The truck rocked along the road back to Discovery as they cleared the forest and entered the coast with the endless ocean stretching out to their left. Octavia didn’t pay attention to where the road went - she was far too lost inside of the depth of her own mind to be able to pay attention to a mundane task like driving. As soon as she had gotten into the truck she had sent the autopilot order through her neurolink, then sat back in her seat to stare out of her window in silence.

With her helmet on her lap, she idly fiddled with the nanoweave plume, knotting the threads between her fingers in silence as she stared at the waves crashing against the coast. She was dimly aware of the sound of conversation in the bed of the truck, but she was too focused on replaying the assault on the camp over and over in her mind. While Octavia had known what she was in for, she hadn’t known that it would be so difficult to pretend she didn’t care. A brief glance into the mirror eased her anxiety as she confirmed that Lavender was still sitting in the bed of the truck with her remaining arm handcuffed to one of the guardrails.

“Hey,” Mack began, her eager voice cutting obliviously through the awkward silence, “That was easily the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“It didn’t feel too cool,” Octavia replied quietly, her eyes remaining locked on the coast, “Killing them shouldn’t have been so easy.”

“Killing? Wha-” Mack suddenly paused as she let out a cry of realization, “Oh! You meant the assault itself! No, no, I meant the way you stood up to Zuur!” she exclaimed enthusiastically, “That was badass!”

Octavia couldn’t help but blink in surprise as she turned her head to regard Mackenzie in curious silence. The human didn’t pause, her hands rising as she began to emote with them as she spoke at a mile a minute.

“I mean sure I’ve seen the Lieutenant go toe-to-toe with it before, but the Lieutenant is the Lieutenant! I mean, he’s literally made of rocks,” she rambled, a grin overtaking her features as she continued, “But you! You’re barely a quarter of Zuur’s size and maybe an eighth of its weight? And you just fucken put your arm in its mouth like it was nothing!”

“That wasn’t really me,” Octavia admitted awkwardly, glancing down at her reflection in the visor of her helmet as she fell into silence.

“What do you mean it wasn’t you? It looked like you to me!” Mackenzie exclaimed excitedly, “Like, there wasn’t even a pause! You just spun around that bot and stuck your arm out like you didn’t even understand what fear was! And that sword, man, I didn’t even see you draw it you were so quick! And I like to think I’m pretty perceptive, I’m a pilot after all!”

One of Octavia’s ears twitched in response to the enthusiastic rambling, the loud voice in the enclosed cab bringing short lances of pain to her sensitive ears. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the human’s enthusiasm, despite the prickling of pain in her ears. Holding up one of her hands pleadingly she whispered, “Quiet, please. Loud voice, small space,” she insisted, gesturing to her ears for emphasis before letting her hand drop.

“Oh, sorry,” Mackenzie replied quickly, covering her mouth with her hands for a moment as her eyes went wide, “I can’t help it, that was just so cool! I’ve never seen anything like it,” she admitted as she lowered her hands to reveal a grin that stretched from ear-to-ear.

Feeling her resistance waver at Mackenzie’s obvious enthusiasm, Octavia gave a soft sigh as she deflated and finally offered a small smile, “Well, as I said, it wasn’t me. It’s my combat interface,” she explained as she tilted her head away from Mackenzie to show off the exposed portion of her neurolink by her temple, “My neurolink is a lot more complex than most amaranthians, so it can handle those sorts of programs.”

Mackenzie’s eyes widened to the size of saucers as she eagerly leaned in, planting her hands on the seat edge so she didn’t topple forward, “Woah,” she muttered in response, eyeing the exposed port with unwavering fascination, “So, like… you’re almost part killbot is what you’re saying?”

Octavia scoffed at the remark and shook her head briefly, “That’s kind of insensitive,” she rebuffed, shooting Mackenzie a pointed glance.

“Sorry,” Mackenzie replied awkwardly, shying away from Octavia as she stammered for a response, “I didn’t mean anything by it, I’ve just never met a Guardian before,” she admitted as her pale cheeks shifted into an embarrassing red hue.

Searching the human’s features for a moment in silence, Octavia sighed quietly as she found no signs of malice in her expression. Her frown softening, Octavia turned her head to reveal the port in her temple once again, “It’s alright,” she said softly, “The programming is instinctive; with how integral the neurolink is to an amaranthian brain, it can activate and deactivate on its own based purely on our natural fight or flight response.”

