ExSol Book1 Ch7

Miya had already docked Titan and changed out of her combat uniform in an abandoned locker room before her uncle finally called her back. She'd passed by a terrible scene on the way into the city's main Mech bays. Huge swaths of the industrial district were either in ruins or swarming with Militia soldiers and emergency crews. It was like the attack from Talon all over again, except this time it was more chaotic, there was more fear and anger in the air. People weren't exhausted and sad, they were panicked and irritated.

"Oi, Naz?" Wasseim spoke first as Naz answered the call. He had a bit of a ghostly pallor to his face.

"My Uncle, or a flickering spectre?" Naz asked with a playful smile.

"Uh, s'me." Wasseim answered, clearly not getting the joke. "Listen, m'with the GovGen in room C-25, swing by when ya can."

Miya scowled at that. In the middle of the aftermath of a massive Hallucian attack, why would their Uncle and the Governor General need to see her? "What's this about?" she asked.

Wasseim's eyes flickered upwards, over the top of the camera. He was glancing at someone else in the room, the Governor General herself, no doubt. "Jus' debriefin'. Gonna chisel out a def plan fer the city. Gon' need you'n Titan more'n ever, now."

"We can't do that over a connection? What's going on, old man?" Miya pressed him.

Wasseim frowned at her for a second, then looked up again. The connection's audio cut out for a second as Wasseim muted himself so that he could argue with the other person or people in the room. "Miya, c'mon, not now. Anytime but now, 'kay?" he said as he turned the audio back on.

"Our arrival, imminent," Naz assured him.

"I'll send ya a ride, trains're down. Glad yer safe, by the way, kiddos." Wasseim tried to smile, but the expression wilted, and died, replaced by a pained awkwardness. He cut the connection before Miya could yell at him.

"What the fuck was that about? This is a trap." Miya fumed internally, fear and panic rising within her.

"No Trap. A vortex, pulling us. To bypass, we dive towards. Our momentum, assisted by treacherous gravity." Naz replied, images and memories of the math behind gravitational slingshots appearing in their mind for an instant.

"Naz, that's not how the real world works. If we want to avoid a trap, we just don't walk into it." Miya pleaded with her.

"I have words for Miss Yamane. Marielle's fate, imperiled. Trust me, sister." Naz assured her, and as much as Miya wanted to fight, she couldn't. Naz was stronger than she was right now, and besides, Miya didn't have an actual plan, or an idea of what they'd actually do if they didn't go to see Wasseim and Himiko. Naz had a clear vision of her talking to Himiko and coming to an agreement. The city needed the two of them, it needed Titan. Miya's agitation and fear faded into the background as Naz met up with the driver who'd been assigned to take them to the state building.

The driver wasn't from the militia, and he didn't try to talk to her. He took her to the state building, and just sort of solemnly nodded at her as he stopped the rover. "Unseen blessings, protection in our darkest," Naz touched his arm and smiled at him before she got out. The driver gave her a look of utter bafflement and didn't say anything. He waited just long enough for her to get away from the rover and then drove off without responding. Naz paid the man no heed, and headed into the state building.

The building was in lockdown, and though there weren't many soldiers and security officers milling about, every single one that Naz walked past asked to see her credentials. Room C-25 was apparently the Governor General's primary conference room, so it was little surprise that Miya's guess as to who they were seeing was correct. There were two guards standing in front of the conference room doors openly carrying weapons, which was unusual in Abrandia. These two were the first who didn't check her credentials, one of them knocked on the door as she spotted Naz, and then opened it when she got close. "They're expecting you."

Naz walked past the agitated guards into the conference room. Her uncle Wasseim was there, talking with an angry, stoic Governor General. The conversation ended abruptly as Naz entered. All five people turned towards her, Himiko, her bodyguard, Wasseim, and two members of the Militia. The increased security was a bit stifling, but in light of the recent attack, it made sense, at least.

"Have a seat, Captain Nazmiya, we'll address you shortly," the Governor General spoke to her curtly and with a dirty look.

"The fate of my beloved... shortly?" Naz asked, walking over to the indicated chair but not sitting. She met Himiko's gaze with a patient smile.

Rage simmered in Himiko's eyes for a moment. She stared at Naz, her lip curling, her knuckles tensing. "Alright, Captain," she hissed. "Let's just skip straight to the part where you tell me what bereaved hole Marielle slithered into so we can scrape her out of it."

"Ay, GovGen, back a notch," Wasseim interrupted her, a grimace on his face. "I'm sure Naz' in th' dark jus' as--"

"No. My beloved and I, connected. Innocent. Persecution, unjustified." Naz spoke even as Wasseim's eyes went wide and he gestured for her to stop talking.

"Naz, what are you doing, we can't just... please, listen to Uncle, stop." Miya's panicked thoughts rose to the surface but Naz defeated them.

"Un-hecking-believable." Himiko covered her face with her palm and leaned back in her chair. "Officer, place the Captain under arrest." There was a brief moment of stillness, and then one of the militia officers took a step towards Nazmiya

"Th'heck wit' that!" Wasseim yelled, kicking his chair backwards as he rose to his feet. "GovGen, Abrandia needs Titan. Arrestin' Naz'd be a knell. Put foam n'Hallu's mouth."

"I am the Governor hecking General of this city, Knight Major and you will use my full title." Himiko snapped. Her hand clenched into a fist and she trembled in rage. "I will not be putting Hallu sympathizers into the cockpit of an Abrandian Mech after we just lost half of our defenses to Talon and then half of what's left to the Hallucians. What are you waiting for, Officer?"

"Sorry, Naz," the officer murmured, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"No. Disregard that." Wasseim pulled his sidearm, and aimed it at Himiko's bodyguard. "Arrest Miko. Sidelinin' Titan ain't an option."

"Wasseim you slimy little shitball, this is not funny. You... You're actually trying to throw a cou--"

"Nah. I don' wanna run the city, Miko, I'm jus' protectin' it."

"To hell you are. One of you sloths shoot this treasonous swine, now!" Himiko shouted, and a moment of tension passed through the room.

"Ay! Gun away, now!" Wasseim shouted at the bodyguard as his hand twitched towards his firearm.

"KniMaj, this is right hecked," a nervous Militia member called out, pulling her own sidearm.

"Shoot him!" Himiko shrieked. When nothing happened for a moment, she stood up, grabbing at something on the back of her bodyguard's shoulder.

"Miko, no!!"

There was a flurry of motion. An impossibly loud sound thundered right in her ears. Something hot and wet struck her face. Naz yelped and dropped to her knees, dizzy and disoriented.

"Heck, Heck!" Wasseim roared. "No, no, no, she's okay, ya? Stop that bleedin' ya sloths!"

"Sister... what have I done?" Naz reeled in horror. She'd caused this.

"No, I can fix this, let me just... Uncle will..." Miya tried to reassure her, but Naz' terror engulfed her, consumed her like a roaring blaze. It burned her to ashes.

"Naz?" She didn't answer. Miya's thoughts rang out in silence. She stared at her hands, and saw that they were streaked with blood. "Naz, please!"

"Oi! Naz!" Wasseim was there in front of her, shaking her by the shoulder. "Y'okay?"

"I don't know what just happened to Naz..." Miya murmured, trembling in fear. Naz wasn't supposed to just vanish. Naz was always there, she was normally in control.

"Shock. She'll be back. Y'with me, Miya? Not hurt?" Wasseim asked, giving her a little shake and looking her in the eyes.

"I'm... I'm alright. What just..." Miya touched her face. She was shaking horribly but she didn't feel hurt. The blood on her face wasn't hers. She rose to her feet and looked around the room.

Himiko was on the floor with a hole through her neck. The bodyguard was lying next to her, breathing in wet gasps, his fingers twitching and searching for a firearm that wasn't there. A Militia officer was kneeling next to Himiko, trying to administer first aid to a corpse even as the bodyguard struggled to cling to life. The Militia officer whose blood had splattered all over Miya's face was on the floor beside her, lying very still.

"KniMaj, what just happened?" voices came from behind them, and Miya saw another three soldiers enter the room with guns drawn.

"KniMaj, she was gonna shoot ya, I had t--" the officer kneeling next to Himiko pleaded as she applied pressure to her neck.

"Right through the neck? Reaver's tits, Yale, y'hecked up, don't gimmie this... ugh." Wasseim groaned in frustration. "GovGen tried t'sideline Titan. Couldn't let her," he addressed the three who'd just entered the room. They looked at one another, clearly not fond of the explanation. "Someone get me on the emerg 'cast. Gotta announce what's goin' on, asap."

"R-Right, KniMaj." One of them ran off while the other two milled about anxiously.

"Give'er up, Yale, she's dead as tits," Wasseim murmured after a minute or so. The sheepish militia officer rose to her feet, her hands soaked in Himiko's blood. She looked down at the bodyguard and jolted in fright as he let out a soft deathrattle. She twitched and made a half-movement to start trying to help him, too, but she stopped herself. Too late for either of them.

Miya touched her face slowly, feeling the blood on her cheeks again. It was cooling down quickly. It wasn't her blood, but somehow she couldn't shake a horrific feeling that it was Naz' blood. She squeezed her eyes shut and called out to her sister again. Dead silence.

"I have to do this on my own...?" Miya tried to focus herself. She did her best to remain as calm as she could. There were two of them, so if Naz couldn't handle this, she could. There had to be some advantages to this state of theirs, right?

"S'okay. Sitch was hecked. No blame," Wasseim said to Yale with a heavy sigh, rubbing his forehead. "Jus gotta 'nounce martial law. Not surprisin' after what Hallu jus pulled, ya? Shouldn't be--"

All of their terminals buzzed simultaneously, silencing Wasseim. When nobody answered it, Miya went for hers. "It's an emergency broadcast," she announced to the room.

"Wuh? But... Who?" Wasseim asked. Miya shrugged, and, when nobody stopped her, she played it.

