The combat shuttle lurched and slowed as it descended through the cloudy haze that regularly floated in and around the island-like, floating structures that made up the Over Cities. During the trip I’d left the flying to my two pilots while I got fully kitted out in the armor. I stood waiting at the back of the cockpit, my fully mechanized body armor and every weapon I owned strapped to my body.

  As the skids of the assault craft touched down on the hard steel deck of the docking bay, my mind shifted to a calm combat focus. With the full capabilities of the nanites that lived in my body activated, I was ready for whatever trap awaited us. I pulled on my faceless helmet and saluted my friends as the holo display activated. A soft tap of a button on the wall panel beside me opened up the narrow emergency hatch that gave me just enough room to drop to the ground below the ship.

  After a fifteen-foot drop that was absorbed by my suit’s mechanical joints, I raised my pistols and began looking for any immediate threats. I slipped beneath the low-hanging belly of the ship when no major threats appeared. Scanning the area from behind one of the chunky metal struts of the landing gear, I leveled my sniper rifle at the meeting area. I breathed slowly and at a fixed rhythm, using the infrared scanner in my rifle’s scope and helmet’s camera to check for any other hidden threats.

  Only seeing the three people promised, I silently returned to the hatch and used the ladder to climb back up. A few deep breaths forced my mind from the ghost soldier I became during combat, to my arrogant public persona. I left my helmet and rifle behind on the ship as I lowered the main ramp and slowly walked down it. My hackles raised with every step as I forced myself to act like I saw the situation for the first time.

  Iska sat on a pallet of boxes near the other ship like he was out for a day at the beach instead of a covert exchange. I walked in that direction, constantly scoping out different places where shooters may be hiding and places that might offer me cover. Matching the tense and ready stances of the two guards, I stopped in front of the three gangsters. My hands rested on the grips of my pistols in their unlocked holsters as I stared down the two men while keeping my eye on the fake soldier they were guarding. Iska was the only person in the meeting that seemed relaxed as he tried to break the tension.

  “Tal, Dromir, stand down. He’s a friend and only armed because your older brother decided to open our first conversation with a Nameless Lieutenant at gunpoint. It would be better to take your hands off your weapons entirely. I’m sure he’d easily kill both of you before you even began to lift a finger. And that’s not even accounting for the two pilots he left on the assault craft that have the ship’s guns trained on you. They’ll kill all three of us even faster than he could.”

  The two guards stepped back and held up their arms high to be clear that they weren’t attempting to be threatening. When they had backed down, I did as well, closing the straps on my two primary pistols and hooking my fingers through my gun belt.

  “I apologize for the strong stance, but I wasn’t sure about your intentions. You’ve now made it clear that you’re a friend, so I’ll allow you to meet my pilots. They are two more veterans of the battle of the Crimson Orchard. They are two of the exiled gods that share the fate of every citizen of the Over Cities. May I present Uraura, Goddess of Justice, and Zoxjia, Goddess of Love?”

  Almost perfectly in sync, the two goddesses sauntered down the shuttle ramp. They did their best to show off their unnatural height and beauty with rifles lying across their arms. Reaching the base of the ramp, they removed their helmets and revealed their faces, causing the three men to drop to one knee. I tried to hide my annoyance at the ceremony that followed us everywhere I took these two, speaking loud enough for the goddesses to hear.

  “Please forgive their pomp. They’ve been away from the surface for quite a while and have grown anxious for more attention. They are amazing pilots, but divine ego can be a big downside. Now, shall we begin this exchange?”

  With a smile, Iska tossed me the security chip encoded with the key that allowed me to reset the biolocks of a ship before pointing to the bay next to where we had landed. I gave a quick knife hand gesture towards the three men and signaled my two pilots to wait there to ensure our hosts didn’t do anything stupid as I moved to the new ship. As I left the group behind and made my way carefully to the ship, I was still watching for traps that may be waiting.

