This was too big to fit in the last post - damn the character limit! Damn it! (Also it wasn't finished at the time.)
The soundtrack to this bit:
Now: I am going the feth to bed.
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Back at the entry corridor, he lead the way to the airlock. His two armed and helmeted, but not combat-armored, Soroin remained stationed, their carbines slung behind their arms. As they approached, the one on the left - distinctive silver hair and eyes marked her as Mountain Mantle - called out "Capta -
Mazeit!" She and the other armed Soroin with her, Rainfall - a pink-haired Maiad Loroi whom Jardin wished he had the resources to send to a technical school - snapped smartly to attention, raised their right arms in salute, facing Fragile Storm.
There was shock in their eyes at seeing the Commodore, he could tell, yet they still performed as trained. Alex glanced back, to see Fragile Storm, who was staring, somewhat nonplussed, and who leaned a little uncomfortably close to him, from behind, quietly inquiring, "I believe this is a human military salute, yes?"
Alex nodded, firmly. "It is."
"Explain the significance," she directed, and he nodded.
"Salutes are gestures of
respect and acknowledgment, directed to a senior officer; the seniormost officer, if a party contains more than one," he explained.
"I see. We have a salute as well, but it is telepathic. You would not be able to perceive it; thus, you taught your crew to perform this human military salute which is obvious to all with eyes."
Alex nodded, trying to ignore the crawling feeling at the back of his neck as Fragile Storm spoke quietly. "And you taught them to perform this gesture towards other, higher-ranking Loroi as well," she asked.
Alex shook his head. "I did not need to. It came naturally, and spread from
Swiftwind to the rest of the ships, as we juggled crew and met whilst docked."
"I see," Fragile Storm said, her voice surprisingly without the sharp edge he was used to hearing in it. "And are they expected to hold this gesture until I leave their presence?"
"They are to hold the gesture until you relieve them of the requirement to do so," Alex explained. "They are expecting you to return the salute, acknowledging their proper acknowledgment of your rank and authority, and to issue a command; they are currently standing at attention, with the arm raised in salute. 'Attention' would allow them to lower their arm. 'At ease' would allow them to relax their posture somewhat, and 'stand easy' allows them to relax almost fully. 'As you were' would dismiss all notice of your presence, and free them to return to whatever they were doing before you came to their notice; in this case, guarding the airlock. If you depart from sight, 'as you were' is assumed."
Fragile Storm shifted, but paused as her sister placed a hand on hers, and Alex saw her lips turn up in a smile, as Fragile Spear leaned around her sibling. "How strong is their discipline," she asked, and he turned his head to meet hers.
"Stronger than even I believed. They stood resolute in the face of the worst that Opalstorm threw at them, and I am told it was some of the worst psychic abuse that did not constitute the psychic equivalent of physical assault." He allowed himself to grin. "Fireblade drilled them
well."
Fireblade grinned, her teeth pearlescently bright, and Fragile Spear nodded. "May I?"
Alex looked to Fragile Storm, who nodded, and so he nodded to Fragile Spear. Suddenly, the serene and placid Torrai Torret stepped towards the duo on the airlock, full of sudden fury, screaming...
Something at Mountain Mantle. He couldn't quite make it out.
It took him offguard, and he felt a sudden burst of anger;
this, he had not been expecting, and he took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders, but Fireblade and Tempo put their hands on his chest, holding him back less with force of strength as with caution. He looked into their eyes; each of them seemed to hold no outrage.
Damnit, I wish I could hear them, he thought, not for the first time. Mountain Mantle remained resolute, her eyes fixed on Fragile Storm, but Alex could see anger in her eyes. Fragile Spear stalked around her, to the left, then doubled back, to the right; opposite the airlock from Mountain Mantle, Rainfall - a pink-haired, somewhat darker-than-usual Maiad Loroi - had shock and surprise in her eyes, which were flicking excitedly from Mountain Mantle to Fragile Spear, to Jardin.
