15:32, January 15th, 2135

Kayden exited the elevator and walked onto the bridge of the Broken Shackle to see that Dawn, Selina, and Mirana were already on a video call with Elara. Despite the challenges they faced with the Voidborn he smiled at them, thinking about how lucky of a man he was. Dawn and Selina were both wearing their customized black bodysuits with slits cut in the back for their tails, whereas Mirana was back in her trademark armour. Given that her body had fully adapted to Kayden’s – and therefore also at least partially adapted the environment Kayden lived in – she needed the armour less than she used to. Nevertheless, Kayden guessed it would be quite some time before the Vrul woman would be comfortable showing her face to others.

After retrieving the Vrul scavenger ship they’d returned to Sanctuary to rearm, refuel, and reorient themselves for whatever came next. Mirana’s hand-picked crew of Vrul specialists were currently going over every inch of the enormous ship to ensure it was ready to be crewed, while Anna’s crew of goblins fussed over the Broken Shackle’s engines. He’d just received an update about the delivery system from the goblin woman – in a terrifyingly short amount of time she’d created an extraordinarily efficient and effective weapon of destruction.

One that the dark parts of his personality was secretly looking forward to trying out.

The smile on his face quickly faded when he realized that he hadn’t had a chance to tell his Kel wife that he was now also permanently bonded to a Vrul woman – a fact made more complicated by the historical conflicts between the two peoples. Before speaking he took a moment to glance around the bridge to ensure there were no other crew members present. As much as he felt no shame for being in a relationship with these beautiful women, he didn’t want to make any of the other crew feel uncomfortable by talking about private relationship details in front of them. When he saw there was nobody he focused on the conversation happening in front of him.

“Did he do the thing with the tongue?” Selina asked excitedly. “I love it when he does the thing with the tongue.”

“I’m pretty sure he learned that one from me.” Dawn said with a smirk, her whiplike tail moving up and down her leg.

“Did you?” Selina asked. “I thought you said he was amazing the first time you were together.”

“He was.” She replied dreamily. “Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit. But I helped him perfect his technique.”

“I’ll give you that. You eat pussy like a fucking-”

“Wait. Will I be expected to participate in group sex, now that I am bonded to Kayden?” Mirana asked hesitantly.

“Yes.” Elara said.

“No.” Dawn countered.

“Maybe?” Selina added.

“I’m confused.” Mirana responded, shaking her head.

“Mirana, honey.” Dawn said, putting an arm around her shoulder. “You’re one of us. We will never ask you to do anything you’re not comfortable with. If you want to explore your sexuality with us, we’d be more than happy to do that. If you just want to be sexual with him, you can do that too. But no matter what, you’re part of this group now. We’ll have your back.”

Seeing that they weren’t fighting, Kayden stood near the elevator to just observe for a moment. He knew that Selina already registered that he entered the room using her enhanced senses, but given that she seemed content to continue the conversation as if he wasn’t there, he was content to wait.

Besides, I don’t want to interrupt their moment together. It sounds like they’re actually bonding.

“Even you?” Mirana asked, turning to the screen unbelievingly.

“Even me.” Elara confirmed. “You’re basically a sister now. I consider whatever arguments we had to be firmly in the past. We’ll have to work on learning to trust each other more, but that will come with time.”

“I… believe I can do that.” Mirana slowly nodded. “Especially if it benefits him. He has so much riding on his shoulders that the last thing he needs is to moderate our bickering.”

“You really care about him.” Selina said, nodding approvingly.

“I do. He is… mine. Ours. Together. To take care of.”

“Well said.” Elara smiled.

“I do want to ask though…” Mirana trailed off, finding her words. “Towards the end he was…beastly. Feral.”

“Did he hurt you?” Elara asked.

“No! Nothing like that. I… actually liked it. A lot.”

“Oh.” Dawn smirked. “You like it when he starts to lose control.”

“Yes. Even if I don’t agree with all the decisions he makes, he typically makes them calmly. To see him riled up like that is…” She trailed off once more and shivered at the memory.

“Girl, you got it bad.” Dawn chuckled. “You want to know how to do that to him all the time?”

“Yes!” Mirana answered.

“Be yourself.” Dawn said.

“What?”

“Just be yourself. He likes you for who you are. He chose all of us for our unique qualities. Use those.”

“What do you mean?”

“I use my pheromones and show him my body.” Dawn said. “Those are things that are unique to me.”

“I like to challenge him to a contest. He likes that.” Selina said, grinning. “Even when he loses, he wins. Even when I lose, I win.”

“I’ve been sending him pictures since I left.” Elara admitted. “Every chance I get, I’m running to my cabin to show him what he’s missing.”

