The Last Frontier

But the stars that marked our starting fall away. We must go deeper into greater pain, for it is not permitted that we stay.

-Dante Alighieri, The Inferno

As blackness and nothing gave way to feeling, Vinyl soon found herself wishing it hadn't. Her everything was sore, specifically her side and head. She let out a soft groan and tested her limbs, arms and fingers responsive as well as legs and toes. So far, so good, now just to open her eyes.

The sight above her was not an unfamiliar one, but not a welcome one either. Above her as she lay on her back was the autosurgeon, in it's standby position, and undoubtably sterilized from her blood and who-knows-what else. Whatever was fixed aside, it was time to test if she was good to go or if she still needed a bit. A nice start would be proping herself on her elbows, as she slowly did. Aside from a dull throb in her side and slight head rush from sitting up, she was fine. Alright... slow and steady, Vinyl thought, easing her way to a full sitting position and swinging her legs slowly over the side of the table, resting steadily with either hand on the table. Okay... I haven't passed out yet, so I guess I'm good to go, Vinyl thought to herself as she slowly tested her newly-healed body's limits. I wish the damn thing didn't rip your clothes off before every operation, but whatever.

"Vinyl? Are you- okay! Sorry!" Octavia said quickly, covering her eyes and starting to back out of the room.

"Come on, Tavi, it's nothing you haven't seen before," Vinyl called out to Octavia who seemed to go over the idea in her head for a few moments before slowly re-entering the room, looking anywhere but Vinyl.

Octavia shuffled awkwardly, her pale face tinted red from embarrassment. Vinyl just rolled her eyes, "Tavi, my eyes aren't on the floor," Octavia's gaze shifted, "Or the walls," Octavia diverted her eyes again, "Or the ceiling," Octavia closed her eyes before she sighed and finally opened her eyes, her gaze meeting Vinyl's. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Vinyl asked, maybe a bit more smug than she should have.

"Are you feeling okay?" Octavia asked, not bothering to give Vinyl the satisfaction of answering her.

Vinyl stretched her arms above her head, just a bit longer than really needed, while she answered, "Well, everything is sore and I'm sure I've got some more scars to add to my collection, but other than that, I'm fine," Vinyl's stomach rumbled loudly after she said that, "And maybe a little hungry," Sh added casually.

"So I heard," Octavia giggled, despite her embarrassment. "We still have a little food left in the mess hall. Try not to eat too much."

"I'll make no promises," Vinyl said as she hopped off the table and started walking the direction of the mess hall. After the door slid up, Vinyl was relieved that the lights had come back on, meaning that Lyra had gotten one of the generators to work. While she was walking down the short hall, she saw Lyra come out of the small crew quarters, her eyes widening at the sight of the nude captain. "Sup, Lyra?" Vinyl asked casually, strolling by without missing a beat.

Lyra, deciding that the cat was as out of the bag as it was going to get, gave a near slack-jawed stare after Vinyl walked by. Hey, when you had an ass like a Vinyl's, it was only normal for people to stare. It was also normal that people may become offended by said staring. "What do you think you're doing?!" An angry-sounding Octavia demanded, making Lyra jump from the sudden voice.

"Oh, hey Octavia. How ya doin'?" Lyra asked casually, even if she was smirking a bit.

"What. Were. You. Doing?" Octavia asked again, stressing every word with a poke at the taller woman's chest, the effect lost due to how much shorter Octavia was than Lyra.

"Staring at the capt'n's fantastic ass," Lyra said while (quite literally) holding Octavia at arm's length as she gave fruitless attempts to hit the pilot.

"Knock it off you sick... perverted... horny... Lesbian?" Octavia had quite a fair amount of steam until the realization of what Lyra was doing fully impacted her. Octavia was, at times, what some would call 'dense.'

"Yup! I'm gayer than Elton John skipping down the streets of San Prancisco while waving a rainbow flag," Lyra explained, taking pride in her newly out-of-the-closet sexuality.

