Another Friday, another chapter! Finally, we get to the other galaxy! Been quite the build up to get here, huh? Nearly 400k words of pure chaos for this moment. Now the fun will REALLY begin! As well as the usual team building exercises, and we all know the variability of that.

As always, patrons get chapters two weeks in advance as well as art and writing rewards for higher tiers! Thanks to Lil, Jesse, and Dragon for their support!

CW: Mature references, language, doubt, relationship turmoil, mild triggers

Hyperspace… had nothing on this!

A kaleidoscope of colorful nebulas lined the walls of the wormhole, giving the passageway the appearance of a bioluminescent rainbow ocean beneath a clear night sky. Well, an ocean in tunnel form, blurring past at nearly incomprehensible speeds. Stars and colors streaked by, drawing a gasp from our mouths. Sure, I'd created the thing and had a Pinterest board full of visual inspiration for it, but seeing it in person?

Oh, to be an author whose original stories become popular and get turned into a movie.

Considering the amount of time it took for me to make any progress on a single story, that was certainly a ways away. Not to mention the hurdles of getting readers for original content in general. But for now, surrounded by the Bad Batch and immersed in my very own stories, I was happy as a clam.

What's that even mean?

"Dank farrik," Hunter breathed. The swirling colors reflected in his dark eyes as he looked at me. "You… this is something you designed?" he stammered.

The others were speechless, including Tech who stared slack-jawed at the spectacle with childlike wonder in his eyes. Wrecker bore a similar expression, and even Crosshair looked far younger than he was as he gazed at the wormhole. No, not younger. He looked his true, chronological age.

Emotion creeping up my throat, I turned to Hunter. "Well, I did say I was imaginative!"

"Yes, but-" He looked once more at the wormhole. "Wrecker's right, you are our creative one."

I laughed, vision blurring with tears. "Hellfire, gonna make me cry."

Hunter looked at me in alarm. "What?" he exclaimed.

"In a good way!" I assured him, elbowing him.

"Ah, well." His eyes narrowed. "Um, cyar'ika? Care to explain what's on your neck?"

A day ago, I might have blushed like a damn tomato and frantically tried to hide the marks. But this wasn't Over the River and Through the Woods anymore. This was a whole new ballgame and the batter, me, was horny af with little to no shame. Them seeing the whole of my "escapades" in the rear turret was terrifying to think of. But knowing I got frisky?

It's not like they haven't seen horny Shadow before.

"I like to think of them as initiation marks to show my acceptance into the team," I replied happily, grinning.

If you want to leave some more of your own, Sarge, I'm game.

Hunter glared at Crosshair as the sniper stood on the other side of me. "Crosshair."

Crosshair merely sent him a smug look before turning his attention back to the viewport. His hand, however, did come up and rest over mine.

Hunter's gaze turned back to me. "I'll be lookin' for my own taste of you soon, darlin'."

I chuckled. "I expect nothin' less."

Wrecker laughed. "Hey, hope I get a turn too!"

"There's more than enough Shadow to go around," I said, rolling my eyes in amusement. "Besides, something tells me this leg of the mission will grant more than a few opportunities for… fun times."

"Lookin' forward to it," Hunter said.

The entire ship shuttered violently and, with an explosion of light, the wormhole spat us out. Taking up the viewport now was a blue-green marble similar to Planet 42, but with splashes of golden sand, dark volcanic mountain ranges, and grayish snow on the surface.

Kelusia.

Tech recovered from the portal first, scampering over to the nav computer and tapping away. His search must have been in vain, however, for he groaned loudly. "Well, I certainly hope Shadow can open that passage again. Because both the navigation and hyperdrive are offline. It is a good thing I can steer the ship manually."

Crosshair rolled his eyes and fiddled with something else, only to scowl. "Ugh, comms offline, too."

"Yeah," I said, tail twitching nervously. They weren't mad at me for that, right? "We're probably disconnected from your galaxy now."

"Good thing Cody contacted us earlier," Hunter remarked.

"An understatement," Tech sighed. "All we have are power, propulsion, weapons, life support, and hopefully landing."

Wrecker, still wearing the expression of child-like amazement from the first look at Kelusia, turned to smile at me. However, his smile vanished quickly as he took notice of my twitching tail and semi-pinned ears. "We don't blame you, Squeaky!" he assured me, squeezing my shoulder comfortingly. "You didn't cause this!"

