Chapter Text
Hogar - Fourth Moon - Last Quarter
The moon sits, a half circle of pitted silver hanging in the dark star sprinkled sky. That’s enough moonlight to make their ambush of the pursuers dangerous and Kans’ ill luck doesn’t help. As she approaches a dozing gona on watch, her foot disturbs an old metal can hidden in the dust. The ‘tink’ as it hits a stone alerts the watchman, who immediately shouts a warning and suddenly everyone is awake and fighting for their lives. Though they may not be the most highly trained of gonas (warriors), the men of Hogar have the strength of desperation and some experience with their weapons, so the fight becomes bloody.
Kans takes a blade to the gut and Linkon’s sword can’t quite block the heavy axe that’s aimed at his head. He deflects but takes a nasty blow to his left shoulder. As he feels the bone break he continues with his own firm sword-stroke and succeeds in inflicting a deep slash to his attacker’s forearm. Following through he ends the man’s fight with a thrust to the belly. Looking to his left he leaps to avoid the curved blade of a sword that glints in the moonlight as it slices at him. Twisting he brings his own blade up to block the swing as another figure lunges forward.
Saka’s first strike disables the yellow robed leader with a solid blow to the head and now he’s moved on to thrust his dagger deep into the side of Kans’ killer. Oktavia ducks low, spins and twists to allow her blades to slice through the tendons at the back of a big Hogar gona’s calves. He falls backwards, no longer able to stay on his feet. Her dagger ends his fight with a clean blow to his chest. She sees Linkon stagger under the axe’s blow and rolls under the swinging sword coming at her from the right, she snaps upwards to slip her dagger into the back of the swordsman’s chest, he gurgles as she twists the blade and her sword makes a quick end of him; then she surges onward to Linkon and the two gonas who are closing in on him. Together; he with his height, her low but deadly, they are formidable and the two enemies are soon dispatched. Saka melts into the darkness for a moment before choosing his target and then he thrusts his lance into the gut of a tall man wearing robes similar to those of the unconscious leader. Oktavia is standing to Linkon’s left when Saka’s dagger flies in-front of her eyes to sink into the side of a lanky man who’s trying to scramble onto his horse. Oktavia sprints towards the horses and her sword finds the thigh of another yellow robed gona who is trying to flee; he falls untidily under the hooves of his own mount.
The skirmish is over. Kans is beyond their help, her guts spilled and red blood covering her almost lifeless body. Saka says the words of farewell to his old friend and listens respectfully to her final whispers. Oktavia deals with the two surviving enemies. She binds the hands of the unconscious yellow robed leader and of the man who fell under his own horse. She will return to tend to their wounds after she has helped Linkon. He sits, stoic in his pain and she listens to his instructions, as very gently she cuts away his shirt to reveal the swollen and misshapen flesh of his shoulder. Following his directions and with Saka’s help, she realigns the broken collarbone and binds Linkon’s arm to his chest to immobilise it. Linkon blacks out during the procedure and she’s secretly glad that she doesn’t have to keep watching him bear the pain. Carefully she and Saka lower him to the ground and cover him with furs so he can sleep. Then they go to tend to their prisoners. The thigh wound is bandaged, he’s lucky she missed the big leg arteries and his bonds are checked and retied. The leader is still unconscious, not surprising really as the lump on his head is huge and will hurt like jok (fuck) when/if he wakes up, he probably has a concussion and maybe a serious brain bleed. Saka will stay awake to watch them and to guard Kans’ body, while Oktavia sleeps through the few hours of darkness that remain. She takes her furs and lies by Linkon, her hand touches his side, happier now that she is in contact with her niron (lover). Tomorrow they will catch up with their companions and head back to Kongeda (Coalition) lands. They have plenty to tell Dakota, Eric and Leksa.
