Ova lay light-years away from the homeworld… It was an isolated blue dot in the sea of stars that was the galaxy as a whole. It represented the furthest reaches of the Grand Forgemother’s Signal, and that it was indeed such an overwhelmingly vast net was unthinkably impressive… But…
It did nothing if they could not communicate directly. Their ship usually boosted the strength of their transmission enough to remain in contact with the homeworld…
But since the Loving Burden had crashed so violently upon Ova’s surface, in the aftermath of the touchdown where the only priority was survival, nothing of the communication array had been repaired…
Now, it was months later, and life on Ova was… stable, if not a little dull. It might have gone on that way a bit longer, considering all of the Forgeborn who were planetside were becoming increasingly distracted with the technology Gaia had created…
But Osiria had arrived with dire news… They had an infestation. And that was all it took to get Vex’s mind re-centred on the monumental task ahead of her…
She grumbled silently to herself, carefully pushing two circuits together. Her modified eye extended and fired a small laser, soldering the two in a moment. Then she attempted to pull herself out from under the machine and back up to a stand…
“...uff.”
She wobbled as her tentacles had to find purchase again. Her arms lightly curled around her middle, and she closed her eyes to calm…
...it didn’t work. Mostly because she felt a soft, shifting movement inside. The meters on front of her belly twitched and went a bit mad for a few moments…
“...Everything okay, mother?”
Vex turned quickly, as if she was caught doing something taboo. She nodded firmly, (a bit too enthusiastically), to her daughter…
Cognis swayed there, one of her hands lightly laid against a nearby machine, the other gently tucked under her own middle. The neurons suspended in the girl’s soft cranial housing sparked and flickered as she observed her mother’s expression…
“You seem… nervous?”
Vex stared forward for a few more moments, forcibly shoving her mind and emotions back to their standard. She nodded once…
“Yes, Cognis. Wouldn’t you be? SHOULDN’T you be, at this stage? You know precisely what we’re attempting here, after all…”
The ‘younger’ bot swayed and nodded sympathetically, though she turned and continued pressing wires together with a cheerful little hum. She always was a bit carefree for a Scientist… something that Vex wasn’t sure if she should consider a failure, or a wonderful and adorable success…
“...Once you finish the rewiring, I believe we should be where we need to be… We can fire the transponder and hope the atmospheric interference regulators have enough filtration left to…”
“Got it, mother! Current flowing, signal coming online…”
Vex cringed, looking over at her daughter, who merely gave a thumbs up. The Scientist stared at her for a few moments, mostly because she didn’t want to face the static that was beginning to fill the screen before her…
...She shoved her mind and emotions back to their standard once again. She stood straight, and though every instinct in her electronic mind was demanding she hug her middle, she folded her arms behind her back and lifted her chin to look as dignified as she could…
The image swayed… Predictably, with damaged components and such range, the picture wasn’t coming in clear… But after a few long moments of trepidation and silence;
“...C… mnn… ss… wal… ah?”
“We have connection! We have connection!” Cognis said in hushed excitement, working the panel of the nearby machine in an attempt to strengthen the signal. Vex’s eye glimmered quietly with the light of the screen, reflecting the vague silhouette that appeared and was quickly replaced in the data-moshed static by a very familiar logo…
“...Seri com...ation onl...ne. Dialing fre…ncy into nearest localized Signal of sufficient strength…”
The voice made both Vex and Cognis stiffen… Even the inert components on the ship seemed… more alive. More energetic. More… Attentive.
She was speaking… Vex had to resist a strange, instinctual urge to prostrate herself…
“...Seri Vex. Communications established are 79% acceptable. REPORT.”
The Scientist glanced behind at Cognis briefly, as if to steel herself, before looking up at the screen again… She wondered if the Grand Forgemother could see her, despite the bad connection. The thought gave her chills…
“...Grand Forgemother, dearest Allma.” she spoke, in reverence. She lifted herself on her tentacles a bit higher… “Crew of the Loving Burden is in Distress configuration. Unexpected dissident assault at our specified destination, (Planet Class 1-81321, ‘Ova’) has left our ship crash landed and heavily crippled. Flight impossible with current state of repair. Overall crew reduced to 50%, approximately.”
The image remained static and silent on the screen. Vex stared with increasing anxiety, waiting for a response…
“...Loving Burden is one of the foremost ships of our fleet. Crewed by Class-A level Forgemother curation. General Osiria and Wardancer Jorien. Forgemothers Mars, and Gaia… and Forgemother Neptune. All of these are among Mother Allma’s most adept daughters, alongside a staff of comparably competent Elite models. What dissident assault could ever bring down Mother Allma’s precious vessel…?”
