Chapter 33: Bringer of Peace.
The Raptorians sure knew how to throw a party alright, It took three days for the festivities to wind down and for life to return to some measure of normalcy in their cities.
They spent days simply in the streets dancing with complete strangers and sharing meals and drinks with random people, they even got pulled along to an impromptu concert given by what they were told were Raptoria's greatest pop stars, a group of young males who called themselves Feather Soft.
The concert was utter chaos, a mass of screaming Raptorian females of just about all ages jumping up and down trying to attract the young male's attentions from their place on the stage where they danced and sang songs about love and caring for your pride.
Though most of the Clan Mason members present kinda got used as step ladders by the little reptile females who clambered up them to get a better view, well all except for Tik, someone had tried and one growl later and Tik was stood grinning at her Raptorian covered husband as he had basically an invisible shield of certain death around her.
Also during this time Jack and Tik had been roped into giving speeches and interviews aplenty, which Jack rather welcomed in a way because it gave them a chance to give a real-life living face to Clan Mason and to show the Raptorians what they were truly all about, though to be fair despite their celebrity status within their own clan neither of them had done talk shows or been on TV before, even on the homeworld where yes, of course, they had entertainment shows infact a Xeno soap opera called Living the Hive Life was really popular, Jack and Tik were notoriously camera-shy.
Though to be fair on the homeworld no one was stupid enough to jam either a camera or a microphone in Tik's face and ever expect a good outcome from it.
Though to be fair TV on the homeworld was usually used to broadcast upcoming events, news from around the clan, recruiting drives, that sort of thing, with a smattering of entertainment shows to help people wind down after hours, though for the most part, most people in Clan Mason were to busy living their lives to sit and watch others pretending to live theirs. However, Living the Hive Life was still popular enough.
The Raptorians on the other hand placed a great deal of value in it, to the point that it reminded Jack of living on Earth, so while he kinda had an idea of what they were getting into when they'd agreed to go on one of their more popular talk shows called Loose Males, Tik had utterly no idea what she was getting into.
The first thing that they'd noticed going out onto the set after they'd received their curtain call was that it was filmed in front of a live studio audience, the second thing was that it was 95% male, neither of them had ever seen so many male Raptorians in one place, it was like a living explosion of colour all clapping as they walked out, though the one who'd gotten the loudest claps and cheers was Smoke.
Jack and Tik had decided that since he'd become something of a Clan Mason spoke's person and a familiar face to them that he should take the lead when the questions came in unless they were directed at either of them, this had made the timid human rather nervous but with some coaxing from his pride, he'd relented.
The six male hosts were called Sico, Mamat, Velor, Lishra, Lippo and Gibby, each was easily distinguishable by their colour patterns and very different styles of dress and makeup.
As the three had emerged out waving to the clapping crowd which now contained Smoke's pride all cheering and clapping enthusiastically some of them threw flowers to them.
The hosts greeted them enthusiastically, shaking their hands and hugging them, Smoke had prewarned both Tik and Jack that male Raptorians were far more emotional than their females and were far more touchy freely so they should expect some form of intimate greeting and as uncomfortable as she'd looked Ti had weathered it with good grace.
Throughout the interview the group had repeatedly referred to the trio by the titles the Raptorians had given them, calling Tik the Breaker of Chains, Jack the Hero of Raptoria and Smoke the Guardian of Males, after a couple of days of trying to dissuade people from doing this they had simply given up and just left it be.
The interview went well and they talked about their plans to create formal trade treaties between Raptoria and Clan Mason, as well as to establish embassies on both worlds to create opportunity for both Raptorians who wished to petition to join Clan Mason and for Clan Mason members to visit Raptoria, this seemed to excite them as having access to a world that they could walk around freely on the surface would be an utterly new thing for them.
One thing they were insanely curious about was Jack's powers, he gave an impromptu display of Dream Warrior speed by flashing from his seat into the crowd picking up a large bunch of flowers that had been thrown to him and were now sitting on a table, then returning to his seat, then he simply sat there for a few moments smiling at the unknowing hosts until they each realised they now had a different colour flower that matched their scales tucked into their feathers.
