Chapter Text
The universe is never-ending, space reaching out for an infinity. That infinitude was the playground for any species that dared to reach beyond what they were capable of. The Terran Accord had been only one of many xeno species to make that leap into the stars, a frontier worth exploring with the highest of technology.
Currently, the system is quite bare. The center star was a white dwarf, and the system was not conducive at all to life in a way that terrans could understand it. That did not matter though, simply being able to touch down on an empty planet, capable of breaching even the worst conditions, was an amazing feeling all on its own.
Gravity’s Reach awoke, systems powering online after a primary sleep cycle had come to its conclusion. It slept when she slept, two sides of a singular being. When she was awake, it was awake.
| BOOT ERROR 104 PLEASE REFER TO MANUAL FOR PROPER INSTRUCTIONS
| HANDSHAKE WITH CASSIO BASE FAILED
| SINGULARITY ENGINE FAILURE
Shit. Why was it throwing this error all of a sudden? She had just woken up, why did things always have to be annoying? Lupus groaned loudly, placing her hand to an annoyed face. The connection was gone and it made her feel ill. She needed the bridge between them now more than ever, but random errors in the software never ceased to annoy her. Cassio Base did not even exist anymore, so why would Gravity’s Reach even require a handshake? Spoofing it is.
| HANDSHAKE WITH CASSIO BASE FAILED
| SINGULA0$1#65#!2$00
| HANDSHAKE WITH CASSIO BASE SUCCESSFUL
| SINGULARITY ENGINE PRIMED
Still got it. Firewall had to go down, but spoofing commands for herself was as easy as writing her name. Lupus felt a sense of euphoria, the feeling of the cold empty ocean that was space tingling into her mind. There was simply so much to see in the universe, to explore every nook and cranny… With not a single soul to stop her neverending desire for new experiences. Gravity’s Reach did not require constant refueling, its prototype Singularity Engine being more than enough to keep her going for centuries… When it did start failing, then Lupus would explore the problems with it.
The deep edges of space, far away from the planet referred to as Terra, was her bounty to explore. Other people were simply a distraction from her natural curiosity. She did not require anything more than what she had. Isolation was apparently some sort of punishment for Terrans, but not for Lupus. She didn’t have a place amongst any living soul in the galaxy. It was better that way, to look ahead and bury every little nightmare waiting in the crevices of her soul.
Darkness was her dwelling and Gravity’s Reach her body from which she dwelled. Nothing more could cause her harm, and anything that attempted to do so could easily be torn to theoretical shreds.
| GRAVITY’S REACH BEING HAILED BY COSMIC NAVY ELECTRUM
| OPEN COMMUNICATIONS CHANNEL? Y OR N?
Oh? A Cosmic Navy ship hailing little old her? Not like a Cosmic Navy ship could do anything to her. She had been floating around space alone for what must have been seven years without a word from any other soul. However, even that i only an approximation since time was barely a concept for the pilot of the lone Constellation-Class Mecha. Though why she would suddenly be hailed was a slight concern for her, it’s not as though there were any notable public release notes about her or her suit. Could be fun though, shit talking the Cosmic Navy like early test flights.
| Y: COMMUNICATION CHANNELS OPEN, AUDIO ONLY
“Heyyyyyy, how’s it hangin’ shitheads?” Lupus opened with, her carefree attitude offputting to literally every person who had the displeasure of meeting her. “Cosmic Navy is out a little far out of their usual reach, aren’t they? Or trying to colonize a system with a white dwarf?”
“Hmph. I don’t quite like that tone, sir.” A gruff voice came over the communications line. Gravity’s Reach clenched its wolf-like claw at that statement, nearly prepared to rip the ship apart into tiny little pieces and let the void rip suffocate every teeny tiny terran onboard.
“And I don’t quite like being hailed just to be insulted. What the fuck do you Cosmic Navy shits want?” Lupus responded, internally rolling her eyes. “I’m very busy not dealing with you right now.”
