C50 Setting Goals
Setting Goals.
Two weeks later…
Anthony woke, and felt a sense of Déjà-vu when he had glaring lights shine down on him, and the weight of something on his chest. And Squinting his eyes, he found that Ina, as a vixen, was laying there, which made him question if he was dreaming.
So he reached out to gently stroke over her back, recalling again that she was, like the Siren, someone that changed form. Which she promptly proofs to him as his touch woke her, sudden to take on her human form again to stare down at him with obvious anger.
“ Hey. “ Anthony uttered, as it was the only thing he could think of, and unsure about his situation, he felt like Ina must have been angry at him for some reason that yet escaped him.
“ No fair, no hurt Ina ! “ She uttered above him, and it confused him further as there were now tears forming.
“ Hey, I have no intention hurting you, little vixen. “ Anthony whispered softly, reaching up to hold her by the left cheek, and gently wipe away her tear.
“ Anthony no fair ! “ She protested, and suddenly leaned down against him, softly sobbing.
“ Well, you fucked up. “ Anthony thought to himself, gently stroking over Ina’s hair, realizing that he must have scared her, as now, slowly, his mind begun to understand what must have happened.
That ship, it wanted to jump, and he could feel a sudden drain, like when he took a ship over. But that drain, it felt much more hungry. And before he knew it, the world went black. So, if Ina was this upset with him, he must have been out for a while.
“ Hey, it’s ok. I have no intention to leave you Vixen. Remember, your mine. “ Anthony uttered, the best thing of an assurance he could come up with right now, as this was somehow, awkward for him.
Heck, how did you comfort a woman that was upset with you, because you fucked up ? Well, it did kind of feel good though, knowing, even feeling how much he seemed to mean to her, and that in turn only made him feel that much more like an ass now.
“ Hope ? How log have I been out ? “ He asked, wanting to gain a picture of how badly he messed up.
“ Two weeks. “ She promptly responded.
“ What exactly happened ? “ He asked then while placing his other arm around Ina to comfort her.
“ Apparently that ship you took, it’s supposed to be run on aether. “ Hope responded, but stopped there, as if she was waiting for him to ask, instead of just explaining in more detail, as Anthony would have hoped.
“ Aether ? “ He relented, guessing that Hope would have a reason to stop, instead of just telling him.
“ Look to your left. “ Hope spoke then, prompting Anthony to look left as requested, and see a small pink crystal, floating above a metal plate.
Aether, so Anthony recalled, was supposedly something astronomy used to believe in, before they understood that Sol was part of a galaxy, before they fully understood gravity between the sun and earth, and other objects. A lot of things used to be attributed to, as they said, the aether.
“ What is it ? “ Anthony asked, feeling a little fascinated by the floating structure, and the fact that it was floating.
“ So you can not sense it yet, can you ? “ Thomas voice then chimed in.
“ Ah, hi Thomas. And, no I can’t, but if you make that obvious a wink, it’s holding Psychic energy ? “ Anthony guessed.
“ Sort of. It’s an energy source of sorts, this one was used within a small gate structure around Eden, they powered the gate down so you can recover. To Nah’Rahan, this is the essence of the universe, even their own, and it has been helping you charge up again.
By their understanding, aether is a tiny particle that fills multiple functions, it provides the most basic form of matter and energy both at the same time, and supposedly is the base form of any matter in the universe. And to create a crystal of that size, you supposedly have to use the entire matter of a planetoid, about the size of Luna. “ Thomas explained.
“ Uh, so, focusing on the focal point there. It’s a power-source they used for, some gate structure, and now they had to power it down to help me, right ? Which means I messed up badly ? “ Anthony tried to summarize, as he felt not quite clear enough to try and understand some new concept yet. Not when logic told him that this thing should be a singularity then, or close to anyway.
“ Well, you would have survived, but you run your psychic energy so hard into the negative, you probably would have been out for a few month without that Crystal. And fair warning, they do want it back. “ Thomas explained.
