“Are the Kafya within our purview showing any signs of defection?”
“Currently zero percent and unmoving.”
“Rhidi and Shaksho are doing their jobs well, then. Did they promote him to Specialist yet?”
“He was just pinned this morning.”
“Good.”
Liaison Carmine checked his hair in the elevator mirror, then held a shoulder near it to try and spot any dandruff. He may have looked like he was in his thirties, but old habits died hard when it ca to suits. “I suspect we should likely orchestrate a eting between Rhidi and this ‘Second Leftenant Tamryn’, should be a rather interesting affair.”
Liaison Kindred chuckled, brushing a strand of stray blonde hair over her ear. She looked as if she was barely halfway through her twenties, but still wore her hair like a teenager. “Hardly. I’ve seen pictures of this Tamryn character, and Rhidi would sar her across the lawn like a stray piece of dog shit.”
“She has cybernetics.” Carmine said matter of factly, brushing at his other shoulder and checking his data-slate. “Had them installed before she left her planet. Looks like one hidden arm shiv, reinforced joints, muscle strand augmutations, aaand… reinforced webbing structures in her major bones.”
Kindred raised her brows. “That sounds like an assassin, not a regular Kafya.”
“Or a fallback plan.” Carmine agreed, watching the elevator floors tick down. “She went hard and heavy to get that little promotion of hers, for all we know the Elder Councils set her there to kill any rogue Kholihls and Hohrlihls if things went south. That or form a rebellion to annoy the shit out of us from the inside.”
Liaison Kindred tapped at her plush bottom lip, her eyes narrowed. “Should we be worried for Rhidi? And what about Lirya?”
“Oh, heavens no.” Liaison Carmine laughed out, tapping on his data-slate. “Rhidi will make her wish she never stepped foot on this planet, but it is likely she will take so damage. I reckon we watch the duel closely, make sure it’s recorded, and use it as a beating stick against any Kafyan propaganda.”
“‘The werewolf we raised beat your enhanced saboteur’. Could work.” Kindred humd, tapping along on her own data-slate now. “Could use it to pull the outer worlds to our control if we play it right. Are you sure Lirya is doing okay? She seems to have undergone an extre edge of duress with all the recent revelations… at the sa ti, her choices for compensation were quite bold."
“She is doing better.” Carmine replied, rembering back to how shaken she looked during his last visit so days ago. “Not great, but better.”
The elevator dinged, and ca to a stop.
“Speaking of playing it right,” Carmine muttered, straightening his tie, “Ti to remind these mutts who is in charge.”
The three doors opened one at a ti, first horizontally, vertically, and diagonally, sliding into their recesses and exposing the two Humans standing in the bright light.
The room ca to silence at their very appearance, Liaison Kindred’s green eyes nearly glowing from beside Liaison Carmine’s cold, honey eyes. They had been expecting an entire diplomatic party, but instead found themselves looking at two golden furred males, a purple male, and a particularly shiny purple female with a surprising amount of gold accents.
Kindred leaned her head barely half an inch towards Carmine, muttering under her breath. “They seem confident in their ruse…”
“Those are not diplomats!” A gold furred Kafyan hissed to the man beside him, a dark purple Kafya.
The purple Kafya balled his fists in fright, gripping at his royal robes. “No… no those are…”
“Liaisons.”
Both of the gold and purple furred Kafyans turned to Leyvin Jyr, his golden eyes tight as he quickly turned his head to the purple furred woman beside him. She was a rarer, higher order of the royal colors, as their fur seed to shimr and glow like tal due to the opaque core of their hair structure.
She frowned, turning her beautiful head to the man beside her. “What does this an? I don’t understand.”
“It ans we are in trouble, and need to watch our words very closely.” Leyvin whispered, then turned to the Humans as they stepped out of the elevator. “My friends! Welco! We have been warmly awaiting your arrival.”
From the darkness of their observation platforms, Skalathir, Pwah, Kojynn, and Lilgaran diplomats watched, as they had to be privy to the talks despite not being included.
The Pwah diplomats scooted their chairs further away from the edge, while the Skalathir quietly placed their large, draconic feet on buttons that sat on the ground, poised to deploy their shield covers.
Liaison Carmine and Liaison Kindred said nothing as they walked forward, their strides easy and silent along the smooth wooden floor of the eting room.
The grand structure of the station hovered in the direct center of all the mber territories, a massive space hulk that handled diplomacy and nothing else.
True to its status, it was far more ornate, utilizing more artful architecture than the more normal workhorse space stations. Spires, towers, and carved quarters dotted all along the main rim of the station, making it look more like a fancy holiday decoration than a place of power. On station were representatives for every mber of the Inner Dolcir Coalition, as well as a small contingent of honor guard that made up a loose Company of soldiers.
The room they were currently in was the “Grand Pathway”, the main eting room that had a view of the stars and the current moon they were orbiting. Through the reinforced glass panels, over three feet thick and reinforced, the moon glowed against the inky black of space. Stars littered the darkness, the shadows deep along the observation platforms and their hidden viewers.
Despite the facade of normal glass, the panels were protected by a sh of systems to keep things from actually hitting the thick glass, as a small piece of space debris would likely make for a poor accompanint to diplomacy matters.
“Good afternoon.” Liaison Kindred said smoothly, pulling out a chair for herself as Liaison Carmine pulled out his. “May we know with whom we will be negotiating?”
“Negotiating?” The lower classed gold fur said in alarm, but a raised hand from Leyvin kept him from saying anything further.