I'm missing
something, and I wish I knew what it was. The instincts in him were screaming at him to step in, to stop this, but Fireblade and Tempo were urging him caution and to let it play out. There were times to listen to instinct, and times to listen to his friends -
this, he knew, was a time to listen to his friends... Even if it made him damned angry.
Fragile Spear stalked around Mountain Mantle in a semicircle, pacing; she reminded him of a great hunting cat, on the prowl; her face fierce, unlike any expression he had ever seen on her. She sporadically shouted at Mountain Mantle, and he could tell by the tension in her jaw, growing in her posture, that
fury was building inside her. Jardin thought some of the shouts coming from Fragile Spear were Trade, or
like it, but some of them were utterly incomprehensible. Finally, she seemed satisfied; just before Jardin was close to giving in and stepping in, she stepped back, smiling at him.
"She
is disciplined," Fragile Spear said, with a grin. He turned towards her, sure that his anger was visible on his face.
"Would you care to
explain that, Fragile Spear," he asked, gravely, and she nodded.
"Of course, Captain. This girl is Hos'te Blec. Her clan, like mine, supported Eighth Dawn in her uprising against Emperor Swiftsure, and for this, our peoples were awarded with the right to continue to exist, as opposed to being forcibly dissolved and relocated to far corners of the empire. Even so, our clans have ever been rivals, dating as far back as the Classical Menelos period. I exploited this fact to challenge her by her heritage, our shared rivalry, to issue ancient calls to conflict; insults and belittlements, of herself and her ancestors. Even now, you can see the
outrage and
fury on her face, crying out to battle me; yet despite this, she remains resolutely disciplined, locked in salute of my sister's authority."
Alex locked his eyes on Fragile Spear.
Why the fuck would you think that
was a good idea, he thought, but all he said was "I see."
"Indeed; look at her. Every instinct in her body is screaming at her to draw that blade on her hip and lunge at me. I fear I have rather insulted her so gravely only attacking me will salve her feelings."
Alex swallowed, and Fragile Storm raised her hand, saying, quietly, "Stand easy." Their posture shifted, but it became anything
but easy; Rainfall's eyes were locked on Mountain Mantle with an expression approaching horror, and Mountain Mantle shifted her attention to Fragile Spear, violence writ on every muscle in her face. Alex swallowed again, and was about to order Mountain Mantle to go to quarters, when Fragile Spear rolled her shoulders, and stood back.
"Give her leave to act as she wishes, please, Captain," Fragile Spear said, and Alex blinked, looking at her, his expression clearly asking
are you insane? The same murderous fury he had seen on many of his crew in the face of Opalstorm's aggression, but Fragile Spear and Storm nodded. He looked to Fireblade who nodded as well; Tempo looked dubious, and he swallowed, looking to Mountain Mantle, who met his eyes, her silver irises blazing with
need.
If I do this, one of them is probably gonna wind up dead. If I don't
, she's never going to respect me again. Against his better judgement, Alexander nodded, taking a deep breath. Fragile Spear was stepping back, opening up some distance, as Alex looked to Mountain Mantle. "Paset, you have leave to... Act as you will."
The explosion of intensity was almost immediate; she threw down her rifle, screaming something he could half-understand as an insult. Her next movement was to cross-draw her pistol holstered for just that motion, and Alex felt a moment of fear as she threw it, too, to the ground, screaming with even greater rage and anger.
Thirdly, she whipped her helmet from her head, flinging it to the deck with sufficient force he wanted the armory to inspect it before it was reissued, revealing her hair in the process; short, elaborately arranged into several braids hanging at the back, decorated with golden bands, and with Talon-like bangs hanging in front of her face.
Okay, if she's just gonna scream back, that's not so - GAH!
With a wordless scream of rage, an explosion of fury, her utility dagger seemed to
materialize in her left hand, and she
surged towards Fragile Spear. He instinctively tried to lunge for her, but felt Fireblade and Fragile Storm both telekinetically restraining him from the movement, almost constricting his chest as the short, young Loroi charged her elder.
