//------------------------------// // Chapter 61: Stirring the Waters // Story: The Koprulu Sector // by TheKopruluSectorUnion //------------------------------// Starsong blinked in mild confusion at the stallion bowing to him before he realized that he hasn’t risen yet as he was waiting on his superior to return the greeting, as tradition dictated. Starsong bowed to the stallion and returned the greeting. “En Taro Zeratul, Overseer Rylus, it is an honor to meet you as well.” He began before he glanced at Amaka and said, “Matriarch Amaka never mentioned her having a son, or being married for that matter. May I know who your father is?” he asked out of curiosity. However, he regretted asking them when he sensed their cheerful calm turning into a mix of sadness and sorrow, he felt the latter greatest coming from Erina for some reason, and he wasn’t the only one who felt this as nearby dockworkers were now looking in their direction. “No need to worry, everything is fine. Please carry on with your duties.” Amaka said to them before turning her attention back to Starsong, “My apologies Starsong, but may we continue our talk in a more private setting?” Rylus’ ears twitched slightly when he heard his mother address the Overseer by name. Starsong nodded in compliance as he and the others were led away from the docks and to a small meeting room nearby. Once they were seated, he felt Amaka disconnecting herself from the khala, both her son and assistant did the same before he left the khala as well. The matriarch cleared her throat before continuing the discussion from before. “Starsong, do you remember what I told you about my former Shadow?” Amaka asked. “Yes, the one who sacrificed himself to stop the raiders, correct?” Starsong answered. “But what does your former shadow have to do with this?” “You see, my former shadow, Karn'Aaziim… is Rylus’ father.” Amaka replied. Starsong’s eyes then widened as he turned to Rylus and blurted out, “You’re half Nerazim?” “Indeed I am, Overseer.” Rylus replied, “Though it is not something I wish for others to find out.” “My son is right, the identity of his sire must be kept a secret since it would cause uproar within the castes if anyone found out that a Templar Champion was the son of a Dark Templar, as you have already demonstrated with your reaction.” Amaka said to him softly. “Then were you and your Shadow…married?” Starsong asked bluntly. Amaka shook her head, “No, Karn and I were never married, though I did entertain the thought of marrying him. Though the fact that he was my Shadow and I, his Matriarch put a stop to those ideas.” She said before letting out a wistful sigh. “Regardless, that’s in the past. Right now however, I hope that I can trust you to be discrete about the matter and keep it away from prying minds.” After some thought, Starsong nodded to Amaka and said, “Of course Amaka, this secret will stay between the four of us.” He then turned to Rylus, “And I’m sorry for my poor reactions back then.” “You are forgiven, Overseer Starsong. I am glad that we have an understanding.” Rylus said in return. “Indeed, thank you Starsong. Now then…” Amaka said as she looked over to her son, “…Rylus dear, how was your return trip from the Whirlwind Cluster? Any troubles along the way?” she asked in a sing-song voice, surprising Starsong with the change in her mood. “Same as always mother.” Rylus replied in a bored manner, “There were some minor delays when one of the mining drones broke down, but beyond that, the entire mission was carried out without any incident.” Rylus then let out a sigh. “Is something the matter, Rylus?” Amaka asked. “It’s nothing, mother. It’s just that the assignments I’ve been given lately have become rather…dull.” Rylus said as he gestured to his robes, “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the peace that father sacrificed himself to give us, but I didn’t become a Templar Champion just to guard cargo haulers my whole life.” “Be that as it may Rylus, even the mightiest of Templars had humble beginnings.” Erina spoke up as she looked at the stallion, “Just be patient, and opportunity will come knocking.” Starsong raised his brows at how casually the blue mare spoke to the Sub-Overseer. “You are right, and I must apologize to all of you for my pettiness.” Rylus said as he bowed his head, “I’m sorry everyone.” “It’s quite alright dear. You just aren’t as adjusted to all these emotions without the Khala as I am.” Amaka said as she waved off his worries, “Besides, I believe that opportunity is knocking at your door right now?” “What are you talking about, mother?” Rylus asked as he looked over to Amaka. “Indeed, what are you talking about, Matriarch?” Erina echoing Rylus’ words. “Overseer Starsong was on a very important mission for the Supreme Matriarch herself but a pair of Dominion Ghosts had abducted a Dark Templar who was vital to the success of his mission.” Amaka smiled when she saw the surprised look on her son’s face before continuing, “We’ve recently received some information that may lead to their whereabouts. Unfortunately, his ship is still undergoing repairs so he can’t pursue them, which is why I’m asking you to assist Overseer Starsong on his mission. Can I count you?” “You can count on me, mother.” Rylus answered eagerly, which made Amaka smile while Erina wasn’t as enthused about the situation as the Matriarch was. Rylus then turned to Starsong and bowed to him, “Overseer Starsong, it would be an honor for me and my crew to aid