Tech shrugged. "Well, Shadow did bring us through the portal."

"I… I didn't… I didn't know this would happen," I began, tail bristling now as I hugged myself. "I just thought-"

"No, Wrecker is right," Hunter stated, glaring at Tech. "No one is mad at you, Ice."

Tech stiffened. "I am not angry at Shadow!" he protested. "I merely pointed out that they had a hand in causing some of our systems to go offline."

"Can't you see you're makin' 'em upset?" Crosshair hissed.

Tech looked at me. "Shadow, I did not mean to offend you," he said. "I was only stating-"

"It's fine," I interrupted, shaking my head. "I'm just… eh, can be a bit hypervigilant at times when it comes to thinkin' others are mad at me."

Thanks, Trauma.

"I am not in the least bit mad!" Tech assured me, shaking his head. "While the loss of some critical systems is cause for concern, I am not angry. If anything, I am fascinated! I have never been to a system where selective system failures occur, nor have any deep-space explorers in the records. This is completely uncharted territory!"

My tail lifted. "So, you're not mad at me?"

"Not at all!" he exclaimed. "I am honored to be perhaps the first from our galaxy to study it! Is this common with Gatekeeper portals, or is our ship an isolated case?"

"Not… sure," I replied uncertainly. "Gatekeepers are a semi-new creation of mine. The sci-fi side of my stories isn't as explored as some of the fantasy elements like magic and talking animals. Still workin' out a lot of the stuff like spaceships and interplanetary travel that is not done via magical portals."

"Oh," Tech said, shoulders slumping as his face fell. He quickly recovered, however, and asked, "How technologically advanced is this planet? I would assume more so than your homeworld if they have space travel. However, there is a profound lack of dense urban centers judging from the low amount of light clusters on the planet's surface."

"They're pretty advanced, definitely more than my home world. But Kelusia is also a nature preserve of sorts, hence the lack of extensive urbanization. Big cities are outlawed and only found on the moon, Alpha." I pointed to the glittering celestial satellite orbiting Kelusia, the surface mostly gray with sparse patches of green and blue. On the darker side, gold and red lights covered the surface.

"Was it naturally inhabitable for your species or did it require terraforming?" Tech asked. "And if so, how recently was it terraformed?"

"Needed a wee bit of terraforming, but that's much easier with magic." I sighed. "Bit of a cop-out, I know, but technology isn't my favorite part of worldbuilding," I admitted.

"I see. If Kelusia is a nature preserve, I would assume they prohibit extensive mining or drilling for fuel."

"Most ships use magic-charged crystals, biofuel, or solar.".

"Then you have put thought into the energy sector!" Tech chirped happily.

"Aye, just not a lot. Mainly renewables like solar or wind. Side effect of my environmental degree."

"So, no hope of refueling?" Hunter spoke up.

"Unless the Marauder takes the fuel listed above-"

"It does not," Tech confirmed.

"-then no."

"Always refuel before jumping," Hunter remarked. "Got it."

"Shadow," Tech asked, sliding back into the pilot seat. "Where do I go?"

"Head to Mysteria. It's the small continent located solely in the Northern Hemisphere." I frowned as Tech flew towards the planet. "Just gotta hope it's not during winter."

Tech eased back on the yoke. "Why?"

"Electrical storms," I replied. "Really bad ones. Planetary defense mechanism, because Spirit Summit is only accessible during the Snow-Wrought Darkness."

"The what?" Wrecker asked.

"It's just what they call the long nights brought about by seasons," I replied, chuckling at Wrecker's spooked expression.

"Oh." The large clone scratched his head. "What's Spirit Summit?"

"Allows you to open a portal to the afterlife and summon the material form of a deceased being," I said. It was a major plot point of my Puppetmasters series; if I ever got around to revising the first book, of course. "Provided you have the deceased's skull and blood of someone related to them."

"Yuck!" Wrecker said, nose scrunching.

"Does death not have the same finality here?" Tech asked, heading towards the planet once more.

"Supernatural isn't as rare here, no," I answered, tail lifting and curling with delight as Kelusia loomed closer. "Magic radiates from the planet's core and causes some interesting things. Ghosts and such are among those interesting things."

"What do we do if it is winter?" Hunter asked. "If the Snow Wrought Darkness prevents us from getting there, then-"

"Gotcha covered!"

