110: The Daughters of Ceto – One
Despite its intimidating appearance, familiarity had made the monstrous visage of the Kith main fleet a welcome sight as the Pelekys swung in next to the Quanvengier as they waited to be dematted in for a berth.
"No, we're undamaged, mercifully," Nevara said over the comms after the docking agent asked if they'd needed a dry dock, "A regular berth would more than suffice."
Leaning against the captain's seat, Rhea waited for the line to close before she said, "That's something we should probably get on the same page about - are we going to be telling the Kith that our ship's been converted to Hyttan tech now, including the broadcasting equipment, which we now know was Hyttan to begin with?"
After informing the others about the removal of the explosives from the broadcasting equipment, Viatrix and Malakh had had a field day going over it to see how it actually worked ("It's complicated," Malakh had told them eventually, "Really complicated. I've got no idea how to break it down into more easily understandable terms! If this is what it takes to make instantaneous interstellar communication possible, then it's no wonder that no one's been able to figure out how to do it in this day and age."), which was technically against their contract with the Kith.
But neither of them were the type of people to let their curiosity go unsatisfied.
"For now, I believe we should keep both of those matters to ourselves." Pryseia told her, tail idly tapping against her leg as she watched Nevara bring them in for a landing through the main view screen, "The visual change we will maintain is nothing but an aesthetic, fictional ploy to tie in with the narrative we are spinning. I'd rather not have the Kith after us, now that we've hopefully caused enough of an stir against the Thalatte to prevent them from sending another ship after us again."
Humming out a short laugh as she locked the controls once the Pelekys came to rest, Nevara added, "I would rather stay on the Kith's good side as well."
"Okay, so we'll just need to touch base with everyone before we head out into the Quanvengier." Rhea said, "While we're here, the plan's to load up on the things we couldn't get at that station with the Salsica, and then see about any contracts that we can work into our narrative?"
Standing from her seat, Pryseia said, "Given Captain Shinju's recommendation, we may as well reach out to the Gorgon. If that ship has made a career out of taking on the Thalatte, then allying ourselves with them will hopefully send a strong enough message that, after our handling of Usys' mercenary fleet, we are not to be crossed, on pain of death."
Groaning, Rhea muttered, "With everything that went down, I completely forgot to look into anything about the Gorgon."
"I can put out feelers while you're all getting things organized on the Quanvengier," Viatrix said, "See if they're interested in a collaboration?"
"Please do," Pryseia told her, "If they aren't, however, we can take on some Leviathan bounties. Given the ease with which we disposed of those Eta, I'm curious to see how Storlayacas would fare against their stronger cousins."
It look less than an hour for Viatrix to get in contact with the Gorgon, and as luck would have it, this was because that ship had pulled in to the Quanvengier for a resupply of their own not long ago.
"I just finished speaking with their own AI, who passed along our message," Viatrix told them over the comms, "The crew of the Gorgon's willing to meet up at a restaurant in the entertainment district in about an hour!"
"That's greatly appreciated," Pryseia told her with a grin, "We can head over there in a matter of minutes. Please forward the address."
Either finishing up or cutting their own tasks short, the crew of the Pelekys met up at a human-style pub called the Relic and Remnant, which had been built to resemble an ancient, wooden public house, the antique decor of it somehow blending in seamlessly with the rest of the district's eccentric storefronts.
"It's certainly a lucky stroke for us that they were in the neighbourhood," Elytra said as she went over the menu, "That bodes well."
"I wonder what grudge they have against the Thalatte to make them their main target." V'tala mused, and next to her Nevara shrugged.
"I believe that's them now, so you'll be able to ask them yourself."
Following the direction Nevara had nodded in, towards the front of the establishment, V'tala saw a group of aliens stepping around the smaller tables scattered across the main floor of the pub, aiming for the sizeable booth they were sat at when Pryseia raised a hand to wave them down. Shockingly, the Gorgon appeared to have a thalatte on their crew, the dark emerald green of their scales complementing the warm greys of the two apiarians walking beside them, and the browns of the three humans in the lead.
It was a fact that V'tala had kept to herself, but among the different species she'd encountered in this future she'd woken up in, she sometimes found herself unable to differentiate between members of the same species, especially when they were the same colour. As far as she could tell, the two grey apiarians were identical, aside from what they were wearing. And with the three humans, again, it was only what they were wearing that allowed V'tala to tell them apart. They all had long brown hair, dark brown eyes, and golden brown skin, just like Rhea.
She had to wonder if this was what an average human looked like, because it wasn't just the colouring that was similar to Rhea. They were tall like her, had the same nose shape, and even the easy smiles they wore as they talked amongst themselves were the same one she'd seen Rhea sporting frequently. She turned to her own human crew mate to ask if this was the case, as Rhea herself turned to catch sight of the crew nearing their table. And on seeing who was approaching, she blanched, and a look of shock flashed across her face.
