Chapter Text
Deep in intergalactic space, a mass of dark metal hurtled through space. The vessel was massive, hundreds of kilometers across, with engines at its rear burning brighter even than some of the passing stars. It left a trail behind that faded away into the inky blackness of the void.
The vessel was made of an intricate and intelligent design, its surface coated in interlocking metal plates designed to survive the extended travels of deep space. With its massive size, the construction of metal would loom over any horizon. Except for companion ships launched from distant points, which were just now beginning to converge in their journeys, there was nothing but it and the void.
Within the metallic shell, a deep thrumming began to build, accompanying that of the engine. The vibration reverberated through the structure, beginning near its center and radiating outwards to each of nine distinct capsules, each hundreds of meters long. There the vibration dispersed.
The vessel began to thrum with unseen energy. It was beginning to grow near to its destination. It was time to awaken its charges.
Nozomi was the first one to awaken. Here, far from the core of the Hovid Nexus, it was harder to initially pinpoint the voices of the others back at home. They had come so far on this mission, but had yet to be briefed. Though, she realized, the fact that she was just waking up now meant that they had to be close. The thought of what awaited her and the rest of Muse sent a flutter of anticipation dancing along her skin.
As her body came to life once more, she flexed her fist in anticipation. The command started in her positronic brain, before travelling down axionic cables laced through her spine, trailing off to all the different parts of her mechanical body. There the command split and branched to individual loci of circuitry and wires, some of a mundane analog construction, others of something more biological.
She was neither fully organic or machine, but a beautiful fusion of both. Her and the other Mega-Warforms were known simply as “Muse,” and the destruction they could wreak was legendary.
The command split along her nerves into individual impulses, each travelling to individual muscles—bundles of organic fibres running in parallel, augmented by pneumatic and hydraulic pistons tens of meters long that ran the length of her forearm—before reaching their destinations. Together, the muscles of Nozomi’s forearm contracted and pulled at fingers each nearly ten meters long, curling them closed into a fist. All this, from the beginning of a thought to contract her hand, took a mere fraction of an instant. But even so simple a gesture after so long spent asleep felt good.
She felt Rin flicker to life, an impression blossoming in the back of her mind. As part of the Hovid Nexus, all of Muse could communicate with one another, just as they could communicate with those back at home. Rin’s proximity, however, meant that she was able to sense and transmit much more than simple communication. Indeed, now feeling quite lucid herself she was able to notice the way that Rin’s mind awoke from slumber as consciousness flowed through her own body just as it had through Nozomi’s a moment before. There was a sensation even of contraction, much like that of closing her own fist, that Nozomi felt before Rin was conscious enough to limit her telepathy to simple presence.
The rest of Muse awoke in similar fashion, all within minutes of each other. Nozomi was usually the first to wake, though sometimes Umi beat her thanks to her unique nanomachine augments, and Nozomi always enjoyed watching and feeling the others come to. In those first moments of returning to consciousness they were vulnerable as they could be, their minds expanding outward to connect with others through the bond they all shared. There could be… interesting sensations shared before the full return to consciousness. Despite being in complete darkness, Nozomi felt herself blush thinking about the time Eli had been second to last to wake, and ended up giving everyone but Honoka a generous taste of the dream she had been having. It had been embarrassing only for a moment. Though made of couples, Muse was as close as friends could be, and they all simply laughed it off. Though Nozomi had spent the rest of the ride in a silent and screaming frustration, she had been able to resolve it with Eli once they landed.
Finally, Honoka came awake. She was often the last, and this time had the distinct impression of yawning washing over the others as she came to.
Hey everyone! I see we’re all up and at em’… Eheheh, guess I was last again?
Nozomi could practically see Honoka’s goofy grin and slight tilt of the head as she spoke to them through the Hovid Nexus. Though stored in a separate capsule from herself, communicating was easy when they were all this physically close to one another. Indeed, even as Honoka spoke a distinct image of her began to form in her mind. As if at a signal, the rest of the girls did the same: projecting themselves into the virtual space that existed between them. They usually started missions this way, since this level of detail didn’t carry well over greater distances.
The ground beneath them was made of smooth white tiles, stretching out into infinity. Each of the members were arranged as the points around a circle, just as they were in the physical world. Nozomi gave a sly wink to Eli as she materialized, projecting herself into the virtual space. Eli gave a cool nod back to her, with a hint of a mischievous smile, before glancing towards Honoka, who usually led the pre-mission briefings prior to Minami’s arrival.
“So! How did everyone sleep? We’re all well rested I hope. We’ve got a big mission ahead of us!”
Even though the effects of their slumber didn’t persist into waking, Honoka was still as bright and energetic as ever. She practically radiated energy out to the rest of them. Looking around the circle, Nozomi could see that the rest of the girls stood a little straighter simply from hearing Honoka’s voice.
