“Shuttle Flight CI45659, Fast drop to (Iradath Spaceport A) from (Iradathkin Station C) is now boarding at gate L89.” In an empty corner of the chaotic terminal, the draiker ialar wearing the scarlet and flame jacket of the Imperium’s Kidorlus rose to her feet. She slung the duffel bag over her shoulder and let out a very strange sound, something halfway between a caw and whistle. The three large black birds who’d been busy tumbling under and around her bench let out answering cries and flew to the ialar. Two landed on her shoulders and the third took the arm the ialar offered. The birds chattered happily with the ialar, running their beaks through her hair and staring at the sea of sapients from across the Imperium and beyond. Hulking canine-like carnaven threaded through the crowd even taller than their draiker overlords. Lizard-like rakath and willowy sidhe talked in clumps with squat heavy-worlder vzeon and avian halinwas. These hundreds of unique and different sapients were set against a backdrop of draikers in the thousands. The dominate species in this region of space, draikers were a tall species that favored a hunter’s grace to the willowy elegance that the equally tall sidhe favored. With skin tones of gold, silver and steel, a new visit may very well think them automatons wrote from precious metals and not the near ageless masters of a ten thousands stars. 36Please respect copyright.PENANAWs3t8NTrVN
The draiker ialar and her birds joined the steadily growing queue at L89 with barely a thought to the diversity of species around her. (Iradathkin Station C) was the largest civilian station orbiting Iraka, the capital of the Iradathkin Imperium and the younger of the twin homeworlds of the draiker species. Much like its sister in the Soudathkin Dominion, Iraka was the hub of power and commerce for trillions of sophonts and the beating heart of a vast interstellar empire. For the ialar and her birds, it was also home.36Please respect copyright.PENANAcslRpS07Im
“Please speak your name and show your face to the sensor,” The harried halinwas managing the gate queue said to the ialar.36Please respect copyright.PENANABxOEqGCRE4
“Lieutenant Kaewer Jirvaerka.” The ialar intoned, placing her face in front of the appointed sensor. The halinwas’ computer chimed pleasantly but the shuttle line staffer looked up sharply.36Please respect copyright.PENANAJ00767xIJs
“Ji-Jirvaerka?” The aviod squawked in surprise and Kaewer Jirvaerka favored the staffer with a grin.36Please respect copyright.PENANAIPc0vcwQ92
“Yes, I’m one of those Jirvaerkas but even I fly coach when the Navy is paying the bills. I believe my ticket says something about my friends,” Kaewer Jirvaerka shrugged her shoulders and the birds riding her all turned their attention on the staffer. The shuttleline staffer swallowed their next words and rechecked their computer screen.36Please respect copyright.PENANAvR4JS1EZR1
“Y-yes, vinialar.” Kaewer didn’t quite hide her wince at the honorific but the halinwas was too focused on her screen to notice. “You and your familiars have been reserved a row in the rear of the shuttle.”36Please respect copyright.PENANAoqIETdkIiq
“Wonderful. Thank you,” Kaewer gave the shuttle staffer a grin and walked through the gate. Alerted shuttle crew met her at the far end of the boarding tube and with more bowing and ‘vinialar’s than she would’ve preferred, Kaewer was lead to her seat at the very back of the medium-sized express shuttle. The row she’d convinced the Navy bean counters to purchase for her was tucked right against the aft bulkhead and granted modest leg room for the seven foot plus draiker ialar. Several passengers who’d boarded before her scowled as Kaewer settled in the middle of her empty row. Immediately the reason for her private space became apparent as the three ravens, two streaked with the iconic rust-coloured highlights of their species, tumbled off her shoulders and arm to begin exploring this new space. Rust ravens were a chronically curious species and Kaewer’s personal conspiracy always treated every shuttle as a new space to explore.36Please respect copyright.PENANA393bcIMhUO
“Stay in this row only or Kisanheital will hear about it.” The sounds that left Kaewer’s mouth were perfect imitation of raven’s own vocalizations. All three ravens paused in their excited explorations to regard her with their somber black eyes.36Please respect copyright.PENANAAcf7E3DTsQ
“Yes, Emerald Rust,” The raven to Kaewer’s left, who’d been exploring the seat and emergency restraints built into it agreed. To the other passengers, the ravens and their owner in the back were making a minor racket of bird noises but Kaewer heard each of her feathered friends as a distinct voice.36Please respect copyright.PENANAHMWxUClSJf
“Yes, Emerald Rust,” The other two birds agreed as they turned back to their explorations of the environment.36Please respect copyright.PENANA31oJZUieKU
“Pitch, this row doesn’t include going under the seats in front of me.” Kaewer warned as the raven who lacked any of his species’ rusting feathers wedged himself halfway under the seat in front of Kaewer. Grumbling quietly, for a raven, Kaewer’s constant companion extracted himself from under the seat and turned his attention to whatever was under the seat she was sitting on.36Please respect copyright.PENANAb8jjAFfVwA