“I don’t think I can do any of that.” Mirana said, sounding defeated.

“That’s exactly the point. Find out the unique qualities he likes in you, and use that to get him all riled up.” Dawn said. “We’ll help you, don’t worry.”

Kayden chose that moment to enter the conversation, causing Mirana, Dawn, and Elara to jump slightly. “I’ll give you a head start: I like the fact that you’re assertive and not afraid to ask for what you want.”

“I see.” Mirana said. “I will remember that. And how much of our conversation did you hear?”

Kayden ignored the question, changing the topic. “Elara, can you give us an update on your mission? I’d like to bring you home sooner rather than later.”

“I’m sorry Kayden. I’d like to come home to you too but the Kel government is still uncommitted.” Elara responded. “We’ve continued the stalemate in the house of representatives, but we don’t have enough support to oust the president and bring in a new leader.”

“Shit. Elara, some of the Vrul headed to the front line but they’re far less organized than we would have hoped. We could really use those ships.” Selina replied, jumping directly into ‘work’ mode.

“We could always take out the president.” Dawn grinned before looking at Kayden. “What? We were all thinking it.”

Elara arched one eyebrow. “It would drop the number of votes we would need from 66% of the house to 50% of the house. We’d just need to put forward a candidate and-”

“She was joking, Elara.” Kayden said, glancing at Dawn. “Besides, killing their president isn’t exactly going to buy us a lot of goodwill with the Kel. Even if she’s unpopular.” He paused before looking back at the screen. “Elara, I know you’re doing the best you can. What can we do to support you?”

She bit her lip while thinking before responding. “A few pre-recorded messages from the Asha’dara might help influence some key people in power. An endorsement here and there to help boost their standings, and maybe a few messages of hope and solidarity with the Kel people to really push public opinion.”

Kayden pinched the bridge of his nose before nodding. “Whatever it takes. Can you write up some things for me to say?”

“I’ll get to work right away.” Elara said before a sly smile appeared on her face. “Maybe I’ll even send you some pictures along with the scripts.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

He couldn’t help but grin in reply.

“Apologies for the interruption, but this is urgent.” Ali announced as she strode onto the bridge.

“What’s going on?” Kayden asked.

“Ashley received an urgent message from the Roccan Alliance. She’s requesting we join the call.”

The screen ahead of them shimmered and resolved into 3 equal sections – one with Elara’s face still on it, another with Ashley’s, and a 3rd with a picture of a man in a stiff-looking black uniform. Kayden had to suppress the feeling of disgust at the sight – he was all too familiar with the high collared dress coat, though the one he used to wear had far fewer medals and commendations pinned to it. He looked the pale-skinned, silver-haired man in his blue eyes before gritting his teeth.

“Kayden Reynolds. My name is Admiral Gibbs, and I’m leading the defense of the Bernard’s Star system.”

“I remember you.” Kayden replied, resisting the reflexive urge to add the word ‘sir’ onto the end of his sentence. “You used to be in command of Apollo Station, out in the Sirius system.”

“I…yes.” Gibbs replied, furrowing his impressively bushy eyebrows in confusion. “I was there until before the war. Have we met, Mr. Reynolds?”

“I’m surprised you don’t remember me.” Kayden said, seething. “Let me remind you: I used to be Lieutenant Kayden Reynolds, of the 3rd fleet out of Virgo. When the Black Company destroyed Prometheus Station I retreated to carry news of the attack. I dropped out of hyperspace only for you to tell me that my squad died for nothing because the war was over.”

“Kayden.” Ashley said softly.

In one word she managed to convey far more than Kayden thought possible. Between the tone of her voice and the look on her face, the message was crystal clear: don’t fuck this up for us.

Taking a deep breath, Kayden centered himself and grit his teeth. “That’s ancient history though. Tell me Admiral – what can we do for you today?”

“Yes, well…” The admiral started, clearly thrown off. “These Voidborn hit us hard in the Bernard’s Star system and punched a hole right through our defenses. They managed to jump a significant number of ships to hyperspace before our reserve forces could close the gap. I don’t have enough ships to chase them down and maintain the blockade, but if I let them destroy our supply lines then this war is going to be over real quick.”

“Fuck.” Kayden said.

“Agreed.” Ashley added.

“Think they’re making a break for Vulcan again?” Selina asked. “If so, we should warn the Lokken.”

“I don’t believe so.” Ali interjected. “As per Roccan standard military protocol, a small portion of Admiral’s forces have left the blockade for the purpose of tracking and harassing the fleet with hit-and-run attacks. While they have paused to attack targets of opportunity, the hyperspace jumps they’ve made don’t indicate that they’re going towards Lokken space.”