“Good afternoon.” Leyvin replied with a nod of his regal head, his ears adorned with little golden, clipped, square piercings that served as both title and receivers for his inner-ear augnts. “I am Leyvin Jyr, Irdan Podirr of Kafya Poq’s Elder Council. This is Zaro Quim and Shin Ho, Urdan Podirr of Kafya Hor’runmohwyl’s Elder Council.”
The tallic purple Kafya stood regally and raised her chin, signalling to Leyvin that she wanted to introduce herself and he fell silent.
“I am Hasha Morwa, Am’linluway Podirr of Kafya Mintulcurr’s Elder Council, highest council of elders to all of Kafya kind.” Hasha intoned, then bowed her head respectfully to the two Humans. “May I also know your nas?”
“Liaison Kindred.” Kindred said, not bothering to stand as she eyed the tallic Kafya and their white robes of status with interest.
“Liaison Carmine.” Carmine replied cheerfully, smiling brightly at Hasha and Leyvin.
All of the Kafyas’ ears twitched as they saw his long canines, and the golden haired Zaro audibly swallowed.
“Good afternoon to you, Liaison Kindred, and to you, Liaison Carmine.” Hasha replied with a bob of her head and a pop of her knees, trying to make the bow more welcoming and cheerful. “I am happy that we could et and continue the peace between our peoples.”
“Quite.” Kindred replied dryly, then set her data-slate down on top of the table with a flick of her hand. “Onto business.”
The Kafya barely had ti to sit back down before Carmine began to speak. “Our base, Fort Benning, was attacked by white furred Kafya appearing to be on a seek and destroy mission, attacking a gym and a starship where two persons of interest were going about their early morning activities.”
“We have been made aware.” Leyvin said, lacing his padded fingers together. “I am deeply offended by the attack on your military installation, but I can assure you that no Kafya gave such an order.”
“No?” Kindred asked, raising her brows.
“No.” Leyvin said sternly, his eyes narrowed. “We would never risk drawing the ire of Humanity, especially after their assistance rendered during the war against the Ur and keeping our system free of pirates.”
Shin Ho raised a purple furred hand, leaning forward from his seat. “We are absolutely certain that this attack did, in fact, co from pirates, Kafyan pirates, unfortunately, but pirates none the less.”
“White furred pirates, you say?” Carmine said aloofly, surprise evident in his voice as he looked towards Kindred. “I thought white furred Kafya were quite rare.”
“They are rare.” Leyvin answered, his voice cooling as his nerves settled. “An unfortunate genetic trait that causes the Kafya of their color to be ntally compromised, prone to violence, and extre risk taking. Normally we do our best to keep their kind under control, but we don’t always get them all. We believe this attack may have co from a cell of them living on a mining exploration base installed on a long abandoned moon.”
Zaro quickly tapped along a keyboard installed onto the stone eting table, bringing up a hologram projector and showing the travel lines of the supposed pirate ship. “We tracked them along this route, finding that the ship avoided any major stations in order to avoid patrols by Kafyan ships that would have identified them. This is not new by any ans, as pirates generally only settle on rogue stations owned by other pirates.”
“White fur pirates are cunning, and recently raided a flotilla of stealth frigates that were en route to be decommissioned, their numbers already scrubbed and tracking technology recycled onto newer ships.” Shin Ho piped up, pointing at a hologram display of the ship below the route map. “They are essentially ghost ships, which is regrettable, and we are still investigating how they managed to figure out where the decommissioned ships were heading, let alone getting their hands on one and causing it to power on.”
Zaro nodded. “These ships are normally tugged to breakdown stations so they can be recycled, but it is not unknown for so companies to cut corners, only removing important technology and leaving the rest intact.”
Kindred leaned her head towards Carmine. “Is that the ship they arrived in? I can’t rember.”
“It is.” Carmine replied airily. “Explains all the Kafya markings.”
All the Kafya in the room let out a relieved breath, and suddenly smiles were everywhere.
“We are deeply sorry for the trouble that has been caused, and even though they were pirates, we are willing to compensate you generously in order to keep our alliance strong, and free of ill will.” Hasha said graciously, smiling broadly with gold plated teeth. “All you must do is na your terms, and we shall negotiate from there.”
Carmine looked over to Kindred with a nod of his head and raised brows, then looked back to Hasha and the other mbers of the Elder Councils. “Well! I thought we would have to negotiate for compensation in itself! This certainly makes things easier.”
Simple little brutes. Leyvin thought to himself, pulling up a Kafyan data interface and setting it on the table. The other mbers of the Am’linluway said it would be this easy, since Humans can’t be bothered with fact checking when it can co to an easy payday. They didn’t even bother to send an actual representative with , just this glorified social worker that deals with keeping the lower classes happy. It’s actually amazing, they aren’t even bothering to-
“There is one issue though.” Kindred said, jerking the smug smile off of Leyvin’s face and causing Hasha to look alard. “We have a small dispute with this route, you have.”
“The route?” Zaro asked, looking from Kindred to the hologram, his eyes wide. “What is wrong… how is the route wrong? I don’t understand.”
Kindred’s lips parted into a broad, nearly malicious smile that was only barely masked by false kindness. “Because that is not the route we tracked this ship from.”
The room beca so quiet that a Pwah coughing on his drink from a balcony was just barely audible despite the noise-masking screens.
“I don’t understand.” Zaro said firmly, pointing a golden, pawed hand to the hologram. “This is the route, we tracked them.”
Shin Ho blinked, he himself confused. “And this is the ship they were in, the route leads straight from the shipyard, to their base, and onward.”
