Building Better Worlds IV

Open Air (Miracle of Sound)

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I watch the sun rise /

In skies so clear.

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We learn the outside;

There's hope out here.

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Free, unconfined.

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Uncharted Canopy Forest, Equatorial Region

Planet Sidele (Zu-7), Zuun System

08:02, 19/2/1, 26 XP

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"Snakes. It's always snakes." A chinchilla wielding a rifle in one paw and a machete in the other slowly backed away from the creature in question, a seven-eyed simulate of a snake in the leaves ahead. "Why do we have to be in this shithole risking our necks again?"

"Well, our faithful Captain obviously wants us to suffer before we die. I thought that much was obvious." A gray fox hooked the 'snake' with the flash hider of his longer marksman's rifle and flicked it to the side. "That's not one of the poisonous ones, Sherri."

"Yeah, well I still don't feel like getting bit in the vag by some alien tentacle monster."

"You hear that, Poe? Your girl would rather take the tail than the head."

"Fuck you, Edgar." Sherri pointed her blade to a large rock platform up ahead. "Finally, a clearing. Think we can take a minute, Derrick? It's too fucking hot and I'm sweating under this armor."

"Sure, Sherri. I can hear water anyway. Captain Ganzfeld said she was checking out a waterfall, right?"

"Uh... Sergeant Poe?" A Russian marten girl carrying far too much gear for one person slugged herself against a tree to point at the rocks. "I think the river is on the other side. Maybe we can climb something to scout for the waterfall?"

"Just Derrick or Poe when we're not at base, Carter." The Sergeant climbed the rocks and nodded his confirmation of the suggestion. "Drop everyone's gear and try some trees. I'll fill your canteen while you do that, Private."

"I have to do it? But I just--"

Edgar, being somewhat tall for a hyena, leaned over the smaller marten. "No complaints, newbie. We had to walk all the way back to the lander and back because of you."

"You can shut it too, Mick. I'm trying to build her up, not break her down." Poe took the marten's canteen from her waist and helped her ease down the squad's supplies. "Ignore him. He likes to think he's a smart-ass. You'll fit in soon enough and he'll leave you alone."

"Thanks, um... Poe."

"Right, you never got to know us before we shoved you into the woods." Sergeant Poe tipped the canteen to each of the other members and then himself. "Specialist Sherri Allan, Corporal Mickey Edgar, and I'm Sergeant Derrick Poe. Chain of command goes up that way, and I'm in charge of the squad when Captain Cassandra Ganzfeld isn't here. Think you can remember that?"

"Yeah. I think I get it now, sir."

"What did I say before?"

"Right... Poe. You can call me Sable or Carter too if you like." Sable took a deep breath, found a tree with branches within reach, and headed over. "So the Captain stayed out here? Isn't she supposed to greet new recruits personally?"

"You'll come to find she's not so keen on protocol. Ganzfeld... isn't as experienced as the rest of us, but somehow we've got her heading this recon team." Poe noticed Allan heading for the water and tossed his and Sable's canteens with a whistle. "So Carter, I noticed on your papers you requested this gig? Any reason?"

"I wanted to try out recon, maybe go Specialist in the field. I'm not exactly built for combat, so this sounded like a good way to apply myself." Sable unsnapped her plate carrier and set the heavy ceramic plates on the rocky ground. "I heard this squad went out the furthest of them all, so there's got to be some experience. Right?"

Edgar sat with his back against the tree, a food bar dangling from his mouth. "You're damned tootin', newbie. Ick, banana..."

"Eh... We're out the furthest because the Captain has some stick up her rear. We've been moving so fast we can't ever get logistics and resupply. The damned fleet is too thin out here." Poe caught a filled canteen and set it beside Sable's armor. "I guess that's part of being expeditionary rangers. Lead the way and all that."

"Yeah, but the Talons are brand new. Is it really just like wherever you guys last worked?" Sable reached up and began her climb. "My dad was a marine on Earth. I'm getting that sort of vibe from you guys, too. You guys ex-UNEO?"

"The boys are--both from the Maryland defense forces." Allan walked over with the remaining canteens and popped some decontamination pills into them from the supply bags. "I was a fresh recruit like you, hon. Apparently it doesn't take long to move up the ranks because there's not many troops in the Talons of Horus yet."

"They let us join as our old ranks after a little testing. I can't complain there if I can skip out of a second bout of boot camp." Edgar checked the chamber of his weapon for dirt, the first round of boot camp still showing in his instinctual habits. "Anything, newbie? They teach tree climbing in basic now?"

"No, my dad taught me to shoot a deer a hundred yards out from the trees. You don't improv on the job?" Sable managed to perch herself quite high in the tree, nearly ten meters off the ground. "I see movement in a few locations. What's the Captain look like?"

"If you see the world's tallest red panda you're on the right track. Her fur's a bit more orange though." Poe tapped the stacked bags with his shin and a scoff held under his breath. "Honestly, you're mostly lugging around her gear. That kid's running around with close to nothing on her, so I try to keep her armed like a fucking responsible adult."

"What's with all the hate? Is she really that bad?"

"You're what, twenty-ish? Yeah, she's younger than her own rookie."

"I don't trust anyone half my age." Allan lovingly nudged her side into Poe as she drank from her canteen. "That goes double if she can't buy her own gun. So what, she gets one by joining the Talons?"

"Damn, that's got to be hard all ways around. I get it's easier to run up the ranks right now, but I doubt she'd get a commissioned officer gig without some credentials." Sable gleaned a flash of fiery red in the area just ahead and immediately slid down the tree. "Got her. She's about two hundred meters past the river, bearing roughly forty from polar."

"Damn, that actually worked? I thought we were just killing time." Edgar groaned as he rose, being the last to move out in the given vector. "Shit, not bad without optics, newbie."

"You think so? Why not take a bag then, Edgar?" Poe took the topmost bag of spare ammunition and hurled it to the hyena while Sable donned her armor. "The rest is up to you, kid. Keep up."

"Thanks, Poe." Her armor settled, Sable lifted the remaining bags onto her back and clipped her carbine to an odd sling running down her leg. "She's not moving quickly. Think she's waiting for us?"

Allan took the lead with her machete. "Maybe, but she'd probably just lost."

"The Captain has a planetary locator and the lander has a beacon, so barring a malfunction I'd doubt that." Poe ran up and tugged a drag handle on her vest. "Careful, Sherri."

The rock ledge plummeted into a sharp fall with rushing water below. "Thanks, Derrick."

"That looks like a good crossing." Sable pointed to a slab of rock extending over the river, a fallen tree embedding its roots inside to form a bridge. "Maybe cross one at a time, but it looks strong."

"Hawk eyes, you got there. Good going, Carter." Poe tugged Allan back for good measure and investigated the bridge by kicking it. "Yeah, looks solid. Split the cargo just to be safe."

"Now you're just softening up on her." Allan rolled her eyes and grabbed a bag before crossing. "Whatever. She's good in my book if she's proving useful to the team."

"That's the goal, isn't it?" Poe grabbed another bag and followed the lead. "On that thread, I think this might make a good world for the Empire. Good air, clean water, not much biting back except these mesmer snakes..."

