Broken Boundaries Ch. 09 - Epilogue

'Well said!' said Asitha and gave Alain a quick and firm kiss before returning to her seat while holding tight onto it through the shaking.

'I could go out happily with a statement like that!' said Tiness and kissed him as well before returning to her own seat.

Alain strapped himself in. 'Remind me to come up with more statements if that gets me more kisses from you two!' he said and checked the console. 'Walkurea hull at two-thousand-and-thirty degrees!'

'Amaroth at two-thousand, hundred-and-ten!' said Tiness over the constant roar sounding through the structure.

'Angle two degrees over calculation but within tolerance!' said Asitha.

A sharp crack rang through the pod. 'The angle between the ships decreased by half a degree!' said Asitha. 'The impact zone is under heavy stress!'

'It should be strong enough to keep the ships together during this turn!' said Alain.

Another shock hit them, followed by a crack and more tearing of metal and a flash of shadow in the brighter light outside. 'Tiness switched quickly through the few camera feeds that were available. 'The Amaroth lost a section of its side!'

'Angle of the ships is reducing!' said Asitha. 'The drag from that breach must be compensating the increase from before!'

Tiness switched views again and gasped at the long trail of fire surrounding them. 'Temperature at two-thousand, five-hundred-and-seventy! Three-hundred above specs!'

'It should hold!' said Asitha. 'Specs are set to long term stress!'

A series of violent shocks rattled them and shadows rushed past them through the bright light of the fire. 'Hull plate loss on the Walkurea!' said Alain.

'Ship's angle to the planet is increasing again!' said Asitha. 'The angle between Amaroth and Walkurea has decreased by two degrees!'

'I see structure at the wreckage moving!' said Tiness. 'Part of it has come loose!'

'Angle six degrees above calculation!' said Asitha. 'If it gets to nine we might tumble off course!'

'We're almost through the turn!' said Alain and gripped the arms of his chair.

The shaking decreased but another crack and screech of metal sounded.

'Angle at seven degrees!' said Asitha.

'Temperature steady at tow-thousand, seven-hundred-and twenty!' said Tiness, counting on that as a good sign.'

'Walkurea at two-thousand, six-hundred-and fifty!' said Alain while a constant rumble accompanied another series of shocks.

'Angle at eight degrees!' said Asitha. 'It's close!'

Another sharp shock hit them but the shaking decreased slowly. 'Hull temperature decreased by thirty degrees!' said Tiness.

'We're exiting the atmosphere!' said Alain.

'Angle at nine degrees!' said Asitha and gripped her harness. 'Hull angle decreased by another degree!'

"You're going to make it!" thought Alain. "You're supposed to be a pair of damned tough warships!"

The roar died down and the light outside dimmed while the shaking lessened more, and a few counts later the three breathed in relief at the sudden silence. 'Angle kept at nine degrees.' said Asitha.

'We can correct that.' said Tiness and slumped in her chair. 'So glad that's over.'

Alain unstrapped himself and went over to Asitha. 'How are you doing?'

She smiled gently at him. 'Shaken but all right. I don't sense any discomfort.'

He laid his hand gently on her belly and Tiness joined them, putting her hand on Asitha as well. 'You should check to be sure as soon as you can.'

Asitha gave her a smile and laid her hands on both of theirs. 'I will.'

Alain looked at the spider drones at the back of the pod. 'You guys all right?'

All three waved their forelegs to say they were fine. Even Ochio, who lay on his back.

Tiness looked at the mess in the living a minute later. 'At least it's not worse than that first time.'

Asitha chuckled. 'Maybe we should leave it like this. It'll happen anyway when we land on our new home planet.'

'That reminds me, how will we name the planet?' said Alain. 'The administrative designation doesn't sound very inviting.'

Tiness groaned. 'Naming a planet is even worse than naming a person.' she said and looked at Ochio. 'Or even a pet in one form or another.'

'We'll need some time to think it over.' said Asitha.

'If we can't come up with something, I nominate Bob.' said Alain.

Asitha raised an eyebrow. 'If we call it Bob I'm revoking your right to name the kids.'

Alain sniggered. 'I'm going to check the Walkurea with Spidley.' he said and went to get his suit.

Tiness sighed. 'I'll go check the Amaroth with Ochio. We have plenty of time to prevent Bob from happening.'

