After Everything - Remastered Edition

[Macavity116]

I hope you're able to visit Crater Lake some day. It's absolutely gorgeous.

I've been eyeing the area as a place to watch the Annular Solar Eclipse in October. Maybe, who knows...

Why does the Captain think that they have the element of surprise when Manaaki saw Mira in the Shroud? He has to know they're on Earth at least, right?

Captain Rangi really doesn't get Psionics. Mira is the first Gifted person he's ever been in contact with, and he still isn't able to wrap his head around the concept of the Shroud. On the whole, Rangi's confidence comes from a lack of understanding.

Why does Kaia know about the true mission? Didn't the Whisperers in the Void explicitly tell Mira not to tell her because she'd side with the Church?

Well the primary answer to your question is revealed in Chapter 4.4: The Green Guard. Kaia's offhand comment about "it's just the circumstances" can mean a lot of things, and she chose to say an open-ended comment deliberately. By keeping her statement vague. Kaia was trying to avoid revealing just how much of the mission she knew about.

 

[Macavity116]

Author's note: This chapter includes a new image that is not in the original version of the story. The image is a technical breakdown of the Battlemaster-class Corvette, a Human starship that was prominently featured throughout the Stormbreaker Universe, frequently filling the narrative role of "hero ship." This picture was previously used in The Stormbreakers and is applicable here as well.

I doubt the image will satisfy tech-savvy players like @CBR JGWRR but I do believe it can give readers a better mental image of the HMAS Bushranger.

<== Previous Chapter (The New War)

Next Chapter (Distant Enemies) ==>​

Chapter 4.2:​

The Bushranger​

​

[Personal Log: Mission Specialist Mira Mihaka, HMS Midak, Outer Thaddis Sabbah Star System, 29 Paenga-whāwhā, 687]

Sys/ automated backup engaged…successfully saved all data to external storage device


Mira Mihaka: Wow, I haven’t used this thing in a long time. If anyone in the future gets this far into my logs, let me get you caught up: It’s been just over four months since we left Earth and started racing back to Partoga and since then, the tension aboard the ship has been so... what’s the word? Palpable. Everyone’s been on edge. And there’s no question about why:

Somehow, the word got out. Everyone knows about the crisis that secretly drove the Midak’s mission and they’re making their own preparations for the inevitable outcome.

In hindsight, I don’t really care that all of the civilians were banned from the crew lounge on Deck Four. At this point, everyone is too busy. Officially, we’re supposed to be debriefing after our month-long excursion on Earth and analyzing all of the samples we brought aboard. None of that happened.

In all three laboratories, my science team is hard at work preparing for war. Anahera and the Biologists are looking for military applications for the Anaplague. Watahui and the Physicists are reconfiguring the Phased Disassembler Array for use against a hostile warship. And in the Engineering lab, Kaia and I are working to reinforce the Midak’s hull so we can survive a direct hit from an Ion Cannon Beam, which is a very real possibility going forward now. Thing is, I didn’t order anyone to do any of this. It just happened as the truth slowly seeped through the men and women of the Midak.

The military crew started drilling for battle two weeks ago. Since the Midak itself is unarmed, Captain Rangi has been having us do “boarding action” drills; in which we try to repel a theoretical invader. Every fifty or sixty hours or so, the “tactical alert” lights and alarms go off and we all head to our action stations. From there, Captain Rangi drops the emergency bulkheads. When the bulkheads go down, all twenty-nine of the ships airtight compartments are completely sealed off from each other with (optimistically) at least two “combatants” locked inside, meaning anyone trying to take over the ship will have to shed blood for every last Bio of it.

If we are attacked, it might not get that far though. Captain Rangi has made it clear that if the Midak is attacked, he will first try to escape by engaging an “Emergency Hyperspace Jump.” This is the nightmare scenario we all trained for back at Space Camp in Candon two years ago. If an enemy ship makes a run at the Midak, the ship will IMMEDIATELY jump into Hyperspace and dash towards the nearest star system, regardless of how many people are outside of Radiation Shelters. If this happens while the crew is at action stations, I counted at least thirty-eight of us, including myself, who would be killed instantly by the deadly gamma radiation emitted by the Hyperspace Module. Still, killing sixty-three percent of the crew is preferable to the ship being captured by “the enemy.”

The Captain, Moana, and I have been holding our tongues on who the “enemy” is. We still haven’t found the Theocrat’s spy and there’s a decent chance that he or she might try to sabotage our mission if they find out the Midak’s officer corps is entirely Monarchist. Moana and I are helping out the Captain’s investigation by pulling people aside for one-on-one interviews every few days or so, but no one’s offered up any useful information just yet. I’ve ruled out everyone in the Engine Room and all of the Hyperspace technicians, so that’s at least twelve out of fifty-nine people who won’t stab me in the back... I hope. I tried asking my Muse for help finding the spy, but they’re so focused on the much, much bigger threat back home right now and hardly ever talk to me outside of updates on Manaaki and his war.

Meanwhile the Midak’s sublight engines have been burning so intensely that they’ll be at the end of their functional lifespan when we get home. Petty Officer Whawhakiterangi Tirikatane says that the engines have actually broken down a couple of times since we left Earth, but she’s working the Engine Room crew so hard that no one on the bridge noticed the failures. And it’s important too. Every moment the Midak isn’t in Hyperspace, she’s achieving her maximum acceleration of two-hundred-eight Bios per second. Since we’ve been constantly accelerating for the past four months, we don’t really feel it anymore. Occasionally we get a little reminder when the Midak plows right into a micrometeoroid or some little bit of space debris. The sound of the impact is like a gun going off right next to your ear, and it’ll wake even the deepest sleeper.

I’m not sleeping that much though. I’ve spent a lot of my downtime meditating: Ever since Moana and I finished building the Psi Lab where Workshop One used to be I’ve spent five hours a day there in deep meditation. After the first month, I had to swallow my own pride and admit I was wrong. As soon as I put on the Celestial Gauntlets for the first time and meditated, the Elerium conduits activated and the gauntlets powered up at once. According to my Muse, the Human database, and my own research into Human weaponry, these Gauntlets only activate when worn by a being with the “Gift.” Once I accepted that this Psionic stuff was real, Moana and I started training in earnest. She’s not Gifted, but she does have four years of pre-Midak experience in the Partogan Royal Navy.

We’ve been practicing hand-to-hand combat using a pair of sparing gloves as a stand-in for the Celestial Gauntlets. Obviously I can’t beat a Non-Commissioned Officer in a fistfight, but I can hold my own against her for a minute or two. Moana keeps reminding me that Manaaki Ranginui is a much bigger and stronger fighter than her, and that he’ll have “a wide range of ‘kill Mira’ options to choose from.” Not exactly reassuring words.

The problem is that no matter how hard I meditate or practice, I can’t get my Celestial Gauntlets to do anything other than light up and make crackling noises. I don’t know how to use or channel my powers. I know for certain I have the Gift, I just can’t figure out how to use it. Do I concentrate so hard my head hurts? Do I wave my hands in the air and trace shapes? Is there an incantation or a chant? Visualize something happening? I’m just at a complete loss right now as to how this works.

I just wish Manaaki was at a similar loss. My Muse can’t get a good look at him or his mind because he’s still shielded, but the Holy Father’s actions and activities are still fair game and the Whisp- my Muse, is not disappointing. The civil war back home is starting to get intense: Manaaki is having trouble keeping the Eater of Worlds under control. Its hunger exceeds his ability to satisfy it and it’s bleeding into all of the other fighters. For the moment, my Muse says the Eater of Worlds will turn any combatant under its influence into a much more bloodthirsty warrior, and obviously, making them more dangerous.

On the Homeworld itself, the first real battle of the war has been fought: a huge mob of Theocrats stormed a Royal Army base outside the city of Akitio (On the Levakian continent) and Queen Phoebe (I think) dispatched General Irawaru Ruru, the Commander-in-Chief of the Partogan Royal Army, to break up the mob. When Ruru and his soldiers showed up on the scene, Ruru tore off his jade sash, renounced the Monarchist cause, and joined the mob. Nearly all of his soldiers went with him and those who didn’t were killed where they stood by the now heavily armed Theocrats. After the Akitio massacre, most of the Partogan Royal Army followed its leader in defecting to the Theocratic side.

Meanwhile, the Partogan Royal Navy is still loyal to the Queen. Admiral Apanui and Commodore Korako got off-world and reached Fort Daxia before any Theocrats, seizing control of thirty out of thirty-one ships in the PRN and turning them over to the Monarchist side. I don’t know about the one ship that got away, but a lone Assault Frigate or Ion Cannon Frigate won’t prove to be much of a threat to the rest of the fleet. Heck, the Mothership Tantomile could just sweep it aside by herself. My Muse told me there was a serious skirmish at Fort Daxia itself and the PRN deserted the place afterward.

Unfortunately, I can’t tell Captain Rangi any of this. My Muse warned me that he isn’t the type of person who would believe me if I claimed to be getting information from some supernatural source. He’s already uncomfortable with Moana and I building a Psi Lab. He only approved it because Moana took my side; and he trusts Moana.

Sys/ automated backup engaged…successfully saved all data to external storage device

Now that you’re all caught up on what’s happened in the past few months let’s get down to the important things. First: Remember back when we left Earth? The Midak docked with something near the Earth’s moon? Well I think I figured out what it is, but I don’t have any physical evidence to back up my theory yet. For most of Maehe and Paenga-whāwhā I spent a lot of time quote “practicing walking meditation.” At least that’s what the military crew thought I was doing. I gave that excuse so that people would leave me alone. I was really pacing the length of Deck Three, peeking down through the trapdoors, hatchways, and ladders leading to Deck Four and the Engine Room. (The Midak doesn’t have any elevators, lifts, or staircases. It’s too small.) Every once in a while, I got little glimpses at the work the Military crew is doing down there. Obviously, I saw the crude workshops where they’re making ammunition for all of the shiny new firearms locked away down below. I also spotted a new lab crammed into the Crew Lounge where someone’s building shells for the Helix-Rail Cannon. The ammo factories aren’t what I was looking for though.

I spotted a jury-rigged airlock hatch embedded in the floor of Radiation Shelter Three. I’ve seen it three times now. The materiel it’s made from suggests it was installed while we were on Earth, and more importantly, the airlock was open all three times I saw it. Whatever the Midak is docked with, it has a pressurized crew compartment. As well as seeing the airlock, I’ve noticed something going on in the Engine Room. When the sublight engines are running, the machines and the chambers around it will vibrate in a familiar way and make a continuous, easily recognizable sound. Neither of those things have been happening since we docked with the foreign ship.

When I snuck a peek through the hatchway into the Engine Room, I saw both of the sublights shaking in their mounts and making terrible grinding noises. Walking around Deck Two above the engines, the vibrations in the floor feel like a heartbeat instead of the usual hum. Keeping all that in mind, I talked to Nikau about it and he thought the engines are under “some kind of strain.” A strain that could only be caused if the Midak was towing something a quarter of its own size: Perhaps something like a Human warship.

So all of this is circumstantial and conjecture; but it still points in that direction. A Corvette-class vessel being docked to the Midak would explain why the whole of Deck Four is closed off to civilians. We might have spotted it through the windows or something. It also could be the reason why the engines are struggling.

Now that I know what might be latched to the Midak’s belly, it’s time to find out why it’s there. I guess the real reason is obvious: more firepower for Queen Phoebe’s side when we get home, but I’m absolutely certain Captain Rangi has something more specific in mind...


[Personal log closed]

[Personal log Addendum: 4 Haratua 687, Inner Sojent-Ra Star System]

Sys/ automated backup engaged…successfully saved all data to external storage device


Mira Mihaka: I’m back again, and I did a little more than find out what Rangi was planning. I got in on the ground level of it too. I went up to the bridge and asked to talk to Rangi alone yesterday. He said he’d come clean if I joined the project, so we struck a deal. As of today I’m now the only civilian allowed on Deck Four, and the only civilian who is part of this work. I’m lead scientist of the Midak, Astronavigator, Human history expert, and now technical advisor on the restoration project. That’s right! As if I didn’t have enough to do, it turns out there really is a Human Corvette docked to the Midak’s ventral section!

But not just any ship though. It’s the HMAS Bushranger; a 166 year-old Battlemaster-class Corvette from, you guessed it, the Second Hyperspace War. The Bushranger was built and flown by a Human nation-state called Australia and was the immediate predecessor to the Ark Angel, the ship flown by Jericho herself.

