Amelia Thornheart Chapter Ninety-Nine: Duty I

Announcent

Hey, you, yes you! Do you like cookies? Do you like demons? Do you like maps, worldbuilding, and all things cosy and yuri? Well then, co join almost seven hundred and fifty readers like yourself who have joined the ! We have all of those things in abundance. It's a cool place to et people and get recomndations for further series to read! Drop in and say hi, unless you're a Federation spy, then stay out!

Serena felt herself frown. She leaned forward in her leather-bound chair and examined the two strips of paper Finella had placed on her desk. The Northern officer wasn’t Serena’s only officer in her quarters. Aiden, Thorne, Allston, and Yamaga were also awaiting her response. Alia was nearby; she was lying down in their bedroom behind a closed door to the side. Her girlfriend had said she needed to rest and process recent events.

Serena would have a discussion with Alia and Anathor shortly. For now, her attention was focused on their more imdiate problems.

“They didn’t tamper with it?” Serena asked, nodding towards the paper.

“No.” Finella shook her head. “You can see it matches almost perfectly with our own.” The Northern officer pointed at the Indefatigable’s paper aetherfield record. “The small offset and variation you see at the peaks can be explained by the aetherscope needing calibration, which makes sense if the Indy really was circling the tri-cone. The interference would throw off the ferrocrystal plates.”

“And this?” Serena pointed to the section on the record when the Vengeance had scread. The needle had scratched its black ink right to the edges of the paper. It was an aether pattern that she’d seen in books before. It was the sa pattern that ford when a ship got too close to the lumina or was caught in a lumina storm. “This is us?” Serena asked.

“That’s my understanding, Captain,” Finella said. “After the Vengeance sohow blasted them with it, our aetherscope returned to normal while theirs was blown completely out of alignnt. That’s why it’s nothing but noise after. They were, as Captain Bastet said, blind.”

“And their backup ssenger?” Serena asked.

Finella produced a third slip of paper. After laying it down alongside the other two, she said, “Here, Captain. It was affected by whatever it was we did, but to a much lesser degree. The backups are designed for reliability over sensitivity. They’re useless in detecting anything other than directional aethergrams, but, in this case, that reliability ant it wasn’t thrown out of alignnt like their main ‘scope. At least, not as much. See here? There is more noise than there should be. And here”—Finella traced a section on the paper—”is the ssage you sent. I found this on the sensors table along with the Indefatigable’s codebook. Looks like they really did decode it mid-fight.”

Serena took a mont to think.

After finishing her conversation with nes in the cargo hold, she had him stay in one of the cells with the rest of his crew. While Serena watched over him, she’d sent Finella and the Vengeance’s new squad—with the exception of the cadets—down to the Indefatigable to investigate.

After they returned, they painted a picture both grim and confusing. Confusing because the initial investigation matched nes’ story. His sword and the weapons of his crew showed no signs of recent use. The blood found throughout the Indefatigable’s steel corridors, along with the bullet casings and the marks where aura-enhanced blades had cut through the tal, all pointed to one conclusion: the crew of the Indefatigable had been boarded and fought a fighting retreat throughout the ship to the lifeboats, which had all been ejected.

And grim… grim because it ant a heavy cruiser’s company lost against whatever they were attacked with. Not only was the possibility of this Blackhorn with his black-crystal weapon a disturbing thought, but there was a very real possibility that the Indefatigable’s crew were struggling to survive on so rock floating sowhere in the Southern Passage.

Normally, she would have set sail for the Andalus fortress the mont the weather cleared and ford a rescue mission. However, nes had blown a hole in that plan with one comnt.

The Blackhorn controls the Andalus fortress, he had told her.

Explain, Serena had ordered.

The fortress commander leaks information to the Blackhorn. Ship schedules and cargo. The Blackhorn shares this information with the pirate factions under him and lets them do the dirty work. Sotis, pirate vessels dock at the fortress under forged paperwork to repair and use the fortress's facilities. The commander looks the other way as long as his purse stays heavy.

It was a monstrous allegation and, considering the situation, not sothing Serena could decide on imdiately. After Finella had returned with her initial assessnt, Serena had further sent down Allston and Thorne to examine the ship’s weaponry, cargo, and engines, before gathering them all in her quarters.