This earned gasps and then applause from the crowd, Jack talked about how he had discovered that Raptoria had Dream Warriors of their own so he and His Seekers would be assisting them by setting up an outreach program to not only identify these Raptorian Dream Warriors but to return them to the Seeker Temple on the Clan Mason homeworld for training so that when they returned home Raptoria would have its own version of the Seekers of Truth, trained and ready to defend their people from evil.
After the interview was done the trio had felt pretty happy but also kinda drained, they weren't used to being interrogated like that, Smoke's pride were leaping all over the place especially Skeeva who was utterly stoked that their pride male had got to be on the show but that they had got to be in the audience.
Jack had also travelled back to the city where the Grand Priestess pride lived in order to visit them again, he'd awoken them so now he was responsible for enlightening them.
When he'd arrived he'd found all of them sat in the garden like temple amongst the nature that bloomed inside the peaceful place.
"Ahh you return to us, it is as the Great Tree told us," the pride said coming to life as he stepped into the garden like area where he'd witness Smoke and his pride marry.
"I awakened you, it would be incredibly wrong of me to thrust you into this world and then leave you all to fend for yourselves in it, it is the duty of a true Seeker of Truth to find others like us and to show them the truth of who and what they are, so that they can learn to use their gifts wisely and not fall prey to those that would use them or abuse their gifts for their own ends," Jack said sitting as the small females gestured for him to do.
They all nodded together, "The Great Tree told us as much, we cannot thank you enough for the incredible gift you gave us Jack Mason before we could only hear the faintest of whispers of her voice, but you unblocked our minds and opened our ears so that now we can hear him clearly" they said and Jack nodded.
"Comes with the territory, we see the unseen and hear the unheard, I can already tell that the group of you are all Tamers by the way nature responds to you so readily, you are like me beloved son," Jack said smiling as he thought of Ryan.
"Both of your cubs warm your heart like the glow of the sun on the surface, it is so beautiful to see that not only our males take their duties as fathers to their young so seriously," the pride said and Jack realised he'd let his guard slip slightly and they'd gotten a glimpse into his mind, a very rare occurrence, this both impressed him and worried him slightly.
"They are my truest pride, living proof of what I and my wondrous wife fought for, a perfect unity created in love, with all the power of both and none of the weaknesses of either" Jack said proudly and the pride nodded.
"Yes the Great Tree see this too, in fact, she foretells of a time soon when them and those like them will be the most important beings in the universe, they will be hated by a great many for they will be a symbol of everything their narrow minds fear, but they will also be a beacon of hope to others," they said and Jack listened intently.
"The Great Tree spoke of a time coming where war will blanket the universe and all will have to chose a side, on one side will be the Darkness aided by the likes of the Dark Seed and its ilk, on the other the light, lead by the great deities of old with their chosen warriors like Clan Mason, the outcome is unknown to him, but what she did say is that the hybrids will be all-important, without them all is lost, without them, the Darkness will blanket everything," the pride said their tone taking on a kind of dreamy trance like state.
Then just as quickly as they went into it they came out and all looked at one another wearing the same confused expression but they quickly shook it off, "Do you know what the time of Great Sorrow was?" they asked him and Jack shook his head, the priestesses all looked sadly at one another.
"There was a time in the past of Raptoria where we were not so very different from our Scalathor or Draconis sisters, we coveted our males jealously and treated them badly, they were little more than instalments of pleasure and slaves to us, this was implemented but the once powerful ruling houses of Raptoria, they were basically like a monarchy with each having their own little underground kingdom, then one day a male called Valla heard the voice of the Great Tree in a dream, she told him that her children had strayed from the path that she had laid out for them, that the Golden Garden was growing empty as so many had not earned their place in it, he gave Vessa a message and a mission, he was to travel to all of the know kingdoms and he was to gather as many of the abused and enslaved males as he could, then when he had as many as he could, he would leave a message behind telling their families and owners what had happened and what was going to happen and why, that all those beautiful innocent boys had been called home to the Garden and if those left behind wanted to ever join them then they would have to earn it" they said.