"Citizens of Abrandia, I have grave news." Shayala's voice came through, accompanied by a picture of her standing against a wall with Abrandia's emblem. It was clearly a bit of a hurried setup, her hair was damp and unkempt, but it looked official. "Moments ago, Knight Major Wasseim assassinated our Governor General in a blatant attempt at a coup. As her legal successor, I am officially denouncing Wasseim as a traitor, and I beseech all members of Militia command to report to my office imme--"

"How the hecking tits is she--" Wasseim cried out, and then looked over at Himiko's body. "Room's bugged. 'Course is. Sibs, w'gotta move. Gotta pull Shay's stinger 'fore she ruins alla us."

"Uncle, what am I supposed to...?" Miya asked, following close behind.

"We'll get ya a safehouse, Miya. Need ya in Titan, s'all that'll keep Hallu's hyenas away."

"So let's go there now, Titan has rations, I can live there for up to two weeks." She followed Wasseim out of the conference room even as he was furiously contacting people on his terminal.

"She's cuttin' me outta th' system, Yale, gimmie yer terminal," Wasseim growled.

"Uncle!"

"Mebbe, Miya. S'a real obvious move. Good ambush. We'll scout 'er out first," Wasseim answered absently.

"KniMaj!" a voice came through a megaphone as they approached the door to the courtyard. "Come out, show us yer hands!"

"Oh fer hecks- Holden, Shay's gonna meadow Titan y'ding-dong! Y'wanna shoot at Hallu Mechs wit yer rifle?" Wasseim roared.

"Wait, she's gonna what?" the voice shouted back.

"Alright, Yale, take Miya out a side alley. Get 'er t'housin' unit 34952. I gotta deal wit'is." Wasseim holstered his pistol and opened the door with his hands raised.

"Uncle--" Miya called out, extending her hand. Wasseim waved dismissively at her and walked fearlessly out into the courtyard, leaving her with the four other Militia officers.

"Captain..." The blood-spattered officer grabbed Miya's wrist gently. Yale, that was what her uncle had been calling her. "We should go. Wolbrecht, back me up?"

"Yeah... let's... let's go..." Miya murmured as she watched her uncle walk out into the courtyard, yelling back and forth with whomever this Holden person was. It struck Miya in that moment how few of her fellow Militia members she actually knew. Her Uncle knew everybody's name and she knew only a few of her fellow pilots. One fewer now, with Analu dead. Naz knew some of them, but her memories, her instincts were gone, and Miya had to struggle to grasp at them. Had Naz known Yale's name? Maybe...

She followed Yale and Wolbrecht, not slowing down even as the distant percussion of gunfire thundered behind them.

***

No ExSol set up camp directly outside of any gateway, except, of course, for the Earth gateway in the center of Legion. The ANs used the gateways regularly, and attempts to completely stop AN traffic through them... did not go well. Dawn had always thought it odd, with the ANs locked in an never-ending war as they were, that the gateways were always completely void of any permanent military presence. Perhaps the ANs and the precursors had been bound by strict rules of engagement and tampering with the gateways was off-limits. Was that common courtesy, or a case of mutually assured destruction?

The Reunification Commission's forward camp wasn't directly outside the gate, but it was visible as soon as Dusk set foot on the orange-coloured rocky soil of Virsalla. Much of the region of Virsalla surrounding the gateways was rocky spires, ridges and canyons, but the Macau gate was located upon a massive, flattened plateau with ramps and pathways winding off in several directions. The RC had set up in a canyon that ran... northward? Dawn checked their navigation. Yes, northward.

Dawn approached the camp, transmitting their identification. For a temporary camp, the RC had set up an impressive perimeter. Six of their best Mechs patrolled the area and it looked like two more were inside. Beyond that, there were three dozen emplacements and enough infrastructure to repair, service, refuel, and rearm an army. Dawn wasn't kept up-to-date with what the RC's long-term plans were, but they knew taking the city of Legion was part of them. They simply hadn't expected something of this magnitude so quickly; The Reunification Commission must have set out not long after Dawn had left for Ishtar.

"Agent Dawn, nice to see you. Agent Tae certainly doesn't beat around the bush." One of Dawn's colleagues, a Tempest pilot named Zula, hailed them. His mech, Umbrass, was the heaviest assault model the RC had. It stood in the middle of the camp, a hulking behemoth painted black as night. If he was here, it was to break the Virsallan League's spine.

"Agent Tae only knows how to shoot things, bushes or otherwise," Dawn remarked dryly. "Yvaim called Dawn an enemy combatant, what changed?"

"Zula made... an operational choice." The man chuckled in his deep baritone voice. "Scouts located a convoy going from Legion to Abrandia. For a reason that we never did discover, they ran a minimal protective detail upon it. The declaration of war came earlier than expected. Agent Tae was to update you, but Zula understands that Agent Dawn missed the meetup."

"A local Abrandian delinquent took issue with Dawn's work. A cascading comedy of errors ensued," Dawn said with a sigh.

"Zula will be present for the full debriefing. For now, the new Field Marshal wishes to see you. Zula will inform her of your arrival." Dawn acknowledged Zula with a nod and closed the connection. He sent them directions for one of the outside Mech bays that were set up near the middle of the camp. As they approached the bay, another connection request came from an administrative channel, and Dawn set Dusk into a passive stance as they accepted it.

"Marshal," Dawn intoned, bowing their head immediately. Whomever this new Marshal was, they wanted to make a good impression.

The answer Dawn got was not an official acknowledgement, but instead a derisive snort as Emilia's face appeared on Dawn's screen. "Wow, I actually wasn't expecting you. I didn't remember your given name, Sewer," she chortled, using the nickname she'd given Dawn over the years she'd spent tormenting them back on Neo-Venus.

"M-Miss... Emilia...?" The words fell out of Dawn's mouth as the blood drained from their face. What was she doing here? She was the president's daughter. Dawn hadn't thought she was anywhere in the command structure. Dawn had thought her a spoiled child torturing Dawn out of boredom, apathy, and as a way of lashing out at her father. She wasn't supposed to be here. For years, Dawn had clung to the idea that once field operations began in full, they'd be engulfed in work and assignments, and they'd never see her again. The sight and sound of her struck a terror into them that they didn't even fully understand and they shuddered, trembling, afraid, tiny.

"Didn't expect me? Yeah, heck you too. I work hard for the Reunification Commission and I earned my command, you little shit. You know what? I have time right now to teach you a lesson in respect. Come see me in my private quarters, Sewer, that's an order." She sneered angrily, her temper no less vicious and sudden than it had been back on Neo-Venus. Her condescending superiority no less toxic. The implication in her tone was exactly the same, the outcome would be exactly the same. Nothing would change. Dawn was trapped, pulled inescapably towards the horror of their tormentor once again.

"S'how it works, Sunset. Normal world. Yer boss tells ye t'do sumthin hecked up, y'jus' tell 'em no." The memory of Miss Sahara's voice in Dawn's mind was a liferaft in the maelstrom. They clung to it for all they were worth.

"... No," Dawn whispered.

"No?" Emilia's eyes went wide on the screen, her expression showing the disbelief that Dawn felt. They couldn't say no, they couldn't resist; Emilia had those five words. As if the mere thought summoned them, Emilia spoke. "Knight, Seven, Tertiar--"

"NO!!!" Dawn shrieked in terror as Emilia began to recite. Without even a second to think it through, pure adrenaline drove Dawn's fist into the display screen with every ounce of strength in their body. Pain bloomed out of their hand as the screen, speakers, and several of Dawn's fingers crunched under the blow. Emilia's voice cut out into garbled nonsense, allowing Dawn to shake off the hypnotic trance before it could settle onto them. An instant later, Dawn realized what they had done. They had damaged RC property, disobeyed a superior officer, and Dusk had other ways to play that accursed, suffocating audio into Dawn's ears. The five words that would incapacitate them and subjugate them to all of Emilia's torments. She would no doubt be even more vicious to punish Dawn for this act of rebellion.

Slowed down by what felt like several broken fingers, Dawn flared on their Zenith as bright and as hot as it would go. It felt like a miniature sun burned in their chest. Dusk's cockpit hissed as it lowered the temperature to well below freezing. They were still so hot that it burned. The reactor flickered and displayed 100% efficacy. Dawn had never seen any number above 80 before now.

Dawn took Dusk's controls. With no serious plan in mind, they activated Dusk's stealth field and ran towards the edge of the camp, pulling themselves forward with the gravity manipulators. Dusk was fast. Faster than it had ever been before. An instant later, an X-ray scanner painted a target on them, cutting through the stealth field. Following that, connection requests and overrides started coming in, cutting off some of the control Dawn had of their communications systems. But, not even the RC was paranoid enough to put total remote system overrides in their Mechs that the ANs could exploit. Dawn started writing a custom subroutine for Dusk; they had precious little time. A direct laser connection pinged one of Dusk's communications arrays, and Emilia's voice came through another speaker located up near the top of Dusk's cockpit.

"Knight, Seven, Tertiary, Gray, Phil--"

Dawn executed their subroutine. Dusk's right arm came upward and inward. The Mech shuddered as the vibroblade stabbed into its own torso, assaulting Dawn with two dozen warning sirens and damage reports. Like most Mechs, Dusk had a series of subroutines written to execute a wide range of basic motions like walking so that the pilot didn't have to manually control every single step when it wasn't necessary. Dusk had no such subroutine for stabbing itself in the torso, so Dawn had been forced to guess and improvise to make the Mech actually do it. They'd had no real idea how successful they'd be at disabling their communication array. They did have a very real idea of how easily they could have accidentally detonated ammunition stores, destroyed vital systems, or just simply stabbed themselves. Those fears had been nothing before the terror that Emilia instilled within them. They would not go back to her. They couldn't.

The act of self-destruction had cut off Emilia's voice. The horrible clawing words of the hypnotic trigger hadn't been fully completed, and Dawn numbly dismissed the innumerable warnings and alerts that were flashing across Dusk's instruments, including two target locks from nearby Mechs.

Dusk had stopped near the edge of the camp, but not gotten anywhere near out of scanner or weapon's range. With communications down, Dawn had no idea what the RC soldiers and Emilia were thinking. The slow approach of the two Mechs combined with the fact that they hadn't yet opened fire on Dusk suggested that they didn't know what was happening with Dawn, either. Well, that made three of them.