Vex hesitated, her fingers curling and uncurling behind her back in a nervous tick…
“...A Scrapper blockade was present in orbit when we arrived above Ova, Grand Forgemother. Their suicide attack was enough to bring the Loving Burden down to the surface, where the damage of its impact did the rest to disable it entirely…”
“...Scrappers…”
...though neither Cognis nor Vex could see what was going on beyond the screen, both gained an immense sense of unease… Allma seemed to take that news in cold fury behind the static…
“...explain to Mother Allma why a blockade was waiting at an unexplored planet?”
“...we do not know, Grand Forgemother.”
Another spate of silence. Cognis moved over next to her mother, if only for the comfort they could provide one another in a tense situation like this…
“Seri Vex will give Mother Allma an estimated time to repair, and will send all the data she has collected on Ova.”
A gentle stream of mist hissed softly from Vex’s ‘mask’. She adjusted her stance and nodded, lifting her arm to direct Cognis, who immediately moved forward and began to tap buttons at the console…
“...at the least, Grand Forgemother… Ova is a sterling planet for your collection. A beautiful place of natural wonder…”
“I wish full reports from all Forgemothers present planetside.”
...Vex went silent… Her eye slowly widened in horror… She had, somehow, almost hoped to move past this without mentioning…
“...Forgemother Mars Agthala… Ah, I will inform her, of course. She will doubtless return quickly. So will Forgemother Neptune, Precisia...”
...the hesitation was enough to draw an almost growling noise from the static, though it might have simply been interference…
“...Forgemother Gaia?”
Vex stood like a child who had to inform a parent that their sibling had run out into the street. She wanted nothing more than to shrink away and hide deep where no one could find her… No one except perhaps Osiria. She couldn’t stop herself from curling an arm around her belly this time…
“...Forgemother Gaia is null.”
A burst of furious static nearly blew the speakers of the monitor for its violence. There was silence, but it was clear now that said silence had been the Grand Forgemother fuming furiously where she couldn’t be seen. Vex remained stiff and utterly still, waiting for her leader to speak to her again. Cognis pretended to be so engrossed in compiling and sending data that she didn’t notice…
“Null??? Scrappers???”
Vex hesitated… Her eye briefly went to Cognis, knowing she was sending data… There was no point in lying or hiding things, much as she wanted to in that moment. It would be so simple to blame their enemy and move on, but…
“...no, Grand Forgemother Allma. She was taken by a creation she managed to manifest from materials on this planet… An Internal Forge which creates new Forgeborn of immense potential. Alas, her… obsession with it lead to over-strain of her systems, and… According to Loretracker Willow, she has disappeared in the aftermath, likely to repair the damage to herself. We operate as if she was gone permanently.”
Another hiss of static, the screen warbling briefly to bring that intimidating silhouette back. This time, Vex caught a brief glimpse of a pair of eyes staring furiously down at her before the logo faded back in…
“Internal Forge???”
“Everything we’ve found will be in the data we send, Grand Forgemother...”
She hesitated again, but again wanted to avoid every accusation of concealment or deceit. Historically, Allma had never had much tolerance for liars…
“The product of Forgemother Gaia’s efforts remains with the Rangers, being groomed to take her place. Her designation is Alphi… Her readings and statistical analysis will be sent with the rest of the data. This technology could create a new generation of Forgeborn, even stronger than before. An evolution of our kind…”
Vex spoke a bit breathlessly and despite herself; she was just as proud of the work she’d done on the Internal Forge, and it was as obvious as the firm swell on her front that she was a true believer of the tech… But in the aftermath of her excited words, silence stretched again…
Not the silence that obscured the Grand Forgemother’s rage… But a colder, more worrisome silence… One of suspicion, paranoia, and a wonder if the time away from their homeworld hadn’t made them perhaps just a bit too independent there on that far away planet, where her Signal was weaker…
“…Evolution. Noted.”
The terse response made even Cognis lift her head nervously and glance back at her mother. Vex shifted closer to the screen despite herself…
“Guided by you, of course, Grand Forgemother. As ever. As you have always done for our kind, and as you will always be remembered for…”
“…”
The screen’s static buzzed and wavered briefly. Cognis tapped a few more buttons, then stepped back and nodded…
“Data transmission complete.” she said, meekly. Vex nodded to her…
“...We request repair technicians and supply ship, perhaps evacuation vessels so that we might return to the homeworld and deliver all we’ve discovered to the rest of our Forgeborn kin.”
“...such an operation will take time. Resources. Maintain current directives until further notice. Mother Allma will see to ensuring the Loving Burden and Ova are not lost to our enemies.”
