152: The Lovers; Reversed – Five
The device they'd pulled from the empty halls of a Hyttan ruin wasn't much to look at. Built of the same off white, self healing material as every other Hyttan artifact that had yet to be discovered, it was a sturdy console built into a robust carrying case, possessed of a screen and a few buttons, and nothing more. Queen Kaizoku stood in front of it, arms crossed as she listened to her Red Left Hand explain what she'd discovered about the scanner.
"Looks like they kept it simple on purpose - makes sense, given that this is supposed to be an early warning system. We extracted a location easy enough, so we at least know where the Omega is going to emerge - right here, on the edge of the galaxy."
Kaizoku let out a thoughtful hum at that, her tail twitching in agitation behind her. "Something tells me there is a caveat to our good fortune with this device."
Her own tail thrashing in frustration, the Hand said, "The same caveat that crops up with anything related to a Hyttan language - we can't read it."
Pressing one of the buttons on the console, the Hand brought up an array of symbols that neither of them could read.
"I can only assume those are numbers, and I can only assume they're counting down, but I don't know if this is for time, or distance, or who knows what else. So while we have our location, we're no closer to a when than before we found this thing." The Hand summarized.
Kaizoku nodded, though she didn't look pleased by that. "At least we have a destination, even if a timetable yet eludes us. If the size of this number is any indication - if it even is a number at all - then we at least needn't worry about the Omega arriving any time soon. We will have to-"
"Excuse the interruption," the Program announced, the crimson axe of its avatar appearing on the nearest screen, "But we've just received a hail from the Gorgon."
Kaizoku and the Hand shared a look at that before Kaizoku told it, "Assemble the others in the bridge, we will be there momentarily."
"Of course." The Program replied before vanishing from view.
"Well," the Hand drawled, falling into step with her Queen as she headed for the bridge, "What do you think the call is about?"
Kaizoku let out a quiet hum of a laugh. "Knowing them, something destructive. I look forward to it."
The Program connected the call the moment Queen Kaizoku settled in her throne, flanked by Chancellor Bathory and the Knight of the Tomb, Madame Augury and the Hand at the gunner stations, while General Grim sat at the helm. On screen, the crew of the Gorgon was arrayed like a pantheon once more, the stony appearance of their armour making them look more like statues to ancient gods than the terrors of the void they actually were.
"Lochagos Stheno," Kaizoku greeted with a nod, "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
With a nod in return, Stheno said, "Queen Kaizoku. It seems the fates have seen fit to intertwine our paths once more. A common enemy has been seen in this sector of the galaxy, limping away in defeat. A force is gathering to hunt them down before they have the chance to lick their wounds and return to darken our doorstep once more."
Steepling her fingers as she leaned back in her throne, throwing one leg over the other, a predatory grin crept across Kaizoku's face as she said, "Do tell."
In the Gorgon's planning room, her crew along with those of the Pelekys stood before the large central table. Phoebe waved a hand, bringing up a star map of their destination as she explained, "The bulk of the Thalatte force is here, refuelling and resupplying at one of their border outposts on the fringes of Meleten space. The Dolabra and her escort ships have already pushed ahead closer to Thalatte territory, so we won't need to worry about them."
Her blue flame avatar moving through the star map, Adyt added, "There's a contingent of Kith in the area - all of them stealth craft - keeping tabs on everything. Latest reports say that the Thalatte here are gearing up to move, so we're going to need to act fast."
Selene tapped on the table, pulling the map back to show a broader expanse of stars as she continued, "Ships participating in this little venture that are already in the field are heading to the rendezvous point as we speak. For those of us here on the Quanvengier, we're going to need to leave within the hour if we want to make it in time."
"Then we'd best not tarry," Pryseia said, her grin a ferocious thing, "I'd hate to keep the Thalatte waiting."
The journey to their target system was going to take a few hours, which left plenty of time for the crew of the Pelekys to go over the battle plans the Kith involved had put together, as well as have a break for lunch with more than enough time to spare before they arrived.
"Hey, while we've got a minute, I wanted to run over some administrative stuff with the both of you." Elytra said to Pryseia and V'tala as they began clearing the table in the mess hall.
Glancing over at V'tala, who gave her a nod in return, Pryseia replied, "Of course. I assume this has something to do with the performance aspect of things?"
"You got it," Elytra smiled, "Sort of a Rhea and Malakh situation, how much do you want your character's relationship to reflect your own?"
Letting out a knowing laugh, Rhea added, "Don't know if you're aware of it, but the relayers have been reading into every little interaction between the two of you since the Knight of the Tomb first got down on one knee in front of Queen Kaizoku. You two are almost as popular as Malakh and me!"
"They're going to read into things, regardless," Nevara pointed out, "The amount of smut that Grim is included in is… baffling."
"I mean, you're attractive, and people do be horny," Viatrix said with a little giggle on the nearest console, "So what if your species doesn't get any pleasure out of sex? Just means Grim can be a dommy mommy stone top telling her obedient little kittens exactly what to do!"
"You have got to get off the forums." Nevara mumbled, turning all her focus onto putting dishes away in the dishwasher, because this was not a conversation she wanted to be a part of.
