#human amir

[officialleehadan]

Red Mission

“I’m not taking the Pacifica,” Luka said, mouth set in a mulish line as he regarded the map of the Human Galactic Empire. It hovered over the table, brilliant in it’s complexity and color-coordinated to show their forces, and the attacks they were barely holding off. “She’s unwieldy.”

“She’s a Carrier,” Duke-Lord Fal’Hasheen protested with a very superior sort of expression. He was a thin, nervous sort of man, who dressed in the finest he could afford in an effort to impress his betters. “Of course she is unwieldy. Power does not need finesse.”

That was the sort of thinking that got rulers killed. Luke sighed, and didn’t correct him. Duke-Lord Fal’Hasheen had almost no actual influence, and was here because his ability to organize evacuations was, oddly, unparalleled. Also, he was of a low enough House that giving him an important job would keep his more difficult players occupied complaining about him, and hopefully out of real mischief.

The life of a young ruler was complicated. Luka started his reign early, and unexpectedly, and now he had to convince these powerful, important people that he was capable of taking his father’s place.

The thought of his father burned painfully. Luka tried not to linger on the memories of his father, sitting in the chair he himself now occupied.

“Power requires finesse.” That was Lord Dracula Tepes. Uncle Vlad, to the Royal children, for all that they couldn’t call him that in public. Unlike Duke-Lord Fal’Hasheen, Dracula knew the art of ruling well, and had held his power longer than almost anyone could remember. He was, arguably, the first vampire. “Without finesse, power is easy to over-use, and worse, easy to miss-apply.”

“The Pacifica is our flagship,” Duke-Lord Holland complained. He was the leader of the present Merchant’s Party in the Imperial Parliament, and made no secret of his dislike for Luka. He was also old enough to be Luka’s grandfather, and thought that Luka was too young to rule. If he saw weakness, he would take advantage. “It is inappropriate for the Emperor to take another ship, particularly in these trying times.”

His beard was entirely grey, very thick, and looked like nothing so much as a dead old-earth raccoon stuck to his face. Although, Luka supposed, it did serve to hide the red of his nose and cheeks. Duke-Lord Holland was a heavy drinker, and liked to pretend he wasn’t.

“It’s also inappropriate for the emperor to lead in battle,” Luka replied shortly. “But I’m doing that as well. In fact, I intend to be the pilot.”

“What?” Holland yelped, almost drowned out by Fal’Hasheen’s yelp of protest. “No. Aboslutely not! We have a great many skilled pilots-“

“But none of them were better than Red Baron Roja Cortez, who taught me to fly the way no human ever has,” Luke said pointedly, and tugged on the sleeves of his long, red, robes of state. “With his death, I became the Red Baron and so I remain. Unless someone manages to outfly me before it is time to go, I will pilot this mission.”

“I know how you fly, but much as I hate to say it,” Amir said from across the table. Vree, as always, was at his side, and still looked befuddled at being invited to this meeting. “I actually do agree with Holland. The Pacifica is our heaviest hitter.”

“But she’s slow,” Luka sighed, and called up a map of the system in question. “And this plan relies on my buying enough time for reinforcements to get there. If we don’t get the whole Hoem fleet, this will start all over in a few years.”

“I know you are the only bait that might entice them,” Vree said, tail lashing and ears flat against his head. “But this plan does not seem wise. How will reinforcements know when to come to you? How will they arrive in time?”

“I’ll handle that,” Amir said to his tall alien friend, and met Luka’s eyes with a faint smile of mutual understanding. He was their secret weapon, and Luka had never appreciated his cousin more.  Without his help, this whole plan was dead in the water. “I have a trick or two up my sleeve.”

“Are you sure you want to use it for this?” Luka had to ask. It was too important not to, even though Amir had offered in the first place. “There are other ways.”

“But not better ones,” Amir said, and waved him off over the sputtering of Holland and Fal’Hasheen, who were not, and would not be in on the secret until the time came to execute the plan. “But we have to keep you, and me, since I’ll be with you, alive. What ship will you take, if not the Pacifica?”