“So you don’t really think about it? You get an adrenaline rush and the programming takes over?” Mackenzie asked curiously as one of her eyebrows raised in a display of interest.

“More-or-less. But with our secondary skeleton and warfare implants, that fight or flight response can turn us into killbots if we aren’t careful. Panic at the wrong moment and you’re looking at a court-martial for friendly fire,” Octavia explained with a humourless smirk.

“You don’t control it at all?” Mackenzie asked in surprise.

“That’s what Guardian training is,” Octavia replied with a small shrug, “It’s not teaching us how to be better fighters, it’s teaching us how to control our programming.”

Leaning forward once again with barely contained glee in her eyes, Mackenzie leaned close enough to the side of Octavia’s head that she could hear the human’s breath loud enough to make her ear twitch. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as Mackenzie raised a hand slowly, pausing in mid-air as she suddenly considered something. After a moment she asked quietly, “Can I?”

Hesitant but not seeing the harm in it, Octavia relented and gave a small nod, keeping her head turned to the side for Mackenzie’s curiosity.

The human’s hand immediately crossed the rest of the distance to gently touch the exposed cybernetics, sending a web of tingling through Octavia’s skull and down her spine. She winced at the touch, causing Mackenzie to immediately draw her hand back in concern. When Octavia didn’t say anything, the human hesitantly reached out once again and touched the cybernetics with much more care and caution, easing her thumb across the smooth metallic surface with a look of wonder.

“So this is where your DI is?” Mackenzie asked in a quiet tone bordering on reverence, her thumb trailing across the exposed port as she took in the details with wonder.

“Technically, yes,” Octavia replied, “But it’s not so much a border line as it is a zone. Vi and I are a package deal, so there’s no significant distinction between where the neurolink ends and where my brain begins. She’s sort of everywhere.”

“That’s really cool,” Mackenzie remarked in a stunned voice as her thumb continued its slow journey. She trailed her digit up to the edge of the cybernetics where metal met flesh and she gently thumbed the border. The human froze in surprise when her thumb touched the sandy, coarse fur of Octavia’s head and she whispered, “Woah…”

“What?” Octavia asked curiously as her ear tilted towards Mackenzie.

“I didn’t expect your fur to be coarse,” Mackenzie admitted in quiet wonderment, her thumb trailing directly off of the cybernetic implant to parse through the fur on the side of Octavia’s head.

“Desert evolution,” Octavia replied with a smirk, “No need for soft fur when the air around you is forty degrees in the shade.”

“No kidding,” Mackenzie replied in awe. She thumbed through Octavia’s fur for a moment longer before she suddenly paused and cleared her throat as she retreated, offering an awkward grin, “Sorry, getting carried away,” she hastily defended as she sat back in her seat.

Turning her head towards the human, Octavia offered a small smile in response, amused as she caught sight of the distinct red blush on Mackenzie’s cheeks. Giving a small shrug, Octavia replied, “It’s okay, I get it. I still can’t believe humans have such smooth skin,” she admitted with an awkward chuckle.

“Well, maybe I can give you some hands-on experience when we get back to the cruiser,” Mackenzie offered as her blush reached its crux, a surprisingly coy look settling on her expression.

Caught off-guard by the sudden proposition, Octavia stammered for a moment as her own cheeks lit up as blood began to fill them, the skin beneath her sandy fur turning red. Despite her embarrassment, she somehow managed to croak an awkward, “I’d like that,” as she offered a lopsided smile towards the human.

“Ey, you’ve got game, foxy!” Jace’s abrasive voice suddenly pierced the atmosphere, cutting through the chemistry like a knife as he poked his head through the window between the cab and the bed of the truck.

“Gah, fuck!” Octavia exclaimed in uncontained surprise, jumping in her seat as her hand made it all the way to the pistol at her hip before she wrestled control of her impulse. Heart pounding in her chest and wide-eyed, Octavia whipped her head towards the window and glared, “Jace!” she squealed in irritated disbelief.

“Cock-blocker!” Vita screamed from the back of Octavia’s mind, her embarrassed rage bleeding through their connection and mixing with Octavia’s own emotional cocktail.

“Guys, check! Mack’s a fucking furry!” Jace exclaimed with a teasing bout of laughter as he pulled away from the window and pointed into the cabin, laughing mockingly as his body lurched with full-bodied heaves of laughter.

