Isindyll: The Arc of Deep Space (Peregrine x J_"Kr

[Peregrine]

"Welcome back!" Isindyll's cheerful voice greeted, as soon as the airlock on the little pod released, and Rhys and Nyarri stepped out into the loading area. "Did you get everything you needed?"

"We did," Rhys agreed, shaking loose the Arak'un form and settling back into the bald, Vollori-like body that had become a surprisingly comfortable fallback. "Was this planet interesting enough to meet your expectations?"

"Yes," Isindyll agreed. "It was very pretty. I don't think you guys ever saw it, but there was this spot on the other side of the planet from the city that was bright purple! I have no idea what could have caused it. Do you know?"

While Isindyll had chattered, Rhys had set about starting to unload the crates from the ship with Nyarri. One box in hand, he huffed out a reply. "I know it is some kind of plant, they had a couple stands about it in the landing port, but I didn't bother to read it. Wanted to get the shopping done and leave as quickly as possible."

"That's too bad," Isindyll pouted. "I've seen purple plants before, but never in such overwhelming quantity. Will you look next time?"

"I don't think we will ever be coming back here," Rhys said, setting down the second set of boxes. A nice pile was starting to form just outside the spaceship. "But if we ever do, I will."

"Good! Did you see anything interesting in the city? I'd so love to be able to actually go down there and see all the people..."

Isindyll, Rhys, and occasionally Nyarri continued to talk easily back and forth about everything and nothing at once, as they slowly worked to undo all the hard work of organizing boxes so that they could fit in the ship, and haul them out into the main area. Once it was all done Rhys moved over to the stack, studying them with a little bit of frustration.

"Isindyll, do you think you could move these to where we are storing the rest of the food? I'd rather not have to carry it if you can move it easily."

"Sure!" Isindyll hummed slightly, apparently unconsciously, and Rhys stepped back as the floor under the boxes began to quiver. The boxes shook slightly, before beginning to move.

"Take your time with them," Rhys suggested. "I've got some eggs in there, and I'd rather they not break if one of the boxes fall over."

"Okay," Isindyll agreed. The boxes slowed a bit, and seemed to stabilize against each other.

Rhys wasn't really focusing on such matters, but had the assassin been paying attention to the conversation that had just taken place it might have been a rather shocking experience. Once an anti-social assassin among a group of criminals, with no interest outside of studying the universe and completing jobs when they were offered, Rhys was now worrying about plants, broken eggs, and money. The concerns were a bit different, but it was, in some respects, like being back Home. There were always things to worry about when you were with Tribe. By contrast, Rhys had never worried about anything with the Disciples. At first it had been a nice change, to escape from the constant responsibility, but when it came down to it this felt so much more natural. Felt more right.

Once the boxes rounded the corner and left sight, Rhys began to make his way back towards the bridge with Nyarri. They would have to pick a new direction, or several possible directions rather, as the final choice would be left to Isindyll.

Once the bay doors had closed behind them Isindyll pulled up a map of this quadrant of the galaxy. After much careful work, Rhys and Nyarri had found a way to tap into some of the Police hardware that was in the bridge, and access the Imperial map. They then began to slowly work through the different possible destinations. Isindyll quickly had her heart set on a planet that was supposed to be nothing so much as a giant floating ball of magma, but Rhys and Nyarri managed to convince her that it wasn't worth it to see it when it took them within five solar systems of a 7th​ council police base.

They had just gotten close to settling on heading towards a lavish planet, which a group of Syastin had attempted to colonize as a new Nestworld, only to find out it was covered in a toxin so potent that it had killed every person who set foot on the planet, even briefly, and all the people who had come into contact with those people. However, Isindyll suddenly interrupted the conversation.

"Rhys?"

Something in the young ship's tone caused the assassin to immediately tense up. "What is it?"

"There... There's someone else on board."

 

[ze_kraken]

"Isindyll," Nyarri began slowly. "Where is the intruder now?"

"Where you came back through," Isindyll replied, tone uncertain.

Nyarri turned to Rhys. "Let's take a look, then."

Rhys nodded, lifting himself up from the chair where he'd sat down while they looked at the map. There was something rather stiff about his movement, which might have signified either frustration or fury.

Five Quicks later, the pair entered the docking bay, which had not changed in the time they had been gone. Nyarri cast the thought that the intruder had fled; Isindyll would have alerted them of that beforehand, and in any case the hatch to the reentry craft had remained shut, the pod still there. She took a cautious step into the room and glanced around, hand resting on the handle of her newly-puchased weapon.

"We know you're in here," she called out. "If you stop hiding, you'll make this much easier for both of us. My friend here's already agitated, I wouldn't annoy him any more."

Normally that kind of statement would have caused Rhys to react, even if it was just in the form of a baleful look, but it seemed it was surprisingly true. The tension hadn't fled from the assassin, and the moment Nyarri finished speaking Rhys moved forward, starting to look through the room. Severl feelers unfolded from the back of his head, lifting up into almost Syastin-like antennae, which tremored with the faintest vibration of the air.

Of course, the last thing they expected to find was their "intruder" in the corner of the room, wedged into an impossibly small space between two of the wall supports. One nimble looking hand was rubbing the wall, almost compulsively, while two of her own antennae, each curling back over a thin, elfin face with two sets of eyes, shivered with something that was either excitement or fear.

"This is organic," she said. Now it was possible to recognize the expression that was on her face. Wonder. "It looks like metal. It is as hard and as durable as metal. But it isn't. This entire ship is... organic."

"Maybe you can talk less about what this ship is and more why you're on it," Nyarri huffed. "I'm sure you'll like the outside on your way out, you catch my meaning?"

All the calmness seemed to leave her face all of a sudden, and she made herself, if it was even possible, even smaller, wedging back into the gap until it seemed she would never be able to get herself out again. Her front eyes widened even further, transitioning from excitement to fear, while her back eyes closed in panic. "I just... I had to get away. You were picking up so many supplies, and you had a transporter. That meant the ship was too big to come down. And most big ships have lots of people. I thought I could... blend right in." Her hand continued to rub the wall, almost compulsively.

"Get away?" Nyarri's attention shifted from the cowering figure to Rhys and back again in an instant. "Should we expect any unwanted company coming after us?"

It was only then that she seemed to notice Rhys, standing behind Nyarri. Her eyes flicked up and down him, and one hand almost reached out, before the other grabbed it, folding it away again somewhere in the little knot of limbs and body. "You...?" she stuttered. "What are... I've never..."

Nyarri had been wrong. It was possible for the stranger to fold herself even smaller. No wonder they had missed the little stowaway. "I've gotten myself in over my head again, haven't I?" she asked, almost dreamily.

"Depends," Nyarri spoke with mild amusement. "I'd imagine anyone willing to sneak aboard a warship would be in over their heads, but appears this isn't the first time you've been thrown into the airlock and out the chute." She paused. "Is anyone coming after you? Were you followed to the space port before you snuck aboard? Criminal? Imperial?"

"I didn't know it was a warship," she complained. "Wait, this is a warship?"

Rhys cleared his throat.

"Right. Sorry. Criminal. Not followed." She stated each element as though she was reciting something from a list she had gone to a great deal of effort to memorize.

"Well, what do we do with her?" Nyarri looked to Rhys. "Before Isindyll makes her Tribe."

Rhys' head shook slightly. "We'll have to turn around. It isn't ideal but..."

"No," The word came out more like a yelp of pain from a small animal than an actual complaint. "Please. No. You can do anything you want with me. Anything at all. But don't take me back there."

"Did we ring any alarm bells while we were down there?" Nyarri questioned, ignoring her. "If not, I see no reason why we shouldn't."

"None that I know. Unless they already know she's on our ship. But returning her in good faith should spare us reprucussions for that."

Nyarri glanced back at the stowaway, only to see silent, milky white tears running down from her rear eyes. Even now, one had was still rubbing the side of Isindyll's wall, as though trying to absorb some comfort from it.

"Rhys..." A soft voice objected.

Isindyll.

"Isindyll," Nyarri began. "We can't make a hasty decision with this...We could be getting some very powerful people against us."

"We already have the whole Empire against us," Isindyll pointed out, rather reasonably. "I don't know how much more powerful you can get than that."

"My worry is quantity of powerful enemies."

"But she said they don't even know she's here."

A soft noise of surprise came from the corner, as their unwanted guest seemed to finally figure out where the voice was coming from. Behind Nyarri's back, her lips formed a word. "Organic".

"Your thoughts, Rhys?"

Rhys let out a sigh. It was fairly obvious what he was thinking. They couldn't get anywhere without Isindyll. She had yet to realize it, but, if she wanted, she could go anywhere she pleased, and Nyarri and Rhys would be but helpless passengers to her voyage. "Speak your piece, Isindyll."

Isindyll hesitated for only a moment before words started to tumble out of her. "She's terrified of going back. She's not faking, she's not playing a trick. She's desperate. Desperate enough that she was willing to sneak aboard a random ship, having no clue what was waiting for her. Desperate enough to do anything. Sending her back there would be crulty, plain and simple."

"Isindyll..." Rhys settled back against a wall, both eyes trained on the stowaway, but not really seeming to see her. He had entered "reason with Isindyll" mode. "Her being 'desperate enough to do anything' can be taken another way, too. There's no telling what she is running from, and what she might do to make sure she gets away from it. Yes, she is scared. But that doesn't make it right to protect her."