Luka had an answer ready, firmly decided on his chosen ship.

“I’m taking the China,” he told his counsel of war. “She’s powerful, well-armored, the most advanced of our destroyers, and she’s fast enough for me to actually fly her.”

“But she’s not as heavily-armed as the America.” Duke-Lord LaShan was a tactical genius and one of the best generals to ever serve the imperial family. Luka admired him, and was probably more flattered than he should be that the dark-skinned general was taking his plan seriously. “Nor as heavily-armored as the Antarctica, nor as fast as the Britain. Why the China?”

“I’m taking the China,” Luka said with a smile that made Lord Dracula chuckle darkly, and his Duke-Lords stare, “Because she’s red.”

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HGE - Smoke before Fire

Vree liked his humans. They were kind, clever, and tended to be adorable, in the way that a small, particularly spiny cub was adorable right before it bit you. Of course, small adorable cubs usually couldn’t shapeshift or burst into flame whenever it suited them.

The Legend, The Rumor 

Deep Water and Scales 

Black Scales and Open Spaces 

Screams in the Dark 

Warning Lights

Into the Wild

Scientific Examination

Nobility and Flames

Packmates

SurvivorChild of my Kind

Push Me, Push You

Red Meeting (In HGE - Learn to Fly, Learn to Breathe)

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HGE - Learn to Fly, Learn to Breathe:

Tusca hired a teenager on a whim, and a doctor because they were old friends. Unfortunately, nothing is ever simple when a Red Baron is at the helm.

Red Sun

Red Meeting

Red Baron

Packmates (In HGE- Smoke Before Fire)

Red Prince

Red Sky

Red Heart

Red Ship

Red Palace

Child of my Kind (In HGE - Smoke Before Fire)

Red Throne

Push Me, Push You (In HGE - Smoke Before Fire)

Red Meeting

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More Stories!

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[officialleehadan]

Packmates

“This is the Wavedancer, requesting permission to dock. We need to make some quick repairs.”

Vree looked on as Captain Ryyt allowed the small, ragged ship to dock in their largest hanger where it could be watched.

Beside him, Human-Amir perked up and magic get have taken off at a run if Vree hadn’t grabbed him first.

“My cousin is on that ship!” Human-Amir protested and wiggled to get loose without success. Vree had a good hold on him and would not be letting go without reason. “Fine. Come with. You’ll like Luka.”

Vree considered. On one hand, he did generally like humans. On the other, he seemed to recall that Human-Amir’s cousin was the crown prince of their Galactic Empire, and that this could mean a great deal of trouble.

He still hadn’t forgiven Human-Amir for the ‘throw me at the pirates!’ Incident, and hoped this wouldn’t be another.

“Should we be bringing soldiers?” He asked his human carefully, and pointedly ignored when Human-Amir wiggles again. “Is your cousin not-“

“He’s getting some life experience,” Human-Amir said, and seemed to realize the problem. “Oh, no. They’re not pirates. Smugglers, I think, by they’re nice. Luka writes to me about them.”

“Do they know who he is?” That could be very important.

“Maybe? Don’t out him unless he says it’s okay. Like me, his safety is in people not knowing.”

Vree considered some more and then set Human-Amir back on his feet. “Should we call Human-Nerea?”

“Nah, she’s doing a thing.”

“A thing?” Vree asked warily, since the word ‘thing’ was good cause to be very nervous about his humans and their activities. “What sort of thing?”

Human-Amir started to laugh, which was not at all reassuring. “I think the thing she’s doing is that cute engineer from section B. She had her ‘gonna get some’ smile on.”

That did seem like a problem in the making, but before Vree could ask farther, they came to the hanger, and there was a whoop of glee from the newly landed ship.

Human-Amir, in a display of dexterity he usually pretended he didn’t have, ducked Vree’s reflexive grab and threw himself across the room to catch a young human up in a crushing hug.

They were laughing and play-fighting, and Vree left them to it. It was good to see his human so happy. Their packs were very important and Human-Amir didn’t see his very much.

