Salvage a Better Life

The flotilla split up shortly after receiving a visual of the Waylan. The Akira and Tough Love raced ahead with a cloud of drones coasting behind them. With hyperspace being fairly calm between them and the Waylan, it would only be half a day before any fighting could begin.

Nestled deep within the heart of her ship, Flurry Heart was preparing herself for battle. Her place was not on the bridge, but a ten foot square spherical room that was so saturated with magic that it was on par with a ley line. Four other similar rooms ringed her own, yet only two would be crewed by their appointee mages, as the other two were too cyberized to participate. The replacements would be of poor training, but a manned gun was better than no gunner at all.

Activating the chamber, the dark blue sea of hyperspace appeared before her. She stood in place of her ship with the Akira off her port bow. Much like how the Akira enhanced Morales’ powers, the Tough Love did much the same for Flurry Heart. But it was not a true warship, lacking the arms and armor of a vessel its weight would demand. Only the shield ring gave it an edge.

So it was that when Cadence called her, Flurry Heart practically leapt onto the answer button. “Anything?”

The pink face of her mother looked as if she had only given herself an hour of sleep, but the weary half-smile was the best thing Flurry Heart had seen all day. “Ballistically, you’re out gunned. But so long as you keep those two aliens off screen, I might have an out for you.”

An alert distracted Flurry and she looked away from her mother. “I hope you’re right because it looks like we’ve been spotted. The Waylan are headed our way.”

Cadence’s hologram fizzled a bit before her exhausted visage was replaced by one with serene grace and regal bearing. “Then it is time for me to play my part. Get ready to start broadcasting this signal to those corporate bots.”

Flurry Heart saw the file Cadence gave her and quickly relayed it to comms. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Of course I do,” Cadence said with careful consideration. “I just hope the Akira’s records are accurate about our foe. You don’t mind me using your chamber here as a meeting place, do you?” She asked as if Flurry could actually say no. No matter how many centuries passed or how technically close they were in age, Cadence never had mercy on pulling the ‘mother’ card. “I will have to summon the holograms of the Akira’s bridge crew if this is going to work.”

Had it been something petty, Flurry would have rebelled on principle. Here though, she wasn’t too keen on staring down the barrels of three warships and a carrier. She had seen just how accurate and quick the Waylan heavy scout’s pd had been against the mines, and her drone carriers had been half-stocked with construction and mining drones, not just fighters. It still would have been enough against pirates. “Fine, fine. So how are we going to hail them?”

“Via the Akira of course. Even if the aliens shared the comm codes with us, we’re still using Cathrex protocols. We’re fighting our way uphill no matter what in this situation.”

Shivering a bit, Flurry Heart nodded. “Anything before we actually hail them?”

“Yes.” This time, Cadence grew uneasy giving this command. “I’m going to require Morales and Mote off the Akira’s bridge. I’d prefer putting them both in stasis, but I’ll leave that call up to you.”

“You think we need to go that far?”

“We don’t know how precise the Waylan sensors are. If they detect an awake cathrex, it could derail everything. If they are in stasis, we can claim they were like that when we found them.”

Taking a steadying breath, Flurry slowly nodded. “Agreed. I’ll see it done.”

“That’ll do. Let me know when you’ve arranged everything on your end. The sooner the better.”

Later, when the two forces were mere hours away from missile range, Flurry’s casting room had been prepared. The holograms of Wiggly and Live Wire stood beside a table while Flurry Heart and her mother took position in the center with the expected projection of the Waylan representative in front of the exit. Winter had opted out so she could be ready if things went hot.

Wiggly was in a sour mood about sending her alien friends into stasis, but when two queens gave an order, even a criminal kingpin would bow and scrap.

Yet when the young mare’s hologram manifested in the room, Cadence instantly took notice of the hat she was wearing. She cast a quick look at her daughter who grinned in a silent reply. “So an imperial engineer walks among us again.” Cadence approached the tense mare and stallion who bowed low. Cadence gestured for them to rise before speaking again. “My apologies for our first meeting with you in such dire circumstances, but fate rarely cares about our wishes.”

Unwilling to speak out about Morales, Wiggly dipped her head again out of respect. “We serve at your pleasure, High Queen.”

Well I’ve made a right good first impression haven't I? Cadence couldn’t see that hat without also seeing Twilight Sparkle, a closer sister she could ever ask for. Yet she was once again a stranger with a gulf of rank and time between them. It doesn’t matter if my call proves correct, feelings don’t care about facts. I’ll have to make it up to her somehow. “Right then. Let’s hope our guests are willing to speak. Captain Sprocket, hail them, and reroute any answer here.”

“Yes, your majesty.” Wiggly made a show of entering some commands. Wire focused on his console, and waited for a long moment before shaking his head.

“No response.”

Wiggly eyed her own readings. “The Waylan are advancing our way. They’re launching fighters.” She had expected at least a hundred, given the number and size of the ships, but the numbers kept growing, as did her fear. “One twenty, fourty, sixty, by the stars there’s over two hundred!”

Cadence held firm, even as the calculus of battle weighed against her. The carriers they had brought with them were not at full strength and could only match the Waylan’s strikecraft in numbers. I don’t like fighting somepony I have no tactical data on. “Open a channel. This isn’t a fight we should push for.” When Wire gave his acknowledgement, Cadence continued. “This is High Queen Mi Amora Cadenza of the United Pony Space Initiative. We demand parlay under article 45 of the Universal Rights Decree.”

“We’re getting a response!” Wire half-shouted out of suprise. “Rerouting.”

What appeared before them all was a floating cathrex face of six eyes, a snake-like jaw, and an expression of off-putting corporate politeness. “Combine vessel, your parlay request is accepted.” The face’s eyes independently looked over the gathered ponies. “You may request a death song before you are liquidated.”

Cadence stepped forward, her head high and voice forceful. “We are not cathrex, you threaten a neutral party.”

The intelligence behind the disturbing face seemed unmoved. “You are in possession of a Nakiha-pattern frigate, a known classification of Combine vessels. You are using Combine comms protocols. If you are not cathrex, you are allied to them. A legal target. Do you require a death song?”