Before anyone else had a chance to move, Rhea was out of he chair, throwing herself at the three humans, who in the split second before they collided all looked as shell-shocked as Rhea.
V'tala wasn't the only one who drew her sidearm, the Gorgon thalatte's blaster twitching between herself and Rhea as the four humans grabbed one another, all of them shouting at once.
All of them… crying?
Malakh appeared next to V'tala, gently pushing her gun down, and when V'tala shot her a questioning look, she saw that Malakh's eyes were locked onto Rhea, tear-bright and stunned as she whispered, "I don't believe it…"
The four shouting humans had drawn the attention of everyone in the pub by then, including a pair of baithaizans wearing badges and uniforms she didn't recognize, the both of them with their hands braced against the table and chairs they were seated at like they were preparing to spring into action at a moment's notice. But then the humans moved away enough to hold each other at arm's length, and V'tala saw that, through their tears, they were all smiling.
"What are you- How are you-!?" Rhea gasped, voiced choked with emotion as another of the humans said, "We've been looking for you for so long, and you're with the Kith?!"
The thalatte had holstered their gun by then, expression softening with understanding, and together with the two apiarians, they skirted around their human crew mates to approach the table where the crew of the Pelekys were standing around, shocked and confused by the display before them.
"Sara Soyza Bzia Loup, at your service," they said with a slight bow before motioning to the two apiarians, "And sisters Yarvela Ledora and Ravona Barkero var’Kenden jas-Caerpek. It appears your human and ours know one another."
"So it would seem." Pryseia said, the light of understanding filling her eyes before she made introductions for her crew. By the time she was done with that, the humans had calmed down enough to actually speak in complete sentences, and they made their way over to the table where the rest of them had gathered.
(Across the pub, the two uniformed baithaizans had relaxed, though the one facing their table kept their eyes on them, V'tala noted.)
Eyes bright and smile brighter, Rhea motioned to the three identical humans with her and with a watery laugh she made introductions, "So this is Phoebe, Selene, and Leto. My older sisters."
Aside from Elytra, who looked as stunned as V'tala felt, the others in their crew lit up at this revelation. Phoebe laid a hand on Rhea's arm as she said to her crew, "And as I'm sure you've guessed, our little sister, Rhea."
Another round of introductions for the sake of the humans followed, Rhea going last, breathless with happiness, her eyes crinkling with how wide she was smiling as she finished with, “And this is Malakh. My wife.”
At that announcement, Phoebe gasped, her eyes immediately filling with tears, while Selene’s eyes darted between the two of them, a smile to match her sister’s. And Leto looked away, closing her eyes and pinching her mouth into a thin line, like she was holding back a comment that was trying to force itself out of her mouth.
Seeing this response, Rhea glared at her, barking out a monotone, “What.”
Leto just stared at her in silence for a few seconds more, her eyes glowing with mirth before she finally said, “You always were in it for the pussy.”
There was a moment of tense quiet before Rhea lunged at her, shaking her by the collar and popping off with every expletive she knew, and Leto let her, limp in her grasp and cackling with delight. The family resemblance between the two of them was even more striking then.
Their joint group eventually settled down, the two crews swapping their histories as they ordered food and drink for the impromptu family reunion.
Like most thalatte, Sara had come from a military family, getting sent off to boot camp the minute they reached their age of majority. But Sara had always been more interested in the arts than they were combat, and had wanted to be an actor instead of a soldier. Their family would hear nothing of it, insisting that they pursue a career in the military, just as everyone else in their bloodline had. After a mission they were sent on went particularly pear shaped, and an administrative error had them listed as KIA instead of merely injured in the line of duty, they hid away in the shadows of the station they'd been recovering at until they managed to find a ship headed to the galactic core. Finding the Kith of the Void had been trial and error, but they'd found them, and had started putting out resumes the moment they arrived on the Quanvengier. Their intimate knowledge of Thalatte tactics had gotten them headhunted by the Gorgon, and they'd been with the ship ever since.
The twins Yarvela and Ravona had stumbled into Kith employment quite unexpectedly. A medic and engineer respectively, they'd spent most of their lives working on trade outpost stations scattered between Apiarius colonies. But then the last station they'd worked on was hit by a Thalatte slaver party, and they were taken captive, forced to serve for more than a decade against their own people. Due to an incredible stroke of good luck, the pair of them ended up being posted to the same frigate just in time for it to be taken as a prize by a Kith crew. Wanting to pay their good fortune forward, they'd joined up with the Kith then and there, and bounced from ship to ship for a time, looking for a crew that they could get along with, which eventually led them to the Gorgon.
A human ship, the Gorgon itself had once been part of Phoebe's trading business, both the fastest and deadliest ship she had. But when she'd learned that the station Rhea was supposed to be stationed at had been destroyed, and the transport she'd been on had been taken by a Thalatte slaver party, she'd gone on the warpath, trying to find some way to get her baby sister back. Leto had tried to use her diplomatic contacts to aid in this endeavour, but they'd proven useless against the Thalatte's indifference to Human demands. Knowing they weren't going to have any success via official means, Phoebe had sold her business, taken her best ship, and headed out with Selene and Leto to try and find a way to free Rhea themselves. This quest had eventually led them to the Kith, where they'd made a reputation of liberating slave holding and processing facilities, all in the hopes of freeing their sister one day.
