Project - Prometheus

The crew of the Perseus gathered together, each member making their greetings with one another. The general mood of the group was of both relief and thankfulness. Everyone was crying tears of happiness as they all came together in a group hug. They stayed like that for a few minutes, glad they were all still alive.

It wasn't long before they remembered that they were in the presence of an alien tribe and were likely infringing on their home. Korsa spoke, making apologies for their rudeness, but Valessa said something to her daughter and Lumi translated, cutting her off.

"There is no need to apologize, Korsa. These are your family and a cruel twist of fate separated you. Take all the time you wish."

Seeing Luminia address the war goddess directly, had other clan members and chiefs ask questions of her. It began as a few queries, which quickly turned into a deluge. More questions were pouring in than Lumi could keep track of. It was at that moment, that Valessa raised her hands for silence, which came almost instantly.

She then made several statements in her own language, which had everyone listening. As she went on, there were some who raised their voices in question. Valessa answered them as best as she could before continuing. Luminia walked over to the group, translating her mother's speech for them.

"My mother is telling everyone we are all curious about you, as you are those who come from the stars. She knows that many are eager to ask questions of you. So, she has called for silence, hoping you are not offended by their rudeness. She is calling for them to hold their questions as there is much that must be done. The remaining Yahk'shurt prisoners must be dealt with," Luminia stated.

"Also, my mother would like to know your names, so she can properly honor the heroes who saved us all from slavery and certain death," the Ahl'kanin woman went on. The ladies looked up to Alex, deferring to him as his rank accorded.

"Alexander Matthias Tomisic, Captain of the Perseus."

"Captain?" Lumi wondered as her face echoed the confusion of her mother and the surrounding chiefs and guards.

"It is a high rank, not too unlike that of a chief. Aboard the Perseus, my word is law," Alex clarified.

"Ah! The Perseus is your... ship?" Luminia wondered. Alex nodded and pointed skyward. Even in the dark, they could still see the Perseus, via its running lights and its basic shape was visible. Valessa fired a few more questions at her daughter and an odd look crossed her face.

"If you are the chief aboard your... Perseus, then these women are your... bedmates?" Luminia inquired. Shock rippled across the entire crew, as such a question caught them all off guard.

"No! No, no, no. They are not my bed mates; they are my crew. They help me fly the Perseus, making sure he flies correctly," Alex replied, as he hurried to clear things up. "Although...." he glanced over at Nats, eyes smoldering. Natalya saw the look and blushed. Valessa and Luminia caught the look as well and understood. Lumi relayed the translation to her mother as the rest of the crew introduced themselves. She was caught by surprise when Korsa introduced herself as the ships Doctor.

"You are a healer? Yet, you are also a warrior?" the Ahl'kanin woman asked in awe. "Such a thing is unknown to us."

"Among my people it is an uncommon thing, but not so uncommon. In my culture, there is no word for it. Although, in human culture, they have a term for those who are both warrior and healer," Korsa stated, gesturing to her human compatriots. "Such a warrior is called a 'Paladin'. They fight only when they must but spend much of their time healing the sick and injured."

"A title that... suits... you," Lumi said as she then turned to Valessa, talking to the assembled group. They directed more chatter at Luminia and she answered them, with a somber look on her face. She turned back to the Perseus crew, a hopeful look on her beautiful features.

"The assembled chiefs wish to know, if you will help us in rounding up and... making the prisoners... submit to them for judgment," Luminia asked. "We fear that some may be bold enough to fight back and we don't want to lose anyone else to these... savages. They do not fear us as they do you. You have mighty weapons that have cut down many of their greatest warriors. You, they fear."

"Understandable. And I agree, enough blood has been spilled today. Also, if it's permitted, we would like to help you out with a few other things," Captain Tomisic told the lemon eyed woman.

"How do you mean, 'Help us out'?"

"Commander Sunara informed me, that you brought every able-bodied woman with you to assist in the fight. Was there anyone else that was left behind?" the brawny man queried.

"Elders and young ones who shouldn't see such horrors. Why?" Lumi replied curiously.

