“Garret Garibaldi,” the man who literally killed himself to empower us speaks, “is a warlord, who is far too good at it. He started out as a pirate, took over the ship, got several other pirate vessels operating under his banner by various means, and captured some shipyards. He's been expanding slowly ever since, and has a dozen inhabited worlds under his thumb at this point… plus three that used to be, including…” he starts to tear up.

  Well… it's not like I can give him a hug, “Your home? Take your time.” I use my spell-like to recharge my spell points as our nominal GM speaks.

  “...Yes. Anyway,” he continues the exposition, “he has several rge fleets of well-armed ships, and keeps growing his empire… which has some rather harsh, selectively-enforced rules. His minions get to do basically anything they want to the citizens with little to no repercussions… theft, svery, rape, murder… it's legal for anyone who stays on Garrett's ‘good side’... unless it's stepping on a more favored minion's toes, of course.”

  This man's voice is full of hate. Can't say as I bme him. Although… “And why hasn't the gactic community….”

  Ferdinand ughs, “Oh, they might eventually… but he's hardly the only pirate or would-be warlord, he's a fortified target, he's currently preying on worlds that aren't members or protectorates of more powerful groups, and the various groups that will eventually be at threat and could maybe deal with him now… don't really trust each other, and have their own fires to put out. The monster is a master of dancing the line of ‘not worth the trouble’ for the big boys.”

  “We're just first level noobies,” Brett points out, “How are we supposed to deal with him?”

  “You are…” Ferdinand considers his answer, “...seeds. Right now, as you are, you have basically no chance at doing anything about him. Correct. But you can ‘level up’. For most of the gaxy, that is much harder. Take exploratory missions from settlers and scientists. Take escort and bounty missions from merchants. Lend station police some firepower every now and again. Take guard duty. Troubleshoot for the corporations. Nurture and grow your power: I can wait, I have no one to save anymore...” He closes his eyes, and I see tears. A bit ter, he opens them, “...and when you are ready, cut off the head of the empire… then sit around and watch the fireworks.”

  Brett crinkles her forehead, “Ferdinand believes the empire won't survive the death of the emperor,” I expin through my minion, “which is quite common, historically. Right now, the empire is held together by violence and fear. Everyone obeys the emperor, because he gives privileges to those who obey, and kills those who don't. The key here is that people are NOT obeying because it's the right thing to do, and the man has surrounded himself with people who are okay with violence and oppression as the means to rule.”

  “So when he's gone,” Charlene continues my thoughts, “his lieutenants will want to take his pce. There will be several wanting to be the new top dog, and they're going to use the tools they normally do - violence and fear - against each other to become the new top dog. The empire will fragment and implode pretty quickly. Well, unless he has a clear heir to his throne that's strong enough to hold it together.”

  “That's not going to happen,” Ferdinand shakes his head, “he doesn't have one already, and he worked with a Necrovite to make his own electroencephalon. He will never have his own kids… but he's also not just going to kick it when he gets old, and will survive basic death.”

  “A technological lich,” Alice rubs her chin, “that complicates putting him down.”

  “It does,” our game master agrees, “but you can sort out how to keep him down once you're strong enough to do something about him in the first pce: I don't expect justice to be served any time soon… and you four are immortal too.”

  I have my proxy nod, “Right… well…” I look at the others, and then back at Ferdinand, “Do you mind… sitting outside for a bit?”

  “Yes, we should talk…” the man simply vanishes as Charlene agrees with me.

  “I think I get it,” Alice rubs her chin, “we're his only connection to this reality at this point. If we want him, he's here. If we want him gone, he goes.”

  “So,” Brett signs, “can we trust him?”

  I consider, “I do believe he believes what he's saying… I can't say he's intentionally deceived us on anything.”

  “Doesn't mean he's right,” Charlene speaks up, “he's not exactly the wisest person.”

  “No, he's not,” Alice agrees, “So we should probably take some time to verify his story.”

  “The pn he gave is sound enough,” Brett shrugs, “such as it is.”

  “And will give us ample time to research everything,” I agree through my minion. “So for now… we just go along with it?”

  “That's my read,” Charlene nods.

  “Okay then… ready to call him back?” Brett signs and looks around.

  When nobody objects, Brett starts signing again, “Ferdinand? We're done.”

  …and just like that, our host for this reality is back in view. “Huh… okay, I wasn't expecting things to be that abrupt,” he looks around, “So… done discussing me?”

  “Yeah,” Brett signs, “your pn makes sense for now. Where do you recommend we start?”

  He shrugs, “Absalom Station is always close by, is densely poputed enough for passive collection, and always has people who need a job done.”

  I have my minion gnce around, “Any objections?”

  “It's the cssic starting pce,” Brett signs.

  “Let's do it,” Charlene agrees.

  We sit down in our pces; I temporarily dismiss my summon and resume my “normal” form to work the controls, stowing the armor I had her wearing, and we all do our thing… it is beyond strange, knowing exactly how to use controls that I've never seen before today… not that I'm doing much. Alice is our pilot; she has the best Dexterity (especially with her mech suit), and has a scaling bonus that applies to all skills. Charlene is our engineer (keeps the ship running in a battle); she's the one who'll be shutting down the engines and shields so the Drift drive can do the job of punching a hole in reality. Brett is our magic officer (gives some buffs to other people, mostly). I py Science Officer (gets information about other ships, helps the gunner). The main ship is currently unarmed, so it's fine that we don't have a gunner. If we split the ship for a fight, Alice and Charlene are the pilots, Brett and I are the gunners (I don't have the Piloting skill for now - I pn to fix that at level two - but I have full BAB from my Spirit Bde levels, and that's fine for gunnery checks). We will lose the cloak when we engage the Drift Engine, but we can put it back up immediately without issue.