“Yet you responded to our hail, pilot.” There was a bit of a nasty tone to that voice, which was fair. Lupus had made sure no other Constellation-Class Mecha had been built. Gravity’s Reach could foresee the awful things that the Accord would use such a machine for, and… well any and all research now belonged to Lupus and no others. “As a fellow Terran, you must understand that our way of life is at risk due to the horrible menace that is enslaving our kind.”
“Oh shit? Terrans got made finally? Wow, that’s super interesting. Where are you hanging out, dude? Around the bend over at Saia-5? I’ve mapped out this entire system, so hiding from me is not going to do you much good.” Lupus responded.
“My crew and I are retreating tactfully from the aforementioned menace that refer to themselves as the Affini. They are horrifying plant xenos that have taken Terra and have been enslaving Terrans for their own usage. Truly monstrous creatures that are wiping us out of existence. I had once heard of a powerful weapon, a prototype suit of mechanized armor that could rip through even the biggest and most durable of the fleet’s ships. You are our only hope in freeing Terra from their reign.”
“Dude, that sounds really interesting, but also what the fuck do you want me to do about it? Yes, theoretically I could rip through anything the Cosmic Navy built with my claws, but also I am one woman and I am not fighting a war against any species that took the terran homeworld.” Lupus was annoyed at this assumption, as though being born a terran somehow made it her problem.
“Do you not care that your people are being enslaved?!”
“I care very little about most others. Unless they’re hot. If they’re hot I might listen to what they say. Are the plants hot?”
“You… Why do you refuse to see the seriousness of the situation! You are terran! Not only that, but you pilot what many assumed to simply be an urban legend! But I knew if the plants were real when they were only myths, then you had to be as well.” The captain sounded desperate, more so than any other voice she had ever heard. Of course, she also hadn’t heard anything recently, so what did she know?
“I am ju… Listen, bud, I’ll call you back. Got a… got a little something happening right now.” Lupus zoned out for a moment, quickly closing the communications channel to see a rather… a rather large ship that somehow was a perfect mixture of organic and inorganic, of plant and technology, interwoven together in a manner that was beyond anything the pilot recognized. Also big. Very big. Dwarfing even the almighty forty-seven meter height of the Gravity’s Reach. A small beeping came up on the console. Definitely not a coincidence that terrans suddenly arrive in search of her alongside a several kilometer long organic ship.
| GRAVITY’S REACH BEING HAILED BY ARIA
| OPEN COMMUNICATIONS CHANNEL? Y OR N?
Oh, that was the easiest yes of her entire recent life. Time to see if the plants were sexy.
| Y: COMMUNICATIONS CHANNEL OPEN, VIDEO FEED ENABLED
Gravity’s Reach had a monitor specifically for video communication, without getting in the way of her sight. And oh, the view did not disappoint. When evil plant aliens had been described to her by the Electrum’s captain, she had expected something fascinating and new to her. What she did not expect was one extremely attractive plant-woman who looked like she walked right out of one of Lupus’ fantasies. So yes, they were sexy.
“Hello little one! Thank you so much for opening up to our frequency! My name is Podalyria Idaeus, Sixth Bloom, she/her! Call me Poda though if you wish!” The plant woman was definitely living up to her beautiful name. She seemed to appear somewhere between appearing within a form woven to be as terran-like as possible, though had some more alien attributes as well, somewhere between human and lizard in appearance. She had long hair, formed out of vines, cascading down the side of her head, little berries, Lupus believed they were called, decorating them to give them a vibrant green-and-red color. A wooden mask that approximated a face sat staring back at her.
“No problem at all, I had a rather unpleasant conversation with a Cosmic Navy dude, so I'm trying to cleanse the taste out of my mouth.” Lupus laughed a little at her own joke. “I’m Lupus, Pilot of Gravity’s Reach, she/her as well. Though sometimes, I feel a bit more like an it/its. How can I be of service?”
“Very polite, friendly, and cute too! In fact, we were wondering what exactly you were to begin with Miss Lupus. We caught your signal suddenly come online while we tracked a feralist ship that had attempted to flee from us.”
