Unconquered Pt. 07

"I know I can," Chirp squeaked back. "I just...I don't...want too."

Ember nodded. "Okay..." He smiled, then placed Chirp on his head. "There. I declare you to be my new Chief Hat Officer."

June scowled at him -- but Ember lifted his hand, wagging his finger at her. June put her hands over her face, dragged her hand down -- tugging her cheek out so that her eyes hung open, showing the red seams beneath. She groaned. "Fine. Fine! We'll hug and kiss the first Behemoth we run into and everyone will live happily ever after in a fucking house by the beach and, oh, you can never have to kill anyone ever."

"That sounds pretty good to me," Ember said.

"Agreed!" Xora said and Chirp squeaked their approval.

"I was being-" June started.

"Helm officer!" Ember sprang to his feet, standing on the armrest of his throne. "Full speed below! To the Sunder, my hearties! Yo ho!"

June sat down in her chair, grumbled, then punched a few keys. The Starshrike tilted forward, then shot forward. Its nose struck the glimmering silver and they exploded from the belly of the world -- swimming straight into the Sunder. Ember gaped as the view beyond transformed, in a swirl of light, from the deep familiar blues of water and the schools of fish into a raw, infinite beauty. The Sunder roiled. It seethed. It crackled. Clouds of boiling red chaos swirled around the nose of the ship, brushing against the silvery sides, while iceberg like crystal chunks tumbled through space in their own stately parabolic arcs. However, in the scant few seconds it took for a crystal to drift by, it had already changed its shape a dozen times, folding and unfolding into new fractal patterns, growing and then shattering like a snowflake caught in the hands of a demented demonic masses. Lightning sparked and rumbled, but rather than forking out to a ground, it instead followed its own corkscrewing patterns through clouds -- illuminating banks in sequence, so that the light seemed to receded away from their view.

The sound was just as eerie and unnatural. Whispering, rasping sounds scraped along the hull, as if they were constantly flying through a spree of brush and branches and bramble, and occasional, a ghostly shriek came out of the constant chorus, like a wind whipping itself through a narrow canyon. It sounded terribly like the screams of the damned.

"A-Are you sure this is safe?" Ember asked, slowly sitting back down in his throne.

"Only if you're inside the ship," June said. "If you take a step outside, you'll need to concentrate on maintaining your own shinima. If you have to, I suggest focusing on an integrity protecting prana."

"What's that?" Ember asked.

"Mostly, just...think of what makes you you. So, you know, being a lazy horny teenager," June said.

Ember smiled. "Easy as pies."

"But you're not going outside," Xora said, hurriedly. "Right?"

"Not unless I have too!" Ember said -- then grunted as sudden acceleration pushed him back. June had set the Shrike to flying at top speed. And when the Shrike wanted to, it could fly. The vast, dark mass of the Land above them -- the only sign of anything solid and unchanging in the wild chaos -- whipped by faster than ever before. Ember grinned, slowly. "We can go top speed in the Sunder, huh?" he asked, his attention drawn to the wake that the Starshrike left behind -- the concussive shockwave of their passage turning the chaos into random bits of matter: Bits of fish, floating crates, splashes of water, an errant tree. The matter dissolved back into the Sunder as they left it behind.

"Yup," June said. "We should reach Iremire in about five hours."

"Nice," Ember said, smiling cheerfully. "So long as nothing interrupts us, we got this in the bag." He nodded, then brushed his hands together. "Easy flight ahead. Not a cloud in the sky."

June spun around in her chair. "Are you trying to get us attacked?" She snapped.

"Come on, June, it's-" Ember started.

The Sunderstuff ahead of them suddenly parted -- parted before the bow wave of another ship. But this one was ten times the size -- and heading straight for them.

***

"Pull up!" Ember shouted.