As indicated by nes, the Indefatigable had been mostly stripped bare. Only a token amount of munitions and miscellaneous cargo had remained. Soone had cut into the ship’s armoury with aura and ransacked that as well. Most of the docunts in Captain Matthew’s quarters had been taken. The ransackers had missed the secret compartnt in the captain’s desk, and it was here that nes had found the docunts that painted a troubling picture of events.

“What’s your verdict on their aethergram mistakes?” Serena asked Finella. The Indefatigable had used yesterday's encryption to send their ssages, and had mistaken a zero with the phonetic-alphabet on. It was this mistake that made Serena so confident that the Infatigable’s crew were not in control of their ship.

“Given that we now know the aetherscopes were being operated by native speakers of Hakian, then”—Finela shrugged—”the mistake is possible. Likely, even. The Imperial script for on looks very similar to the Hakian letter for zero. A translation mistake makes sense in my opinion, Captain.”

“Thank you, Officer Bright.” Serena turned to her air tactician and asked, “Captain Matthew’s diary writings. What do they tell us?”

“The Indefatigable and the Myrmidon set sail from Ishaq on the first,” Yamaga began, reading from papers in his hand. “Captain Matthews reported no problems, but highlighted that the Indy was detecting more unidentified lift engines shadowing them than usual. On the twelfth, he noted worsening weather and feared he may have to delay his arrival at the Andalus fortress.” Yamaga cleared his throat, turning the page. “On the fifteenth, they were surprised by the sudden formation of a storm system, likely the sa one that beca the tri-cone. Captain Matthews writes that the Myrmidon’s captain underestimated the storm’s power, and the frigate was swept away to the north in an uncontrolled spin, presud lost. Matthews intended to conduct a search for survivors, but…” Yamaga tapped the paper. “There are no entries after that.”

“So soti between the fifteenth and today, the nineteenth, the Indefatigable was attacked.” Serena paused, running the dates over in her mind. “How long would it take pirates to loot a heavy cruiser? Allston?” she raised a questioning eyebrow at her chief engineer.

“In this environnt? With their jury-rigged hulls?” Allston rubbed his chin. “Two, maybe three days. Unless they sailed the Indy to so kind of base of operations where they have cranes.”

Serena nodded. Munitions were heavy. Crystal fuel was heavy. Moving cargo was a monuntal task, even when a ship was docked. Looting the Indefatigable would have been a dangerous and ti-consuming endeavour. However, if Captain Matthews and his crew were overwheld by not just the Blackhorn but multiple warriors as well, then they would have been able to lift the cargo themselves using their auras.

“Officer Adachi,” Serena said, grabbing Aiden’s attention. She laid a map of the Southern Passage on the desk. Tapping the map, she asked, “What do we know about nearby pirate bases?”

Aiden shook his head, pointing to where Yamaga had indicated the area where the Indefatigable had most likely been attacked. “Nothing this side of the passage. The north side is too close to the Shattered Isles for extended lift-engine activity. It would attract too much attention from the arcwhales in the area. As far as we know, all the pirates have their bases established deep in the south side, on static, lumina-locked islands.”

Serena examined the map before concluding, “Assuming they didn’t take the Indy to dock, and looted it in open air, then this would have taken two to three days. This ans the initial attack would have taken place on the seventeenth at the latest. Now, the last recorded location by Captain Matthews in his diary was here”—she tapped the map—”and the Myrmidon was seen in an uncontrolled northbound spin, then the search grid would have been in this general area.” Serena circled an area on the northern side of the Southern Passage with her finger. “The lack of entries in his diary during the search makes suspect the Indy was attacked sooner rather than later. So if we decide to search for both them and the Myrmidon’s crew, we would expect to find sothing in this area.” Serena punctuated her statent by circling a smaller area on the map.

The room was quiet for a mont until Yamaga asked, “Do you believe Captain Bastet, Captain? We don’t know for sure if these are Captain Matthew’s words. Like you said, it could be a trap.”

“Mighty suspicious that he wants us to avoid returning to the fortress,” Allston grumbled to the nodding approval of his colleagues. “All this”—the chief engineer waved his hand at the docunts—“tells a story. A story where we feel a desperate obligation to save our stranded brothers, while we can’t ask for help from the most logical place. They’re relying on our sense of duty to blind us to the danger.”

“Even if it is a trap,” Thorne said, “the Vengeance can handle so pirates.”

