“Each set of elekes have to go through a process before they are received. These beads were made with love and passion. By someone who intended them for Fela. She’s no longer here, but we carry her with us.” Epyc Ro raised the disk pack. “I am keeper of her remains. But I need a second to carry her spirit with us. We have been through the fire. We continue her journey alongside her, into the darkness, possibly into death. But we travel together, as sisters. Will you accompany your sisters?”

“I will.” Robin received the elekes.

“Who will accompany each of us? To aid and guide. To be pillars and examples.”

“Well … shit. I do.” Anitra took Robin’s side.

<Yes.> Chandra rose to move next to Epyc Ro.

Epyc Ro felt the resurgent music in her breast, a melody that played out to her fingertips. A renewal, of purpose and being, with her sisters. And with it came a new perspective.

“I don’t know if the moment’s past or nah, but the real question I have is: Do I get to blow shit up?” Anitra asked.

“We’re going to take the fight back to them, commandeer an Interstellar Alliance vessel, and…,” Epyc Ro said.

“… get the hell off this planet,” Robin finished.

“Exactly. And heaven help anyone who gets in our way.”

“So we about to become space pirates?” Anitra asked. “I’m down as fuck.”

Eshu’s desert had a dangerous beauty to it. Its sands a strange shade of yellow, sprayed about with a child’s enthusiasm. Harsh, hostile, a barren stretch punctuated by bursts of mountains or gorges. The occasional trail of vegetation on arid landscapes. Ominous clouds obscured the moon, reducing the mountains to stark shadows. The road leading up to the facility remained abandoned, dark and empty as a corpse’s eye. A bloated tick on the desert skin, the refining facility sat, fat and still.

No matter how she strained to hear, Epyc Ro heard only their own haggard breathing. The rear of the facility bustled with activity. Ships loaded and boarded, the Interstellar Alliance forces scrambling to move out despite their advantage. Only a skeleton crew patrolled the area. At its rear, smaller ships launched into space with regularity. The Interstellar Alliance prepared for complete disembarkment. They wouldn’t be leaving for long. Having taken the full measure of the Mzisoh, they would call for support forces to occupy and strip-mine their world. She couldn’t leave the Mzisoh alone against this enemy.

“Something isn’t right,” Epyc Ro said.

“Trap?” Robin asked.

“No, that’s not the vibe I get.” Epyc Ro mulled over the possibilities. The road remained deserted. No creatures stirred. No insects chirped. The checkpoint posts were abandoned. A solitary guard strolled this side of the building.