HW: Legacies Part III

[deathzealot]

*walks in and waves at around hello* Hi! I'm Deathzealot, and I have been off and on the boards for a while. So I am back and I heard about Legacies when I was reading Homeworld: The Exodus. So I am glad that theres is many more good fanfictions for HW out here, since that is one reason I left the boards alot. Granted we had the awesome works of the White Beast, The Fleet Intel series (I really want to see the finished Cata Verison, and maybe a HW2 ), and a few others but there is only so many times that I can reread White Beast. Anyhow before I get into my Legacy Review, someone mention that lately there has a been a rise in good HW fanfictions can you guys recommend a few.

*cough*

Anyhow, DC you have do a very great job balancing sci-fi, humor, romance, and fantasy. It is a great read and I eagerly await the next chapters. I was surprised and very happy to see you base the first Legacy on the Kuun-Laan which was still operating. I really loved that you had in here even in the aftermath of the Dust Wars. Though I always did think that Fleet Command in Cata was a wirehead. *shrug* Also thanks for including a new name for the Unbound in here. Anyways a great story keep up the good work!

[Chrome]

Thank you. Glad to see you back, then.

And now, without further ado...

***************

Chapter 29

Noreena shook her head dazedly as a team of medics carried off the burly Vaygr officer and his friends on floating gurneys. All of the Vaygr in the group around Kai had participated in the drinking contest—much to their misfortune. That had included Noreena’s two bodyguards, who had also wound up atop those gurneys.

Kai stood at a small table littered with empty liquor bottles, staring at them with a faint glaze over his eyes. All around the Cleanser, people murmured in awe as they kept a respectable distance from him. His stance seemed fairly stable, but if one watched Kai for long enough, they could detect a slight swaying motion of his body. However, he seemed sober enough to stay standing for a while longer.

“And I thought I was a veteran of the booze wars,” she remarked ruefully as she recalled the drinking battle’s finale, which had resulted in all sixteen participating Vaygr collapsing into drunken heaps with a full three minutes left on the clock. “That made even Makaan look like an amateur.”

“I’ll say,” Saeri muttered in awe. “Just when you think you’ve seen heavy drinkers, somebody comes along and makes your long-timers here look like newbies. What the hell kinda booze am I gonna have to come up with to get any ‘deshi sloshed when they come here in crowds?!”

“Well, with any luck, you won’t have to worry about that for a while,” Noreena remarked. “I haven’t heard anything about fleet maneuvers towards the Garden, so you’re safe for now.”

Saeri nodded with relief.

“Thank you so very much. I’ve got enough on my hands with those Manaani crazies. They put away about as much as the Vaygr, so it’s been a zoo since we came to the staging grounds. A zoo.”

Noreena chuckled as the smaller woman shook her head, then moved off to serve some Somtaaw beer to a pair of Paktu techs at the far end of the bar. She sighed, and took another swig of her bottle. Out of the corner of her eye, Progie walked up and hopped onto a barstool as he waved for Saeri.

“Hey, Sae! I’ll have one of whatever you’re serving over there!”

Saeri nodded, passed her drinks to the techs, then poured a fresh tankard full of the same beer. She walked over, smiling at him as she slid the drink to him. He caught it and took a long swig. He nodded with a grin, then turned to Noreena.

“Sorry I wasn’t around earlier. I was watching the drinking contest, then got sidetracked by some Nabaal geeks asking me to repeat Kai’s explanation of the urumi to them. Eh, did what I could without sounding like I was bullshitting ‘em, which is easier said than done, by the way. So, who won?”

“Kai,” both Noreena and Saeri chorused.

Progie let out a long whistle.

“Damn. He didn’t strike me as the drinking sort. How’s he holding up?”

“Ask him yourself,” Saeri said with a chuckle.

Noreena turned to glance at the table Kai had been standing near, then blinked. The Cleanser was gone. A quick visual sweep turned up Kai’s crimson-robed form walking to the Cruiser exit with more than a little sway to his step. However, he brushed off anyone concerned enough to offer him help.

“I’m fine, really,” he said to one particularly worried Somtaaw Marine who looked about to sling him over his shoulder and carry him off to Sickbay. The soldier then decided it wasn’t a good idea to pick a fight with even a drunken Cleanser, and merely nodded. He watched as Kai pick his way through the now-thinning crowds.

Within moments, the Cleanser had disappeared through the entryway and had wobbled out of view.

“Eh, he should be fine,” Saeri said with a shrug. “I’m surprised he even stayed standing that long. Maybe you should get his sister to walk him back?”

“Nika? Eh, wouldn’t be a good idea,” Noreena replied.

“Er…why not?” Progie inquired uneasily.

“Because she was definitely sloshed when I last saw her.”

Both Progie and Saeri stared bewideringly at her.

“Nika…drunk?” the scientist squeaked in horror.

Sober Nika was bad enough, but a drunken Nika could get to all kinds of homicidal mischief should she come across him here. Noreena nodded.

“I hope that wore off, because she was plenty pissy at Kendax for going on about swarmers,” she remarked uneasily.

“Kendax?” Progie asked. “Ouch. He’s even more Unclean than I am, and that’s me saying that.”

“You’ve met him?” Noreena probed.

“Qwaar’s been bringing me Keepers to the main Hangar for analysis so I can come up with some hull designs for um, a personal project. Anyways, he landed ‘em near the swarmers, and I caught Kendax trying to touch one of ‘em. Ran him off by throwing a couple of wrenches and cussing like you. Figured she’d blame me for the smudge marks. And after having had Kadeshi armor thrown at me like no tomorrow, I didn’t wanna take any chances.”

