Prologue:
The ship lets out a massive cry into the void, its engines stall, the lights grow dim and it's set adrift. A single vessel leaves the enormous ship, small, silent, it flights off into the night towards its mysterious purpose, leaving the Rajavan beast to slumber and…
Chapter 1
Aralukia is giving orders. The armada is preparing to leave for a raid. The planet is running low on supplies and they haven't been able to repair several vital systems. Several ships take them out to the larger ships in the atmosphere, they have to be careful to avoid hitting the same shiplines too often so they don't attract attention. Aralukia gives her orders to her captains and they set off into space.
They make abnormal lightyear jumps, close together to throw off sensors, and they come across a Rajavan vessel during one of the jumps. This is extremely unusual because Rajavans shouldn’t be this close to re-claimed space. The lieutenant asks if they should jump but Aralukia senses nothing from it, and she orders an investigation. They find out it’s stiffed and Aralukia orders a full raid of the ship. They start gutting it and pulling out as much cargo as they can.
In the middle of their operation, Council Rangers jump into the space, and Aralukia orders a retreat. They get out with a scatter jump, throwing off the trail for the rangers to follow and make their way back to Lukia.
Chapter 2
Fee-Fee going on an excursion, she's going out to learn how to draw landscapes, she packs her bag and grabs a train and a bike out into the jungle. She finds somewhere nice and quiet, relaxing gets stuck into drawing. Suddenly, the sky darkens, and there's an incoming storm. Her electronic table will be ruined if she's caught in the rain, so she starts to run back… but it’s taking longer than usual. She doesn't recognise the path, the jungle is getting thicker and she's lost. The rain starts to pour, she tries to find higher ground… She sees a light in the distance, it must be a searchlight! She runs toward it and finds herself walking on air…
Chapter 3
The aliens are going over the cargo, and they have no idea what to make of it. Most of it was scooped up in space so it's all in void proof but it's also so weird. They don't recognise any of the tech and a lot of it is… amalgamations. Aralukia expresses her disappointment but tells them to start processing what they can, it's still enough for them to return home and repair what they can. They start emptying the pods and scrapping what they can, throwing the amalgamations into a room and start sorting out component parts.
A lower deck zenthi is on amalgamation duty, he takes the beings out of their pods and places them on the other side of the room. This is not his usual duty, he's chatting with another pirate about exposition mostly when suddenly the amalgamations start waking up and making horrible noises. The two pirates are horrified at first and leave the room, and watch the amaglamations from afar. Then more start waking up. They decide that this is above their pay grade and they need to tell a captain.
Chapter 4
Dr Emma was currently in the back of a jeep, stabilising a patient as they drove towards the border. The patient is a child who has been shot, she and a colleague are doing their best to treat the patient while getting the papers they need to cross the border. They get stuck at an outpost, arguing with the self-important guard about saving a child's life, he wants a bribe, but the money they have isn’t enough, Emma throws in her watch as collateral, the guard wants more he knows she's desperate. She throws a ring at him as well and tells her driver to go through. They scramble and drive out of there as the guards are screaming at them. They keep driving even as the spotlights are put on them, the guards won’t be able to catch up at this rate…
Chapter 5
The zenthi watches as more of the amalgamations wake up. Watching how they act and what they do, most amalgamations just wonder mindlessly without a control node. These beings were acting more like… people? But they couldn’t be people, they didn’t have any frequency, and they should have just been empty vessels. The captain of the ship comes down with the zenith's friend to discover what’s going on, but they are just as confused as the crew members. The captain orders the pair to keep watch and record their observations, he will take it up with the admiral what to do. The pair then spend the next few hours observing and then the amalgamations start singing. Together, without a frequency.
