New Destinies

[Retroboy]

Apophe sat in the command chair of the Ashes of Satramand, staring out at the void of space before her. She was dressed in a long, simply blue robe, and a slight protrusion could be seen at her belly where until recently, there had been none before. She was now with child, three months in, and beginning to truly feel the changes that came with it. Of course she had already gotten used to and over the morning sickness, but now she had over problems. She was no longer allowed to drink, and she could feel the new weight in her body slowing her down.

She looked to her arms, which had gone from fearsome claws to replications of human arms, complete with synth-skin. It seemed only natural that if she were to be a mother that she would replace cold metal with something that could actually hold a child. Still, she missed the fearsome presence of her talons, now replaced with soft, humanlike fingers.

For the best, she thinks to herself. I guess.

Still, she was not so far along as to let herself be stopped from participating on raids. The Fall of the Republic had presented many opportunities for the Void Serpents, leaving shipping lanes unprotected and merchants unprotected. Those foolish enough to leave the confines of the more stable portions of the Galaxy were easy prey to the forces of the Void Serpents, who relished in taking goods from the weak and foolish. Apophe had decided to come along on one, if only to remind herself that her pregnancy had not entirely rendered her helpless. Still, she had to promise herself and more importantly her wife that she'd not over-exert herself and simply take an administrative role in the raid.

Her eyes wandered the bridge, looking for her wife. They had been married for five years, and they were still somehow in the honeymoon phase. Apophe was as hopelessly in love with Amelia as the day they were married, and despite some flaws and more than a few arguments had over the years which sometimes involved one or two things breaking and some shouting, Apophe did not think that was going to change.

 

[Phantom]

Amelia walked through the cramped halls of the Ashes of Satramand, making her way to the bridge of the ship where her wife awaited her. She wore her usual outfit, a pair of jeans, combat boots, T-shirt, and leather jacket. She walked alongside her Brother-in-law Noxis while they discussed battle strategies and how they should approach this raid.

Once the two of them entered the Bridge, Noxis went over to the pilots and told them what to do with the ship. Amelia made her way to Apophe, walking beside the chair and put a hand on her wife's shoulder, "How are they?" She was, of course, referring to the pair of babies inside of Apophe. At a recent Ultrasound, they found out that the couple was having twins, and now they were in a battle over how the genders would turn out. Amelia smiled and bent down to give her wife a kiss, smiling as she pulled back and looked out over the bridge with Apophe, "Are you getting bored with your administrative position yet?"

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe grinned at Amelia. "Same as always, hon," she says. "It's only been three months, they don't do much yet." Even as she said that, a hand drifted down to her stomach, and her eyes drifted down. "I'm not looking forward to when they start kicking. That'll probably keep me up at night."

She sighed. She already had to lay on her back to sleep, which was frustrating for her since she liked to sleep on her side and stomach in most other instances. Still, so far, she was happy with the choice she had made. Apophe had always loved children and the idea that she might have some of her own with only a few more months' waiting excited her. Apophe had always wanted to be a mother. The circumstances here were certainly unusual, but modern Galactic science was truly a fascinating thing indeed.

"As for the administrative stuff, I'm hating it," she said with all honesty. "I wanna fight stuff and being cooped up like this is slowly driving me crazy." She looked up to Amelia and wrapped a hand around her lover's chin, stroking it gently. She'd only gotten the changes to her implants a few weeks ago, and getting used to the fact that Apophe's hands were now warm and soft instead of cold and metallic had taken getting used to. Hell, Apophe even had limited sensation now.

"How about you? How're you feeling?"

 

[Phantom]

"I am feeling just fine, though I do wish that I hadn't made that deal where I stay up here with you, it's quite boring." Amelia smiled and put her hand over Apophe's, enjoying the now warm and soft touch. She had to admit that it took some getting used to, but she was also glad that Apophe agreed to do so when the she became pregnant, providing a gentler touch for the babies.