  A hiss and blast of steam welcomed me as I approached. The ramp dropped slowly and casually to let me inside. I located the security screen near the inner door and held up the chip to the multispectral camera just above the screen. With a beep, the card registered, and a shimmering, partially translucent woman appeared beside him, speaking in a tinny voice.

  “Welcome to your new ship. I am SCS 1834764, the Ship’s Control System and security monitor. Would you like a full rundown of the ship’s details, or would you like to take care of the security acceptance and required ownership steps for now?”

  Fighting off the urge to groan at the flagrant unrestricted use of AI that had become common in the Over Cities, I tried to hide my annoyance as I gave her permission.

  “Thank you, let’s skip to the short version. There will be plenty of time for the full tour after we get home and after we get your pilots are designated. We must register quickly and take off because this location becomes unsafe.”

  To my surprise, the AI put one hand on her hip and cocked her head with an eyebrow raised in a gesture far too similar to the look I got from the women in my life that signified I had said something foolish.

  “Understood. May we start with a DNA and bio scan to register you as my owner?”

  Giving her a quick nod, I waited as multiple beams of light passed over me and got all of my baseline readings to register for future use. When she was done, the hologram spoke again.

  “Thank you, sir. I noticed that you are currently armored. Is this armor standard apparel for you, or are we currently in a combat zone?”

  I took a deep breath at the partial side track and tried to keep my patience with the machine that likely had not dealt with people often. I knew that this wasn’t her fault that she’d never been programmed to respond to potential combat situations, but we didn’t have time for all of this.

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  “We are not in an active combat zone, but the potential for combat is real. We need to do only what’s required and only that. After we get to our home pad, you will have a much better opportunity to get detailed answers and better scans of me and my team. Is that acceptable?”

  Seeming to visibly relax in front of me, the AI nodded and switched to the absolute basics.

  “Understood, sir. The three things we need to do now that I have your base bio scans are your name so that I may correctly refer to you and designations for myself and the ship. Once we have that, I can authorize the full flight package for you or any emergency pilots you authorized. Once you confirm it is safe, we will need to do a few more things, like defining secure areas of the ship and other security procedures.”

  Relieved that she was so willing to move this along to provide a quick escape, I picked the ship’s name tied to one of the shared sacred beasts of my tribe. Sure about the ship’s name, I studied the AI that appeared to be compiled from the figures of several beautiful celebrities, despite her monochromatic blue-green coloring. She was dressed in a skin-tight jumpsuit that resembled the uniforms worn by the few Echi that decided to move out into the dark infinity of space, away from the sanctity of their homeworld.

  “I’m designating you as Dream, and the ship will be called the Terrapin. My name is Everrune Shasagit. You can call me Everrune. Please begin prepping the ship for flight while I grab the last of my equipment and our two pilots.”

  With a broad smile and a nod of understanding, the AI disappeared. Systems began to spool audibly as she prepared the engines for flight. I quickly stored the chip in a secret compartment in my shin armor as I listened to the ship moving through the stages I expected to hear and jogged back to the awkward group waiting for me. As I made my way past the group, I told them what was happening.

  “Just grabbing a few things from the assault craft, and it is all yours. The other ship is working fine.”

  Moving quickly before anyone could ask questions, I made my way up the ramp and threw my rifle over my shoulder. After activating the repulsor lift on the small crate of grenades and ammo that I had brought in case this deal had gone wrong, I picked up my mat-black helmet that had been designed to not have any identifiable marking besides the paint slashes above the right brow.

  With my faceless helmet sitting on top of the crate, so the three men could see the three blue and single green claw-like slashes, I pushed it out to stop in front of them. Pulling the chip I had created for the assault craft out of my pocket, I tossed it to Iska as I spoke.

  “Sorry for the delay. I didn’t want to leave this stuff behind, but I didn’t want it just sitting out here. This will give you full access to the ship, and it’s the only copy. I didn’t do anything with it besides fly it to my landing pad, so anything wrong with it wasn’t me.”