Ton DC
Wick walks unsteadily into the makeshift prison. His questioning by Jake, who was later joined by Klark, has been exhaustingly thorough and desperate to make amends he’s told them everything he knows about Sydney, Shumway and the Ark. Through the bars of his cage, he recognises Byrne and Briggs, but doesn’t know the two other Guards who are also watching him anxiously. Once the door to his cage shuts, their questioning starts. “Is it true? Did the Council know? Did anyone know?” He responds as he sits slumped and guilty, there’s no point in lying. It’s best if more people know, Sydney can’t kill everyone can she?
Oscar stands silent and vigilant. Later, as ordered by his Heda, he will report to Skaigona Callie and Chief Indra on all that he has heard.
Grace Byrne eventually turns away from Wick disgust writ clearly upon her face. He sees her response as understandable, he should have refused the orders of the Chancellor and the Commander of the Guard, or at least sabotaged them somehow. He’s a coward, who’s failed everyone. He helped launch a nuke for fucks sake!
After he has answered all their questions Grace and her fellow Guards sit, they feel almost poleaxed by despair and disgust. Now they know and have the evidence, first hand evidence, of what Sydney and Shumway did. It’s Briggs who puts it into words. “It wasn’t a case of no help was offered! Kane and Griffin were talking about where to land to avoid problems, how to work with the people on the ground. What does Sydney do? Says fuck off and launches a nuke! She’s insane and what’s Shumway doing about it?”
Grace turns to her men. “Tomorrow we need to talk to Callie and the people here. Think things over tonight and let me know your thoughts and ideas tomorrow. We have a duty to keep our people safe, even if it means safe from their own Chancellor!”
Heda’s Tower - Polis
Gaia had summoned Mari first. As the former Reina, surely she knows something of El Rey Ferdinand’s gonas and why he is bringing a huge army east. But Mari knows next to nothing of gonas and war. Over many years she watched as the gonas of El Rey and the Temple rode, marched and exercised in her homeland and can describe what she has seen but of the tactics of war, training and weapons she knows nothing. She does know a great deal about the Temple and its yellow robed Priests. All the children of Hogar spend ten years living in the Temple and Mari describes how the children serve the priesthood; girls as Temple Maids, boys as Acolytes, Priests, Warriors or Artisans. As a maid she spent most of her time doing domestic chores inside the huge silver building and she knows that Temple building like the back of her hand, she’s cleaned most of it after all.
Next Gaia talks with the twins Cami and Jame and their grandfather Seb. Their uncle Jem died of the wasting sickness last moon. Their knowledge is a little more useful. Seb was a gona for Ferdinand’s father Rafa. Rafa had no wish to go east, his army enforced the law against bandits and raiders within Hogar and occasionally campaigned to the West, looking for fertile land and children. Bringing the army east is a new idea to him but he knows how Rafa’s army campaigned and was trained. It’s unlikely to have changed very much since Ferdinand took the throne after his father’s death.
Finally, Gaia speaks with Isa, Valle and young Sofi. She doesn’t expect to learn much but to her surprise Valle, who had been bonded to a Hogar general before she was declared barren and sent on el peregrinaje (pilgrimage), has some knowledge of her bonded’s world. He was a bitter man who complained unendingly, when he was at home, about the Temple and its’ interference with; El Rey’s duties, his powers and the army.
Later, with Usk’s notes of the meetings to hand, she works into the night putting together her report for Heda. The latest count from Jasper is that the slowly approaching army numbers over ten thousand and in a little over a moon’s cycle it will reach the border with Ingranronakru.
She sighs and rubs eyes gritty with tiredness. She needs to get some sleep. Tomorrow Madrona kom Delphikru arrives in Polis. They’ve had to postpone the final talks between Madrona and Heda about the Conclave but as Madrona had already started the journey to Polis she decided to come and visit anyway. She wants to; see Gaia, visit Bekka’s shrine and read Bekka’s journals, before reaching her final view on the future of the Conclave. Gaia isn’t looking forward to having the Senior Keeper of the Flame staying in the Tower, poking about in the Shrine and watching her as she teaches the Natblidas (Night Bloods) but she doesn’t really have a choice. She turns back to the report, trying to summarise and make coherent the wandering narratives that Usk has recorded.
