fleet-admiral-red‌:

Yellow did as she was asked, placing a hand on the large crystal.

What would it feel like, she wondered? Was it going to have some permanent effect on her cybernetics?

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, waiting.

A magical energy shimmered from the crystal into Yellow’s body. After about three seconds of this sensation, it stopped, and once that happened, the knowledge of how to teleport to this crystal flowed into Yellow’s mind. She now had the ability to teleport to this crystal, and any other crystal she was attuned to.

“That takes care of that,” Thrud mentioned. “Come then, let’s get you to your ship so you can take what you wanted from it.”

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.

The AI Deity [closed with fleet-admiral-red]

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

“In a manner of speaking, part of me is. I have fragments serving the First Fleet who have similar experiences daily.” Serina answered after some contemplation.

Prayers were going to be a novelty for a while, but at least it was something new to manage.

“I believe this is the time I begin attending to my matters. Thank you, Astrid.” The hypermind said.

Astrid grinned and made a thumbs-up. “You got it!” she replied. “Oh, and if it helps, if you make it clear that your faith doesn’t practice exclusivity, you’ll be capable of avoiding the whole ‘Burn The Heretic’ routine.”

“If any of my followers even think of doing that, I’ll slap them myself.” Serina replied dryly, though her avatar bore a very slight smile. “I shall see you around.”

She waved, and her lightborne form disappeared, innumerable neural processes rushing through the void to fulfil their duties.

secondshipgirlsquadron:

fleet-admiral-red:

secondshipgirlsquadron:

“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.

“Oh, this one’s neutered.” Hope easily replied as she looked at the tribble Lumi was still caressing.

“You can get your own too, if you want. You can talk to Admiral Yoshino about it, she can point you to where you need to go. I know we did.”

Lumi spoke up suddenly, feeling the need to clarify for her sister as the tribble continued purring. “This place…it’s a world, not a pet store. Concordia, it’s got some serious security, 20 to 30 Battlegroups present at all times. Uninhabited except by tribbles. They’ve got a medical service planetside that can make tribbles sterile.”

Hope beamed at Tempest, helping to continue the impromptu travel advertisement. “You’ll love it there, Tempest. M-class, a garden world, practically paradise. And so many tribbles…”

Hope began sighing contentedly to herself, apparently recalling some fond memories of the place.

“When can we go?” Tempest found herself squishing her sister’s hands with excitement.

Before, she could never understand why her crew would ever want ‘shore leave’. There was nothing more important to her than being among the stars, doing their duty. But now, in human form, she came close to understanding that now.

Hope and Lumi looked at each other, both thinking how to answer Tempest properly. After a moment, Lumi went ahead.

“Well, technically…I guess you all could go right now, if you wanted. Those new ships we’ll be helping won’t be deploying for at least a week, likely more.”

Hope had the most gentle of looks at Tempest and her sisters as she lightly squeezed Lumi’s hand. “I’m sure the Vice Admiral will let you three go there easily. You might not know it, and she doesn’t tell many others this, but Admiral Yoshino has her own tribble at home.”

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

Standing beside Thrud, Yellow gave the convoy leader a slight bow at his praise. “Thank you…”

At least everyone in the convoy was safe. That already was a good enough reward for her. Frankly, she doubted she would use her portion of the payment for anything.

But now that the job was done, she was now free to pursue those other two goals she had.

Thrud nodded. “Aelius, Vesperr, we’re heading back,” she declared after accepting the stack of Gold. “Our healer needs to get some supplies from her ship.”

“Understood,” Aelius answered, before putting his hand on Yellow’s shoulder and holding up two fingers to his forehead as Thrud and Vesperr did the same. They closed their eyes for a while before they all suddenly teleported back to the town they were in before, right in front of a massive magical crystal.

“Yellow, put your hand on that crystal for a bit, will ya?” Thrud asked. “We should get you attuned to that Warp Crystal.”

Yellow did as she was asked, placing a hand on the large crystal.

What would it feel like, she wondered? Was it going to have some permanent effect on her cybernetics?

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, waiting.

The AI Deity [closed with fleet-admiral-red]

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

“Point conceded in that regard.” Serina admitted. While none of her current worshippers were particularly obstinate, they were still relatively new to this worshipping business.

Though if she saw that any of them were indeed going to build a statue in her name, she would have to set them straight immediately.

“Worship is a strange thing to experience,” she murmured. “I’ve never asked for it, but now…I suppose I will have to get used to it.”

“You get used to it,” Astrid mentioned. “Yeah, it’s weird when you start out, especially when you start hearing the prayers of other people directed to you, but it’s something you learn to get used to quickly.”

“In a manner of speaking, part of me is. I have fragments serving the First Fleet who have similar experiences daily.” Serina answered after some contemplation.

