While Silvia and Lethia leave The Mothership to wrangle a quarter of the crew’s ships, Rotwin and Rotlith splinter off to gather their scattered pack, and Emily separates to search for her apprentices. She finds Pod taking advantage of his status to use the empty fifth stage chanic workshop, and he puts away the half-finished rocket launcher he was working on when she explains where she’s going.
“You could stay on this ship to continue your work if you wanted,” Emily suggests as they leave the workshop to head towards the alchemy labs.
“Nah, I’d rather follow you,” Pod replies. “I can always use the workshops in Elisi if I want to keep creating, but I won’t get the chance to see whatever a qi storm is if I stay behind.”
“Even though she’s still in my Dinsional Factory?”
“It’s a little uncomfortable in there, but I’m used to feeling like you’re breathing down my neck, so I’m sure I’d survive,” he responds with a cheeky grin. “Anyway, what is a qi storm? Is it like The Wall you dismantled in New Denntimo?”
“Sowhat. Apparently, it’s just a term to refer to any large, unexplained gathering of unstable qi,” Emily says, regurgitating the explanation Silvia gave her after leaving the eting. “There are also mana storms, which The Wall would probably have been classified as if it were large enough to swallow an entire planet. The cause could be anything from an ascension gone wrong to a powerful being cultivating.”
They arrive before the door to the lab Ivor’s been assigned to, and Emily opens it with a small injection of machina. A few heads turn to face them as they walk in, but they quickly return to what they were doing when Emily waves them off. She spots Ivor, hunched over a set of heated beakers filled with an array of solutions, and approaches.
“What are you working on?” she asks as she cos to a stop beside him.
“Trying to recreate one of my physical strengthening potions using cheaper, more easily available materials,” Ivor signs quickly, not looking away from one of the beakers as the dark brown solution inside bubbles up towards the top, threatening to overflow as he pours more and more mana into the heating runes carved around the glass implent.
“Smart. You can co to
if you need any more Ulean materials for now, though: I still have a reasonable stock before I’ll need to do the sa. Anyway, have you registered for your piracy mark yet?”
“Yes. Vrathorn took
a couple of hours ago.”
“Good, this ship will be leaving the station in ten hours. Pod and I are joining a smaller group, splitting off to check on the coordinates of a supposed qi storm that’s likely an ambush. You can join us if you want, but you’ll probably be without an appropriate lab for six months if you do.”
“Unless you want to work in Elisi,” Pod adds.
“I’d rather not,” Ivor responds, turning off the heat and pouring the bubbling beaker into a large cauldron beside his workstation, stirring three tis before finally turning his full attention to Emily and pointedly nodding towards her tattoos. “I know you can brew in there, but the energy balance sses with my timings too much. Are you going with the Vice-captain?”
Emily nods.
“Good. I think I’ll sit this one out.”
Emily raises a brow at his response, and Pod elbows him in the side with a glare that she chooses not to read into.
“I’d like a little more ti to adjust to our new environnt before I risk joining a larger fight. I think I’ll be able to reach third circle in the next few months if I perfect and consu the Earthbound Elixir I’ve been working on.”
“Okay, stay safe and let
know if anything happens while we’re apart,” Emily signs. “Do you have a Terminal yet?”
“No.”
“Here.” She reaches into her belt and pulls out one of the spares Silvia bought her from a seller at the station. “I’ve added a rudintary ssaging suite that should be able to reach , or Pod, no matter how far away we are by bouncing across nearby Network nodes. Just enter your mark’s ID to make sure it has access to BlackNet nodes. Oh, and if anyone comnts on you having a Terminal before you’re allowed, just say Silvia gave it to you, and they shouldn’t object.”
“The perks of having friends in high places,” Pod mutters, clearly knowing both of them will hear him.
“You say that as if you didn’t also get a Terminal early thanks to her.”
“Hey, I’m not complaining!”
