“She may not look like much but the Satisfaction got us out of a war torn galaxy and through the gateway,” Talah Sous said, leading Kiera, Kinsley, Kida, and Locke into a hanger.
The Satisfaction was a corvette class ship, designed for speed. They were used to escort other ships, especially trade ships, and were one of the most active classes of ships within the military of most nations. They were also popular among pirates. Talah gave them the tour.
The ship was equipped with a cargo bay, a hanger, mess hall, med bay, crew quarters, a captain’s office and a rec room with all the other standard features. It also had non-standard features like a smuggler's hold, a fully functional kitchen with deep freezer, and a hydroponics bay. It cut the capacity of the cargo hold by half, but the saturnians would rather have access to a variety of plants than fill their holds with things they didn't need. The launch bay only had enough room for a couple of shuttles; mecha were simply too large. The Satisfaction was equipped with two banks of plasma cannons, a photon torpedo launcher and a single particle cannon, all of which were disabled per Imperial Regulations. It was more than enough for their crew of eighteen to be comfortable. Kiera didn’t know if the Kingdom classified ships the same way the Empire did; he said it was a corvette, Kiera would have said light cruiser.
“It’s perfect,” Kiera said, “How much?”
Tallah laughed, “For you? It is a gift.” he held up his hand to stop any protest, “You have been more than generous to my family, overpaying us for the simple act of teaching Emily to cook and asking your father to grant us Full Imperial Citizenship. That alone had opened more paths for us than you could possibly know. I won’t take a single chip for this ship or its shuttle. I only wish I could provide more.”
Kiera hugged the saturnarian restaurant owner, “Thank you, Tallah, this means more to me than you know.”
“Trust me, Kiera, I know what it’s like to want to have answers. Bring the rest of your crew here in the morning and I’ll teach you how to fly a Kingdom vessel!”
“Sounds perfect,” Kiera said.
They parted ways. Tallah returned to his restaurant, and Kiera and her friends returned to her brother’s house. She loved her condo and the freedom that it provided, but Jac’s house was bigger and they were all much more comfortable. He was also out on the racing circuit and didn’t mind at all when Kiera asked if she could have a group of her friends over for a while. The only thing he asked was that they clean up after themselves, no one go into his room, and refill the liquor cabinet. There had been stricter rules at the Academy.
They walked into the house to the tantalizing smell of Emily’s cooking. As soon as she learned that Kiera would be on the planet she made sure that Jac’s house was ready for her new friends. Emily was also quite insistent on joining Kiera’s mission; she could cook and pilot a mecha. While Kiera was away at the academy, Emily kept up with her own piloting training and added combat simulations. Kiera couldn’t deny her. Having her oldest and best friend with her gave her a sensation of relief that she didn’t know that she was looking for.
“We have a ship,” Kiera announced walking into the kitchen.
“Let me guess, Tallah just gave it to you?” Emily asked, finishing up wherever she was cooking and turning round.
Kiera laughed, “He was quite insistent. Kinsley just had a smirk on her face the entire time.”
“What can I say, Kara? Tallah still had the ship he used to take us from the Kingdom to the Empire. The Empire wouldn’t purchase it because it’s a ship of an allied nation, and he wasn’t going to sell it on the black market. If anything he’ll be happy to not have to pay the storage fees anymore!”
“I’m both surprised and pleased that Tara decided to join us,” Kiera said, “and that she managed to get a copy of the Red Moon database.”
“Her boss at R&D was really upset that she came back and started working on analyzing the schematics of the Red Moon ship,” Kinsley said, “He ordered her to take a vacation and she’s spending it with us."
“Some vacation,” Kiera quipped, “Does she realize what we’re going to be doing, has anyone?” Kiera asked softly.
“We all do, Kara,” Kinsley said gently, “This isn’t going to be an easy, short solution. We’re going to have to work our way up to Red Moon Leadership until we can get their client records or find a way to access them. What they’ll make us do along the way….”
“Will be worth the price,” Kiera said, “At least I hope it will.”
=+=
Flying a Kingdom ship was as different from an Imperial as night and day. Instead of switches and pedals, everything on a kingdom ship was digital. Everything was controlled using a touch screen, and a console was completely inaccessible if it was black. The panels for maintenance were surprisingly easy to open, only requiring a few seconds of constant pressure on both release points. There were a variety of tools used for diagnosis that just made Kiera miss her PUC, although she doubted that both pieces of technology were compatible.
