Chapter 33: Requiescence (Part 1)
[Lynzar, Capital gigalopolis of Targon]
Four days after Layla's medium-risk heist, Naiki returned to his core sectors and relaxes at the well-known bar overlooking the city. Electro swing plays in the background as he is chatting with the newly appointed guardian member and Araki.
"Still, we don't have that much time to relax here and it is rare for me to visit this side of the core planet. So, enjoy while you still can Shaun."
"Plus, you did not appear in any council meetings."
Shaun stays in silence after what Naiki just said to him.
"Emperor, I don't think I will be any use in the council. I mostly handle the training of all of the cybran regulars to be elites, nothing more than that." He reasoned with the emperor.
"Nah, It's fine. I will only summon you if there is something important."
Naiki tells his guardian, the rarely sighted head trainer of cybran elite force to relax a little. The stoic man looks at his emperor's face who is laughing a little while giving him a glass of beer, he closes his eyes and huffs a little while he looks at a large glass of beer; complying with Naiki's wish.
"As you wish…"
He chugs the large glass of beer in one go. As he finished it, the bartender applauds him with the nearby bar occupants. Araki finishes his cocktail.
"Naiki, where is your nine-tailed arctic fox? Don't you two always travel together?"
"Huh?" He takes a moment to think of what Araki mentioned.
"Oh, Vexis. She is trying some cuisines at a nearby restaurant since this core planet is celebrating the Argust light show."
Naiki has a good conversation with the two of them including Araki sharing where he came from. It is no surprise for him to presume Araki is from another time and universe since he knows some of them existed. Shaun listens closely while coming up with a way to train the cybran forces on how to handle them accordingly. The atmosphere of the bar soaks into the emperor; until someone disturbs it.
"Darling! Help me!" Vexis screamed out in psionic to Naiki.
"God, that was loud…" Naiki mutters.
"What's wrong Naiki?"
Araki questions him since he sees Naiki briefly close his right eye for a second. Naiki taps his finger at the counter whether to help Vexis or not. He shortly decided to help her since Vexis is close in proximity.
"My white furball needs me."
He answered in a deep tone while standing up from the floating cushion. Shaun that is taking another drink; nearly coughs out the drink in his mouth hearing that. Araki only gives a faint laugh. Naiki looks from the three-story building to where Vexis is. It surprises him that the restaurant Vexis was in; is crowded with people.
"Ah, shit…"
Seeing what have happened, Naiki immediately stormed out of the open window and landed on the ground. The large crowd numbering almost ten thousand sees him as they try to get into the restaurant.
"It's the Emperor!" Shouted one of the people that watches him.
"Your highness!"
The crowd changes their attention to him and swarms him.
"Your majesty is here; I can't believe it!"
Naiki steadily pats the people to give way for him. Some even wanted more attention from him as he enters the restaurant. He sees another group of people asking for Vexis's autograph and pictures with them. The mythical arctic fox just hunkers down and is unable to handle the situation well.
"Vexis!" Naiki shouted near her.
Knowing that voice, she immediately turns and pops near Naiki with her dark matter warp. The restaurant owner tries to make room for the both of them to get out but the situation is out of control. The citizens of Lynzar have rarely seen the emperor and empress since they colonized the planet and to be able to see both of them is a blessing for them.
"Vexis, warp us out of here." Concentrated psionically on her, he says it.
"I can't…I can't focus enough. The souls are confusing me and…" Vexis only says half of it while hiding behind him.
She clings to his right arm as she tries to find a way out of the crowd. Naiki knows that she is still frightened by the number of souls, he managed to squeeze through a gap and exits the restaurant. Araki peeks over to their position.
"Hey Shaun, I think your Emperor and Empress needed some help."
Shaun responded with a sigh.
"Meh, it's not easy." Shaun further explain it in detail.
"I don't think it will be that easy to do so. The people of Lynzar adore them too much…I'll send some help." He says it while looking at the reports from his small projection glass and gives orders for the nearby garrison.
"Emperor, your tournament with the guardians is awesome!" Says the civilian who wanted his signature.
