---

---

Narvia sends a message to the other Star Marines that aren’t with her that Finbarr is. ’ Finbarr and I will rendezvous with you, Ashton and Flame!’ Her messages are adorable when she sends messages to everyone since it is how she acts all the time. However, this message was a bit more adorable with how she put Finbarr before her in a different type of way. If it weren’t hinting at something, many people would be blind or deaf to what has happened between Finbarr and her.

"The bloody hell did that guy go get into this time...?" Finbarr grumbled lowly as the two of them ran towards the epicenter of the activity in the Bazaar. The pillar of flames were still visible from their view point, which only caused Finbarr to worry even more. "My Hid. Alan. He's in such an unlucky streak these days. First he gets captured and imprisoned by Ascendancy forces, and now, he blew up, literally. How he he is still alive and breathing right now is a big mystery to me."

"This is Maria...delay the last order, extinguish the pillar and Alan. Time is a luxury we no longer have." She said to everyone in the channel. It was around that time that she then heard Jude next.

"Ah, affirmative." Finbarr replied to Maria through the telepathic network. "Narvia, once I get within range, I'll open a portal in order to close the gap between us and Alan and get the extinguishers. We- what the he-"

Of course, he just saw one of the gunships careen out of control. It appeared that Nero had gotten himself a ride. And, there was the thing about the pirates that were hunting for someone with white flames; no one but Alan fit the bill.

As soon as Finbarr was within visual range of Alan, he opened a portal, running in to exit a few feet away from Alan. He grabbed one of the extinguishers and started blasting Alan with it, hoping that Narvia had followed him through the portal. "Don't worry, my man. I won't let anything happen to you!"

---

---

---

When the whole shabang with Alan's fire magic had blown up all over the place, Trajan was in the nearby marketplace, buying souvenirs and rations with what extra money he had. Thankfully, he hadn't been purchasing alcoholic beverages, but that merely implied that he had a bunch of those still hidden under lock and key in his quarters back in Xuanzang.

And now, Alan was a pillar of flame, like the one that guides the Israelites in the desert of Sinai.

"Here we go again. Saving kids." Trajan simply mumbled to himself as he stuffed everything he had bought into his pockets and broke into a run towards the fiery outburst right in the middle of everything.

Once he reached the location of the pillar, Trajan took hold of another of the extinguishers and shot Alan with it as well. He would then speak through the telepathic channel that Maria had set up. "I'll go ahead and carry him once he's drained. If you don't mind."

---

---

"Keep calm and stand by, Klein. If they get too close, deal with them, but not a second earlier." She communicated to Klein.

"Okay, then." As the others fired the extinguishers at Alan's fiery outburst and himself, Klein kept guard, watching the movements of the Bazaar security in their gunships and whatnot. He could already see their worst nightmares, and it would take only a little nudge to summon these dark creatures from the underworld, but as Maria, now was not the time. There was no need to exacerbate an already deteriorating situation, but if those men and women did get too close, the first thing they'll see and feel would be the hulking monsters straight of their worst nightmares. Then, darkness might envelope their visions.

But again, with Nero running around with one of their ships, their attention might just be preoccupied at the moment.Q

Narvia heard Finbarr grumbling about what’s going on with Alan, one of their friends, of course. She noticed the enormous pillar of flames in the distance, and it made her slightly gasp in fear. It took her to look towards Finbarr and feel as worried as he is. When Finbarr starts talking about Alan in terms of getting incredibly unlucky, it makes her feel a bit bad for feeling irritated by not having a peaceful time. ” Finbarr this is scary. I have no idea how he is breathing or alive either, but it’s better to help him out!” Narvia said with a slight bit of worry in her voice.

It didn’t take long to hear Maria’s telepathic message to her about extinguishing Alan and the pillar of flames. Narvia gave a slight nod to Maria’s order instead of everything else. She then heard Finbarr about creating a portal and using the fire extinguishers on Alan. ” It’s a good idea, and your portals will make it much easier to get close to him and extinguish the flames. W-What the…?” Narvia questioned slightly. She was only a bit confused when one of the gunships careen out of control as if the one and only Nero hijacked it.

Narvia kept with Finbarr, and when he opened a portal, she went through as well. It wouldn’t be a good idea to leave anyone behind, as her godfather usually says when he isn’t so cryptic, that is. She grabbed one of the fire extinguishers and started using it on Alan and the pillar of fire that surrounded Alan. ” Alan! P-Please, we are here for you!” Narvia said towards Alan. In her voice, you can tell she was worried about her friends, and that would include her boyfriend’s friends too.

’ That’s scary in what Nero said about the people hunting Alan, B-Bounty Hunters?’ Narvia thought to herself. It incredibly worried her that people wanted to put any of her friends into prison for being unlucky. She will protect them with all her power, even if she has much of it in spades. It does help that she has Finbarr right next to her, and she’ll help in every way possible.

---

---

"Yeah. What about it? It has to butt heads somewhere at some point." Alexander merely shrugged at his general's implications.

"This will escalate tensions, you know that?" Antony replied, to which Alexander nodded, almost nonchalantly. "Civil war even." Another nod similar to the last one. "What happened to reform the Ascendancy with incrementalism?"

The Grand Admiral, leaning right onto the table next to him and shrugged once again with his lips perched to one side. "...Still there. Never has gone away."

"...I really don't understand-"

"Look, as I said, we are facing a fascistic regime. They are not going to abide by the laws when their power is at stake. What we did up till this point is a minor thing to them. One day, there will be something that we both cannot compromise." He explained.

Antony gave an unusually stern look at the Grand Admiral.

"So you're saying it's inevitable?"

Alexander nodded.

"...But..." Of all people, it was the impetuous Lan who spoke up, strangely calm and retrospective. "Didn't you say we can beat them in the legal sense?"

"...did I?" Alexander turned to her, his voice calm but with a hint of genuinity.

"I don't remember clearly what we talked entirely but I remember somewhat when..." She snapped her fingers a few times. "After Ponin remember? When we were in the medical center? We talked literally deep into the night that the nurses were mad about it."

"Uhh...yeah, now I remember..." Alexander scratched his temple, his reply softened. "...but one man's opinion can change. It's been 6 years since, hasn't it?"

Lan gave a sideway glance as she both nodded and shrugged her shoulders. A strange attitude compared to her usual self. It unfortunately also left a very awkward silence in the room. Everyone was just...unsure of what to make of what Alexander just said. On the one hand, it was rather rare that he would act like this, taken by surprise and hesitant in his response. Perhaps they had been too accustomed to this leader Kherol image - a man of action, strength, and daringness. On the other hand, he had a point, and to be honest, even the men and women in the most intimate circle of colleagues, considered the giants of the galaxy, weren't anywhere the political insight necessary to judge what was right in this scenario, maybe except for Annette. Reform, revolution, or both? They only trusted that their superior, one of the greatest space commanders in the current galaxy, to make the right decision.

Sensing the atmosphere, the candid captain of the Richthofen gently approached Alexander, having been quiet for the entire meeting silently observing.

"You have a moment?" She tiptoed to whisper to him. He nodded, and she turned to the rest of the commanders. "Excuse us for a few minutes. We'll be back."

---

"Look, Alex, it's imperative you be transparent about this to your commanders. Hell, maybe even to yourself for that matter." Carina's austere aura was doubly so today. Her arms crossed in front of her chest as she stood at a distance from Alexander in the empty hallway. "I know what you're thinking. It's not simply about you changing your ideals suddenly like that. You've always been against the idea of a violent takeover ever since I know you. You even said that we have to fight against that instinct to do what comes natural."

Alexander could see the underlying criticism she was levying his way, but, as she said, he held onto that natural instinct to throw out an answer. He stood quiet by the corner of the wall looking at his friend and captain as she walked up to him, adjusting his collars and patting his shoulders

"Have I been honest about how contradictory you are?"

"No. This I can't remember for sure." Alexander said as Carina gave him a smile.

"Your family remember? Your marriage too to some extent. That's what you've always wanted." Alexander tilted his head to the side, and she shook his shoulders with her grip. "Come on, don't even try to deny it. You've rambled about it for years to me."

"Yeah, that's true. You've probably gotten sick of it coming from me." Alexander gave her a witty smile.

"No, that's something I can respect. But at the same time, you cannot bring yourself to leave your work. Now now I know..." She said, shrugging her shoulders hard. "The Ascendancy sucks, and it needs you to fix itself. But that's not really a justification to be such a workaholic. You've taken a vacation only once for the last 8 years, and that was only a short detour with your friend. You work throughout the weekends too. I've never actually seen you NOT doing anything at all in fact."

"You want a peaceful life, but you seem have this...fear of idleness. I don't know where it's from, but you keep pushing, harder and harder to satisfy it..."

"...Let me guess, it's the same deal with this one." The Grand Admiral replied. Carina perched her lips a little.

"...I wouldn't say you fear being idle in this case, but something else. But I'd like to believe THAT 'something else' is behind your thoughts." She said, as her gaze landed on the door leading to the meeting room. "I doubt this will sway the loyalty of your officers, but it will greatly help their conviction. I am sure that Antony would like this new direction, if you're being sincere with it."

"Maybe even mine as well..." Alexander gave a loose sigh before uprightly straightened his uniform again. "I'm gonna need my time alone. Just for a few minutes."

Knowing his preferences, Carina simply nodded and took her leave silently, back to the meeting room.

That 'something else'...

Carina was right. He did work like a workaholic. Health-wise, he still exercised daily and slept 8 hours a day, overall a fit person by the standard of a non-augmented human, but other than that, he didn't have much of a...pastime. He could say chess and reading are counter-examples, but he didn't do that often enough to recollect the last time he does so. Hell, the readings he did were for his works too. The scary thing was that he didn't even realize them. Work just dissolved the day for him. He just got lost in it and by the time he was out, the day ended and he was in bed. Rinse repeat. He definitely didn't need to work this hard. Faro is his chief of staff and the amount of time he worked is proportional to the wrinkles on his face, but the old man still spent his time everyday checking up on his wife (whom he stayed with for almost 60 years now), talking to the kids, grandkids, and if none were applicable, he'd just play balls with the soldiers. The old man has a life outside work. Everybody around him have. Alexander doesn't. Why?

Was it actually fear of idleness? That by doing nothing, he achieves nothing?

This Ascendancy business too. He too forgot how he wanted to do these things. It was important and immediately relevant than his work ethics, so he decided to focus on this first. For this one, now that he took the time to introspect, he knew exactly what was talked about here. It wasn't the last straw that broke the invisible camel's back, but it was the instigator. He had been working on this 'kangaroo court' case behind the scenes ever since he drew first blood. But the camel's not dead. What should he do here?