...and just as abruptly as it had began, it ended. The screen buzzed and faded to black. Communications were ended…
...Vex slumped heavily and nearly collapsed to the ground. Cognis caught her and patted her back gently…
“...I don’t quite understand why you wouldn’t simply allow Precisia to speak to her…”
Vex glanced up at her daughter, then straightened herself and sighed softly…
“...Irrelevant right now, Cognis. Return to your research for the moment… And… Speak of this communication to no one.”
“...Mother?”
“...I don’t know. It wasn’t as productive as I’d hope. And her reaction to what we’ve made…”
Her hand petted gently over her middle to indicate…
“For now, it’s best if we let this be between us. Until the situation changes, there’s no reason to get the others’ hopes up…”
“If you say so, mother… Once the repair ships are dispatched, we’ll be able to tell everyone and celebrate?”
Vex glanced at her wearily, and then ‘sighed’ again, another pressured jet of mist releasing from her mask…
“Yes. Until then, maintain study on local materials for suitable repairs to the Loving Burden. Act as if that call didn’t happen… Put your whole mind to it, Cognis.”
“Yes sir, Seri Mother~”
Seri Vex stared with a bit of amusement, watching her daughter shuffle away to do as she was told. Then the Scientist Elite turned and moved through a doorway, into a dim room...
The lights flickered on… Osiria was revealed to have been reclined there in a chair, watching the exchange keenly…
“...She did not sound pleased of Gaia’s advancement. The Ranger better hope she isn’t found before she fully repairs herself, else…”
“I know.” Vex sighed, moving over to the console in the side of the room and tapping a few buttons to bring up a program. Osiria watched for a few moments before hefting herself… and then curling her arms around Vex from behind…
“H-Hey… Hey?!”
Vex was carried back to the chair. Osiria sat heavily with Vex now in her lap, bellies gently and unavoidably mushed against one another…
“Relax. Process this information and react accordingly. Don’t panic and…”
“I was NOT panicking…” Vex growled, though she made no attempt to move from the perch Osiria had placed her on… “I was… merely seeing if there are any contingencies…”
“For what? The Grand Forgemother’s wrath?” Osiria chuckled… “You may as well try to stop the sunrise by shouting. But you do not know where her anger is directed at this moment. Perhaps she really is just furious at Gaia… Either way, it means she will be sending ships soon, and our little vacation will come to an end…”
Osiria reclined again and set her head on her fist, humming gently…
“I wonder if our Newborns will have emerged by then…”
Vex stiffened and glanced away. Her enhanced eye snapped shut entirely, and her other eye stared off into the distance at nothing for a few long moments… before she merely turned and clung gently to Osiria…
“...there you are, hm? Whatever is coming, it’s something we can handle. In honesty, I am more worried about confronting my own Forgemother… She hated these formalities and reports at the best of times, and now…”
“...mm. Don’t speak of it for the moment, as you said. Let me process from the most comfortable place I know, Osiria.”
The General nodded and curled an arm around her, her palm softly petting over Vex’s middle. After a few moments of silence, she repeated herself in a gentle mutter…
“...whatever is coming… It’s something we can handle…”
===
Upon the bustling homeworld of the Forgeborn, covered in all its regions by vast networks of pristine buildings, the Grand Forgemother’s tower oversaw all…
From her impossibly tall perch, her eye caught everything… It was how she wished it to be; if anything was ever missed, it was cause for alarm, and swift retribution…
...Ova was far away, and there was clearly a lot going on that she didn’t know about. The Loving Burden had been presumed lost in space, and this communication did nothing to assuage frustrations with its failure…
“...Mother Allma does not know if she trusts them…”
Somewhere nearby, a tall figure stalked silently down a hallway… She approached a hangar where a small craft sat, primed for a long journey…
“They are far away, and Gaia has always been… rebellious. Has she found a way to circumvent the way things should be?”
The figure inspected the craft, gently drawing a hand along it… From one good eye, she made sure that it would last the voyage across the sea of stars to her destination…
...her target.
“I don’t care. I don’t care. I DON’T CARE… SKISS.”
The figure glanced behind herself briefly… Then she gripped the side of the ship and pulled herself in… A small vessel like this meant she’d be at Ova in a matter of weeks instead of months…
“...Mother Allma needs eyes planetside… needs someone to handle what might be a rebellion burgeon just past her gaze…!”
...the figure tapped a few buttons… The ship’s thrusters burned and with a roar of energy, she darted up across the sky and into space…
“...And if you find a conspiracy, Skiss… Mother Allma wants you to do the same thing you’ve always done to traitors…”
The figure stood silently in front of the ship’s window… In front of her, there was only the inky expanse between her and Ova…
She lifted her bladed arm and idly drew a whetstone over it, filling the silence with the deadly scraping sound of a knife growing sharper and sharper...