She looked out over the controls, and various screens of the Bridge. She spoke into her ear piece, "Noxis, meet us at the holoprojector, we need to go over the plans again." She looked back down at Apophe and her smile faded, "I totally just ruined the moment, didn't I?"

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe grins. At the very least, she had someone to suffer with her when it came to not being able to fight. "Nahhh," she says with a shrug. "We're getting close to the lane, anyway so we should probably start preparing."

She adjusted herself before rising from her command chair to move to the holoprojector, looking over it intently. A raid like this required planning, especially since merchants had wised up recently and started stocking up on defences ever since the Serpents started raiding more consistently. She watched the Holo, waiting for her brother to come and join them.

"Guh," she said. "You sure I can't fight a little, Amelia?"

 

[Phantom]

"A couple that suffers together, thrives together." Amelia smiled and laced her fingers through Apophe's, she watched the blip on the screen as it marked where the target was in relation to the ship. She watched as the ship got closer, pointing to a random pilot, "Send out the distress signal, and when that ship comes out of hyperspace, I want to know make, model, and any weapons on that ship. Anything that we could use to our advantage, I want to know it. On my command, we fire, only on my, or Apophe's command. Understood?"

Amelia waited until the ship dropped out of hyperspace, and turned to Apophe, "Would you like to do the honors?"

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe squeezed Amelia's hand, looking down at the holo-projector. Her face lit up as it became clear it was a bog-standard freighter, one of with a few blaster batteries but nothing too impressive. A slow, ever sort of grin passed over her face and she squeezed Amelia's hand just a little bit tighter. "Got'em," she growled.

Her eyes turned to the pilot.

"You may fire when ready!"

 

[Phantom]

Amelia smiled as Apophe gave the order, she watched as the ship's engines were disabled, and the the weapons systems destroyed. She turned on the transmissions and sent one out to the ship, "This is the Dread Pirate Swann, and Imperitrix Apophe of the Void Serpents, Prepare to be boarded and searched. You have two options, come with us and join our kingdom, Mothers and Children will be given a home, and the men will prove their worth through labor. If you refuse our offer, We will give you a chance to escape on the pods within your ship Understood?" Amelia turned off the comms and looked around, "What? We cannot be totally heartless, Right?"

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe raised an eyebrow at Amelia as she gave her demands. "Actually," Apophe said. "Women will prove their worth through labour too."

The men looked around, surprised that the Princess Consort had taken the initiative like that. They looked to their Imperatrix, and she shrugged. "Hey, she's my wife," she said. "Gotta listen to her." Normally, Apophe was all about 'surrender or die', but she was fine with playing nice if it would make Amelia feel better. However, whatever happened next was up to the men on the ship.

The comm crackled to life. "Well, Captain Swan, it's a nice suggestion," a gruff older man's voice said. "But have you considered **** your **** with a ****."

Apophe stared at the comm link, and then at Amelia. Her eyes slowly narrowed.

"Prepare to board and kill'em all."

 

[Phantom]

Amelia smiled and shoulder-checked Apophe, "Y'know, I would ask you not to fight my battles for me, but i know with you, it's a lost cause. She watched as the two ships connected and the men killed the crew of the ship and brought on the cargo. She then turned to Apophe, "Sorry about earlier, Old habits die hard I guess."

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe shrugged, watching the goods be taken on board. She wandered back to the command chair, taking Amelia by the hand as she did so. Then, she pulled her wife into her lap, draping the Dread Pirate across her. She stroked Amelia's hair, and sighed. The crew paid this no mind - they had gotten used to just how affectionate the Imperatrix was with her spouse a long time ago.

"It's not the same, Amelia," she said sulkily. "There's no fun in it if I can't fight."

She frowned, and looked up at the ceiling, groaning. "Six more months of this," she said. She was more than happy that she'd have two beautiful children, but the waiting was slowly driving her crazy. Babies, she could handle, but not being able to fight hurt. She needed the dynamism of combat in her life.

"If we have more, you're carrying'em next." she said.