"It's a shame it's already taken." Edgar pointed up at a mass of rock and dirt hovering a kilometer overhead. "Not sure why we can't take the ground and let the Oels have their perches."

"That might be on the books given time. Maybe there's something bad down here we haven't encountered yet. Scouts always come first for a reason. Remember--what we fail to find can hurt civilians down the road, Carter." Poe hopped off the log and perked his head up, a small digital monocular scope pressing to his eye. "I see her now. Captain's headed our way."

"I've got her too." Allan lowered her rifle scope from her eye and secured the weapon. "Captain!"

"Ugh. Newbie, don't call out your superiors like Sherri. I rather enjoy my head being attached to my neck."

"All things considered--it probably isn't too bad around here." Sable quirked her head as her commanding officer came into clear view... wearing little more than a leotard and cargo pants. "You guys weren't kidding..."

"Clamp it, rook." After his mumbled warning Poe jogged out to meet their leader. "Ma'am. We have the rookie. No threats or findings on the way."

"Sweet. Good stuff, guys." Cassandra casually walked out of the forest and headed for the river, reaching inside with her oddly webbed paws to splash her face. "This place is getting hellish. Are the days really sixty hours long?"

"And change, ma'am. We're at the midpoint, more or less." Poe checked his bag and found Cassie's canteen. "It's dangerous to leave this with us, ma'am. Please tell me the added risk was worth it."

"Well I think we finally have the right planet. All evidence points to our quarry being in the vicinity, or at least having been here recently." Cassie took her unique soft-walled canteen and clipped it to her belt. "I see you're all geared up. Good. We've got some ground to cover before sundown."

"Sundown? You know that's seven or eight hours from now, right ma'am? We've been marching through brush for that long already." The Sergeant leaned in and lowered his voice. "I don't want to tire out the rookie. Pushing her hard is tiring her out too fast."

"I didn't mean without rest. We've stayed out in the field camping more than a few times." Cassie sighed and grabbed a pistol from the bag, the holster soon clipped onto her lower back. "There's a few places I didn't feel safe checking alone. We do the normal routine, buddy system down two paths. With the new girl we can even let Sherri fulfill her role as technician. You have your radio gear, right Sherri?"

"Yeah, a mid-range and short-range set. No satellites so planetary comms didn't make sense."

"Awesome. This clearing should make a good place to set things up. Oh, maybe boil some water too so we don't have to use these nasty tablets." Punctuating her point, Cassie took a swig from her canteen with a grimace. "Rookie, you're my responsibility now. We're checking some caves to the east. Der, Mick--you two hit up the cliffs to the north. I saw hints of nooks in the sides if you're up for a bit of rappelling."

"We can do it if we take all the climbing supplies. No problem, Captain." Poe took a few ascenders and pitons from his bag and clipped them to a rope stowed on his belt. "Edgar, that bag you've got is loaded with the rest of the rope. You still got that pick from earlier?"

"Yeah, on my vest. Good to go, Poe."

"Leave the rest here with Sherri so we aren't weighed down. Carter," Poe dropped his spare cargo against a rock and moved in a bit closer, "go with the Captain, but keep an eye on her. She can be a bit spastic sometimes."

"Aye, sir." Sable rolled her eyes as she caught her training coming out of her muzzle instead of Poe's proper name. "Captain, how do we proceed?"

"We'll need light. Maybe keep that rifle of yours in case of space bears." Cassie snagged a pair of candy bars from her gear and tossed one to Allan. "Channel 22 seemed to work well near the caves, so we'll take that."

"Got it, ma'am." Allan pulled her communications gear from her bag and set an antenna on a mossy patch. "What's the exit protocol, just in case?"

"Lander pickup right here if it comes to that. This side of the river is basically a dead end on land, so this is the only clearing of note." Cassie took a moment to size up the new Private before adding, "We do still have our lander, right? Or did we swap transports due to the rookie? The fleet had to find us for that, right?"

"The lander went back for refueling and repairs. We've got a new one--same model. The pilot is... a Chief Warrant Officer Morgan Copenhagen if memory serves. He went by the callsign Garand."

"Sounds like an interesting guy. Alright, relay the plan in case he needs to move out. We'll check back in half an hour. You know the drill after that." Cassie ripped open her candy bar and took a hearty bite out of it. "Come on, new girl. Carter, was it?"

"Private Sable Carter, yes ma'am."

"Sable? That's a bit on the nose, isn't it? Sounds like your parents were fun." The red panda wrapped her treat and shoved it into a pocket, noting the hints of brown along her webbed paws. "You're actually a sable, right? Not a pine marten or mongoose or something? I'd hate to get one of my kin wrong."

"Kin?" Sable slid down a sloped rock and spied her CO's fluffy, ringed tail. "Sables aren't related to red pandas or raccoons, are they ma'am?"

"Oh, right. I've got a lot in me. Hints of otter, I was aiming for. I'm mostly panda and--"

"Fox. I see why that nickname sticks now." Sable shut her muzzle and averted her gaze at the slip. "S-Sorry, ma'am. The others--"

"They have their fun. My friends before all of this called me a firefox too, so no worries." Cassie reached the tree line and braced herself against the first sturdy plant she could find. "You, uh... Ack... You mind if we keep things informal? They take the military thing seriously, but I'm not so pushy mys-self."

"Sure, um... The others have been going by short names away from base, so why not? 'Sable' is fine." The Private perked an eyebrow at the way Cassie stumbled for a bit, though she appeared to recover quickly enough. "Are you alright, ma'am?"

"Nothing I can't handle. Call me 'Cassie', too." She straightened up on cue, as if directly trying to cover her previous faltering. "I wasn't sitting on my tail while everyone was away. We're too close for a break, though. I'll be fine."

"But you don't have any gear... And were you really out here without a weapon? There's those snake things... mesmer snakes, Poe called them?"

"Yeah, the bad ones with the blue stripes. If they spit on you or bite you, they'll make you lose your damned mind, apparently. Might actually be fun in the right conditions." Cassie slowed as she found her bearings, a bit out of breath for such a short hike. "The cave is around here. I have a good feeling about what's inside. Care to lead the way, over there?"

"Uh... Yeah, the caves. Sure." Sable lifted her carbine upward and took the lead, her rifle slanting down to the fore once she was ahead. "So what's a hunch good for if you're unarmed, Cassie? We're scouting for danger, right?"

"I wasn't unarmed. I had my trusty knife on me--see?" Cassie pulled out a very technically crafted blade that looked like it was well cared for, aside from a large chip in the tip. "I shouldn't need anything more for our task. We're looking for some lost friends, not danger."

"Yeah, well I'd rather bring a rifle; space bears and all that. Are those even a thing? And could a knife even help with that sort of thing?"

"I was joking about the bears, hon. This knife though, it could do more damage than you'd first think. The previous owner cared for it well, and I make sure it stays in the same perfect condition." Cassie again faltered, hunching forward as they reached the cave. She reached into Sable's pack and produced a binary glow stick, cracking it on a rock as if that were her plan all along. "H-Here. Don't need to be st-tumbling into a hole or anything."