Nyarri felt the sting of hypocrisy as Rhys reasoned with Isindyll. Not too long ago, she had been (conscious of it or not) in a situation not too unlike the stowaway, relying on Isindyll's tendency to quickly attach herself to 'interesting' people. If Isindyll could convince Rhys that she, a marine and honor-bound to the Empire, should stay aboard, then this fight was already lost.

"Please," the stowaway broke in. "I'll... I'll try and explain everything. I'll tell you what happened, and who's after me, and what... what it might mean for you as honestly as I can. And I know you have no reason to belive me, but I..." She trailed off for a moment, before lifting her head to blink sadly at Rhys and Nyarri. "I don't have any way to persuade you I'm not lying."

"Start with why you're willing to sneak a ride aboard a warship," Nyarri prompted.

"I didn't know it was..." she suddenly seemed to remember that she'd already said that. "I got involved with some... people. Bad people. They said they would help me complete my research-"

"Research?"

"I'm a biological engineer. I used to work more in towards the core, on research to help peole regrow lost limbs and the like. I found something that would work, but the only way to test it was on a real person. It was refused. But I knew it would work. So... I left. Found a person who... connected me to a group that was willing to fund the last stage. They brought me to the planet you just left."

Nyarri nodded. "Go ahead."

"It worked. Just like I knew it would. It worked really, really well. But then... then I found out that the people who had funded it had taken my research and were using it for some sort of... organ harvesting plant." She shuddered. "I tried to stop it, but they threatened me and then locked me up. But I... managed to escape, and destroyed all my research. And then ran, and got on the first loading ship that landed at the port. And now I'm here..."

The marine's attention flitted to Rhys. She took in a deep breath and began slowly. "We could report her crime ring on the next world we hunker down on. If she's telling the truth, that will wear away at some concerns, stop any risk of backlash or pursuit, and leave us in the clear. The Empire takes unauthorized research seriously, so I doubt they'll refuse to at least look into it. We'll still need to keep watch, but I see no reason not to give her a chance. I turned out alright."

"And if she's not telling the truth?"

"I think you know."

"Isindyll?"

The ship was silent for a moment. Both Rhys and Nyarri waited patiently. Finally she spoke, voice small. "Whatever you think best, Rhys." There was a brief pause. "But I'm sure that's not the case," Isindyll continued, forced cheer in her voice. "Don't be so gloomy."

 

[Peregrine]

The stowaway's name, as it turned out, was Cehusnie. She was a member of a people called the Dranaie, who had originated from a planet that was as much caves as it was surface land. Therefore, the Dranaie navigated as much by touch as they did any other sense, which explained why she had never stopped compulsively rubbing Isindyll's wall the entire time she had been speaking to Rhys and Nyarri. It also turned out that, once she had unfolded herself from her little space, Cehusnie was nearly as tall as Rhys, although not as tall as Nyarri. Rhys quickly herded her away to a standard soldier's room, far away from the bridge, but many times more comfortable than a cell. Once she was there, Rhys and Nyarri exchanged brief nods, before parting ways. Nyarri went back to the bridge to navigate them to a planet where they could leave Cehusnie, while Rhys settled down to keep an eye on their new resident.

While Rhys would have preferred to go with Nyarri to decide on the planet, it was far more important to keep an eye on Cehusnie. Isindyll had already proven she'd taken a liking to the little Dranaie, and there was no way that they could trust her not to let Cehusnie out. For that reason, the necessity of keeping watch on Cehusnie wasn't a problem with Rhys. It was, after all, that exact tendency that had granted the assassin freedom from what was certain doom.

Cehusnie never took more than two eyes off of Rhys, both while she was being escorted to her new living space and after. Normally something like that wouldn't have bothered Rhys in the least, if it wasn't for the fact that Cehusnie seemed to be doing far more dissecting and analyzing with her eyes than simple watching. All the same, Rhys ushered her into the room, before firmly closing the door and settling down to wait.

It took her less than two quicks to open the door. As soon as she saw Rhys sitting outside she let out a surprised squeak, before promptly slamming the door closed again. After that, it was only a couple ticks before she opened it again.

"Sorry," she said. "I wasn't trying to leave."

It appeared that Rhys wasn't going to be able to get through this watch duty without conversation. "Then what were you trying to do?"

She was silent for a moment. "I don't know. I just... that room was so... quiet. And empty. Can... can we talk?"

Rhys sighed, rather pointedly, but when Cehusnie did not return to her room Rhys relented. Somehow, conversation seemed to have become the Karthk'yarii's most potent weapon. "Fine. Talk."

"What are you?"

Rhys' eyes narrowed in suspicion, yet the Dranaie did not seem to feel the least bit of shame for her words. Her eyes were wide with excitement and curiosity, and didn't waver an inch. Both of her hands were twined around each other, as though both were trying to hold the other back.

For a moment Rhys hesitated. It was obvious that Cehusnie knew full well that the assassin didn't really look like what greeted her eyes, although it was surprising that she had realized it so quickly. All the same, there was a limit to how much Rhys was willing to share. It wasn't that the assassin thought Cehusnie would pose some threat, but was simple practicality. The less people knew, the less of an advantage they held.

Yet there was something about Cehusnie's eyes that gave the impression that the Dranaie already knew exactly of what Rhys was capable. It was slightly unsettling. All the same, it removed Rhys only reason not to oblige. Perhaps humoring her a little bit would help Cehusnie settle down and stay calm.

"Karthk'yarii," Rhys replied, knowing full well that it wouldn't provide any information.

"I've never... seen anything like you," Cehusnie said, rather awestruck. One hand started to reach out, before the other grabbed it and pulled it back. "Then again, I've never seen anything like this ship, either. It's like..." she trailed off as one hand reached out to trail gently down the side of Isindyll's wall, like a lover. A moment later, she seemed to remember she was talking to Rhys. "How do those... things work?" she asked, wiggling her fingers to try and illustrate what she was talking about.

"What?" Rhys asked, mimicking her motion exactly. "Fingers?" It was a bit of a surprise to realize exactly how easy it was to interact with Cehusnie. It was like playing with the children of his Tribe. All the same, he obliged her a moment later. The feelers writhed as Rhys settled into the form of a female Danaie.

There were subtle differences between Rhys and Cehusnie, but that only seemed to impress her all the more. She squealed and one hand lunged out for Rhys before the other could catch it. Rhys promptly intercepted it, tucking it back at her side and frowning. She blushed slightly, but ran her fingers over Rhys hand before withdrawing.

"Satisfied?" Rhys asked, returning to the form Nyarri would be familiar with.

Cehusnie nodded slightly, before sliding down the edge of the doorframe. "You're going to stay and watch me anyways, right?"

Rhys could guess where this was leading. All the same, there was no point in lying. "I am."

"Would you tell me about this ship?" she asked, softly. It seemed that she had calmed down somewhat. When she wasn't in a panic, her voice dropped a little bit, settling into something almost melodic.

"Isindyll?"

"Is that what you call her?"

"That's what she calls herself. But if you want to know about her, you should just ask her yourself. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to share." Rhys blinked, before turning his head pointedly away from Cehusnie. "Some."

"May I?" Isindyll suddenly hopped in. Cehusnie flinched, before a whimsical smile crossed her face.

"Some," Rhys repeated. Isindyll giggled slightly.

"Come on, Ceh," she said cheerfully. "Let's go in your room so that Rhys can be left to his own gloomy silence."

 

[ze_kraken]

The search for inhabited worlds to maroon their unwanted passenger took longer than Nyarri had expected. The world they had touched down on was one of few in the immediate area to be remotely civilized: others were spinning rocks with barely a single city each. That knocked out avoiding the use of Isindyll's warp for a short hop. Nyarri pinched outward on the navigational screen, expanding her search to the nearest twenty systems. A few off-limit, 'in development' systems, a handful of core worlds, and an overwhelming majority of the outer fringe.

"Isindyll," Nyarri called out.

A brief delay followed before the ship responded.

"Sorry! I'm walking with Ceh," Isindyll chirped happily. "She's very interested in me."

"Hope you don't mind another question about you," Nyarri huffed, amused. "How do you feel about making a warp jump? It's not too far - about three light years away, little bit more."

"I can do that. Give me a little bit."

Nyarri's fingers darted across the navigational console and she nodded once, satisfied.

"Alright, coordinates locked."

With that, Isindyll went back to talking with their stowaway - Ceh - and Nyarri slumped back in the console's seat, staring around the empty bridge. Though it had never been exactly full, with a focus on autonomy provided by both Isindyll and 'dumb' artificial intelligence, it still amazed her that as little as two could crew a ship so large. Isindyll most likely possessed the processing power of a supercomputer, but then so did every other ship of her caliber, and even they required a crew far larger than theirs.

You've survived, you haven't fought yet, you haven't met any real resistance yet.

But damn, it felt good.

---
​

Two or three Delens later, once Nyarri had retreated to her quarters, Isindyll spoke again.

"Rhys says it's your watch for Ceh!"

Your watch for Ceh...

For a brief moment, Nyarri was dragged back to her first experience aboard Isindyll. The near-death encounter with Rhys'evin, her obsessive training, Isindyll playing her secretary. The memories washed over her in a brief flash of images. Though it could not have been more than a Luner or two ago, it felt as if it had happened to an entirely different person. Nyarri the marine would never have seen herself allying, or even coming to rely upon, the assassin Rhys'evin. Nyarri the marine would never have become comfortable with the concept of a living ship.