"Empress, we love you!" Shouted a group of women in the ambiance of the crowd.
Naiki wanted to use his teleportation powers, he doubled think of it since it can electrocute nearby people and it is only safe if he used it while no one was nearby. Using their bracelet might cause trouble and accidentally teleported some of them to the Leviathan. The far side of the crowd suddenly screamed in excitement. It was the regents as they just arrived from a nearby teleportation portal. The crowd thins from Naiki and Vexis as the attention is now turned to the regents. Svidana instinctively materializes her shield and gently pushes the crowd off while Ilya pushes the opposite side of them.
"I touched Regent Svidana's shield!" Shouted one of the fanatic civilians.
Naiki and Vexis finally met with the regents who were still confused about the situation.
"Master, what's going on here?" Layla wanted an explanation from Naiki as her voice is swallowed by the crowd's voices.
"It's the regents, it's the four of them here! And our Emperor and Empress too!" the clear voice shot through them from the inaudible cheering from them.
"Well… it's our people's whims of seeing the Emperor, Empress, and Regents since they are busy with work and not showing up in public often." Naiki answers while trying to calm down the nearby people. Vexis is still at his back, holding his clothes tightly.
Lena's face turns pale; having difficulties breathing in the crowds. This worried Naiki as he called a few of the Cybran soldiers that just arrived to try to make the crowd disperse, but it was not successful as they were pushed back. Ilya finally snaps out of the uncontrollable situation; she leads on and uses her ice powers to make breathing room for them. She sends a cold wave of air while giving out her demeanor. It backfired badly and the crowds wishes to see more from her.
"Yes! The majestic ice calamity regent just sends her aura to us!"
"Lady Ilya! You are so fluffy!"
Some of the Cybran women try to get a hug from Ilya. She ducks and scurried off to Naiki.
"Master, it did not work! It did not work!" Says the snow leopard who loses her ice-queen attitude since the people that served under her are different that this planet.
"Darling! Do something!" Vexis says to him while tightly hugging him from behind.
"Master!"
Layla turns his way and shouted while trying to give unofficial autographs to her fans. He sees Svidana doing the same but poses for them to take pictures with a forced smile. Lenora only waves lightly to the crowd and stays as close as possible to Naiki while Ilya just growled for personal space.
"All right all of you! Stop!" Naiki shouted at the top of his lung with a strong voice enhancement ringing evenly to the crowd.
The crowd silences with a few murmurs from the back. This shocked Vexis and the regents. The cybran soldiers take this chance to slip into their position of them and make a small room.
"We know you love, adore and even some of you wanted personal memories with us."
"We will pose for a single picture, sign it below, and give it to the digital devices you had in the area. After that we will depart from here, the rest of the Imperial Cybran Empire needs us." Naiki stated. Araki just watched and was happy that the situation is under control. He disappeared shortly after.
The nearby civilian that is standing next to the emperor immediately makes room with the cybran soldiers filling the gap. Svidana is the first to take the position giving a guard stance with her lance and shield. Ilya just materializes her linked spear and stands on the far-left side of her position while Layla and Lenora remain unarmed with a standing-by pose on the right with Naiki and Vexis in the middle. Naiki snaps the picture with the help of one cybran soldier, all of them signed it with their unofficial signature and send it as promised.
The crowd neatly makes a room for them to travel to the nearby teleportation portal room. Vexis was finally able to walk normally and tries to contain her fright.
"Master, you seriously need to make a security detail when you travel around like this, I am afraid of open chances of assassination," Svidana suggested.
The nearby cybran people hear this.
"As if we let that happen!" Shouted a cybran. The others follow with a 'Yes'. This quickly started them to sing a part of the cybran anthem.
"Glory to our Imperial Cybran Empire! There is no fear, no death! Glory to our Cybran people! There is no easy death! Glory to our Emperor and Empress! Our duty is eternal!" The Cybrans repeatedly say the phrase as the six of them make their way to the teleportation portal. Before teleporting, all of them looked at the cybran people and waved at them before returning to the Leviathan.