Albi’s Bar Polis
Monty and Jasper have set up a taster night at Albi’s bar for the new spirits and meads from Adam in Ton DC and they’ve invited Bellamy and Finn along to draw in the girls. It’s almost working, there are more women at the taster than usually frequent Albi’s; the problem is that they are mostly hanging around Bellamy and Finn, with Jasper and Monty having little luck in attracting female company. Everyone is drinking steadily, Finn’s already looking a little glassy eyed. His fos Leo kom Trikru is likely to find him of little use hunting tomorrow.
The atmosphere changes when Harper and Monroe wander into the bar bringing Jame and Cami with them for company. Then it turns into a good night with music and dancing. Cami seems very taken with Monty and they end up sitting huddled together on a rickety bench, sipping brews and talking about the flavours of herbs and berries to be used in the drinks. Jasper’s terrible attempt at chatting up Jame doesn’t work well, but she puts up with him as her twin is clearly taken with Monty and Jasper is an amusing branwada (fool).
Things start to break up later in the night when a couple of the girls realise that a befuddled Finn has asked both of them to go home with him. Their fight is just with fists but Albi has them and Finn thrown out. Bellamy leaves soon after, he’d been trying to talk to Finn about important stuff before the booze took hold and when the girls started fighting, he gave up on talking and just drank for a while. Now he’s found a girl willing to sleep with him so he follows her out into the night. Monty and Cami don’t even notice the fight and Jame goes to sit with Harper and Monroe when Jasper slumps forward onto their table, a potent mixture of booze and stress dragging him into sleep. His double life as brewer and tek gona (tech warrior) has involved long, hard and stressful days as he watches the satellite feeds; counting, calculating, guessing even; at the size of Hogar’s army, the type of gonas it is made up of and how long will it take before it reaches Kongeda lands.
Travelling with Heda
Quint’s fayogon-kru marches with Heda as she travels west, gathering the mighty army of the Kongeda as she rides. At times they march in Spring sunshine, enjoying fresh pastures and the beauty of flowers. Then it can be like today, slogging through cold rain, slush and mud; but it is worth it to fight at Heda’s side. He knows this fight will be bloody and hard but it will also bring honour to his name and kru. He looks back to his fayogon-kru, proud of their training, discipline and the honour they will bring to Trikru. He grits his teeth and hunches into his waxed coat, at least he and his fayogun are dry.
Leksa, mounted on Loki, looks out from beneath her hood at the steep, wet and rock-strewn path; Gostus rides ahead of her and Dax behind. Tonight, they will be warm and dry in the mighty caves of Ben kom Boudalan (Rock Line) and if she is lucky she may even be able to get a hot bath. She mulls over the plans she is starting to put together. As more information comes from Gaia and the tek gonas in Polis she makes, remakes and changes plan after plan. The first difficult decision was how to split her forces between two such different threats. The Ark has tek and many fayoguns but few actual gonas. El Ray Ferdinand is marching with over ten thousand, many on horseback, but it seems he has no tek.
Leksa and Klark held long meetings, by radio and some in person, with Kongeda chiefs and generals and Leksa’s final decision was to leave most of the fayogon-krus in Ton DC under Onya’s command. Along-side Quint’s the only fayogon krus with Heda in the west will be Ingranronakru and Trishanakru. When it comes to gonas who fight with traditional weapons it’s a different story. To meet the massive army from the West the main armies of Azgeda (Ice Nation), Boudalan, Ouskejon (Blue Cliff), Sangedakru (Desert Clan), Trishanakru (Glowing Forest), Ingranronakru (Plains Riders), Delphikru, Trikru, Yujleda (Broadleaf) and Louwoda Kilron (Shallow Valley), will be with Heda. Podakru’s Solon and Ottwa will send their small land forces west next full moon.
