#Wraith Scout ship

[spockvarietyhour]

Arrival and emergency departure "First Contact" & "The Lost Tribe"

[bluegiragi]

I'm not sure how I found your account but I have loved all of your creations. They have fueled my hyper-fixation for Call of Duty.

When it comes to your Monster au, are there any characteristics from the team that you see them having that you haven't been able to draw out in a storyline?

that's such a good question omg...it'd probably be all the ways that the 141 grew up.

(warning - lots of reading under the cut)

Price is a dragon hybrid, which means that historically his kind has not had amazing relationships with humans or each other. Close-knit dragon communities are still really rare, since instinctively they're extremely territorial and require space to themselves and a way to assert their own strength and hoard. But, sort of by government mandate, dragons need to keep within designated areas in case they accidentally torch a human city y'know. So he did grow up in a colony, but all the families there tended to keep to themselves, exempting mating season and the occasional territory fight. He left to join the military when he was pretty young, all things considered, and I think he did it mainly out of boredom. They were happy to have him of course - dragons are massive powerhouses with long lifespans, and very rare in their ranks (they dislike being ordered around). Price would like to think he's destined for a quiet life, but his job really let him wreak havoc and he took pleasure in indulging that primal urge of his. He grew out of that destructive phase though - nowadays, his priorities consist of taking care of his team.

--

Soap is a werewolf, which is a monster that subscribes to the 'it-takes-a-village' kind of mentality for raising a child. The Mactavishes are an average werewolf pack, with Soap, his parents, his grandparents, and his two sisters (one older, and one younger). Wolves are social creatures, but the older generation likes to stay within their own kind, if only for safety reasons. Soap's always been a go-getter though, so joining the military for a chance to see more of the world just made sense to him. Full-blooded werewolves are pretty sought after in the ranks, but they're a relatively newblood kind of monster. Superiors will often do their best to tame wolves and bring them to heel, with differing levels of success. If you win their loyalty, they're yours for life, but do them wrong and the pack will turn on you. Because of that danger of mutiny, officials will tend to keep it to one werewolf a team, despite them being stronger together.

--

Harpies are typically solitary and aren't very present parents, since they'll raise their children until they're 16 then dump them somewhere and tell them to survive. It sounds ruthless to most, but it's just how their culture is and it's how Gaz grew up. He's a resourceful type, and joined the military as soon as he could. Harpies are actually one of the more common monsters used in the forces, since their eyesight and wings make for pretty amazing scouting forces/snipers. In saying that though, there's no automatic comradery to be found between two harpies on the same team - in fact, they'll usually be combative at worst and cold/distant at best. Historically, harpies have found pride in their own independence, so being forced to interact/work together can be seen as an insult. Gaz himself is pretty charismatic and cool-headed, but even he'd get irritated if he was forced to share space with another harpy. He was shipped around between teams a lot as a lead sniper before he got promoted and met Price.

--

Simon is a wraith, but before that he was a normal human, if a bit freakishly strong. His time in the military was an escape from his home life, and after he became a wraith, that distance between himself and the human world only grew. Not a lot is known about wraiths, because the only way you'd be able to study one is if they let you and wraiths are inherently extremely private creatures with a tendency for extreme bursts of violence. They're also almost impossible to catch/imprison, so Simon's an asset the military is determined to hold onto.

[vivianquill]

there's another ranchers/zits/giggs au story concept in my head i've been playing with, so let's-- just call this a demo.

Feel free to send asks or just give general feedback, not only will it help me to flesh out the au more, it'll also give me more ideas on where to go. I've seen similar aus out there, but nothing quite like this one-- or having all the same concepts as this one. If people like it, I might turn it into an actual longfic. but i tend to run out of steam on my longfics (mostly due to a lack of interaction tbh. if no one else is excited about my au, then it's not worth pursuing, right? but that's my problem and something I have to work through myself, not something for anyone else to fix)

Anyway.

This is a thing.

The moment Jimmy laid eyes on Tango, he knew something was-- off-- about him.

They'd met him in a tavern, in the small town that lay below the abandoned Deepfrost Citadel. Jimmy's adventuring troupe had been commissioned with finding an artifact in the Citadel, and bringing it back to its rightful owner. The bounty offered would be enough to pay off the troupe's debts and much much more. When they'd asked around for any sort of maps, or a guide, the tavern keeper had pointed them over to Tango.

"He's the only one to have ever made it out of that cursed place alive." The dwarf had told them, pointing to where their future guide was sitting in the corner, "If you want a guide, he's the only one who can."

Jimmy's sense for danger had shivered up his spine and stolen his breath the moment he looked over. But-- no one in his troupe paid any attention to him anyway.

Besides, the negotiations had gone well, Tango seemed amical enough, and no one else seemed to have a problem with him. It was only Jimmy, and his overzealous avian anxiety. They would pay Tango half his fee up front, and half when they got back to the village safely.