Overcome with a surreal stillness that lay overtop their terror like the surface of a frozen lake, Dawn wrote a subroutine to extract the blade from Dusk's chest, and then, keyed in a firing solution for Dusk's missiles.

It was possible that Dawn had destroyed enough of Dusk's power grid to render the heavy plasma caster inoperable and only a full diagnostic would tell them whether trying to fire it would make the Mech explode or meltdown or something else equally catastrophic. But even in the case that Dusk's power grid was totally scrapped, the missiles should still fire.

Dawn executed the commands, and Dusk pulled the blade out, then turned around, facing the camp and the two slowly approaching Mechs. There was a moment where the two Mechs flinched in the way that machines did, with a soft, alarmed tapping at the controls.

Every single one of the thirty four missiles in Dusk's missile bay streaked outwards. A small fortune's worth of explosive ordnance targeted everything and nothing, indiscriminately bombarding soldiers, civilians, vehicles, engineers, material storages, the commander's quarters.

Dawn didn't stand and wait to see what the results of their attack would be. People would definitely die, that thought slumbered at the back of Dawn's mind out of reach. The camp was well-defended, but there was no real protection from a missile attack from such short range, from within their own perimeter, from one of their own.

Instead of waiting, Dawn set Dusk into a full-on run, assisted by the Mech's gravity manipulation. They clung to the hope that the violence of their strike would disorient the two Mechs long enough to get Dusk away from their targeting lasers. Once that was done, there'd be no catching them. Dusk was probably the fastest Mech on the planet and it was hard to track through the stealth field. A vibroblade stab to the chest would be an impediment, but maybe not enough of one. Hopefully not enough of one.

Shortly after Dusk cleared the edge of the camp, the Mech lurched, and another warning joined the half-dozen others that were intermittently alerting Dawn to the nature of extensive damage that the machine had suffered. Before Dawn could do more than glance at it, Dusk pitched forward, falling. Dawn instinctively reached for the gravity manipulation controls and counteracted the planet's gravitational pull on the Mech, turning the stumble and fall into an awkard mid-air twirl with a gentle upwards trajectory.

The power grid is surging. Dawn must keep an eye on all basic functions.

They managed to bring Dusk out of the twirl and back down to the ground. They even successfully landed on their feet.

They checked their rear cameras quickly and saw panic, fires, and smoldering, blackened metal from the missile strike. The three Mechs from the perimeter patrol were closing the distance. Somehow, Dawn had managed to blindly run towards a gap in the patrol routes, and they thanked their luck as they continued to run down the length of the canyon before the Mechs could get into weapon's range.

Dawn didn't pause to think about the destruction they'd just wrought, the deaths of their comrades, commanders, the closest people Dawn had ever had to friends, unless they counted... the crass young woman?

As Dusk ran, reactor warnings started to light up Dawn's displays. The failures were starting to cascade as they demanded more and more energy from the Mech's suffering power grid. They didn't get far before the tears started to flow, joined shortly thereafter by gasping sobs.

What had they just done?

***

After taking a moment to appreciate the sight of Jeffrin being led around on a leash by Petri and Allag, Robin went straight for the tent he shared with Nina. He plugged his hand terminal into a larger computer propped up on the desk. He took a deep breath to settle his nerves, then opened the map.

As soon as he did, something hit him. He yelped in fright and recoiled. Jeffie squeaked at him from his lap, looking up at him curiously. Robin sighed and gave Nina's kitten some pets, which made him curl up in his lap and fall asleep. His nerves settled, he took a closer look at the map he'd downloaded.

It was a map of the surrounding terrain, covering probably an 800 kilometer radius from where they were. This one had a variety of different pins and labels on it than the normal maps. Different types of facilities.

Tragically, he couldn't actually open up these pinned locations to get a more detailed manifest. They'd have to do another network splice for that. But he had plenty to decipher.

Robin picked one pinned facility at random and zoomed in. It was about 100 kilometers south of Legion and it wasn't too far away from them, either.

Robin started transcribing the Precursor text into his analysis module. There was no way he was going to fully translate it. Maybe Professor Lapilae could have. But he could glean some meaning, he was sure of that.

He quickly found the Precursor word for Pulse, the Ascension. That could have meant a number of things. The Precursors listed the Ascensions widely across their systems. It had been as important to them as it was to the ExSols.

Robin poured over the text for hours. He found a word fragment he was familiar with. He managed to connect the context with the text around it and became certain it meant 'person.'

Robin sat back in his chair and stared at the program interface plastered on his screen. The word 'person' in ExSol sat there, looking back at him. He laughed.

Heck. This is harder than I thought it'd be.

"S'funny, Butterfly?" Nina's voice made Robin jump. She entered the tent holding a plastic bladder filled with a dark liquid.

"Oh. Nothing. Just working on that stuff I got from the network splice." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. He'd been staring at the screen for hours and gotten two words.

Nina glanced at his setup as she sucked on the bladder's nozzle loudly. The plastic scrunched as it compressed under the suction.

"Weird place fer a 'cursor 'stallation," she murmured.

"Huh?" Robin looked back at the screen. 'Person.'

Nina tapped on the map, totally ignoring Robin's language analysis module. "Looks underground. AN's don' normally do subterr."

"They... don't?" Robin blinked and squinted at the map. The location pin was significantly lower on the z axis relative to the terrain than any of the others were.

"Nah. AN's move volume. S'a speed thing. S'all ground level n'orbital. Not much subterr. Slow, gettin stuff up 'n down a tunnel," Nina explained in between long pulls of her drink.

Robin exhaled and fidgeted. He squinted at the facility. He'd just picked it at random from the ones on his map, there was nothing actually special about it that he could tell, except for what Nina had just pointed out.

"Maybe I should just go look and see what it is," he said finally. "It'd give me a better sense of why it wouldn't have been listed in the normal maps."

"Y'wanna take a look tomorrow?" Nina asked.

"... Really? Is that safe?"

Nina shrugged. "Dunno. S'portant t'ya tho, yea?"

"Well... I mean..." Robin fidgeted and blushed. "It could be like, a really important archaeological site. I could write a paper on this. It's... kind of half the reason I'm out here, you know."

"Yer sayin m'only half the reason y'came, huh?" Nina's voice grew dark and she raised an eyebrow that promised consequences.

"... The archaeological find is kind of one third of the reason I'm out here, you know," Robin corrected himself.

"Y'think seventeen percent diff's gonna spare ya a spankin, then yer really not as bright as I thought, Butterfly." Nina shook her head.

"It's like, ten percent of the reason--"

"Ten percent, s'too risky. Can't go fer that." Nina clucked her tongue disapprovingly at him.

"Oh my gosh, Miss Nina!" Robin whined, his shoulders slumping in defeat. Knowing Nina, she'd decided on an actual right number and he just hadn't guessed it correctly.

Nina laughed at him and ruffled his hair. "We'll go. I'll clear with the Chief. Be a fun lil field trip, yea? Go n'dig up some useless junk fer yer smart boy paper."

"... You're so awesome, Nina." Robin felt himself tearing up a little. He wasn't sure what this incredible, fearless bitch really saw in him. How she just trusted him so implicitly.

"Miss Nina," she corrected him sternly. "... and yea, yer heckin' right I am." She grappled him in a headlock from her standing position and rocked him back and forth in a bizarre facsimile of a hug.

"That's def a spankin, tho," she said as she let him go.

"Can it wait until after we check this place out? I don't wanna drive on a sore ass."

"'Solutely not. S'the point."

"... Yes, Miss Nina."

***

"Got eyes on the Hallu Mechs, KniMaj, ain't good." Calabri's soft voice buzzed in Wasseim's earpiece.

"Sum 'er up," Wasseim responded, poking his head up to get a glimpse of the state building looming ahead.

"They buzzin' straight t'ward most hecked section of the wall. Guess they know," she reported. "All four'a em, some ground troops too. 'S'all Hallu's got, ye? I ain't holdin' em off wit' jus' Shiv, y'know?"

"Ye, ye. Be ready t'just slow 'em down; We're tryna get Titan out there." When the lines of the conflict had rapidly been drawn with Himiko's death, Wasseim had received support from ninety percent of the Militia. Fortunately, this included every last one of the Mech pilots, which wasn't a surprise; he worked with them much more closely than much of the rest of the Militia.

Unfortunately, his support from the civilian population was almost the total inverse, with Shayala successfully painting him as a wannabe dictator attempting to institute a coup. This had resulted in Shayala controlling all of the Mechs and the support staff for them. Wasseim controlling all the ExSol's who could actually pilot said Mechs had resulted in a bizarre standstill that had paralyzed the city's defenses. It had taken some work, but he'd managed to get Calabri out there in her Mech, Shiv, which could never hold off a concerted attack with their northeastern wall in shambles.

"How's progress on Titan, Wolbrecht?" Wasseim asked, pulling his team into the call.

"Slow. The reptiles set explosives on the front entrance to the hangar. Wolbrecht's dead," Yale responded.

"Reavin' seriously? Shayala's vipers're really tryin' t'take the city down rather'n hold it. Wait, s'Miya okay?" Wasseim asked, his heart skipping a beat.

"I'm fine. And I'll be happy to disintegrate Shayala and her cronies if I can just get into the cockpit," Miya responded on the same channel.

"Ah... and, err... Naz?" Wasseim asked, switching to a private channel.

"I don't rightly know, but I can handle this, Uncle," Miya replied with a venom born out of equal parts frustration and disdain. Wasseim grimaced at that, but closed the channel and didn't push it further. Miya worried him, or rather, her temper did. Normally Naz' presence reassured him but she'd retreated, or vanished, or something. He wasn't sure what that even meant, or how it worked, and apparently neither did Miya. If he'd had more options, he wouldn't have even wanted Miya in a cockpit. Putting traumatized people into a cockpit was always a bad idea. But Tempest was a very rare Ascension, and his nieces had an exceptionally powerful variant of it. She was probably one of only a handful of ExSol's on the entire Network who even could pilot Titan.

"Train's comin, KniMaj," Makoto, one of the commandos next to him, said softly.