June had already begun to act -- her hands dragged backwards on the controls and the Starshrike let out a screaming howl as her mana-engines burned and her entire hull strained against the sudden pressure. They angled upwards and the tip of their ship narrowly avoided the prow of the other ship. Their belly flashed past a broad expanse of brass and wood, and then they were darting between two sails made of glowing crystal, which expanded like butterfly wings in an X pattern around the hull of the ship. Then they were behind the ship -- which came to a narrow point, with two turrets mounted on the back. Both turrets began to fire -- filling the air with hissing chunks of metal. The chunks -- each one was almost like an arrow, but shorter and squatter and with a less pronounced set of fletching -- scythed past the belly of the Shrike as they skidded through the Sunder, creating a concussive wave of expanding earth out of the chaos.

"What the fuck is that?!" Ember asked.

"Locusts!" June said.

The Locust ship had also stopped and began to bank around, bringing its broadside of short barreled mana cannons to bear. But rather than firing, a glowing bead of silver light shot from the deck of the ship -- which Ember saw was covered with people, standing out in the Sunder, as if they didn't have anything to worry about. As the bead of light left the Sunder around the Locust ship, it struck a field that had been nearly invisible before impact: A glowing, crackling golden field, made obvious by the objects passage through it. Then the object landed on the deck of the Shrike.

It was a woman. She was silver skinned, with long blue 'hair' - hair that was instead long strands of crystal, beaded into one another like dreadlocks. Her arms and her wrists had thick seams, as if she was a doll made of many parts connected together, rather than a person of flesh and blood. She wore a costume that was nearly as sheer and revealing as one of the outfits that Ember had seen in the Casino in Nex-Ho: A pair of black straps that barely covered her nipples, looped over her shoulders, and plunged back down to meet between her legs in a pair of Vs, 'covering' her rump and her front.

She spread her arms and grinned wickedly.

"What a lovely ship you have, sharders!" she said. "I believe I shall take it...for the glorious Nation of Lycan!"

And with that, the small cylinder that she gripped in her right had hissed and a shimmering blade that seemed to be carved of pure midnight roared to through the air. She began to twirl it, and as she twirled it, the blade shifted in color -- going from purple to blue to green to yellow to orange to brilliant red, before she stopped the twil and it went back to black. He stood up, adjusted his shift, then said: "Okay, I'll handle this."

"Ember!" Chirp squeaked.

"Don't worry!" he said, smiling. "I'll be diplomatic."

"Locusts aren't diplomatic!" Chirp squeaked, and June opened her mouth to add something, as did Xora, but by that moment, Ember had reached the side airlock in the bridge, swung it open, and leaped down onto the deck. The whirling bite of the Sunder caused his skin to begin to flicker with golden light -- tiny curls of flames as he protected himself instinctively from the mutagenic touch of the raw chaos. It was a little bit like standing in the middle of a brisk wind. But rather than a chill, it brought with it the odd urge to become mold slime.

"Hello!" Ember called over the faint howl of the Sunder. "I'm Ember! This is my ship."

"Greetings!" the silver woman said, bowing to him. "Is that your full name?"

"...I mean, technically, my...my full name is Sleepy Ember, but, uh, most people just call me Ember!" Ember said, nodding to her. "What's yours?"

The woman chuckled -- her fingers going to her chest as she puffed it up. Her breasts were somewhat modest, but she made the best of them, arching her spine and throwing back her shoulders. "Who am I?" She asked, her forehead glowing. Ember could see she had a soulgem -- though it was partially concealed behind a gear shaped cap of silver metal, emblazoned with a symbol of a hammer and a torch. The girl's teeth flashed, then she thrust her finger at him, her sword held dramatically above her head as she dropped into a combat stance.

"It is I! The Champion of the Nation of Lycan: ELEGANT NOVA OF PROGRESSION!"

As she spoke, lightning crackled and glowing Regency script appeared in the air before her, spelling out her name in a tiered series of glyph, all in brilliant bold and red colors. Then a silver starburst went off behind her, shimmering as it formed the symbol on her forehead, but larger and looming above her -- faint impressions of men and women in gas masks, with crossbows in their arms, standing in rank and file behind her, as if to give the idea of a vast army standing behind her.

Ember blinked a few times. "So...are you a...Locust Person?"

Nova's eyebrow twitched. "What did you call me?"

"Well, that's what June said you guys were. Like, you show up and steal stuff and-" Ember said, before he realized that it might have been somewhat impolite to call someone a 'Locust Person.' he was just realizing that when Nova snarled, quietly, to herself.