It took them half a week to get up to the Citadel, and that was with the help and knowledge of Tango as their guide. Jimmy kept him at arms' length, not quite knowing why but deciding to trust his gut on this one. Tango was dangerous, in a way that he couldn't figure out. He'd brought it up to the others in his troupe, but none of them believed him. They all loved Tango. He was clever, quick to laugh and even quicker to crack a joke, and ever so useful.

By the time they made it to the door of the Citadel, Tango had become an invaluable member of the troupe.

Tango disappeared that first night, spent barricaded in an outlying tower and hoping not to freeze to death. Jimmy had been on watch, and between one glance and the next, Tango hadn't been in his bedroll anymore.

But-- he'd been right back in the morning, acting like Jimmy didn't know what he was talking about.

It was the little things that kept setting Jimmy on edge. Tango knew a little too much about the Citadel, he'd found the 'hidden' door to the crypts too easily, had pushed the troupe to descend into the depths faster than was safe, not letting them scout it with a familiar like they normally would. He could pick the locks almost like he had a silent knock spell in his fingers, and somehow knew his way through the maze of icy caverns like the back of his hand.

And every night, after everyone was asleep, he disappeared. Jimmy was the only one who noticed. No one else believed him either, did they just-- not notice the empty bedroll when they were on watch?

When they finally believed him, it wasn't until Tango disappeared for good. One morning, he just-- didn't come back.

Then the monsters started appearing.

One thing lead to another as they pressed deeper and deeper into the dungeon under the Citadel, icy crypts full of wraiths and furry beasts morphing into wet caverns covered in mushrooms and a pirate ship complete with it's undead crew; leading down into black mines that had supposedly been blocked off by cave ins over a hundred years ago-- and before they knew it they'd lost a member of the troupe-- their healer-- and then they were tripping tail over teakettle into a maze so dark and cold that even those in the troupe with darkvision couldn't see.

It spat them out into a chamber not unlike the throne room found mirrored high above in the Deepfrost Citadel. It was full of gold and magic and things that would make any adventurer drool at the prospect of having them to keep.

Jimmy hadn't felt 'safe'-- not since he'd first met Tango in that tavern all those weeks ago-- but the sense of someone watching them stayed his hand.

The rest of the troupe had gotten busy, plundering everything in reach and searching for the artifact they'd been sent to collect.

But not Jimmy.

When asked why he wasn't stuffing his pockets with gold, he waved off the troupe with the excuse of keeping watch. After all, there were the monsters to contend with still--

Tango's giggle seemed to come from everywhere at once.

"Oh, you really should have listened to poor, sweet Jimmy when you had the chance~"

And suddenly Tango was there, on the throne in the center of the room, but instead of the blond, brown-eyed and rough-hewn guide they'd come to know and trust, it was a creature made of frost and shadows.

Jimmy's heart dropped out his stomach.

"Dragon--!"

Oh, they were dead.

Scratch that. Apparently everyone but Jimmy was dead.

Not like that was much better.

[peridotglimmer]

Kinktober 2023 Masterpost

31 ficlets with 31 different ships

The full series can be found here!

Day 1: Collars - False/Cleo (Hermitcraft) | Decoration

Day 2: Clothed Sex - Diana/47 (Hitman) | Close Quarters

Day 3: Choking - Wyatt/Emma (Timeless) | Insufferable

Day 4: Desk Sex - Cameron/House (House M.D.) | By Reason of Insanity

Day 5: Bathing - Chloe/Nadine (Uncharted) | Reën in die Klein Karoo

Day 6: Pegging - Evil X/Cleo (Hermitcraft) | Repent

Day 7: Praise Kink - Evie/Élise (AC: Syndicate & AC: Unity) | Rules

Day 8: Lingerie - Bridget/Vera (Wentworth) | Coming Home to You

Day 9: Wall Sex - Beckett/Castle (Castle) | Blame It on the Hormones

Day 10: Coming Untouched - Pia Douwes/Uwe Kröger (Musical Theatre RPF) | Transition #1 [Note: written in German!]

Day 11: Breeding Kink - False/Pearl/Cleo (Hermitcraft) | When You Came In (The Air Went Out)

Day 12: Blow Jobs - Peyton/Blaine (iZombie) | Silence Is Golden

Day 13: Sixty-Nine - Loba/Valkyrie (Apex Legends) | Attention Management

Day 14: Ropes - Mirage/Wraith (Apex Legends) | Scout's Honour

Day 15: Voyeurism - Etho/Cleo (Limited Life SMP) | Respite

Day 16: Mirror Sex - Diana/Lucas (Hitman) | Change of Scenery

Day 17: Forced Orgasms - Xisuma/Keralis (Hermitcraft) | Entertainment

Day 18: Multiple Orgasms - False/Everyone (Hermitcraft) | for the sake of good times

Day 19: Stripping - Addison/Callie (Grey's Anatomy) | Sharing Is Caring

Day 20: Frottage - Becky/Felicity (Hidden Agenda) | Alive

Day 21: Somnophilia - House/Cuddy (House M.D.) | Good Morning Sunshine

[atlantisdoodle]

Erin-Gunthar the tok’ra and Selyma the wraith hybrid. My two beloved PC, that follow the weird stories I create for them since 6 years. They were part of the crew of the space delicious (a scout ship) and now are just the private service women of the Ouman’shii empress. Always in the worst place possible in the best moment possible! (Erin is a ridicoulously small russian women. Selyma is like 1.7m....) Make for the stargate advent calendar 2022. Here is the space delicious crew from 2017: https://atlantisdoodle.tumblr.com/post/169464549421/050117-the-finishedredo-version-finally-happy Lineart done by Oncead, the player of Selyma.

