The GALEX Incident - Prelude to the Forgotten War

[jak7139]

The Coalition Commander’s callsign is “Aslan.”

The Red Fleet Commander’s callsign is “Tash.”

The Simulation Controller’s callsign is “Ramandu.”

Admiral Ruel must love CS Lewis. I can't stop picturing him as the Professor but in an admiral's uniform.

It's nice to see Ino and Prisban get along. I thought for sure he was going to be an arrogant roadblock for Ino during the exercise. The pictures turned out great!

 

[Macavity116]

protect ino at all costs

Agreed. That's why we've got five other protagonists for this story. We can quickly assemble the "Ino Defense Squad" if necessary.

Admiral Ruel must love CS Lewis. I can't stop picturing him as the Professor but in an admiral's uniform.

Now I can't get the image out of my head!

It's nice to see Ino and Prisban get along. I thought for sure he was going to be an arrogant roadblock for Ino during the exercise.

The "arrogant roadblock" part will come during the main story. The main premise of Unsung Paragons revolves around how Ino deals with being made "Acting Captain" of a starship. When the crew wakes up to discover they must now take orders from a nervous junior officer, Ino will have plenty of insubordination to deal with.

The pictures turned out great!

Thanks! I think going forward new chapters will have at least one or two pictures. (to match what I've done in the YouTube counterpart videos)

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Cabasa Howitzers make me think of David Vs Goliath stories now. Definitely something to level the playing field with.

Yep; they are perfect for anything small with a big target; in effect, any battleship has to be worried about anything within a couple of kilometres, because even an asteroid smaller than a few cubic metres could hide a weapon that can punch a hole a metre wide and half a metre deep in solid aluminium. Against ship hulls like the Betria - where a few cm of "ceramo-metal" is very heavy armour with a chemical rocket propulsion system - even a small weapon like those deployed by the Vanguard corvettes in Life2.0 may well blast a metre-wide hole through the hull and out the other side if it hits the right spot.

Thanks! Putting just these seven pictures together proved more troublesome than expected. Hundreds of rejected Azaryn portraits were sent to the digital Shadow Realm before I found one I liked. The AI kept trying to give her more humanlike features. Delegate gave me a lot of trouble too owing to the fact that Leonardo kept spitting out pictures of One-Punch Man instead of a Star Trek-inspired android. Leonardo also struggled with Elodie. I wanted a picture of Elodie sparring/fist-fighting, but the AI just could not put her into a fighting stance without amputating or mutilating her hands.

Yeah, I know the feeling... I did wonder how many tries it had taken to get Azaryn, and yeah, mutilated hands in action poses are still a trouble spot.

Definitely. Araj is heavily inspired by the antagonist of one of my favorite children's books: The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis:

Prince Rabadash, a Calormen noble, was so determined to take Queen Susan as either a wife or slave (or both) that he raised an army and tried to start a war over her.

Prince Araj might not say things like "I am blinded by youthful lust for this savage barbarian" but he is in a very similar headspace all the same. Once Araj discovers Ino, he will stop at nothing to make her his newest plaything... after all, Araj gets what he wants all the time. Being denied is not something he's used to.

Hmm...

"Evil Prince, Entitled to Have You (Towards Ino), Control Freak, It's All About Me, Psychic Powers, Astral Projection, Power Perversion Potential, Living Lie Detector, Mind Rape, The Stateless, You Can't Go Home Again, Unspecified Apocalypse" - Yeah. This guy's a problem for sure.

 

[Macavity116]

any battleship has to be worried about anything within a couple of kilometres, because even an asteroid smaller than a few cubic metres could hide a weapon that can punch a hole a metre wide and half a metre deep in solid aluminium.

A detail that I had so much fun exploiting back in Song of the Solitaire. I have been thinking about re-using this thought process for the "big disaster scene" at the beginning of Unsung Paragons. (The moment when the ship's bridge crew is killed off and Ino becomes Acting Captain)

The plan is still to have the Marathon collide with a shipwreck immediately after coming out of an FTL jump, but I haven't settled on just just how catastrophic/damaging the impact will be. The Battleship Marathon needs to be crippled but still able to limp home. (I am thinking about just having the entire nose section of the ship torn off, because I like putting my characters through hell )

Yeah. This [Araj is] problem for sure.

Definitely. You'll get a sense of how bad he is soon. I want to give Araj one scene during the final chapter of The GALEX Incident before we move on to Unsung Paragons.

 

[Macavity116]

Author's note: Longtime Stellaris players might recognize the ship components and weapons modules mentioned in this chapter, but for anyone who doesn't, here's a bit of helpful context:

In order to show that Defiance is totally outmatched by Betria, I've loaded out the Battleship with Tier 4 technologies, such as Antimatter Reactors, Subspace Sensors, Impulse Thrusters, and so on.

Meanwhile, our hero ship Defiance is a full generation behind, using Tier 3 technologies: Cold Fusion Reactor, Gravitic Sensors, Plasma Thrusters, etc.

<=== Previous (Part Three)

Next (Part Five) ===>​

​

The GALEX Incident
Part 4

---

“Attention Red Fleet vessel Defiance. This is the Master Simulation Controller aboard the Science Vessel Oppenheimer. This message is to inform you that your simulated Hyperspace transit is complete. You are now free to join the action. Oppenheimer out.”

As soon as the message terminated, Commander Thulani raised his voice and called out to the rest of the crew:

“General quarters, general quarters! All hands to your battle stations. Set ASW condition one. Up and forward on your starboard side, down and aft on your port side.”

The Defiance was on the outer perimeter of the Free Fire Zone, a region of space where the GALEX war games were supposed to be taking place. The zone was so large that it contained an entire star system: a brilliant blue sun, seven terrestrial plants, a gas giant, and countless asteroids and comets. About a dozen warships from both “sides” were already present and moving about the zone.

Ino and Prisban entered the CIC and powered on their computers. She grabbed a microphone and called the bridge.

“Tactical officer online.” Ino reported. “Full power to sensors, analyzing combat data now. Standby for update.”

Ino nodded at Prisban, who withdrew a red folder from his desk and opened it. The word: “EXERCISE” was stamped in white on the folder. After reading the document for a few moments, Prisban clicked the talk button on his microphone. He gestured to Ino, telling her she needed to listen:

“Conn, CIC. We have a mission update. The Coalition battleship Betria, escorted by two cruisers, is transiting from the fourth planet to the sixth planet.” Prisban said. “We have been ordered to intercept and engage. We cannot allow the Betria to reach its destination under any circumstances. Once we have a positive ID on the enemy, we must attack.”