So, this is how my first command ends; giving one of my crew permission to murder Fragile Storm's twin sister, he thought, as
thinking was all he could do. Fragile Spear
appeared to be caught off-guard, standing normally, and Mountain Mantle's blade described a brilliant, flashing arc towards Fragile Spear's throat. Alex's first thought was that
if they could get her to the medics fast, they
might be able to save her, but Fragile Spear leaned back with serpent-like speed, evading the blade's bite by what he could only imagine was the narrowest of margins, and lashed out with her right palm, at the youth's head.
It was
on and Mountain Mantle craned her head to the left to evade the blow, launching an icepick stab with the knife at Fragile Spear's ribs. The blade and the Captain's armor chinked off one another, the blow forcing the Commodore's twin back a step, which the youth followed up with a heavy right cross.
It was fast -
so fast, but Fragile Storm managed to intercept the haymaker with her left arm, catching the younger Loroi's forearm on her own, and she lunged forward in a headbutt. Alex thought it might well have worked, but he knew that Mountain Mantle was unquestionably his ship's unarmed and melee arms combat master, and she evaded by stepping back and retaliating with a viper-like lash of her boot, catching Fragile Spear in the sternum, forcing her back.
The fact that she had a
knife worried Alex, but as angry as she had looked, he genuinely worried that if given the opportunity, Mountain Mantle would murder Fragile Spear with her
bare hands, as she indeed appeared to be attempted to do so. He gritted his teeth, desperately trying to lunge in, to tackle one of them to the ground and shield her from the other with his body - and
hope that the other liked him enough
not to get to her quarry
through him, but the psychokinetic force around him was far more than enough to immobilize him. His eyes glanced sideways at Kelly; she, too, was attempting to move, but was held securely by nothingness, her teeth gritted.
All he could do was watch, as Mountain Mantle launched slash and stab at Fragile Spear, who deftly intercepted and deflected each blow with her armored forearms. In a way it was elegant to behold, like watching a pair of kung fu masters, but the very real murderousness on Mountain Mantle's face made him fret, as the two attacked and parried, riposted and lunged, back and forth; a palm-strike from Mountain Mantle was intercepted by Fragile Spear's fist. The skin contact seemed electric, both of the duo gritting their teeth, but neither backing down; Alex, psychically blind as he was, could
sense the battle of
will that took place in that brief moment, each of them apparently attempting to overwhelm the other's mental defenses. Mountain Mantle broke the sanzai-lock with her dagger, making a broad slash at Fragile Spear's face, obliging her to pull away to protect herself.
The younger Loroi braced, and appeared to lunge, and Fragile Spear dropped low, attempting a leg sweep, but Mountain Mantle had feinted; she launched forward into a knee-strike, her legs clearing Fragile Spear's leg, her armored knee impacting the Captain on the face. She went flying back, to the deck. It took the youth a moment to recover from her awkward landing, and she caught Fragile Spear's boot in her armored codpiece for her trouble.
Alex winced, but the impact seemed only to knock his crewwoman back a step, and she leaped, lunging for Fragile Spear, who rolled out of the way. The blade skittered on the deck; someone less quick would have been caught offguard, but she turned the motion into a sweeping, icepick stab, again for the ribs, but the red-and-silver armored Torrai Torret's armor held, and the blow rolled her to her back. Again, Mountain Mantle pounced, and this time she caught an open-palmed blow to the armored sternum, but Fragile Spear was answered with the girl's fist, clenched around the blade of her dagger, slamming home in the
tiny soft portion of armor just under her breasts.
The blow took the wind out of her, and Alex sucked in a hiss of breath as it was driven out of Fragile Spear; the youth quickly moved to pin, but Fragile Spear reached up; with both arms on Mountain Mantle's breasts (and what Alex suspected was a telekinetic blast), she shoved the girl back, off her; to her credit, the pinwheeling youth managed to gain her feet instead of being sent to her ass, as Fragile Spear twisted, spinning over and lunging, half-crouched, for the far wall, trying to grab hold of a railing, presumably for leverage to lunge fully upright.