Noreena nodded, then froze in horror. Her parents hadn’t bothered getting back in touch with her after the demonstration. Where were—

“H-Hi,” a voice interrupted, then hiccuped.

Noreena glanced over to spot Nika standing nearby with more than enough wobbling in her legs to warn her that she would soon fall over in a passed-out heap on the floor. She grinned like a little kid who’d just found an animal in the forest, and now wanted to ask her mother if she could keep it.

“She followed me,” she announced, jerking a thumb to someone standing behind her. Progie stared in bewilderment while Saeri did a spectacular double-take.

“Two of them?!” she blurted out in shock.

Noreena shifted her attention to the newcomer, only to lock eyes with a second Cleanser. Under her armored suit, this one sported a curvaceous female figure that would’ve had any male of any Alliance race in a hormone-induced stupor that would’ve defied even the restraint of sobriety.

“Greetings Khar,” the female Cleanser said in a smooth, filtered voice that combined sultry and cheerful into one bizarre auditory concoction. “We need to talk.”

“Where did you come—know what?” Noreena spluttered. “I don’t even want to know.”

“HOW DID YOU GET HERE UNDETECTED?!” Qwaar suddenly roared in a tone that indicated both anger and wounded pride.

Considering that he was the God of War, Noreena suspected that he had not once expected someone to so completely evade his sensors until they chose to be noticed.

“Time is of the essence, Khar,” the Cleanser replied in a calm, yet urgent tone. “I’ll explain later.”

“HOW ABOUT NOW?!”

Noreena shot the nearest wall-cam an irritated glare.

“Qwaar. I’ll take care of this.”

“VERY WELL KHAR,” the Godship rumbled grumpily.

The Cleanser nodded.

“We’ll talk about this another time, just you and me,” the Godship added in a normal voice—something that equalled a whisper for him.

Noreena quirked an eyebrow, then rolled her eyes as the Cleanser shook her head slightly.

“So, can I keep her?” Nika suddenly blurted out with a huge grin.

Then her body’s endurance finally gave out, sending her to the floor in an unconscious heap.


Chapter 30

Noreena sighed as she plopped tiredly into her seat. She briefly noted that it must be a miracle that the piping hot coffee didn’t slosh out of the mug she held in her left hand when she sat down.

The large conference room continued to fill with people from all walks of the Alliance brass. Rakim had already arrived and settled into his seat with a cup of tea when she had walked in. The new Cleanser sat next to him, wearing her helmet and the same crimson ceremonial robes as Kai had last night. Makaan had come in at the same time as Noreena with his entourage of admirals.

As she watched, Karan walked in. She pushed Ifriit to a seat just in front of an empty chair in the front row, and took the chair behind him. Intel sat broodily in a secluded front-row seat off to Noreena’s left, looking as if he hadn’t slept all night. However, he appeared to be the only one in mental stress. The others seemed as puzzled as she felt as to why they were here.

And I was just getting to enjoy this break from the war. Fucknoodles.

“So how’s Nika?” Progie asked sleepily from the chair next to her.

“Detoxing in Sickbay, last I heard. Teldri had a whole load of people to pump booze out of, so one more wasn’t gonna bother her. She slept the whole way, too. I don’t think she’s gonna remember her Holy One carrying her down at all.”

“Oh, good,” Progie said with a relieved nod. “I hope she sobers up quickly.”

Noreena chuckled.

“You’re just afraid she’s going to be worse when drunk,” she half-teased. “She didn’t even recognize you last night. Maybe you’re better off pumping her up with booze?”

“I’m not that kind of guy. Maybe Rey is, but I’m not,” Progie replied, holding up his hands. “I refuse to take advantage of someone else just to make my life easier.”

He sighed, then took a sip of his own coffee.

“Not to change the topic on you too fast, but have you any idea why we’re here?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. All I know is Fleet Intel called me at 0600 this morning sounding like an emergency was in the works, and here we are. Looks like he didn’t tell anybody else, either.”

“Lovely,” the scientist remarked sarcastically, then took another sip. “My kind of day.”

Just as the last Hiigaran officer settled into his seat, a chime sounded. Noreena sighed, and rose. She crossed towards the lectern, and moved to stand behind it as she set her mug on the level portion of its surface.

“I have a couple things to mention before Intel takes the floor,” she announced. “First off, the Kadeshi Ambassador will be joining us for this meeting, since the urgency with which I was awakened suggested a matter he should be made aware of as well. Does anyone object?”

Intel vigorously shook his head.

“Moving on: As some of you may have heard, our Cleanser population doubled overnight. She is also attending for the sake of awareness.”

She waited a beat as people glanced towards Rakim’s black-clad escort, and nodded. The Cleanser pulled her helmet off, revealing a study in pale yet impish beauty: light blonde hair framed an elfin face with mischevious gray eyes. She wore a lock of hair swept to the other side of her head as Rakim and Kai. It hung at the same length as Kai’s—just brushing the upper portion of her chest.

She grinned widely and waved.

“Name’s Akari. Cleanser Akari, Cleanser, or Akari will do,” she said in a voice not too different from the filtered sexy one Noreena heard yesterday.

“All right, Akari then”—

The conference room doors opened to reveal Kai wearing his robes over his suit and his helmet tucked under one arm. He peered about for a seat, then froze in horror as his gaze landed upon Akari.

“Oh, no,” he muttered to himself.

Then he glanced about, obviously hoping nobody else had seen him. With a swish of robes, he whirled back through the doors, and scurried down the hallway leading to the conference room.

