Chapter Thirty-Eight

Ebb and Flow

Colby and Sec led their rag-tag group out of the sands, finding the city gates open for the first time in days. They had been attempting to drop off the survivors they had rescued for almost a week now, but the city had sealed itself up tight since the trouble broke out.

Two weeks of fighting had brought about quite a few changes in their group. For a start, they had a fighting strength of almost twenty people now, which had allowed them to hit a couple of the smaller outposts the bloody Falling Waters crews had set up. There weren’t many prisoners in them, but they were a cornucopia of weapons, armor, and supplies. Of the three people they had saved from that first patrol, two were now calling themselves deputies. Colby hadn’t corrected them, and Sec seemed to love the feeling of being revered.

A little too much, if Colby was honest. Sec would never take advantage, of course. But he was getting insufferable about his outfit.

“Do you think the shoulder pads should be bigger?” Sec asked. “I think maybe another layer of padding.”

“If they get any bigger, I’m gonna start calling you Marshall Shoulders.”

“Can you even see at this point?” Colby was seriously worried.

The coat had been a gift made by one of the survivors. Sec considered it a mark of honor, but Colby suspected the man just got tired of the constant arguments over which one of them got to wear Colby’s duster that day.

Since then, it had been extensively customized. At this point, the sheer number of belts, flaps, pockets, patches, and linings was effectively an extra layer of armor. No human could wear it, even in a snowstorm, without dying of heat exhaustion.

“You’re one to talk, hat-boy.” Sec grinned.

“Hey, it’s a good hat,” Colby said defensively. “It keeps the sun out of my eyes.”

“It keeps the sun out of the fucking continent,” Sec laughed. “If that brim gets any bigger, you’re going to be able to use it to fly.”

“Heads up, we got a welcoming party.”

“The Sandwalker Marshalls,” a familiar voice said, emerging from behind the line of heavily armed and armored troopers. “Scourge of the sands. The tide breakers.”

“Fuck, those are cool names,” Sec grinned. “Colby, let’s go back out. I bet we can get some more.”

“COLBY?” The voice sounded a lot less suspicious but a lot more angry.

“Hello again,” Colby smiled, pushing his hat back off his head as a woman stalked through the line of soldiers. “How’s your dad doing?”

“Him? The old reprobate is fine.” She snapped, “Mind telling me how you snuck off that freighter? Or am I castrating a certain trooper tonight?”

“Oh, shit,” Sec stepped back. “Careful, this one is a little vicious.”

“The freighter was attacked when we came into Ember,” Colby said. “Things happened.”

“Horrible, painful things.”

“Who said that?”

“Long story, let’s just say he’s a part of me,” Colby shrugged.

“Pleased to meet you. Can you guess my name, sweetheart?”

“Call me sweetheart again, buddy, and you’ll regret it.”

“Aww, she got it in one go!”

“Well, can I get your name this time?” Colby asked.

“Amber Mi, Guardian of the Sands,” she replied coldly. “Commander of the Shiftless Guard.”

“Star’s balls, Colby,” Sec stage whispered. “We should definitely let these people name all our shit from now on.”

“Wait, your dad is called Mick Mi?” Colby grinned. “Please tell me someone called him Mi Mi at least once?”

Amber’s eyes darkened.

“Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!”

“Pretty cocky for a man standing in front of a line of my soldiers,” Amber said darkly.

“Yup, because I have a line of your people behind me, all likely to catch strays, and you don’t strike me as anything other than a careful woman, Amy.”

“Amy?” Amber glared at Colby, hands falling to her sides.

“Amber Mi, A. Mi, Amy,” Colby said with a broad smile.

“No one calls me that,” Amber growled.

“Third guard from the left definitely does; look at his face!”

“Why are you trying to piss me off?” Amber said, carefully looking around.

“Just trying to see if you react to insults with violence,” Colby said with a smile. “Always good to know what kind of person you are dealing with.”

“Did I pass the test?” Amber asked.

“Absolutely, Guardian Mi,” Colby bowed. “Marshalls Colby and Sec, at your service.”

