“Neither of us got the chance to when we first came here, so…” Hope said somewhat bashfully, before she faced the goddess again. “We want to go sightseeing around the city.”
Lumi pushed back a stray bit of hair behind her ear, her tone softer than it was when she’d met with Astrid for the first time. “We were hoping you could give us some…recommendations. Quiet spots, if possible.”
Hope giggled at Lumi’s words, squeezing their linked hands. “I just knew you’d ask that, sis. You always did prefer the more isolated places.”
“Hmmm…well, there are a few quiet spots in the Temple,” Astrid mentioned. “Places for meditation, mostly. You might also want to check out the local shrine to Agape. Might be something good for you two there.”
“Agape…” Hope let the name roll around her mind for a moment before realization hit her.
“You mean to say…there’s other deities besides you now?”
Lumi’s eyes also widened. This was new information to her as well. Meeting one deity had already been quite the experience, but another…
“This Agape you’re talking about, Astrid…what are they the deity of?” Lumi inquired.
Yeah…Aegis filled us in on that.” Hope remarked, recalling how different Larstern had looked while they were approaching to land earlier.
Still, odd continuity error aside, it was good to be here again. And speaking of coming back…
“Hey, sis…why don’t you tell Astrid about how you’ve felt since you two last saw each other?” the white-haired sister asked her companion with a small tug on the arm and a tender smile.
Lumi gave a contemplative, then ultimately grateful look at Astrid. “…better.”
“Well, that’s a relief!” Astrid replied with a grin. “Well, glad to see that you’re doing alright now, Lumi. Now then, what exactly do you guys feel like doing while you’re here in Larstern?”
“Neither of us got the chance to when we first came here, so…” Hope said somewhat bashfully, before she faced the goddess again. “We want to go sightseeing around the city.”
Lumi pushed back a stray bit of hair behind her ear, her tone softer than it was when she’d met with Astrid for the first time. “We were hoping you could give us some…recommendations. Quiet spots, if possible.”
Hope giggled at Lumi’s words, squeezing their linked hands. “I just knew you’d ask that, sis. You always did prefer the more isolated places.”
Hope beamed and waved. “Lumi and I thought of going somewhere together. And we decided; why not somewhere we both went to?”
Lumi nodded, blushing as Hope squeezed her hand again. “We both met you and we liked this place…so it seemed good to visit again.”
It was clear to anyone watching that Lumi enjoyed her sister’s affectionate actions, even if she tried to hide it.
“Well, glad to have ya back here,” Astrid mentioned. “Haven’t seen you two since the continuity reboot, so you’ll find things are fairly different from last time.”
Yeah…Aegis filled us in on that.” Hope remarked, recalling how different Larstern had looked while they were approaching to land earlier.
Still, odd continuity error aside, it was good to be here again. And speaking of coming back…
“Hey, sis…why don’t you tell Astrid about how you’ve felt since you two last saw each other?” the white-haired sister asked her companion with a small tug on the arm and a tender smile.
Lumi gave a contemplative, then ultimately grateful look at Astrid. “…better.”
With that, the corvette decloaked and headed for the nearest landing pad. The two cruiser sisters disembarked from the craft shortly thereafter.
Quite an eye-catching sight the two of them together must have been. Though the two of them shared similarly curvy figures and the same icy-blue eye color, Hope’s white hair contrasted well with Lumi’s black locks.
Unlike the times they’d both been here before, the two were now in casual wear, their shipgirl outfits not manifested until either of them felt it necessary.
Hope could sense Lumi’s slight change in mood, knowing what her sister had gone through when first arriving here. She wound her arm together with Lumi’s, the motion helping her sister relax.
“She’s…going to pop up in front of us, isn’t she?” Lumi predicted.
“Aren’t you a clever one?” Astrid teased before conjuring up a pair of Warp Doors and approaching the two of them. The Praetorian Guard wasn’t with Astrid this time, but then again, it’s not like she was at risk from anything.
“Yo!” Astrid declared with a grin on her face. “Welcome back you two! So, what brings ya all the way out here for a vacation?”
Hope beamed and waved. “Lumi and I thought of going somewhere together. And we decided; why not somewhere we both went to?”
Lumi nodded, blushing as Hope squeezed her hand again. “We both met you and we liked this place…so it seemed good to visit again.”
It was clear to anyone watching that Lumi enjoyed her sister’s affectionate actions, even if she tried to hide it.
A single Initiative corvette, cloaked, streaked towards the world of Terra Ancora at transwarp velocities.
Within, two young women sat side to side in a double seater chair. Both knew their destination well, having gone there once each. The shipgirls Hope Eternal and Luminous Horizon, returned Advent-class cruisers,watched the view of transwarp travel rush by, holding each other close.
No one sat at the pilot’s chair, the corvette’s AI quietly managing the duty of flying the ship with ease.
“Hope Astrid won’t mind if we’re dropping in.” Lumi remarked with a bit of worry in her tone. She hadn’t exactly informed the goddess of their travel plan beforehand, what with everything that had happened in the past few months.