According to our Human database, the Battlemaster-class Corvette was the only type of warship used by Humankind during the war. They were operated by Earth’s most powerful nations and only fifteen were ever built:

• PLANS Battlemaster
• FGS Koenigreich
• USS Old Glory
• HMS Dreadnaught
• JSDF Hinomaru
• HHMS Kamehameha
• FS Normandy
• Stalingrad
• USS Old Ironsides
• JSDF Hyuuga
• INS Crusader
• Vladimir Lenin
• IRIS Persepolis
• HMAS Bushranger, and
• JSDF Ark Angel

The database says that all fifteen ships were destroyed during the War in Heaven itself... but I know otherwise! So here’s what happened: While Moana and I were in Oregon, the Humans secretly agreed to give us the Bushranger, which at the time, was derelict in orbit of the Earth’s moon. They refused to give us any ammunition for the ship’s weapons though. That’s why the whole of Deck Four was turned into a munitions factory. The Military crew is trying to re-arm the Bushranger for its new mission.

Captain Rangi won’t tell me what he’s planning to do with the Bushranger when we get home, but I’m pretty sure I know the plan already. I don’t need any database for this part, I remember it from grade school: 2HW-era Human warships were capable of both atmospheric and vacuum operations. None of the ships in the Partogan Royal Navy can operate inside a planet’s atmosphere, so Rangi’s going to use the Bushranger to attack the Theocrats on the surface. It’ll give our side a huge leg up over the enemy.

The Bushranger itself is a long way off from being battle-ready though. I got my first look at her this morning. After drifting through space for a century and a half, the hull is pockmarked with micrometeoroid impacts and some scrapper dismantled both the Bushranger’s Hyperspace Module and Power Plant. Lucky for us, the Battlemaster ships were built to run on simple nuclear fusion. The military crew has already started rebuilding the reactor. Meanwhile, my job is to translate all of the control panels and consoles into Partogan. I might know English, but the Bushranger needs a crew of fifteen. We can’t risk everyone dying from a mid-battle translation error.

So far I’ve knocked out most of the cockpit and I’m working my way backwards through the ship from there. Curiously, I’ve learned that the Bushranger is much more heavily armed than Partogan Corvettes. It has four mass driver turrets AND twelve missile pylons, six under each wing. I’m almost certain those missiles had nuclear payloads. I’m almost scared to say this, but a fully armed Bushranger might even be able to go toe to toe with the Tantomile and survive. It’s a powerful little ship. I’d be terrified if a dozen of these things came at me.

Hopefully, Manaaki Ranginui will be just as scared when the time comes.


[Personal log closed]

<== Previous Chapter (The New War)

Next Chapter (Distant Enemies) ==>​

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Seeing Mira is afraid of a little corvette like that, I wonder what she'd make of the 26m Orion Battleship that scared Kennedy into cancelling the USAF program that made the scale model he ordered destroyed; one decision different and X-COM could have had some real toys to scare Partogans with.

If you want I can have a go at making the HMAS Bushranger in GalCiv4, but I'm not the best ship designer for that game - the two best players for ship design IMO are Omnibus and Smersh on Steam; especially the latter, his replica designs are ridiculously impressive.

 

[Macavity116]

Seeing Mira is afraid of a little corvette like that, I wonder what she'd make of the 26m Orion Battleship that scared Kennedy into cancelling the USAF program that made the scale model he ordered destroyed; one decision different and X-COM could have had some real toys to scare Partogans with.

In this continuity, JFK's presidency overlapped with an alien invasion, so I'm sure he was being presented with even more psychotic designs. The Orion Battleship was probably just the tip of the iceberg.

If you want I can have a go at making the HMAS [Bushranger] in GalCiv4

I've heard of that game, but I didn't know it had a ship designer. I also did not know it had a third and fourth sequel. I'm assuming that's where some of the ship designs in Life 2.0 came from? I'd definitely be interested in seeing a Battlemaster gunship re-created in that game.

The original model is from Kerbal Space Program running the OPT spaceplane parts mod. Because both game and mod have been updated several times since then, it's no longer possible for me to build the ship, let alone fly it.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

In this continuity, JFK's presidency overlapped with an alien invasion, so I'm sure he was being presented with even more psychotic designs. The Orion Battleship was probably just the tip of the iceberg.

Quite possibly, but it's some iceberg if the Orion Battleship is the tip!

It always amazes me just what NASA managed to achieve with slide rules and pencils in the 50s and 60s.

I did think of spinning off at Kennedy for what became TerraGen Dominion, but decided not to, for reasons that will become more apparent later on. Or are already figureoutable to anyone who's looked up which namelist has Idmé Hencaal in the CANS namelist mod. That probably gives away the whole AAR actually.

I've heard of that game, but I didn't know it had a ship designer. I also did not know it had a third and fourth sequel. I'm assuming that's where some of the ship designs in Life 2.0 came from? I'd definitely be interested in seeing a Battlemaster gunship re-created in that game.

The original model is from Kerbal Space Program running the OPT spaceplane parts mod. Because both game and mod have been updated several times since then, so it's no longer possible for me to build the ship, let alone fly it.

I was thinking that it looked quite KSP; once I saw the resemblance it immediately came across as "oh, they forgot the RCS thrusters". Hope you don't mind, but I did add them here. I'd have also gone with front winglets as well if it was one of my designs, but I tend towards making my KSP aircraft too acrobatic as they're more fun that way. But then I also but a 220 m/s jet-propelled formula car thing which could fly if it managed to get airborne. You could land it by activating the DRS with the way it shifted the aero balance. It was a fun thing to drive, as long as you had unbreakable parts on. Otherwise...

Anyway, as a first draft:

A few bits do need a little more tweaking, the colour scheme definitely clashes on the wings, but it's quarter-to eleven at night here. I also couldn't figure out where the turrets were, and getting the colours right is way beyond my skill with the game anyway. Tried to replicate the shape.

Galactic Civilisations has had quite a few sequels now; the newest one is the one I've been using for the relevant Life2.0 pictures. The series has had a ship designer in 2, 3 and 4 in the game, with 4 having the best implementation - they've put the models for planets into the ship designer, so you can do Attack Moons and Behemoth Planetcraft.

1 didn't have a designer as such, but the ships were all text files, so you could customise and reuse models. The devs did release the sprite to .mdl file convertor tool they used after release, but it's not a user-friendly tool.

 

[Macavity116]

Anyway, as a first draft

For a quick draft, it looks cool. The original version had very small and underpowered RCS thrusters, I bet this version could dance if we asked it to. And yeah, the spaceplane desperately needs some kind of canard or winglets at the front of the fuselage. When it ran low on fuel, the whole thing would become completely unflyable in atmosphere because the centers of mass and lift moved radically.

The turrets are tiny things, hard to spot in the picture. In-game, they fire 20mm ammo. Lorewise, I decided that these little turrets could only be used for point defense due to their size and limited ammo. They probably can't thwart a swarm of space mosquitoes.

they've put the models for planets into the ship designer, so you can do Attack Moons and Behemoth Planetcraft.

Please tell me Life 2.0 gets to play with a planet-killer! That would be so much fun!

 

[CBR JGWRR]

For a quick draft, it looks cool. The original version had very small and underpowered RCS thrusters, I bet this version could dance if we asked it to. And yeah, the spaceplane desperately needs some kind of canard or winglets at the front of the fuselage. When it ran low on fuel, the whole thing would become completely unflyable in atmosphere because the centers of mass and lift moved radically.

The turrets are tiny things, hard to spot in the picture. In-game, they fire 20mm ammo. Lorewise, I decided that these little turrets could only be used for point defense due to their size and limited ammo. They probably can't thwart a swarm of space mosquitoes.

Glad you like it.

Limited ammo and point defence don't exactly go well together...

I do enjoy spaceplanes in KSP; rockets are a little too easy to do.

Please tell me Life 2.0 gets to play with a planet-killer! That would be so much fun!

You remember that 150m diameter pusher plate super-capital ship? That's been comprehensively dwarfed now. In CoaDE I've got a design for a ship that's got a 400m pusher plate that draws on Dyson's specifications for an interstellar design with tens of thousands of megaton warheads on board.

And of course, eventually they'll move on to Ceres sized asteroid artillery, and eventually even bigger weapons. I tend to draw the line at Attack Moons though, as anything bigger isn't really mobilisable.

 

[Macavity116]

eventually they'll move on to Ceres sized asteroid artillery, and eventually even bigger weapons. I tend to draw the line at Attack Moons though, as anything bigger isn't really mobilisable.

I personally love this idea.

And if you'll allow me to indulge for just a moment...

One of my favorite works of sci-fi, a TV show/book series/video game called The Expanse, has a beautiful story arc in which a warlord attacks Earth using asteroids covered in military-grade stealth materials, making them undetectable. I'm sure you've got your own plan for how the story will go, but if you are event the slightest bit open to suggestions, I strongly recommend borrowing an idea or two from Season 5 of The Expanse. I submit as evidence the video below:

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Of course I'm open to suggestions.

There's an overall narrative arc involved but I the only hard-stipulations on what's coming in Life2.0 is Buri, Naomi and Rivkah will all settle on the Xenayan homeworld. All the means along the way are open until they get fixed.

As to weaponising asteroids - we've already seen Life2.0 would.

 

[HistoryDude]

I assume that Mira almost said the Whisperers's name out of stress? Speaking of them, why doesn't she ask them for pointers about how to use her powers?

Why does Partoga lack a history of atmospheric warfare? I feel like it has something to do with alien contact, but I can't remember the exact details.

 

[Macavity116]

Speaking of them, why doesn't she ask them for pointers about how to use her powers?

Asking for help with her own powers is ever so slightly outside of the terms of her deal with the Whisperers in the Void. The entity promised to make Mira aware of things that are hidden from her, and secrets other people keep. The Whisperers are also aware of the information Mira already has on hand, thanks to her visit to XCOM earlier. So as far at it is concerned, Mira is already sufficiently informed.

Why does Partoga lack a history of atmospheric warfare?

The only high-intensity ground war to occur in Partoga's history was the Levakian Uprising of 1928. Before that point, the Partogans kept the Levakians so downtrodden that any would-be rebels never got access to military-grade aircraft. Whatever Air Force existed on Pre-FTL Partoga would have focused heavily on CAS missions since the Partogans would have air superiority in any situation.

So, in all likelihood, the Pre-FTL Partogan Air Force probably never developed anything beyond propeller-driven ground attack aircraft.

 

[Macavity116]

<== Previous Chapter (The Bushranger)

Next Chapter (The Green Guard) ==>​

Chapter 4.3:​

Distant Enemies​

​

[Personal Log: Mission Specialist Mira Mihaka, HMAS Bushranger, Outer Aiowa Star System, 11 Pipiri, 687]

Sys/ automated backup engaged…successfully saved all data to external storage device

Mira Mihaka: Two log entries in half a year? I’ve really let this thing go, haven’t I? I’m sure some historian decades from now is going to curse my name for my negligence. Well it isn’t going to matter much soon anyway. We’ve just jumped into the Aiowa system; which is only a couple week’s flight from Nithascal, the old border; putting us only three or four months from home. Remember almost a year ago, when we first started picking up radio transmissions from Earth? Well now the Midak is starting to hear signals from home.

Since this is the second time we followed radio waves back to the source planet, Captain Rangi and I were able to pinpoint the Homeworld’s location down to the Bio in record time. We can even extrapolate our distance from Partoga by figuring out what time period each signal came from.

Right now, the radio signals reaching the Midak are from the Levakian Uprising, which was nearly two-hundred years ago. So that puts us about a hundred and forty lightyears from home. Just a few Hyperspace jumps, really.

In the meantime, our training and preparation has gotten that much more intense. The military crew members are wearing battle gear whenever they’re on duty now. Civilian access has been restricted to even more parts of the ship, too. The eighteen of us are now effectively quarantined on Deck Three. I can still go down below and work on the Bushranger, of course. And I do that a lot now, but not of my own violation anymore.

See, I’m officially and unofficially a member of the Partogan Royal Navy now. Captain Rangi “drafted” me last week and made me a member of the Bushranger’s crew. So now during my freetime, instead of hanging out with Kaia, I go down to Deck Four and help arm the Bushranger and do combat drills with the rest of the crew.
Aside from myself, fourteen members of the Military Crew were chosen to become Bushranger crew:

• Commander Anika Aranui is now the Captain of the Bushranger. She sits in the cockpit’s middle seat.
• Corporal Kauri Wiki is in the left-hand pilot seat.
• Petty Officer Epi Eketone is the right-hand pilot.
• Corporals Kori Hei and Ahu Ata are manning the radiating sensors.
• Corporals Olo Tuterangi and Hinemoa Maioha, Private Nia Tawhiti and I are going to be weapons controllers. We each have a workstation in the forward fuselage where we operate the turrets by remote control.
• Corporal Kupe Wihongi, Private Taka Rangihau, Corporal Kori Rangihau, Lieutenant Ari Kopunui, and Chief Petty Officer Whetu Karawana are on the Damage Control Team. They’ll move around the ship and try to fix anything that breaks during a fight.