“Are you actually Marshalls, or did you just think it would sound impressive?” Amber glared, still very much pissed off.

“We both hold the rank of Marshall in the Star’s Song, Ember’s Hearth, and the Nanite Imperium,” Colby replied with another nod.

Amber’s eyes widened at the name of the Imperium. Colby saw her mouth form the word ‘Harbinger’ silently before she recovered, and the anger returned.

“You’re from the Imperium,” Amber said flatly.

“No, I’m from the I.P.A., like I said,” Colby said with a shrug. “Things happened.”

“Starting when some massive dick shoved Colby here into an escape pod.”

“I said sorry already. Can we move on?” Sec rolled his eyes. “You were barely concussed and blown up.”

“I don’t suppose you want to tell me how an I.P.A. boy ends up working for the Imperium, do you?” Amber smirked.

“Happy too,” Colby nodded. “That’s one of the reasons we came here.”

“It all starts when a young starship Captain had extremely dirty thoughts about the granddaughter of the Queen. Well, the granddaughter and a very flexible and sexually violent merchant named Beren—”

Colby ripped the entire speaker off his shoulder and threw it as hard as possible into the desert.

“Hah!” Sec pointed. “I’m so telling Prim!”

“She knows,” Colby couldn’t resist the smirk, “She was there.”

Sec gaped, his hand dropping.

“Are you—and I really want to know the serious answer to this—are you both insane?” Amber asked, looking back and forth between them.

“Eh…” Colby made a fifty/fifty gesture.

“Partially my fault,” Sec held up his hands. “That was a lot of concussion in a very short period, probably some mild brain damage somewhere.”

“Not to mention the escape pod, being blown up, the experiment AI—” Colby started.

“I had just found out you were having sex with my sister. I have anger issues and poor impulse control. Personal growth is a journey, Colby.” Sec said in a hurt tone.

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“I know, I know,” Colby sighed. “Honestly, not even mad anymore. I like the new me.”

“Me too, Colby, me too,” Sec said, pulling Colby into a hug.

“...and so we came back to Sand’s Embrace to assist in removing the forces here.” Colby finished retelling his adventures.

They had been brought inside the city, under guard, and installed in what was clearly a comfortable room—not an interrogation room at all. Since then, he and Sec had been talking with Guardian Mi about how they ended up there.

“Assuming I believe even a tenth of that, what do you want here?” Amber asked, flanked by two extremely large troopers.

“Primarily to do as much damage to the Falling Waters Clan on this planet as possible,” Colby said plainly. “Secondarily, we are hoping to prove ourselves useful enough that you will accept an offer of alliance with the Ember’s Hearth and Star’s Song Clans.”

“Not the Imperium?” Amber asked.

“The Imperium is taking a hands-off approach to this situation,” Colby shrugged. “They would like to do more, but invading your neighbors tends to be frowned on by the rest of your neighbors.”

“If one of the Clans was to request their aid formally?” Amber asked.

“Then they would probably say no,” Sec said. “One out of twelve isn’t enough to make it look right, you know?”

“So they intend to just let us get rolled over?” Amber scowled.

“Not at all. They allowed Hellena to leave with a lot of supplies to aid her new clan. They can help if you let them.” Colby said, sitting forward anxiously. “They are doing everything they can.”

“We really need to talk to the Clan’s head people,” Sec said in a rare serious moment. “Some of the things Cyrus is planning are just plain evil. The Imperium won’t ignore that.”

“So it supplied a tiny Clan and sent you Marshalls?” Amber shook her head. “I’m not impressed.”

“Uh, they didn’t send the Marshalls,” Sec said. “We are an independent force.”

“Really?” Amber laughed. “An independent police force? Who’s crazy idea was that?” She clearly didn’t believe Sec in the slightest.

“His name is Chief Marshall Crush-Cha,” Colby said. “The Queen’s oldest friend in this galaxy and their most trusted advisor. He doesn’t believe police that answer to the whims of rulers serve the people, the law, or the ruler very well.”

“Cyrus is a criminal evading prosecution,” Sec said with a nod. “We are pursuing him and will go where we need to.”

“Interesting,” Amber looked thoughtful.

