Cosmonogic

Chp. 8: Dreamsight

The five commanders stood atop Astrocruiser, surveying the entirety of their crew. Rake leaned against Dawnblade, whose black marks had completely disappeared along with the marks on his skin. Moxin had his arms crossed beside Rake, while Nex stood on the other side of him. Sydni and Maddie each stood on opposite ends as well; neither of them paying much attention.

"Troops." Rake addressed his crew, using Astrocruiser's miraculously semi-functional speaker system to do so. They winced as the sound of static momentarily assaulted their ear drums. Each of them stood atop Spacedock X's main platform, something that encircled the largest portion of it.

"In just a few days Moxin, Nex, and I will be leaving for my home planet in order to take care of some important business. I apologize for being vague, it's just a bit personal." None of his troops could see his teal-lit eyes, something that was already raising brows among his commanders.

"We realize that this means the top three commanders in rank will be absent. Due to the nature of our mission, it is unfortunately necessary." Rake took an awkward moment to scratch at an itch he had on the back of his neck. "After much discussion, we have decided to leave Syfer in charge of the mechanic division and Jacob in charge of the crew as a whole." The crew burst out murmuring. Ignoring it, Rake continued, "Maddie and Sydni will remain solely as defense against any oncoming attacks. We have, after all, just secured our largest bounty yet!" The sudden burst of excitement caused the murmuring to come to an end, some even cheered. Still, conflicting opinions rose as tension built up.

Sydni scoffed at the crew's response, using her momentary displeasure to fuel her powers long enough to carry Syfer and Jacob up. She was having a difficult time getting upset in the right ways with how Rake had been acting recently.

The second that they hit the hull alongside their commanders they each made attempts to explain how royally unqualified the both of them were.

"Why do you feel that you are unqualified?" Nex questioned Jacob as they walked across the hull, the crew fading out of sight the further they walked along. Earlier, Moxin had revamped the oxygen barrier to expand it a bit further, encasing the now-docked Astrocruiser.

"The only people I have ever lead is our squad, and even that rarely ever happens." Jacob protested further. "That hardly makes me qualified to lead an entire army." He threw his arms in the general direction of Rake and his crew.

"You're not wrong, but the fact that you don't want to lead is why Rake chose you. Power-hungry people are the last people he would ever trust." Nex continued walking with Syfer to an entry-point on Astrocruiser where the both of them stopped. That's probably why I'm his second-in-command and not Moxin.

"The worst thing that you could do is try and regulate everyone. Stick with a hands-off policy and let things go. If absolutely necessary, you have those two to enforce your will." Nex tilted his head towards Maddie and Sydni, who were engaged in their own conversation a couple of paces behind the two of them.

While it didn't make him feel any better, it did help Jacob understand. "I wish I were a bit more power-hungry, then," he laughed, only half sarcastic.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Nex shrugged his shoulders a bit too harshly for it to be genuine.

Jacob's hand collided with his face. "Fine."

Syfer, on the other hand, had been a lot more convincing in talking himself out of the situation. Either that, or Moxin really didn't want to tag along with Rake on his latest venture; the latter was definitely more probable.

In reality, Moxin wasn't all that convinced with Rake's alleged "wild goose chase." The only reason he even agreed to tag along was because his brother asked him personally. Though, with how Rake had been acting recently the thought of going back to their desolate home planet didn't particularly appeal to him. Rake will be fine without me. Moxin reassured himself. I need to stop babying him.