"I hate that name," she said.

"W-Well, I mean, it's okay!" Ember stammered. But before he could stop himself, he said: "But you did just say you were going to take my ship. Like. While I was still on it. That's a pretty Locust-ey thing to do, right?"

Nova screamed in rage. Her back unfurled, her shoulder blades swinging up above her, and a set of four nozzles popped out -- large and black -- and from each nozzle burst a brilliant, actinic white light. The deck behind her became flash-frozen in a wave of shocking cold and she shot forward, her ankles dragging sparkling lines as her blade flashed from black, through the spectrum, all the way to an invisible hue that hurt Ember's eyes. He yelped and clapped his hands instinctively -- catching the sword between his palms.

Golden light exploded along his body. Flames roiled out in every direction and his whole form became like a bonfire. The flames that rocketed out of the air behind him almost matched Nova's brilliant mana-thrusters, even as his arms trembled and his muscles strained against her titanic strength. He could feel her putting every bit of her body into the swing, and he felt his own feet giving inch by inch by inch before her. Her eyes widened as she gritted her teeth -- steam exploding from around the seams of her arms.

"How...are...you...doing that?!" She hissed past her teeth.

Speaking was an effort. Ember had to use every bit of his strength to not only hold the blade, but to not let the searing heat of it burn and blister his palms. Even with every mote he could channel roiling in the air between his palms, he could feel his skin beginning to ache and crack. His fingers tightened a bit more as he choked out the words. "I..." He shifted his grip -- holding the blade with one hand. "Am..." He lifted his right hand up, clenching it into a fist. "The..."

He brought his fist swinging down.

"Unconquered!"

His fist snapped open at the last second and the flat of his palm smashed into the invisible blade. And for a moment, will ran up against incredible maigtechnology -- and magitechnology blinked. Nova's energy sword shattered with a sound like an entire lake of ice exploding in one cataclysmic moment and her arm, now freed from the pressure keeping it in place, completed the swing. She stumbled off balance as smoke and steam streamed past Ember's fingers and his anima grew even brighter.

Nova gaped at him. She looked down at the hilt of her sword, then tapped a button on it a few times. Each time, it made a quiet sputtering noise.

"Wow," she said, slowly.

Ember, who was panting heavily, said: "So. Do you want to try diplomacy now?"

Nova blinked a few more times. Up close, he could see that her eyes were faceted gemstones -- and they whirred and clicked as they focused up on her own weapon. She looked up at him.

"Dude," she whispered. "Can you do that again on camera? That was fucking rad."

***

June, Goat, Xora, Jerin and Chirp all glared, icily, at Elegant Nova of Progression as she looked around the interior of the Starshrike's medical bay. Ember smiled as he gestured to her with his free hand. "This is Elegant Nova of Progression everyone," he said. "She's not going to steal the ship."

"Oh, wonderful. I'm so reassured," Goat muttered.

Xora, meanwhile, was beginning to stride forward to Nova, so she could begin looming over her. The only problem was, thanks to Ember's makeover, Xora and Nova were now the exact same height. Xora still made a game try of it. "Tell me," she growled, showing her incredibly sharp teeth. "Why we shouldn't turn you into scrap, clockwork girl."

"Wow," Ember said, slowly. He wanted to tug away from the automatic doctor that the Shrike had come with -- but that doctor was currently applying medical salve to his hand. Both of his palms were fairly badly burned, and the doctor had already patched up the right. But he still wanted to go over and give Xora a great big hug. Instead, he caught her eye and gave her a big thumbs up. "Great job, Xora! Super menacing!"

Xora gave him a tiny smile, then coughed and went back to glaring at Nova.

"So?" She asked.

"Hey, listen, Champions fight all the time," Nova said. "I fight Korvosans. Korvosans fight us. Suryans fight us. We fight Suryans-"

"Wait, there are more than one kind of Locust Person?" June asked.

Nova's eyebrow twitched. "We have names, you know."

"Oh, right, true, of course," June said, her voice growing deeply sarcastic. "I guess we shardies wouldn't know anything about that."