  Instead of his normally disarming smile, Iska’s eyes were wide, and his face had gone pale as he stared at the stripes on my helmet. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft and had a slight tremble in it.

  “Thank you… I’m sorry for staring, but correct me if I’m wrong. You served with the Nameless for the standard three years and didn’t do a second round of service?”

  A wicked smirk stole across my lips at the question as I tried to make myself act casually and play off the quiet boast and threat that was being implied by my helmet.

  “That’s correct, Mr. Gezgeth. I served with them for a little over three years, ending with the battle of the Crimson Orchard.”

  Gulping softly, his eyes darted back and forth wildly, and his lips moved silently as he did the math before speaking.

  “If my information is correct, the blue stripes each represent one hundred kills, and the green streak represents over eighty kills during your time in service to the Nameless. So, you have been the direct cause of over three hundred and eighty peoples’ journeying to return to their ancestors below?”

  Glancing at Uraura as if I wasn’t sure, even though my equipment was programmed to keep the exact count to account of the deaths for when I returned to the ancestors to be judged for my works.

  “That’s correct for my time in the Nameless Legion. Since then, I’ve been forced to increase those numbers. With the attack a few days ago, the count is over four hundred and thirty. I wish that I didn’t have to know that number. Still, the oath I took to the gods and my ancestors requires me to report on every single one of my kills to the ancestors when I am finally called down to the paradise below.”

  The numbers struck the two guards like a lead hammer as they finally broke from their cold disinterest in this meeting. Pushing himself up off of the crate where he was once again sitting, Iska bowed deeply to the goddesses and me.

  “I must admit that I’ll sleep more soundly knowing that you’re in my city and protecting those I am a steward over. Between your ability to kill and the fact that you have the attention of two goddesses, it’s beyond my ability to understand the blessings you’ll bring to this city.”

  Turning his back to me as he recovered his composure, Iska changed the subject through the weak smile forced across his lips.

  “I’m looking forward to dinner tomorrow and to the future that will allow both of us to benefit and further help the people of this city. Enjoy the ship. I hope to see you around, out of your armor, and more relaxed. I’ll begin changing over the ship’s permissions. Still, we’ll wait until you are clear of the airspace over the hangar before we begin to spool the engines.”

  With a final bow, Iska led his two guards towards the assault craft, carefully keeping their hands clear of their weapons as they walked away. When they were halfway to their craft, I resumed pushing the crate toward the Teripine. I motioned for the two goddesses to follow.

  “You should know the ship has an AI called Dream. I think the creator may have used you two as some of the models, so don’t be surprised when she appears. I haven’t had her go through the systems and flight abilities with me yet, so we’ll do that after we get home. If you guys do the flight details, I will take care of the security settings and ensure you both have blanket approval.”

  As we walked up the ship’s ramp, Dream appeared just inside the cargo bay, her voice projected out of the ramp speakers.

  “Welcome back to the Teripine, Mr. Everrune. Are these the two pilots that you referred to earlier?”

  Pushing the crate past her to lock it into the closest cargo lock, I tried not to roll my eyes at the obvious question.

  “Dream, what would happen if I were to say no?”

  Before I could process what was happening, the ship’s auto-defense systems activated.

  Auto turrets dropped from the four corners of the cargo hold and swiveled to point at the two goddesses. Stepping in between one of the turrets and my two friends, I waved my hands as I spoke as clearly as I could

  “Woah! These are the two pilots I discussed, Lady Uraura and Lady Zoxjia. They are both of the Axves, so please ensure that you pay them the respect they deserve. I know you required bio scans from both of them, but we need to get moving so that process can wait until we get to our home.”

  To my surprise, Dream’s eyes widened as she bowed deeply to the two goddesses.

  “Understood, sir. I will take you to the cockpit if you follow me, my Divine Scions. All systems are online and reporting green, so we can leave as soon as you are all strapped in for launch.”