He could turn back. Go back into incremental change. Change the Ascendancy gradually with small legislation and reforms, bribing or converting senators into his fold, both to build legal and political power. And then when he had enough power, he'd be able to pass any legislation he wanted, or hell even a bloodless coup, shaping the government his way. The peaceful and best solution that spared the blood of the people. But again, this is a fascist regime. Would they be so dumb to let him carry out this plan? Right now there are already whispers to strip Alexander of his Grand Admiral title as well, following Nikolas's retirement. Besides, the case he was also working on was getting nowhere as well. Following this route would likely mean that he'd lose the case. A queen sacrifice for a potentially better good.

Or he could follow this through. Escalate tensions and go into direct conflict with the Ascendancy higher-ups. It would certainly mean he could just do whatever he wanted to. But he would definitely be swamping through a blood pool. Exactly what he had wanted to avoid. Revolutions are messy. The most successful ones are triumphant and are revered for centuries and maybe even millennia, but so many failed ones littered the pages of history. And all of them were washed in blood. Especially the latest one. They often are destructive more than constructive. The Grand Admiral certainly did not oppose to the idea, but so many hot-headed revolutionaries are careless with this. No coalition, no concrete constructive actions, destructive behaviors, lofty utopian views are some of the most obvious that people conveniently ignore. And Alexander was not so above it all. He made his mistakes once, what if he made more mistakes again? The blood would be on him.

It took him a long while to make up his mind. As a leader, he couldn't renege halfway through. Once the decision is made, he'd have to go through with it. To his surprise, the meeting was not dissolved, but rather devolved into Antony making some Shakespearian speeches with poor Carina at the receiving end of it to keep the attendees occupied. Alexander's return made them stop halfway and stood at attention.

The Grand Admiral's steps returned to the usual long stride, his gestures firm.

"Sorry for the long delay. I will be honest, I was heavily deliberating this. If I had been more prepared going into this meeting."

He laid his two hands straight on the table in front of him.

"But it's decided now. Here's the plan."

Windsor and his Crew - Present Day

Windsor was incognito, continuing to work in Aisha's ship as a regular crewman. The duties continued to shift as the Captain grew more confident in her ability to treat the youth as her subordinate, although technically she was still his'. As for the rest of their crew, they still didn't know what to make of it, and she heard whispers of how this was some sort of 'game' for the CEO. So one day, Aisha decided to go to where Windsor was chatting with a Korta member of her crew, and bluntly say, "Will. We need to talk, now. Alone, please. And no, it isn't a date."

She looked at the Korta crewmember as she said that. Either way, she gestured for Windsor to accompany her outside, to where the ship was docked inside the Queen Elizabeth's hangar, and towards a Food Crawler which, though smaller than the ones in the Galactic Bazaar, was still large enough for them to have a meal inside in relative privacy. After paying for the food, Aisha looked at Windsor and said, "As your personal pilot and caretaker, I have to say this: Game's over. You've been 'slumming it' with us long enough without telling us why. And please don't give me that bs about wanting to know how life for us is - It's flipping condescending. So tell me, why don't you go back to your life of wealth and luxury and leave us alone?"

Windsor almost snapped, saying, "It's not all it's cut out to be. Before I inherited the Fleet, there is a designated part of the ship where no one can go in and out, a part of the ship with artificial parks and rivers and streams surrounding a luxurious suite of rooms where the person inside is provided with everything they wanted - Except the right to leave. A golden, gilded cage that you must not leave 'for your own protection. And the worst part is that one did need to be protected, that there are threats outside who would use the desire of the caged bird to leave, to see the world, as an opportunity to take him away for a fate worse than death."

He breathed in and out, "I love my mother. She did what was needed. But I hate what she did, which was keep me locked up in that gilded cage, with only a few servants and my books for company, with very rare public appearances to reassure people that I am alive and fit for inheriting the Trading Fleet - But not too fit, because if I even show one moment of genius, I'd be taken away. Now tell me, is it even fair? To have the Ascendancy force this choice on my mother and me?"

Two bowls of soup were served by a Tayanen server, and Windsor began eating a few spoonfuls from his bowl out of courtesy. Then he looked at Aisha and said, "I hate the Ascendancy. I hate injustice. Just because you're rich doesn't mean you cannot be a victim - I learned that full well."

After a few seconds to let his words sink in, Windsor got up and said, "I'm resigning from your crew, by the way. If you don't want me, then you don't want me - I'm not going to demote you from the position of personal pilot, though. I promoted you to that fair and square. Goodbye, Pilot Ibrahim."

And with that, he walked to the door of the Food Crawler, waiting for the vehicle to stop. And once it did so, he walked out, calling his security personnel to send a small groundcar to pick him up. If they wanted him back in his cage, if he was really maladapted for life outside it... Well, flip them for refusing to let him learn.

The music shop had been a total bust. To sample the tracks the dude actually had to insert a disc - a physical disc! - into the player. How did people decide what to buy, without wasting hours? The art and track names were only vaguely related to the sound that came out, and to each other. The real deal breaker though, was that the music was just so… static, it didn’t seem to go anywhere, to change with her mood in the way a generated piece altered and journeyed with her. What else could she have expected from recorded sound?

Taste the waste, man.

Leaving the store, Laurey remembered.

Then she was falling forwards. The blow that came rocked her skull. White and black danced in dangerous pulses.

“You okay, ma’am?”

She pushed herself up, and felt dread drain down through her body. She was at a bar, a concerned man with too many creases in his face was creasing his face further at her.

“Uhm, yes?”

He did not seem convinced, but went to another customer, leaving Laurey watching her hands tremble. For all her neural augmentations, she could not remember how she got here. Perhaps it was precisely because of them that a period of time seemed to simply have vanished, cut neatly from her continuum. There was no way of knowing what she’d done in that black out. Or what had been done to her.

Then there came a thunderoll. At first Laurey assumed a vehicle had flown too close to the building. If only.

A sensation, like that feeling of being watched but condensed into a single snap in your adrenals, drew Laurey’s attention from one problem to another. She knew what that feeling meant. Maria had slipped in through a mental backdoor, and sure enough, her message, her emergency broadcast, filled Laurey’s mind. Laurey chewed it over, numb from the bombardment of shit and fans. Was Maria always plugged into their thoughts, a leech sucking at their dream juices, reading them like books? How many keys did she have, and how many doors creaked politely to announce her arrival?

Regardless, Laurey pushed herself onto legs that were apparently made of rubber and wobbled out of the bar. She could not have told you before leaving that a neon banana sign was plastered on the store front, nor did it hold the slightest bit of familiarity.

Shit.

In the distance she saw the pillar of fire, roaring up into the sky. What the fuck could she do about that? Everyone in the bazaar would know about it, and half could probably see it. Nothing, that’s what she could do. Jack all. She was not reinforcements. Best just go back to the ship, prepare to get the hell out of dodge. Before more of memory simply ceased to be.

---

Jude Styles

---

Jude was anxiously receiving instructions, racing with both Ashton and Flame to the source of the flames. They stayed silent, though vigilant, as the rest of the team worked out all of the details. It was, indeed one of their own doing this. Someone had done this on purpose, overloaded one of them with a massive amount of mana to cause this scene, though who or why they would do such a thing would have to be sussed out at a later date. Civilians were in danger, and the Bazaar's security was aiming to put a quick stop to that by gunning down everyone with powers in the immediate area. Luckily Ashton had the foresight to run some damage control with the high-grade extinguishers, or it was a real possibility the entire market could burn down while the security was looking to mete out 'justice.'

Speaking of justice, real justice, Jude arrived on the scene just in time to see Maria, Klein and Alan. Or, it seemed to be Alan, it was hard to tell when he was covered in holy flames as if a mad god was smiting him. At the least Alan was still standing and not a pile of ash, so he was probably still alive, if not possibly in horrible flame. Everyone else began to extinguish the flames coming out of him as Jude observed the situation gingerly. One of the aircraft that should have currently been gunning down everyone in the square was actually jerking and flailing around wildly, presumably due to the influence of one of Jude's allies. That should serve as enough of a distraction for this next part.

The flames seemed to sputter ever so slightly as the foam hit them, sucking the oxygen from the surrounding area and releasing a flash-freezing agent. Or maybe that was Jude's imagination, hoping the magic fire was tamable and killable, so this next part wouldn't be so painful. 'I'm standing by to grab Alan. Let me know when the flames are small enough he won't damage the ship.' Jude projected into the group's mental link. They had taken a plasma shot before, sure. But sustained, magical flames completely enveloping him... there was a possibility they could be cooked alive, their cybernetics becoming a horrifying tomb to boil what remained of their body into a sludge.

'Just... just try and calm down. You've been in plenty of fire fights before. You've risked your life before. If there's anything this body is good for, its not letting you die.' Jude repeated to themselves over and over.

The shitstorm caught her in the cargo bay again. Ever since their big purchase, that was where she spent most of her time except one intelligence-gathering outing and the occasional supply run. Once she’d even fallen asleep sat upright on a box with an Fe-C diagram in her hand. Good thing no one found her there, or at least she thought so. Unfortunately, loud music and a particularly stubborn piece of material meant she only noticed the alert from Flame after a few minutes.

‘I didn’t do it!’ she sent back as she hurried back to her cabin to grab some essentials before making her way toward the… “Holy fuck they weren’t kidding.” She mouthed when she exited the ship and saw the problem of the day. The rogue’s brain kicked into overdrive, drawing upon memories of the Bazaar’s every back alley and service passage to get to the problem, arriving slightly winded more or less in sync with the first wave of first responders. “On site. Hold your breath, human torch.” she checked in on comms and raised two of the fire extinguishers above Alan with her magic before crushing them, dumping their contents on Alan all at once. “Someone make sure he can breathe when you get to him, but cooling this down is beyond my abilities.”

There was, however, something she could do. She retreated back into the dark alleyway and leaned against the wall. She didn’t want to bust her ass on the pavement if she did this wrong. Slowly, she stopped keeping other people’s thoughts out, and with the majority of civilians doing the smart thing and going in the opposite direction of the magical inferno at best speed, she felt confident she could walk around without the risk of her brain going ‘NOPE!’ from being overtaxed, left the alley again and made her way toward the largest group of Bazaar Security ground units. Shielding herself from their view in a shop entrance about a dozen meters from them, Avelyn started picking out tactically relevant information about the security forces’ plans and passing it over to the rest of the team via Omni-tool and the psychic link.

