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Naming of Names
Deneb System: Ellias Stand Station
Itani Barracks
Ester awoke as the bright lights turned on in her dormitory. As a new pilot in the Itani Defense Force, pilots were assigned shifts and mandatory sleep schedules were adhered to. The sleep dormitories were located in the rotating portion of the space station as the Itani found millennia ago that human sleep needed to be augmented with the artificial gravity created by the rotation of different sections of a space station. As her eyes grew accustomed to the light, she focused on the rows of bunks which held several hundred pilots like her, male and female. She stretched her back in her bunk then sat up and dressed in her training gi while making her way to the communal meditation chambers reserved for clergy of which there were many in the IDF. After an hour of meditation and personal mental/psychic practice, she left the small meditation closet and walked to the station’s crowded physical training hall to practice her personal kata and to keep her lithe body fit and her mind and soul focused.
She donned her modified flight modified Khola HoZong, the famous Itani power armor after her simple breakfast and tea. Her Khola had been modified since she had left her nunnery. Modifications to her power armor included pressurization enhancements which would allow her to survive in the vacuum of space, integrated flight and avionics controls and data transmission allowing her to easily pilot any ship issued by the IDF and lastly, her Khola was retrofitted with meditation crystals which focused her mental and psychic abilities. Ester felt her suit pressurize as the auto-buckles latched. Suit information was displayed on her visor and by looking at a menu she was able to adjust pressurization to a more comfortable level. Before she made her way to her wing’s pre-sortie briefing, she psychically commanded her suit to retract the helmet to allow her head to be uncovered.
Prelate Joaquin Abdouab, the wing commander for Ellias Stand floated into the gravity free pre-flight briefing room. The expense of building a space station prohibited creating artificial gravity in most of the structures in the station and the briefing room also served as the stations small arms armory.
Prelate Abouab’s robes floated gently over his long gaunt form as he placed himself in the room’s podium. The corners of his robe were tethered to his undergarments to keep his ceremonial garb from floating up over his head. With many pilots on her shift, it was easier to engage her Khola’s boot magnets allow her to have a semblance of standing as she listened intently to the prelate’s briefing.
Prelate Abouab, preformed the standard Itani invocation and then addressed the pilots gathered in the chamber. “Brothers and Sisters, in addition to our usual mission of patrolling our nation’s borders, our deep space monitoring stations have reported Serco patrols past the Deneb/Geira Rutalis wormhole. Aeron’s Order’s wings will patrol the wormhole and surrounds. The Eo’s order’s wing will investigate sectors a-10, b-10, c-10, b-11, c-11, a-12, b-12, and c-12. Please inform station command if there are any contacts with Serco ships. Eo’s wing, please attempt to disable Serco vessels and take prisoners for questioning.” The Prelate performed the customary Itani convocation and dismissed his pilots to their duties.
As Ester’s nunnery was from Eo, she was grouped with Eo’s wing. Her group leader was a skilled and seasoned pilot whose callname was Easy Peace and her fellow group-person had the callname of Killjoy. Ester was a replacement for a pilot who had been killed recently in the border skirmishes between the Serco and the Itani. Easy Peace, a monk from Cantus, was as laidback as he was laconic in his remarks. He had a way with backhanded compliments, which were good-natured. Killjoy earned her callname as she was a professional through and through. She rarely smiled and was very devout in her order’s adherence to Eo’s and Aeron’s teachings. Her nunnery had sent her to experience life outside its walls. She was a competent pilot and helped Ester hone her piloting skills in the command’s flight combat simulators and in extreme low energy combat exercises. Killjoy gave Ester tips and pointers on how to survive her new duties as an Itani Defense Force pilot. Ester was the rookie of her group and they treated her as such but Ester learned quickly and stayed alive longer than her group mates anticipated.
