Upon Vestia: Chapter Seven

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"You only got yourself to blame" Matt put him back down but didn't let go of his hands.

---

Kay followed Heny's gaze and rolled his eyes, those two. Evidently their little spat didn't last long then.

Kay nodded. [I'm relieved to hear that. ] He couldn't help but marvel at how rapidly Asher let things go, it was incredible. Did he ever hold a grudge?

Asher stood and shut off the data crystal. "There wasn't much point in continuing to worry about it. People will think what they want to, and as long as they're not harassing either of us about it, it's none of my concern. How about you, how are you doing?"

Kay smiled. [I'm fine. I spoke to Ellie about the plants, she's going to do some research. She was extremely excited about the idea, so that's great. ] He hesitated before adding. [Having everyone know about us, it's... actually rather liberating. I've never not had to hide, it's going to take some getting used to.]

"That's good to hear. It'll be nice to have some more alternatives to our constantly dwindling supplies."
Asher laughed. "Honesty certainly simplifies things. It can be uncomfortable, but I don't think anyone was falling for our lies anyway, so at least now we don't need to avoid each other."

Kay nodded. [Avoiding one another was getting pretty tiresome.]

"Definitely." Asher paused, then said, "My smartship used to do that. He was one of the human-based ones, so he got a crush on the local delivery hub AI. So he'd get really awkward whenever we had to stop there, and I had to do all the talking."

Kay looked amused. [That's... actually quite adorable. Did the AI reciprocate? ]

"I don't think she had any idea for a long time." Asher grinned, "He really, really avoided talking to her. She was nice though, very good at keeping the station running smoothly, and she never snarked about how the smartship kept making his android partner do the talking. Of course eventually a flight controller caught on, and then there were lots of jokes about it."

Kay smiled. [Poor ship. ] He glanced up at Vestia's camera.

Asher looked up at the camera too, then back at Kay. "We aren't permitted to disable those, are we?"

Kay shook his head [I believe that would be deemed unprofessional. ] He smirked. [We could cover it temporarily though... ]

Asher chuckled and found a towel to put over the camera.

"Awww," said Vestia.

"Shut up," said Asher, amused.

Kay shook his head, amused by Vestia's complaints. [We really need to get her some soap operas or something to watch.]

"Or something. That ship has issues." Asher looked back at the camera, "No offense, Vestia."

Vestia muttered quietly.

Asher went over to Kay, looking a bit uncertain.

[She's just bored. We're her main source of entertainment.] He set his tablet down and looked reassuringly at Asher. It was fine, it was all fine.

Asher very hesitantly pulled him in for a kiss, really, really not wanting to freak him out.

Kay relaxed into it, reciprocating quite readily as he pulled Asher closer. Yes, he decided, he really was quite relieved to not have to avoid the android any more.

Asher still had no clue why he loved being close to Kay so much, but for some reason he did. It was nice to hold someone, and know that they wanted to be near you, he supposed that must be it. And since Vestia wasn't able to see, he didn't need to feel weird about it.
He pulled away to smile at Kay shyly. Yes, he was very happy to be here right now.

They took their time, as they always would. It did no good to rush, now. It was time Vestia and its inhabitants be stopped once and for all. The seven scouting ships prepared to battle and board in silence as they each hovered in secret a bit a ways from Vestia's ramps and airlocks. There was another release of ships, this time three, but slightly bulkier. They came swiftly and suddenly and maneuvered around the head of Vestia. Easily revealing themselves they began to combine themselves into one singular loop-like object and slowly began backing onto Vestia's head. The battle had begun.

There were spurts of electricity as the seven ships shot out grappling hooks and latched themselves onto the cruise vessel, and reeled themselves onto the airlocks. Vestia would no doubt feel a bit of burning as the groups simultaneously began to force their way in. The trapper was ready, and the two larger ships uncloaked themselves, speeding up to circle the smartship and corner her within their movements. These strategies were new and improved. The enemy had been patient and calculating, preparing itself, and now, they were out for total domination...

Heny felt the jolt and heard the sirens go off, fear lept into her heart as the sounds and the of Vestia airlock being burned open filled the air. She ran towards were Merith would be not noting the move ment in the shadows.