So about my job as a weapons controller: The Bushranger has four Mass Driver turrets, two on the dorsal side and two on the ventral side. I’m responsible for the tail gun on the underside of the ship. The turret itself can swivel one-hundred-eighty degrees from left to right and ninety degrees up-down. The turret’s mobility is a good trade-off for the downside it comes with: limited ammunition. All four guns have their own stockpile of ammo to draw from, but it won’t be possible to transfer ammunition from one gun to another in the heat of a fight. I’ll only have one hundred-ten armor piercing rounds and seventy-five high explosive shells to work with. Same goes for the other three guns. Hopefully that’s all we’ll need to put down any Theocrats who try to keep resisting after we show up.

And if Manaaki Ranginui does try to keep fighting… well we have a backup plan ready for him. Just like I first thought, the Bushranger and her sister ships were delivery platforms for nuclear destruction. It took us the better part of a month and a little extra quality time with the Phased Disassembler Array, but teams working round the clock in the Midak’s Foundry were finally able to manufacture explosive nuclear devices.

Mounted on the tips of crude contraptions that just barely qualify as “missiles,” the Bushranger now has the ability to inflict over twenty Megatons of explosive power with the push of a button. Obviously, that button is nowhere near me. It’s Aranui who has launch authority.

Anyway. That’s what’s been happening.


[Personal log closed]

[Personal log addendum: Outer Aiowa Star System, 12 Pipiri, 687]


Mira Mihaka: Okay, I lied yesterday. There’s something else. A reason I haven’t been making logs like usual… Manaaki’s been getting into my head.

It started a month ago, almost right after we did the Ustir-Atlas Slipgate. Its… it’s almost like I’ve come into his striking range or something. Every night when I go to sleep he’s there. Just standing there over my bed! Every. Damn. Night.

Anyway, it’s been getting really bad the past week or so. Usually he’d just stare at me... But four, maybe five days ago? I forget. Anyway, he’s started putting his hands on my head… and he squeezes me. It hurts so bad, when I wake up I’m in real pain! Like Manaaki actually put a vice on my skull or something. I don’t know what he was trying to do, and I don’t know how to stop it.


[Personal log closed]

[Personal log addendum: Outer Aiowa Star System, 13 Pipiri, 687]


Mira Mihaka: I’m too scared to sleep. Just like the Celestial Gauntlets do for me, the Eater of Worlds is amplifying Manaaki’s power; and he’s using it now. I can’t think. I can’t focus. I can’t even hear the Whisperers in the Void right now. Every time I close my eyes he’s right there! I can’t stay in the Crew Quarters tonight. I’m going somewhere else.


[Personal log closed]

[Personal log addendum: Inner Kadiir Nebula, 14 Pipiri, 687]


Mira Mihaka: I slept in one of the Psi Lab’s isolation cells last night. Best decision of my life. I don’t know what it is about this place, but Manaaki didn’t show up last night. I’m getting a little bit of my focus back, I’m rested and I just feel better. You know what? New plan! An hour of meditation in here before bed each night. Let’s see if I can shut Manaaki out of my head like he does me.


[Personal log closed]

[BRIDGE VOICE RECORDING: 28:33 HOURS, 14 PIPIRI, 687]


Toa Rangi: You’re relieved, Lieutenant. I’m clocking in early today.

Tai Tunui: Thanks, Sir. The ship is yours.

Toa Rangi: Anything to report, Wihongi?

Meto Wihongi: The Bushranger’s engines passed their check-fire tests smoothly. We’re about three days away from the Hyperlane to Landeen, and we’ve started to hear radio signals from the War-Era.

Toa Rangi: Anything specific?

Meto Wihongi: Mostly status reports relating to the Sieges of the Nanjim Star Cluster.

Toa Rangi: What about… the other receiver?

Meto Wihongi: The signal was acquired about five hours ago.

Toa Rangi: Good. Cycle people into and out of that room at the top of each hour. Make sure there’s at least one person listening at all times. Keep it quiet.

Meto Wihongi: Very good, Sir.

Toa Rangi: Dismissed. Alright. Anyone else on the Bridge have a status update for me?

Atu Aha: Sir, there’s a minor power fluctuation in the Comms Tower.

Toa Rangi: Call them up and ask if they’re running any tests. And while you’re at it, tell them-

Moana Ranginui: Psi Lab calling Bridge! Emergency!

Toa Rangi: Last calling station, report!

Moana Ranginui: Send a medic to the Psi Lab! It’s Mihaka! She-

Mira Mihaka: *screams*

Toa Rangi: By the Mountain… Stay where you are, Ranginui! I’m sending someone down to you right now!


[RECORDING MANUALLY STOPPED]

[Personal log addendum: Inner Kadiir Nebula, 15 Pipiri, 687]


Mira Mihaka: I barely feel like writing right now. I feel... terrible. I did like I said I would: Meditated for an hour, slept in the isolation cell, closed my mind.... but he showed up again.... and that THING was with him this time. They were so hungry, you don’t even... you can’t even know.

I can’t talk. I just wanna rest.


[Personal log closed]

[Personal log addendum: Inner Kadiir Nebula, 15 Pipiri, 687]


Mira Mihaka: Kaia, Moana, and the Captain all came to see me, which is nice. Almost made me forget about this killer headache Manaaki left me with. I still haven’t left the Infirmary because Meto Kapua, the purse-snatcher, thinks it’s weird that my head still hurts twenty hours after Manaaki attacked me. He wants to keep me on painkillers until all of my pain receptors actually stop firing. Know what?! Why don’t I force my way into your mind, Meto?! Probe around and sort through your memories without your permission?! Then you’ll know how much this freakin’ hurts!

Uhg, anyway, best the Whisperers and I can figure out, what happened was that Manaaki and the Eater of Worlds got through my “defenses” and broke all the way into my mind. One of them was searching through my memories just like a burglar named Meto Kapua went through my bags. The other (I have no idea if it was Manaaki or the Eater of Worlds) was hurting me. You weren’t there, you didn’t see it; but I swear whoever was beating the Protodermis out of me was having fun the whole time.

I know I was in the Psi Lab with Moana, and dreaming the whole thing... but it felt so real! IT WAS REAL! I saw Manaaki and the Eater. I felt them... their hands in my skull, and I thought... I was... over and over... and over... in my chest... and...oh, huhu... OhI’mgonnapuke-


[Log paused]

[Log resumed]


Mira Mihaka: I’m okay now. My head feels like it’s gonna split open, though. I’m... I’m gonna sleep this off.


[Personal log closed]

[Personal log addendum: Inner Kadiir Nebula: 16 Pipiri, 687]


Mira Mihaka: That’s so sweet! Tai Whiu just came to visit me! I barely know the guy and I can count the number of times I’ve talked to him on one hand, so it really means something that he’d drop by. He asked how I was feeling and if he could get me anything.

I was actually fine and didn’t need anything, but he was really insistent. “I wanna help” he kept saying. Well, now you can’t say I let generosity go to waste. I asked him to bring me the external storage drive for my tablet. This thing is just too far away that it can’t remotely back up my files right now. He should be back soon.

I actually feel a little better this afternoon. Sadly just not well enough to leave the infirmary. My head is still throbbing and Meto says my brain still comes back as “swollen” on all of his scans. He’s over there making plans to move me into a Radiation Shelter if I don’t get well before the next Hyperspace Jump.

Screw that. Ever done a Hyperspace Jump with a headache? I’m gonna call the Captain and tell him to stop the ship just before the Hyperlane. Oh! Tai’s back.


[Log paused]

Sys/ automated backup engaged…successfully saved all data to external storage device

[Log resumed]


Mira Mihaka: So, Tai, when I tell you, repeat what you told me into the microphone, okay?

Tai Whiu: Okay. Now? Uh, so when I passed through the Foundry on the way to your quarters, I noticed a noise that I’d never heard before-

Mira Mihaka: Foundry? So you were right under the secret chamber behind the Bridge then?

Tai Whiu: Mira, you know I can’t tell you what’s in there. It’s both classified and above my pay grade.

Mira Mihaka: Damn. Worth a try. Okay, keep going.

Tai Whiu: Anyway, poked around the Foundry looking for the source for a minute when I realized I was hearing it through the wall. Someone was playing some kind of audio really loudly in the Radiation Shelter next door.

Mira Mihaka: Next to the Foundry, that’s Shelter Number One. Where the Captain goes during Jumps?

Tai Whiu: That’s right. I’ve never heard noises like that coming from there though, so I broke out my tablet and made a recording for you, since I knew that’s the kind of thing you’re interested in.

Mira Mihaka: Thanks Tai. You’ve been way more helpful than I was expecting.

Tai Whiu: Uh, yeah. You ever need a helping man- uh, hand! Yeah. I’ll go now.

Mira Mihaka: Really? Did he just- never mind. Let’s have a listen to Tai’s recording. Computer, play last audio log created by Corporal Tai Whiu.


Cmd usr/ Play selected media
Sys/ Playing media...
[Personal Log: Corporal Tai Whiu, HMS Midak, Outer Kadiir Nebula, 15 Pipiri 687]

Unknown Voice: Seven hundred thirty five... ... ... ...Seven hundred twenty... ... Seven hundred-five... ... ...Six hundred ninety... ... ... ... Six hundred seventy-five... ... ... ... ... Six hundred sixty... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Tai Whiu: Okay. It stopped. I have no idea what that is or what it’s supposed to do. There’s nothing on the ship which reads numbers aloud like that. Mira, you’re the head scientist here. I hope you can figure it out. Hell, I know you can.

[Personal log (Tai Whiu) closed]
Sys/ Operation complete


Mira Mihaka: Well, it’s nice to know how much faith Tai places in my work. Numbers, though. What’s that all about? Well, it looks like Meto’s gone somewhere, which means I have the Infirmary to myself for a few minutes. Let’s ask my Muse...

That wasn’t helpful. The Whisperers in the Void said I “already have that knowledge” and then they went back to observing Manaaki. How do I already know about the numbers? Did I miss something? I need something to jog my memory. Or someone. I got it! Hang on, gotta make a call.


[Log paused]

[Log resumed]


Mira Mihaka: It’s just you, Kaia?

Kaia Patariki: Yeah. Moana’s busy up in the Psi Lab and Tai is helping Commander Aranui fix something in the workshop on Deck Two. What did you need?

Mira Mihaka: Do you still believe those conspiracy theories about the “Shadow State” and all that junk?

Kaia Patariki: Do I?! I thought you’d never ask! How much “truth” can I get you today?

Mira Mihaka: Uhg. Kaia, I’m not converting to your way of thinking. Don’t give me that disappointed look! I need to know if any of those theories involve secret number codes.

Kaia Patariki: Mira you can’t- actually. Yes. There is one. When your mom was Queen, did you ever hear her talk about “The Numbers Station”?

Mira Mihaka: No. And I’m going to head you off at the pass and add: “No such thing ever existed. Whoever thought it up is a crackpot who really needs to stop smoking so much Harakeke.” Just tell me the “theory.”

Kaia Patariki: First off Mira, Harakeke will be legal in a few years and you need to try it. And as for the proven facts you call a “Theory”: During the Second Hyperspace War, Queen Miranda the Second set up a top-secret military radio network that would allow Partogan Navy ships to communicate with each other in code. The center of that network was the Numbers Station. Every ten hours, it would broadcast a bunch of numbers to every ship in the fleet; and each officer in the PRN has a codebook which tells him or her what the numbers mean. That way, the Queen can hand out secret orders, missions, and directives to anyone in the fleet. That’s the story of the Numbers Station. Why were you asking about the Numbers Station at all?

Mira Mihaka: Computer, re-play the previous audio.

Cmd usr/ Play selected media
Sys/ Playing media...
[Personal Log: Corporal Tai Whiu, HMS Midak, Outer Kadiir Nebula, 16 Pipiri 687]

Unknown Voice: Seven hundred thirty five... ... ... ...Seven hundred twenty... ... Seven hundred-five... ... ...Six hundred ninety... ... ... ... Six hundred seventy-five... ... ... ... ... Six hundred sixty... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Cmd usr/ Stop
Sys/ Media stopped

Mira Mihaka: Someone’s been hearing numbers in certain parts of the ship. I was hoping you might give me a crazy idea to get me thinking.

Kaia Patariki: Huh. Did I?

Mira Mihaka: Maybe. Out here in space, a kooky Harakeke-fueled conspiracy is a better place to start than absolutely nowhere.

Kaia Patariki: Don’t knock the plant until you’ve smoked a leaf or two. Look, Mira. I’ve gotta go. You did pull me away from some work after all. I hope I helped! Bye!