"... Who?"

Lyra simply sighed before shaking her head, "Forget it."

Now that Vinyl had gotten clothed and some food in her system- as close as dehydrated meals could get to food -she was feeling a lot better. However, aside from vengeance for her ship, she still had the problem of being, for the foreseeable future, stuck on a planet that apparently wasn't listed as exsisting. However, Vinyl knew more than she was letting on about this rock.

Making sure the door to her quarters was closed, Vinyl approached the ornate wooden desk sitting neatly in the corner of the room. Perhaps Vinyl had a romantic view of pirates from before the age of space exploration, but she felt no self-respecting pirate captain was complete without a desk for them to spend their time planning their next move. Either way, she walked around before setteling into her equally ornate wooden chair and simply enjoying the feeling of being in her own ship, current state aside. But feeling good isn't what she was in her for. She was in here for the cube.

Open the bottom right drawer, she pulled out a small cube, measurments four inches by four inches by four inches exactly. Normally, that wouldn't be even remotely important, but what was held in the sixteen cubic inches of the cube was. The cube was crystal clear showing what looked like a small cloud within it, the cloud revealing the edges of the cube. It seemed to drift slowly, endlessly, with no discernable source, beginning, or end. On occasion, Vinyl could swear she saw symbols flash momentairly in the dark cloud, but could never be sure. Also unproven, she thought that the cloud seemed to move just a little faster while she held it.

Vinyl had stumbled upon this on the last raid on an E.N.F. outpost, with the goal of resupplying. Of course, there were far easier ways to go about resupplying, but a raid was more fun, and saved a lot more money. While searching for a supply room, Vinyl discovered what looked like a labratory. Thinking that whatever was in said labratory was very important to the E.N.F., Vinyl did what any good criminal would do, and stole the object and all the data the reaserchers had gathered on it, leaving nothing behind for them to salvage.

After the raid, Vinyl decided to read up on what she had just stolen.

To put it simply, Vinyl was gobsmacked.

The cube she had stolen had a far greater purpose than Vinyl originally thought. When she saw it, she assumed it was some kind of energy source or weapon that the E.N.F. was developing. As she read the files she had stolen, she found herself constantly re-reading the files, not believing what her eyes were seeing. This cube was proof that intelligent life had, at some point, existed.

After the E.N.F. had discovered odd readings on a planet that was under consideration for colonization, they sent a reasearch team to investigate. The team found the cube in some ruins that were just below the planet's surface. With the upmost secrecy, they transported it to a remote outpost where the E.N.F. thought no one would ever stumble upon. From there, they spent nearly every moment studying the alien device, learning as much as they could about it.

Progress was slow, but being made nonetheless. After months of tinkering with the cube, the reaserchers had discovered that it was a data storage unit, well beyond human capabilities. While none of the team had a confirmed number, they estimated that the cube, which they had named The Library, contained dozens of tarabytes worth of information, possibly hundreds. Carbon dating revealed that the Library was not only comprised of organic material, but was also tens of millions of years old, predating the formation of Equis itself, and possibly documenting the creation of the universe.

However, that was all but theory. Unfortunately for the research team, they had no way of accessing the vast ammounts of data stored within the Library. Whatever had built it was decades ahead human technology, despite its ancient origens. And with that, the documents ended. The personal notes of some of the reaserchers supposed that there might be some way to access the information on the Library's home planet, but none of them knew for sure how to proceed from that point.

Once Vinyl had finished reading all the files she stole, she read them again. And again. And again. Each time revealed the same thing, and suddenly, Vinyl was in possetion of an object of extreme importance...

... And value.

Vinyl's initial plan was to find a buyer. The Library itself would be near-priceless simply because it was physical evidence that alien life had existed, despite whatever it may contain. Vinyl was well aware of a few collecters that were interested in buying goods that were less-than-honestly obtained, and also knew that they would all want an alien artifact to call their own. She was just going to give it to whoever gave her the amount with the most zeros in it, when she thought of a much better plan.