“That base?” Carmine asked, pointing to the desolate moon. “On that moon?”
“W-Well, yes!” Shin Ho stamred, his fur suddenly becoming quite hot under his robes. “That is the base we found them operating from.”
Carmine knocked his knuckles twice on the stone table, leaning forward with a bored sigh. “Tracker Three, online please.”
A screen appeared in the hologram, in which a bored looking Human Privateer was chewing on a cowtail, an older Human confection made of chewy caral and cream.
“Yeah?” Tracker Three asked, his heavy, bearded jaw chewing idly with rolling jaw movents.
“Do you have eyes on…” Carmine squinted at the hologram. “Torbul’s Regret?”
Tracker Three nodded. “Yah’ boss, want direct?”
“Please.” Carmine replied, drumming his fingers on the stone table.
Another video screen appeared on the hologram, showing the moon in question. It was a sad, pale gray rock that was as smooth as a marble, and adorned with little mountains that jutted out like crooked teeth.
“Life scans complete.” Tracker Three said, the snap of his cowtail audible as he took another bite of it. “No life forms detected and no real structures either, except for a mineral outpost, but it’s so small it’s likely just large enough for a three-man team. I’ll blow the image up for you, but my caras aren’t the best.”
Carmine blinked boredly at the hologram, still drumming his fingers. “Did Tracker Two and One also show the sa scans?”
“Yah’ boss, it’s on your feed now.” Tracker Three said, a slurp of a coffee mug audible in the feed. “Anything else? We gotta get these baked goods down planet side before they go bad.”
“Nah, thanks Tracker Three.” Carmine said galy, letting out a long exhale as the Human’s video screen snapped away. He then looked to the four Kafya in front of them, three of which had eyes as wide as saucers. “That base seems awfully small for all those pirates we killed, don’t you think? I was expecting… sothing bigger, unless you Kafya do well in tight, confined spaces.”
Hasha, who actually looked confused, tilted her head at Carmine, then glanced over at Leyvin.
“Did the pirates move their base?” Hasha asked, her voice so loud and innocent in the silence that it nearly made the two Humans laugh.
“Oh indeed.” Kindred asked, looking over to Leyvin with politely raised brows. “Did they move their base all of a sudden without you knowing? This moon is in your area of space after all, and right along a trade route! Perfect place for a large pirate base if you ask . ”
“Uh… um…” Zaro humd nervously, looking from Leyvin and down at his data.
This was all he was given, and he had nothing else.
“But as you can see, the ship-” Shin Ho began, only for Kindred to raise her hand to silence him.
“The missing stealth ship, of course. We can’t forget that ship.” Kindred replied cooly, though the words were clipped at the edges with ice. “We checked your salvage yards, and you are right, one of your ships was missing.”
Shin Ho let out a breath, only for his ears to droop as an image appeared on screen.
An image of the missing ship buried into the soil of an abandoned world scoured by the Ur, with wreckage scattered across the surface from the impact.
“We found it for you!” Kindred said in an overly cheery, helpful voice normally used by cashiers. “Turns out, it crashed into a world rendered useless by the Ur! I guess those pirates must have been lousy pilots.”
“Or too tired from moving their entire base from a moon.” Carmine intoned, and the temperature in the room suddenly dove. “How… careless, of them.”
To Carmine and Kindred’s surprise, Hasha actually looked surprised.
“That’s the ship!” Hasha cried out, pointing at the image with a gold painted nail. “The numbers even match the docket!” She turned to the golden furred Kafya beside her, her eyes wide with worry. “Leyvin! What is going on?! I thought you said the ship was stolen by pirates!”
This was a factor that Carmine and Kindred had not counted on; A mber of the council not in on the ruse.
“Leyvin!” Hasha cried out, standing up in alarm. “Answer ! What is going on?!”
Carmine slowly turned his face to the golden furred Leyvin, the smile never leaving his face. “She’s asking a rather good question, Mr. Leyvin.”
How in the hell did they find that ship?! Leyvin scread in his mind, eyeing the wreckage as if it were a childhood monster turned real. That planet was rendered unusable by all the races! No ore! No material wealth! A barren rock that serves as a grave for the population that was exterminated there! Who could have thought to look there of all places?!
From what he rembered during his brief, he was not being given the crack team of governnt crisis negotiators he had requested. The Elder Councils believed that a proper delegation would arouse the Humans’ suspicions that sothing far larger was going on, and not just an influx of pirates with critical thinking skills.
At the current ti, he was already wishing he had argued a bit more before coming downstairs.
Shin Ho and Zaro were absolute dolts, only knowing the data in front of them and only gaining the job due to familial connections. Hasha was nothing more than a pretty figurehead for the lowborn classes of Kafya to eyeball when she went around and listened to their plights.
The Elder Councils have left hanging in the wind on this. Leyvin thought to himself bitterly, but he folded his hands together in refined, political pose. All I have to do is make sure nothing too egregious is said, and make sure these hairless mudtoes don’t draw us out into the open.
Leyvin drew in a deep breath, but held his composure as he spoke. “This is all clearly a misunderstanding, and we are still more than willing to give compensation for injuries upon the Earthen base of Benning.”
Carmine held the Kafya’s golden eyes for a few heart beats, then shrugged. “Alright then, compensation. After all, why dig too far into sothing as minor as a pirate incursion, right? Especially when we have a rather humble compensation package in mind compared to our stable alliance. Liaison Kindred?”
“We would like this as compensation.” Kindred said professionally, and after tapping onto her data-slate, three Kafyan fringe planets ca into view, slowly rotating in the hologram display.