There was no emotion to play off of, as Cadence feared. “We salvaged that ship, the crew aboard it were dead long before we claimed it. By right of salvage, all ties, both legal or otherwise, are nulled by that act.”

The intelligence paused, and gauged each pony in turn. It’s records spoke of a few xenotypes similar to the organics before it. Those same records mentioned they came from preexisting aliens. “Possible. If you are not cathrex, you must prove it.”

“How?” Cadence offered with what she hoped would be seen as equally polite.

“I require fifteen complete instances of strands from your species. Each one no more related to each other than eighth cousins. I also require your complete set of laws in respect to corporate entities.”

“That’s agreeable.” Cadence gestured to her daughter to comply. “I have read your old laws. I must invoke the Declaration of Appeasement. No biological agents will be made using these samples.“

“Noted. I will be sending retrieval drones to collect genetic samples. Do not resist its efforts.”

Cadence stiffened at the requirement. “We can send you the data you need from here.”

“Unacceptable. Even if the strands are genuine, they may not be your strands.”

“I have a question, Flurry Heart put out there before Cadence could say anything. “You’ve been in the star system directly below you, yes?” The Waylan turned its gaze to match Flurry’s, yet said nothing. “I bet you have, or at least part of your forces are down there right now, and you’re just a covering force.”

“Irrelevant. The civilization we found on the moon does not match your own.”

“The moon?” Wiggly blurted out before hastily covering her mouth, and glancing about. She expected silent reprimands from the queens, yet neither did more than look at her expectantly. When Flurry gestured for her to continue, Sprocket did not shakily. “That’s where the Rubies were.”

An idea flashed in Cadence’s mind and she spoke up before Wiggly could say anything compromising. “Ah, our protectorate.” That earned a stunned look from the siblings, yet a sly one from Flurry. “You see, we just fought a war with the Rubies, and annexed everything but their homeworld.”

The Waylan remained silent for a time as it sifted through its archives of the organics it sampled from the moon. The AI only found three samples, but it located instances of beings that matched the equine creatures standing before it instead of any terracorns. And more importantly, they lacked any sign of cathrex technology or genetic tampering.

Probability of organics lying… unable to determine. Insufficient data on emotional signals for truth or deceit. Technological signatures indicate recent acquisition of the ship. Probability of Nakiha being salvaged upgraded to acceptable tolerances. Even so, some due diligence was called for. “If you are familiar with the moon station, display phenotypes of the beings present.”

“Considering most of them are dead…” Wiggly managed to hide her vindictive smirk as she tapped away at her console. As soon as she had the species list, she forwarded it to the projectors. Everything from centuari to zebras appeared.

“It is as you say. Identity as non-cathrex confirmed. You are entitled to legal compensation for asset losses.” The Waylan adopted a much more pleasant demeanor, yet it was obvious to all that it was simply a façade.

Except for Cadence, everyone had a flash of greed take hold. For the loss of a moon and its people, lives none of them truly cared for, the possibilities were endless. And it was that greed that kept them from speaking up before Cadence. “We need you to leave, and never return.”

“What?!” Flurry hissed hotly.

The Waylan nodded, and spoke as emotionless as ever. “Consider it done. This verbal agreement is considered valid and binding. As required, I will give you a copy of all actions that could nullify this agreement. Do note that this representative does not represent all corporations you would know as ‘Waylan’, therefore this entity is not at fault for any of their incursions. Good day.”

The AI’s face vanished, and moments later, the fleet recalled its strikecraft, then turned to depart. Neither Flurry or Wiggly were in any mood to testify their luck and call the Waylan back, but it didn’t stop them from glowering at the elder alicorn.

“What in Tartarus was that?!” Flurry seethed. “We could have gotten a lot more than that!”

“We got exactly what we needed and no more.” Cadence stated with dire conviction. “The Initiative is still recovering from the war, we just learned of a new form of FTL, we have the mess of advanced gene tailoring to look forward to, a whole generation of terracorns to rear, the discovery that Equiss is not the sole source of intelligent life, and the potential trade agreement that could lead other Waylan factions to our door.”

Cadence studied their faces carefully. Live Wire was mollified instantly, while Wiggly took a few seconds. Flurry Heart hid it, but Cadence could tell she wasn’t too happy. “That is too many shocks all at once. We need time to process all this before it turns into a cascade of problems that get out of control, and I’ll be damned before I jeopardize us by having any further dealings with the Waylan.”

“If that is your will as Grand Ambassador, then it will be done,” Flurry Heart stated with professional stoicism.

“It is.” Cadence took a cup of coffee from off screen and downed a few gulps before addressing Wiggly. “Moving along, I am glad to see a new Imperial Engineer has been named. We’ve been too long without one.”

Standing a bit straighter, Wiggly nodded respectfully. She was unsure how to handle Cadence. As much as Sprocket was relieved over not having to fight such an overpowering enemy, she was still sour over Morales being ordered into stasis. Even more so now that it didn’t seem necessary. “I received it just this morning, your highness.” She kept herself as professionally cold as before.

The attitude irked Cadence. Flurry’s little rebellions were one thing, but Cadence adored Twilight, and got along famously with Shining Light. It’s times like this I wish Terra had just made you an alicorn, or at least let you be like every other spark out there. This amnesia is too cruel. “I’m sure you have more than earned it, far beyond you know.”

Flurry Heart was known far and wide to take chances on ponies, and was usually right. But for Cadence to lay praise before Wiggly felt she earned it left the pegacorn unsettled. “I’m not exactly sure how, but who am I to question a high queen’s rubric?”

“You are the Imperial Engineer, that’s who,” Cadence replied right back, leaving Wiggly speechless. “It is my opinion that we queens are at extreme risk of getting too old and too big picture. We need ponies like you to keep us grounded. Follow whatever mandate my daughter has you on, but do not forget that you have the right to call us out if you see us slipping.”

“In your case, in matters of technology,” Flurry Heart clarified. It was a half-truth, and she expected her mother to correct the record with a hidden grin.

