Fourteen months after the Battle of the Jaleeni System
TOI-700 d, 101.4 light years from Earth
Republic Hive World, 2175 A.D.
Aurora could barely constrain herself from interfering with the emergence of her first daughter as she struggled to break through the tough pupa fibers surrounding her. She was just about to move closer and reach out a tarsal claw to break a particularly stubborn strand when the Hive mother within scolded her.
Aurora withdrew her claw and forced herself to be still, watching with anxiety as her first daughter continued to struggle to emerge. The feelings of love and the desire to help her daughter crashed against her mind and threatened to overwhelm her.
Her daughter continued pushing, and the pupa opened enough for the daughter to push her head through, making eye contact with the Hive mother as she paused to rest after the exertion.
~ Hard. Help. ~
She watched as her daughter responded to her thoughts, looked down at the tough, fibrous strand in front of her, and used her mandibles to start chewing through the cord. After a few moments, the strand was cut, and the pupa opened a little more, allowing the daughter to push more of her thorax out.
The daughter pushed harder, and her thorax was now outside the pupa. She stopped struggling and laid on the hard stone floor of the brooding chamber, staring at her Hive mother.
~ Help, please. ~
Anguish coursed through the Hive mother's body, and she forced herself to remain still. This was the way of the Hive. The Hive mother within sent thoughts and emotions to her.
Aurora didn’t answer her. She sent thoughts to her daughter, who was still staring at her and sending thoughts pleading for help.
The daughter didn’t respond. She just laid there, not moving or making any effort to continue to emerge for many minutes. Aurora was roiled by feelings of grief and loss; her first daughter is not strong enough to become queen. She has given up.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Startled by noise behind her, Aurora turned her head to see who dared to intrude in her brood chamber. They would die for disrupting her grieving. Thoughts of retribution disappeared immediately when she saw that it was Bandit friend. He walked over to where she was and knelt beside her, making claw movements toward her.
She looked at his new face, still not used to the machine animal body he now inhabited. He continued to make claw movements, and she didn’t respond, overwhelmed with the grief she was experiencing. Bandit friend stood up and moved over closer to her daughter, sitting on the ground in front of her. He did nothing at first; he just sat as she continued to lay there, no longer attempting to emerge from the pupa.
Bandit friend started making claw movements towards her daughter. Aurora saw her daughter move her head slightly to look at the strange animal in front of her, intrigued by him. Bandit friend then took out a small device, placed it on the ground just out of the reach of her daughter’s legs, and tapped on it.
Holograms appeared in the air, and she saw that her daughter was now entirely focused on the floating shapes moving around as Bandit friend was using claw movements to manipulate them. A series of images started appearing, depicting the different species and animals found throughout the region of space they inhabited.
Her daughter reached out a claw to touch the holograms, and Bandit friend moved the device back so that the images were just out of her reach. She again reached out to touch them, and she was forced to use her bottom legs to extend her reach, and a little more of her body came out of the cocoon.
Bandit friend kept displaying different images and moving the device just out of the reach of her daughter as she kept trying to touch the holograms, her body slowly emerging further out of the pupa.
Aurora, seeing that her daughter was now almost out of the cocoon, got up and stood next to the still-sitting Bandit friend. She was overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude towards Bandit friend and made claw movements toward him, thanking him repeatedly. He changed his face to mimic the feeding hole movements that the human animals made to signify happiness, and he made claw movements, saying that he was happy for her and her daughter.
Thoughts from the Hive mother within entered her mind.
Thanking her for her wisdom, Aurora watched as her daughter finally removed her last leg from the cocoon. She had now fully emerged, and it was time to make her stand. She nervously reached down with her tarsal claws and took her daughter's claws into them, feeling a wave of emotion as she touched her daughter for the first time and sent thoughts to her.
Her daughter looked at her with her eyes, and Aurora was inundated with feelings of love as she saw the intelligence within them. Her daughter moved her legs under her abdomen and pushed up with them, the legs shaking under the strain. Slowly, her daughter continued pushing, and soon she was standing upright, using her claws to maintain her balance as she held onto the Hive mother.
Aurora could barely contain the pride and relief she was feeling, and she reigned in the impulse to commune with her daughter, giving her time to rest. They both stood there and waited as the daughter’s legs slowly stopped shaking, becoming accustomed to the weight they were bearing.
The Hive mother within sent thoughts.
She thanked her again for her wisdom, and focused on her daughter’s eyes. Slowly, she sent thoughts and emotions to her, sharing herself with her daughter as she came to know the new mind. She sent more thoughts and concepts as her daughter’s mind readily absorbed them, increasing the intensity of the exchange as they merged.
After an indeterminate length of time, they had completed the exchange, and she withdrew from her daughter’s mind and reluctantly let go of her tarsal claws. She stepped back and waited for her daughter to send her first thoughts as a new queen.
She felt her daughter’s thoughts reach out, and she eagerly accepted them.
She felt the love and meaning behind her daughter’s first thoughts and responded.
Aurora reached out a tarsal claw to her side where Bandit friend was standing and took the machine animal claw in hers, squeezing it tightly. She looked at Bandit friend, and he gazed back at her in return. There was no need to make claw movements for him; he knew what she was saying without them.