Before her group split up to inspect and strap into their space craft, they huddled and touched heads each other. In this gesture, their psychic energies were shared and bonded their group together. Ester walked around her Centurion and inspected her ship’s weapons , the engine exhaust ports, thrusters and hull. She then boarded her ship and the pilot restraint system automatically strapped her in. Her Khola interfaced with her ship’s flight computers and she mentally ordered her flight computer to start pre-flight diagnostics. While this was happening she commanded her ship’s navigational computers and allowed strategic command to download mission coordinates and have navigation plot her group’s course to their action station. All diagnostic tests passed and the results were displayed on Ester’s HUD. She informed station flight command that her ship was ready for take-off and in less than a breath, she felt herself pushed back into her seat as her Centurion was catapulted into the vacuum of space.
The feeling of weightlessness returned soon after launch and Ester maneuvered her fighter towards her group. Easy Peace’s voice was dispassionate as he gave orders to Ester and Killjoy. “Formation pattern three beta ladies, we will be jumping into sector c-10 and start our patrol there.” He then added, “Ester, how many sorties have we flown now? Is it 10 or 11? You still don’t have a callname yet. We gotta change that soon.” Killjoy then interjected, “What like my callname? I’m not too happy with that name Easy and now it’s stuck anything you could do with that Brother?” Easy Peace replied, “Do something out of the ordinary Killjoy and I’ll make sure the Prelate changes your callname.” “Also ladies, remember to pick up any jectpods or Sercs in suits floating in space alive and kill the guise pilots you see. Their simple minds don’t offer useful information and it’s inhumane to leave them to starve in the vacuum.” Ester replied, “Aye brother, Eo’s will be done.”
The feeling of falling was something that only the most seasoned pilots were used to after a space jump from one vast sector into another. Ester, mentally commanded her Khola and her ship to increase the percentage of oxygen in the air she was breathing to ease the feeling of nausea. Her eyes adjusted to the brightness of light generated by the jump. She settled into the boring routine of patrol by monitoring her sensors and looking at the distant stars which were like dots in the darkness which her group traveled in. She her eyes moved between her sensor screen which identified asteroids and planets circling the sun in Deneb. She then adjusted her view to identify celestial bodies she learned long ago when she was a child in the educational kibbutz. After the age of 6, Itani children were sent to the educational kibbutzs a communal boarding school all Itani send their children to. Easy Peace’s ordered formation lined their group abreast of each other making it able to cover more space than other formations. With any luck this patrol would be like the last 10 patrols, peaceful and boring. All hoped that everyone in the group and the squadron returned to station alive and well.
Ester’s awareness suddenly shifted when Killjoy’s voice interrupted her reveries. “Reds at starboard high. At least three Cents and a Vulturius,” a nervous sounding Killjoy said. Ester glanced at her forward sensor display and four red dots punctuated the displays grey and white of asteroids and friendlys. “Stay frosty ladies, formation pattern three delta and watch your sixes. Fall back rendezvous coordinates have been sent to your nav computers so if your armor drops below 10% make a run for it. If everything goes well, we’ll have at least one Serco wing leader in one of our holds. Eo’s peace, dear sisters, Eo’s peace!” Easy Peace still sounded cool but with a slight nervous edge. Ester’s group formed up and they all pressed their turbo buttons to meet the unwelcomed Serco visitors.
