PROLOG

When I stepped down the gangway, I already knew what this place would provide me with. The very first thing I saw when looking to my right, was someone getting shanked. Right there on the docks during daylight hours. The people around the small group didn't even care. One or two might have paused for a second but soon enough went on with their own business. That was what a man getting killed was worth, a single look and already the people hurried off back into the masses.

Honestly, I was disgusted by this display of so-called humanity. And yet, what right did I have to see myself as superior? Could I really say with sincerity that I was any better? Instead of running over and helping the man, I simply shook my head and stepped to the side letting my crew unload the shuttle’s cargo.

My ship, the “Empress’ Refuge” still hung outside in the void of space, too large to dock at the station. She was a massive ark-class ship, which with its Ancient design and the obviously mismatched but ludicrous amount of weaponry was almost looming over the station. Even now she was clearly visible on one of the hangar's largest video screens. I could only guess as to how long they had streamed the live feed of my ship already.

But to be fair, it wasn’t that often that one got such an exciting visit. Either way, even if the station had pointed all of its attention – and possibly weaponry – at her, with Vis’adilia, my eternal and ancient chaperone, operating her in my absence, there was little I had to fear. Looking over the people rushing by, it became clear, that my crew and I garnered a lot more attention than I had hoped. Every now and then, I could see someone staring at me but rushing off as soon as my gaze was on them. A small crowd was already gathering on the entrance to our shuttle space, some fans, some haters. Nothing new there.

I could feel their emotions in the air, awe, fear, disgust, anger and even hatred, over all the years the human’s perception of my crew – my people – hadn’t changed. But now that we had power they couldn’t just ignore us anymore. At least if the hangar-master himself coming down to greet us was any indication for a change of the status quo. I leaned on the railing, and couldn’t help but wonder if it was my reputation or the ship that had them so spooked.

Thinking back, that beckoned the question, as to what I had done to earn all this. By now almost twenty years ago I had left my planet, my family, my lover and my entire life to join the fourth corporate rush. Of course there had been begging and crying. People had been yelling at me not to do something so stupid. But in the end, I had turned my back on all of them and turned towards the stars.

From my position now I could with certainty say that it had all just been a soupcon of adolescent behaviour. That had been all of it, a nineteen-year-old kid lashing out against the world. Since then I had only ever gotten a single message from home. It had been of my little sister Cassidy. If I recall correctly she must have been thirteen when sending the message, begging me to come home already. Due to being on the job I had gotten the message almost a month late. My answer to her had never gotten a reply. By now she must be twenty-eight, almost as old as I was when my life took a drastic turn. I was shaken from my thoughts by a familiar voice echoing in my head.

‘Crys? We are about to have company, I can sense a group of agitated people approaching. Several of them seem to be shielded. Through the shuttle's systems, I count ten people but can sense only seven. Wait, hang on, one of the seven is a Psion!’ 

‘Thanks, Serin, I sense it too. Ah, this is going to be annoying, I hate politics. Sure I can’t just push this onto you?’

‘Hahaha! If only the young ones knew about their beloved Matriarch talking like this! Despite how you give yourself, you haven’t really changed all that much from the old days.’

‘Well, you haven’t either. I wonder who even brought up the rumour that the change erased someone’s personality.’

‘No idea, probably the normies. Anyway, I'll come down quickly and give you back up.'

A smile stole its way onto my face. I liked Serin, always had, she was one of the old guard, so to speak. Back in my corporate days, she – or rather he at that point still – had been one of my closest friends. Together we had gone through several corporate campaigns, and somehow both of us had always survived. Now she was my executive officer and a damn good one at that, there had been not a single time where she had let me down. Even if the way of our people and the change itself had been a much-discussed and controversial topic between her and me, I still trusted her. I was more than certain that I could count on her having my back for decades to come. 

When the conversation was over only a few seconds had passed. Our way of communicating was much faster than anything normal technology could come up with. But as so often Serin was right, the person – who I suspected to be the hangar-master – was already rather close by. And with him being shielded my "special powers" would have no effect on him. It was always such a bother whenever a person with a little bit of authority thought themselves to be important enough to take up my time.