“Jace, come on, don’t be a dick,” Alex chastised, rolling her eyes despite the wide grin plastered on her face, “You chase after anything that moves, you have no right to tease Mack for chasing tail.”

“Literal tail,” Jace remarked, his laughter unrelenting as he shook his head, “But hey, as far as all the ass Mack’s chased, foxy ain’t that bad! Never seen anyone but the big man take on Zuur like that.”

“Shut up, Jace,” Octavia snapped in irritation, rolling her eyes at the interruption as the red tinge bled from her cheeks.

“Yeah, shut up, Jace!” Mackenzie replied indignantly, shifting in her seat to sit back so she could stick her face through the window, “You’re just jealous because ‘foxy’ is more badass than you,” she teased, sticking her tongue out childishly for emphasis.

“Still not a fox,” Octavia grumbled as she shifted in her seat to better speak with the people in the back.

“Sorry, babe,” Mackenzie remarked quickly, turning her head to offer Octavia an apologetic smile before looking back through the window.

“Hey, I’d be a badass if I were half-robot too,” Jace dismissed with a wave of his hand.

“Nah, you’d still be the same dumbass,” Alex remarked playfully, reaching across the bed to punch Jace in the shoulder with her prosthetic.

“Hey! Keep punching me with that thing and I’ll take a screwdriver to it, ironhand,” Jace remarked with an indignant huff, trying in vain to shove Alex’s hand away much to her amusement.

“You wouldn’t even know which screwdriver you’d need,” Alex barked with a laugh, adding her hands to the mix as she and Jace began to shove each other’s hands away in a playful competition.

“Five-point,” Octavia remarked with a smirk, “And you’d need a magnetic coupler to detach it from the bone.”

“Why are you helping him?” Alex exclaimed with an indignant cry.

“Ey, I knew foxy was good for something!” Jace cried joyously with a laugh, “Now I know your secrets!” he exclaimed as he dove across the bed towards Alex. The pair devolved into a delirious cry of laughter and squeals as they tickled, poked and prodded one another, causing the entire back half of the truck to rock with their fighting.

“Quiet down, back there!” B’roka barked as he leaned over the edge of the bed, peeking in at the two humans play fighting, “Don’t make me pull you apart.”

Alex and Jace devolved into a fit of laughter as they broke apart, sitting at the bottom of the truck bed as they caught their breaths between fits of giggles. Leaning against the opposite walls of the truck bed neither one of them could stop laughing at one another, despite having broken apart. With the two other humans occupied, Mackenzie gave a short bark of laughter as she shook her head and retreated from the window, sitting back in her seat as she gazed across the cab to offer Octavia a genuinely warm smile.

Feeling a warmth in her chest at the display, Octavia couldn’t help but return the smile to Mackenzie, her gaze flicking back to the bed of the truck in amusement. While she wasn’t happy with how the camp assault had gone, she was glad that their actions ensured that no one in the truck had gotten hurt. As much as she had mixed feelings about the Federation squad, she had to admit that she thought of them all as good people. Her gaze settled forward on the road, her smile lingering on her lips as the truck drove them the rest of the way into the city.

After parking the truck outside of the planetary administration complex, Octavia dismounted with the rest of the squad and personally unshackled Lavender from the back of the truck. Keeping one hand firmly on the attendant’s healthy shoulder, Octavia led the way up the steps of the building, making her way into the ornate digitecture of the front hall with Vita’s purple figure walking alongside them. The rest of the team followed close behind, save for Zuur who remained in the bed of the truck.

Upon entering the entry hall, several uniformed Enforcers noticed their approach and crossed the hall to meet them halfway. The closest one, a chocolate brown male, came to a stop directly in front of Octavia and raised his fist to his temple in a salute.

“Guardian Tiberius! It is an honour to serve you,” he snapped off formally.

“Enforcer,” Octavia replied with a polite nod, her voice filtering mechanically through her helmet as she spoke, “This attendant is a prisoner of the Amaranthian Empire. Please escort her to the holding cells and have her wounds tended to,” she instructed as she urged Lavender forward at arm’s length.

“Of course, ma’am,” he replied sharply, taking a hold of Lavender’s upper arm with a gentle grip, “Duchess Numerius is waiting for you in her office, she’ll take you immediately.”