[biggest-ultra-mags]

He’d finished off what he could inside of Swerves.

Parts and shredded metal coupled with toppled bar tables and stools lay strewn about the empty place. Meanwhile his glossa both mouth and stomach seemed to lap at the remnants of energon staining his shifting metal plates. Well, he was full for now, but with this sated hunger came the need to infect and expand his little empire. He’d managed to snag a few minibots and force them to change into creatures of the wraiths, but it just wasn’t enough. He’d need backup.

“There has to be somesort of transmission signal they used to reach out with other ships..”

Dire Magnus mused, plucking a servo from his maw.

“I’ll send the two minibots out to scout first, we’ll see what they can find. I think it’s about time I called in some reinforcements..”

[goatinacoat19]

Explanation of my stories

Okay, so I’m going to be giving a brief summary on each of my original wips. I’ll do a seperate ones for my fanfics. Each of this will likely get there own more in depth explanations later, but this should give the gist of each one.

Also, some of these stories do not have official names yet. Making titles is hard.

The Shadow Guard: A story set in a universe with superheroes. There are multiple phases of the story, each one following a different generation of the superhero team known as The Shadow Guard as their world evolves as Variants (people with superpowers) become more common and accepted.

Tales of Stars and Magic: The title of a sci fi universe with multiple stories in it. Magic is a natural part of life and different alien species use it in many different ways.

Onto the Horizon: The first story in TOSAM. It follows the crew of the ship ‘The Horizon’ as they fight with the Insurgency to defeat the Intergalactic Alliance (IGA). Book 1 is called ‘Tides of Change’ and follows Aala as she has to protect her sister (Nila) as their homeworld was invaded and they end up meeting Keryn, a bounty hunter who dislikes the IGA, Irel, the leader of the Insurgency, and Avalis who is Irel’s second in command.

Adventures of the Aurora: A new Jump Engine has been invented and it makes it possible to explore a fourth galaxy. Captain Karys Alvali is in charge of the scout ship Aurora, and with her crew, they start to explore the new galaxy.

Blackout: The story of Herene, the Creator who has to make a horrible desicion to protect the universe from the threat of the Devourers.

Luna Stone: Luna is an 11 year old sorceress who is about to start her first year at Peregrine’s Academy of Magic. She has to try and live up to her family legacy, and while she’s certainly powerful enough magic wise, she wants to befriend who she wants. Her life only gets more complicated when she starts getting strange dreams of a phoenix.

Unamed Luna sequel: After the events of Luna’s story, the magical community has changed. When it’s discovered that Jay (a human) is able to see magic, panic begins to spread over the possibility the Great Spell is failing.

Unamed Luna prequel: King Florian is one of the most famous historical figures for magic users. He existed before the Great Spell was cast, and the human (along with his husband and knights) put a stop to the evil sorceress Oriana. The story follows him as he has to gather a group strong enough to take her down, and try and help both magical and non magical communities get along.

Myths and Tales: Will lives a normal life until he’s attacked by a strange creature. He is saved by Anpu (more commonly known as Anubis) and gets dragged into the lives of the many gods and goddesses while trying to figure out why certain gods want him dead.

Unamed fantasy story (aka Everyone’s a bard): When an ancient threat rises once more, Conri is chosen to find the others capable to defeat the Wraith. Even if he doesn’t want to, he isn’t given another choice.

The Unknown: A collection of short stories that follow people who ended up interacting with entities nicknamed Unknowns. Their origin is not known, and while organisations like the Unknown Defence Department are doing their best to unravel the mystery, it is a difficult job.

[girlscience]

i love nico robin, but she is not discussed. i see millions of posts analyzing the boys and only ever see pictures of her looking beautiful. the boys get to be powerful and she gets to be pretty. (same with nami but she also gets to be bitchy).

lotr has amazing women..... none of whom are dwarves so i find i care about them significantly less (sadly) and all of whom are side characters which means, as far as i can tell, they are not as important to the fandom as the main characters (which makes sense). the hobbit has tauriel........ who well. outside of her being in love with kili she is pointless.

hannibal has some pretty great women who are all there only to act as fodder for will and hannibal's character arcs and emotional development (and half of them die, or there's uhhh reba? who's there for francis's development). and even though the fandom loves abigail there's only so much you can do with a character who spends most of the show "dead" or dead.

stargate sg1 has sam and she's amazing and wonderful and i love everything about her.... but i am not captured by sg1 the way i am atlantis. and atlantis well. the wraith are imo the most important part and the queen's are developed not even a tiny bit. and according to the sga fandom i'm pretty sure the whole show is actually just about john and rodney being in love. and i personally am slowly growing to actually hate the ship for its ubiquitousness.

