The Starlight Lancer

Chapter Ninety-Four: No Rest for the Marked

"These heretic enclaves have become a major problem in the wake of the Empire's fall. They claim to want to live peaceful lives, but their kin all too happily burned the galaxy mere months ago. Better to treat their ills with fire, I say."

—General Tysus Dux of the Torigran Empire

It wasn't long before Zaina and Xyrthe reached the ship, a twenty-foot tall glistening metal ovalloid laid lengthwise; it had a mag-ring around it to secure the twin engines on either side, which had been elongated to strengthen their thrust. Xyrthe's ship was one of the few lancer ships with weapons—a multigun mounted above the cockpit. The ship, dubbed Duchess by Xyrthe, stood on three landing gears and was painted a muted pink.

Xyrthe pored over every crevice to ensure her baby had been well taken care of; the only thing Zaina's mentor cared for more was her glyph, Chimara.

"Wow," Xyrthe said. "Not a scratch."

"That's honestly surprising," Zaina replied. After the chilly reception outside Bash Kaver, she expected some sort of foul play. "Maybe they knew they didn't want to piss us off."

"Well, they fucking failed at that, huh? Come on, let's ditch these dickheads. Fuck those guys."

Zaina followed Xyrthe up the retractable ramp and into the ship's bowels. It was much more spacious than Gir's ship, which Zaina had lived on for a week or so—the inside was dimly lit. One side of the cabin was lined with comfortable couches, and the other held storage and supplies. Not that comfortable seating set Zaina's mind at ease—she was always keenly aware that they were in a metal box hurdling through space. Even minor problems could be catastrophic; she didn't know how her mentor slept so soundly.

Xyrthe immediately stalked toward the cockpit to get the ship going; Zaina followed. Since her mentor wasn't keen on showing her how to fly her baby, Zaina had taken to carefully watching whenever Xyrthe flew the ship.

This time Xyrthe didn't bother with the controls herself; instead she brought Chimara online.

"Hello, Miss Xyrthe! How can I help you today?"

"Hello, Chimara. Would you terribly mind starting up the ship and getting us back to Kaado?"

"I can do that, Miss Xyrthe!"

"Thank you, Chimara. Now, I think I'm going to go take a nap. This mission was exhausting."

"Ah! Before you do that, Miss Xyrthe, there is a comms request from the Order. It appears High Scholar Geli Fawndar wishes to speak with you two."

Xyrthe groaned. "What do these assholes want now?"

Zaina shrugged.

"Fine," Xyrthe said, her voice brimming with exasperation. "What's the priority on it?"

"Urgent, Miss Xyrthe!"

"Thank you, Chimara." Xyrthe turned to Zaina. "This is your fault, you know."

"What? How the hell is any of this my fault?"

"They keep giving us missions because they know you'll keep accepting them. And I keep getting dragged along."

Zaina scoffed. "You accept them too! You could veto any mission at any time. Aren't you supposed to be in charge?"

"Before you showed up they wouldn't even approach me with something like this whole Bash Kaver fiasco—the past few months have felt like Bash Kaver after Bash Kaver."

"Don't tell me you're homesick."

"Yeah, I am," Xyrthe replied. "I miss my bed. I miss my boyfriend. I miss my—"