Shino Ho and Zaro let out startled cries of shock at seeing the planets on the screen, while hidden diplomats in their observation platforms stared down, wide eyed, or chuckled to themselves while holding their hands to their faces. There was of course the Lilgaran that cackled in glee, though thankfully the dulled noise was inaudible due to the cries of the Kafya.
Shin Ho, Zaro, and Hasha had only been told they would be negotiating with raw funds as compensation, but seeing three planets co into the docket caused their hearts to skip a few beats. They were nowhere near the correct pay grade for these kinds of parleys, and felt like brand new academy trainees suddenly being given the helm of a battleship minutes before the battle started.
“We would like Trindelee, CL-21, and Endrohoya.” Kindred said matter of factly, as if she was doing nothing more than asking for an ice cream on a hot sumr day.
Rage and anger boiled to life in Leyvin’s heart, and it took every inch of his resolve to not let it show in his face.
Endrohoya. Leyvin growled in his mind, his lip twitching as it tried to force a snarl. That little white renegade still lives, there is no other reason why they would ask for that dunghole of a planet! These Humans know far, far more than they are letting on, and the Elder Council let walk right into the teeth of their fucking trap!
“You can’t ask for three entire planets!” Shin Ho yelled out, slamming his pawed hands to the stone table. “You have so nerve! So arrogance! To request such a thing-!”
“We are not requesting.” Carmine said coldly, his tone of voice ripping the fire out of Shin Ho like a bucket of cold water. “We are demanding these planets.”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Zaro blinked rapidly at the Humans, then turned his head in short, jerky movents to Leyvin and Hasha. “D-...Demand?”
“Yes.” Kindred replied, her voice just as cold as Carmine’s. “Demand.”
Hasha leaned into the back of her chair with a thump, completely losing her grip on the scene that was unfolding in front of her. She rembered what the other Simaphores had told her, all her fellow shine-furred compatriots having gathered before the negotiations had begun. She had been told that it was only a “minor pirate incursion” and that the Humans “would take their money and go”, leaving very little stress and allowing her so face ti within the grand room itself.
Such things mattered to soone of her station, and being seen gave her credit.
Leyvin, however, smiled with his fangs at the two Humans. He was annoyed that sohow idiots always made their way into stations they did not deserve due to their fur color, but the arrogance of Humans was always the star of the show. “This smacks of war, Humans. We outnumber you by the trillions and you think you can just ask for three of our planets with such ease? This declaration of greed goes against the IDC rules and regulations, we would all have to declare war against you.”
“Y-, yeah!” Zaro exclaid, slapping his pawed hands together. “It would be war! You Humans are tough but you could not withstand the full might of the IDC!”
Carmine raised a finger, hovering it above his data-slate. “Indeed, it would be war… unless we weren’t the first ones to pull the trigger and break the rules of the IDC.”
“Rember how just a few monts ago we ntioned how we were disputing the route? Let’s take a little lookie-loo at what our little friends found, hm?” Kindred chipped in happily, leaning forward as Carmine tapped his data-slate.
Slowly, image by image, the ship in question began to appear; first outside Station First Horizon, then Station Kinder’s Crossing, station after station, planet after planet, with the trail slowly beginning to head back to Kafya Mintulcurr.
“Wouldn’t it be such a curious thing if this ship ca not from a pirate station, but from a governtal-” Kindred began, but her voice ended in a fanged grin when she saw Leyvin’s resolve break.
“Stop!” Leyvin scread in alarm, lurching forward out of his seat and causing it to clatter away across the floor. “Stop! Now!”
Carmine and Kindred’s smiles never left their faces, but the images paused near the fifth planet from Kafya Mintulcurr.
Leyvin had no idea they had gathered this kind of information, let alone how. The images looked as if they ca off of security caras and ship navigation arrays, images so hard to trace that no normal person could have had even the thought of checking there.
If he failed to button the evidence down, here, with all these hidden eyes upon him, it would discredit the Elder Councils beyond repair. Losing one planet was a disaster, three would be a travesty, but being known to have attacked an allied military installation to kill a rogue white fur of Delevian descent?
That would be catastrophic.
“Leyvin…” Hasha whispered out, her eyes wide and golden teeth trapped behind a horrified turn of her mouth’s edges. “What… what is this? You said they were pirates.”
“Stop it, now!” Leyvin bellowed, dropping his stately decorum completely as his fur frayed out from his fra, instantly puffing from stress and rage. “We agree to terms! We agree! Stop it, now!”
Carmine began to slowly drum his fingers once again, tap by tap as he leaned his head towards Kindred. “Stop? Why now? We have so many more questions to ask. This is barely scratching the surface of our curiosities."
“Why did pirates target Lirya Ahbenjay, a fellow whitefur? She is just a random little Kafya trying to make her mark on the stars, why did she pull focus? Why target Kohan Rhidi, who is ‘Kuwai’ to your people, sa as these pirates?” Kindred asked out in a dangerous purr, leaning so far forward in her seat that her pants were curving dangerously around her rump. Her left eye turned from green to yellow as targeting auspeks within her very iris began drawing beads on the four Kafya in front of her, reading their skyrocketing heart rates and the amount of sweat they were producing. “To us, it seems like a lot of things are not adding up.”
“Additionally, why were the pirates so expertly and expensively ard?” Carmine added, the steady drum of his fingers like the march of ard giants in the room. “Trimicta rifles? Personal shields? Advanced targeting systems? You should see the data we pulled from their helts…”
Impossible! Leyvin scread in his mind, his claws screeching across the top of the stone table. That is impossible! Nothing could ever get into the helt data like that! Those systems are taught to scram everything if penetrated!