Mira Mihaka: *Sigh* I really doubt it’s a number’s station. At least it’ll give me something to think about before sleeping tonight. Meto still won’t let me leave the Infirmary because my head is still pounding like someone hit it with a hammer. Get this, he’s actually having two of his friends, Rawari and Watahui carry me on a stretcher into the Shelter for tonight’s Hyperspace Jump! He really thinks I can’t be trusted to walk on my own or something! Damnit, those shelters are claustrophobic enough without being strapped to a flat board for the whole jump.

I’m definitely complaining to the Captain about this afterward. I’ll write again after the Hyperspace Jump. Let’s just get this over with...


Sys/ automated backup engaged…successfully saved all data to external storage device
[Personal log closed]


Sys/ Hyperspace Jump initiated.

EMERGENCY ALERT! Hyperdrive malfunction.

The Quantum Wavefront is collapsing.

Safety interrupt engaged.

Standby for immediate return to normal space.

<== Previous Chapter (The Bushranger)

Next Chapter (The Green Guard) ==>​

 

[CBR JGWRR]

That's... Not supposed to happen.

So, accident, or "accident"?

 

[HistoryDude]

So... the nuclear option is on the table.

I imagine that the spy (or spies) had something to do with this ambush.

Ah, Kaia. The conspiracy theorist who is deluded by the actual conspiracy (probably).

Also, it's totally related to the Numbers Station.

 

[Macavity116]

That's... Not supposed to happen.

I wish Stellaris had more story events about FTL operations, like reverse-engineering the Jump Drive from a superior Empire if you didn't have it already or something like that. The FTL Impact event was cool, but I just want more of that flavor.

the nuclear option is on the table.

And so begins a highly-abused trope in the Stormbreaker Universe: The wanton abuse of nuclear weapons. If I remember right, After Everything is in second place for "total number of nukes used" for the whole series. Double digits.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Double-digit nukes isn't exactly all that many... Compared to Life2.0, that's highly restrained.

It would be nice to have more details on how Stellaris FTL works in general really, it's all rather under-defined.

 

[Macavity116]

Double-digit nukes isn't exactly all that many... Compared to Life2.0, that's highly restrained.

Oh yeah, you've blown me out of the water on that front.

But I still killed off more sentient lifeforms than Warhammer 40K in the first paragraph.* So I'll keep that bragging right.


*according to @TheButterflyComposer

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Equally though, Life2.0 haven't used anything over a couple of megatons. Yet.

15k worlds is quite a few.

 

[Macavity116]

Author's notes: Technology is incredible! I was able to post this chapter from the backseat of my car while travelling 80mph along I-95 in South Carolina, almost a thousand miles away from home. (You can do the Georgia-to-Michigan drive in less than a day, but I strongly recommend rotating drivers every few hours. This has been quite the slog)

This chapter contains the first (of hopefully many) purges of bad grammar from the series. I cannot begin to emphasize how many unnecessary exclamation marks were removed from the text today. Also, I found several paragraphs with unneeded repetition. I deleted those passages, so you may find this version to be about a paragraph shorter than theficer is now considered to be part of Chapter 4.4. It used to be an unlisted, un-threadmarked passage of flavor text. It's canon now.

<== Previous Chapter (Distant Enemies)

Next Chapter (Reunions) ==>​

Chapter 4.4:​

The Green Guard​

Pitch Darkness. The acrid smell of an electrical fire. Echoes of distant screams, alarms, and gunfire. The light pressure of metal against flesh. The taste of her own blood.

Slowly at first, then with rapidly increasing alertness, Mira regained consciousness. The throbbing pain in the back of her head was a secondary issue compared to her more immediate problem: She was still strapped to a medical stretcher, arms and legs bound uselessly to the plastic board. She was also upside-down, her face pressing into the hard metal floor of the Radiation Shelter. Mira struggled to move, the stretcher making clattering noises each time it hit the floor or the wall. She knew Meto, Watahui and Rawiri had gone into the shelter with her. Where were they?

“Help!” Mira cried, “Get me out of here! One of you? Please!”

Then, Mira felt an irresistible force seize her stretcher and flip it over. Landing roughly on her back, Mira saw that Watahui Wiki was the only person in the shelter with her. Everyone else was gone, and all four doors were open wide. The trapdoor leading down to the Crew Quarters on Deck Three was obscured by opaque smoke rising up through the little hatchway. Watahui, meanwhile, was fumbling with something in his satchel bag.

“Hey,” Mira said up to Watahui, “I think something’s gone wrong with the Hyperspace Module. Cut me out of this thing and let’s get the rest of the team down there.”
Watahui paused and looked up at Mira’s face, giving her a look she didn’t understand. Mira (who still hadn’t realized what that distant popping sound was) tried again,
“What’s the problem?” She said, “Get me off this thing already! We’ve gotta go!”

Watahui’s face fell.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t wake up.” He said mournfully.

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Mira was starting to lose patience with her fellow scientist. But her question was answered as Watahui found what he was looking for and began to withdraw it from the bag tied to his waist. Mira’s frustration and confusion turned instantly into fear and panic as Watahui put both hands on a silver Gauss Pistol and chambered a round.

The weapon made a bone-chilling noise as Mira screamed,

“WHAT THE HELL!? WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT?!”

Watahui didn’t answer, he knelt down next to Mira and pointed the barrel of the Gauss Pistol at Mira’s face.

Unimaginable terror coursed through Mira’s body and mind. She began to struggle even harder, flailing and straining against her restraints. Watahui pressed the cold barrel of his firearm against Mira’s forehead just above her left eye and put his finger inside the trigger guard. Mira opened her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs.

WHAM!

A young woman with brown skin and short grey hair stormed into the shelter and tackled Watahui clear off his feet. Mira let out a noise of desperation and gratitude as Moana Ranginui put both of her hands around Watahui’s wrists, wrenching the Gauss Pistol out of his hands where it clattered to the floor.

Watahui (who was nearly sixty pounds heavier than Moana) broke free of her grip and punched Moana in the stomach with so much strength that she doubled over and fell to her knees. Mira frantically began straining against the plastic straps that kept her bound to the stretcher, while Watahui scrambled to grab his fallen firearm. Moana launched herself at him from the floor. Four hands scrabbled desperately at the little weapon it let out a loud CRACK! Mira felt the hypersonic projectile passing a mere inch above her face and she heard it smack into the shelter wall with a high-pitched plink. Moana got one of her legs free from the scuffle and kicked Watahui in the groin. Her opponent immediately curled up defensively and she tried one more time to pull the Gauss Pistol away from his hands with both of hers.

The weapon fired again.

The second gunshot was accompanied by a dull thunk. Someone’s blood flew up to the ceiling and splattered there. Then, with much yelling and grunting, both combatants wrestled and rolled out of Mira’s line of sight. Both Moana and Watahui unleashed even more violence Mira couldn’t see. But from her position on the floor, Mira felt sickening thumps as one combatant grabbed the other and began to repeatedly smash their enemy’s head into the metal floor. One... Two... Three times the back of somebody’s head connected with the floor. Then the fight was over, and there was silence, broken by heavy breathing.

If Watahui had overpowered Moana, Mira knew she was going to die horribly just a few seconds from now. Filled with desperation, Mira cried aloud,

“NO! STOP! PLEASE STOP!!”

The pointed brown face, grey hair, and purple eyes of Moana Ranginui appeared above Mira.

“Relax,” Said Moana, “I’m not gonna hurt you.”

Moana pulled a combat knife from her utility belt and cut the straps binding Mira to the stretcher. Mira sat up and frantically looked around for Watahui. She saw him lying about an arms’ length away. He was spread eagled on his back, unconscious, with blood oozing from a wound on the back on his head. Watahui was still breathing, his chest rising and falling to the sound of ragged wheezes. There was also blood on the front of his shirt and his hands. Mira felt Moana’s hand (also covered in blood) on her shoulder and looked around.

“You okay?” Moana asked, her normally gruff and tomboyish voice now strained, “I got here as quick as I could.”

“I’m fine,” Mira began, “at least I think I am, what the heck is happen- Mother of Miranda! YOU’VE BEEN SHOT!!”

They both looked down. Moana’s hand had been applying pressure to a bloody wound on her lower abdomen this whole time. When she lifted her hand away, Mira saw a hole in Moana’s flight suit just above the waistline near her stomach. A wet, red stain was growing around the injury with terrible speed.

Once Mira noticed the injury, Moana let go of her friend and stood upright; she was trying to show Mira that she was fine, but the action was also partly to test herself.

Moana put her free hand out and steadied herself against the wall. After a moment, Moana fell backwards and her backside pressed against the wall. When she stepped into the middle of the shelter, Moana left behind a big smear of dark red blood on the wall and the back of her flight suit.

“Y-Yuh...Yeah,” Moana groaned, “The bastard shot me. That’s not important right now. Listen: There’s at least two m-... two more of them loose on the ship, maybe three, and it sounds-... they’re all armed. We have to get somewhere safe.”

Finally, as she stood and offered her shoulder for Moana to lean on, Mira heard and recognized the sound of gunfire coming from elsewhere in the ship. Moana put her left foot out and tried to lead Mira out of the shelter.

“We’re g-going to the Bushranger.” gasped Moana, “We can’t let th...them get to it.”

“Hell no.” Mira was surprised she could use a commanding voice right now, “The Bushranger is two decks down from here. You’ll bleed to death before we get there.”
Mira pulled defiantly at her friend and pointed with her free hand towards the hatch behind her.

“The infirmary is right there!” Mira said, “Let’s stop the bleeding, then think about fighting.”

“I’m fine,” Moana tried to raise her voice, unaware of how quickly her strength was draining. She tried to walk towards the trap door which led to the lower decks, but collapsed to her knees and put both hands to her wound, breathing heavily through her teeth.

Standing behind Moana, Mira saw that the high-velocity Gauss round had done far more damage to Moana’s body during its exit than its entry. The situation was far worse than Moana realized. Mira sprinted to the short distance to far side of the shelter and put her shoulder to the heavy door. On the other side was the Midak’s infirmary.

The infirmary had clearly been visited by the same disaster that had befallen the rest of the ship. Smoke was slowly pouring into the room via one of the ventilation ducts, none of the computers were working, and there was an ominously fresh bloodstain on the floor next to the hatchway leading down to the galley below. The only other door (Which lead to another Radiation Shelter) was on the far side of the room, while a trapdoor in the ceiling and a hatch in the floor lead to other parts of the ship. The ceiling and floor hatches were connected to each other with a metal ladder. Mira’s fear began to resurface as she realized the infirmary was empty.

“Hello!” Mira called out, “I need help! Meto? Ria? Tamaho?”

Mira pushed the door all the way open, darted into the infirmary and started to raid the cabinets and drawers, looking for medical dressing to use on Moana’s wound. It only took about thirty seconds for Mira to find and grab a Nanomedikit plus a few pads of gauze, she was about to run back into the shelter when a gurgled groan caught her ear. Mira looked around and dropped everything when she saw what had made the noise.

It was Tamaho Wihongi, one of the Midak’s three medics. Mira hadn’t spotted him on the way in because he’d been hidden behind the one and only surgical bed. Tamaho was lying on his side, which was splattered with an unreasonable amount of blood. His arms and legs were curled up as though he’d been trying to hide from someone.

“Tamaho!” Mira bent low, scooped up a roll of medical dressing and scrambled over to him,

“Hey, Tamaho! Look at me!” said Mira, “Where are you hurt? Show me! Come on, say something!”

Tamaho didn’t move. He didn’t say anything. His last breath continued to gurgle out of both his airway and the two gunshot wounds in his back.

A wave of emotions built up in Mira so quickly that her mind was momentarily overwhelmed. She was disgusted, frightened, outraged, infuriated, and exhausted all at once. She was suddenly called back into action when several people entered the infirmary all at the same time.

Above Mira’s head, the ceiling hatchway abruptly swung open, but instead of climbing down the ladder, Captain Rangi simply dropped down into the infirmary from the deck above. Before Mira could move or react in any way, Rangi had unstrapped a Light Plasma Rifle from his leg and aimed it at her head.

“Wait! Wait!” Mira shouted, “It’s me!”

At that same moment, Moana crawled on her hands and knees through the doorway and into the room. She looked up at the Captain from the floor and said in between deep breaths,

“Sir...why...aren’t you... on the bridge?!”

With a loud thump, a corpse slid and fell down the ladder, coming to rest at its feet. Ria Areaiiti, another Medic, came down the ladder next. While she slid down the ladder, Ria muttered to herself;

“No stairs. This damn ship doesn’t have any damn stairs. Damnit!!”

