Hornet's Nest

All According to Plan

Kiyin followed his sight and confirmed that, indeed, one of the ships had opened fire on another, and that had opened all-out chaotic hostilities. One of them was already speeding towards Hannes while fighting another, while the closest to them had geared towards the Hornet’s Nest. Luckily, it immediately started suffering a broadside of explosions. Fighters were scrambling to fight, some of them heading for the Hornet’s Nest.

Small fighter crafts wouldn’t be a problem. “Yes!” Daigo blinked, whatever that meant for his prosthetics. “YESSS!!”

“Damn it, Daigo, tell me what’s going on! Why do we need to CRASH on Trifecta?!”

“Kiyin!” Daigo’s breathing was off, but Hannes’s sacrifice had given them a chance. Whether he really had sacrificed or had just tried to leave them out to dry was beside the point. “That’s not just a pack of cops, that’s a group of representatives from every intelligence organization in the known galaxy.” His hands were gesturing a bit too much, so he placed them on his legs and leaned in closer. “We just screwed whoever survives by destroying the weapon they came for and then got everyone else killed.”

Her eyes widened, understanding the situation.

“It’s over. We’re done for,” Daigo said, to hammer in the point.

“But. But reporting it stolen,” Kiyin said, never looking at Daigo but rather at where she was heading. “That’s a good idea. We can just claim it and get the ship back.”

“Not if they catch us in here, Kiyin, and how do we escape them? We don’t,” Daigo paused, and choked on the next words. They hurt to say. “Not in one piece.”

Kiyin gulped. “No.”

“Even if we could land safely, there’s still our cyber system, our camera feeds. There’s no way they won’t recover something that’ll screw us. Everything needs to-”

“No, Daigo,” Kiyin interrupted, in a nervous spasm.

“It’s the only way,” Daigo continued, worried and regretful and having a hard time with whatever else he was feeling. “The Hornet’s Nest goes down, goes boom, and we leave in the safety pods and disappear into the crowd below.”

“No no no no…” Kiyin started shaking her head, blinking tears into existence. “No.”

With a heavy heart, Daigo continued.

“We claim the ship was stolen only so they don’t chase after us, and with it destroyed, there’s no way for them to know it wasn’t actually stolen. It’s not a sure thing even then, but there’s at least a good chance that they’ll leave us alone.”

“I said no!” Kiyin yelled, and her left tentacle smacked Daigo on the face.

That was a first. He didn’t even know she could whip them like that. Daigo stared at her, deeply feeling her pain.

He massaged his cheek and just pleaded. “It’s the only way we survive this, Kiyin.” He knew that for sure. He didn’t bother asking for other ideas, he had run all of them through his head. “It’s the only way we don’t become fugitives from everyone in the galaxy… if it even works out.”

“You’re a bastard,” Kiyin stuttered.

“Kiyin…”

“You could never understand how important this ship was to me.” Despite her words, and the frailty in her voice, Kiyin didn’t stop piloting. She kept driving the ship towards Trifecta, away from the moon and the satellite and the ongoing battle of powers now ravaging that sector.

Her eyes were tearing. He wanted to stop her and make her feel better, but his mind couldn’t think of a way to do that.

“Ever since my bastard dad put it up on that stupid game of cards, I’ve felt… like nothing. Like I’m worth nothing.”

Her right tentacle wiped her eyes of tears so she could see properly. She sniffed, heartbroken.

“I’m a prize in a game of cards, a bride to someone who had never even been to Rylanis. Just another thing to gain or lose.”

“Absolutely not, Kiyin! You are not just a--”

“I’m staying on this ship,” Kiyin firmly stated.

Daigo’s heard kicked in his chest, and his face hardened.

“The hell you are,” he found himself saying, and regretted it immediately.  

“I don’t care if you or my dad or no one else gets it,” anger flared in her voice, “and I know you don’t. But I built this with my own hands, Daigo. For ten years, I scavenged, I tinkered, I studied and read, drew up, and wrote down. Ten years I got dirty and greased from toe to tentacle. I’m a Rylani adult because I built this. This ship… It’s who I am.”

“I…” Daigo shook his head, huffing, “I get that, I do,” he said.

“No you don’t,” she spat.