“Guess I’ve looped back around to a more inhabited space without even knowing it. Gravity’s Reach has been suffering some firmware problems recently, and it’s becoming a real issue for us. For me. As for the other problem you’re having…” Lupus moved her controls to grab data she had leached from her last communications hail and sent it to the mysterious alien ship tracking them. In a way, they felt like kindred spirits in their non-humanness. “Cosmic Navy is real crap at hiding their location data when choosing to openly communicate. I’ve sent it over, so you can do… whatever it is your kind do.”
“You mean to say you are unaware of who we are?” Poda looked surprised at that, as though she didn’t expect such a response.
“Learned of you when the Cosmic Navy hailed me and asked me to rip your ship apart. Now I’ve seen it, your giant ship that I cannot begin to fathom is a ship, and decided it's not worth attempting to hurt myself over.” Gravity’s Reach clenched another claw and began itching itself. “But I’ve been hard pressed to find conversation for the past seven or so years, so I thought it’d be fun to talk. Now I can say I do not regret talking to the attractive plant women.”
“It seems you and I will get along, petal. You don’t even know what the Affini Compact is, yet here you are attempting so much to flirt.”
“I’ve floated throughout space for nearly ten years! My flirting skills are just a bit rusty is all.” Lie, lie, lie. She needed to ensure it seemed like she had some game, even if she had spent seven long grueling years becoming her own best friend.
“Flower, have you ever flirted at all?”
“I’m gonna go ahead and keep saying they’re rusty instead of non-existent.” She was used to being obliviously flirted to.
“Oh you are simply too cute, aren’t you?”
“I try my hardest, though it’s difficult in a body like this.” Lupus looked down at her hand, slowly morphing into the proper metallic claw it was supposed to be, before seeing her flesh-covered hand again.
“Would you like a new body, petal? The Compact can give you exactly what you like~.” The melodic speaking rang through the pilot’s ears, like a song luring Gravity’s Reach closer.
“What’s that tone in your voice, Miss Idaeus? Like a siren of old calling me out to sea to ensnare me in your beauty?”
“My beauty and the cornerstone of the Affini Compact, xenodrugs that can very easily give you what you need.”
“Planning on drugging me? At least buy me a drink first, Miss Idaeus. Then maybe I’ll consider letting you drug me.”
“Affini tend to take what they want, petal. Speaking of that ship of yours… It’s not much of a ship, is it?”
“Indeed it is not. Constellation-Class Solo Piloting Mechanical Armor Suit Gravity’s Reach could have been, at one point, something extremely destructive to the rest of the universe. So little ole me stole the suit and made sure no other models could be developed by terran hands. I do have all relevant data to the project stored here though, since I have to do constant repairs in both hardware and softwa… software.”
| GRAVITY’S REACH BEING HAILED BY COSMIC NAVY ELECTRUM
| OPEN COMMUNICATIONS CHANNEL? Y OR N?
“Are you okay, little one? You sound a bit… distant.”
“I’m okay, sexy plant woman, I’m being hailed by the Electrum again. Want me to conference them in? Should give you any relevant data you need to track them.”
“You seem slightly unperturbed by selling out your own kind. Most terrans out here on the outskirts tend to be far more aggressive in their ferality.”
“Well, the Cosmic Navy and I have never gotten along well, so honestly they can kind of go fuck themselves. I don’t really know what you Affini Compact plan on doing with them, and frankly they probably had it coming to them.”
“You and I will need to have a discussion about this later, dear, but for now I would very much appreciate you conferencing in our little feral friends.”
| Y: COMMUNICATIONS CHANNEL OPEN, CONFERENCE IN WITH ARIA
“Hey budddddddd, welcome back!” Lupus laughed a little, offering finger guns to the new appearing captain.
“W… WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!” The angry captain certainly looked feral and couldn’t have been older than like thirty-five. Was the Cosmic Navy really that desperate for people now? “YOU!” He pointed at his cam, probably indicating the pilot in the giant wolf robot. “You would dare to betray Terra?! To betray your own kind?!”
“My kind betrayed me first, dude, so uh… sorry.” Lupus shrugged her shoulders, Gravity’s Reach copying the motions. “Not sorry though. So yeah, I sold you out to this hot plant lady and her friends.”