It was Killjoy’s centurion who drew the first blood of the encounter. Her neutron 3 blasters tore armor off of the lead Serco centurion’s aft tail section exposing the guts of its engine. A bright flash erupted from the nose of Easy Peace’s IDF Valkyrie as he sent a Sunflare rocket to meet the lead Serco ship. Although the Serco ship attempted to dodge the blaster fire, it drifted into the path of the flare and exploded creating a cloud of debris. Ester squeezed the trigger of her ships weapons controls and sent a long volley of blaster bolts toward the second Serco centurion. Her aim was up and to the side of her target but missed miserably. She used the side thrusters of her ship to strafe the second ship and this time her weapons fire made contact while her ship evaded the oncoming barrage of energy weapons fire from the Serco ships. Ester rolled her Centurion and vectored thrust laterally. Her next volley of blaster fire opened the belly of the second Serco Centurion. Even through her Khola, she felt the hot bright flash of her opponent’s ship exploding. Her ship suddenly shuddered as blasters ripped through her port wing. Her damage display flashed 70% damage on her ship with the port side signaling yellow. She swung her ship 90 degrees and up to face the third Serco and was surprised to see that a black Vulturius Guardian was assisting. She vectored thrust downward and cut thrust to forward thrusters while rolling 180 degrees. She squeezed the trigger of her ship’s weapon controls and returned fire. In the distance she could see Killjoy’s Centurion close on the Vulturius’s six. As she kept the third Serco Centurion in front of her own, she was amazed at what happened next. As Killjoy’s Centurion closed on the Vulturius, the Serco leader’s ship seemed to flip over and large gauss volleys turned Killjoy’s ship into a ball of fire. Easy Peace’s Valkyrie engaged the Vulturius shortly after. Ester narrowed her concentration on the Serco Centurion in front of her. She cut her thrust to her main thrusters and vectored side thrust starboard protecting the port damage of her ship as the Serco approached weapons hot with blaster fire. This allowed her Centurion to turn toward the Serco faster and as her lead reticle flashed, she squeeze the trigger on her ships weapons and watch the third Serco explode.
As she turned her ship towards the Serco lead’s and Easy Peace’s death dance, Ester could feel Killjoy’s thoughts in her head and knew that Killjoy was safe in her jectpod. Ester entered the fray and like Killjoy attempted to get on the six of the Vulturius. Just like before with Killjoy, The Vulturius flipped and Ester found herself facing the Vulturius’s weapons fire. Ester strafed starboard again and evaded the Serco lead’s gauss volleys. She was surprised again when the Vulturius engaged turbo and shot past her. Ester along with Easy Peace followed in pursuit. Her brow furrowed as she noticed that bright white balls of light erupted from the front of the fleeing Vulturius. At that moment she felt fear not for herself but for Killjoy. The last thing Ester remembered of Killjoy was a thought Killjoy sent her before her jectpod exploded,”…bless my enemy and may they know the truth and peace of Eo’s teachings. “As tears welled in the corners of her eyes, Ester gritted her teeth and engaged her Centurion’s turbos.
Ester could feel the emotion of the Serco leader’s destructive pleasure. As she was following the Vulturius, the Serco lead’s ship flipped and she found herself in another cycle of circling her ship with the last Serco. Maneuvering her ship into a better firing solution, Ester rolled starboard and vectored thrust port side. Ester’s vision was blinded momentarily as Easy Peace’s flares exploded near the Serco’s Vulturius spinning the Serco away from Ester and Easy Peace. Ester was able to set her lead reticle on the spun Vulturius and watched it explode shortly after she squeezed the trigger.
When the vacuum of space extinguished the fire from the Vulturius’s explosion, Ester’s scanner display revealed a lone Serco jectpod. Just as Easy Peace’s Valkyrie positioned itself to take the jectpod into its hold, Ester tapped her weapons trigger one last time. Easy Peace didn’t notice the lone blaster bolt hit the jectpod as it entered his Valkyrie’s hold. This time there were no explosions and she could no longer feel the Serco’s thoughts.
Itani Barracks
Ester awoke as the bright lights turned on in her dormitory. As a new pilot in the Itani Defense Force, pilots were assigned shifts and mandatory sleep schedules were adhered to. The sleep dormitories were located in the rotating portion of the space station as the Itani found millennia ago that human sleep needed to be augmented with the artificial gravity created by the rotation of different sections of a space station. As her eyes grew accustomed to the light, she focused on the rows of bunks which held several hundred pilots like her, male and female. She stretched her back in her bunk then sat up and dressed in her training gi while making her way to the communal meditation chambers reserved for clergy of which there were many in the IDF. After an hour of meditation and personal mental/psychic practice, she left the small meditation closet and walked to the station’s crowded physical training hall to practice her personal kata and to keep her lithe body fit and her mind and soul focused.