dragon age has great women that largely no one cares about because why would they when cullen and solas and zevran and the other cullen and so on exist. solas is the only inquistion romance that actually matters, sera is written terribly, cassandra can only romance men, and josie feels like an afterthought (scout harding is wonderful but is barely a character at all).

the witcher worldbuilding states women cannot be witchers and i literally couldn't give less of a shit about anything in the witcher outside of the witchers themselves.

transformers has women but i never got deep enough into the lore to learn much about them and outside of optimus and megatron's relationship (because angst and politics) and starscream (because he's hilarious) i never cared much about the story.

star wars i care more about the worldbuilding and the aliens than anything else. there are women and they are pretty good and i think a reasonable chunk of the fandom likes them, but i don't super care about the actual story of star wars so... i think i miss a lot of that.

i liked warrior nun, but i can be honest, it was not a masterpiece of a show. it does not have an enormous fandom and it got canceled and it did not capture my mind the way some other stories have.

all the fantasy/medieval anachronism stuff i can find is pretty much all men. except for some women who talk about sewing and fashion.... where are the women who are testing out different fire starters to figure out which will work best for an adventurer? where are the women making stew in the woods and talking about it on youtube? where are the women discussing the best sword to use as an adventurer? they have to exist!!!! but i cannot find them and it makes me horribly sad.

i could keep going on and on but i think my point is made. i am just incredibly frustrated. and i try to read books about women and i love a lot of them but none of them get fandoms and i get tired of loving something alone with no one to talk to about it. but i also enjoy watching shows and movies and there are far fewer of them that focus on women and even fewer i actually care about even when they do have fandoms. i just.... i feel like i having been waiting and waiting my whole life for that perfect story about women adventurers and i'm starting to wondering if it will ever exist.

[ariesgamesandminis]

Restocks are up for BattleTech Miniatures for Iron Wind Metals!

10-036 Word of Blake Omni Mech Pack I 10-037 Word of Blake Omni Mech Pack II 20-172 SOVETSKII SOYUZ HEAVY CRUISER 20-305 Scorpion Light Tank 20-418 Huron Warrior HUR-WO-R4L 20-470 Mercury II MCY-100 20-499 Bolla Stealth Tank Invictus / Infernus 20-5112 Agrotera AGT-1A 20-5138 Triskelion TRK-4V 20-5183 Locust LCT-1V 20-5201 Lightning LHN-C5 20-5203 Ryoken (Stormcrow) TC / B 20-5207 Black Knight BL-9KNT 20-623 SRM Carrier 20-629 Ti Ts' ANG TSG-9H 20-634 EPONA PURSUIT TANK 20-686 Mackie MSK-6S 20-701 SPARROW HAWK SPR-H5 20-747 Zhukov Heavy Tank 20-750 Rommel / Patton Tank 20-769 EXCALIBER EXC-B2 20-800 Hex Bases 20-819 Maxim Hover Transport 20-866 Javelin JVN-10N 20-9122 Battleforce Hex Base 20-918 STALKING SPIDER 99-201 Large Flat Top Hex Base #1 99-202 Large Flat Top Hex Base #2 99-203 Extra Large Flat Top Hex Base AC-003 Hover Base AC-005 Large Space Base AC-007 Multi Hole Fighter Base AC-009 Medium Cast Stem AC-010 Large Cast Stem BT-003 Basilisk Protomech BT-006 Phalanx Battle Armor BT-009 Trinity (Ying Long) Battle Armor BT-028 Cavalier Battle Armor BT-030 Sylph Battle Armor BT-031 Infiltrator MK 2 BT-052 Confederate BT-175 Lyonesse Micro Escort Ship BT-187 Djinn Battle Armor BT-198 Tengu Battle Armor BT-199 Asura Md. Battle Armor BT-201 Nephilim Assault Battle Armor BT-207 Delphyne ProtoMech BT-209 Se'irim Medium Battle Armor BT-212 Preta Dominus BT-215 Seraph Dominus BT-222 Tau Wraith BT-223 Tau Zombie BT-224 Heavy Jump Infantry BT-228 Angerona Battle Armor BT-229 Trinity (Theseus) Battle Armor BT-230 Kopis Battle Armor BT-239 Jump Support Infantry BT-240 SpecOps Paratrooper BT-244 Heavy Infantry - Standing BT-260 Sprint Scout VTOL BT-286 Procyon Quad Protomech BT-303 Vulture Mk III Prime BT-304 Arion (Standard) BattleMech or Vehicle Mode BT-313 Regulator II Hovertank BT-366 Hover Scout Drones BT-370 Kurita Infantry BT-371 Davion Infantry BT-382 Kanazuchi Battle Armor BT-384 Achileus Battle Armor BT-389 Purifier Battle Armor BT-392 Raiden Battle Armor BT-412 Amazon Battle Armor BT-413 Marauder Battle Armor BT-427 Balac Strike VTOL BT-429 Catapult CPLT-C2 BT-434 Leonidas Battle Armor BT-436 Buraq (Standard) Battle Armor BT-439 Black Wolf Battle Armor BT-472 Wolverine WVR-7M / 7M2 / 7K LTD-Omega Omega Super Heavy Mechs OP-039 Dragonfly A Lasers & List PO# 890 20-425E Shiro SH-P Banner 20-5189C Catapult CPLT-C3 / C5 Arm Sprue 20-5197E Wolverine WVR-6R / 6D Gun and Missile Sprue 20-611E Ryoken Prime Arms