At that moment, Minami chimed in. She was preceded by the sound like a tinkling bell before a display screen materialized above their heads. Supported by nothing, the flat surface hovered in the air before blinking to life, showing Minami’s smiling face. As the seniormost main machine intelligence responsible for this group of the Hovid Nexus’ Warforms, she had access to incredible computational power, and so was able to project an image of herself across the entire transport fleet in which Muse now travelled. The image however, was only two dimensional. Even the director had her limits.
“Girls! It’s so good to see you all again. I trust that your slumber was restful.”
Their cheerful agreement bubbled through the air.
“Wonderful. Well, today we have a relatively simple mission for you. Some advanced scouts have discovered a primitive planet, inhabited with very curious creatures. Initial reports say that they are similar in appearance to the Makers.”
At that, a few of the girls gasped. Nozomi cocked her head, interested. Sending out all nine members of muse simply for a subjugation mission had seemed excessive at first, but this made things more interesting.
Minami’s visage floated towards the corner of the display, being replaced by a somewhat blurred image of a crowd of humanoid figures amongst massive buildings. Though, if these creatures really were like the Makers, then those buildings would be built to their scale and would be easy enough for the girls to kick over. The sense of scale was difficult to pinpoint without any frame of reference.
“Here is one of the images recorded from orbit. As you can probably tell, they are a pre-hyperspace species that has only just begun to place satellites in orbit of their world. We haven’t made contact with them yet, you all will have the pleasure of bringing the Hovid Nexus to their home planet.”
At this, Nico started to snicker, a sinister grin spreading across her face. A few of the other girls shifted, excited. Nozomi shared the sentiment. Though it was somewhat disappointing that the planet was full of primitives, hearing that they would be the first to touch the surface of the planet restored some of that lost anticipation. Primitive populations always had the most fascinating response to the unannounced arrival of Muse.
“All that being said, we have a special consideration for you on this mission. While this population is physically similar to the Makers, it appears they are chemically different in some significant way. Our scans have determined there are two varieties of creatures: ones that resemble us and the Makers, and ones that appear to have some… differences. We’re not sure how significant those differences are, so we’ll need you to capture some of them for later study.”
An air of curiosity suffused their meeting. Normally timid Hanayo was the first to speak up.
“But, um, they’re really tiny, aren’t they? I mean, it’s hard to tell from this image. But you said, um, that they’re like the Makers, so…”
Looking to the others, Hanayo could see their gentle encouragement. They were wondering the same thing she was.
“Won’t they, um, go squish? ”, she asked, holding her thumb and forefinger a small distance apart. “When we try to grab them?” she closed the gap, pressing her fingers together to emphasize her point.
As a few of the girls nodded in assent, Minami smiled sweetly. “Well, of course some of them will. You’ll just have to be careful, girls. At least, you’ll have to be careful you don’t destroy all of them before collecting specimens. Other than that, it’s a routine mission…”
Minami began to recount instructions the girls had heard countless times before. A review of drop coordinates and nearby major population centers. Maps of infrastructure extrapolated from orbital scans. Instructions to target major population centers, leaving a trail of destruction behind them. Make sure to keep their bioreactors topped off. Routine precautions and instructions that they were given before each mission.
“Other than that, I want you all to have fun—but, of course, you don’t need me telling you to do so. Enjoy yourselves!”
Minami’s visage turned as if hearing a voice from somewhere behind her. “Yes dear, I’m coming. Just finished briefing the girls.” She laughed sweetly as one of her direct subordinates and wife, Nishikino, appeared behind Minami, draping her arms over her shoulders and planting a kiss near her temple. The couple smiled together at the girls before the video feed cut out, leaving them in the virtual space alone with each other once more.
Turning back to the group, Honoka gave a bright grin before waving to the rest of them. “I’ll see you all planetside!” she said, before winking out of sight. The rest of the girls followed suit, returning their focus to their physical bodies, until just Eli and Nozomi remained. Eli shifted from one foot to the other, not quite meeting Nozomi’s gaze. Noticing Eli’s demeanor, Nozomi quickly closed the gap between them. She traced her finger along Eli’s jaw, letting her other hand rest lightly on Eli’s hip. Eli met her gaze, but a slight coloring tinged her cheeks as she did. Nozomi found herself feeling warm at Eli’s bashfulness.
“I’ll see you down there, Elicchi,” Nozomi said softly, letting her fingers fall away. Eli grabbed her hand as it did, before finally breaking eye contact. She took a breath, her grip relaxing, before dazzling Nozomi with a bright smile that reached all the way to her eyes.
“Yeah. I’ll see you down there.” Eli winked before leaning in for a kiss—surprising Nozomi by cupping her butt as she did.
And just like that, she vanished, leaving Nozomi alone. She couldn’t help but laugh to herself. If Eli knew how irresistible she was to her...
Shaking her head, she finally left the virtual space, returning to the familiar sensation of her physical body. Around her, the darkness shifted. The couplings holding each individual capsule to the main frame were releasing; they were in the last leg of their journey.
As her capsule was released from the main hull to drift ever so slightly away from the others, a grin nearly ten meters across split Nozomi’s face. Atmospheric entry was always her favorite part.