“I said we agree to terms!” Leyvin scread, his voice lined with the edge of panic. “We agree! The planets are yours! We agree! Stop this, now!”
The two Humans stared at the four Kafya, Kindred’s one yellow eye and Carmine’s own honey eyes studying them closely; They were panicked, and the other yellow one had peed himself a little judging by the faint heat register on his pretty robes.
The only one who did not radiate fear was the tallic purple one, and Hasha looked more and more confused the longer the eting went on.
“Very well.” Carmine said quietly, moving his finger away from his data-slate. Leyvin let out an audible exhale of relief when the images disappeared from the hologram display, and slumped down into his chair after it rolled back towards him on automatic rollers. “Three planets, and residents may choose to stay or leave. If they stay, they will be under control of the UAA, agreed?”
“Agreed.” Leyvin sighed out, running a gold, shaking hand through his sweaty hair. “Fine. Agreed.”
Kindred slowly stood, her yellow eye gently fading back to green. “Pleasure doing business with you, we expect the paperwork to be sent directly to the corresponding offices.”
Carmine stood as well, nodding curtly to the gathered Kafya, and then turned with Kindred and made their way back towards the elevator, clipping their data-slates into place onto their belts.
As they entered the elevator and let the door close in front of them, Kindred turned to Carmine.
“The purple one is going to co looking for us to get answers, should we expect trouble?” Kindred asked.
Carmine nodded. “If she cos to us, she’ll be asking questions they can’t risk getting out. I expect we will be joined by rather unkind characters.”
“Do we wait for it to happen on station?” Kindred asked, cracking her knuckles. “Because I’d prefer we be off station, less paperwork and things can be kept quiet, controlled, and contained.”
Carmine chuckled. “They’ll claim it’s more pirates if we’re off station, so it is more likely to work.”
“I’ll alert the crew of our slip, keep them nice and tidy in the cockpit so we have room to work.” Kindred said, rolling her shoulders free of her jacket and rolling up her sleeves into neat rectangles. “I’ve been dying for a good scrap, and I expect them to send us their finest.”
Carmine also began rolling up his sleeves as the elevator door opened on their floor, the docking harnesses visible through decorated windows. “Oh, I don’t know about that. Rember the first ti they tried to get us with their ‘special operatives’?”
“Oh, please, they only sent three.” Kindred snorted as she saw the door to their ship open down the hallway, Void Marines stepping out to greet them. “They will send more than that this ti.”
—
“There she is.” Carmine said with a snap and point of his fingers, gesturing to the screen. He had thought they would have to wait for quite so ti after the eting, but Hasha was making her move after only a few hours. “She’s hauling ass!”
Kindred popped another cheese puff into her mouth, chewing with wide eyes. “Hoo! Look at her pump those legs! I think she may be making a run directly from her quarters.”
“What is she wearing?” Carmine asked, leaning forward towards his screen.
“Looks like so kind of… wait, is that a ninja costu?!” Kindred cackled, zooming in the figure of Hasha sprinting down the hallway.
“No, no, not a ninja costu, just black robes.” Carmine corrected, tapping the screen. “That’s so Kafyan garb, I’ve seen it before on smugglers. Those puffy black pants and foot wraps keeps them from leaving behind fur, she’s trying to get away without leaving evidence.”
“Door alarm triggered, we have twenty tangos on her six.” A Void Navyman stated boredly, watching his screens with the sa kind of contempt that one would an excel sheet. “They are trying to catch her in the hallway, but we have so Pwah and Lilgaran guards getting in their way.”
“Awfully helpful of them.” Carmine chuckled, watching as a Lilgaran honor guard snap turned to the left and tripped multiple Kafya with his tail. “Glad to see our bribe money is actually getting so mileage.”
“As if we needed to bribe these dudes.” Kindred huffed, tossing another cheese puff into her mouth. “The money is barely enough to cover a steak dinner and they took it with a smile. I think they hate the Kafya, if you ask .”
Carmine nodded his head from side to side. “They are the most nurous in the IDC and have been at the steering wheel for decades. I think everyone has gotten sick of their constant bullying. They’re lucky the other delegates watching our eting can’t say anything in the open, or aloud.”
“She has arrived to her skiff.” The Void Navyman called out, chewing on his own cowtail candy and pointing to a large screen. “It’s one of the two-man solar sailors for seeing the station, should I go ahead and give her a docking code?”
“Of course, she is an expected guest.” Carmine said grandly, holding out his hands in a wide, welcoming manner. “As are whoever is following her.”
Another Void Navyman on the short-range navigation desk let out a sigh. “I have a visual on a stealth ship coming out of the black, it’s heading for her skiff but she’ll get to us before they get to her.”
“Finally.” Kindred said with a malicious growl, tossing her bag of cheese puffs onto her navigation desk.
“She flies that thing the sa way ducks fuck, holy shit.” The short-range navigation Void Navyman hissed, squinting at her own screens.
Carmine raised a brow. “And just how do ducks fuck, Voidman?”
“Violently and with a lot of splashing.” She replied, rapidly typing on her interface as multiple AI arrived on a separate screen. “Kowalski, Skipper, get over there and grab that fucking ship before she crashes into us.”
“On the hop!” Skipper called out, rolling up non-existent sleeves on his digital form. “You heard her Kowalski, let’s take this ship by her hair and make sure she doesn’t bite.”
“You got it, Skipper.” The other AI chirped, the two forms hopping up into the air and then disappearing from view.