"Nyarri?"

"I'll be right there," she responded curtly, slowly rising to her feet from her cot. "I shouldn't bring a weapon, should I?"

"Well, you heard the man. High alert, time to stand around and look threatening."

"With guns."

"I wouldn't think so," Isindyll stated. "Ceh's not going to do anything."

"It's not Ceh I'm worried about."

"Oh, I don't think Rhys will mind."
​

---
​

Upon her arrival in front of the stowaway's quarters, Nyarri and Rhys had shared a brief exchange before the assassin had left for either the bridge or his quarters. From the fact that the door had been closed upon her arrival, Nyarri was quick to pick up that Rhys had avoided too much contact with the stowaway, a fact confirmed with Isindyll. A Delen passed in calm, the only disturbance coming in the accumulating soreness in her legs from standing upright in one position.

Suddenly, the door opened behind Nyarri, sending her wheeling around on the spot, reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. Passing the movement as reaching through a loop on her belt with an outstretched finger, Nyarri looked into the stowaway's four, reflective eyes. The sense of almost childlike fear and intrigue in those eyes was replaced with a critical, investigative stare, almost a glare. Her hands clutched at the doorway possessively, and the eyes fidgeted and blinked often as they looked the marine up and down.

"Need something?" Nyarri questioned, not impolitely.

The investigative stare mellowed into a blank one.

"Isindyll told me the guard shifted," she replied. "So I figured I would take a chance, see if you were a bit more talkative than you friend out there."

"I wouldn't say friends. Extraneous circumstances led to this little arrangement here, but-" Nyarri added, feeling the question forming before the stowaway asked it. "that's a story best left to those it applies to."

"Well, what can we talk about?"

"You're telling me you've just talked with Isindyll for more than a Delen and you're still in the mood to chat?" Nyarri sounded amused.

"Oh? No, that was actually very interesting," the stowaway's shyness returned in an instant. "I'm Cehusnie."

"Nyar-"

"Oh, I know," Cehusnie smiled. "Isindyll's told me..."​

 

[Peregrine]

If there was one thing Rhys had learned over the course of this journey, it was that it was impossible to tell when Isindyll was moving, how fast she was moving, or whether or not she was even moving at all. Up until this point, it had never really mattered. They had been in no particular hurry, relying on the vast emptiness of space to keep them safe from the Imperial ships that were doubtlessly still pursuing them. Now, however, there was no longer time for lollygagging. Cehusnie had changed all that by sneaking aboard. But it didn't feel as though anything had changed.

That strange sense of stillness awoke Rhys in the middle of the night, causing the assassin to roll out of bed and head towards the bay, a sneaking suspicion in hand. Said suspicion was proven to be true only a few moments later, when the view through the window of the bay revealed a lush planet, surrounded by purple sparks darting through the atmosphere. Occasionally, one of them would leap out of the atmosphere and drift briefly through the void, before expiring in a small burst of light.

It took Isindyll a moment to notice that she had company. When she finally did, she began to speak. "Hi, Rhys," she said, sounding somewhere between tired and guilty.

"Isindyll," Rhys offered back.

There was a moment of silence, before the planet shifted slightly in the view of the bay window as Isindyll moved a little closer. "Isn't it beautiful? I haven't seen such a verdant planet since I left the core."

"It is," Rhys agreed. "I wonder why it hasn't been settled."

"I think it has something to do with those little sparks," Isindyll said. "A few of them have run into me, and they hurt a bit. I think they'd fry anything that was... really electronic, and not just... partially." She stopped speaking.

For a moment, Rhys simply stood there in silence, waiting to see if Isindyll was going to move on without any prompting. But, after a quick or two, it became obvious the young ship had no intention of doing any such thing.

"Isindyll?" Rhys prompted.

"Just... just a little longer," she said eventually. "It's so pretty, and I don't..."

"You like Cehusnie that much?" Rhys asked, getting immediately to the heart of the matter.

"I don't know. Yes. I mean, you are a good conversationalist, Rhys, you really are. But you are always so serious. But she's...."

Rhys nodded, not really needing Isindyll to finish her sentence. There was no denying that the Dranaie was filled with a certain sort of whimsy that was rarely seen outside of children. All the same, aside from the fact that Rhys didn't exactly trust her sudden appearance, there was the simple matter of what they would do with her if she remained aboard. It was this second part that Isindyll didn't really seem to consider.

"If she stayed..." There was a sudden, faint hum of excitement from Isindyll, and Rhys realized that might have not been the best way to start the sentence. The Karthk'yarii plowed ahead anyways. "What would she do?"

"...What?" Isindyll asked, suddenly pulled down from her daydreams.

"It doesn't matter much to me what I end up doing. I'm a criminal, and had long ago been relegated to a half existence simply by my own choices. A normal life was always beyond me. I was bound for a prison planet. Therefore, every day I'm free aboard you is a gift. But Nyarri lost her ability to lead a normal life the moment you kept her aboard rather than sending her out with the rest of the Marines, and her commanders decided she had betrayed them. Even if she were to leave, she would never be able to return to what she had been doing before. But Cehusnie, she's still free of all that. If she settles down on this planet and works for a little while, she may even eventually get the money to go back to the core planets. She'll be able to resume her research, and go about it a bit more... typical of a way. That's a life, Isindyll. A real life.

"But if you try and keep her here, what life would be waiting for her? She wouldn't be able to continue her research, because we just aren't equipped for that. She wouldn't be able to associate with people who would understand what she wants to do, and be able to help her with it. It would end up being the three of us, uncomfortable and uncertain with each other, drifting through space with nowhere to really go. Is that really the kind of life you want her to lead?"

Isindyll was silent for a long, long time, but Rhys waited patiently for her to finish thinking, to pick the right words, whatever was taking her so long. "This life..." she paused, before starting again. "This life isn't so bad, is it?"

"I don't think so," Rhys said. "I'm content, as content as I've been since I left... Home. I'm back with a Tribe. But I can't speak for Nyarri. And as for Cehusnie... I imagine anything would seem good after the life she's led for the past who-knows Luners, but if that really means it is a good life... if it is the life she would want... that I can't help but doubt."

Isindyll was silent for another long while. "I understand," she finally said. The planet began to drift away in their view, as Isindyll took back to space.

 

[ze_kraken]

"And you don't find the higher gravity uncomfortable?" Cehunsie questioned; the pair had been talking long enough for Nyarri to have lost track of the passing time. What had started as somber, distrusting guard duty had morphed into a surprisingly pleasant deviation from Isindyll's sometimes childish, tangential conversations and a good dealer closer than idle chatter with Rhys'evin.

"On a planet is a different story entirely," Nyarri shrugged her shoulders, huffing out air. "You get used to it here, though. Even though you can hardly feel it on Isindyll, acceleration gravity's different than spin gravity. Hard to explain."

Cehunsie's upper eyes blinked twice, followed by two more of the lower ones. "I wouldn't know!" A pause dragged on between them, more amicable than awkward.

"Your research," Nyarri started.

"I wouldn't call it mine anymore..." Cehunsie interrupted. "It just evolved into what it was never meant to. If I thought I could pull it off, I thought about reporting it, before they locked me up, but I..."

Nyarri nodded. "If it's not a good topic I can stop pressing."

Amused, Nyarri wondered if a rogue biological engineer guilty of unauthorized research was worth as much, or more, than Rhys'evin and his "stolen" ship: it would be close.

"Maybe later," from the look that followed Nyarri, the marine knew that she was not the only one aware of Cehunsie's limited time aboard Isindyll. Though Cehunsie had attempted to keep up a calm, relaxed facade, the traces of fear from their encounter earlier still lingered in her four eyes.

"Maybe later," Nyarri echoed, a pang of guilt jolting through her as she continued. "Do you know of another planet that'll let you continue your work that's fairly off the radar? I can't promise much, but I can do that for you at least."

"Do I have to leave at all?"

"Remember what I said about extraneous circumstances? Part of that circumstance is avoiding getting too much in the scary shapeshifter's way."

Tribe or no Tribe, Nyarri felt no desire to attempt to sway Rhys'evin's position upon the matter for a random stray. She knew that it wasn't right, given her own circumstances, but she had to pick her battles. This was not one of them. In any case, Isindyll held more influence over the assassin than Nyarri.

"There's one," Cehunsie finally admitted, softly.

---

After Cehunsie had given Nyarri the star system of her preferred system, the marine had awkwardly left the engineer's quarters and made the haul back to the bridge. Finding it empty, with Rhsy most likely in his quarters or wandering about (with no 'uniform' time table to keep them on the same page most of the time, timing on Isindyll was arbitrary at best), she set to working on the navigational panel. Right as she finished punching the coordinates for Cehunsie's planet into the drive, Isindyll spoke out.

"Before we go there, could we visit one other planet? It's within enough distance that we wouldn't have to warp and-" Nyarri cut her off.

"As long as Rhys doesn't bring it up - and you better not tell him I did this," she laughed, then. "I don't want to join our engineer when we...Well."

"Thank you."