“Busted,” The third raven laughed, the same harsh raucous sound that they shared with their cousins and plucked an abandon piece of tissue from the dark corner of the inner seat and shuttle wall. Kaewer chuckled but flicked a finger at the third raven. A light gust of wind ruffled his tail feathers and the bird turned a reproachful glare on his unfeathered flockmate. 36Please respect copyright.PENANApwwLd2xKpW
A soft chime in Kaewer’s inner ear brought her attention away from the birds. With a thought, she opened the notification that flashed in the upper left corner of her vision. chat program, in unobtrusive but perfectly contrasted colours, appeared in the air before her.36Please respect copyright.PENANAYsYYAdcBeF
Relia: Knock knock. How’s the trip? A small grin flitted across Kaewer’s face. It’d been a few days since she’d talked to Relia. Her best friend had been in the final stages of a tour during the last week and had been sporadic about responding. Kaewer replied at the speed of thought, pausing only long enough to read the message. Even a thousand years of thought-to-text programs hadn’t perfected the system’s heuristic learning and mistakes still happened.36Please respect copyright.PENANAye9Oyolk2R
Kaewer: Hey stranger. Just boarded the shuttle. Only a few more hours until I’m back on home soil!36Please respect copyright.PENANACTw0L3Agyp
Relia: Lucky. (Planet Name 1)is pretty but sand just doesn’t cut it for me. Kaewer glanced to her right to find Furigido tugging hard at some miscellaneous bit of cloth. With a grin she saved a freeze frame of her view and attaches it to her next message.36Please respect copyright.PENANAq8JkPMkwb9
Kaewer: Some people have no appreciation for resort worlds do they? Furigido send his regards.36Please respect copyright.PENANAUhCLyxZQ62
Relia: Listen not all of us are tougher than xinon Kidorlus. What a brat! I hope the Navy understands what kind of havoc you and three rust ravens can cause when given time to yourselves.36Please respect copyright.PENANAwYsW6yslAI
Kaewer: If they haven’t figured it out by now, I’d say it’s their own fault. Kaewer blinked her attention back to the shuttle as a chime sound.36Please respect copyright.PENANARG8ZQKxpJJ
“On behalf of the crew and (shuttleline), we would like to welcome you aboard Shuttle Flight CI45659, on fast drop to (Iradath Spaceport A). We’re supposed to have clear skies the whole way down but would like to remind everyone that IOTC regulations require everyone to remain seated and secured at all times as conditions may change.” Kaewer turned her attention back to the chat messenger hanging in the air before her as the crew began to discuss the safety features of the shuttle. If she had to rely on those features during a fast descent, very little besides the grace of the stars and luck itself would matter.36Please respect copyright.PENANAMyc4dXWv42
Relia: Fair point. So you have a ride from the spaceport?36Please respect copyright.PENANA6mzmSBWJzn
Kaewer: Nope, I’m taking the trams. I haven’t had a chance to really dig into a real city in at least five years. I’ll ping the Guard for a ride once I make the Palace district. Plus, unless mama spoiled it, I’ll get to surprise papa that way.36Please respect copyright.PENANAOAdywSietH
Relia: Hard to come for surprise leave with a mother whose the High Admiral eh? Kaewer chuckled while the shuttle shook around her.36Please respect copyright.PENANAYjPQc2OStG
Kaewer: As long as I travel at the Navy’s pleasure. Kaewer injected the barest sensation of an exasperated sigh into the message. On the other hand, I managed to snag a seat on an earlier flight and the way bureaucracy moves, I may just surprise both of them. Besides, if I was traveling as a civilian I’d have a compliment of the Guard with me and they report back to dad so… 36Please respect copyright.PENANAlWeNjpWOwu
Relia: Poor little Elder Family girl, it’s just no fun being you is it?36Please respect copyright.PENANAfZ8hQ0Tz3O
Kaewer: Tell you what, you can attend the next Sundering Day in my stead, then you can tell me how much fun it is being me.36Please respect copyright.PENANAdOq9LlZEtB
Relia: Is that a promise? 36Please respect copyright.PENANALKElEUhOQD
Kaewer: Ladishi, I forgot you enjoy those sorts of events. Tell you what, if you’re really nice to me. I’ll let you be my date this year. For old time’s sake. The lighting in the shuttle changed as it plunged into Iraka’s atmosphere. Plasma rippled along the craft’s energy shield as the blue jewel grew rapidly larger. 36Please respect copyright.PENANALLlapb3tCp
Relia: Kae…36Please respect copyright.PENANAa4aojsXNj5
Kaewer: I’m kidding, Rel. Mostly. I mean do you know how many “dear family friends” I’ve never heard of try to set me up with their children? Having you as my ‘date’ this year would save me a lot of heartache.36Please respect copyright.PENANA0xF2q6gX2W
Relia: I’m sure you can find a date for the largest party of the year. You’re a Jirvaerka after all.36Please respect copyright.PENANAm6FjJB68b6
Kaewer: Low blow! Also ew, I don’t want a groupie for a date. Regardless of whether you’re my date or not, let me know if you want to go. I can definitely swing you an invite. I am a Jirvaerka after all. 36Please respect copyright.PENANAhf72QDztZv
