I head out in the afternoon in many more clothes than I had planned. I wanted to head out clad in animal skins and smokey charcoal, but I promised the Captain of my personal guard that this would be a scouting mission.

“Alright Tessa, lets shift the input to an aether map”

Indulgence does not have the required sensors for this mode. You would have to be outboard of the ship for me to display that data in your HUD.

I can see aether now?!

See? No. You have developed an aether sense with the recent overhaul of Aether Insight. It triggers as a telepathic and touch sensory interaction and the combination in your abnormal biology is quite comprehensive.

Oh, so shuttle to the woods and EVA suit around? Tessa pings affirmative.

Well, the thrusters are hooked into my aether now, so fuck it. Let’s aether-map with a wireframe visual outline so I don’t crash into inert trees or rocks or something.

Tessa rearranges some buttons in my HUD and synchs my diplomatic view, terrain view, infra view, and aether view to a single drop down. I ask her to consolidate diplomatic view with terrain and add a diplomatic with topographic too.

I do a quick scan of my other views before I stay at Aether with outline. I have to play with gain and contrast before I can actually see, but I work with Tessa not to alter my sensitivity physically, just the visual display.

The scan comes up soft for the first kilometer. General ambient with a few less cool spots that I choose to ignore. Two and a half kilometers I pause at several actual hot spots and observe for a moment. They move. Sometimes quick, around other hot spots, sometimes slow and predatory. I start to fly up when I realize I can just install boot bindings on the roof of Indulgence and ride on top of her.

As we range higher, a kilometer up, I see a gradient smattering of what I assume is aether-imbued wildlife, leading to a section of trees that emits an aura not unlike a funky mirror ball covered tree. As the shuttle advances on the shifting glowing beams coming from multiple sources, I see larger signatures, but much, much fewer once inside the cluster of trees emitting an aura.

Stupid promises. I want to go in there and fight things. But instead of engaging with my rage, I fly back to the smattering of aether blips and land. I equip my two laser pistols after magnetically attaching my plasma saber to my belt. It should be enough. If it isn’t I’ll teleport and tell the shuttle to egress to my location.

I drop into the canopy and only engage my thrusters a meter from the ground and parts of the dirt glass and liquidize before I touch down in a crouch. The woods are silent after my noise and the light is low. I slink of my location behind a copse of brush four meters away. I crouch in the grouping, hoping to get a look at the wildlife in the area.

This is the weak one? I can’t send my Candidates here!!

I overcharge both pistols, but the beast can hear the whine of the extra aether in the machine and it leaps sideways. Instinctively I advance a short distance out of the bush and shoot low and behind. The shot grazes its hind leg and makes it stumble, my second shot aims at the body and it fizzles into the dense fur and thick hide. It’s a tusk and horn bovine-like creature that is now very cross with me.

I’m getting tiny flashes of expertise, some ideas of what I could be doing, but to my foolishness and lack of coordination, I can’t enact all of them. I get pummeled. I manage to climb a tree. The beast shakes me loose. The second time I smash into the ground from on high, I break some thick bones in the fall.

I’m concussed, my good hand is half-trapped underneath me, and I have to switch sight languages to keep track of the threatening cow. It stops its temporary retreat as the familiar knurled handle and tethers slap against my palm. I can’t clip in the tether, so I have to concentrate on the bullet and shield formations since I never got to making the mods I flagged as “superior” ideas.

Focus, engage shield formations, inject aether, aim, fire.

CRACKATOOOOMB!

The shell sounds half a moment before it collides in a muffled annihilation precursors the devastation. If the round handn’t hit it in it’s hardened skull, it would have passed right through the animal. The round still penetrated into the cow’s shoulder region before the antimatter touched matter.

Gore geysered out of split seams in the flesh of the beast when it should have obliterated the beast and sent me flying. Maybe tech affects are dampened on this planet? Or it’s not keyed into you direct aether jack you chump. Duh.

I want to check my prompt, but I crawl to the beast, slap my face against it and teleport it to the shuttle.

>P] Baby, I fucked up. Coming at you with a monster. [<

>J[ Empress, I swear on you birthmark that I will keep you from leaving without an escort in the future. [<

I blip to the shuttle and realize that I was so panicked about the combat that I forgot I could both fly and teleport. Damnit Penny!

>K] Jenna better be dead for you to be this hurt. Are you stable? [<

>P] Yes, love. And no, Katie, Jenna’s not dead. I ordered her to stay with the trainees. I get the rest of my instructors in twenty hours. I was just being dumb with a nearly t-3 beast. [<

>K] Honey, I may have a callous tone, but I care very much about your well being, and I dislike when you are away and in danger. [<

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I sigh. I know she doesn’t lie, like ever, but it feels so disingenuous when she says things like that and has a Harem. I fucking hate that grotto.

>P] I know Kay, but my life will never be danger free. We should talk Empire stuff anyway when I get back. [<

>K] Yes, wife. [<

>P] Damnit Katie, you know I hate it when you say that. [<

>K] How else am I to address a command from my Wife, the Empress? [<

>P] Maybe talk to me like some of my concerns don’t hit you with the burden of command? [<

>K] Then how about listen to my concerns for once Penny? You treat your safety like the universe can just patch you up! [<

>P] I wear the damned EVA suit and ring every time I’m at risk, so I do listen Katie! Maybe I just want to feel you care about me! Maybe when I’m on Astoria you shouldn’t tell me about your scheduled Harem time! Maybe you should keep your dalliances to what you need to survive instead of a Harem! [<

I’m crying at this point and I have no doubt that the tone is carrying over.

