Kiera used her soothing as soon as she was able. The Archbishop had implied they were in the Void. It was just like in the stories: cold, hungry, and with discordant whispers. The whispers were the worst part. It was a woman’s voice, emotionless and detached. She wanted to know who Kiera was, why there was the same light within her that the ‘Wanderer’ had. There was the slightest inflection on the word which made Kiera think it was a name or a title. Worst of all the woman said she would be waiting for Kiera so they could become one.
She vaguely registered Locke’s conversation with…someone. She was tired and spent. Kiera closed her eyes. She was hanging by the exo-frame’s harness but she didn’t have the energy to care. She idly wondered if Tamalyn and Riley were okay, and how Kinsley was doing. Was this what Kinsley felt? What she went through? Before Kiera could ponder that line of thought, she passed out.
Warmth spread over her. Kiera stirred and opened her eyes. Tamalyn was leaning over her, halo flaring brightly. She looked exhausted. Kiera reached up with what little energy she had and cupped Tamalyn’s face.
“You look tired, Halo, you need to rest.”
Tamalyn’s halo dimmed. “I can, now that you’re awake and out of danger.” She let Kiera pull her to the ground in a tight hug.
“You healed everyone that went into the den didn’t you?” Kiera murmured. “You push yourself too hard.”
“Everyone who survived,” Tamalyn said. “We lost some of them before I arrived. The fighting was really bad and there were more satyrs with flutes charming the women. It was awful. We lost a couple Valkyries and War Chief Erik isn’t sure they’re all dead. If they have even a single woman they can repopulate.
“The scandianss will hunt them down. Did we lose any of our people?”
Tamalyn shook her head, “No. they suffered the least, followed by the legionnaires. That power armor made a lot of difference. We did lose Ivan Olafson. I went to him first but he was already gone. You were mostly stable already so I went by triage rules. The skalds helped using your soothing song. Yenna incorporated it into one of her healing songs and her healing aided the wounded like mine did.”
“That’s great. Not the loss of Ivan, but the healing.”
Kiera lay with Tamalyn cuddling her, happy to be in physical contact with someone. She felt that Tamalyn was happy to be cuddling Kiera as well. The aasimar was able to relax enough to fall asleep. She needed it. Now that their contract was over, they could focus on bringing down Snowden. She would have to check to make sure that Jim survived the attack, and check on Pelendelar, Laike, and Astrid.
That could come later. For now she was happy to have one of her dearest friends in her arms fast asleep. Tamalyn had always teased that if she ever wanted to be with a woman, Kiera would be the only one for her.
“Is she okay?” A gentle voice asked.
Kiera turned her head to see Ivan Unfrid sit down next to her. “She’s just exhausted. As usual she pushed herself too hard. Her healing will be stronger, which will be helpful but I wish she took better care of herself.”
“She worries that she can’t do enough, can’t be enough. I’ve told her that she does all that she can, and it is enough.” Ivan gently stroked Tamalyn’s hair. “I have a question to ask you, Commandant.”
“She likes chocolate, Elysium Tulips and your singing. She says she can’t carry a tune but wants to learn the string hammer instrument so she could accompany you.”
Ivan grinned, “The dulcimer. Thank you, but that was not what I was going to ask. May I travel with you? Tamalyn is your only medic and I fear that in the coming days your crew will more healing and another ear to listen to"
“Of course. We would love to have you.”
“Again, thank you. Are you alright? Can I provide you some healing?”
“I’m great where I am. I feel okay and I have a beautiful woman asleep in my arms. What more could a girl want?”
=+=
The funeral for those who had fallen to the satyr was a brief affair. Olaf honored them all with a sea burial, something only reserved for those who had performed great deeds. They were sent off in longboats and had archers fire flaming arrows at them. The bodies were covered in a special oil that burned hot enough to cremate the bodies by the time the longboats made it across the lake. The ashes were gathered and would be spread around the area.