The Captain wasn't being totally honest, likely putting on a show for her rookie. Perhaps the conversation was her way out. Easing out a sigh, Sable reached forward and turned on the light at the end of her carbine. "Your knife there, it looks custom. I've never seen one like it before, and my dad collects the things."

"Yeah, well it's not for sale if that's your angle. This one has sentimental value. No, more like it's a token of a promise." Cassie tied the glow stick to the hilt loop of her knife so she could sheathe it and simultaneously stow her light in the open. "You get along with your father, I take it? Similar trade, even?"

"Yeah, seems to run in the family. We like gear and guns, and so does the military. After the whole Xor Conflict though, I'm not sure I'm looking for a fight. That's why I started with your team, Cassie." Sable lit up a shallow pathway and repositioned her rifle down another route. "Dead end. Are you sure this goes somewhere? It seems like a pretty shallow cave."

"Trust me, something's certainly down here." Cassie followed closely to light the footholds ahead, only she stumbled and clutched the back of her head before the pair walked too far. "Damnit. I'm fine, I swear. Just fighting back something heavy."

"If it's any help, the low gravity is screwing with my sinuses. I'm on the verge of a headache myself." Sable gave her commander time to recover, her light resting at her hindpaws to light the whole area dimly. She shook her head in disbelief as Cassie removed her jacket, revealing her bodysuit trailing beneath her low cut pants. "You're one of those low-weight nuts, I'm guessing?"

"Hm?" The firefox followed Sable's eyes to her crotch and hurriedly tied her jacket around her waist. "Right. Nah, not particularly--though going lean does help. I just don't like stuff touching my fur."

"Cool. Well at least we don't need to worry about you taking point, I guess." Sable lugged her carbine around and continued the trek. "If there's any gear we can share, let me know. We can split the load, ya' know?"

"Oh. Yeah, sure. That'd be a great help." Cassie smirked and scurried to keep pace. "You know, you're the first teammate to--"

"Captain? Please res___d. Over."

"I got ya', Sherri. You're breaking up a bit, so talk slowly." Cassie held still and tapped her jaw as she diverted her focus. "What's the sitrep?"

"Ma'am, our esco__ fleet has arrived in far or__t. The lead ship is hailing as... t__ Arch__? Over."

"The... The Archon! Sweet!" The red panda pumped a fist for herself, then focused her mind for a return message. "Sherri, send a message for me. 'I thought you forgot about me, Mr. Emperor. Maybe I'll just keep the gift I found if you don't come and claim it.' Got that?"

"Aye, Cap__in." A pause in the response brought a smirk to Cassie's muzzle. "_ure you want me to se_d that, ma'am? This is t__ Emperor we're talking ab_ut. Over."

"Oh, send it exactly as I said it. That otter needs to get his tail wiggling this way. I'll leave you to that, Sherri. Thanks."

"Affirm, wilco. Out."

"Right. I didn't expect Sem so soon. Let's get this done so I we can--" Cassie quirked her head at the disbelieving stare locked upon her. "What?"

"You... know the Emperor? How?"

"We're family, somehow. Hm... 'Cousins' fits best, I think? Our family tree is more like a grapevine." Cassie nudged her charge forward with a soft poke to her side. "Come on. Keep on task. Let's finish the mission."

"S-Sure. Uh, of course." Sable walked beside her leader, glancing at her bare neck every so often. "You, um... I thought you had a headset or a Sense maybe. How...?"

"The radio? Yeah, I don't carry one. I am my own radio." Cassie held up her paw and arced faint sparks of electricity over her clawtips. "Just a perk of the family, I guess."

"Wow. So you know magic? The most I can manage is starting fires and other small tasks with those crystals that started appearing."

"Oh, these?" Cassie held up her other arm, a faintly glowing band of untextured white looped around her wrist. "I'm told mine's a bit special, a 'conduit' or something. The 'vessel' crystals everyone else grows don't work for me." She shrugged off the idea with a light sigh and let Sable take the lead once more. "I can tap into magic, so that's not too bad. My dad says the fun with shocking things is also from something in my blood, though. I don't really care other than that it works."

"Your blood, eh? So the rumors that the royal family has magic in their veins holds some weight after all." The carbine dipped as Sable mantled over a rock ledge. "I won't hold it against you. You're actually pretty fun, and way better than my training CO."

"Well don't let--"

"Hm?" Sable scrambled back to her hindpaws and turned around to light the odd surface, only the person she aimed to help had disappeared into little more than a trailing echo. "Cassie?" She pointed her weapon light along the tight corridor and still found naught but stone. "Captain? What the... fuck?" Sable tapped her Sense on the back of her neck to wake it, a communications interface overlaying atop her vision. "Captain? Where'd you go?"

"Carter? What did y__ do with ___ _aptain? Confirm."

"Allan, hey. Aye, I pick you up, but the signal sucks." The carbine in Sable's paws darted around much further than her Captain could have moved in such a short instant. "Shit. Can you track the Captain, Allan? Is she wearing a beacon? Over."

"I c_n't make out _alf of what you're say___, __rter. You n__d to get to __gher g__und so--"

"Allan? Allan, how copy?" Sable's interface flickered for a bit, then channel 22 faded off the list of valid frequencies. "Fuck. ~Fuck~!

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A voice out in the distance.

The whistle of a signal on the waves.

A lifetime in an instant.

Flowers bloom upon untended graves.

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The spinning of the engines.

The clatter of the wheels upon the tracks.

A twist in all the endings.

The price to pay for seeing through the cracks.

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The Archon, Flagship of the Sintering Fleet

High Orbit, Planet Sidele (Zu-7), Zuun System

10:44, 19/2/1, 26 XP

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"Well you look like you're having a fun afternoon." Erin smiled as she walked up to Dani, wanting to greet her properly but knowing hugs weren't on the menu. "Been a while, Dani. We're finally here, though."

"You weren't due for another few weeks, but I'll take anything to break up the boredom. How've you been, Erin? Tinkerin' with yer toys?"

"As always. I come bearing gifts, actually." Erin dropped a heavy pack behind her and rummaged around inside. "Is Sem alright? He in there?"

Dani looked to the sliding doors she guarded and nodded with a low groan. "I wouldn't bother him just yet, lass. He's playing with the wifey." She noted a new face--an otter bearing similar features to her charge--and stepped in front of the door. "You know this bloke?"

"You mean Uncle Void? Yeah, he's cool. He's actually my ride."

"Yo." Vydr slowed to a stop near the bag and held it rigid for Erin to peruse freely. "I'm Vydr. You my nephew's personal guard I hear so much about?"

"Dani, aye." The meerkat tried to step back as Erin presented something, her back clacking against the doors. "Oi, watch it. What's this now, Erin?"

"Your gift. I tried to think of something you might actually use, but I'm not that good at making sharp things." Erin tapped her long tail against Void's in appreciation as her paws traced a set of features on the strap-like device. "Instead I made something to hold the sharp things. Press these and it grabs objects, then these buttons to release them."

"Actually, this... is quite good. It's magnetic? I have a few steel cored knives."