“Who is that?” Gibbs leaned over his screen. “And how does she know anything about Roccan military protocol?”

Ignoring the admiral, Kayden turned to Ali. “Where then? Where do you think they’re going?”

“Based on their extrapolated path, I believe they’re heading to the Deneb system.”

“Why Deneb?” Ashley asked.

“Using readings gathered from the device on Vulcan, I have been completing a thorough scan of all known systems – Human, Kel, and Vrul – for additional Voidborn devices. When I saw the Voidborn fleet’s intended destination, I moved planets in the Deneb system to the front of the list. There is a very faint signal emanating from somewhere near the colony on Reaper’s Coast.”

Kayden immediately recalled a trans-human pirate that hailed from the colony. He’d been genetically modified to suit the planet’s unique biosphere, with tentacles in place of his hair and gills on his neck to allow him to extract oxygen directly from water.

“Isn’t that…underwater?” Kayden asked.

“Yes.” Ali replied. “Reaper’s Coast is an entirely aquatic planet. We can modify a shuttle to use as a submersible to retrieve the artifact. It will lack shields and weapons, but it will suffice for this mission.”

“Why didn’t the Voidborn just go there to start with?” Selina asked. “It’s far less defended than Vulcan – if memory serves, there’s only a relatively small colony there. If I were leading them I would have retrieved that device first.”

“A sound tactical analysis.” Ali nodded. “I can only guess as to the mental state of the Voidborn. However, the readings from this device indicate a lower energy level than the other devices. Perhaps it is not as fully charged as the others, making it a lower priority?”

“Or maybe they didn’t know Vulcan was more heavily defended?” Elara offered.

“Who was that?” Gibbs interjected, his eyes going wide. “I can’t see them on my screen. Who made that comment?”

“It’s still going to be an issue if they manage to get their hands on it, right?” Kayden asked, continuing to ignore the admiral.

“Yes, undoubtedly.”

“Do we know anyone on the planet who we can trust to retrieve it and deliver it to us?” Selina asked.

“Their government is…unstable, at best.” Dawn answered. “Gangs and mercenaries hold the real power there, and they’re just as likely to try to activate the artifact for their own gain. Besides, they should be preparing for an evacuation if the Voidborn are on their way there.”

“Then it’s settled.” Kayden said, standing. “Let’s go pick it up. I don’t love the idea of having 2 artifacts in the same place, but I’d rather hold onto them than trust anyone else with them.”

“I’ve got a better idea than just holding onto it.” Selina interjected. “A way we can use the artifact to solve the Admiral’s little ‘rogue fleet’ problem.”

“How?” Gibbs demanded.

“I’ll let you know once I work out the details.” Selina answered. “I’m going to need something from Port Vega though, along with some help from Mirana and Anna.”

“Of course.” Mirana answered.

“We can pick up whatever it is you need from Port Vega on the way.” Kayden agreed.

“While I do what? Sit here and twiddle my thumbs, waiting for you to come through?” Gibbs roared.

“Not exactly.” Kayden said, finally addressing the admiral again. “If we leave right now and head directly there, we can probably make it to Reaper’s Coast before the Voidborn do. I need you to make sure we do. Keep doing what you’re doing – harass them, slow them down, force them to burn as much fuel as possible. They’re on your home turf – use that to your advantage: lay traps and bait them into unfavorable engagements. If you can destroy some of them, great – but don’t sacrifice what few forces you can pull away from the blockade for that purpose. Just focus on slowing them down as much as possible.”

“I’ll do that.” Gibbs replied. “And…thank you. Lieutenant.”

“Not anymore. Just Kayden.” He replied before cutting off the transmission to the admiral.

“You okay?” Ashley asked.

“Yeah. Thanks for reining me in there. I thought I was over what happened, but when I saw him I just-”

“Don’t be sorry.” Ashley replied. “He’s an ass. A useful ass, but an ass nonetheless.”

Kayden cracked a smile. “When this is over I’m going to show you something you can use your ass for.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” Ashley grinned. “Now I need to get back to it – the Vrul need help getting integrated into the blockade fleet.”

“Stay safe.”

“You too.” She replied before hanging up.

“Kayden I know you’re dealing with a lot but-” Elara started.

“I haven’t forgotten about you.” Kayden nodded. “We can record the video messages while we’re in hyperspace. I’ll send them as soon as I get to Reaper’s Coast.” He paused for a moment. “With any luck, it’ll be enough to get the Kel’s attention and we can end this war.”

“Thank you. Take care, husband. I love you.” She said.

“I love you too.” Kayden replied before hanging up.