Chapter 285 – Elwaine’s Consideration

“Come,” Elwaine says, turning around and striding back the way they came, gesturing for Emily to follow. “This isn’t the place for us to have this conversation.”

“You have somewhere better in mind?” Emily questions with a raised brow, following in the elf’s footsteps anyway.

“Preferably, a neutral space with Silvia present. But, as you’re here alone, I doubt that’s on the cards. I’ll make do with being in the presence of my crewmates.”

“You trust me that little?” A hint of amusement bleeds into Emily’s tone at the thought of their weaker crewmates making a difference if it really came down to a fight.

“I trust no one,” Elwaine responds with their chin turned up, walking past several fiscushia corpses lining the battle-scarred hallway taking them deeper into the stone fortress. “As for you, I don’t even know you, and it’s clear you have a penchant for keeping secrets. So no, trust between us is far from the picture. However, I have a certain degree of faith in Silvia’s reliability and judgement, hence why I’m currently entertaining you.”

“What about Yorn?” Emily asks as the hallway opens up into a wide, covered courtyard with a massive crack in the earth running through the centre and a domed brick roof covered in qi-packed glyphs Emily doesn’t recognise. There are bodies strewn across the ground, some fiscushia soldiers, and the rest assorted mechanical constructs of varying designs: most inhuman in form, but all sharing the same milky white fluid in place of blood that’s splattered across the ground around their corpses. “Do you have faith in him?”

“I have faith in his strength, but reliability and judgement have never been his strong suits.” Elwaine steps up to the edge of the fissure in the centre of the courtyard, gazing down into a cavern lined with pulsing veins of qi from which Emily can see dozens of their crewmates harvesting growing crystals. There are several members of the crew standing on guard around those mining, watching the dark crevices where the mine sinks deeper below the surface with guns, staves, and swords at the ready. “What about you? Do you trust Silvia, or is it something else? You appear awfully eager to throw your lot in with a woman you barely know.”

“I…” Emily hesitates at the answer that nearly slips from her lips, frowning and falling into contemplation as she stops at the elf’s side and gazes down into the mine below. A few of their crewmates notice them and look up, confusion swimming in their gazes as they fall on Emily, but none of them breaks away from their tasks to approach the pair. “I’m not sure I can say I trust her yet – I’d still hesitate to put my life completely in her hands – but I don’t mistrust her. I’ll throw my lot in with her, as you put it, because I have full faith in my son and my own instincts, and both tell me she’s never lied to me nor meant me genuine harm. Though she isn’t quite forthright about her intentions. I can tell she wants something from me beyond my help in taking control of the crew, and, until she admits that, I’m prepared to cut my losses. She’s already given me the tools and knowledge needed to protect my family should the worst come to pass.”

Silence settles between them, and, after a few moments, Emily looks over to see Elwaine regarding her with an expression she can’t quite read.

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s not my place to say.” The elf shakes their head and turns their gaze back out to the mine. “Just… Silvia is nothing if not forthright about her desires. You know, given our interactions so far, I could almost forget you’re a mechanic, but it’s clear she’ll have her work cut out for her with you.”

Emily raises a questioning brow, but Elwaine waves her off and continues.

“Well, that clears most of my concerns about you, so I suppose we should address the details of the reason for this visit. You’re here to ask for my support in ousting and likely eliminating Yorn, correct?”

Emily nods. “Silvia wants him dead, and I’m happy to oblige. No one threatens me with my children’s lives to force me to bend the knee and remains unharmed. I’d be rebalancing that scale even if she’d never broached the subject.”

“Mhm, I thought as much. Have you already spoken to Rotwin and Perinith?”

“Rotwin’s on board already. Perinith is the last on my list, but we suspect that will be an elimination, not a recruitment.”

“That’s likely. From what I know, he was following Yorn before this crew was even formed. You intend to deal with him alone?”

“Of course. I don’t need help to punch a single level above my weight. My only concern is him having unknown escape methods or ways of contacting Yorn, but an old contingency which should prevent any trouble recently became available again, so I’ll be fine.”

“Interesting… Well, I can tell you that he’s a pure elementalist and his esoteric spells are limited. He has no affinity for space and, so long as you keep him locked down and an eye on any constructs he forms, you shouldn’t have to worry.”

“So, you’re giving us your support?”

“Not fully. I would like to see that you can make good on your bold claim first. If you can eliminate Perinith quietly and without Silvia’s help, I will at least promise not to speak a word to Yorn about your plans nor offer him any assistance. I’m yet to decide if I will remain with the crew that rises from the ashes after your little uprising, but I will promise to keep your dual nature secret and let you place whatever contingent you were planning on using to assure that, so long as you let me confirm it won’t harm me or my future prospects.”

Emily isn’t surprised by their astute assumption and easily nods in agreement.

“Is there nothing I can do to guarantee your full support?” she asks.

“Not as of this moment: my decision will only be made once the dust has settled.” The elf insists firmly. “I will, however, be positively inclined towards you if you and Silvia can satisfy your desire for revenge without a mass loss of life amongst the crew, beyond the damage you’re already doing to guarantee loyalty.”

“Okay. Is there anything else you’d like to know before I extend this conversation to the rest of your fleet?”

“A couple of things, yes. Is Silvia slated to become captain, or you?”

“Silvia, of course,” Emily states dismissively. “I have no interest in taking command over this many individuals I barely know, and so long as my freedom to explore the things that interest me and sate my curiosity isn’t imposed upon, I’m happy to follow another’s lead for now.”

“I see. I take it you don’t intend to become the crew’s new Vice then?”

“No. That position would go to you, should you choose to remain, or Rotwin.”