The E.N.F. had, undoubtably, learned of the Library's theft shortly afterword. The Library was surely of unfathomable importance to not only the E.N.F., but to humanity as a whole. Combine those two facts, and you had someone who wanted the Library back rather sorely. The same person whom would be able to say that money was no object. Vinyl almost drooled at simply picturing the amount of zeros the E.N.F.'s price would contain. Then she realized that the E.N.F. would be far less concerned with paying for the Library's safe return when they could simply kill her and take it back, so that plan was quickly discarded. That is, until she thought of an ace in the hole that the E.N.F. would choose payment over force.

If Vinyl could get to the Library's home planet, unlock the secrets it held, she could save the E.N.F. decades worth of study. But more importantly, if she could have a sure-fire way of destroying the Library and all the information gathered about it should she wish to, she could send the E.N.F. directly to jail without passing Go, nor collecting two-hundred dollars. And with that kind of leverage, the E.N.F. would be far more inclined to ensure the safe return of the Library rather than risk its destruction.

And thus, Vinyl found herself in her current predicament.

So they were shot down. So they were stranded. So they were hunted by the very people who would being making them all rich beyond their wildest dreams in the near future. Every plan had its bumps and rough patches, and this one was no different. All things considered, this wasn't even the worst spot Vinyl had found herself in. Granted, it was up there, but not the worst.

They were on the planet. They had the coordnates of the find site. The plan was still on.

Placing the Library back in its drawer, Vinyl had just closed it when her door hissed open and Octavia stepped in. "Hey, Tavi. Sup?" Vinyl asked nonchalant, leaning back into her chair.

Octavia sat down in a chair just in front of the massive desk before adressing Vinyl with a somewhat worried tone. "Vinyl, what's the plan here? We're stranded without the means to repair our ship, and I doubt the E.N.F. are going to let sleeping dogs lie," Octavia had suddenly become interested in the floor before her voice picked back up in a whisper, "Are we going to die here?"

Vinyl could feel her heart break at the sight of her beloved 'little sister' being so hopeless. She stood up and motioned for Octavia to do the same. When she did, she enveloped the shorter woman in a tight embrace, one Octavia returned like a lost child finding thier mother again. "We are not going to die here. I promise," Octavia held onto Vinyl slightly tighter, "I found some files on the last raid. The E.N.F.'s been mining raw materials here, not too far from here. Odds are, we'll find what we need to fix the Dis, maybe even a ship to get off this rock. Soon as this storm breaks, we'll go there. Okay?" All throughout her explination, Vinyl kept her voice low and comferting, feeling Octavia nod her head into her shoulder.

Well, that's not the truth, but not really a lie, either, Vinyl thought to herself, unable to shake the feeling of guilt.

"God damnit, sonofa bitch!" Lyra swore, half under the main generator towards the aft of the ship.

"Are you okay?" Bon Bon asked with worry.

"Bloody, wanker, piece-of-shit wrench!" Lyra spat as the clanking of said wrench was heard towards the back of the small room from Lyra throwing it in anger.

"Are you okay?" Bon Bon asked again.

Lyra dragged herself out from under the generator, covered in stains of varing colors. "I'm fine. Fucking wrench slipped and I slammed my hand, s'all," Lyra said, sitting up and flexing her hand and wincing slightly as she made a fist.

"Here, let me see it," Bon Bon instructed, holding her own hand out.

Lyra looked at Bon Bon's outstreached hand and back at her own injured one before slowly offering it to her. Bon Bon gave her a soft smile before holding Lyra's hand closer to her face to examine it. "Be gentle, eh?" Lyra said quietly. "... Please?" She added hesitently.

Bon Bon gave her an amused smirk, "Why, Lyra, did you just use the word 'please'? I didn't know you even knew that word."