***
Leaving The Mothership after handing off so extra materials to Ivor for his brewing, Emily, Pod, and Silica head towards The Blade, the next largest ship in the hangar. Unlike The Mothership’s smooth, rounded form that sowhat resembles an egg in the distribution of its mass, The Blade is all sharp angles. It’s longer than it is wide, with the front half broken into two parallel prongs lined with electromagnetic rings to form an energy-stabilising channel down the centre, connected to a large, exposed plasma-generator at the back.
The craft is painted in the crew’s colours, proudly declaring its affiliation even though its aggressive design acts as a deterrent on its own.
They run into Silvia near the ship’s open gangway, talking to an assortnt of chanics and a few martial artists.
“Ah, Emily,” the vampire says, turning to greet them after waving off the crewmbers to take their posts in other ships. “Are you ready? Is your other follower not joining us?”
“No, he’s getting close to another ascension, so he’s staying on The Mothership to focus on that and his craft,” she explains, before nodding towards the leaving crewmbers. “That’s a lot of chanics. I take it they’re pilots?”
“That they are. I’ve selected a group I’m certain we can trust; this trip is sure to be especially fruitful, no matter the outco of this tip.”
Raising a silent brow at the implication behind her words, Emily nods and follows her Vice-captain onto the floating walkway up to The Blade.
“You’re planning on revealing your intentions so soon?” she asks, transmitting her words on a formless wave of machina, protecting against prying ears.
“I’ve waited long enough,” Silvia whispers back on a qi sound transmission, not speaking aloud even as the ship’s gangway shuts behind them. “My recent ascension and your arrival have finally tipped the scales in my favour, and I’d be a fool not to act on it. I’m kinda hoping this trip will end in a fight I can use to finish adjusting to my new strength: I’ll need every advantage possible since Yorn has been seventh phase for much longer than . His qi reserves and trained techniques still dwarf my own despite my talent.”
“The gap’s that large within the sa phase?”
“He’s been seventh phase for nearly three hundred years: his reserves are at least fifty per cent greater than my own.” Silvia switches back to normal speech. “Now, I’m going to go oversee our departure with Lethia, but you’re free to do as you please until I call for a eting in a few days when we’re a reasonable distance from the rest of our fleet. You can choose any of the unused private rooms for yourself if you would like to cultivate, but you’re the highest-ranking engineer on the ship, so you may want to familiarise yourself with her internals – I’m sure you’ll find her communication jamrs enlightening.”
Emily nods in understanding before separating from the vampire, heading deeper into the ship while Silvia turns towards the tip of one of its split prongs. The Blade resists the scan Emily uses to work out where to go, but she’s still able to see a few corridors away and uses the complex wiring hidden beneath the wall’s panelling to direct herself, following it back to the source in search of the main processing core.
Partway there, Silica perks up beside her, catching a familiar scent and turning a pleading gaze on her mother.
“Go find them.” She waves dismissively, earning an affectionate headbutt before turning to Pod. “Keep an eye on her, please.”
“On it,” he agrees easily, chasing after the fleeing sandy fox with sparks of machina flowing from his legs.
It doesn’t take long for Emily to find the ship’s processing core, directly behind the main plasma cannon’s generator, but separated by several chambers, and she applies a drop of machina to bind her signature to the core, giving herself full access to the rest of the ship’s systems. She floods the vessel with charge, building a blueprint in her mind and locating a chamber filled with complex communications equipnt. Her eyes light up when she spots the jamr Silvia was referring to, and she imdiately sets off towards the tip of the opposite prong from the bridge, ignoring the slight shudder around her as they take off from the station.
The entire front half of the right-hand prong is dedicated to the colossal jamr. It has a cylindrical form, with several hovering tal rings placed at even intervals to focus and direct the output towards any ships targeted by The Blade’s main cannon. Emily runs a hand along the large construct, flooding it with machina and inspecting every inch from the thousands of interlinked microchips to the surprisingly powerful transmitter that outstrips the Universal Transmitter the system gave her years ago.