In Ton DC will remain eight fayogon-krus plus; all of Trikru’s Scouts who will be led by Kestra, along with; Yujleda’s Rangers and Louwoda Kilron’s Invisibles. All of these gonas are known for their skill in moving through forested landscapes without sound or trace.
Before she left Ton DC Leksa had a very difficult conversation with Indra. As her senior, and most experienced in battle Wormana (General), Indra expected to be at her Heda’s side when the Kongeda (Coalition) engages in battle with an invading army. But she is not yet fully fit, is still nursing her new-born child and her own kru’s lands are under ‘attack’ from the Ark. Leksa is clear Indra must stay in Ton DC. Onya will command the fayogun-krus and Indra will have overall command of the Scouts, Rangers and Invisibles. Both Wormanas will be assisted by Klark, Callie and the tek gonas. Medical back-up will be Abi and her newly arrived Polis apprentices. Nyko and the Floukru healers will travel to Ingranronakru with Heda. Indra doesn’t like it one little bit but will obey her Heda. She stalks back to her home, where she knows Callie and Candra are waiting for her; they have a tense evening ‘at home’ but eventually Callie and Candra nudge her into a better humour, if she still worries. She knows she has a good team here in Ton DC, it is Heda she is afraid for.
Ton DC - Fifth Moon - New Moon
The biggest room in Indra’s house is crowded. Klark, Jake, Indra, Onya, Raven, the Millers, Marcus and Callie are looking through old floor plans of the Ark. At one time, the Arkers knew their way around Alpha station but the crash to earth has destroyed whole sections, most walkways and made finding their way around the damaged structure and its’ new add-ons and makeshift accommodations difficult.
Jake leans forward. “We’ve got two goals; first find Anderson’s ‘Sump Rupture’ recordings and second show those recordings to as many people on the Ark as possible.” He sips from his mug of tea and looks at the tense faces of his friends as they try to make sense of what the crash to the ground has done to this part of their former home.
It’s Klark who speaks next. “Don’t we need to look even further ahead Dad? Just showing the recording won’t automatically bring Sydney and Shumway to justice, especially if they control the Guards. How do we get power out of Sydney’s hands?”
Callie and Marcus are former Council members and they exchange glances. Callie shifts Candra in her arms and dips her head to Marcus when his eyes ask permission to speak first. “From what Wick said, the launch of the nuke was not authorised by the Council. Now Sydney could argue that coming to the ground was an emergency measures situation, giving her absolute power temporarily, but even when emergency measures are in place I don’t think the Chancellor alone can authorise the launch of a live nuke.”
Callie agrees. “Marcus is right, even if she claims she has or had emergency powers at the time they evacuated the Ark, there’s nothing that permits her to launch a nuke, without Council backing. If the people are shown evidence that she did that, they are likely to call for elections immediately and if over seventy five percent of the adult population call for an election - one must take place within five days.”
“Can we rig up some kind of projector Dad, so we can broadcast Anderson’s recordings and some recording of our own explaining things. We can talk about the ground and try and get the people to call for an election and to negotiate with the Commander. Or at least get someone to reply to our attempts to set up a meeting to negotiate?”
Marcus looks gloomy. “There’s no way Sydney will negotiate or allow negotiations while she’s in power, because she must know that her death will be part of any settlement. You can’t launch a nuke at people and expect them to want anything other than your death. Ditto Shumway. They will be desperate to cling onto power and keep the people from ousting them and if they have the Guard on their side it will be difficult to shift them?”
Indra and Callie exchange looks this time before Callie speaks. “Oscar, who guards our Ark prisoners, tells us that the four Guards we have captured are angry with their Chancellor. They say the launching of the nuke was wrong. They want to overthrow Sydney and no longer recognise Shumway as their ‘commander’.”