Immediately after teleporting into the Leviathan, Lenora sits down on the floor; Layla just pats Ilya who is shaking from the crowded feeling. Vexis takes a breather at the nearby wall with Svidana while Naiki just sighed hard.
"Your highnesses and regents! Are you all right!?" The teleportation room operators and guards frantically ask them while standing by with assistance.
"It's fine, just needed some break." Naiki answers shortly.
"I am not going to that planet…again…"
Vexis makes a statement while Layla agrees. The guards look at them with worry. After a short minute, they go to Naiki's lounge and take another long break there. Vexis falls on the sofa out of shock. The regents reported their status personally and noted Naiki the achievement that they have done. He suddenly gets an idea and suggested it to them.
"I got a suggestion since all of us are here."
This catches the attention of Vexis who is still laying down on the sofa nearby as her ears pick it up.
"Not another random planet under our rule darling." She sounded off.
"Nah." He answers shortly.
"Why don't we go and have a break at Shultz's Alderson Disk sector? At the same time, I want the guardians and the 1st Armada to have a break too." Naiki suggested it to them.
"Whoa, the whole 1st armada?" Layla questions out of surprise.
Naiki only nods. The regents quickly agree since they are tired and wanted to visit that sector. Vexis finally agrees as long as it is not full of civilians.
"Does this include your half planet-sized throne ship?" Lenora asks Naiki.
"Yes, I believe they need the rest after completing phase 3 of making the materials for the planet craft. Go and pack your kind of stuff girls."
"We don't need to, since all of them are already in their flagships inventory. Right?"
Vexis chimed in with the regent's nods of her statement. Naiki looks at their multi-purpose bracelets which is the real answer, Layla finally opens the issue of the Cybran Corp is too focused on gigastructure tech developments and not the advancement of the fleets. Naiki takes a note of it while they wind down a little longer. He notifies the guardian members old and new of his plan, at the same time giving the orders for the 1st armada to travel to Shultz's Alderson Disk sector which is the Mevius sector.
As soon as the announcement have been made, the Leviathan raced with the 2nd fleet of the 1st armada to that sector with the whole crew and staff full of excitement.
"Alright people! We need to get there first and pick the first dibs on the part of the Alderson disk for ourselves before the rest of the armada arrives! Get to it! Don't disappoint our Emperor, Empress, and Regents!"
Naiki and Vexis laughed out loud hearing the captain's announcements in the lounge with the other regents. It was indeed that the Leviathan arrived first at Mevius and orbits at the first gigastructure slice of the disks. The rest of the armada arrives and chooses their preferred slice. It is understandable enough that no one picks the slice where the Leviathan was since the crew and fleets inside it are enough to occupy half of the single slice.
Naiki, Vexis, and the regents teleported to the slice with a small group of crews chatting with them.
"Vexis; seems like you are alright." Layla that observes Vexis, says it to her.
"That's because she knows everyone in the leviathan, even the young ones." Naiki backs her up while she is in her small form being carried by him. She enjoys the comfort of being hugged by him while remaining motionless. Lenora tries to poke Vexis's cheek and she immediately responded by biting her finger.
"Ow! Why do you do that for?"
"Don't disturb my precious moment!"
She scowls at Lena who looks at Naiki for comfort. Naiki shrugs at her while the crew knows that Vexis is sometimes possessive of Naiki. The guardian members arrived including Shultz. He was happy to see that they were finally able to visit one of his sectors.
"Okay, time to split up," Naiki announced. The girls from the guardian members begin to follow Layla.
"Wha…" Vexis cuts her words in shock.
She is immediately given to Ilya while still surprised and checking what is on Naiki's mind, but she can't since Naiki blocked it off. He nods at Ilya to keep her in check. As Naiki begins to walk away with Shultz in front, Vexis wriggle out of Ilya's arms and transformed back to her anthro form. Before she can get on her two legs, Ilya pull off one of her legs and dragged her with Lenora able to get some payback by pulling the other one.
"Nyooo, Darliiiinnnng!" Vexis screamed; hooking her fingers to the ground.
"Stop hogging him all day and quit being a fuss about it!" Ilya snarled after saying that while pulling Vexis's leg.