Jack looked amazed but also concerned, "So what did he do?' he asked.
"He let the huge crowd of males to a volcano called mount Killgua, which in our tounge means sorrow, there along with every male that had followed him they all jumped into the fire killing themselves, for you see the message he had left behind told the females that read it that they were now being punished, that not only had all their boys returned to the Great Tree to walk the Golden Garden, but that the Great Tree would from this day forward limit how many males would be born into this place, that if we didn't realise the true treasure that we had held in our hands it would be taken away until there was nothing left of us, it was now up to us, change our ways and earn our place in the garden, or forever be punished for the wrong we had done, that loss caused a huge population decrease and not just because of the male deaths, but because of the babies never born without them, that was the day Raptorians learned the true value of our boys and we changed, they are now our truest and greatest treasure and we will never let them suffer ever again" they said.
It was obvious to Jack that even now the story still carried a lot of emotional weight, he could see the sorrow painted in all of their faces, he reached out and planted a hand on each of their shoulders in turn, "Don't you worry girls, that will never happen on Raptoria ever again, we will see to that, Clan Mason protects our friends and the Raptorian people have already proven that they are trustworthy and staunch allies, we will stand with you and make sure that Raptoria remains the same if not better than it's ever been" he said confidently and that really seemed to cheer them up.
"Thank you Jack Mason, first your Hunter Smoke breaks the Chain of Sorrow and then you lift us up so that we can see and hear the breath of the universe and now you stand as the Guardians of Raptoria, forever will this day be remembered in the hearts and minds of every Raptorian, the day a group of aliens stood on our soil held up both a shield and a sword and said not one step further," they said which made Jack smile.
"And now we'll show the whole universe what a strong, united Raptoria can really do," he said making them beam from feather to feather.
Before he left they gave him a gift that they said had been left here for him by the Great Tree, it was a golden seed that seemed to glow with faint golden light even as he held it in his hand, they told him to plant it in the soil of his homeworld and that way those children of the Great Tree that followed him home would always have a connection to the Great Tree and the Golden Garden.
Eventually, though it was time for Clan Mason to pack up and head home, there was a lot of work to be done and a lot of planning ahead, both Jack and Tik agreed that they simply couldn't afford to hide on their world and simply react to what was going on in the universe around them anymore, now they had to take a stand and start being more active in the course of this universe, because if someone didn't take the rudder and steer the whole thing was going to run aground real fucking fast.
They assigned teams to remain on Raptoria for the time being to get both the embassy up and running but to also help the Raptorians take over and hold all of the Scalathor and Draconis FOB's, they were going to put them to good use in holding a permanent presence on the surface of the planet from now on, the Raptorians were even talking about converting a couple of them into spaceports to make travelling between their orbital platforms and the surface easier, of course, they would have to rebuild them first after they had been destroyed by the Scalathor.
As Jack and Tik boarded their shuttle which was bound for the Grand Matriarch's Fury which was now the new Clan Mason flagship thanks to its size and overwhelming power Jack took a last look around at the lush paradise of the planet, he could feel the life and energy buzzing from the place with a radiant intensity, it was oddly like a cancer survivor returning to health after their tumours had been cut out.
"Don't worry patriarch I'm sure matriarch will drag your ooman arse back here someday soon, I've been seeing her eyeing up all those predators and adding them to her to hunt list since she got here" a familiar voice said from behind him before a large hand planted on his shoulder.
Jack turned to see his beloved son standing there smiling all over his mandibles while Tik aimed a playful swat at her beloved cub's head for the joke at her expense, suddenly the image of that murdered young Scalathor boy flashed through Jack's mind, from his lifeless butchered body sprawled on a pile, discarded like he was nothing more than waste, to the radiant golden spirit placing his hand on Jack's shoulder as he recited the oath of Clan Mason, a million thoughts buzzed through Jack's head like angry honey hornets.
