The Amalgam orbited Griffonia, turning in a slow wheel around the planet. Crush stood on the prow, allowing the aether to flow over and around her as her ship cut a path through it. She had volunteered for the orbital guard that the United Galactic Armada had instituted around Griffonia in preparation for another possible Drakmundi attack. She insisted on doing so alone, leaving the rest of the FRF to help protect other worlds, and found that circling the globe as its protector felt almost right.

  She stepped towards the rear cabin, which was the oldest portion of the star tree, the portion that she had stolen from the Astralbians so long ago now. Her mag-boots clanked on the metal decking built into the ship as she went. She passed through the two sets of doors that were now in place, sealing the interior from the aether.

  When she reached the interior, Stripes, her brightly colored bat-squirrel companion, leapt onto her shoulder, squawking at her angrily. He did not enjoy confinement, which was perhaps the biggest downside to the assignment she'd taken on.

  She stepped up into her command room at the apex of the tree's trunk and unlocked a small drawer in her desk, her pet chittering happily as she did so. She reached inside for a nut native to Cradle, Stripes’s favorite snack, and handed it to him. He gnawed happily for a while as she took a seat in the chair she had behind her desk. An alert came up on the console. Someone was reaching out to her via ripmed comms. She answered it and the membranous screen on her desk displayed Yrinla's face.

  "Yrinla," she said, faking happiness at the sight of her old friend. She wished she was happy to see her. But through no fault of Yrinla's, the associations were not pleasant.

  "I would not have reached out if it was not important," said the elderly tree priestess.

  Crush's eyes narrowed, the stone apertures closing slightly. "What's wrong?"

  "Meristem has been found guilty of regicide and is to be executed," said Yrinla.

  Crush felt like she’d taken a sledge hammer to the chest. "The king's death is no one's fault but mine," she said.

  "You may feel that way," said Yrinla, "but the Elders do not."

  "When is he to be executed?" asked Crush.

  Yrinla shook her head. "The date has not been set. The Elders move slowly."

  Crush began to do the numbers in her head, calculating how quickly the Amalgam could reach Cradle.

  "Stall them as long as you can," she said. "There are things I must attend to, but I will be at Cradle as quickly as I can manage."

  ***

  Talon Squad approached the bridge tower, only to find that security had been greatly increased in the area. Two armed guards barred their way.

  "Halt," said one of them. "Nobody goes up to the bridge, or any further, without the express permission of the Admiral."

  Annoyed, Vanbrook pulled out his comm and reached out to Hunt.

  "Hey," said the guard, "we’ll take care of the communications."

  But Hunt had already answered. "Yes, Vanbrook?”

  “Hey Admiral,” said Vanbrook. “Do you mind having your guards let us through?"

  "Well, who's 'us'?" asked Hunt.

  "Talon Squad," said Vanbrook.

  "What are you looking to come to the bridge for?" asked Hunt.

  "Our pal Fremig thinks he knows how to find Drakmund," answered Vanbrook.

  "You're free to come up," said Hunt.

  Vanbrook looked at the guards smugly. They had heard the entire conversation. One of the guards eyed Fremig warily, but they stepped aside and let Talon Squad pass. The Squad made their way through a couple more checkpoints as they climbed the bridge tower, finally making it to the upper levels.

  "Alright, Fremig," said Hunt, by way of greeting. "Care to show us where your homeworld is?"

  Fremig stared at him strangely, as though trying to work out the translation.

  "Show me stars," said Fremick. "I find Drakmund."

  Hunt nodded to Triflin, who brought up the local star map on his console. Fremig walked over and looked at the stars. He shook his head as he gathered his bearings.

  "Picture move?" he asked uncertainly.

  Triflin nodded and used the controls to manipulate the picture on the screen so that the stars moved around some.

  Fremig's eyes widened slightly with excitement. "I move picture?" he asked, gesturing towards the chair. Triflin shot a glance at Hunt, who nodded. The Astralbian stood up, offering the chair to the much larger-framed Drakmundi. He sat down with a delighted gleam in his eye and began manipulating the screen. He pored over the star charts, muttering and occasionally nodding to himself.