Hope smiled, squeezing her older sister’s hand reassuringly. “She’s a goddess, sis. I’m sure she knows we’re coming already.”
As the corvette dropped from transwarp and fell back to sublight, Terra Ancora emerged into view. A few drones, no bigger than baseballs, launched from the vessel to assume observation positions in orbit.
Within minutes, the corvette had slipped through the atmosphere heading directly for Larstern. The craft held position high above the Temple, remaining cloaked, where Hope had decided to try and call Astrid with her thoughts before attempting a landing.
“Miss Astrid, can you hear this? Do you remember us? It’s me, Hope! I brought Lumi, we’re here on vacation.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve last seen ya here,” Astrid mentioned, her voice easily reaching the two shipgirls. “Great to see you two again. Welcome back! You say you’re here on vacation then? Well, I’ll be sure to give you two a great time here. Please, do feel free to land.”
“Alright! See you there!”
With that, the corvette decloaked and headed for the nearest landing pad. The two cruiser sisters disembarked from the craft shortly thereafter.
Quite an eye-catching sight the two of them together must have been. Though the two of them shared similarly curvy figures and the same icy-blue eye color, Hope’s white hair contrasted well with Lumi’s black locks.
Unlike the times they’d both been here before, the two were now in casual wear, their shipgirl outfits not manifested until either of them felt it necessary.
Hope could sense Lumi’s slight change in mood, knowing what her sister had gone through when first arriving here. She wound her arm together with Lumi’s, the motion helping her sister relax.
“She’s…going to pop up in front of us, isn’t she?” Lumi predicted.
A single Initiative corvette, cloaked, streaked towards the world of Terra Ancora at transwarp velocities.
Within, two young women sat side to side in a double seater chair. Both knew their destination well, having gone there once each. The shipgirls Hope Eternal and Luminous Horizon, returned Advent-class cruisers,watched the view of transwarp travel rush by, holding each other close.
No one sat at the pilot’s chair, the corvette’s AI quietly managing the duty of flying the ship with ease.
“Hope Astrid won’t mind if we’re dropping in.” Lumi remarked with a bit of worry in her tone. She hadn’t exactly informed the goddess of their travel plan beforehand, what with everything that had happened in the past few months.
Hope smiled, squeezing her older sister’s hand reassuringly. “She’s a goddess, sis. I’m sure she knows we’re coming already.”
As the corvette dropped from transwarp and fell back to sublight, Terra Ancora emerged into view. A few drones, no bigger than baseballs, launched from the vessel to assume observation positions in orbit.
Within minutes, the corvette had slipped through the atmosphere heading directly for Larstern. The craft held position high above the Temple, remaining cloaked, where Hope had decided to try and call Astrid with her thoughts before attempting a landing.
“Miss Astrid, can you hear this? Do you remember us? It’s me, Hope! I brought Lumi, we’re here on vacation.”
The healer nodded quietly. If they wanted to follow her, no point in dissuading them. Might as well let them see her proof of being from off-world anyway.
The walk to the forest’s edge where the stealth shuttle was hidden went uneventfully, to her relief.
As Yellow approached with the rest of her party behind her, the sleek shuttle decloaked with a mental command from her, its hull appearing to physically ripple as its optical phased array surface reverted to inactivity.
In comparison to any Ancoran aerial vehicle the party probably knew, the stealth shuttle looked to be centuries beyond that. Which it technically was.
“Well, that’s impressive,” Thrud mentioned as the party quickly made sure that there wasn’t anything hostile nearby. “What exactly are you hoping to get with that thing?”
“The replicator module…” Yellow replied off-handedly as the rear door of the shuttle opened. “I can modify it to become a vehicle bay, but this’ll need…some of the shuttle’s parts.”
Finding the replicator, Yellow accessed its haptic controls and put in a few specific commands. Many parts of the stealth shuttle’s hull and interior then glowed as they disintegrated into light, converted into the components she needed.
A few minutes later, Yellow emerged from the heavily cannibalized shuttle, pulling along a large crate atop a similarly large hover cart. The shuttle’s sublight engines and miniature drive core had also been part of this fancy dismantling, now reduced to significant components alongside the replicator itself within the crate.
“That’s everything I needed. We can head back to the city now.”
“Fifteen years of that, huh?” Tempest murmured. “I get the feeling that might get old. Although it might be nice to have someone looking out for you like that…”
The elder gave her two sisters another light, affectionate squeeze.
“That’s enough for now, Akemi.” She decided.
Adana was practically vibrating with excitement. It was pretty obvious she was squealing internally at the chance to have her own pet tribble. “Yes! Yes please, sis!”
Dawn grinned and gave a thumbs-up to Tempest. “I’ll go anywhere if it’s with you two. Besides, first time going planetside like this, I wanna feel it myself. Can’t say no to seeing tribbles.”
Hope giggled watching the three carrier sisters, affectionately holding Lumi close as the tribble on her lap purred. “Ah…this is wonderful.”
Initiative Archival Network 