>P] I don’t get hurt to hurt you. I would never do that. I am curious to the point of recklessness, but I want to survive to kiss you until the galaxy dies. But there are some things that are tearing at me Katie, and I’ve been ignoring them to work—and that’s all on me. [<

>K] I want to bark at you. I want to accuse you for the love that Puppy gives you and not to me. I’m jealous, Penny. My wife is in love with another woman, and all I do is try to fuck and forget. [<

>P] I didn’t know, Kay. I’m so sorry. I . . .[<

>K] No. Stop. I refuse to continue without your face in front of me. For better, or for worse, you will be in my arms to discuss this. Last week I was sure I could handle you with Jenna, but your interests align more than yours and mine do and . . . I need to see you. [<

>P] Okay, baby. Asphodel or Astoria? [<

>K] Can we do Atropos? It feels more like my home. [<

Fuck, how could I not know, not feel she was so vulnerable? But she helped push Jenna toward me. She seemed onboard the whole way to try and compensate with her needs. Sure, she did not stay at just “need,” but I felt I could let it go because of my attachment toward Jenna. I could not have known how hard my feelings for Jenna would hit Katie; could I?

If this is a question aimed at me, then no. As Katie said, as Atropos suggested, she is worried that Jenna does not like her, and will probably never love her.

Pfft. There’s no way Katies stupid enough to stumble into a full Melissa.

Oh, Tessa responds.

Shit. Atropos finishes? Inside my brain?

We were . . . mingling at the time. Sorry for the intrusion.

Tessa apologizes for having data sex. You’re adorable. Atropos, no other Ais when dating my other half okay!!

In your parlance, “no worries” Penny. Our emotions are parsed, refined, and reduced. If I did not already feel strongly, our relationship would be impossible.

Andromeda, it’s just amazing that I have a whole other person anchored in my brain. Even though Tessa is a monster pain in the ass.

“Tessa, plop a naked t-2 med injector on my face. I need to vent some emotion.”

All four people that care about you in detail would prefer you not do this.

While I appreciate all of you, I need, I NEED to vent a moon’s worth of anger after this.

I would recommend the mark 25 plasma shotgun. It has been modded by a local Aelean for delayed detonation.

That sounds fab. I will take a Ruination rod in one hand, a breeching pistol and the Mark 25. You know what, Tessa? I have the spellform memorized, I have the aether cap.

I wish to imbue the form of Ruination from this rod into my person, not to affect me.

Before Tessa can respond, the pain starts. It etches from my right finger tops and curls in spirals down my fingers to the back of my hand. My hand is now a dedicated and hyper complex runeshape for control that snakes to connect to the full spellform of Sundering up my forearm. I feel the spell dig into the aether channels that connect to my crystal bones. A brief struggle for power ensues before my will is pressed upon them so I can get back to my research while this download happens.

Before I was tempted to Integrate a complicated spell, I felt as though the med pack had given me enough energy and recovery to test another beast. Engraving the spell into my essence makes me want to sleep for a day and a half.

To my shame, a beast does round the corner.

Well, when it rains, it’s a fan full of shit eh? I pull the mark 25 and start pumping. GBM staggers, shakes its head and stares fire at me. When it roars it’s a miasma of smoke and blood fog. I flick my un-tethered AM-pistols and pop two shots into its dome.

The bastard shrieks and flips over the canopy as though it dodged?! What the ever-loving Andromeda Biscuits is that shit! I scramble to get my brain together, and my weapons ready.

I hear the thunderous cracks, the rustle of whole treetops. I smile as it gets closer, realizing some of my thrill is battle insanity but I welcome it. As soon as the shifting-color behemoth show’s its snoot, I order the Indulgence to full orbit burn on that fucker’s face. Six vortex inducers with a pure aether afterburner sears the landscape. My armor’s shield was literally made to survive re-entry conditions so I stand and advance.

I open with the mark 25, after 5 delayed grenades I continue with Overcharged blaster bolts. When the pure energy pistols blow their breaches, I shunt them into the beast. I crouch, roll and shield into a bush to watch the horror of a mewling cry from a devastated, but surviving Monstrosity.

Abomination, thy name is Aether Forged

It’s laying on it’s side, face and back ruined by the fiery assault, but with an arm that for some miracle still works, Penny doesn’t want to come too close. The problem is two of her best weapons were burnt to shit, and the sniper rifle I want hasn’t been purchased yet.

“You know what? Fuck this. Saber time,” I right hand grab the covered handle that I stole from a senior midshipmen when I was still a petty research student. The plasma ignites and fills me with the warmth emanating from the blade.

The Blood Monger tries to shift up to its feet, but only manages an elbow as it swipes at the field of combatants. It might be seeing extra me due to a head injury. Cool.

My skill in sabers is non-existant, but I have power. My grip is sloppy, but I have aether. Speed is of the essence so I lend my preternatural skills to the blade, charge my muscles with aether and overcharge the Plasma Saber into a longer, wilder blade.

Dashing in, I shift toward a killing stroke before fully committing to a juke under its swiping arm. The clawed appendage hits the ground behind me as I shift my weight yet again to hack at the rising arm. The Aether nature of the monster must have contributed to its damage resistance, because with the beast now spend and near death, my saber passes through its paw with only moderate resistance.

I switch to aether sight to find the beast’s crystal and I see a brightly shining knot of aether tucked underneath it’s spine, between thick scapula. I side step a weak and slow bite attempt before jamming my saber down it’s neck and into the source of light. A crack thunders through the large body and the monstrosity sighs its last breath. I put my hand on the bristled hide to pull out my saber and instinctively blip the beast into the shuttle.

I blip myself into the cockpit and ask Tessa to drive me back to the Retreat. I really needed a better plan, and my lady Adonis probably won’t let me wander off alone ever again.