“Maybe that’s what the Indefatigable thought,” Yamaga countered. The air tactician turned to Serena, his forehead creased with concern. “I can’t help but feel a sense of disbelief and concern at the reports of this weapon of shadow that can supposedly cut through aura. I’ve never heard of such a thing. If it did exist, how would pirates have access to sothing we don’t?”

Serena couldn’t help but glance at Aiden. She, along with Aiden, Alia, and Anathor were the only souls on the ship that had seen the black moon crystal Chesterfield had shown them in Shimashina. While she wasn’t allowed to inform her officers of the exact nature of their mission—that they were hunting down shards of the Vengeance’s soul to repair it—she was given so discretion in disseminating other bits of information.

“Assu,” Serena began, “that such a thing exists.” As her officers frowned and looked at her, she added, “Secrets from Intelligence. Keep it close.” Once her officers nodded, Serena continued, “nes’ description of the weapon… shadow and darkness and its ability to defeat aura… this is specific information that matches what I know. If this Blackhorn is associated with the Darkblades, then his having access to such a weapon is plausible.”

Serena cleared her throat. “So the aetherfield record matches his words. The transmission errors can be explained by the language barrier. The reported capabilities of the pirates match information few know about, and explain how the Indefatigable may have been defeated.” Serena turned to Thorne and asked, “You examined the turret pods. Anything in the guncards?”

Early in the war, it quickly beca clear that, in the never-ending pursuit of ballistics developnt and battlespace analysis, accurate information on exactly when and where a ship fired its main guns was needed. The solution for this ca with the introduction of the standard turret pod—the guncards. This integrated system used so of the explosive gases from a fired shell to stamp a card that recorded the ti, direction, power, and elevation of each firing. If the Indefatigable engaged with pirates, which, judging by the lack of gun covers on her guns, she had, then the guncards would detail exactly when that engagent occurred. With that information, they could—

“Card racks were empty, Captain,” Thorne said, prompting Serena's mouth to open in surprise montarily.

“Empty? Are you certain?”

“Aye, Captain.”

The guncards were stored in a rack behind a nondescript panel in the turret pod, out of sight and mind of its occupants. If soone didn’t know where to look, they wouldn’t be able to find them. If the Indefatigable’s attackers took them, it would an their leader, or soone else on their side, had experience with Imperial standardised turret pods and therefore knew not to leave the information of their engagent behind.

Serena leaned back in her chair. She slowly began tapping the armrest. The rhythmic motion helped her put her thoughts in order. “Is there anything else about what nes said that we can verify or disprove. Other than the fortress. Is there anything we missed?”

A thoughtful silence descended on the room as everyone pored over the few docunts, records, and maps they had. After a minute, Aiden spoke up.

“The Nefertari,” he said.

“His Ishaqian frigate?” Serena questioned. “What about it?”

“He said he nad it after his wife,” Aiden said. “His wife is called Nefertari.” After Serena motioned for him to continue, Aiden explained, “He claims his surna is Bastet. That makes his wife Nefertari Bastet!”

“...Who’s Nefertari Bastet?” Finella asked.

“She’s the, uh…” Aiden cleared his throat and tried again. “She’s a diplomat. A well-known one, if it’s the sa Nefertari Bastet I’m thinking of. She’s an officer for the Southern Delegation to the Houses of Parliant. When the political landscape shifted after the East demonstrated its communion with Suijin, she and her colleagues were extrely critical in Parliant over it. You know how the South is when it cos to the Suijin problem…” Aiden rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “They feel entitled.”

“So he’s married to a diplomat?” Finella crossed her arms, frowning. “Doesn’t sound like sothing you would lie about. It’s too easily checked. Sa thing about his claim of Cascadian Lordship. We can verify that at the registry at the fortress. Could even use their aethergram office to get an updated list to double-check.”

“The fortress we’re conveniently not supposed to return to,” Allston grumbled. “It’s not such an outlandish lie if he believes we’ll never be in the position to verify it.”

“I share your concerns, Allston,” Serena affird. “Despite the possible danger our brothers may be in, we have our duties and our due diligence. As unlikely as it may be, I cannot risk throwing this ship into a situation where we might lose the only healer aligned with Cascadia, and along with her, the only ship capable of swimming in the lumina. Our enemies, whether pirates or Darkblades, cannot be allowed to have access to these capabilities.” As she spoke, Serena realised she’d settled on a course of action.