“In any matter,” Cadence quickly shot back, completely falling for the bait. She eyed her daughter with ‘just try to contradict me’ energy. “But all of that can wait. You lot have a star system to reintegrate, and I have forty eight hours of sleep to catch up on. Until next time.”

Cadence’s hologram vanished, leaving everyone in a few moments of silence. Live Wire didn’t much care for the oppressive quiet so he piped up. “So hey, the Waylan have made good, and left. How about we pop back into Lilian and give everypony the good news?”

“Sounds good.” Flurry prepared to close down her chamber and make her way to the bridge. “I’ll be in Lilian until the portal station is complete. Celestia and Luna may be the queenpins on rebuilding a planet, but I’m no slouch. But the two of you are free to do whatever you want.”

“Well…” Sprocket idly commanded the Akira to head for the colony, and told Mote to wake Morales. “The local navy has more ships to repair than space in the shipyard. We could always stick around until they catch up.

“That would be good for the mid term,” Live Wire began with a sly smirk. “But after the festivities of your arrival, my sister and I have a debt to settle.”

With the Waylan out of the way, the Akira and the others appeared over top of the Lilian colony. The celebrations held weeks prior were a pale shadow compared to what awaited after Flurry Heart made her appearance.

Parties, paraded fighters and bombers in formation, drinking, and dancing filled the air waves for four days and nights. At last, Lilian was no longer alone. It was on that fifth day that the celebrations calmed down enough for one issue the local ponies had not yet settled on: the pirate survivors.

Flurry Heart brought a select group of marines with her to a pleasure yacht orbiting the planet. The Phallus had been towed within the firing arcs of a battleship-turned-weapons platform and a couple of explosives strapped to the engines to ensure it went nowhere. As soon as the shuttle docked, the queen saw a squad of pony marines waiting for them. A warden earth pony saluted her arrival.

The warden was irritated, and it shone through his gruff exterior. “High Queen, you honor this filth by granting them too much of your time. We’d be more than happy to carry out the executions ourselves.”

“As much as I would love to let you have them, it is out of my hooves.” With a swiping gesture, she had her regalia send a copy of the peace treaty to the staff. “Read it later, for now, have the prisoners assemble in a commons room or mess hall.”

The warden didn’t need to read anything more than the title to know what was going to happen. With a spiteful snort, he addressed his second. “Eason, gather them up on deck three over at the swimming pool.” As the officer started giving orders, the warden turned back to Flurry Heart. “A pity the mayor dithered so long. We should have executed all of them the moment this ship surrendered.”

“And it would have been in your right to do so until I gave you that copy.” Flurry Heart matched his sour look with one of her own. “When it comes to treaties, even a queen has her limits.”

Roughly twenty minutes later, Flurry stood at the front of the swimming pool. It had been drained while in standby, so a number of survivors were waiting there while Thaddeus and Felin stood on the opposite side by the deep end.

The marines tasked with holding them took up station one story up at the observation balconies. All with weapons drawn and itching to shoot anyone who so much as sneezed in Flurry’s direction. As for the pirates themselves, they were largely in two groups, the wasterals and destitutes Thaddeus rescued from the moon who sat inside the dry pool. The captains and crew stood along the lip of the pool deck itself.

Flurry Heart eyed everyone with unmasked hatred. She had every single marine activate their body cameras. “I… loathe pirates,” she openly admitted to the crowd who grew intensely nervous. “If I had it my way, I’d give each and every one of you a pressure suit and throw you out of an airlock and let you burn up on reentry of a gas giant. Surrender be damned. Fortunately for you, the peace treaty stays my hoof.” Flurry met the eyes of anyone who even remotely looked defiant.

“As it stipulates, any star system that is isolated from the homeworld is considered still at war until contact is reestablished. Whatever local treaties or agreements you had established are voided, and all hostility is considered acts of war up until contact is reestablished.”

A wave of relief flooded the Rubies before her. If true, it absolved all of them from criminal charges. Against the ponies at least. A number of them had to sit down to emotionally recover from expecting certain death.

“However!” Flurry Heart shouted over the growing commotion of excitement. “The treaty also stipulates in instances as extreme as this, where both recognized legitimate governments agreed to peace, only for you to break it afterwards, the most aggrieved is entitled to a pound of flesh.” Flurry took some satisfaction that the jubilation evaporated real quick. “Unfortunately, since the Waylan killed so many of you, I can really only get away with executing one of you.”

She continued with every word filled with venom. “I could pick one out myself, but there’s so many of you worthy of getting spaced, I can’t decide. So you have ten minutes to pick someone before I start a lottery.”

Thaddeus doubted the treaty truly said that, but he doubted the alicorn would do this if the Alliance was in any position to denounce her. He knew exactly what she was here for: the one who killed her son. Yet as he stood to present himself, one of the shipmasters, a griffon, jumped up. “Take Thaddeus! He’s the one who broke Trireme station.”

His small crew joined in, followed by another shipmaster. “That’s right he - he’s the one in charge!”

A ship’s mate from a third ship chimed in. “Hey yeah, you’re High Queen Flurry Heart right? Right?! Thaddeus was the admiral during Sword Fall. He killed your son!”

“Enough you cowards!” Felin roared to silence them all. She moved to say more, but Thaddeus placed a hand across her chest.

It was painful to be so quickly sold out by his countrymen. And yet, he expected it. Everyone knew he had the Commodore’s codes, and it was no secret the only way he could have them, is if the Commodore was alive when it happened. Every last pirate knew he killed the Commodore. Resigned to this fate before Flurry Heart had ever arrived, he squared his shoulders. In the silence that hung in the air, he spoke with grim conviction. “It is all true. If you require my head, I freely give it if it means the rest can live.”

Felin tried to protest, but a sharp glare from Thaddeus stilled her restless tongue.

Flurry’s silent ire flared into a simmering rage at the sight of him. Yet as she raised a hoof to make a pronouncement, one of the drakes from the pool took flight, ignoring the marines aiming their weapons at him. “High Queen, I beg of you to spare the high admiral. If you need a corpse, than take mine!”