"Goin dark a min, hold on y'all," Wasseim said on all his channels, and then muted them. Wasseim and three of his special operations people were hunched down next to the tracks of the MagLev train about half a kilometer away from the nearest station. Shayala's techs had activated enough of the heavy defenses around the state building to effectively fortify it against approach from the streets unless Wasseim wanted to throw bodies into a frontal attack. He obviously wasn't about to do that, so they'd hatched their current plan to get a proper team into the state building so that they could capture Shayala. It was a terrible plan, and Wasseim couldn't believe he'd approved it, or that he'd put himself on the team.

I'm too old to be doing this shit myself.

"Y'sure we can do this, Koto?" Wasseim asked as the train rounded the bend and drew closer. This train ran right past the state building, and this section of the rails had enough of an S curve to it that it had to slow down. Supposedly, it'd be slow enough for them to jump onto it. From there, they could hide between the cars to avoid the cameras

"Did something like back when we were on M'Lahsa. You remember that job where we--" he trailed off as the train passed underneath them, and he leapt. Wasseim grimaced, counted the seconds, and then went himself.

He hit the train, bouncing and rolling ineffectively, but his magnetic grapples deployed properly, latching onto the roof. His body yanked on the tether cords as his momentum violently tried to match up with the train's. He slid and rolled a good few meters before the cords brought him to a stop. He reoriented himself, keeping his head low, and then disengaged the electromagnets so that the cords could retract. He glanced to the side and saw the member of the team that had jumped with him, Delilah. She raised two fingers in acknowledgement to let him know she was okay, and fluidly slipped down into the gap between the two train cars. Wasseim joined her, deploying his grapples again to keep himself in place, and then placed a call to Makoto and his partner.

"Y'good?" he asked on the group channel.

"Think I might have sprained my ankle, but it's not too bad," Makoto responded. Deliliah and Tiq followed up with similar comments about minor scrapes, and Wasseim left it at that as the train approached the state building. Fortunately, when they jumped off, they were going to drift straight down onto the roof of the state building with anti-grav parachutes, so the landing would be a little easier. Wasseim monitored all the radio chatter he was privy to as the train drew closer for signs that the team had been spotted. None came.

"'Sault team, yer good t'start the 'version." Wasseim murmured softly, opening a channel to the field commander. Within seconds of giving the command, a deep percussion was audible from across the cityscape as Wasseim's militia started firing rockets at the state building's perimeter defense. It would take them all day to make any progress without a more committed assault, or without heavier hardware, but hopefully it would be enough to draw the attention of the people watching the cameras. A moment later, a one-minute timer sent by Makoto started to count down.

"Ay, KniMaj, we've secured the hangar. Give us an hour, we'll have Titan's docking clamps dis-- Uhh..." A heavy clanking of machinery sounded faintly in the back. "She's... how'd she get the clamps disengaged?"

"Titan's ready to break some spines, Knight Major. I've got the state building in my sights. Should I buzz the hive with a few autocannon rounds?" Miya's voice came on, connecting to his terminal through Titan's comm hub. Her voice had an eagerness and mania to it that Wasseim was well acquainted with. Right here and now, it terrified him.

"Miya, If ya fire one round into a civ buildin', I'll..." Panic and rage gripped him. He didn't really believe that Miya would actually do something like that, but it was a horrible combination of unfunny and poorly timed. The timer beeped, it was time to jump.

"Just hold yer fire, I'll give ya orders in a sec," Wasseim growled hastily, and jumped off the moving train. The four of them cleared the tracks and for an instant, plummeted towards the ground before their anti-grav parachutes switched on. Anti-gravity technology barely functioned without an Ascension, but the engines strapped to their chests were able to push against their body weight enough to slow their falls without the limitations of a fabric parachute until the battery burned out. As they drifted towards the roof, Wasseim looked over and could just barely see the imposing silhouette of Titan emerge from the city's Mech bays about one kilometer away.

"KniMaj, Shay's makin' a statement." Someone chirped in Wasseim's ear as the four of them landed on a slanted section of the roof and secured themselves. Wasseim waved at his team to gather around, and opened up the transmission feed he was being linked to.

"... A heavy heart that I make this announcement, but the actions of Knight-Major Wasseim have made this outcome inevitable. I'm sure you've all seen the scanner reports, you know the Hallucian military is at our doorstep, and we are in no shape to fend them off. I have decided to surrender this city to--"

"You're what??" Wasseim shouted. He trembled in anger for a moment, then opened his channel to Miya. "Miya, roll Titan out, gift a scare t'Hallu." He switched over to a wide command channel. "We not quittin' on Abrandia. Make it clear."

As he'd been speaking. his team had gathered around him, stoic, ready to move. "Right, let's snag Shae's slimy tail, she ain't gonna--"

***

Miya punched in the override codes that Marielle had given her, and the docking clamps came free, releasing Titan from its prison. She heard her babysitters stumble in confusion at how she'd done it, but she didn't care to explain. She climbed the ladder into Titan's cockpit. The Mech, her Mech, fed upon her Ascension, her Tempest, and its systems surged to life, responding to her with undying loyalty. She strapped in, ran a cursory diagnostic, and walked Titan out into the light.

She immediately received several target locks from the city's perimeter defenses, mostly stationary plasma casters. She raised Titan's arm-mounted heavy autocannon and put a slug into one, the impact shattering metal and ceramic, magnetically bottled plasma escaping containment and dispersing its heat and light out in a sad-looking fizzle. She aimed the autocannon at the other gun, and waited. Her message received, the target lock vanished. The people operating these weapons knew better than to fire at a Titan. She then turned her sights across the city towards the state building where Shayala was holed up. It was outside the optimal range of her autocannon, but it was a stationary target, and she easily drew up a firing solution with Titan's computers.

"Titan's ready to break some spines, Knight Major. I've got the state building in my sights, should I buzz the hive with a few autocannon rounds?"

"Miya, If ya fire one round into a civ buildin', I'll..." Wasseim shouted at her, and then cut off. Miya rolled her eyes. They were at war, and Shayala was risking the entire city for no reason. If a few autocannon rounds could solve the problem, then... "Just hold yer fire, I'll give ya orders in a sec," Wasseim finished, followed by a strange, overpowering sound of rushing wind. Miya frowned, not sure what her Uncle was up to. The sound grated on her nerves for several moments, and eventually she muted the channel. It sounded like her uncle had forgotten to cut the call.

"Captain, Shayala's making a statement, you might want to listen in," Yale's voice came through her personal terminal, not through Titan's speakers.

"On it," she replied, and pulled up the aforementioned statement. She listened to Shayala blather on about surrendering the city, blaming her uncle, and offering dull platitudes to the general populace. A plume of fire erupted from the roof of the state building as she listened, and she raised an eyebrow at it. If her Uncle was going to blow up the building anyway, why not let her just use the autocannon? A few seconds later, she got a connection request. It was Shayala.

"Better make it convincing, you reaving shrew. I've got a very big gun aimed right at your face," Miya said, answering the connection.

"Yes, I can see that," Shayala replied calmly. She appeared on Miya's screen alone and in a different room from the one on the broadcast; clearly that one had been pre-recorded. "Did you see that explosion just now, Captain Nazmiya? That was a trap that we set for your Uncle. He's gone, and his little uprising is over."

Miya scowled at her for a moment, cutting the connection to Shayala and unmuting her one to Wasseim. "Hey, Wasseim?" she asked. The connection was dead. It timed out. No response. She opened a wider channel even as Shayala's connection request came again. She ignored it.

"Hey, what's happened to Wasseim? I can't get a hold of him." A deafening chorus of silence and confusion answered her. Nobody knew. It was a good twenty seconds into the replies when someone speculated that he'd gone silent at the same time as the explosion on the roof of the state building. The speculation was like a knife in Miya's gut. She accepted Shayala's connection again, but this time, it was a video clip of her Uncle and four others landing on a roof that looked very much like the state building. The clip only lasted about twenty seconds before the screen went white.

"Is this proof enough for you?" Shayala asked.

Miya exhaled slowly, and targeted the state building with her disintegration beam. "Yeah. Yeah, it is," she said softly.

"Listen, Captain, part of the terms of the surrender is that we hand over Titan to the Hallucians. Please, I want you to think calmly and rationally about your next move, the city needs you to--"

Miya fired all of her weapons. The twinned lines of the disintegration beam intersected and the resulting shockwave obliterated the entire middle of the state building. The autocannon slugs ripped into the structure, shattering what was left of its infrastructure. Several missiles streaked into the gaping hole, filling it with fire and shrapnel. The entire building collapsed instantly. The connection to Shayala went dead, her face vanishing off of Miya's screen.

There was a soft rumble of collapsing masonry that echoed throughout the entire city. Everything went dead silent. Miya's breathing echoed loudly off the walls of her cockpit. Devoid of Naz, the only sound in her mind was the soft, mournful song of Tempest. Abrandia held its breath.

Eventually connection requests started to stream into Titan's communications hub. She recognized many of them, others were unknown. Slowly, she went down the list and started blacklisting senders so she wouldn't have to see them. She didn't want to talk to anybody about this. She didn't know what to do now.

She got near the end of the list of the incoming connection requests, and paused, her finger hovering above the blacklist button. This one was from Marielle.

"Hey, Naz? What's going on, kit?" Marielle's voice was concerned, and a little shaky.

"... Naz isn't here right now..." Miya replied, her voice dead and emotionless.

"Okay then, Miya? Are you alright?" Marielle didn't miss a beat.

"Wasseim is dead. I just killed Shayala."

"... Yeah. Listen, Miya, the entire leadership of the city just vanished and the Hallucians are moving in. You have two choices right now, sweetie. You can turn around, and fight off the entire Hallucian attack force by yourself, and then I'm not sure what will happen afterwards. I think that lots of people will want to put you on trial for this. Maybe the Militia will protect you, I don't know."

Miya laughed quietly. "Save the city, and then stand trial? Stand trial for what? I just... How many people has Shayala gotten killed? She was going to surrender the city, I..." She trailed off, confused and overwhelmed.