***

'Good, just a little more.' said Alain while the spiders guided the emergency pod carefully with their wires towards the other three to complete another four pod structure. It touched the hatch adapter and Alain locked it quickly from the inside and gave a thumbs up through a port window to Tau-Tau. He opened the pod hatch to have a look inside the bare interior. 'Last one done.' he said to himself.

Tiness secured the pod's struts to the hull. 'It's secure.' she said as she gave the okay sign to Alain.

Alain gestured it was time for their break and Tiness gave a thumbs up.

They headed home with Tau-Tau as escort while Spidley and Ochio returned to the Walkurea and Amaroth to retrieve various containers and crates with supplies to be taken down to the planet. Tiness sniffed the scents of the hot meal Asitha had made inside the living. 'I'm really hungry.' she said.

Asitha chuckled and Alain kissed her and stroked her back.'Last pod is connected to the others, I'll test it after our break.'

'Our spider team did well on retrieving the pods and pulling them along with their wires.' Tiness said and pat Tau-Tau's head.

'I'm just glad there were enough pods left to build three more units.' said Alain. 'We're sure to have redundant resources if they all land safely.'

'I'll show you the data that I gathered on the planet and the estimated landing zone while we eat.' said Asitha and gave Tiness and Alain a pat on their behinds. 'Go grab your plates.'

Asitha arranged tablets on the table with images and data. 'This is what I collected from the information banks on the Amaroth and the Walkurea and both the active and now passive scans. Because of the conflict neither side could conduct more than a brief survey, thus there's only little we're sure of. The planet is mostly land unlike our home planets and is littered with lakes and rivers.' She gestured at a slide show on one tablet with images captured by survey satellites from Earth and the Silth,

'You can literally walk from any point on the planet to another.' said Alain.

'That would take a lot more time than if we could on ours.' said Asitha. 'This planet is roughly one-and-a-half times the size of ours.'

'Gravity?' asked Tiness.

Asitha gestured at a summary on another tablet. 'Surprisingly not much more at an estimated one point one G.'

'Then the planet is less dense.' said Alain.

Asitha nodded. 'Yes. Thanks to that we won't have to deal with the extra heavy burden of much higher gravity.' She gestured at more images. 'The planet is rich in plant life, even at the snow covered poles from what I could see from the few images of those regions.'

'How could that be?' asked Tiness.

'No idea.' said Asitha. 'There's not enough data on a lot of things since the satellites were withdrawn soon after the conflict for this solar system began. We have no idea about what sort of flora and fauna exists and so far there was no sign of any civilisation.'

'That might be an advantage because we wouldn't have to deal with most likely hostile natives.' said Alain.

'They might be nice though.' said Tiness.

'With primitive beings the reaction would likely be fear and we'd be seen as hostile.' said Alain. 'Only when they have a certain amount of intelligence so we can communicate, then the risk would be less. But that would mean there had to be at least some indication of tribes.'

'We should be ready for worst case if we'd encounter any sort of tribe.' said Asitha. 'Observe first, make careful contact if deemed safe enough.' She looked at the surface images. 'That encounter seems remote though. As for the atmosphere, pretty similar to ours with a difference like between our planet and Earth, apart from the somewhat higher oxygen content. We should be able to breath freely.'

'All right, so if we find safe sources of nutrition and water we should have no trouble living there in theory.' Alain said.

Asitha nodded. 'As for the landing zone, since there's not much variation on the surface, aiming for the equator is best and gives us the longest braking distance.'

Alain nodded. 'We'll try that on the last fuel for the main engines and as late as possible to minimise detection.' He leaned back in the couch. 'Presuming we touch down in one piece with all our supplies, we might live out our lives peacefully there.'

'What if they want to colonise the planet?' asked Tiness.

'From what I've read, it would take a very long time before either of our sides can claim ownership.' said Alain. 'And since this planet is at the edge of the border between our territories there's not much haste in actually colonising it. Ownership is enough while the current colonies are still small and spread thin and need a lot of resources to grow.' He chuckled. 'Let them quarrel. By the time they might have settled the case, we've colonised the planet and took ownership.'

Tiness giggled. 'King Alain rules with his two queens.'

He held up his hands. 'No way, it'll be queens Asitha and Tiness and the house-husband Alain. I'll leave the ruling to you.'

Asitha walked two fingers up his chest and smiled deviously. 'Since you're the only one left at the moment, that would mean the both of us rule over you.'

He chuckled. 'You already sort of do. You girls are my number one priority.'

Asitha caressed his cheek. 'Well, good queens should make sure their subjects are happy, of course. Don't we, Tiness?'