---

---

Upon the Xuanzang, Tarak had been resting, not from anything, in particular, just to rest. Honestly, nowadays it is hard to find a time for some R&R, yet Tarak always finds a way to rest even while everything around him is stressful. Tarak hoped it would be a peaceful time, yet something came knocking. At first, Tarak had no clue who it was, well until they walked right in. Tarak gave very few people the luxury to just walk into his room, one of them being the one and only…

"Hey Tarak", Samuel came in with an interesting expression, one that looked of annoyance and self-loathing, yet looked like he wished to ask something. Tarak decided to see where this is going, so he played along, "Hey Samuel". Samuel was confused as he heard Tarak just say hey back like he was also going to ask a question, but he went right to his question, "Hey…Um look, hey Tarak". Samuel said this with a bit of a look like he was about to ask something really important, "Can you teach me how to fight someone up close. Like you do?" Tarak looked at Samuel with interest, as if asking with just his eyes, Why?

Samuel then continues, "Last fight with Blue Crow I thought of something. I didn't know how to fight without magic". Tarak sat forward as he then said "Ahh, I see". As Samuel continued, "Yeah, and I thought because you were really good at fighting with weapons and your fists you would be a perfect person to ask". Tarak laughed a little as he said, "So you want me to train you on how to fight? You? The scrawny boy?" Tarak stood up as he said with a bit of a grin as he then continued, "Sure why not? It would be fun. Just be warned, I'm not a soft teacher".



Tarak was right, he was not a soft teacher. However, he taught Samuel everything he knew. Choke holds, restraint grabs, joint locks, every cheap blow that the human can do, and how to fight in melee combat with a gun in the hand. Would this 100% help Samuel, Tarak didn't know. Samuel was smart, hell, he picked up on the ideas quickly, however, that didn't mean he had the spirit for it. It is one thing to kill a man with magic and a gun, it is another to see a man die a foot away from your face. It's hard to fight while in pain, it's hard to think while in pain, and when you are inches away from a blade, those things can kill you. So all Tarak can hope is that Samuel will never need to use these skills.

Samuel's side of the story is very different, however. He went through hellish training, for the past few days, he fought, ate, slept, and even went to the restroom when Tarak allowed him to. He had no moment he could spend on his own, and even if he did, Iris was there to rest with him. He had even had his sleep time cut into for more training. Samuel doesn't know if he is any good anymore, all the training, and he feels like he doesn't move even inches closer to being as good as Tarak. However, Tarak seemed to always encourage him, even in his ass getting beat, Tarak still kept his spirit up. Well tried to, Samuel was not much of a man for motivation, but he did believe Tarak's words.

Yet among the training something took their minds off of it entirely, a mental message that came from Maria:



Tarak's hair immediately stood on edge as he barked a commanding, "Move!" Samuel's instincts kick in as he nods and rushes off to his room, he grabs his gear quickly, he was wondering where Iris was as he sends a message, he just hopes that she is okay. Yet before he could call Tarak nearly throws down the door and barks, "We are leaving". Samuel had almost jumped in his suit as Tarak sounded like he was yelling back in the war. Strong, powerful, and even with a sense of command. It's like a pack leader asserting a command to the other wolves. As soon enough, Samuel and Tarak had started to make their way over.

As Tarak and Samuel ran their way out of the ship, Tarak sends a mental message to Maria, "Hey Maria, me and Samuel are on our way over!" While Samuel was looking around and found a large metal plate big enough for both of them. Samuel turned and yelled to Tarak and said, "Tarak! Get on!" Tarak turned and saw Samuel was laying on a large piece of thick metal. Tarak knew something dumb was about to happen but he doesn't question what would happen.

Samuel started to use his Electromagnetism to attach himself and Tarak to the piece of metal they were lying on. As then he used his Electromagnetism to then create a repulsion force underneath them as the metal began to float. Now he began to control the forces as the metal began to move forward. The speed was slow at first, however soon enough Samuel had begun to almost fly with his powers as the speed he gathered reach Ludacris speeds, honestly it was slightly dizzying. Sure, he did have to make sure he is careful with where he went, however going from roof to roof at high speeds was not too much of an issue since they were the easiest place to find metal to do this trick too.

The only real problem was landing…Samuel honestly did not think this part through. However, he did know he could make the landing easier to land near-ish and skid in a park or something. Thankfully they had found a small clearing that allowed for a nice and soft landing. Well, soft would not be an apt term, however, Samuel's quick thinking allowed for him to use his Terrakinesis to take hold of the metal and control descent. The earth formed and shaped to better distribute the force which allowed Tarak and Samuel to come out of this ride with their lunch still in their stomach.



As Samuel and Tarak dug themselves out of the earth and rubble, Samuel felt good about that, it was on the fly and was impromptu but it worked out great, Tarak had his reservations, yet it worked well enough. As they looked up and found the pillar was not too far from them, as they began to book it over, they found the congregation of everyone else, but Samuel didn't see Iris. His worry rose, until he noticed he felt quite weak, that was when he knew Iris was not here, and that made his heart rest a little.

He thought his sister might have been caught up in this, he thought him doing so much training might have made it where she didn't answer her Omni-tool. Honestly, he was mortified that she might have been caught up in this all because he ignored her to train, yet those thoughts were sent flying when Tarak barked for him to start to assist with protecting citizens and keep the security off the back of those with the ability to help Alan.

Tarak and Samuel knew well enough how to handle a situation like this, in a non-lethal manner? Less so. However, the skills at their disposal were still more than enough, Samuel's magic to put up barriers, to fry electronics, and control really what they needed, Samuel had the tools. Tarak was there to keep them off when Samuel set things up.

Yet the thing that helped most, and made everything possible, was the information that they seemed to have been getting funneled from Avelyn. She seemed to know what they were thinking and even was about to do a few moments before they did it, so Tarak took command and began telling Samuel and the others assisting with the defense what to do to better put up measures against their assault. Were they perfect, as close as you could get with little warning. Multiple routes were cut off, and multiple Security guards were taken down, and civilians were quickly taken away by Samuel's earth magic. Was it pretty? No, but it was efficient. Honestly, it was the most efficient he has seen information and tools be put to work.

Tarak sent a message to Avelyn to take a breather, no need for her to tire herself out here. Tarak also sent a message to Nero, telling him to not pursue any of the security, there's no need to make targets on the group more than there is. And above all, he tells Samuel to take a rest, he looked like he's about to kill over. For Tarak? He looked back to the pillar wondering when will Alan finally burn out. He didn't understand, this couldn't just be something that happened, this was the first time he saw it, honestly, it was a slightly freaky thing to see. Someone just outputting all of their mana, that couldn't be normal.

@Starlance@FalloutJack@The Jest

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2453 AD

The bell on the wall rang to the end of the test. Students finally had their moments to let out their suppressed stress. More doubly so as this was a high school for the gifted. Curriculums were high, an so was demands of the students. Some were broken by their performance, sitting dejected or quickly making their leave, lest the student discussions of their test results reminded them. Some others were just letting loose. They did their best, and whatever happens happens. They looked forward to their video game night, or a sport's game on TV. There was nothing more for them to worry, at least for now, until the next semester arrives. One of them, however, didn't have that luxury.

"Hey Alexander, do you know how to solve the second-part of last problem? I could only finish the first half of it."

"Dirichlet's Principles, isn't it?"

"Yeah yeah. The box is 4x3 size so I split the box into six 2x1 smaller boxes. The furthest distance in each boxes is square root of 5. Given 7 points, there will be at least 1 box with 2 points. So there will be 2 points out of 7 in that large box that will be at most square root of 5 distance away from each other."

The young white haired kid, carefully combed over his forehead, in his sweatshirt worn over a collared shirt gave a smile as he nodded.

"Yes, that's correct."

"But the second part only allows 6 points with the same requirements. I don't know how to split the box."

"Oh..." Alexander reached for his pen and drew something on his notes that he had used throughout the stressful 3 hours test. It was the same 4x3 box, but split into 4 house-shaped pentagons, two were upright, two were upside-down, one of them laid on top the two upright ones while the other split in two and placed in-between the upside-down pentagon.

"The furthest distance in these pentagons are also square root of 5. Now you only have 5 areas to apply the Dirichlet Principles to those 6 points."

The logic follows exactly how it was described earlier. It just blew their mind. What amazed the student, who was over half a decade older than Alexander, was the unorthodoxy of the shapes. It was definitely not what was usually demonstrated in class. It just looked beautiful that everything just fit in so nicely with this solution.

"Wow, I had no idea. That's so smart. I really don't think I could have come up with this in time." The student patted Alexander on the shoulder as he tossed the notes back to him. "Anyway, what are you gonna do now that exams are over?"

"I have a chess exhibition match coming next week so I have prepare." He replied.

"Ah I see. Who are you playing against?"

"I'll play a few people, but the one they're advertising is Babir Anchovisch."

"...Babir Anchovisch..." They took a few seconds to dig up their knowledge. "isn't that the Kortan chess grandmaster?"

"Yes, that's him." It wasn't too common for aliens to learn human board games, let alone becoming a grandmaster. But Kortans are naturally smart creatures, and the chess game were perfect for them, so he wasn't surprised if there are a couple of them in the high leagues.

"Damn, and you're what, 11? How do you feel?" They asked.

Facing a grandmaster? It ain't the stressful part. He had talked to and played against other chess masters, both humans and aliens alike. He beat most of them, drew some and lost some. But he didn't feel stressful at all. Many of his encounters were private matches in his community chess club that he himself requested, or they were low-stake publicity game with weaker players. But this one? He was going against one of the best Kortan chess players in the galaxy. Already, it strayed from a beautiful duel of intellect, but rather a media sensation. This was the Ascendancy's way of showing off their power and intellect. Everyone were hyped, expectations were skyscraping. He wasn't only being the prodigal Alexandrian here, he was representing a generation. The ironic thing was that the man of intellect like Alexander hadn't existed for many many years.

"I'm gonna to be honest, I'm a bit scared." The boy replied.

"Scared? Why?" They asked.

"I might end up short of expectations. What if I make a silly mistake? What if I don't do well." He trailed on.

"Don't worry my man. You're smart. I'm sure you'll do great!"

They pat his shoulders again. They're sure he'll do great. Everyone's sure he'll do great. He's the prodigy after all. He's smarter than everybody else. He's supposed to do great. Despite how inhuman the task is. He's going to do great!

"Yeah, I am sure..." Alexander replied simply, his gaze trailed away over to the scenic outside the windows. It appeared like it was going to rain the entire week.

---

It did rain. Quite a downpour in fact on the day of the match. As a result, instead of going there himself, the event host spared him the limousine to the hotel where the match would take place. A grand building in the old-fashioned 20th century architecture, supposedly a call back to the era, but was unwelcoming. The dim light, dull grey wall lacked the elegance of a human touch. But it did do a good job at just not getting Alexander's attention, as the boy flipped through the digital page on his tablet. Not of chess positions nor famous games of the past, but talking points.