“Like we said, we need to speak to whoever is in charge,” Colby urged.

“You are,” Amber said tiredly. “The Clan leaders were killed in the opening attack. I’m running things for now.”

“You need another Clan Headman to recognize the change of leadership, don’t you?” Colby asked.

“You know that?” Amber looked surprised.

“We were briefed,” Sec said with a smile. “So, want to do the alliance thing?”

“What can you offer?” Amber smirked. “I suppose you think the Star’s Song can free the system?”

“We didn’t come just to hunt the bastards in the sand,” Sec grinned. “The moment we have an agreement, the reinforcements start to arrive.”

“You haven’t said what you want in return,” Amber shook her head. “I won’t agree until I know that.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Colby asked. “Survival. That’s what’s at stake here. The other Clans want to survive Cyrus, and I assume you do as well. The cost of an alliance is the alliance: mutual aid, mutual assistance, mutual defense. You also would need to recognize the Star’s Song Clan, but I imagine that is a small thing at the moment.”

“What do they want in terms of territory here?” Amber asked. “What—”

“Banjo’s Balls!” Sec groaned. “They want to help you in exchange for your helping them. That’s it!”

“And you would swear to that?” Amber challenged.

“We just did,” Colby said simply. “A Marshall does not lie. When we speak as Marshalls, it is spoken in truth.”

“And if you don’t?”

“We never even asked,” Sec shivered. “And if you knew the boss, you wouldn’t ask either.”

“Fine, if your Star’s Song Clan and the Ember’s Hearth Clan assist in freeing this system, we will have an alliance with them. In the terms you laid out here. No exchange of land, no debts, and no gifts of people or materials.” Amber nodded decisively. “We will get you access to a comm terminal, but the satellites are jammed, it won’t—”

“Done,” Sec nodded, staring at the ceiling, “Message sent. Received. Hellena and Clark both agree to the terms. The task group is leaving now. Estimated in Sand’s Embrace System in six point four hours.”

“How—”

“Never let Sec within signal range of integrated computer systems,” Colby shrugged.

“You mean he hacked our most secure systems in the hour or so you have been here?” Amber asked, looking slightly horrified.

“Don’t be silly,” Sec chuckled. “I only did it once we had an agreement. It would be rude otherwise.”

“You did that in seconds!” Amber jumped from the chair, “Our secure systems—”

“You don’t have secure systems,” Sec smirked. “You have some rusty tech with a kick-me sign on it.”

“I’m sure the Star’s Song can fix that,” Colby stood. “Now, how about a place to shower before we head back out there?”

“You’re not waiting to meet your people?” Amber asked, clearly a little off-kilter. From the dark circles under her eyes, Colby guessed a lack of sleep was slowing her down a little. “Or… anything?”

“We did mention a shower,” Colby hinted. “Also, any spare clothing or armor you have rattling around.”

“Especially underwear. There is only so much sand you can stand in a buttcrack.”

“Got a new speaker built, huh?” Colby asked Buddy.

“What happened to just asking for quiet time?”

“What happened to never mentioning those particular nights.”

“Nights! Nights! As in, more than one?” Sec demanded. “Okay! Hold up, Colby. Hold the hell up. I demand details!”

“About your own sister. Dude, that’s sick.”

“No! About Berenice!” Sec grinned.

“I’m telling Paren you wanted details about a naked woman without permission,” Colby crossed his arms. “Totally telling.”

“You leave my Mum out of this! She’ll have Edwards give me the ‘respect’ talk again!” Sec demanded. “It was four hours long, Colby. Four hours! There were slides! Slides, I tell you!”

“Well, you obviously didn’t get the message,” Colby said with a beaming smile. “Yes, I think we should definitely tell.”

“Oh? Okay!” Sec pointed. “I’m telling Mum you defiled her daughter!”

Colby’s grin vanished. “Sec, that’s not funny.”

“I’m telling her you did it lots! And corrupted her into threesomes!” Sec crowed.

“You wouldn’t.” Colby insisted.

“Oh, she’ll want to get to know you then!” Sec laughed. “Really, really well. There will be questions and tests! Probably probes! Nanite probes!”