The two AI gained rather obvious control of the skiff as it quickly began to fly in a more aggressive, military manner, making a beeline for the Liaison’s own fast attack craft, a well ard ship designed for patrolling and inspecting cargo haulers.
This craft was a bit different than the usual model, obviously, as it was larger, held the sa firepower profile as a destroyer, and held a complent of both Void Marines and Void Navyn.
“She’s docking.” A Void Navyman called out, turning around in his chair. “The stealth ship is making moves to grapple the skiff and board us via a tandem, want us to pop so shots at it?”
Carmine shook his head, standing as Kindred did. “No, no need. Let’s keep this quiet.”
“Are you sure you don’t want so Marines with you, sir?” A Void Marine Captain asked, looking rather worried. “Those stealth boats normally carry a Platoon with them, and they are going to want that little purple haired woman back.”
Kindred laughed, punching the Void Marine officer in the shoulder as she strode past easily. “Take a breather there, old man, we have this well in hand.”
The Void Marine Captain frowned, but nodded his head all the sa as he went back to his post. “Very well. To sea, to stars.”
“To worlds, to wars.” Carmine answered in return, clapping the Void Marine on the shoulder as he walked past after Kindred.
Carmine and Kindred were halfway down the gangway to the passenger bay when his data-slate tuned up with Skipper’s voice, and he pulled it towards his face to hear the AI better.
“All docked and locked, sir!” Skipper crowed, looking rather proud of himself. “The little badger woman was screaming the entire ti, but Kowalski made her a cup of tea and is currently making her more at ease.”
Kindred snorted out a chortle next to Carmine, and the man just rolled his eyes with his own grunt of a laugh. “She’s not a badger, Skipper, she’s a Kafya and she’s not going to have long to enjoy that tea, there’s company coming to dock off of you.”
“Yeah, we saw them.” Skipper said boredly, striding about the data-screen. “I had a mind to sick Kowalski on them, he’s been itching to penetrate a worthy foe for quite so ti.”
Carmine’s lips split into a confused, but amused smile. “Let’s… put a pause on the penetrating of anything for now, just lock the skiff down and get that Kafya down the hallway.”
“You got it, sir. Kowalski! Take off your dancing shoes and put your clothes back on, we’re eighty-sixing the penetration!”
Kowalski's voice was distant, but his voice was still picked up by the speakers, as well as the classic, honking squeak of clown shoes being taken off. “This is what we get for asking permission…”
Kindred barked out a giggle, placing a hand to her chest. “Oh, I love these two, can we keep them?”
Carmine looked skyward, begging just for once to have normal AI on a mission; He had put in a good bid a long ti ago to enlist so real crackerjack AI, but they apparently went to work for so odd teacher woman.
As the two Human Liaisons made their way down the walkway, the door to the main passenger docking clamp opened.
Hasha ca running out of the door, her padded, black cloth wrapped feet thudding down the hallway as she tried to carefully balance a teacup on a saucer.
“She kept the damned tea?” Kindred chuckled, checking the rolls of her sleeves.
“They’re coming!” Hasha scread out, both Carmine and Kindred admiring her holding onto her dialect despite the stress. “They just docked with my ship and are right behind !”
Carmine and Kindred took a mont to politely bow forward to Hasha, who did the sa out of rigorous instinct.
“It is a pleasure to see you again, Am’linluway Podirr Hasha.” Carmine said with his seldom used ‘kind’ voice, the two leaning back up from their bow. “Am I to understand you are fleeing to this vessel?”
Hasha spun around as shouting was heard behind the docking door to her ship, her teacup rattling in her hands, and then turned back around to Carmine. “Yes!”
“Are you in fear for your safety, life, and or liberties?” Kindred asked next, her tone that of a calm secretary.
Hasha stood there, tea steam drifting in the air across her chest as she considered the words, then nodded. “Yes.”
“Are you in the belief the Kafya behind you are going to kill you?” Carmine asked.
“Yes!” Hasha cried, then let out a warbled exhale of panic as two dozen Kafyan Elder Council Quinrep operatives piled out of the docking door.
“Do you seek protective sanctuary aboard this UAA Void Navy vessel?” Kindred asked, her eyes locked on the new play things coming into view.
“Yes!” Hasha cried out as she ran around behind Carmine and Kindred, poking her head and her tea around Carmine’s hip as the other Kafya began to fan out.
Quinrep operatives were direct, high level political soldiers, with only the fur colors of gold and purple allowed to join the unit. Their uniforms were combat armor, and only combat armor, designated in the colors of whatever ancestral house they ca from. Their armor was more formidable than the normal Kafyan soldier, but it still left a lot to be desired when compared to a Human Reg.
A purple furred male stepped forward, his hair shorn close to the head and face viciously. He was brandishing a Trimicta bolt pistol in one of his hands, the other holding a long, wicked claw of a dagger. “Hasha! Give her here!”
Carmine thought his accent was rough, a Kafya that learned English but kept their native accent.
“Afraid we can’t do that gents.” Carmine replied cooly, stepping forward three steps with Kindred as they put Hasha behind them. “She is currently under protection of the Unified Arican Authority, seeking sanctuary on a listed military vessel.”
“Hasha leaves with us.” The Kafya said, his fingers rolling along the grip of his dagger. “One way, or another.”
“That sounds like a threat, friend.” Kindred said, then slowly rolled her neck along her shoulders, one of her green eyes growing with yellow light as her combat auspeks fired up. “You wouldn’t co onto our nice boat making threats now, would you?”