The chamber fell into bedlam as those standing around the pool yelled condemnations to the interloper.
A magically charged shout from Flurry enforced silence. The weight of it rocked the flying drake. “Why should I take you in his place?”

Clasping his hands in a pleading motion, Flurry could see past his threadbare shirt and torn pants that staying in the air was heavily taxing the emaciated reptile. “Though his crimes against you are great, he is the reason any of us still live.”

A three-legged kirin blinded in one eye stepped out of the crowded pool. “If he is not enough, then take me as well. I have nothing but my life, but I will give it freely to keep that honorable man alive.”

A centauri pulled free of the crowded pool. From her thin, scraggly hair to her leathery skin and missing teeth, the woman had lived a harsh life. “High Queen, the admiral may be a villain to you, but he is a hero to me. Spare him, and I will open my veins here and now!”

A fourth stepped up, then a fifth, a sixth, and more. Thaddeus would have wept if he had not kept a tight control of himself. Felin fared little better, and distracted herself by glaring hotly at any of the sailors who dared cast their gaze upon Thaddeus.

The cacophony of voices continued to grow as the pirates started trying to shout those in the pool down for the perceived useless gestures. Those in the pool stood as one in Thaddeus’ defense.

The noise was making the marines nervous, and Flurry Heart saw a riot coming if something wasn’t done. Charging her horn, she cast a spell to briefly paralyze everyone. The vessel’s life support struggled to reverse the sudden blizzard she wrought upon them all. “I will have order.” Her low icy tone brooked no argument when she released only Thaddeus, leaving the room deathly quiet. “Admiral, what say you?”

Thaddeus couldn’t suppress the shivering, but refused to cross his arms to warm up. “I did not save these people only to use them to avoid a death sentence. I will go with you.”

Flurry Heart inhaled sharply, and a humorless grin crossed her lips. “Good.” She magically grabbed him and pulled Thaddeus over the pool and placed him beside her. “Warden, take him to the airlock. I want the rest of the prisoners restricted to the brig or quarters if there isn’t enough room.”

Wiggly Sprocket and the others watched the end of the pool incident from the Akira’s bridge. They had grown up with this background of anger always sitting in their past. The pirates were despised, but a special place of loathing had been for the one who commanded the Rubies at the sundering of Trireme. To now have his name and to see how many tried to condemn him, they were left feeling vindicated. Those who rose to his defense meant nothing to the siblings.

Wiggly rattled her console like a drum. “Yes! Finally that bastard will get what’s coming to him!”

“That’s what you get for Trireme!” Live Wire cheered with a holler.

Morales recalled the repeated memorial shows about the war, and how Trireme was kept active partially out of desperation, and more out of pure stubborn pride. His people had no such victory to harken back on, save the simple act of survival, so he took what vicarious joy he could.

Mote however, was nervously biting a nail. “Statement. S-she can’t do that.”

The hushed comment drew a lot of attention. “What do you mean she can’t?” Wiggly protested.

“Flurry’s a high queen.” Winter reminded her with less irritation than Wiggly did. “Her word is law.”

Twisting in her seat to face the two mares, Mote pressed on. “Explanation. But there is nothing in the treaty about a ‘pound of flesh’ or any other sort of revenge clause.”

Morales thumped his tank. “Are you saying if she does this, she’ll break the treaty?”

“So what if she does?” Live Wire countered with a snort. “We won the war, remember? The Rubies won’t give two flicks about one centauri. Even if they did, they can pound sand.” Sprocket had fallen quiet however. Wire looked to his sister for support, only to find she had taken off her hat and was holding it in front of her face. “Wiggs?”

Looking up at him with a start, Wiggly wrestled with herself. “It’s something Cadence said. That - that if a queen makes a mistake, it’s my job to call it out.” Winter was taken aback, and looked to her coltfriend to see what he’d do.

Growing incensed, Wire unbuckled himself so he could fully turn to face her. “This is not a mistake! That monster has to die!”

“I know that!” Wiggly shouted back with her eyes misting over. She met his hard gaze with a shaky one of her own. “Mote. Are you sure there isn’t anything that gives Flurry the right?”

“She’s a high queen, she has every right.” Live Wire seethed at the very idea of letting his parents’ killer go free. “Tell her, Winter!”

Licking her parched lips, Winter reluctantly shook her head. “I’m sorry but - I can’t do that. Sprocket can’t command a queen to do anything, but she can give advice.”

Finding no support there, Live Wire focused intently on his sister. “Don’t do this!”

“If this was a week ago I wouldn’t!” Wiggly half-yelled with hot tears running down her face. She shook her hat at him. “I took this seriously, Wire!” She fell back in her seats, sniffling. “Terra as my witness I did, and do because Twilight Sparkle wore it. Twilight could throw her life away to end enstripement.” Sprocket clenched her teeth dearly wishing she could let Flurry have her way. “If she can do that, then I have to tell Flurry she’s in the wrong.”

Live Wire backed up a bit. He could see how much the decision pained his sister, and he couldn’t stand it. “Damn it, Mote, find something!”

Flinching at the force in his voice, and wishing she had kept her mouth shut, Mote still managed to stand her ground. “Statement. I can’t give you what doesn’t exist.”

In spite of her own words, Wiggly still found it difficult to make that call. She gritted her teeth so hard her jaw started to ache. The more she thought about it, the more painful her choice became. “Damn it all.” Before she could regret it, Wiggly entered the commands to call Flurry Heart.

Even though Live Wire had control over the comms, he couldn’t bring himself to stop his sister. “I need some air.” He marched out of the control room, leaving Wiggly to her unenviable task.

The long walk to the airlock started off quietly, even as the heavy hoofsteps were muffled by the carpeting. Thaddeus couldn’t help but to feel a measure of peace. Dying in the gutter or to the Commodore’s bullet would have been a waste. Here though, Thaddeus believed a high queen would keep her word and spare the survivors if he cooperated.

“Would you care to know how low my defeat at your son’s hooves brought me?”