 

[Phantom]

"Fine, hopefully it's only one kid. when I do it." She laughed and snuggled into Apophe, resting a hand on her bulging stomach. Amelia reached into the bulge with the force, feeling the life forces within and smiling. It was too early to tell the gender and force-sensitivity, of the babies, but it was still fun to feel how they act inside of Apophe.

She reached up and kissed Apophe, holding onto it for a moment before pulling back and smiling. "So, would you want to have more? After these guys are a few years of age?"

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe looks at Amelia for a moment, thinking about the idea of having lots of kids. Her father ended up having a few dozen before he died, although that was with a lot of different mothers. Apophe definitely didn't need that many children. She'd probably die of exhaustion going that far.

She wondered how many her father would have had if he was the one giving birth to them... and the one who actually had to raise his children. Probably quite a few less. Having no real responsibility to your children seemed to make you more willing to have lots of them. Probably because it let you see them as trophies to virility rather than living, breathing people who needed a parent who actually cared about their wellbeing.

"Well, let's see how we do with these two first," Apophe said. "This is sort of my first time so I wanna make sure I'm good at it before I commit to more."

She grinned at Amelia, stroking her chin.

"Of course, there's always the chance that if we do try again," she said, leaning in. "You'll end up with something like octoplets. It's happened once in the KeYahm family."

 

[Baobhan]

'Kill em all...'​

... As the boarding gate came crashing down, Eris and the other members of the ship would charge the enemy, blasters ringing aloud and vibro-axes cleaving through what standing guards they had in the way. But at the head of them all, striking like the tip of a thrusting spear, Eris would charge for the front-lines. Jetting forward Hosizontally with her jump-pack before using the momentum to slide, shield in hand as she would raise it with her legs tucked up to defend herself from some of the initial blasters that may have met their mark. Letting out a heel and allowing gravity to do much of the work for herself, the Palatine would soon come to her feet and spin with a three hundred and sixty degree horizontal cut as she rose, curving up like a corkscrew for her enemie's knees and ending up through their shoulders... as soon as the opening attack had ebbed the vessel was quickly overrun, their one point of defense was to hold them at the bottleneck of the opening, but, failing that there was little resistance that could stop the impending tide.

It was a small skirmish, but a worthwhile one.​

... Looting the place, those who did surrender and did not agree with the captain were told, as a test of faith, to kill the man who had disrespected Apophe and her partner, though it took a little time, the act was done by someone with enough strength of character to deserve some respect. As has been almost systematized, those held as prisoners and intended slaves would be treated by the more civilian side of the Order of the Outsider, showing kindness and gratitude as a kind face to the underdogs of the Void Serpents... working their magic in an attempt to gain converts amongst the lowest ranks of VS society. With a few holes in her shield, Eris would make her way back to the ship, not bothering to help in the arrest of the gear, appointing some of the Yahm engineers in charge of taking the ship itself back to Zakuul so that it could be outfitted as another of their freighters in their fleet. The ship would need some in space repairs first, but with a few droids and a weeks work, she was sure that it would not be a hard operation.

At least she hoped​

... Arriving back home, Eris would move to enter the chamber of Apophe wherever she happened to be, alerting to her presence before entering, removing her helmet to reveal her long white hair and slightly scarred face. Many of the Yahm gave Eris some level of respect these days. Having fought with one another for some years now, the Orders' agile and dexterous fighters had been on the frontlines with their warriors for some time. Not only that, but the blood bond that she and Apophe had shared seemed to be a respected bond approved of by her people as well as Eris' themselves. Opening her mouth to speak, Eris couldn't help but begin with a light chuckle.“ The, how would you say... Dreggs didn't know what hit them. They pooled all their defenses at the gap, we broke the wall and the whole ships defenses crumbled. It was a joke, really. Merchent ship tactics. A few of ours are wounded, but nothing major.” Eris concluded with her report, before moving to lean against the wall to one side of the room. She could not help but notice that Apophe was changing because of the child, she was in out of her league, chemicals were kicking in at about this stage, maternal instincts were powerful things and watching her struggle against nature was entertaining as hell.