“Excuse me a moment,” Akari said sweetly to a puzzled Rakim as she rose, then crossed to the conference room’s doorway. Then she was gone, leaving behind a very unusual silence.

Noreena sipped her coffee as she quirked an eyebrow at this turn of events.

Then the room’s doors opened again, admitting Akari who dragged a completely reluctant Kai along with her by the back of his robes. He had put his helmet back on, and looked as if he would bolt yet again at the slightest provocation. Judging by the way he moved, Noreena guessed Akari had found him hiding in a darkened corner at the bend in the entrance hallway leading to the elevators that had brought the various Alliance dignitaries up from the Hangar.

“I take it you’ve met?” she asked the two Cleansers in her driest tone.

Rakim shot the two warriors the kind of pointed Would you two please behave? stare that a teacher would give her errant pupils. Akari promptly released Kai, who suddenly stood upright and removed his helmet. He looked sheepish now, as if he realized he had committed a diplomatic error. Akari grinned broadly as she nodded furiously, seemingly unaware of any sort of misdeed she had committed.

“My apologies Khar. It’s a long story,” Kai sighed as he pressed a hand to his face in a gesture that universally translated into If anyone says one more thing about this, I’m gonna have one hell of a migraine.

Noreena shook her head with a crooked grin. Kai’s reaction was not unlike hers whenever someone brought up the topic of Ilania Somtaaw.

Leave it to the Kadeshi to provide the comic relief for today. Never thought I’d be thinking that, but what the hell.

Akari simply tugged him towards an empty seat next to hers and the Ambassador’s. He sighed wearily and walked ahead of her to sit down. His face bore the most exasperated deadpan Noreena had ever seen.

“Now that that is over with”—she watched the two Cleansers settle themselves—“I’m sure you’re all wondering why you’re here. I’m wondering too. Intel, would you care to enlighten us before we all fall asleep in our seats?”

Fleet Intel perked as if jolted out of a deep reverie, then nodded as he rose. Noreena plucked up her mug, and returned to her seat as Intel strode to the lectern. He set his own mug down, and sighed as he faced the assembled dignitaries.

“One of our more remote stations a dozen light-years past the Hiigaran-Republican border spotted a Taiidani frigate dropping out of hyperspace several hundred kilometers out. Before they could hail the ship, a Qwaar-deesh detachment—two Turanic heavy cruisers and three heavy ion frigates of unknown design—dropped out over it and proceeded to blow it to pieces.”

He paused a beat to let his words sink in.

“The ship had already transmitted a brief burst highly compressed with information on the Taiidan Republic’s situation before it was destroyed. It also launched a single massdriver round into an area of space near the station. The crew recovered that round, and discovered that a lone operative had been placed into cryogenic stasis inside.”

He paused again.

“That operative is en-route to us by high-speed shuttle, and should arrive sometime tomorrow or the day after. The datadump we received is enough to alarm me personally, as well as my counterpart in Vaygr Intelligence”—he nodded to the man Noreena recognized as the Vaygr Intel officer who had delivered the news of the Crusades turning against Makaan and his fleet before they had been convinced to side with the Alliance—“who agrees that something must be done immediately.”

He sighed.

“Apparently, the reason Ashoran’s war with us has been on hold is not because of some clever mind-game. I’ll put it bluntly: He’s been focusing on the Taiidani this whole time.”

He paused a beat to let the information sink into what had become a fully alert group of Alliance officers.

“According to the information we’ve gathered from that frigate’s datadump, the Republic has been fighting a losing war on several of its fronts against Ashoran’s fleet—which comprises of Imperialist factions, Turanic Raider groups, and the Qwaar-deesh. He’s been spending the bulk of his time mind-gaming them, not us.

“Whatever has caused him to shift his attention this fully to them is unknown. Even the Taiidani Intelligence Network seems stumped on this one, as they’ve been following the Alliance for the last several months out of concern for their own borders should Ashoran change his focus. Well, that’s what he’s done…for the last four months.

“Republican space is now almost entirely a war zone, with only a scant few star systems safe from Q-ship raids, entire fleet assaults, or even cunning inside jobs by his spies. Their government’s almost completely collapsed again after all the propping-up we’ve put it through after the Vaygr Invasion—no offense to currently attending parties intended.”

“None taken,” Makaan smoothly replied. “Please continue.”

“Who we’re getting this data from is a barely-surviving fragment of the Republic that’s been hunkered down being pushed to their limits. The reason they hadn’t been able to get any further notice to us is that Ashoran would’ve found out, and come after us. They want us spared his attention so we can work against him unhindered.”

“Smart of them,” Ifriit remarked quietly, “or we’d have been dragged right in with them. What’s not so smart is taking four damn months to get this to us.”

“That may have been beyond their control,” Intel cautioned. “Their operative should tell us more, as well as where we should go, and what we should hit. I am recommending that the Alliance move quickly, before we don’t have a Taiidan Republic left to help us when Ashoran turns his attention back to us.”

Karan nodded.

“I motion for the Alliance to render aid quickly. Who seconds?” she solemnly said.

Makaan raised his hand.

“I do. The Taiidani proved worthy foes during our battles in the War. They would be a worthy ally against Ashoran—if we can help them in time. As I have said to some of my subordinates before: there is no shame in a warrior asking for assistance in a noble cause.”

“Thirded,” Ifriit grunted. “Maybe I don’t like the way they did this, but they at least spared us four months of hell. They deserve our help for that alone.”