Flurry Heart stopped in the middle of the hallway, prompting the others to do the same. “Why? Looking for pity?”

“Never.” Thaddeus risked turning around to meet her in the eyes. The marines tightened the grip on their weapons, but made no move to stop him. “But perhaps you will get some extra measure of solace by knowing how your son ruined me for a time.”

Twisting her face into a grimace, Flurry Heart eventually let off a shivering sigh. “Do you know how many sons and daughters I have buried, Admiral? Forty seven,” she answered, not expecting an answer.

“I have three children alive today, along with a great many grandchildren beyond them. A third of them have died in battle.” Flurry looked past the centauri and to the stars beyond. ”My agelessness has not weakened the pain of loss that each funeral brings, but I have learned how to not be blinded by my grief. As queen, I can not afford it.” She straightened up and stared directly into his eyes. “Admiral Thaddeus, you killed my son and ruined Trireme as legal acts of war, and as such it would be improper to punish you specifically for it. No matter what my personal feelings on the matter are.”

Thaddeus was floored by the admission. He stole glances at the marines who were not happy, but didn’t dare contradict her. “I don’t understand. If this wasn’t some elaborate theater to legally execute me, then why do all this?”

“The treaty doesn’t have a ‘pound of flesh’ clause, and yet Lilian demands satisfaction.” Flurry’s grin morphed into a frosty scowl. “I loathe pirates. Soldiers and sailors I respect, but pirates? By the stars I despise them. See I could not execute your - detractors without it being politically messy. Now, I won’t have to lift a feather to see them dead.” The frown was wiped away with a more neutral one taking its place. “Besides, I already know how low your defeat at Trireme brought you.” She glanced around at the marines around her before continuing. “Drowning yourself in the bottle being reduced to a street bum instead of participating in piracy. For that, you are far more honorable than any of those who took up the cutlass.”

Feeling utterly embarrassed, doubly so in front of the pony marines, Thaddeus’ military bearing threatened to crack. “You know about that?”

A slight upward tug on Flurry's clips showed forth. “You rescued one of our spies. Avoiding names, he had been captured and stripped of his chrome. He was left to die in those slave pens if you had not shown up to rescue. From what else I heard, Captain Howling Tempest spoke highly of you, as one sailor to another. But more importantly, you gave critical information to him at risk to yourself, and held back the Commodore’s usage of the Waylan weapon.”

While Flurry Heart remained calm, the marines around the two were in utter shock. The one centauri who they reviled for sundering Trireme had quite possibly saved the whole colony. None of this had been known outside of the top brass, but with the pirates rendered impotent, secrecy was no longer needed.

Thaddeus’ face fell into a mild frown and he glanced around at the marines who bore far less hostility. “If I was half the man you make me out to be, the Commodore would have never come to power. All I did these last several months was in penance. There will be no fanfare for my return, let alone a place in the navy.”

Unwilling to argue a point he would know better in, Flurry Heart nodded solemnly. “I can’t forgive you for what you did to the Cloud Jumper, but you have my thanks for saving my citizens.”

Thaddeus recoiled from the freighter’s name and when Flurry gestured towards him. After a moment, he realized she was holding out a hoof to shake. Summoning the strength to hold firm to a stoic expression, he firmly returned the gesture.

When it was over, Flurry moved on. “You and the other prisoners will be restricted to quarters, admiral. The Phallus will be crewed by my ponies until it can be dropped off at the first Alliance port.”

“I understand, your highness.”

“Good.” She looked to the marine escorts. “Take him to the executive suites. Ensure no other prisoners know he is alive until you reach an Alliance port.”

“As you wish,” the marines replied dutifully as they moved to flank the centauri.

“I know I am in no place to ask,” Thaddeus said, halting the marines. “But could you place my second, Felin, in my quarters? She was the drake who stood beside me. She and I are the only real friends we have. If she thinks I’m dead, I’m worried she might cause a lot of trouble.” Thaddeus leaned in just a bit. “You know how drakes can be.”

“I have complete faith in my marines to handle an ornery drake, admiral. But…” Flurry gave a ghost of a grin. “I can respect that. Your lover may join you.”

Flurry immediately walked off, leaving Thaddeus flustered. “Felin isn’t my-!” He stopped himself after realizing it was pointless to argue. Instead he opted to nod in thanks before allowing his escorts to take him away.

Originally planning to simply leave right then and there, but the sheer gaudiness of the pleasure yacht’s fully carpeted interior, complete with statues of gold, silver, and jade left her artistically curious. I suppose I can afford a small tour while the marines are busy moving the Rubies to their ‘cells’.

With only a single marine left to protect her, Flurry felt the need to expend her turbulent mood with some lighthearted fun at the marine’s expense. Poor colt barely looks twenty years old. I wonder how much of an art critic he is.

Yet before she could start bombarding the hapless marine with in-depth analysis of style and motifs, her secretary chimed in on her ear. “Your highness,
your new imperial engineer is requesting a word, says it’s urgent.”

“Is it now? Put her through.” Wiggly’s small holographic disembodied head appeared in front of Flurry’s nose. “Yes, Miss Sprocket?”

The younger mare looked pensive and unsure of herself right from the start. “Your highness, you haven’t spaced Thaddeus yet, have you?”

For a split second, Flurry was about to tell the truth, but decided against it just as her lips parted. “Why? If you wanted to push the button yourself, you shouldn’t be halfway to Trireme.”

“W- uh - I remember you telling me not to go with you,” Wiggly replied with a sheepish face.

“You could have insisted,” Flurry countered with just a hint of annoyance to put her off balance. “But to answer your question, no, I was about to though. Want to watch?”

“As much as I would really like to, it’d-” Wiggly wrung her hooves with the stress of looking into the alicorn’s terse expression. “It’d be a bad idea to execute Thaddeus.” Wiggly had to shore up her courage at seeing Flurry Heart bristle with indignation. If she was going to make her case, she had to do it now. “The treaty doesn’t give us the right to execute them like this!” She blurted out as fast as her mouth could move. “Trust me, I’d love to see him get spaced. I don’t know about your son, but I know damn well mine and Wire’s parents would want him dead, but not if it kicked off another war.”

