Thyel’s heart was racing as he exited his own ship and leaped into combat. He’d spotted the ship from a distance, seemingly on fire and definitely being attacked by several Voidborns and immediately, Thyel’s protective Beh’en instincts kicked into gear.
The first Voidborn hadn’t even noticed Thyel or his ship, and this allowed Thyel to slip into their mind and somewhat blind his presence from the whole group. There were four Voidborns in total, all of them the “platinum swirly bastards” that would routinely break things in the area. And right now, they were trying to break into a red, shark-like ship that seemed eerily familiar.
While Thyel had already gone in guns somewhat blazing, he knew he couldn’t win a 1v4, so he quickly threw a couple of control instructions at the first Voidborn, forcing them to take a potshot at the largest Voidborn but also trying to make it look like an accident. The largest Voidborn though was too busy smashing through the windscreen of the ship to notice, so Thyel altered the control instructions to make the controlled Voidborn attack the second largest Voidborn instead. That did annoy them, but they shouted something in their overly long language, smacked the controlled Voidborn around the head then went back to trying to tear off the fin on the top of the ship.
It was clear that Thyel wasn’t getting through to the Voidborns, so he summoned one of his floating psionic manipulation daggers and angled it so it seemed like the largest Voidborn threw it at the last Voidborn. This did cause an adverse reaction, and the largest Voidborn immediately worked out that something odd was going on. They didn’t get a chance to do much else though as Thyel created more floating daggers and summoned a long, slender silver sword which shimmered with white psionic energy. The daggers blinded the large Voidborn completely and the controlled Voidborn was busy distracting the second largest Voidborn. This meant that Thyel was free to take on the fourth Voidborn himself, and as he forced that blade through the Voidborn’s chest, Thyel knew there was a chance to save the poor soul who was under attack.
The mind-controlled Voidborn though was clearly the weakest, and the second largest Voidborn managed to knock them out so they couldn’t unwillingly betray their allies any more. That was fine though, since it was now a 1 vs 1.5, the blinded largest Voidborn was mostly just flailing as Thyel’s daggers had ruined all its senses.
Didn’t matter. Thyel’s telepathic manipulations forced the largest Voidborn to accidentally target its smaller companion. Being a Voidborn, its blinded senses would heal somewhat quickly, but for now, keeping the Voidborns fighting each other meant that Thyel could also get some shots in, while also scanning the ship for its occupants.
The second largest Voidborn did manage to knock out the biggest one but it didn’t matter. It had forgotten about Thyel briefly, and, in that moment of forgetfulness, Thyel entered its mind and took control. With a swish of his fingers, he made the Voidborn kill the two unconscious Voidborns. However, just as he was about to make the last Voidborn kill itself, a burst of flame erupted from the front of the ship, melting the Voidborn’s plating. Thyel decided to just fell the final Voidborn with his sword, then turned to see who had created those flames.
As soon as Thyel spotted the being though, he found himself speechless. And immediately becoming somewhat submissive.
“Thank you for the help, dear… Oh! You are a Beh’en! We are still alive? We are not extinct?”
Thyel stuttered, trying to think of what to say, then decided to just bow to the fiery red and silver Beh’ena floating in front of him. She was clearly injured, but she seemed to be in high spirits.
“Hello, my lady…”
The Beh’ena smiled. “You seem sweet. Thank you for helping me. Do you know where the Golden Paradise is? It does not seem to be on my navigation system.”
“Uh…” Thyel stuttered some more. “It isn’t called the Golden Paradise any more. Hasn’t been for a long, long time.”
“Oh?” The Beh’ena’s smile faded somewhat. “I will be blunt, I think I have missed a lot. I was concerned that the Mothers would fail to keep the Golden Pure happy and that they would attack, so I headed to the Decay Lords of Deathven to find information and assistance.”
“A lot is… putting it mildly…” Thyel frowned. “The Golden Pure became the Golden Doom, the Golden Doom terrorised the entire eniapent and split into smaller cults and it was only recently brought down, mostly by the Phantai and the Thantir.”
“Who… who are they?”
“They are Decay Lords sects. I… I used to be in one too, the Ventra, but… well, the Golden Doom was… nearly unstoppable for a while… To the point that most Beh’ena are gone and there are only a few Warmths left.”
The Beh’ena tutted. “See, I went to Deathven to become a Decay Lord and get help… and now there are sects here… Hang on…”
With more tuts, the Beh’ena retreated back into her ship. Thyel wanted to follow, but his former Warm Guard days were coming back to haunt him, and he didn’t want to break old Warm Guard rules. After a moment though, the Beh’ena returned, wiping sick from her mouth.
“What year-string is it?” she asked.
“102025. Nearly 102026.”
The Beh’ena blinked and fell silent. After an awkward few seconds, she sighed.
“Well… I messed up… My cryopod… malfunctioned, I guess. I rushed off to become a Decay Lord to get help, threw myself into a cryopod to get there, did the same on the way back and… I have just been… frozen for so long…”
“I am sorry…” Thyel sighed. “Is there anything I can do to help? I will do anything to serve the Beh’ena.”
“Dear, you already saved me. I suppose, with the threat of the Golden Doom gone… I suppose I can get on with doing normal Beh’en things… And… well… you are curious, you clearly have good genetics and I do somewhat owe you… Alright, hold on… I am rushing into things…” The Beh’ena paused and took a deep breath, before altering the subject. “You know the area, ryes? Can you take me to somewhere nice, so I can relax, work things out and get my bearings on what to do next?”
Thyel nodded, then checked a navigational map on his wristband. “Yeah. There’s a nice pub not too far away. Is your ship damaged?”
“Yes. Engines are dead.”
“I can tow your ship with my ship!” Thyel smiled with a LOT of uneasiness as he tapped his wristband, getting his ship to uncloak. He had never been so close to a Beh’ena before. Especially not one who wanted his presence and assistance. “Head on board, I’ll get your ship all set up, and then we can go to the pub and I can help you sort things out.”
“Wonderful!” the Beh’ena perked up. “Oh! We did not tell each other our names.”
Thyel bowed again. “My name is Thyel Syokatageid, codename Soulstorm.”
The Beh’ena bowed back. “Curious. Well, you may call me Vretvika, codename Blazebearer…”