“Understood CIC.” Commander Thulani replied. “Helm, give me a spherical search pattern at engines ahead two-thirds. Sensors, start sweeping the known approaches to planet six. CIC, when did the enemy depart planet four?”

Prisban pulled several sheets of paper out of the folder and passed them to Ino. She scanned the documents, grabbed her microphone, and said:

“Four hours, thirty-three minutes ago.” Ino said. “Intel says the enemy was accelerating away from their starting point at twenty-four-thousand, two-hundred-fifty-five meters per second relative to the solar system barycenter.”

“Understood.” Commander Thulani replied. “Calculate possible trajectories they could take based on their starting location, departure time, and destination.”

…

The Defiance got underway, moving into the Free Fire Zone. Along the way, Ino and Prisban studied the incoming data from the ship’s sensors.

“A friendly deep space probe is lighting up civilian ships in the area for us.” Ino said. “If I set up a data link to the probe, we can take some of our sensors offline; make it harder for the enemy to spot us.”

“Good idea.” Prisban replied.

…

After a short search, Ino and Prisban spotted a trio of contact dots on the sensor scope.

“They’re flying in formation.” Priban said. “Big ship in the center, smaller ship leading, smaller ship following. Those must be our targets. I’m sending the profiles to Holographics.”

Meanwhile, Ino studied their course and speed.

“They’re hauling ass.” Ino commented. “Look, they’re flying a brachistochrone trajectory. They’ve been accelerating this whole time!”

Prisban pointed at the map.

“Interesting. The Betria and her escort fleet are taking a cautious path.” He said. “They’re going to do a flyby of the fifth planet, probably for the gravity assist. Let me see… It’s a gas giant. Looks to have more in common with Saturn than Jupiter. Mostly hydrogen and helium, but I do detect a little bit of methane as well.”

“Does that planet have a magnetic field?” Ino asked.

“Yup. Almost 400 times stronger than Earth’s.” Prisban said, and then he gasped. “Aw, I see where you’re going with this, Esperanta! They’re going to use the magnetic field to scramble our sensors and hide themselves!”

“That’s my guess.” Ino said. “But take a look at this. I pulled up everything we know about the Betria.”

Ino gestured to one of her computer screens. The unclassified version of the Betria’s design schematics were pulled up.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy-class Battleship “Betria”

Class: Super Capital

Combat Role: Long-Range Artillery

Max Acceleration: 70 m/s^2

Sublight Propulsion: Impulse Thrusters

Sensors: Subspace Sensors (Disabled, replaced by Gravitic Sensors)

Armament: Kinetic Artillery, Quantum Missiles, Advanced Railguns, X-Ray Laser, Spinal-Mounted Tachyon Lance

Ino swiped her finger across the touchscreen.

“I’ve been working on the calculations for hours.” Ino said. “Remember when the Simulation Controller said that everyone would be handicapped by the simulated nebula?”

“Sure.” Prisban replied. “What are you thinking?”

“Normally, the Betria runs with a Subspace Sensor suite.” Ino said. “A newer and more advanced version of our own Gravitic Sensors. Outside of a nebula, Betria would be able to see us three or four systems away. But because of the quote ‘nebula,’ they’re using the same Gravitic Sensors we are.”

Prisban put his hands together, thinking hard.

“Hmm… Gravitic sensors… they detect starships by looking for the gravitational changes they make in deep space…” Prisban said. “And… they can be impaired by a strong magnetic field, can’t they?”

“And doesn’t our ship have a cloaking sail that uses magnetic fields to work?” Ino added. “Which means we could use it to manipulate the natural magnetic field around us, if we were close enough to the gas giant to do that.”

A smile crossed her face. Finally, Prisban understood what Ino was suggesting.

“I’ll call the Simulation Controller.”

…

Fifteen minutes later, Ino, Prisban, Commander Thulani, and Simulation Controller Fanin were in the Captain’s Quarters. Thulani looked amused, while Fanin was tapping away furiously at his tablet computer. After a moment, he looked up and spoke in his gravelly Lithoid voice.

“Esperanta, Prisban. To say you have caused an uproar among the other Simulation Controllers is a grave understatement. After a short consultation, we have determined that what you propose to do is a legal move under the rules of the war game. Unorthodox… but legal. The Master Simulation Controller grants permission for Defiance to execute the maneuver proposed by Junior Tactical Officer Esperanta.”

Commander Thulani pushed an intercom button.

“Communication, this is the CO. Did General Irmal ever send a reply to our last message?” Thulani asked.

“Yes, sir.” A voice responded. “General Irmal has approved your request. We are clear to start the attack run on your signal.”

“Helm, lay in a course for the fifth planet, engines ahead flank, get us there quickly! Chief of the Watch, raise the cloaking sail and be ready to go silent on my command!”

…

Defiance reached the fifth planet with little time to spare. The gas giant was a magnificent yellow marble hanging in space, and the little frigate was only visible for a moment as it penetrated the bright neon Aurorae at the magnetic north pole. Once the ship was above the magnetic pole, Commander Thulani gave the order.

“Rig for silent running! Shut down everything except the cloaking sail!”

The ship’s cloaking sail unfurled and started to project a powerful electromagnetic field around the Defiance. Meanwhile, the rest of the ship was put into a low-power mode. Ino’s computer in the CIC was still running, it was tied into the sensors manager and the helm.

Deep in the CIC, Ino could hear the hull creaking as she watched the sensor feed. Simulation Controller Fanin was watching over her shoulder. The Battleship Betria and her escorts entered the area and started their flyby of the gas giant.

“This is the moment your theory will be tested.” Fanin said.

Ino looked away from the Simulation Controller as a voice spoke over the ship’s intercom:

“Conn, Sensors. We’ve been counter-detected. Enemy ships are on alert and have started active scans.”

“Do they have our position?” Commander Thulani asked.

“Negative sir.” Replied the Sensors operator. “Best I can tell, they saw us go into the magnetic field and then they lost us. Betria is doing a wide-field EM search, but I’m not detecting any lock-ons.”

Ino grabbed the microphone.

“Conn, CIC. I can confirm we have entered the Betria’s sensory blind spot. The location of the blind spot will change depending on Betria’s position relative to the gas giant. Recommend helm loads the pre-programmed course I made now.”

