[Placeholder] Raphtalia Sloane

Chapter 2 – Arrival on Tartarus Station

Joan Webb had always been a rebellious teen.

She had been growing in a nice family, always within a high standard for a family living on the planet Leukos. Her home planet had always been one of the major hubs for the Intergalactic Trade, most major companies had a base of operation on the planet, making it one of the richest planets in the entire galaxy.

Those who lived there could be divided in three simple classes. There were the locals, which were the natives of the planet, often used to perform all the heavy-duty labors or those jobs that nobody else felt entitled to do. Then there were the so called ‘Normies’ which where the average Joe’s, the common middle-class workers who broke their back working sixteen hours per day for a misery, barely managing to sustain themselves month after month.

Then, there were those called the ‘Hot Shots’. These were the ones that took all the money, those who lived in perpetual joy, living life at the fullest. The richest men on the planet.

Joan was the first daughter of one of the lower kinds of Hot shots on Leukos. Her family had always been in the ‘Supplier’ business and was steadily growing, generation after generation, with the aim of joining the upper levels of the High Society. But Joan had never wanted anything of that.

She had enjoyed living in luxury all her life and that had, quickly enough, made her snotty and bratty like no other girl her age. Her parents, too busy managing their growing empire, didn’t do nothing to stop such behavior. Instead with their inactions and with the constant flow of money and gifts toward her, they simply fueled her egoism.

She had become used to find herself in dangerous positions, having been arrested multiple times, but she never passed a single night in jail. Every time she was brought to justice, a lawyer had swiftly appeared before her entrance in the police station, taking her away and freeing her of any discharge.

Joan had grown so used to this that she didn’t cared about what she was doing.
As long as it was a thrilling and exotic adventure, she was in.

But, on the fateful week, right after Leukos had signed the agreement with Tartarus, her family power that was mainly focused on strengthening their position within the Penal Colony refurbishments took a great hit, falling down from what they had once been, to a new low that not one of them had ever seen before.

Joan didn’t know this, as she had just been arrested once more for a failed bank robbery, but she soon was going to find out that the power of her family wasn’t anymore able to protect her.
Lazily she took her fun of the cops driving her toward the local station, certain that she was going to be freed once they arrived there. But as she was pushed out of the car and toward the entrance of the station, she immediately noticed that no lawyer was around, as if nobody was there to get her out of there.
Doubts began to seep into her young little mind but, naïve as she was, she still believed that they couldn’t arrest her. At most she was going to wait a couple of hours in the station, and then her lawyer would be there getting her out.

Yet, a small voice in her mind, one she barely listened to, told her that something was wrong.

Meanwhile, in the main household, the rest of her family was working overtime, trying to save what could be saved, trying hard to avoid that the family corporation would fall in bankrupt. As everyone was too busy trying to save their own arse, only Joan’s Sister, Maddie, noticed that her big sister wasn’t there.
Still, as she had always been the one bossed around by Joan, bullied for being the analytical nerd she was, she consciously decided to forget about Joan. With her no-good big sister out of the picture, the Family Corp. had much more chances to survive the chaos that had enveloped them. She would probably return late into the evening, drunk or who knows what else, and be praised by their parents.

As it had always happened before...



Joan knew that something was definitively wrong.

She was now seated in a caged room, on wooden seats, as countless people below her discussed about the failed robbery and about who was guilty and who wasn’t. She had never been interested in laws or regulations; those things were something that the eggheads her family bought had needed to know. Joan didn’t. But now, as those strangers talked about her, about how young she was, about her many crimes committed in such a short time, she wondered if she had been wrong in refusing to learn about those things. And yet her lawyer wasn’t there either.

Something was very wrong.


The judgement in her case was astonishingly fast. Considering the massive list of crimes for which she had been accused in the past, and the fact of having her caught in the act on the last attempt, it was quickly decided that she was going to be jailed and sent to the very own penal colony which her own family had helped build and maintain. Still, even though her lawyer hadn’t shown up, she felt confident enough.
It had to be a scheme from the deviousness of her father. He had probably arranged a personal suite for her in the Penal Colony, so that she was going to serve her sentence in all comforts. At least, that was what she thought.
Even this wildest dream was soon shattered by the brutality of the real world.

As the judge was going to confirm her sentence a small little man emerged from behind the scenes, giving to the judge a small report to read. As the government official checked the new information, he confirmed the sentence but changed slightly the destination.