At her words, twenty four Kafyan Quinrep operatives unsheathed their combat knives, while their leader holstered his pistol and drew an additional knife.
They had orders to make this as quiet as possible, and no pirate would have gotten ahold of a Trimicta pistol of all things.
“Last warning. Give us Hasha, or we will kill both you and your crew.” The Kafya said, taking a low combat stance.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to co and take her.” Carmine said, his voice fading from an easy, friendly tone to a darker, more forboding intonent.
A promise of violence.
The Kafyan Quinrep operatives found their sudden bravado taking a ding as Carmine slowly bent forward, his face contorting into a snarl as he bared his long, reinforced canines. Inch by inch, a pair of long, silvery blades began to protrude from the bottoms of his wrist, one per arm. Blood trickled and ran down his fingers as the weapon wounds opened, splatting wetly to the polished tile deck.
His blades were single edged, his hands resting along the blunt spine of the arm blades while blood continued to pour down his skin as the wounds closed on their own.
Kindred let out an audible hiss as she wrinkled her nose, her yellow eye glowing fever bright as her own blades slid into view from her arms. While Carmine had his installed at the bottoms of his wrists, Kindred’s were longer, double edged blades that protruded from the forearm, coming out along the top of the hand and then sticking out a further foot.
The tal of a Liaison arm blade is one of the best kept secrets of the UAA, a substance known as “Living tal” that was invented by a joint Skalathir and Drafritti task force. Living tal was a dangerous tal to install, adhering to bone, muscle, and nerves as it is inserted into the body at temperatures where the tal glowed yellow white.
Liaisons undergoing the rite had to be tough, extrely tough, as over half normally died during the process from the pain alone.
The Rite of Living Steel was the first task for a Liaison to undergo, the adamant of mind and body going forward to receive their other augnts.
After being installed in the body and encased in biochanical sheaths amidst the arm, the tal would then relax within the body, reacting to the Liaison’s nervous system and behaving much akin to extrely tough, unyielding at.
Once the nerves fired and told the living steel to protrude from the body, it would then push forward and cut a slit outwards in the skin, hardening into a completely combat worthy blade as it left the flesh. Most painful of the rite were the Living Steel anchors that attached the blade and the biochanical sheath to the bones, but it made the blade stronger as a result.
The Living Steel was but one piece of the puzzle when it ca to a Liaison, as their eyes were turned into targeting computers, parts of their brain turned into machine, their teeth layered with communication systems, their body honed to perform at their maximum with feats of biochanical engineering, all without breaking the normal appearance of a Human body.
A secret weapon that walked and talked in the open like a normal person.
To face a Liaison was to not only face a Human, but a Human brought to perform at every extre level that a Human could be.
A monster, created by the butcherers of iron.
“Liaisons.” One of the Kafya whispered, her eyes wide. “Two Liaisons?!”
The leader barked sothing back at them in rapid Kafya-hi, then let out a roar, running forward.
The rest of the Kafya took up the yell and rushed forward behind their leader, combat blades held aloft in the air.
Carmine’s own blazing yellow eye triggered the biochanical accelerators implanted into his muscles and joints, his body turning red hot as it started consuming calories in order to fuel what was to co next.
Kindred was lightly steaming as she surged forward with an ear-splitting scream, her augnted throat hitting a decibel that was both painful to Kafya and Human alike. Ten Kafyan operatives winced, stopped, or clapped their pawed hands to their ears as the sound hit them right in the eardrum, and then Kindred was upon them.
“Beasts of the Nine Two Nine!” Carmine howled as he sped forward in the blink of a Kafyan eye, his arm blades splitting two operatives from shoulder to groin in a single downward swipe of the arms.
The tone of the hallway changed into a horrible concert of panicked screams as Kindred and Carmine ripped through Kafyan bodies like combat daggers through tissue paper, flesh tearing and blood spraying as Living tal blades grated against gristle and bone.
Going down to seven rapid slashes from Kindred, the Kafyan operative commander went down in the blink of an eye, staggering backwards in gurgling confusion as blood instantly bubbled and frothed at his nose.
When his knees hit the ground and daggers clattered along the deck, three more Kafya fell behind him; Kindred screeched once more as she parried away a dagger and swiped with her arm, the blade cleaving a golden furred woman’s head clean from her shoulders.
The head made two, wide eyed rotations in the air, and in that span of ti the Kafyan man standing next to her was missing his arms and the bottom portion of his jaw, his body slamming against the wall of the hallway with a ragged bounce.
Carmine slamd his head into the nose of a purple furred Kafyan man as he tried to pull his Trimicta pistol in a panic, the Human’s augnted neck accelerating his reinforced forehead with such force that it completely compacted the Kafya’s nose.
With a stomach curling crunch of wet bone, the Kafya’s face exploded as teeth and shards of nose bone were shoved forcefully into the brain. Carmine pulled his face from the Kafya’s with a crackling squelch, spitting away flesh and a tooth shard from his lips as the Kafya slowly fell backwards, landing with a heavy thud on the deck.
“Dishu weedo ya’dapinda?!” A golden furred Kafyan man scread, he and the surviving Kafya rapidly back stepping down the hallway and away from the carnage in front of them.
As he looked around, his ears fell; They had arrived with twenty four Kafya, and now there were only fourteen left. They had only surged forwards a re few seconds ago, and so many had already fallen.
So of the dead Kafya sat dead on their heels, bodies still upright in shock, while others were crumpled along the ground, or leaning against the wall on now-stubbed knees.
Kindred growled in her throat as she released the neck of a female Kafya, her canines having punched straight into the spine and crushing the bones, and the body slapped to the blood covered deck in an unceremonious heap.