“CIC, Helm.” Replied another voice. “Course is loaded and ready.”

“Conn, CIC. T-minus fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…”

“Engines ahead one third. Bring the sim weapons online.” Commander Thulani ordered.

The Defiance lurched into motion. The vessel appeared to shimmer as its cloaking sail interacted with the powerful magnetic field above the planet’s north pole. Ino called the bridge again.

“Remember, sir! Keep moving along the course I prescribed. We cannot be stationary relative to the Betria.” Ino said.

“This feels weird.” Prisban said. “Normally, when you find a sensory blind spot, you’re supposed to maintain a constant distance from the enemy… so that you look like a sensor shadow or a blip.”

“This is not a normal blind spot.” Ino replied. “It’s one caused by the environment and we need to account for that. Helm, CIC. We’re drifting starboard. Bring us back to port by half a degree… there! Good. We’re back on the centerline. On my mark, start accelerating and make it a very slow one… just give me an extra half-meter per second every two seconds… three… two… one… mark!”

The Defiance had now emerged from the gas giant’s north pole and was following the Betria and her escorts. The “enemy” ships were still scanning the gas giant, thinking Defiance had not moved.

“We are undetected.” Prisban said, staring at his own monitors. “Cloaking sail at 95% efficiency. Distance to target, 80,000 kilometers and closing.”

“Drifting again, bring it down and starboard by a quarter-degree.” Ino told the helm.

“We are inside enemy weapons range.” Prisban reported.

“We can get closer.” Ino said.

“Distance to target, 40,000 kilometers.” Prisban said. “We are now in Hammer Lock. If they see us, we’re dead.”

“Sensors say we’re undetected.” Commander Thulani reported from the bridge. “Activate the sim weapons. Prepare a salvo of simulated antimatter missiles.”

“Impossible.” Simulation Controller Fanin breathed. “They should have seen you by now!”

“Distance to target, ten thousand!” Ino called out. “We’re still in the sensory blind spot. Conn, CIC. Recommend killing the engines now!”

“All stop!” Commander Thulani ordered. “Helm, put us on the drift.”

Defiance shut down her engines, carried forward by her own momentum. They had put Sir Isaac Newton in the driver’s seat.

“Distance! Five thousand kilometers.” Prisban reported. “Relative Velocity to target: three hundred kilometers per second, we have the enemy in Hammer Lock!”

Hammer Lock, the point where it was physically impossible to dodge weapons fire in space.

“Target their bridge, communications relay, magazines, antimatter reactor, and life support!” Thulani ordered. “Open fire!”

The Defiance shot past Betria at high speed, blasting her foe with simulated weapons as she went. The flyby assault was over in a less than a second and the Defiance, carried onward by gravitational forces, sped away from the scene as quickly as she had arrived. By the time the Betria’s crew realized they were under attack, the Defiance was long gone.

Moments later, the Science Vessel Oppenheimer broadcasted a transmission to all ships participating in the war game.

“To all vessels, this is an update from the Master Simulation Controller. The Coalition Battleship Betria has been marked as ‘destroyed by weapons fire.’ At this time, Betria will break formation and exit the Free Fire Zone. Do not interact with Betria as they are no longer part of the simulation. Message ends.”

The radio network was filled with loud and profane protests from the Betria as she turned to leave the war game. Both of the Betria’s escorts panicked, firing their sim weapons blindly in the direction Defiance had approached from, still unaware of what had just happened.

<=== Previous (Part Three)

Next (Part Five) ===>​

 

[crisrko]

The radio network was filled with loud and profane protests from the Betria as she turned to leave the war game.

Honestly, peak gamer reaction.

Masterful job done by Ino here.

 

[Macavity116]

Honestly, peak gamer reaction.

Now that you point it out, yeah, I see it. Their reaction was based off what I said the first time I got "killed" at a war game. (It was friendly fire, some Marines lit me up when I came around a blind corner. I was pissed)

Masterful job done by Ino here.

Thanks! I wanted to show she's got the potential to become a master tactician during the events of the main story, once we get there.

 

[Macavity116]

Author's note: This is the first chapter of The Forgotten War to include AI-generated pictures. After wrestling with Leonardo AI for a month, I think I've got it in a configuration I like. I'll be re-using the "captions" style from some of my older Stellaris stories as I really like that way of presenting images in my AARs.

<=== Previous (Part Four)

Next (Part Six) ===>​

​

The GALEX Incident
Part 5

---

Ino visits the Junior Officer's Recreation Room, a part of the Crew Lounge where off-duty officers can take some time to recover from the rigors of space travel.

When the Defiance docked with Tau Ceti Starbase, an incredible scene was waiting for them.

Commander Fanin was telling the truth when he said that Ino had caused an “uproar” among the Simulation Controllers. When Ino stepped off the Defiance and into the Starbase’s Anchorage module, she walked into an ongoing controversy.

The first day of the war game had gone off-script, to say the least. While Ino walked to the crew lounge to take some time off, she listened to angry conversations between Coalition officers and Simulation Controllers. She quickly figured out what was going on.

During the first day of the simulated space war, Human forces (roleplaying as Red Fleet) had inflicted a series of “major defeats” on the rest of the Coalition, punching millions of kilometers into Coalition territory. The Betria was not the only Coalition vessel marked “destroyed” by the Simulation Controllers… but she was the biggest.

But Ino did not realize the extent of the situation until she reached her destination: a portion of the crew lounge designated the Junior Officer’s Recreation Room. Ino just barely stepped over the threshold when a voice called out.

“There! That’s her!”

Suddenly, Ino was swarmed by Ensigns and Junior-Grade Lieutenants, all bombarding her with questions.

“How did you get the Lithoids to let you do that?”

“Did you really strafe the Betria three times?”

“Did you bribe the Simulation Controller!?”

“I thought you were the Captain of the Defiance. What are you doing down here?”

“Yo, Esperanta. Are you single?”

“Have you heard what the Toxoids are saying about you?”

Ino could not even get into the room, let alone find a seat.

“What the hell? What’s going on!?” Ino raised her voice.

“You’re famous!” An American officer said. “Check out the big screen! Soldiers, at ease! Let her listen!”

Ino was guided to the far end of the rec room, where a dozen digital television screens were arranged in a grid on the wall. The American waved to get the attention of another soldier.

“Turn up the Military Times network!” He said.