"Miya, I'm not passing judgement on you, I'm just telling you that some people won't see it that way. The other option, Miya, is that you leave. I'm going to Navann, come with me. Let the Hallucians have Abrandia for now. They won't hold it for long, they're the fox that caught the plane. The dust will settle and things will calm down."

"Go with you..." Miya said, and then laughed bitterly at the impossibility of the request. "Why? You're not my girlfriend, I don't even know where Naz is, I don't know if she'll ever be back, I..." She choked back a sob.

"Naz, please, I need you. I can't do this alone. I need Marielle's help too but without you she won't--"

"Do you really think that I don't care about you, Miya?" Marielle asked.

Miya looked at the screen. She met Marielle's eyes and blinked. The question hit her like a slap to the face. Did Marielle care about her? Was she just saying these things because of Naz? Because of Titan? Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to believe that. Maybe because Naz trusted her, and even in her absence, that rubbed off on her. Maybe... maybe she just trusted Marielle. Maybe those were her feelings. She turned Titan around, and started to walk the Mech towards the city limits. "I'll go with you," she said softly.

Marielle didn't react much, but the slight shift in body language spoke volumes. She was relieved. "I'll give you some coordinates, meet me there. Be safe, Miya."

As Miya approached the still-tattered city walls, one of the gun emplacements targeted her. The act was timid and feeble. A tiny little act of defiance. She raised Titan's heavy autocannon and shredded the emplacement effortlessly. No more target locks came, none of the city's defenses challenged her. None dared. As she got out into the field, she picked up one of the Abrandian Mechs, Shiv, and the Hallucian invasion force slowly approaching. The Hallucians hailed her, and after a brief pause, she accepted the connection.

"Titan, we--"

"Shut up. I'm leaving. If you want Titan, you'll have to salvage the wreckage after you frag me." She killed the connection before the Hallucians could respond. She raised and targeted the biggest Mech amongst the Hallucian ranks with her disintegration beam. All of them froze immediately.

Mechs were powerful on the Network largely because of their deflectors. The Ascension technology manipulated probability and space, turning hits into near-misses, drastically reducing the efficacy of slugs and plasma. Disintegration beams, though, deflectors were useless against them. It was why the finicky technology was so coveted; It was why Titan was so fearsome. The Hallucian force might be able to frag her by overwhelming her while the disintegration beam was recharging, but no matter what, her first shot would always hit hard, and none of the Hallucians wanted to throw themselves onto that blade. Miya and the Hallucians tensely pointed their weapons at one another as Titan walked out of the city, moving at an angle that kept her uncomfortably in range of the hostiles for far too long. Eventually, she left both them and the city behind, and allowed herself to relax. Marielle called her.

"Hey, you clear?" she asked.

"... Yeah, I'm clear..."

***

Vesper paced back and forth across the little room she was being confined in. She was a prisoner even if she had been told otherwise. She'd been so emotional after they'd picked her up. After Tetron's death. She hadn't expected recriminations. She hadn't expected to be put into restraints.

"Miss Tesfaye. As far as the Union is concerned, you are responsible for the theft and destruction of Serpent and the death of Officer Tetron. We want to know what on the Network you were thinking."

"I didn't force Tetron to do shit, you dumb bitch. Tetron knew how dangerous these people were. I know you saw that bereaved Mech they sent after us. Do you think these people are playing around?"

Vesper growled and shook her head. Lumi was unbelievable. If this was solely about money, they had taken that Pulse Mech mostly intact. This was about Lumi's hurt pride. She'd never liked Lumi but that animosity had evolved into burning spite.

"Hey, baby... so, uhh... We've been seeing some odd movements from Eye over the past few days."

"... Yeah, Julie. Eye's gonna muster. We've got maybe four weeks before it flattens Gray Coast."

"Vesper, will you address the council again? Your model predicted this. I can call you as an expert witness and Lumi can't stop me."

When Vesper had attended the next meeting, she'd seen the data. It was chilling to see the data points about Eye's movements so closely mirror her calculations.

"She gave this data to the enemy, remember!"

Even Lumi's admission that she had been right had been twisted into an accusation. People were still on her side but that solidarity had waivered. Some council members had taken her seriously and wanted to hear what she had to say.

... Not enough to let her out of house arrest, of course. She felt like she was being kept like a pet. Allowed out of her cage to check and adjust her code for the Union, then put away where she belonged afterwards. It was no different than working at the communications hub.

The door opened, and Julie entered timidly.

"Hey, babe." Julie smiled at her.

"Hey Julie." Vesper tried not to be too sour towards her. She was trying, bless her heart. She'd never been anything but supportive.

"So... something weird just happened." She cleared her throat as she walked up to Vesper. She raised a hand to place it on Vesper's arm, but stopped short. Vesper's heart sank. She was so touch-starved right now. She needed a hug.

"What's Eye doing now?" Vesper asked. None of the emotion she was feeling made it into her tone.

"Oh. No. It's not Eye. Well, it is. More of the same from Eye. Following the model, mostly. No, I mean something else weird happened."

"Julie, please just say it." Vesper sighed, waving her hand at the other woman. This was doing nothing to cheer her up.

"Right. Have you heard of that Mech the Abrandians made, Titan?" Julie finally got to her point.

"No. Why?" she asked.

"Well it just walked right up to Valant. Peacefully. The pilot came with some big shot tech person the Union knows. Miss... Lapi something?"

"Marielle Lapilae?" Vesper asked. She didn't know anything about what ridiculous weapons Abrandia was making these days but she had read a few of Miss Lapilae's books on Precursor technology. She'd used those books repeatedly in her models.

"Yeah! That's her. We're really hoping she'll agree to help us protect Gray Coast with that Mech. Some of us thought... I was hoping that you'd be willing to explain the situation to her."

"Explain the situation to her?" Vesper asked, confused.

"Yeah. You know. Tell her what the deal is. What's happening with ANs."

"You want me to be an in-person text message?"

"Well..." Julie coughed nervously. "That's... I mean, yeah. Some of the other council members thought Miss Lapilae might have tech-y questions and you're a tech-y person." Vesper narrowed her eyes at Julie as she spoke. "And I thought maybe you'd want to get out of here for a bit, okay?" Julie finally blurted it out.

Vesper couldn't help but feel like being sent as a messenger was just another part of a humiliation ritual that Lumi was putting her through. Still, Julie was right. She was going nuts being cooped up in this room.

"Fine. I'll go talk to her," Vesper relented.

"Nice! A rover will come pick you up in two hours or so, okay? Oh, and Titan's pilot, Nazmiya might be there, too. Be nice to her, I hear she's a bit weird." Julie smiled at her warmly.

"Show me a Mech pilot who isn't," Vesper said to herself as Julie left. With a sigh, she started gathering the things she'd need. Partway through the process, she paused and looked at herself in the mirror. She was a wreck. She looked like the prisoner that she felt like.

Vesper grabbed her flat iron and clutched it tightly. If she had to play a messenger girl, she was going to look hecking gorgeous doing it.

***

Naz murmured sleepily, reaching forward blindly. Her fingers tangled in something that felt like fingers, felt like flesh, but clearly wasn't a real hand. She recognized it because it was Marielle's hand. She squeezed it gently and pulled herself forward, slitting her eyelids open just enough to see the blurry outline of Marielle's face. She kissed her gently, and Marielle's eyes fluttered. There was a moment of fondness in Marielle's eyes, followed by a moment of confusion.

"Naz?" she asked gently.

"My sister--" Naz began and then stopped as recognition and memories flooded her. The last thing she remembered was being in Himiko's conference room with people shouting angrily, but bits and pieces of Miya's memories were there, as if conjured out of the aether, a week's of memories hitting her all at once, lashing out at her from the void.

"Naz! What the heck happened!" Miya's outrage, her fear and her relief all thundered in their skull.

"You girls need a minute?" Marielle asked quietly, watching their face intently.

"It seems," Naz replied, pulling Marielle's robotic hand closer for a moment and kissing the fingers.

"Sister." Naz only communicated the single word to Miya, but it was laced with meaning, sorrow, regret, and love.

"What happened to you?" Miya asked again. Their eyes teared up, and it wasn't clear whose tears they were.

Naz tried to reply, but she had no more explanation for what had happened than Miya did. "No answers within nonexistence," she said.

She poked through Miya's memories a little, sifting through the events of the past few days. "My brave sister, such endurance. Facing such a--" Naz froze as the memory of their Uncle's death hit her. She watched Wasseim die, she felt Miya's sorrow, she saw the screen displaying Shayala's face. And then she felt Miya's rage. She saw Miya open fire upon the state building and she recoiled in horror.

"Oh, Sister..."

"You do not get to judge me!" Miya shrieked, anger and shame combining together and boiling over. She had been choking on that shame for days now.

"No. No, Sister, never." Naz swept away the anger and shame as best she could and amplified her feelings of love for Miya. The reassurance calmed Miya down, but she continued to sulk.

"Everything was so hecked. I really needed you there," she murmured.

"I'm here now." They both went silent, that sentence lingering in their shared consciousness. It wasn't enough, but it had to be.

"You two alright?" Marielle asked, re-entering the room carrying a cup of tea in each hand. She only had one limb plugged into her spine today, it was one of the white prehensile ones that looked like a tentacle. Naz idly wondered if that was the one of the original designs meant for welding, or if Marielle had brought the specially modified ones.

"Intact. Forward-facing." Naz smiled at Marielle, accepting the tea. The mug was lighter in her hands than it should have been, and she almost dropped it. A moment later, she realized that everything felt lighter, and more of Miya's memories flickered through her mind. They weren't on Ishtar anymore, they'd crossed Navann Gate yesterday. The gravity was lower on Navann, around 0.55g. They'd arrived in... some sort of city? Miya's memories were all a bit fuzzy. She'd been exhausted when they'd arrived.

"Our location, our purpose?" Naz asked Marielle.

Marielle raised an eyebrow at the question, taking a moment to decipher what Naz was asking. "We're in a city called Valant. It's on Navann. I have contacts here."