A feast followed the burial. It was to both honor the fallen and celebrate the defeat of the satyr. Large roasts were brought out dressed with various vegetables and served with kegs of different alcohols. The night was spent in revelry with stories of the war, the fallen, and of great deeds shared throughout the night. Kiera didn’t know what was more potent: the alcohol or the joy.
Pelendelar found her around midnight.
“We’re leaving in the morning. There’s another war to fight. I’m not sure who it’s against, but I doubt they will be as harrowing as the satyr.”
“Don’t jinx yourself!” Kiera laughed. She took his hand. “Can I write to you? I don’t know where you’re going or where I’m going, but I am going to miss you.”
“I have coordinates where you can send messages to. I’m not very good at checking them, but I’ll make an effort for you. I hope I see you again, Sunlight.”
“That’s my hope, too. Are you done celebrating? I would like to have one more night with you.” Kiera squeezed his hand.
Pelendelar wrapped his tendrils around Kiera’s waist and lifted her to him. “I would be lying if I said that wasn’t the reason I found you.”
Kiera grinned, “Love you, Pell.”
Pelendelar grinned and laid his forehead on Kiera’s, ”Love you, Sunlight.”
=+=
Sanguine Luna was the headquarters of the Red Moon Mercenaries Guild. It was a mobile starbase that could house every ship in the organization. It orbited a red planet that housed the mercenary’s shipyards, a planetary headquarters, and facilities for training, experimenting, and research. Only Full Members could walk the halls of Sanguine Luna and access its resources, including anything the planet could provide. Sanguine Luna was also the home of several brothels that were deemed worthy of being the sole reason a man joined the moon. Since its founding, the Red Moon Mercenaries saw women as property and discouraged their members from keeping women near them. Adding to the brothels was a good way to curry favor with Ulysses Lupin; the prettier the better.
While the mercenaries were human supremacists, there were ‘exotic’ brothels with alien women. There were also fighting pits that members could use to show off their prowess against alien fighters or gamble on the alien pit fights. The fights were broadcast over the entire starbase and often played in the numerous bars.
The base was divided into eight districts each one displaying one of the phases on the moon. The Admiral had offices in their districts, which is where their crews stayed. There were also plenty of ‘neutral areas that members of different fleets used to meet without fear of being attacked. Lupin made it clear that the only fighting that he tolerated on the starbase was in the pits and the arenas. The neutral areas were there to separate the districts and provide space between them.
Different districts offered different services. Rueben and Pugh didn’t allow non-humans in their district. They also didn’t like anyone wearing Snowden or Uller’s emblems walking around in their territory. Both men allowed their crews to have non-human slaves. Lupin only allowed those slaves on his station if they were leashes. Skorv’s area was where the best equipment, cybernetics, and vehicles were available, but most mercenaries were leery of entering the district due to the man’s reputation. That drove them to find lesser gear and cybernetics in Rueben or Pugh’s districts. Snowden had a personal cyber surgeon that required his permission to make an appointment with.
The station was also divided into eight levels, the higher the level the nicer the amenities. The top levels were reserved for the Admirals and their High Captains. The seventh floor was reserved to Captains, commanders the sixth, and lieutenant commanders the fifth. The other levels were open to everyone else.
So far, the plan had gone perfectly. Skorv was able to produce two sets of wing harnesses that were comfortable and could be worn without anything else. He also provided wigs that made Kiera a platinum blonde like Astrid and Gave Kinsley tawny blond hair. Kiera was also given contacts to make her eyes blue, while Kinsley’s made hers green. Kiera didn’t recognize them when they were done. She didn’t recognize Riley, either.
Einherjar tattoo artists had turned the Andorran’s spots into intricate temporary tattoos. They drew tattoos around her arms, her stomach and along her neck. Contacts gave Riley rich brown eyes. Tara was going as an aesyr with longer black hair, golden brown eyes and sharp pointed ears. She thought a “full house” of three Valkyries and two einherjar would attract too much attention. Kiera thought she didn't want anyone to do anything to her prosthetics, which Kiera could understand.