“Lifeboats have a week’s supply of food,” Serena continued. “If any of the Indefatigable’s or the Myrmidon’s crew survived, they should be able to manage on whatever rock or island they found. The skies here are packed with fish.” She looked at her officers in turn, before stating definitely, “We’ll return to the fortress. I’ll et this commander myself and make a judgnt on his corruption. Only then will we decide what to do from there. Understood?”

“Yes, Captain!” ca the chorus of replies.

“Officer Bright, return below and set up a watch for our Arakian friends. Give them so supper and so blankets. Make sure they know Anathor is watching them. Talk casually with nes if he wants to. See if he provides any more information. Don’t let him know we’re returning to the fortress. We’ll wait until morning and the worst of the weather passes.”

“Aye aye, Captain!” Finella exclaid with a salute.

“Allston,” Serena said, turning to her chief engineer. “I’m not splitting our crew to take the Indy back with us. I want you to spike the lift engine and”—she turned to Thorne—”I want you to spike the guns. I want them backfiring on anyone who tries to use them while we’re gone.”

“Aye aye, Captain,” echoed Thorne and Allston.

“See what you can do for our upper aetherscope,” Serena instructed Allston. “Take the ferrocrystal plates and whatever other parts you feel like we might need from the Indy. We’ll utilise the fortress's equipnt to perform repairs.” She turned to Yamaga and said, “Find my First Officer and tell him I want the Vengeance moored against this island. I’d rather not burn a night of crystal if I don’t have to. Now”—Serena looked at Aiden—”Other than Officer Adachi, you’re all dismissed.”

With a final set of salutes, Serena was left alone with Aiden.

“Aiden,” she intoned.

“I know what you’re going to ask, so before you threaten and/or glare at with that look, let just tell you straight. I don’t know!” Aiden put his hands up as he quickly talked. “If this Blackhorn fellow and this possibly-corrupt fortress commander are part of Intelligence’s plans, it’s beyond my pay grade. All I know is we were instructed to dock in Ishaq and await further orders.”

“Await further orders”—Serena’s eyes narrowed—”from whom?”

“No na was given,” Aiden explained with a shrug. “Soone’ll approach us, I imagine. That’s how they like to do things.”

“I have a horrible feeling,” Serena began, tapping the table. “That whatever we’re going to do in the South, whatever shard we’re hunting… It’s going to be connected to these pirates and this Blackhorn.”

“A feeling?”

“Call it instinct.”

“What does your instinct tell you about the Arakian captain in your cell?”

“Hmm…” Serena reached up, tapping her horn. “My instinct tells , unfortunately, that he may be telling the truth. If my impression of the fortress commander matches his story, then I won’t waste the truth-teller. We’ll be able to verify everything about him there.”

“Unfortunately?”

“It would be easier if I could just stab him,” Serena said honestly. “Maybe if he’s stabbed by a female captain, it might straighten his mindset out.” Serena clicked her tongue. “Tsk! Who does he think he is, to act so surprised that the Vengeance’s captain is a woman!? Bah! I knew Southern culture was more direct, but to think he would blather on like that in his situation!”

“Speaking of solving problems by stabbing…” Aiden paused, a nervous grin forming on his face. “If the fortress commander is corrupt… If he is working with Darkblades… What would you do?”

It was a good question. What would she do?

As she thought about it, Serena realised she hadn’t reflexively rejected nes’ claim that the commander was corrupt. Before the events of the Asamaywa slums, where Serena had experienced firsthand the rot and poison that had seeped into the lower rungs of Eastern society, she wouldn’t have entertained the idea for a second. A commander of a military fortress, falling into corruption and passing information to pirates and darkblades? It was laughable. At least, it would have been if she hadn’t already witnessed the corruption and consequences of Lord Kanamori, whose estate was now legally in Alia’s hands.

“I’ll… think about it,” Serena said finally. She gestured to the door. “I need ti to think. You’re dismissed, Officer Adachi.”

When Aiden had left, Serena was alone. For a few minutes, she did nothing but look over the map and think, making sure she hadn’t missed anything. Then, when she was ready, she looked to the bedroom door and called for Alia.

It was ti for her to deal with another set of problems.

Alia was relaxing, half asleep, when Serena’s voice caught her attention.

“Alia,” Serena called from beyond the door.