Naz paused a moment. She shook her head and spoke solemnly. "And... our purpose? Bereft a home, we--"

"Don't think like that, kit. A home can be a lot of things. I--" Marielle trailed off. She sighed. "You know I travelled all over the Network when I was your age, right Kit?" she asked.

"Known, to us," Naz replied cautiously.

"The only reason I settled in Abrandia was because they told me they had a young Tempest pilot whose Ascension was stronger than anybody they'd seen in two generations. They wanted me to help them make Titan. And then I actually met you, once it was almost done, and..." Marielle grimaced. "... I never wanted Titan to be a shackle on you. To hold you to Abrandia. I've always worried about that, you know?"

Naz set her tea down and walked up to Marielle, embracing her in a hug. "The only shackles upon us, literal, not symbolic, my love," she murmured into Marielle's shoulder.

Marielle laughed and hugged her back, wrapping her extra limb around Naz' waist. She turned her face towards her and kissed her. Marielle was typically an aggressive kisser but she was soft and gentle today. "I'm sorry. Part of me was glad to get you out of Abrandia. I never would have wanted it to happen this way."

"Discipline not your idle thoughts, my darling. A fraught precedent, given our nature," Naz whispered back.

Marielle exhaled and pressed her forehead to Naz'. "You two are incredible, you know that?" she asked.

"We simply are," Naz replied, a serene smile on her face. Miya's embarrassed thoughts stirred for a moment, but she wasn't about to surface when Naz was in Marielle's embrace.

The moment lasted a little while, but eventually Marielle got a message on her terminal, and she gave Naz a regretful look. With a final quick, chaste kiss, they separated and Marielle checked her messages. "The Scavvers Union is going nuts, I swear," she muttered to herself.

"They want Titan, of course," Miya replied dourly.

"Well, obviously, but it's not just that. I don't have that good of a sense of what's going on here, but it sounds like the Scavvers Union might really need Titan's help. They're telling me that there's a huge AN army trying to march through the city."

"A precursor rampage...? Just as Ishtar?"

"... Hard to say. You're right, it is suspicious. I'm going to look into it." Marielle's brow furrowed.

A buzzer rang throughout the quaint little housing module, and Marielle looked over her shoulder. "The Union was going to send someone over to brief us. That's probably them. Come join us when you're ready."

Marielle stood and strode purposefully out of the bedroom. Naz rose slowly, setting her tea down. She got dressed, sipped her tea, and followed Marielle.

Marielle sat in a cheap, mass-produced stuffed chair across from a young well-dressed woman who was somewhere between their age and Marielle's. She was tall with dark skin and shiny black hair.

"... read all your textbooks, Ms. Lapilae," she spoke earnestly.

"Are you a fan or an academic?" Marielle asked coyly.

"Oh, I'm purely self-taught. I-" She stopped as Naz entered.

"Naz, dear, this is Miss Tesfaye. The Union sent her to get us up to speed." Marielle gestured to the young woman with her biological hand.

"Enthralled," Naz said cheerfully, walking over to her and taking her hand.

"Just call me Vesper," she mumbled, a little embarrassed.

"She's pretty." Miya's thought drifted into their shared space..

"A newborn thought upon your mantle, sister."

"I can find women pretty if I want to!" Miya replied defensively.

"So then..." Vesper said, standing up and walking over to a large wall-mounted screen. She attached her hand terminal to it and started bringing up files. "This is a simulation I ran some time ago."

A map showed up, displaying several of the local strings of islands. The cities of Valant and Gray Coast were labelled, as well as three AN strongholds, two small and one large. Precursor forces moved about on screen, engaging in sorties and skirmishes on the islands and waterways around Valant and Gray Coast. Vesper flicked a button, and one of the small ones vanished. The AN forces from the large stronghold rallied, then marched upon the small remaining stronghold. They marched straight through Gray Coast and came very close to Valant.

Marielle nodded thoughtfully. "This is well-made, Vesper. Who coded this?"

"I did," she said softly, blushing.

"I'm impressed. Can I look at your code?" Marielle asked. Vesper sent the code over without even an instant of hesitation. She was clearly a bit starstruck by Marielle.

"So... this is actually what's happening. Eye is marching on Gray Coast. Some foreign agent took out that stronghold." Vesper gestured to the monitor.

"An agent of chaos... origination?" Naz asked.

"Neo Venus, we think. We killed the pilot and took the Mech mostly intact. I managed to hack his machine and shut off his ventilator. When we combed the navigation logs they didn't look spoofed," Vesper explained.

"Neo Venus... in Ishtar a pilot from Neo Venus showed up right before things got really grizzly." A scowl crossed Marielle's face. She paused in thought, then looked over at Vesper. "Vesper, dear, why are you the one telling us all this?"

Vesper jumped a little, turning red. "I... well..."

"You predicted this attack and killed the perpetrator. Aren't you a hero?" Marielle pressed her.

"... No. It's... kind of my fault. I broke a lot of rules. They... the Union... they aren't super happy with me. You know. Some get it. Some want me in jail." Vesper fidgeted anxiously as she spoke.

"That's hecking stupid. It sounds like you accomplished some really incredible stuff." Miya found herself flung to the front of their mind and speaking before either she or Naz really realized what was going on.

Vesper looked over at the two of them and frowned curiously.

"Shit. She noticed. She's gonna ask why we're so weird." Miya's sorrow coiled around her chest. She hated having that conversation. Why are you talking differently? Do you think you're really two people? Are you crazy? Naz' soothing thoughts consoled her only a little. To make matters worse, Marielle got a call and stepped outside to answer it.

"Are you plural?" Vesper asked once the door closed.

Nazmiya's surprise hit both of them equally. Nobody had ever asked them that out of the blue. It was always something to be explained to neurotypical people without end. Even Wasseim had been short of understanding, well-intentioned though he was.

Naz's thoughts coalesced out of their shellshock first. "Yes. I, Naz. Miya, my sister," Naz replied cautiously.

"Oh, Nazmiya. That makes sense. That's kind of cute, I like that." Vesper nodded and smiled a little.

"How'd you know?" Miya asked her.

"I had a girlfriend who was plural a long time ago. You learn to tell the difference. She didn't swap back and forth as quickly as you two do, but everybody's different." Vesper smiled at them warmly. Understanding.

A feeling passed over them. Miya felt it more keenly, but Naz felt it too, of course. She felt relief, she felt seen, she felt...

"A bit of lust, sister?" Naz asked coyly.

"Hey! She's pretty and she's tall! Shut up!" Miya's indignation flooded out Naz' amusement.

Vesper yawned, hiding her face behind her hand. "Bereaver, I'm tired. Haven't been sleeping well. I should go have a nap while I still can. Do you ladies have any questions about the situation, or--"

"Stay for dinner?" Miya blurted out. Vesper jumped a little, a bit of a blush creeping over her dark features.

"Did I really just ask that?"

Vesper looked over at Miya, searching for a misunderstanding that wasn't there. "Uhh... Okay. I'm... trans, though. Just so you know," Vesper mumbled. Her hands tensed. Silence hung in the air. Marielle came back into the room.

"Miss Tesfaye, they want to see you outside. Nazmiya and I need to look over this data you sent us. Tell the Union we'll get back to them in a few hours," Marielle spoke absently, looking at her hand terminal. Blushing, Vesper nodded and scampered off. Miya's own blush coloured her cheeks. She sat there awkwardly until Marielle noticed.

"... Kit? What happened?" she asked.

Drowning in her embarrassment, Miya retreated to the back of their mind, and Naz took over. "Miya, flirted with Miss Tesfaye. A barren seedbed, for her affection."

"Oh. I didn't think Miya liked women." Marielle's brow furrowed.

Naz shrugged. "Liked someone? Miya? Never. Nobody. A new dawn, perhaps."

"Oh. Shit. What went wrong?" Marielle asked.

"I asked her to dinner and she... she just said she was trans! That doesn't answer my question! What does that even mean?" Miya blurted out.

"Oh. Kit. Come on. She's worried you won't like her because she's trans, so she's saying it upfront. It's not complicated." Marielle laughed at her.

Miya's indignation came in hot and fast. "And how much experience do you have with..." she trailed off. Marielle was giving her a look and she couldn't help but feel like there was no non-objectifying way to finish that sentence.

"Miya, baby, I went through some extremely extensive modifications to my body, including my genitals, to get it all the way I wanted it," to accentuate her point, the white, snake-like limb attached to her back slithered out from around her waist to peer at her. "Do you really think I don't have any experience with gender non-confirmity?"

Miya was embarrassed. Naz giggled at her. "Wise, my darling. Beseech her," she advised Miya.

"So... what should I do, Mari?" Miya relented and asked.

"Awww. Miya, you're asking me for advice?" Marielle grinned.

"Recitent, my sister. Unmocking, darling," Naz warned.

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to tease you. I'm touched, Miya, really," Marielle said seriously.

Miya struggled. She was trying not to feel belittled but it was very hard. With Naz' encouragement, she didn't lash out.

"Miss Tesfaye gave us her contact information. Message her. Ask her out. Do it quickly. If you're not sure how she wants you to treat her, ask." Marielle smiled at her warmly and genuinely.

Miya sighed. Marielle's advice made sense. She looked over at their hand terminal on the counter. As she contemplated, the song of Tempest flared. The lights flickered and several metallic objects rattled and tumbled from their perch. Marielle grunted and wobbled as her modified body was affected.

"Ow," she winced.

"Tempest itself, spurring to action. Destiny, undenied, sister" Naz crooned to her.

Miya snatched up the hand terminal and found Vesper. Marielle had already sent her the contact information.

Nazmiya: Hi, Vesper? Its Miya. Sorry we got interrupted. I just wanted to let you know I meant what I said Id still be interested

Nazmiya: In you

Vesper Tesfaye: One Moment.

Vesper Tesfaye: Sorry I was so awkward. People are weird about me being trans so I just say it. I'm only talking to Miya, right?

SYSTEM - contact name updated

Nazmiya: Yes

Nazmiya: Its alright. I understand

Vesper: I'd love to have Dinner, Miya.