Howden was eager to get his hands on such beautiful slave girls. He likely paid more than he planned to, which suited Holland’s man just fine. Howden told his crew anyone who touched any of his slaves, looked at them wrong, or even spoke to them, he would jettison offenders out of the airlock. He treated his slaves with kindness, asking what they would like to eat, ringing the doorbell to the rooms he placed them in before entering, and in general treating them like VIPs instead of slave girls he was giving his boss. It was nice in a twisted sort of sense.
"I'm sorry to have to put these leashes and collars on you," Howden said after they docked at the headquarters.
The girls were already wearing the control collars that kept them docile, or at least, that's what the Red Moon thought. In truth the collars did nothing, not even let them track their location. It was another one of Holland's suggestions that Kiera readily accepted. In the short time that she knew the man, she'd grown fond of him. Ben's captains were a lot like himself, suave, clever, and extremely charismatic.
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No one replied. The first order they had been given was to be quiet and obedient. It was a common command especially when transporting slaves. It was always issued immediately when the master control for the collar exchanged hands. There had been times in the past where a new master assumed his slave would continue to follow the orders of the old master. Some quirk of the collar made this into a loophole and several slavers were murdered before the exploit was found.
They were led through the Crescent Moon district getting many wolf whistles and catcalls. Howden glared at every one of them, his hand drifting to his empty holster. Everyone entering the base was scanned for weapons and hostile prosthetics. Weapons were to be returned to the ship or confiscated. If the prosthetic couldn't be turned off or removed then the crew member couldn't step foot on the base. It made modular prosthetics popular among the mercenaries. Howden brought them to a building that looked like a large hotel, complete with glass doors and a large lobby. There was a human man behind the desk, wearing the standard Snowden uniform with an Ensign rank on his sleeves. When he saw Howden the man immediately stood up and saluted.
Howden returned the salute, "At ease Ensign. I have a president for Admiral Snowden, is he here?"
"I'm sorry sir, he is not. His daughters started their second semester in the Naval Officer's Academy this week and he gave a speech. We're not expecting him until later this month," the ensign said. "But Captain Snowden is here, should I call him?"
Kiera hoped that by 'Captain Snowden' he meant Dandelion's brother and not Dandelion himself. Knowing that idiot had command of a ship would make Kiera lose all respect for the admiral, not that she had much to begin with. It could be to their benefit that Admiral Snowden wasn't there. Kiera knew that if he was then he might take one of them to bed, and it would be Kiera. She would charm him into taking her over one of the others. She released her Radiance, charming Howden and the ensign.
"Tell him yes," Kiera whispered in Howden's ear.
"Yes," Howden said.
Kiera felt a hand slip into hers as they waited. She turned her head slightly, and met Kinsley's eyes. She mouthed 'patience' and squeezed Kiera's hand. Kiera took a breath and gathered herself. She didn't want to wait anymore. A year of mercenary work, fighting monstrosities, touching the Void. Kiera wanted to be done with it all. She wanted to see Snowden brought to justice, and she desperately wanted to learn the identity of the person responsible for Liandra's death. Classes starting again, a second semester. Was it already Spring in the Empire? It couldn't have been. Kiera's birthday wasn't too long ago, at the most it would be autumn. Did the Pantaurus trip screw things up?
The elevator dinged once and the doors opened. A man who looked like Admiral Snowden except for his pale blonde hair and dark brown eyes stepped out flanked by two men. Kiera could see the family resemblance to Dandelion,t oo. At least Dalton didn't badly dye his hair. Dalton crossed the room to the front desk, approaching Howden with an outstretched hand.
"Captain Howden, I heard things went well in the Clans," he glanced at the girls and gave them an appraising look, "Very well. How can I help you?" Dalton spoke in a friendly manner, but acknowledged the other man's rank. He certainly had his own charm and was conventionally attractive. Kiera didn't know what to make of him.
"I acquired some souvenirs for your father," Howden said, gesturing to his captured women. "I came to personally deliver them to him. But he's not here."