---

Once Isindyll had taken her fill of the planet below, the ship informed Nyarri that she was ready to leave. The marine entered in the coordinates again and sent them off, giving Isindyll the exact reentry position in the designated star system. Just far enough to keep out of effective range for any patrol vessels, but close enough to be within reasonable burn distance of the indicated world. As Isindyll made her preparations to jump - Nyarri knew she was stalling - the marine made her way to Cehunsie's quarters.

A bleary four-eyed stare met Nyarri as the door to Cehunsie's room opened. Delicate hands clung and ran along the door frame obsessively as the engineer looked Nyarri over. For a moment they stood there, neither speaking.

"We'll be making the jump momentarily. Once we're there, we'll turn to hard burn to make it the rest of the way there barring any trouble."

"Will there be trouble?" The four eyes adopted a look of subdued panic.

"We've got a way with it," Nyarri admitted. "But I don't see a reason that we'll run into anything we can't handle."

Another pause.

"Right - we'll be back to see you out on a landing craft."

With that, Nyarri turned, left, and went to inform Rhys'evin of their approach.

Unless Isindyll has talked him into making Tribe...

...Again.

 

[Peregrine]

Rhys'evin was in the bridge again shortly after the warp, watching the rapid approach of the planet. The time wandering through space had served the assassin well, as Rhys comfortably navigated through the various screens near the Captain's seat. An enlarged version of the planet appeared on the window at the front of the bridge, before being replaced by a map of the solid objects in nearby space.

"It looks like this should go completely smoothly," Rhys said as Nyarri walked in. "For a change."

Isindyll had been completely silent since their exchange above the glowing purple planet. Rhys knew she was sulking, but knew there was no helping it at the moment. Eventually she would either decide that he was right, and become her usual, cheerful self again, or she'd decide that there was no way they were leaving Cehusnie behind, and Rhys would be stuck with another person Isindyll designated as Tribe. Then again, if someone else had to become Tribe, Cehusnie wasn't a half bad choice. She was charming, in the way most toddlers were charming. It certainly wouldn't be hard to desire to protect her.

Not that Rhys had any intention of advocating for her to stay. What Rhys had told Isindyll before was true. This wasn't a good life for those who had other options.

Isindyll pulled into orbit of the planet, away from the few launched satellites that slowly orbited the little planet. It truly was tiny, with only a few civilized cities, but it was marked for regular transportation due to a rich supply of some rare metal buried in its crust. Cehusnie would have no problems finding a ship that would take her in whatever direction she wanted to travel. "Let's go."

Cehusnie came willingly enough when Rhys and Nyarri came to pick her up. The assassin remained on guard, but it was almost completely a perfunctory effort. After this long, and when they were so close to their destination, Rhys had no doubt the Cehusnie had been telling the truth when it came to her story, and she had no ulterior motives on either Rhys, Nyarri, or Isindyll. In fact, she seemed both happy and grateful as they walked to the bay, chattering away wildly about nothing in particular, and regularly pausing to examine something that piqued her interest. Rhys allowed these delays with a frustrated sort of patience. A part of the assassin knew that Cehusnie was stalling in the same way Isindyll had been. Just like Isindyll, though, she'd eventually realize that there was nothing left for her here, and it was time to go.

When they reached the bay, Rhys and Nyarri exchanged brief glances. Rhys raised a brow, Nyarri nodded, and turned to head back to the bay. There was no way they were going to be leaving Isindyll alone up here, around a foreign planet.

"Come on," Rhys said, gently tugging Cehusnie away from the wall, which she was rubbing and crooning to gently. "It really is time for you to go."

For a time, once the little transport ship had broken away from Isindyll, Cehusnie remained perfectly quiet. It only lasted for a few blessed quicks, though. "What are you going to do next?"

Rhys had settled back into the form of a Vollori captain. He rubbed at the base of one of the wings on his brow, before ruffling his wings slightly. "We'll warp away from here once Isindyll has had a chance to make more fuel. After that, there really isn't any telling. We don't have a goal, and mostly just let Isindyll roam where she pleases as long as it doesn't take us anywhere dangerous."

"Isn't that tedious?"

"Everything is tedious in its own respect. I'm sure as a scientist you would know that."

Cehusnie mulled that over for a bit, before changing the subject. It took a moment for Rhys to see the connection. "I've never seen anything like Isindyll. Between you and her, you probably would have held all the answers to research that took me well over three revalars to solve on my own."

"Me?" Rhys repeated, mildly amused.

"Yes, you," Cehusnie agreed. A slight smile crossed her face, as her left hand reached out to touch Rhys. Her right hand caught it before it could actually reach him, firmly tucking it beneath her leg. "You are a biological wonder. I've never seen anything like you, and I've never met anyone who's seen anything like you. You are a biologist's wet dream."

A faint laugh slipped from Rhys, And Cehusnie paused, ringing her hands together. "Well. Yeah. But I mean, it's true. Your regenerative ability alone would be a wonder, but those feelers, the way they can move..." This time she wasn't able to catch herself before her hand shot out, closing over Rhys forearm. Her eyes went wide and she tensed, clearly expecting something unpleasant. Rhys, though, only unclasped her hand, pushing it back towards her own body. She grabbed it as though she'd forgotten how to move it on her own and rubbed the back of her hand comfortingly.

"We're about to break atmosphere," Rhys said, to break the silence. "I'd grab onto something."

About a quick of jostling later, and they were safely down on the landing pad of the largest of the three cities. Rhys passed Cehusnie a small chip just before she exited the craft. "That should be enough to cover any expenses for food and transportation." He paused for a moment, before offering her a brief smile. "Good luck."

"You know," Cehusnie said as the door began to close again. "You aren't as scary as Nyarri says."

 

[ze_kraken]

Nyarri had lingered around the loading bay, watching the outline of the landing craft slowly diminish into a speck of light before vanishing from sight entirely. For a planet within relative isolation of the core Empire, Nyarri could spot a good deal of other, larger, vessels swarming around the world's one moon from her view port. Outlined against the pale blue moon, the silhouettes of their dark grey hulls stood out even from her distance. Much to her relief, Nyarri noted that none of the ships seemed interested in anything other than the moon. Once Isindyll reported that Rhys and Cehunsie had made planetfall, the marine made her way back to the bridge.

"Anything interesting about this planet?" Nyarri asked upon entering the bridge.

"Only the outlines of the cities - if the clouds move over a little, I might be able to see the whole thing!" Isindyll replied cheerfully.

"You can see them from here?" the marine questioned, taking her seat at the navigation panel and tabbing open a system map of the local systems.

"Barely, they're nothing like the core worlds' cities, though."

"Here's the star map for the surrounding area," Nyarri sent the feed to Isindyll. "Look that over, tell me which one you want once you're ready to warp."

Isindyll muttered something that Nyarri took as assent, to which the marine stood and stretched.

"Oh, Isindyll, tell me when Rhys'," she paused, feeling a pang of regret at Cehunsie's departure. "When Rhys gets back up here. I'll be at the range."

---

Nyarri had barely been able to spend half a Delen in the range before Isindyll proclaimed that Rhys had returned. Even when the marine insisted, Isindyll (at Rhys' request, no doubt) retorted that she wasn't needed - everything had gone well, Cehunsie was on her way to rebuilding her life planet-side. Another two Delens passed as Nyarri trained, satisfied to find that her physical performance and accuracy had risen to what they had been when she had first boarded Isindyll.

"Nyarri, I think I know where I want to go!"

The marine started at the sudden noise, nearly stumbling off her exercise platform.

"I'll be right there," she grumbled in response, once again marching on to the bridge.

Upon her arrival, Nyarri let out an exaggerated gasp of effort and slid into the spacious room. "Isindyll, how would you like the idea of installing a rail system in here? I am tired of having to walk around!"

Isindyll made no move to respond. Feeling partially defeated, Nyarri sat down at the console and plugged in the coordinates of Isindyll's desired world. Though she had no doubt she could disable the check that required for the crew of Isindyll to feed her navigational information, Nyarri wagered that doing so would lead to a series of random, fleeting warp jumps as their ship's fancies bounced around. The thought of a Vollori captain, born and raised on the concept of fuel conservation, having to deal with a ship with near-unlimited warp energy bouncing from system to system was enough to make Nyarri snort with amusement.

Makes for far more interesting training than a fuel efficiency test, she thought as she gave control of the warp coordinates to Isindyll.

A brief delay followed before the "warp in progress" prompt appeared across the navigation console. Bracing herself, an old habit that still lingered from her first experience warping, Nyarri let out a gasp of breath as the moment between real space and warp space passed. When the black inky space ahead molded back into stars and distant light, Nyarri had been about to look to see what had drawn Isindyll to this spot, but then the warning klaxon sounded: contacts close.

Had Isindyll dropped them, unwittingly, into an ambush? Was it Imperial ships?

"Isindyll?" Nyarri questioned, straightening to alertness.

No response.

"Isindyll?!"


Agitated, the marine attempted to override Isindyll's short-range navigation. Nothing. Nyarri glanced up out the main view port and let out a curse: the contacts weren't ships.

They were asteroids.

