Prophet of Flame

The ship was surprisingly quiet today, and Alwen soon realized that was because most of the crew were off visiting home and family. Or getting into trouble in Noctis. Alwen had spent a couple hours wandering the ship trying to find Alice, but to no avail. She had been too distraught to do much on the day she returned with the Captain, and the hangover did not help. But now that it was the next day and she had a hit of nutrients from an IV bag, she was ready to start fixing whatever she had messed up. And that had to start with Alice.

She had to be there for the first Terran who had befriended her and stood up for her when she didn’t take the mark. Alice had been there for her throughout her whole stay aboard the Astaroth, and she couldn’t actually imagine how she had gotten through life before making such a good friend. She had other friends, Limey, the twins, Bachir, and the Bosun, but Alice was her first. And she felt like she owed it to her to be there for whatever she was going through, even if she had been the one to start it. Bros before hoes as Limey said.

But Alwen couldn’t be there for Alice if she couldn’t find her. Darn sneaky cats.

She eventually found Isabela and Gabriel working out in the ships gym and decided that they were her best shot at tracking down Alice.

“Bones, heard you had an adventure with the cap’n” Isabela shouted from across the room as soon as she saw Alwen.

“Yeah, we went to New-Mombasa”

“Oof, rough place, anyone give you trouble?” she asked as she did anther rep with her medicine ball.

“No, people took one look at us and turned the other way.” Alwen said casually as she walked in.

“Shame, street fights are always a blast in that city. You’ve missed two days of training, go change and I’ll spot you” Gabriel said as he finished his stretches.

Knowing that it wasn’t a request Alwen went into the girls changing room and changed into a set of gym shorts Isabela had given her. A few minutes later she was out of the room and ready for whatever fresh hell awaited her. As she walked by one of the full-length mirrors she stopped to fully appreciate what she saw before her. No longer were her limbs thin and soft looking, now her arms were corded with muscles. Her shoulder muscles had grown enough to bump her up a shirt size or two, and she would never be able to fit into the tight leggings she had worn back on Torwen on her days off. She lifted up her shirt to marvel at her abdomen , while Torweni had six definitive ‘packs’ they were a little different to a how a Terrans looked.

“Really helps drive home how alien you are” Gabe remarked as he walked beside her.

“What do you mean?”

“Well before you just looked like a purple human with bone ridges on your cheeks, you could have just been someone in a costume and makeup. But now that we’ve put some actual muscle on you we can see a lot of the ways your different. They’re not too different from ours, but just enough to give some a feeling of the uncanny valley.” He explained.

Alwen rolled her shoulders “I still don’t understand this ‘uncanny valley’. Why would you have an instinct for recognizing something that looks really human, but isn’t?”

“Don’t ask me, at least you’re a real living person, so the effect isn’t that bad.”

Alwen chose to ignore how he was saying she looked weird for looking like herself and continued to marvel at her image in the mirror. “Hard to think that’s me looking back, almost looks like a whole different person.”

“You kind of are a different person.” Isabela pointed out. “Back when you first joined we almost felt like we were walking on eggshells around you.”

“Why” Alwen asked as she turned to the mat and began to work through her warmup.

“We don’t exactly have a great reputation as a species, beyond being high class deathworlders we’re also slapped with the label of predators as well.”

“Is that a big issue, galactically speaking.”

“Eh, it depends. A lot of people react in different ways, but supposedly we are almost galactically received as very ‘intense’ predators. The Bone’men are also deathworld predators, but apparently they aren’t as intense as we are. Which is bullshit, they have actual claws and fangs.”

“Plus, we were space pirates and you seemed to be looking for any sign that we were bad people” her brother added.

“Yeah, that too. Like we had to prove we wouldn’t eat babies.”

Alwen frowned “Well I’m sorry I made you feel like you had to prove yourselves to me, I was far from home among aliens who also happened to be space pirates.”

“We get it, its hard for us to imagine what that was like. You’re literally the only Torweni aboard, it’s gotta be lonely” Isabela grunted as she moved onto weights.

“It, it hasn’t though. I feel more at home here than I did back home.”

“Funny how found families work sometimes” Gabriel muttered.

Stolen story; please report.

“Speaking of finding people, have you seen Alice? I’ve been trying to find her all day.” Alwen asked before Gabriel began pushing on her back as she reached for her toes.

