Ravens of Eternity

387 The Promise of Retribution, Pt Freya leaned back and slugged the alcoholic drink down her throat. It burned so much as it went down that it felt like she was breathing fire. It tasted like an old whiskey, barrel aged and everything.

When she set down her old-fashioned glass, Eris immediately poured another splash into it. She then poured some into her own glass, which she picked up and sipped.

The two were seated alone in a small drinking lounge somewhere on Eris’ flagship. It was small, dark, and cozy.

“I see you’re not a whiskey person,” she said.

“Getting drunk was never my thing,’ Freya answered. “Though I’ve been feeling the need lately... Why? Is this whiskey special or something? Didja take this from some Fed admiral or something? Pried it from his cold, dead hands sorta thing?”

Eris chuckled lightly.

“Naw, nothing like that,” she said. “This is actually some cheap whiskey. The kind you’d find at a gas station or the corner store. I kinda missed it, so I had some people on the fleet recreate it.”

The woman took another sip, and savored its flavor.

“I could’ve gotten them to figure out how to recreate a really good cognac or something, but for whatever reason, I wanted the whiskey instead. Something deep inside told me I needed it. It was the only thing that could satiate that... thirst.”

.....

Freya soaked in the pirate queen’s words, then nodded in agreement. She then picked up her glass again, and took a slightly more conservative gulp. She didn’t enjoy it any more or less.

“Which kinda brings me to the reason why I’m here,” she said. “Lucifer’s gone.”

“I know,” Eris replied. “I saw the reports.”

“You saw the reports? Is that all you can say? Wasn’t Lucifer one of your closest friends? Aren’t you sad about that? Angry? Don’t you want blood?”

“Of course I am, and of course I do. But that doesn’t stop life from happening regardless. The war’s still here, and there’s profit to be made in the meantime. I’ll mourn. But I’ll mourn later.”

Freya shook her head in disappointment, then slugged back what was left in her glass.

“Well I wanna mourn now,” she said. “And with pyres hundreds of meters tall.”

“I see,” said Eris.

A thought suddenly struck her, and her eyes widened, but only for a moment. In her mind’s eye, she scanned various reports and charts. They had various earnings and projections and futures listed on them, most of which seemed to be constantly trending upward.

But those weren’t what delighted her most. It was the image, the promise of wanton destruction sweeping across the galaxy.

A sly smile spread across her face as she realized that one of her predictions was coming true.

“I also suffered all sorts of losses during that fight,” she said. “More to the point, that fight caused captains to lose their crews, and crews to lose their captains. It left quite a lot of blood in our mouths, so much that we can taste it.”

“I bet they asked you to go fight the Imperials,” Freya replied. “I bet it’s their blood they want.”

Eris nodded in confirmation, then took a sip of her drink.

“A pity I can’t give it to them,” she said. “I can’t command my fleet on two fronts. It wouldn’t be at all equitable.”

“So let me have them,” Freya said. “I’ll take on the Imperials, so you can keep trashing the Federation.”

Eris leaned back with curiosity on her face. Though she was calm and collected on the outside, inside she was filled with boundless excitement. It took every fiber of her being to keep it all contained.

This was everything she wanted, and more.

“This could work out,” she said. “But I’ve got one condition.”

“Name it,” Freya said.

“Not even gonna try to negotiate? Well, I guess you’re honestly that committed...”

Eris leaned in and lowered her tone.

“I need to confide something to you,” she said. “Normally, this is something I’d keep close, and never tell a damned soul. But this is way too important not to. I need you to know that this, in my humblest of opinions, is very likely the start of a new era.

“It’s a pathway towards a future where the galaxy will be free of these old shackles. These houses and federations and empires, all clawing at each other...”

As she spoke, she drew herself closer and closer to Freya, and spoke in lower and lower tones. As though she didn’t want anyone else to hear what she was saying.

“You and me,” she continued. “I think, no, I know... The data shows that you and me – we’re the ones to break those chains.”

Freya exhaled at length. This was the kind of thing she feared about Eris – that domination of the galaxy was something she was after. Or, maybe if not domination, then certainly leaving it in chaotic disarray.

“I’m just looking to burn the Empire,” said Freya. “Not remake the galaxy, or whatever. They took the best thing from my life – the only person that truly mattered. So I’m gonna take their precious goddamned Empire away from them.”

“Me too!” said Eris. She let loose her excitement, a stark contrast to her previous highly controlled and quiet demeanor. It was an almost explosive change.

“I wanna burn the Federation into ash,” she continued. “For all the evils they inflict on their own people. You’ve seen it, felt it. You and me, we rip these galactic nations apart, even as they tear the Hegemony in two. We’ll be at both ends of the galaxy, causing massive fires that’ll sweep it all away.

“Though even if I gave you half my fleet, it wouldn’t be enough to make a spark. You’ll need a whole lot more.”