This gives them all pause for thought. Klark suggests a meeting with the captured guards would be a start.
Meanwhile Jake’s looking thoughtful, scratching his head whilst sipping his tea. Raven’s nudging him as she makes notes on her tablet. Klark can see they’re getting excited, their minds starting to buzz with tech ideas.
Raven pokes at her tablet, bringing up images. “Thinking of the tech we need. Our first problem is how to project any recordings we want the Arkers to watch without access to the Ark’s screens or monitors. We want everyone to see the recordings. In the old times they used lasers to project moving images onto clouds. That would work best at night. We’ve got any number of lasers from the Mountain and plenty of darkness and clouds this time of year. But making the projector will be a challenge, we need high quality mirrors, electric motors and some fancy programming. The sound bit’s easy, we could put speakers in the trees.” Jake’s looking at her tablet and clearly in agreement with her. He takes another sip from his tea before speaking.
“I think we need to make the projector and other tech kit in Polis. We’ve got all the components there and Sinclair and Monty on site. It will take about ten days to build, programme and test. What do you think Raven?”
Raven has to agree with him, the meeting continues on this topic for a while before gonas call Indra and Onya away. The Ark Guards are trying to break out of the Valley again. After the two Wormanas leave to deal with that problem, Klark leads the meeting back to finding Anderson’s recordings in Alpha station.
Later Klark, Raven, Onya, Callie and Indra snatch some time over a hot drink to discuss what the latest attempt by the Ark Guards was actually meant to achieve. It was their most determined effort yet to escape the Valley and the Ouskejon fayogun-kru had to lay down heavy fire to get them to retreat. Onya suspects that the Ark is testing their capabilities.
This meeting is informal, they’re sitting on low benches or logs in-front of the warm fire outside Onya’s hut and Raven relaxes back into her lover’s arms. She’s very glad that it was decided that although she and Jake will work with Sinclair and Monty on the design of the projector and that it will be put together in Polis, Raven will stay in Ton DC, as ready as she can be, to counter any tech the Ark tries to use against the Kongeda. Bellamy is bringing Jasper to Ton DC tomorrow, along with Vera Kane. Jasper will help Raven with any tech problems (and work with Adam in his brewery on the side) and Vera has more work to do with her farmer friend Olaf. In a few days Jake can go back to Polis with Bellamy and start to actually build the projector.
Vera together with Hannah Green is becoming well known throughout the Kongeda. Their radiation resistant and short growing season plants have started to increase nearly every kru’s crop yields, most noticeable in the cases of Azgeda and Delphikru. Over the past year the increased availability of foodstuffs, together with Abi’s vitamin pills and medical cooperation with Nyko, is bringing to everyone’s notice the advantages of Heda’s peace and the usefulness of the former Skaikru.
“As well as fayoguns, what tek do you think the Ark has that could be used as a weapon and are they like the Maunon, will they use sniper rifles and missiles?” Onya starts off with her most pressing worry.
Callie gently rocks the sleeping Candra as she replies. “The Guard never had anything like sniper rifles on the Ark. It’d be too easy for a stray shot to pierce the hull and that would lose oxygen. Short range pistols or old-world Chinese bull-pup rifles, using soft point ammunition, was the norm.” She sees Onya and Klark relax in relief so feels a little guilty when she continues. “But they never used RPGs, Rocket Propelled Grenades, on the Ark either. They are a kind of small missile.” She explains to Indra and Onya. “And when Orchid station crashed on the Mountain it was found to contain crates of the usual guns and ammunition plus RPGs and boxes of high explosives. We’ve moved all of the weapons out of Orchid and Heda had most of the RPGs and explosives put in secure caches nearer Polis. The ammunition and fayoguns are here in Ton DC as they could be useful to our own fayogun-krus. What we don’t know is what else they brought with them on Alpha, Farm or Mecha. When we had the leaflets spread about the stations, Dax and the Millers were asked to look out for any obvious weapons dumps inside the stations. It was only in Mecha that David Miller saw crates of fayogun ammunition, Dax and Nathan didn’t see anything in Alpha or Farm.”
