“Nia!” turning to the corner of the restaurant Nia spotted her old drop partner Zane. A big male human with dark skin, kind grey eyes, and massive muscles. Waving, he proffered a glass of amber liquor at her. Striding over she swiped the glass out of the big man's hand and drained it in on go before grunting and slamming the glass back down on the table.
“That's burns.” she quickly sat down as she felt the liquor already starting to warm her stomach.
“Wow! All in one go. I see you haven't changed much.” said Zane, pouring more of the amber liquid into her glass. His voice was deep and melodic. It calmed her soul. His voice in her ears was the only thing that kept her from losing her mind and freaking out when they did their first jump. “Now that I think about it, are you even old enough to have this stuff?”
“What d’ya mean?”
“In the Collective, you can't drink alcohol till you are eighteen.” Nia blinked at Zane. “You're not eighteen are you.” Nia ignored the question and reached for the button to call a server. “I already ordered you a burger,” Zane said pushing the glass toward her. Nia was overtaken with joy.
“Do you have a lover!?”
“ Yes, I am happily married with four kids. You know this.”
Grabbing the glass and slouching back dejectedly she mumbled. “Yeah. just jealous all the good ones are taken.”
“Face it, Nia, you don't love me. You love burgers. I just happen to have given you a burger. You are acting like my twelve-year-old boy. I swear a girl said “hello” to him at school the other day and he talked about it for a week.”
“I'm not much older,” Nia said, sipping her drink. Savoring its smoky flavor. “I was basically twelve when I was summoned.”
Zane cocked his head at her. She could feel his gaze boring into her. Suddenly, she felt small. He didn't seem upset, just, astonished… and sad.
Nia waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about me, you geriatric warlord. I was nineteen." Legal for war.
Thankfully their food arrived just then, ending the awkward silence. It was the best burger Nia had ever eaten. Maybe some of that was the alcohol. The two of them eat in silence.
Zane was Nia’s first and longest-lasting friendship in the Collective. Even before Woo-Yaal and Tei-Uun. Even longer than Pius. She had met him the day she had been summoned. When she first arrived in the chamber of Accordance in front of the Elders, they had explained the situation to her. That being, they were at war. The Ascension had spread far past its borders and then suddenly and viciously attacked on all fronts. They had instantly toppled entire planets in a day and had shown no signs of stopping. The Collective was fighting back, trying to repel the attackers. In desperation, they had turned to an ancient ritual and summoned the Void Drifter. Nia was that Void Drifter.
After their brief explanation, the Eldars had stuck her on a ship and before she knew it she was en route to a war zone. Before she could eat two meals she was on a drop-ship. They were trying to take back the capital of Vat Nah Jo, a planet on the far side of Vah Galla’s solar system. Nia had been assigned to the Strategic Strike Force. The SSF. Her squad of twenty consisted of males, females, humans, and nonhumans. They had loaded onto a stealth ship called an SKR and had flown into enemy-held space. Zane and an Ocilonie had helped her into CoAux suit. They had already preloaded the suit with her preferred weapon loadout. A Virgo sword and a collapsible Hadron spear. Since it was her first jump ever, Zane, the lieutenant, had strapped her to himself and opened a private cam link between them via a small cable plugged into the neck of her suit. “Stealth, so we can’t have any signals emitting from us.” Her back was against his chest so she faced away from him. But if she craned her neck back she could see the helmet of his vac suit above her.
“Drop in thirty.” displayed in bold red letters across her vision on the helmet's HUD. The words shrank and whisked to the top of the visor and began counting down.
“W-What's going on?” she asked frantically as “Stealth mode activated” popped up on her screen. Suddenly every person standing in the bay of the SKR disappeared.
“The suits activated their stealth mode. We won't be able to see everyone else while we drop so we have to stick exactly to our route or we risk a collision,” said Zane, his voice cracking slightly. His voice had soothed her and calmed her panic. Which was good. Because what happened next was the most terrifying thing Nia had ever experienced.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The floor disappeared from under Nia and she plummeted. Her HUD immediately lit up like a firework display. Mapping the gates for her drop. She was in high orbit above Vat Nah Jo. A display in her HUD blinked blue with the numbers “41,534 k” she started to panic. She was so far away from the planet. Something went wrong. Fear grabbed her and she almost screamed.
“Don't panic, we are in high orbit and dropping in. We are so far away that it doesn't look like we are moving but keep an eye on the high counter on your HUD. It’ll be blue in the--” Zane paused for a moment before continuing hesitantly “--Top left corner? I'm sorry, I have specific settings for mine. I don't remember the default layout.” Nia didn't respond for fear of crying. But she fought the tears and forced herself to watch the entire drop unfold.