We screamed at the voice from behind us and whipped around to see Max standing at the entrance to the cockpit with a wide grin on his face. As usual, he wore board shorts and a floral print button-down shirt, although the color of the shirt changed. The neon pink, star-shaped sunglasses resting atop his head were new, though.

A hand on my heart, I glared at the man. "You did this for why?"

"You made me like this," he replied with a laugh, pointing finger guns at me. "But I've cast Adventurer's Protection on the ship. No harm will hit you. Have fun!" With that, he vanished.

I sighed and looked at the startled Batch. "Ok, so-"

"By the way!"

We screamed again, this time staring at Max's head popping out of the console.

"Fuckin hell Max!" I snapped. "Don't do that! Freaky ass Ancient."

"Again, you made me like this," he said, grinning smugly. "Forgot to tell you I've enchanted the ship's navigation as well."

"You did what?!" Hunter demands

"Relax. It'll just fly right to the Rageryan port. Also talked to Ziki who talked to Val. She knows you're comin'!"

I grimaced. "Oh, please don't tell me she knows I'm the creator. She'll kill me for what I've done to her son."

Poor Ace really had far more than his fair share of trauma. Just like Scarlett, that poor Rageryan went through so much hell. From curses and memory loss to accidentally causing an extinction-level event on his home planet, that man really just could not catch a break. At least his life got better after the American Revolution.

"Rightly so, but I didn't," Max said happily, earning himself a scowl. "She just knows you've got two Star Swimmers, two Ancients, and Trevor vouching for you."

I frowned. "She knows Trevor?"

"He's a member of the clan."

"Of course he is," I said, deadpan. "Can he stop upgrading himself?"

Trevor stuck his head down from the ceiling, provoking a scream from Wrecker. "Nope!" he laughed, then vanished again.

"Why do I make y'all like this?" I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Beats me, but have fun!" Max shoved himself out of the console and out the window, waved to us from the vacuum of space, then flew out of sight.

I sighed, hands on my hips. "Well, don't see that every day."

Wrecker sputtered, looking from me to the viewport to me to the viewport again as he tried to form words. "D-Did he just-?"

"Yes," I replied with a tired and defeated shake of my head. "Don't question it. From here on, it's best to just accept things as they happen and surrender all hope of logic."

"Goodie," Crosshair grumbled, arms folded grumpily over his chest.

I snorted, barely withholding a laugh at his sour expression and wrinkled nose. "Alright, Grinchy."

He just raised an eyebrow at me.

I turned to the others. "Prepare for landing, boys. This is about to get interesting."

-Tech PoV-

Such a bizarre world!

Tech counted at least eight major ecosystems from the orbit alone. For a planet to have more than one or two primary terrain types was not unheard of, yet it was certainly a rarity in his galaxy. Yet this planet must have had quadruple that, to say nothing of the microbiomes that certainly lurked within the larger ones. He wondered if he would ever get a chance to explore them all.

As they neared the continent of Mysteria, Tech noted that the polar ocean above the landmass had a lower quantity of ice compared to the southern region. Hopefully, that meant the continent was in the summer months. Then again, with a name like Mysteria, more oddities were bound to spring up with their next mission.

Tech opened his mouth to ask Shadow more about the continent, namely the etymology of its name and what it meant for their mission, only for the ship's comm to beep. They all jumped, staring at the blinking light with shock.

"Thought you said comms were down?" Shadow asked Crosshair, ears wiggling.

The man frowned, looking down at the light. "They were-"

Tech cut the sniper short by borderline bodyslamming the much taller man away from the comm. As Wrecker quickly held the furiously cursing sniper back, Tech ignored his profanity and answered the comm. "Yes?"

"This is a representative of the Alphian High Council."

Shadow's bristling tail and scowl did not go unnoticed by the engineer.

"State your business."

Shadow stepped forward. "Inbound to Mysteria," they said gruffly, crossing their arms. "Red Raider Clan territory."

"I'm afraid your ship is unauthorized."

Shadow rolled their eyes.

"Temporary clearance can be purchased-"

"This is a galactic nature preserve and does not need access codes, don't even pull that," Shadow snapped, teeth flashing.