She donned her modified flight modified Khola HoZong, the famous Itani power armor after her simple breakfast and tea. Her Khola had been modified since she had left her nunnery. Modifications to her power armor included pressurization enhancements which would allow her to survive in the vacuum of space, integrated flight and avionics controls and data transmission allowing her to easily pilot any ship issued by the IDF and lastly, her Khola was retrofitted with meditation crystals which focused her mental and psychic abilities. Ester felt her suit pressurize as the auto-buckles latched. Suit information was displayed on her visor and by looking at a menu she was able to adjust pressurization to a more comfortable level. Before she made her way to her wing’s pre-sortie briefing, she psychically commanded her suit to retract the helmet to allow her head to be uncovered.
Prelate Joaquin Abdouab, the wing commander for Ellias Stand floated into the gravity free pre-flight briefing room. The expense of building a space station prohibited creating artificial gravity in most of the structures in the station and the briefing room also served as the stations small arms armory.
Prelate Abouab’s robes floated gently over his long gaunt form as he placed himself in the room’s podium. The corners of his robe were tethered to his undergarments to keep his ceremonial garb from floating up over his head. With many pilots on her shift, it was easier to engage her Khola’s boot magnets allow her to have a semblance of standing as she listened intently to the prelate’s briefing.
Prelate Abouab, preformed the standard Itani invocation and then addressed the pilots gathered in the chamber. “Brothers and Sisters, in addition to our usual mission of patrolling our nation’s borders, our deep space monitoring stations have reported Serco patrols past the Deneb/Geira Rutalis wormhole. Aeron’s Order’s wings will patrol the wormhole and surrounds. The Eo’s order’s wing will investigate sectors a-10, b-10, c-10, b-11, c-11, a-12, b-12, and c-12. Please inform station command if there are any contacts with Serco ships. Eo’s wing, please attempt to disable Serco vessels and take prisoners for questioning.” The Prelate performed the customary Itani convocation and dismissed his pilots to their duties.
As Ester’s nunnery was from Eo, she was grouped with Eo’s wing. Her group leader was a skilled and seasoned pilot whose callname was Easy Peace and her fellow group-person had the callname of Killjoy. Ester was a replacement for a pilot who had been killed recently in the border skirmishes between the Serco and the Itani. Easy Peace, a monk from Cantus, was as laidback as he was laconic in his remarks. He had a way with backhanded compliments, which were good-natured. Killjoy earned her callname as she was a professional through and through. She rarely smiled and was very devout in her order’s adherence to Eo’s and Aeron’s teachings. Her nunnery had sent her to experience life outside its walls. She was a competent pilot and helped Ester hone her piloting skills in the command’s flight combat simulators and in extreme low energy combat exercises. Killjoy gave Ester tips and pointers on how to survive her new duties as an Itani Defense Force pilot. Ester was the rookie of her group and they treated her as such but Ester learned quickly and stayed alive longer than her group mates anticipated.
Before her group split up to inspect and strap into their space craft, they huddled and touched heads each other. In this gesture, their psychic energies were shared and bonded their group together. Ester walked around her Centurion and inspected her ship’s weapons , the engine exhaust ports, thrusters and hull. She then boarded her ship and the pilot restraint system automatically strapped her in. Her Khola interfaced with her ship’s flight computers and she mentally ordered her flight computer to start pre-flight diagnostics. While this was happening she commanded her ship’s navigational computers and allowed strategic command to download mission coordinates and have navigation plot her group’s course to their action station. All diagnostic tests passed and the results were displayed on Ester’s HUD. She informed station flight command that her ship was ready for take-off and in less than a breath, she felt herself pushed back into her seat as her Centurion was catapulted into the vacuum of space.