Rakim nodded as well.

“I believe the Garden will keep safe a little longer,” he said quietly. “You seek to aid other Protectors of this galaxy. That is a noble quest, and those of us here with you will do our best to aid your efforts.”

“Thank you, Ambassador,” Intel replied with a grateful smile. “Thank you, everyone. It’s unanimous. As soon as we’re ready, we shall set course for the Taiidan Republic.”

[Riess]

Calling dibs on the position of official Akari fanboy by the way.

[Chrome]

Awesome, then. We need an Akari fanboy around here, so, cool!

[deathzealot]

Hmmm I wonder does this new Cleanser have a crush on poor Kai or is it something else. Anyways been wondering what had happened to the Republic. Also I have a question is there a story set aside to describe the Somtaww's battle with the Vagyre during the Dust Wars. As you have mentioned it several times.

Okay nice new chapter I can not wait to see what this operative will say.

PS I WANT THE PRIDE BACK!!!

EDIT: BTW... are you going to post this on Fanfiction.Net?

[Chrome]

My friend JRL3001 wanted to tackle the Somtaaw vs. Vaygr aspect. I think one of these days he'll get around to writing it. It was supposed to have been Ifriit's backstory, as Ifriit was a character he initally came up with (and okayed my using in Legacies--so far he hasn't been disappointed).

I have no idea when or if he'll ever get around to doing it, but that was the reason why there isn't one yet. *shrugs*

I'd rather post this here, as this is the top Homeworld fanforum at the moment, as far as I'm concerned.

PS. It can be assumed that my old Chocolate-stealing Cleanser avatar from a while back may well be Akari. I intended her to pretty much look that way by my writing. Actually I think that's the one that inspired me to come up with the character in the first place.

[Captain Elson]

So, DC, anymore surprises for us?

first the Vaygr, then the T-MAt then Qwaarjet, then the Bentusithen Kadeshi, now the Taidani, what's next the turanics coupled with a hint of radiation, hehe.

Nice job DC.

[deathzealot]

Hmmm there is no harm in posting a story in more then one place *shrug* Anyways what are some good stories on this site right now besides the Legacies Series and the Exodus story.

[Chrome]

Thanks Elson.

I estimate another 2 chapters going up around next Monday-Wednesday, depending on what goes on between now and Sunday night. I'm away from my computer from Friday to Saturday night, with a return sometime Sunday, so you guys are going to have to sit tight, speculate on things, and I'll have more for you next week.

[deathzealot]

Hmmm thats fine eagerly await the next chapter... but take your time

[EarthBorn]

Poor Taiidan now. I like the Republicans really - funny how the Galaxy develops with consistent war going on everywhere.
Anyway, Akari seems like a good new, different character. Who'd have guessed that she was a Clenser anyway? This should make for good humor in the future.

[Angelofthenight]

W00 Hoo another legacies Post and another cleanser (Oh God i feel sorry for prodgie)
I guess prodgies "Personal Project" is the swarmer re-design

[Hiigara]

That's not secret in the line of the story... I'm thinking "personal project" is something more interesting and a new project of his.

Just my thought though.

[Chrome]

Actually, you know what personal project he's working on that'd require him to study Qwaar's Keepers: That swarmer for Nika. Nothing secret about it at all.

PS. Might take a while till the next update. Got hit with a cold starting yesterday, and am feeling rather bleeegh today. Maybe next weekend for an update? I don't know atm. Just hang in there, guys.

[typhoonoftempest]

with how we have hung on in the past, it won't be a problem at all Chrome...

...We just need to know if you are still continuing the series (which, from the previous post, is a definate 'yes'). It is all the 'food' we require to hang on.

[atmawpn]

Oh my god.

Some very interesting developments here, both at the personal and interstellar level. Another Cleanser and another new front in the war.

In the meantime, get well soon!

[JRL3001]

Ok so slow me just finally read the latest update *hangs head in shame!* Brilliant again DC

and to answer what you said back in....um january! yes some day I will write that thing :P ....or.......better yet.....do it in comic book form...ooohh...why didnt I think of that before?

[Nerdfish]

I like How Chorm Paces her action with character development, Bravo.
And Chrome: Progie had more then 1000RU a month in research fund for several months already wouldn't he have produced Something by now.
(He got that that grant a book or two back. Research is slow, but he does have a crack team and a lot of RU ...)

[Angelofthenight]

That is a good point Nerdfish then again most of prodgies time is devoted to three things:
1: avoiding Nika
2: working on the swarmer redesign
3: that "personal project" (Might be the above)
So he would be rather busy.

[Captain Elson]

well he doesn't really need the resources anymore a month, because he's perfected his far jumper cores with KuunLan's core, and they are probably integrated through the entire fleet. Then again, he doesn't have access to a construction facility unless qwaar lets him in, or he puts an order in on Kuun-Lan.

[Quaetam]

DC, over the past few days I've read all of your works; this is excellent, one of the best fanfics I've ever read, you have my compliments. I'm waiting on the next chapters, but take your time to make sure they're as good as the rest

[Chrome]

That 1000 RU a month resource supply was for the backengineered Far Jump Core in the Kuun-Lan. Not for any other project.

Of course, as Noreena's science officer, he now has a much bigger budget for anything, and any piece of equipment Qwaar feels like letting him have. Much better than his old gig, that's for sure.

Yeah, I'll work on something this week. That damn cold threw me off for two entire weeks. Gnnnngh.

[Anny]

well, its took me about a week to read through Legacies I and II and taken me even longer to read through this entire thread!