Relia: That’s fair. And I’ll consider it, hopefully my tour schedule works out because I’d love to see the Palace during Sundering again.36Please respect copyright.PENANAblxBH6rKFC
Relia: Have to run, somethings up on my end. Ping me when you make it home?36Please respect copyright.PENANAY8XrUEWajR
Kaewer: It has been a while. You better! It’s been too long since we’ve seen each in the flesh.36Please respect copyright.PENANAwqnENpAyXP
Kaewer: Will do, I’m sure the conspiracy will want to say hello. Kaewer gave Pitch a slight swat on the rear as she turned her attention back to her ravens and the shuttle around her. The all-black rust raven squawked indignantly at her but stopped trying to slowly yank the bit of cloth sticking through the seat gap in front of them.36Please respect copyright.PENANAbulJtMB8sA
“If you’re not going to behave, I guess I don’t get to take a nap,” she said, noting Imugemare was eating something as she watched the rest of the cabin’s interior with interest. Given that the pouch she kept raven snacks in wasn’t opened and fast drops didn’t do a refreshment service, Kaewer decided she didn’t want to know what the raven was eating. The boss of her current ‘detachment’ of ravens, Imugemare was normally the closest thing to a level-headed and responsible rust raven Kaewer had ever met. Unfortunately, despite what most people thought, Kaewer’s ‘familiars’ were still wild animals. Incredibly intelligent, borderline sapient wild animals but wild animals nonetheless. Even the most ‘responsible’ of them operated in a realm of completely different rules and acceptable behaviors. On the other hand, Kaewer’s feathered friends were a scavengers and nothing short of actual toxins or poisons upset their iron stomachs.36Please respect copyright.PENANAUTmLJqA3Zx
With a rattling shudder that jarred her teeth despite the inertial dampeners of the shuttle, her flight broke out of its plasma wave, dropping into the much safer speeds of hypersonic atmospheric flight. As the waves of fire roiled off the shuttle’s flaring shielding, the compartment’s walls transformed from the matte blandness of a shuttle interior into a pair of broad panoramic windows as incredibly high resolution screens shifted modes. Kaewer’s ravens let out shrieks of startled delight and crowded the wall at the end of her row, Imugemare and Furigido a bit more cautiously than Pitch. Pitch was Kaewer’s constant. An unrepentant prankster, he’d attached himself to Kaewer’s ‘detachment’ as soon as he was old enough and refused to let her go. Unlike every other bird in the greater Jirvaerka Conspiracy, Pitch had never tired of traveling with his unfeathered flockmate no matter how dangerous or crazy a deployment she faced. In return, she tended to spoil him a bit more than was proper. It also meant he was far more used to the oddities of the Imperium than their other flockmates.36Please respect copyright.PENANAL4qM46j6b6
In the falling dusk below and beyond, a billion lights twinkling from horizon to horizon as the capital city of the Irashian Imperium spread out below the shuttle. Monoliths rose to the heavens, the massive towers that made up the bulk of the city’s living space rising up over two hundred stories each. Hosts of shorter buildings huddled in the shadow of their looming cousins, casting their own lights into the darkness. Between it all, drove and flew the infinite rivers of Iradath’s traffic. Kaewer let out a sigh as she gazed over the vast madness of her home and the ravens crooned their agreement.36Please respect copyright.PENANA7aWmvCintB
Evergreen parks and graceful rivers flowers through Iradath, now tinted orange and pink in the failing light. Imperium architecture was modern, daring and visually striking but the city planners of Iradath worked hard to meld it with nature. Their efforts had resulted in two-hundred-story living parks that spiraled up along the sides of these towers and monoliths, splashes of a million different greens rising high above their normal homes. The parks transformed the city into a glowing forest towering thousands of feet over the surface. The city rolled on below as the shuttled rocketed by at hypersonic speeds, banking now and then to the directions of an air traffic controller. Suddenly, like the mark of the gods or the work of the stars, a near perfect eighty-mile diameter circle was punched from the sprawling urbanity. This aberration was barely glimpsed on the horizon before the shuttle curved away but Kaewer didn’t need to see it long to know what it was. The buildings would be low and ancient, the entire district a maze of lavish estates and low rise office towers. At the heart of the circle would lay the immense fortification of stone that was the Vinalmi’s Palace. That district was the core of Iradath and the pulsing heart and nerve-center of the entire Imperium and it,more than any other part of the crazy continent spanning megalopolis that shuttle was rocketing over, was her home.36Please respect copyright.PENANASewH8nG5eS
“This is the pilot speaking. We’ll be beginning final approach to (Iradath Spaceport A) in about ten minutes. On behalf of the crew and (shuttleline), I would like to take this moment to thank you for choosing us for you orbital needs and welcome you to Iraka.”