Yes! I love where this is going.

Rlang--

It was strange how the Aquila V kept ignoring her call. Very strange. In fact, Rlang could've sworn one of the voices sounded familiar...

But she didn't have time for that now, because Arxnidl was warning her that another ship, the Daybreak, had appeared, and suddenly they were firing, and the Vojnovy were firing back. She gripped the thruster handles and ordered her ship to attack the enemy, faster and faster. All the while, the Daybreak-- was it friend or foe? -- was nearing her new acquaintance ship. She had to warn them.

"Open com link!" Rlang spat in between orders to shoot. The watery hum of static pierced the silence. "Hello? Aquila? There's a ship heading for you," she said tersely. "Be careful and get to the side-"

A shudder enveloped the Arxnidl, and the link fizzled into silence. Rlang clacked out a curse; the long-dist radio link was down. She'd have to do this the old-fashioned way.

Through her ship's chimed updates, she heard the barrier ships retreat ever so slightly, heard the Aquila V and that other ship slip through the crack in the shell. Now to fight her way through and bring up the rearguard.

Rlang snapped off commands, heard encouraging responses as Arxnidl's Aimbot hit the Vojnovy fleet in choice spots. She revved engines and slit the hovering curtain of ships right down the middle. For a moment, she stayed at the ready, tensely waiting for an alert that the fleet had angled after her, but breathed a sigh of relief when the monitor stayed silent. Now to meet her new allies.

"Set up a three-way short-dist radio com between us, the Aquila V, and the Daybreak," Rlang told Arxnidl. She smiled grimly. "I'll try to figure out who that voice really was."

A pause, then: "Radio link connected." She grinned wider.

"Arxnidl to Aquila and Daybreak," she enunciated. "Now that we're past that barrier, why don't you tell me who you are and what you're doing here in the middle of deep space?"

--

Wow I'm getting tired of typing these italics for the ship names. XD 

~ Jaxi Varu ~

I stand back helplessly as the three rebel ships blast their way through our barrier. None of the Vojnovy ships are damaged beyond repair, luckily, but we've failed in our mission, and if I've learned anything from serving the Majabuta my whole life, it's that failing a mission is almost worse than dying. At least, that's how it was with her. I've been lucky enough not to meet the Vojnovy commander yet, so I don't know what they're like.

The ship's captain rages through the soldiers clustered in the fighting bay, his reptilian skin turning purple with anger. They flinch away as he spits at them, punching a few he seems to consider most responsible. I try to fade into the background. He hasn't noticed me yet, and hopefully he won't.

"You! The Pasu!" he spits, coming dangerously close. (Darn.) "Why didn't you help my soldiers?"

"I'm not trained to operate your weapons, sir," I say, keeping my gaze firmly fixed on the ground.

"Then why are you here?"

"I do as I'm commanded, sir." This doesn't seem to be sufficient, so I add, "I'm much more experienced with close-combat fighting."

The captain spins away angrily and approaches the navigation manager. "Break from the barrier! We're closing in and chasing those ships down, even if we have to go all the way to Philia."

It's possible I didn't proofread this, so apologies if there are grammatical errors. Or if I contradict myself. Or mess up a pronoun or a name. Sorry in advance.

Tiffan~

I hated flying. Hated it. It was just unnatural to fly through space when we had two perfectly good legs and one perfectly good moon to explore.

I hated flying.

But… there really wasn’t another way onto Philia. Unfortunately. And I suspected Fior was hiding something. He said we need to get to a fuel station, but didn’t actually seem that worried.

We’d been flying for at least several days, most of which I had spent pacing around the small quarters of the not-so-magnificent Aethre. I swear, Fior cares more about that ship than anything else I’ve ever seen him care about. No way would I risk piloting it.

