It was dark. A purple shape kept on beating to a rhythm. Purple veins came out of and stretched all around Elinsys. The beating was getting louder and the shape became more and more clear.

It was a heart beating, now with a maddening tempo, louder and louder.

Its song became overpowering to Elinsys’ ears, it caused her pain. Great pain. With one final beat it stopped dead.

Elinsys woke up covered in sweat. Her back was sore and now hurt more than ever. She felt terrible all over, she was hungover.

The room was a mess. How much was due to her’s and Melora’s drunkenness yesterday and how much was due to her night terrors was hard to say. She was sure the blanket thrown over the TV was her fault.

Melora was sleeping on her belly, on the only bed in the room. She looked terrible. Better than Elinsys. Still terrible.

Elinsys got up as quietly as possible, and walked over to the bathroom.

The only obstacle in her way was a, as of yet unnoticed, but soon to be noticed and heard, coat on the floor.

The thump caused by Elinsys’ crash into a side table was enough to wake up a Turox, let alone a Navy Commodore. Melora might have been hungover, but she was used to it by now. Before Elinsys could even let out a word Melora was on her feet with her fists raised.

“Henera! Are we under attack by pirates? Roaches? ...Henera?” Melora stopped and took a longer look around the room.

“Did I trash a hotel room again?” She was muttering to herself. “Wait, I didn’t take my wallet. How did I pay!?!” Melora was starting to panic a bit.

Elinsys got up after a few seconds, her hangover transitioning into a whopper of a headache. “Melora, calm down, this is my room.”

“Eli, thank the Goddess. I was worried for a second I broke into someone's room. Again. Or crashed over at Nilni’s again.”

“Again? This is a common occurrence?” Elinsys was getting worried a bit. If she didn’t take Melora with her, would she make it to her room?

“Yes. Usually I am fine and can take care of myself when drunk, but sometimes...” She looked away in shame.

Elinsys didn’t really know what to say to Melora. She understood why she went over the line this time, but how many times could she do this?

“I will clean up the room and pack my things. Do I have anything here?” She said the last sentence much more quietly to herself.

“I will shower, don’t go anywhere. I need to ask you something.” Elinsys went into the bathroom and locked the door.

She looked into the mirror at herself. She looked tired and her makeup was a mess. Her hair was also a mess. The shower would cheer her up.

*

When Elinsys left the bathroom, the room was surprisingly clean. It wasn’t clean, by any means, but it was a start. The clothing was on the bed, the bed was made and Melora’s and Elinsys’ things were separated on their own little piles on the table.

“Feeling better?” Melora asked in a soft voice. Elinsys could swear she didn’t look hungover anymore.

“You look better. Well, less messy.” Elinsys picked up her phone from her pile of things. It was dead and required charging.

“Yes, I have experience with pretending not to be hungover.” Melora said with some pride in her voice. Elinsys wasn’t sure if she should feel it.

“I wanted to ask you… do you know why I was promoted to Major so quickly? And made an officer?”

Melora looked at Elinsys for a bit, then she sat down on the bed. “I have no idea. Maybe it is recognition? The military might favour the nobility, but anybody can rise up. There's another possibility, however. This one is not as pleasant. Someone might have wanted you to have the promotion. For their own purpose.” Now, that is a scary thought.

“I guess. I should find out soon.” Elinsys felt nervous again, she didn’t understand the intrigues of the nobility.

“Breakfast?” Melora asked, hunger in her eyes. She did only consume alcohol for the past twelve hours, maybe some bread.

“Yes, come on. They should still serve it.”

Elinsys and Melora left the room and headed downstairs to the restaurant. Luckily for them it was still serving breakfast.

The menu was very pricey for Elinsys, but Melora requested she pay.

The Nera eggs were delicious. They were spicy, but so sweet.

After breakfast, they made their way back to the room, but the receptionist stopped them.

“Excuse me, ma’am. Message for you just came in. And before it there was a young woman asking for you.” She handed over an envelope to Elinsys, a rarity these days.

They walked towards the elevators and waited for it to pick them up.

“The seal looks noble like, I can’t say I know to whom it belongs.” Melora was looking at the purple seal.

She was about to give her thought, but someone tackled her from behind.

“I know her! Leave me alone!” A young female voice screamed at the guards chasing her. Melora looked like she saw a ghost.