As Ria hit the floor, Commander Anika Aranui slid down the ladder behind her. She didn’t acknowledge anyone in the room. Instead, Anika drew a Stuttermag (a Laser Rifle shortened down to carbine-length) and took aim at the hatchway she had just dropped out of.

“We’re clear!” said Anika, using one hand to brush her silver dreadlocks out of her face.

Ria dropped the unconscious person to the ground and dashed over to Moana. Mira followed,

“What happened?” Ria asked as she applied medical dressing to Moana’s injuries and sprayed her with a Nanomedikit.

“Watahui shot her!” Mira said at once, causing both the Captain and his second-in-command to look at her.

“That makes three of them.” Said Anika, “Three confirmed hostiles.”

She turned to Mira.

“What happened to Watahui? Where is he now!?”

Moana yelled over Ria’s shoulder.

“He’s right on the other side of that door! I cracked his skull for you, ma’am!”

Anika chambered a round in her Stuttermag and then began stepping though the doorway into the Radiation Shelter. Mira grabbed her by the arm.

“Wait,” said Mira, “What did you mean when you said ‘hostiles’? Are you saying Watahui is one of Manaaki’s spies?”

“Not exactly.” Replied Anika. She pulled herself free of Mira’s grip and entered the shelter.

Watahui was still lying face up on the floor where Mira and Moana had left him. Mira wondered for a second why he hadn’t gotten up and run away before she realized Moana had almost certainly inflicted some kind of brain damage by smashing his head on the floor. Watahui’s eyes were open and they followed Mira and Anika around the room. Anika bent down and picked up the Gauss Pistol Watahui tried to use against Mira. For a few seconds, Anika did and said nothing while Mira watched. Anika simply stared down at the pistol with an unfathomable expression on her face. She examined every inch of the weapon closely. In that moment of pause, the sounds of distant gunfire and smoke alarms permeated the room. From somewhere below, two decks down, a male voice cried out in pain.

Finally, right when Mira had started to relax a little, Anika looked over her shoulder and called through the door;

“You were right sir. It’s them.”

In the infirmary, Captain Rangi swore very loudly. Mira looked back at Anika.

“So he’s the spy we’ve been looking for?” she asked.

Anika sighed.

“He is a spy,” she admitted, “just not the one we were looking for. Same goes for his friends.”

Moving with the speed and dexterity of a true soldier, Anika pulled the Gauss Pistol apart until it was reduced to about two dozen odd pieces of metal in her hands. She dropped the weapon fragments onto Watahui’s torso. His eyes were now locked onto the Commander totally. She looked back at him and said;

“The gun gave you away.”

And then, moving too fast for Mira to even comprehend, let alone do anything to prevent it, Anika pulled out her Stuttermag, flipped off the safety switch, and fired three laser bolts into Watahui’s chest. His body jerked violently for a moment, causing Mira to jump with fright. Then Watahui became still. He was dead.

Mira was so stunned, so caught off guard by what just happened, that she didn’t move as Anika pushed past her and re-entered the infirmary. While Anika and the Captain began talking quietly, Mira bent down low and put a hand out to Watahui’s corpse. Everything was happening so fast, she couldn’t process what was going on. Had Watahui been a traitor this whole time? Why didn’t she know this was coming?

Concentrating with all her might, Mira tried to call the Whisperers in the Void to the front of her mind; but instead of the usual chorus of voices Mira was met with excruciating pain all along the back of her head. Clutching her head in both hands and falling to her knees, Mira remembered that this pain was nearly identical to how she had felt after being telepathically attacked by Manaaki mere hours ago. Blinking tears out of her eyes, Mira found herself looking at the pieces of metal that had once been a Gauss Pistol. She saw something that had escaped her notice up until now. Carved into the top of the iron sights was a small number of little Partogan letters. Mira picked up the gun barrel and squinted at the iron sights, trying to make out the tiny little letters:

“K...O...P...” Mira read aloud, “G...R...E...E...N...G...U...A...R...D. .... Oh, please no.”

The Green Guard were the most elite warriors in the entire Partogan military. They were professional killers, canny tacticians, relentless fighters, and most importantly: the only branch of the Partogan military not under the control of the Queen. These warriors answered only to the Patriarch of the Church of the Mountain, Manaaki Ranginui.

And Anika had just killed one of them.

Mira staggered back into the infirmary. The pain in her head had intensified since the Hyperspace jump, but she did her best to ignore it and she joined Anika’s conversation with Captain Rangi, Ria, and Moana (who was lying on her stomach on the surgical bed, looking down at Tamaho’s corpse)

“-he had no chance.” Ria was saying. “I’m sorry, sir.”

Captain Rangi shook his head.

“You did your best.” He consoled Ria. “They got the jump on us. It will not happen again.”

Mira pointed to the corpse Ria had dropped down the hatchway.

“Who is this?” she asked cautiously. The Captain quickly swooped down on the body and grabbed it by the shoulder.

“Thanks for reminding me, Mihaka,” said Rangi. He turned the body over.

It was Corporal Kauri Wiki, a member of the bridge crew. He’d been shot three times, once in the left shoulder and twice more in the head. Mira recoiled from the grizzly sight. Captain Rangi put his hand into Kauri’s collar and tugged. The dead man's ID tag came free and Rangi stuffed it into his breast pocket. Then he turned to face Mira and Moana.

“The Green Guard is trying to take over the ship.” He began, “At least two of them just drove us off the bridge. Mihaka, tell me: who was in that shelter with you during the jump?”

Between the near-constant pain threatening to split her head open and her general confusion, Mira was just barely able to form a coherent answer;

“Meto Kapua,” she recited, “Watahui Wiki, and Rawiri Kopu.”

Anika cocked her head to the side and stepped closer to Mira.

“That doesn’t add up.” Anika said softly. “We just fought Meto on the bridge, but he was being helped by a woman. Who’s the female Green Guard?”

Rangi stepped between Mira and Anika.

“We don’t have time to figure that out.” He said. “I managed to drop about half of all the emergency bulkheads before leaving the bridge, but Meto and his friends won’t take long to open them up again. We’ve got to take action.”

Ria pulled a Laser Pistol out of her waistband.

“What do you think he’s after, sir?” she asked,

Captain Rangi folded his arms.

“I don’t know.” He admitted. “They might be after the Bushranger, and it looks like they already got to the weapons in the Cargo Bay.”

“Hang on,” Mira interrupted, “Why would they go to the bridge then? The Bushranger is on Deck Four.”

The five of them didn’t have a chance to think over their answer. Clattering footsteps from the far door told them a group of people was coming their way fast.

“Take cover!” Rangi ordered,

Everyone ducked behind something solid. Moana rolled off the surgical table and hid partially underneath of it and partially behind Tamaho’s body. Rangi, Ria, and Anika all pointed their weapons at the doorway leading towards the other Radiation Shelter. Ria darted forward and slammed her fist against the metal door, making sure it was shut and locked. The footfalls on the other side stopped.

“Identify yourselves!” the Captain called out,

There was a pause, punctuated by the popping of gunfire somewhere on the deck below.

“Chief Petty Officer Whetu Karawana, Partogan Royal Navy!” Called the first voice,

“Corporal Olo Tuterangi, Partogan Royal Navy!” came the second,

“Lieutenant Ari Kopunui, Partogan Royal Navy!” said a third, and finally;

“Corporal Tai Whiu, Partogan Royal Navy!” said a familiar voice.

“Tai!” Mira gasped, and reflexively she stood up and made to open the door, but the Captain grabbed her.

“Don’t be a fool!” he said, “Anyone could be back there!”

“He’s right,” said Anika. Keeping her Stuttermag raised, she called out to the hatchway, “Karawana! Prove it’s really you! What did you do to the Engineering lab right after our mission started?”

Whetu’s voice came back though the door with a little hesitation and a hint of embarrassment,

“I blew it up, ma’am.”

Mira caught on quickly. Mentally pushing aside the intense pain in her head and bringing up the memory of a previous conversation with Tai, Mira called out;

“Corporal Whiu, who am I supposed to talk to?”

Pause.

“Um, not the wall.” Tai’s voice responded, “Like I said: good listener, but never has anything interesting to say.”

Mira turned to give Rangi a defiant look.

“That’s really him, sir.” She said.

Rangi nodded to Anika.

Anika (and everyone else except Mira and Moana) raised their weapons at the door and cried out:

“Long live the Queen!”

Simultaneously, the four Partogans on the other side of the door answered with:

“Long live the Queen!”

Anika opened the door.

Whetu, Olo, Ari, and Tai piled into the infirmary and slammed the door shut behind them. They were all armed with a variety of human weapons (Gauss, Laser, and Plasma rifles) Tai crossed the room in a few strides and gave Mira a big hug. Mira started to push him away but stopped when she felt Tai’s tears running down her shoulder. She put both hands around his shoulders and said,

“Don’t worry, you’re with friends, I’ve got you.”

Whetu pointed at Tai and said:

“Captain, he’s the only member of the Comms Tower crew still alive. The Green Guard just cleared Deck One room by room and now they’re on their way here.”
Anika’s jaw dropped.

“The only one?!” She repeated, “What about Poata and Rameka?”

“Dead.” Said Whetu. Then she turned back to Rangi.

“Sir,” she said, “One of the Green Guards have left the bridge and I saw them on Deck Three. If we’re gonna move, the time is now.”

Captain Rangi un-holstered a Plasma Pistol and pressed it into Mira’s hand.

“Time to fight!” he said, “Everyone on me! Anika! You have any left?”

Anika didn’t answer, she reached into her pouch and produced an item that was unmistakably a flashbang grenade. She pulled the pin, flipped the spoon away and
tossed it up the ladder and into the room above them.

BANG!

“Up the ladder!” Rangi yelled to his crewmates, “Go! Go!”

Anika went up the ladder first, her head and neck twisting and turning each way, looking for hostiles.

“Clear!”

One by one, everyone followed Anika up the ladder to Deck One. Moana brought up the rear. Her wound had been sealed and cauterized by the Nanomedikit, but it was a very temporary fix that could be easily undone.

Mira pulled herself up through the hatch and found herself in the Midak’s Sensor Suite. Here in this hemispherical room dozens of computer banks and workstations lined the walls so that the crew could receive and interpret incoming sensor data. The room wasn’t in use, though. A wisp of smoke curled away from Anika’s flashbang grenade while a small electrical fire burned along a thick strand of cables inside hole in the wall nearby, marking the spot where a Laser Rifle bolt had made impact. Looking to her left (towards the bridge) Mira saw the Captain, Ria, and Anika trying to force the emergency bulkhead door. It had slid halfway into the “closed” position and stopped. On the other side of it was a sealed door that connected the Sensor Suite to the Midak’s bridge.

As soon as this sight met her eyes, the pain in Mira’s head suddenly intensified to a level she didn’t think was even possible! Dropping her Plasma Pistol and falling to her knees, Mira grabbed her scalp with both hands and rocked back and forth, wishing for the pain to stop.

“What the hell is wrong with her now?” asked Rangi, “Ranginui? Talk to me!”

Moana knelt down next to Mira.

“What is it?” she asked quietly,

“Manaaki!” Mira gasped between breaths, “He- he’s hurting me!”

Moana grabbed one of Mira’s hands and looked at it. She had the look of someone who’d just had an idea.

“Wait here!” said Moana. She got up and limped through the doorway leading away from the bridge.

Mira and Captain Rangi stared after her for a moment before Rangi said with frustration,

“I’m still in charge, right? I ordered an assault…right!?”

Tai, Ria, Whetu, and Olo all put their hands to the bulkhead door and started pushing on it with all their strength. Rangi grabbed Mira by the scruff of her neck and pulled her up.

“Get your head in the game, solider!” said the Captain, “Focus!”

As Rangi went back to help his comrades, Mira stooped to pick up her Plasma Pistol. Focus. She thought. Focus. Mira joined the others in pulling on the door. Take the bridge. Mira forced the thought to repeat in her mind over and over again. Those three words echoed about in her mindscape, and for a few seconds, Mira nearly forgot about the searing pain in her head that made her eyes water.

“Mira! I’ve got them!”

At the sound of Moana’s voice, Mira turned around and stepped into a nightmare.

Manaaki Ranginui was standing an arm’s length away from Mira. The old, bald-headed man seemed taller, stronger, and more terrible than ever before. His robes, normally white with green trimming, were now stained with countless little blood spatters. Manaaki’s small purple eyes regarded Mira with a nightmarish gleam of deep satisfaction.

“I’ve got you.” He hissed.

He reached out with one bony hand and grabbed the front of Mira’s shirt. No! It wasn’t a shirt. The Whisperers in the Void were coiled around Mira’s chest, wrapped tightly around her. Shrieking like a million feral cats, the Whisperers in the Void resisted Manaaki as hard as they could, holding tight to Mira’s torso. She grabbed at Manaaki’s arms, only to withdraw as a powerful shock coursed up her limbs! Completely overpowered, the Whisperers in the Void were torn away from Mira, continuing to caterwaul and fight as Manaaki held them out at arm’s length.