“Kiyin, I do, but it’s just!” Daigo huffed again. The thought of leaving her to die was more stifling than having to decide what to do with the bomb. “This ship’s not who you are, you’re more important.”

“I’m as important,” Kiyin corrected, glaring at him momentarily. Something flickered in her eyes at the sight of his face and made her look away just as fast. “I will -- I’ll do my best to survive the crash. You can go ahead and leave, you bastard.”

Daigo ignored the harsh words, they bore no meaning when she was that upset, and in a sense, he completely deserved them. He was to blame for the situation in the first place, it was his responsibility.

“Maybe you’re as important, okay,” Daigo said, pressing on, “but you can be saved. I can’t save the ship. Not this time.”

“And whose fault is that?” She flared, refusing to look at him.

“You think I dunno that??!” Daigo also flared, kicking the panel since he was holding onto his knees with all his strength. He bowed his head in shame. “I get it, dammit, I get it! Ship’s like family to you! You know all her screws, her noises. How can you say I don’t understand? You think I wanted to marry you??”

Kiyin finally looked at him properly. In shock. Partly hurt.

“You, and this ship, they’re the greatest things in the universe to me. The best. In that order. But I didn’t know you back then.” He looked up at her, meeting her eyes. “Far as I knew, you wanted to kill me in my sleep and take your ship back. Your dad thinks I married you ‘cause I wanted to bed you, but have I?”

He hadn’t.

“I didn’t know anything about Rylanis. I won that ship because I’ve been dreaming of having my own ship since I was a kid, I had no idea you guys build your own ships to offer to your husbands. I didn’t know.”

He stopped to take a breather, and despite the outburst, he was not that much out of control. Her lack of interruption was a good sign, he felt, so he continued, speaking plainly and truly.

“When your father told me about it? When you broke out in tears of rage against him, and I found out that you built it? From scratch? All of it? By yourself?? You have any idea how baffled I was? How baffled I still am.”

Finally, Daigo took his hands off his legs. He grabbed her left tentacle with one hand, and caressed it with his other up to her shoulder pad.

That made her look him in the eyes more properly. It wasn’t that meaningful since he didn’t have his real ones, but he hoped it was enough for her to see that he meant what he was saying. That he was speaking from the deepest core of his heart.

“I married you because there was no way I could just… You are too great a person to disrespect, or for me to screw over. For better or for worse, you wanted to go ahead with it, so I decided to respect your wishes.”

“You could’ve turned down the ship,” Kiyin said weakly.

“I could’ve turned you down too,” Daigo said in protest, calmly. He leaned a bit closer and continued the confession. Because if that’s what it took to convince Kiyin to live on, he was willing to do it.

“I love you, Kiyin.” She shivered. “And a big part of why? It’s your love for this ship, and your dignity. That you would marry me if that meant staying with your ship… but you can’t be this tied up to it. Unto death -- you married me, not your ship.”

Rylani traditions dictated the women would build ships on their own, or as much as possible, and then, as a sign of personal deliverance and commitment, they would surrender them to their husbands to captain. In return, the men would forever take care of them both, putting them first in all of their decisions.

Daigo did his best to do that, but on that day, he hadn’t. He let go of her and slumped back, seeing the planet getting bigger and bigger.

“I’m sorry I failed you, I really am. I never ever wanted to...”

“I… Damn it,” Kiyin deflated. “I know…”

Kiyin exhaled with a tone of acceptance that made him feel a bit relieved.   

The Hornet’s Nest started to vibrate. A couple of rockets shook it, testing its shielding. Two fighters were apparently on their trail but they wouldn’t be able to follow their descent through the atmosphere.

“You know why I named the ship Hornet’s Nest?”

Kiyin glanced at him, curious.

“You had such an attitude back then. You’d talk to me only to attack. Everything I said and decided, you remember that?”

“Well… You had just stolen away my entire life,” Kiyin said, a sad smile on her lips.

“I don’t blame you,” Daigo said with a few nods, “I’m just sayin’, that’s why. The nest of the hornet…which is you.”

Kiyin smacked him again. She couldn’t help but nervously laugh through the tears, her hands probably already feeling in their bones the protests of the ship.

“You i***t! Anything else you need to get off your chest?!”