“Thank you,” Octavia bid politely. She let go of Lavender’s shoulder and watched as the cluster of Enforcers led her out of the entry hall and into a side passage where they disappeared around a corner. Glancing over her shoulder she gestured wordlessly for the squad to follow her before she turned and made her way off to the staircase.

Making their way up to the office, Octavia didn’t pause at the door this time, instead opening it and stepping directly inside without hesitation. The Duchess was sitting behind her desk once again, pouring over a datapad with furrowed brows. When the team entered the room she glanced up from her work and her expression shifted into relief.

“Oh, thank the Laws,” Duchess Numerius breathed as she stood up, “Were you successful?” she asked immediately, her eyes locked on Octavia’s visored face.

“Yes, ma’am,” Octavia replied positively, crossing the room to stand opposite the desk from the Duchess, “You won’t be having supply issues any longer, the rogue AIs were neutralized and their shuttle is loaded up with all of the stolen goods. You should be able to send a pilot and retrieve the iron for your own uses,” she explained. As she did, she reached through her neurolink, grasping onto the ethereal tether of Aurelia’s connection.

As they connected, the world slowed down to a crawl around them, save for the two holographic amaranthians still occupying the room. Vita and Arcturus turned their digital heads towards Octavia and Aurellia, curiosity pausing whatever they had been talking about. As the connection stabilized, Octavia compiled and sent off her sensory input for the day’s events in a file.

“This is everything that has occurred today,” Octavia remarked to the Duchess as she sent off the file, “The prisoner is downstairs, Enforcers have taken her away to guarantee her safety and nurse her back to health.”

“Every life saved,” Aurelia replied, her voice echoing faintly in the digital space, “Was she the only survivor?”

“Unfortunately,” Octavia admitted, her digital voice tainted with regret.

“You did everything you could, Guardian Tiberius. Saving one life is better than none.”

“It does little to ease my heart. So much death, I only hope that it’s worth it.”

“Only time will tell,” the Duchess remarked quietly. There was a brief pause before she continued, “I will personally ensure that the attendant you saved is repaired and given sanctuary within the Empire. You have my gratitude for resolving this situation as smoothly as possible.”

“As you have mine for ensuring Lavender’s safety,” Octavia replied politely. Satisfied that the situation had been wrapped up succinctly, Octavia terminated the connection and watched as her perception warped and caught up with reality, dropping back into the natural progression of time.

“Thank you for your efficiency, Guardian Tiberius. I will send a team to pick up the shuttle and sweep the area for anything else of value,” Duchess Numerius replied politely with a small nod, “And of course, I would like to extend my thanks to the Federation for their swift response. You saved a lot of lives through your timely intervention, Lieutenant.”

“Thanks are not necessary, Duchess Numeria,” B’roka remarked with a small dismissive gesture, “The Startide Federation stands resolute in the face of the machine menace. If you call for aid, we will respond,” he declared proudly, his stance straightening slightly as he leaned into the Federation jargon.

“Of that I am certain,” Aurellia replied, her features shifting into a measured smile, “Have you discovered the origins of the rogue elements?”

“Their shuttle was programmed with coordinates for one of the production floors in Destiny. There are two landing pads that they’ve used there - with that information we should be able to track them down with enough time to prevent the infestation from causing further damage to the city and surrounding systems,” B’roka replied, gesturing idly at waist-height, “Our next move is to rendezvous with the Scales of Justice, sublight across the system for a couple of days to the other star, then land on Destiny with another team to cover both landing pads.”

“A reasonable plan,” the Duchess replied with a nod, “In that case, I wish you the very best of luck. May the Laws favour your outcome,” she bid politely, bowing her head in respect as she did.

Octavia immediately mirrored the bow, bending halfway down her back as she responded in kind, “May the Laws favour your outcome.”

Standing straight, Octavia spared one last glance at the Duchess before she turned towards the team and gestured for them to leave, ushering them out of the office. Waving her hands insistently as she followed them out, she paused and looked over her shoulder, “Vi! Come on, we’re going!”

“Ugh, damnit,” Vita groaned, shaking her head as she pushed off of the far wall, “Alrighty. See you later, Arc,” she remarked, holding out a fist towards her green companion.

“See you, Vi,” Arcturus responded with a grin, bumping his digital fist against hers, “Don’t forget to message me!” he insisted eagerly as Vita walked off to join Octavia.

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t,” Vita remarked with a dismissive wave of her hand. She paused in the doorway next to Octavia and nodded in the direction of the rest of the squad, “Shall we?”