Had he died alone?
Had he been made to suffer when they ended his young life?
Had all that young one known was pian his whole life? Were among the rapid-fire questions and Jack felt tears burn his eyes.
Out of no-where Jack threw his arms around Ryan and held him tight in his strong grip surprising the tall hybrid, "It shames me to say this but I never tell you enough how much you are loved and you are cherished, you, your sister and your adopted sister, you are the triple stars that light up mine and your matriarch's universe and there is not a drop of blood we would not shed or spill to protect you" he said soft enough that only Ryan and the now equally surprised Tik heard him.
Ryan felt the weight of his father's anguish through his connection made possible by his Dream Warrior abilities, he also felt the crushing weight of having to tell his adopted daughter and grand cubs that they would never see their beloved father and husband again.
He wrapped his long arms around his father and Tik stepped forwards and wrapped her long arms around the pair of them, "We will make them pay my beloved ones, we will make them bleed for what they have taken from us, I swear it to you" Jack said softly as he tried desperately to hold his emotions together.
"We know patriarch and we'll be right there at your side when you do, no-one spill the beloved blood of Clan Mason and gets away with it," Ryan said softly resting his head against his father's shoulder as Tik used her massive frame to her advantage and pulled her heartsick husband into her lap and holding him against her, since the battle had been won the family really hadn't had time to grieve for the loss of their loved one, now it was catching up at them.
As the shuttle lifted off the family clung together, not a single word was said by any other member of the Clan present, if this was a pure human shuttle quite a lot of looks probably would have been bouncing around the cab about this human male sitting in his female's lap like a child, but this was not a pure human shuttle, this was a Clan Mason shuttle and it was a pain they all felt and shared if anything the only thought that was bouncing around the cabin was that they wished they could do something, anything to help alleviate the pain in their Grand Patriach's heart.
As the shuttle exited the gravity well of Raptoria they all got their first look at the newly commissioned Grand Matriarch's Fury, it was utterly gigantic.
The Dreamer was running formation alongside it with the other cruisers and some frigates and they looked like a fleet of tug boats compared to the utterly gigantic Dreadnaught class battleship/combat carrier.
It was the first ship the Clan had commissioned to be multirole, it was more than capable of taking on a whole fleet on its lonesome dud to its incredibly powerful weapons and shielding not to mention its colossal hull reinforcement.
The ship was shaped like a giant broadhead arrowhead giving it a low, sharp and angular but surprisingly sleek shape, the armour had obviously been designed with the intention of trying to bounce any incoming fire that broke through its incredibly tough shields.
It was much wider than it was tall giving it a surprisingly low profile for its size, even the large central conning and command tower at the centre of the top of its hull was rounded reminding Jack of an old Russian submarine called an Accula.
Its hull bristled with all sorts of weapons, all along the outer ridge of its hull were large railgun ports all set to give it an incredible broadside salvo on both sides, there had to be fifty of them on the one side they could see alone.
Underneath the huge ship was more of them but these were set into ports that could be opened to allow them to extend on targeting gimbal arms, allowing the ship to go belly up and fire off a saturation shot that would utterly blanket an area with fire, primarily designed for planetary bombardment from orbit, the ship would simply glide over a target and fire directly down on it.
Along the top of the hull, there were batteries of CWIS designed to utterly saturate the path of any incoming torpedoes or missiles with lead, they were not railguns but they didn't need to be, the conventional projectile weapons did the job just nicely.
Although they couldn't see them as they were utterly black against a black background Jack knew from seeing the blueprints the top was also covered with a plethora of torpedo launchers having both large ICBM style capital killers in hidden tubes and smaller and much faster interceptor torpedoes in amiable battery launchers.
But this ship had two very special party pieces that were currently hidden from view within the colossal hull, Jack knew the location because it had been up to him and Tik to sign off on both the development and the installation of the weapons if called for the very tip of the arrowhead point would be opened up to reveal a huge barrel that ran the entire length of the ship, right from the engines at the rear to the very tip, the planet killer.