Tallah was ready to teach them how to fly a Kingdom ship by using the Appetizer, the shuttle aboard the Satisfaction. Kiera immediately vetoed that decision and took them down to Jac's track and to the simulators. They engineers were able to build a program that taught them to pilot a Kingdom vessel. It took them a week, but once it was working Tallah confirmed it was just like flying the real thing. Sage Whistler, an eladrin with hazel almond shaped eyes and light brown hair adapted to the Kingdom controls the fastest, with Tara coming in a close second. They were the only ones who didn't crash the ship at least once, making Kiera glad for her decision. They did some practice in the Appetizer after they all managed to take off and land without crashing three consecutive times in the simulator.
Tallah had surprised them the day after their first lesson. His niece Ikkari, a Kingdom trained engineer, and her friend, an itorian named Pa'ku arrived to help teach them how to operate the Satisfaction. Itorians were a green skinned, telepathic people. Like most of them Pa'ku had orange eyes that glowed when he used his abilities, and shot black hair. He was very patient and used his telepathy to share what he knew, but also required everyone to listen to the lectures and the hands-on training. His telepathy would come in handy to reading the minds of the Red Moon and he could link them together in a telepathic network for silent communication. Pa'ku was a trained counselor, someone that Tallah thought would be much needed on the ship. Both of them had done some fighting in the Kingdom’s war against a rebelling faction, but not as part of the formal military. The Kingdom fought most of their battles using robots to try to avoid the loss of life.
Their days of training were split up with most of the team piloting, and running simulations of working on the ship together. Ikkari took small groups to learn how to operate the engine and other systems on the Satisfaction after their simulator sessions to learn what the programmers missed or what was different between the Appetizer and the Satisfaction, which wasn't much. One afternoon when Kiera was working with Tara, she noticed the red haired engineer was wearing barely there shorts and a super skimpy tank top. She noticed that Tara's entire left arm and right leg were prosthetics as well as her right arm and left leg from the elbow and knee down, respectively. Tara turned to look at something, her normally green eyes were blue and paused when she noticed Kiera wasn't doing anything but staring.
"I-my limbs are prosthetic, and so are my eyes. I can read sensor and machine data with my eyes and there is some reconfiguring that I can do with my limbs. I woke up late this morning, and since I'm mostly covered with what I sleep in and I knew I would be working with you, I didn't see a reason to change."
"Mmm?" Kiera asked, breaking her stare and her reverie. "Sorry, what did you say? You look really, really sexy and I kind of have a 'thing' for redheads."
"You weren't staring at my prosthetics?"
"I was too distracted by the super sexy woman I get to work with. I'm not sure how much actual work I'm going to get done today," Kiera said, biting her lower lip.
Tara smirked, "So should I go change," she walked seductively up to Kiera, "Or should I take the tank top off?" Her tone was flirty.
"I can help you get that tank top off, if you help me get mine off," Kiera flirted back, unable to keep the grin from her face
"I thought you had a boyfriend."
"A couple, girlfriends, too. Want to join the harem"
Tara's face turned red and she looked away, "I'll…think about it."
"Good. Don't rush, it's an open offer."
=+=
They ran into some trouble in the middle of Comet, on Tamalyn's seventeenth birthday. Her parents came to Albion looking for her. They arrived during Tamalyn's birthday party. Tallah and Mias along with their son Almat joined them. The Sous' daughter Lariat was away at navy boot camp. She had chosen to enlist when their family was granted full citizenship.
Kiera answered the door, surprised to see a redheaded woman and a tall man with green eyes at the door. Jac lived away from the city and had no neighbors so a pair of strangers showing up was out of the ordinary. "Can I help you?"
"I hope so," said the man, "My name is Thomas, and this is my wife Sarah, we're looking for our daughter, Tamalyn Larenthal. She is living here, isn't she? We really need to talk to her."
Kiera looked from one to the other. There was a family resemblance, but Kiera didn't remember inviting them and Tamalyn didn't talk to her parents much. They were opposed to her joining the medical corps, wanting her to stay at home with Planetary Security and get married to another aasimar and start having children as soon as possible.