"So relayers are going to relay," Elytra steered the conversation back on topic, "But what are you two comfortable with in regards to what happens on screen?"
"No sex," was V'tala's immediate response, catching Pryseia's eye, "I'm not sharing you with anyone like that."
"Noted, and agreed." Pryseia confirmed, eyes softening, "I have a feeling, much like with Rhea and Malakh, our affection for one another will bleed through no matter what we may do to fight it, given how so many who knew us thought we were together already, so I do not feel a need to curb how we already act towards one another in character."
Malakh whacked her in the back with her tail as she passed by with a stack of plates, "I was having a look through some fan edits the other day, and charged doesn't even begin to describe what's been going on between you two since day one!"
Elytra scoffed at that. "Fan edits? You should see all the footage I left out when doing the actual edits! I thought I was reading too much into things, because yeah, charged is right!"
Pryseia's laugh was breathless, a dark flush blooming across her cheeks as she said, "Then I suppose you won't need to have such a heavy hand in the editing process going forward, as blatant as we seem to have inadvertently been?"
"I've honestly been thinking of releasing some of this cut content as some behind the scenes bonus features, give the editors out there some extra footage to work with," Elytra admitted, "Some crews are a little more up front about the fact that the Kith are performers putting on a show. Actually, that was another thing I wanted to get everyone's opinions on, if we wanted to be a little more personal with our fanbase."
"I mean, there's pros and cons to both?" Viatrix said as she spun her avatar in place, "There's the security risk that if we're too open, that could lead to fans trying to physically track us down. I know that's happened to more than a few crews in the past, where fans got way too invested with the people behind the characters, and it led to litigation in one case, when a zymeth socialite tracked down a crew in the middle of a job they were pulling, and the zymeth got killed in the crossfire, and their family tried to sue the Kith."
Malakh hummed in recognition. "Yeah, I heard about that. The court ended up throwing it out because that socialite knowingly walked into a crime scene with the intent to aid the criminals - they'd been broadcasting the whole thing, both the Kith and that zymeth, so they had them on multiple angles saying how they were there specifically to help the Kith. The tech firm that got hit then tried to turn around and sue that zymeth's family for damages, since their relative was there to aid and abet."
"Oof, yeah, I don't think we wanna invite that kind of audience participation," Rhea said as she got the dishwasher going, "But releasing the scraps from our editing room floor shouldn't bring about that kind of risk, especially if we're only dropping in character stuff."
"I raise my hand in favour of that option, rather than engaging with our audience as ourselves," Nevara said as she leaned against the counter, "Given the fact that most of us were under constant supervision while we were in captivity, I find myself more than a little protective of my privacy."
"Agreed." Was V'tala's firm response, "I'm fine with our audience knowing the Knight of the Tomb, but I don't want them knowing me."
"Yeah, there's a reason I keep my helmet on the whole time," Elytra admitted, "Sometimes crews do question and answer type broadcasts, or sometimes just on the forums in dedicated threads, would that be something any of you would be interested in?"
"If we remain in character, then potentially," Pryseia said after a moment, "Though I do find myself struggling to see how we could weave such an event to make sense within our narrative at this moment."
"We can shunt that to the side for now. If I'm getting anything from everyone's mindset regarding this topic, it doesn't seem like anyone's too keen on interacting with our audience in any other way than in character." Elytra said as she glanced around at them all.
"All things considered, that's not surprising." Rhea said with a fond shake of her head, leaning against Malakh, who had drifted to her side at the counter.
"And in regards to the amorous relationship between V'tala and I," Pryseia said, shoulder to shoulder with the woman in question as they leaned against the table, "I must admit that I haven't a clue as to how to work that into our narrative."
"Then maybe we don't," V'tala said, her slight smile turning devious at the questioning looks shot her way at that, "Elytra can leave in everything we've been unconsciously doing all this time and we just let the audience speculate for a while. We can figure out a hard launch later."
Rhea's chuckle was equally as devious as she wagged a finger in V'tala's direction. "Feed them while you starve them? I like that."
"The relayers seemed to enjoy the potential of your relationship before you confirmed it in the depths of Bernetigan territory," V'tala pointed out with a shrug, "They can be left thirsting for ours a little longer."
On the edge of Meleten territory stood a dying system, a red supergiant at the heart of it having consumed the four rocky bodies that had once been in orbit around it, and was currently in the process of stripping the closest gas giant of everything it had. A trail of material spanned between the two like some cosmic umbilical cord, one that brought only death instead of life.
Far from this inevitable end orbited a cold blue gas giant, above which sat a Thalatte outpost built to siphon off the materials of that world to make the fuel necessary for the Stratocracy's continued war efforts. Dozens of ships were trailing after this outpost as it skated along the outer reaches of the gas giant's atmosphere, some in the process of refuelling, others yet waiting their turn, while still more were fully stocked and ready to go. They had a long and ignoble journey yet to complete, called back to their homeworld before they could see their mission through, the economic pressure that the Necupole Plutocracy was levelling against their people seeing to that.