  When Alice finishes plotting our course, Charlene hits the button, and I feel an odd lurching sensation in my stomach… some pretty rainbows dance over my view, and then the world makes sense again… and the view screen is showing an empty void of warping pink-and-purple light patterns and shifting matterless clouds of mysterious energy rather than the bck with stars of a moment ago.

  Well… now we're in The Drift… and I won't be able to summon my minions. Hmm… I'll need a solution for that… there is a feat to maintain a summon after the 24 hour thing is running… that could work... starting next level.

  Charlene re-engages the cloak, and off we go.

  “Well… we have a day of travel,” Alice announces, “David… how do you feel about the mess hall? We can move the table and chairs, I have a sleeping bag we can put down….”

  “I'll watch the screens, then…” Charlene adds, “Brett, are you up for keeping me company?”

  “Sure,” she signs, smiling.

  I did say I was interested… huh, I'm nervous as all get out, but my pulse isn't… right, undead now, no pulse to respond to how I'm feeling by pounding in my ears… I'm not sure if that's good or bad… “Yes please….”

  Alice grabs my hand as I stand up, and practically drags me to the mess hall, casually shoving aside the tables and chairs, and starts pulling at my clothes and armor as she assaults my mouth with her tongue. I get a good look into her eyes… a slightly faded green, with pupils that look just slightly clouded… none of us liked the undead aesthetic, so it's minimal decay for us… before some long shes swoop down with her eyelids as she focuses on touch.

  I follow suit, slipping my hands under her shirt to pull it off, lingering on her second skin armor… yes, it's worn underneath normal clothing… and figuring out the tches on that by touch. I run my hands across her firm and smooth flesh as I do… oh, those glutes… and when we're both feeling the air everywhere, we step back briefly to admire one another. I look down at her slightly muscur legs, her smooth oven already spreading to accept batter, her slightly visible abs, and her perky chest, slightly on the smaller side, topped with inch-long pink taps. It looks good on her short frame… such a nice body… I should probably take some time with a mirror… what do I look like?

  “My eyes are up here,” she giggles.

  I gnce up at her freckled face, dainty nose, and small mouth, framed by her shoulder-length red hair… no makeup at all, and she's still gorgeous, “Sorry….”

  She ughs at that, “Don't be. It feels good to have such a gorgeous woman checking me out, and I am putting myself on dispy… but I want to taste. Lay down…” she digs her sleeping bag out of her backpack and unrolls it on the ground.

  I follow instructions, ying down and spreading my legs for her, “Well come find out, then…”

  She does, her slightly fred rear sticking up in the air as she puts her head between my legs and… ooh, that feels good… her tongue… her lips… better than any blowjob I've had… and when she slides a finger in I hear a woman moaning like she's getting paid… oh, wait… my mouth is open… and I am soon working my hips… then clenching my legs around Alice's head… then screaming as I shudder. Oh, that felt good….

  “My turn…” I zily look at Alice as she starts to stand, my juices still on her lips as she licks them clean.

  I roll over onto the cool deck pting and let her lie down, then crawl over and take the position Alice just vacated, finding it a little weird that I can feel the deck ptes dragging on my chest while supporting myself with my hands… the floor is chilly, but doesn't bother me at all. I lower myself down when I'm in position. The silky smooth baby bakery in front of me is already at attention, so I try going at it, sucking on that little nub with my mouth, tasting salt, supporting myself with one elbow while using the other hand to explore her folds with my fingers… I'm not nearly as skilled as my lover, but she seems to appreciate the effort, and I eventually have her moaning as well (she takes longer to get there than I did… by a lot…) I keep it up, taking that as encouragement, and she starts gyrating her hips, eventually grabbing my head with her legs and shuddering.

  “Hmm… that works…” she lets me know once she releases my head, “Come here, Busty….”

  I crawl over (again finding it odd that I can feel the floor on my chest) and cuddle with Alice. She slips one of my arms underneath her, and shoves her rear into me… I take the hint and wrap my arms around her, idly pying with her milk taps with one hand and her legs with the other as she squeezes my chest with the back of her head, my melons framing her.

  I give a contented sigh, and Alice speaks up, “Hmm… full points for enthusiasm… overall you did good, but you'll get better with practice… we'll need to do this again… Charlene will also want a go with you at some point… we like to share.”

  “I think I'd like that…” I find I'm super rexed, but not sleepy at all… being immune to fatigue is nice.

  “Good…” I hear Alice licking her lips, “...do let me know when you're ready for something more than one on one. There's some fun things Charlene and I can do with a third… maybe a fourth, too….”

  We continue cuddling for a while, and eventually Alice rolls out of my arms and stands up, “Come on, let's get back to the others before they send a search party after us.”

  I nod and get up myself, putting on my armor and clothes, wrapping the sleeping bag back up for Alice as she rights the tables and chairs, “Probably a good idea… but I should stop at the bathroom and take a good look in the mirror.”

  My red-headed lover stops what she's doing and thinks for a moment, “Right… you have no idea how you look.” She considers, and finishes what she was doing, as do I, “take your time… it's so hot knowing you were a guy just this morning… and you have an unbelievable body, babe.”

  Huh, that makes me feel weird for some reason… “Thanks, I think. I guess I'll see you on the bridge when I'm done?”

  “See you soon…” she winks and wiggles as she walks out the door.

  I head over to the bathroom….