A Kenyan soldier nodded and grabbed the remote control. She pushed a few buttons, and all of the screens synchronized with each other, each one showing a portion of a much bigger image that soon filled the wall of screens. Ino was watching a news report about the war game:

“The threat is real.” The news reporter declared while behind him, video footage of Coalition warships played. “According to reports from the Tau Ceti star system, the annual GALEX war games got off to an unexpected start today when Simulation Controllers credited a single person with the destruction of our most advanced battleship, the Betria. Perhaps even more disconcerting, Coalition officials have refused to identify the person responsible for the deed.

“Our sources within the Coalition military tell us that a junior officer from Earth devised a way to evade the most advanced sensors in the Coalition and bring her Frigate-class vessel to a position where, were this a real battle, the Super-Capital ship Betria would have been annihilated three times over without ever knowing what happened. Military analysts say this development will raise significant questions about how Battleships and Cruisers defend themselves against smaller vessels.

“Our investigative journalists will continue seeking out the incredible young offer who scored this improbable victory, and we’ll bring you the exclusive interview here on Military Times!”

Nearly a hundred junior officers turned to look at Ino. Not only were there Humans in the room, but dozens of aliens. Lithoids, Mammalians, Fungoids, Toxoids, Arthropoids, Mulluscoid, and Plantoid people, all wearing the blue and silver colors of the Coalition uniform, were looking at Ino as though she was some kind of celebrity to be adored.

“How did you do it?” Asked a Plantoid officer, his voice creaking in awe.

“I… I uh…” Ino could not find words.

A hand closed on her shoulder. She started to look around, to see who it was, but a fur-covered Mammalian suddenly jumped to his feet and yelled:

“Group! Attention!”

Admiral Ruel, flanked by several Coalition officers, had entered the room.

“Ensign Esperanta…” he said in a low voice. “Might I pull you aside for a brief word?”

…

Ino speaks to Admiral Ruel about the events leading up to her improbable victory over the Coalition Battleship Betria.

Ino was steered into a conference room where nearly two dozen Admirals and Generals were having an impromptu meeting. The mood in the room was so tense that Ino’s fight-or-flight sense was triggered as soon as she sat down.

Admiral Garnett, the commander of Coalition forces during the exercise, was having a very loud argument with another Human officer. Ino did a double-take before realizing she was looking at retired General Irmal, the commander of Red Fleet. The old Turk looked like he might explode from anger.

“I don’t care what you call it!” General Irmal was shouting. “This whole foul-up proves that your technology can’t replace good-old intuition. This whole simulation is worthless and will do us no good when the Fellowship comes to break down our doors and kidnap our people!”

“It was a fluke.” Admiral Garnett raised his voice. “A simulation-specific loophole that could never be repeated in the real-world. I’m told the programmers are already accounting for it and the battle simulation will reflect reality more accurately by tomorrow.”

Admiral Ruel cleared his throat.

“Gentlemen, can you give us the room, please?”

Garnett and Irmal stopped their argument. They looked around.

“Is this the girl who did it?” Admiral Garnett said, pointing at Ino.

Ino bristled at being called a girl, and dug deep to find a reserve of willpower. Ino stood at the position of parade rest, keeping her hands clasped behind her back and staring the Admiral in the face, trying hard not to look away.

“She is.” Admiral Ruel said. “We tried to conceal her identity, but word got out before Defiance reached spacedock, there was nothing we could do. Irmal, your Red Fleet is leaking Intel like a strainer. Go do something about it. Admiral Garnett, we will give you our answer about the Betria in a few hours’ time. Please go back to your fleet. We’ll call you.”

The two commanders departed, leaving Ino in the conference room with two dozen agitated Simulation Controllers. She was told to explain everything.

It took Ino nearly an hour and a half to explain everything she did leading up to the flyby attack on the Betria. Then one of the Simulation Controllers pulled up a tablet computer and started reading testimony taken from the Betria’s Captain. Ino was shocked to learn that she had achieved complete surprise against the simulated enemy. The Betria’s crew did not know they were under attack until they received notification from the Oppenheimer that their ship was destroyed.

Finally, Admiral Ruel raised a hand for silence.

“It’s clear to me that our Simulation Control scheme has suffered a systemic failure of imagination.” Admiral Ruel said. “The issue of the sensory blind spot appears to be a highly situational one-in-a-million scenario. It was exceedingly rare, but we must accept that it is not impossible. Ensign Esperanta managed to spot and exploit this hidden vulnerability, which means our enemies will be able to do the same.

“However, we cannot ignore the fact that this vulnerability was exposed by a failure to properly prepare and program the battle simulation. Therefore, I suggest we nullify the results of today’s sim. Respawn the Betria and her escorts at the starting position and reset all battlefield positions to the way they were at zero-nine-hundred this morning. Do I hear any objections?”

The other Simulation Controllers signaled their agreement, and one of them, a Toxoid lifeform wearing a pressure suit because he could not survive in an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, spoke up:

“General Irmal is going to hate this.”

“That’s his problem.” Admiral Ruel said. “Let’s get to work. Oh… and you.”

Ruel looked at Ino.

“The Sim Controllers have grounded your ship for the next three days.” He said. “If I were you, I’d lay low for the duration. Oh… and keep an ear out for a message from me.”

He winked, then ordered Ino to leave.

…

Ino relaxes in her officer's billet at Tau Ceti Starbase while the Defiance is under investigation.

The Defiance was stuck in spacedock for the next three days. Military police were investigating every inch of the ship, attempting to find proof that Ino had somehow cheated during the war game.

“The whole crew of the Betria’s taken a set against you.” Prisban told Ino at the end of day two. “Don’t worry, you’ve got fifty officers, including a couple of Admirals, who are swearing on the Bible you didn’t do anything wrong.”

Ino and Prisban were sitting in an officer’s billet that had been set aside for Ino. It was located in the crew quarters module of Tau Ceti Starbase and had a single window that offered a spectacular view of the star system below. Taking the day off and knowing they had tomorrow off as well, Ino and Prisban were both dressed in civilian outfits and watching Ino’s TV. They had just flipped to a late night talk show.

“Let’s talk about the promising officer from GALEX.” Said one of the hosts. “Esperanta. Our records show that before she joined the military, she was part of a student-run political group that advocates for Synthetic Solidarity. Could she be plotting to start a political career? She seems to have built the rap sheet for it.”

“Oh, god.” Ino groaned.