It would be a long 3-day event. The 18 matches against 3 chess masters, including the Kortan grandmaster, spread out evenly were the least of his concerns, since it would only be rapid games to save time. Most of the time, it'd be interacting with journalists, other professional chess players or just celebrities, taking questions and photo-ops. He wouldn't want to stumble into their bad sides after all.

"Alexander?" He could hear his mother knocking from behind the door. It quickly slid open with a yoke of the finger from his table. "Are you ready?"

Accompanying her was, to his surprise but not entirely unexpected, the CEO of the company behind this event. A middle-aged head of a major water corporation, as well as career party politician, or so he heard. His first words upon seeing Alexander were familial welcomingly, almost too welcoming for even his parents. But deep within it weren't the desire to meet or get to know this young genius, but a request.

"How are you doing, young one?" The CEO had his arms wide. "Are you ready for your first games of the day?"

"...Yes, I am ready." The boy took a few moments observing.

"Goooood. That's my boy!" He held out his hand for a fist bump. As soon as the 11-year-old boy returned it, the act was dropped almost immediately. "Remember that we have an interview with the contestants before that. You'll be representing the Ascendancy's next generation, so do us proud!"

"Yes sir. I will not let you down." Alexander replied

"By the way..." He continued, side-glancing the boy. "Has anyone told you about your eyes?"

Alexander glanced over to his mother standing next to the CEO. She too widened his eyes at the question and switched in between looking at her own son and the CEO. A strange question but he answered it anyway. "Aside from my mother and father, no."

"There's something alluring about those two contrasts when I look at you. It's very..." He gazed up for a second or two. "...charming, I'll put it like that."

"Why thank you sir. I-"

"That's why I wanna ask you to do us a favor." He didn't even wait to take out a pair of glasses from his pocket. "If you don't mind wearing this when you go out there?"

Alexander took the glasses from his hands. It didn't seem too different from normal glasses.

"My eyes are fine though." Alexander, reasonably so, asked. It didn't seem to be a prescription glasses either. It is just a very thick opaque glasses that when put on didn't change his vision. It does appear to be transition lens, however, as it seemed to darken when he placed it in front of the lamp or the windows, which was pretty neat, but still.

"But they aren't strong." He replied. "We have to show the Kortas that you are a dangerous opponent. They won't take you seriously if they see your eyes like that."

The eyes were the gate to a person's souls. When one saw his eyes flurrying with activities across the room and on the chessboard, they're captivated. They'd fall in love. They'd be mesmerized by curiosity to his intentions. But under the spectacles where the only thing they'd see is the reflection of themselves and the blinding light of the room, they wouldn't be watching a being of emotions, but some kind of intelligence. Cold, calculating, and unpredictable.

After examining the glasses for long, Alexander finally put them on properly. The colorful eyes now replaced with two dull blank rectangles.

"See, now you look mysterious. Strong! And intimidating. They will not know what hit them."

Indeed they won't...

---

---

---

"Didn't know ya wear glasses."

A voice zoned him back to life. He had been on autopilot for so long, he only knew that the event was over and that he was just on the way home. He forgot how long it took. It was almost sunset now, so he could reasonably say it took at least a bit.

"Huh?" He turned to the direction of the familiar voice. It was Sarie, sitting by the trees in the park in front of his apartment that they had been hanging out with each other. Her lazy headrest on the tree bark quickly came to life as she straightened herself and waved him over. Looking over to his parents, who also heard her, he asked without said. They simply nodded with smiles and went back to their apartment without him.

"Hey Sarie." He approached and waved back. "Thought you've already gone home?"

"Was about to! Anna just went home, I just wanna look at the sunset a little bit more."

The sun was especially vibrant today. The orange reflection of the sunray veiled under the clouds enveloped the sky in its boldest blaze, a settled heart to the horizon.

"Isn't there a forest fire happening right now? It doesn't look like this in normal days." Alexander said.

"I dunno. Looks beautiful nonetheless." She replied. "Anyway, ya near-sighted?"

"Oh, ummm..." It suddenly dawned on him that he forgot to take the thing off the entire time. He should have returned this to the CEO earlier but eh, whatever. If he came and asked for it back then sure. If not he could just use it as sunglasses. "I never am near-sighted. My eyes are fine."

He took it off instantly.

"Huh, makes ya look quite spooky. I prefer this you a lot better!" Sarie exclaimed. He chuckled a little as he sat down beside her. "Anyway Alex, congratulations!"

"Thanks...you mean for my chess matches?" He asked.

"Yeah. Everyone was talking about you today! They wanted to emulate you and your matches with that elephant guy...Baby or something like that!" She exclaimed

"Babir." He corrected. "Yeah, sounds like fun."

"We tried to continue from your positions every time you move, but you were too fast. So we just tried to guess why both sides did what they did."

"Wait we? You're in it too? I thought you don't know chess?"

"I didn't! And people don't like it so I kinda just stayed quiet and watched." She said, almost nonchalantly so.

"Ayyyy." Alexander sighed with a disappointing headshake. He had always said not to exclude anyone but they just wouldn't listen.

"But thanks to that, I knew how the game works now!" She proudly declared. "Like how your tower just jumps right over your king! Oh oh, and how the pawn just slaps the enemy pawn that tries to zip past it. Like WHAM! Dead."

Oh, en passant. Hey, she got the concept at least. Better than some dumbos accusing people of making up rules.

"Wanna try them out?" He winked as he took out the chess set from his bag. "I'll go easy and take my queen off the board for ya."

"No no no!" She wagged her fingers at him. "You NEED the queen. Kings and queens go together, remember?"

"Ah, right right!" A tired but earnest laugh like the red setting sun, as he remembered those words. "Then I shall not allow her to die. Deal?"

"What's gonna be my reward then?"

"Hmmm, a stuffed plushie. Whatever you choose."

"Deal!"

And they played. And played. And played. Even as night falls and the moon took over. For the boy who beat a grandmaster back and forth, this was pure fun. Wild sacrifice, ridiculous openings, funny rules. And most importantly, an opponent who expected nothing out of him nor the game. She was here to laugh. And he was there to laugh too. The most human thing he ever felt.

---

Galactic Bazaar, 6 hours before current events

It was obvious to Amy after the first moment that Iris knew far more about clothes and shopping than she did. After all, she wore basically the same dress all the time, and she used to only visit shops to get the rations she needed to survive or in case she needed some repairs done. So the thought of going to a place full of people all going on with their business and dozens if not hundreds of merchants all wanting to sell their products… well, that was something that both amazed Amy and made her anxious. Still, with Iris by her side she was sure she could enjoy it and actually get some things for herself to wear! Yeah, that’s the best way to look forward to just about anything in life, but even more so when one is going out on a not-date with someone they like the company of.

Amy was having a pleasant time even just listening to Iris speak, the voice of the girl helping her calm her nerves down after a day of ups and downs when it came to her emotions. Sadly, such a moment cannot last forever, and the buzzing of the omni-tool cut their talk short as it called the other girl away. “It’s okay, go take care of the things you need to take care of! I’ll get ready too!” Amy called out to Iris as the girl left her room, leaving the blue skinned alien alone in her room once more.

The more time she spent here, the less she liked it. Surrounded by the voices and thoughts of her crewmates, Amy was faced with the crippling reality of her dangerously self-isolating behavior before she joined the ship’s crew to help them on a mission she honestly didn’t take to heart at the time. Just one more reason she felt even worse about herself. Still, it made her feel better knowing that everyone was safe and that she could now reliably help everyone else out as well. Not to mention that she had bonded with the kids of the crew so much already, she really felt much better about the current state of her own affairs. Either way, meditation always helped her calm down her nerves, so that is what she did once more to pass the time.

Hours have passed before she finally opened her eyes once again, her head still full of the same worries as before. Oh well, surely some free time with Iris would help with that. With those moody but overall positive thoughts in her mind, Amy put on her usual smile as she stopped in front of the mirror built into her locker and took a good long look at her own reflection. Staring at her own clothing, she knew it looked good, but… did it look good enough? She didn’t want to embarrass herself next to Iris. Flicking her wrist she whisked away the false appearance of her dress to reveal the simplistic, plain white dress that laid underneath and hid her skin from the outside world. “I can do better than this…” Squinting a bit she began to form a mental image of the dress she wanted to wear. Something that would make her stand out just a little more. After a few moments her attire began to shine as a new one slowly took its place. The plain white dress slowly morphed into a long white dress that went past Amy’s knees, with a few crossing stripes going up it’s length to a relatively simple but elegant grey blouse with puffy shoulders. Looking at herself in the mirror for a bit she smiled at her own creation, spinning around for a moment to make sure that there were no mistakes in her attire. Once she was sure that she wouldn’t be embarrassed by some oversight on her part she left her room and walked over to the docking area to wait for Iris’s arrival. Soon enough she spotted the approaching girl and waved at her happily, flashing a wide smile towards Iris. “Yup, I’m all set! Let’s go and buy some nice clothes, shall we?”

Iris gave Amy a quick look and down when they met. Much to her surprise, she was wearing a new dress. Iris smiled back and offered a joking elbow for Amy to grab hold of. Taking a look at her dress again, it looked stunning on her especially when you consider her figure. Iris had an idea pop into her head as they walked. She turned to Amy, "Ooh, we should go to a dress store first! I don't own a dress and well who better to get a dress with than the queen of dresses." Iris seemed excited as she showed Amy her Omni-tool some of the boutiques nearby.

“You’re the queen of dresses, right?” Amy asked with a little giggle and looked at Iris for a moment before she took the girl’s elbow and clung to it. For as confident as she was in her people skills, going to a place with so many people made her head hurt from all the thoughts and emotions, which in turn made it much harder to focus on whatever she was doing. Having Iris with her to rely on helped with that a great deal. Leaning over to look at the screen of the omni-tool she nodded and smiled at Iris happily. “Alright, lead the way Iris! I’m excited to try on some new clothes! I’m sure the others will be surprised about it too, haha~”

Iris laughs as well as they went to a boutique that seems to have some nice dresses, at least from the photos provided by the search engine. Iris offered the elbow as a joke but Amy appears to have taken a liking to it. Iris felt kinda cool having a cute girl on her arm, she doesn't know why but whatever the case she was enjoying the time.

As they entered the boutique, they were greeted by an array of hard light mannequins, all wearing designed outfits. This store seemed to focus on anything even dress-like. From sundresses to ball gowns the store had them all. This was nothing like what Iris has been to. You could kill a few hours just wandering through the store just trying on dresses. Iris looks towards Amy and says, "I think we found the dress store!"