Realising it will take more than a glance to fully understand the machine, Emily settles down beside it. There are several different thods for blocking signals linked together, with so designed to flood nearby space with a tsunami of oscillating white noise, while others search out ssages being transmitted nearby and draw them to The Blade like iron to a magnet. A few of the more complex systems target the information bands publicly used by The Network, sending out a powerful dummy broadcast that drowns out any other data being transmitted from nearby.
Over a day after the ship has left Xlanax, Emily rises from her seated position beside the jamming array with a clear idea of how to best use it in the coming days. She sends a ssage to Lethia on the bridge with a wave of machina, asking her to turn a blind eye and ask Silvia if she’s concerned about what she’s about to do, before sending several signals to the jamr and activating it.
Arcs of charge leap between the machine’s main body and its orbiting rings, and it begins to hum with the buzz of a thousand signals that ring irritatingly inside Emily’s head, joining her incessant chorus of counting voices, before she steps out of the room and closes the insulated door behind her.
Perfect. Now, whenever anyone within this splinter fleet tries to send a ssage back to the main fleet, I’ll be alerted, and it will be frozen, awaiting my permission to transmit.
Emily dedicates a few spare threads to listen for and authorise ssages, ensuring normal communications won’t be interrupted and arouse suspicion, before heading off towards the crew’s quarters, where she can feel her daughter and apprentice’s energy signatures. She stops before a private room’s door and raises a hand to knock, sensing a sixth phase signature within reaching out to check who she is before it opens to let her in.
She steps in and sees Pod lying on the floor, each of his limbs pinned by four miniature fox cubs as Silica sits on his chest with her head raised proudly. Rotwin is seated nearby, watching them with what Emily thinks is an equally proud expression.
“Do I want to ask?” Emily questions, stepping in and letting the door shut behind her.
“Your daughter ntioned the ability to duplicate herself, so I offered to help guide her in how to coordinate attacks with her creations,” Rotwin explains, as Silica releases her poor victim and recalls her clones into the mass of her tail, regaining so of her spent mana. “I happen to have a fair bit of experience leading my pack.”
“I see. Thank you.”
“It’s no trouble. She’s a delight to teach.”
“So I’ve been told.” Emily reaches down to pat her daughter’s head affectionately as the not-so-little fox pads up to push herself between her mother’s legs and take a new seat.
“Are you just here to collect them, or can I help you with sothing else?” the chiric hound asks with an inquisitive tilt of his head. “I’d be happy to watch the little one for longer if you were worried about imposing; it’s been so long since my pack’s had a new cub to raise.”
“That’s quite all right, I’m grateful you kept her entertained while I familiarised myself with the ship, but I do intend to take her with . As for if you could help
with sothing else, I’d like to ask you sothing that may seem a little presumptuous.”
“Go on,” Rotwin encourages, his ears folding in intrigue.
“I couldn’t help but overhear part of your conversation with the Captain back on Xlanax,” Emily begins. “You wouldn’t happen to have been given low grade essences in place of mid grade after the slave sale, would you?”
“Yes, I was,” the hound growls, breaking eye contact as if in sha instead of anger.
“Were you given ten? I’m intrigued by the exchange between grades.”
“Ah, yes, I was.” His raised fur lowers, the tension in his haunches relaxing. “It’s not a fully equal exchange, since mid grade essences are the best cultivation resource for a sixth phase such as myself, but there’s roughly the sa level of energy in ten low grade essences as one mid. He also allowed
five spirit essences, the fully qi-based variant, to help balance the slightly unfair exchange.”
“Thank you for sating my curiosity,” Emily says, nodding in understanding. “In return, would you like
to brew those essences into a more efficient elixir for you to consu?”
“If you could, I would leap at the offer, but isn’t that in the realm of mages?”
“Yes.” Emily lets her mana free, projecting both of her energy signatures at once and watching the hound’s jaw drop in shock. “And alchemy is one of my specialties.”
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