Thaila head jerked, hearing and smelling the same thing he ran towards the armory that heny had built with her collections of weapons. His sweaty hands fumbled to grab a few plasma hanguns and a few of the more miltary grade weapons. He snagged a few smoke and teargas hand grenades also before heading out to make sure Matt was okay.

The battle for freedom and Vestia would begin.

Starr looked around then scooped up Cali, pressing the little dragon into Sonata's arms "Get to the center of the ship now. Hide." She said then turned to head for the ramp "Vestia, tell the kids to get to the center of the ship, and if Corvus is back, tell him to take Heny to his pocket realm now...wait, ask him to take Heny and the kids to the pocket realm if he can."

~~
Shane looked up at the alarms then around himself before going to the armory.

~~~
Skye looked up then ran to find Moone and get them to the center of the ship. If they passed the spider kids, she would bring them with her.

Vestia recognized one of the ships in a instant, and as she set off the sirens, she called out, "Slavers, with re-enforcements! Combat-capable passengers, please attempt to defend. Everyone else, get to the central rooms and guard the children!"
She flashed the message urgently in Morse for Mourn, and armed up her weapons systems, for all the good that would do now that she had been surrounded so effectively. She let off a few plasma blasts at the surrounding ships, growling furiously in pain at their attack.

~~
Ellie fished in her pocket for pepper spray, and went running off to find the kids. Yeah, she kind of wished she had a gun for this. Next time.

~~
Asher looked at Kay, suddenly scared. He remembered the last time they had encountered slavers, and he didn't want anyone to be hurt like that again. "I'll protect the children," he said to Vestia and Kay, "I'm not much use in combat."

Corvus did infact try to realm jump but with a loud shocking bang he was lauched back. All realm magic seemed to be blocked, making escape nearly impossible.

Mourn leapt to his feet, checking his weaponry. Gun fully charged, check. Sword, check. Claws... yep.
He reached out and patted the wall. "Hurt ship... they pay." He growled.

---

Kay's eyes widened at the sudden alarms. [Vestia, ] He wrote quickly, boarding simulations he'd DONE in the past. [Seal every door you can between them and us, it won't stop them but it'll slow them down a bit. Try to get the kids and civillians out of here, can the teleporters get them to safety? Make sure everyone is armed.] He looked back to Asher, pulled him into a last desperate kiss and added [Be careful, please. And take care of this for me. I'll want it back.] He reached up and unclasped the amulet from around his neck, pressing it into Asher's hands as he painfully and rapidly reverted to his true form. Being able to shapeshift was substantially more useful right now than being able to communicate.

---

Matt hauled himself out of the pool, eyes glazed for a moment or two as he wrested control from his elemental. "Vestia... what's going on?" He paled as she explained. "Where are the kids? Where's Heny?" He couldn't get them all out of here, but what about the other teleporters?

The camera was still covered, so Asher rapidly repeated what Kay had written for Vestia.

"Teleporters are jammed," Vestia said, "I'll do the other things you suggested though."

Asher gaped a bit at Kay's shape change, not at all having expected it, but took the amulet and stowed it safely in his pocket. There might be time for staring at Kay's true form later, if they survived this. "Protect the others if you can," he said softly, "But remember that we need you. I don't want to lose you, Kay."

~~
The kids would all be evacuating to the central rooms, guided by Vestia. Ellie would be hurrying to join them, but she was on a different deck and it would take her a bit.

Thaila would stick with the youngsters, knowing that would be the best place to be. He would leave Heny's protection to Merith and corvus.

Kay nodded, monstrous though he was, it was clearly still him in those eyes. He raised once massive clawed hand in awkward goodbye and turned to race off and find the others.
Matt He called to his brother telepathically. Vestia says there's a ward up against teleporting, we can't get out. Find Heny and the kids and get them somewhere safe.

---

Matt looked around, clearly panicking. No way out, well they'd just have to fight wouldn't they?

"Vestia, are the kids safe? Is Heny safe? " He looked around the room, what was he supposed to do? Combat wasn't something he was particularly good at, but he had to help his friends. He knew he couldn't fire a gun without risking hitting someone he cared about. Nothing for it, he had to find the children and defend them as best he could. Damnit, nobody was taking those kids without a fight.