The feeling of weightlessness returned soon after launch and Ester maneuvered her fighter towards her group. Easy Peace’s voice was dispassionate as he gave orders to Ester and Killjoy. “Formation pattern three beta ladies, we will be jumping into sector c-10 and start our patrol there.” He then added, “Ester, how many sorties have we flown now? Is it 10 or 11? You still don’t have a callname yet. We gotta change that soon.” Killjoy then interjected, “What like my callname? I’m not too happy with that name Easy and now it’s stuck anything you could do with that Brother?” Easy Peace replied, “Do something out of the ordinary Killjoy and I’ll make sure the Prelate changes your callname.” “Also ladies, remember to pick up any jectpods or Sercs in suits floating in space alive and kill the guise pilots you see. Their simple minds don’t offer useful information and it’s inhumane to leave them to starve in the vacuum.” Ester replied, “Aye brother, Eo’s will be done.”
The feeling of falling was something that only the most seasoned pilots were used to after a space jump from one vast sector into another. Ester, mentally commanded her Khola and her ship to increase the percentage of oxygen in the air she was breathing to ease the feeling of nausea. Her eyes adjusted to the brightness of light generated by the jump. She settled into the boring routine of patrol by monitoring her sensors and looking at the distant stars which were like dots in the darkness which her group traveled in. She her eyes moved between her sensor screen which identified asteroids and planets circling the sun in Deneb. She then adjusted her view to identify celestial bodies she learned long ago when she was a child in the educational kibbutz. After the age of 6, Itani children were sent to the educational kibbutzs a communal boarding school all Itani send their children to. Easy Peace’s ordered formation lined their group abreast of each other making it able to cover more space than other formations. With any luck this patrol would be like the last 10 patrols, peaceful and boring. All hoped that everyone in the group and the squadron returned to station alive and well.
Ester’s awareness suddenly shifted when Killjoy’s voice interrupted her reveries. “Reds at starboard high. At least three Cents and a Vulturius,” a nervous sounding Killjoy said. Ester glanced at her forward sensor display and four red dots punctuated the displays grey and white of asteroids and friendlys. “Stay frosty ladies, formation pattern three delta and watch your sixes. Fall back rendezvous coordinates have been sent to your nav computers so if your armor drops below 10% make a run for it. If everything goes well, we’ll have at least one Serco wing leader in one of our holds. Eo’s peace, dear sisters, Eo’s peace!” Easy Peace still sounded cool but with a slight nervous edge. Ester’s group formed up and they all pressed their turbo buttons to meet the unwelcomed Serco visitors.
It was Killjoy’s centurion who drew the first blood of the encounter. Her neutron 3 blasters tore armor off of the lead Serco centurion’s aft tail section exposing the guts of its engine. A bright flash erupted from the nose of Easy Peace’s IDF Valkyrie as he sent a Sunflare rocket to meet the lead Serco ship. Although the Serco ship attempted to dodge the blaster fire, it drifted into the path of the flare and exploded creating a cloud of debris. Ester squeezed the trigger of her ships weapons controls and sent a long volley of blaster bolts toward the second Serco centurion. Her aim was up and to the side of her target but missed miserably. She used the side thrusters of her ship to strafe the second ship and this time her weapons fire made contact while her ship evaded the oncoming barrage of energy weapons fire from the Serco ships. Ester rolled her Centurion and vectored thrust laterally. Her next volley of blaster fire opened the belly of the second Serco Centurion. Even through her Khola, she felt the hot bright flash of her opponent’s ship exploding. Her ship suddenly shuddered as blasters ripped through her port wing. Her damage display flashed 70% damage on her ship with the port side signaling yellow. She swung her ship 90 degrees and up to face the third Serco and was surprised to see that a black Vulturius Guardian was assisting. She vectored thrust downward and cut thrust to forward thrusters while rolling 180 degrees. She squeezed the trigger of her ship’s weapon controls and returned fire. In the distance she could see Killjoy’s Centurion close on the Vulturius’s six. As she kept the third Serco Centurion in front of her own, she was amazed at what happened next. As Killjoy’s Centurion closed on the Vulturius, the Serco leader’s ship seemed to flip over and large gauss volleys turned Killjoy’s ship into a ball of fire. Easy Peace’s Valkyrie engaged the Vulturius shortly after. Ester narrowed her concentration on the Serco Centurion in front of her. She cut her thrust to her main thrusters and vectored side thrust starboard protecting the port damage of her ship as the Serco approached weapons hot with blaster fire. This allowed her Centurion to turn toward the Serco faster and as her lead reticle flashed, she squeeze the trigger on her ships weapons and watch the third Serco explode.
