[b]Solarel[/b]

The spirit rumbles with anger as you’re speaking, and then gestures with a feathered arm. Nanobots shift above it, and from the ceiling, a cannon turret with an elongated barrel that’s nearly as long as you are tall lowers into view and turns on you as the spirit smirks. It fires an electric round straight into your center of mass. 

The feeling of being hit is one part agonizing gut punch and one part temporary blackout and amnesia. Your grip tightens automatically on Isabelle as you fall, shielding her, and when you have sensory data again, you’re a few feet backwards from your previous position and on your butt, Isabelle splayed on top of you. The spirit is suddenly on top of you. It hovers a foot off the stony ground, its Terenian-esque face twisted in its sudden fury, its feathered arms held up. Electricity arcs from its hand and presses that hand palm first hard against your chest and up into your neck, the energy pressing you downwards as it convulses through you. 

“You are not authorized to make that decision!” The spirit shouts as a decisive command, crowing as though it has already won. Its voice lowers then to a soft, gravelly hum so that only you and Isabelle can hear it. It speaks slowly and deliberately as it presses. “You dare you call me ‘honored guardian’ with threats in your heart! I will bind your hands until you cannot sign and shove those threats into your mouth so that you cannot speak. I will make you regret the day you challenged my domain! I will [i]not[/i] brook this disrespect!” 

[b]Isabelle[/b]

You’re treated to a bit of unceremonious throwing as the turret lowers and Solarel suddenly gets shot, but her automatic reactions mostly protect you, so you do not black out, you just fall, get jarred a bit, and find yourself more or less on top of her limbs all tangled together. It’s a good thing she adjusted you for butt pats or that shot would have hit you clean on (though perhaps the spirit tried to avoid hitting you and focus its ire on Solarel). Since you didn’t black out, you got a front row view of its energy flaring and electricity crackling from its hands as it rushed upon you both. 

Perhaps you can salvage this? Annika is aware of the spirit now (who wouldn’t be, a defense turret just lowered in from the ceiling and fired and it’s crackling with power). She puts an arm out to stop Crescent and looks like she’s considering what to do. She’ll jump in to act if you and Solarel don’t. Or possibly if you do anyway. 

***

[b]Jade[/b]

This is your show. Everyone is clay in your hands. Angela plays the perfect villain, angry but powerless, ripe for humiliation, her pleasure escaping from her in deep moans despite her attempts to resist you. Ksharta is hesitant but learning, you’re sacred after all, and you’re treating her so carefully and so even as she’s overawed by your power and your versatility, she’s also starting to feel a little bit more comfortable, a little bit safer, offering you at least her tentative trust, even if she might still go run and hide if you shouted at her too loudly. 

And Dolly, well, you know your Dolly, your first and your last, always in the place of greatest honor. This show is for her most of all, isn’t it? And you’re the consummate actor. Perhaps this is what it is to be a goddess in truth? To have power and desire and to pretend to be something greater and more sacred with those tools. Perhaps that’s why they warred so often in all the mythology if behind their grand portfolios and devout worship there were a myriad of scared people with power each wondering how they might fulfill their role and gain what they wanted without bringing everything crashing down around them. Not that you’re scared of course, you’re in absolute control here. But you still might feel reassured that the whole performance went off without a hitch and the three are rightly in your control. 

Now there’s the matter of rest and recovery, proper care, and nourishment. It is this last that finds you marching the whole set of them, Angela still bound (as she will be until you leave this planet and finish your hunt) to the great feast hall on Akar II for food and water. 

You are on top of the world and nothing can possibly touch you.

***

[b]Mirror[/b]

Trosta nods. “A bold choice, and a wild one. I do not know the Hybrasilians, but my own Empress would very much wish to direct the method as well as the goals of her people. This is of no matter though. Very well. I will do the work and offer you an accounting and we will determine then how you might pay for my time and my skill. Our deal is struck. Put me in touch with your engineer at your earliest convenience and we’ll make arrangements for the Hangar work.”

And that’s that. Trosta gets up and dismisses her own chair, though she leaves yours in place so that you and Matty are not unsettled. The young engineer heard everything, but she’s well behind in processing and has nothing to say for as long as you’re petting her. Well, nothing in words, she’s got plenty of sounds to make, mostly purrs and very light moans when you’re getting to a good spot so you know where to linger. 

When you’re done, whenever that is, you’ll find an interesting sight upon leaving the hall. Across the main road where the mess hall is, there is a Hybrasilian hunting process with two Huntresses (you might recognize them as Dolly and Ksharta if you’ve found time to review previous match videos) carrying a bound and gagged Terenian as their prisoner and heading to get some food it seems. Quite an oddity that there would be a hunt here, much less for a member of another nation, one would think it would be a diplomatic incident of some kind, but nobody about seems particularly perturbed beyond the interest in the spectacle. 

Perhaps you’d like to take a look?