"The shuttle has left the space station," Galatea tells Tasha, apparently able to know when her ansible is being moved. "I'll move to intercept them so that we don't have to break stealth," she explains. "They're on the other side of the planet though, so we'll have to wait until I can match orbits."
"Alright," says Tasha, who leans back a bit. She takes on a very considering, pursed-lips, muzzle twisted expression, eyes searching, then after a moment says, "So we just talked about the consequences of talking to our families, haven't we? You made your choice, and I saw Kainudy's. I think I've decided to try honesty and directness. I'll tell the people closest to me what happened and how I'm doing -- or not doing as is the case. And I'll see what happens. Maybe many years from now, we can compare notes?"
"So.. you're going to tell them who.. and what.. I am as well?" Galatea asks, sounding uncertain.
"No, that's your secret. There are a lot of people on board who have secret identities, or are not known by much of the crew for what they are, or at all. The ones who do know will need to know. I don't think they'll be very surprised, however; they met Charon and Persephone in person several months ago and then watched me destroy an ancient fleet with a demon vase. Hakeber had already met Kainudy once. If you request privacy from them, they will honor it. You'll see." Tasha then spreads her hands. "You'll see we have a lot of unusual beings on board."
"I'm just cautious," Galatea says. "I find people don't treat me the same if they know I'm some weird artificial person."
"I'm a weird artificial person," Tasha notes, tapping her chest. "I was made by a Wizardry-ghost having sex with a man to make something that shouldn't normally be possible, all for the off chance I'd accomplish a certain something." Another hand shrug. "The Karnors were made by Humans thousands of years ago, the Phins much sooner than that, and the Pans not that long ago at all. Mel's an 'artificial soul', Thoth is a second-gen Vril'ya, Horus is first-gen and made Thoth, and the ship is powered by a big demon put there by one of the biggest demons."
"But what are they like?" Galatea asks, focusing intently on Tasha. "Personally? I've only dealt with Thoth and Samael, so I don't know anything about your group dynamics.. or how big your group actually is. I haven't been around people for awhile."
"We're about twenty people, about twenty-five percent are crew and aren't aware of the greater picture, the rest are my friends, family, and co-conspirators like Thoth. I guess you could say there are three groups among us: crew and hirelings such as the ship's basic crew, our mercenaries, and our doctor; my family and friends; and independents, who have attached themselves to us but tend to stay aloof, like Samael, Thoth, and some others you might meet. You'll probably fit in to the last group." Ass she explains Tasha counts off on her fingers for each group, wiggling them for emphasis. "The crew is friendly and respectful, mostly. My family is hard for me to judge in how they treat outsiders. The independents vary widely. I am ostensibly the leader."
"So, there are secrets that need to be kept from some of the members," Galatea surmises. "I assume anyone in the shuttle knows everything then. But for others I will need to maintain a cover story for myself and the remote. I was going to claim she was my mother. I can control her, but.. I don't what sort of personality to maintain for her. Or myself. Having two people just show up out of nowhere is not something unusual though, is it?"
"Not for us it isn't. We're so far beyond common legality and Galactic experience we may as well be walking mythology," Tasha answers, her laughter light. She touches her chest and leans forward. "I tell people I'm a mezzode because no one is going to believe I am a remade ghost-product created by a hyper-advanced species of pan-dimensional space-whale-dragons. And if they did, they'd probably try to destroy us just to stop the panic."
"So, what is the cover story for Thoth and Samael?" Galatea asks. "Do you ever take on passengers?"
"Somehow Thoth convinced everyone he's some kind of of Vartan, I still don't know how he did it. I suspect magic." And so Tasha shrugs, unknowingly. "And yes we do, sometimes. They're usually restricted to passenger decks. We had a lounge but I was-- am? -- having the ship remodeled to increase crew space and support work areas."
"How common is magic use?" Galatea asks next. "Is it easily detected?"