***

Vesper clutched her hand terminal tightly, staring at Miya's message. She looked up at the man who was driving her home right now. Cole was one of Tetron's friends, but he'd firmly landed in the 'blame Vesper for his death' camp. Lumi and her cronies had ensured that he was the one keeping an eye on her.

"I need you to piss off tonight, I have a date," Vesper said out of the blue.

Cole turned to look at her. His cold face didn't have a lot of expression to it but Vesper knew her jailer's mannerisms well enough at this point to understand what it meant.

"Council's worried that you'll run off, and you think it's okay to just ask for a night off?" he asked.

Vesper nodded, and tapped at her hand terminal, placing a call. She met Cole's gaze while the request pinged softly.

"Hey, Vesper, how'd it go, meeting with Marielle and Nazmiya?" Julie asked the second she accepted the request. She sounded excited.

"Great. Nazmiya and I really hit it off, actually. She asked me out to dinner but my babysitter wants to hover over us the whole time." Vesper spoke without breaking eye contact for a moment.

"Uhh. Well that's weird. They shouldn't do that. Vesper, I hope you're not, like... doing this just to convince her to help us, are you?" Julie asked.

"If you think I'd fuck someone I don't want to in order to help the Union out after all the shit they put me through, you're nuts, Julie. But if you all think that I should turn her down and tell her the Union doesn't think it's appropriate right before you ask for her help then--" Cole had already broken eye contact. He was glancing down at his own terminal and failing to be subtle about sending his own text messages.

"Oh no no no! No, that's okay. Just be sure to have a nice time! Be nice to her!"

"I will. Love you, Julie."

"Haa! I mean. Yeah. Love you too, Vesper," Julie blustered and laughed nervously.

Vesper terminated the call and stared daggers into Cole, who was grimacing at his text messages.

"Who the fuck is Marielle and why is she...?" Cole muttered to himself. He parked the rover outside Vesper's housing complex and continued texting.

"Alright, fine. Check in with us in the morning," he grumbled. Cole passive aggressively unlocked the passenger door for her and looked away.

Yeah. Take that, you miserable shrew.

Vesper went inside and immediately went about setting up dinner reservations and preparing. They were meeting up in three hours and she didn't need the whole time to get ready, but she liked to be as prepared as possible. She picked her favorite dress, not counting the one that psycho stole from her. It was a soft pastel purple with a slitted skirt that showed off her legs. She fixed her disastrous nails, leaving two short on her left hand, of course.

She picked a cute little necklace that displayed Navann's two moons as opposing but symbiotic entities. She thought it would be a cute little accessory choice for a date with a plural woman.

Her hand terminal buzzed as she was applying her lipstick, and she idly reached over to hit accept.

"Hey, Vesper?" Miya's voice came over the speaker. Vesper cringed a tiny bit when she realized how bad her speaker quality was. She'd have to get that fixed.

"Hi, Miya," Vesper replied cheerfully. It seemed like Miya to her. Naz had a sort of dreamy, sing-song tone to her voice and Miya was a bit gruff and tomboyish.

"Hi. Do you want me to pick you up?" she asked.

"Oh, I was just going to walk, it's just a few blocks from my place."

"... Let me pick you up?"

Vesper's heart fluttered a tiny little bit at that. It was nice that she wanted to do it but wasn't demanding it. It had some nice dommy energy to it without being pushy.

"Sure thing. I'll ping you with my address."

"Alright. See you soon!"

Vesper grabbed her purse and the things she needed. After a brief pause, she grabbed her little golden control bracelet and slipped it on.

Always use your safety, Vesper.

She activated her Deluge and connected to her drone. She gave it a flight path to land on a building near the restaurant where she knew it wouldn't be noticed and then let Deluge go.

Nazmiya Khalil: I'm here.

She stepped outside and saw that Miya had parked her Rover almost directly in front of the door. She was wearing a collared dress shirt that had to be fresh out of the 3D printer; it looked so stiff. She'd gotten one made with no sleeves so that her bare arms were showing off her nice muscle definition. Her wavy hair was pulled back into a high ponytail that left the hair around the nape of her neck draped across her shoulders. It was a cute futch style that worked because of how effortless she made it look.

Vesper couldn't help but giggle a little when she first saw her. Miya was leaning forward in the driver's seat like she was in the cockpit of a Mech. She was coiled and ready to move, like even the act of parking the rover made her feel restless. Miya was so different from the dreamy, flirty airhead she'd met initially.

I suppose I'll end up getting to know Naz too, won't I?

"Hey there," she said as she approached the vehicle.

Miya's gaze jerked over to her like she'd been completely lost in thought. Her eyes went a little wide as she took in Vesper's outfit. Every single moment Miya spent staring at her wide-eyed gave Vesper immense pleasure and she made no effort to stop it.

"Wow. Hi," she said finally. She caught herself and opened the door for her.

"Hi. You look nice," Vesper said earnestly. She dressed up for her own sake and the last thing she wanted was for other women to feel bad because of it. Especially one she was dating.

Miya let out a short, sharp exhalation of a laugh at that, but she didn't belabor the point. She drove them the six blocks to the restaurant in near silence. Miya was really focused while she was driving, there was a certain intensity to every single thing she did. It lasted up until the very moment she parked the rover.

When they got inside the restaurant, Vesper noticed Miya fiddling with her hands. Vesper reached over and touched her arm. "Have you ever been to Navann?" She asked.

Miya smiled the tiniest little but and shook her head. "Never left Ishtar. We crossed the ocean once when we were kids, though."

They chatted a little about growing up. Vesper avoided talking about her transition. When Miya talked about Naz she made it sound like the two of them were normal sisters.

Miya's eyes flickered across the room. Vesper noticed it because it was the third time she'd looked in that direction. "What's wrong?" Vesper asked.

"Militia is watching us. Trying to be subtle about it," she murmured.

Vesper frowned and looked where Miya was indicating. She didn't know where Miya had gotten the term 'Militia' from but she knew what she meant, cops were cops no matter the planet you were on. It took her a second, but she recognized the particular security officer Miya had indicated. She was one of Lumi's.

Are you kidding me?

"You wanna heck right off, Lillie? We see you spying on us," Vesper raised her voice well above polite restaurant levels. Lillie flinched visibly. There was a very long, very awkward pause. Miya glared daggers at the other woman. She stood up, gathered her things, and left.

"The heck is going on? Why are they treating you like this?" Miya asked. Her hand closed tightly around the cloth napkin in front of her.

"One of the councilwomen hates me."

"Why?"

"Because a drone I was piloting got shot down by these lunatics trying to destroy the city."

"... Really? That's it?"

"Well--" Vesper paused.

No. She hated me the moment she met me, didn't she? She was a bitch to me at the party.

"Shit. I think she's probably just transphobic," Vesper said with a sigh. She wasn't sure how she'd never seen it before now. It explained so much.

Miya sneered. "Governor General of Abrandia was a bigoted cunt to me, too. People in power are just like that."

Vesper was a bit taken aback by Miya's words. She blinked, and then she smiled. The direct honesty was so refreshing, she loved hearing it. She found herself leaning forward a bit, but she stopped short.

Miya's eyes flashed. She reached a hand up towards Vesper. She paused. The nails on that hand were long and painted bright pink. She used her other hand which had completely natural nails. Fingers on Vesper's chin, she pulled her into a kiss.

Vesper let herself be led in. Miya was a good kisser. She could sense a powerful energy about Miya that was lacking in direction and confidence. She wanted to help her find that confidence.

She pulled back after a little bit. Miya smiled at her. There was a little spark of triumph and excitement in her eyes.

Their food arrived and they ate without speaking for a bit. Miya broke the serene quiet first.

"So, these lunatics who are trying to destroy the city. What do you know about them?"

Vesper shook her head. The first thing that came to mind was that blue-haired psycho. She decided not to talk about her specifically.

Miya's a Mech pilot. Talk about the Mech.

"This Mech we retrieved was Pulse. Well-engineered. Custom job. I think they had some crazy flight Mech out there but we never got more than a heat signature. They had some agent steal my code in person, so they had people on the ground, too."

Miya's brow furrowed. "Flight Mech... do you still have that heat signature?" she asked.

"Yeah. Somewhere here. I downloaded it," Vesper fumbled with her terminal, looking for the files. She saw Miya doing the same. The two of them both pulled up what they'd been looking for at the same time, and showed each other.

A chill ran down Vesper's spine. She'd have to run a proper analysis to be sure, but if that wasn't the same heat signature, she'd suck a man's dick.

"The same hecking people were on Ishtar. They must have had a role in what happened. I'm gonna..." Distant anger roiled in Miya's eyes. She looked up at Vesper, meeting her gaze. "I hecked up in Abrandia. Not here. I'm going to save this city. I'm gonna make these pigs pay for what they did to you and to me."

Vesper had no words. The fire in Miya's eyes was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She held Miya's hand as she teared up.

"Let's kill those assholes," Vesper agreed.

The restaurant was a nice one. The cutlery was made with actual metal. With a rattle, it all suddenly flew off the table, scattering across the floor. People shouted and cried out in alarm as a similar scene unfolded all around them. Everybody in the room stared in bewilderment at what had just happened.

"... So I take it Titan is a Tempest Mech, huh?"

"Yeah. Sorry." Miya blushed in embarrassment.

"Don't be. It's hecking cool."

A nearby waitress who clearly disagreed gave the two of them a bit of a look as she started picking things up. "Do you wanna get out of here? I think we might have overstayed our welcome."

"Yeah."

"Do you... wanna go back to my place?" Vesper asked.

"Yeah."

***

Vesper's home was covered in computers and electronics. Miya saw at least five screens in the living room that held lines of code and displayed elaborate data sets.

"Damn... she's smart."

Naz's thoughts stirred only a little bit. She'd retreated to the back of their mind to give Miya some space. She and Mari were treating her like she was a kid, they were soooo excited she'd asked some hot girl out. It was annoying. She was glad they were there to help her out because the hot girl was a bit intimidating.

"Sorry it's such a mess. I've been under house arrest and it kills my motivation to keep the place tidy. Just been drowning myself in code, instead," Vesper said with a sigh, looking around the place. She moved some computer parts off her couch. "Have a seat, I'll get some tea started."

