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Wabs cranked the electronic rapid picture takerer to the side, an attempt to get a better view of the goings-on within the sky sphere opening. He was frightened by what had happened. Something any warrior Briolb would eat him for if they were to find out. Luckily for Wabs, however, the warriors were busy salivating at the thought of new breather slaves and meat. Wabs knew differently. Wabs was a smart one, though he hid it so the warriors would believe he was a finder one.
Wabs was in charge of using the empty sky pusher and directors. All was going well for Wabs until it wasn't, and Wabs boat began moving backwards instead of forwards, even though he made sure the pushers were at the max opening. It was very confusing to Wabs what happened. But now, he watched with the electronic rapid picture takerer as the large metal-clad breathers cut into and destroyed the other sky boats with ease. Wabs was scared of such martial prowess.
"We shall wait until they cut into our boat and ambush the breathers!" One warrior proudly stated, earning a cheer from the group of warrior ones.
"They'll never see it coming!" Another one agreed as a chorus of cheers filled Wabs sky boat.
Wabs decided it was time to hide. He opened a lightning conductor panel and attempted to squish himself in as the warriors cheered on the largest one's cunning plan.
Wabs knew better. Wabs was, after all, a smart one. These breathers were very different from the rest. They were large and fast, and intelligent. Wabs finally managed to squish into the compartment and pulled the panel back on with his bottom arms, hoping to the many dots in the empty sky that none of the warriors noticed his cowardice. Wabs thought it was wiser to hide than to fight the large breathers.
"The stupids come! Make ready for ambush!" A warrior shouted, sneakily crouching in the middle of the boat.
"You stupid, don't talk so loud!" Another stomped back, leaning stealthily against the flat wall.
Wabs wanted to scream in terror. If Wabs could clearly hear them shouting, then the breathers outside could hear them shouting. Wabs decided to push himself through the in-between he was hiding in and move farther away from the cutting sounds. After all, If Wabs kept his distance from the breathers, they might not find him hiding, and he may survive to sail the empty sky again. Wabs liked sailing.
"Prepare to fire hotline guns!" A large warrior shouted as the panel those breathers cut fell outward.
"DROP YOUR GUNS AND COME OUT WITH ALL FOUR OF YOUR HANDS UP!! IF YOU SURRENDER NOW, YOU'LL LIVE TO SEE TOMORROW!"
"FIRE HOTLINE GUNS WHILE THE BREATHERS ARE SURPRISED!!!" A stealthy warrior one shouted as he was charging out of the boat.
Wabs shuddered as the warriors fired their hotline guns at the breathers. Maybe it will work this time, he thought. The hotline guns burn well against the flesh, after all. Then again, he watched the same tactic fail multiple times. Wabs was now even in doubt that his plan to hide was very wise. If the Warrior ones won, they would eat him for sure. That was until he heard a metal clanging sound enter the boat, and the world around Wabs erupted in blue fire.
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"Hey, partner. How was your evening?"
"Oh, hey, Jack!" Michael replied from the couch.
"YOU!!!!! YOU RUINED MY PLANS!!" Srettia spat as she stood from her chair.
Yirphayen let out a song of happiness as the sound of his friend Jack had returned to the vicinity. "Hello, Jack. Though I can hear you, I cannot see you." Yirphayen was happy and decided to let out another happy harmony for Jack to listen to.
"Apologies, Srettia, I needed to speak with my father. Yirphayen, I am part of the mineral formation. Though you can not see me, I will hear you anywhere within this formation known as a ship. Or, in this case, a starship."
Yirphayen let out a chime of understanding as he moved towards a corner it felt Jack's voice coming from. "I see. This is an interesting situation. Thank you for informing me that this was, in fact, a starship."
Srettia huffed and sat back down. " You're forgiven then, Jack. Is anything wrong? You're not hurt, are you?"
"I am currently fine. I do need to meet with Dr. Keda, however."
"What do you need from Keda?" Michael asked, curious as to why he would need to meet with such a person.
"Neither my father nor I know what has transpired to add additional functions into my being. I require his assistance to resolve any future issues."
"Got it. It'll be the first place we stop at when we reach Sol then, buddy." Michael responded.
"We've been talking with Yirphayen here. It said it taught you how to harmonize properly. Does that have something to do with your issue?" Srettia asked, her anger instantly forgotten.
"Most likely. I am unsure of the ramifications of these new functions. Both my father and I agree they are harmless, however."
Yirphayen let out a low tune and shrunk in size as he listened to Jack's plight. "I'm sorry if I hurt you, Jack. It was not my intention."
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
"I am unhurt, Yirphayen. You need not worry."
"Well, it's pretty late right now. How about we call it a night and pick this up at breakfast tomorrow?" Michael suggested, realizing it was already the next day.
"Understood, partner. I'll take care of Yirphayen as you rest. Sleep well."
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Ankiah popped out of bed with the force of an explosion, unfortunately waking up the sleeping Caithen beside her while doing so. Stretching her arms to the ceiling and her tail towards the wall, She walked towards the fabricator and began looking through the clothes catalogue. "You know, clothes shopping in stores is nice and all, but having what you want at your fingertips is nice too."
Private Caithen groaned and sluggishly pulled herself out of bed, shuffling towards the shower. "I don't know how you can be so energetic in the morning."
"Ohh, the catalogue is suggesting something called leather punk due to my last choice... Is that normal?" Ankiah asked as the shower began running.
"Yeah, it'll try to pick things close to your style. The more you print out, the closer it gets to being able to pick out clothes for you." Caithen replied from the shower stall.
"Oh... Well, this seems pretty neat. Almost like a supervillain outfit." Selecting some red and black torn pants, a black shirt and a spiked leather coat with a few belts to go around. Ankiah ventured towards the kitchen in search of food as the printing began.