As long as it was not directed at him, Tech was quite happy that their bold streak had resurfaced after their ordeal two nights prior. That terrible nightmare and the following battle greatly subdued the Realm Walker, and Tech found himself missing the snarky comments or sharp retorts. To see they were on the mend pleased him for two reasons. Reason One, of course, being that it meant Shadow was feeling like their old self again. Reason Two? Happy Shadow was a talkative and info-dumping Shadow.

And that was the Shadow Tech had fallen for.

He missed the agent's response, but he did catch Shadow's scoff.

"If you really wanna pitch a fit," Shadow snorted, the idiom puzzling Tech, "Take it up with Maxolyn himself."

The comm remained silent for a moment before a disgruntled voice mumbled, "Proceed."

After switching off the comm, Tech turned to Shadow. "Did they not investigate the squadron of clone troopers when they crashed?"

"Ain't something they do," the Realm Walker replied. "A, they don't have dominion over Rageryan territory, so they leave all investigations to the rulers of a region. B, that probably wasn't even a Council agent." Shadow shrugged. "Probably just saw the odd ship, figured we were foreign, and tried to exploit that."

As they passed through the clouds and neared the Heart region, the comm beeped again, further proving to Tech that Crosshair really did not know how their comms worked. Had the man even looked? Tech quickly opened the channel. "Receiving."

"Identify yourself."

Shadow's ears twitched as they leaned over the comm. "Friends of Trevor and Max. Can we land?"

"Affirmative. Do not deviate from your current course."

"Didn't smart off to them," Hunter remarked after the comm went silent.

Shadow shook their head. "And I don't plan to. Don't piss these guys off. You may be exceptional when going up against people in your galaxy but here… mutated or not, you're still human for the most part. Aside from Wrecker, you aren't physically imposing and don't have an advanced healin' rate."

So, they can be blunt and no one minds. But when I do the same, I'm being cruel.

Tech hardly held Shadow responsible for that, after all the Realm Walker always encouraged him to be honest and truthful, but the engineer definitely felt his brothers were blinded by love to some of Shadow's faults. Not that Tech himself saw Shadow's genuine nature as a fault, but his brothers often saw it as a fault in him.

"Not showin' our bellies, are we?" Crosshair grumbled as he left the cockpit to presumably get his armor on.

Tech was almost surprised that the man even raised a complaint with Shadow. After all, he'd been rather complacent when it came to anything Shadow said that wasn't exactly mission-oriented. In fact, he didn't think Crosshair contradicted Shadow once since the tragedy.

Trying to make up for his past transgressions, no doubt. As he should.

But Tech hoped that this newfound infatuation for Shadow did not hinder the sniper's ruthlessness and efficiency during missions. While Tech did not care for Crosshair's sarcasm nor his cruel comments, he would readily admit that the marksman often provided a sense of realism even when the situation was downright dismal. That, perhaps, was one trait Tech felt they both shared, and he often relied on the callous man to back him up when he had to be pragmatic.

To see him starry-eyed over Shadow both amused and irked the engineer.

"No," Shadow called as Hunter followed the sniper out of the cockpit. "Bein' smart."

"Shadow," Tech began as the doors shut. "Is there a chance you are partial to your characters over us? Because this is not our first mission facing non-human combatants who at first glance overpower us."

Shadow blinked, tail twitching rapidly as they suddenly shrank into themselves. "Well… I mean… maybe?"

Kark, not again!

"Hey! Don't insult Squeaky!" Wrecker snapped, gripping the back of the pilot's seat as he loomed over Tech.

Tech huffed, rolling his eyes. "I am not insulting them! I am merely asking a question."

"Sounded like an insult to me!" Wrecker growled.

Tech looked at Shadow. "You know I do not set out to insult you."

Even as he asked the question, his usually unshakable confidence wavered. Surely they knew that, right? But their reaction had been rather gut-wrenching to witness, especially since they had been so bold mere moments before.

While he refused to hide his true opinions away on any occasion, he did not wish to drive Shadow from him nor did he want them to feel as if he no longer cared for them romantically. He did! Quite strongly, in fact, despite the lack of alone time since the first night at Sarah's. But he had to make his standpoint known. That said, the stricken expression Shadow failed to hide greatly concerned him.

"Shadow?" he tired again.

Shadow sighed, rubbing their arm. "I'd rather you be truthful than lie to my face only for me to find out later you were actually upset," they replied. "I'm just… well, I'm a bit self-conscious about my creations. And… you sorta hit a bad trigger."

He hit a trigger?! That was one of Crosshair's bad habits Tech wanted absolutely no part of!