 

[Peregrine]

Even before Nyarri had turned to look out the windows and see the asteroid field, Rhys was already moving. The Karthk'yarii hurtled over the console that separated the Captain's position from the front window, shedding both form and clothes in the motion in order to gain more speed and maneuverability. Long before Nyarri's words finished echoing around the empty space Rhys was flying through commands on the console, so fast that even this interface, which had been built to handle input from multiple limbed creatures, could barely keep up. During the time since Rhys' escape, the assassin had become familiar with the commands that could be issued from the console. Most, though, were nothing more than signals to Isindyll, which she had to understand to be able to respond to, and Rhys had disabled most of the manual controls himself shortly after the escape, considering them completely cruel. Rhys did not wish for them back now, but Isindyll's lack of response, beyond being worrying in its own right, once more reminded Rhys exactly how dependent they were upon her.

Rhys' blur of motion into the console didn't slow down as the assassin tried to determine what was going on around them, and what had gone wrong to bring them here, until a sleepy murmur interrupted. "Rhys," Isindyll murmured. "I can't think that fast."

Rhys immediately halted. "Isindyll. Are you alright?"

"I think so, I..." Isindyll trailed off for a moment, and when she started speaking again there was a trace of panic in her voice. "Rhys, I can't move. There are things pressing against me, and they won't let me move." There was a faint rumble from the ship, and an alarm began to sound again.

"Isindyll. Hold still. Calm down." Of course, such declarations would do little to ease her fear. Rhys was silent for only a moment, until an idea suddenly presented itself. "It's just like being grounded. You remember that? Before you were sent out into space, you were grounded, right? Somewhere the Uetie could work?"

The shuddering lessened slightly. "..Yeah."

"Then try and pretend this is that. I know it is a bit scary, but trust us. We'll figure out what's trapping you, and why, and get you out of here, okay?"

The rumbling halted altogether, and Isindyll whimpered slightly. "Yeah. Okay. Please. Hurry. It's like they are trying to push into me."

Now that the situation had calmed somewhat Rhys reformed, returning to collect the clothes that were strewn across one of the consoles. The Karthk'yarii gazed out the window for a moment, before turning to face Nyarri. "One of us needs to go take a look out there, and try and remove whatever is holding Isindyll in place. You used to do exterior maintenance, correct? I'll see if I can figure out where we are while you do that." And what went wrong. Rhys might not have said it, but the statement was implicit in the silence that followed.

Once Nyarri left the bridge, Rhys set to work doing just that. Isindyll was still slightly hazy, and the normally impeccable controls were likewise slow and rather unresponsive. Several times the complete wrong thing appeared on the screen, and Rhys had to carefully backtrack and redo the actions in order to get the correct information. The longer this went on, the more Rhys began to worry. A quick scan of the area revealed nothing out of the ordinary, other than the fact that they were in the middle of an asteroid belt of a foreign solar system, when they should have been skirting the edges of a completely different sun. That meant that it was looking less and less likely that some device or substance had thrown off Isindyll's warp, and looking more and more likely that there was something wrong with Isindyll herself.

"Isindyll?"

There was a long delay before she finally responded with a faint "Hmmm?"

"How are you feeling?"

"They still hurt."

Rhys writhed slightly in frustration at being unable to help her, before stilling. That was Nyarri's responsibility right now. "No, I mean... otherwise. If whatever is holding you in wasn't there, how do you think you'd be feeling?"

"...Confused. Rhys, I don't know how I got here. This definitely wasn't where I wanted to go. It feels... It feels like there is something crawling around in my hallways, and I don't know where it is or what it's doing. I can't... I can't see anything there."

"It's okay. We'll go take a closer look once Nyarri gets you free."

Rhys let Isindyll drift of into silence at that point, and turned back to the console. By the time Nyarri returned, Rhys had finally pinpointed their location. They were only two solar systems away from their warp point. It was an unsettled system, with only a single planet with a couple moons and this asteroid belt. On the good side, it was not somewhere an Imperial fleet would ever come. On the bad side, there was no one who would be able to aid them if somehow Rhys and Nyarri were unable to extract Isindyll from whatever held her. Rhys tried not to think about that.

 

[ze_kraken]

"....You used to do exterior maintenance, correct? I'll see if I can figure out where we are while you do that."

Nyarri fought the urge to reply with something sarcastic or biting; now wasn't the time. With a brief nod, the marine turned on her heels and made for the doors to exit the bridge. Already the acceleration gravity was losing its hold on Isindyll's interior, becoming less and less potent as the ship's counter thrust died out. Before she had made it halfway to the EVA bay, Nyarri was forced to grab onto railings and propel herself along corridors. So long as an asteroid did not breach the outer hall on impact, the inertial dampeners would be able to create pseudo-gravity from the contained atmosphere soon enough.

"Scan I.D.," the on-board computer prompted as Nyarri approached the doorway to the EVA bay.

"Isindyll? Open the EVA doors," she remarked, panic flaring. "Isindyll?"

Not good. If the automatic back-ups had overruled the conscious components, something they had discussed day one of preparations to send Isindyll on her maiden voyage, then the "host" was in a damaged state. Nyarri fumbled for her identification chip and ran it over the door's reader. The light above the interface faded from red to green and the doors glided open into a wide airlock, lined at either end with EVA suits sealed behind a layer of glass. Would hers still be here?

"Come on," Nyarri muttered to herself, scanning each suit for her own. "No...No...No..."

There. The one at the end of the chamber to the left. The marine swiped her chip once more, and the chamber opened. As the chamber's doors drifted apart, the EVA suit within opened to allow Nyarri to merely slide in and let it reseal automatically. Once she heard the hiss of the helmet's lock click into place and the thin metal wire support structure finish readjusting, she clambered out of the chamber and made for the second airlock door. Attaching the manual tether to its proper loop, Nyarri paused momentarily until the EVA suit registered a proper lock. Only when she was certain that, upon opening the doors, she wouldn't be sucked out into the Void never to return did Nyarri initiate the opening prompt for the second airlock.

Woosh!

The atmosphere built in the airlock was sucked out in controlled bursts, the cabin depressurizing. Noiselessly, the outer doors churned open, leaving Nyarri staring out into blank space. Tiny grey dots of light, presumably other asteroids, shone in the distance, crawling across the vast emptiness. The marine reaffirmed the tether's lock, drew in a sharp breath, and took the first step out of Isindyll.

Nyarri brought up the EVA suit's communication link to Isindyll's bridge. "Rhys, I'm out. Investigating damage now. Standby for suit video feed."

She flicked the suit's transmitter on, allowing Isindyll's bridge to see what she saw. Next, the marine activated the suit's magnetic boots and felt herself readjust onto Isindyll's side, standing upright. Not bothering to question what allowed magnetism to work on an organic being, Nyarri detached the tether and made her way to the "top" of Isindyll's hull.

"Well, there they are..." She muttered.

Nearly a dozen large lumps of mineral rock pushed against the hull, with several more coming from directly above.

"Alright, Rhys, we'll need to do this sharpish. My kit's not built with asteroids in mind, but the servos in the suit should be able to shove them off and let inertia do the rest."

Nyarri awkwardly idled forward, finding the balance between magnetic pull and zero-g disorienting as always. Her EVA suit possessed a multi-purpose "drill" tool, meant for welding, cutting, and rewiring. The suit's computer system was pre-loaded with the schematics of the entire ship: it was brilliant for external repairs. Asteroids were never intended in that design, particularly ones that could lock movement. Coming up to the first asteroid, Nyarri flexed the suit's hands and clutched at the asteroid, attempting to hoist the rock up and shove it away. The gloves sealed to the surface, as expected, but when Nyarri attempted to life the rock...

Nothing.

She attempted shoving at the asteroid with her shoulder. Nothing.

She tried the drill bit. That only resulted in chunks of asteroid breaking off and then falling full-force to the hull.

"Rhys, the asteroids aren't the problem.... It's gravity."

 

[Peregrine]

The conversation between Rhys and Isindyll trailed off when the view of the asteroid field around them through the front window was suddenly replaced with video feed. Turning to look, Rhys settled into the chair. There was little to be done for Isindyll anymore down here. Hopefully Nyarri would be able to dislodge the asteroids that were keeping Isindyll in place, and then they'd be able work their way out of here. It would be at least a couple delen before Isindyll was able to warp again, even short distances. They would have to leave this belt manually.

Tense and anxious, Rhys tried not to be impatient at Nyarri's slow pace as she crossed Isindyll's hull. It wasn't as though Isindyll was a particularly large small ship, and Rhys knew how challenging it could be to walk while in zero-g. That didn't make the wait any less arduous.

However, even before Nyarri reached one of the asteroids and began to try and push it away from Isindyll's hull, Rhys knew that there was something wrong beyond Isindyll's unexplained warp miscalculation. By all rights the warp should have displaced the asteroids, and while it might have made sense for them to fly away, ricochet off each other, and end up crashing back into her, there was nothing that should have been holding them against her side, pressing her into place.

Nyarri's actions confirmed such suspicions only a moment later, although what was actually causing the asteroids to stay in place was undoubtedly surprising. Rhys' first instinct was to ask Nyarri if she was sure, to check again, see if there could be anything else. After all, how could there be gravity in the middle of outer space? But Nyarri never would have said it if she wasn't certain.

Rhys turned back to the console and began a much slower and more methodical search of the surrounding space. Gravity didn't simply exist in a place like this. There had to be something causing it, somehow. "Is there any sign of what's causing it?" the assassin asked, somewhat distractedly as the sensor being projected on the little screen in front of the captain's seat jumped from nearby asteroid to asteroid, slowly moving further out.