"Actually, it uses 'softlight' to function. It's a modified hardlight emitter that gently wraps items. If you pull hard enough you can overcome the softlight fields, too." Erin took a step back, soaking in the mostly emotionless results. A smile quickly stretched over her muzzle as the band moved down to affix around Dani's thigh. "I hope it does you some good."

"Does that mean she likes it?" Void leaned down to get a closer look at the holster, instead receiving a whack to his ears. "Ah, sorry! I need to remember how to act around a lady."

"What, you been living in a cave or something?"

"Eh... I've been off the grid, yeah. Parts of my chosen line of work don't mesh with society, so to say. I am working on a viable--" The otter adjusted his hair as he backed himself behind Erin, his one arm melting and attempting to retaliate on its own. "Mime, stop that. I deserved it for once."

"Buggah! Ya go'ta fok'n mimic on ya!?"

Erin stepped to her side to shield the mimic from view. "Mime's on our side, Dani. He's sort of... eh, a little help here?"

"I'd say 'ambassador', but he's more like an observer at the moment. Mime's giving other lifeforms a cooperative test run for his people." Void took another good step back and rubbed his symbiotic arm. "He's a bit protective of me and my 'droid, Kino. Just fair warning."

"And I'm keen on stabbin' things before they stab me, mate. Just fair warning." The door suddenly popped open and a floating dress stormed out and down the hallway. "Eh... Sem? You okay in there, mate?"

"No, but I will be if I can clear my mind for a bit. Speaking of which, you need to calm down yourself--What happened to our temper exercises?"

"I... Aye, I'll work on it. By bad, Sem."

"It's just who you are. No need to apologize for that, Dani." Tesem felt his way out the doorway and sighed as he focused on the immensely hard mental connection to his wife. "Flux stormed out and forgot these. Think you can have someone check on her wardrobe?"

"Ahem." Dani reached out with a blade and lifted a pair of lace panties with the tip, tossing the torn and useless garment back into the room with a flick. "I'll notify her maids. In the meantime, you have guests..."

"I have..." Sem flushed his mind and focused on his surroundings, smiling when he found several familiar mental patterns. "Erin! You're here earlier than expected!"

"I may have upgraded a few dive engines along the way. Come here, silly." Erin lunged forward to give her friend a hearty hug. "I've been wanting to do that for the whole two months, Hunter"

"Ick. I forgot it's been that long. Six weeks flies when you're planning projects the whole time, I guess." Sem rubbed his friend's back for a short moment, then returned to his royal posture dressed in a fancier, silkier form of tribal sirat that brushed the floor grating. "I bet my left arm you've got goodies after that much travel time. Any sneak peeks?"

"Nothing like a powerbike. I was going to wait until we found a good vantage on some planet, but--"

Tesem reached out and gently held Erin's paw in her gift bag. "Then I'll wait. I'd rather not spoil your fun, Candy Cane."

"Oh... Thank you, Hunter. You'll love it, I promise." Erin smiled with a new giddiness, sharing that grin with her 'ride'. "Void, think you can manage another person? I'm sure our great emperor here is going stir crazy even with the largest ship in the fleet."

"I might need to hop back and forth to make sure we don't ruin someone's day, but I can manage it."

Sem caught gazes with Dani, a very strong sense of longing or jealousy welling in her. "Can't go anywhere without my bodyguard. She could use some new sights anyway. Right?"

"Thank heavens for that." Dani relaxed from her guard position and stretched her back and tail. "I'm not built for staying confined in a dimly lit tube. Besides, I'm a wee hint curious how this guy's gimmick works--you know, in case I have to defend against it someday."

"That's a tall order, love. Gimme a moment to try it out, yeah?" Void quirked his head for a moment, then blinked out of the area. About five seconds later he blinked back, bringing along a large, geared assembly that clacked on the floor. "Alright, I think I can make that work. This weighs more than all of us."

Erin gave Void a whack on his shoulder. "That's part of your reactor cooling system, you dufus! Put it back before you damage the poor guy!"

"Oh, right. I just grabbed something laying around." He took a second to blink back and forth to check his locations, then sent the cooling pump back by itself. "Sorry about that, Little E. I know you've grown fond of Hermes."

"She's always talked to her toys, that's for certain." Sem nudged the young mechanic in her side and beamed her a smile. "What? I think it's cute."

Erin flushed bright pink across her face, habitually ducking her muzzle down and away even though her friend was unable to see the change. "D-Dummy. Let's, um... Let's get going. Do you know where Carbon is located?"

"Carbon made it? Cid, too?"

"Yeah, they're hoping to catch up with their girls." Vydr held up his holographic watch and queried, "Pris, you or Kino happen to know where Carbon's at?"

The former construct created a hologram of herself in the otter's palm. "Carbon and Sydney are relaxing in my fore cargo bay, section nine."

"Perfect. Cheers, Pris." Void blinked back and forth, nodding as he processed the fraction of a second worth of imagery. "That's where Kelly is parked. We're peachy if you're ready."

Dani somewhat energetically stepped forward, a slight wag to her tail betraying what remained of her tough demeanor. "Let's do this, mate."

Sem held out a paw assuming touch was necessary. "It's my first time. Be gentle with me?"

"Ha! Glad to see the royal life hasn't drowned your sense of humor, kiddo." Void took a deep breath, held it a moment, then slowly grunted it out his nose. Midway through exhaling he snapped his fingers and the whole group blinked into the cargo hold of the Starbreeze. "Everyone got all their bits? Good? Yeah, slice o' fried gold, that blink."

Tesem lowered his paw as he located plentiful, overlapping camera views to utilize. "Please tell me you've never actually forgotten someone's parts before."

"Nah, just takin' the piss there. You're good, mate."

Dani noticed she was in a different position relative to the others, then looked down at a dotted line bounding off the teleportation zone. "Sometimes you just need to risk yourself to learn something useful. I take it you need safe spots to do that little trick?"

"Well I'd hate to appear inside a person. You don't want to see what happens when something's in the way, love."

"I do, actually. It might come into play one day."

Void tapped his teeth together nervously. "I can't risk it on the ship. Find me an open space on a planet and it might be in the cards."

"Deal."

"Next stop's probably to meet Cassie on some world she found. The message she sent back sounded positive, too." Sem looked around himself, getting his bearings. "By chance, can you teleport people to the surface of a planet?"

"My blink isn't easy over long distances. I could do it but accuracy suffers, and once you see what happens when I miss you'll understand why I won't try that range with anything living." Void held a paw to his chin and rolled his eyes about. "I've heard my sisters could pull it off with their portals, but they're not the same as they once were. I could ask if you'd like."

"Your sisters? Chelle and Mik are here with you?"

Erin lifted her bag and headed over to Kelly ahead of the others. "They're a little behind us on the Hermes. They've still got a few more hours until their oxy banks are recharged enough to dive." Erin pulled a small, leather-bound case from her bag as she approached her favorite golem. "They're a lot of fun, though it's sad Michelle has her episodes. I learned a lot from them, too."

"You? Learning from someone else? That's rare these days." Sem caught up with the ottkat and rested his paw on her shoulder, partly for his own reference and partly to read her better. "You had a productive time, I take it. I'm sensing you invented something important or useful."

