Sen arrived in front of Alysa in less than three seconds, not knowing where she was precisely but knowing where Josh had been.

Understanding that it wouldn’t help, he kept his angry thoughts silent upon seeing her broken body. Still. Sen had a new admiration for his brother’s restraint in not killing the Ka-less creature who had done these despicable acts. There was no benefit in such actions, and the commander was foolish to think otherwise.

Information gained from torture and the threat termination was always questionable. His family’s political advisors had taught him early in his training that if they weren’t going to kill prisoners, there was only one option.

“The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.”

Only then could the information they gave be trusted and ultimately a place in the community could be opened for them.

Even someone naive to interrogation could tell Alysa’s beating had been the work of a desperate animal. Sen and his Bond brother would need to find out what had forced the commander’s hands to such actions.

Bruised, cut, and broken, Alysa sat in front of four defeated Cultivators. Her hands were on one who had been pierced through his heart and then had his upper left shoulder and whole head essentially torn from his body. The blood from his wounds was still wet and congealing into a slimy red mass under him.

Sen would usually have questioned her choice of spirit being to collect Essence from, but this body was the most complete that Josh had left in his wake. Clearly, his brother had been... motivated to reach Alysa as quickly as possible.

Senyak looked at Alysa’s Core and Meridians. The Essence she had collected from the fallen guard was being quickly consumed. He reached his hand out to supplement her healing with his own Essence—

Suddenly, he was standing in a pastoral meadow. Birdsong filled the air while white and coral-colored clouds floated in an azure sky. Lush grass covered the ground under his feet, making him want to take off his slippers.

Many animals lounged around the area, including enormous versions of house cats and hamsters. Sen also noted several normal-sized unicorns with pastel orange and yellow coats. A babbling brook ran through the center of the grove and sheltered several families of otters bobbing on their backs and eating in the staccato motion that was all their own. In the distance, on a rising hillside, Sen could see baby-blue lions lying down with soft-pink lambs.

Just ahead of him was Alysa. She was wearing a white sundress and laughing as she twirled a small blond-headed girl in her arms.

Sophie?

Sen was surprised at how strongly and deeply his emotions ran for the little one. It was as if she was his own progeny. A smile he couldn’t stop spread across his lips as he saw the girl’s joy at play.

On her next spin, Sophie noticed him standing there. As only a child could, she whispered loudly, clearly thinking she and Alysa were keeping a secret. “Alla, it’s Daddy’s friend, Sen’ak. Also, I knew Daddy wouldn’t forget about us!”

Her four-year-old soft palate caused her tongue to skip over the glide in his name.

Sophie smiled and waved to Sen.

Sen’s own smile increased tenfold, and he waved back.

...Am I crying?

He couldn’t tell, and it didn’t matter. Sophie was safe and happy!

Seeing Sen herself, Alysa straightened up and set Sophie down next to her. They continued to hold hands, and Sophie’s 100 centimeters next to Alysa’s 165 spoke volumes about the difference between them. Yet Senyak could feel a strong and unified spiritual force that surrounded them. They were… Inseparable. Their Essence also seamlessly shifted between the Meridians of the two, as if they were two parts of the same being, sharing their Karma and Fate unconsciously.

Even Josh and I can’t do that...

Alysa saluted with her right fist to her chest. “Heir Marztanak. It’s a pleasure, but… how are you here? In our space?”

“My greatest apologies for the intrusion! I believe it has to do with our new Mind Attunement. I only meant to transfer my Essence to assist with your healing...” Sen gulped as he looked down at Sophie and nodded his apologies to her as well.

“Don’t worry, Alla. He is only here to help. Isn’t that true, Mr. Sen’ak?” She let go of Alysa’s hand and took two steps toward Sen, reaching for his. Her soft and tiny grasp could only wrap around two of his calloused fingers. Stepping back, she brought him into their circle of space and smiled up at him.

Unconsciously, Sen dropped to his knees, nearly reaching her eye level, and smiled with her. “Please call me... Uncle Senyak. As your Uncle, I swear to you, Sophie Tanner, I will always help you.”

Taking Alysa’s hand in her other, Sophie looked up at her and then back at Sen. “My sister and daddy, too?”

Sen spoke reflexively without thinking. “My life before theirs. Always, and without question, little one.”

Being a fighter, Sen had answered the only way he knew. A warrior’s vow.

Sophie was too young to fully understand what he was saying... but the Karmic implications were known in this place. A space where no lies could be told.