“But her parents are die-hard members of the Esperantist movement. Would she run against them?” Said a commentator.

“My parents only care about Venka.” Ino grumbled.

Prisban looked at her.

“My sister.” Ino explained. “Have you ever heard of ‘Golden Child syndrome?’ Well, Venka was touched by Midas as a baby… or rather, I wish she was.”

Ino drew her legs up so she could hold herself in the fetal position. She snatched a sideways glance at Prisban to make sure he was looking at her. She was still trying to get closer to Prisban by either befriending or seducing him. (out of a desire to join the Pathfinders) To that end, Ino was determined to use any opportunity to tell her own life story and win over his sympathy… and if that did not work, she was also wearing an outfit that was suitable for both a relaxing night at home or an unplanned romantic date. Ino adjusted her skirt when she noticed Prisban was looking.

“Venka older or younger?” Prisban asked.

Ino saw his eyes briefly flick toward herself before locking back onto the TV screen.

“Three years younger.” Ino said, adjusting herself so that she sat cross-legged with her hands in her lap. “Mom and dad say that Venka’s perfect and she can’t do anything wrong, and they constantly ask me why I can’t be more like her. Why can’t I be as smart as Venka? Why did I cry when my birthday cake was Venka’s favorite flavor? Why couldn’t I do up my hair like Venka’s? Why couldn’t I make friends with the type of people Venka liked? Why couldn’t I just let Venka have my high school boyfriend because Venka was the better girl and I didn’t deserve him?”

This last one got a response from Prisban, who looked up from the TV and stared at Ino with wide eyes.

“What!? No way!”

Ino nodded. Outwardly, she looked like she was about to burst into tears, but inwardly, she was half-happy, half sad. Reliving her childhood made Ino feel terrible, but she always felt better when someone lent her a sympathetic ear.

“Venka complained whenever I brought a boy home from school.” Ino said. “She’d get jealous and try to steal boyfriends from me… and when I told Mom and Dad about it, they’d take her side, saying Venka was the better girlfriend anyway and that I was too ugly to land a guy.”

Prisban sat up on the couch and moved over to one side. Ino joined him, and in a moment, she was crying into Prisban’s shoulder while he held her with one arm.

“Then… when I graduated high school and got into college, Mom and Dad didn’t care.” Ino went on. “I got into the University of Buenos Aires and they talked about how Venka was going to get into a better school before long. So… as soon as I got to Buenos Aires, I decided to get as far away from them as I could.”

“Have you heard from them since?” Prisban asked.

“Couple of times.” Ino said. “They showed up once in my Sophomore year. I don’t know how, but they found out I had a serious boyfriend and Mom threw a fit. She said she’d disown me if I got married before Venka.”

“And you didn’t disown her first?” Prisban said.

Ino laughed.

“Are you kidding? I disowned the whole family on the spot! Called school security and had them escorted out.”

“And the other time?”

“Graduation.” Ino replied. “Venka wanted to walk up onto the stage with me when I got my diploma.”

Ino shuddered, then let out something that sounded like half a cackle.

“She never got into that good school.” Ino finished.

Ino and Prisban huddled together on the couch, their voices getting lower and softer. Finally, they decided to end the night and made their way Ino’s bedroom, accidentally leaving a couple articles of clothing behind on the hallway floor.

Ino forgot, at least for one night, that she was trying to seduce Prisban for the selfish hope of getting another chance to join the Pathfinder Order. It had been years since the last time she spent the night with someone, and Ino was going to savor this moment of very welcome companionship.

<=== Previous (Part Four)

Next (Part Six) ===>​

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Eh, they've screwed up. Should be promoting her, not confining her to space dock.

The Betria going down is their own fault for relying on a single sensor system - we know they only used one, any idiot can look out an appropriately facing window and see the exhaust of a torchdrive rocket under acceleration. The whole reason they're called torchdrives is that the blackbody radiation of engine components at thousands of degrees lights up in the visible light part of the spectrum and makes them visible essentially system wide. A halfway competent integrated sensor system should have logged the Defiance as soon as it began accelerating to make it to the 5th planet.

 

[Von Acturus]

Volodymyr Zelenskyy-class Battleship

Nice to see the man is still remembered thousands of years into the future.

Yo, Esperanta. Are you single?

Good to see the UNE military is keeping those honoured human traditions intact.

“The whole crew of the Betria’s taken a set against you.”

Seems like it's not only a human problem that we so quickly form our own "tribes" that we forget in whose side we should be on.

Have you ever heard of ‘Golden Child syndrome?’ Well, Venka was touched by Midas as a baby… or rather, I wish she was.

Ironic for people who champion a language designed to unite humanity that they've absolutely destroyed all Unity and harmony in their family.

 

[Macavity116]

The Betria going down is their own fault for relying on a single sensor system - we know they only used one, any idiot can look out an appropriately facing window and see the exhaust of a torchdrive rocket under acceleration.

Admiral Ruel was very close to the core problem when he talked about a "failure of imagination." Coalition cloaking devices are not as sophisticated as the ones used by the Desstican Astral Fellowship; there were plenty of chances for Defiance to be spotted during her attack run and Betria's crew dropped the ball multiple times before they were hit. But just like in real life, more attention was focused on the side using unorthodox tactics.*

*This sequence is inspired by a real-life wargame called Millennium Challenge 2002. During this wargame, a retired US Marine General was placed in command of a simulated Iranian Army and tasked with defending against a US invasion. Because of a screw-up while setting up the simulation, the "OPFOR" was given multiple highly unrealistic advantages, such as the ability to launch cruise missiles from crop dusters. The retired General used his borked army to wipe out the entire US invasion force. Much controversy ensued.

Nice to see the man is still remembered thousands of years into the future.

It seemed an appropriate naming choice. Ukraine has developed quite the reputation for artillery these days, so I just had to slap a Ukrainian name onto an artillery ship.

Good to see the UNE military is keeping those honoured human traditions intact.

Sometimes, Humankind can be very predicable. This was also a callback to Faith in Chaos, where Mami Tamihana was subjected to similar questions after becoming famous.

Seems like it's not only a human problem that we so quickly form our own "tribes" that we forget in whose side we should be on.

Yup. Tribalism seems to be a universal phenomenon in this Galaxy.

Ironic for people who champion a language designed to unite humanity that they've absolutely destroyed all Unity and harmony in their family.