Fantastic story, well laid out plot and great character development with just enough description to leave enough to the imagination!

The only thing that bugs me, is the spelling and grammar, I've got a penchant for going "ooh, spelling mistake!" in everything I read, so don't take it personally. With such a large volume of text, mistakes are bound to be made.

Keep up the fantastic work

[Chrome]

Thank you.

So far, I've managed to keep the spelling down, and stream-of-consciousness can be a bit more lax with the grammar if need be. However, stuff always slips through. Usually one of my readers will PM me or give me a heads-up in IM that I've got something to fix.

Works well for me. *shrugs*

Thank you for your comments, and for posting to the forums!

[Lt Psyco]

This story is AMAZING!!!! I love the character personalities and the way you build the characters DC, I know how they act without having read I and II yet.. (dont' kill me) I just started and finished reading III today and plan on reading I and II immediately after this post. The plot is :glee: and I have never had so much fun reading something because of the entirety of the components that make up a story. sorry. Novel! and the comments throughout the entire thread had me laughing and reminiscing about earlier conversations on particular topics [pink ships?] >.> I could not give any novel higher rank than this one has taken. It is that AWESOME!

on a side note... I is a newbie to this forum and a bro to a HW fan *cough* typhunoftempest *cough* but this... this... novel has gotten me to appreciate HW more than anything else.
@_@ need to find more Legacies!!!

[EDIT] As of now (4:47am same day as first posting), I have read Legacies I and started on II... I kinda wish I had the pdf, but then again I'm glad I don't, cuz then I'd miss the entertaining comments I have so desired following each segment. As of this Edit time I have finished II and look forward to more from our esteemed writer, DeepChrome!

[Anny]

I recently played through homeworld and cataclysm, I read the pdf file on the homeworld cd, then read Legacies I,II & III

Now..im playing through Homeworld 2, i bought it when it first came out, but I couldnt get to grips with the thing, so I got rid of it!

But now, im playing it for the story So Thanks DC!

Bentus Just went bang, now I gotta go sift through the wreckage for their core..Seems wrong to do it

[Chrome]

/me whistles innocently.

Chapter 31

Noreena yawned tiredly as she sipped her triple-pazaar coffee. She hadn’t used this particular blend since the last time it had been pumped down her feeder lines onboard the Kuun-Lan. However, her somewhat hectic schedule had intensified to unbearable levels of craziness in the two days since Intel’s revelation regarding the Taiidan. The least she could do to keep up with it was to increase her caffiene intake.

Wherever she looked, wherever she walked, she saw crewmembers bustling about madly to get ready for what would obviously be a long series of battles once the Alliance fleet entered Republican space. As far as anyone was concerned, the lull in the Ashoran war had ended—but not by the Qwaar-deesh leader’s design this time.

That gave everyone an extra spring in their step. The very hope of catching Ashoran off-guard had given the Alliance crews a strong morale boost. Noreena shared that notion, but suspected that their enemy would likely have another backup plan on hand, just as he had when she and Karan had forced him to reveal his ownership of the Sajuuk to the Vaygr. The Alliance brass would undoubtedly share that sentiment. Perhaps even the middle ranks did; the Qwaar-Jet housed some of the most elite officers and crewmembers in the entire Alliance. Denial and good combat work rarely went hand-in-hand.

She strode down the hallway leading to Qwaar’s main hangar. Intel had called her in the middle of her hasty breakfast, reporting that the Taiidani operative’s shuttle would arrive shortly. He had directed the shuttle pilot to take the operative to the Qwaar-Jet, and told Noreena he had already summoned Karan, Ifriit, and Makaan to come greet this brave—and extremely lucky—Taiidan operative when they walked down the shuttle’s ramp.

Noreena’s ruminations abruptly vanished the second she turned a corner and saw the strangest thing since Kai beating the Vaygr at their own drinking game.

The entire wall sported a square window with a glowing blue outline. It provided a crystal-clear view of the Main Hangar’s floor, three Kadeshi swarmers, two Qwaar-Jet Keepers, Makaan’s personal corvette landing near one wall, Karan’s shuttle sitting atop its usually designated landing area, and a stretch of space now reserved for the coming shuttle.

Unfortunately, Noreena’s reflexes failed to stop her in time. She stumbled right into the wall—and then through it.

Air whipped past her face and through her hair. Her white Captain’s beret promptly flew off her head while the closest of the three Kadeshi fighters raced towards as she fell from a height that told her the upcoming landing wouldn’t end well. She had no time to brace herself, and watched the ceiling turn into view as her body spun about in its rapid fall.

Then her left shoulder met the top of the swarmer. The resulting impact sent a bone-jarring crunch through her entire body as it rolled most unelegantly off the fighter’s smooth white hull. She tumbled wildly into a face-up heap on the Hangar floor with a loud thump, and simply lay there for several stunned seconds. Her eyes picked out a view of the corridor she had fallen out of framed by an identical glowing blue square set into the Hangar’s ceiling.

The entire incident had lasted mere seconds, but Noreena doubted she would ever walk directly into a wall for the rest of her life. It was just too damn bizarre to forget.

She sat up, and upon finding her body still moving and feeling the way it should—despite the inevitable bruises that would soon show—then stood as casually as she could. She lightly tossed several locks of disheveled hair out of her face, then shrugged as her body calmed down.

Well, okay. No serious pain. Guess I didn’t break anything.

She shrugged to herself, then looked around as she noticed that the Hangar had become very quiet. Several Hangar techs stared at her in bewilderment; their Captain had just fallen out of the sky and now behaved as if she had done a perfectly normal thing.