“ So, if I understand it right, it’s a power-source, and it can supply, electricity and psychic energy ? And, that Seltran ship, it needed it to function, but had none ? “ Anthony tried to put together.
“ Sort of, that ship is special, it runs on Psychic energy, and since it had no aether crystal, it used you as its power source.
The Seltran pull their mind from their ships before it fails catastrophically. And since this ship and its power-source are special, they destroyed the crystal by releasing it’s energy all at once before pulling out. It left no witness to understand what that ship is really worth either. “ Thomas spoke.
“ Uh, then I bet they must want the ship back. “ Anthony groaned.
“ No, you can keep it in fact, with a condition attached to it. “ Thomas uttered, causing Anthony to look towards him due to the dramatic pause.
“ They want you to stay away from their Territory. Your free to claim any of their wrecks in the future, but they are scared of your ability to claim their vessels, because the prospect of one of them being captive in that vessels, and becoming a slave terrifies them. “ Thomas elaborated.
“ Huh, well, figures. “ Anthony noted, and wondered then for a moment. They where probably right to fear it, given that he had grown accustomed to think of the Siren aboard the Hope as nothing but his property.
It would not be a far jump from enslaving others, when he already went against some of the Siren’s initial plea not to break them in. Well, there was at least one case, and he did not give a fuck about her claims to have a mate then, nor when he frequently kept using her after the fact. Which reminded him, he should perhaps properly break her soon.
“ So what exactly happened. I already heard Hope’s version, but lets hear yours. “ Thomas asked.
“ Well, I was trying to see if that ships jump drive can take me places. And on Hope’s warning, I was going to make a small scale test first. But, well, I got fired upon and panicked. “ Anthony admitted.
“ Well, at least your honest. “ Thomas noted.
“ Hope ? What happened to the other ships in that system ? “ Anthony asked.
“ We lost the drone ship, though I guess you may still be able to repair it. The artillery vessel is ok, and I moved it further out of the system, to the systems equivalent of the Oort-cloud. And I have not seen any activity in the system since. But that ship came out of nowhere, so there is no guarantee. “ Hope noted.
“ And that ship that fired on us ? “ Anthony inquired.
“ The Artillery ship caused significant damage to it, so they fled.” Hope answered.
“ Huh, nice catch I guess. “ Anthony uttered, glad now that he took that ship before going for the Seltran one.
“ I think it may have been a Psyker, he must have been after you. There are some psykers hunting others, because killing a Psyker on the Psychic plane can grant you a piece of the losers power.
And some Psykers work on the Terran side, in part for that. You need to learn to hide your energy properly, which will also help you waste less energy in the future. “ Thomas warned.
“ I thought, drawing my energy in, was how I do hide my Psychic energy ? “ Anthony questioned.
“ For yourself, yes. But your pouring so much energy into your vessels and Androids, even I can feel it. And some Psykers not just feel it. I think the one that attacked you, were able to actively see your Energy, like Ludwig. “ Thomas suggests.
“ What makes you so sure there was a Psyker after me ? “ Anthony asked then.
“ Well, because I know of no tech in Terran hands that can make a ship invisible. And by Hope’s description, that ship really did come out of nowhere. Though, she was able to still hit it when it went invisible again. “ Thomas offered.
“ Huh. Say. That Seltran ship. It has a jump-drive apparently. Do you know if it can take other vessels along ? “ Anthony then asked, and then flinched as Ina pinched him, her head raised to look at him quite upset.
“ That is it’s purpose. Seltran pull out of their ships, and when the coast is clear, that vessel jumps in to recover the wreck so they can repair it.
It’s armed too, has two nasty laser weapons, but it’s all run on Psychic energy, and I would not recommend using it’s armament for now. But I think, using it’s jump ability may actually help you with your training. “ Thomas noted.
“ Uh, after that last experience ? “ Anthony uttered, and then leaned up to give Ina a kiss onto her forehead, whispering a soft, “ Sorry, “ at her.