"I believe that the good Captain is wondering if you'd like to retrieve them, now that the threat is dealt with. Am I correct sir or did I assume too much?" Inari asked, a slight tremor in her voice. Alex cocked an eyebrow at her then smiled.

"Exactly so."

"You would go and... retrieve those who have been left behind? Right now?" she asked with a tinge of awe in her voice.

"Yes, we would. They've been apart from their families long enough. It's past time they all came home," he replied kindly.

"If you were to do such a thing, then the Ahl'kanin would be in your debt," Lumi replied graciously.

"Commander Sunara, you fly and take both Taal'ani and Luminia with you. You will need her assistance in communicating," Alex ordered. Snapping a crisp salute, Inari turned towards the landed Hermes, heading down to the ship.

"You want me to go on your... ship??" Luminia asked surprisingly.

"Provided your mother would allow it. It would make things easier in coaxing your people to get aboard, so they can come home," Alex explained. The blue-skinned woman nodded thoughtfully as the logic made perfect sense. As she turned to Valessa and spoke in their own language, Alex couldn't help but get a good look at the alien women.

Valessa was everything that her daughter was, but fuller, riper, more mature. She stood at six-foot-one while Lumi was shorter at five-ten, with larger and fuller tits, easily an EE cup, at least two sizes bigger than her daughter. Her legs were slightly longer, and her hips were wider, looking at about forty-nine inches around, making Luminia look like a girl in comparison at forty-one inches. They were both well muscled and well proportioned and Alex couldn't help but think to himself that Valessa's husband was one lucky bastard.

Luminia was gesturing to the ship and the women who were boarding it. Both Inari and Taal'ani were trying to at least, as they were pressing their way through a throng of Ahl'kanin, who were goggling at them in wonder. Some of the children and teens surrounded them, with hero worship in their eyes. Once the intent was made clear, Valessa called out again, and her people parted, so the ladies could get aboard. Lumina stepped in front of Alex and addressed him directly.

"My mother wishes every prisoner brought here to the base of this... hill. This place where we stand is where we bring everyone to either honor them...or condemn them. They are to be brought in alive, but if they resist...persuade them," Lumi explained with a slight quirk to her mouth. "Kill only if they try to kill anyone else."

Nodding, Alex hefted Yggdrasil, chuckling and walking towards the crowd. He clapped his helmet back on and locked it in place. The man then gestured for the remaining women who stayed behind to follow along, which they did. Each one of them cocked their weapons and locked their armor up, embracing their fearsome personas from the battle.

If Alex hadn't doffed his helmet for the Ahl'kanin earlier, they would have been afraid to go near him. Now he walked among them as one of their own, as he was led to the remaining Yahk'shurt prisoners. Several warriors took up a deferential stance behind Alex and his crew, almost like an honor guard. As they approached, the areas where the Yahk'shurt were being held, he activated his axe again. It created a rudimentary torch but also it helped amplify their appearance as warriors not to be crossed.

Those who had surrendered were on their knees as the victors took turns taunting them. Several young bucks got into the Yahk'shurt's faces, until the captain and his escort arrived. The arrival of a man encased in mechanized armor, carrying a flaming battle axe was more than enough to have the cocky young men back away. Some even had the good sense to look chagrined as Alex stared at them before turning to the defeated warriors.

"Up!" Alex stated as he also gestured to the first group of men that knelt. For a moment they were unsure of what to do until Alex repeated himself and the gesture. They looked at him, unsure if he was there to kill them right there. Alex then stepped sideways and pointed. Understanding came to them and they nodded grimly, standing up slowly, before following their captors.

Alex brought up the rear, to discourage any of the men from the thought of fleeing. The ladies also took up escort positions, keeping an eye on the sullen lot. The mechanized armor they all wore, whirring and crunching into the snow, was enough to keep them in line. Yggdrasil, lit up as it was, kept their pace brisk. They wished to be away from such a fearsome weapon and its wielder.