Inwardly, Flurry was both irritated by her son being brought up again, yet at the same time couldn’t fault her for it. “I just broadcasted his condemnation to the whole system. You better be right about this, now where does it say that?”

Flinching back and flattening her ears, Wiggly struggled to stay in her seat. “Well - um - it’s more like what it doesn’t say. Right?” she directed at Mote.

Rather than her usual meek demeanor, Mote stood firm in the face of Flurry’s smoldering ire. “Statement. It is the truth of the matter. The Peace of Iron Hooves is quite clear in its wording.”

Furrowing her brow, Flurry tilted an ear. “You just so happened to read peace treaties for fun?”

All eyes fell on the gynoid who only offered a nervous laugh. “Admission. We cathrex haven’t seen a peace treaty in millennia, and I was curious. Plus, if I am going to be living in the Initiative, it behooves me to learn its laws and treaties.”

Unseen by all, Morales couldn’t help but to feel she was talking more to him than the queen. Hey now, I’ve been busy reading up on pony medical journals.

Flurry Heart turned her gaze back to Wiggly, and rewarded her with a slight frown as she acted as if she pulled up a personal AI to search the document. A few seconds later, she feigned a disgruntled huff. “It seems you’re right.” She looked off screen to the marine. “Escort the prisoner to his quarters.”

The whole time, the marine had been wondering why he was still there, and jumped a bit at being given an impossible order. “I - he’s-”

Quick as a flash, Flurry sighed aggressively. “I know what I said, just do it.”

“Yes your highness!” Not knowing what to really do, he snapped a sharp salute and ran off to make doubly sure Thaddeus was in his quarters.

Faking a few breathing exercises to calm down, Flurry eventually gave Wiggly a curt nod. “I’ll drum up a reason for sparing Thaddeus. Selling some of the Alliance’s secrets or some such. You did well today, I’ll speak with you later.”

Flurry ended the call, leaving Wiggly to slump in her seat. The stress of it all left her still feeling tense. “For the love of Cadence, I can’t believe we just did that.”

“Correction. You deserve more credit than I do.” Mote played nervously with her tail. “I only pointed it out. You were the one who made the call.”

“Captain,” Morales announced, breaking Wiggy out of her stupor. “We’re on approach to Trireme station. Should I call for Winter Gale from her nap so she can start docking procedures, or should we wait?”

Letting off a long groan, Sprocket eventually waggled a wing in the station’s direction. “Go ahead. I need to find my brother.”

Several hours later, and great many lightyears away, Cadence was seated in person with the Ruby Alliance ambassador: Star Marshal Callithor. He had a history of being hard nosed, aggressive centauri, traditional and above all else, valued honor. Now though, after the war had been spent, he had come to enjoy Cadence’s company, as much as the harsh military man could like a mare that was celebrated for her compassion and silver tongue.

They were in a lounge back on Equiss situated on neutral ground: the rebuilt castle of the Storm King after both he and his legions had been laid to ruin long ago.

Fine leather creaked as Cadence shifted her weight. “I never can get enough of the seaside beaches,” she swooned while sipping from a multicolored drink.

“Probably why I rarely hear of you leaving the homeworld,” Callthor chided in his signature gruff tone. “I’m sure we can make a better version on Dethan.”

A planet as deep into Alliance territory as one can go? “Only if you come to Victoria for our famous meatball frambe.”

Chuckling low and in a tone that had terrified thousands of recruits, Callthor actually considered it for a moment. “Perhaps another time.”

Taking a long sip from her straw, Cadence magically produced a data chip from her dress and slid it over to him. “We found some luckless survivors in Lilian. Ninety seven in all.”

Arching an eyebrow, the graying centauri claimed the chip and inserted it into his wrist. The first thing to pop up was a list of names. “Less than a hundred?” He leveled a callous eye at her. “I suppose Feldspar must give up the distinction of our worst defeat.” He gave her the benefit of the doubt that his people went down fighting instead of being slaughtered in surrender.

“I’m afraid neither pony nor suicide had any hoof in this massacre.”

Callthor snapped his eyes up at her. “What? You don’t mean to tell me that Waylan nonsense is real, do you?”

“You’re well informed,” Cadence mused aloud, only for her inner frown to sour further when he almost smirked.

“Gaaah, our informants whispered about some terror you ponies found out there.” Callthor started filtering the names, hoping someone of consequence still lived. “To think they struck us first.” He found a few he was thankful for. Thaddeus being chief among the petty officers and two captains. That was when he saw a video file addressed directly to him. “A recording?”

Cadence was quiet for a bit as she enjoyed her fruity drink. “Just a little speech my daughter made to the survivors.”

Instantly suspicious, Callthor activated the video. The longer it went, the more his mood darkened. His fists tightened until he broke the shot glass in his hand, mixing blood and whisky. When it was over he yanked the chip out and tossed it over to Cadence. “Ambassador…” His anger laid bare, and his meaning understood.

“The admiral lives,” Cadence assured him, making Callthor glare at her. “My daughter is many things, but she is not so vindictive as to execute an honorable being such as him. I think we can both agree that hating each other for children lost in war would have seen the stars burn long before now.”

Callthor’s anger remained, only now it shifted targets. He nodded, after a time. “Where are the survivors now?”

“I suppose if you know about the Waylan, you know about the cathrex, yes?”

Sighing bitterly, Callthor nodded briskly. “Your new friends are making waves, but that can wait.”

Nodding in agreement, Cadence continued. “The survivors are en route as we speak. They’ll be leaving the Lilian system in half a day.”

Going silent for a long moment, Callthor eventually started pulling broken glass out of his hand and using a cloth napkin for a bandage. “I’ll arrange things on our end. Thaddeus and the citizens in the pool are to be brought back to us. The Alliance has no use for the rest of them.”

“I knew I liked you for a reason, marshal.” Cadence raised her glass in a toast. “To a lasting peace.”