  Finally, he pointed triumphantly to one of the stars on the screen. “Drakmund orbit star.”

  Hunt nodded, studying the star Fremig pointed to along with Triflin. Triflin cross-referenced the star and the planets that they had found.

  “Yes, our deep scans did find a planet at that location,” said Triflin.

  It seemed as though, by sheer providence, they had headed in the right direction when they left Typhidnia, as they’d named the monster-rich planet they’d just escaped..

  "It’s too far for a single jump,” Triflin said after running a few calculations.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Fremig nodded in understanding and began to manipulate the controls again. He clicked on another star, and said something in his native tongue, “Hesk.”

  "Yes, there's a planet by that star as well. A large, icy world. Gravity is about 1.89. But it does have an atmosphere. I think it'd be a stretch, but we could make it there in a single jump."

  "Hesk, is it?" asked Hunt, nodding. "We have our heading, then."

  ***

  Farbin looked out over the gathered war trains and nodded approvingly. The machinery to which his head was attached attempted the intended movement, but the inorganic, mechanical movement simply reminded Farbin of his strange new life. Regardless, the sight of the gathered war trains was a welcome one. He swung around and took his position above the trains as Trilia and her navy of Koomite tree stars ascended from the surface to join them.

  "World Serpent Farbin," Trilia said over the intercom system, "I see your navy has been gathered. It is time that we departed."

  "Yes," Farbin replied. "I have twenty war trains at my disposal. Five will make their way to the Griffonian industrial world of Thioa. Ten will head to the Griffonian-aligned Gateway, with five remaining there along with you and your star trees while the remaining five will accompany me to Astralbia. The final five will remain as a rear guard on Koomia.”

  "I should very much like to accompany you to Astralbia, World Serpent," said Trilia. “I have long dreamt of conquering my home world.”

  "No," Farbin said simply. "There is no point in putting all of our leadership toward one end. We would be much better served by your returning to Gateway. I expect you will be able to keep it this time with the aid of my war trains.”

  Trilia broiled inside at the infallible logic of not sending all the leadership to one planet. She bristled at the personal attack regarding her former possession of Gateway. She decided to ignore the slight for now. One day, Astralbia would be hers. Farbin could only stand in her way for so long.

  "That does leave the problem of Cradle," she said.

  Farbin scoffed dismissively. "We have it from your sources that the FRF has split away from Cradle and represented the only major military force that the planet possessed."

  "My ancestral homeworld remains untested in battle," warned Trilia.

  "Be that as it may," said Farbin, "it is best that we attack our strongest known enemies first.” Farbin cocked his head to the side, considering how much of his plans to share with the treacherous Koomite. "I will be constructing another gate at Astralbia after my victory. You will be able to increase our resources. That will give us a distinct strategic advantage moving forward as resources from Astralbia will be delivered directly to Koomia. The parties being sent to Thioa and Gateway will be likewise equipped."

  "That is excellent," said Trilia. "The Koomite-Drakmundi alliance will be a force to be reckoned with indeed." She paused for a moment, considering her words, and gave a final parting shot. "May your ancestors smile on you in your efforts against Astralbia, as they did not in your efforts against Griffonia."

  Farbin ended the conversation without further comment, long mechanical neck retracting into the ceiling. Trilia smiled wickedly to herself and turned her attention to making final preparations for her departure to Gateway.

  ***

  Raivyn began to familiarize herself with the inner workings of the Drihn. The Hrudikite destroyer had been designated as the flagship of the Armada's counter-effort against the Koomite-Drakmundi threat. There was some hesitation in sending an obvious counter-force, as the full intention of the Koomite-Drakmundi gathering was not yet known. However, under the guise of the Alliance loosening its guard, the Drihn was sent homeward, accompanied by a small fleet from other nations.

