[b]Solarel[/b]

The rust-colored Zaldarian mechanic hefts a Terenian-designed combat drone that she had been tinkering with as she walks over to you. Her movements are slow and careful and you can see that she’s conserving energy as she moves, indicating her advanced age. She drops the drone delicately as she reaches you, almost opens her mouth, then begins signing just a little too fast, like she’s awkwardly trying to get through what she wants to say and putting all her focus on it.

[i]It’s an honor to be part of your household, Walker of the Mountain, I think. I mean, are we part of your household officially? I just meant, I’m Lareth, one of your engineers and a nanobot specialist. You used to pilot the Aeteline, the spirits still speak of you, even on Zathar and I never thought I’d meet the Walker of the Mountain because you were banished and even though I was called to venture into Terenian lands the odds seemed so incredibly slim given my time left. [/i]

You can see even through her rust coloration that Lareth’s embarrassed by how she holds herself and it gives you the impression that she developed a maternal crush on you from afar. Perhaps she even imagined you as though you were one of her children and she needed to look out for you. She must have been devastated when she received the news of your banishment. 

She hesitates after her speedy signing, bending over the drone and trying to fiddle with it again. It hums when she does, to what appears to be her consternation. 

[i]I’m sorry to bother you[/i], she signs more slowly, shifting into business. [i]It’s just, the rifle has been no problem, that’s just a matter of directing the existing power output. But the drones, the Kathresis is fighting us. It works here, and I can configure it with nanobot activation, but the Kathresis doesn’t seem to want to interface with them. It’s almost like they’re rivals. I can’t work as long shifts as I used to either and I can’t seem to reach a proper communion with it to get past this. Do you have any wisdom you can offer me?[/i]

***

[b]Isabelle[/b]

“Oh”

There’s a moment where the world is perfectly still. A single sound escapes Asil’s mouth as the words sink in. She does not move, you do not move, the fern does not move. The door, shut, blocks out all sound and the air is silent. 

Then it shatters and Asil is suddenly standing, pressing you against the door with a technique and strength that belies her thin frame. Her hand is against your collar and she pulls roughly as she brings your head down to hers. 

The kiss is fire. Her teeth sink into your lip, and her tongue presses against yours, taking dominance. She steals the words from your mouth, the breath from your lungs as she presses. You can taste blood as she bites harder, and the warmth of her tongue as she follows and everything inside you is heat and salt burning like a supernova. 

She continues it long enough to make you beg to be allowed to gasp, to make you think that she wants to devour you whole. And then, finally, she lets up from that and jabs an elbow into your solar plexus. 

“Okay Lozano” she says, deliberately, taking the time where you can’t speak or recover. “This is no pedestal. This is what no fucking pedestal looks like. This is how I want it. I better not have fucking got this wrong because if you say this isn’t how you want it, I will fucking die right here.”

***

[b]Mirror and Jade[/b]

Outside of the idol, the cult is scrambling. Thrusters are firing and they’re detaching repair equipment and opening the Hangar bay as fast as they can manage. The sound of Hybrasilians hissing and screeching intersperses with running, but they manage the trick. 

Flying Jade’s idol is unlike the Nine Drive System, but also unlike a typical Hybrasilian mecha in some ways. It’s far more solid and singular than the nine drive system, a complete body (currently absent an arm) for a goddess. Further, it has been modified over time to map closely to Jade’s form, to allow for her projected world and her physical world to align as much as possible. Because she is a goddess (and has had a planet’s worth of databanks to consider what that means) the proportions are not quite those of a typical Hybrasilian. Too tall, the arms too broad. These are small things, probably ones that Dolly never noticed since her piloting was as a high priestess worshiping for her projected goddess and the mecha simply aligned with that. But for someone closely observing all the details of the idol’s movement, considering its weight and balance and center of mass, these small things are noticeable. 

Even so, it represents the latest in technology coming out of Hybrasil. The crystal fire drive is powerful, the idol is fast and strong, its shields and its armor sturdy. Being in repairs, it has only a small energy blade and small guns that are built into the body, nothing big that would be held separately with two hands or require its own mount that wasn’t fastened on. But that just gives more energy for maneuvering, an abundance of riches. 

You have a moment, both of you, to savor this experience as you clear the Hangar and pass by the planets of Akar towards the faint signal of Dolly. Then, there will be pirates to fight. 

***

[b]Dolly [/b]

Valynia’s touch is soft, her paw tickling your ear as she runs a gentle caress down the side, along your head, and over the soft neck fur. 

She’s finished with her work, she’s sent the stack of marked manifests out with one of the station crew, and now she’s alone with you, enjoying a different sort of torture. 

“Thank you for being soooo well-behaved while I got some things done, little priestess~” She barely speaks above a whisper as that terrible, taunting hand moves to the back of your neck and gently caresses the fur, brushing against your hair as it presses. There’s no claws this time, no pain. Just gentle pressure as she massages you, down and to the sides to each shoulder, and then back up to once again caress the side of your head and gently over each soft triangle with the most delicate, slow care.

And here you are, tied up, unable to do anything but shudder and make soft moans.