Had Bon Bon been looking at Lyra's face, she would have seen the blush that shone against the pale skin, "There's a lot ya don't know about me."

Bon Bon simply giggled, "I'm sure. Well, your hand's fine, just a little bruised. Not broken bones or strains."

Lyra, for one reason or another, had a sudden rush of confidence, and before she could think otherwise, her mouth formed the words, "Well, can ya kiss it better?" She immediately began kicking herself before Bon Bon caught her off-guard.

Bon Bon lifted Lyra's hand to her face and gave it a simple peck before smirking at the pilot. "All better, you big crybaby? Or does something else hurt?"

Lyra thought it over for a moment before pointing with her free hand at the other side of the hand Bon Bon still held and said, "Kinda hurts right here..."

Bon Bon simply smiled at her before kissing the spot Lyra pointed out to her in the same way she did the previous spot. "Anywhere else?"

Lyra could feel the blush on her cheeks, but didn't really care. "It hurts a little here, too..." She mumbled while pointing at her forehead.

Bon Bon, while still holding Lyra's hand, leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead, lingering for just a second longer than needed. When she pulled back, she was just inches from Lyra's face.

Her heart beating a million miles an hour, Lyra pointed a finger at her lips and all but whispered, "Here..."

Both girls leaned forward slowly, eyes indecisive between looking at one another's or closing. After what felt like an eternity, Lyra felt Bon Bon's breath tickle her lips, centimeters away from one another-

"Heartstrings!" Vinyl announced loudly as the door slid up.

Lyra jumped at the sudden appearance of her captain. "Jesus, shit!" Lyra exclaimed before her head connected with something hard and metalic with a loud *clang*, "Ah! Fuck!" She spat. "Why?!" She asked more to the universe than Vinyl as she held her actually-hurting forehead.

"Because your captain needs you!" Vinyl playfully said, her everpresent grin spreading ear to ear.

"Fuck you," Lyra groaned, eyes shut and hands to her forehead. Bon Bon was torn between being angry at Vinly for her uncanny timing and stiffeling her giggles at Lyra's expense.

"In all seriousness," Vinyl began, closing the short distance bewteen her and her crew, "How's the generator comin' along?" Vinyl asked, her voice losing its lighthearted tone.

After letting out a cross between an irritated and pained groan, Lyra responded, "Not good. I'm makin' progress, but without a few replacements, our dear genny has taken its last shit. I can keep her goin' for a little while, three, four days, tops. After that, I hope ya packed candles and don't mind cold dinners."

Vinyl let out a small 'hmm' as she began planning their next move. "Hope for the full four days?" Vinyl asked Lyra.

"Ray Finkle would make a field goal sooner," Lyra stated simply. "My forehead red?" She asked, letting Bon Bon inspect and simply nod.

"That bad, huh?" Vinyl asked, not expecting an answer. "Doesn't give us much time."

"What's the plan, anyway? We're rather fucked as it stands," Lyra said, looking to her captain for answers.

"There's a mining op, not too far from where we find ourselves currently. Once the rain clears, we'll make our way down there and politely ask if we can borrow some of their parts," Vinyl said, rising and making her way for the door.

"And by 'politely' you mean 'at gunpoint', right?" Bon Bon called after her.

As the door slid up, Vinyl turned and smiled at her, "You know me so well," And the door slid shut.

Lyra and Bon Bon sat in silence for a few moments before Lyra asked, "So! Wanna finsh what we started?" Lyra gave her best casual smile.

Bon Bon smiled coyly before standing up herself, "Maybe some other time. I've got some things of my own to attend to."

"Oh. Uh, y-yeah. I got loads left to do on this hunk of shit," Lyra slapped the side of the generator. "Later then, yeah?"

Bon Bon gave the same smile as the door closed. "Maybe."

Once the door clicked shut, Lyra sighed. "So close..."

Lyra sat in the silence for a moment.

"Fuck."