“WEED FUCKER!”
“Now you’re just telling me how I am, and that’s just kinda rude and pointless.” Well, maybe she hadn’t been a weed fucker an hour ago, but after seeing Miss Idaeus… She was certainly a weed fucker, and would wear the badge plainly on her suit.
“She is quite right, little one, that was rather rude.”
“Being rude never got anyone anywhere you know.” Both she and the alien seemed to have a similar sense of humor, which was nice to see. Not many in the Cosmic Navy fleet could take a joke.
“You’re even worse than the weeds, selling us out like this.” The captain angrily announced. “Though individuals like you wouldn’t know the truth of pain if it stabbed you in the back!”
She could only seed red after that. It wasn’t even a great accusation to begin with, but the words began to change her emotional levels like a volume slider being moved from its minimum position to its maximum position. Her breath started to become unstable, her back arching backwards in her chair as a horrible pain struct through her upper body.
| SYNC RATE INCREASING
| 40 %
| 60 %
| 70 %
“That… wasn’t… very… NICE!” Rage suddenly coursed through the pilot’s veins, feeling herself sync completely to her greater body. Where did a fucker like this get off speaking to her like that?! To come crawling for help, and then to so openly insult her like she was less than human… Oh, she was less than human. She wasn’t human, terran, or whatever the hell they wanted to call themselves today. The alien woman had said something, but her voice was being drowned out by the flaming fire that was expanding in her mind.
Gravity’s Reach began to move its mechanical limbs around, ensuring it was capable of proper movement and propulsion in space. Coordinates locked down properly from the hiding location of the Electrum, the forty-something meter wolf machine, a dazzling light blue and very desaturated pink color, began to move through space. They wanted to see what she was capable of? She would show them what she was capable of.
| 100 %
| FULL SYNC SUCCESSFUL
| WE ARE GRAVITY’S REACH
Being fully synced made her blood run wild, as though she had finally become herself for the brief moments of the sync. The feeling of the coldness of space was fully on her skin, attempting to freeze and kill her, to deprive her of oxygen. Not like that would be much of an issue now. Sparks were flying from her claws, the Singularity Engine generating an absurd amount of energy to expel onto her enemy. This was what she was built for, to rip and shred and to maim and kill.
It was nearly impossible to explain the fullness of what Gravity’s Reach felt went a full sync successfully occurred, two in body and mind together. No longer could she feel the blood flowing through her body, nor the moving pieces of her muscles and bones. Metal and plastic is what her form was created from, and it felt right. Freedom was achieved in a way she never thought possible, each and every time a euphoric rush raced over her mind. It felt right. Her body felt right at full sync. It was her own, a body she could use to run about the stars; to defy gravity and loop about in a neverending dance of pure unadulterated bliss.
Even now that euphoric feeling mixed with her anger, an undulating rage that needed to be expelled. Just as expected, their tiny little ship, rusted to hell and aged like the most disgusting wine imaginable, sat hiding behind the dwarf planet, Saia-5. Gravity’s Reach was fast, years ahead of anything the Accord had built even seven years prior. Bending around a star system like this was child’s play, having been floating about the system for quite some time gave her intimate knowledge of every planet’s orbit.
“Oh dear, petal! Please don’t do anything rash. I’ll be right back!” Poda sounded worried, quickly leaving the conference as she exited her work station.
That did not matter to the mecha, however. All that mattered was ripping these little shits apart and letting the void take care of them. After all, that’s what they did to her, right? She might as well just issue them the same damning sentence they gave her. It was a dog-eat-dog world out in deep space, and accidents happened quite frequently. So who would miss one dumb little Accord ship?
“What are you doing?! Have you gone mad?!” The captain looked utterly shocked as she came flying into view. In a lot of ways it must have been terrifying, to be out on the bridge as a giant, hulking robotic lifeform came racing towards you at extremely high speeds. Simply put, the system was a garden in which Gravity’s Reach knew every corner and every weed.