battletech #alphastrike #ironwindmetals #battletechalphastrike #miniatures #catalystgamelabs #battlemech #battletechminiatures #battletechpaintingandcustoms #mecha #tabletop #tabletopgames #tabletopgaming #wargaming #wargames #hobby #scifi #sciencefiction #miniaturepainting #mech #hovertank #6mmminis #6mmscifi #feldherr #dougram #gundam #robotech #armypainter #thearmypainter #chessex

[spockvarietyhour]

Guess who’s coming to dinner... “Allies”

[wraithsoutlaws]

For ship ask: 14 and 28 plz

14. Anything they both dread?

they're both pretty good at repressing those kinds of feelings, and there isn't much they can't handle, but both silently counting down the days when dagger has to head back to the badlands for however long to handle his actual wraith biz, sometimes disappearing on scouting missions or following distant convoys, knowing they'll be apart for a while and might not even get a chance to talk? thats how you make the murder boys sad v.v they both hate the days leading up to that and will silently become inseparable until the last day where they get a little distant to try and lesson the blow but of course that hit always hurts.

28. What are their vacations like?

in general? light crime sprees. they aren't typically fancy or expensive, and if they are, it's certainly on some dead corpo's dime and you can bet they're causing so much chaos along the way, which is usually where the fun is for them. they don't actually get away very often and certainly won't plan for a vacation. usually things just happen and they roll with it. they already live their life pretty freely so its not something they think much about. dagger is afraid to fly (sshh don't tell anyone) so they're not likely to go international and dum dum is afraid of the ocean so a cruise is out of the question. the one big trip they take together is a road trip across the nusa where they hit up all sorts of weird roadside attractions and vintage americana, stopping at every carnival and amusement park they can find. it's the one time they get a little ~Touristy but still manage to get into plenty of trouble, too.

[peridotglimmer]

Apex Legends 2 days in a row! ValkLoba yesterday, Miraith today!

Kinktober Day 14: Scout's Honour

Ship 14 of 31: Mirage/Wraith (Apex Legends)

Kinktober masterpost here

Rated M, ropes, praise

Elliott and Renee try something new.

[a-heart-in-spades]

Imagine Ayla and Cayde buying a big ship so they are comfortable between scouts and missions. It's full of Ayla's knives and weapons and treasures Cayde collected during the years, his maps on one wall next to the small kitchen table.

Besides it, Ayla puts a big collection of photos of the people they know: an old photo of Amanda with her first Sparrow, Banshee asleep on his workshop- two stray cats napping next to him, Ikora with the ugly sweater Zavala knit for her for Dawning, the group photo they took with Madison and Simon during their winter holiday, Wraith wearing a tiara in Bee's tea party.

They start getting small plants from each place they visit, and soon they are everywhere in the ship- Spectre enjoys taking care of them a lot. Sundance likes to collect colourful gemstones.

They get the biggest bed that can fit in the crowded rest space- which is not much. But they have become so used to sleep cuddling and in each other's space that they don't mind it at all.

This is exactly how I would imagine them being. They would bicker at first, until finally they find a ship that works. It has the speed, the elegance, and the room they both need for everything they do. Plus Ayla would need a massive viewing window so she can watch the stars, just like the nook in the apartment where she could just watch the rain o3o I love this ^^

[dwead-piwate-meggers]

Meggers’ OC & Writing Masterpost

The Wayhaven Chronicles - TWC Writing Masterpost Charlotte Langford   - Adam du Mortain [ship tag]  - Morgan [ship tag]

Mind Blind - Mind Blind Writing Masterpost Eleanor Betony ‘Ellie’ Wiseman   - Grayson Black [ship tag]

Scout: An Apocalypse Story Claudia Bosco

Fallen Hero: Rebirth Soraya ‘Wraith’ Baker

A Tale of Crowns Tasnim Zaman

OFNA: Birds of a Feather Melody Jessop

Speaker Daniella Castillo

The Golden Rose Inês

Body Count - Body Count MC Asks Maris Van der Zee Delia Campbell

The Exile Haelia Volkel

[raedas]

Hi guys! This is a SOC fic about Inej as a captain of her own ship. It takes place after Crooked Kingdom, and is pretty canonical (I might have made a couple mistakes on the timeline and stuff but nothing major). This is the first fic I’ve ever written, so hopefully you like it!

 tw: none?