Snorting dismissively, Callthor claimed the water glass nearby and refused to tap glass just yet. “Now where is the joy in that? A glorious death, that is worthy of a toast.” He tinked her glass and downed the water in one go. “Make it painful, Cadenza.” Callthor’s hostile tone flared back up. “Thaddeus’ family is well respected, and I can assure you, you will go easier on them compared to what we will do if they set hoof back on home soil.”

A grinning mask slid over Cadence’s face at the thought of what Flurry Heart would do. “That sounds most agreeable.”

The Akira docked with Trireme station to limited fanfare. Only the scant few friends that both siblings still had met them at the docking port or the elevators. Yet as much as Wiggly wanted to catch up with them, her attention was locked on locating her brother who had disembarked before she could. Yet before she could even get that far, a distantly familiar administrator was waiting for her at the main thoroughfare into the rest of the station.

The professionally terse face the administrator wore faltered upon seeing the hat Wiggly was wearing. It was a reaction that was a first for the pegacorn as she came to a stop. “Hey, your Director Still Water, right?”

Clearing her throat and composing herself, Water nodded. “I am.”

Approaching her, Wiggly wore a bit of a smirk. “I never had a chance to thank you for that day. Nor settle my debt.”

Adopting a firm posture, Still Water nodded firmly. “Correct. Are you going to tell me the queen annulled it, Imperial Engineer?”

“Not a chance.” Wiggly’s smirk widened to a genuine grin. “You may have been trying to squeeze every blip you could out of us, but at the end of the day, you still let us sail the midnight sea. I’ve got a cargo hold full of food and parts we couldn’t make ourselves locally. Enough to get the drum rotating again at least. I’m willing to trade it all at cost with the remainder going into Trireme’s coffers.”

Still Water’s mask broke and her bewilderment was laid bare. “Why?”

Tilting her head, Sprocket shrugged her wings. “Because even though I'm leaving, a lot of my friends decided to stick around.” Wiggly tipped her hat. “They want to get this station back the way it was, and I'm hoping these supplies will get you started in that direction.”

Letting off a stressful sigh, Still Water averted her gaze to avoid showing some tears. “We’ve all been scraping the barrel trying to keep this station alive. You’re probably going to leave and never look back, Wiggly Sprocket.”

“Bring back the grass and warm houses, and that might change.” Sprocket walked past her, waving a wing in farewell. “Take care of yourself, admin.”

Still Water stood there, rooted in place, watching the new imperial engineer slip into the crowd. So many of them paid her no heed. Have we been without an engineer so long that it is almost forgotten, or have we relied too much on our chrome to remember such things? Still Water shook her head. One way or another, that mare will remind them.

When Wiggly didn’t find her brother in his usual places or even that one secret haunt, she went to the space suit rental place. The clerk at the desk was idling on his phone, and didn’t recognize Wiggly as she entered, and gave a lukewarm greeting. “Welcome valued customer, how can I help you?”

She approached the desk, and nervously dug at the ground. “I’m looking for my brother, Live Wire. Did he rent a suit from here?”

There were privacy policies in place, but the minimum wage clerk didn’t care. He also didn’t care enough to look either. “Might have been.” He glanced at her with zero recognition, then went back to his tablet.

Annoyed by his apathy, Wiggly set a money chit on the counter. “I’ll take a flier’s suit for the day.”

Taking the chit in hoof, he swiped it through the process and moved a screen towards her. “Sign the waiver, then take the seventh blue suit around back.”

Taking the stylus, she left her signature. “So hey, did you see the high queen deal with the pirates?”

That earned a bit of genuine interest out of the clerk. “No.” He gave her a puzzled look as if he could possibly be hearing about such news from word of mouth instead of his media feed. “What did she do? Nevermind,” he said dismissively as he started digging into the local news.

Being thoroughly rebuffed, Wiggly let off a whining huff and moved on to the suit racks. At least they smell clean. She went about putting it on, and found a clip-on case they could safely store her hat. She just snapped the helmet on her belt when the clerk called out to her. “There’s nothing about Flurry doing anything. Just that Cadence is in talks with the Rubies about them.”

“What?!” Wiggly extended her wings to sniff out the truth. She had gotten a lot of practice remotely connecting to networks, and a quick search query revealed nothing. Not the broadcast, not a statement about its removal, not even the discussion lobbies showed any sign of the near execution. “What - the -Tartarus is going on?”

The clerk saw what she was doing and fear struck him. “Wait a minute, are you still cyberized? Girl, those Waylan could come here any minute and kill you in a second!”

“Flurry and Cadence got them to go away though,” Wiggly countered while refolding her wings. A part of her was amused that he hadn’t even paid enough attention to her to realize she was a pegacorn.

“Psssh, and you think those deranged robots will listen forever? They’ll be back, no doubt. That’s why I’m getting out of Lilian the instant the star liners start back up again.”

That wasn’t a concern she could ignore nor aleve. “Well best of luck to you.”

Wiggly went straight to the ruined drum that used to be Trireme’s habitation section. Those buildings that survived the battle and decompression had been perfectly preserved in the void. Most houses had been made of concrete or locally grown wood, so the stucco faces and wooden bones of the homes remained even as everything else was stripped out by looters or salvagers.

She did not have to look very hard. Floating passed once familiar streets, flanked by lawns of rich grass and manicured trees. Now the grass was prickly and desiccated. The trees were bare and dead, and the empty windows were dark.

To those who were too young to remember the drum before the sundering, it was a place of stillness and dread. To Sprocket, it was haunting.

She came upon her family home. It had been white stucco with a short decorative fence around the lawn. Even her old plastic playhouse was still there, held down by a chain to a nearby tree.

On the other side of the fence sat Live Wire’s home, and she found him sitting on the steps, his magic keeping him in place. He was gazing up at the massive gash in the drum, a hole so large an entire neighborhood had been lost to the void.

He spotted her movement, yet did not move as Wiggly floated over, and joined him on the steps.

“I was wondering if I would find you before Winter did.”