Perfect. Best let the legend of the QJ Khar build a little further…rather than people find out I ended up totally caught off-guard and wound up on my own ship’s Hangar floor.

“What are you looking at?” she asked. “Back to work, people.”

The techs immediately went back to their jobs. They either scurried about, or buried themselves in whatever work or repairs they were doing. They murmured amongst themselves in awed tones. Satisfied, Noreena turned, peering about for her misplaced beret. A quick scan turned it up not far from the swarmer she had landed on top of. She strode towards it, intending to completely regain her composure when she had it back on her head.

Upon reaching the fallen cap, she bent to pick it up. Then she straightened.

Two fully geared Cleansers stood before her, their helmets tucked under their arms.

“WHAUGH.”

“I told you she wouldn’t handle that well,” Kai sighed.

Akari merely grinned impishly.

“What are you two doing here?” Noreena asked warily.

“Ambassador Rakim feels the time has come to offer our services as your guards,” Kai explained calmly. “He was…informed, shall I say…of the ineffectiveness of your Vaygr guards the other day. It was considered an affront to the Holy One.”

Akari simply nodded in all the right places, that impish grin plastered on her face.

“I see,” Noreena said, blinking in surprise. “Well, my previous two have been reprimanded by Lord Makaan for their error. I'm waiting on two more but...”

And with 'em thrown in the brig for a week, I'm short a bodyguard pair for a while longer than Mak or I'd like. Last I heard from him it'd be next to impossible to find a pair who didn't get drunk on a regular basis. And this could totally fix that situation. One: you can’t afford to insult a ‘deshi by saying they can’t protect me. Two: Cleansers obviously got even Vaygr in awe with their drinking AND fighting abilities, so Mak’s spared feeling insulted. Yeah, this works.

She suddenly grinned at the two Cleansers. Kai perked at her reaction.

“All right, you’re hired. I’ll explain this to Makaan later.”

“Thank you, Khar,” Kai replied with a smile.

Both Cleansers bowed, then neatly plopped their helmets atop their heads. They walked to bracket Noreena at two paces ahead of her. With a relieved sigh that she’d handled that incident well enough, Noreena settled her beret atop her head, and carefully adjusted the last few loose strands of her hair.

This day just hit the Fucked Up mark on my Weird-Shit-O-Meter. Let’s see if it’ll try for FUBAR, ey? And somebody remind me to find out what the hell those windows or portals or whatever were. Maybe Progie. Progie would know.


Chapter 32

Noreena eyed Ifriit thoughtfully as the rumble of a newly arrived shuttle’s engines filled the Qwaar-Jet’s main Hangar.

“Did ChiefMed give you permanent leave from that tank or what?”

“I’ve no idea,” he said with a faint shrug that indicated how frail he still was. “I was supposed to go back in this morning, but then Intel called and said the shuttle was coming in.”

Karan shrugged as well.

“With the Kuun-Lan’s Core exhibiting the same traits as a Far Jumper, it’s anybody’s guess when he’ll recover fully,” she pointed out.

“I intend to beat Makaan at the fast-recovery game,” the Somtaaw-Sa said with a slightly feral grin, to which the Warlord merely smiled serenely.

“We’ll see about that,” he replied as he folded his arms.

“I think you will, sir,” Noreena replied with a similar grin, then turned her attention to the shuttle. Next to her, Kai and Akari also shifted their gaze to the incoming craft.

Unlike the diplomatic corvettes that both Karan and Makaan used, this was a purely civilian design with more nods to the Taiidani Triikor’s wingswept look than Hiigaran design philosophy. It had a graceful appearance emphasized by four wings in an X formation near its rear, and a smoothed body that gave the shuttle the ability to fly as easily in atmosphere as it could in space.

It bore the traditional blue-with-white-stripe scheme of the Hiigaran Navy, however, and Noreena could tell from the way it landed that a military pilot was at the controls. Its engines spun down with a purring growl that faded away to silence as its rampway lowered serenely.

A lean woman wearing a black and gray flightsuit trimmed in gold strode calmly down that rampway. She had short brown hair that shimmered with a tinge of gold, blue eyes the exact color of Taiidani ion-cannon beams, and an angular, fierce face. Youth radiated off her like heat from an engine assembly.

Noreena could sense telepathic shock rippling outwards from several minds: Intel hadn’t said anything about the operative being a woman. She fought down a snicker, for she had caused shock to a few people in the past, since Worker pilots had a high male-to-female ratio.

“Republican Operative Trii Deskaai reporting,” the woman said in a clear voice, snapping a smooth Republican Taiidani salute to Karan and Ifriit. “It’s good to see the Alliance so ready to help out.”

“And ready we are,” Intel spoke up from Karan’s side. “We’ve only a few last-minute things, and then we’ll be on our way.”

“Thank you,” Trii replied with a nod. “I’ll drop formalities since you’re in a hurry: Your ideal course should be for the Elaavi Ridge. The last I heard from my superiors was a plan to barricade themselves in a small safe area inside the large high-energy protostar cluster there. They were to hold out there until you arrived. The stars are close enough to each other that they provide a wide barrier against a surprise hyperspace ambush by the Qwaar-deesh. However, there’s no counting against any possible spies, ambushes lying within the cluster, or whatever else Ashoran can think of.”

Intel nodded.

“I appreciate the quick help. I’ll apprise the fleet navigators,” he replied, then whipped out his handcom. He strode several paces away from the group of dignitaries and began speaking quickly into it in a coded language.