“Webb, Joan, 17. Accused of armed robbery to an official government building, previously accused of theft, robbery, pickpocketing, arsonism, offence to public official in service, car theft, vandalism. This court finds you guilty of the accused pressed charge, condemning you to a five-year detention, as an act of forgiveness due to your young age, to the penal structure of Tartarus. You will be transferred there as soon as the court will be adjourned.

Meyer, Markus, 34. Accused of armed robbery to an official government…”

With that, Joan was swiftly moved, pushed, away from the caged room and brought to a different holding cell. There she stared teary eyed at one of the police officers on duty, as she began to realize that her life was going to change radically. The officer stared at her expression and, while sipping a mug of coffee, moved closer to her cell.

“I know you probably won’t even recognize me. Even though it was I that have brought you in for the last five times.
So, no family to take you out this time, uh? Well, it’s understandable. Haven’t you heard? No, how could you have.

Your family is going down.

Their business is falling.

They are probably too busy trying to save themselves to think about you.”

As Joan heard that, her heart shattered in a thousand pieces.

She had been right. Something wrong had happened.

She wasn’t going to be saved.

Openly crying she collapsed on her knees, weakly grabbing the bars of the cell she was in.

The officer wanted to hate her with all his hearth. She had insulted him, sneered at him every time he had brought her in. And yet, as he saw her on her knees, openly crying for the first time in her life, probably, he thought of his own little girl at home.

“Listen, I can’t do much now.

All I can do for you is letting you use the phone. Try to get in contact with your family. Maybe they’ll be able to arrange something or, at the very least, they will know where you’ve gone.”

Joan felt herself relieved, partially at least. She had always lived out of the rules. Laws had never applied to her and that had always bolstered her ego. But the cold shower of reality had just shown her that nobody, no matter how powerful he was, could escape them forever. Smiling and, for the first time in her life, thanking the officer sincerely she was escorted out of the cell and brought to a phone.

Immediately she called home, but none seemed to be answering to her call. As she was to let the phone go, a voice answered back.

“Hello?”

“Maddie? Maddie! It’s me, Joan! I’m in deep trouble…I need the family lawyer at the police station! Please you’ve got to get me out of here. Please! I beg of you!”

As Maddie answered the phone, she knew already who could be calling that number. At first, she didn’t want to answer, trying to keep her decision of not informing her parents about Joan but, as the phone kept ringing, she decided against her own judgement to answer back to the call.
Not surprising, it was her sister.

Surprisingly, there was real terror in her voice.

To think that Joan was afraid of something left Maddie speechless. She knew that her sister was too engrossed in herself to notice those around her but, she had never heard her of being afraid. As she kept hearing her sister pleads, she thought back to when they both had been younger, and it had been Joan who had defended her against other bullies at school.

“Please Maddie! I’m so sorry for what I did but they’re telling me that there is nothing to do now! Please, let mom and dad know! They…they’re taking me away! Please! NO! Get off of me! Maddie! They’re taking me…Please! No!....”

For a full minute, as Maddie kept the line, trying to call back her sister, no one answered, but she could hear in the background her sister screams as she trashed around being dragged somewhere else, screaming and crying for help. Tears already were forming in Maddie’s eyes when suddenly someone picked up the phone. It was a deep male voice.

“Hello? Anybody here?”

“Y-yes…Yes, I’m here. Where…Where’s my sister being taken to?”

“So, you’re her sister, uh? Never seen you around here so I guess you’re different from her. Don’t know if she told you yet, but she’s been found guilty of armed robbery at the Central Leukosian Bank. She’s going to stay in the new penal colony of Tartarus for no less than five years.

Just wanted to let her family know.

Goodbye.”

Maddie stood there, in silence, staring at the phone in her hand.
Joan had been arrested, taken away to a penal colony called ‘Tartarus’. She should have been happy. Her sister wasn’t going to be there to insult her, to mock her, to bully her.

Instead, all Maddie was feeling was sadness.

Clearing her eyes from the tears she walked back to the study room of her father, where he was busy trying to figure out how to save their lifestyle, but she had to let him know about Joan. At first, her father didn’t seem to hear a word but, as what Maddie said was recorded into his brain, he stopped everything he was doing to stare right in the eyes of his daughter.

“Joan, arrested and sent to Tartarus? It’s not fun to joke on these matters, girlie.”