“You do….” Colby searched desperately for a solution. “You do, and I’ll blame the brain damage! Yup, all your fault.”

“Go ahead,” Sec beamed. “She’ll fix you right up! And Colby… you’ll be awake when she does it. You’ll be awake when she cuts—”

“ENOUGH!” Amber yelled.

Colby and Sec stared at her in shock.

“You can not possibly be the so-called terror of the sands AND be this fucking childish!”

“I mean, we can,” Sec said mildly.

“We kind of are,” Colby added.

“Everyone has flaws. Like being judgy, for example.”

“And a little shouty,” Sec added.

“Shouty and judgy?” Amber growled.

“But to be fair, you do look badass doing it.”

“Very intimidating,” Sec nodded.

“Ever so professional. I thought that from the moment I met you. This is a very professional woman.”

“Also, that you were probably going to shoot us.”

“Just–just give them whatever they need,” Amber huffed to her guards. “And try to keep them away from influential people. We do not need anyone to see our saviors are a pair of bickering idiots.”

“That’s Marshall Bickering Idiots, thank you.”

/===<<<>>>===\

“They took the bait,” Salem reported.

Nellie smiled as the table in the Harbinger’s CIC updated to show the ships surrounding the Sand’s Embrace planet splitting up. Half were headed for the jump point to the Corridor, while the others spread out to keep the planet contained.

Tense minutes ticked by as the ships moved, and she watched the updates coming in from her uplink to Berenice. The sheer amount of credits and favors Berenice was able to accrue in a matter of weeks was genuinely terrifying. Just as Cyrus’ ships jumped into the corridor, Berenice sent confirmation of her acquisition of the Forest’s Hush trading partner. They had made a crucial error in getting their most essential supplies from a small trading consortium in the Independent Planets Alliance.

Berenice was not their sole shareholder and had found a much more lucrative destination for those supplies in Ember’s Hearth. With the power of her own trading consortium at her command, Berenice intended to cut all supplies to the Forest’s Hush within a week.

Nellie was looking forward to seeing how long they remained loyal to Cyrus and his cronies without anything to lower the oxygen levels on their heavily forested planets and moons or how they intended to keep their ships repaired without spares. Berenice had found several weak spots and had just begun squeezing them all.

“The devices detonated perfectly; the Corridor is clear,” Remy reported with a wide smile. “Hellena reports the enemy ships were completely destroyed in the explosions. They are moving to engage the remaining ships in Sand’s Embrace now.”

“Make sure Sec has those relays satellites locked down tight. I don’t want a single one of those ships to escape and raise the alarm.” Nellie said quickly.

“I already reminded him twice,” Remy reassured her. “Nothing but us can communicate, he is certain.”

“What about our surprise additions?” Nellie asked Morton, who was managing the movements of their side project.

“Tri and Quad have both got several cruisers and destroyers moving into position to harass the neighboring systems. They will be kept busy. Just in case.” Morton smiled. “I do understand why our Chief Pilot was so attracted to the idea of being a Pirate King. It seems to be a fun enterprise.”

“Keep me updated,” Nellie said, stepping away with extreme reluctance. “No matter how busy I am.”

“Of course, Your Highness,” Morton nodded.

“I’ll be on the Rest for the next two hours,” Nellie said, striding quickly toward the door. “I have a couple of urgent Ambassador meetings to deal with.”

She would much rather have stayed, but the whole idea was to look like they were not involved in all of this. Being visibly elsewhere during a major attack was a crucial part of that. Even if part of her could remain behind to watch through the sensors, it wasn’t the same. “I’ll be in my Cafe.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Salem, who have I got meeting me again?” Nellie could check herself, but her mind was already split too much as it was.

“The I.P.A. guy, Aria-Seven is back, and the Maiusarians are still pressing to join the Imperium.”

“Is it bad that I am tempted to let them just to get rid of their delegation for five minutes?” Nellie groaned.

“We have enough to do,” Salem laughed. “They can wait.”

“Okay, okay,” Nellie straightened. “Let’s go be Regal for a bit.”