It took less time than Rhys expected for the sensor to find something. It came to an abrupt halt in its search when it landed on a made structure. The image zoomed in, before Rhys swiped it towards the big screen on the window. Nyarri's feed was halved in size as the image appeared.

It was not an impressive construct, that was for sure. It looked like an old mining station. A very old mining station, if Rhys was being honest. At a few more quick taps from Rhys the image zoomed way out, coming to encompass a large section of the field of asteroids, including the space where Isindyll was trapped. After a few moments of quiet observation of the way the asteroids were moving, and Rhys felt confident enough to speak once more. "Nyarri, you may want to come back in. I think I found the source of our gravity lock."

 

[ze_kraken]

"Roger," Nyarri grunted, easing off of shoving at the asteroid.

Almost reluctantly, she made her way back to the EVA bay, magnetic boots taking her forward one clumsy, rigid step at a time. Though the Uetie had managed to create an organic-synthetic compound that was metallic in nature, allowing for the use of standardized EVA suits, they had neglected to add hand railings to Isindyll's outer hull. Though that step would be mostly unnecessary, few dared to go for repairs in the middle of an asteroid field or war zone, Nyarri could not help but feel that something to cling on to would provide just enough of a sense of security to still her frayed nerves. With or without a tether, one asteroid could send her spiraling into the void forever.

Still, after clearing the asteroid-littered hull, doing her best to dodge incoming ones, Nyarri arrived at the EVA bay she had exited through. With a quick command, her EVA suit linked with the outer door and a moment later the blast doors slid open silently. The suit registered a successful opening, and Nyarri disabled the magnetic boots and drifted in. Motion sensors detected her entrance, and the outer doors slid shut and air shot into the room. Once the pressure had stabilized, the inner doors shot open and Nyarri clambered out into the storage corridor.

After waiting through the suit's self-assessment protocol upon disembarking from the EVA, Nyarri took the report on her mobile and left for the bridge. Gravity had returned as a result of the ship's acceleration on the part of the asteroids, though if there was an external gravity lock as Rhys seemed to suggest, it could just as well be the result of outside intervention. As she walked, she examined the after-action report on the suit and snorted. A loose asteroid had struck her suit's arm with enough force to damage the hull, but the support structure inside of the suit had prevented most of the bodily harm from the impact. Beyond a few more scrapes and chips, it was perfectly functional, but she would have to make time to fix that hull damage. There were no replacements coming any time soon.

"Alright," Nyarri grunted upon entering the bridge. "What's this mystical-"

She paused, gazing out the viewport.

"Ah, well," she stammered, taking her seat behind the operations console. "Is Isindyll still out? If she is, trying to get out of this will become far more difficult. The back-ups were designed for a crew of operation techs. I might, might, be able to pull it off on my own, but it'd be much nicer to have some help."

Nyarri spared Rhys one glance, adding. "And if worst comes to worst, I doubt an old station can chew through Isindyll."

 

[Peregrine]

"I'm here," came Isindyll's voice after Nyarri finished speaking. There was something slightly strained about her tone, as though she was trying very hard to sound normal, and that struggle was precisely what created an odd cant to her voice. "What... what did you mean it wouldn't be able to chew through me? Is it going to try?" Her voice squeaked slightly.

Rhys patted the wall delicately, trying to offer some little comfort. "No, most likely not. It was simply an affirmation that we'll be fine, even if everything goes completely wrong. Which it shouldn't." Rhys gave up trying to be comforting. That had never been a part of the job description. Never been the part of any job description, if the assassin recalled correctly.

Rhys gave Isindyll a few moments to comment again but, surprisingly, she seemed to have taken some comfort from the Karthk'yari's poorly worded comment. Satisfied that Isindyll was taken care of, at least as much as was possible in the moment, Rhys turned towards Nyarri.

"If the gravity lock is originating from that station, we're going to need to get there to turn it off. However, I can't see Isindyll moving until the gravity lock is removed, and I'm not inclined to leave her alone out here. What do those back-ups do?"

 

[ze_kraken]

"In the event of Isindyll being unable to break free of something," Nyarri waved her hand to emphasize the point. "These back-ups were designed to activated and crewed as a means of adding a little extra thrust to her movement. They were made, mostly, to counteract gravity distortion from black holes and accidents with warp accidents, with the added benefit that if Isindyll should ever go dark, we'd have a way to control the ship without needing to stop immediately for repairs."

She paused.

"In short, they're crude rocket thrusts with standard fuel. Light that fuel, big kick, and it should be enough to break free of any problems. I don't think they had this situation in mind - we'll need someone down on the engineering console to oversee it, but I think I can get it started if you can take control of navigation. 'Course, I'm the only one who probably needs to worry about the g's from that maneuver. Think you'll get off scot-free."

Nyarri glanced up to the asteroid station ahead, gradually increasing in size as it exerted its gravitational pull on Isindyll, dragging her ever closer. Casting the thought of being permanently stuck to the station aside, the marine made for the engineering console. She sat herself down and provided her login credentials, offering a glance towards Rhys, adding.

"Of course, feel free to tell me I'm a crazed lunatic during any of this. This is plan all the way through Z. Big red button. If you've thought of something, anything, I'm all ears," she fought the urge to add a sarcastic "captain" to the end of the statement and awaited Rhys' response, starting up the boot sequence for the maneuver if necessary.

 

[Peregrine]

Despite all the varied and myriad experience that came from the life of being an assassin, ships and space faring was not one of the Karthk'yari's strong suits. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that, up until a merchant ship had broken through the atmosphere of Home, the Karthk'yarii had never even bothered to consider space exploration, even if they had a vague idea that other stuff was out there. Home was a border planet to the border planets, fully outside the influence of the Empire. Rhys had been born and raise to fight and protect Tribe, not understand the nuances of zero gravity and warp. Even after leaving Home and being rescued by a Disciple ship, it had never been Rhys' job to handle the subtle, difficult parts of piloting.

Therefore, in that moment, Rhys was fully prepared to defer to Nyarri, even if something about the process felt just a touch off. The assassin tried not to imagine the asteroids stubbornly staying in place even with Isindyll pressing against them with the kind of force to escape the outer influence of a black hole, and them ripping massive holes through her body. Or any of the other myriad catastrophes that entered into the mind of a less experienced space farer, when faced with a last resort option.

Perhaps that was the reason why, when a faint beep sounded and the window highlighted a little craft slowly but steadily working its way towards Isindyll, the wave of relief that came felt more like getting hit in the face with a wall than it did getting washed in some gentle tidal sensation. Of course, none of that showed in the assassin's voice or demeanor, except for the fact that Rhys once more fully resolved into what had become a traditional form. "It appears we have company," the Karthk'yarii murmured, attention fully focused on the approaching craft.

Even with less experience in deep space travel, Rhys could recognize a short-distance craft when one appeared. It was not even large enough to have come from the nearest planet. No, this little craft could have only had one point of origin: the abandoned mining station. Although how abandoned it actually was suddenly came into question. What was more certain than the occupational status of the station was the fact that the little approaching ship was not armed. Or, at least, no weapons were positioned on the outside, and it truly did seem to be nothing more than a remote controlled mining implement. Rhys keyed a few quick strokes into the console. Instead of blowing up the image of the approaching craft, the screen flickered and died, leaving behind nothing but a normal window.

"Isindyll?" Rhys asked. There was no response. "Isindyll!" For a moment the assassin feared that the approaching craft had somehow targeted Isindyll in a way none of them could detect, but a further moment of consideration made it seem much more likely that this was simply a continuation of the effects of whatever had thrown off her warp. The ship had drawn close enough that it was almost possible to make it out as more than a glowing speck in the distance.

 

[ze_kraken]

Nyarri, fiddling with the finer points of the thrust controls, had not bothered looking up at the bridge's viewport. The intricacies of plotting a high-g burn in a way to keep from killing herself while still providing enough meaningful thrust to escape the gravitational pull were almost entirely lost on her. There were no large objects to slingshot around. Her ship was in rapidly deteriorating condition. The environment around them ran the risk of damaging the ship beyond their ability to repair and certainly beyond the crippled Isindyll's ability to heal.

"Kriffing asteroids," the marine huffed out softly. "Rhys, I think if I-"

Then came the faint beeping noise, the one every naval unit learned to fear. Unidentified ship. Out of instinct, she reached to bring up the scan necessary to scan for weapons, only to realize that this was the incorrect console. Cursing inwardly, she looked up from her own screen to the larger viewport. The ship stood out as a highlighted blip against the inky darkness of the space around it. Without the visual aid, Nyarri might have confused it for another floating rock. The marine attempted as best she could to trace the craft's trajectory: the station. Of course.

An ambush? Seems too elaborate and circumstantial for an ambush...

"It appears we have company."

Nyarri grunted her affirmative and went back to working on fiddling with the burn: ship or no ship, armed or not, they went nowhere without a valid escape plan. A hostile ship did little to them if they wound up pushed against the station, crushed slowly by asteroids. She quickly discarded the idea of leaving Isindyll behind and linking up with the short-ranged craft in an attempt to help their situation from the space station. That seemed to be too much risk for too little benefit, and there was no certainty that any short-ranged vessel launched from Isindyll could reach the station before she did: she had the mass and the established acceleration to outclass any ship they could launch.

This is it...

Her hand rested above the "launch sequence" tab, ready to press down.