Dead centre in the belly of this beast was a very special railgun that had been modified, its entire barrel shrouded and encased in the metal that was produced on the Clan Mason homeworld, like a giant rectangle, depending on what the Clan needed it could either fire a slug that was roughly the same size as a truck and weighing a hell of a lot more at nearly a hundred tons of super-dense tungsten.
The result would utterly devastate a planet, Citrus and Yoshi's hive had estimated just two shots to the right spot on a planet would shatter it causing its core to basically explode, the first shot would blow off the armour of the planet's crust exposing a weak spot, the second would turn the whole thing into debris.
Then there was this utterly monstrous gun's other trick, it could fire a charged plasma shot of exactly the same size, the impact of just one of these would utterly burn off a planet's atmosphere and utterly incinerate the surface, turning every single living thing to a could of ash in seconds, it made every nuclear weapon that Jack's parent species had ever conceived of look like a pop cap
This ship was not just a weapon of war it was a statement, it quite blatantly said 'Fuck with us and we will fuck you with no ambiguity, this was a show of strength and of pride in one machine.
Their shuttle moved around to the rear of the ship where hanger bays were located, this ship could hold and deploy five hundred fighters, two-hundred bombers and gunships, plus a plethora of ground assault craft not to mention regular shuttles like the one that Jack and his family now rode in.
The hanger bays stood out from the jet black hull as their doors were open but were covered by a multilayered force field designed to contain the atmosphere and stop the workers within from being vented into space, it also protected them from stray shots as the outer layer was the same as the anti-energy and ballistic shielding that was on all Clan Mason vehicles and armour.
Infact as the shuttle approached the outer layer which shimmered bright blue powered down revealing a purple layer underneath, this would allow the shuttle to pass through unhindered or without causing it to bounce off and go spinning into space.
The shuttle made a safe and gentle landing on its predetermined pad, instantly Saviour engineering crews were heading over to the ship, Jack climbed down from Tik's lap and she patted his shoulder steadying him and showing him her support, Jack instantly put his game face back on and took a deep breath, "Alright people everyone off, report to the duty master and get your cabins assigned" he said and there were nods from the Hunters who were all standing in neat lines waiting to disembark.
The hatch opened with a hiss that any Xeno would be envious of and Jack strapped down onto the deck plate of the hanger bay, instantly the whole ship snapped to attention, "Grand Patriarch and Matriarch on deck! Attenshun!" someone bellowed.
Jack turned and saw a huge Yautja female dressed in the crisp white suit of a Saviour ship captain, infact the emblem emblazed on her blazer breast pocket, while the emblem of the ship itself was on her right shoulder, all of the Saviour space crew did this, it showed their pride in the ship that they served the Clan on.
She snapped to attention before them and saluted them crisply, "Grand Patriarch and Matriarch welcome aboard the Grand Matriarch's Fury" she said in a deep rumbling voice.
Both Jack and Tik returned the salute and T'Lethran fell at ease, "Thank you, captain, this is a fine ship and she looks utterly fitting to bear that name, she truly looks like she could field a fury worthy of my beloved one" Jack said shooting a smile at Tik who clicked at him in response.
"I'd say matriach's is worse depending on what day of the month it is" Ryan mumbled before getting cuffed around the head by Tik.
"You maybe be an all-powerful Dream Warrior but you are still my cub and therefore still vulnerable to my discipline," Tik said in a huff as Jack just chuckled softly and shook his head as Ryan rubbed his and muttered an apology.
That's when Jack noticed some of the coffins being unloaded from another shuttle, without missing a beat he strode over and grabbed the front handle of it as it was lifted from the trolly that it was rolled down the loading ramp on.
Instantly Seekers appeared all around him including Liam and together they lifted the coffin, Tik was at the second one in a second and did the exact same as her Hunters formed up and assisted her, Ryan was at the third joined by a mixture of Hunters, Saviors and Seekers.