Carmine and Kindred were soaked in enough blood that it dripped from their chins in fat, purple drops, their clothes stained to such a degree that it looked as if they had slipped and fallen into a bathtub of the stuff.
Made more ridiculous by the fact they had rolled up their sleeves.
“Skipper.” Carmine rumbled with panting breaths, his yellow eye glowing brightly as he eyed the rest of the Quinrep operatives. “Lock the door.”
The gathered Kafya heard the door slam and lock behind them, and they quickly understood that they were no longer boarding this Human vessel.
They were trapped in it.
“All locked up sir.” Skipper said aloud from the data-slate speaker. “Kowalski, roll up a newspaper and grab my slippers, these naughty doggies made a dookie on the floor and are about to have their noses rubbed in it.”
Kindred like out a mad giggle, her teeth bright white on her purple blood stained face, and eye glowing so balefully yellow that it reflected in the eyes of her soon-to-be victims.
To their credit, and knowing there was no ans of escape, the Kafyan operatives charged all at once, hoping to overwhelm the Human Liaisons and possibly get out of there alive.
Unfortunately for them, they learned that the Liaisons had chosen this hallway on purpose.
Living Steel shredded through flesh and bone at such speeds that the Kafya could barely mount a proper offensive, their blades only clashing once or twice with those of the Humans before they found hands, fingers, arms, or legs missing from their bodies. The blades of the Liaisons passed through armor and shield as if they were not there, the ethereal properties of the tal itself seeming to not care about what stood in its way.
It was not that the Kafyan operatives lacked skill, or training for that matter, but they had never faced an enemy that could move as quickly as these Humans were.
The bodies of the Liaisons were nothing more than bloody blurs that trailed two long, glimring streaks of steel, carrying with them power that they couldn’t stop, no matter how much of their own body they threw into the parries.
Screams of pain were cut short as Kindred swiped her blades through skulls, leaving tongues lulling in still intact lower jaws as she brought her blades back around to punch down into necks.
Combat daggers were smacked away with muted contempt by Carmine as his own victims tried to block his way, only to find he was able to put every ounce of his arm muscle into the strikes, and simply carry down the strike into fear-filled bodies.
Screams, battle cries, and wails of begged forgiveness echoed off the walls as they were silenced, replaced with the sounds of the panting, whining, or gurgling dead. Limp bodies were hitting the blood soaked deck second after second, or sliding weakly down the walls of the hallway as Carmine and Kindred advanced.
As the last Kafyan combat daggers clattered to the deck, their wielder collapsing to his knees and looking down at both of Carmine’s blades stuck in his chest, the purple furred Kafya let out a long, resigned sigh, tilting his head back to look up at Carmine’s honey and single yellow eye.
“A mistake.” The Kafyan whispered, coughing as blood welled up in his throat and leaked out past the corner of his mouth. “M-... mistake.”
“Yes.” Carmine answered him, taking a step back and ripping both blades from the Kafya’s chest. The purple fur hacked blots of blood out into the air in a final breath as the blades left his chest, wobbled back and forth on his knees, then fell forwards, thudding down dead to the deck. Carmine stared down at the Kafya, his tail giving a single, sad wag as life left his flesh. “Yes it was.”
Kindred let out a throaty chuckle as her blades slowly slid back into place on her arms, her red blood mixing with the purple Kafyan blood that soaked her arms. “Twenty four to two, and they still couldn’t manage nothing more than a few cuts on us.”
Carmine’s own blades slid into place as he turned to look behind him at Hasha, his face dripping with purple Kafyan blood.
She was still standing there in her stealth clothing, eyes wide, tea cup rattling on its saucer as she held it purely out of instinct, and it was evident to both Carmine and Kindred’s sensors that she had pissed herself out of terror.
As their eye auspeks powered down, Carmine adjusted his blood soaked tie, clearing his throat as he stepped towards Hasha.
“Miss Hasha, welco aboard the St. Olga of Kiev. We will now take you above into the offices and get your paperwork sorted, issue you a berth, as well as a change of clothes if you would like.” Carmine said, his features slowly changing back into his normal visage.
Kindred stepped up as well, licking the chunks of hair and flesh away from her teeth before smiling brightly at Hasha. “If you would like, we can find you a civilian berthing on board so you can have so privacy, it cos with its own shower and toilet as well…. Miss Hasha?”
Hasha didn’t reply, her wide eyes still locked on the massacred bodies in front of her, the trails of arterial spray along the walls, and the sheer amount of head pieces that were laying around.
Carmine slowly reached forward, gently taking the rattling teacup and saucer from Hasha’s trembling hands. He handed it off to Kindred, who furrowed her brows at the man and then tossed it over her shoulder with a clatter of crockery.
“Miss Hasha?” Carmine asked, standing directly in front of the tallic purple Kafya and finally gaining her eyes.
“I-I-I-I’m s-s-s-sorry?” Hasha stuttered out past quivering lips, her tail tucked between her piss soaked trousers.
“Let’s get you so clean clothes, hm?” Carmine said cheerfully, slowly steering Hasha by her shoulder. “Just up here, there are so Void Navyn that can help you get sorted. Have you ever had rice pudding? I think you’ll like it, always helped soothe my nerves.”
Kindred rolled her eyes behind Carmine’s back, then turned to grin over her shoulder at the carnage they had left behind.
“Not too shabby for an old woman of my age.” Kindred murmured to herself, pursing her lips smugly as she followed after Carmine, humming to herself in her throat.
User Comments
0 comments from readers