A World Awaits

Inej sat perched on the railing of the ship- no, it was her ship- her eyes trained on the ocean spread out in front of her, the surface rippling like clothes hung out to dry on a laundry line. Her heart was full of the promise of adventure, and more importantly, the opportunity to prevent others from going through what she had gone through. Even when her shoulders sagged with the knowledge that she had abandoned her parents yet again, so soon after when they had been reunited, her boiling hatred for Tante Heleen and all the slavers that had landed her in the Menagerie propelled her forward with new determination.  

“Inej!” a voice called from the other side of the ship. Before she turned, Inej knew that it was Anika, a former member of the dregs, and her only fellow female on the crew. Anika had decided to leave the Dregs in favor of joining Inej’s crew after a particularly close brush with death on a job. That night, Anika had walked right up to Kaz in the Crow Club and asked him if she could join Inej on her ship instead of returning to the Dregs. Inej had been surprised by her blunt request, and even more so when Kaz had agreed.  

Later, when Inej asked Kaz why he had let go of one of his most loyal soldiers, Kaz had simply said, “You’ll need someone loyal on your ship, someone who will protect who where my name won’t be able to,” before he limped to his room, clearly done with the conversation. A familiar ache came along with the thought of Kaz, but Inej was glad she had left him in Ketterdam, choosing to make her own way in the world. She was not, and never would be, willing to sacrifice her own self-worth for Kaz and his misdeeds, and a life where she lived just for a chance to see beyond the glass dome that he set between himself and the rest of the world.

Now, Anika was sitting in the crow’s nest, a coincidentally accurate name. She had been scouting the horizons for slave ships to raid. Inej easily scampered up the mast to join her, curious to see what had drawn Anika’s attention. Her brows were burrowed in concentration, her eyes trained on something in the distance. Inej followed her line of sight to see a blurry shape.

“A slave ship,” Inej said. Anika started. Like everyone else, she hadn’t been able to Inej until Inej had wanted to be noticed.

Anika nodded. “Probably. It could be a merchant ship, but I doubt it. There shouldn’t be any merchies on this route, unless they got lost. The only people that will go on such a roundabout route would be the slavers.”

 Inej felt the adrenaline pumping through her veins. She had never had Jesper’s eagerness for a fight, but she had to admit there was something thrilling about the idea of liberating so many from their chains. The same chains she had worn herself, not so long ago.

“Anika, would you go down and tell the others below deck to get ready?” Inej asked. “If this ship continues in the same direction, we should reach it in about an hour.”

Anika grinned. “Sure thing, captain.”

Captain. The word felt unnatural, like a hand-me-down that were too big for her, the sleeves enveloping her lithe figure, and she felt as if she was drowning in the weight of the fabric.

Anika had proved an invaluable member of her crew. They had only been at sail for a week, and unrest already stirred throughout the others onboard. It didn’t escape Inej’s notice that many of the men were uncomfortable with having a woman as a captain, and a 17-year-old at that. Inej’s history as the Wraith preceded her, but they seemed to be having trouble wrapping their minds around the fact that the infamous spider who infiltrated the Ice Court was the young Suli girl in front of them.  

Inej heard Anika loudly telling the others to get ready to raid a slave ship. Inej heard them muttering, skeptical of this observation. It had barely been 3 weeks since they had set sail, and they only other time Inej had warned her crew to prepare for a fight, the ship had turned out to belong to a very confused, very wealthy Kaelish man who had wanted to celebrate his daughter’s birthday. A couple of the crew had kindly laughed it off, but others glared at Inej as they went back to their quarters. They handed her insults wrapped neatly with a bow on top, a gift with a sting in the back. Inej had lived in the barrel for a good portion of her life. She had learned to brush off insults, she had learned to protect herself from their words. But it didn’t ease the embarrassment at failing as a captain.

You haven’t failed yet, she reminded herself. A well-need reminder, but one that didn’t do much good. You survived all those crazy heists you pulled off with the Crows. Commanding a ship should be easy.

Inej tried her best to keep those same thoughts on a constant loop through her head, barricading them against the parts of her mind that told her she was being silly, she wouldn’t be able to help anyone, no one on her crew really trusted her. Somehow, though, those thoughts came leaking through, sneaking all her defenses.  

Meanwhile, they still crept closer and closer to the ship. There was no doubt any longer that they were a slave ship. Inej leapt down from her spot in the crow’s nest, landing in front of Jac, one of the surlier members of her crew.  

Jac blinked. “You know, it’s really startling to see someone just drop from the sky in front of you.”

“You’ll see lots more startling than that before we’re done here,” Inej said.

“Of course,” Jac said. “Doesn’t mean it’s any more natural to see you drop twenty feet and land without making a single noise.”

“If I couldn’t do that, I wouldn’t even be a spider, let alone the Wraith. And if you can’t take that, then I don’t think you would fare well on my ship.”

“Hey, I was just joking!” Jac protested. “I can take a fight, especially with one of those slavers.”  