They had brought up the first group of prisoners to the base of the hill, handing them off to the custody of the bodyguards. The men and women of the Ahl'kanin's elite warriors had them all kneel, before Alex and his group turned away to fetch another group. As they were on the way, the escort group heard the thrumming of the Hermes engines powering up. Maybe three minutes later, the thrumming had grown to a roar, and the ship was soon airborne.

Alex watched it fly upwards, then head off in a northwestern direction, directly for that ice fortress. He shook his head to himself as he mused about how strong and capable these women were. Anyone lesser would have been beaten down or refused to fight back as was the case in such situations. He knew that these women who had woken both him and Kasumi from cryo sleep would formidable adversaries to anyone they considered an enemy. He was just really glad they were on his side.

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

It felt good to behind the controls of a ship again. Inari's hand danced around the console as she guided the Hermes toward their former prison. The sky this time was blessedly calm, with a very slight wind blowing outside the hull. The overall speed of the dropship though was amazing! Its overall flight speed was comparable to that of the Darkstrider and its design was at least six-hundred years old!

She would have a proper look at their ship building databanks. Mainly, hoping to find anything pertinent to upgrades she could sink into the Darkstrider. If the Perseus' foundry was as extensive as she had hoped, this would be the perfect time to get all those upgrades they didn't have the money for! The churnings of her mind were interrupted by Lumi crying out and pointing.

Luminia had been enthralled about the fact they were so high in the air yet passing by the entire landscape they had run across in the blink of an eye. Seeing the windows on the side of the craft had made her deathly afraid of going near them. That was until Talon had shown her that the windows were completely solid and not going to break. She had then stared out the window as it was likely the most wondrous thing she had ever seen. Lumi was now pointing out the window, crying out loudly.

"There's something moving down there!"

Taal'ani walked over to the window and peered out. Indeed, there was something out there moving, but it was doing so at a much slower pace than they were. The moonlight had bathed the land in an icy glow, making the surface look almost ethereal. The figures in question were bipedal and moving at a quick pace, almost as though they were running. The direction they were running was the same as the Hermes, putting a slight chill in Taal'ani's spine.

"Cap, you might want to crank it up a bit! Those... Yahk'shurt... who got away, they're headed in the same direction!" the cat girl warned. In response, both women could feel the engines throttling up, increasing their speed.

"Those moving things down there, they are what remains of the Yahk'shurt clan?" Luminia asked.

"I believe so. They are moving in the same direction we are, though much slower. At the pace they're running, they'll be back at the fortress by morning. Imagine what they'd do to everyone we freed, since they have been brought low so badly," Talon explained. Luminia shuddered at the thought of what those men would do if they got to the fortress first.

"Are we... flying faster?" the blue-skinned woman queried.

"Cap?"

"I have increased our speed by more than double. We should be arriving in about three minutes," Inari called out from the cockpit.

"Three... minutes?" Luminia asked. "What is this...'minutes' that Inari speaks of?"

"It is a measure of time passing, it is how we keep a record of time as it passes us by," Taal'ani said. She then launched into a basic explanation of standard galactic time and how it was literally how all the races of the galaxy recorded time. Just as Talon finished her explanation, another call out came from Inari, over the loudspeaker this time.

"You ladies might want to hold on to something. We're coming up on the fortress now and I'm heading to a plateau like space near the uppermost levels," Starwitch's voice came out. Their speed had slowed and the thrusters pitch wound down as Inari brought them in for a soft landing. A slight vertical jolt was their sign that they had managed a safe landing.

"Hitting the lights, just so we can see if anyone is out there and so they can see us," Inari stated, just before the rear hatch opened. Both Luminia and Talon stepped down the wide ramp, down to the well-lit area that reached all the way to spires of the fortifications. The lights on the Hermes were quite bright, bright enough to fully illuminate the entryway from the plateau.

In the archway, stood a small group of figures, some of them holding torches. They seemed a frightful lot and had every right to be as none of them had seen such a machine in flight. Or ever for that matter. Luminia walked forwards, shadowed by Talon and called out in her language. There a small murmur amongst the gathered people, almost as though they couldn't fully recognize Lumi.