"Please wait here." Kiera said. She closed the door and walked through the house to the backyard where the party was in full swing. Tamalyn was in the pool on Locke's shoulders playing some chariot game. "Hey Tam, there are a pair of people claiming to be your parents at the front door."
"What!? Tamalyn exclaimed, "My parents are here?" She hopped off Locke's shoulders and climbed out of the pool, gladly accepting the fuzzy robe that Kiera handed her. They went to the front with Locke following them. Kiera noticed that Leiella followed them as well.
Tamalyn opened the front door, shock pouring from her, accompanied by suspicion. "Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?"
"We're here to take you home to Elysium, Tamalyn. We learned that you had been discharged from the military and you haven't come home yet. Your mother and I are worried sick! We've arranged a husband for you. His name is Elijah and he's an aasimar. He's in sales and does very well for himself. He's in the car waiting and is eager to meet you," Thomas said.
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
Kiera looked past the Larenthals to see a small hovercar parked in the driveway. There was an older man standing next to the car. His halo was barely visible and feelings of eagerness and lust were wrapped around him.
"Dad, I am not going back to Elysium, and marry some guy twice my age and start having children just because you two think we need more aasimar. I live here, Albion is my home. I have a boyfriend, he's right here!"
Locke stepped forward and put his arm around Tamalyn's waist. He held out his other hand to Tamalyn's parents, "Locke Mickleson, pleasure to meet you both."
Neither Larenthal took Locke's hand. Her mother gave a forced smile while her father frowned at him, disapproval clearly on his face. "Honey, I'm sure Luke is a nice boy, but you have to think about the future of your people and your planet. This tattooed miscreant isn't going to guarantee that you have aasimar children. Elijah will. It took us a long time to find him, and a long time to find you. Now enough of this nonsense. Come meet your husband. You can start on children at the hotel tonight!" Sarah said, reaching out for Tamalyn's hand.
Tamalyn took a step back and Locke moved to stand between Tamalyn and her parents. "She said she's not going back with you, Mr. and Mrs. Larenthal," Kiera said. "I can't honestly believe you'd show up uninvited to a private residence and try to kidnap your daughter, on her birthday, while labeling her honorably discharged boyfriend a miscreant. Please leave the property or I'll ask my bodyguard to escort you off."
Thomas glanced at Kiera, "This is family business between us and Tamalyn, miss. Kindly stay out of it. Tamalyn, this is enough foolishness. You're coming home and that's final!"
"She's not," Locke said. "Tam made her position perfectly clear, and so did Kiera, whose property you're on. You made your family business Kiera's business the moment you knocked on the door. Besides, we're Tamalyn's family."
"This is preposterous! You young people have no clue what you're on about! I'm calling Planet Security!" Thomas said, lifting his wrist.
"Let me save you the trouble." Leiella came around the side of the house with her Knight's Crest clearly visible on the shirt she had put on. "My name is Cael Royale Leiella Feren. What you two are attempting to do is forced eugenics, which is illegal in the Empire. It's the same basic principle as slavery. Right now you have two options. The first one is doing as you've been requested and leaving the property. The second is I arrest you both right now and have PlanSec herein five minutes to take you to the nearest holding cells and make you await trial. What's your choice?”
The badge glistened in the evening light. It was made from astrium, a rare ore that is only recovered from Astrias tail and only when a piece fell away. They were impossible to duplicate and reserved for the Royal Knights. The only person with higher military authority in the Empire was the Warlord.
"We'll go," Thomas said. He took his wife's hand and made their way to the vehicle. Kiera watched them. Elijah approached and spoke with them briefly. He seemed dissatisfied but left with the Larenthals.
They all headed back inside. Kiera armed the perimeter field so there would be no more unexpected guests. It would let the Larenthals out, but anyone coming in would send an alert well before they reached the house.
"When did you two get together? Kiera asked, beaming at Locke and Tamalyn.
"We're not," Tamalyn said, "I just said that to get them to back off."
"Do you want to?" Locke asked, his tone serious.
Tamalyn stopped. Kiera did with her, but Leiella kept walking
"Um," Tamalyn said, looking at Locke. She glanced at Kiera who just nodded her head. "I.would. You're a really fantastic guy and I've been crushing on you since I met you."
Kiera hugged them, "I am so happy for you!" she exclaimed.
Tamalyn laughed and she and Locke joined in the hug. "Have you been waiting for him to ask me out?"