With his other hand, Manaaki grabbed Mira’s face. The pain in her skull finally reached a level Mira couldn’t handle anymore. Screaming and writhing under Manaaki’s overpowering grasp, Mira’s mind began to crack. She was going to die! Killed by a Psionic attack launched from over a hundred light-years away.
Mira reached out with her right hand, frantically trying to grab at any part of Manaaki she could reach! He tightened his grip, laughed triumphantly and said:

“You’re the perfect substitute for your mother. This feels just as good!”

Mira stopped screaming. She had run out of air.

A cold metal object suddenly slipped over and completely covered Mira’s right hand. Manaaki’s mouth continued to move, but no words came out. A similar cold feeling befell Mira’s left hand. Manaaki suddenly seemed smaller and less opaque. What’s more, the pain in Mira’s head had been reduced just enough that she could think again.

Focus. Focus. Focus.

Get out. Get out! GET OUT!!

Manaaki was flying away! Getting smaller and smaller! The pain was fading!

“Mira! Wake up!”
Mira was lying face up on the floor of the Midak’s sensor suite. Moana had just slid the Celestial Gauntlets onto Mira’s hands. The Elerium conduits sizzled, popped, and crackled with raw energy. Everyone was looking at her. Ari, Ria, and Rangi all stared open-mouthed at the Gauntlets.

“What are those things?” Ria gasped,

Mira didn’t answer. Manaaki’s final attack had pushed her over a metaphorical edge.

“Get out of my way!”

Mira stood up and advanced on the bulkhead door with newfound strength and focus. Every beat of Mira’s heart sent fresh anger, fury, and raw hatred for Manaaki Ranginui through her body, purging Mira of secondary thoughts and concerns. The pain was irrelevant. Her previous failure to use any kind of Psionic power unimportant. Manaaki’s theft of the Whisperers in the Void and his attempted murder of Mira replayed in her mind’s eye over and over and over again.
Only one thing mattered in that moment: There might be two people on the other side of that door who were loyal to the “man” who had just attacked Mira. In in Manaaki’s absence… they would do.

Mira seized the bulkhead door with both hands, allowing her pain and rage to give her new strength. The Celestial Gauntlets began to hum and emit a blueish-green light. Mira’s long silver hair was blown back by a nonexistent wind. With a great scraping sound, a loud crash, and grinding of metal and gears, Mira slammed the bulkhead door back into the wall as though it was a sliding glass panel.

If any of her comrades were stunned at what they’d just seen, none of them put their feelings into words. Mira turned to face Rangi and his fellow soldiers.

“Let’s go.”

The look on her face definitely scared Rangi for a moment. But he chambered a round in his weapon and was the first one to start moving towards the door. Whetu Karawana got there first, though. She put one hand on the handle and slammed it down, the doorway swung open. Whetu, Tai, Mira, Moana, Rangi, Ria, Olo, and Ari all charged onto the Midak’s bridge-

And the killing began.

The gunfire was so loud and continuous, it made the walls and ceiling vibrate. Mira was almost rendered deaf in the first few seconds. She darted into the bridge and took shelter behind a low metal barrier that separated the science stations from the helm. Whetu crumpled to the floor right in the doorway. She had died on her feet from a Gauss Rifle round to the head. Laser and Plasma Rifle fire caused sparks, flames, and smoke to fill the air. The lights flickered above Mira’s head while a flurry of movement caught her eye.

Meto Kapua was taking cover behind the Captain’s chair and firing a Gauss Rifle wildly over his head. The body of Lieutenant Commander Tai Tunui was just a few paces away from him. On the far end of the bridge, Rawiri Kopu was taking shelter behind the doorway leading to the Midak’s secret chamber. He had swung the heavy metal door out and was using it as a shield.

By this point, Mira had stopped thinking. She was acting on instinct. Her complete lack of military training wasn’t going to stop her from killing Meto. Mira rose out of cover as quickly as she could, took aim at Meto with her Plasma Pistol, and didn’t so much squeeze the trigger as crush it beneath her finger.

The sudden recoil almost broke Mira’s arm.

The hot green projectile just barely missed Meto and he looked around for the source. Mira however, had already fallen back behind cover; knocked to the floor by her own weapon. In frustration, Mira threw the pistol aside and it skittered along the floor of the bridge, coming to rest near the bodies of Kori Hei and Ahu Ata.

Mira then poked her head out of cover again to try and spot Meto. A short distance away, Ari Kopunui was slumped over the helm, vast quantities of blood draining from his chest, shoulders, and neck. Tai Whiu was dragging Ria’s limp body out of the line of fire and into cover. Rangi, Anika, and Moana were advancing across the bridge in a line, pouring suppressing fire into the Midak’s secret chamber where Rawiri was now trapped. But Meto-

“Stop!” Mira hollered at the top of her lungs, jumping out of cover and running full-speed towards Meto but it was too late!

His legs and waist had already disappeared into the trap door which lead to Radiation Shelter One. Meto raised his Gauss Rifle and fired three times at Mira. She crossed her arms in front of her face, focusing all of her willpower on surviving the onslaught. The Celestial Gauntlets activated again, releasing Psionic energy. The first two rounds missed Mira outright, but the third Gauss round took a spontaneous change in direction and embedded itself in the floor. Meto dropped his weapon into the trap door and then followed it down, slamming the door behind him.

Mira grabbed the handle and pulled, but it was no use. Meto had locked the Radiation Shelter from the inside.

From the secret chamber, the gunfire suddenly stopped as Moana and Anika simultaneously yelled:

“Enemy K.I.A! Ceasefire! Ceasefire!”

Mira looked up. Through the smoke which now filled the bridge, she saw Anika and Rangi dragging the body of Rawiri Kopu out of the secret chamber. He’d been shot more times than Mira cared to count. Over their shoulders, Mira caught a brief glimpse of what was inside the secret chamber:

A huge spherical object was resting in a metallic cradle surrounded by computer consoles. It was clearly meant to be spinning in said cradle, for now it was idle. Before Mira could get a better look at the object, Rangi slammed the door shut.

“Where’s Kapua?” said the Captain,

“He locked himself inside Radiation Shelter One,” Mira reported, “He could be anywhere on Decks Two or Three by now.”

“Uh, Mira?” said Moana’s voice from behind her, “He’s not leaving that shelter anytime soon! Look!”

Mira and Rangi both ran over to the computer console Moana was pointing at. It was the one attached to the armrest of the Captain’s chair. The words on the little screen said:

Cmd_usr/ Engage emergency hyperspace jump. Authorization: Master Sergeant Meto Kapua – Partogan Green Guard.
Sys/ Initiating emergency hyperspace jump. Searching for nearest star system.
Sys/ Emergency jump target: Nithascal Star System
Sys/ Hyperspace module charging, ready in two minutes.
Sys/ Commencing countdown to emergency hyperspace jump: J minus two minutes.
Sys/ J minus 01:59
Sys/ J minus 01:58
Sys/ J minus 01:57
Sys/ J minus 01:56
Sys/ J minus 01:55
Sys/ J minus 01:54
Sys/ J minus 01:53
Sys/ J minus 01:52
Sys/ J minus 01:51
Sys/ J minus 01:50
Sys/ J minus 01:49
 
Mira looked at Moana. Moana looked at Tai. Tai looked at Olo. Olo looked at Anika. Anika looked at the Captain. The Captain said:

“RUN!”

There was an incredible scramble. Mira, Moana, Tai, Olo, and Anika all ran back the way they had come. Since Meto had locked himself in Shelter One, there were only four other Radiation Shelters left to choose from on the ship. The obvious choice was Shelter Two, which was attached to the infirmary; since it was only a short distance away and just one deck down.

“Wait!” Olo called over the commotion, “What about Ria?”

“She’s dead!” Tai replied, “Keep going!”

Captain Rangi had stayed on the bridge, and as Olo dropped down the trapdoor leading to the infirmary, the Captain’s voice reverberated throughout the ship’s PA system:

“Attention all hands, this is the Captain. An Emergency Hyperspace Jump is underway at this time. You have NINETY SECONDS to report to a Radiation Shelter. May Queen Lucy’s speed go with you all.”

Mira dropped down into the infirmary to find it crowded. No fewer than a dozen extra shipmates were climbing up the ladder from the galley and cramming into the only available Radiation Shelter. To her right was Shelter Number Two, which contained Wihongi’s corpse. To her left was a door leading to Shelter One, which Meto had locked from the inside. Crew members banged desperately on the locked door for a moment before turning around and sprinting to Shelter Two’s open doorway.
Behind her, Captain Rangi hit the floor, moved a Bio to the right, and slid down the ladder leading to Deck Three. After him, Moana hit the bottom of the ladder and collapsed. Her gunshot wound had somehow been re-opened during the previous actions. Mira elbowed her way past a Hyperspace Technician and grabbed a Nanomedikit from the shelf. Returning to Moana, Mira lifted her friend up and guided her into the far shelter which contain Watahui’s corpse.

A serene computerized voice called out over the speakers:

"Emergency Hyperspace Jump in - sixty - seconds.”

Mira followed Moana into the shelter and grabbed the handle of the heavy lead-lined door. Inside the shelter was Olo, Tai, Moana, and Anika. Behind them were four women: Hyperspace Technicians Hapaikiterangi Herekotutuku and Hinauri Keiha, Biologist Moe Kaa, and Sensors Manager Nyra Hei. There were also three men: Engine Mechanics Enoka Makura and Kahumanu Ngakaukawa, as well as Power Plant worker Ariki Ruru.

"Emergency Hyperspace Jump in - forty five - seconds.”

“Wait for me!” cried out a high-pitched female voice,

“Who was that?!” Said Anika, poking her head under Mira’s arm and out the door.

“Soldier!” Anika yelled, “Hurry up, you’ve got thirty seconds!”

"Emergency Hyperspace Jump in – thirty - seconds.”

“I’m on Deck Three!” yelled the woman’s voice, “Wait for me! Please! Don’t close the door!”

Now that Mira strained her ears, she heard the familiar pattering sounds of hands and feet climbing a ladder. She also recognized the voice, it was Power Plant worker Maia Maaka!

"Emergency Hyperspace Jump in - twenty five - seconds.”

“Maia!” Mira yelled, “You’ve got twenty seconds! Get up here!”

In the back of her mind, Mira subconsciously did the math. The shelter was on Deck Two. Maia was on Deck Three. She needed to climb a quarter of the ship and run a few extra Bios to get inside the shelter, all in less than twenty seconds.

This was going to be very close.

Anika pulled back into the shelter and put one hand on the door, ready to slam it shut.

“Emergency Hyperspace Jump in – fifteen”

“Mira!” Olo yelled, “She isn’t gonna make it! Close the door!”

“She can make it!” Mira yelled back, “Come on Maia!”

“Fourteen”

“Wait for me!!” Maia called, “I’m almost there!”

“Mira!” Anika screamed, “Close the door!”

“Thirteen.”

“Wait!”

“Close it!”

“Twelve.”

Anika grabbed the lead-lined door and started pulling with all of her might. Mira resisted.

“Give her more time!” Mira shrieked,

“SHE’S OUT OF TIME!!” Anika’s voice went higher than Mira’s.

“Eleven. Ten.”

The ladder now shook each time Maia put a hand or foot on it. She was close.

“I’m here!” Maia cried, “I’m here! Wait!”

“Nine. Eight.”

Olo, Anika, Hinauri, Hapaikiterangi and Kahumanu all seized the door and started pulling. It took all of Mira’s strength to defy them and keep it open.

“Maia!” Mira yelled, “Hurry up!"

“Seven. Six.”

Maia’s right hand appeared at the top of the ladder. She was about four Bios away. She’d have to run full-tilt.

“Wait for me! Don’t close it!” Maia’s head, arms, and chest were out of the trapdoor, tears streaming down her face.

“Five. Four.”

Maia was out of the trapdoor!

“Three. Two.”

“MIHAKA!!” Enoka yelled, “YOU’RE GONNA KILL US TOO!!

Mira pulled with all of her might and slammed the shelter door shut! Half a second later, Maia’s whole body slammed up against the now sealed door as she let out a terrible wail;

“NNNOOOOO!!!” Maia screamed, “OH, PLEASE NO!!”

“Standby for Emergency Hyperspace Jump.”

The all too familiar rhythmic humming sound began. A wall of purple light passed through the shelter as the Midak was enveloped by the Quantum Wavefront. The humming stopped. For a few minutes, everyone was silent. The shelter was so quiet one could have heard a pin drop. Mira’s mind was numb. She didn’t want to think about what she’d just done.