Static filled the ship. “Arxnidl to Aethre-” I exchanged a confused look with Fior. “Who?” I asked. His eyes bugged out as he clapped a finger to his lips. Then he started talking embarrassedly. “I’m sorry, that’s my completely clueless older sister-” I frowned. “I am not your sister, Fi-” “I’m really really sorry and we’ll just go now,” he finished awkwardly, glaring at me.

A laugh came from the transmission. “No worries. Arxnidl to Aethre, this is Rlang Ketnn. Are you heading to Philia P73?” Fior interrupted before I could stop him. “Yes. This is Fior Klowythe and Tiffan Eifion, who is my sister. Why?” he asked conversationally. I clapped a hand over his mouth, remembering all of a sudden who Rlang Ketnn was. “I’m sorry, that is my cuckoo brother. We aren’t traveling to Philia P73. Why did you contact us?” I asked formally and coldly, wishing I hadn’t nearly revealed our identities.

It wasn’t my fault, I tried to console myself, I’d thought we were muted. But it happened all the same so I continued with my coverup. Rlang Ketnn, space pirate, spoke. “Don’t lie to me, Njara.” How did she know that? “I know you’re traveling to Philia P73 and there’s something you need to know.” I shuddered, knowing anything she wanted to tell me was nothing I wanted to hear. 

“The Vojnovy have formed a barrier. I’m here with Aquila V, but we need backup. Repeat. We need backup.” Her voice had turned urgent. I felt sick. “Fior. How fast can you get us there,” I demanded. Fior squirmed away from my hand. “Um… well…” he sighed. “Spill,” I ordered sternly. He blushed. “Weeeeelll… I can’t,” he admitted.

My mouth fell open.

~~

Fior~

Tiffan looked like she was going to pass out from shock. “Well… you know how you crashed my other ship?” Over the transmission, I could hear Ylang cringe and mutter, “Why am I not surprised?” Tiffan blushed and continued looking like she was going to faint. “Well-the-part-I-needed-to-get-us-there-any-time-soon-was-broken-and-we-needed-to-get-to- -the-fuel-station-to-buy-it…” 

“I knew you were hiding something,” Tiffan said angrily. There was a crackle of static and a voice came through. “I know where you are, and you’re closer to Philia than you think. I don’t know where you’re going- there’s nothing in that direction for who knows how long- but if you could get to Philia in even the next few days that would be fine,” Ylang Ketnn, the legendary- I repeat, legendary- space pirate offered. 

I looked at the screen in front of me, frowning. Then I groaned. “Oh shoot… broken navigator…” Ylang’s voice was full of disapproval. “Your ship seems to have some… issues,” she observed. “It’s not my fault- Nephaya Minor has a very small supply of mechanical parts,” I defended myself.

Tiffan rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, Ketnn. Fior. Can you get us there?” I nodded, not quite sure what she was apologizing to the space pirate for. Or why she was using Ylang’s last name. “Good. We’ll be there, Ylang Ketnn,” Tiffan finished coldly. “Aethre out,” I said, ending the transmission.

I flopped back onto the seat, closing my eyes. Tiffan kicked me. “Ow!” I yelled. “Why the heck didn’t you tell me?” she asked furiously. “Because you already looked like you were going to pass out!” I shouted back. She looked away, and when she turned back towards me, her eyes were chips of green ice.

“I hate flying,” she said venomously. “Who’s surprised?” I asked sarcastically. Tiffan smacked me. “Ow!”

The next day, as Ylang had promised, we were in sight of the Vojnovy barrier around the icy planet of Philia P73. Aquila V, a ship I didn’t know, and Arxnidl were on the other side, hovering. They seemed to be watching us. “Well, guess they didn’t need our help after all,” I grumbled. Tiffan looked like she was going to faint again.

It was kind of amusing to see her reactions to flying.

I hit a few levers, contacting Arxnidl. “Aethre to Arxnidl, you seem to have gotten through all right.” 