Amy smiles happily as they walk through the bazaar, her eyes glistening with the sea of lights all around them as she looks around with an amazed gasp. Once they entered the large store it only made her smile even more, as all the clothing options made her excited to start trying them on. “Hmmm… what should we even try to get first?” She asked quietly as she gently pulled on Iris’s hand and led the girl over to one of the walls where a long line of nightgowns and dresses were set up for view. There were some many options that it took Amy a moment to comprehend it all, but it made her smile nevertheless. Some of the dresses were plain and simple, while others were far more “frisky” in their appearance. Honestly she was mostly interested in whatever looked the comfiest, and she would let go of Iris’s arm as she walked up to a relatively thick, but loose-fitting black dress that caught her eyes. “Hmmm, I think this would be really cozy to sleep in… what do you think Iris? Did you find something you’d like to wear tonight?”

As Amy lightly tugged Iris towards the nightgowns, Iris adjusted herself to follow her to the wall. As they looked at the wall together many gowns stood out to her the heavier ones looked very warm and cozy but honestly, they just didn't think she would look too good in them. On the other hand, the nightgown Amy had removed from the rack just seemed to fit her. The black gown wasn't very bold but the simple nature of it combined with the high quality gave off a certain elegance to it. All that could also be that the person who is wearing it has eyes for her. Iris walks closer to the friskier side of the wall as she turns to Amy and says, "it would look lovely on you! And I think I found something, let me grab it." Iris stretches her arms to the higher rack as she pulls out a shorter nightgown that only goes maybe mid-thigh. It is of a pearl or off-white color with multiple layers of see-through mesh that when layered obscure her body. Some light frill at the bottom as an accent. "I like this one! It's super pretty to me." As she plays with a handful of the thin layers.

Amy looked at Iris with the dress in her hand, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly as she watched the other girl look through the selection as well. She had expected Iris to go look at the more frilly dresses, yet it still caught her by surprise for some reason after she had previously said that the simple one she picked was also one she liked. Further observing the gown in the girl’s hand she realized just how short it was compared to hers, and it made her grip onto the cloth a little more tightly. Was she just being weird with such a long and uninteresting piece of clothing, or was it Iris who had a more risque taste in clothing? It was hard to decide for her if it was any one reason or both, but she kept her smile as she admired the dress. “I think that would look really nice on you Iris! Of course, I think anything would, but then again I am no expert in fashion, haha~” Amy giggled a bit as she stared at Iris for a little longer before she turns back to the racks to look through them, picking out a few more simpler dresses for herself: mostly things she could change or conceal with her magic in a pinch. Of course, there were far more she could afford with all the money they got, but there wasn’t really anything she wanted to spend that money on. And the things she did want to spend it on, well, those things couldn’t be bought. So for now, getting dresses with Iris would have to do.

Iris was quite happy that Amy liked her dress. She was a bit nervous picking it since she has never owned something so girly. Iris confesses to Amy that she is less of a fashion expert and rather an enthusiast. "Back on my homeworld, I was considered the sports star and a bit of a tomboy. So when I tried pretty clothes on before I always got some push back on it. Like 'they look cute but not for you' or 'you would look better in this'. I always loved fashion, it just wasn't available to me before." With that Iris went on a bit off of a spree, getting a nice long dress, a few sundresses, more than a few skirts. And finally, a simple long red nightgown.

After their shopping trip at the boutique, Iris and Amy went to hit a few more shops. A few more clothing stores were broken up by an occasional stop at cafes just trying things out. The Galactic Bazaar had rather a unique mixture of cuisine and pockets of culture that you couldn't possibly fully explore with the sheer size of it. Iris felt the need to grab any kind of fine candy. Or rather what Iris could infer was fine candy. As promised they grabbed more than just confectionery, baked goods, chips, and every manner of snackage. As their day came to an end they took a shuttle back to the ship to start the sleepover.

Amy was really happy to spend some time away from the ship and in the winding hallways of the bazaar with Iris at her side. It was a nice break from the constant worry for the safety of everyone else during operations, and it made her quite happy that she was able to put those dark thoughts into the back of her mind for the time being. Truly, despite how much she enjoyed spending time with the kids (or maybe because of that), she just now realized how tired she was mentally. With this little trip however, she once more began to feel her cheery self as the two of them explored various shops and finally got on the shuttle with all the things they had bought: essential supplies for a sleepover, she was sure.



Back on the Xuanzang, ~3 hours before current events

Once they were back on the ship, Amy let out a happy sigh as she grabbed onto Iris’s hand and went back to her room, opening the door with a small chuckle, revealing the very modest living quarter that laid behind it. “Tada! Not much to look at, I know you’re used to more space with the room you and your brother have, but this should be enough for the two of us!” With that she placed down the bags she was carrying besides the bed and let go of Iris’s hand as she sat down on the cushion and smiled at the other girl. “So what now? Do we just talk until we feel tired and go to sleep? Or is there some kind of a weird ritual you do during sleepovers that I don’t know about, haha~” Amy asked with a small giggle as she looked down at all the things they had bought. “Maybe I should switch into the dress I got for the night first, hmmm…”

Once they had finally made their way back to the ship, Iris realized that she forgot to inform Samuel that she was going out. And also to make sure he knew she was spending the night. Iris waved it off for now as Amy led her toward her bedroom. Her eyes wandered across the room as Amy presented it. Iris looked towards Amy as she commented on the size. "Me and Samuel's room is a bit bigger but it is taken up by both of our stuff. Not to mention most of our room is just space for our workstations. I got my whole enchanting thingy and he has his techy stuff." As they sat down the bags Iris realized how much she bought. She responded to Amy's inquiry into the mysterious sleepover, "Well from what I know a sleepover is just us hanging out, talking, and just doing other fun things. But in our pajamas. So with that, let's get changed." Iris grabs the frilly nightgown she first picked and asks Amy if she can borrow her closet for a bit.

“Sounds good! Go ahead.” Amy explained happily as she beckoned towards the bathroom with her head where Iris could comfortably change into something else. Sitting on the bed she looked over the nightgown that Iris had picked up and smiled a bit at the simplicity of it. Not in the design, that was far more complicated than what Amy had, but in the use of it. It represented more than just something to wear, it represented the night they were going to spend together getting to know each other. Iris had her attention ever since they first talked in the control room during their first mission, and now she was excited to learn much more about her and also about what she and hopefully the others liked to do. She had always been a bit stiff despite her cheerful attitude, so experiencing new things would surely help her fit in more with the others. Humming quietly to herself as she waited for the girl to change, Amy reached into the bag to grab onto her own dress for the night and run her fingers over the soft surface. It wasn’t anything special, but to her any clothing was something out of the ordinary. Her heart fluttered just thinking about trying it on and actually appearing to others as she really was, at least regarding her clothing items.

Iris entered the bathroom and just took a small look around before unrobing her clothes. Iris stared into the mirror for a moment, taking in how she looks and reconciling her feelings toward her appearance. She runs her hands up and down her arms, flexing them to accentuate how toned and strong she is. She isn't packing a bodybuilder physique or anything but before their capture, she was what they would call shredded. She was way under a healthy fat ratio for girls her age and honestly, it made it hard to be confident in more cutesy outfits. When the You've captured them, she started to put on weight very quickly and before she knew it, she looked completely different. She definitely thinks that this body looks better but at the same time she hasn't completely taken in that this is her. Iris stops spacing out and puts on her nightgown, gives herself a quick check to make sure it looks nice, and leaves the bathroom. She steps out and gives a quick twirl for Amy, saying tada with a big smile.

As the girl stepped out and spun around, Amy would smile happily as she examined the clothing Iris was wearing and she smiled happily at the other girl. “That looks fantastic on you! I’m glad we went shopping.” She explained with a cheerful tone as she got up from the bed with her own dress in hand and walked up to the bathroom for her own turn to change. Closing the door behind her with a smile, she would quickly change the dress she was wearing for the one that they had bought together for the sleepover. It wasn’t anything special, just a simple, comfy black dress with short arms and a long skirt, but to her it was nice to be wearing something unique. Looking at herself in the mirror for a bit she thought about sprucing up the look a bit, but then realized that would go against the whole reason she had it in the first place. Shaking her head with a small smile she opened the bathroom door as she walked out in front of Iris and did the same routine as the other girl: making a little spin to show off her new dress. “So? Do you think it fits me?” Amy asked with a small pink blush as she fidgeted around with the sides of her skirt as she waited for a reply from Iris.

Iris clapped her hands together in excitement as she smiled at Amy, "It looks lovely on you. It gives you such an elegance." Iris stood up to start setting up the snacks as she looked back at Amy, "I had a lot of fun shopping with you. We should definitely go out again when we can." After sitting down once more she looks back up towards Amy and checks her out again. Simple dresses can only really accentuate Amy's natural features and Iris was already thinking Amy was hot. Iris offered a hand to Amy to sit down next to her. Admittedly, Iris was trying to get her to sit a bit closer in an attempt to see if Amy would be okay with getting a little more intimate. Iris waited for this crucial response before going further.

Amy would blush slightly at the compliment. Elegant. That’s a praise she’s not heard in a long, long time from someone, and she did not expect to hear it after putting on a simple dress like this. But it made her happy to know that Iris didn’t really care about whether or not she was wearing some fancy dress, something which had always haunted her through her whole life. Being accepted, and accepting herself. “Thank you Iris, that’s very kind of you!” She explained with a small smile as she took the offered hand and slowly stepped over to the bed before she sat down next to the girl. Amy would quickly turn towards Iris once next to her, and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. “I had a lot of fun going out shopping with you as well! It was a nice change of pace, very relaxing…” Amy admitted quietly as she closed her eyes and quietly enjoyed the hug for a few more seconds before letting Iris go with a silent chuckle.

Iris blushed as Amy went in for the hug, being surprised by it at first but she followed her initiative and held Amy. The blush shifted from a light rosiness to a more solid shade of red as Amy once again let Iris know how much she enjoyed her time out. Her glee had Iris smiling wide as they held each other. Amy's joy was radiating, and it just made every moment with Amy that much better. As they pulled away from one another, Iris was still blushed and giving a warm smile. Iris looked into Amy's eyes and sleet from her chest, "I don't think I been this happy in a long time and I know it's because of you." Iris glides her hand to interlock with Amy's, "I find my thoughts have been filled with you as of late." Iris looks away from Amy realizing how embarrassing that was for her.