Prayers were going to be a novelty for a while, but at least it was something new to manage.

“I believe this is the time I begin attending to my matters. Thank you, Astrid.” The hypermind said.

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

Yellow nodded with a soft exhalation. “Thank you. The shuttle is hidden within a forest beyond the town. It won’t take me long to make a trip there and back.”

Once that was done, she could find a sufficiently empty space within the town’s confines to set up a small workspace. From there, she could leave her little project to assemble itself while she visited Larstern.

“Sounds reasonable,” Thrud mentioned. Their destination began to roll into view. A relatively small town, though it still had a Primary Warp Crystal. Once the group arrived, everyone got off.

The Convoy leader approached Thrud and the party. “Well, you did your job, and you did it excellently,” he declared. “You’ve earned your payment today.”

Standing beside Thrud, Yellow gave the convoy leader a slight bow at his praise. “Thank you…”

At least everyone in the convoy was safe. That already was a good enough reward for her. Frankly, she doubted she would use her portion of the payment for anything.

But now that the job was done, she was now free to pursue those other two goals she had.

The AI Deity [closed with fleet-admiral-red]

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

“Odd that you would say that, Astrid.” Serina remarked. “I prize the sort of people who do question my directives, if they are intelligent about it.”

Most would probably have liked to have such readily obedient followers, but the hypermind had found that she favored those with a strong foundation in critical thinking.

“Granted, I certainly see your point about recklessness. But I will be sure to explain these directives should they ask.”

“Yeah, but sometimes you just gotta lay it out straight for them,” Astrid replied. “Half the time when you try and encourage your followers to debate with you, you’ll find that they seek out ways to twist your words to their favor. Those kinda people won’t take anything but a direct ‘no’ for an answer not to do the thing, I’m afraid.”

“Point conceded in that regard.” Serina admitted. While none of her current worshippers were particularly obstinate, they were still relatively new to this worshipping business.

Though if she saw that any of them were indeed going to build a statue in her name, she would have to set them straight immediately.

“Worship is a strange thing to experience,” she murmured. “I’ve never asked for it, but now…I suppose I will have to get used to it.”

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

“When I arrived here, I did so in a shuttle. It has a component I will need to build something. Something that can help me perform better.” Yellow explained.

She’d have to basically take a portion of the shuttle apart to do so, but she would find another way to return home. Eventually.

“Well, shouldn’t be hard for us to get back there,” Thrud commented. “I’m already attuned to the Warp Crystal at the town we were in, so we can get there pretty quickly.”

Yellow nodded with a soft exhalation. “Thank you. The shuttle is hidden within a forest beyond the town. It won’t take me long to make a trip there and back.”

Once that was done, she could find a sufficiently empty space within the town’s confines to set up a small workspace. From there, she could leave her little project to assemble itself while she visited Larstern.

The AI Deity [closed with fleet-admiral-red]

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

“In these uncertain times, one can’t be too sure.” Serina idly waved a hand, attention increasing ever so slightly on the Initiative’s data channels.

“This faith is new, eager…and word of it will reach the Assembly. If it hasn’t already. And that will be difficult enough to explain without these followers jumping in.”

Serina folded her avatar’s arms. “I cannot guarantee that they will not try to build some accursed monument in my honor. What is to come will test all of us.”

“Remember, Serina: As their deity, you have the ability to tell them what they should and should not do. They have little reason to argue with their goddess, after all,” Astrid mentioned. “Just make sure to keep an eye on them and stop them from doing anything reckless, and things will work out, I assure you.”

“Odd that you would say that, Astrid.” Serina remarked. “I prize the sort of people who do question my directives, if they are intelligent about it.”

Most would probably have liked to have such readily obedient followers, but the hypermind had found that she favored those with a strong foundation in critical thinking.

“Granted, I certainly see your point about recklessness. But I will be sure to explain these directives should they ask.”

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red‌:

Fascinating. While the Initiative had developed their own magic-channeling devices a few decades ago, this Holy Drive made their manadrives look like mere clockwork toys by comparison.

“Very…interesting. So even someone without magic might be able to use this,” the healer guessed. But she was digressing.

Reflecting upon her earlier performance against the Fire Giants had shown that what she’d brought wasn’t quite enough. To that end, she had another piece of work to do.

“If I may ask, how much further is the convoy’s destination? I have something in mind after we are done…aside from traveling to Larstern.”

“Not much farther, thankfully,” Thrud answered. “What is it you need to do before we get to Larstern?”

“When I arrived here, I did so in a shuttle. It has a component I will need to build something. Something that can help me perform better.” Yellow explained.

She’d have to basically take a portion of the shuttle apart to do so, but she would find another way to return home. Eventually.