“Yes. With a few… major… hiccups.” Ylang’s voice seemed to be directed at someone. A highly accented voice came through, after a few seconds of static. “This is Aquila V. We got through, didn’t we?” The voice was rather miffed. Rlang sighed audibly. I heard muffled giggles. “This is Daybreak. Hey all! Aethre, you should try feinting.” I groaned. “Aethre to Daybreak, we don’t have guns.” Tiffan smacked me.

“Ow!” Rlang sighed audibly again. “They’re from Nephaya Minor,” she said, as if it explained everything. Clearly it didn’t, because I could hear, “Where’s that?” I rolled my eyes in impatience. “Well, can you help us? Because is it just me or are they prepping their weapons? I really don’t want to get blasted out of the air and her mother will kill me if I let anything happen to her.” Tiffan smacked me again. “Ow!” I yelled. “Hmmm… Daybreak to Aethre, I might be able to help.”

A shot streaked through the air- or the absence of it- towards us. Tiffan screamed. I swerved. The connection was severed. Oh gods, please let the Daybreak be there…

@Fancy Kiwi: I literally forget the details every few seconds so I'm switching between tabs every two second to get the story straight. XD 

~~~~~~~~~ 

Kairo ~

The crazy ship that was just coming at us just blew up three enemy ships. Wow. The blasts created a penetration in the barrier. Realising the opportunity, I do a 180 towards the ship that nearly hit us. They easily make it through the hole. 

"You're not going to make it!" Aya says frantically. She's kind of right. The gap is very small, and the other ships are reorganizing. 

"Jaihra, prepare for a jump to light speed." This is the absolute awesomest idea I've ever had.  

"This is the absolute worst idea you've ever had!" Seólta exclaims. "If you miss the gap you'll destroy the ship! And we'll miss our target if you go that fast!  

I turn on the auto navigating system and align the ship with the shrinking gap. "Ok Jaihra, punch it!"

Jaihra slams the hyperspeed throttle. For a literal split second, the ships around us blur into space s we jerk forward. I cross my fingers. Jaihra releases the throttle immedietely, and we slow back down to normal time. 

"I'm going to throw up. I can't believe I paid 30,000 credits for this." Seólta mumbled. He sounded a bit nausiated. 

I wasn't too worried about him. Seó's dignity would keep him from barfing for a while.

"We got through!" Aya exclaims. I pump my fist and high five her. "I can't believe that actually worked!"

Danica and Analia stumbled back into the main cabin. I am so proud of those little gunners in training. 

"Analia! I can't believe you hit that ship, that was brilliant!" I bend down and hold out my fist for a fist bump. 

"Why was that ship barrelling at us though? If Analia hadn't hit it, it might have shot us down!" Jaihra stares at the ship a few miles away. 

"Let's com them." I turn towards Seólta. "Head of Communications, will you do the honors?"

He rolled his eyes and pages the mystery ship. He hands me the microphone. 

"Hey fellow heading-to-Philia ship. Why the heck were you trying to collide with us! I request to see your captain." 

The holoscreen opens up. A familiar green skinned girl appears on the screen, smirking. 

"Oh my STARS! Is that Aigith Rim?" I'm so happy to see Aigith I totally forget that she tried to kill us.

"Light?? What are you doing here?" 

"Going to Philia, obviously. You too, I'm guessing." 

"How do you two know each other?" Aya asked, confused. 

"We worked a job together a few months ago. I needed an extra pilot, and Light's one of the best." Finally, someone who appreciates my abilities! I look back at everyone else, satisfied. 

"Great, another criminal," Seólta mumbles. We ignore him. 

"Aigith, guess who's here?" I pause for dramatic effect. "Rlang."

Her mouth gaped open. "Rlang the legendary space pirate? That's so cool, but I thought..."

"Yeah, she's going to absolutely demolate me if she finds out I'm here. But I low key don't care because she's so cool, you know."

"I think I see the Arxnidl on my navigation. There's another ship too, Aethre. I hope they make it through ok. Rlang's going to be annoyed that you left without her."

"It's ok, she'll catch up soon enough."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry for the messy post!