“ That is because you have been trying to jump long distance. And it will help you move your ships. Given the circumstances, it may be best to move your ships from Cradle. We have a resource system connected to Eden where you can stay for now, least until you decided what you want to do. “ Thomas suggested.
“ Ah, I am being kicked out eh ? “ Anthony said with a chuckle.
“ No, but it would be bad for us if the Terran’s realize your with us. I heard there is a faction building that want’s to resume the war against Eden, and the only reason they are not gaining further traction right now, is because the Seltran war is in gear again. For now, they don’t see us as a threat, but that might change if they find you here. “ Thomas explained.
“ That is understandable. “ Anthony admitted.
“ I already gave Hope the system data. Once you feel a bit better, and made sure your girls don’t tear you a new one, you should start to learn using that jump ship. And once you got the hang of it, use it to take your ships over to Nahor.
And if you can convince Ina, maybe she’ll make you a crystal for that ship, older generation Nah’Rahan can actually craft them. But it’s probably going to take a whole planet to craft a crystal big enough for that ship. “ Thomas described.
Anthony would look at Ina again then, who still looked pretty upset with him, and figuring that the SIren thrived on being dominated, he was probably going to be busy making it up to them.
“ I suddenly feel like I need some more rest. “ Anthony uttered then.
“ No ! Ina need comfort, Anthony give attention ! “ Ina instantly countered, leaning back down against his chest, which made Anthony chuckle as he gently stroked her again.
“ Well, I guess, I might be busy for a bit. “ Anthony admitted.
“ Quite likely, one of them can be a lot to handle. “ Thomas spoke, which made Anthony smirk towards Thomas, whom promptly seemed to turn red.
“ Well, I leave you two at it. “ Thomas noted as he clearly sought his escape now.
“ Oh, one more thing though. Try using the Pride’s fall, and reach Rendar. It is a neutral system, poses as a Mercenary system, but it’s pirate infested too. You can find Ludwig there, and let him help you with your training.
And if your to lazy to go yourself, set yourself up with a custom robot, it is customary for Mercs and Pirates to work through an Android representative. Just, don’t use any AI on it. Terran’s are quick to fire first and ask questions never, if they find you in possession of an AI.
And aside from the training, he can help set you up with an ID too. If you start stealing their ships, you got to understand a bit about them too I think, it can help you evade problems. “ Thomas advised.
“ And what, if I run into another Psyker like the one in that Junkyard ? “ Anthony asked.
“ True, perhaps for now, send your ship with the Androids. But you need an Android registered as your representative.
Terran’s tolerate that merc habit only as long as they can identify you. Even if it’s just through your representative. If they can not identify you, they start asking questions. Which also means, don’t give them a reason to get interested in you, not until you got an ID. “ Thomas suggests.
“ Got it, and Thomas, thanks. “ Anthony responded.
“ No worries. Someone is going to come pick the crystal up in a few days. While your in it’s presence, use it to charge up, and perhaps try a few test jumps with that ship. And keep watch on your energy, would be bad if that ship drains you again. “ Thomas suggests.
“ Will do. “ Anthony responded, smiling as Ina rose her head to give him another angry look.
“ I think I got a Vixen here that will make damn sure I wont overdo it. A cute guard vixen you could say. “ Anthony teased then, causing Ina to blush lightly, and then pinch him again.
“ I guess I leave you two to it then. “ Thomas remarked with a chuckle of his own before he left. Now that Anthony was awake again, he would no longer be required to monitor his psychic energy.
“ And you, what is todays taste ? “ Anthony then tried with Ina.
“ No, Anthony bad ! “ Ina protested.
But that protest quickly turned into a shivering whimper as he leaned in to kiss her on her neck.
“ No ! B-bad. “ She protested once more as his kisses started to trace down her form, but she did clearly fail to take a firmer stance as Anthony gave her a reason to forgive his foolish actions.