“Well, I’ve actually always thought your hair looks cute like that. I know you wear it to insult me but--”

“It’s not,” Kiyin cut in, leaning her forehead slightly into her hand, glancing sideways at him. “I… I’m not that stupid. I learned, too.”

Daigo smiled. She wears it because she knew I liked it? Seemed like Kiyin knew him better than he thought she did, which was a good feeling, even in those circumstances. Or perhaps, especially because of the circumstances.

“I guess I always thought of the ship as really yours,” Daigo said, bringing the matter back. “Because it is. You just placed it in my hands.”

Kiyin wiped her eyes again with her right tentacle, but that only made her cry more. She bowed her head down against the panels. She was incapable to stop, even with her hands firmly on the joysticks, directing the ship towards the planet.

Daigo got up and embraced her, comforting her. He did his best to ignore the flaming signs of the atmosphere burning up around the cockpit. He pretended not to notice the world of water soaring up towards the view screen. He also had to pretend he didn’t see the blinking of Sára and Spinz trying to contact him.

It was important for Kiyin to have her moment. But mostly, he just wanted to hold her. He had wanted to for the longest time.

And Daigo might not ever get another chance.  

However, it turned out it wasn’t that easy to have a prolonged moment of drama in a ship falling to its doom.

“You doing what?!”

They turned to see Spinz who was sweating a whole lot more than they were. His shirt was heavily stained with oil and other stains, as was his fur, and his eyes were bloodshot red. Daigo knew that it was from his work, but it still made him look like a furious beast who was about to maul them both.

“Ship sure crashing, you doing what now?!” he yelled, his fur as if undulating with his anger.

“The escape pods,” Daigo said, straightening up, “we’ll all take the same. Go ahead and rig it, quick. Get Sára and Kyle on it.”

“We not make it,” Spinz said, still angry. Seemed like the well-natured rabbit creature was as attached to his life as everyone else.  

“Not if you keep wasting time, Spinz,” Daigo said, as kindly as he could. Which was wasn’t very much.  

“Or you,” Spinz said, squinting with disdain. It was a look that Daigo had never seen from Spinz.

If we make it, it’ll be a long while before that fur ball trusts me again…

Daigo couldn’t blame him for that.

“Man,” Daigo sighed, sitting back down on his seat, scratching his head. “This really escalated… beyond my wildest imaginations.”

“And so quick,” Kiyin added, sniffing.

“Yes,” Daigo agreed. Holding his elbows on his knees, he leaned down and hid his head in his hands. “Too much.”

“Did Hannes abandon us?” Kiyin asked.

It was weird. They were avoiding everything that had just happened to them, and it was mutual.  

“It’s possible?” Daigo shook his head, huffing uncertainly. “I don’t think so… he could’ve used a pod aimed at the planet, but instead, he escaped the other way.”

“I never thought he… of all people, that he would do something like that. I never thought he really cared about us.”

He never showed it. Then again, a man like him wouldn’t do that. Hannes was a man of action and nothing but.

Daigo sighed.

“I never thought we’d lose this ship,” Daigo admitted painfully. “I really thought we’d die in it-- this is…” he smiled up at her, helplessly, “such a super specific scenario.”

Daigo saw and then felt her embracing him. Her arms hugged his back, her tentacles enveloped his head, and her own head leaned on his.

“I never thought you’d really care so much either… About the ship. About me.”

Daigo scoffed. His legs were trembling.

“You won’t leave without me, will you?” The rest of him shivered, and then trembled. Time was running out fast. “Someone else might just… Knock me out and carry me by force, but you respect me. You respect me that much.”

Daigo cried, even if just lightly, as she pulled his head out into the open. Then, for the second time since they married, they kissed.

The first time for real.

Daigo was fine on dying on that kiss if he could. A thought came up to his head, telling him to break it up so they would have time to leave, but he pushed it aside. That enormous happiness welling up inside of him was impossible to resist. Unthinkable to interrupt.

Kiyin, however, was stronger.  She pulled back, and they exchanged tearful smiles.

“I love you too,” Kiyin said, still holding his face. “It’s crazy. Not to say lucky. But I really do.”

He was speechless, but Kiyin was strong. “Let’s go.”