"It's not in use and considered either off-limits advanced artifact technology or, well, nonsense for crazy people. At least officially. There are almost certainly secret groups, hidden powers, government agencies, and so on, who are aware of it to some degree or another. We should take caution, but also know that it's not something the average citizen will even understand if it were right in front of them. They'd likely assume some technology is at play, like with myself." Tasha then gestures out to the planet below. "There are fae down there, and have been for a long time, as well as a manifestation of Thotep, and nobody has any idea except for tales and stories."
"I should be safe enough then, without having to create identity credentials," Galatea says. "I don't imagine Samael has any, does he?"
"he tells people we were made by the same people. As a Human, you may need identity papers, but also as a Human you will be scrutinized less and have more power within the Terragens ... empire? Gabriel says I shouldn't call it an empire. The Terragens government." And so another who-knows shrug. "Either wya, we have people who can handle fake identities."
"We also have two actual Humans on board that aren't fake at all, that I know of, so you can talk to one of them -- Yue Sen -- and she can help you with things Human related. I was only Human for about two-three days, so I have no idea even if it keeps messing with my head months after." Tasha's head shakes. Humans.
"And Yue Sen is one of those who knows about the true origins of everyone?" Galatea asks. "And the doctor too? I know they like to examine people, and I probably shouldn't let that happen to me or the remote."
"Yep, she kind of got dragged in to it all. She's my second, maybe first favorite Human." Tasha bobs her head, as if picking favorite Humans were a regular undertaking. "Also, she's psychic, if that's a problem. Receptive but not projective."
"That will be useful for part of your training," Galatea says. "Speaking of which, I need to touch your head."
Tasha leans back again. "Why, I'm not going to end up with black fur, ultra-long hair, or a horn am I?" She looks suspicious, and suspiciously like she's not being serious.
"I don't think so," Galatea replies, and holds out her hand, fingers spread. "But I can't be certain. May I touch your forehead?"
"Oh fine, may as well come home with some kind of souvenir that's not mental and soul trauma, otherwise maybe they won't believe me." Tasha crushes her hair away from her forehead and leans forward. "Maybe you can find out why Persephone have me a swirly sun forehead fur pattern."
"To make up for your lack of a horn, obviously," Galatea says and touches Tasha's forehead. "I don't actually need to touch you for this, but it seemed like it put you more at ease," she explains. Tasha's hand tingles, and the tingle begins to move up her arm.
"I do like to be petted," Tasha admits, shoulders rolling. "Just not, you know, condescendingly."
"Do you kick your legs if you are scratched just above your tail?" Galatea asks, as the tingle passes Tasha's shoulder and starts up the back of her neck. It stops at the back of her skull, where the interface nodes are. Then Galatea takes her fingers away.
"No, depending on who it is, other things happen," Tasha answers, neutrally. She leans back now that the touching is done. "You know, I wasn't always this cute. I was a long physically stronger and bulkier before. Also, slightly taller. And I had unified hooves, not cloven ones."
"So you were like a horse?" Galatea asks, tilting her head to one side as if trying to see it.
Tasha tilts her head the other way, in mirror. "More like a horse plus a wolf. Top half wolf, bottom half horse. But not really a horse, Vartans are made from something that just looks like one from the bottom-down. Karnors are made from actual wolve, however. Persephone and Charon said I 'wasn't put together very well'. I hope people don't say that of Kainudy's work."
"She doesn't strictly design things," Galatea notes. "Close your eyes," she asks.
"She does seem to play things by the cuff for and ancient, apocalypse grandma," Tasha agrees. She closes her eyes and settles back, in case something happens.
There's a moment of disorientation, and then Tasha sees herself.. but not as a reflection. There are also a few extra colors that she's never seen before, and parts of her face actually seem to be glowing.
"This is weird," Tasha tries to say.
The voice that says it isn't her's, but Galatea's. Then she sees herself open her eyes. "You have very good sight," her body says. "Also a good sense of smell. It appears that connecting the ansible to your implants is a success."
"Am I Human again," Tasha-Galatea complains, holding her -- or Galatea's -- hands up to look down at them. "And red-headed. Somewhere Rahab is choking on his beer."