Tiness took his hand in hers and blushed. 'I'd rather be ruled.' she said softly.

Asitha stroked Alain's chest. 'We'll have you keep ruling us in bed then.' she whispered in his neck.

Alain chuckled but blushed. 'That, I don't mind. I'll be the only human man with two Silth lovers in the universe.'

***

'This is it.' said Alain after a final check of the three pod combinations with supplies intended for the planet. He put his tablet down on the table and sat back in the couch. 'All the pods should be loaded with the necessary supplies to survive on the planet. I suggest we leave it until sixteen hours before hitting the atmosphere to do a final check.'

Asitha looked over the task list on her tablet and put it down. 'I can't think of anything else to add to our deployment.' she said and snuggled back against Alain.

Tiness nodded and leaned back against Alain. 'Same here.'

'I'm glad we reached our goal with enough time to spare.' said Alain and embraced the girls. 'This will probably be the biggest moment of our lives.'

Tiness put her hand on his chest. 'I'm afraid.' she said softly.

He kissed her forehead. 'You're not alone.'

She looked up at him. 'Take me, darling. I just want to feel you all around me until we take the plunge.'

Alain looked at Asitha, who nodded and kissed his neck. 'We'll forget about everything but our desires until it's time.' he said and kissed Tiness.

***

Alain woke up embraced by his two Silth lovers and kissed their foreheads, then slipped out of their embrace with great care and went into the living. The spider drones were sitting silently in the corner that became their resting place. 'Hey, guys.' he said. 'Ready for the big drop?'

They gestured affirmative with their forelegs.

He gave them a quick smile. 'Whatever happens, I want you guys to know that we're really glad to have you with us, and appreciate all the work you've done. We hope you'll stand by us and our children in the years to come.'

Spidley moved forward and put one foreleg on his thigh.

Alain put his hand on it. 'Thank you.' he said, then took a deep breath. 'The decisive moment is coming. Our entire future depends on how we get through the next hours.'

'We'll make it.' said Asitha and embraced him from behind.

He stroked her hip. 'We have to. I can't image a future without you girls by my side.'

***

'Angle is good.' said Asitha. 'We'll hit the atmosphere as calculated.'

'Control of all pods is good.' said Tiness. 'The team has full control of the three pods.'

Alain looked at the status display of the Walkurea. The two warships would serve as a shield to the pods while they dove into the atmosphere, until they cut loose and descended towards the planet. 'Walkurea status normal.'

'Amaroth status normal.' said Tiness and clawed her arm rests.

They kept silent until the first tremors ran through the pod. 'Entering atmosphere.' Asitha said although it was obvious to everyone.

'Hull temperature Walkurea rising.' Alain said.

'Amaroth rising as well.' said Tiness.

'Angle still as calculated.' said Asitha.

Alain glanced at the spider drones behind them in their secured position. 'Spidley, Tau-Tau, Ochio, I want you to know I'm glad to count you as members of our family. Asitha, Tiness, I've never been more lucky than to have met you in my life.'

'I think I speak for both of us when I say you're the highlight of our life.' said Asitha.

'You made our lives worthwhile.' said Tiness.

Alain smiled. 'Let's grab our new existence with all our might.' he said while the shaking around them increased and flickers of fire lit the edges of the warships.

'Descent on target!' said Asitha through the shaking.

'Hull temperate seventeen-hundred-forty!' said Tiness.

'Walkurea at seventeen-hundred-ten!' said Alain.

Metal groaned beneath them. 'Hull angle nine-and-a-half degrees!' said Asitha. 'It might not hold all the way!'

'Doesn't matter as long as it's long enough to let us land safely!' said Alain. 'Pod controls ready!?'

The console showed positive confirmation from the spider drones who'd steer one extra pod combination each.

'Speed eleven-thousand kilometres an hour and dropping!' said Tiness.

'Angle of attack forty-five degrees!' said Asitha.

'Firing engines!' said Alain and hit enter on the command sent to the Walkurea and Amaroth's engineering systems.

Everything rattled when the engines of the warships ignited and directed their thrust forward to slow down the speed of re-entry. 'Speed ten-thousand-and-two-hundred!' said Tiness.

Metal screeched and a flash sparked through the fire surrounding the hulls of the warships. 'Losing hull on the Walkurea!' said Alain.

'Angle still good!' said Asitha!

'Speed nine-hundred-and-sixty and dropping! said Tiness.