you on your mission.” Starsong got up from his seat and bowed in return, “Thank you Overseer Rylus. I am truly grateful for your help.” He then turned to Amaka and said, “And I thank you for your aid as well, Amaka. I am in your debt.” before bowing to her as well. “I am happy to be of assistance, Starsong.” The white mare returned before she rose from her seat and gave her son a hug, “Good luck out there, son and make your father proud.” “I will mother, I will...” Rylus said as he hugged her back. “Good. Come Erina. Let us leave so the Overseers can discuss their plans for the journey ahead of them.” Amaka said before she left the room, but Starsong noticed that Erina hasn’t left the room and she looked upset for some reason, and Rylus saw this as well. “Is something wrong, Erina?” Rylus asked. “I don’t like this.” Erina muttered. “You’ve just returned from a mission and the Matriarch is already sending you out on another one. It could get dangerous.” “Don’t worry so much, Erina, I’ve seen more than my fair share of danger in my line of work. You should know that more than anyone. Besides, I trust mother that she knows what she’s doing.” Rylus said as he placed his hoof on her shoulder reassuringly but the blue mare still wasn’t convinced. “Miss Erina…” Starsong said as he stepped forward, “If it makes you feel any better, please know that I will remain by Overseer Rylus’ side the entire time.” The blue mare looked at Rylus one more time before letting out a sigh. “Fine, but don’t do anything reckless okay? I don’t want you to end up like your father.” Erina said before she wrapped her forelegs around Rylus’ neck in a gentle embrace, which surprised Starsong a great deal was interrupted when they heard Amaka’s voice coming from outside the room. “Erina, what’s keeping you? We’ve got a lot of work to do, you know.” The blue mare let out a sigh before she let go of Rylus, “You better come back safe and sound, you hear me?” “I promise that I shall do my best to carry out your request.” The stallion returned confidently. “Good, see to it that you do. Now if you will excuse me, I should go before the Matriarch becomes impatient.” She said before she trotted out the door. Once they were alone, Starsong approached Rylus and asked, “Does Amaka know of your relationship with Erina?” this caused the white stallion to laugh when he realized what Starsong had meant. “Oh no, Erina and I aren’t like that. She raised me since I was a foal.” he explained. “But isn’t Amaka your mother?” Starsong asked. “Indeed she is, but her duties as Matriarch didn’t give her much time to raise a foal, so Erina took up the task of raising me on top of carrying out her regular duties here on the station.” Rylus replied, “Admittedly, she’s been more of a mother to me than my actual mother was.” “I see…then I apologize for jumping to conclusions.” “It’s quite alright Overseer, anyone would have assumed the same if they saw that just now.” Rylus said before he turned to Starsong, “It will be some time before we’re ready to depart, so would you care to take a walk with me?” he said as he gestured to the door. “I’d be more than happy to join you, Overseer.” Starsong said as he walked up to the younger stallion. “Excellent, this gives us a chance to discuss the details of the mission that my men and I will be helping you with.” Rylus said as he and Starsong left the room, already beginning their discussion of the mission at hand. Inside the clinic, Lyra shook herself awake before she readjusted her seating position until she was comfortable and continued watching the door to the operating room, waiting for it to open. She had been waiting for Skyfall’s operation to be finally over, but it had been hours since Trixie started operating and she still hasn’t come out of the operating room. This has left her very bored and subsequently, sleepy. She had tried to keep herself occupied in order to stay awake, but she could only play with her knives for so long before a mishap occurred as one of the seat cushions now sported a big hole in it. And with no other company besides the Shade Knight, she grew bored and nodded off to sleep every so often before startling herself awake later, and repeating the process all over again. She was just about to nod off again when the door to the operating room slammed open. Her eyes shot wide open in alarm at the noise and saw Trixie coming out of the operating room. The blue mare looked tired as she mindlessly shuffled her way towards the waiting room where Lyra was looking at the mage expectantly, but became put off when Trixie shuffled past her and headed towards a room in the back. Sounds of liquid being poured came from inside before Trixie came back out with a cup of steaming hot coffee in her telekinetic grip. She lifted the cup to her muzzle and drank some of the steaming liquid before letting out a satisfied moan, “Ahh, Trixie needed that.” She said before she noticed that Lyra was looking at her very intensely for some reason. “Well?” Lyra asked expectantly. “Oh, would you like some coffee too? Trixie made plenty.” Trixie offered before taking another sip of her coffee. “What? No!” Lyra exclaimed as she resisted the urge to face palm herself with her metal hands, “How did the operation go? Is Skyfall alright? Is he awake?” she asked in rapid succession. “Oh, the operation? Trixie finished it an hour ago.” “What?! An hour ago? Why didn’t come out then?” Lyra asked in an angry tone. “Don’t be so ungrateful, Trixie was