She didn't get the chance; Mountain Mantle was atop her in a flash. Had the lunge actually sent the girl to her ass, it might have worked, but Mountain Mantle got her left arm under Fragile Spear's body, jerking her legs out from under her, using the blunt backside of the utility knife for a lever, right fist twisting in the elder Loroi's hair.
Fragile Spear went to the deck with a cry of alarm, and Alex felt a jolt run through him. Though she had
provoked the fight, the feminine cry of alarm made his fists and teeth clench, his heart racing; the same primal
urgency running through him as he felt any time Fireblade or one of his other friends wound up in a fight. He strained against the telekinetic restraint, his arms and legs burning, attempting in vain to somehow generate enough force to push himself forward, as an open-palmed strike from Mountain Mantle to the back of her shoulders sent Fragile Spear sprawled completely on the deck.
"You're
out of practice, old woman," Mountain Mantle nearly spat, her fist twisting in Fragile Spear's hair, jerking back, and getting another cry of pain out of the Captain. Alex's heart beat now; afraid that instead of Fragile Spear, her twin was going to let loose and turn his crewwoman into a smear on the wall.
"Fireblade, let me go," he hissed, his jaw clenched so tightly it was all he could do. "
Stop her," he hissed, hoping against hope that his Teidar friend would rip Mountain Mantle away from the Captain and thus, prevent her Unsheathed twin from destroying her, but to his horror, she did not.
All he could do was watch, in horror, as Mountain Mantle's blade flashed again. He cringed, expecting the blast of blue mist - if she was lucky, Fragile Storm would
only remove the offending limb, and not turn her head into a smear on the wall, but neither happened. For a terrifying moment, he thought that she had stabbed Fragile Spear in the throat; then the clannish Captain's head snapped forward, and Mountain Mantle's body was pulled back, no longer connected; she came away with Fragile Spear's long mane of luxurious green hair, raggedly shorn clean by the flashing of her knife, twisted in her hand, and she stepped away, letting out a barbaric cry of rage and triumph. On the deck, Fragile Spear propped herself up on her elbow, breathing intensely hard and looking up at the youth clutching the majority of her hair, reaching back hesitantly and touching the edge where it had been cut off.
Fragile Spear blinked, a look of surprise on her face, followed by a snort of disbelief. "So I
am," she said, as Mountain Mantle finished shouting, sucking in a heavy gasp of breath. Slowly, deliberately, she sheathed her knife, dropping Fragile Spear's dismembered tresses to the deck, and turned, stalking back to the airlock; heaving for breath, her lips twisted up in a triumphant, barbaric grin, she bent down; first putting her pistol back in its holster, then picking up her carbine and slinging it. Finally she picked up her helmet, which Alex noted appeared to be entirely undamaged despite the force with which she had flung it to the deck, and placed it back upon her head. Thus re-armored, she straightened up, breathing hard, calming slowly, and snapped into a rigid salute, toward the Commodore. At a gesture from Fragile Storm, she lowered her arm, but remained standing at attention.
Hoooooooly fuck, Alex thought as he felt the psychokinetic force restraining him vanish, leaving him, too, to heave for breath.
That was at least in the top twenty most terrifying things I've witnessed, he thought, as he breathed hard. Fragile Spear had since rejoined her twin, who was disapprovingly looking at her cleft mane, and shook her head. "Was that
entirely necessary," he demanded, quite roughly, of Fragile Spear.
"I'm afraid it was, and I apologize for any alarm it may have given," the Torrai Torret said, quietly. "I quite overdid it in attempting to see where her discipline would break. If we had not permitted her the
outlet of attacking me, I fear it likely would have led to discipline problems in the future.