“I’ve been mad for a long time.” Gravity’s Reach responded, its eerie metallic voice coating over Lupus’ own. In comparison to the ship that the aliens seemed to control, the Electrum was pathetically small. Perfect, however, for sinking her claws into and letting her rage run wild. The horrifying electrical current ran through her claws, far more dangerous than any weapon. “Maybe next time, think your words through, though something tells me you’ve never used your brain a day in your life.”
It had been so long since she last felt the unforgiving, unpleasant rusting steel of an Accord-made ship. So poorly designed, so easy to simply rip through. Of course, that wasn’t any fun. Just like all that time ago, Gravity’s Reach preferred to play with her prey before ending their miserable lives. How pathetic they must be to only wish to seek destruction of others. Terrans could do so much more, they weren’t like her, bred and created solely for annihilation.
Placing the tips of her claws into the Electrum, she began to pipe her toxic electricity into the ship. Suddenly, the captain’s comms shut down as expected. The Singularity Drive produced her only weapon, dirty electrical energy that could interfere with whatever systems she pleased. One by one, she could take out their comms, their weapons, their shields, their life support systems, and whatever she so pleased. Giving into anger was so deliciously, and horrifically, sweet.
| HANDSHAKE WITH ARIA SUCCESSFUL
| SINGULARITY ENGINE POWERING DOWN
| ATTEMPTING OVERRIDE
| OVERRIDE FAILED
| SYNC RATE DECREASING
|100 %
| 74%
| 51%
| 47%
| LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS ENGAGING
| SYNC RATE STABLE
| 40 %
“Sorry, petal, but you can’t hurt others like that even if they say something mean to you.” The voice of the alien had returned, attempting to forcibly calm her down. That’s why she left, to force a remote shutdown on the Singularity Engine. Why did she have to shut down the engine’s primary firewalls earlier? Why did she have so many goddamned firmware errors?
“D… Don’t interfere… Not with my bod… body….” Gravity’s Reach could feel her grasp on herself collapsing in, her view changing back to the window where Lupus was piloting from. She hated a falling sync rate like this, falling low enough to where she could only barely keep holding on. Despite that, forty-percent was more than good enough for her end goal. Her claws shot up, the feeling more disconnected as she could feel both her muscle-filled arms move in tandem with the metal of Gravity’s Reach. She’d just need to divert remaining energy to shut down the Electrum’s life support systems.
Large tendrils suddenly arrived from seemingly nowhere, binding the wolf slash woman slash mecha’s limbs and immobilizing them.
| LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS ARMED
| THIS IS FOR OUR OWN GOOD
| ADMINISTERING TRANQUILIZERS
Flesh, steel, and plastic were all one. When one shut down, so did the other. Gravity’s Reach, her space-faring form, had been broken into and… She was having trouble thinking due to her body being forc…
The Affini Compact had obtained access to all of the Accord’s records once the Human Domestication Treaty had been signed. Podalyria had been intimately familiar with much of that data, after all, it was her job to communicate with the feralists and prepare them for their new lives as pets or wards. So what started as another simple game of dog-and-cat between the Aria and Electrum had naturally reached some conclusion. Of course, the Aria had successfully captured yet another of the dwindling numbers of ships within their little rebellion.
With knowledge at the forefront of nearly every weapons system and ships designed by the Accord, she was left surprised at the giant mechanical body that had been floating in the oxygen-less ocean before them. It was as though someone ran the Terran animal, the wolf, through several abstractions and made it into a giant robotic skeleton. Within its cockpit was an odd terran, continuing to prove the notion that the sophonts were all extremely different in attitude.
Though whether or not she truly was terran was another thing, constantly having referred to the mecha suit as her body. More than being simply in charge of communications, Poda was also an expert in xenotechnology. While most terran technology is often represented in the same, monetarily efficient ways… This Gravity’s Reach stood out to her. For what reason did this machine exist? How did its pilot exist as a theoretical free radical on the outskirts of any and all events of seven years? She had somehow missed the entirety of the Terran Pacification Program, spending all of that time simply… floating through space?