"I don't know who that is," Galatea-Tasha replies. "I'm about to switch us back, if you are ready."
"Naw I've decided to be a tree life boat forever," Tasha answers, sticking her -- Galatea's -- tongue out. "Go for it."
And then Tasha is Tasha again, although the back of her head feels tingly for a moment. "The interface is secure, so we can go on to the next phase when we have time. Your shuttle will be docking soon."
"Okay." Tasha does not know what the next phase is, but it's enough to know it will happen when there is time. her life has many such vaguenesses she has learned to accept and go with. Sometimes, she suspects she doesn't ask enough questions because of this willingness to just accept the mystery and to not want to appear ignorant. "I guess we should get ready. You should probably put on a dress, or they'll make assumptions."
Galatea puts her blue wrap dress back on, and 'Kai' the remote walks in with Samael. "I don't think they have luggage," the demon notes to Tasha.
"Lots of baggage though." Tasha stands up and dusts herself off. She did get a chance to change, but then she also fought a war, so she looks and smells of serious physical activity. She's also sans guns and supplies, but at least that's easy enough for her to justify. A nigh-god told me to put them down so I did.
Soon the shuttle is visible through the bridge windows, and after some maneuvering there's a telltale docking noise. Galatea leads the way to the airlock, which probably hasn't been used very often since it seems to double as extra storage. Boxes are moved out of the way so that the doors can open. Gabriel is on the other side, looking.. large. Katie is behind but look around him. "Are you alright, Tasha?" Gabriel asks first.
Tasha's anxious, nervous, self-deprecating laugh might tell more of a story than her words as to the answer to Gabriel's question. She gives a little shrug and replies, "I'm still here," while not quite meeting his gaze, hands behind her back, ears fighting the urge to lay back.
This also makes Galatea suddenly act shy. "I'm Tia, this is my mother, Kai," she finally introduces herself and the remote. At least the remote smiles and acts normal for a human. "Thank you for picking us up," Kai says. "Our ship's cloaking doesn't work well against vision."
"Don't worry," Samael says. "They're like me. Monsters, but mostly harmless ones."
"Mostly harmless leaves a lot of room," Katie notes.
"Uh, yeah," Tasha adds, perhaps unhelpfully. "It's why we came up with this plan. Samael's somewhat less than mostly harmless." She waggles her hands at herself then. "Lost the guns, um, Mel's ... busy ... "
"I see you have a bit to tell us then, Tasha," Gabriel says. "Should it be here before we leave, or back at the ship?"
"We should talk. Later," the red woman tacks on, still not quite looking at at the two Karnors. She thumbs towards Galatea and adds, "She's connected to our giant whale friends. That will need explaining, too. For now just know she's not a Human and the other Human is like our friends' remotes. In case you got the urge to obey her. She's gentle and and overwhelmed, and not used to people. It's been a long time for her."
"So.. they aren't Persephone's, but another's?" Gabriel asks.
"Tia is herself, by another name. The other one is ... someone else's whom I can't reveal yet without breaking my promise to her, and our relationship is already a little, uh, strained." Tasha winces at strained. "It's complicated. Things went very badly. I'll explain later."
"And this alien spaceship will be part of the explanation too?" Gabriel asks. "Are we officially starting a fleet?"
Tasha gives a little shrug. "We might as well? The ship needs repairs, at least. Repairs somewhere safe and secure, so perhaps the asteroid near Caltrop. And this ship is Tia's. She's a little like us, in that she's traveled off the radar for a while. Except alone."
"I suppose I'll trust them for now then, even if they are redheads," Gabriel claims, loosening up a bit. "The most dangerous sort of human, after all."
"Very much so," Tasha agrees, head nodding as if it were widely known and accepted. "Maybe Yue can help her practice her Human behavior later, once we're all situated. For now we shouldn't linger or risk detection since the shuttle isn't cloaked. We can leave it here for now and take it with us when we depart, which we should probably do soon."
"Our course hasn't actually changed, so we'd better load up now," Gabriel says, standing aside so people can get into the shuttle. "I there anyone being left behind?"