"I learned a lot about gravity generators from them. Did you know the twins invented gravity well tech? They never claimed credit, either!"

"The way I hear it, those two never wanted fame or wealth. They wanted everyone to be happier." Sem slumped a little as he remembered the stories of Chelle on her own. "Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony."

"Sem..." Dani slowly crept forward, her shoulders rolled forward and her tail now trying to hide between her legs. "Could we, uh...?"

"Right. My bad, Dani. Let's not dwell on such sadness." Tesem nodded slowly for his guardian, then tapped the case in Erin's paws. "What's this, Cupcake?"

"I'm just any sugary treat to you, aren't I?"

Dani huffed a sigh and rejoined the group. "Oi, what's with the nicknames anyway? Cotton Candy and Hunter--all that shite."

"I like that one! Cotton Candy..."

"Oh, Spirits. You've given him another one." Erin shrugged it off and tapped the case to her pink and blue stripes. "I apparently look like candy to him. He lets me use his English name in return. What's he call you, Dani? Everyone gets a name from him."

"I've noticed. I've also let him know he calls me Dani unless he wants a second arsehole. Seems to be working so far."

"She gets a pass and I don't? Maybe I should just hold onto your gift--eh, Hunter?"

Sem slipped into a sly grin and smothered his friend with it. "Would you please--with sugar on top--show me what's in that box, Erin dearest?"

"...I'd rather Cupcake than that shiver-inducing nightmare, thank you very much. And this isn't for you to open, silly." Erin rasped her paw on the ceramic hull of the golem. "Gramps? Gran? You two in there? It's your favorite grandotter..."

The golem's hull vibrated, acting as a speaker for Carbon's voice. "You're our only grandotter. Just... give us a minute, please."

"I've waited months to see you guys and you're gonna make me wait more? I don't think so, Gramps." Erin placed her paw on the hull and whispered, "Remember me, big girl? Care to open up for mommy?"

"M... Mom...my?"

"What has Gramps done to you? You can barely..." Erin stiffened herself as she noticed the others confused by that very audible response. "Wait, did you just actually talk, Kelly?"

"Affirmative." The hull resonated with a distinctly synthetic, feminine voice. "I'm confused by this descriptor, however. Could you explain who this 'mommy' is and why she is mine? My only possessions are ammunition and fuel."

"Holy crap..."

"Manners, Erin." The cockpit split open and revealed Sydney correcting her hair. The moment she locked eyes on her stunned granddaughter however, she beamed a pearly smile and hopped out of the golem for a hug. "I've missed you so, so much! And you don't smell like oil for once! Is that perfume?"

"It's... not really..."

Sydney glanced at Sem and shot a knowing look back to her granddaughter. "Maybe I'm imagining things. You look great though, little one. I see you've been eating healthier like I've told you."

"Well I'm not crunching for school as much, so..." Erin looked down at Sydney's blouse and quirked an eyebrow at the mismatch of buttons... Tesem using her eyes to simultaneously fail at holding back a laugh. "Did we... come at a bad time?"

"Or maybe Cid did. Heeee." The emperott chirped gleefully, trying his best to settle down as both Erin and Sydney lit up with hefty rushes of blood to their cheeks. "Carbon, it's okay. We're all family here."

Dani grumbled a bit. "Ahem."

Sem slightly shook his head for Dani. "We're all family, so no harm done. See? Grandma Cathy even initiated me into the tribe before we left."

"I heard, and I'm sorry I wasn't there for it. You're wearing your sirat right now? Let me get a look..." Carbon climbed out of the cockpit, his shirt haphazardly tucked into his pants. "Oh, wow. It really is something fit for a king, isn't it? You look good in our tribe's red, Sem."

"As if you could tell red from black right now, honey. You left your treated goggles in here." Evelyn swung out of the golem and floated silently to her silver-gray hindpaws. "You are quite handsome all the same, young man."

Sem made a slight bow for the ethereal jackal. "Thank you, Evelyn. You're as fetching as ever yourself."

"This coming from the blind one." Carbon took his goggles from Eve and wedged them over his face, taking his time so he didn't disturb the seal on his gas mask. "That's better. Oh, the red's a bit darker?"

"More reflective, really. In the right light it's quite brilliant." Eve dipped her head a bit for the young emperor before adjusting an air tube for her mate. "I take it we've rejoined the fleet? Or did you come by shuttle, Tesem?"

"I'm not actually sure how to describe the way we arrived."

Eve took a better look around and found Void amongst the party, a knowing nod rocking her head. "Ah, the instant route. Considering his range with that skill I'd guess we reached our rendezvous after all."

"Not quite. We had to make a correction to our courses because the orbits of this system aren't mapped too accurately." Sem darted his eyes about mindlessly as he shifted his focus a bit more toward reading the ship's telemetry data. "We should reach planet Sidele in a tad over two hours. I figure that gives us a little time to get reacquainted with each other."

"I'm down for that. Been a while since I've seen you guys and it might be--" Void groaned and tapped his temple, activating a communications shortcut in his attached Sense node. "Yeah, Kino? I thought I set myself as away."

"You said not to bother you unless it was something important. I think this qualifies, Captain."

"Aye, it best be. You're eating into me family time, love." Void waved to the others as he found a quiet spot nearby. "I'll be back, guys. Carry on, yeah?"

"No problem, cousin." Tesem nudged his best friend with his hip. "Probably as good a time as ever, Candy Cane..."

"Oh..." Erin bristled the fur of her midsection that was touched and considered rolling up her coveralls as a hint of warmth reached her face. She shook off her fluttering nerves and reached out to prevent Carbon from donning his goggles after another adjustment. "Gramps, wait. I have something you might want to try--a bit of a gift, actually. Here:"

"Oh?" Carbon accepted the small case and examined it carefully. "Ah, that kind of gift. It's not going to make me glow, is it?"

"Love, you already glow." Sydney tried to get a better look, but a similar case was additionally handed to her. "For me as well? Thank you, Erin. Such a thoughtful girl."

"Heh. I think she's calling us old, dear." Carbon reached into his case and retrieved a set of thick-brimmed, metallic glasses. "I'm guessing these are made for my expanded visual range. Sadly... I can't fit glasses inside my gas mask, sweetie."

"Well then don't wear the mask." Erin frowned at a detail, tapping the solid top frame over the snout ridge until a green light blinked through the surface. "That's it, little guy... Eh... Do you trust my work?"

"Always. You're a genius, sweetie." The hybrid took a deep breath, removed his facemask, and placed the glasses on his snout. He negotiated a few paw gestures with his granddaughter to verify it was safe to breathe, then exhaled and carefully drew in fresh air. "Hah... Uh... Hey, this works. What is this? Did you find a new way to use those new magic gems?"

"Nope. I just came across a way to make barriers," Erin poked a finger below Carbon's glasses and onto his cheek, "where we can selectively choose what mass is held back and what isn't. That means--"

Sydney noticed the faintest of visible interactions in Erin's finger, more like a shimmer and tousling of her fur than some type of forcefield. "Well that could open up a few possibilities..."