"No, he's taking care of some business," Dalton said. He was much more shrewd than the ensign. "I can take these slaves off your hands. I'll let Admiral Snowden know they are from you."
Howden handed the leashes and the collar controls module to Dalton. The younger Snowden immediately issued the order of "remain quiet and obedient." He seemed to know exactly what he was doing. He took them into the elevator, making the two men who had ridden with him wait in the lobby. One inside, Dalton took out a keycard and flashed it in front of a reader. The reader turned white and then he pressed the '8' elevator button. If it wasn't for the numbers changing, Kiera would have sworn the elevator cab didn't move at all. The doors opened behind them, and Dalton ushered them out of the elevator.
It opened into a large lounge with white carpets and a pair of red loveseats facing each other. Between them was a coffee table. There were doors on each of the three walls, all mahogany with brass handles. Such a humble elevator lobby was surprising. Dalton walked straight across the room and put his keycard next to the door handle. There was an audible click and he opened the door.
"Follow me. Touch nothing in the room and stand where I tell you to," Dalton said.
Like the elevator lobby, this room had white carpets. A large mahogany desk sat in the corner opposite and to the right of the door. There was a console sitting on top of it, several picture frames and a ship in the bottle. A row of three bookshelves stood behind it partially filled with old, leather bound books. To the left was a lounge complete with several couches, a liquor cabinet and a billiards table. Each of the bottles were shaped differently, a tell tale sign that they were rather expensive. Kiera recognized a bottle of Jinxing Dark among them. She doubted that Balthezard was part of the honeymooner's club. There were three doors leading from his room. One on the same wall as the desk but on the opposite side of the room, one to the left and another to the right.
"I want all five of you to go over to that couch," Dalton said, pointing to a large white sofa. "I want the valkyries to stand behind it, and the other two to sit on the couch. Stay there until I say otherwise."
The girls obeyed, taking their positions. A wave of nervousness poured out from Dalton. He paced in front of the girls for a few minutes,making slight adjustments to their positions. He glanced at the liquor cabinet several times and even took a step towards it on one such glance, but aborted his plan. With a deep breath to center himself, Dalton took out a long range communicator, and activated the screen. It chimed three times before a circle appeared and began to spin, indicating that the connection was being established. Another chime sounded and the circle was replaced with an image of Admiral Snowden in perfect detail. It was like he was in the room. Dalton immediately came to attention.
"Dalton. At ease son, at ease. Is this a personal call, is there something wrong?" Snowden sounded concerned and looked around the room. His eyes fell upon the girls and his eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Why son, it's not my birthday for another month. These ladies look much better than the ones that Kirkman found. Better behaved as well."
"They're from Captain Howden. He said they were souvenirs from the Clans. Three Valkyrie, some tattooed woman and an eladrin with much sharper ears," Dalton said, taking an at ease position.
"An aesyr, or is she a vanyr? I don't remember the difference," Balthazar said. "It doesn't matter. Now, why did you call?"
"To show you your present from Howden," Dalton said. "What would you like me to do with them? Put them in your private rooms in the brothel?"
"Yes, I think I'll keep these…in the family. Choose one to keep for yourself, son. The last contract you completed was well done, despite your idiot brother's attempts to screw it up."
Dalton visibly relaxed, "I still don't know why you brought him into the Moon, or had him rescued. All he does is whine and complain and moon over the princess."
"Because your aunts refused to take him off my hands. I even offered your sisters and they refused. I can't blame them. Keeping Arun close allows us to control what he screws up. If Skorv hadn't picked up Malachite I would have had him assigned to his ship."
"We could always arrange an accident for him," Dalton said.
"No, I don't need to hear your mother wail about her precious baby boy. Enjoy the slaves Dalton. I have a lot more work to do. Check in with Killian to see what contracts are available."
"Yes, Sir." Dalton said. The hologram disappeared. Dalton put it back in his pocket and then set his eyes on Kiera. "You are coming with me, the rest of you stay here. The other two valks can sit down if you want to."