“Don't worry Apophe, your children will be bought to term soon enough, and I will put you through your paces personally until you're better than you were beforehand."

 

[Phantom]

Amelia stood up when Eris came into the room, greeting the other woman with a small nod. She looked to Apophe, "I'll be right back, I need to see what we can salvage from the ship itself." She would then walk our of the bridge and head down to where the ship was docked to their own and started going through the parts and damage reports.

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe grinned at Eris' report. Her blood sister was a formidable person indeed, and Apophe was more than happy to have Eris leading from the front when she couldn't. The two had lead and bled together on Zakuul, and they had become as close as actual blood relatives in the process. Which lead her to her next bit.

She watched Amelia leave before she replied. "I'm sure you will, Eris," she said. "My butt's already getting bigger from all this sitting around. Although I think Amelia likes that."

She giggled to herself, looking down at the white-haired woman.

"I'd love to see how you look when you find someone and decide to have kids," she said. "You'd probably go bonkers..." she said, before trailing off. Then, she looked at Eris. "So... I have a sort of a request from you, and it's okay if you say no, but..."

Her hand drifted to her belly.

"How do you feel about being the twins' godmother?"

 

[Baobhan]

'Few things in this world caught the palatine off her guard.'​

... Eris nodded at the approval of her commander, though she considered themselves more equals than anyone would like. Eris had been busy over the last 5 years, conducting raids and attempting to climb the ladder so to say at least in the opinion of Apophe's men. She felt that many of them still saw her as an outsider, so she had dove head fist into the middle of them, fighting them if she was challenged, fighting with them when they were challenged collectively. The goal from the beginning was to earn respect, and within 5 years, she felt like she had done that with the vast majority of Apophe's forces, though there were a few fundamentalist outliers that still considered Eris somewhat of a savage. However, Eris understood from the beginning that she was not going to change the hearts and minds of all those around here, there was a best she could do, and there was no shame in approaching that best. However, as Apophe spoke, Eris could not help but choke at her Sudden request. Surprise pushing her eyes to widen and her heart almost skilled a beat.

Was she insane!?​

“I-Uh, are you sure Apophe? This is, uh, all rather sudden... ” Eris was hoping that Apophe would reconsider, Though she was the palatine, Eris was not used to tender moments of vulnerbility because of her upbringing, it was simply not something she was exposed enough to for it to feel comfortable or normal. Eris felt like she was weak in this moment, flustered and not really knowing how she could recover in any discernible way. However after a moment her nerves managed to calm themselves and she began to speak a little more eloquently. “Are you sure that putting another outsider in a position of power is a good idea? You turned enough heads with your wife, the last thing that i would want would to be the cause of a coup. ” Eris would finish, thinking to herself for a while as a warm feeling began to develop in her mind. She'd trained many children before from a young age, children were raised by the community in the Order, but, Apophe's would feel different... With those other children, it was like going through the paces of care. But with Apophes, she would push them harder than ever, it would be special.

“But...” She would finish in a moment... “If you're sure... ... ... I would be honored.”

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe looked at Eris with a soft expression, amused at her being flustered. It was not often that she caught the Palatine off guard but she always loved when she did. The woman was dear to her, but she could be so stone-faced sometimes. She was more than happy that Eris had chosen to accept her offer, as well. Her children would be in very good hands if their Auntie Eris was looking after them.

"We're blood sisters," Apophe said. "By the laws of the Yahm, when we performed that ritual, we became more or less actual sisters. You're not an outsider."

She smiled, rising to go and join Eris. "Come on, walk with me," she said, extending her hand in offering to the Palatine. There wasn't too much to the see on the ship but she had to had avoid just sitting down on all the or she was going to put on a lot of weight during this pregnancy.

She walked to the edge of the room with Eris, wanting to speak of plans for her children with her and their newly crowned godmother. She was exceptionally excited about the whole affair. She looked forward to her future. She figured she could head down and go see how the belly of the ship was doing, maybe get herself a snack. She was so very hungry lately, all the time.