Walls lined with automated lasers and security droids passed them by. Along with several members of the Black Web moving to and fro. Much more than Sasha remembered back when she was a pirate. She gave Gabriella a nudge.
“I’m guessing recruitment’s been doing fine?” she asked.
Gabriella snickered. “That’s an understatement.”
She pulled out her commpad, a series of graphs appearing through the projection. Of which Sasha only had the vaguest idea how to read. One of many lessons Mr. Erin had drilled into her as part of her graduate duty. Back before they became wanted criminals, of course.
“Our numbers have tripled since the Madame’s takeover,” the human said.
“Her what?”
“Oh. I guess that wouldn’t be in the news either.”
She scrolled past the graphs, several planets appearing in the projection. Some of which Sasha recognized. Was that Khepri? Was that Shiny! The island world floated freely with the others, the purple hue of legionnaire occupation long gone. Gabriella waved a hand over all the worlds.
“The Black Web’s been expanding," she said. "What with the AIC failing at their jobs, Madame Dyre’s taken it upon herself to steer the cosmos from mass annihilation.”
“On which you played no small part in, my child.”
Sasha looked up to see the spider at her side, one of her many hands patting the panther on the head.
"Those worlds you’ve cleansed were eager to add their voices to mine," she said. "Some more willingly than others.”
Sasha could only smile nervously at that. Maybe it was better not to know how the unwilling were convinced. As they continued down the halls, the group rounded a corner and entered into the ship's command center. One that had gotten no smaller since she'd been gone.
The room was almost three times the size of Ship B's command deck. As big as Dyre's vessel was, there were five pilots keeping track of navigation alone. Four were in charge of manning the guns. The rest alternated between cross-referencing signals and manning the communication lines. According to Gabriella, at least. The human was always willing to talk shop about the ship's refinements. Of which Sasha didn't quite understand, but still enjoyed seeing her friend's excitement.
As she stepped into the room, though, it wasn't Gabriella that would be the excitable one this time. Sasha and Iris both stopped in their tracks.
"Holy..."
Sitting in one of the chairs, a canine was playing with a paper ball. She stopped tossing it when she spotted the two of them.
“Ci-“
“Sasha!”
The fox ran at her, completely blindsiding the panther as she had the life squeezed out of her. But she didn't stop there, ears rising as she finally noticed the wolf at her side.
"Sulky?"
Iris gave a small wave.
“Hi Ci-“
"Sulky!"
And then she was pulling her in two, squeezing them both like they were stuffed fish. Sasha yelped, managing to free herself enough to breathe, though her friend kept yipping and nuzzling the both of them. Without a doubt, it was the most Cici thing she'd done since they'd been together on Rutune. No. Shiny. Hearing the fox's excitement made it hit her all at once. How she hadn't seen both her friends together in what felt like years.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
She found herself sniffling a bit, both her and Iris hugging Cici back. At least for a moment, the command center became an echo of purrs and barks.
Madame Dyre making her presence known with a cough was enough to bring Sasha back to her senses. She and Iris both pulled away, finally addressing the several questions they both had about the fox's arrival.
“What are you doing here?” Sasha asked. “I thought you were stopping a civil war.”
Cici giggled. “We are. Or, my liaisons are, anyway. I kinda snuck away 'cus I got worried about you."
"Me?"
"You are prone to doing stupid things, Sash," Iris pointed out. "But more importantly-"
"Hey, I resent that!"
"More importantly," Iris kept going. "You do realize that's a capital offense, right?"
Sasha folded her arms, Gabriella snickering behind her back. The tail brains. Cici leaned on her shoulder.
"So is associating with this girl, here," she said. "But hey, my Cici sense told me the cat was in trouble, so I answered the call. Plus, I got tired of waiting for that 'Me and Iris are coming your way' call. Dyre said she'd help me with wolf tracking if I gave her a hand."
"Which I have," the Madame said with a smile. "Not that she's a true Black Web member. Of which she's been so keen to remind me."
Cici stuck out her tongue. Given she'd left her peacekeeping crusade to find her, Sasha couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. Especially given the mess she'd gotten herself in with the AIC and the Comet Man. But she knew she couldn't ask Cici to return to Rutune, either. Between her chasing her liaisons and Iris chasing the Comet Man, neither had any room to tell the fox off for being cray. As it stood, all three of them had gone off the deep end.
Madame Dyre walked around them all, moving to the center of the room.
“Our fox ally has been invaluable in recolonization efforts," she explained. "You graduates are indeed the key to our salvation."
She made a motion and a pillar rose from the ground, holographic projections appearing in front of the spider. A map of the cosmos.
“As it stands, we’ve occupied roughly 20% of AIC space," Dyre went on. "We could attempt to obtain more, but we’d like to avoid stretching our resources thin. Instead, our focus is on maintaining everything for what is to come.”
She waved a hand and several portions of the map disappeared. Galaxies faded one by one until there were only a few remaining. Dyre zoomed in, highlighting a collection of clusters.
“Is that why you were attacking the capital?” Sasha asked.
“Precisely, my child," she said. "Though stopping the war is our priority, the AIC is the largest barrier halting our progress. With them in the way, securing borders against the legionnaires is wasteful at best. Impossible at worst. Especially with their blockade.”
The map zoomed again, moving from the clusters to a distant solar system. One which Sasha remembered Mr. Erin showing her. The location of the original Stem Portal.
“You’ve been planning this for a while, haven’t you?” Iris asked.
“Ever since the first world fell, yes,” Dyre said. “I was on that world so you can forgive me if I'd rather not discuss the details.”
Sasha could only nod that. Though she had fond memories of Shiny, she preferred not to remember the screaming. Dyre continued on, motioning towards the many ships around the original Stem.
"Currently, that blockade is our biggest hurdle," she said. "To bypass it, our original plan was to lay waste to the capital and fracture their chain of command. In the resulting scrambling for power, we would assert our moles into leadership positions and grab the AIC's resources from under them. But given my child would rather us not harm her precious accomplices, we've made some changes."
"Such as?" Sasha asked.
“Tell me, child,” she asked. “Do you wish to preserve this universe?”
Sasha blinked. It was a strange question, to say the least. And not one she really had to think hard on.
"I'd like to not die, yeah," she said.
Dyre nodded. "Then be prepared to kill for it."
Saying that, the map disappeared, being replaced by a single image. A holographic projection of a human Sasha didn't quite recognize. A man with dark red hair and a slim frame. The Madame rested her hands on her hips, looking out at the three of them.
"If we are to get past the AIC without burning the planet whole," she said, "then we will need assistance. Three graduates gives us a decent opportunity. This man will make it a good one."
They all looked at each other, Cici smiling while Iris gave an uneasy look. Sasha herself wasn't sure how to feel either. Just her and Iris had barely done anything against the AIC. She doubted the help of Cici or some stranger would make things much better. But she thought she'd ask anyway.
"And whose he?" Sasha asked.
The Madame smiled.
"An old colleague of mine," she said. "His name is Alexander Gray. And he kills gods for a living."
Sasha's doubts dropped away.