“It’s not a joke, father. I was barely able to speak with her on the phone. She was taken in this morning and then found guilty quickly after that. I…I could do nothing… ”

As Maddie broke out in tears, her father quickly moved from behind the desk, hugging her.

“It’s not your fault, dear.

Joan has always been…difficult.

Don’t worry. We will get her out…somehow.

We never leave one of ours behind.”




Joan woke up suddenly, feeling colder than she ever was. Everything around her seemed to be spinning and she wasn’t able to understand what was going on. Suddenly though she felt herself being pushed from behind and she fell on her hands and knees onto a metal grate. As she slowly recovered, she saw that all around her similar scenes were playing out. As the world around her stopped spinning she finally was clear-headed enough to make sense of what she was seeing.

She was in a hallway lined by several deep-space hibernation capsules, on the wall behind her. In front of each one of those a person was waiting, or recovering as she was, to see to what doom they were now subjected to. As she slowly stood up a voice filled the hallway, it was a young feminine voice, and yet it had a steely edge.

“Welcome to Tartarus Station. Each one of you is a law breaker on his, or her, different planet. Each one of you has been judged guilty and sent to our facility to be kept for your allotted time, until your government would want you back…if it ever will.

My name is Raphtalia Sloane and I’m the Warden of this structure.

My word here is the Law.

Should you break it…you will be broken. Should you follow my rules…you’ll find your time to be spent here less…despicable.

Pray that you never have to hear my voice again.”

As the voice was replaced by another, Joan began to tremble in panic and fear. All this was a completely new and terrifying experience for her to live. She was cold, afraid and alone. Since the longest time she wished to be home again with her little sister, with her mom and dad. She wished to have been a good girl and not having done what she had thought of being fun.
Suddenly, a masculine voice began barking orders through the speaker, making her jump a bit.

“Inmates! Proceed toward the exit at the end of the hallway. You will receive a suit that you will have to wear during your time in the station. A number will be given to you. That will be your name within Tartarus.

Move out! Now!”

As she saw the other prisoners slowly moving forward, creating a long-queued line, she fearfully moved closer to it, entering in it when she thought she would be less in danger. In front of her there was a young boy, probably of her age, while behind her there was a massive woman, easily three or four times bigger than her, all covered in muscles but, with a gentle glint in her eyes.

As the slowly crawled forward, the woman began to whisper slowly toward Joan.

“Hey girl. Try to relax a bit. Your shuddering is making the other preds around excited.”

“Wh-what?”

“Deep breaths. Breath in and out. Slowly.
Yes, that’s it.
First rodeo in a penal colony, uh? Yeh, I can tell.

Remember, the more afraid you look, the more an easy target you make of yourself.”

Following the advices of the muscular woman, Joan began to slowly will herself to calm, trying to look as normal as she could. Inside she was still terrified, though and no matter how slowly she breathed, she still was trembling slightly. They were getting closer and closer to the door at the end of the corridor. She could see it opening, letting an inmate in and then closing back again, cutting out any views of what was going over the other side. The closer they moved to the door, the stronger Joan trembled, until she suddenly felt a peaceful touch on her back and on her neck, slowly massaging her, comforting her.

It was as if her mother was there, trying to make her feel more secure. Looking behind, she gave an interrogative, but grateful, look at the woman.

“Make nothing of it, Girlie. Us girls gotta help each other when time’s come.
Good luck.”

As Joan turned around, she realized it was her turn to pass through the door. Swallowing in fear she stepped through the door and saw the room she was in was nothing like she had imagined in those few minutes she had been in line. It was a spartan room with no furniture, just a desk with a couple of guards behind it.

“Name?”

“J-Joan…W-Webb.”

“Joan Webb. 17. Armed robbery. Leukos.
Sector D, White Wing.

Step this way, inmate.”

Without another word the guard who had been standing beside the reader, motioned her to follow and she did, silently following the guard as he moved her to another room. The guy was walking slowly seemingly uncaring of her behavior. Joan was way too afraid to do anything besides following the guard.
As they stepped into the new room, her escort motioned her to stop and turned toward a mechanical sentry that was placed near the entrance of the room, as he moved closer to it, the droid piped up and a human feminine voice emerged from it.

“What’ya got?”

“I’ve got here a little white rabbit for you. She’s a first timer, seemingly more of a teenage girl than the real deal.

Boss wants her in your sector, White wing.”