'Angle of attack forty-two degrees!'said Asitha while the shaking intensified.

Alain looked at the estimated curve of speed and distance on his console. 'Still good!'

'Speed nine-hundred!' said Tiness while fire flickered bright through the portholes.

'Angle forty degrees!' said Alain.

Several sharp shocks ran through the structure. 'Hull angle at eleven degrees! said Asitha. 'Imminent break!'

'Get ready to detach at maximum speed!' said Alain.

'Speed eight-hundred-eighty!' said Tiness.

'Ready pilot chutes!' said Alain and put his hand over the deployment switch...

'Speed eight-hundred-ten!' said Tiness.

A dark flash through the fire around them followed another screech of metal while everything rattled around them.

'Speed seven-hundred-eighty!'

'Angle thirty-eight!' said Tiness.

'Deploy chutes!' said Alain and hit the button underneath his hand.

Tiness did the same and the spider drones followed for each of the pods under their control.

'Speed seven-hundred-thirty!' said Tiness.

'Detaching pod!' said Alain and released the locks on their pod's struts.

The pod detachment punched them in their gut but it followed straight behind the Walkurea and Amaroth.

'Detach pod one!' said Alain.

Spidley released the lock on the pod under his control and it shot away from the Amaroth's hull.

Alain followed the separation of the pods on his console. 'Second pod, detach!'

Ochio released his pod with a shock from the Walkurea's hull.

The pods distanced themselves from the warships in a stable trajectory. 'Pod three, detach!' said Alain.

At the same moment Tau-Tau let the pod loose from the Amaroth a loud metallic groan rang and a part of the Amaroth's hull tore off. 'Watch out!' said Alain.

The section hit Tau-Tau's pod and careened into the middle of the others. 'Hold on!' shouted Alain.

The hull section hit Ochio's pod on the side, then grazed the main pod with a metal screech and tumbled away.

Loud and wailing metallic groans sounded through the pod from outside. 'The ships are tearing apart!' shouted Asitha.

'Deploy landing chutes!' shouted Alain and hit the release switch on his console.

The instant force hit them hard from underneath but the girls and Alain held tight onto their chairs and had braced themselves. Through the shaking Alain saw the other pods had deployed their parachutes and they distanced themselves from the warships while they tore apart and pieces of their exposed structure came undone and flew away. 'Fire thrusters!' Alain said and the spiders ignited the thrusters of the pods at the same time Alain hit the console switch.

The pod rotated and Alain hit the thruster controls until the defective thruster fired and stabilised the pod's direction. Burning debris from the warships flew around them while they watched the two separated warships tumble and fall further away from them in a fiery mass on their screens. The third pod swayed on his screen and Alain hoped it would survive the hit it had taken.

'Speed four-hundred!' said Tiness. 'Three-hundred-eighty, three-hundred-fifty, three-hundred-ten!'

Alain switched to a view of the terrain ahead and adjusted the thrusters to steady the descent. 'Try to keep straight ahead!' he said and the spider drones tried to steer their pods with the thrusters. The view of the surface became clearer and hills loomed up into the distance in the direction the pods were flying. 'Try to hold this altitude!' The drones followed Alain's attempt and fired the thrusters at maximum while they rushed towards the forest covered hills.

Asitha and Tiness braced themselves against their consoles as the pod hit the crowns of the trees. It crashed through them at the top of the hill but cleared the slope behind it, then slowed down enough for Alain to regain control, and he steered the pod towards a sparsely covered area. With sweat dripping down his brow he landed the pod with a thud on the soft ground. The spiders steered their pods as close to the main one and set them down as best they could. The one Tau-Tau commanded crashed hard onto the ground and one pod broke off from the cross section.

'Kill thrusters!' said Alain and released the breath he had held since skirting the hill. He slumped in his harness. 'You girls all right?'

Asitha unstrapped herself and leaned on his chair. 'We made it.' she said and kissed him.

Tiness staggered forward with shaking knees and knelt next to his chair. 'Don't ask me to do this again.' she said and Alain cupped her cheek. 'We should never have to fly again.' he said.

***

The three made a quick inspection of the pods after extinguishing a fire in the broken module and covered the hatch openings. 'They're secure for the time being.' said Alain and sat back on the couch.

Tiness slumped against him. 'I could sleep for days now.'

Asitha chuckled. 'That makes two of us.' she said and rubbed her thighs to lessen the last trembling of her legs.

Alain rubbed his face. 'How're the drones doing?'