“Your not going to find her here, she’s back on earth” Gabriel said.

“Why, ugh… Earth?” she grunted in pain. It seemed that skipping practice for just two days really did a number on her limberness.

“She went back home to visit and look at the new recruits. She wont be back until we ship out again.”

Alwen felt her heart sink just a little, she had wanted to make things right immediately. And if she couldn’t do that then what would she do with herself until Alice got back. “Recruits?” She asked to take her mind off things.

“Yeah, fleets expanding, so we’re going to need more marines. We used to train them here on ship, but the captain thought it was too slow, so we set a marine training camp back on Earth. Every time we pull into port Alice goes to check on them and make sure standards are being met.”

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to wait until she gets back.” Alwen muttered as she switched to the other leg. “Do we know when we’re leaving again?”

“Repairs are going to take three or more weeks. Apparently one of the reactors is getting replaced.” Isabela said calmly.

“Three weeks on an alien world” Alwen mused.

“Got any plans?” Isabela asked.

“Not really, most of my research is at a point where I can put it down for a couple of weeks, and Bachir wants me to take some time to unwind. Is there anything fun to do around here?”

“You don’t do so good with clubs, and I doubt you’d like to go prowling for guys” Isabela muttered to herself in contemplation.

“The Bosun’s going hiking next week, he said that anyone who wants to join better not hold him back.” Gabriel offered.

“Where, that big mountain that takes up half the horizon?” Alwen asked.

“Naw, that’s Tharsis. Its like four volcanoes in one, but it’s not fun to hike. Its just a steady uphill march, nothing to see either. I think the Highland was talking about the Hellas Pont, its this mountain range formed by an ancient asteroid impact. The trail has stunning views of both the Hellas sea and Nochia, this huge desert dotted with crater lakes and marshes. I hear there’s also some ski resorts in the area.”

“What are Ski resorts?” Alwen asked.

“Oh right, Torwen’s mostly tropical. Skiing is a winter sport where we climb up a mountain, strap thin wooden boards to our feet, and hurl ourselves down the mountain side.” Isabela said with a grin that told Alwen she was describing it in the most nonsensical way to get a rise out of Alwen.

Still, she couldn’t help herself “You people are insane, you know that right?”

“Hey, you people have a sport where you sail a wooden skiff across deep monster infested oceans!”

“We don’t have monsters!”

Gabriel cleared his throat, “No offense bones, but your world’s oceans freak me out. You have living Plesiosaurs and alien Megalodons.

Alwen sighed “I told you Oroptith are an endangered species, and don’t bother boats. For the most part.” She added belatedly.

“Okay, what about the actual sea-serpents that the like to wrap around boats. It’s a wonder why your people ever set foot in the water and survived.” Isabela countered.

“Yeah, they’re scary I guess.” Alwen admitted. Terrans seemed to have a deep seeded distrust of deep waters and what lied within, much more than her own people. “But hiking sounds fun.” She said changing the subject. “Are any of you planning to go?”

“I wasn’t planning on it.” Isabela said casually.

“Me neither.” Gabriel added.

“Aw come on, it won’t be any fun without either of you. Please Isabela.” She begged. The idea of going without any of her marine friends depressed her, and the idea of staying on the ship waiting for Alice to return and also avoiding Gato didn’t seem very fun at all.

Isabela frowned. “Hey Bones, we’re friends right?”

Alwen frowned “Yeah, of course.”

“Then why do you call me Isabela like we’re strangers?”

“It’s your name isn’t it?” Alwen asked in confusion.

“Yeah, but only our parents call us by our full names. My friends call me Izzy.”

“Yeah” Gabriel added “you’ve only ever called me Gabriel as well; my friends call me Gabe.”

Alwen frowned “Does it really matter what I call you?”

“No” they said simultaneously.

They glanced at each other and in a silent form of communication both Terran and Torweni twins seemed to possess Gabriel urged Isabela to take the lead. “Its, just, just like we’re only casual acquaintances you only talk to when Alice or Gato isn’t around. And we get that you and Alice are close, and you’ve got some sort of thing going on with Gato, but it makes us feel like strangers when you speak to us so formally.”

Alwen frowned, “yeah, I guess I’m a lot closer to those two, but it doesn’t mean I don’t like you two.”

“We know” Gabriel said taking over “We just wished you’d relax a bit and talk to us like everyone else does.”