exhausted and needed to rest after spending so much magic on saving your friend.” Trixie said as she stared Lyra down in a condescending manner, which normally wouldn’t faze the veteran agent, but the look in the blue mare’s eyes made her feel small and sheepish. “Sorry.” Lyra muttered in reply. “That’s better.” Trixie said before she continued drinking her coffee, “Oh, and as for your question: He’s fine but his body is weak so he needs to rest until he’s recovered enough for the next operation.” “Next operation? What are you talking about?” Lyra asked curiously. “Trixie thinks it’d better to show you what Trixie means.” Trixie said as she led Lyra into the operating room. The room had remained largely unchanged since she first saw it, the only difference was all the blood on and around the operating table, but Skyfall wasn’t on it. The stallion in question had been moved to another room, which had a number of beds in it and he was sleeping in one of them, but Lyra frowned when she saw Skyfall’s condition. “What’s wrong with him? He looks worse than when we brought him in!” Lyra said as she gestured to her partner, who looked pale as their namesake he laid there under the sheets. “If you did anything to him, I swear I’ll-” “Trixie saved your friend’s life, that’s what.” Trixie quickly retorted, “The nanites in his body was actually harming him more than they were helping.” Trixie then shook her head. “Honestly, you Imperials depend too much on nanites to notice the side-effects.” “What are you talking about?” Lyra demanded. “Whenever the nanites closed the wound in his liver, it would reopen and the nanites would close it again, correct?” Lyra nodded in confirmation, “Well, the problem is that every time this happen, it leaves the tissue around it raw and easily ruptured so Trixie had to purge his system of the nanites before his liver was damaged any further. The next operation is to heal the damage done to his liver.” Trixie explained. “And what about the bullet that was inside his liver?” Lyra asked, “You didn’t leave it in him, did you?” “Oh please, as if Trixie would do something as foolish that. Trixie removed it before purging the nanites, it’s right here.” Trixie then pulled a phial from her robes and gave it to Lyra who looked at the bloodstained bullet inside it with morbid curiosity. “You can keep it if you want. As a reminder of how you met Trixie.” Lyra simply nodded as she put the phial away in her jacket and asked, “How long will it be before he wakes up?” Trixie turned to Skyfall and cast another ‘Scan’ spell over his body. She hummed a little when her spell passed over Skyfall’s head, “Hmm, Trixie can’t say for sure, but he should be fine after Trixie heals the damage to his body. For now, he just needs rest.” Knowing that her partner was no longer in danger of dying and on the road to recovery, Lyra let out a sigh of relief as she sat down to the bed next to him, looking forward to when he would wake up so she could tease him about almost being out by a pirate. However, before she could get comfortable on the bed, Trixie cleared her throat to get her attention. “What do you think you’re doing?” Trixie asked. “I’m going to stay by my partner’s side until he’s better.” Lyra said in return. “Oh no you’re not, this ward is only for patients only, and Trixie says the patient needs his rest.” she said as she pointed to the way out and added, “Besides, visiting hours are over.” “But I just want to-” Lyra began, but Trixie cut her off with the same condescending look from before. “No exceptions. Now please leave before Trixie makes Trixie’s Shade Knight do it for you.” Trixie said warningly. Not wanting to see if Trixie would carry out her threat, Lyra she reluctantly got up and walked out there, she looked at Skyfall one more time before walking out the door, which slammed shut behind her. Lyra glared at the door for a few seconds before she turned around and walked back to the waiting room, which was still empty save for the clinic’s silent guardian, making the unicorn wonder how often Trixie gets patients walking in to see her, considering how intimidating the ‘doorman’ looked. She laughed at the image of potential patients coming face to face with the hulking Shade Knight. However, once she stopped laughing, she realized that she would now have to wait even longer for Skyfall’s second operation to be done and over with, which could very well take several more hours if not the whole night. Faced with the prospects of staying cooped up in the clinic with nothing to do for the duration, the mint green unicorn wrote a note saying that she’s going out and walked over to the Shade Knight. “Give this to your boss. I need to go out and stretch my legs for a bit.” Lyra said as she handed the note to it. She saw the mist formed into a face, which nodded at her before taking the note in his hand. She then walked out the door and into the busy streets of the market district and saw a signpost, pointing out the various districts on the platform. One in particular drew her interest. “Amusement Mile huh? I could use some after all that waiting.” Lyra said to herself before she walked down the street in search of some entertainment before she goes back to see Skyfall. As the two templars walked around the station, Starsong had told Rylus of the mission the Supreme Matriarch had given to him and the encounters with Dominion Ghosts and the losses he suffered because of them. He told the young templar to never underestimate