<3 Fidelity 

I'm continually surprised by Rlang's seemingly boundless reputation. XD

Rlang--

The tip of Rlang's tail smacked the floor rather louder than it had to. She clenched her teeth so tight she thought they would fall out as the others argued over the com link. Why did she have to deal with idiot nobodies from Nephaya Minor and incompetent blowhards from who-knew-where in the galaxy?

Not to mention Light Faay?

She'd subtly enabled Arxnidl's photo-recognition software, and the ship had calmly informed her that Kairo "Light" Faay was the pilot on the other end of the radio, and that he was considered armed and a threat to the public.

The news had made her want to start shooting, allies or no, at the criminal who'd stolen that cargo from Arrik Zastron, the wealthiest person in this quarter of Krein. And she'd been the one to give him the tipoff! He'd taken it from under her nose, the dirty thief, and she was prepared to engage him the moment they landed on Philia and her echolocation could be used again.

She would savor every moment.

Now Rlang was silently laughing, which must have looked strange to the others on the com link. She quickly pulled herself together and began to listen, Arxnidl giving periodic updates as they flew.

Apparently, the sibling pair from Nephaya had made it through safely, and the head ships -- Daybreak, Aethre, and Aquila V -- had nearly landed. From the frantic shouts, it seemed they were about to crash-land.

Serves them right, muttered a voice in her head. That bounty was yours! He robbed it! Yet she smiled. She could play the dashing know-it-all mentor a little longer, until they landed.

Picking up the little microphone and fitting it to her head, Rlang linked to the com. "Arxnidl to everyone," she began. "Give me your coordinates and I'll tell you how to get down to the surface safely, for just one favor."

"A... favor?" Light asked suspiciously. Yes, she was sure it was him, beyond any doubt.

"Yes. Tell me why you're here. Why did you answer the Philian's call?" 

Aigith~

My com crackles to life as I'm turning off the ship's guns, and I hear a familiar voice.

"Hey fellow heading-to-Philia ship. Why the heck were you trying to collide with us! I request to see your captain." Deciding to comply (or risk being shot at again), I open up a holoscreen. On the other end, I see an assortment of people. There's an Okrenti, a T'a-Katir, and several humans, one of whom I recognize. "Oh my STARS! Is that Aigith Rim?"

"Light?" I exclaim, recognizing the dark-haired pilot. "What are you doing here?"

"Going to Philia, obviously. You too, I'm guessing."

"How do you two know each other?" asks the T'a-Katir. She looks confused.

"We worked a job together a few months ago," I explain. "I needed an extra pilot, and Light's one of the best." By the smug look he gives the others, I'd guess they didn't believe most of his claims. I hadn't either, not until I saw him fly. But no use saying anything to even further inflate his ego.

The Okrenti mutters something I don't hear, and I turn my attention back to Light. "Aigith, guess who's here?" He pauses. "Rlang."

I can't help it- my jaw drops. "Rlang the legendary space pirate? That's so cool, but I thought..." I trail off, thinking about Light's history with Rlang. I don't know all the details, only that he took a bounty from right under her nose and that she's not happy about it.

"Yeah, she's going to absolutely demolate me if she finds out I'm here." At this I roll my eyes- of course she'll find out he's here, we're all headed to the same planet. "But I lowkey don't care because she's so cool, you know."

A beep comes from my radar, and I turn away from the holoscreen to look. There are two dots headed our way, separate from the Vojnovy barrier. I squint to see the names. "I think I see the Arxnidl on my navigation. There's another ship too, Aethre. I hope they make it through okay. Rlang is going to be annoyed that you left without her."

"It's okay, she'll catch up soon," he responds.

I shake my head at his nonchalance. "Whatever, Light. See you down there." I turn off the holoscreen and prepare to head down towards Philia P37. There's another beep from my radar, but I ignore it, thinking it's warning me once again about the Aethre or Arxnidl. I realize my mistake, however, when I hear the sound of weapons firing. My head snaps up.