"Yes," Kiera said, "I told him that he needed to kiss you for your birthday, and see where things lead."
"I would like that," Tamalyn said.
Kiera made herself scarce, heading back to the pool. They needed nights like these before they joined a band of immoral murderers. She noticed Emily and Koda sitting close together, shoulders together and laughing. Emily had a spoon of something that she was teasing Koda with, who had a look of disgust on his face. Kiera wouldn't hear the words but Emily said something and drizzled a bit on her shoulder. Koda adamantly shook his head and picked up a glass of jinxing and took a drink from it. Emily took the glass from him and also took a sip.
"Congratulations Koda, you just found a woman that is going to make the universe's best wife, and she's into you." Kiera murmured. She sat down and dangled her legs into the pool, enjoying the night air and the happiness around her.
=+=
Tamalyn's trouble did't stop there, but followed them the next day. They all were at the track. Half of the crew were working on the ship with Ikkari and the other half were practicing in the simulator going through various scenarios, including combat, maneuvering through a densely packed asteroid field, or engineering scenarios where they needed to repair the ship or the core. Tamalyn was spending half her day with the crew and the other half going through the classes that she needed in order to get her doctorate. Dr. Farosh had arranged for her to continue to attend her medical classes; with such a small class she was essentially being personally trained by Dr. Farosh who had nothing else to do since he no longer had any students. Tamalyn was thriving under his tutelage and was the only one of them that was essentially still attending her academy.
She wasn't the only one.
Captain Feren continued to train Kiera's mecha squad and the other cadets in physical training, unarmed combat and mecha piloting. She gave the basics of piloting to anyone who wanted it, which was the majority of the special forces members. She even pulled some strings and got some training programs for both the ASF and the Navy. There was a lot of sympathy for the former cadets.
A hover car pulled up during their break and an older aasimar with a barely glowing halo stepped out of it. He had a datapad under his arm and approached the group as if he belonged there.
One of the mechanics stood up and intercepted him. "This is the private track of Rapid Pulse Racing, can I help you?"
"I'm here for my fiance, Tamalyn Larenthal," the man said. "My name is Eric Shanelore."
"You seem kind of old for Tamalyn. Wait right there," the mechanic walked over to the group. Leiella was already standing up. "Hey, that guy said that he's Tamalyn's fiance. Want me to kick him out of here?"
"He is not my fiance," Tamalyn said. "I would really appreciate it if you would."
"Let me," Leiella said, taking out her knight's badge. "It seems like your parents aren't done trying to enslave you. In fact, come with me, Tamalyn. We're going to make sure that this man knows your stance."
Kiera wanted to go with them, but she stayed where she was seated. They weren't that far away from the man and if they were quiet they would be able to hear the exchange. Eric seemed both anxious and relieved when Tamalyn approached him with Leiella.
"Hello, Tamalyn. The images your parents showed don't do you justice. This is a copy of the arranged marriage contract that I signed with the Larenthals. It specifically stipulates that Tamalyn and I are to be married after she completes her military training."
Leiella took the datapad and reviewed it, her face a neural mask. "There are two problems with this contract. The first one is that Tamalyn is seventeen. She's an adult and had to agree to this contract. Her signature isn't on it. The second thing wrong with the contract is the contract itself. This is forced eugenics which follows under the slavery clause of the Empire, making this contract illegal. Tamalyn, do you want to marry this man?"
"No," Tamalyn said, "I don't know you and I'm not uprooting the lift that I am having just to go back to Elysium and be our little wife. I am happy here with my friends and am continuing medical school."
"You can do that on Elysium," Eric said. "I can pay for the best medical school on the planet. You can be a nurse and have a job. I don't expect you to be barefoot in the kitchen. Give me a chance to convince you that the life that you would have on Elysium is far better than the life you would have out here on this backwater planet. Elysium is in the Peerage!"
"I know, I grew up there. Albion is just as good. I don't want to get to know you. I have a boyfriend who is fantastic. I have friends here that I adore. 'M not giving any of that up just to ensure that there are more aasimar on Elysium," Tamalyn said. "Neither you nor my parents will be able to make me change my mind."
"You are to stay away from Miss Larenthal. If you continue to bother her I will press harassment charges and attempted eugenics on her behalf," Leiella said. "If her parents continue to harass her about this topic then they will face those same charges. Do you understand?"
