LF Friends, Will Travel

Our Clockwork Children: Chapter 13

Estana walked along the halls of the ship, her talons clicking along the floor as they met with the metal surface that never gave enough grip. Normally she'd fly such a distance, but she wanted to avoid the start of her shift as long as possible, so walking seemed like a perfectly reasonable activity. She was a Parket, a member of the Parket Universal Fleet, charged with protecting the five systems they controlled from any external threats.

Or at least, her job was to tell other people how to do such a thing, since her entire job was communications. Technically she owned a firearm that was strapped to her side, the grey steel not at all complimenting her bright green plumage, but in reality, if she was ever shooting it, something had gone terribly terribly wrong.

The Single Response was just one of many ships that made up the defence fleet that hovered in orbit of Far-Sa-De, an important job considering the current state of the universe. The Parket were no slouches in the Terran Alliance; They had a strong independent streak within themselves and had long ago decided that having enough weaponry to remain strong and independent was reasonable. The one Hagorithian and two Raha attacks attempted on their system quickly discovered that they were not an easy target.

Estana took a moment to glance outside a viewport at the planet they were orbiting, the place she called home. There weren't a lot of natives on the planet, as most of the people there were tourists or travelling for work. However, the few who had been born and lived on the paradise world loved the little piece of heaven that had been carved out for them. Being a native also meant being assigned to such an easy post. Nobody really cared about Far-Sa-De, so the protection was more of a formality.

The door to her post opened noiselessly, showing the grouping of consoles and perches, many with Parket already at their posts, listening in and forwarding communications between various military ships and hailing anyone who approached the system. Without a word, Estana made her way to her own station, gripping the perch and slipping the headset on.

"Oh look who decided to turn up and grace us with their presence."

The red-feathered Parket Klaten chirped teasingly from her left, light-hearted mocking not meaning any harm as Estana fluffed out in response.

"Well I got caught up practicing my Yharr chants. I'm sure you're also getting ready for the Universal Cup to start next week oh wait, the Jarnal Northern states didn't qualify!"

"You know we were robbed that ref must have been blind!"

Yharr was the cultural sport of the Parket. A team-based aerial combat endeavour which was more of a religion than most actual religions. The Far-Sa-De team had, for the first time ever, qualified for the once every 4 years Universal Cup. It was practically all any Far-Sa-De native would talk about, this Cinderella story unfolding. The Jarnal Northern states were far less of an underdog, qualifying for every single Universal Cup in history apart from this one, where they missed out by one game for the first time.

"Sure the final game was a bit controversial but the only reason you needed to win that game was because you tied against the Legurria mining stations! None of those guys are even professionals. Face it the JN has been resting on their talons and that new coach is just terrible."

Klaten gave a pained sigh, feathers pressed against his body as he slumped dejectedly at that statement.

"Well that I can't disagree with, it is absolutely shocking, frankly it's the importing of external players into the Jarnel Northern League which has caused this and removed the drive to build homegrown talent. Still if it makes you feel better with my lack of team allegiance I am supporting Far-Sa-De this cup. Everyone loves an underdog story."