Not long after, I could already see the small group approaching. It wasn’t all that hard considering that there were at least six heavily armed guards. The small crowd of onlookers that had formed quickly rushed to the sides when the mercs pushed them almost over. Before they made it up the ramp I already felt Serin stalking closer to me. No matter how often I told her that it was impossible, she still hoped to surprise me someday. I didn't even bother turning around when Serin embraced me from behind. Our link was enough to share our feelings after all. Only when I felt a rather cheeky appendage make its way up the inside of my leg, I felt the need to speak up.

‘Serin, just what do you think you are doing?’

‘Hmm~, I have absolutely no idea what you might be referring to, oh Matriarch~!’ I could feel her sliding up higher, already softly touching my clit through the fabric of my pants.

‘Serin... Take your tail away from my vagina! Immediately!’ I almost facepalmed when I realized that in my indignation I had broadcasted my words. The few chuckles from the shuttle crew where enough to tell me that every one of mine in the vicinity had heard me.

‘Oh, my. That was most unprofessional Crys.’ Serin kissed me on the back of my neck before releasing me.

While she proceeded to stand next to me with a stony expression, the mental grin being broadcasted from her made me only sigh in frustration. At times it felt more like working with a group of adolescent children than proper adults. While the young ones could be excused for the hormones flooding through their brains, a hardened Soldier like Serin should know better than that. I would probably need to punish her once we were alone. For now, the little welcoming committee would require my attention.

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When they finally got close enough to get a proper look at all of them, I was surprised at the fact that Psion was not one of the people carrying an air of arrogance and importance, but a young and plain woman in a cheap black costume. Additionally, her body language was curious. She seemed incredibly insecure and shy but at the same time, her eyes held an almost offsetting intelligence. Sadly, instead of the interesting one, a heavy set older man stepped forward. His hair was already greying at the sides and his body only had traces left of the muscular frame he must have had in his youth. Yet when he spoke he did so with an authority and certainty that made clear he used to be in high military command.

“Well, well, well, the infamous pirate queen herself, the captain of the rumoured “Empress’ Refuge”, graces this little haven of filth with her presence!” His voice dripped with sarcasm when he continued. “Say “Empress” how should a lowly being such myself address one such as you?”

Seeing as he was shielded I couldn’t talk directly into his brain and so had to broadcast my answer to all around. ‘Captain Crys will be fine. I need no acknowledgement from humans.’

While some of my more fanatical crewmembers didn’t leave out any chance to remind everyone of my supposed glory, I had no illusion about my grandeur. I may have changed far beyond what most people could understand, but still, I was not infallible.

“Oh, do you hear that?” The man, who I now assumed to be the station commander and not the hangar-master, turned to his companions. “She wishes to be called by a sobriquet as if she was no one special! Though I hear you go by a different name these days.”

He made an obvious theatrical pause; for someone, I guessed to be a former general he sure liked to put on a show. Or more likely he was just acting to impress the rest of the group. Looking them over I realised both had insignia on their clothes. And if I wasn’t entirely stupid, those two were captains of other pirate crews. This just got a whole lot more interesting.

“The name the echoes across the hyper-net these days is “Matriarch” if I recall correctly. And that wouldn’t happen to refer to you, former second Lieutenant Crystal Dyer?”

I would have cocked an eyebrow if I had them; not many people still knew me by my given and my family name. This man clearly had made his research before my arrival or – and this was unlikely – he had known me from before. Still, I was more interested in the shy Psion than him, she didn't fit in with the group at all. But for now, I would have to humour him.

'That is correct; both names refer to my person. While I make no effort to hide my past, oftentimes the rumours overshadow the truth. Yet, now I am at a disadvantage, you know of me yet I am unsure about your identity.'

“Hahaha! How boorish of me!” He went into a mock bow before me. “I used to be General Jacquie Proulx, I used to command the sixteenth fleet of the New Moon Corporation, now though I look over this cesspool of pirates, degenerates and thieves.” He winked at the two captains with him.

“You may refer to me as Overseer Jack. And these two wonderful people,” Jack motioned over two his companions.

"On the left, we have the illustrious Copper Raven of the Steel Birds or Captain Raven for short.” The woman he referred two was decked out from head to toe in obvious cyber-tech, all dyed a stylish copper or bronze tone. She simply nodded at me with a cold smile.

“And on the right, the renowned Captain of the Laohu Ya pirate outfit, Mister P’an." The man was from obviously Asian descent and the way he silently eyed me and Serin I wasn't sure if he wanted to rape or vivisect us.