"After more than a century, we'd all but given up hope," Selene said, whacking Rhea on the arm, "But here you are, free yourself, with a crew all your own, and a wife on top of that? Way to outdo our rescue attempt, you brat!"
Shaking her head fondly, Rhea said, "I can't believe you all ditched a normal life back on Terra for me. I'd been putting off looking up anything about you because I didn't want to learn that you'd all died of old age, or worse."
"We've come close a couple times, I won't lie," Leto told her, "But we've got one hell of a crew, and we've got a lot of support."
Nodding at that, Phoebe elaborated, "We're hardly the only ones out there who have lost loved ones to Thalatte slavers, and more than a few of the people we've saved have become our paying patrons, just as eager to give someone else a chance at freedom, the same as they got. This line of work is dangerous, but it's easily the most fulfilling thing we've ever done."
"You're telling me," Rhea agreed, all the secrets of the Hyttan she'd learned since her emancipation sitting heavy in her thoughts, "Joining the Kith has been the second best thing that's happened to me."
Shooting her a devious look, Leto said, "Oh, is being married number one? This coming from little miss 'I don't have time for anything but my career'? Captivity really changed you, huh?"
"You know what? It really did." Rhea said as she kicked out at her sister half assedly.
Turning to Malakh, Selene said, "I'd love to kidnap you for an afternoon. I wanna hear all about how the two of you became an item, without her hovering around."
Gasping in mock outrage at that, Rhea swatted at her.
Grinning at their antics, Malakh said, "I'd be happy to, on the condition you tell me as many embarrassing stories about her as possible."
"Treachery!" Rhea fake sobbed, "I can't believe my own wife is trying to go behind my back to get blackmail material on me!"
"I'm sure you'll find it in your heart to forgive me." Malakh told her sweetly.
Rhea could only let out a defeated little huff at that, ever as always susceptible to her wife's charms.
"You two are disgusting," Phoebe said fondly, eyes brightening with unshed tears, "I can't believe you aren't just safe, but you're happy."
"It was a long enough road to get to this point, I can tell you that much," Rhea told her, her laugh coloured with disbelief, "And we haven't even been free for a full year yet, and we've already experienced… just so much. Some days I wake up thinking that all the joys in my life are nothing more than a dream, that I'm still back there with a bomb bolted to my brainpan."
"You and me both." Malakh said, threading her hand through Rhea's.
Shaking her head like she couldn't quite believe it, Leto said, "Freed, Kith, married, and a mech pilot too? That's certainly not the medical career you went to university for."
"Oh I get plenty of medical practice in, don't you worry," Rhea chuckled darkly, casting her gaze over her crew mates, "I've had to play doctor for every single one of them."
"And you're the only reason the four of us survived Thalatte slavery long enough to be free of it." Pryseia said, raising her glass in salute.
Leaning back in her seat, and shooting the captain of the Pelekys a look, Phoebe said, "It certainly wasn't in the way I expected it to happen, but the Thalatte brought you to us here today, if what your AI told ours is to be believed."
"It is," Nevara said, "We killed enough officers and stole enough property for the Thalatte to send a dedicated hunter after us, one who had amassed a sizeable fleet to take us down. That threat has been dealt with, but the means to further hammer home the threat we would present should they attempt to hunt us again is what drew us to you, as Captain Shinju of the Salsica spoke of your targeting of Thalatte forces."
"And it was Commander Usys Tase Ary Coit who had been hounding your steps, was it?" Sara said with a little scoff, "Top marks for bringing that blighter down! Damned clever, smart enough to see how Thalatte command's ways are stymieing our growth as a people, but not smart enough to see how detrimental the dream of conquest has been to our culture as a whole! The finest artists, scientists, philosophers, and dreamers among us are sent to the meat grinder that is the Thalatte war machine, and for what? To fight over someone else's space when yet so much of the galaxy lays empty and unexplored? Truly heinous! We could be so much more if we worked with the rest of the races of the galaxy, rather than try to enslave them!"
"Idiots in positions of power aren't a Thalatte exclusive, unfortunately," V'tala said in response to that, "It seems like every race had people like that."
"Would that they could all meet fitting ends." Sara said, raising their glass.
"Well, we can hardly topple the Thalatte government on our own, but we can be a thorn in their side," Phoebe said, looking to Pryseia, "You reached out to cause some problems for the Thalatte? That just so happens to be our specialty, and we've been lining up a really nasty surprise for them. You in?"
"We most certainly are," Pryseia told her with a grin, "What did you have in mind?"
"Just a little property damage," Selene said, the picture of nonchalance, "We're going to blow up their largest slave processing facility."