  As Trebor's RTS team was an integral part of the Armada's upper echelons, Raivyn had secured a spot on Hrake's ship, for which she was grateful. Raivyn was glad to be in the presence of old friends again, though she still missed Talon Squad horribly. Lawbine had even been assigned to the Drihn, and she took comfort in having as old a friend as him in troubled times like these.

  Hrake chose not to turn his guests into laborers during the trip, so Raivyn found herself with plenty of time on her hands as they made their first jump towards Hittania. Raivyn was sipping her traditional tavan blossom tea from a zero-gravity drink pouch and strapped snugly in the rather comfortable chairs in the galley. There were certainly perks to traveling in a craft built by Talpitech. Lawbine came and joined her, his drink pouch filled with the same honey-colored liquid as her own.

  "I can't believe they have such nice tavan blossom," said Lawbine, holding his own pouch of the precious beverage.

  "I don't think it ever caught on with the Hrudikites," Raivyn noted. "I believe this is still the complimentary supply provided by Talpitech."

  Lawbine nodded. "The powers that be on Aerat asked me to see if I could secure a complimentary Talpitech ship for our nation as well, but so far, no luck."

  Raivyn chuckled. “You and Reclan both.”

  "So," asked Lawbine, "how are things going with the RTS?"

  Raivyn shrugged. "As much as he can, Trebor seems to want to ignore my existence, which suits me fine. He’s been a pretty hands-off boss since we left Griffonia."

  Lawbine nodded. "Well, that's alright, I suppose."

  They sat silently, enjoying their tea for a little while. Raivyn was just settling in and enjoying the moment when she felt a pang of guilt. Vanbrook was somewhere out in the aether, and here she was, enjoying a morning tea with his rival. She found herself wrestling with a conflicted nest of emotions that had taken up residence in her heart, all while desperately trying to crush the growing notion that Vanbrook might never return. And perhaps even more painful than that, was that she couldn’t stop herself from thinking that, if Vanbrook were gone forever, Lawbine was certainly pleasant company.

  They continued to drink their tea in what Lawbine assumed was a comfortable silence. Raivyn summoned all her courage and discipline to keep from breaking down and sobbing right then and there.

  ***

  Admiral Hacksaw of the Free Revolutionary Fleet stood on the bridge of the Anthem, looking out over the aether. The fleet had made it as far as Gateway, having left Cradle behind under orders from Crush.

  It was true that sometimes Crush could seem fickle, but Hacksaw had learned to trust her implicitly. In the wake of the madness that had passed through the planet, as an aether beast passed by without a guardian to watch over the world, he understood why Crush wished to leave the world behind.

  As he was musing over these things, a call came through via ripmed comm. It was Crush herself. He answered immediately.

  "Guardian Crush," he said.

  Crush nodded. "Admiral. Forgive my apparent caprice, but there has been a change of plan yet again.”

  "Just tell me what it is," said Hacksaw. "I’ll see that it’s done."

  "The problem is twofold," she said. "First of all, and less important, is that I have business to tend to on Cradle."

  Hacksaw's circuits pulsed with elation that she may be working out her differences with the Elders, but he kept his voice and features steady. "Very good. And the other item?"

  "The Drakmundi have allied themselves with the Koomites," said Crush. "They are gathering a fleet over Koomia, and we anticipate them beginning an offensive shortly. The FRF fleet is currently at Gateway, correct?"

  "Yes we are," said Hacksaw with a nod.

  "Remain there," said Crush. "It's not too far from Koomia. And should be a choke point of travel to the rest of the civilized galaxy. The rest of the known galaxy. I will meet you there, before continuing on to Cradle."

  "Yes, ma'am," said Hacksaw. "We will make contact with the locals and make sure that orbiting their world will not be a disturbance to them."

  "Very good, Admiral," said Crush. "Your steadfast service is noted and... and commended, Admiral."

  Hacksaw nodded. "You have proved to be a Guardian worth following, if I may," he said.

  Warmth flowed through the carved channels that covered Crush's stone body, though she felt she did not deserve the compliment. "It would seem Providence has shined on our endeavors so far.”

  "May it continue to do so," said Admiral Hacksaw.