Kiera walked around the couch towards Dalton. He turned and headed to the door on the left hand wall,using his keycard to gain access. He turned around to make sure that Kiera was following and dropped to the ground when she struck him on the chin. Kiera couldn't help but look inside the room.
A four poster bed dominated the room with various manacles hanging from it. Two gilded cages were on the right wall and a pair of doors were on the left, one was open and looked like it led into a bathroom. Riley came over and helped Kiera carry Dalton and helped her manacle him to the bed. Riley put a gag in his mouth and then walked over to the unopened door. Kiera followed her.
It was a spacious walk-in closet filled with various costumes. Each one was exquisitely tailored and separated by size. There was jewelry with real gemstones sitting on a bureau. Shoes and slippers of all kinds. Some of them were obviously for bondage, but the vast majority looked like they were for role play.
"And now I know more about Balthazar Snowden's sex life than I ever wanted to," Kiera said walking out of the closet.
She headed out of the room and over to where Tara was sitting at the desk. Kinsley and Astrid were nowhere in sight, and the door on the same side as the desk was open. She picked up one of the picture frames and looked at it. Three pretty Ja’darin women looked back at her. One was in a white dress with platinum blonde hair. Her eyes were an intense bright blue, the cat like-pupils just added to her beauty. Three horns in a vertical row on her forehead made her look exotic. The two girls with her were the spitting image of the woman, obviously their mother with the exception of their hair; it was pure white. Both were dressed in Astrian Navy Dress Uniforms. Their red and blue emblem was split down the middle by silver. They were Starfighter Pilots like Liandra. They weren’t in her class, and probably just started classes.
Ja'darins were native to the Magellanic galaxy and were members of the Arcanist Alliance, that galaxy's ruling faction. They were allies of the Empire with gates that connected the two factions for trade and travel. There had been two ja'darin women at her sixteenth birthday celebration. A mother and a daughter. Kiera couldn't recall their names.
“Snowden has pretty ja’darin daughters,” Kiera said.
“The ensign was right. Snowden was scheduled to give a speech at the DNOC. It looks like it is the twins' second semester; their first started back in spring. There's a note here about the, ah, Winter birthday offset. The investigation must not have turned anything up."
Kiera scoffed, putting the picture back, “More like the investigators were in his pocket and let him off. You’re in the system already?”
"Mhm. I uploaded my safecracker program and it unlocked the console. I'm doing a search for the contract that called for you and your niece's deaths. Once I have that I plan to copy all the contents on his harddrive and see if I can't get into the Headquarters main systems and find out what Lupin has.
“Wanna make out?”
"We're mid mission, love," Kinsley said coming in from the door. "Trophy room is back there, I'm assuming that the door to the right of the elevator will lead onto the promenade. This door will lead to a private entrance into the brothel. Where's Rae?"
"Going through Snowden's clothes. Want me to get her?" Kiera asked.
"Guys, Snowden has a sauna!" Riley called from the bedroom. "The bathroom has a door that leads to a smaller bathroom that connects to the elevator lobby. There is a jacuzzi tub, a huge bathtub and a sauna!"
"We can find a sauna for you later, Riley," Astrid called back, grinning. "Right now we have work to do. What was the plan to escape?"
"There are eight districts that follow the phases of the moon," Kiera explained, "We're in the Waxing Crescent and need to get to the Waning Crescent. To do that we have to go through Pugh's brothel. Ben said all the brothels are connected so the girls can be moved between districts without crossing into another district, as they are considered 'controlled neutral zones.' Meaning, should be able to visit any brothel, but they need permission to move through that zone. We also need to figure out what level or levels the girls are on."
"And we can do that by looking like we're a couple of Captains on the prowl for some booty," Riley said coming out of the bedroom wearing a Snowden Mercenary uniform with captain's ranking on it. It fit her surprisingly well.
"Do I want to know?" Kinsley asked, taking off her wing harness and the coin mail bikini she wore and putting on the uniform.
"Don't kinkshame the man, his costumes are super high quality and really comfortable," Riley said with a grin. Kins and I will go in first, then we'll let you ladies know what we find."