Mountain Mantle looked like she was slowly riding down from an adrenaline high, but to her credit was still holding together - barely. Alex rubbed his eyes. "Okay. Mountain Mantle," he said, and she snapped to again, refocusing on him, saluting smartly. He saluted in turn. "You are dismissed. Return to your quarters. Do not inform
anyone of our presence here, or of what has just transpired. Inform the crew that the Captain gave orders that only one guard on this side of the airlock will suffice and that Rainfall remains at her post."
"Aye, Captain," the draining youth said, snapping off another salute, turning smartly on her heel, and walking into the airlock. It cycled behind her, and he looked at Fragile Spear, incredulously.
"Did you let her win," he asked, raising his eyebrow. Annoyance - though thankfully not anger - flashed in the older Loroi's eyes.
"I most certainly did
not. I grossly underestimated her," she said, reaching up and touching the ragged edge of her hair, a deeply pained look coming to her face. "And I have paid for it. It would take
years to regrow that much hair," she said, with an audibly pained tone to her voice, and Fragile Storm laughed.
"You may have it regrown in a day, you know" Fragile Storm said with a smile. Her twin looked at her, with something like mock horror on her face, and Fragile Storm smirked. "You can have yours regrown, or I'll have to shear
mine off to match and we can
both bear the shame of your failure to remain in practice. The choice is yours, sister." The horror on Fragile Spear's face turned very real, and her shoulders slumped for a moment.
"You can't mean that," Fragile Spear said, and Fragile Storm smirked, then stepped towards Rainfall.
"Your blade," she demanded. Swallowing, the pink-haired Maiad girl produced it. Fragile Storm took it, and reached behind herself, gripping her hair in her right hand, and drawing the blade across to her left.
"
Stop! I'll do it," the Captain of
Retribution said, urgently, and Fragile Storm looked back, grinning at her. Smoothly, she returned the blade to Rainfall, who tucked it away silently.
Alex let out a huff of breath, looking around. Fireblade looked amused; Tempo looked relieved, Kelly looked exhausted as he felt, clutching her hand over her chest. "You okay," he asked her, and she laughed.
"Am I okay? I thought I was just going to see someone
murdered," she replied. "Like, with a fucking
knife, right in front of me. No, I'm not okay," she said, letting out a laugh. "My heart is racing about a mile a minute. Is that kind of thing
typical," she asked, looking up at him.
Alex shook his head, and Fireblade chuckled. "Not particularly," the mustard-armored warrior said. "But sufficiently egregious insults - such as those which I presume Fragile Spear delivered to Mountain Mantle, in some archaic form which was mutually intelligible to them - can so outrage a warrior's sense of honor that demanding redress by combat can feel her only recourse. In short, an honor duel. What I do not understand, however, is
why she refrained from killing Fragile Spear, or at least maiming her far more severely."
Fragile Spear herself smiled. "That, too, goes back to the Third Emperor, Eighth Dawn. Our clans had ever been at one another's throats, and though we both threw our lot in with her, it was... Difficult to make our forces operate together in unison without severe casualties before even contact was made with the enemy. Eighth Dawn resolved the issue by formalizing a dueling ritual between our clans; we are, by ancient oath, forbidden from taking more than hair from one another in a deliberate act. Granted, had she struck home and true in the heat of the fight, this would not have been a violation, but she rather... Thoroughly established her superiority in getting the better of me, and per custom, well..." She glanced down at the pile of her discarded hair, reaching up and stroking again the ragged, uneven remains.
Alex facepalmed, and sighed. "You couldn't have
told us she wasn't going to kill her," he asked Fragile Storm. "I was about in a panic there," he said, and the Commodore smirked at him.
"I know. I admit, I have had my doubts, but seeing genuine fear, shock, and urgency on your face in your desire to protect my sister was
quite illuminating. Take a few moments to catch your breath," she suggested, and Alex facepalmed, nodding, breathing hard and bending forward, bracing his free hand on his knee.