"This was the first thing I wanted to try with my softlight barriers. Oh, but just be careful." Erin reached for her grandpa's air tube and tugged it loose, then whipped out a zip-tie from her pocket to fasten it to a stem of the glasses. "You still need to provide fresh air. This just... makes it less isolating, I think."

"That's amazingly considerate of you, dear. I'm sure we'll both make--" Cid opened her own case and went wide-eyed. "The bloody hell is this? How do I wear this, Erin?"

The pink and blue tinkerer rolled her eyes and pulled her grandmother's much less refined glasses from her case. "I ran out of good titanium making the second set. These should work a little better even if they look like hell. I wanted to finish Gramps' set though because he needed those aluminum lenses..."

"It's..." Cid donned her skeletal, exposed-circuit glasses and took a calming breath. "I love the field of view. They're great, Erin."

"It isn't like I only thought of Gramps, Granny." Erin reached over and tapped the side of the hinge, causing the clear lenses to cycle yellow. Another tap shifted them bronze, then another to a dark gray. "I added a bunch of filters to yours because I know you like your shades..."

"Okay, these just got a lot cooler." Sydney played with the seven additional filters before cycling back to the clear mode. "You're brilliant, Erin. Mind if I take them for a test drive before you finish them?"

"I have to find some more titanium scrap anyway. That's a little hard when it's the most important metal on a ship." Erin long-tapped the hinge and a ring of filters appeared around Sydney's vision. "When I add Sense support you might not need this, but you can adjust settings by looking and tapping again for selections. Same goes for you, Gramps."

"Mine has settings too?" Carbon gave it a try and found various visual bracketing options. "Ah, neat. This reminds me of when Eve used to limit my vision for me. It really brings me back..."

"As much as I enjoy being independent, I do miss the closeness of sharing one head." Eve adjusted the fit of her mate's frames and smiled. "I wish I could go back to being your veile on demand, Carbon. This is nice too, though."

Carbon put the new specs to the test and surprised Evelyn with a quick kiss. "And so is being able to cuddle without the clunky mask or a special room. Hee."

"Alright, you three. I think you've had enough of that for now." Tesem grinned and gave Erin another, approving nudge. "I can't wait to see my own gift now. You're really dealing out the smiles today, Candy Cane."

"I just... um... had some extra... uh..." Erin finally curled up into her overalls as her face flooded pink. She fidgeted with her bag and wrung her paws, at least until flashing caution lights garnered enough attention to bury her embarrassment. "Hey, what's that? Lights but no siren?"

"Hold on, Kino." Vydr waved a paw over his vision to minimize his call, then pulled up his captain's console for more information. "It's not an issue or a drill. The Starbreeze is tip-top."

Sem concentrated but couldn't find a nearby terminal with both wireless access and the right level of clearance for a diagnostic. "Just to be safe, let's move this out of the giant airlock you call a storage bay. If I can find a good enough terminal, maybe I can--"

The in-wall speakers crackled to life. "Oops. That's not the--Wait, I'm on intercom now though, Art."

"Is that Ashe?" Eve perked her ears, the jackal showing her height difference to her mates as she stood tall. "Where did she come from? I would have loved to chat on the journey."

"Ah, she's on the Hermes. I figured the lass would have wanted to stay on the down-low, so..." Void groaned as he heard a series of pops and digital masking on the audio channel. "Damnit, brother. I told you not to break my ships."

"He's actually not to blame for the technical difficulties. My new frame's hardware is having heat dissipation issues at the moment. I might need to consider Model 827-? a failure..." Ashe paused for a moment with the line still hissing and active. "...Careful, dear. Be gentle with my body..."

A chill ran down Sem's back and tail as he mistook the words and tone for something other than Ashe's instruction manual. "Spirits, those two..."

A distinctly male--if muffled--voice barked out at far more volume than his microphone could record. "Hey, why can't I hear anything? Am I live?"

"Art, just listen through me. And yes, they can hear you. I'm pretty sure they can hear your thoughts with how much amperage you're pumping through my voice synthi-i-i-i-i--"

"Damnit, that's my fault. She's locking up." The static and distortion rapidly overtook the voices on the line. "Void, a little help? We're in the Bridge."

"If it keeps that bucket of frayed wires from playing with my systems? Ugh, I'll be back." Vydr blinked himself out of the Storage Bay, then a pawful of seconds later he returned with Artemis. "She's not hurt, is she?"

"She doesn't inhabit her prototypes, no. She'd risk her very being that way. They're more like... puppets on wireless strings, if that makes sense." The panthott fumbled with a borrowed Slate, his unsteady paws hinting at desperation uncommon to the war hero. "Guys, I need your help. My little girl is in trouble and I--"

Artemis and Dani met eyes, the pair immediately freezing into silence perhaps by habit alone. "...Cassie needs help?"

"You..." Arty bit the corner of his lower lip and fought to keep focus. He held up the Slate and played a message. "Just listen. I could barely pick this up myself, so I doubt the ships can hear it yet."

"Poe... s_rvey tr__ to..." The Slate took a bit of a whack as if it would help, the message simply garbled due to stellar interference. "...went to check _ut a ca__. The new r__ruit went with _er but they b___ __ven't returned. Re___sting a lar_er deploym___ of troops to--"

"Something's gone wrong. My Cassandra is supposed to be on that planet, right? Right?"

"Calm down, uncle. Cass is trained to handle herself and she's quite capable." Tesem held his chin as he scoured the fleet's various databanks for clues. "This is the first we've heard back from her squad since our check-in a while ago. Why isn't this message going through though?"

"Fuck it. I'm just going--"

"Uncle, hold tight." The Emperor looked up to Arty as he devised a change of plans. "The Starbreeze is the fastest we've got right now. Uncle Void, can you help bring a search party over here?"

"Sure. I'm getting a bit dizzy, but I can handle a smaller group."

"Good. Do what you can and we'll pick up the slack ourselves. We even have this golem if need be." Tesem stood up straight as he hardened his resolve for his new plan. "We'll load up and then go full burn, liquid fuel as well if needed. Let's get Cass somewhere safe."

---

---

I want to breathe the open air.

I want to see the world out there /

And run /

To leave the tunnels of the mind.

---

I want to breathe the open air /

To shed the mask I've had to wear /

And run /

To leave the depths and dark behind /

Free, unconfined.

---

---

[Orbital Positioning Error] 73 - No Uplink Found

[Squad Beacon Error] 73 - No Uplink Found

[Chronograph Error] 25 - Time Sync Server Is Down

---

"Nope. You can't just keep her under lock and key." Some sort of hybrid mammal with a thick tail, pink fur, and odd antlers struggled to evade a similar, blue-accented lady in military garb. "She might be hurt. She probably isn't an enemy, Lea."

"Well she's not one of yours, that's for sure." The antlerless ottkat tapped the business end of a submachinegun to the cap on her head. "No horns, no chances. You know procedure, sis."

"Does she look like a threat to you? Move your cute bum out the way, sis." Lea raised her arms as the pink one passed, the two sharing a knowing chuckle. "Besides, she could have taken you out while your guard was down anyway. See?"

"Bleeding hell--" That rifle suddenly trained on Cassandra, the red panda holding her paws up to her shoulders. "Don't move a twitch, girl."