Alwen thought about it for a moment. Terrans seemed to express their closeness to other people by making up nicknames and pet names for each other. She had seen plenty of Terran couples give each other gushy nicknames, and had thought the whole thing was just weird. Calling someone by anything other than their name seemed rude to her, but then again she felt an electrifying tingle up her spine every time Gato called her Vi. And she had grown very fond of being called Bones, made her feel like one of them. So maybe it was more rude to refuse them a simple request as calling them by their nicknames.

But she certainly wouldn’t concede this point without gaining something from it. “Alright I’ll call you Gabe and Izzy, but only if you go hiking with me.”

They exchanged a glance and shrugged simultaneously, “Fine, but we’re going skiing afterwards, Deal.” Isabela said extending a hand.

Alwen took her hand “Deal, Izzy.” She said with a smile

~~~*~~~

The Venom prowled through the endless night, slinking between the observation outposts the Union had established with ease. Those stations were made to watch the void for any oncoming fleets of Voidlings. They couldn’t patrol the massive distances between the stars easily, so instead they built hundreds of deep space stations to monitor the border.

There wasn’t much of anything out here in the wastelands between the arms of the galaxy, besides a few stars and some scattered and broken planetoids. The only thing it had going for it was isolation, which was what a scattered society of exiled void dwellers wanted above all else. The Union rarely ever issued genocide orders, but for the ancient enemy that had forged them in the flames of war they made an exception. Even after their last world had been scoured the genocide order on the Kruhur remained, which was extraordinary considering even the Aunviry were allowed to hold one small refuge free of extinction.

Ah’ared wasn’t sure what Kruhur society was like when they were still an established civilization. The only accounts that remained were ones made by the Union, even the Kruhur were unsure of their own origins. But what they were didn’t matter, all that mattered now was who they are today.

“Pod Captain.” One of Ah’ared’s underlings called “a massive ship just appeared on our long range wake sensors.”

“How large?” Ah’ared asked boredly.

“Larger than a Union battleship.” The underling answered.

Ah’ared gurgled with pleasure “That’s them, slow the Venom down to sublight speeds. We will wait for their approach.” He ordered.

It was just him and a few underlings who were skilled in operating the Venom on the helm. But while he hadn’t informed that damnable bird that the Kruhur had finally arrived, somehow Sk’tharc knew that something had happened and arrived on the bridge just as a massive ship appeared before them.

“Planning to exclude me again?” Sk’tharc cawed amusedly. “Don’t forget how poorly that went for you last time. I have spoken with the High Vicar before on Kazlum’s behalf and know how to negotiate with these voidlings, it won’t go well for you if I am excluded.”

Ah’ared hissed at Sk’tharc “I am aware, and will honor our agreement until Atharte is dead.”

Sk’tharc glared at him side long before turning back towards the window, her head tilted slightly askew so that she could look at the massive ship directly. “So that’s the Prophet’s Flame? It certainly lives up to its name, I don’t think I have ever such a large cannon before.” She remarked absentmindedly.

Ah’ared focused on the ship as well, he had been too distracted by Sk’tharcs arrival to properly focus on the ship. Unlike most Union vessels that leaned towards narrow hulled ships, the Kruhur built their ships large and bulky with several ‘fins’ extending off the sides of the ship. These fins had thrusters attached to them and could be folded and turned to allow for much greater maneuverability while sacrificing raw kinetic potential. Their smaller destroyer and light cruisers generally followed Union tactics with mobile weapons platforms and missile launchers, but their heavy cruisers and battleships employed a much different design philosophy. These much larger ships had one massive primary cannon affixed through the vessels center of gravity, they would use these massive ‘lances’ to completely overwhelm enemy shields while relying on a swarm of gunboats to harass and handle the enemy in between shots.

The weapons did well enough against Union fleets to make up for their innate deficiencies, but where they really shined was against large stationary targets like stations and terrestrial cities. Many Union worlds had suffered greatly at the hands of these ‘lances’. And Ah’ared was hoping that this ship, the Prophets Flame could be used to effectively annihilate the Hellworlder fleet from orbit while they were still within their home port and receiving repairs.

“The Propheth Flame is singaling us, they want you and the bird to come over alone.” The underling called.

“Thall we go then?” Ah’ared said to Sk’tharc.

“After you captain.” She replied.