“Coming!” Alia replied, climbing off the hammock and stepping into Serena’s office.

There she saw her girlfriend, looking every bit as commanding and authoritative as ever. What wasn’t to love? Her neat black and gold uniform, her sharp crimson eyes, her perfect horns… Despite what had happened earlier, the sight of Serena was already making Alia feel better.

It’s like seeing her heals , she thought, as Serena turned away and looked at the stuffed moose’s head.

“Anathor,” Serena intoned.

The moose’s glassy eyes glowed red. Monts later, Anathor’s rich, gruff voice filled the room.

“Hmm… Yes, Captain?”

“Are our guests behaving?”

“For now… I will notify you the mont I sense anything… dishonest.”

Serena took a slow breath, turning her head to look at Alia and then back at Anathor. “I want to talk about what happened earlier, regarding Alia’s magic and the ship.” Serena tapped the table. “What happened, Anathor? This hasn’t happened before. Is it going to happen again?”

“Hmm…” Anathor humd. “I did not expect it myself, things are happening faster than they should be, Captain.”

“Stop speaking in riddles, Anathor.”

“She’s waking up, Captain,” Anathor explained. “Or rather… she’s woken up. At least, what remains has. Although I do not wish to criticise… This is rooted in Miss Thornheart’s magic.”

“M-?” Alia swallowed. “Well, I’m sorry! I didn’t think preparing Kanaxai would have such an effect! I stopped it the mont you told to!”

“Ah…” Anathor paused before continuing, “I’m talking about earlier. The potent healing spell you cast throughout this ship after the battle of Port Highwind. I didn’t think it was possible, but your magic seeped into the fourth deck and into what remains. It should not have happened, but back then, I did not realise your connection. You have so thoroughly lded with your shard that I didn’t recognise it, even though it was right in front of . I thought…” Anathor trailed off, mumbling to himself.

“What did you think, Anathor?” Alia asked.

“I thought you were sothing, or soone, that had fallen from the realms of the Six Heavens. Whether you’d slipped through the cracks between realms or whether the higher gods had expelled you, I did not know. I never expected you to be one of her shardbearers. Funny…” Anathor chuckled, his hoarse voice tickling Alia’s ears. “It was so obvious, in hindsight.”

“So that’s why my healing worked on… on her?” Alia tilted her head. “Because our souls are so similar?”

“That is my understanding, Miss Thornheart…”

“Well!” Alia placed her hands on her hips. “That makes sense!” Seeing Serena frowning at her, Alia explained. “After the ship was done screaming, I heard it talk to .” Alia tapped her forehead. “In here. Like… telepathy. It spoke in a language I didn’t know, but I sohow understood what it was. The ship called sister.”

“Sister?” Serena’s frown deepened.

“Mmm!” Alia nodded. “When it spoke, it didn’t sound like it was in pain or anything. It sounded… warm and kind. That’s good, right? I don’t think it’s still hurting.” She turned to the moose. “Isn’t that right, Anathor?”

“I…” the moose began. “I think so. I think your healing has been nding her. For months now, the lingering spellwork has been working. It should not be possible, but it has happened. Her awakening has been accelerated. Only… only…” Anathor’s voice beca solemn. “Even with your healing, there is no way to repair a shattered soul. What she’s beco… what she is… is fractured and broken. She hasn't yet regained her ego and personhood. Her actions, her reactions — such as screaming — are instinctive behaviours born from her personality. I believe this is why she sings in response to Aseco’s magic, and screams in response to Kanaxai forming. Those actions reflect her when she was truly alive and… unbroken.”

“I heard music,” Serena said. “When Alia healed Noburu’s fingers. It sounded like it ca from the fourth deck. I think I’ve heard it before, at other tis.”

“It makes sense,” Anathor mused. “She used to sing when she… when she…” He broke off, and for the first ti Alia sensed a sudden overwhelming sense of sadness co from the mysterious Formless.

“Anathor,” Serena said. “Who is she, and what form does she take?”

Anathor took a mont to reply. The red eyes flashed with a strange intensity as he said, “Ask Elana. It is her secret to tell. Her pain to share. As for what form she takes…” Anathor paused montarily. “I do not know.”

“You don’t know?” Serena’s eyebrows raised. “You see everything.”

“I cannot see inside the fourth deck, Captain.”