Ember, who had been about to ask what a camera was, clamped his mouth shut. Instead of asking that, he stammered. "Okay, wait, listen!" he said, quickly. "L...uh, you...Sunder people have been coming to the Land and stealing our stuff for centuries."

"You aren't using most of it..." Nova muttered. "It's not stealing if no one owns it."

"That Land was granted to us by the Sun and the Moons, they built it!" Xora said.

Nova rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Right. Sure, Shardie."

Xora growled and Nova looked even more insolent.

"Oi!" Ember snapped. "Guys. Chill. Cool. Calm. Listen. I'm the Unconquered," he said, nodding. "And this is one of those problems that I was chosen to fix. Cast down the thrones of the wicked and free the enslaved and all that." He sighed, softly. "Some day, soon, I will be running the entire Lands. Assuming, of course, the Regent doesn't kill my butt. Right?"

Nova watched curiously as June gave a grudging nod. The automatic doctor chose that moment to finish lathering the salve on his hand -- allowing Ember to stand up. He clapped his hands together, bit back a high pitched scream as he exploded half a dozen burn-blisters, and then hid his hands behind his back to try and hide the slowly dripping blood that was beginning to slide along his fingers. His voice sounded shockingly calm as he forced the words out: "How about this. Lycan can trade for resources instead of just taking them. I'm sure everyone will be glad to sell, in exchange for...your help."

"My help?" Nova asked.

"Y-Your ship has a bunch of mana cannons. And those...metal shooters."

"Automatic crossbows," Nova said, smugly. "And this is an old ship." She shot a smug glance at June -- who she had picked as the most prickly. Xora growled slightly, while June affected cool disdain. "Our newer ships are much better."

"Right!" Ember nodded as more blood dripped onto the floor behind him. "So. You help us out when I need you. Bring as many ships and as many men as you can." He grinned. "If I'm ever fighting a whole army, having a bunch of L...Lycans on my side ought to help. And you can cram all of that into a camera. Though, it'll need to be...a pretty...big camera." He nodded and winked at Nova. "To...fit all the stuff."

"You have no idea what a camera is, do you?" Nova asked, her voice smug.

"Is it, like, a backpack?" Ember asked.

June shook her head at him.

Ember bulled ahead: "Do we have a deal, Nova? Will you back me when I call?"

Nova bit her lower lip. She looked around the ship slowly, then back to Ember. Her eyes whirred and clicked. Then she lifted up her sword, looking down at it with a curious little smirk. She tossed it to Ember -- and Ember caught it and tried to not hiss in pain. She grinned at him.

"I can track that," she said. "When you need me...scream my name into it."

Ember nodded to her. And, thankfully, she didn't ask for a handshake.

The whole crew watched as the Lycan ship began to sail away from them. June frowned. "Do you think we can trust them?" she muttered.

"Hey," Ember said, shrugging one shoulder. "Even if they don't follow through, at least we're not getting shot at right now. That gets them off our back. And we can punch them later if we have too." He grinned, then held up the hilt that they had been given. He twiddled it. "Plus, we have some of their magitech. That means we know way more about the Locust People than we used too, right?"

June shook her head slowly. "Ember, you're beginning to scare me."

"T...Thanks?" he asked.

But June was already walking away.

Xora and Chirp pressed against his shoulders and nuzzled him. Ember relaxed against them, sighing -- and then muttered. "Well. I hope Iremire is that easy..." he whispered.

Xora and Chirp exchanged glances with one another.

"Yeah," Ember said. "I know it won't be."

A beat passed.

"Wait, how the fuck did Jerin Kah get out of the fucking brig!?" He yelped -- and Xora and Chirp both gaped at one another. They ran, as a group, down the corridor and came to a door that was open, leading to one of the rooms. Laying on his belly on the bed in that room was Jerin Kah, his legs and his arms tied together behind him. Standing above him was Ceaith, the Lapis Lunar. Her cat ears were perked up and her cat tail was twitching happily behind her, while she was brushing her hands together ominously.

"Now," she said. "The word of the day is...pegging."

"Please help," Jerin Kah whimpered, looking up at Ember.

TO BE CONTINUED