If you missed the last chapter, you can find it [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/219160053/0/0]here[/url], or if you need to find a previous chapter, you can find them all in the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/218618986?sort=0&page=0]Table of Contents[/url]. Kell of Scar's Ch. 19 can also be found [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/219265964/0/0]here[/url]. Please give a bump if you enjoy! *** The Karmanors orbit 6 Demeter like two suitors seeking her favor. For six hours each day, Alpha Karmanor is closest to 6 Demeter, but for six hours each night, Beta Karmanor takes his place at her side. Beta Karmanor is currently mere minutes away in Seren’s shuttle. I look starboard, watching the haunting beauty of the Reef through the mess of rocks and dust. In the distance, Alpha Karmanor awaits the next day when he can be with his Demeter again. I shift my attention to his brother as we make our approach. As the shuttle tilts, I see the surface of Beta Karmanor more clearly – the Raptors have already landed beside the ketch, pilots on guard as it opens. From a distance, I can’t see what our Fallen guest looks like, but I can tell he’s huge. He towers over the pilots as he disembarks, ether mask on as he greets them. Our shuttle flies closer to the rock, and I look curiously as the Raptor pilots approach the Fallen – I see one looking agitated, pointing and seeming to yell at the Fallen. Seren’s shuttle comes in for a landing as I see the pilots back away, silent but still rigid, holding something back. Inside the shuttle, we ready our weapons. The shuttle doors open as our helmets close. Looking back, I see the only person not wearing a helmet is Seren herself. I start to say something, but she catches my eye and winks. [i]What…[/i], I wonder in awe, unsure which to be more scared and curious about: what she’s planning or why she doesn’t need a helmet. We disembark, weapons in hand. Solis unsheathes her blade and Kenedi hugs his rifle as they follow. I see the pilots hanging back, Bounty-4 looking….skittish, I realize. [i]Maybe he’s more afraid of the Fallen than he’d like to let on[/i], I muse. Our Fallen guest turns and I finally see him properly. He’s massive, fed by ether to near Archon size. There’s a deep intelligence in the eyes behind his mask, but not a welcoming one, as referenced by the hand he casually drapes across the hilt of his enormous sword. He sees Seren, and looks stunned as he notices she’s not wearing her helmet. For a moment, he looks scared, but then it’s gone, replaced with his prior look of purpose. I suddenly realize why Seren didn’t wear a helmet. “[i]You are their leader, yes?[/i]” “I am,” Seren responds. “I am Seren Cay, Baroness of 6 Demeter and head of the Reef Mob. Now who are you?” “[i]I am Vesrik[/i],” he begins. “[i]I am last of House of Scar, and I wish to rebuild…[/i]” He trails off as he sees Solis. “[i]You have a Wolf in your company.[/i]” Seren answers simply, “Yes. What of it?” Vesrik’s hand tightens on his sword. “[i]Wolves are….untrustworthy to Awoken, yes?[/i]” “They are." “[i]Yet you keep this one,[/i]” Vesrik sizes Solis up as she lets out a low growl. “[i]Did docking her make her more…manageable to you?[/i]” Seren’s eyes narrow, as do Vesrik’s – they stare shrewdly, sizing each other up. I can just detect the slightest apprehension in Vesrik’s eyes as he looks closer at Seren, while she looks like she had Vesrik pegged before we even landed. “We did not dock her, Skolas did,” Seren answers. “[i]And so you keep his kin as a trophy?[/i]” Vesrik snarls, disturbed. “As a precaution." Vesrik scowls. “[i]Then why should I trust you?[/i]” “You shouldn’t,” Seren responds casually. “Though I believe we can come to a bargain. But first, on the issue of trust…” Seren suddenly turns to the Bounty-4 pilot, a whiplash shift in the energy coursing through the vacuum felt even through our protective gear. “The issue of trust is very important, isn’t it, Shirin?” Shirin just stares back, his face hidden by his helmet. Seren walks toward him, a crackling hiss sweeping through the vacuum as the old Tech Witch descends upon the pilot. He starts twitching, moaning, as his trembling hands reach toward his helmet. “Only a fool would dare to think I could be lied to.” Shirin shakes violently, his moans turning into cries of pain. “Which ship were you expecting, Shirin? A Wolf ketch? A House from the Jovians?” Shirin falls to his knees, screaming as his whole body convulses. A light shines through Seren as her eyes begin to glow, her face a mask of calm fury as she tortures the pilot. The Bounty-7 pilot merely watches, frozen in horror. “You were so eager to fire on the ship, so eager to land it away from me. Were you hoping you could fool me into thinking you’d destroyed the ship?” Seren smiles wickedly as Shirin screams, his agony silent in the vacuum but broadcast