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Sophie smiled broadly, her eyes becoming crescents as she hugged him tightly around his neck. “Thank you, Uncle Sen’ak! With someone as strong as you helping them, I know they’ll be safe.” Trailing off, she yawned, holding her tiny fist to her mouth. “I’m getting tired... Alla and I have been together a long time today...” Another yawn from her tiny mouth. “I have to go now. Could you please tell my daddy I love him?”

Not trusting his voice, Sen nodded effusively as silent tears were now freely streaming from his eyes.

Sophie turned back to Alysa, who kneeled and hugged her tightly, murmuring in her ear, “Thank you for helping me today, little sister. I know that terrible man was hurting you too!”

Sophie tilted her head and shook it side to side in dismissal as she narrowed her eyes. The adult gesture looked perfectly at home on her diminutive form.

Then Senyak swore he heard his brother’s voice as she spoke. “Daddy says that’s what family does. They’re there for eachother.”

“Your dad’s right,” Sen choked out. “We are there for eachother.”

The little girl blinked sleepily, a small smile still creasing the soft features of her face as she leaned sleepily against Alysa, her eyes drifting closed.

A golden glow started at her Core and spread down her Meridians, quickly encapsulating her whole being. A subdued flash ended in a shower of shimmering motes that accompanied Sophie’s disappearance from her and Alysa’s soul space.

Alysa’s face continued to smile at Sophie as she vanished.

After she’d gone, Sen’s expression grew complex. He had to tell Josh. The next thought followed logically in sequence.

Josh is going to kill me for being here with Sophie instead of him!

* * * * *

Disgruntled determination carved the features of Jishin Shiruba’s stony face. The senior member of the Brigantine’s three helmsmen was not having a good day. As he plodded through the rubble of the central hangar, he was confronted by destroyed equipment, attack craft, and most egregiously, dead clansmen all around. In his 319 days serving in Kotei Stuado’s fleet, Jishin had never seen such a waste.

Dezain has led us to this, he has... I should have acted sooner!

Ritoru Dezain had been a fit, if self-obsessed, battle commander at the start of his run with the Brigantine. It had been obvious Dezain was ambitious, as all young, Attuned Cultivators were. For a brief while, Jishin had even hoped that, in time and with the right amount of luck and backing, Ritoru could make a decent play for a seat on the Kotei’s command counsel.

However, Ritoru had started to cut too many corners in his impatience for power. His decisions to accept the fealty of scrubbed-out battle leaders like Yabana and Jian Tokaru had only been the early signs of the bad things to come. Shiruba took in the devastation as he moved.

Come they had.

Dezain had broken alliances with upstanding leaders. He had failed to listen to the honest needs of the brigantine’s clansmen to return home and keep up familial relations. Finally, Dezain had placed himself and the entire Brigantine in the debt of that undead from the Savoy Corporation for his own Cultivation advancement.

Kyon Shi’s price for the natural treasures he had given to Dezain had been the foolish suicide run at the Hegemon-4.

That giant fortress, mundane or not, was no soft target!

Just look what had come of it. Five thousand clansmen from Yabana’s Caravel with less than a gyra left before they were lost to the void—each escape pod had only so much life support, after all. The Brigantine’s central hangar bay was destroyed, and one third of the ship’s complement of fast-attack craft had been disabled by these devil-dog Affins. If Jishin hadn’t miscommunicated the attack time to Yabana’s helmsman, it would have been worse! He wasn’t proud of the deceit... but it had been the lesser of two evils. They would have all been destroyed if they had attacked together. Jishin had acted to protect as many clansmen as he could and he would accept his debt to Karma. It had been the lesser of the only two bad choices before him, and he would work to atone for it.

Even with Jishin’s meddling, things had swirled around the event horizon awfully fast.

Yes, they had. Particularly with that risen undead Kyon Shi involved. What was that young whelp Dezain thinking! One would be more likely to expect a positive outcome after strappin’ on mag-boots and jumping into the Brigantine’s propulsion intake than from making a deal with the likes of him.

From the Savoy, no less! It was a sure thing now that Dezain had failed. Kyon Shi was likely to silence them all by taking him and the entire Brigantine crew as fuel to supply his Necrolon servants with bodies for their unholy acts.

Jishin and the other two helmsmen were in accord, from here on out, it was up to them to save what lives could be salvaged from the situation. Damn the consequences. It was time to cut out the cancer that was Danshaku Dezain.

Maybe, just maybe, the ship and her crew might be spared from the horrible fate he has hoisted upon us all.