Freya grimaced at Eris words, as she confirmed her deepest fears about what the woman truly wanted. But as she spoke, she realized that she no longer cared if it actually happened or not.

At this point in time, she cared for very little. All she wanted was to crush every Imperial in her path.

“I know,” she answered. “That’s why I came to you first. Or did you think that you were the only person who I wanted to talk to? There were hundreds of fleets out there during that fight, and something tells me that a whole lot of them want blood just like me.”

Eris laughed loudly into the air. Or perhaps it was more of a cackle. There was so much pure joy in it that Freya was caught slightly off guard.

“Of course you would!” Eris said as she laughed. “Oh now I’m absolutely certain of it. Gods yes, I need this!”

She leapt up suddenly, and poured more than a few swigs into her glass. Then she glanced at the bottle in her hand, and slugged down a few gulps straight from it instead.

“I’ll need to ramp up recruitment,” Eris said with a gasp. “And weapons production. I’ll need to kick the entire thing into high gear and get things moving.”

“I thought of something,” said Freya out of the blue. “You want me to negotiate, right? Well... I need to know if you have Double Ultra Rare traits. I don’t need to know what they are, only that you’ve got two of them. I promise to never reveal or sell that fact, ever.”

That stopped Eris’ revelry in her tracks. She looked over at Freya and blinked.

“Why would you care?” she asked. “Why would you even think that exists? Unless...”

Freya nodded. Her face was grim and serious.

“I got my second UR trait right when Lucifer died,” she replied. “Alert came through my DI, but I didn’t even notice until cycles later.”

–

Trait – Sekhmet’s Bloodlust

Text – You gain a thirst for retribution, but it is difficult to quench.

Icon – A Lioness Mauling a Star

–

Eris sat back down on the long, luxurious couch, closer to Freya. Her voice became low again, as though their conversation reverted back to something that shouldn’t be spoken.

“This binds us as sisters,” she said with complete seriousness. “So much that I also promise not to reveal or sell the fact that you also have Double UR traits. You and me – our fates are sealed. What I’ve been predicting in the data is sure to happen.

“And it starts with blood and fire.”

~

Freya took a seat in front of the desk and watched Matriarch de Jardin as she cleaned up the last of some paperwork. In front of her, the aged woman flipped through documents in a large datapad and placed a few signatures here, a few okays there.

When she was done, she handed it off to one of her assistants, then turned towards Freya with a smile.

“Apologies for the wait,” she said.

“No, Matriarch,” Freya countered. “Thank you for meeting me.”

“It’s the least I could do, considering how much you’ve lost. Which I deeply apologize for.”

“And I’m sorry for your losses as well. I know how important the Star Dragon was to the de Jardins. Though, since he was a High Admiral, I’m sure that he’ll be uploaded into a clone and be regenerated soon enough.”

The Matriarch shook her head in despair.

“Like his wife, he died in occupied territory,” she replied. “Even if his data was uploaded to the rebirth station orbiting Rhylen Terra, there’s no guarantee that the station itself still functions, much less if its intact. And if it is, we can’t exactly go there to regenerate him.

“No, he is lost. At least, for now.”

“We all lost so much at Rhylen Terra,” said Freya. “No doubt, many desire... justice for what happened.”

Matriarch de Jardin was taken slightly aback by Freya’s tone. She felt the anger in it, and instantly understood. Many of her admirals and captains had the same tone in their voices when they demanded restitution for their losses.

“We’ve flung plenty of blame at Felrahn’s feet,” she replied. “We’ll make sure they answer for the tragedy they helped cause. Tens of thousands of Hegemony lives were lost in that battle. All for nothing.”

“The Felrahn certainly deserve some of that blame,” said Freya. “And they’ll certainly get theirs. But the Empire also deserves much of it too. I think we owe it to them to return the favor.”

“Is that why you’re here then? You want to kill Imperials? You already saw the foolishness of that. You lived through it, at the cost of some of our better halves.”

“I won’t hide it. Yes, I do. I agree that attempting to take back Felrahn space was foolish. What we should have done was taken our specialties, and hit the Empire hard. And I believe that’s what we should do now.”

The matriarch sighed deeply at Freya. She looked at the sheer determination in the girl’s eyes. It was the same that the Star Dragon held, when he sat in that chair and pleaded for the same thing decades ago. Only his case was against the Federation.

“And what about Lady Felrahn?” asked the matriarch. “Reforming this assault fleet would only vindicate her even further.”

“Don’t worry about her,” Freya answered. “I’ve already spoken to her, and... convinced her to see things my way. In fact, she donated her entire fleet and emptied her ledger to help bring this to reality.

“After all, it was her initial emergency vote that caused all this to happen in the first place. Only makes sense that she also devotes the most resources to ensure justice, don’t you think?”

.....