“Nilni? What are you doing here?” Melora asked Nilni, who was still hugging her.

“Well yo...” Nilni was grabbed by security guards.

“Let her go, guardswomen.” Elinsys said to the security.

The two guards let Nilni go and walked off, after apologizing to Melora and Elinsys for the trouble.

“Thank you, Elinsys.” Nilni said with a slight smile. “And you, Melora. Henera almost strangled a bodyguard before she told her with whom you left the party. Then she almost filled in my voice mail box.”

Nilni was very relaxed, despite talking to a Commodore and a Major. She and Melora must be on friendly terms, Elinsys thought to herself. And it seemed she didn't mind Nilni’s familiarity either.

They all entered the elevator and went into Elinsys’ room.

“Where are your things, Melora? Henrea told me to take you straight to her when I find you.” Nilni looked around the room.

“The smaller pile on the bed, I will buy you a drink. As repayment for Henera troubling you while on leave.”

“Oh no. You don’t drink anymore. At least not with me.” Nilni packed all of Melora’s stuff into a small bag and threw it over her shoulder. “Last time Henera kicked my door in. Literally.”

“Well Eli, tell me where you end up. Hope to see you soon.” Melora offered Elinsys her hand. Elinsys shook it and greeted them as they left.

When she was finally alone, her mind wandered towards the envelope.

It was still sealed with the purple seal, the envelope was black with gilt borders. Clearly expensive and made out of fine paper.

“Dear Major Elinsys, please come down to the Military offices for your new assignment. Your assigned clerk is Em’ira Shi. Please come between twelve and two.”

It was signed by two signatures. One was of Em’ira Shi and the other was from her superior.

Elinsys was confused by the expensive paper. The handwriting was beautiful, this wasn’t some regular document made to be thrown out.

She packed her things, made a final check of the room. It was much cleaner than earlier. Hoisting her heavy bag, she left her room.

After handing over the keys she stepped out of the hotel.

The noise from the city hit her all at once, it was a bustling metropolis teeming with life. Few towers reached for the sky, most buildings were wider rather than taller. As was standard for Shil’vati.

*

Elinsys made her way to the military offices. The building was surrounded by a square filled with statues of famous soldiers and generals. Next to it were other buildings, Interior offices and a few others. None were as grand as the building she would enter.

She had to go through a security check to enter the waiting room. The guard was confused when she said who she was meeting, but she quickly escorted her right to the door, knocked, and left Elinsys there.

The door opened to reveal a smaller Shil’vati woman. She was a bit on the older side, but not grey hair old. Comfortably middle age, she would call it.“Major Elinsys, I presume? Please ,come in.” She left the door open behind her. Elinsys entered and sat down on the chair. It was quite far from the desk.

When she sat down and put her bag on the ground she heard it. A click behind her. The door was locked.

Elinsys turned her head slowly to look behind her. There she saw, in the corner of her eyes, a dark figure with red eyes standing.

The woman must have been taller by a head than Elinsys. She wore medium armor. Her sidearm was on her hips, meanwhile, her rifle was cradled in her arms. In the corner stood a Shil’vati Commando.

Commandos were the top of the line, the cream of the cream. Nobody could fight as well as them. They served the Empress directly or her servants usually. Only a few most powerful nobles and important officers had a commando as an escort. Usually only one.

The woman left the room in a hurry by a back door. In her stead came another commando and a middle aged woman wearing a very fine suit.

“Excuse us for inviting you here under false pretenses, but it was necessary for the good of the Empire. I assure you.” She sounded what one would imagine a posh noble to sound like, but somehow more fabricated and deceiving.

Elinsys wanted to ask why she was here, she opened her mouth to speak. But her courage was gone when the commando behind the woman shook her head.

“What you did back home was incredible, I had much fun reading the reports. Tell me, how did you come up with such a vile method of murdering your enemies? Was it a dream? Maybe you experienced it yourself?”

Elinsys tried once again to speak, she was asked a question, but once again the commando shook her head.

“No matter, this meeting isn’t about your past exploits. It is about your future ones. A woman of talent such as yourself must not be wasted.”

Was she to speak now? A shook told her no.

“Imagine this, we place you on a planet and a rebellion breaks out. You do your magic and shut it down. After a few failed rebellions nobody would dare to oppose the Empress. At least on the planet or system you were in. You would become a Fist of the Empress.”