Then, after nearly five minutes of silent waiting, the humming started again. A second time the wall of purple light passed into and out of the shelter as the Midak emerged from the Quantum Wavefront. The computerized voice said over the PA;

“Emergency Hyperspace Jump complete. Hyperspace Module powering down.”

No one spoke. Nobody looked at one another. Then,

“Shipboard radiation now at acceptable levels.”

Mira didn’t want to move. Anika, clutching her Stuttermag, pushed past her and opened the door.

Maia Maaka was lying facedown on the infirmary floor. She had spent her final seconds clawing desperately at the shelter door, so Anika had to step carefully around Maia’s arms as she exited the shelter. Anika looked down at Maia’s corpse, then back at her comrades; but when she spoke, her words were aimed at Mira.

“Meto Kapua did this. He is responsible.”

Anika turned to face the far side of the infirmary. The doorway to Radiation Shelter One was right there. Then, as if to reinforce the sense of impending murder that permeated the air, Captain Rangi’s voice came over the PA.

“Attention all crewmembers. Meto Kapua, the man who just murdered your friends and comrades, is hiding in Radiation Shelter One.”

It was like a force of nature. Somehow, perhaps via her Psionic Gift, Mira could feel the Midak’s surviving crew members converging on Shelter One as she, Anika, Tai, Moana, Olo, Hapaikiterangi, Hinauri, Moe, Nyra, Enoka, and Kahumanu all did the same. As they reached the door, Mira heard the sound of gunfire again. It sounded as though Meto was trying to cover both doors and both hatches at once. Nyra, Enoka, and Tai all let go of the door when they saw Mira coming and backed away. Mira raised one Gauntlet-covered hand and banged on the lead-lined door as hard as she could.

“Open the door!” she yelled,

There was a momentary pause. Then, to Mira’s surprise (and everyone else’s too) a female voice answered.

“Friend or foe?”

“A foe.” Mira replied. “I’m the friend of every man and woman you’ve murdered in the past half-hour.”

“It’s Mihaka!” Came Meto’s voice, “Don’t open the door! She’s a Monarchist to the core!”

Mira’s blood ran hot and she clenched her fists.

“Open the door.”

She didn’t yell this time. When the female voice spoke again, there was a certain degree of fear and apprehension in it this time. Perhaps the person on the other side could detect what everyone else in the infirmary could see:

Dozens of barely visible purple wisps of Psionic energy were beginning to radiate off of Mira. Her Celestial Gauntlets were now crackling and snapping like a fire as sparks flew off their surface. Mira’s whole body was giving off so much energy that the room was actually starting to warm up.

“Mira,” said the woman’s voice, “Is that really you?”

Mira recognized the voice this time, and her fury grew like a wildfire.

Up to this point, Mira’s new powers had been fed and sustained by pain, rage, anger, and hatred. The sting of betrayal had awoken Mira’s powers while the stress of being directly attacked had given her the focus needed to channel those powers. But this final insult would allow Mira to master her Gift… because she had finally knew who that voice belonged to. Mira spoke one last time, her every syllable trembling with rage:

“Open the door, Kaia. Right. Now. Open the fucking door.”

There was only the sound of a Laser Rifle being recharged.

Mira raised her hands and touched them to the lead-lined door. It shattered like glass before her! Splintered lead and pulverized metal flew in all directions, sending the shipmates behind Mira scrambling for cover. Inside the Radiation Shelter was Meto Kapua, Kaia Patariki, and a miniaturized version of the spherical device Mira had seen in the Midak’s secret chamber. It was spinning away in its little cradle, emitting a bright yellow light as it did so.

As Meto and Kaia turned to face Mira, the ceiling and floor hatchways abruptly swung open, as did the doorway on the other side of the shelter. It seemed as though all surviving members of the Midak’s crew were present or at least within earshot.

Kaia was pointing her Laser Rifle at the floor. Meto was aiming at Mira. She ignored him and spoke to Kaia.

“Why?”

Mira didn’t have to say anything else. Meto addressed Kaia right away.

“Don’t answer her!” he said, “We have a higher calling, a higher duty!”

Kaia looked back at Mira,

“We’re trying to save the Church.” Kaia was pleading, “Please, Mira! The Queen! You know she’s gonna- she’s gonna tear down everything the Church and the Patriarch have been building! If she wins, she’ll destroy six hundred years’ worth of history and tradition! We have to protect the Holy Father, and we need... we need to fight! Before she ruins everything!”

Mira could only see a short distance into Kaia’s mind, but she could see just far enough to know that Kaia genuinely believed she was on the right side. Kaia was a staunch Theocrat, and she was absolutely terrified at the idea of living on a planet where the Church of the Mountain wasn’t in a position of power. Everything she had done, from joining the Green Guard to helping them in their takeover attempt, had been done out of fear. In the middle of that cloud of fear and uncertainty in Kaia’s mind, Mira saw one chance to end this without hurting her friend. Mira decided to try; she took a deep breath and put her bloodlust in check.

“Kaia,” Mira began slowly, raising her hands to chest height to show she wasn’t combative, “If you kill us, then you’ll win the fight, yes. But you won’t win the argument. You’ll burn down every meaningful relationship you have and destroyed a whole aspect of your life just to prove a political point. Is that something you’re ready to live with? Do you really... REALLY want to leave behind a legacy of death, misery, and destruction just to make sure someone else doesn’t do the same?”
Kaia wavered, physically and mentally. Mira could feel it in her mind. Meto remained resolute. Mira devoted a little of her new powers to forcing her anger down. It cost her some focus, but she kept going.

“The revolution, the change you’re looking for” Mira continued, “It doesn’t have to come from violence. No one else needs to die for an idea today, or ever for that fact. Put down the gun, Kaia. Whatever revolution you’re trying to start… it’s not gonna start here. Maybe somewhere else and in another way, but not here and not today.”

Meto changed his stance, pointing his weapon at Kaia now.

“You are a Green Guard!” he said to Kaia, “you will not-“

Kaia ignored him. Dropping her Laser Rifle on the floor, she said quietly;

“I surrender.”

A cheer rose from all of the spectating crew members! Meto looked around him in a panic as the crowd encircled him. The Midak’s surviving crew members were now rapidly closing in on Meto, taking a step or two closer every time he looked away from them or pointed his Gauss Rifle in another direction.

Just when it seemed someone might actually reach out to grab Meto, the miniature device in the middle of the shelter suddenly squawked to life and the crowd fell silent, allowing a voice to emerge unobstructed from the odd mechanism:

“Midak Strike Team, Midak Strike Team. You’ve missed your scheduled check-in time. I have dispatched reinforcements to join you in the Nithascal system. Respond at once.”

The device fell silent. Meto looked from it to Mira, new strength and power in his eyes.

“The Revolution will start today!” Meto yelled to the crowd of crew members, who backed away as he brandished his Gauss Rifle. A few shipmates pulled out weapons of their own, ready to accept the challenge.

Meto then pointed his Gauss Rifle at Mira.

“You however, will not get to see it.”

There was an eruption of gunfire.

In the heat of the moment, several crewmembers neglected to think about crossfire and attacked Meto while their friends on the other side of the shelter stood in the line of fire. Midak crew members scrambled for cover as bullets, Gauss slugs, Laser and Plasma bolts came their way.

Mira acted reflexively and quickly. All of that anger and rage she’d been saving up finally came into play. Using all of her pent-up focus, Mira easily manipulated the energy radiating out of her Celestial Gauntlets to do her bidding. With her right hand, she caught every Gauss slug Meto had fired right out of the air, enveloped them in Psionic energy from her left hand, and then Mira returned the projectiles to their sender at lethal speed.

Shot four times with his own bullets, Meto Kapua keeled over backwards and fell to the floor. His final expression of shock and surprise permanently burned onto his face.

There was a general cacophony of noise in the radiation shelter. Two or three crewmembers had been shot and injured during the final confrontation, and it was only now that someone noticed all three of the ship’s medics were dead. Amidst the confusion, the miniature communication device was accidentally smashed. Mira realized she had lost track of Kaia. She searched about the Radiation Shelter and all of the surrounding rooms for a minute before spotting Kaia in a corner of Shelter One.

Mira’s heart sank into the pit of her stomach. Her friend was clutching at her chest with both hands, and blood was seeping out between her fingers. As Mira approached, Kaia slumped to the floor.

“Kaia!” Mira gasped, “Hang on, I’ll get a Nanomedikit!”

Mira ran into the infirmary. Nearly a dozen shipmates were already in there, and due to the death of all three medics, things had gotten chaotic quickly. Moe Kaa and Anahera Mita had taken over as acting medics, using what little medical training they had to triage the wounded.

“Hey!” Mira yelled over the heads of several crewmembers. “I need a Nanomedikit!”

Moe had to stand on top of the surgical table to spot Mira in the small crowd. She grabbed the device and threw it across the room to Mira, who caught it and ran back into the shelter.

Kaia was very pale when Mira got to her. Mira took aim with the spray nozzle and hosed Kaia’s chest down. It was only then that Mira noticed the location of the bullet hole in Kaia’s chest, and how much blood she had already lost. The two friends shared a look and an unspoken conversation.

Mira pulled off her Celestial Gauntlets and held Kaia’s hands in her own. While crewmembers moved about chaotically, carrying bodies, weapons, and equipment, talking and crying for lost friends; Mira and Kaia occupied one dark and quiet corner, taking in a final moment of peace together.

...

Up on the bridge, Captain Rangi watched as the body of Chief Petty Officer Whetu Karawana was picked up and moved into the temporary morgue set up in the crew quarters of Deck One behind the bridge. Once the body was through the door, Anika Aranui came in.

“What’s the damage?” Rangi asked apprehensively,

Anika sighed and put a hand to her forehead. The tips of her grey dreadlocks were stained with blood.

“The Communications Tower is destroyed,” she began, “Meto or his men planted a plasma bomb on the bulkhead itself. That’s how they got us to drop out of Hyperspace in the beginning.”

“And the Cargo Bay?” Rangi pressed,

“They knew about the weapons,” Anika admitted, “They raided the cache about an hour or two before the jump.”

“And the Bushranger?” Rangi continued,

“Looks like they knew about it, but never got down there.” She said, “I don’t think they counted on half the crew surviving the surprise jump.”

When Anika mentioned “half the crew” Rangi winced. He didn’t want to ask this final question... but he had to:

“So, what’s the butcher’s bill?”

Anika closed her eyes. It was terrible to think about.

“Thirty dead, eight wounded.” Anika said.

Captain Rangi was about to ask something when a voice behind him said,

“Thirty-one.”

Rangi and Anika turned around to see Mira. She held out a small fabric tag for the Captain to take. It said:

Patariki, Kaia – Date/Place of Birth: 30 Akuhata, 649/The Mangaia, Partogan Continent

As Rangi took the ID tag from Mira, Anika swore quietly.

“Half the crew.”

Mira was about to leave when Niko Pongia (who was filling in for the Kirikiri twins) said loudly to anyone who cared to listen:

“We have a Hyperspace signature! Multiple Partogan ships are exiting Hyperspace on the far side of the system.”

Mira, Rangi, and Anika all stopped what they were doing and pushed their way into the Sensors Suite. (The door was riddled with bullets and didn’t close anymore) Rangi grabbed a computer monitor and swiveled it around to see the raw data.

“I don’t believe it!” Rangi gasped, “They really came!”

“Oh, no!” Mira groaned, “Those must be the reinforcements Meto called!”

“That’s the whole Navy!” Anika interrupted,

She wasn’t wrong. Just like the Whisperers in the Void had warned Mira, thirty out of thirty-one ships in the Royal Navy were now on the far side of the Nithascal Star System and rapidly approaching the Midak.

“How are we gonna talk to them?” Asked Mira, “We’ve lost the Comms Tower!”

Captain Rangi frowned for a moment, then he said,

“Considering the situation, the word ‘classified’ has lost its meaning. Mihaka, Aranui, come with me.”

As the threesome crossed the bridge in the opposite direction, Anika complained,

“Sir!” she said, “It’s unprecedented! It’s risky! It might even be illegal!”

“We’re in a civil war!” Rangi replied, “Anything goes right now. Mihaka! Inside!”

And Rangi opened the door at the far end of the bridge, revealing the secret chamber at last. Mira practically dashed inside, eager for the Midak’s deepest secret to be revealed at last.

Mira took one step inside the chamber, looked at the massive machine in its center, and was instantly overwhelmed with guilt.

Kaia had been right all along.

It was a Hyperwave Relay. The holy grail of Faster-Than-Light communications technology. Mira had read about Hyperwave technology at the Royal Science Academy. Devices like this one projected a wide array of waves as speeds faster than light itself. With the Hyperwave Relay, Mira knew she could send a message to someone hundreds of light-years away and receive a near-instant response.

