Editing Story:ROAD TRIP! (Warhammer High)/Part Two (section)

===A Pit Stop===


As the trip continued, the little group felt their anticipation grow.  The routines stayed largely the same, the people never changed, of course, but the travel leg of the journey was drawing to a close.  As the ship slid through the Warp for Nocturne, Jake and Alex found themselves spending more of their time together.  Alex tried to teach Jake proper gym technique, while Jake attempted to teach his friend how to not suck at darts.  In the seven days from Venus’ bout with Isaac to their arrival in the Nocturne system, they both found themselves making progress.  But far too slowly for both their liking, the trip came to an abrupt end.

Venus was reclining in the chair in the corner of the suite watching a holo on her dataslate when the ship’s PA system buzzed to life.  “All hands, we are departing the Warp.  Please brace for breach.”  Venus scooted over to the bed and lay down, as Jake hurriedly gripped the armrests of his own chair.  The ship shuddered briefly, and both felt their skin crawl as the Warp parted and spat them out.

“Warp departure successful.  All engine crews, to your stations,” the voice overhead commanded.  Venus stood up and cracked her knuckles, dispelling the Warp Shivers.

“Uugh,” Jake groaned from the chair.  “Forget Kines, that will never be more pleasant.”

“Heh.  If you made a career out of it, maybe,” Venus quipped.  She pulled a nicer shirt on and slid the hatch open, catching a glimpse of Freya bounding down the hall.  “Where you headed?” she called.

“I’m going to go find out how long before we have to get off,” Freya called over her shoulder.

The group assembled in the Captain’s Hall.  Roemer himself wasn’t there, of course, since he was needed on the bridge, but the ship’s mate was.  “We emerged right on target, my Lords and Ladies.  The burn is good, we’ll arrive on Prometheus in six hours,” he explained.

“Awesome!” Freya proclaimed, beaming.  “Oh man…what local time will it be when we’re boots-down?”

“Prometheus time is synched to Hesiod, my Lady, so it will be about 0378 local.  Nocturne has a twenty six hour day, so it will be late night locally.”

Venus smiled, eyes closed, already picturing her arrival.  “Home…I didn’t realize how badly I wanted this until we’re nearly there.”

Jake slid an arm around her waist and squeezed.  “I know.  I can’t wait to see all the things you’ve talked about.”

“Which entices you more, the walls of fire or the ash deserts the size of continents?” she asked drily.

“Weather that isn’t something a machine farts out,” Jake replied in the same tone.

The hatch swung open, and Haarlan and Roemer walked in, pausing to acknowledge the salutes of the ship’s mate.  “My Lords and Ladies Primarch, we are en route,” Roemer said.

“Superb,” Venus said.  “ETA of six hours?”

“Possibly, though you may take one of the Aquila shuttles if you wish, and arrive a few hours sooner,” Roemer said.  “We will be transporting a few other things that way.”

“Oh…guys?” Venus asked.

“I’m happy with either.  I’ll be in no mood for sleep when I arrive either way,” Jake said.  Alex nodded his agreement.

“I’ll wait,” Freya said dismissively.

“Me too, I want to have another meal before we go,” Remilia said.

“All right.  Looks like we’re waiting, Captain, thanks,” Venus said.

“Very well then, my Lady,” Roemer said.  “I would be honored to host you for a final meal before you go.”

“Oh, thanks, Captain,” Venus said, sitting at the table.  The rest of the group did so as well, as did the officers, save Remilia.

“Actually, Venus, I’ll be back later, all right?  There’s something I want to do before we go pack,” she said.

“You don’t need my permission,” Venus said, divining her cousins’ intent.  Remilia smiled nervously.

Far below, the O-Club drained as officers made for their duty stations.  Remilia walked into the room and made straight for the bar.  Kines was busily cleaning it up and packing it in for dock when he saw her.  “Remilia.  One for the road?” he asked.

“No thanks, Lieutenant.”  Remilia paused, suddenly apprehensive.  “I wanted to say thanks.”

“For what?” Kines asked.

“For being the only officer aboard who actually talked to us,” Remilia said.  “Everyone else is still too scared.  Or worshipful,” she said with disgust.

Kines waved her thanks away.  “No problem, Remilia,” he said, still clearly trying to attach an honorific to the name.  “And this is hardly goodbye.”
“Huh?” Remilia blinked.

“The Endless, the ship that was supposed to carry you to Fenris, was dispatched to the greenskin fronts.  We’ll be carrying you on the next leg of your trip too,” Kines explained.  “News came in just when we entered the system.  We’ll put in at Nocturne and stay long enough to get the test data for the new tank, then head out.  We’ll be there about a month, so you’ll just be coming with us to Fenris since it’s along the route.”

Remilia absorbed that news.  “Great!  I’m glad to hear it.”  She smiled at the young officer.  “So…then I guess I will have one for the road.”