That day she killed for the first time, she also channeled Void for the first time. By the time they had landed on the planet only thirteen of the original twenty SSF members were still alive. Two weeks later only seven were left. But they had taken back Vat Nah Jo from the Ascendancy. Nia was promoted to sergeant and, along with Zane, sent off to the next planet. This cycle continued for quite some time. They would take back a planet and be shipped to the next. Meet new people only to watch them die before she could even remember their name. But she and Zane managed to always pull through, somehow.
Somewhere during this time, the cruise ship Straveng had been hijacked by pirates. On that mission, Nia got her contracture scar, her call sign, and a soul.
It had been on the fourth Sridgre when she had found two giant eggs in the maze of tunnels deep below the planet's uninhabitable surface. They were badly damaged and had been abandoned. Guided in part by the Void, Nia had forced them to hatch and then sustained them on Void energy. That was when she learned she could heal with Void. She named the two serpents Woo-Yaal and Tei-Uun. They became the second and third born
“So, why are you back on Vah Galla anyway?” Asked Nia. “Recruiting? Or did the Eldars stop funding the SSF again and you are here kicking them in the butt?”
“I am here because there is no more need for the SSF. Nia, the war is over.” Zane’s word cleared her mind. Not give her focus, but rather, emptying any possible response. She tried and tried, but all she could think to say was
“What!? What do you mean the war is over?” Zane looked puzzled
“Didn't you know? Both sides asked for peace. Nobody is certain who asked first. But the war is over. Well, not officially. There are still reputations and all kinds of other legal stuff that has to be figured out. Before true peace is declared.” Anger rose in Nia. “They brought me here. I fought for them. I killed for them! My innocence was stolen in the chaos of battle, I saw death and I sowed death to any in my way. And they didn't even tell me it was over?!” as fast as it had risen, it faded away. She was right, she deserved to be angry, but she could bring herself to it. She just felt empty.
“What- what am I going to do now?”
“Why don't you go home?” asked Zane. he gently laid a reassuring hand on her arm. “You have done your part. You are a hero. You can go home and live the rest of your life in peace.”
“I can't.” Her eyes burned as tears formed unbidden. “I have tried. But” she sniffed “ I don't know where my home planet is. I don't know where I came from and without that knowledge” she paused. The weight of the words she had to say next kept them stuck in her throat. Zane sat down on her bench. Nia hadn't noticed him get up and move to her side of the table. He put his strong arms around her and pulled her into him.
“There now, it's okay to cry.” her ear was against his chest and his deep voice thrummed into her. His voice, his warmth, even the slight smell of his musk calmed her. “I'm so damn small.”
“Your tears are not weakness. You should feel no shame in this.”
They sat there in silence for a while even after Nia had recovered.
“Just like that first time, on Vat Nah Jo. After my first kill, I freaked out and started screaming and crying. You held me much like this.”
“You had a perfectly healthy and normal reaction.”
“This sucks.”
“More whiskey?”
“More whiskey.”
Zane got another bottle of the smoky amber liquor and came back.
“Well, I can tell you one thing.” Nia said as she drank “I am gonna go have a talk with the Eldars after this.” Zane chuckled. “A drunk Void drifter talking to the Eldars. Now that I'd like to see. Hell, you might just destroy Vah Galla itself.”
“Yeah, I am taking Definitely Woo-Yaal” Keying opened her commlink and tapped the flashing message indicator. Sure enough, it was the Eldars summoning her.
Nia stood to leave, clipping her commlink back to her brassiere strap. Turning to Zane who had also stood to leave she said.
“Thank you for this. All of it. The food and the counsel.” chuckling she continued. “I am sure you are an amazing dad. Your wife is lucky to have you.”
“You know,” Zane said “I am more than twice your age. Still though” Taking her in his big arms again he whispered into her ear. “If you ever need anything let me know, you are like a daughter to me. You might be surprised by how far I would go for you.” she hugged him back squeezing as hard as she could until he gave in.
“Okay! Okay! You will break a rib if you go any harder.” Nia let go and stepped back. “Seriously, let me know if you need anything. Anything at all. You are precious to me. And you know, a family goes further than blood.” Nia snorted with a suppressed giggle. “What is it? Did I get too sappy?”
“No, no, it's just what you said. Although you could say, a family goes as far as blood” Zane cocked his head, obviously confused. Nia giggles again “You see, my family name is Blood. My full name is Andromnia Nuever-Terrion Blood.” she curtsied.