“Copy that.

Girl? Step away from the door and sit down on the benches. I’ll be with you shortly.”

Joan noticed only in that moment that she was alone in the room full of benches, leaving out only a few meters of free space between the mechanical sentry and the benches themselves. Silently, though, she complied trying as hard as she could to not broke out crying right there. With all of her might she tried so hard to hope that her family was going to come and free her but, as she was there, she hardly thought it was anywhere near a possibility.
As the guard from the front desk returned to his post, she heard the voices coming from the entrance room.

“Name?”

“Glenda J. Mirrin”

“Glenda Mirrin. 29. Murderer. Ruslan….”

Before she could hear anymore the door closed and Joan was left there, waiting for something to happen.

As time passed, more people were being brought to the same room where she was, most of them seemed to be completely normal persons, few of them were adults, some were oldster. But most of them were teens much like her. Of these, most of them were bragging about their rich families ready to bring them home soon, others were silently sitting away from all others and some were crying out loud. As Joan saw all of these, she seemed to feel better, for some reason. Still, the woman from the Sentry Droid hadn’t appeared yet so they were still waiting. Suddenly though a known voice whispered to her from the bench at her back.

“You’re feeling good ‘cause you haven’t broke down like those others, girlie.”

As she turned around, she saw that the person standing behind her was the same woman who had been behind her in the line, while in the Deep-Space capsule hallway.

“G-Glenda?”

“Yup. That’s my name, girlie. Fancy place, uh?”

“U-uh? Oh..I…I mean..S-Sorry…I’m…Joan.”

The woman seemed to smile a bit seeing how the teen in front of her stuttered at her every word.

“Nice meeting you, although this wouldn’t be the best of places to meet. Remember, breathe…slowly.”

Joan had mixed feelings about the woman, about Glenda. She seemed such a normal, although statuesque, girl and yet, she had heard the guard stating that she was in there for murder. Why this woman was so kind to her…what did she wanted from her?

Was she to become her next victim?

As she looked around, trying to move her stare away from Glenda, her thoughts had to be clearly visible since the other woman sincere smile seemed to fade into a sad grin.

“From your expression, I can see you’ve heard why I’m in here, don’t’ya?”

“I… I’m sorry…I shouldn’t… I…”

Glenda, sitting back more comfortably shushed Joan up with her hand.

“Calm down.

I know you won’t believe me, but I won’t hurt you. Yes. I’m a murderer.

I’ve killed my husband a few years ago. But I’ve got my reasons for doing it. You, Joan, have no quarrel with me, so we’re good.

Take it easy, for now…as things go in these places you won’t be able to rest peacefully for long.”

Just as Joan was going to ask Glenda to explain, the feminine voice from the Sentry Drone piped up, speaking toward all the occupants of the room.

“Inmates. Listen closely, for I won’t repeat myself.

Each of you in this room has been selected to spend your time in the Sector D, White Wing of the Tartarus Station. This station has six main Sectors, going from A to F. Each sector is divided in Wings, which are divided by the colors Red, Orange, Blue and White.

Each Sector and Wing have a different meaning. Wings range from White, Low Threats, to Red, Extreme Threats. Sectors works similarly, ranging from F, Non-Threatening, to A, Extremely Threatening.

Each resident of each sector will be allotted some daily time to walk liberally within your Wing and/or Sector, unless your charges states otherwise. Each one of you will reside in a cell with some cellmates, for your time on this Station.

I’ll now call each of you to collect your suit, which you’ll have to wear before entering the Station proper, and to give you your Identification number. These ID’s will be your new names within the Station.

A more detailed list of rules has been already prepared in each of your own cells. Keep in mind that violations of the rules will be punished harshly.

Karr Luckas. Step forward.”

As each name was called, someone rose from the benches and slowly walked toward the Sentry Droid, receiving a plastic bag with a neatly folded suit and a bracelet, which hissed a little every time it closed on someone wrists. As the names kept being called, one by one the room began to get emptier and emptier. Joan looked around, between the baffled and the afraid. She had expected something far worse but, everyone seemed rather civilized. Of course, she remembered what Glenda had told her, that that was the only moment of respite she was going to have. As much as she didn’t want to, she couldn’t find in herself to distrust the woman. Maybe it was since she seemed so good natured, maybe because it was the first human being who had shown friendliness toward her, but she couldn’t find in herself to not feel secure as long as the woman was there, near her.