Kines reached under the bar and handed her a bottle of sparkling water, and after a covert look around the lounge, grabbed one for himself.  Twisting the caps off, both raised their drinks.  “To old acquaintance soon forgot?” Kines asked.

Remilia hefted her bottle with a grin.  “Too formal.  How about ‘goodbye, and I hope to see you soon?’” she asked.

“That works.”  Kines and Dorn downed their drinks, and Kines swept them under the bar.  “And it’s true.  We’ll be having some leave on Nocturne.  Not much, since it’s basically hell.  I’ve been here dozens of times.”

“Cool.  Maybe we’ll see each other,” Remilia said.

Kines smiled.  “I would like that.”

Remilia flushed from ears to navel.  “Well.  Goodbye, Lieutenant.  I’ll see you around,” she said, turning away before he could see.

“Goodbye, Lady Remilia,” he called after her.  As soon as she was out of sight, he pulled his elbows into his sides in total, absolute triumph.

Venus grabbed the last of her bags and arranged them on the cargo carrier in the Iron Tide’s hangar.  A few seconds of hydraulic groaning later, and they were loaded into the lander by the oversized servitor.  She stood back and rejoined the others in the bay, and noted with some amusement that Freya was already wearing extreme environment gear.

“Hot already, Freya?” she asked.

Freya gaped.  “Look at your bloody planet!” she said, gesturing out the void-sealed hangar at the planet growing in their vision.  The entire globe – all of it – was one giant maze of lava, black oceans, grey sands, white and black ash deserts, and craggy obsidian mountains.  “Your planet is made of fire!  I’m burning just thinking about it!”

“Your planet has extreme environments too, Freya,” Venus giggled.

“My planet has glaciers and snowfields!  Your planet has walls of fire and volcanoes the size of continents!” Freya exclaimed.

“Fenris has wolves the size of small trucks,” Venus pointed out.

“Nocturne has drakes the size of LARGE trucks!” Freya shot back.

Alex held up his hands.  “Ladies, ladies, please, your planets are both terrifying.  Let’s save judgment until after we reach them both, huh?”

“I guess so,” Freya said grudgingly.  “Do you think I won’t need this?” she asked, poking at her heat gear.

“We’re docking with the space station first, Freya.  Go change,” Venus instructed.

“…Oh.  Right.  Durr,” Freya muttered, running off for the head.

Venus shook her head and sighed.  “Anyway!  I should tell you guys now what to expect.  First things first, there will be a small ceremony when we dock.  The serfs there will want to hose down the shuttle with flamers.  Trust me, it’ll be fine,” she said, noting Jake’s and Alex’s shock.  “It’s just ritual, they’re not going to attack anyone.  Next, they’ll open the hatches and we’ll come out.  I’ll be in the lead, of course, and there will be a few Librarians there, to perform a Ceremony of Officiation, since I’m the reigning member of the Royal Family here in the system.  Which is a trifle annoying since I’m sure they’ll barrage me with the administrative stuff, and fucked if I know how to do it,” she grumbled under her breath.

“Well, you can take your time with that since we have a month, right?” Jake asked.

“I think so, yeah.”  Venus watched as Freya sprinted back to them.  “Much better.”

“Yeah,” Freya panted.  She slid back into line.  “All right.  I have the rest here,” she said, shoving her discarded hot gear into its bag.  “When do we dock?”

“Fifteen minutes, for us, two hours for the rest of the ship.  We’re going to go ahead on a lander,” Venus said.  A thrill of excitement chased itself through her belly as she said it.

Fifteen years.  She hadn’t set foot on her homeworld for fifteen years.  She could already smell the air.

The hydraulics behind her groaned again, as the passenger compartment of the lander swung open.  Venus hefted her day bag.  “All right, we’re off.”

A few of the ship’s officers were accompanying them, she noticed, as the group wedged into the compartment.  Aside from Haarlan, who had said that he would be joining them only as they docked to liaise with the Salamander Fleetmaster, the ship’s cargomaster was the only guest.

The flight was loud, but mercifully short.  The lander shook as it entered the atmosphere of the station, and the volume inside increased as there was suddenly an atmosphere to carry the noises.  The noise suddenly died away as the lander’s pilot cut the engines, and the passenger compartment rumbled as the outside of the ship was caked in flames.

“It’s ritual.  Honoring the flame and reverence to the Machine Spirits,” Venus explained to her nervous companions.  Even as she said it, the flames ceased.  After a minute, the compartment creaked open, admitting the stifling fumes of promethium.

Venus immediately stood, stilling her nerves.  These were her people.  More than just a figurative statement of belonging, it was literal.  She was made of the same geneseed as them.  She was probably safer here than she had been in her own home on Terra.

She climbed out of the compartment, brushing her layered leather and fiber shirt off.  A quintet of armored Marines awaited her at the base of the ramp.  Three were helmetless, two wore Psychic Hoods.