Amy listened happily to Iris speak after their little hug, her own innocent smile soon getting tainted with a small blush as the other girl began to explain how happy she was with her. This was completely unexpected for Amy, as she seemed almost taken back when she felt Iris intertwine their fingers. It was all so much in that moment, her mind going wild over the situation as she tried to make heads or tails of it while that feeling in her chest from before was starting to grow, and she was all the more confused as to what it was. “I-I...Iris…” She mumbled quietly as she stared at the blushing face of the other girl, reaching out with her free hand to gently stroke her cheek and turn her gaze back with an affectionate smile. “I’m… not sure what I feel… but I know I’ve been thinking about you a lot recently as well, and… that’s exactly why I was so happy to spend some time with you. So I could make heads or tails of why I feel the way I do…” Amy admitted quietly and closed her eyes while smiling shyly, letting herself relax for a moment as she enjoyed the happiness of the moment as they held hands. “Y-you might have to help me with what that feeling really is…”

Iris felt her heart beating faster as it seemed Amy was going to reply to her somewhat convoluted way of saying I like like you. As she listened she felt the tension rise in her chest. The fear of rejection, no more the fear of opening oneself had Iris feel like she was at the edge of a crumbling cliff. But soon this tension broke as Iris took that Amy felt somewhat the same way and what followed was a rush of emotions. She felt unbelievably giddy, letting out a small giggle as she swayed just a tad as she let this feeling was over her. But this intense emotion had brought forth something stronger, trust. Iris looks towards Amy, not thinking of mush just filled with a new desire to be vulnerable with her. Iris starts speaking, "To hear that you have been feeling… similar was blissful. The only way I know how to help us know what this means is to lay things out. For me I like you, I never liked anybody, but I know I like you. Your smile, your laugh, the way you try so hard to comfort all of us. At first, I found it a bit hard to ration out why you cared so much, and it threw me off. But quickly I could find myself worrying about you, even when you weren't there and I…" Iris paused as she could feel her own heart stab her at the idea of letting someone know something so personal. But still, Iris turned to Amy, still smiling but her eyes could tell Amy that was a painful thought. "I have a hard time caring for people. Like a really hard time. Like I haven't cared for anyone new since before the war and even then it was a bit foggy what I felt for them. I worry sometimes that what if the war took my ability to care. It… scares me." Iris starts looking a bit sad talking about this but she changes it back to a smile as she focuses on Amy, "But you, you're special to me somehow. I know that I care for you," Iris goes into a whisper, "that I like you. So you know if you ever need me I'm there."

There was such a rush of emotions going through Amy that she felt like she was going to collapse while she listened to Iris. After a certain point she found it much easier to stop trying to make sense of the words and emotions and just peer into the girl’s mind to give her own brain a little pause. It was at this moment that she truly felt the butterflies in her stomach go wild as she experienced the love and affection that Iris had clearly felt for her. It made her blush madly and look up at Iris with a shy look while she listened to her story. It was… touching. Never had she felt these emotions and she didn’t know what it was, but with Iris’s help she now understood that it was normal. That they had both felt the same and the other girl neatly put it into words to help her understand. Of course, Amy didn’t need any of those words, she could feel what Iris could. Once silence fell down upon them, she found herself flushed and with her heart beating rapidly as she stared into the girl’s yellow eyes. “I…” She hummed before she bit her lips, unsure of what to say. The moment they were sharing was something more, something special… and she knew that she too cared and trusted in Iris so much more now that she knew they shared the same feelings for each other. “Iris, you don’t need to say anything…” She explained quietly as she moved a hand over to gently stroke the girl’s cheeks. “I can feel you… your emotions, your thoughts… it’s… pleasant. Warm. I like it. Your mind helps me relax, your touch makes me forget who I am.” Closing her eyes bashfully, Amy looked away for a moment as she collected her thoughts, her fingers squeezing Iris’s a little tighter as they held hands. “I like everyone on the ship… for as long as I can remember, that is the one thing I’ve always known. To care for and attend to others. Not many have ever cared about me before, but ever since I came here, I feel like I’m finally part of a family I never had… so I care for you all, maybe a bit too much at times… Hehe, I know some of you look at me like a mommy…” She explained shyly, her voice almost fading out as she had to wipe some tears away before she looked back into Iris’s eyes. “The truth is… you were there for me when I was at my lowest, and even now… I-I care for you immensely. I want you to be safe in this hellish fight you have decided to engage in. Because once it’s over… I want to spend more time with you, and the rest of the kids as equals…” Amy was visible holding something back as she looked over to the side, taking a moment to gather herself with a little sigh. If she were to really accept her own emotions, she needed to make sure Iris knew who exactly she was… and it scared her. The last time she wasn’t someone else, they had berated her and taken her for a fool… but she felt like she could truly trust Iris to keep her secret and not react badly. “C-close your eyes…” She explained as she placed her hand over Iris’s eyes just for good measure, blushing immensely. After taking a moment to make sure the girl wasn’t peeking, she would close her eyes and slowly let down her mental walls and let Iris into that protected space in her mind where one could truly gaze upon her. Then, she would shyly pull away her hand, a knot forming in her stomach as she revealed herself to the other girl. Enough so that others wouldn’t even recognize her. Iris could gaze upon the eerily snow white skin and hair of the other girl, the almost unnoticeable pink blush upon her cheeks that contrasted with the deep crimson eyes above it that looked at her way so anxiously. Her pair of curved horns around her head replaced with pure white ones that protruded out the front of her head. But more importantly, everything about her appearance had changed aside from her usual warm smile. She looked more young, more fragile, someone who fit much better into the same age group as most of the kids, rather than as their surrogate mom. “T-This… this is the real me… I-I understand if you think I’m a freak…” Amy explained in a quiet and shy tone before she looked off the the side with an anxious whine.

The silence was cut by Amy. Amy had moved her hands to Iris's cheek, they were warm to the touch. Iris landed into Amy's hand as she felt comforted by this gesture. As Amy explained how she could feel Iris's emotions, Iris once again felt comforted knowing she could just feel what was going on. In a way, it confirmed that these feelings are tangible that they are real. Iris began to just bask at this moment they were sharing. Just listening, riding the waves of emotion they were causing in each other. Once Amy went silent, Iris could tell she was holding something back. Normally Iris wouldn't try for more but this was different. Iris rubbed Amy's hand trying to get her a little more comfortable, got a little closer, and tried to match her eyes. Soon Amy asked her to close her eyes. Even after Iris closed them Amy still covered her eyes. Iris held in a little giggle as she thought it was a little cute. She was curious about what Amy was doing though. A part of Iris was hoping it would be a kiss but another part knew that wasn't happening right now. As Amy pulled away her hands, Iris waited for her hands to fully move away before she opened her eyes. As they opened the once beautiful purple alien she knew as Amy was replaced with another alien. Snow white skin, deep crimson eyes, and these large upward white horns on her forehead. That smile and general demeanor was all Iris needed to still know it was Amy. Iris couldn't look away, her eyes were enchanting, her smaller frame was freaking cute. The horns were large but honestly, they aren't that weird. Like sure it wasn't normal for Iris but Amy is obviously not Iris so the horns are just cool. Amy spoke that she thought it was okay if Iris saw her as a freak. Iris was peeved by this. Not at Amy, more at someone would call her a freak. Iris leaned in closer to Amy, closing the distance between them a bit more. Iris starts holding Amy's hand again. Looking straight into Amy's eyes, "Amy I thought you looked good before and I find you even more stunning now. Your eyes are alluring and makes me want to get closer. Your skin is beautiful. Your frame is cute as hell. And your horns are super cool. I don't think you're a freak. And more important than any of that, I like you for you." Iris goes extremely blushed realizing she essentially yelled hey Amy you are hot as fuck.

“Oh… I-I’m really glad you think that…” Amy explained with a blush that was even larger than before as she shyly looked back into Iris’s eyes, only to realize how close the girl had gotten to her as she let out a small little yelp. In this moment they were truly close, both in body and mind: her head was flooded with both her own emotions and those of the other girl. All those thoughts from before when Iris thought she was cute were now multiplied hearing that she found her beautiful in her normal form too. Part of her wondered if Iris would still want to see her in a bikini… maybe for their next shopping trip. For now she looked into the girl’s eyes with a small smile and gently squeezed her fingers. “I… I think you are gorgeous too Iris, much more so than me. But, I also like you much more for who you are. A little weird, but absolutely lovely, hehe~” She giggled at her little tease and blushed as she adjusted her hair a little bit before she fell silent and looked at Iris for a moment before looking away. “I… I hope it won’t be weird that I’m younger than I first seemed… all the others will still see me like they used to, but… I-I want us to be close like this. Like…” She hummed and gently placed a hand on Iris’s head and stroked her hair. “In body and mind…”

Watching Amy blush heavily brought a story of delight to Iris. But Amy squeezed Iris's hand and started complimenting Iris. It caught her off guard and couldn't stop a smile crawling across her face. She giggled with Amy at herself being called weird. Iris listened as Amy described her concern that she looks younger than she originally appeared. That fact barely registered as another idea kept her occupied. 'They will see her as the same? I mean it's fine but that is also just awesome. And she can choose who gets to see this hottie? Man that's cool.' But that thought was severed as Amy started to stroke her hair, somehow the intimacy had raised again. When she said in body and mind like that made Iris became fully aware of how close they were. Her heart was beating hard. She looked at her lips, she wanted to kiss Amy. Iris started to stroke Amy's hair again and said, "Yeah, body and mind…", as she closes the distance once more and goes for a kiss.

Listening to Iris’s thoughts and experiencing her feelings in that moment was like a torrent of blush-inducing feelings. This was the second time now that she was being called a hottie by Iris, and Amy wasn’t entirely sure what the best reaction to that was. It wasn’t distracting at all, in fact it made her feel very happy, but she had absolutely no idea what she was going to be doing with this information. She felt the faint urges that burned so hot inside of Iris, but she herself had no idea what she was doing… at all. So when she saw and felt Iris coming in for a kiss, she was completely dumbfounded. Thankfully Iris’s… graphic mind told her all she needed to know about what she was supposed to do. Closing her eyes she leaned in slowly as well, wrapping her arms anxiously around Iris’s shoulders until she felt their lips touch in a small kiss, and she let out a soft yelp as she enjoyed the feeling.

The kiss felt explosive for Iris, her lips were soft and Amy seemed to know it was happening and joined in the effort. Iris has never kissed anyone. So a part of her felt like she was floating on air. 'I did it! Not only did I give my first kiss away, but it was also to a cute girl! Woo!' her little celebration in her head was short-lived as she felt that dreadful question of what now? 'We both opened up to each other, we both admitted we liked each other, we even kissed. But we're both new to this.' Iris looked at Amy, "Want to lay down? Things got pretty intense," Iris said as gently led them to lay down. Iris didn't think such an intimate moment would leave her so wanting but also so tired. All she wanted to do at this point was to leisurely lay with Amy, talking about anything or nothing, just continuing to be so close. Some extra kisses would be nice but differently not needed at this point

Amy’s white cheeks have turned into a deep red as they shared their first little kiss with each other. It was a great feeling, like all this built up tension from being around Iris has all of a sudden vanished. She would smile shyly once the girl pulled away from her and laid down on the bed. Watching Iris with a gleeful expression she happily leaned down as well and nestled against the girl a bit, gently grabbing her hand with a small chuckle. “Intense is the right word… let’s just rest here for a bit… this feels nice…” Amy explained with a blushy smile on her face as she closed her eyes, the room around them seeming to disappear for a moment before it turned into a wonderful illusion of a much larger and cutely decorated bedroom, the soft sound of a morning breeze and birds chirping seeping in. “I could fall asleep like this… maybe I will, we had a long day…” She explained quietly as she leaned her head against Iris’s with a small blush and gently squeezed her fingers before she slowly slipped into a deep slumber that seemed to drag her in from all the excitement of the day before, and the safety of having someone she could truly trust in.