"She's not a member of the Royal family. Why is a Royal Knight getting involved in a personal affair?" Eric scowled.
"Because my best friend is a member of the Royal Family," Tamalyn said.
"Protecting the citizens of the Empire is the job of a knight, no matter the ranking," Leiella added, "I am protecting Tamalyn, and everyone else here. Do you fully understand the charges that will be brought against you?"
"You are missing out on a great life, Tamalyn," Eric said, ""You're going to regret it."
"No, I won't. Here I'm happy. I have good friends, a great lover and days where I feel fulfilled. Goodbye."
Tamalyn turned on her heel and went back to the group. She wrapped her arms around Locke and gave him a long, sensual kiss. Then she wrapped Kiera in a tight hug and gave her a kiss on the lips, too.
"Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?" Kiera asked, the embrace happily returned.
"For making me happy. I am so glad that I met you at the officer's training camp. Without you I'd be back on Elysium being harassed by my parents to marry that guy. Instead, I'm still completing my medical studies, I have wonderful friends, an incredible boyfriend, and the most amazing best friend in the world."
Kiera grinned and gave Tamalyn a tight hug. "I love you, too."
=+=
It took nearly two months for everyone to become proficient enough to satisfy Kida. Literally everyone; they had twenty people who could proficiently fly and operate any console on the ship. Acquiring weapons and armor were a much harder endeavor. Kinsley and Jaina were able to secure light armor and weapons on the black market. Any kind of power armor was sold at astronomical prices. Kiera agreed with the decision to not purchase them, one suit of armor would bankrupt them. They were pooling their stipends together. Amadeus had offered to reinstate Kiera's Royal stipend, but she refused saying that she had her military one.
The hardest part had been convincing Leiella to let them go without her. She knew what they were doing, it would be impossible to hide it, and she very much disapproved of them leaving her behind.
"You need someone to watch out for you kids. Someone with experience. You didn't even have a full year in the Academy. I know you are all highly competent individuals, but out there is a lot different than the classrooms or the simulators. Let me come and be your guide. Those cadets were lost under my watch. I want answers and justice just as much as you do," Leiella said.
"I know, and I know the Paragon squad feels the same way. But you're a Royal Knight, you can't be a member of the Red Moon," Kiera said.
"I'm a woman, I can't be a member because of that. Neither can you," Leiella sighed.
"You have other duties, Ella."
"No, I don't, Kiera. My job is to protect you. I'm not even going back to teaching until this has been dealt with."
"Then let us deal with it! Ella, you weren't on Pantaurus with us. We have a bond, we're…" Kiera sighed. "Please let us do this. I know if you're there, you'll be Captain Feren, no matter how many times you kiss Koda. Well be thrown off, always looking to you to approve everything. We won't be able to rise and grow. We can do this." Kiera sighed, "We need to do this on our own."
Leiella looked at the resigned princess. She understood more than Kiera knew. The knight took a step forward and pulled Kiera into a hug. "Okay. I'm going to get an earful for letting you go. I'll go on vacation with Holt and Saia, and trust that your boyfriends can protect you. But when you run into trouble, when you need advice you contact me."
Kiera returned the hug, "If we can, we will. I promise."
=+=
Locke found her on top of the roof staring at the night sky. “Hey Sunshine,” he greeted her, sitting down next to Kiera and putting his arm around her.
“Hey, handsome,” Kiera greeted, giving him a kiss and laying her head on his shoulder. “Tomorrow's the big day. Are you sure about this? We’re going to be branded criminals.”
“As sure as you’re beautiful. We all are,” Locke said, “I wouldn’t abandon you at this point.”
“Like our nights together that much?” Kiera teased.
“I love you that much,” Locke replied, giving her a squeeze, “Everyone does. We all want answers, Sunshine. Whoever is behind all of what we went through is also an enemy of the Empire. We’re going to stop him.”
“Have I ever told you that your conviction is your sexiest trait?” Kiera said with a small sigh of pleasure.
“Here I thought it was my tenacity. Maybe that’s yours,” he replied, “Or maybe it’s your generosity, or how much you care.”
“Sweet-talker,” Kierra said, “Should we go to bed? Tomorrow is a big day.”
“Probably, not terribly tired though,” Locke said.
“I hope not,” Kiera teased, “but you will be.”