Just then, a small girl burst out from behind the assembled throng, running full tilt to Lumi. The elder ones called out to her, imploring her to come back, but she didn't listen. As she reached Luminia, she wrapped her up in a full on hug and chattered at the woman. Lumi responded enthusiastically and gestured behind her to both Taal'ani and the Hermes. The little girl's eyes were wide with wonder as she detangled herself from her friend and walked up to the ship.

The others who had assembled in the doorway had shuffled forward, some of them leery of approaching. Once they saw that it was Luminia, they came forward more readily. Their eyes were also boggling out of their heads as they were similarly in awe of the ship that Lumi had traveled in. Some of them had spoken to Luminia in their tongue, seeking answers of her.

Talon picked up some stares from several of the people standing there. The women who were pregnant gave her appraising stares and looks as though trying to see if they measured up to such an exotic woman. The men however, leered at the cat girl with unconcealed interest, the thoughts in their heads plain as day on their faces.

Such looks though, earned stern words from some of the women and a couple of smacks upside the head. Taal'ani giggled at that last, figuring that was what they deserved for being so obvious about it. She then approached Lumi and had a quick word with her about their time frame.

"Luminia, I know that they all want to know what this and what is happening, but I think we should let them know that trouble is coming," Talon urged after taking the woman aside.

Shock flitted across the Ahl'kanin woman's face, as she had forgotten all about what she had seen on the way. Turning back to the former prisoners, Luminia explained that the remnant of the Yahk'shurt were on their way back. Also, that they would likely be far less kind than they had been, before they had left for battle. That sobered up everyone in right hurry and they all agreed that it was time to leave.

"Wait a second," Inari said as she also came down the ramp and spoke to both Lumi and Talon. "Since we're here, we might as well clean the place out of any weapons, clothing and supplies we can carry. I mean, we don't exactly want to make it easy for these bastards to rebuild, do we?"

"Now that's something that is a truly great idea!" Luminia said, smiling in an open-mouthed fashion. She then relayed that idea to the group of people that were there, and they were all nodding in assent. With that, Lumi had the people disperse back inside to grab whatever food, weapons and clothing they could fit onto the dropship.

"Luminia, you and Talon go with them, but have the children come aboard. Don't want any of them getting lost in there," Inari ordered.

"Understood... cap," Lumi smirked. She the directed the children to board the ship and that the rest of the adults would be along in a few minutes. The kids didn't need much convincing as they wanted desperately to look around inside. Lumi included a stern warning for them not to touch anything onboard. They could look as much as they wanted, but they weren't to touch anything.

Nodding vigorously, the children quickly got aboard while Inari followed them up before taking position by the ramp. She watched the remaining people go inside, led by Luminia with Taal'ani bringing up the rear. As she waited, Inari speculated just how much in the manner of supplies and such that they'd be loading up into the ship.

The older children were playing small games, trying to keep the youngest of them occupied. Others simply wandered around but minding the warning to not touch anything. They ambled about, eyes blinking rapidly as they took in their surroundings. So much of what they knew was changing at a rapid pace. Inari was sure that their little minds were trying to comprehend the idea of a ship. The very thought of a machine that could fly and get you anywhere faster than walking or running, must have been beyond what some of them could imagine.

As she mused, the same girl who had ran to hug Lumi had worked up the courage to come to her. She looked at the older woman with such a fascination, it almost seemed like pure awe. The girl talked in her language, but Inari didn't understand a word of it. The girl stopped when she saw the confusion that apparent on Inari's face. The girl looked a little crestfallen and looked back to where the group had gone.

It was clear to the human woman that the girl hoped that Lumi would be back soon so that they could establish a line of communication. She looked back to the girl, and an idea came to mind. Waving her hands, she caught the girl's attention, having her focus on the taller woman. With all four eyes trained on her, Inari then communicated.

"Inari," she said, placing her hand over her chest to indicate who she was.

"Inari?" the girl questioned, saying the name back perfectly. Nodding Inari repeated the motion again, to ensure that the girl understood it. Inari the gestured to the girl, indicating that she should do the same. She looked up confusion for a moment before realizing what she was supposed to do.

"Tahreena," the girl replied, placing her hand on her chest as Inari had done.