“She did already come here,” Wire said with a fatigued sigh. “She flew off to grab some lunch.” Abandoning the idea of food, he turned around to peer beyond the broken front door and into the pitch black interior of his childhood home. “I still remember dad saying they wanted at least three foals. Mom and him bickered over breakfast about naming them.”

The mournful words threatened to drag Wiggly to tears. She wrapped a wing around him, and nuzzled Wire as best she could through the suits. “My parents probably said the same things… but I can’t remember.”

Live Wire could never truly remain angry at his adopted sister; it simply wasn’t in him. Even before the sundering Wiggly meant the world to him. He returned the embrace in earnest, their suits creaking under the strain.

Upon letting go, Live Wire’s gaze returned to the gash in the drum. “I sorta gave up on any sort of revenge a long time ago. It was just the Rubies who did this. I never even bothered looking up the admiral's name because what would be the point? But… today I just …”

“The pirates could have been lying,” Wiggly offered halfheartedly. “It’s not like the guy stepped up first. Thaddeus was probably just playing the martyr to try and get sympathy from Flurry Heart.”

“Leave it to a pirate to take advantage of Harmony.” Wire didn’t really know if he could believe that or not.

“Exactly,” Wiggly pressed on. “Think of all the clout he thinks he’s earning for the afterlife by taking credit for that?”

That was more believable to Live Wire. “I suppose.”

“Heyya!” Winter announced herself over the radio as she smoothly arrived on blasts of maneuvering jets. Much to Wiggly’s surprise, the thestral was being followed by one of her mechan. “I brought lunch for threeee!” She smirked at the dumbfounded look on Wiggly’s face. “Oh come on, dear, I knew you’d find your way to Wire the instant you could peel away from your old friends.”

Wanting to scratch the back of her head, Wiggly nodded sheepishly. “You’re a queen in your own right, Winter. But how did you steal a mechan without me knowing about it?”

Giving off a playful hum, Winter told the mechan to land. “You really haven’t done much with their security. This one is still telling you it is recharging isn’t it?” The scowl that met Winter told her all she needed. “Mechy, be a dear and deploy the projector would you?”

Giving an acknowledgement, the mechan lugged a device off its back. Switching it on, it projected an atmospheric shield just large enough for a picnic, and dispensed enough air and heat to enjoy it. The shield also produced enough inward pull to simulate a quarter gravity, just enough to eat with. Winter followed up by tilting her head in gratitude. “My thanks. Do you mind waiting over there until we need you to carry it back?”

She briefly watched it depart before shaking some plastic bags at the others. “I brought a platter of mixed burritos, a nacho supreme, and enough cheap rum and soda to drown in. I’d have preferred wine, but this was the best I could get locally.”

Live Wire was caught between thankfulness and utter revulsion. “Rum with… ahh - wow Winny, you’re one in a million.”

Utterly missing the horrified look due to the misting gasses and the suit, Winter felt rather proud about it. “I do what I can.” She added a kiss at the end as she set everything down.

Wiggly however knew him well enough to get a mischievous grin. “I’ll be the designated flier. You two drink up.”

“You’re too kind,” Wire said through clenched teeth.

“And as for you, thief, I’m going to find a way to keep you out.”

Waggling her eyebrows, Winter cooed over the delights to come. “You’re welcome to try, dear. You know your way around a spanner, but I’m the code horse here.”

A few minutes passed as the food was laid out and the mini atmosphere stabilized. They stripped off just their helmets though as a precaution. Winter was just about to give a toast when everyone’s comms rang.

Upon answering, Flurry Heart’s holographic head appeared in between them. Each of them jumped to their hooves at attention. “You’re all together? Perfect, at ease. As much as I’d rather not interrupt your - odd choice of picnic spots, I have a confession to make.” She met each of them in the eyes as they loosened up. “I’m sure you may have taken notice, or soon will, that the pool incident was never broadcast to the wider Lilian system. Only the Akira and my mother saw it.” Deep confusion washed over her audience, leaving her to finish. “I never had any intention of executing Thaddeus.”

“What?!” Wiggly almost shouted in shock. Her brother echoed the sentiment a second later.

“Why?” He had difficulty keeping his flashing temper under control.

“For one, I didn’t expect the pirates to shove Thaddeus out the airlock like they did.” Flurry Heart shook her head, still bemused by it. “He’s a high admiral in case you didn’t. You don’t make it that far in the Alliance by being unpopular. I had expected some random captain to be singled out for me.”

Flurry Heart saw the smoldering look Winter was giving her. She knows the game, every princess does. “Secondly… I - I needed to know if you could tell me when I am in the wrong.”

For several moments, the siblings didn’t know what to think, let alone say, leaving Winter to say what Flurry was unwilling to. “You remember what Cadence said about calling out a high queen. If just any pony does that, it probably gets ignored, maybe even censured. If you do it, oh imperial engineer, a queen will take heed. But that ear pull doesn’t mean a thing if you’re too afraid or unwilling to do it.” Winter saw Flurry huff a bit at her phrasing. “Pony up, Wiggs, you’re in the inner circle now.”

Shivering badly, all Sprocket could do was nod dumbly. Live Wire however was more incensed. “So you threatened all those pirates for a test? They deserve a lot worse than that slap across the face.”

“Oh believe me, you will have justice.” Flurry’s face and tone shifted and became colder than an arctic blizzard, scaring the fire right out of Wire. “You see, testing you was only half of it. My mother showed that recording to the Ruby ambassador.” The siblings didn’t respond much to that, but Winter Gale’s jaw dropped. ”It may not feel like it, growing up under such a heavy pirate threat, but the larger Alliance values honor as much as we do Harmony. After the pool incident was shown to the ambassador, he declared the ones who threw Thaddeus at my hooves as persona non grata.”

The siblings jumped in surprise, and it was Wiggly who voiced what the others were thinking. “They can get what’s coming to them. Right?!”

“Exactly.” Flurry May have had a chillingly stony face, but none of them doubted the malice that it concealed. “Believe me when I say this, they will wish the Waylan had killed them by the time I am done.”