Iris adjusted herself as Amy nuzzled into her, offering her arm to lay on to get comfy. She lightly wrapped her arm around Amy's waist as they held hands with Iris's other arm. There was an air of tranquility that filled the room as they rested there. As they laid, the room shifted thanks to Amy and Iris looked on in wonder of Amy's power. The way the room changed was awe-inspiring. The breeze and sound of birds began to lull Iris to sleep. She looked down at Amy as she began to nuzzle once more before falling asleep. Iris just had a small relaxed smile, a smile that held nothing but her trust and comfort in Amy. Soon the serene illusion Amy had made out Iris to sleep as well.

Ashton and Flame (After Jest's Edits)

As Ashton looked at his foes and activated Supernal Vision, taking a moment to concentrate as he did so, he found himself relying on Flame's Shield of Force spell to protect both of them from the incoming 'Goblins'. What was this? Were more Loyalists after them? Either way, as more Security VTOLs and groundcars rushed through, some of the latter carrying heavy-duty laser weaponry, Ashton was only able to notice the faintest presence of Magic in these 'creatures' - Did someone use an aura-suppressing spell on them?

Either way, as one of the creatures, bypassed Flame's shield, Ashton found himself parrying an ax with one of his curved daggers, before kicking the stomach of the 'Goblin' holding it with a booted foot. Whispering a spell of High Enchantment, Ashton felt his High Magic coat his blades to inflict unhealable wounds against any creature of Magic, giving him the confidence to counter his opponent's next attack with a swift roll and a series of strikes of his own, knowing that if he can inflict even one wound on the 'Goblin's body, it'd most likely be crippling.

Flame, meanwhile, had drawn his Perfected Electrum Bow and was aiming at the 'Goblin' which was his opponent. Whispering a spell of Prenatural Calmness in order to banish all distraction from his mind, he allowed the creature to attack the shield of energy which he set - All the more time to ready and fire the Bolt of Light which, amplified by his weapon, would strike the creature's rotten heart and disintegrate the body around it. Once he had dispatched the enemy which had tried to take him on in single combat, he'd look to see if Ashton had done so with his own challenger.

The other boy's enchanting grin, as well as the smoldering ruin of what was presumably the monster who had tried to take him on, confirmed that yes, his boyfriend had dealt with his mysterious opponent. So Flame asked next, "These things are magic and not just some weird science which looks like magic, right? If so, what type?"

Ashton didn't know what to tell Flame, except that, "I myself don't know - I think whoever summoned these pricks is also capable of hiding Magic as I can. Either way, keep up your barriers, there might be -"

A laser bolt struck Flame's shield, staggering the other boy slightly forward. Ashton sighed, sheathed his blades, then thrust out his palm at one of the VTOLs, sending a gust of wind strong enough to shake it - Aerokinesis. He then looked at the VTOL and said, making sure the crew had a clear reading of his lips, "That was a warning shot. Do not try and harm my boyfriend."

Then looking at Flame, Ashton spoke, "Anyway, the fact that these are Goblins means that it must be a Human or someone conversant with Human myth and legend summoning them. A Human with Magic either means a Loyalist like Crowley," he spat the name with contempt, "Or an Adult with Magic like that mercenary Nero, Iris, and Samuel spoke about."

Flame cast a Cone of Silence around the two, knowing but not caring that this made them look suspicious, before saying, "Or someone with a magical item like Mr. Winterborn - Remember his sword?"

Ashton nodded, even as Flame's shields withstood another shot - This time a tungsten shell from a Railgun. Then he said, "I wonder sometimes about that sword. I rarely got to see it in action, but I saw enough to know that it is a Kaisoken, one which willingly fought its own kind. I wonder what its motives were for that?"

"Mr. Winterborn himself is a noble person," Ashton said, "And if not for the fact that the mysterious mercenary was able to cast spells of his own, I'd assume the latter was like him, someone with a magic item. And from all accounts, the merc did have magic items as well as the ability to cast spells." The boy then paused to thrust out his palm again, causing a gust of wind to sweep more snipers of a nearby roof. "This means that the Ascendancy if they are the ones who employed the mercenary, must have more magical resources than we do - That we are not the last of our kind."

"As if we'd be the last of our kind anyway," Flame said, "The Ascendancy is in full possession of the resources to make more Star Marines - To torture more kids like us." He then fired a few warning shots at several Tayanen in armored shells who were walking towards them with riot shields in hand. "If we don't stop them, they'll just torture more kids or draft adults to enforce their tyranny on everyone." He frowned, "And so we will stop them."

@Letter Bee@Th3King0fChaos@The Man Emperor@Landaus Five-One@FalloutJack@Conscripts@dragonpiece@Starlance@jdh97@6slyboy6

@The Jest

Avelyn didn’t need to be told twice to take a break. She knew the security guards were blindsided by their ability to counteract their plans, and a smug smirk crossed her face when the local commander called a retreat to regroup and restrategize. With that out of the way, Alan mostly burned out and the gang about to evacuate, she quietly started singing a song to help block out such a large volume of thoughts from her mind.


It took a while for the cacophony of confused and angry thoughts to become a background hum, quiet enough to leave her hidey hole and start making her way back to the ship. She took a step forward and found herself face to face with a stack of four officers about five paces away from her. Fortunately, though they had obviously been approaching her position with a clear goal and weapons at low ready, their heads were turned toward a side street, their attention drawn by a noise she only now noticed. It was a car. Was it about to crash? No- Well, yes, but actually no.

The car skidded to a stop beside her, the four poor bastards a little slow on their feet and now laying on the ground cursing and clutching their various broken bones. She’d never met the driver in person, but she remembered his face and name from the debriefing of their run at Plenty.

“What is that unholy noise? It sounds worse than Rau’ve food tastes!” Avelyn groaned as she crouched beside Joey, “We need to talk about your music preferences. Get back in the car, I’ll make some room.” Careful to stand beside one of the tires in case one of the cops was feeling smart and decided to shoot under the car, she formed a sideways-accelerating gravity field from about knee-height down underneath the largest concentration of people shooting at them, causing most of them to fall ass over kettle in perfect unison. Once they were down, she changed the direction by 45° upwards, reduced the height and increased power, thus throwing their dropped weapons away save for those who thought to wear their slings. With the amount of hate being thrown their way - however she sympathized given Joey’s wanton disregard for the ‘poor fucking infantry’ - now significantly reduced, she felt confident enough to leave cover once he was back in the driver’s seat, grabbing the corner of the roll cage and using it as a pivot point to get into the passenger seat with a gravity-assisted jump.

“Drive, I’ll clear the way. Straight from here and then the third left.” she ordered as she started sweeping the street ahead with Gravity Manipulation to clear a path, throwing security officers around like ragdolls to get them to stop shooting and get then into places they couldn’t get run over. Resigned to the headache that was to come, she opened her mind to the thoughts of others again, judging limited precognition and knowing what the nutter behind the wheel was going to do a worthy tradeoff for a few hours of discomfort.

Things were going well, so far. Nero had gone all chaotic with the controls for reasons of never having flown before and wanting very much to have the attention of air security here at the Galactic Bazaar. That much had worked, and he felt that he was sort of getting the hang of how to steer this puppy. Even better! The Bazaar authorities had shouted over the gunship's comm system at him, at first trying to ascertain what was wrong because they had no idea that the thing had suddenly been hijacked, followed by shouts of threats when they realized that the thing might've been hijacked. Of course, there was always the possibility that the men who were out-cold in here beside him were just disloyal, but who was going to believe that when there was a dark shadow in the pilot's seat? Nero hadn't actually switched on the guns - although he was sorely tempted to - because...well...everyone else would complain about it. They weren't Ascendancy, the local authorities, so why do it, right? Besides the fact, Tarak actually contacted him, telling 'im not to do anything terrible to security.

"Relax, I've just been keeping them occupied so they can't bear down on you guys. Take care of things and I'll be back on the ship soon enough after you're done."

He was really starting to think that what he should do with some of his money was to get something kickass like this to fool around with. Aaand he would've continued like this if someone hadn't decided to ummm...interfere. See, there'd been this noise, and it made him tense because he thought that maybe the gunship had a third guy tucked back behind the pilot section, but when he turned-

"FUCK!!"

It was a good thing that he'd been leaning forward while wrangling the controls, because otherwise his back would've been directly against it as it emerged from his shadow. The light from outside had cast it thus, and when this apparition suddenly appeared and called him by name, Nero's actions were swift and direct, even while panicked. He jumped away from the seat - as in towards the cockpit window after pulling one of the security guards' sidearms. Immediately, the shadowy creature's form would take a full clip of coilgun shots. Nero didn't use guns famously, but he knew HOW to use 'em, and even an unskilled nobody can expect to hit a target that's point-blank. He probably destroyed the back of that pilot's chair, as well. However, Nero would have no time to appreciate the damage done to Maybe-Ophelia-We're-Not-Sure, because what he'd done was back himself into the controls of the craft, as in he pushed the stick sharply forwards.

"Oh shit!"

Imagine for a moment that you are on the ground. After the pillar of flame was over and some special ground manipulation 'escorted' security from the premises, someone declared it to be 'Goblin-Thirty', and now a bunch of Underdark denizens were capering about the place with bone axes. And then, a gunship suddenly takes a nosedive onto the scene! Well, to be fair, Nero DID pull back at like the last second, so instead of outright crashing the thing, it became an effective 'ditch'. As in, that thing you do when you can't land properly, so you get down on the ground safely by ANY means necessary, sacrificing the vehicle. It's also a point that the gunship would likely cleave a ditch into the place, anyway. So, Nero struggled with the controls last-minute, the gunship slid across the ground, and he saw several...forms. What the hell? Goblins?! Who ordered these assholes? And how many did he just plow through? A few of 'em went flying, at least.

Anyway, the impact had hit him, though not as badly as it would likely injure the two guys to his right - They'd live. - and not as badly as it could've been. He'd been battered without armor, which was mostly just painful. Stepping out of the gunship now, Nero saw that he was actually in sight of a definite Finn portal. Great! Time to get the fuck out before another shadow-thing attacked and...wait. That's not how Ophelia's powers work, right? She was a Netherworld deterrant. Granted, he'd never really figured out how her powers DID work, exactly, but like everyone else, he'd met Squad 0 at one point, so he was of course familiar with her work. Mostly the chains.