"Just the intercom," Galatea claims. "It will be fine."
"It's a little weird," Tasha explains, waggling her fingers as she starts for the airlock and for the shuttle. "Mel, Thoth, and Horus may be along ... eventually?"
"That just raises more questions," Katie notes, and helps Tasha strap in. It's crowded, but Sam doesn't actually need a seat.
"It does. And should." Tasha settles back in and lays her head back, glad to be home in the sense that the shuttle is theirs and not an alien vessel, far-flung reality, or otherwise not-theirs local, vagueries of time, space, and other dimensioning not withstanding.
The docking bay looks bigger without the hunched over form of Melchior taking up a lot of the space. "So, call in the executive board on this?" Gabriel asks once the disembark the shuttle.
"I should talk to you, Katie, and Hake alone, first. We'll need to put Tia somewhere before that." Tasha then turns to look at the artificial Human and tilts her head. "You're welcome to look around, or I can show you to the Lounge if it hasn't been remodeled yet. You can stay here if you want. The Bridge has a nicer view, but there are Human-centric beings there."
"I'd like to go see the ship's baby," Tia suggests.
"You mean the Tadpole?" Tasha's ears perk, she frowns, but then she nods slowly. "That should be fine. I'm sure it'd like some company. We've been busy and distracted here lately."
"Thank you. I can leave Kai here until you need us," Tia says. "How do I get to the Tadpole?"
Katie is sending the call out to Hakeber while Sam loiters near Kai. "I need a drink," Gabriel says. "We going to use the conference room or the lounge or.. the galley?"
"We'll drop you off before we head to my area of the ship to talk." Tasha snatches Tia's hand and begins slowly walking in to the ship, so as not to startle her, and to give ehr time to look around. "You can take the elevator back to this deck if you need to. You'll be cleared for the lower bay where the Tadpole is, and the Cargo Bay. For now access clearance will prevent you and others from being in the same place at the same time." To Gabriel, she then says, "We can pilfer the ex-lounge and use the upstairs conference room, or the bedroom."
"Alright, I'll.. check in with Moka, I think she's on duty. And see what the Jotoks have been up to and if the cats have made a mess or not," Gabriel says, mentally checking everything that can be done on a docked, uncrewed ship.
"I gave up running around naked in the forest for this, so I hope it's worth it!" Katie calls after Tasha, before she and Galatea leave the hanger.
"I'll show Tia down, and then I'll be waiting in the conference room on the Owner's Deck." Which will soon be the as-yet-unnamed-deck once she finishes the revisions. Deck Alpha? The Restricted Deck? Research, Development, and Family Deck? She'll need to think on it. At least she won't have to move elevators.
Hakeber brought food with her: steak sandwiches and beer. "Are we planning a surprise party?" she asks when she arrives at the conference room. "I'm great at parties you know!"
Tasha found a few bottles of wine, a cigar, and a meats platter for herself through the great and civilized power of ordering in. She got the same, sans the wine, for everyone else. "Yeah, no," Tasha begins, idly poking at some folded meat with her fork as she sits with a hand propped on her head. "This is going to be awkward and, um, probably sad."
"You aren't kicking me out are you?" Hakeber asks, beer in hand.
"Oh, no ... " Tasha sips her wine, actually sips, and shakes her hair out before just laying her head on her hands, ears back, frowning. She looks between everyone and it takes her a moment to admit so much as a word. "Um." She tries again. "This is really a lot harder than I thought it would be. Uh. See ... I'm kind of falling apart and I think I cheated you?" Her voice gets a bit high by the end of the sentence.
"What?" Hakeber asks. The other two Karnors don't say it, but certainly look curiously at Tasha.