"Eh... he he..." Cassie slid back into a rock with an unsure smile along her muzzle. "I'm guessing I passed out for a while? Let me wager: Exactly thirteen minutes and twenty seconds ago?"

Lea checked a watch on her inner wrist, then corrected her aim to Cassie's chest. "That sounds about right. So what?"

"Dependable thirteen and a third... Well it's a bit of a ritual when I don't do my thing quite right. I thought I had that one, too." Cassie hissed and twitched as her midsection lit up with pins and needles. "Ah! Damnit!"

"Are you injured? I didn't see anything abnormal." The pink ottkat moved closer, holding her motions when Cassie flinched and scrambled away. "It's okay. Lea, put that thing down and lend me a paw."

"Wait, no! D-Don't!" The panda held up a paw to keep at a distance, a crackle of electricity arcing between her webbed fingers. "I just need a second. I lost my concentration in that divide and... ugh..."

"You're in a lot of pain. I can feel it too, love." The pink one took a to a knee and offered a paw for whenever Cassie wanted to take it. "My name's Cait. What's yours?"

"Oi, honey..."

"Lea, I've got this. You protect, I heal. She needs care, not a lead injection."

"I don't need--" That pain began slowly overtaking the panda, forcing her to focus inward. That slight spark in her paw dissipated as she controlled the charge in her nerves, a small discharge into a nearby plant grounding her mental control as well. "I'm okay. It's just harder to think in here."

"That's quite the fortitude you have there, little one." Cait grinned and dropped her paw, her guest no longer desiring her aid. That's when she noticed a diffuse white ring adorning the panda's ankle, matching one on her wrist. "Well I'll be damned. Cassie? That's you, isn't it love?"

"Yeah, but that's not hard to..." Cassie reached for her name patch on her breast as she calmed her breathing, finding the lack of the item even more confusing. "We've met before? I know you're family from the mission briefing, but I don't remember ever seeing your guys before."

"I thought so! Lea, she's Baby Cassie. Look how she's grown!"

"This? But she's military." Leannan hiked her weapon upward, tugged an adjustment belt on the sling, and rotated it behind her back. "Didn't Cass have that condition?"

"Yeah, I hurt everywhere. It's even worse in this place, too. Didn't stop me from looking for the two of you, though."

"That might have something in common with the reason we're stuck. I can't nullify my warding spell." Caitlyn slowly stood, then reached a paw upward and a nearby tree drooped and produced a pear. "It's thankfully not stopping my other spells, else we'd have starved long ago. Care for a treat?"

"No, I'm..." Cassie watched as the Druid chomped into the soft fruit, the juice dripping down her chin eliciting a different kind of pain betwixt her legs. "...good, thanks. So you've been here this whole time?" She clenched her thighs and surveyed the area, finding this section of the cave lush with plant life not normally found below ground. Held on a pedestal of thick vines sat a radio stack, the battery long since drained. "Ah. Couldn't get a signal out?"

"Oh, that silly thing? No, we didn't send one." Lea crouched beside her sister and gave her a tail-to-tail hug. "No, Cait thought it was best to quarantine the area until we figured things out. It ended up turning into a holiday with my mate, so no complaints either way."

"Well I didn't plan this. The locals needed help repairing an issue poisoning their planet and we came to help. It's been months and we haven't figured out a thing, I'm afraid." Cait wiped her muzzle with her arm, her nose tingling with a new scent once the fruit juice was cleared. "Oh, wonderful. Seems I've made at least one discovery, hee..."

"I know that chirp. Blood in the water?"

"What?"

Cait rolled her eyes at the imagery and softened her voice. "My kind know the ways of nature, dear. We can tell when a girl is in season." She offered that paw again, this time taken. "Come. Let's see if we can't solve that problem. Lea, dear? Are--?"

"Am I still packing meat? Aye." Lea stood and reached for her pants, turning down her fly. "We taking this to the bed?"

"What? N-No..." As soon as Cassie was back on her two hindpaws she began backing away. "I don't need your help with th-that!"

"Ah, damn. Well now I'm in the mood, too." Lea looked over to the bed and then back to her mate. "Well since we're still stuck here, care to join me instead, love?"

"Gladly. Let me care for my patient first?"

"You do you. I'll go start at the same."

Cait chuffed and shook her head. "You know how frank my Lea can be. Oh, dear. I forgot," she corrected as she gave the panda a fresh examination, "the last time I saw you, your father had barely gotten you out of diapers. You honestly don't know a thing about your aunts, do you?"

"I don't, sad to say. I haven't gotten to know much of the family, actually."

"And yet you came looking to save us? Such a kind heart, much like your father. And quite the looker, too. You look the mirror image of your mother, you know." Caitlyn took a deep breath once she read not only the girl's mood but also her vitals through her magic. "Come. I'll sate your heat with a spell, even if it's not my preferred method. You sure you don't want a baby in you?"

"Please, no." Cassie checked around the area, finally realizing the whole section of cave was lit by bioluminescent fungus. She glanced over to a mossy area and immediately looked away, Leannan laying back upon it with her pants down. "Uh, yeah... So how does this work? I didn't even know I was in heat right now."

"I sort of have an effect on people. Might have been an accident on my part. Just relax and I'll take care of the rest, dear." Cait reached a paw forward and hovered it over the panda's belly, a faint green glow resonating in the area between. "See? I don't even need to touch, love."

"That does feel... better. Warm, but better." Cassie continued scanning the overgrown area for a while more, finally ending with a muttered, "I guess not..."

"What's that, dear?"

"Oh, um... I was just wondering if this place was different than outside."

"Not particularly, though the magnetic stuff that was harming the Oel is probably stronger. We determined it was centered on that wreckage." Cait nosed over to a hint of wreckage jutting out from a far nook broken into the cave wall. "Lea tracked down the emissions to here, but after lots of tests we don't think the crash had anything to do with it. Just a coincidence, maybe."

"Seriously? I'd call that pretty suspect."

"There's nothing special about the ship, though. It's a small shuttle, no tools or fixtures." The druid eased her paw back with a smile. "All done. You should be good for another half a year or so, dear. Well, unless you come across me and my mate about to shag again. Hee."

"Good to know." Cassie slowly walked toward the wreckage, only the tail section barely visible from the rock. With every step came a wave of relief, the pain that defined her easing with proximity to her new target. "There's nothing odd about this thing? It's just been inert?"

"Just a regular hunk of junk. Even the black box was toast. Whole thing's buggered good." Lea sat up in the grown bed, fixing her pants as her own priorities shifted. "Why? You see something we missed?"

"Not missed. Something you can't sense, maybe..." Cassie took a few more paces and touched her paw to the cold metal fuselage, her oversensitivity and pain completely ceasing upon contact. Bingo. But why is this affecting the warding magic? The panda reached for her knife, finding only the scabbard. "Where did you put my weapons? I need my knife to, uh... to pry something."

"Here, use mine." Lea hopped to her hindpaws and pulled a utility blade from her belt. "It's made for that sort of thing and yours looked broken."