It's even more painful because Mr and Mrs Esperanta don't think they've done anything wrong.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

To be fair, there are worse things to use as platforms for launching cruise missiles than crop dusters; no different to bodging a Toyota Hilux into a technical. You can, and it'd work as long as you struck first. Who's going to expect being attacked by a crop duster after all?

Well, apart from insects, obviously.

 

[Macavity116]

To be fair, there are worse things to use as platforms for launching cruise missiles than crop dusters

Russell Casse, USAF (War of 1996) would like to have a word.

 

[Macavity116]

Welcome to the penultimate chapter of The GALEX Incident.

<=== Previous (Part Five)

Next (Part Seven) ===>​

​

The GALEX Incident
Part 6

---

Ino wakes up in her billet at Tau Ceti Starbase.

Ino woke up in the middle of the night, desperately needing a drink of water. She disentangled herself from Prisban’s slumbering form, the bedsheets, and some loose clothing (not necessarily in that order) before finally managing to stumble to her feet. Fumbling her way through an unfamiliar apartment in the dark was no easy feat, but Ino eventually reached the kitchen. She knew she found it when she stubbed her toe on the Water Reclaimer.

Cursing softly, Ino grabbed a plastic cup, filled it, drank, refilled, and drank again. She started to place the cup in the Matter Recycler, but then stopped herself.

“Stupid, wasteful, can’t think straight like this.” Ino muttered to herself as she shuffled back toward the bedroom.

Prisban was stirring.

“Hey there.” He said. “Light sleeper?”

“Mm, Yeah.” Ino muttered. “Now if only I could see in the dark…”

Ino looked down. Her bare foot was caught on something. Clothes or a blanket. Ino took her eyes off Prisban and knelt down to grab whatever was about to trip her.

“So… you confess that you have some faults. How unexpected. Noble… but unexpected.”

Ino realized her foot had gotten caught in a discarded skirt. She started to free herself from it but froze when she noticed that the sound of Prisban’s voice had changed.

“Huh? What did you say?”

“I was remarking on how eloquent you are… It is not a trait often found in primitives.”

Prisban’s voice was deeper now, much deeper, and contained a hiss like a snake.

“Hey, I knew we were kinda acting like animals earlier… but you don’t have to call me that.” Ino replied, tossing the loose skirt across the room. She was still facing away from Prisban.

“Oh, come now. I thought you would appreciate that I refrained from calling you a savage.”

Comprehension slowly started to leak into Ino’s brain. That voice did not belong to Prisban.

A hand closed on Ino’s wrist.

“Come here, girl.”

“Don’t call me a girl!” Ino started to say, but Prisban pulled her backward with such force that pain shot up her arm. “Ouch! Not so hard!”

Suddenly, Ino was lying face-down in the bed, feeling the full weight of Prisban pushing down on her…

No… Prisban isn’t that heavy.

“What’s going on!?” Ino gasped, her voice muffled by the pillow.

Ino found some strength and managed to roll herself over. She looked up… and screamed.

Prisban was gone. In his place, looming overhead, was an alien.

Huge.

Dark.

Menacing.

Araj Zilfallon, 116th son of the Nivella of the Desstican Astral Fellowship. This sometimes-rogue prince is known for his strong interest in Humans, who are considered to be primitives by his own people.

It was a Desstican male. Ino knew that Dessticans are an exceptionally rare type of alien species called “Necroids.” They carry an aura of death wherever they go, and now, this one was leering at Ino, the curved shape of his horns disappearing into the darkness that pressed in from all sides. His hair, long, black, and greasy, fell in sheets around Ino, cutting off her field of view so that all she saw was those vivid orange eyes set upon a dark face.

“I have never been so enthralled.” The Desstican said, his voice dripping with emotions and implications that Ino did not like. “After I witnessed your deeds, I knew I must come closer, I must know more… I must feel you.”

Ino felt one of his hands running down her body. She struggled, tried to throw him off, but his own strength was overwhelming. To make matters worse, the expression on his face shifted. He was enjoying this! He took a deep breath.

“Yes… You are intoxicating.” He said.

Ino tried to throw him off again, struggling so violently that sharp pain was now shooting along her arms and legs. The Desstican attacker stopped groping Ino and brought his free hand back to her face. He grabbed Ino by the throat and forcefully turned her head until she was looking into his eyes.

“It was destiny that brought me here.” The Desstican whispered to Ino, his face dangerously close to her own. “The Will of the Universe commanded that I witness you, and I am glad to have obeyed. I will savor this meeting, and await the day when I find you in the Corporeal Plane.”

And then, the attacker leaned forward and kissed Ino on the mouth. She screamed again, pushing and fighting as hard as she could, but nothing she did could unlatch his mouth from her… and then a searing pain started somewhere else on her body! It was worse, a far greater agony than anything that had come before! Ino focused on it, wrapped her mind around the pain until…

…

Ino sat bolt-upright in the bed, screaming as loud as she possibly could and flailing her arms, fighting to escape her captor. Prisban, who had been gripping her wrist, was thrown off and hit the floor.

“Ino!” Prisban gasped. “Ino wake up! Wake up! It’s just a nightmare!”

But Ino had not fully regained consciousness yet. She was still in the throes of terror as she screamed shrilly:

“HELP! RAPE! HELP ME! SOMEONE HELP! RAPE!”

…

Coalition Military Police were on the scene in minutes. Prisban had called them using Ino’s communicator and he let them into the billet as soon as they arrived. By then, Ino was back in the living room armchair and had slightly calmed down. She allowed Prisban to cover her with a blanket and sipped on a cup of water. (Though her hands were trembling)

The MP’s took Prisban out of the room while Ino told her story. At one point, one of the soldiers left the billet and stepped into the hallway. Moments later, an alarm began to sound throughout the crew quarters section of Starbase.

“Security alert, condition four.” A serene computerized voice said. “ID will be required at all checkpoints.”

About twenty minutes later, after Ino repeated her story to the MP’s for a second time, a medical team arrived carrying a bright red box with white lettering that said:

First Aid – For Use on Humans Only​

After a cursory examination, Ino was cleared for transport to the nearest medical bay. Truthfully, Ino felt she could have walked to Medbay without help, but the medics insisted she ride on a stretcher.

…

Ino is frustrated that no one seems to believe her story about a Desstican sneaking into the Starbase to assault her.

