It took me a minute to climb up the ladder and collapse onto the deck of the Starchaser. I wasn’t wearing heavy oxygen tanks, or waterlogged clothing, it was just that my muscles were exhausted and I didn’t notice until I had to haul myself out of the water.

  When I collapsed on the deck, Skyler slipped up the ladder and stood over my prone form. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen you collapse out of exhaustion. You must really have worked hard today.”

  “I thought I was getting a second wind while we were talking to Thermal, but I barely made it up that ladder,” I moaned. “I’m going to be so sore tomorrow.”

  “Come on, get up, lying on the cold, hard ground definitely won’t help with that,” Skyler huffed before reaching down, grabbing hold of one of my arms, and hauling me to my feet.

  Even though I hadn’t seen the Starchaser’s guns fire in a while, the deck seemed rather busy. The dogs were running back and forth, checking on various instruments, making minor adjustments, and carrying ammo to and from the various guns. I found it staggering that Limelight managed to operate this massive ship with just two human crewmembers and a ton of dogs.

  After wrenching off my mask and attaching it to my belt, Skyler and I staggered back towards the ship’s bridge. Well, I staggered; she supported me.

  The door was open, but Skyler still knocked politely before we stepped inside. Phantasmagoria still stood at the bridge controls, casually inspecting a couple of different screens, occasionally adjusting one of the controls. Limelight was at the back, sitting on a small couch, a visibly wiped-out Ghost-Light in her lap.

  “Looks like you two made it okay. I’m sorry we had to leave you alone down there, unfortunately the only thing that really wakes Ghost-Light up from one of her rampages is a good old smack upside the head,” Limelight explained animatedly.

  The little mermaid shrank back a bit, her face red with embarrassment. “I-I am so sorry! I didn’t mean it! W-When I’m injured like that, I lose control and strike out at everyone around me. E-Except Emme.”

  “Mhmmm… which gives me just enough time to sweep in and give her a wallop!” Limelight added.

  “You scared the shit out of me when it happened. I thought you were going to kill me, but no harm done, I guess,” I replied wearily.

  That caused Ghost-Light to flinch back even more. She probably would have fallen right out of Limelight’s lap, if the larger girl hadn’t thrown an arm around her. “I-I’ve actually killed another samurai before while enraged. I-I didn’t mean it to happen, but it did.”

  Before I could even raise an eyebrow, Limelight chimed up. “The jackass deserved it though. Was a total fascist asshole!”

  “Well… that’s… something,” Skyler mumbled quietly. “Since we don’t know the circumstances, we don’t really have the right to judge you on that.”

  She took a deep breath, then stood up a little straighter. “We just wanted to stop by and say thank you for all your help today. I don’t think we would have been able to hold the line without you.”

  “No, thank you for showing up,” Phantasmagoria said, flipping a switch before turning to look at Skyler and me. “Even though Ghosty can be a real menace in the water, she would have had a real problem keeping the entire wall clear.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Well, I’m glad we could help,” I replied, leaning against the nearby bulkhead. “It was quite the experience, but I’m not sure it’s something I want to repeat anytime soon. I prefer to fight on solid ground, where I can take full advantage of my skills.”

  “Aquatic combat isn’t for everyone,” Limelight agreed. “Still, you two were the only ones to step up, thank you for that.”

  She gently moved Ghost-Light to the sofa next to her and stood up. “What’s next for you?”

  “We’re heading home to get some rest. As for after that? Who knows?” Skyler replied with a shrug. “It feels like the situation changes so quickly there’s no point in making plans. We’ll evaluate how things are going when we get up.”

  Limelight nodded. “Good plan. I’m guessing you’ll want your car then. I’ll have the crew retrieve it for you.”

  The girl gently brushed her red maid dress, working out the wrinkles, before heading over to a nearby console and grabbing a microphone off the wall. “Sandra, be a good girl and bring the car back up! Thanks, sweetie!”

  As soon as she hung up I heard a bunch of scampering out on deck. She then stepped over and offered her hand. “Your car should be ready by the time you get out there. Thanks for coming.”

  “Thanks for having us,” replied , taking the girl's hand.

  After they shook, I offered my own. “Keep in touch.”

  “Can do! I don’t know how much longer we’ll be in Vancouver, but I’ll have Achys forward my contact information to you. Call if you need anything.”

  “Stay safe,” Skyler chirped, as we turned and headed back on deck.

  There was a pair of dogs there working a giant winch on the deck, slowly raising our car out of the bowels of the ship. Skyler and I quickly stripped off everything but our wetsuits and neatly piled it all on the deck while we waited. It took a minute or two for the dogs to finish, and when they were done, they sat there, tails wagging.

  “Good doggos,” Skyler giggled, giving both dogs a good pet while I piled our equipment into the car, then packed Skyler’s drones into the trunk. Once I was done, I slipped into the car and waited for Skyler. It took her another minute or so, I guess she thought they were very good boys. By the time she slipped into the driver’s seat, I was already half asleep.

  “You look like you’ve had a hard day,” Skyler whispered, a mischievous grin on her face.

  “You know I have,” I yawned. “I don’t know why I’m feeling so wiped all of a sudden, but I feel like I could sleep for days.”

  “Well, you deserve it. I just sat there and directed my drones at different targets, while you zipped around protecting me like my knight in shining armor.”

  “Shining armor?” I scoffed, “I wish this wetsuit protected me that well. I wouldn’t have gotten bit back there.”

  Skyler glanced down at the tear in my suit, blushed slightly, and leaned in closer. “Maybe, but you look much better in the wetsuit.”

  I rolled my head and gave her a hard stare. “There’ll be none of that tonight, I’m too tired.”

  “Fine,” Skyler pouted as she put the car into gear. “I can wait until morning.”

  I snorted and slowly slumped down in my seat. The trip passed by extremely quickly; I must have dozed off for a couple of minutes because we were back home before I knew it. Even though I knew we should completely unpack our stuff, the only thing I grabbed out of the back was Rending Wave.

  Frowning at the splintered sheath, I made a note to replace it first thing in the morning. I was just too tired to do it now.

  As we moved from the garage into the apartment, I was surprised to find Lala sitting on the table right by the door, staring. “How long have you been there?” I asked the kitten, stroking her head lightly.

  The tiny creature just smashed her head into my hand and started purring. I tried to pull my hand back so I could put my sword away, but as soon as I did, Lala started complaining. With a sigh, I grabbed the sword with my other hand and carefully maneuvered it over the kitten, placing it into the stand while still scratching the tiny tyrant.

  Apparently Lala didn’t care how tired I was, because every time I attempted to pull away, she started throwing a fit. Finally, I just picked up the tiny kitten and carried her into the house, to Skyler’s amusement. Our other two cats were already asleep, only opening their eyes long enough to register that Skyler and I were home, before shutting their eyes again.

  That didn’t stop Skyler from stopping to give them both scritches as I moved on to the bedroom.

  I gently laid Lala down on the bed, to her great disappointment, as I shed the wetsuit. I considered leaving it there, in the middle of the floor, before stepping over to the bathroom and throwing it in the tub. It was such a small action, but it felt like such a monumental task considering how tired I was.

  Struggling to go back to bed, I collapsed into the fluffiness, pulling the blanket over my head. Lala scrambled over and immediately curled up on my chest. I raised a hand to pet her, but I’m not sure my hand ever made it before I lost consciousness, falling deep asleep.

  and gain access to my full backlog for all stories!

  Here's the link:

  server!

  Here's the link:

  Check out my Stories:

  Big thanks to all those people that review my draft, the chapters would be a lot rougher without your feedback!