“So,” Trii said amiably as her gaze swept across the people in front of her. “You must be Lady Karan S’jet, Ifriit Somtaaw-Sa, Lord Makaan of the Vaygr Crusades and”—her eyes settled on Noreena, then widened at the sight of the two Cleansers bracketing her—“hmm, my information must be a little sketchier than I thought. You must be Noreena Somtaaw? The last picture I saw showed you as bald.”

“Not a bad start on the introductions. And yes, I am,” Noreena said with a chuckle. This girl was clearly cut from a similar mold as she, for she had done exactly what Noreena would have.

“Right this way, please,” she said, motioning Trii towards the Hangar doors. “I’ll give you the grand tour, then we’ll get you some quarters and decent not-shuttle-food.”

“Oh, thank you. No offense intended, but I’ve been on that thing for long enough to know I couldn’t drink another cup of their horribly weak coffee.”

Noreena fought down a chuckle. She had never much liked shuttle-supplied food either. Also, Taiidani coffee was even stronger than the Somtaaw’s triple-pazaar blends.

“So you got everybody’s look right except for my hair treatments, eh? Not bad for an Intel operative on her own,” she commented.

“Yeah. And the treatments are totally understandable,” Trii replied with a crooked grin. “Spent too long as a Triikor pilot with a buzzcut. Soon as I got out, I added on a coupla inches.”

Noreena’s eyebrows shot up. An operative who had started her career as a fighter pilot? No wonder she was so casual. Somebody in Republic Intel must have decided that diversity among their specialists was a benefit instead of a hindrance.

Either that or they’re just out of decent people and had to get a fighter pilot to do this? Doesn’t bode well for the Drunken Cruiser either way when she makes it down there. I’m a way-in-the-boonies Somtaaw and even I’ve heard the stories about Taiidani pilots and their legendary egos. And bar brawls.

Trii smiled knowingly.

“Extra Marine guards for the poor lonely Taiidan, is it?” she asked in a tone that bore no malice, only a mischevious glee.

Noreena quirked an eyebrow. That was an astute observation for a former fighter pilot working just from her facial expression.

No wonder she made Intel work. She probably pissed off enough of the real knuckleheads to get shunted to them as a “We don’t know what to do with her” load.

“Oh don’t worry, I’m not telepathic or anything,” Trii quickly explained. “I just have this knack for knowing when the brass thinks I’m up to something.”

Light chuckles rose from both Karan and Ifriit. Noreena guessed they were experiencing more than a few flashbacks of their time with her. Makaan merely raised an eyebrow while the two Cleansers walked alongside Noreena as if not one word had been spoken.

“Oh, I know that feeling all to well,” Noreena replied dryly. “I started as a Worker pilot.”

And let’s not mention that I flunked flight school in front of a real pilot, eh? It’s bad enough that I gotta conveniently forget that around swarmer pilots like Nika.

That prompted more snickering from Karan and Ifriit. The snickering from Karan was loudest—she guessed that Lady S’jet had overheard her thoughts just then.

She simply shook her head as she kept on walking.

Moments later, the group and their assorted bodyguards stood at the elevators at the end of the Hangar entrance hallway, waiting patiently for a conveyance to arrive. Conversation had dwindled to a calm silence; everyone was still sizing up the Taiidani arrival.

Just as Noreena contemplated hitting the button again, the doors of the nearest of the two elevators slid open to reveal Progie lying in a disheveled heap on its floor, a large gun-like device lying atop him. A glowing square outline revealing the interior of his lab filled the conveyance’s ceiling.

“Well, that explains where that came from,” she muttered irritably.

Upon hearing her voice, Progie promptly bolted to his feet.

“Oh, hi everybody!” he blurted out with a crazed grin that Noreena hoped didn’t turn Trii into a homicidal maniac worse than Nika. “I forgot about that whole shuttle thing.”

Trii merely blinked at him as if she couldn’t quite comprehend what had just happened. Karan facepalmed as Makaan let out a rumbling sigh. Kai and Akari merely shook their heads.

“My science officer, and Kiith Somtaaw’s top technology specialist Doctor Reyan Somtaaw,” Noreena introduced in as bland a tone as she could muster. “Doctor, this is Operative Trii Deskaai.”

And for the love of Sajuuk, don’t say you love ion-blue eyes! Noreena thought grumpily. I’m not ready to see you have TWO female pilots out for your blood.

“Um, hi,” Progie said with a grin as he stuck out one hand. “Nice flightsuit.”

Trii chuckled as she took and lightly shook it.

“A perk of Intel work. They usually have a corner on the badass-uniform market in the Republic,” she replied without any sign of disgust at his behavior. “So what’s the gizmo?”

Attaboy! Good thing she’s not Kadeshi, eh?

“Oh, that. Portable hyperspace portal device,” Progie answered. “I was thinking after making the mini-cores that there could be a way to create short-ranged but stable hyperspace paths that someone could just hop around a ship or a building in. This is my um, latest experiment on the concept, you could say.”

“Um, about that,” Noreena said pointedly. “You left one of your portals open in the Hangar hallway. How the hell I didn’t break a dozen bones landing on Nika’s swarmer is beyond me.”

“Well, shit,” Progie muttered as he paled. “Guess I’d better shorten the active time cycle or something.”

“You do that. Before I have Qwaar slap up an internal hyper inhibitor.”

The window above Progie suddenly dissipated with a loud fwoosh noise akin to an urumi’s. He blanched.

“ALREADY DONE,” the Godship suddenly rumbled.