Ino was shocked to see a few familiar faces waiting for her when she, the medics, and the MP’s arrived in the Medbay. Prisban and Commander Thulani were both there, and it took Ino a few seconds to realize Prisban was wearing handcuffs.

“What!? What the- not him!” Ino gasped. “It wasn’t Prisban, it was the Desstican!”

“A Desstican?” Thulani replied, sounding somewhere between confused and scandalized. “But Security says there are no Dessticans anywhere on the station!”

The situation got even more confusing after that. Because Ino claimed to have been sexually assaulted, the medical team was required to take Ino behind the privacy curtain for an examination. Minutes later, a very perplexed doctor opened up the curtain and spoke to both Ino and Thulani:

“I don’t know what to make of this.” The doctor confessed. “There’s no physical trauma anywhere on her. No evidence of an assault. Aside from elevated levels of adrenaline and serotonin, she is in perfect physical health.”

“But!” Ino gasped, just as confused as everyone else. “It happened! I was violated by a Desstican!”

“There are no Dessticans on the station!” Commander Thulani started to repeat, but he was cut off.

The Medbay doors opened and two men entered, the first was Human, the other was a member of the Fungoid Hulfir species. Both of them were dressed in black business suits and wore sunglasses despite being indoors. Each man also had a lapel pin over the left-hand breast pocket of his suit, shaped like the Coalition emblem. One of the medics tried to speak, but the black-suited Human interrupted.

“Stop right there. I am Special Agent Juliet and this is my partner, Special Agent Kilo. We’re from the CSA, and we’re ordering all of you to get the fuck out of this room.”

Ino felt her blood run cold. The CSA, or Counterintelligence and Security Agency, was an interstellar spy agency that served the Coalition. Ino had served in the UN Military for two years before joining the Coalition, and in all that time, she learned little to nothing about the CSA. The agency was deeply shrouded in secrecy. The Hulfir agent raised one finger to point at Ino. His voice emitted from the underside of the mushroom cap that made up part of his head:

“Ensign Esperanta stays. We must question her.”

Slowly, the Medbay emptied out. The medics shut themselves in their own office, giving the CSA agents a suspicious glare before closing the window blinds.

“We’ve heard something interesting on the MP radio network. You claim saw a Desstican here on the station.” Said Special Agent Juliet, who was as masculine as it is possible to be despite the name.

“Yes!” Ino cried out. “And no one believes me!”

“Well, we have reason to believe you.” Agent Kilo said in his fungal voice.

“On the one hand, we know beyond all shadow of a doubt that there are no Dessticans on the station.” Agent Juliet said, then quickly raised a hand to stop Ino’s protest. “However… the evidence my partner and I dug up in our own investigation suggests that your story is still true.”

“What? But…” Ino’s voice trailed off.

Agent Kilo pulled a tablet computer out of his suit coat and started tapping away, speaking to Ino without looking at her.

“Yours is the third story we’ve heard since the Fellowship started abducting our people.” Agent Kilo explained. “However, you are the first we are able to interview about it. So please sit tight and answer our questions.”

…

Ino spoke to the CSA agents for just twenty minutes, telling them her story as well as everything that happened in the hours leading up to the assault… and then something bizarre happened.

Agent Juliet suddenly reached up to his lapel pin and pushed it as though it was a button.

“This is Juliet. I need an emergency patch-through to the Tau Ceti Starbase command network.” Agent Juliet said.

“Standby.” Said a tinny voice that emanated from the lapel pin. Ino stared at it, amazed, trying to wrap her mind around the technology that made a such a small communicator possible. Then, the tinny voice spoke again: “You’re live.”

Agent Juliet spoke in a loud, clear voice.

“Conn, CIC. I have a new contact. Desstican warship. Frigate-class vessel, less than 20 kilometers away from the station. He’s hiding under a cloaking field. Recommend full combat alert.”

Seconds later, alarms began to blare, much louder and more urgent than earlier. The Medbay’s lighting went into battle mode, dim and red. A woman’s voice spoke over the intercom.

“This is Angel Command placing Tau Ceti Starbase on battle stations. I repeat: battle stations. Authorization code: Venera Twelve. Set ASW Condition two. Below and forward on your starboard side. Up and aft on your port side. All parties acknowledge.”

Agent Kilo pointed to a nearby window that faced outside.

“There he goes!”

Ino turned around just in time to see what he was pointing at.

An alien starship, looking quite unlike anything she had ever seen before, suddenly became visible as its cloaking system was defeated by Electromagnetic Warfare systems on the Starbase. The dark vessel was sleek and grim-looking, like façade of a mausoleum. The unwelcome starship turned tail and flew away from the station at top speed while a Coalition Destroyer gave chase.

“That’s a Desstican vessel!” Agent Kilo said. “Flag and colors of the Astral Fellowship!”

A Desstican spy ship, similar in configuration to the one spotted over Tau Ceti Starbase.

“They’ve been spying on us again.” Agent Juliet replied grimly.

Ino watched in horror as the Desstican warship sped away from the Starbase. This revelation did not make Ino feel any better. In fact, she felt traumatized. Somehow… a cloaked Desstican starship had gotten close enough to the Starbase for one of its crew to… to do what?

Ino had no idea how her attacker had gotten from his ship, into the Starbase, into Ino’s room, and then back onto his vessel so quickly without being caught. And the CSA agents had not answered these questions. Instead, they created more.

“What the hell!?” Ino gasped. “What’s going on?”

Agent Kilo looked at Ino, then turned his gaze toward the office where the medical team was sequestered.

“I think we’ve got what we need.” Agent Kilo said. “I’ll do the medics. You do the girl.”

Agent Kilo stood up, a cloud of pale yellow dust descending from his mushroom cap. It appeared so suddenly that Ino had no choice but to breathe in some of the dust as the Fungoid agent stepped away. Almost immediately, Ino felt a little drowsy.

Agent Kilo stepped away and knocked on the door leading to the Medbay office. Meanwhile, Agent Juliet started to retrieve an electronic device from his pocket with one hand. With the other, he popped a little green pill into his mouth and swallowed it.

“Sir, please.” Ino pleaded. “What happened to me? How did that Desstican get in?”

“Thanks to your testimony, I think we’re closer to the truth now than we were an hour ago.” Agent Juliet said. “To put it in terms you’ll understand: We have reason to believe you were the victim of an extrasensory attack. For some time now, we’ve been investigating rumors that the Dessticans were developing a weapon that attacks the conscious mind directly and triggers a mental phenomenon called ‘Parapsychosis.’ We believe you were on the receiving end of this weapon, that somehow this new technology forced you to experience a… phantom assault… and perceive it as though it was a real event.”