"I'm falling apart," Tasha repeats, lifting her hands but not her head, fingers wiggling in vagueness. "Under the pressure, I think? Or maybe the horror? The overwhelming enemy? I don't know. But it happened back with Charon and it happened again while I was gone. And I think without you all around me, I kind of stop ... wanting to live?" her voice is definitely higher, and she blinks a lot. "Only when I'm away. From everyone. And then there's the dying ... and what was just done to me ... my soul ... my soul was eaten. As an example. You don't know what that's like ... " Here eyes are wider now. "Even I don't, I had to ask the Null to remove it, remove that part of my soul. Kia couldn't endure it either. I don't think anyone can. And I ... I don't die when it happens ... I just ... it keeps going and it ... never ... ends."
Tasha sucks in a breath, and is reminded again that the removal of the memory, if not what she learned from the memory, was the right choice. "S-so I lost it. I went mad. I attacked my teacher, and everything else. They had to do a lot to me for me to even be here. I hurt someone badly. I had to come back to help them. I fought a war? A lot of elves died, and some dragons. Rock-things? And now I'm back. And I thought, I really must have cheated you all, because I wouldn't be here now, and you'd be all without me. And isn't that cheating someone?"
"So what you're saying is that we can't leave you alone," Gabriel says.
Tasha spreads her hands and arms. "Probably not? I'm okay with Mel, to fight, but alone? Do you know how fragile mortals are alone? I do. I do now. I know what Samael and his kind can do to someone. She showed me." Tasha's eyes are still wide, though her posture has relaxed a little when anger and stress doesn't immediately come after her explanation. "I can still do things. But, um, what I said. Maybe I'm not really suited to be the leader, maybe I should give that to the whole council? It was so easy to see how easily I can be destroyed, first Charon, now this."
"What.. are our choices here?" Hakeber asks. After all, she also has a problem (or ability) when it comes to monsters.
"I'm not sure. It took a lot for me to even get this far. I don't want to give up though," Tasha replies, sitting up more. "Galat-- Tia is right about something. I know. I know what happens if we don't fight back, what happens to the universe. I know now. I remember I used to say 'I do it because someone has to and it may as well be me', well, someone has to and I'm the one who knows things. I fully intend to help you whether I am leading or part of a council, or just another member."
"Well, I have no problem taking you off the front line," Gabriel says. "We still don't know what to expect at Daltoona, but that's where Mr. Invention comes in."
"I should probbaly back off for now. I think you -- and maybe the council -- should be able to over-ride my decisions and have actionable options if I refuse to agree with them and try to run off again. For all I lead I really am not used to it," Tasha admits, head back down, ears out to the side. "And I can't afford to die. To squander your love, and cheat the universe."
"I think we can all agree on the not-dying part there," Katie says. "And maybe you should see about dealing with this latest trauma. Yue did wonders for Hakeber."
"I don't try to strangle myself in my sleep anymore," Hakeber offers in support of Katie's suggestion.
Tasha wags her tail a little at that, but then it stops abruptly. "M-maybe not. This is the sort of thing that drove Yue catatonic. I had to ask the Null for help. But it is gone, so she can't see the real memory anymore. Maybe just the, uh ... End ... Wolf." There's a nervous chuckle. "I s-sort of had that part of me bottled up by Wolf as a ... End Wolf. A kind of spiritually-dimension fragment of myself. I can also talk to and command my shadows now, but really there's only two that are useful for what we do."
"Just because she can't understand the cause, doesn't mean she can't help," Katie says. "Therapists don't have to experience the trauma to help you deal with it. Her issue was with.. that incident.. out in the void."
"She connected to the consciousness fragments that make up Samael. When a demon devours a soul, they shred the beings mind, their existence as a being, and sort of ... format it. But like eating. It's hard to describe, but that's what they do," Tasha explains, warming up to the education side of things, being as it does, distract her from the having-suffered-the-experience side. "So maybe I'll be safe for her. The memory is gone too. As long as she doesn't connect to the End Wolf, it should be fine?"
"She's not going to eat you, so.. should be alright," Katie says.
"That was weird," Hakeber mutters.
"And where do the two ladies and their weird looking spaceship fit into this?" Gabriel asks.