“I’m uninterested in that role, and I believe the hound will share my opinion. I suggest you speak with Silvia about this before you act against Yorn, since I suspect you aren’t on the same page.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good.” Elwaine nods, turning back to face her. “My final question is a simple one: is Silvia planning any major changes to the crew’s operating policy, or is this just a change in leadership?”

“We’ll no longer deal in slaves, since both of us have a distaste for the practice, but beyond that, I believe it’s business as usual.”

“Perfect.” The elf’s flat expression finally breaks, the corner of their lips turning up ever so slightly as they step back and gesture towards the gaping cavern below. “Then have at it, I won’t interfere.”

Emily nods and pulls her mental focus from her belt, pouring mana into it and casting out a net of mental threads. Elwaine watches with rapt attention as she links herself to every present member of their fleet, not lifting a finger even when she switches to sending down bolts of charge to fry the minds of those who prove loyal to Yorn.

Her mental net catches on several odd signatures deeper into the mine, brushing against a strange, dispersed consciousness between them, but she can’t form a solid connection with it using mana alone. She tries converting the end of the mental mana threads to machina and, though she still meets heavy resistance, Harriet helps her push through, pinpointing the locations of several mechanoids lurking in the dark, waiting for a chance to retake the mine after the pirates leave.

“What a fascinating interaction,” Elwaine mutters aloud as she directs several members of the crew towards the newly located targets. “Mechanical consciousnesses are usually the antithesis of mental magic. Are all your elemental manifestations moulded by your mechanical nature?”

“No, though quite a few are. My fire in particular holds traces of metallic influence no matter what I do with it,” Emily explains, releasing a flood of mana and weaving it into the form of Mental Lock without any obfuscation to assuage any of the elf’s concerns, “and my manifestations of space and darkness only came after I developed a more complex understanding of gravity and entropy.”

“Ah, so you form a logical base as opposed to a sensory one. That’s not so uncommon among mages born on neutral planets that tend towards science over magic.”

“Interesting, are there any other methods of manifestation?” Emily asks while drawing the Whisper and firing several shots into a fourth circle mage who resisted her mental lightning strike.

“Faith, but the minds of supplicants are a mystery to those of us who refuse to submit to another’s control,” Elwaine responds with a flat tone and a small curl of their lips.

Was that… a joke?

Emily completes her casting, binding the memories of all living members of the crew left on the plane, bar the elf beside her. She looks to them with a questioning brow and her casting focus raised in a silent request, and they nod their assent, withdrawing the thin film of ever-present mana wrapping their skin to allow her to form a connection.

It takes nearly all of her remaining mana to bind the elf, their mind proving nearly as resistant to the process as a mechanic’s cortex, but she completes her mission without issue.

“Is that all?” Elwaine asks after she retracts the mental thread linking them. “Does your squadron need to restock, or are you prepared to move on immediately?”

“If you can spare us some fuel, we’ll take it, but we should have more than enough to get us to Perinith’s fleet, and I suspect there’ll be plenty of resources going spare once I’ve dealt with him. Oh, and you may want to send some more people to watch your ships: I had to cull a fair few of those already posted there.”

“I’ll do just that. Go ahead and take whatever you need before you go; we’ll be stopping by this plane’s main FAF base anyway before we move on to our next assignment, so we can afford the losses.”

“Thank you,” Emily says as she turns to leave, calling upon her lightning connection and wreathing herself in a cloak of charge.

The elf waves her gratitude off and turns to address those under their command, not watching as she takes off back the way they came in a blur.

Emily returns to her squadron and orders them to restock from Elwaine’s fleet before returning to her room in the lead ship and pulling out her Terminal. She floods the device with machina and sends out a call, waiting for it to connect.

“Emily!” Silvia’s voice comes through clearly, her image appearing on the screen a moment later with a grin. “I wasn’t expecting you to call until you were finished. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I just finished speaking with Elwaine and thought we were due a catch-up,” Emily replies, settling on her bed and pulling out her brewing kit. “Our conversation brought to light a few questions I should probably ask sooner rather than later.”

“Oh? I guess I owe Elwaine thanks next time I see them.”

“You can thank them all you want,” Emily says, measuring out a portion of her favourite calming herbal blend, “but they may not remain part of the crew.”

“They don’t approve of our plans?” Silvia questions, settling down cross-legged and placing her Terminal in her lap, the background behind her recognisable as one of the crew’s training rooms.

“Kind of. They seemed approving of our change in policy on slavery, but less so on removing Yorn. They referred to it as our ‘desire for revenge’ and seemed to be under the impression that we’ll suffer heavy losses to defeat him. They did, however, allow me to place a Mental Lock on them, and they agreed not to offer Yorn any support or information at least.”

“So, they want to confirm the crew won’t lose strength from this before deciding whether to stay or not?”

“Exactly.” Emily nods, vaporising some salvianross concentrate to infuse her tea with. “They also wanted to confirm the extent of my abilities and challenged me to deal with Perinith alone.”

“Ha, I take it that won’t be an issue?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“Perfect,” Silvia purrs, running her tongue over her fangs. “What of the rest of the crew? How have our losses been so far?”

“Not too bad: you were right that most are more loyal to credits and crystals than Yorn, and, of those that value interpersonal relations more, you’ve clearly had a greater impact than our so-called Captain. I’ve only had to cull about ten per cent of the awakened members I’ve screened so far. Surprisingly, there’s been more loyalty among the unawakened than I would’ve thought, and I’ve had to cut fifteen per cent of them.”

“That’s not unexpected. Most of them lack the talent to awaken without the aid of a natural treasure or a specialised artefact, and Yorn’s the one who has the final say whenever we get anything applicable, so they’re used to bending to his whims.” There’s a hint of disdain in her tone, but Emily can’t quite tell whether it’s any different to her usual vocal distaste of their Captain. “Anyway, that’s enough of the boring bits. What did you want to ask me?”