The crew was very small, and Vree approached them slowly enough for them to take his measure. It was clear that some of them were what Human-Amir called Others. One stood nearly as tall as Vree’s own three meters, and another had living vines sneaking around her and blooming in her hair.

And then there was their lone Ha’reet, who looked how Vree often felt when dealing with humans.

“I’m Tusca,” their captain introduced himself politely with a little head-bob that suggested their Ha’reet had tried to teach them manners and mostly failed. “Thanks for letting us land. We’re hurting a little.”

“You know how I fly,” another human complained. His clothing bore a Red Cross on both sleeves at the shoulder. Their doctor then. “you knew I would tear apart the console.”

“Yeah, but we will have to fix it before Carlito can fly again.”

“Bitch bitch bitch.”

The interaction, and the smiles that followed, told Vree a great deal about the small crew and he relaxed substantially.

Clearly they were crazy, humans always were, but they were also a pack, and that was good.

“I didn’t know you were in town,” Human-Amir was saying as he and his young cousin approached, still play-fighting a little. “Introduce me, brat.”

“Bossypants,” the young human said, and smiled brightly up at Vree. “Amir told me all about you, but it’s nice to meet you. I’m Luka.”

“A pleasure,” Vree said dryly, and carefully shook the proffered hand while wondering exactly how his life had gotten to this point. “I am Vree, Third-Commander of this ship and our human liaison.”

“He’s great,” Human, Amir proclaimed, and let his cousin drag him over to meet the rest of the crew. “Even if he does scruff me all the time.”

“You need scruffing sometimes,” Human-Luka replied with a grin. “You got the stupid when you left home.”

Vree watched them go, content that, for the moment, his human was in good company with his younger packmate.

The crew’s frazzled Ha’reet came to Vree’s side and gave him a proper head-cock, with his ears lowered submissively. Vree responded by grooming his ears politely and rumbled subvocal approval.

Stuck on a crew of humans. Vree couldn’t even imagine.

“I am Graat, of Whitefur Pack,” the Ha’reet said once greetings were done. “Third-born.”

“Vree, of Ridgemane Pack,” Vree replied, and kept a wary eye on his human. “First-born. I don’t wish to leave them without supervision.”

“I don’t blame you,” Graat said sincerely, and ran his claws through his fur, which explained why it was standing on end around his ears. “Human-Luka promised we would be safe here. Is he correct?”

“He is packmates with Human-Amir,” Vree shrugged. “We are as much a diplomatic ship as anything else, and we deal much with the Empire. Your ship is safe here, and no one will ask closely what it does for work.”

“A privilege of Human-Luka’s pack-bonds?” Graat asked delicately. If Vree didn’t know what he did about Human-Luka and Human-Amir, the question wouldn’t give it away, but he did.

“Yes,” he said honestly in answer to the spoken question and the unspoken one. “But also because we know how humans are, and you are one of our own people.”

“You have my thanks,” Graat murmured. “Also-“

Whatever he might have said was lost as Vree’s instincts blared and he grabbed for Human-Amir on reflex.

Just in time, as Human-Luka began cracking with lightning, and parts of the shoddy little ship began rearranging themselves, presumably at his direction.

Human-Amir struggled and fussed, and Vree held him fast, because really, he would probably run right into the danger if Vree let him go.

Why were humans always like this? It was all of them, he would swear to it.

Or, perhaps, just one, since the whole crew rounded on the doctor, who looked both sheepish and defiant.

“What?” he protested defensively under the suspicious eye of his captain and crew. “He was like that when we found him!”

Vree only sighed and let Human-Amir run off to play with his cousin some more. If he got fried, it was his own fault.

Humans. It was always something.

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HGE - Smoke before Fire

The Legend, The Rumor

Deep Water and Scales

Black Scales and Open Spaces

Screams in the Dark

Warning Lights

Into the Wild

Nobility and Flames

HGE - Learn to Fly, Learn to Breathe:

Red Sun

Red Baron

Red Prince

Red Sky

Red Heart

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Support me on Patreon

My Tip Jar