"Yeah," Tasha concedes. The woman pauses, then gives Hakeber a strange look. "What was? The experience with Sam?" She flicks her gaze to Gabriel in turn. "Tia is Galatea. I can't sya more about her just yet, but she's connected to the Stelya'rhyan, but a being closer to our level than theirs, at least now. She suffered a terribly tragedy and was left to wander. The other one is a remote, used by her and another being I promised not to speak of. I kind of um, stabbed them too, after the ... soul eating ... so we're a little strained at the moment." She blinks, remember she missed a detail. "The ship is Tia kludge-ship. She made it after she was cast adrift. It's from another reality entirely. So is Tia."
"That makes it weirder," Gabriel says. "How did you meet her, if she's not a faerie?"
"She found me. Something I was given by my teacher, that acted like a beacon to her. I still have it, it's just, uh," she holds up her right hand, " ... stuck in my hand right now. I kind of broke it. I had to, to save her, and to save me. I wasn't doing well at the time and it was all I could think of. I can be really nasty when I'm at my limit, you know?" She isn't sure they do, that happened somewhat before she met Gabriel, and during times when she was alone and under duress. "So she came to me. Followed me around for a while, then found me after what happened ... happened. She might be a reason I'm still alive, or still ... a person as you know one."
"Are any more like her just going to pop up then?" Gabriel asks. "If she's from a different reality it seems unlikely any enemies she has will follow, unless it's not that difficult a journey. Do you know if she has any?"
"I get the impression she's been a lone wanderer looking for a home for some time. I shouldn't say too much about her time before that, it's personal and it touches on my promise, but I don't think she's dangerous. She's just someone innocent who was let down by family and misfortune. Not unlike some of us," Tasha explains, spreading her hands. "She's a little weird, she knows magic, and she's psychic, so you should probably know that. She seems to know a lot about psionic technology and magics. She's going to be teaching me for a while. I'm apparently her, uh, new project."
"But I haven't finished with you yet!" Katie notes. "You were my project first. She can teach you but she doesn't get to dress you up."
Tasha manages a smile for that. "Don't worry, I think she'll be needing all the help she can get to dress anything well for this universe. I had to explain we wear clothes here. Is that backwater, you think?" Tasha frowns, but not in the same sad way; in the way of someone who has traveled universes wondering of her universe is backwards Podunk. "Weird. But yes, dress me up as much as you want. I'll be around more."
"Oh, so they'll probably need.. clothes then," Katie notes. "They only have what they're wearing now, don't they? And where are they going to sleep?"
"I think they can sleep anywhere, but we should probably get them quarters and clothing. We can add them to the deck rearrangement we'll do before we leave. We definitely need a large Lounge far less than we need research facilities and additional quarters. I always felt mine were too big, anyway." Tasha wiggles her nose, having an itch. "We'll keep this room though, this one's seen a lot of use."
"We'll have to take care of that after we leave the system," Gabriel notes. "We can't make inside changes while the outer disguise is in use, according to Eli's notes."
"Oh, well, then we'll have to wait," Tasha agrees, nodding slowly. "We can do it while Ga- Tia works on her own ship. Maybe after we deal with Daltoona? I don't want to keep poor Hakeber waiting, who knows how many times I can get injured if we wait." She gives her friend a little grin, if also a little sheepish for her slowness in addressing the problem.
"Well, Daltoona is scarier than the void, since it's full of people," Hakeber says. Then grimaces as she adds, "Probably rich people at that."
"Rich people with investments in the place." Tasha makes a face, she's kind of like rich now and she knows she's a hassle. The same has been true with most other rich, powerful people she's met. "Do you want to wait until both ships are ready and our mercenaries are good to go, then?"
"We'll need the mercs, yes, and the more time we have to check the place out with our proxies the better," Katie says. "That's what we have them for, after all. We might be too noticeable, especially when you're pretending to be a Khattan toy on a space-city for Khattans."
"Everyone will want me," Tasha agrees with a remarkably straight face. "Maybe I'll get my own product line." She then takes a very long sip of wine, puts the glass down and sniffs. "Yeah maybe I shouldn't go walking around like an advertisement. Teeee-ah says she can teach me how to ... ride things. Not that way. Somehow experience things through another being. She was a little vague. I think she has a very small capacity to reshape beings, especially me, too. Hair color, maybe more? Same technology base."