She stretches her aching back and an awakened Candra starts to wriggle and whimper. Callie passes the tiny baby to Indra who puts her to her breast. Callie tears her attention back to the group and continues. “As you know when Wick was questioned by Jake he mentioned drones and a mine field and we’ve told our gonas to stay well away from any possible mine-fields and to be wary of drones, shooting them down if possible, but we need to give them more training about how to deal with them once they are down. Raven and I are putting something together tomorrow, so every gona knows what to expect.”
Their talk continues into the night and eventually it is just Raven and Onya who are left by the fire. Klark was the last to slip away, David and her parents were waiting supper for her.
The cooking pot is sizzling as together they prepare their meal; Onya is cutting up roots ready to add them to the browning meat that she marinaded in a spicy peppered mix. Raven slices her freshly baked bread, readying it for dipping into the savoury juices and she looks across the fire at her lover. Who’d have thought that the fierce sword wielding Wormana liked to cook? Raven hadn’t, but she’s learnt a great deal about Onya over the last eighteen moons or so, as time and again her lover revealed; new skills, new adaptations to the time of peace, new facets of who she is. Onya kom Trikru is a complex, talented, fierce and gentle woman and looking at her high cheek-boned face, bare of war paint and hair held back in a single braid, Raven is probably one of the few people who can see Onya’s distress at this return to the ways of war. This ultimate warrior, like the Heda she trained, hates war and longs for the return of peace and a future without battles and fighting.
Raven also knows that Onya wants very much to raise children in this peaceful future and that she wants to do this with Raven. There’s the rub. Raven, despite some youthful jokes with Finn about their ‘one’ permitted child, has never seen herself as becoming a mother. Her own mother was; addicted to just about anything going, at times violent and always selfish. She just saw Raven as a source of tradeable ration bars and Raven fears that she, like her own mother, doesn’t have what it takes to rear children and have a long-term meaningful relationship. When Onya asked her last year, in the bluntest most unromantic way possible. “Hei Raven, we are good for each other, bond with me and we can raise goufas that can fight and know tek!” Raven was beyond surprised and must have completely lost her reason; as in refusing that offer she ended up saying some of the stupidest things any genius could ever say.
They separated for a short time after that awful conversation, both truly miserable apart and since finding their way back to each other, the whole ‘future together’ topic has never been spoken of. They’ve just always made sure to be together as much as possible and the fact that recently they’ve had to spend so much time apart has made Raven very aware of how lonely she’d been with Onya so far away; with Ingranronakru or Podakru. And if the fabulous back-home sex, cuddles and food is anything to go by, Onya missed her too. The thing is Raven knows it’s up to her to do or say something, if she wants their current arrangement (whatever it is) to change. Onya made her offer and Raven said no.
“Niron (beloved) what did that bread do to you?”
“Huh, er” Raven looks down to see she’s sliced and sliced and sliced the whole loaf into small cubes. “Um…. Croutons! I’m making croutons. That’s French for toasted cubed bread, the er, cutting it, er into cubes increases the surface area of the bread in contact with the juices and the uptake of the juice……it's more efficient!” Raven looks at the cubed bread as if she has never seen it before and gingerly places the little cubes into a large metal bowl by the fire. “You’ll see Croutons are the way to go.”
Onya looks nonplussed and gives a slight shrug. “If that is what you want niron, we will have crootons with our meal.”
Travelling with Heda
Mara of the Glens bows her head before Heda, she has been chosen by Roan to lead the army of Azgeda in this war. Leksa is delighted to see the mighty gona looking completely recovered from her captivity in the Maunon’s (Mountain men’s) cages. Leksa steps forward and offers her arm in greeting, the grasp is firm and sincere from both women.