
The prisoners, only a handful compared to all that are on board, are led out of the hold.
There are no lifts aboard this ship, it seems. To get from your level, apparently the lowest, to a higher one, you have to traverse a set of large stairs. It is the same for each level; as soon as you reach one floor, you are moving to the next on another set of stairs.
You repeat this process three times, depositing you on what appears to be the topmost level and the bridge, where the ship is controlled from. Geez, this ship must be massive...
Your pirate guards prod you until you form lines, then move up to walkways above you all, training their blasters on you.
Trax is beside you. "Good morning," he says, dumbly.
Trax seems used to this treatment.
You can see him more clearly in the light. His skin is pruned and oily green, and his face is so pruned that you can hardly call him humanoid. His clothes are in tatters, ill-fitting brown rags that are stained with blood and grime and oil. His eyes are beady and black, hidden beneath folds of his skin.
The Pirate Leader appears, and without a word Trax leaves your side to go trail behind him. He takes his place before the slaves, with Trax standing blankly behind him.
The Pirate Leader is still garbed in the same clothing as the night before. He has dropped his hood, revealing... well, nothing, really. He dons a black do-rag that hides his hair, a set of circular red goggles that conceal his eyes, and a black breath mask that covers his nose and mouth. His all-black outfit has armor pads stitched into the shoulders and chest. His pants are tight-fitting. He wears no gloves, but dons combat boots, dark and heavy.
At his hip is the flintlock pistol he drew on Pydyr, resting in a standard leather holster.
You notice that he is staring in your direction.