"I like your hair color," Gabriel says.
"Well.. how much do we tell the others now?" Hakeber asks. "And we can probably just stick the new girls into Thoth's room until he gets back."
Tasha beams at that, reaching over to pat Gabriel's hand. "Then I won't change it. Oh, and she said the symbol on my forehead is basically a horn-alternative. Some kind of quasi-magical-psionic-who-knows-what antenna sort of thing." She then turns to nod to Katie. "That should work for now. I don't know when or how they can return or ... " Tasha pauses, breath held, unwilling to say it for a moment, " ... if they will make it back. I had to fight an elven army. They're fighting Thotep, and he plays rough." Again she remembers she missed something, which makes turning away from the awful topic easy. "Oh, we can tell the others they're guests from the station for the moment. People around here know better than to ask too many questions. They might hear the answer."
"We can have Mr. I come up with something too," Katie says. "We have a professional liar, so we may as well use him."
"I told Tia the same thing, so she's already on board. I should probably write something up for the council in terms of checks on my power to, um, run off and ... you know." Another sniff, this time in self-distaste. "So no one feels like they're challenging me or trying to take over when they try and keep me reigned in. It's for them, too. I suspect people have felt a little intimidated by me, and maybe dependent on me, and I need to show that I'm wise enough to know I'm not wise enough, and open enough to sacrifice my power and autonomy for you and for the cause."
"You've done it before," Gabriel reminds. "That's why I'm the captain."
"I did it with the JEF, too. I knew I wasn't fit to be the leader, I founded things, and then I handed over leadership as my first and last duty as founder-leader. At least I'm good at that, even if it takes me a while to realize it sometimes." And so Tasha nods. "Okay. I'll do it. Any suggestions?"
"I suggest we not worry about it until we're ready to come with a strategy," Gabriel says. "Then we can figure out who is best suited to do what."
"Alright. Oh, there's one other thing. two of them, actually." Tasha holds up two fingers, then one more. "Three. I ran in to Persephone again. She helped fix everything at the end, or, well, resolve things. Somehow that also meant Mel was talking around as a man and Horus was out and about like Thoth."
"And is that why Melchior is not in his usual place in the hangar?" Gabriel asks. This makes Hakeber jump up and go to the window overlooking the space. "I didn't even notice!" she says.
"Iiiiiii kind of had G- Tia grab him with the help of her ship and Samael." Tasha looks off, ears back, guilty and not trying to hide it. "When I came back to help what I'd caused the second time, that is. When I needed to fight an army on short notice. Did I mention I beat an entire army?" She does perk up a bit at that; it's not something everyone can claim, after all. "They had magic, and dragons, and animated rocks. We fought in a kind of shifting memory landscape, which is not an ideal battlefield by the way. It was like fighting back home while also being in someone else's holovid." Her head shakes. "Anyway, Mel, Horus and Thoth got drafted to stay behind and fight off Thotep's special visit, and kicked Tia and I out because we're fragile and our minds are easily melted."
"That sounds.. bad," Hakeber says. "But better you're safe."
"Thotep again," Gabriel says, grumbling a bit. "What was Sam's take on this, or did he manage to stay out of the fighting?"
"Yeah," Tasha says, wistfully. She dumps her head back on a hand, pops a fork full of meat in her mouth for the comfort, and then mumbles, "I hope they're okay. All of them. I didn't get a chance to really talk to any of them before I had to go." She then looks up a little. "Sam didn't say much about it. he was afraid of the god that had come to hang around, she has a beef--" the word makes the woman suddenly want some beef, which she eats before continuing, "--beef with Thotep, Wants to wrest his control of the Dreamlands. I'm not going to say her name, because she's dangerous and, well, a god with ability to try and tangle with Thotep."
"Thotep seems to get around, unless it's just another avatar," Gabriel says. "I'd like to be certain he's not going to interfere in the Daltoona mission before we make plans about it."