“You- you!” Mira stammered, “You had this the WHOLE TIME!?”

Rangi slammed the door shut.

“Yes.” He said, “Although we were ordered to maintain complete radio silence throughout the entire mission for security reasons. As we found out an hour ago, the Green Guard was listening to their own relay. We’ve been listening to this thing for the past two years, but our hand’s been forced. We have to transmit now.”

“To the fleet?” Anika asked,

Rangi nodded and held up a hand in the “wait” signal.

“Mira,” he began. “You and I are going to talk to the Royal Navy, but before that happens, I need to get you up to speed on an important development.”

Mira nodded nervously.

“It can’t be worse than what’s already happened, right?” she asked,

Rangi and Anika looked nervously at each other. Then Rangi put a hand on Mira’s shoulder and said:

“Queen Phoebe the Second, our ruler, and your friend,” he began, “was killed by Manaaki about a year and a half ago.”

Oh, it was way worse.

“Take a second to... absorb it.” Rangi suggested,

Mira leaned back and pressed her back against the wall. Haki was dead?! How?! Why?! Mira wished Manaaki hadn’t stolen the Whisperers in the Void from her. How had such a powerful development gone over her head!? Mira also felt a little ashamed. She had just been told that THE QUEEN was dead. Why wasn’t she mourning? Why wasn’t anyone wailing or praying to the Mountain like they’d done when Mira’s mother had died? Was it because she’d seen so much death in the past two hours?

“Damn.” Mira managed to say. “I mean, I knew it might happen. I guess I wasn’t ready for it.”

“There’s more,” said Anika, “The Royal Election happened. That’s why it took so long for the fighting to get started back home.”

“Both factions, Monarchists and Theocrats, put forward their own candidate for Queen.” Rangi explained, “And if the battle-reports are to be believed, the new Queen of Partoga is currently commanding the fleet flying towards us.”

Oh.

Mira looked down at herself. She was covered in dried blood and rubble. Her hair, normally silky smooth and straight, was matted and filled with knots. She wasn’t fit for a conversation with the Queen. What the hell was she doing here?

“Sir!” Said Mira, “Can I change into something more-“

“That’s not necessary,” said Rangi, “We’ve got work to do. And besides, you look as bad as me, so don’t worry.”

Rangi snapped his fingers at Anika.

“Assemble all the command staff on the bridge. We’re ready.” He said,

“Good!” Said Anika.

Mira could only bottle up her feelings of apprehension as Rangi pushed her by the shoulder back onto the bridge.

Including Rangi and Aranui, only five members of the Midak’s officer corps had survived the day’s fighting. The others were Lieutenant Tuu Anaru, who was nursing a broken arm, Lieutenant Tama Hetet, shot through the left shoulder and now had the corresponding arm in a sling, and Lieutenant Kahumanu Ngakaukawa, who escaped uninjured.

“Are the rumors true?” asked Tuu, “The PRN is coming to us?”

“I heard the whole fleet is on our side!” Said Kahumanu, “Is that true as well?”

“Only one way to find out!” said Rangi, “Aranui! Fire it up!”

Everyone on the bridge fell into an awed silence as Anika activated the Hyperwave Relay. Bright yellow light danced across the floors, walls, and ceiling as the device began to spin in its cradle. Noticing the light dancing across their faces, Anika slammed the relay room door shut. Niko Pongia ran forward to a wide stretch of bare wall on the starboard side of the bridge, reached up, and pulled a small cord. A white plastic sheet descended all the way to the floor and a digital projector embedded in the ceiling came to life. The words PLEASE STAND BY appeared on the wall. Rangi nudged Mira on the shoulder and pointed to the corners.

“Cameras,” he explained, “They can see us on their screen, and we can see them on ours.”

The Midak’s officers cleared away and lined up along the port side of the bridge, facing the viewscreen. Mira did the same, although she retreated all the way to a corner where she thought she wouldn’t show up on another ship’s viewscreen. Then Rangi sat down in the Captain’s chair, swiveled about to face the screen and said loudly:

“This is the HMS Midak calling the flagship of the Partogan Royal Navy. We have sustained an attack by the Green Guard and require assistance. Please respond.”

There was a pause. The words PLEASE STAND BY abruptly disappeared from the screen as Anika yelled through the relay room door:

“Signal acquired, standby!”

The image on the viewscreen flickered for a moment, and then Mira saw a tall man with a neatly trimmed beard and a receding hairline. The jade sash he wore over his right shoulder featured a red stripe down the middle and a royal seal embroidered across it. Even before the man introduced himself Mira recognized his occupation. Mira had seen two of them in the days when her mother had been Queen.

This person was the Kuhina Nui of the Kingdom of Partoga. He served as the Queen’s most valuable advisor and also acted as a member of the National Assembly. It was also his duty to govern if the Queen was unavailable or incapacitated. For all intents and purposes, the Kuhina Nui was the second most powerful person in the Partogan government, second only to the Queen herself. The closest Human equivalent would be a “Prime Minister.”

The Kuhina Nui spoke.

“Midak, this is Taunui Ratana, Kuhina Nui and acting commander of the HMS Firelance of the Partogan Royal Navy. We have received your message are proceeding to your location now. What is the status of your mission?”

“All mission parameters completed. Sir.” Said Rangi,

Then Rangi stood up from his chair and raised his arm in salute. Everyone on the bridge copied him.

“I see you have her majesty the Queen aboard your ship.” Said Rangi, not dropping his arm. “The whole of the Midak is at her disposal, sir!”

The Kuhina Nui returned the salute, and as the Midak’s bridge crew started to relax, something caught the Kuhina Nui’s attention. He raised a finger in the “wait” sign and then simply walked off-screen. Before Mira could open her mouth to ask a question, he was back.

“Captain and crew of the Midak, her majesty the Queen would like to congratulate you on your success personally. So... ahem-“

Mira suddenly became very excited. Not to meet the new Queen, but to hear the Kuhina Nui say her title. The Queen of Partoga usually had a long and cumbersome title and more than one Kuhina Nui had been driven mad trying to say it. Mira distinctly remembered her mother’s Kuhina Nui threatening to quit the job because Kendra II’s title was too long. Mira took a couple steps closer to the viewscreen as the Kuhina Nui began to recite the title of the new Queen:

“Introducing the legitimate elected successor to Miranda the Great, Her Royal Majesty Emily the Second, Queen of Partoga, Custodian of the Great Library, Governor of the Royal Academy of Science, Patron of the Church of the Mountain, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Triple Alliance, President of the Galactic Alliance, Overlord of Kaitaia and Tauranga, and the Empress of Levakia!”

Disappointing. Mira’s shoulders fell. She’d been hoping for a classic three-minute-long groaner. Mira was about to take a step backwards when Queen Emily herself came into view.

The 19th Queen of Partoga had very light brown skin, silver hair, and piercing purple eyes. Her face was round and a little plump which complimented her almond-shaped eyes.

Absolutely no one was surprised to discover that Partoga’s new ruler was only 13 years old. Placing a child on the throne and expecting them to rule for life was a tradition older than the Kingdom itself, dating back to a mythical era when men supposedly sat on the throne.

So as soon as Queen Emily II sidestepped onto the screen and gave the crew a great big toothy smile. The crew saluted and began to chant:

“Long live Queen Emily!”

“Long live Queen Emily!” Mira cried out, “Long- What the!?”

The chanting died out. Everyone looked at Mira, including Queen Emily and her Kuhina Nui. Mira however, took a step closer to the viewscreen and stared directly at the Queen, looking right through the infinite gap of space and directly into Emily’s eyes. The awkward silence lasted for what felt like an eternity. Then the Queen broke the silence by jumping up and down with excitement, waving both hands, and saying cheerfully:

“Oh. My. Gosh!! Aunt Mira! It’s you!! Do you remember me? It’s me! Your niece, Maki Mihaka! I got elected Queen!”

...

[Personal log: Captain Toa Rangi, HMS Midak, Outer Nithascal Star System, 15 Pipiri 687]

Memorandum:
Addressed to: Admiral Toangia Apanui, Commander of the Partogan Royal Navy
Sent by: Captain Toa Rangi, Commanding Officer of the HMS Midak
Subject: Regarding Posthumous Awards and Promotions

Admiral Apanui,

I wish to add this document to the end of my official report on the Green Guard’s attempted takeover of the HMS Midak during the early morning hours of Pipiri 15th, 687. It is a full list of crew members killed by the enemy and the posthumous awards and promotions I gave to those who lost their lives defending the ship.

I’m fully aware that I do not have the authority to give military awards to members of the civilian crew, but I have done so anyway. I also know that I am not the Queen, and therefore cannot award the Jade Sash. Please pass my Jade Sash recommendations to Her Majesty.

All of these men and women laid down their lives for Queen and country. I humbly request you pass along my recommendations for posthumous awards and promotions to the Kuhina Nui for final approval.

Respectfully yours,
Captain Toa Rangi, Commanding Officer of the HMS Midak

[Midak_KIA_list file uploaded]

Crew members killed in action on 15 Pipiri 687:

• Bridge Crew members:
  
  • Corporal Kauri Wiki
    
    • Promoted to Petty Officer
  • Lieutenant Commander Tai Tunui
    
    • Awarded the Silver Star
  • Petty Officer Meto Wihongi
    
    • Awarded the Medal for Meritorious Service
    • Awarded the Royal Medal for Heroism
  • Corporal Kori Hei
    
    • Awarded the Royal Medal for Heroism
    • Promoted to Petty Officer
  • Corporal Ahu Ata
    
    • Awarded the Silver Star
    • Awarded the Medal for Meritorious Service
  • Corporal Arapeta Kirikiri
    
    • Promoted to Petty Officer
  • Corporal Hika Tukino
    
    • Awarded the Silver Star
    • Promoted to Petty Officer
• Sensors Managers:
  
  • Petty Officer Matiu Rata
    
    • Awarded the Silver Star
  • Corporal Tamati Haare
    
    • Awarded the Royal Medal for Heroism
  • Corporal Hinemora Maioha
    
    • Awarded the Medal for Meritorious Service
    • Promoted to Petty Officer
• Communications Tower crew:
  
  • Corporal Kahurangi Waitere
    
    • Promoted to Petty Officer
  • Private Taka Rangihau
    
    • Promoted to Corporal
  • Petty Officer Eri Rameka
    
    • Awarded the Silver Star
  • Corporal Tungia Taipua
    
    • Promoted to Petty Officer
  • Lieutenant Himi Poata
    
    • Promoted to Lieutenant Commander
• Power Plant workers:
  
  • Private Maia Maaka
    
    • Promoted to Corporal
• Hyperspace Technicians
  
  • Lieutenant Ari Kopunui
    
    • Awarded the Jade Sash
    • Awarded the Royal Medal for Heroism
    • Awarded the Silver Star
    • Promoted to Lieutenant Commander
  • Chief Petty Officer Whetu Karawana
    
    • Awarded the Jade Sash with silver stripe
    • Awarded the Royal Medal for Heroism
    • Awarded the Medal for Meritorious service
    • Promoted to Senior Chief Petty Officer
  • Corporal Meretana Pukehika
    
    • Promoted to Petty Officer
• Engine Crew
  
  • Petty Officer Whawhakiterangi Tirikatene
    
    • Awarded the Silver Star
  • Private Nia Tawhiti
    
    • Awarded the Silver Star
    • Promoted to Corporal
• Civilians
  
  • Ari Tuwhare
    
    • Awarded the Silver Star
  • Rewa Turia
    
    • Awarded the Silver Star
  • Tipi Teka
    
    • Awarded the Silver Star
  • Nikau Hetet
    
    • Awarded the Silver Star
  • Tangaroa Ehau
    
    • Awarded the Silver Star
  • Manawa Potiki
    
    • Awarded the Silver Star
  • Ria Areaiiti
    
    • Awarded the Jade Sash
• Confirmed Members of the Green Guard
  
  • Meto Kapua
  • Tamaho Wihongi
  • Rawiri Kopu
  • Kaia Patariki

<== Previous Chapter (Distant Enemies)

Next Chapter (Reunions) ==>​

 

[HistoryDude]

There's the betrayal! I was waiting for that.

Manaaki stealing the Whisperers is going to have consequences later.

Who was Queen Lucy again? Given that her speed is apparently legendary, I'm curious as to why I'm not remembering the name.

I wonder why Mira's powers are triggered by rage...

Why didn't anyone tell Mira that her niece was the queen now? Especially since it looked like they were about to?

Honestly, "Do you really... REALLY want to leave behind a legacy of death, misery, and destruction just to make sure someone else doesn’t do the same?” is still one of my favorite lines of any story.