Horrible fates aside, Jishin and his fellow helmsmen were loyal to the Kotei and the Kaizuko clansmen. They would continue to be till they passed on from this existence, gods willing! None of the three would ever lead a mutiny against any battle commander in good stead with the Kaizuko.

And they hadn’t.

But... there might have been several gun malfunctions in the main hangar bay at the time of the space marines’ attack. There might have also been an inexplicable delay in specific defensive platoons’ arrival during the onset of the attack as well. These are all things we’re going to have to work out during the next ship-wide boarding drill. To be certain!

Jishin adjusted his empty saber belt as he climbed over a particularly sharp pile of twisted steel that had once been an air purifier. Halfway over, he lifted his tricorne and wiped the sweat from his balding head. The senior helmsman's chest was still broad, and there was still strength in his shoulders, but his belly was hanging over his belt and he was tired of seeing young clansmen die for nothing.

I’m getting too old for all this intrigue, that be sure... but for now, my job is to be standing between the clansman and the undead fate they don’t deserve.

The Hegemon-4 Cultivators who had manhandled Dezain were as likely to do worse to the three helmsmen. But at this point, they were the only chance to save the crew from what was coming. The aging helmsmen re-hoisted the parley banner and continued on.

They still had their duty to be about.

* * * * *

Halfway to the advancing party, Josh watched the sluggish pace of the three figures under their white flag—what looked like a bed sheet tied to a broken mop-handle. Josh enhanced his legs and jumped to the top of a defensive platform sliced into quarter sections by Lobo’s laz-beam weapon. There, he crouched and hid behind a shattered wall, using his enhanced sight and hearing.

It was clear the three were cycling small amounts of Essence, but none of them were yet Attuned. His second thought was that he had never seen three guys who looked more like pirates. They should have had the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean playing in the background as they somehow managed to swagger forward while climbing over the detritus.

All three wore tricorn hats adorned with overarching red plumes while the mismatched gold and silver of heavy rings, necklaces, and earrings flashed across their bodies in the overhead lights. Precious stones of multiple colors were woven into their long hair and beards. The two oldest had heavyset bellies jiggling slightly through their crew jumpers. The left chest of all three bore the same silver glyph, and each wore empty scabbards meant for cutlasses on their left and sidearms on their right.

All three also had a black facial tattoo on their left cheek, representing a solar system with four planets orbiting in ellipticals around a central star. From his time with Myrina, Josh could tell these weren’t Essence-enhanced inscriptions. More likely marks of inclusion for a specific group within the Kaizuko, like his and Sen’s forearm Sundai tattoos.

When the three came into range of Josh’s mindscape’s sphere, he listened to their words and thoughts, looking for some clues on what to say to them.

*****

With memories of how he and the crew had found themselves in their current predicament swirling through his head, Jishin kept a wary eye out for any fighters from the opposing side. Hopefully, the Hegemon-4 attackers would see the sheet and mop-handle for what it was, an honest sign of requested parlay...

This particular helmsmen’s hope for more than that from the Cultivators that had brought down Commander Dezain with naught but slight effort... if the camera’s footage be tellin’ true of how fast the powerful, doubly Attuned commander had been brought low—

“Ya think the Hegemon-4 battle leader is a dip-scrubber like his eminence was?” Zurui, the second senior helmsman, interrupted Jishin’s thoughts.

Jishin answered in a tone that let Zurui know this rhetorical question should have gone unspoken. “Well, Zurui... what else would he be? He’s a Cultivator, two or more steps above his eminence, if ’n he could deal with Dezain as fast as he has... And when we talk, you’ll be minding your Ps and Qs with your gob battened tight! That’s what you’ll be doing... we need to get back to the Caravel and get our clansman back. Just be lett’n me take care ’o the parley, you hear me—”

Jishin never got a chance to finish.

*****

Josh admitted Sen had been right. Talking with the helmsmen under a flag of truce was technically on the political side of things, especially given what Josh heard from their thoughts. However, this was still a battlefield, and the conflict wasn’t over. Josh needed to present these three Johnny Depp wannabes a commanding presence. He needed to speak from a position of strength that left no questions as to who was in charge.

Straightening his back and putting as much force into his mental voice as he could, Josh intended to make as strong an impression as possible when he broadcast through his mindscape into their thoughts.

“That’s far enough. Stand where you are!” Josh’s eyes twitched as his interface pinged... He cleared his mental throat, deciding to hold off on checking the notification and repeated himself. “Not one more step. Stand where you are!”