"Preventing Thotep from doing anything is difficult, he's a pan-universal entity and not a single being. More like, he's a force of the universe," Tasha explains, head shaking. "If I knew how to deal with him I would. It might help that the Null might be backing us. Its avatar is. It's the only being I know who is even on Thotep's scale of power. I don't even think Mr. Yellow is."
"He's another one that likely has a hand in things," Gabriel says, pinching his forehead. "He wants the.. whosits defeated? Something about void guardians or keepers? Then there's Katha-hem that also wants something, with Hakeber being the means. Lots of interested parties in Daltoona, and we aren't going to be able to figure out the details of their interest until it manifests, I imagine."
Tasha's smile is pained. "Probably not. We might have more support than we did, soon, though. If my teacher hasn't decided to abandon me, maybe we can use that. And Tia is here, she has an interest in this fight, too If we can't stand against them by personal strength, maybe we can as a unified whole."
"Then I'm giving you a project, Tasha," Gabriel says. "While you recover, find out just what these new friends are capable of and willing to do."
"Inhuman Resources," Tasha remarks before forking another slice of meat in her muzzle. She literally and figuratively chews it over, then nods. "I can do that. I'll start with Tia since she's interested in me, can teach, and is invested already. My teacher will be harder. Maybe a lot harder. And Horus and Mel, well, when they return."
"And you mentioned their weird ship was broken?" Gabriel asks.
"What's it like?" Katie asks, her special interest piqued.
"Kia kind of broke it teleporting Mel to a pocket universe I-can't-even-tell-you how far away because I lack the hyper-dimensional physics and mathematics to even begin to answer that, and when the portal system broke, so did other things. As for the ship it's like if you traveled around and picked up pieces of other ships, and weird technology, and maybe didn't really build a ship by the standards of a science-using species, but a psionic and magical one, well, that's what it's like. The intercom is psychic, it talks to you, I still don't know if it was messing with me or just not sure how to talk to me. i feel a little bad now about that, actually." Tasha adds the very strange 'apologize to intercom' agenda to her mental itinerary. "What else? Fairly small, you can tell she's been living in it a while, and it has odds and ends from who knows how many worlds and universes. I don't know how most of it works, or even what it does."
"Well, what it does is something we should get details on," Gabriel says. "I don't think we can tow it around, and I personally want to know about how it's undetectable until you're close enough to see it."
"I'm not sure I'm the right person to assess that, but I can at least ask Kia if she'll share. Then we can have someone who is qualified review it, if that's not me." Tasha wags her tail a little, glad to feel more useful and less like the world is on her shoulders. "I should also report to you that I can dispatch shadows attached to me, which are spiritual beings and effective against those kinds of beings, even if they're not very powerful compared some other spiritual beings. They can beat a few elf mages not paying attention, I know that. So, good for spying, seeing spiritual movements, and anything not more of a spiritual threat than I am."
"Shadows like Sam?" Katie asks.
Tasha nods. "Like Samael, but I think Samael is stronger than I am in a omni-directional way. I may be stronger than he is in a focused way, thanks to the sword and shield." Tasha holds her hands out, palms up. "Just like with mortals spiritual beings can be stronger in certain areas than others. I guess Ogdru'he are what you would call hyper-specialized, to, and maybe beyond, the limits, but many area also robust in other ways. Like looking at a wave form, different bands of lows and highs. Sam can do a lot of things, but only to himself and his immediate entity. I can do little, except where I can do a lot, such that I can even threaten a much more powerful being." More nodding. "I should be able to watch Samael at least. I can also see him if I look for him, with my third eye."
"We need to know more about these shadows then, when we have time," Gabriel says. "Assets are assets after all."
"The first one is the piece of Blackwings, the second is my End Wolf. I'm sure Tia can help there, if not my teacher," Tasha agrees. She then reaches over and pushes the lunches she bought for everyone on over. "You should eat. This was a lot, and I don't want to feel guilty for also robbing you of a many-meats-meal. We an resume in a little, but for now, lets eat and relax."