As she turned her ship towards the Serco lead’s and Easy Peace’s death dance, Ester could feel Killjoy’s thoughts in her head and knew that Killjoy was safe in her jectpod. Ester entered the fray and like Killjoy attempted to get on the six of the Vulturius. Just like before with Killjoy, The Vulturius flipped and Ester found herself facing the Vulturius’s weapons fire. Ester strafed starboard again and evaded the Serco lead’s gauss volleys. She was surprised again when the Vulturius engaged turbo and shot past her. Ester along with Easy Peace followed in pursuit. Her brow furrowed as she noticed that bright white balls of light erupted from the front of the fleeing Vulturius. At that moment she felt fear not for herself but for Killjoy. The last thing Ester remembered of Killjoy was a thought Killjoy sent her before her jectpod exploded,”…bless my enemy and may they know the truth and peace of Eo’s teachings. “As tears welled in the corners of her eyes, Ester gritted her teeth and engaged her Centurion’s turbos.
Ester could feel the emotion of the Serco leader’s destructive pleasure. As she was following the Vulturius, the Serco lead’s ship flipped and she found herself in another cycle of circling her ship with the last Serco. Maneuvering her ship into a better firing solution, Ester rolled starboard and vectored thrust port side. Ester’s vision was blinded momentarily as Easy Peace’s flares exploded near the Serco’s Vulturius spinning the Serco away from Ester and Easy Peace. Ester was able to set her lead reticle on the spun Vulturius and watched it explode shortly after she squeezed the trigger.
When the vacuum of space extinguished the fire from the Vulturius’s explosion, Ester’s scanner display revealed a lone Serco jectpod. Just as Easy Peace’s Valkyrie positioned itself to take the jectpod into its hold, Ester tapped her weapons trigger one last time. Easy Peace didn’t notice the lone blaster bolt hit the jectpod as it entered his Valkyrie’s hold. This time there were no explosions and she could no longer feel the Serco’s thoughts.
Epilogue:
Deneb System: Ellias Stand Station
Itani Barracks
Terran year 4436, 10th month, 25th day
The defense intelligence group of Ellias Stand was anticipating the arrival of the Sercan jectpod by the hanger drones, what they didn’t expect when it was delivered was the fist-sized hole through the lower portion of the pod where the life-support and batteries were contained. As a technician monk opened the jectpod, he found that he remaining flesh of the Sercan was frozen and his implants which probably kept him alive were no longer functional. Members of the intelligence group rushed the Sercan’s body to the station’s medical facilities only to be told shortly after arrival by awaiting medical staff that resuscitation was no longer viable, the Secran’s face frozen in the fearful gasp of suffocation. The commander of the intelligence group gave the medical team orders to perform an autopsy on the Sercan corpse and for the Sercan’s implants to be removed for further analysis by technology experts.
Ester was awakened by the Prelate’s personal drones. As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, the pair of drones stated, “Pilot Ester of Infinity Kwan Yin, your physical presence is required in Prelate Abdouab’s chambers immediately, we will escort you there!” The drones repeated their message incessantly as she donned her nun’s robes but their message stopped as she walked to the Prelate’s chambers.