"Get re-"

The console shut off.

"Dammit!" she roared, adding to Rhys' exclamation.

Anger gave way to hopelessness in a moment. Nyarri slid back into her chair, staring blankly out into the darkness of unfiltered, plain space.

"Nothing we can do..." she huffed out, chuckling manically. "Nothing..."

 

[Peregrine]

Rhys could not proclaim any greater hopes than Nyarri for this situation. Isindyll was damaged in some undefinable way, and they were gravitationally locked to a craft that should not have had enough mass to create such a force. They had no way of controlling their movement, and every second the little mining vessel grew closer and closer to their location. All the same, the assassin kept all those doubts carefully contained. It would not do to dwell over their predicament, if such thoughts might end up distracting from a solution that might present itself. Rhys was sure there had been a situation at some point that had been tighter than this. They would get out of this too, one way or another.

Indeed, the situation seemed slightly more optimistic as the approaching vessel finally grew close enough that they were finally able to make it out without the aid of any technology. Even without being able to run a scan, it was obvious to tell that the thing didn't have any weapons. Even the mining tools, which might have been able to penetrate Isindyll's hull if she had no way of fighting back, had been crudely stripped, leaving hanging wires and frayed cables behind. As if that wasn't bad enough, some massive, equally crudely constructed, device was unbalancing the nose of the vessel, causing its flight path to sway from side to side so much it was a wonder the thing could even fly in a straight line.

But fly it did, no matter what Rhys thought of it. The Karthk'yarii and the Scromi sat in silence, watching the approaching craft, trying to infer any significance from its movements. But, even after staring for several quicks, its intentions remained inscrutable, other than the fact that it was drawing steadily closer and closer. Silently, Rhys mentally mapped out Isindyll's corridors, creating a brand new battle strategy now that they could no longer rely on Isindyll's aid in fighting invaders. As long as there weren't more than 26 intelligent enemies, or 42 androids, on board that craft, the situation would still be salvageable. Assuming, of course, that they weren't crushed against the mining base that was still steadily pulling them in.

The mining vessel, however, didn't make to board. Instead, it came forward, pacing Isindyll's own movements so that it looked as though it had come to a dead halt in front of their window.

"What, and I repeat what, do you think you are doing?"

Perhaps it was the fact that Isindyll was no longer conscious, and therefore unable to protect her own systems, but the little ship that had drawn up on theirs seemed to have no problem commandeering her speakers, and blasting an imperious, but somewhat tinny, voice through her sound system. Rhys frowned in confusion, but didn't have to wait more than another tick for the craft in front of them to start unfolding the object that had unbalanced its nose. Which, as it happened, turned out to be a screen or monitor of some sort. It unfolded once, only to unexpectedly unfold again, leaving it easily twice as wide as the ship that was carrying it. No wonder the little vessel had looked so unbalanced. Isindyll's crew deck was suddenly confronted by a bug-eyed face, round as a full moon and just as colorless. If it wasn't for the frills that seemed to wave about its head as though it was underwater, Rhys might have guessed they were looking at some sort of floating plate with eyes.

Briefly glancing aside to exchange a look at Nyarri, Rhys quickly turned back to the console, trying to find even one of Isindyll's systems that was still running that might allow them to communicate with the craft in front of them. However, after fishing uselessly through the few emergency controls that were left and finding nothing to aid their plight, the voice suddenly started speaking again. It seemed as though the speaker neither expected an answer to its outcry, nor even wanted one. All the same, it launched into a rant, apparently berating not only the foreign ship, but also the asteroids attached to it.

"Look at you. Look. At. You. You've messed it all up. All up!" Hands unexpectedly entered the image in front of them, long, lean fingers jabbing towards the camera that was recording this and filling up the lens. It might have looked like a parent berating a child, if it wasn't for the fact that, at one point, the finger got so close to the lens recording it that all Rhys could see was a bumpy fingerprint. It left behind a smudge. The voice didn't seem to care at all, if it even noticed. "How, and I repeat how, did this thing even get here? What, and I repeat what, is it? It's messed it all up. All up! Little R thrown all out of orbit, Big K swirling around sideways, and everything, everything, pushed so far back! What, and I repeat what, could have caused this? Some sort of concussive blast that knocked everything, everything, out of place! How, and I repeat how, dare you? All of you! How, and I repeat how, many times do I have to show you your place? I've shown you. I've. Shown. You. I've shown you all your place, and you dare, you dare, to move out of it?"

Without warning, the face suddenly flew forward, until there was nothing but a single eye, blown up over the enter screen. It rolled wildly from side to side, before suddenly vanishing from sight as quickly as it had appeared. There was nothing on the screen now, except for a plain metal wall with a couple damaged rivets. That didn't seem to deter the voice at all, even though it was nearly drowned out at moments by unexpected static. "Hurry up. Hurry. Up. Get back in place. Back. In. Place! You all swore allegiance to me, and I know, I repeat I know, you have all obeyed me willingly and complacently in the past, so if you would just get back in place we can move past this incident and pretend it just never happened."

As though in response to these words, but far more likely in response to whatever it was this individual was doing that was causing the interference, Isindyll's movement speed suddenly picked up, and they hurtled closer and closer to the mining station. Just before it seemed that they must be crushed against the craft, rendered into nothing but a heap of space debris, they came to a halt, before starting to spin rapidly. If Rhys hadn't been thrown to the side by the unexpected motion, it wouldn't have been possible to see one of the asteroids fly away from Isindyll's body, and rocket off into space, before suddenly stopping somewhere else. The assassin could only guess that other asteroids were doing the same.

"As for you." The head suddenly appeared in the screen again, entire face covered in wrinkles that seemed to express extreme displeasure. "You. Strange, new rock. You. I know I am a good king. I am a very good king! But I can't, I repeat can't have new citizens showing up out of the blue, out of the blue, disturbing all my citizens. What, and I repeat what, kind of king would I be if I allowed such disarray to..."

The voice must have continued to prattle on, but it was cut off abruptly as Isindyll suddenly awoke again with a whimper. "Rhys," she whispered, voice sounding hoarse. "Rhys it... I don't like... don't want..." Before Rhys could respond, Isindyll went silent again, and the voice returned.

"... king at all! All the same, I am a benevolent ruler. Benevolent! I could never, I repeat never, turn away someone who arrived at my doorstep in such desperate need. I..."

Rhys, however, didn't have time to listen to its prattling any longer. The assassin turned to Nyarri. Voice pitched loud to be heard clearly over the continued rambling of the mining "king", Rhys called "There's something wrong with Isindyll, and none of us are getting out of this situation until we figure out what it is, and find some way to, if not stop it, at least mitigate it. Do you have any ideas about where we should begin searching?"

 

[ze_kraken]

Nyarri had seen many things during her time as a soldier. Not as many as she would have liked to, that was for certain, but still, the Scromi had seen more than her fair share of the galaxy's more secluded corners and colorful characters. Rhys'evin aside, the marine had met merchant lords of the outer systems, spoken with megalomania-driven pirates out at space within the safety of their own flotillas. She'd seen an Imperial ship fire full-force in training exercises and live combat. Witnessed more races than she could count. Her life experience had carried her all throughout space, carried her to the most notorious assassin in the Empire alongside a sentient ship, and yet this imp-like, amphibian creature startled her.

Should be flattered, she mused to herself as the being ranted on and on. Can check 'king' off of the list, right next to 'living ship.'

"There's something wrong with Isindyll, and none of us are getting out of this situation until we figure out what it is, and find some way to, if not stop it, at least mitigate it. Do you have any ideas about where we should begin searching?"

Nyarri paused and stared up at the screen directly ahead. When Isindyll had started spinning, the Scromi had nearly been flung from her chair at the sudden sensation of spin gravity combined with a new-found acceleration. Strapped, more or less properly, into the console's seat, all that had occurred was a sudden jolt left, then right, before the seat stabilized her. The tiny king's rant was still in full swing, either unaware of Rhys'evin's interruption or unable to pick-up on Isindyll's end of the conversation. That meant either their communications were damaged, or Isindyll was still in control and Nyarri would need to manually override the ship's control.

"The only people with the know-how on fixing Isindyll are snug on some Imperial ship light years away from here," Nyarri began, stretching her vocal cords to speak over the broadcast. "We could search around for whatever we need, but unless you were a biologist before you were an assassin, I doubt it'll do us any good. Reading the labels on anything we have on hand will be a challenge, let alone using it."

The marine reached out to the console ahead of her with thin, spindly fingers and attempted to boot the machine. The screen blinked once, flickered, then sprung back into life, spilling light over the station. Talking as she worked, Nyarri moved to bring up a schematic report of Isindyll to pick up on any internal damage, berating herself for not checking that first.

"Though I'm sure our benevolent, and I repeat benevolent, ruler might have something. If he has any grey matter still firing, anyways."

The schematics report came up on Nyarri's screen. With one fluid swipe of her finger, she cast the readings onto the main monitor, splitting the screen in half: one half dedicated to the monarch, the other to a well-detailed design of Isindyll. The outer hull was shown in a shade of orange-yellow, indicating minor damage. No surprises there. A few decks had locked to maintain air pressure, but otherwise, there seemed to be no discernible cause for trauma to Isindyll or her systems. Had they stumbled on something new? Could the readings not pick up on the more nuanced biological components of Isindyll? Casting the thought aside, Nyarri shrunk the schematic report on the screen and brought up a camera feed of the 'enemy', for lack of a better word, vessel. There. The attachment to the nose of the ship. Now with the ship so close, Nyarri could properly make out the device. It wasn't anything she had seen in the Empire - another first - but she could guess. From the way the ship bucked and weaved along its course to the drastic change in experienced gravity, it could be only one thing.