"I… I did not mean to do so," he stammered. "May I ask what it was so I can avoid it in the future?"

"It's just that… years ago, when I first started writing, I was telling my best friend at the time about my stories. And they said they 'didn't care about my Mary Sues'." Shadow looked away, hugging themselves. "Still carry that scar almost a decade later. That's why I got quiet the first night. I worried I was annoying you just as I annoyed them."

"Not at all!" he exclaimed, shaking his head. "I apologize for making you feel such a way."

Shadow's ears flicked. "At least you apologized quickly." They then shook their head and indicated the viewport with their chin. "We can talk about it later. I wanna watch this if we break outta these clouds."

"Mind if I get my armor on real quick, Squeaky?" Wrecker asked, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Promise I'll be back to see the landin'!"

"May not even be able to with the clouds, but I don't think this'll be your only chance to see the Heart," Shadow remarked with a soft laugh. "Go ahead."

As Wrecker darted out, leaving them alone, Tech glanced at Shadow. "Truly, Shadow, I do not mean to make you feel scrutinized."

Shadow leaned on the console, gaze straight ahead. "No harm done."

"No," Tech argued. "There is harm done. I can see it in your face and posture."

Shadow's tail twitched and their shoulders sagged. "Not… Don't wanna talk about it right now. Wanna savor the first look at my world, ya know?"

Tech nodded. "Yes, of course! I meant only to comfort you and assure you that I do not dislike you for favoring your characters over us. You have put a lot of thought and time into them, and I do not wish to insult your creations."

A half smile. "Ain't an insult, I'm just sensitive."

"Because of past trauma. The mind is a complex thing, and there is no shame in being affected by past attacks. Especially one as malicious as the one from who you thought was your friend."

"She had a point. The characters were OP since I was just startin' out. Coulda worded it differently, though," Shadow grumbled, tail tip twitching.

Tech reached over and rested his hand atop theirs. When they jumped at the contact, he took a risk and held tight. The gamble paid off and Shadow relaxed, taking his hand and squeezing it.

"Thanks, Techie."

"Of course, Shadow."

Should he kiss their hand? Couples did that, right? The cheesy holofilms Hunter watched always had the male partner take the woman's hand and kiss it. But Shadow wasn't a woman, nor were they the romantic sort. Tech himself wasn't either, finding romance to be somewhat trivial. Though perhaps it was only stereotypical romance that was always pushed in those holos even when the pair had no chemistry to speak of. Because he clearly felt something for Shadow, and it wasn't just friendship.

Thunder shook the Marauder and a bolt of lightning illuminated the cockpit. To Tech's surprise, Shadow laughed. "Well, it ain't winter but this climate is oceanic so rainstorms abound. So much for a first grand look."

Tech was disappointed, but as they were caught in a tractor beam of some sort he took the opportunity to ask Shadow, "May I kiss your hand?"

Shadow stared at him. "Huh?"

Encouraged by the fact their reply was not suspicious, just confused, he turned to them. "Your hand? May I kiss it?"

Red spread across Shadow's cheeks, the blush made stronger by the red lights around the cockpit. "Uh, well, um, sure? Why?"

"Is this not a thing couples do?"

"Uh, heck if I know."

"But you have had a romantic partner before. In fact." He raised his finger on his free hand. "You are the only one of us who has had prior experience with a romantic relationship."

Shadow grimaced, the expression comically exaggerated as their ears pinned. "Oh dear."

Not wanting to lose his opportunity after the others came back, Tech quickly asked again, "May I?"

"Go for it."

Carefully, and somewhat awkwardly, Tech pressed his lips to the top of Shadow's hand. Their skin was warm and oddly soft beneath his lips, the latter trait somewhat puzzling given the general roughness of Shadow's personality. A surprise, yet not an unwelcome one.

Tech had to wonder if other areas of their body would be as soft if not softer.

Releasing their hand, he smiled at them. "Thank you, Shadow."

Shadow returned the smile, cheeks still red. "Thanks for askin' first, Techie."

Nodding, Tech turned back to the console and prepared himself for the next leg of their mission. As a platform came into view beneath them through the torrents of rain, a circular hatchway opening to allow them through, he couldn't help but wonder how they would be welcomed by the clan.

Would it be kind? Cordial but tense? Suspicious? Hostile?

Only one way to find out.