“You cannot?”

“I would need access to much deeper layers of reality than the Shimr to do so,” Anathor explained.

“...I see.”

“So…” Alia said slowly, interrupting. “We still need to collect her shards, right? If I can’t fix this my way…” To emphasise her point, Alia flexed her bicep. “We have no choice but to go on an adventure and find all the remaining shards. Do we… do we need to collect them all?”

“Hmm…” Anathor grumbled. “Once enough shards have been found, the soul will rember who it was and be able to reconstitute itself. We only need to find enough. However… I do not know how many it will take…”

“Anathor,” Serena said. “Can Alia use large-scale magic on this ship again?

“I don’t think so, Captain. Not until we find more of the shards. Once she’s stabilised, it should be possible. I fear her demonic magic might provoke such a reaction. While large-scale human magic, such as Aseco, may be less painful, I’m concerned it’ll produce undesirable aftereffects. A shattered soul is a powerful, but delicate thing.”

“Her demonic magic?” Serena questioned. “Or everyone's?”

Alia knew Vengeance had lost most of its mages when the Dragon had disbanded their ground forces, but a few remained. Allston commanded a small handful of fire mages, who had enough control over Igni’s hellfire to act as welders. There was an ice mage working under the Head Chef who used their magic to preserve at and other foodstuffs. And, of course, there was Daichi and Hinako.

“Hmm…” Anathor humd. “Perhaps so experintation is in order when we’re in safer skies, Captain. I suspect it may be Miss Thornheart's magic in particular, as I felt no response from the Vengeance when the mages were helping moor the Indefatigable.”

“Right,” Serena said. “Anathor, after this conversation, share these concerns with Officer Bright. When we’re clear of this weather, I want you to oversee their training, making sure the ship can handle their magic.”

“Aye aye, Captain.”

Serena sighed and looked at Alia with a smile. “There goes my hope that I could charge into every battle with you warding the ship while putting all the enemy pirates to sleep! Ha!” Serena rubbed her forehead. “Well… Thank you for that, Anathor. I guess I’ll just ask Elana next ti I—” Serena swallowed. “I an, I’ll ask the Empress next ti I see her.”

“Hehe!” Alia giggled. “See! I told you, she’s our friend now! You’re allowed to be informal with her!”

“It was just… just a slip of the tongue,” Serena hastily explained. “I rely have too much on my mind right now.”

No matter how much her girlfriend tried to justify it, Alia didn’t miss the reddening forming on Serena’s cheeks!

“One idea,” Alia began, “Couldn’t I leave the ship, and perform my magic at a distance?” Alia thought the idea was reasonable, but Serena shook her head in disagreent.

“In weather like this? Or in low-sky? Too risky. Rember when you practised withstanding the noise of shellfire on the island near Nai? How I inford you that suppressing Speakers through bombardnt can be as effective as injuring them? Even if you’re powerful, it only takes one mont of confusion for a catastrophe to happen. If you make a mistake and fly into the lumina, or a sudden change in weather or a lumina storm causes you to enter an uncontrollable spin…” Serena grimaced. “I won’t risk it. I won’t risk you. My crew are trained for battle. Let them earn their pay.”

Alia didn’t reply, only grinning at Serena’s concern for her safety.

Her girlfriend was a softy, wasn’t she?

“We’re getting off-track,” Serena said, waving a hand. “I need to have a discussion with you, Alia.”

“Oh?” Alia tilted her head. “What about?”

“About you and your role on the ship,” Serena said, her eyes and expression becoming serious. “Given we were at battle stations, I didn’t have ti to go through it with you first. For that, I apologise.” Serena tilted her head. “But now that the situation is over, we have to talk about the contradiction between your previously stated desires and your actions.”

What was Serena talking about? “What do you an?” Alia asked.

“Against the Indefatigable, you acted as both an observer and as a combat mage. You attempted to Speak against them. Regardless of your success or not, the Conventions of War are clear in this regard. Because of this… You have to make a decision.” Serena’s eyes narrowed, and her mouth beca tense.

“You were legally an active combatant earlier, and that is a duty you can’t pick and choose when it suits you. I had hoped we could avoid this, but it will happen again. You must make a decision, Alia: are you willing to fight and possibly kill others to protect the lives of your friends and colleagues on this ship?

At Serena’s words, Alia swallowed.

Could she… kill others?