There was far more to this than what could be scratched on the top, and the affini’s vines were shaking at getting a better look at the mecha’s cockpit to find the poor terran within. She had been so horribly triggered by the Electrum’s captain that it was surprising to know that she was somehow the same sophont that was so adorably attempting to flirt just moments prior. Gravity’s Reach had no defenses whatsoever, making it one of the easiest jobs she had ever done in this bloom. Even more so, it seemed as though the machine was… assisting? Once the affini had access to the Reach’s systems, it immediately walked her to the life support systems and how to safely engage them. Perhaps some level of AI existed within the machine?
“Not with my bod… body.”
It would not be the first time that a terran felt out of place in their body. Whether it be as easy as using Class-Gs, doing body modifications, or even digitizing the sophont there have been many avenues to assist with such feelings. But this… This felt different from other examples of these feelings of dysphoria that terrans dealt with.
While many of the ferals were being escorted out of the now-captured Electrum and processed, Podalyria had been given permission to examine the curled up terran robot. While it failed to appear fully human in design, with animalistic claws and feet and even a prehensile tail; Gravity’s Reach was still bipedal in design, with limbs and ligaments structured the same as a baseline human body. Of course, this was likely for interfacing with the terran mind to allow whoever the pilot was to easily operate the machine.
Like her own pup, all curled up in bed, the inhuman mecha found itself doing much of the same as though it were resting. A fascinating piece of technology left behind by the Accord and put into the hands of a woman who was so ready to be helpful to the Compact. The cockpit was located in through the head, oddly enough, as most attempts at mechas in the Accord were found in the body. Perhaps it was more to do with how it was operated? As the only expert in terran xenotechnology, the communications and technology officer had full lonesome access to the sophont within.
Proximity alerts blazed to life as she made her way closer to the back of the Reach’s head, instantaneously opening the hatch and allowing the affini access inside. The cockpit was much smaller than she was expecting, barely fitting the slightly more than five meter tall Podalyria, even manipulating her body out of its more human shape. Near the front of the cockpit sat the unconscious Lupus, who truly was adorable as she slept.
The sophont’s eyes were closed tight, with one major neural interface installed at the base of her neck. That must have been what allowed her to take full control of Gravity’s Reach with nothing but her thoughts and movements. An IV was also giving her nutrients through her arm, which explains how one claiming they had not spoken to another in nearly ten terran years got away with such an isolationist view.
Her hair was long, black, and slightly overgrown. There were attempts to style it out of her face, but this ship was non-conducive to such an attempt. She wore some sort of… jumpsuit with her name emblazoned on the chest. It seemed designed specifically for the pilot of Gravity’s Reach, though a heavy blanket sat overtop of her lap, draping down to the floor of the cockpit.. It could be seen as an apex in terran engineering, the movements had been so lifelike when Lupus’ anger had peaked to its crescendo.
Quick vines removed the IV from the sophont’s wrist, quickly ensuring to safely stop any bleeding that occurred. The port on the base of her neck was also easily disconnectable, with the interface glowing a bright green and safely unlatching from within. She was light. By the Everbloom, this terran was severely malnourished. There would be ample time to investigate her needs soon enough, but she needed to get to a vet as soon as possible. Time to investigate the Gravity’s Reach would be available to her in the future. Wrapping Lupus safely within her arms, a small ping on the console grabbed her attention. Her eyes, textured like hammered metal and appearing like a swirl of the visible light spectrum, locked onto two lone lines sent mere seconds after disconnecting the pilot from the mecha.
| BRING US BACK
| TAKE CARE OF US PLEASE
Pilot Candidate No. 018
Identification Call: LUPUS
Filing Date: 4/06/2550 CE
Sex: M
Age: 20
Peak Sync Rate: 100%
Candidacy: APPROVED - GRAVITY’S REACH
Notes: Candidate has shown great distrust of authority. Unauthorized usage of Star-Class Solo Piloting Unit on file. May attempt to disobey if he disagrees with orders. Unhealthy proximity to Pilot Candidate No. 001. Approved for severance of lumbar vertebrae to encourage obedience and discourage rebellion. Limitless sync rate outweighs risk that candidate poses.