A Vojnovy ship is fast approaching Aquila V, and firing on them. I see their left wing is hit, and debris flies everywhere. A piece of the wing knocks loose one of my engines, and the enemy ship begins firing on Daybreak. With an engine down, I can't maneuver fast enough, and my ship is hit.

Both ships spiral down, heading toward an inevitable crash landing on the cold surface of the planet. I pull back on the throttle with all my might, trying to even out. It works a little, and my descent slows. I see the Aquila doing the same. My com comes on again, and a voice speaks.

"This is the Ilargia, can either of your hear me? I'm located on Philia's surface. I repeat, this is the Ilargia, can anyone hear me?"

Light answers for the Aquila, then I speak. "This is Aigith Rim of the Daybreak. I'm the only one on board."

A different voice speaks over the com. "Okay, do you see a lake anywhere?"

I search the planet's surface, which is growing nearer by the second. "Yeah, there's a lake. Want me to land in it?"

"No. The water's far too cold, you'd die of hypothermia before we got there." I grimace at the cheery prospect. "Try to land on the snow, it's softest and safest. We can see you, we'll be there soon."

"Will do. Thanks." I turn off the com and focus on the controls, and the ground before me. I'm heading directly for the aforementioned lake, so I take a breath and switch on the engines. The one with debris does nothing, but the other sputters to life. The ship shoots forward and left, the curve due to having only one engine. I brace myself against the control panel. It's going to be close.

The Daybreak just barely skims the surface of the lake, then lands with a muffled thud in a snowbank. Despite being thrown around a little on the landing, I breathe a sigh of relief.

I switch my com back on and establish a connection. "This is Aigith Rim to the Ilgaria, I'm safely on the ground on the other side of the lake."

The voice comes on again. "That's good to hear. We'll be there in a few minutes."

Kettu~~

The 'Aquila' had vanished behind a snow-covered mountaintop, and Kettu and the hybrid had lost communication with her. He tried not to worry about for the moment, though. Right now, they knew exactly where the 'Daybreak' had landed, and they were going to solve what problems they could.

"It looks like Aigith landed on the right side of Valceni lake. I can fly us there," The hybrid said.

"Alright," Kettu said. "Let's hurry."

---

The Ilagia landed near the wreckage of the 'Daybreak'. It didn't look as bad as Kettu thought it would, but it still wasn't a pretty sight. There was a large trail in the snow from where the ship had slid, and still-flaming debris dotted the ground behind it. The ship itself could hardly be called a ship--there was a massive, gaping hole where one of the engines should have been, and one of the wings was badly damaged.

There was a figure standing beside it, looking at the wreck. Kettu opened the doors of the 'Ilagia' and sprinted across the snow towards them, a bag in hand. As he got closer, it became more apparent the figure was a female, green-skinned Selieth. 

"Oh, thank the stars you're here!" She said, turning to face Kettu. "I lost sight of the 'Aquila V'. I've got no idea where they are, and my ship's nearly useless."

"Are you hurt?" Kettu asked. "And I'm assuming you're Aigith?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm Aigith. I'm mostly fine, save for a few scratches and bruises. Nothing too serious, though."

"Good, good," Kettu said, somehow remaining calm. "I need you to tell me everything you know about the crew of the 'Aquila', and if there's any other ships up there."

As soon as he finished saying this, the ground rumbled and shook. Aigith and Kettu turned to see that a third ship had crashed.

"Well, that would be the 'Aethre', which is from...Nephaya Minor, I think. There's another one still up in the air, called the Arxnidl. It's piloted by Rlang Ketnn--a fairly famous space pi--"

"Yes, I know who she is," Kettu said. "And I don't care, either. Right now I need to know about the 'Aquila V's crew."