horribly through our comms. “Did you think you could do business with whichever House you chose without my blessing?” “SEREN PLEASE!!!” he screams. “There’s no mercy for traitors,” she replies darkly, her body glowing brighter – Shirin convulses as Seren begins to levitate off the surface of the asteroid, her eyes burning bright with anger. I struggle to stop trembling myself – I’ve never seen Seren like this, never seen how she dealt with traitors in our midst before. I’d often wondered how she’d managed to stay in the Reef after defying the Queen, and this moment has given me just a brief glimpse into the answer. And that answer is terrifying. Shirin claws at his helmet desperately, whatever agony he’s in reaching a crescendo. Seren merely stares, and I can’t tell if the anger I read on her face is for the benefit of Vesrik or her actual fury at the pilot. Shirin can’t take anymore – as we all watch, dumbstruck with terror at Seren’s power, Shirin grasps for the release to his helmet and pushes it. His helmet dematerializes, exposing his face to the vacuum. For just a second, he looks relieved, and then the icy grip of space takes him, freezing and depressurizing him at once. Shirin goes still, and starts to slowly drift away from the surface of Beta Karmanor. Vesrik looks from the body to Seren as her eyes return to normal. “[i]I prefer to remove their helmets myself,[/i]” he says, tapping the hilt of his sword meaningfully. I can tell he’s playing it cool, but the slight tremor in his arm belies the effort. “My apologies, Vesrik,” she says, her demeanor flipping immediately to that of a gracious, welcoming host. Everyone struggles to put the recent incident behind us as we follow Seren’s lead, falling in line obediently. [i]Mercurial[/i], I think again. “In regards to our Fallen friend,” she continues, gesturing to Solis. “She has proven her loyalty to us by her own betrayal of the Wolves. That’s proof enough for me, and she’s only proven it further since.” Solis draws herself up proudly at Seren’s compliment. Everyone else seems to move past, and I struggle to catch up, struggle to put the image of the pilot out of my mind, purposefully not looking up at his hovering body. Vesrik nods finally, Seren mimicking him. “Good, now that that’s out of the way,” she plows forward. “You have come to scavenge?” “[i]Yes[/i],” Vesrik answers. “[i]Parts and ether for my servitor.[/i]” “I believe we we can come to an agreement,” Seren responds as she looks back to me. [i]What is she thinking now?[/i] “[i]And what would my end of the agreement be?[/i]” Vesrik asks, drawing himself up to his full height. … “The access codes to Taniks’ ketch,” Seren says cooly. “[i]Why?[/i]” Vesrik asks, stunned. “He has taken one of our own,” Seren replies. “He’s taken her as a Tanis.” Vesrik’s shoulders sag. “[i]Yes,[/i]” he says sadly. “[i]He has many.[/i]” I can feel the Vesrik's disgust, surprised to see his hatred of Taniks’ practice. “How do you know Taniks?” I ask before I can stop myself. Seren gives me a look as Vesrik meets my gaze. “[i]He is of my blood, my family,[/i]” he answers, turning back to Seren. “[i]But we can’t always trust family, can we?[/i]” His eyes flick to Shirin’s body, floating away, before turning back to Seren. “No,” she responds sadly. “Not always.” “[i]Do you mean to kill Taniks?[/i]” Vesrik asks me. “I want to,” I answer truthfully. “But I’d settle for just getting my friend back.” Vesrik considers our offer behind his mask. “[i]Done,[/i]” he finally answers, extending his hand to seal the bargain in his House’s tradition. Seren meets him, cementing the agreement. “Good,” she responds. “Your arrival here has turned out to be quite a blessing in disguise.” As Vesrik nods, Seren meets my eye and winks. “[i]I was also to be joined shortly by my kin, Zatkis[/i],” Vesrik tells Seren. “[i]Will he be welcomed too?[/i]” “Of course,” Seren replies. “Security will meet him first, but then he may join us in my chamber.” I think again that in the past few moments everything I thought I knew about the Baroness has been called into question. [i]Who is this woman?[/i] I think, remembering the warm and friendly face that had greeted me when I’d first woken up here a few years ago. What else don’t I know about her? “Please allow us to give you a proper reception at Hedon House,” Seren tells Vesrik. “We can negotiate the details of our agreement in comfort.” Vesrik nods, accepting the unorthodox welcome with dignity. Seren returns to her shuttle, the rest of us falling in behind her as the other pilot returns to his ship, trembling. I try to keep my distance, but Seren finds me with a knowing look. “Don’t you three have some ‘disreputable characters’ to go see?” She winks again, but it doesn’t help the newfound apprehension I feel. The cold fingers run themselves down my alloyed spine again as I look up, watching the frozen corpse of Shirin floating slowly away.