Inej paid no heed. She had long learned that nothing was ever “just a joke,” with the men on her ship or the men in the Crow club. It didn’t make a difference. She was used to them belittling her. Once you let one snide remark snide, it was only a matter of time until they grew until she had a crew who would ignore her in a fight and publicly make fun of her. Inej had been small for too long, crouched down in a corner hoping that no one would see her. She had learned to mask her presence, something that had served her well as the Wraith, but would do her no good as a captain.  

She was a captain, after all. If the word didn’t fit right, then that didn’t mean that she had to change herself to fit it, only that the rest of her crew should learn a new definition of the word. She had gone from Suli girl to Wraith to captain, and she would carry all her identities with her as she explored the world that awaited her, a piece of herself that she could tuck into a corner of her heart.  

[oathweave]

A Friend from Another Life

Someone else is here. She shot up, pulling out her wingman and glancing down the stairs, getting low to the ground- small and undetectable. They know you- they knew you. A chill shot up her spine, and her hand flew to her radio, only to find it blocked out by static. Of course, she thought. Glancing out a gap though the wall, she saw nothing. She jumped at a bug which flew by, before retreating back into the building- either out of preparation or pure fear.

[based off a convseration on discord, then started at 2am last night soo lmao]

Also on AO3!

Sent on a scouting mission for Loba, she held a hand on her Wingman and an ear out for, well, herself.

“It's familiar, here.” She thought. “What's the deal?”  Her quiet question echoed in her mind, no whispers from the void answering her question, suspiciously. “Fine, be like that.” The swamps of King's Canyon were peaceful at night, all the flyers asleep and bugs chittering about. It's peaceful- yet Wraith felt anything but. She stepped up through the ruined houses, water dripping through the floorboards above and pooling below the house. She grinned as she remembered downing Elliott here, both of them away from their squads to loot. She brushed the spot where he lay before returning to the dropship, and a crackle of electricity shot through her.

Someone else is here.

She shot up, pulling out her wingman and glancing down the stairs, getting low to the ground- small and undetectable.

They know you- they knew you.

A chill shot up her spine, and her hand flew to her radio, only to find it blocked out by static. Of course , she thought. Glancing out a gap though the wall, she saw nothing. She jumped at a bug which flew by, before retreating back into the building- either out of preparation or pure fear.

She took a breathe, clutching her gun in one hand firmly and preparing to void run out if she found herself outnumbered. "Okay. Best case scenario, no one's here. Worst…" Her thoughts trailed off, not knowing the worst case. The entire IMC-Hammond army? Shadow Revenant? "Breathe, Wraith. Focus." She took a hesitant step, moving down the stairs. The woman pointed her pistol at the door, then the other. She repeated this until she gently pushed the door open and quickly phased out of instinct. A strange, metallic glint below the water caught her eye, and she returned to reality and clicked on her radio. "Hey, Loba, I found something. I'll get back to you in a sec." She said, quiet and calm, though she was painfully aware of every sound. You were close, back then. Wraith stopped, shook her head and set up the scanner Crypto had given her with. The voices did this occasionally, played with her. Of course, the fighter had grown used to the occasional tease or quip from some other her. But this… this felt cruel, if they were joking. Wraith, once more, got low to the ground and reached for a weapon, this time her Kunai, knowing she'd give herself enough time to get away if she takes one person out with it. Beep! She quickly moved over to the scanner, and she dropped the screen as soon as she saw the results. There was a titan under there. A Ronin to be specific- IMC, but clearly abandoned. She turned the scanner onto the drill setting as Crypto told her to- and she dug down deep enough for the Titan to boot itself.

"If this titan attacks me and there's not even a grenade around here, I'm fucked." Wraith though, hands both of her on weapons."Wraith, any progress?" Loba's voice pierced the silence, but Wraith clicked off her radio-link and dropped it, as she heard the Titan make the first signs of being online.

"Ro… Ronin Unit... VW-9767… online." He said, his chrome paint obviously chipped away from ages of neglect. Wraith stood silent for a moment, waiting for any movement. Upon realising that it was unable to move she stepped forwards. "VW, um," She paused again, really not knowing what to say. "How long have you been here?" "Records show I have been stationary for the last… 1,857 days. 5 years, a month and two days. I have remained in a state of standby until my pilot's return." The Titan relayed back, and Wraith sighed. "Who… who is your pilot?" She asked, and it was unlikely she'd get back someone she knew, right? "My pilot is… Senior Research Pilot Renee Blasey." They said, unleashing a storm of whispers from the void. He knew you. You were close. He's low on power. You left him here. He's not a threat. "You… knew me? I was your pilot?" She asked, hesitantly. The Titan said nothing for a moment. "After running a scan on your vocal pattern, I can confirm that you are, indeed, my pilot." The titan shifted slightly, its arm trying to move out of the ground, to no avail. Wraith muttered a 'don't move' before moving to drill out the Ronin. "If I may ask, where have you been, pilot?" Wraith said nothing in reply, not sure how to say that she woke up in an IMC mental institution, was experimented on and then broke out and joined a bloodsport commissioned by Kuben Blisk himself. That's not so easy to explain. "I've, uh, I lost my memories a while back." She said lowly, even a little guiltily. "I'm sorry, VW. If I knew…" "I understand, pilot. Please, do not feel guilty on my behalf." VW replied, matching his pilot's low tone. "While you were gone, I was in a state of low power- much like sleep- but unfortunately, I am still in need of an extra battery." "Alright." She replied, stepping back and letting VW move out of the hole. Clunkily and slowly, the Ronin pulled himself out the hole and moved all his joints as to get rid of all the dirt which clogged them up. “Do you know where to get a battery, VW?” “Scanning the environment…” He paused, his sensors analysing the local surroundings. “There are none nearby. However, there seems to be a dropship incoming shortly to the west of here.” Wraith’s eyes shot up- before dashing over to the radio unit she dropped on the floor. “-raith?! Come in, Wraith!” Loba’s voice echoed down the radio unit, clearly anxious.