Ino blinked, wrapping her mind around what the Agent had just said. Then she spoke slowly:

“Are you saying that a Desstican used Telepathy on me?”

Agent Juliet pulled a small object, shaped like a silver cigar case, from his pocket. He pushed a button and the device deployed an extension. At the very top of the probe was a small diode, not unlike a camera flash. Agent Juliet pushed a button on the backside of the device and it made a whirring noise. He looked at Ino and said:

“The Coalition Science Directorate has studied the question of Extrasensory Perception, what you call ‘Telepathy,’ in great detail for nearly a century. They have concluded that no such thing exists.”

“No such thing!?” Ino repeated in shock.

It made no sense! Telepathy would explain exactly how Ino was attacked. But then Ino noticed the cylindrical object in Juliet’s hand was audibly powering up.

“What is that thing?” She asked.

“This is the most important tool a CSA agent will ever use.” Agent Juliet replied. “This is an electro bio-mechanical neural transmitting zero synapse repositioner… but you’re not going to remember that, so don’t worry. It’s going to isolate and edit a few electronic impulses in your brain, particularly the ones related to memory. It’ll help you recover from this ordeal. Tell me, Miss Esperanta, are you fully Human? No alien ancestry?”

“No, I’m Human.” Ino said, too stunned and confused to say anything more complex.

“Not a cyborg? No augments in your brain?” The agent asked, fiddling with the tiny controls on the device.

“I’m just a girl. Nothing special.” Ino felt like she was going numb to the world.

She was vaguely aware that something was wrong, that the yellow cloud released by the Fungoid had done something to her, but the brain fog was too strong to do anything about it. Agent Juliet adjusted his sunglasses. In the office, Ino could hear Agent Kilo say:

“Please stare at this for a moment.”

There was a bright flash of light from the office, followed by Agent Kilo speaking in a soft voice. She could not make out what he was saying.

“Miss Esperanta, please stare into diode for a moment.” Agent Juliet said in a disarming tone.

“Yeah… sure…” Ino breathed.

There was the smallest popping sound and Ino was blinded.

“The Coalition Science Directorate has determined that Telepathy is impossible. You had a night terror and awoke thinking the events of the dream were real. You are unharmed and in no danger. You will return to duty tomorrow.”

The voice spoke from far away and grew more distant still as Ino fell backwards into a deep… dreamless… slumber…

<=== Previous (Part Five)

Next (Part Seven) ===>​

 

[Von Acturus]

Now that was truly terrifying. You certainly haven't lost your ability to suddenly spring a truly bone chilling chapter unexpectedly.

“That’s a Desstican vessel!” Agent Kilo said. “Flag and colors of the Astral Fellowship!”

That prince might have just provoked an interstellar war to satisfy his lust. In fact, since his species regard humans as savage primitives, one might even see it as a noble provoking a war by engaging in zoophilia. Somehow the Astral Fellowship sinks ever lower.

We have reason to believe you were the victim of an extrasensory attack.

Raped physically and mentally, hard to imagine a more traumatising ordeal. I imagine if Dessican capabilities (and sexual preversions) were revealed there would be mass panic.

The Coalition Science Directorate has determined that Telepathy is impossible

I suppose the small letters on the back say something like "except under conditions x and when tried by species z augmented with y". The real question is, can humans and other coalition species also use telepathy or will they need to get creative to fight back?

 

[Macavity116]

Now that was truly terrifying. You certainly haven't lost your ability to suddenly spring a truly bone chilling chapter unexpectedly.

Ah, good to hear I can still torment my characters. This was a little bit of a return to form after I spent most of 2024 being tormented by my own characters in The Broken Gates.

That prince might have just provoked an interstellar war to satisfy his lust.

The attack on Ino and Araj's subsequent escape is where "The GALEX Incident" gets its name. He's definitely made some ripples.

Raped physically and mentally, hard to imagine a more traumatizing ordeal. I imagine if Desstican capabilities (and sexual perversions) were revealed there would be mass panic.

It wouldn't be a Macavity116 story if my characters were not put through a series of hellish events, but I definitely returned to Stellaris AARland with a vengeance. This was the first sex assault in one of my stories since My Father's War.

The real question is, can humans and other coalition species also use telepathy or will they need to get creative to fight back?

That's going to be the fun part. I've finally gotten to write the Sci-Fi conflict I've been wanting to write for a few years now: one in which only the OFPOR side (the bad guys) has access to Psionic powers.

During the Forgotten War, Humans and their allies in the Coalition will have to find another way to fight the Fellowship as they will not have access to the slate of Psionic powers normally seen in my Stellaris stories.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

That is a depressingly realistic treatment of response to rape...

 

[Macavity116]

That is a depressingly realistic treatment of response to rape...

Yeah, my military experience might have bled through a little. (10+ years in a medical battalion)

I was originally planning to have a whole story arc in the main AAR, Unsung Paragons, where Prisban stopped trusting Ino because the MPs told him that he was the prime suspect in Ino's assault. But I had to back off the idea because Ino instinctively defended him in this chapter, and Prisban would probably feel grateful that she did.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Yeah, my military experience might have bled through a little. (10+ years in a medical battalion)

Yeah...

The use of neuralyzers manages to make it even worse - the usual gaslighting by saying it's all in your head is nothing new, but this is... Well, literally messing around with her memories. What these man and woman in black do is an even bigger moment of fridge horror than the rape itself is.

I was originally planning to have a whole story arc in the main AAR, Unsung Paragons, where Prisban stopped trusting Ino because the MPs told him that he was the prime suspect in Ino's assault. But I had to back off the idea because Ino instinctively defended him in this chapter, and Prisban would probably feel grateful that she did.

He definitely would; the circumstances do not look good for him...

 

[Macavity116]

The use of neuralyzers manages to make it even worse... What these man and woman in black do is an even bigger moment of fridge horror than the rape itself is.

YES!! I was really hoping someone would notice that reference and what I was trying to imply!

the usual gaslighting by saying it's all in your head is nothing new, but this is... Well, literally messing around with her memories.

I do plan on this detail becoming relevant in the main story. Araj is not going to respond well when his new "favorite savage" pretends not to know him. I want the conflict between protagonist and antagonist in this story to feel really personal.