Going with the flow I nodded my head at the three of them ignoring the fact that the Psion had not been introduced. ‘A pleasure Overseer Jack, Captain Raven, Mister P’an.’

I motioned over to Serin, as social conformities bid me o introduce any person of importance. ‘The Soldier to my side is called Serin; she is my executive officer as well as one of my mates. I expect her to be treated with the same respect as you would me.’

Much to my dismay Serin just had to enjoy this situation a little too much. Instead of nodding or saluting, which would have been entirely fine, she smiled and went down in something between a curtsy and a bow. Two of her hands grabbed the sides of her armoured skirt and flared it out almost like a peacock’s feathers. While one was clasped to her chest and the last splayed out to the side. Considering her impressive height doing this brought her face merely on level with the humans.

‘My greetings. Serin, eternal Soldier of my Matriarch and proud defender of the “Empress’ Refuge”. I am pleased to meet you.' With this she smiled at the little group, exposing two rows of shark-like teeth. 

I didn’t even have to turn around to notice the reactions of my crew. Several of the Workers turned around to watch this spectacle with bated breath. Over the crew-only-frequency, I could hear several ‘Aww~’s’ and ‘Ohh~’s’, for some reason the younger generation was really fawning over Serin's relationship with me. Apparently, they had also started a fan club, complete with posters and video collections of us together.

“Well, now that we have introduced each other, let’s go down to business! Isn’t that right, ladies and lad.” Jack picked up the conversation smooth as an eel with a wink to P’an, who in turn only grimaced.

‘Indeed. What business is it that the Station Commander and two Pirate Captains have with me?’

“Oh, it is simple, really! Two things to be specific. First of we would like to extend a hand in greeting in the hopes of us discussing the finer details of a potential relationship between the Hive and some of the other pirate groups.”

Oh, how I hated that name. Calling my crew a hive was demeaning. We were not stupid insects - actually we weren't even close to insects or any earth species at all - and all had separate and individual personalities.  While there may be similarities between hive insects and our social structure in the way it was organized, I by no means forced anyone to obey. And even now I still gave everyone a choice, even my enemies.

‘Interesting. What is the second?’ I looked towards the Psion who had still not been introduced.  While she quickly averted her gaze when our eyes met, it was still very much obvious that she had been staring at me.

“Ah, I see you are quick to catch on, very good. Yes... Our dear Captain Raven here, let’s say picked up this unfortunate young thing on a suspicious cargo ship bound for the station. Once inside she had to discover that the ship had been hijacked by our ward.” He slapped the young woman on the back, making her squeal in surprise.

"The girl herself was half traumatised when they picked her up. And kept on mumbling how she had to find the "Ancients", how they would help her. We, of course, being the generous people that we are, we took her in and cared for her until we could present her to one of her "Ancient". Am I wrong in thinking that one such as yourself would be interested in her?”

‘I see, an interesting proposition indeed. Very well. I shall take her off your hands. Serin will go with you and discuss your other offer.'

"Ah. Such a shame I had thought the "Matriarch" herself would honour us with a sit-down. But I guess one has to take what is given. Captain Crys." He nodded to me, turned around and motioned for the rest of the group to follow.

Serin only looked to me and glared, obviously not happy with having to babysit the Captains. I paid her little mind, she may be grumpy at times but she would still do what was asked. Instead, I turned my attention to the woman. Looking her over, she really didn't look like much, but that fact that she was a human Psion made her very interesting.

‘What is your name?’

‘Felicia Peery, my Matriarch!’

‘You already know telepathy? Such talent indeed... Say why did you want to meet the Ancient?’

‘Ah, I used to be a researcher for Blue Moon, I studied the Ancient ruins. I loved my job but during a dig a... a power awoke in me. It made me hurt the people around me. I assumed it was the same as in your people. I can barely control it... therefore I sought you out for help.’

‘A researcher you say? Interesting... Come, Felicia, I will tell you a story. Specifically the story of how a stupid little nobody touched something she shouldn’t have.’

I lead her towards the shuttle and sat down in a quieter spot, away from all the distraction of my crew passing by. It was not much just a few pillows on the ground but it would suffice. When she sat down I started slowly and gently pushing into her mind, explaining all the way what I was doing to her. Once she was comfortable and in an almost trance-like state, I feed her memories.

I showed her my past, my mistake and everything that came after, I showed her my story.