“I’m here.” She cooly replied, placing the radio unit in her ear. She hears a sigh of relief and a quiet “oh mon dieu” from Natalie, who assumedly rushed over to help find her. “Did you send a dropship out?”“We did, but I’ve only just left. You okay?” Bangalore’s voice met her, sounds of a ship in the background.

“Shit.” The smaller woman cursed, panicking. Someone else was after the titan- or her. “I’ll call you back.”

“Wai-” She cut off the radio, before pocketing it and glancing back at VW. “You have enough battery in case we need to fight?” She asked her titan, who replied, “Yes, though I don’t have too long before my last battery runs out.” She nodded stepping toward him. “Your helmet is in my cockpit.” He said before opening up, allowing Wraith to swing in and see the helmet. It was dark purple and had a small yellow triangle on it. She paused, realising it was the helmet the other Wraith was wearing when she was in the IMC headquarters. “Something wrong?” She smiled slightly. “No, not at all.” She slipped it on and sat in the seat, allowing VW to autopilot. She watched the HUD appear on the screen in front of her. Three statements appeared in red before disappearing again. Protocol 1: Link to Pilot Protocol 2: Uphold the Mission Protocol 3: Protect the Pilot “When was the last time you were in a titan, pilot?” VW asked, starting to move. Each step was slow and calculated- though there was improvement until VW got into his usual stride. “I haven’t.” She replied, adjusting to the movement. “Okay, our neural link will be suboptimal for a few days, but as long as you keep that helmet on, your link to me will calibrate and improve.” She nodded, feeling the link’s slight influence on VW’s movement. The dropship could be heard nearby but Wraith felt confident in her titan’s abilities. “So, tell me, pilot, is the IMC still a thing?” “Well,” She thought for a moment, memories rushing back to here and fleeting just as quick. “It’s, uh, complicated? I don’t work for them, if that’s what you’re asking.” “I see.” The titan was quiet, for a moment Wraith was scared the titan was about to turn on her before something appeared again. Protocol 2: Uphold the Mission - Unclear..? “Wraith, report!” Bangalore ordered, her radio crackling to life. VW scanned the radio briefly, before, “I have linked your radio to your helmet, pilot.” “Holy SHIT, IS THAT A TITAN?!” Bangalore shouted, dropship looming above. “It’s a long story, Bangs. I’ll explain at Elliott’s.” She replied, seeing a dropship hovering over the Hydro Dam. “Where are you?” “Over the ARES Capacitor, why?” You’re being looked at.“Fuck. VW, cut through those trees-” She ordered, her link too weak to take full control. She looked back, and she saw that they were attracting attention. “-go, NOW!” He picked up the pace, wobbling slightly but following his orders instantly. Wraith felt a calming feeling and assumed it was VW’s response to her nerves. Picking up the pace, he neared the Capacitor, and Bangalore waved them over, surprise evident on her face.“Wraith, I hate to tell you this, but there is no fucking way that Ronin is getting on here.” Bangalore stated, and Wraith hummed in the affirmative.“Pilot, if I may suggest something?” VW asked.“Sure, go on.” “If you eject my AI core, then you may upload me into a newer titan later on.” Wraith hummed, considering it for a moment before going.“Yeah, that sounds like a plan.” She stood slightly, allowing VW to let her out before she stood in front of him, allowing him to kneel down.“And Pilot?”“Yeah?”“Thank you for finding me. I… I missed you.”Wraith smiled and placed a hand on his eye. Gently, she felt it push against her hand and she pulled it out, along with the SERE Kit. Bangalore gave a low wolf whistle as Wraith pulled off her helmet,  and took the SERE Kit from her.“Haven’t seen one’ a these for a long time. FNG’s would always try an’ steal from the titans.” The soldier said, pulling out the smart pistol briefly, and putting it back in. “So, how long were you gonna hide you were a pilot?”“I didn’t know, Bang. Apparently, I was a ‘Senior Research Pilot’, which explains a few things, I guess.” Bangalore nodded, having too much respect for Wraith to push any further. “Well, let’s get you back, and then we’ll figure out how to get you a chassis.”Wraith nodded, before taking one look at her old titan and her helmet before stepping onto the dropship.