Their erstwhile quarry, however, was much closer than they realized. A score of Kith ships, all of them built for stealth, lay in wait above the ecliptic plane, while dozens more gathered in subspace, waiting for the signal to attack.
All of them had a grudge against the Thalatte - former slaves for the most part, while others had lost homes and loved ones due to the Stratocracy's continued attempts at conquest - and all of them were eager to exact even a sliver of revenge.
All of them were eager for the signal to attack.
Unbeknownst to the Thalatte ships sitting idle in that nameless system, dozens upon dozens of broadcasts went live, and the stealth ships broke from their orbit, aiming straight down at their hated foe.
Weapons fire from twenty Kith ships tore through the meager defences of a handful of Thalatte ships at rest, while in the empty void beyond, tears into subspace bloomed into being, a motley fleet of yet more Kith vessels soaring out to enter the fray.
Twin ships spiraled out from one of these rips in the fabric of reality, one light and one dark, sisters from the shape of their hull to the complements of their crews - the Gorgon and the Pelekys, their own joint grudge more than a century in the making.
Taken by surprise in the first wave, the Thalatte were quick to scatter, shields snapping into place and weapons powering up with no hesitation. They were the most highly trained fleet in the galaxy, after all, and they would not take this assault lightly.
The black of the void was filled with colour, then - the rainbow hues from weapon systems spanning manufacturers across the entire galaxy, the fiery explosions as both Thalatte and Kith ships alike were blasted apart, brief stars of their own before their pockets of oxygen were consumed by flame - the purple of the Pelekys' energy beams crisscrossing with the green of the Gorgon's, the two ships flying in formation as they decimated any Thalatte ship that crossed their path.
The Kith, fewer in number but greater in fury, were carving a swath through the Thalatte fleet, their own losses nowhere near the numbers that their enemy's fleet was reaching. Victory was just within reach.
And then the Dolabra arrived.
"Subspace tear opening," the Program announced, its voice uncharacteristically panicked, "Thalatte ships in-"
The Dolabra, bigger than any ship currently filling these skies, burst forth from a massive rend in the fabric of reality, iridescent light haloing it as it charged into the void. A long, cylindrical vessel nearly the length of the Quanvengier, the shape of it was reminiscent of the barrel of a gun.
One that was currently aglow with charged energy, which it promptly unleashed across the battlefield.
Dozens of ships, both Kith and Thalatte alike, were atomized in the blast, the audio emulators aboard the Pelekys ringing with the booming howl of so much energy being unleashed all at once.
Eyes and mandibles wide, General Grim stared in horror at the destruction that had just painted the all encompassing view of the Pelekys' combat dome a blinding white, Madame Augury's hands falling slack at her gunner controls, while the Knight of the Tomb had gone as stone still as the alabaster of her colouring.
"Open a channel!" Queen Kaizoku ordered, her absolute authority ringing through the bridge, whipping her crew into action, the Program sounding a ping of confirmation a second later, "All ships, retreat. We cannot bring the Dolabra down with what forces remain to us. My Hand, charge the subspace engine. Covering fire!"
Grim wrenched the ship away from the assault, Augury and the Knight snapping back to their own controls, weapons fire lancing out as they and Kaizoku fended off what few remaining Thalatte ships tried to give chase.
"Jump is ready." The Hand called out over the comms a few seconds later, and with a brush across the controls, Grim had them punching through to safety, the pursuing Thalatte ships too far in their wake to follow before the tear snapped shut behind the Pelekys.
Disaster had befallen this operation, but they, at least, had survived.
The second the broadcast was cut, Elytra wrenched her helmet off, gasping for air and trembling, rising from her seat like she didn't know what to do with herself, her normally lavender flesh nearly white beneath her carapace, slick with sweat. Pryseia was in front of her an instant later, holding her by the shoulders as she told her, "We're safe, we're alive, they cannot follow us in here."
"R-right." Elytra gasped, shaking as tears sprang to her eyes, and Pryseia pulled her in to a protective hug, Elytra's arms coming around her back to hold her crushingly close as she sobbed into Pryseia's shoulder.
The door to the bridge flew open, Rhea ashen as she called out, "Vi, did the Gorgon-"
"I've got Adyt on the QECD," Viatrix cut her off, sounding like she was on the verge of tears herself, "A bit banged up, but they're all okay. They made it to subspace."
The cry that broke out of Rhea at that was one of pure relief, and she would have sunk to the floor if Malakh hadn't ducked under her wife's arm, looping one of her own and her tail around her waist. "We'll get them on the line," she swore, ducking to catch Rhea's eye, "The second we're all out of subspace."
"I felt them all die," Elytra gasped, "One second and they were all just gone."
"It was a trap," Nevara's voice was tight, her hands even tighter around the yoke before her, "They set out tempting bait while the Dolabra hid in the wings."
Her own jaw painfully tight, V'tala asked, "What do we do now?"
Not pulling away from Elytra, Pryseia said, "Vi, get us the location of the nearest Kith outpost, have the Gorgon meet us there. That battle is over, and we need to figure out where we're going from here."