As she entered the Prelate’s chambers, Easy Peace was already standing in front of the Prelate who was sitting at his desk. “These are very uneasy times brother and sister, very uneasy times,” he began. Ester glanced quickly at Easy Peace and found that he looked very uneasy standing in the Prelate’s presence. The prelate continued,” There are many who still remember their loved ones in Betheshee and Geira Rutilus, and many hate the Serco for their occupation of these systems which our nation explored, teraformed and colonized. Sister Ester, we commend you for your actions in defending our nation, however you have much to explain in those other “shameful” actions which caused you to disobey orders and cause the death of enemy of which we could have gained more information about his culture and people and through our hospitality, convince him that the Itani as a people have forgiven past transgressions and have atoned for the situation that our nations currently are entrenched. Can you explain yourself sister?” Ester became stony faced as she started her reply, “Prelate, I must apologize for my behavior. I have disappointed those who have made me who I am today. I have tried to purge myself of hate but it is difficult to see those who are close to me taken and stand on the philosophies of peace I have been taught. In that moment, I gave myself to the spirit of vengeance; my only explanation will be vendetta.” Prelate Abdouab closed his eyes and Ester felt him speak in her mind, “Dear sister, you must do penance.” The prelate’s mouth then opened and said aloud to both pilots, “Daughter of Eo, your actions and thoughts are truly shameful, both of you please leave now!”
In the corridor while walking back to the dormitory Easy Peace broke the silence between them as he smirked and then said under his breath, “Heh, Eo’s Shameful Daughter!” Ester winced every time she heard her callname but in the depths of her being, the vengeful goddess in her smiled.
Deneb System: Ellias Stand Station
Itani Barracks
Terran year 4436, 10th month, 25th day
The defense intelligence group of Ellias Stand was anticipating the arrival of the Sercan jectpod by the hanger drones, what they didn’t expect when it was delivered was the fist-sized hole through the lower portion of the pod where the life-support and batteries were contained. As a technician monk opened the jectpod, he found that he remaining flesh of the Sercan was frozen and his implants which probably kept him alive were no longer functional. Members of the intelligence group rushed the Sercan’s body to the station’s medical facilities only to be told shortly after arrival by awaiting medical staff that resuscitation was no longer viable, the Secran’s face frozen in the fearful gasp of suffocation. The commander of the intelligence group gave the medical team orders to perform an autopsy on the Sercan corpse and for the Sercan’s implants to be removed for further analysis by technology experts.
Ester was awakened by the Prelate’s personal drones. As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, the pair of drones stated, “Pilot Ester of Infinity Kwan Yin, your physical presence is required in Prelate Abdouab’s chambers immediately, we will escort you there!” The drones repeated their message incessantly as she donned her nun’s robes but their message stopped as she walked to the Prelate’s chambers.
As she entered the Prelate’s chambers, Easy Peace was already standing in front of the Prelate who was sitting at his desk. “These are very uneasy times brother and sister, very uneasy times,” he began. Ester glanced quickly at Easy Peace and found that he looked very uneasy standing in the Prelate’s presence. The prelate continued,” There are many who still remember their loved ones in Betheshee and Geira Rutilus, and many hate the Serco for their occupation of these systems which our nation explored, teraformed and colonized. Sister Ester, we commend you for your actions in defending our nation, however you have much to explain in those other “shameful” actions which caused you to disobey orders and cause the death of enemy of which we could have gained more information about his culture and people and through our hospitality, convince him that the Itani as a people have forgiven past transgressions and have atoned for the situation that our nations currently are entrenched. Can you explain yourself sister?” Ester became stony faced as she started her reply, “Prelate, I must apologize for my behavior. I have disappointed those who have made me who I am today. I have tried to purge myself of hate but it is difficult to see those who are close to me taken and stand on the philosophies of peace I have been taught. In that moment, I gave myself to the spirit of vengeance; my only explanation will be vendetta.” Prelate Abdouab closed his eyes and Ester felt him speak in her mind, “Dear sister, you must do penance.” The prelate’s mouth then opened and said aloud to both pilots, “Daughter of Eo, your actions and thoughts are truly shameful, both of you please leave now!”
In the corridor while walking back to the dormitory Easy Peace broke the silence between them as he smirked and then said under his breath, “Heh, Eo’s Shameful Daughter!” Ester winced every time she heard her callname but in the depths of her being, the vengeful goddess in her smiled.