"The little bastard's ship, that nose cone," she stated, incredulous. "I may be wrong, but I think that is our gravity problem. If we could take it, or use it somehow remotely, we could carry out a slingshot and..."

And what?

Even if they somehow escaped the area with the aid of the gravity fling, they would be in unknown space for potentially years. Isindyll was in no proper state to warp, and Nyarri had no doubt that the small device, potent as it was to their ship, could not propel them at faster-than-light speeds across the galaxy. But it was a start. One thing at a time.

"We'll get to that. For now, we figure out how we can nab that device."

 

[Peregrine]

I doubt it will do us any good.

Rhys'evin had to exercise almost then entirety of a considerable talent in self control, learned from years of assassination missions, to keep from lashing out at Nyarri for those words. It had been so long since Rhys had been in the presence of Tribe, of true Tribe, that the notion that Isindyll might be ill or dying was nearly too much of a burden to bear. When that was added on top of Nyarri's apparent lack of care to figure out what could have thrown off Isindyll's warp and left her in such a state... But, no. Nyarri cared for Isindyll. She never would have stayed if she didn't. That was what kept the Karthk'yarii calm. Nyarri would be doing her best, dealing with this situation in the only way she knew how: in the style of the Empire's military. Find a problem that was fixable, and focus your attention on that.

And, as little as Rhys liked to admit it, it was equally true that the assassin did not know how to fix Isindyll. Worse, Rhys had no idea how to even figure out what was wrong, let alone try and go about fixing it. The only thing to do was follow Nyarri's lead. At the very least, if they could get out of this gravity field, they wouldn't have to worry about some raving lunatic interrupting them when it finally figured out that Isindyll wasn't just another random rock that had appeared in the vicinity of its mining facility.

Of course, throughout their conversation, the "king" had continued to babble, and the longer it talked the more fond of Isindyll it seemed to become. For the most part, Rhys had been ignoring the creature's strange babbling, but it was impossible to continue such behavior when the word 'queen' suddenly burst through the intercom. "Come. Come!" The 'king' continued. "You shall see how magnificent, and I repeat magnificent, my palace is. I shall set you up right outside of it. Right outside. You shall orbit my station, and we shall share, I repeat share, this kingdom of mine. Come. Come!"

Rhys tensed slightly, waiting for the sudden jerk of gravity that would pull Isindyll in towards the station. However, after several tense ticks, nothing changed. Rhys frowned, remembering the speed with which the other planets had responded to the "commands" of their King, and couldn't help but wonder why it would wait so long to act now. The question was answered only moments later.

"What, and I repeat what, is going on? My queen, could it be you are shy? Shy! My queen, I assure, absolutely assure, there is no reason for you to be shy. No reason! No reason at all. I am a benevolent, magnanimous, I repeat magnanimous..."

Rhys stopped listening again. Instead, the Karthk'yarii's attention turned back towards the screens Nyarri had pulled up. Rhys' attention moved listlessly, unconsciously searched for anything that could be wrong with Isindyll, even as the assassin began to speak to Nyarri again. "I have no alternative to your proposition. What do you propose we do?" In the background the "king" continued to babble, and an idea suddenly struck Rhys. A moment later, and something that sounded remarkably like a laugh came from the assassin's general vicinity. "What would you say to becoming a queen?"

 

[ze_kraken]

"Me a queen, Rhys? I'm underdressed," Nyarri snorted, huffing. "How do you suggest we do that? I would think the shapeshifter's better suited to disguises."

Still, the assassin had a point - mimicry seemed the safer, more reliable option when compared to a risky manuever carried out by a non-certified pilot on a damaged ship. Given the self-proclaimed king's propensity for acts of benevolence, tricking him would not be all too difficult. If masquerading as a queen put them on the creature's ship, then their task would be made all the easier.

"Alright," the marine nodded as if to affirm her own statement, speaking before Rhys had a chance to respond to her seeming refusal of a few moments before. "Better than my option."

"Good," the assassin replied shortly, before turning back to the console before him. His fingers quickly began to tap across the interface, clearly trying to reconnect with Isindyll's offline systems, and the marine was polite enough to act as though she didn't hear his muttered words of endearment and encouragement to the unconscious (or otherwise unresponsive) ship. A few minutes later, and Rhys turned back to Nyarri.

"As little as I like it, I've reactivated some of Isindyll's mechanical systems. That should allow us to communicate with our 'king'."

Nyarri's hand hovered over the tab to commence the series of commands necessary to open a communication channel with the vessel. In equal parts uncertainty and grim amusement, she stared out in the expanse of space and pressed down on the screen before her. It flickered, registering a valid link, and then opened a window not too unlike the one currently projected on the view port.

The marine cleared her throat and stared up at the king, who had stopped mid-ramble in surprise at the sudden open communication link flashing across his own screen.

"Do not mistake shyness for ire," Nyarri boomed. "You dare latch on to my ship in such a manner? Do I look to be one of your subjects? A simple rock in the Void?! Explain yourself!"

The silence that followed was so sudden and intense that it was easily possible to make out the humming vibration in the air that came from Rhys, as the Karthk'yarii struggled to stifle the vibrations of his various feelers that marked his amusement.

Finally, a response came.

"...What. What? ... What?" The repetition this time did not seem like something born out of a desire to create emphasis, but rather something that appeared from perfect bewilderment. For several seconds, the 'king' seemed incapable of saying anything else. Finally, however, its composure seemed to reappear.

"Of course, but of course I recognized your magnificence. Did you perhaps not hear me praising your every, I repeat every aspect? Come, my queen. Take your rightful, I repeat rightful place."

Nyarri glanced over to Rhys: was it really that simple? Perhaps so.

"Very well."

With that, she cut off the link to the 'king' and his ship, relaxing in her chair as she did so. Assuming they were not dragged into the other vessel, the pair would need to resort to one of the short-range vessels provided in the hanger bays. Not ideal, paritcularly given the uncertain situation with the asteroid field outside of Isindyll, but...

Better than the alternative... Nyarri reminded herself.

There was another moment of stunned silence, before the 'king' burst into another bout of self-satisfied chatter. Nyarri and Rhys both ignored the stream of words.

"So will we move to board that ship our wait for it to make the first move?" She pondered aloud, turning in her chair.

Rhys' attention was focused on the console, and it took several ticks for him to respond to Nyarri. When he finally did, his words seemed half distracted. "We are going to have to move first, in a very literal sense of the word. Before we can do anything, we have to get closer to the ship, and Isindyll is incapable of moving herself."

"We may have to take over a smaller shuttle if we can get it to work with all the interference," Nyarri provided. "It isn't the best idea with all the debris, but if we use Isindyll, we risk injuring her further. If you have any alternatives, I'm all ears, but it appears we're very short on options as far as movement is concerned."

Rhys remained silent for a moment, seeming to weigh the options. Finally, the assassin shook his head. "I can't think of anything else, and we need to get that nose cone before we can get out of here. We'll have to take the risk."

Nyarri nodded and stood from her console, leaving the deck without a further word. Had they been aboard an asteroid miner, or any standard Imperial ship for that matter, they simply could have used a tug to haul the ship to its location. Designed to withstand the strain of bringing a several million ton object to a halt, tugs were perfect tools for exactly this kind of stunt. She had even noted that outside of Isindyll the host of smaller craft the 'king' carried in his flotilla would be infinitely better suited to getting Isindyll moving. If the nose cone ended up being a false lead, she could easily take over one of the freighter droids.

The marine reached the nearest hanger bay and set herself down in the boarding craft that appeared to be in the best condition. Though they had been slow to deteriorate in the bay, without regular maintenance, most of their remaining short-range craft were in poor condition. Once inside, Nyarri sealed off the exit airlock and ran a quick diagnosis of the hull integrity. Well above "safe". Satisfied she would not rupture upon exit, Nyarri clambered into the small pilot's seat and ran through the pre-flight checks. Since most marines were trained in operating the boarding craft, to avoid situations wherein pilots were injured, dead, or otherwise unavailable, there was little to keep her from turning on the engines and priming the latches.

Manually, Nyarri lifted the craft off and out of Isindyll's hanger before setting the on-deck computer to calculate a safe orbit to latch on to the moving craft. In truth, it was much less an orbit, and more of a controlled spin. With the gravitational interference, the computer could only generated routes that aimed to minimize the risk of crashing spectacularly into the ship as the tug and pull of space ravished the boarding ship. It would have to do. Nyarri kicked the engines into full speed, selected a course, and held on as the boarding craft began to rocket forward, assisted by the unnatural gravity pool around it.

And if Isindyll had been awake, we could have just shot this king to ribbons and been done with it, Nyarri grunted and opened a communication channel with Isindyll's deck.

"I have a course set," she reported as the ship bucked and shook around her. "ETA unspecified, but it's soon. With any luck, we'll have that ship pacified."

Of course, what had happened could be described as anything except "lucky". Nyarri cast the thought aside.

"Nyarri out."