Chapter 6
Hari and Deepra are arguing on the side of the road, the rental car they got for their second cousin's wedding (at the behest of their parents) is broken down in the middle of nowhere. They get personal, harsh truths are revealed about each other and how committed they are to each other. They may break off their own marriage. Harri starts walking off into the desert to get help, Deepra yells it's better to stay with the car, Harri retorts he doesn't care and Deepra chases after him during their final argument. They break it off and come to an agreement they will figure it out after the wedding if they ever get there. Deepra points to the lights in the distance and says the wedding is probably over there…
Chapter 7
The zenthi wonders if he could join with one of the humans, just to see if it would work and they could finally communicate. It goes very, very badly, the zenthi is knocked back and without the meds on hand, the zenthi is stiffed and the human is in excruciating pain.
The humans try to claw their volunteers back while the pirates are ready to space them, they hold the volunteers hostage. It is tense on all fronts and then Aralukia arrives. She disperses the murderous thoughts of her pirates and demands to know what happened. It is decided that an eye for an eye is to be enacted, she raises a sword to kill the voidsinger but another human tries to give his life instead. Aralukia determines that an amalgamation could NEVER comprehend sacrifice like that so despite them not having a frequency, they have an intelligence level.
They give the humans food and clothes and put them to work, the humans do kinda cooperate and start singing as they do their duties. The pirates try to communicate with freq while the voidsingers use words but the pirates don't know how to read.
Chapter 8
Big Tony is sitting on the ice with a brewski just chilling with his friends. They're ice fishing, talking about nothing, waiting for the fish to come or the beer to run out whichever is first. It is clear that most of them are bored with the constraints of life but don't know how to make it better. Big Tony is the only one who is a little lost on how to help his friends because he IS happy with what he has. He tries to cheer them up and talks about the bright side of life and the other end of the fishing hook, the mood is lightened and more fish and beer get passed around. Big Tony is the last to fall asleep and cracks open a flask of something stronger, then when he tries to sleep it's too bright, someone musta left their truck lights on.
Chapter 9
They land in Lukia and while the pirates figure out what to do with their loot the humans take a bunch of ‘useless’ stuff and head to the surface. They make their own little camp. On the surface, they use their own tech and get lights going, it's all very impressive. The voidsingers are absolutely aliens, theres no denying it at this point and the pirates try to figure out how to negotiate DNA samples and such. The smarter aliens try to make an external translator but they don't have the right parts or info on how to do it, they’ll need to make a trip to a pirate station in order to get what they need. Aralukia decides that this is worth her time and begins to organise another raid.
Chapter 10
Emilio is on shift they have to go on the road to find someone. He and two others are sent out to check on rumours of smuggler activity. Emilio is pissed that there's only three of them being sent out, if the rumours are true they would be severely outnumbered and out gunned, so, they do their best to do their job without getting in the thick of it. It makes him sad, the world is complicated and you can't always run in and be the hero, he tries to explain this to one of the other more black-and-white thinking colleagues but they don't want to listen to someone nicknamed ‘papi’. They are caught in the white light, Emilio wrestles and manages to get one of his colleagues out of the beam and he fights, holding onto a tree to keep himself down but the beam just gets stronger until the car crashes into him from below, he still tries to jump off from the car but then his whole body goes limp and paralysed… and the light gets stronger.
Chapter 11
They prepare to go on another raid and ask the humans if they want a share of the treasure, they need to go on the ship. Volunteers step forward and are put on Aralukia’s ship. Names are exchanged and the voidsingers are given weapons and easily marked jobs but during the flight are captured by Kotorn’s fleet, they hide with the other pirates watching as the better-equipped and stronger rangers take hold of the fleet. Kotorn faces off against Aralukia, fists and swords are flung at each other in close quarters until kotorn threatens to destroy the rest of the armada. Aralukia doesn't want everyone destroyed. So she agrees to surrender. The pirates and voidsingers are stuck in prison waiting for what to do next.
Chapter 12
Oskar prepares to take his Dog, Seiglinde, out for a walk. It's cold, it might snow, he lets his mum know and asks if it's a good idea, she takes his hand and her thumb gently strokes his wrist. He reassures her he will be fine, Seiglinde is with him. They stroll out into the night, the snow starts to fall gently as they walk through the forest next to his house. He thinks about music, throws a stick for Sigi and ponders to himself about the world and if there is anything more. He looks up into the sky and is blinded by a bright light.
end.