Was there another shadow user out there?

He'd deal with that later as he started introducing plasma blade to goblin flesh as he headed for the portal out of here.

---

Jude Styles

---

Jude was no stranger to anxieties. In what little memories remained of their life before reconstruction that was a common emotion. On the battlefield you were always anxious, waiting for plasma and bullets to fly by, the blade of Damocles always hanging over you. But Jude wasn't feeling that sort of anxiety right now. This anxiety was leaning more on the eagerness side than fear. Jude was simply hosing Alan down with extinguisher whilst waiting to grab them, while it felt like the rest of their comrades were doing so much more. Jude didn't spare more than a quick glance in either direction to confirm, but even beyond that just the sound was enough to confirm. Avelyn was relaying the guard's orders back to Maria, who would do so to the entire team, while Tarak and Samuel used that intel to delay the soldiers gunning for the group. And the less said about Nero, the better.

Jude was eager to act, to do something more pivotal than chuck foam at someone. But, having forgone bringing a weapon to the bazaar, felt they could do little else of import. Eventually, the flames died down, even in the riotous noise didn't, and Trajan reached for Alan's still steaming form. Jude followed him, and grabbed Alan's legs as Trajan hoisted him upwards. To Jude, the heat didn't hurt much at all-- an odd blessing of having every patch of open skin replaced with nuts and bolts-- even if it clearly was too hot for Trajan to handle. Jude wanted to put their foot down and say they should carry Alan by themself, but before they could work up the courage, another spanner was thrown into the works of their already terrible day.

The roar of a great beast traveled through the market, from above everyone. Jude let their eyes wander towards the sound, and saw a great dark cloud above them, blotting out the sky, bits and pieces breaking off and coming down to the planet's surface without any force behind them. They carried bizarre creatures with them, holding weapons of bone and demanding death. These were some kind of dark magic, maybe from the bounty hunters Nero mentioned. Either way, the group now had to deal with them along with the military presence.

One goblin, and then another, and another, converged on Alan, Jude and Trajan's position, though due to the way Trajan was facing he could probably only see one. As Trajan drew one of his blades and hoisted Alan onto his shoulder, Jude leapt into action, happy to finally be able to do something. While the first goblin-thing was focusing on Trajan, Jude let go of Alan and ran into a dropkick, snapping the poor creature's neck instantly and leaving it to disintegrate into dust. "Please, let me handle them. Get Alan to the ship!" Jude shouted at Trajan, now sizing up the remaining two beasties. Jude was confident their armored hide would be able to deflect simple bone-made weaponry, and even if they didn't have a weapon, just a hard stick would be enough for things this weak.

With their magnokinesis, Jude ripped a loose metal pole from the scenery, and snapped it in two over their knee. Now armed with two jagged spears, they lunged at the goblins, who obliged the challenge. The three locked blades for a moment, the goblin's weapons cutting more dents into Jude's impromptu weaponry, before they threw the things off. One went too far, so Jude hopped to the other, and drove both of his improvised spears into its chest, destroying its heart and turning it into dust. The other was on them much faster than Jude anticipated, however, and latched onto their neck, trying to drive its knife into where their neck would be.

"Bad idea." Jude mumbled, before leaping up in the air, and back down, right on their back. The goblin, still in the way, had most of its ribs crushed instantly. Jude finished it off quickly, and made to seek out someone else who needed help. They could wait on returning to the ship until everyone else was in a safe spot.

Narvia was helping everyone cool down Alan’s fire pillar until it feels like all hell broke loose in an instant. Some goblins threatened everyone she knows lives, including hers, all because of whoever the Low-Father is. It did scare her, but she had to stay focused on everything else and her boyfriend’s usual reactions of yelling back at them. ” Please leave us alone, you monsters!” Narvia yelled at those freaky goblin creatures. She thought it would be much easier.

Narvia noticed Finbarr start to use his magical attacks against them; therefore, she did too. She formed her bow of light in her arms and released three Silverlight arrows at three different goblins. It would be stupid to use another use of the Bow of Light since it’s specifically for attacking from ranged. After that, she did take out her pistol to fire at those goblins, too, since her magic is pretty limited since she cannot absorb magic from the air.

Narvia only did what she could since she’s much more limited than anyone in the Star Marines. She smiled happily to see that Finbarr threw open a portal to retreat. It was grateful and didn’t want to empty her pistol clip; she suppressed fire type of tactics. It did help that Trajan Pyke was holding Alan. She smiles at Finbarr their work to cool down Alan worked, thankfully. It did help that Alan was still a bit of a funny person.

” Y-Yes, it would be better to get out of here. Thank god, Alan is alright!”

If anyone was paying attention to how Narvia was acting around Finbarr, she was much happier than usual. She is an open book, after all, and her body language is easy to read. Therefore, Narvia does fall back to the portal, but those goblins were tenacious, so she had to continue firing at them. However, all the other Star Marines involved themselves in fighting the Goblins. In the corner of her eye, she recognized Jude Styles since it’s not hard to miss him since all of his mechanical enhancements.

Narvia decided to retreat much faster since Jude told Trajan he would handle the Goblins. She was a bit quicker because of how scared she was feeling by all the crazy shit around them. It wouldn’t be a good idea to stay behind and get in the way of Jude’s fighting style since he’s brutal in how he fights enemies. Jude would have to hold back if any of the Star Marines were here or anyone else. ” G-Get them, Jude! I know you can do it.” Narvia said a bit nervously. She wanted to stay alive for her boyfriend, Finbarr since she wouldn’t want to die now since they have so much to live for now.

’ What would my godfather say during a time like this? Uhh, I don’t know; he never said anything about running away to live another day. I would rather live instead of dying here, though. I have so much to live for now. Suppose if it weren’t for Finbarr’s confessing his love to me. I would have probably done something unthinkable.’

Narvia stops thinking about what she could have done to herself since it is somewhat dishonorable to kill yourself during your troubling times. She had the most baggage compared to the other Star Marines, but most enjoyed what they do. Narvia shook out of her deep thoughts since it would be better to focus on what’s happening around her. She kept her pistol out while she was retreating into Finbarr’s Portal.

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Within this cacophony of fighting, Samuel was working quickly to follow the orders tossed to him. His hands and magic were quick, but he was running dry as there were multiple times he was about to almost freeze up, but hearing he was needed helped him keep focus. His mind was racing, and slightly frantic, not knowing when this would be all done. He just had to continue his part.

Tarak was calm and collected, his eyes never broke, his mind never wandered. He was calm and waiting, using the info he got from Avelyn to then give orders was the best he can do. He knew they shouldn't kill, especially with Maria saying the same thing. So he was resorting to using his grenade launcher to fire stun grenades and Phosphorus grenades to keep them from closing in on them.

They were both doing well, until the Goblins came.

The green creatures were gross-looking, to Samuel they looked like the Goblins from Terran Stories. Their eyes looked piercing and ready to kill, Samuel was slightly worried as they seemed to have been made out of some strange fluid-like substance. His first thought was honestly magic, yet he had no clue, all he could do was fire at them quickly before they came close. As the light lance imprinted on his gun is working well and firing strong. Samuel made a sprint over as he continued his fire, making sure that the little freaks never enveloped himself or the others.

Tarak was in a different place when the goblins came. His mind was not in the same space as everyone else, as he looked up he saw the goblins fall and a protocol was already enacted before they even touched the ground: [Music.King.EXE]. As Tarak brought his gun up ready to fire, as started to let loose with his gun. His aim was sharp and his bullets struck true. As his stride forward was calm, he saw the portal and knew where they were going, so he just fired calmly. Even when one of the green monsters nearly jumped his back, Tarak quickly spun and snatched it from the air with his right and slammed its head into the ground, and continued going to the portal. Always making sure that none of the others were left behind.

He looked and checked for Avelyn but she was nowhere to be seen. He sent a quick ping to her Omni-tool to see where she is and found she was on the move and seemed to be moving fast. He wasn't too worried for her, she must of found a nice quick way to get home, probably with some explosions in the background.

After his quick check for Avelyn, he did a once over on everyone as he moved towards the portal. At this point, everyone seemed alright, all he had to do was make sure Maria wasn't having too much fun with the random little deterrents, as he said over the shared mental link 'How you holding up? Must be dizzying fighting mid-air like that hu'. He saw and knew she was doing alright, he just wanted to make sure people were doing okay. And maybe poke fun at their possible misadventures versus these little green gremlins.

Natasha, Ashton and Flame

Flame took down the Cone of Silence when he saw the portal appear, and he and Ashton began running towards the hole in space-time, hoping that everyone else did so as well. After a pause to catch their breath, Ashton looked around and said, "Everyone, roll call! How many of you are here?!"

As he looked around, the brown-haired boy noticed Klein's presence, but instead of moving to punch the other boy in the face, Ashton himself said, "Klein, I'm glad you came back for us! We were angry that you just up and left like that, but at the same time... We understand what you've been through -"

Flame interrupted then, "Don't speak for me, Ashton." He then walked up to Klein and said, "I want you to lower your mental shields and submit to a through checking of your memories by Avelyn. That's the only way I'll accept you as part of this group."

"Flame!" Ashton shouted, about to blurt out that Flame thought kinder of Crowley than anyone else here did, but that would expose his own faint hope that... No, there was no hope. Crowley had betrayed them and while he'd accept the other boy back after suitable 'penitence', the renegade Star Marine would not be the type to submit himself to that. But Klein, Klein was more forgivable, his only crime had been cowardice and a desire to have a better life than the abuse they had lived through. Nevertheless, his boyfriend was right - He just can't welcome Klein back with open arms. So Ashton continued, "Fine, Flame. I also want Laurey to look over all electronic devices Klein has on his person, there might be some data there, too. But first order of business is to check ourselves for injuries, then go to the good doctor."

It was then that Natasha entered the ship's lobby, saying, "All right, Kids, what exactly happened?! Some crazies who posed as Moonstrike operatives - They were not, I consulted Moonstrike One afterward - tried to paint the Moonstrike Symbol on our ship, almost wrecking our cover. And then I find out that some of you set fire to a sub-market and we're now wanted criminals." A deep sigh as she continued, "Add that to the fact that one of our numbers - Phi, I think her name was - has disappeared, and everything seems to be going downhill..."

She then looked at Klein and Jude and then said, "Greetings, new faces. My name is Natasha Zhang, Captain of this ship. Who might you all be? From appearance alone, you seem to be fellow Star Marines. Either way, once you're all done telling me what's happened, I'll show you all to the Medbay."

@Letter Bee@Th3King0fChaos@The Man Emperor@Landaus Five-One@FalloutJack@Starlance@jdh97