Vexis continues to scream off from the distance while Naiki's group picks up the pace. The rest of the Leviathan's multitude of crews including the just teleported ground forces sees this and shakes their head in disbelief.
"Wow, that bad huh…?" General Zigorsky, that is under Regent Lenora's chain of command, sounded off from the back to Naiki.
"Yep," Naiki answers shortly.
The mythical arctic fox who again managed to get out of Ilya and Lenora's grip transforms into her mythical beast form and chased Naiki.
"Aa-…there the Empress go again…I hope the Emperor is ready for it…"
Some of the crew members know her and say it to others who rarely see her. The guardian members see this coming and immediately make room. Naiki, absorbed by the beautiful view, is pounced by her and slammed hard to the ground. She pinned him under her chin.
"Darling! You did not tell me about your plans! You Machiavellian Emperor!"
Naiki tries to escape from her. Shultz and Grukev just sighed at the sight of both of them.
"Get off me; you big floof!"
After a short minute of trying even after Vexis changed back into her anthro form, he gives up and slaps her cheeks lightly. He shakes her face randomly before stopping.
"Vexis…go and enjoy your first two days with the other girls. Do you want a vacation or go back straight to work and handle our governing duties including the armada management?"
"How many days are we here?" Vexis did not move an inch from holding down Naiki until she gets the answer.
"Five," He answers while hearing Lenora calling out for her.
"Fine…"
She stands up and goes directly to the chasing Lenora after nabbing a nuzzle from him. Naiki dusted off his clothes and the group continued with their plan. He was able to see Shaun having a chat with Ivanov on some matters.
"Urgh, if I was a normal human. I would be dead by now…"
"Well, you aren't. Mister cuddles."
Zarck makes a sarcastic joke out of it. The others laughed including Naiki. They walked on into the sparse forest; it is a good change of pace of all the warp portals as they finally emerge on the top of the grassy hill. It was overlooking the far beach where some of the crews and soldiers takes a break there. The four Soviesky brothers set up the camping equipment as their father and Colin assembled an old technology griller. Naiki wanted to assist them but was shooed away, he sits back overlooking his people taking their break at the beach.
"Last time we were able to camp out like this is back at our original home planet."
Approaching him, Shultz opens up a conversation while the others are busy doing their thing.
"Yeah, but why the old antics?" Naiki pointed out the griller and tents.
"These are also memories Naiki, you can't easily forget the past without bringing some of it to the future."
"Wise words…"
Naiki says it while flicking a stone far into the artificial calm sea. He remembers that Shultz was supposed to retire and directed the topic.
"Before; you said you wanted to retire after a few decades."
"Oh, you remember that?"
Naiki nods. Their attention suddenly turned to Zarck who approached them, offering some drinks.
"I don't think I will; until I see this galaxy fully unite under your empire and my daughter finally good enough to replace me." Zarck hears out Shultz's words and nods in agreement.
"You are 142 normal years old Shultz." He looks worried about Shultz.
"I know, as long as we take the cell revitalization treatments and maybe some enhancements, we are fine. Am I right Zarck?"
Zarck nods again since he mainly does that part of the research. The three of them are called to the completed camp. They sit on the portable benches while Naiki roguishly sits on the ground facing the campfire. The approaching covered part of the gigastructure surrounding the sun enters slowly; covering its next path, marking the end of the day on the slice of the disk that they are on. Sokolovsky offers his cooked steak to Naiki for him to judge his home cooking. Naiki give it a taste, it was as good as some of the known diners inside the leviathan which makes him give a thumbs up at him.
Sokolovsky smiles in satisfaction that makes his brothers poke fun at him. Colin takes a short leave to the toilet while the others eat up the steaks, leaving a portion for him. Shaun immediately becomes the main topic since he is avoiding the council meeting. Naiki backs him up, giving details that managed to suppress the topic. The Emperor managed to take a peek at the people of the Leviathan while Zigorsky is being chased down by his brothers after losing a game that they all are playing. Orderly, they departed into the underground resorts. The guardians enjoyed their stay on top of the hill as the late night finally comes and decided to call it a day.