"These here are our beloved brothers and our sisters, for the entirety of this journey they will have an honour guard on them, they fell for this Clan and we will guard them till the moment they rest peacefully in our sacred soil, is that understood!?" Jack bellowed so loudly it made it feel like the whole ship rang with his voice.
"YES GRAND PATRIARCH!" the whole bay yelled in perfect unison including T'Lethran.
They carried the coffins to a specially converted storage bay where one Seeker and one Hunter took up guard positions over them, before he left jack stopped and laid a hand on V'Lek's coffin and bowed his head, "They will pay for your blood and our beloved's sorrow, this I swear on my immortal soul" he said with a fire burning through his voice before turning and heading towards the bridge.
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"B-B-By the Great Tree! Look at this place! It's like a flying city!" Smoke's pride said all gawking at the colossal hanger bay in which they now stood in.
All around them people were busy working, servicing all forms of crap, loading and unloading ammo and supplies from others, it was just like being in an industrial zone of a city.
"Welcome aboard The Grand Matriarch's Fury ladies, the pride of the Clan Mason Navy, infact it's also the newest ship in the fleet only recently finished, but I doubt she'll the be the last of her kind, she's a Dreadnaught class, basically a giant flying hammer that can be brought down on the Clan or our allies enemies, in fact, I dare say you are the first non Clan members to ever set foot on her," Smoke said proudly as he gestured around himself with wide sweeping movements of his arms.
Other prides were coming out of the shuttles behind them, along with them were some of the freed Scalathor males who had opted to head to the Clan Mason homeworld either because they didn't fancy living underground, or simply because they wanted to live among the Clan.
All of the prides that were currently here were all Surface Stalkers who had taken the invite to come to the Clan Mason homeworld, quite a few of them had a male member of the Clan in tow and as their habit dictated said the male was planted in the centre of a protective circle of his females.
Smoke noticed A'Ramak being led along by his own new pride as they pointed and fussed over everything and he shot him a knowing grin as the big Yautja strode past surrounded by his little reptilian loves.
Suddenly a female Xeno Saviour appeared seemingly out of thin air right next to them making him and his entire pride jump, instantly Vippy and the others protective instincts kicked into full and they formed up a tight protective circle with Smoke dead centre, ready to defend him from either a threat or a potential suitor.
"Sargent Smoke I presume?' she said her voice modulator making her voice sound pleasant and warm, though Smoke still heard the soft hisses and chirps of her actual words under it.
"That's me," he said and the Xeno dressed in Saviour blues brought up a pad and apparently ticked his name off a list.
"Current status married, six wives, all Raptorian, entire pride all granted diplomatic VIP status as allies of Clan Mason, names, Vippy, Sema, Skeeva, Uma, Lima and Freeda and I assume this is them correct?" the Xeno asked pointing at them as his pride relaxed somewhat.
"That's correct," Smoke said and the Xeno nodded happily as she tapped her pad.
"Ok you have been given married quarters on B deck, technically they weren't designed for Raptorians I'm afraid but they were designed for Serpentinus, a last-minute upgrade that Queen Citrus authorised as she anticipated that a few members of the Clan would be picked off by those bloody pretty snake girls, leaving less pretty human boys for us Xenos to scramble to secure but I digress, please place your palm prints on the pad when I call your name," she said a slightly bitter note in her modulated voice.
After each of them placed their hand on the pad it chimed and a picture of them appeared along with a service record which confirmed they were who they said they were, it was obvious that the command prides had sent the details of every pride that had opted to head to the Clan Mason homeworld ahead of them so no problems would arise.
Smoke was the last one to touch the pad and it lit up green, "That's it, your quarters are number seventy-one B, only your handprints and those of security or the Grand Patriarch or Matriarch can open your door now, good to have you aboard Hunter" the Xeno said and then she glanced down at Vippy and her pride.
"Take good care of him, Clan Mason raises our humans right, you have a prize that any single girl here would give her tail to get," she said and before Vippy or her pride could respond with anything more than a fluff of indignant feathers she vanished, scurrying off to the next pride and Hunter combo.