Elinsys had enough. She wanted to go home, get a desk job. Help heal the wounds she made. Not create more ruins. “I would prefer to go home, is there a desk job open there?”

The commando behind the woman looked worried.

“Home? Home. She wants to go home. She wants to go to the ruins she made and help rebuild them. Pay for her sins?” She let out a slight chuckle.

“There is no home for you anymore Elinsys. At least not now. If ever.”

The woman pulled out a file out of the desk drawer and threw it at Elinsys. It fell to the floor in front of Elinsys.

It was filled with documents and pictures. Pictures of nobles talking and wanted posters.

“There are so many people who want you dead. Relatives of the counts, soldiers, civilians, the rich, the poor. Anybody who feels you somehow betrayed them or crossed them, This is a very big file friend. Unusually big. Worryingly big.”

Elinsys stared at the file, it was big. Was she really so hated? She did deserve it, but this many people? She knew a con job when she saw it.

“Now, we could help with that. The nobility are fickle, and their memories are short. The civilians will forget by themselves. Especially if we block the information from spreading. We could always give you a new identity, if you need it.”

Elisnys considered her options. Going home just might get her killed, but she didn’t want to take any more innocent lives. Never again.

“Listen, ma’am. I appreciate the concern, truly. But I want to go home, I am tired. If I had to guess, you made this promotion happen. And I appreciate it, I do. But I had enough of killing civilians.”

The commando behind her put her hand on Elinsys’ shoulder.

“Listen, I get it. You are tired of killing. Well I have good news! You don’t have to. We do need you to take a bit of a… break from the public eye. Let the dust clear, as it were. For about two years while we make the cogs of forgetfulness spin.”

“And what would I do?” Elinsys was starting to sweat.

“You will go on a most grand adventure. To the uncharted horizons of far away space sectors. To explore and help spread the Empire’s wings. To discover new systems for us to claim in the name of the Empress. To...”

“Find new client species?”

“Well, if you find any...yes. But your main job would be leading a marine escort on one of the ships. To protect the crew from pirates and to help out the scientists.”

The offer did sound tempting, very tempting. Exploration was dangerous, but still safer than going home. And what use would she be dead? Is it not better to wait out the storm and then go home and help?

“And after those two years, we will see what happens. Maybe you get to go home, maybe you help us with further exploration. Maybe...”

“On which ship? And under whom?”

“Well… a science ship, we have yet to pick one. And a support ship with the supplies. And, of course, a proper military ship. Veneration will fill that role.”

Elinsys took a mental pause. Veneration. So she will serve under Melora?

“Oh, no.”

*

There, stood the mighty and proud Veneration, steered by the Vessina family for generations. It has fought in many battles and always came out on the other end. A shining beacon of strength and respectability. Its captains and crew members on the other hand...

By any measure, it was a beautiful ship. Its sides were covered with the painted sigils of the Vessina family. Not as many as of the Empire, and the Empress, of course. Large for a destroyer class ship, it was based on an ancient design, no longer in use by the modern Imperial Navy.

Elinsys was worried. She didn’t mind Melora’s antics, not too much. But to serve under the woman? She was worried. Henera and herself were technically equal now. Now, Henera did basically run the ship for Melora, but where would Elinsys fit in?

“Major Elinsys, good to see you again.” A marine approached her, it was Gelln. He was shorter than her, as most males were, but still tall for a male.

“Sergeant Gelln, nice to see you, too. How is the captain doing?”

“Captain Henera? She is well, better now that the Commodore Melora is back, safe and sound.”

“I am sure, and where is Lance Corporal Nilni? You two are usually together?” Elinsys didn’t want to presume anything, but they were always together when she saw Gelln.

“She is well, Captain Henera praised her for finding Commodore Melora so quickly. Why are you here, ma’am? And why do you have your bags packed?” Gelln slowly realized why Elinsys was here. “You’re joking.” His tone became informal, and there was a tiny bit of surprise in it.

“Mayor Elinsys reporting for duty under Commodore Melora. Sadly, no.” Elinsys whispered the last part. Gelln seemed to really care about the formalities. She would respect his wish.

“Commodore Melora and Captain Heneora. Major Elinsys is boarding.”