“Mirrin Glenda. Step forward.”

Glenda, before complying with the orders, took her time to give a comforting squeeze on Joan shoulder, then she moved on, reaching the drone and following the instructions. Being alone, Joan began once more to feel afraid and insecure of herself.

Though, she didn’t stay alone for long.

One of the few guys still in the room, swiftly moved on the bench until he sat right beside her, looking at her with quite a deep stare.

“Hey girl, Name’s Ken. Don’t worry about the place. I’ll get us out of here…if you decide to stick with me, of course. Do as I tell you, and we’ll be both out of here in no time.

My Pa’ is a Big One in the Melpomene Corps.

He’ll never leave his only heir stuck on this rock.”

Joan, although part of her wanted to believe the guy sitting beside her, couldn’t manage to trust him. Who was he? Why did he wait for her to be alone to approach her? As she quickly gave him a look, she could see that he had to be a few years older than her. He seemed a nice guy and all but, she kept having this feeling he wasn’t the nice guy he tried to let others think to be.
Still, she didn’t answer, limiting herself to keep her head low. Until, at least, one of the last guys called didn’t started to make a ruckus.

“Clovis Ralph. Step forward.”

“Ha! You don’t know who I am? I’m the son of Richard Clovis! The biggest Weapon Manufacturer of the Genosi Sector! I won’t follow your stupid commands.
I demand to be released immediately!”

The voice coming from the Drone remained the same, as she repeated the command, while adding a slightly steelier order at the end.

“Clovis Ralph. Step forward…Now.”

“Make me… Bitch!”

Joan, watching from the sidelines, stood shocked to see how fast the reaction to the guy insult arrived. Even the other inmates, still in the room with her, jumped in surprise as they all witnessed to the reprisal for refusing an order. In the blink of an eye, the ceiling seemed to open as several mechanical arms came down on the figure of Ralph Clovis. Closing on him, four arms moved quickly matching the guy’s arms and legs, lifting him off the ground. The arms then, moved him toward the back wall, as two more robotic arms stripped him out of his clothes, before another mechanical appendage emerged from the floor, this one holding what appeared to be an electric whip.

The feminine voice coming from the drone, then began relaying information’s about what was going to happen to all the people presents in the room.

“Ralph Clovis, you’re found guilty of Rules Violations.
Disobedience toward a Superior Ranking Officer, Insults at a Superior Ranking Officer.

Subject Ralph Clovis, you’re found guilty of previously mentioned violations, the penalty for said violations will be issued immediately. You will be flogged until the count of forty leashes is reached.

Proceed.”

As Joan, and all others still in the room, stared with shocked and terrified expressions, the electrical whip-wielding arm began to strike, time and time again, toward the helpless guy still being held in midair. Each strike resounded within the room with a burst of energy as an unpleasant smell of charring flesh began to fill the place. Some people began sobbing, other looked away, but the guy subjected to the treatment could only scream in agony every time he felt the leash touch his skin, burning his flesh and shocking his entire nervous system.

Ken, the older guy that was sitting beside her, tried time and time again to hug Joan to him, but as she squirmed her way out of it, he simply sneered at her and moved to another bench where a girl was openly crying. As he approached her, she welcomed his open arms, sobbing quietly within his embrace. Joan thought to see a sneering grin on Ken’s face for a moment, but he swiftly turned all of his attention to the girl.

As the whipping continued, the feminine voice began anew to call for people, until it came to name Joan, who was still trying to focus on something else than the guy being whipped.

“Webb, Joan.
Inmate Webb Joan. Step Forward!”

As the woman barked out the last time with the same edge she had used on the tortured guy, Joan managed to return her focus on her, instead of the still being tortured guy, jumping right at attention and swiftly moving toward the drone.

“S-Sorry…Didn’t mean to…”

The woman on the other side of the screen, maybe busy as she was, or maybe bored from her job, shushed away her excuses, issuing to her the suit and the bracelet, which quickly tightened against Joan’s arm with a soft hiss.

“Be warned, Inmate. Trying to remove the bracelet is a Code Violation.

You wouldn’t want to feel on yourself where that roads lead, do you?

Now, move along. Change into your suit in the next room and follow the instruction you will be given.”

As Joan stuttered a reply, she quickly began to shuffle away, leaving what had been a somewhat peaceful room moving toward the great unknown that the door in front of her would lead her to.