"You better not be picking some weird shit again." Caithen shouted as she began washing herself.
Ankiah scratched her stomach as she looked through the breakfast menu in confusion, most of the items looked appetizing, but Terrans were crazy enough to like things that shouldn't be eaten. "Hey, this thing has a lot of breakfast selections... What did you want to eat this morning? I think I'll just copy you." Ankiah asked, peeking around the corner at a naked Caithen.
Caithen stepped out of the shower and into her nanomesh. Quickly she held her arms out to her sides as they began to crawl up her body, giving a shooing eye to Ankiah as she seemed to happily watch. "Get two orders of eggs, toast yogurt and oats. That should be good enough for both of us."
Ankiah popped back around the corner and put the order in. "So what's up with that armour stuff. I looked like a pain to get out of it last night, and now it looks like it's swallowing you back up."
"Nano Mesh. It helps control our power armour. You'll be getting fit for some today so make sure you're properly dressed. I think it'll be our first stop." Caithen replied. Noticing the eyes peeking around the corner again and shaking her head.
"Well, that's neat. Do I get both the armour and mesh? I could be the Armoured saviour or Metal Voktlix... Maybe the armoured avenger?" Ankiah loudly thought, sitting on a nearby chair as the food fabricator spat out her breakfast.
Caithen walked into the kitchen, throwing some towels at the naked Voktlix as she pointed towards the shower. "Go spin around a few times, or you'll smell. I don't want to get in trouble for not taking care of you properly."
"Uhh, No. We Voktlix don't like water as much as you Terrans seem to. give me some fine dust or something else." Ankiah replied, tossing the towels off to the side.
Thinking for a moment about what to do, Caithen palmed her face at the realization. Pointing to the doorway, she began motioning Ankiah towards it. "Go walk through decontamination then. It'll clean you up without having to shower."
Ankia's tail and ears shot straight to the ceiling, and she happily trotted towards the odd doorway. "If this works, this'll be my new favourite thing. Washing is such a necessary pain."
Caithen grabbed the food plates and placed them on the table as she watched a blue light wash over Ankiah. "Yeah, it should remove anything it deems not part of your body. It's the next best thing to a hot shower."
Holding her arms up as the lights washed over her, Ankiah let out a sigh of satisfaction as the light seemed to clean parts even a hard scrub couldn't clean well. "Yup. This is mine. I'm not sharing it. You can go get your own."
Spooning some yogurt Caithen just chuckled and shrugged. "You can have it. I'll keep my hot showers."
Sitting down to her meal, Ankiah began her breakfast in earnest. It was a pleasant morning for her. Her therapist's visit was much less about being a crazy person than talking about her experience as a slave, and she did feel better today than she did yesterday. "I'll have to thank Michael and Srettia for talking me into going to the therapist. And you as well. It wasn't like I thought it would be like."
"Eh, it differs from person to person. Now put some clothes on. We have some armour to fit you for. We can visit the two love birds after." Caithen replied, standing from her chair and moving towards her power armour.
"Alright, geez ya wet tail. Always ruining the fun." Ankiah whined as she walked towards the bedroom.
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"We have visitors. Private Caithen and Ankiah. Both in power armour."
Michael stopped his workout and looked over to Srettia, who was currently on the treadmill. "Figured she would stop by today. Guess the private got her sorted out for us."
Srettia huffed as she ran on the machine and just waved Michael off.
"I'll go meet them then. You can keep going." Wiping his sweat off,
Michael moved out to the hallway and began moving to the ramp, deciding to leave Srettia to her workout. Upon reaching the exit hatch, Michael hit the control and watched it descend towards two waiting beings.
"HEYA!" Ankiah bellowed as she ascended the ramp in her red armour. "Wow, you smell. I'd ask why you're leaking so much, but I already found out Terrans leak when they are super active. Guess you were with Srettia?"
Michael nodded and waved the two guests in. "Yeah, I was in the weight room. Srettia's on the treadmill right now. If you give us a few minutes, we can clean up and figure things out. Right, Yirphayen is with Jack in the hard lightroom. Yirphayen being the crystal alien that is."
Private Caithen nodded and looked to Michael. "So, Jack broke the code then?"
"Yup, he did. How did you know it was Jack?" Michael asked, showing them to the common room.
"Koma didn't seem to be able to keep up with Jack. Though he had a few words, they were just standard hellos and such. That's the easy stuff." Caithen replied, ejecting herself from the armour as she entered the room.
"Thank you for your support Private Caithen. I appreciate the vote of confidence."
Ankiah shook her head as she ejected herself out of her armour as well. "This armour is crazy. It looks just like a Voktlix, and I feel invincible in it."
Michael shook his head and headed towards the workout room. In it, he found Srettia packing her things and readying to leave. "Seems Caithen and Ankiah are ready for more adventures."
Srettia picked up her bag and slowly walked past Michael towards their room. "Guess I'll go get ready then."
Shrugging, Michael walked towards the shower making sure to print out some new clothes while throwing his dirty ones in the re-claimer. Pausing for a moment, keeping a wary eye for a possible peeker, Michael entered his shower, deciding only to make it a quick wash before leaving.
Meeting Srettia in the hall, as he exited the room, Michael fought back a laugh. "Did I keep you waiting? Don't tell me you're spooked of a small fox girl."
"I am not," Srettia replied with a huff. "I was waiting for you because I wanted to make sure she understood you were mine."
"Alright, then." Michael replied as the two walked towards the common room. "Alright, ladies. What's on the planner today?"
Caithen waved Michael over and help up her datapad. "A request for all occupants of the ship to meet in medical wing thirty-two. That includes a Mr.Jack."
"That is an odd request. I shall inform Yirphayen and be out immediately."
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