Miya sat on the lumpy couch. Something poked her in the ass, and she dug around between the cushions to find what it was. She placed the circuit board she found with the rest of the stuff Vesper had set off to the side. A strange thought occurred to her that if she'd been hooking up with a guy and something like that had happened, she'd have bailed.

"I've been so frazzled. A friend of mine died during all of this." Vesper sighed as she boiled the water and got some mugs out.

"Yeah. You've been through a lot. Just relax a bit." Miya winced internally. She'd said it because she could see how tightly-wound Vesper was but it came across like a pick-up line.

"Pfft. I'm not the one piloting a giant Mech all across the Network," Vesper laughed. She brought the tea over and handed Miya her mug.

"... That's why I'm trying to relax right now," Miya said with a sigh, staring into her tea. She struggled to keep everything that had been happening straight in her head. It was hard enough keeping it straight which thoughts were hers and which belonged to her sister even when things weren't completely crazy.

Vesper sat next to her. She was a lot taller than Miya. Miya looked over at her. She was so gorgeous, but so tense. Miya felt like she could see the coiled spring of her cool exterior straining and threatening to snap.

They were quiet for a bit. Eventually Vesper spoke, staring intently at her tea. "The woman who stole my models and tried to kill me. We hooked up right beforehand. I let myself..." Vesper let out a shuddering breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Miya felt an incredible surge of empathy for the woman. She put her hand on Vesper's thigh.

"Do you want me to go? Is this too much?" Miya asked. Even as she offered, she felt a pull, an attachment for Vesper. She flushed with heat and she thought about the ways that she wanted to help Vesper forget about her problems and trauma. Everything was so hecked right now and she just wanted to be here in this apartment. She wanted to drag Vesper into that apartment alongside her.

"Is that right, though? Am I just making it worse?" Naz' voice didn't answer her. This was her problem to solve.

Vesper looked over at her and smiled. There was a little bit of a tremor to her lips. "... Stay?" she asked.

Miya put an arm around Vesper's waist. She had a nice figure. Nicer than Miya. She appreciated how hard this woman must have worked on herself. Vesper leaned into her easily. Miya's hand drifted across Vesper's smooth thigh. She got close to her hip, and she stopped.

"... Can I touch you? Your, uhh..." Miya asked.

"Penis. I have a penis," Vesper said. Her voice was firm and flat, not angry. "Yes, you can touch it."

Miya moved her hand and pressed it against Vesper's crotch. It was firm and smooth, her penis pulled flat and tight against her body. It didn't stir much the way Miya was used to when she touched guy's dicks. She was immediately convinced that none of her experience with fucking guys would apply to Vesper. She wasn't a man, of course it wouldn't.

Miya curled her fingers down and around the curve and Vesper let out a quiet breath. Miya flipped the skirt of Vesper's dress over to get a better look. It was impressive how well she'd tucked it away. Miya never would have guessed it was there had she not known. She pulled her underwear aside to get a better look at it.

Vesper blushed and bit her lower lip as Miya squeezed the head a little with her fingertips. A weird little idea floated into her head and she pressed her thumb over the slit and started to rub the way she liked to have her clit rubbed. Vesper whimpered girlishly and squirmed, leaning against Miya. She was so malleable, Miya couldn't help but feel emboldened. Controlling someone like this was kind of beautiful.

"This is why Marielle likes doing it to Naz, I guess."

Miya got up and swung a leg over Vesper's. Being on her lap put her face-to-face with the other woman. Vesper whimpered a bit as Miya inched forward. Miya kept stimulating her penis with her thumb, pressing it firmly against Vesper's flat tummy.

"You said during dinner that you don't really top," Miya said quietly, watching Vesper's face intently. It had been one of the first things out of Vesper's mouth after they'd gotten into the car. She wasn't a woman who beat around the bush, Miya was learning.

"Y-Yeah I don't... I'm just not..." Vesper murmured. She got really bashful and covered her face with her hand a little.

"So, what do you want from me, then?" Miya asked, leaning in a little closer. She had several ideas of things she wanted to do to Vesper and she was getting some pretty clear body language from her, too. She wanted to hear it out loud, though.

"I-I'm not gonna c-cum... Without something in my ass..." Vesper spoke between heavy breaths. "But... this is nice too."

Miya laughed quietly. "Sounds like a challenge." She reached behind Vesper to undo her bra and slid her dress off her shoulders. She'd really dressed up. Miya never really thought of herself as butch or masculine, but Vesper was really femme. She'd done all this for Miya. Miya appreciated and admired every last little detail.

She gently cupped and squeezed Vesper's breasts. Vesper's back arched and she squeaked loudly. Miya felt the powerful shudder that ran through the other woman's body.

"Are these really that sensitive?" Miya asked curiously. Hers were sensitive but not like that.

"Yeah... it's an estrogen thing," Vesper breathed. Her eyes were glazed and distant. Miya leaned down and gently sucked on her nipple. Another ripple passed through Vesper, and it was accompanied by a breathy moan. Miya switched to the other side and soon she had Vesper vibrating and whimpering needily. Even so, Vesper kept her hands at her sides. Miya quite liked that. She was used to guys pawing at her constantly when they fucked. She'd always found it annoying and distracting. Vesper was letting Miya focus on doing her own thing.

Miya flopped over to the side, dragging Vesper with her. She pressed the other woman down into the couch, hands gripping her smooth shoulders. She rose up and shimmied out of her shorts, then started to slide forward. Vesper's eyes darted down, stealing a glance at Miya's pussy. She could tell the other woman wanted it, but she stayed right where Miya had put her.

"What a good girl," Miya murmured as she lowered herself onto Vesper's face. Vesper's lips were really soft against her pussy as she started to kiss and worship Miya. As eager as she was, she wasn't too forceful and didn't overstimulate her. She worked smoothly and methodically, building up Miya's pleasure gradually. Miya quickly found herself wrapped within the waves of ecstasy that were rising up to swallow her. Vesper's delicate, precise tongue movements were perfect and Miya was really pent up. She hadn't fucked anybody in a while. Normally, Naz and Mari's sex life sort of took the edge off of her own needs, but the two of them hadn't fucked in a few weeks, either.

Miya was squeezing Vesper's face with her thighs a little too hard. She was surging towards an orgasm. Vesper's tongue swirled on her clit. The orgasm that she was blessed with came slowly. It bloomed within her core and spread to every corner of her body. She wobbled and tilted as it poured over her, but Vesper grabbed her by the waist to steady her. Vesper increased the pressure just a tiny bit. It was so much. Miya howled. She grabbed Vesper roughly by the head, her fingers digging into her skull. She desperately pushed Vesper away from her clit. She got the message and eased up.

"Heck..." Miya hissed, her eyes swimming. She leaned back and felt her ass brush against Vesper's cock. It was kinda hard, but even as Miya turned around to look at it, it deflated. She reached down to play with it a little bit. Vesper whimpered and her body made small, involuntary movements in response. Miya stayed like that, watching Vesper writhe helplessly beneath her. It was a heady experience, watching this gorgeous creature squirm. Her eyes flickered to her duffel bag. Mari had lent her a few things. Said she'd definitely need them.

"Stay here," she whispered to Vesper as she bent over to give her a quick kiss. She tasted herself on the other woman.

She wasn't quite sure how to feel about Marielle's enthusiasm for this. Miya had almost always just disassociated and let Naz interact with the other woman. She was Naz' girlfriend, after all. And now they'd developed a little bit of a relationship, even though Miya wasn't sure how to quantify it.

"Maybe Mari's actually kind of cool," she thought. A tiny whisper of agreement floated across her mind from Naz. Miya withdrew the strap Mari had made for her and stepped into it. It fit perfectly. Marielle had her measurements, of course.

Vesper watched her from where she was laying on the couch. She did twitch a little as Miya put on the strap, even if she didn't get hard. Miya took her position kneeling in front of Vesper, bending her legs back towards her face with her hands. When she leaned forward and penetrated her with the lubricated shaft, Vesper sighed happily. Her eyes fluttered and she arched her back. She sounded... relieved?

Miya started thrusting her hips. It was a little awkward; she'd never done this before. She'd never thought she'd have ever wanted to do this. When she looked down at Vesper biting one of her knuckles as Miya fucked her, she knew she very much wanted to do this again.

She adjusted her angle a little bit and she started to feel it more, herself. She picked up the pace a bit, but kept it steady. She tried to think about how she liked to be fucked. When she looked down at Vesper she saw a little trickle of wetness across her tummy. Undeniable proof that Miya was making her feel good. She was panting and her eyes were glassy. This was a different reaction from everything else Miya had done to her.

This is a girl who hecking loves getting fucked in the ass.

Vesper's moans started to rise. "G-Gonna cum... gonna... oh heck..." she babbled. Miya didn't stop. She needed to make this girl cum. She'd been presented with a challenge and she had no intention of letting it slide.

Vesper's back arched as Miya continued to fuck her. A shuddering, gasping moan ripped out of her. Miya grinned widely and kept going, giving Vesper no rest, no ability to backslide. She fucked the orgasm out of her steadily and determinedly. It didn't hurt that this felt really good for her, too. Vesper started wiggling and squirming into the couch. Her cries started to become desperate, almost pained, as Miya pushed her past her normal limits. Miya kept going. Her own thighs burned. She had no endurance for this, not yet.

Eventually, her hips gave out, and she fell forward on top of Vesper's body, gasping for breath. She'd cum a little bit again as she'd fucked her. Her arms closed around Vesper's warm body and she hugged her close, as if the moment itself would slip away from her if she let it.

"That was... that was really nice..." Vesper breathed. There was an absolute puddle of wetness that had leaked out of her. Miya reached down and traced little patterns through it with her fingertips, which made Vesper giggle.

"Yeah? I've never done this before," Miya mused aloud.

"Well... your competition tried to shoot me, so." Vesper laughed softly and hugged Miya back. "... No. I don't want to compare you to her. Sorry."

Miya laughed, and raised herself up a bit to look Vesper in the eyes. She smirked. "Well. I'm a competitive person."