Trii merely blinked, then nodded to herself as if she finally remembered a part of her pre-mission briefing that she’d forgotten. Noreena noticed her inability to startle greatly and vowed to find something that would shock her out of her composure someday.

“Aww, c’mon Qwaar,” the researcher protested, “you know I’d have fixed that as soon as I found”—

“I WILL NOT HAVE MY KHAR TOSSED ABOUT IN THAT MANNER!”

“All right, all right! You made your point!” Progie protested. “Sheesh, it’s not like I killed her or anything.”

“HOW WOULD I KNOW THE DIFFERENCE, BOY?!”

Progie went even whiter.

“Okay, fine. I’ll um, ask you first before using ‘em again.”

“GOOD.”

Noreena sighed.

Yah. Today is now officially FUBAR. What else am I going to run into now? Ash wearing a pink tutu?

[Hiroshi_Tea]

first!

EDIT: speedy thing goes in, speeding thing goes out

new characters popping up everywhere.
trii, akari, kendax
hope you have time to develop all of them
before the shit starts hitting the fan

Edit again: typhoon, i also do not support your dedication to me by calling me out for a spam post

[typhoonoftempest]

OH

MY

WORLDS...



a portal reference

smashing job Deeps!

[EDIT] first to make a half-way meaningful comment

[EDIT2] I never stated anyone's name, Hiro

[FINAL EDIT] I am, however, sorry if you were insulted

[Nerdfish]

“Oh, thank you. No offense intended, but I’ve been on that thing for long enough to know I couldn’t eat another cup of their horribly weak coffee.”

wow, some coffee are to be drunk, others had to be chewed and spit back out.

A quick question on the portal device: how does it get around the starship's internal gravity ?

[Chrome]

Whoah. Thanks for that catch. O.o

/me edits.

[Nerdfish]

my pleasure, thanks, I thought that was intentional

[Chrome]

Well if it was dehydrated coffee blocks, sure. But I didn't feel like pulling a Mr. Exposition with Trii just there, so I decided to change "eat" to "drink."

[Jianaran]

Nice one, Chrome. Can we hope for a fast update now that you're back in writing mood?

Also, I see that Portal's got into your head a bit. Just try to avoid Qwarr talking to us about cake too much...

[Chrome]

Jianaran, you forget Qwaar making a prank-labrat out of Progie and other crewmembers in the past. He's already GLaDOS crossed with Darth Vader, and was that way before Portal was a gleam in my eyes. What other Portal nods would I need other than this mischevious, dastardly Godship?

[Quaetam]

Yay, update!

You know I almost thought it was Qwaar pulling a prank when Noreena 'fell from the sky'. It seems like the thing he'd do, especially with how she somehow landed unharmed

[Lt Psyco]

Loved it... amazing update, great way of introducing a new character and building the personality of the second cleanser.

I figured the fact of her sustaining no injuries was because of her contact with the cores... even if it's been about what? 5-6 months since finding it at this point.

[Quaetam]

I figured the fact of her sustaining no injuries was because of her contact with the cores... even if it's been about what? 5-6 months since finding it at this point.

Works for me; I mean it gave Karan longevity, so it might as well make the entire body stronger too.

EDIT: Also, I guess Progie's hyperspace portals can be extremely useful in boarding operations, no?

[Chrome]

Eh my thinking was that the ceiling wasn't all *that* high, and that Noreena just landed on the swarmer in a lucky way that kept her from being totally banged up. Watch "The World's Most Amazing Videos" sometimes on Spike, guys. There are real-life precedents for this. Rare, but genuine.

[atmawpn]

Progie never fails to endanger, does he? I do recall the debacle involving randomly warping mini-cores.

The introduction of the Taiidan adds yet another flavour to the read. I rather like the way you're bringing new people in slowly but steadily, building upon their individual personalities so as to allow us readers to maintain track of who exactly is whom. The cast in Legacies is becoming rather large after all.

Keep it up.

[Onearmdude]

New and interesting principle characters are always fun. It's more complicated(and obviously harder to write right). But if tv shows like lost or the sopranos are any indicator, the more tangled and interweaved storylines are the better ones.

It's been about a year since I started reading this, but the new content has most definitely been worth it. Keep up the good work!

[Captain Elson]

*Elson does the Taidani shuffle*

Hurray Republicans are around, hopefully my dear Republicans will survive their ordeal with Ash.

[Hiigara]

Nope, they'll all die. :P

[Captain Elson]

If they all die, I will personally shove and ADW down your throat, then one of those vaygr drinks and light it aflame.

No but seriously I would be sad.....

After all, who could hate the legacy of Elson the Great?

[Chrome]

Hah. The Taiidan are not Redshirt Ensigns, guys. Homeworld is not Star Trek.

Keep that straight and you'll do juuuust fine.

[Riess]

Spoiler

Everyone dies.

[Hiroshi_Tea]

lol @ Riess

oh chrome, how much longer before this volume is over
(chapterwise)?

[Chrome]

Not sure. Each volume tends to get a bit longer. IV is going to be a brutally long pain in the ass to end off for every loose end to get more or less tied up in, and a lot's going to happen there.

But hmmm, I'd say we're looking at probably 20-25 more chapters. Roughly. Don't count on that being a solid estimate though.

[ChaosSabre]

hehehe, Weird-Shit-O-Meter. I smell M.I.B. Awesome as always DC.

[Karos Grave Kpr]

I was thinking about all the stuff you`ve jam-packed into this story chrome, and i only see one thing you have left out, that ghost ship from the first HW, i`d love to see that thing make a come back.....just a thought