"Oh. Right," Aigith said. "It's piloted by Light Faay. I worked a job with him not long ago--his flight skills are impressive, to say the least. There was also a T'a-Katir girl who looked like a medic, an Okrenti, and three human kids."

Kettu masked his excitement at possibly meeting a fellow Okrenti. "Alright. Aigith, you and I will search for the Aquila. I'll send some others from the base to get to the 'Aethre'." He turned to the pilot of the 'Ilagia'. "I need you to tell Fila and Yang to go to the 'Aethre'. They seem capable enough."

~~ 

Kairo ~

"Do you see a lake anywhere, Head of Navigation?" I ask. Aya rolls her eyes. 

"I think that's it. Try to land in the snowbank to the side. Aquila would sink if we tried to land on that ice," she answers. 

"You got it." Jaihra starts flicking tiny switches left and right. "I'm dropping our landing gear!"

I set my eyes on a nice patch of snow and pull back on the thrusters. As we near the ground, the snow melts away from the heat of the engine and clears a space for us to land. Jaihra finishes off the landing, doing some techy stuff that I didn't even realise Aquila could do. Not quite sure what she's doing but Aquila is running smoother than ever. 

"Did you see that landing? That was flawless." I look back. Seriously, I keep looking back and expecting some praise, but these guys are like rocks. Seó's eyes are locked in a permanent eye roll and Danica is just staring out the window. 

"Let's try and locate the others!" Jaihra suggests. "There's some cold weather clothes in the back I think..."

"Nobody touch those jackets, those are itudr hide coats that I'm smuggling to a crime lord in Har'Katik," I warn them. Itudr's are a very endagered species native to Jesdar, and they're irresitable to any temperature. 

"ITUDR! That's awesome! Can I wear one?" Everyone rushes to the smuggling hold. 

"Hey! Those jackets are 200,000 credits each!" It was no use, Jaihra already had one pulled on. She pressed the release button and the ramp dropped down. 

A blast of freezing cold air filled the room. I can't deal with the cold. "Someone toss me one of those jackets right now!" Hopefull the Katikian crime lord won't miss a couple jackets. 

We filed out, and I activated Aquila's cloaking device. 

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Danica asked, staring at the white landscape surrounding us. 

"I'm not sure," I reply. "Head of Navigation?"  

"Let's just walk towards the lake and see if any other ships landed," Aya replies. 

After a few minutes, we saw two small figures in the distance. Jaihra took out her holoscope and held it up to her eyes. 

"I think it's Aigith! There's an Okrenti too, I think. He kind of looks like Seólta." 

"Let me see!" I grab the holoscope out of her hands. "Oh yeah, he's like Seó but more handsome and better dressed."

"Give that to me!" Seó looked through the holoscope and frowns. "Hardly! You must be blind." 

"Light!" Aigith waves at me, and I run towards her. She tackles me with a hug. "I can't believe you're here!"

"I know! We haven't seen each other in ages!" 

"You must be Light Faay. You're Aquila's pilot, yes?" The Okrenti extends his hand told me. It's time to turn on the charm.

"That's me. It's a pleasure to meet you..."

"Kettu." 

"That's right. I look forward to being with you." Jaihra pokes me. "Jaihra, stop poking me."

"Stop flirting with everybody, let's get going!" She links arms with Aya and continues towards the lake. Kettu goes to talk with Seó about, I don't know, Okrenti stuff. 

Once we get to the edge of the lake, we scan the edge for other people. I see some other ships parked along the edge. But not...

"It's the Arxnidl!" Aigith points up to a ship that's quickly descending on the surface. I feel my pulse quickening, and not in a good way. Doom is descending, armageddon is arriving. 

"Seólta, if I die, take my body as your host," I say. I'm such a martyr, I know.

"Ew why would I want your body? That would be such a downgrade." 

I gasp. "How could you Seó!" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Kairo-Rlang showdown is going to be incredible. I have this image of Rlang the legendary bipedal tortoise just running after Kairo in the snow with two lasers or something. XD

<3 Fidelity