Cass took the blade slowly, noting it was rather dull and more of a tool than a weapon. She still isn't letting her guard down. She noticed her unique blade strapped into an ammunition pouch on Lea's back. "Well I think I need to strip a few wires, too. Gonna see if I can use the hull as an antenna."

"The hook on the base is a stripper."

Still not trusting me? Damn. Cassie rolled her eyes and groaned. "Fuck it." She reached for her blade, Lea one move ahead and grasping her arm as she grabbed the tang. "Just trust me, damnit! I need it!"

"Not when it involves my sister. Sorry." The ottkat struggled and tried to flip that arm around. "I won't retaliate or anything. Just ease off, lass--"

Cassie lunged forward, slicing her fingertip on the blade. By the next time Lea and Cait blinked both the red panda and her weapon had vanished into thin air. Lea stumbled as her balance reset, her training and instincts telling her to lift her own knife defensively.

Lea turned about rapidly, baffled but still on guard. "Where's she gone!?"

"I don't sense her within my ward." Cait calmly walked over to her sister and placed a paw on her waist. "I have a feeling she's still with us, though. Notice that bracelet of hers?" She smirked as she raised her paw up, a hint of blood slowly crystalizing into a similar white substance. "Better start gathering our things, love."

---

---

The changing of the seasons.

The colours of the vast and endless sky.

The scorching and the freezing.

The comfort of a soothing lullaby.

---

---

]Ptnoys; {pdoyopmomh Rttpt &# ? Mp I[;oml Gpimf

]Dwisdf Nrsvpnm Rttpt &# ? Mp I[;omk Gpimf

]Vjtpmphts[j Rttpt @% ? Yomr Domv Drtbrt Od Fpem

---

"Ah, damnit!" Cassandra gripped her finger with her other paw, the first still holding onto the knife. "At least I didn't take off the tip."

"Regrowing a claw does itch like hell." Amidst the foggy, faded version of the cave center, a living shadow approached to inspect the damage. "That's not too bad. Just remember not to drop the knife again unless you need another nap."

"Well I didn't expect to slip on a rock before. I've got control this time, Mr. T." Cassie swapped the knife to her uninjured paw and crammed the other into her unitard as a temporary bandage. "So can I guess you were watching last time? I didn't see you."

"I had to watch from over here when you went through the last divide. That one wasn't the same as the ones we normally meet inside."

"Yeah, it was made with magic. Guess that's another thing I need to learn to keep alive in these divides. Daddy uses magic, so it might be possible for me too." Cassie focused on the desaturated area around her, a task made much easier now that her nerves settled to nominal levels and even her finger felt soothed by comparison to her normal state. She easily found the crashed shuttle, color not yet drained from a console inside as well as dozens of barely noticeable, ethereal tendrils of color. "Looks like I found the source. How long's it been lit up for you?"

"About a minute or so. I haven't had time to investigate."

"Well let's see what we can do about this one. I was having fun exploring this planet. It's a nice place to run in the open for once." The red panda grabbed the hull and leaned inside, flinching in pain as she crossed a bunch of ghastly tendrils. "Any clue what these are leading to? I'm not well versed in ship design."

"Neither am I. Space travel wasn't really big in my time." The shadow man phased through the hull and crouched by the only colorful components in this drab reality. "This is pretty well protected. A computer maybe?"

"Since it sounded suspicious, let's assume that's the black box. Not sure we're getting more than that from this scene." Cassie slid out of the wreckage and began following the tendril trails that spread in all directions from the black box. "Most of these connections are headed upward. Any other clues, detective?"

"Well since I'm out of my element, let's try an abstract." The figure bled through the wreckage again and reformed beside the panda. "Why would a ship's black box turn into an Object of Power?"

"Underground of all places? I'm not sure. To serve its crew?" Cass bent over to check beneath the ship and took a deep breath. "But where's the crew? There's no bodies."

"Now that you mention it, that is an odd point. I'd guess they had a way to escape."

"If they even existed. This could have been an autonomous drone. Considering this planet isn't in our charts, I'd say it might be a long range scout ship that never got to check in. She's definitely not Oel tech."

"Now there's a thread to unravel."

"You think so? Hm." Cassie looked further out into the haze of the divide and noted a tendril leading to the edge of the central cave area and then disappearing. "This thing locked down the ward around it. Maybe that's related? There's got to be a ritual to all of this."

"True. The barrier was erected and the black box must want to stay protected by it." The shadow moved away a bit, fading along with the divide. "Even so, only some of the connections lead there. This OoP has more than one ritual, I'd say."

"We know one is to protect itself, hence the warding spell lockdown. The others lead too far off to see from here. Damnit." Cassie lifted her knife and brought it to one of the longer range tendrils. "I think we're just gonna need to start cutting wires on this bomb."

"Just don't upset it or you'll be cutting yourself again in 13 minutes."

"Hopefully there's enough of these connections that just one won't anger the object. Fingers crossed?" Cass passed the blade through the tendril, the point of contact severing and turning visibly white. As the connection broke and became readily visible even beyond the fog, it shifted far away from a tethered line into a shape resembling one of the many floating islands above the planet. That island then began to fade from view as it sank downward. "So this is what's causing the floating rocks? We guessed they were being held up magnetically but couldn't explain what could power such a massive force. It makes sense if it's not following normal physics."

"So the planet is being torn apart by the other connections? I can't see the surface from here."

"It's actually very peaceful. There's floating rocks large and stable enough that the Oel have colonized them. Makes sense for an avian race. Not so much for... terrestrials..." Cassandra smirked as she put all the pieces together. "I've got it. It's not just an Object of Power, but also a Place of Power. The black box wants to protect itself until it's found, and the crash site wants to remain unburied, as if the ship were still spaceborne."

"That's a sensible hunch. I'll back that hypothesis as well." The shadow figure returned to Cassie's side, smiled, and pet atop her head. "Good job, slick. So, what now?"

"We need to get my aunts out of here, so the ward needs to go. I'd be afraid of the black box hitting back with a worse ritual if we leave it, though." The red panda lifted her blade and verified which connection tendrils went to the barrier. "We'll bring the black box home and see if that sates it. The ship though... We need to leave that, or else we'll ruin untold Oel homes. I hope that one we cut wasn't populated..."

"Another mystery solved."

Cassie cut two more connections, the warding barrier partially lighting up in the distance. "One more. Thanks, Mr. T. This one was interesting." She put the knife edge against the tendril and smiled for the shadow. "Until next time, detective?"

"Always a pleasure. And as always, could you--?"

"I'll check on her, yeah."

"And don't--"

"I won't tell them. On my honor." Cassie severed the last connection, the divide fading out of consciousness slowly once her work was done. "looks like we chose wisely."

"You're getting better at this. Soon you won't even need my help. Your journey is going well, kid." The shadow figure in contrast brightened up, revealing more of his former self as the shadows fizzled away. "I sense she's near... Give my love to my daughter, please."

"I'll hug her for you." Cassandra nodded and waved for the old man as she phased back to normal reality. "Take care, Tristan."

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And the future's a railroad stretching endlessly;

All our hopes keep rolling on the track.

As the shadows of home become a memory /

They will haunt us but they can't pull us back.

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