"Who the hell does she think she is!? Insinuating that we would ever mistreat our pride male!" all of them stormed as Smoke ushered them away before they started a diplomatic incident right there in the hanger bay.
"Easy girls, she wasn't insulting you she was simply stating how Clan Mason are, we might be free to love whoever we choose and chooses us but we defend it with a fury the likes of which even you haven't seen, trust me when I say Clan Mason does not forgive and it certainly does not forget," he said as they walked, suddenly he spotted something out of the corner of his eye and he stopped and turned.
"What is it?" Sema asked solo upon spotting him.
"Sorry one moment, there is something I have to do," he said and headed quickly towards the storage room with his pride giving a confusing chase.
As he reached the doors he saw the Seeker and the Hunter both in full battle dress armour with their weapon resting against their shoulders, Smoke snapped to a crisp salute, "Hunter Sargent Smoke requesting permission to pay respects to the fallen" he said crisply in his best parade voice.
"Permission granted, welcome brother," the Hunter said in a distinctly Yautja voice, both of them stepped to one side and allowed him to pass before stepping back into place to bar his pride from entering, they instantly realised what was going on and snapped to attention saluting the honour guards.
"Raptorian Surface Stalkers First Class, Vippy, Sema, Skeeva, Freeda, Uma and Lima requesting permission to pay respects to the fallen who died on our beloved soil," they all said in unison.
"Permission granted, show respect at all times in this place Surface Stalkers, these are our honoured dead and we guard them till they rest in our sacred soil," the pair said stepping to one side to allow the pride to pass and catch up with their male.
They found him in the room filled with coffins, they numbered twenty-eight, twenty-eight souls lost, twenty-eight brothers and sisters who would never set foot on their beloved home again, twenty-eight holes created in the lives of those they'd left behind.
As his pride reached him Smoke snapped to attention, "Attenshun!" he said firmly and his whole pride encircled him and snapped to attention.
"Honoured brothers and sisters I thank you for your sacrifice, for your loyalty and for your love, because of you and those like you I stand here today a man of two worlds, a man who now carries with him six beautiful lives that I love and shield as you did for our beloved Clan if it wasn't for you and your sacrifice this love of mine would not have been possible, so go now to your rest in the Eternal Hunt and may the Lady Paya welcome you with open arms, may all of your hunts before ever blessed, rest in peace my brothers and sisters and know you are forever loved," Smoke said.
"Surface Stalkers, present arms! Salute!" Vippy snapped and the whole pride Smoke included snapped into a crisp parade salute to the twenty-eight coffins before lowering their arms and turning to march out in single file, showing respect with every step they took.
As they left the two guards saluted them and they returned it, it might have been only a small gesture but Smoke knew that their presence and their respect for Clan Mason's fallen had earned them the very same this day.
The pride didn't say another word as they made their way through the gigantic ship up to their quarters which when Smoke opened the door with his handprint he very nearly laughed out loud, everything was Serpentinus sized, oh this was going to be funny.
Just as Smoke tried to hide his grin from his utterly stunned wives all staring at the pillows and the large furniture of their quarters a voice came through the tannoy, "This is captain T'Lethran to all hands, we are preparing to jump, make sure all shuttles and craft are aboard and the hanger bays are sealed, all other personnel please make ready for a hyperspace jump, one further warning will be given before jump, we're going home people, T'Lethran out" it said.
Smoke like his entire pride had looked up at the ceiling as the captain's voice had cut in, now they all looked at him, "better grab a seat girls, hyperspace jumps can be a bitch the first time" Smoke said and suddenly his entire pride were grinning at him.
"You know we're friends with a transport pride who run one of our trade ships between the Serpentinus homeworld and they swear there is no feeling in this lifelike making love the moment the ship you're on breaks the hyperspace barrier and jumps," they said and Smoke's smile froze for a moment before he could say a word he was up in the air riding a magic carpet of Raptorians again.
"To the bedroom girls!" Vippy yelled and they rushed him into the giant mattress filled the room and dumped him in the centre before diving on him, oh boy was this going to be a trip and a half.