the two ghosts should he ever fight them, but the white stallion felt differently on the matter. “Then I guess it’s a good thing that I’ve joined you on your mission.” Rylus said as he smiled at Starsong, “I’m confident that between your mastery of psionics and my martial prowess, we can take on those treacherous Ghosts without much trouble.” “I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Overseer.” Starsong said warningly, “I doubt that you’ve ever faced anyone like them before.” “That may be true, but they’re still flesh and blood ponies like everyone else, which means that they're not invincible and can be beaten.” Rylus replied. “I truly hope that you are right.” Starsong said in return. “Regardless, we still need to track them down and for that we’ll have to speak with the surviving pirates. Hopefully, they’ll have the information we need to find our quarry.” He paused when a thought crossed his mind, “Rylus, I‘ve been meaning to ask you; Does your ship have enough space to accommodate both our crews?” Rylus gave him a knowing smile before he said, “Trust me Overseer, space will not be an issue.” He then walked towards one of the glass covered viewing decks, giving them a good view of the station’s exterior and of the large ship approaching one of the larger hangar bays. “Allow me to introduce you to the pride of Hoketa Station’s defense fleet and my personal flagship, the Talyn.” The Talyn was a unique ship because unlike its counterparts in the Golden Armada, its teardrop shaped body was black in color with segments of crimson across the hull, making it blend in with the darkness of space. It had two ‘wings’ which extended themselves from the bulbous midsection of the ship’s body, which curved slightly inwards towards the back, giving it a scorpion like appearance. “A Leviathan Class Carrier, impressive.” Starsong noted. “Thank you, Overseer.” Rylus said, “Though I’m a bit surprised that you recognized the Leviathan Class, especially since they’re considered obsolete now.” “They are, but they still serve a purpose as training vessels for Initiates who have chosen to become crewmen for the Golden Armada.” Starsong replied, “Though I’ve never seen one with such a…unique color scheme before.” “There’s an interesting story behind that one. Five years ago, we had some trouble with a Kel-Morian mining firm that had set up an illegal mining base within our borders. We tried the diplomatic approach and asked them to leave, but the messenger we sent was killed. In retaliation, the Grand Matriarch deployed a small fleet of ships, of which I was a part of, to remove the intruders by force, but their base had defenses that shot down our ships before they could get within firing range. We later discovered that they were using an advanced targeting system that was programmed to constantly scan the area for anything that looked out of place and shoot it down.” “Like the golden hulls of the khalai cruisers?” Starsong asked. Rylus nodded, “Indeed, Overseer. When I learned of this, I remembered the stories that Erina told me of my father's exploits and how he would often infiltrate enemy defenses by means of cloaking. I thought that we could do the same with the fleet. While our ships are incapable of cloaking, we could camouflage our ships to blend in with the void. I proposed the idea to the Executor in charge of the operation.” “I can’t imagine the Executor being too happy with the idea of using such a deceptive tactic.” “No, he wasn’t, and neither were the Overseers under his command.” Rylus replied, “But, my plan had merit and after a bit more convincing, the Executor had the entire fleet repainted into the dark colors you see on my ship. With that, our ships were able to slip past the enemy defenses and capture the base. After that I was promoted to the rank of Sub-Overseer for the part I played in ending the conflict and the Executor had ordered the cruisers to be restored to their original state.” “But you kept your ship the way it is…” Starsong said as he finished the sentence, “Why didn’t you change it back?” “I kept it that way when I found out that pirates are less willing to attack a cargo hauler when they see such a menacing looking ship escorting it.” Rylus explained before letting out a sigh, “Though that’s just what I tell others so they wouldn’t find out about my heritage. The real reason I want to keep it that way is to honor my father, since it was the stories of his exploits which inspired the victory we achieved.” Starsong could feel the sense of pride and longing the young Templar felt for his absent father through the khala and he felt sorry for him. He then placed his hoof on Rylus’ shoulder, causing the white unicorn to face him and said, “From what I have been told, your father was a great stallion, and I am certain he would be proud to have a son like you.” “Thank you for your kind words, Overseer.” Rylus said as he gazed up at his ship as he saw it docking into the station, “Now that you’ve seen the Talyn’s exterior, would you care to see the interior as well?” “I’ll take you up on that offer after I’ve interrogated the pirates I’ve told you about.” Starsong said. “Why not both? I’ll have the pirates transferred to the Talyn for the interrogation.” Rylus offered as he sent the message to his men through the khala. “Then I guess I’ll have to accept, Overseer Rylus.” Starsong said as he followed Rylus down the hall and began their trek towards the hangar bay where the Talyn had docked.