Homestar Saga

Chapter 164: Defector

"That was terrible."

Lissa was wearing her Homestar dress. Yvian didn't know how the Peacekeepers had made it, but it was the second most amazing piece of clothing she'd ever seen. The fabric, if it was fabric, showed a perfect holographic image of stars in the void. In the center of Lissa's chest, right over her heart, was Pixa's Homestar, bright and burning and beautiful. Lissa's hair had been done up in an elaborate style with lots of curls. She'd looked regal giving her speech. Like a ruler from the days of old. Now she just looked annoyed.

"I told you I don't do speeches," Yvian reminded her. The pixen was wearing her own Homestar dress. Hers showed a crystal city under a clear blue sky. Like Lissa's, her dress had the Homestar centered over her heart, but this time it was the view from the ground. Normally wearing the dress made Yvian feel pretty and powerful. Today it made her feel like a fraud.

"Yeah, I can see that." Lissa frowned at her. "You sound like you're reading off a prompter."

"I am reading off a prompter," Yvian frowned right back. She pointed at the holodisplay behind Lissa. It was the one from the kitchen. Mims had decided against bringing them back to New Pixa, so the crew had set up a studio in the cargo bay. Sort of. Really, it was just a podium and some recording equipment, but Lissa had looked official enough.

"Yeah," Lissa acknowledged, "but you're not supposed to sound like it. You're supposed to sound natural."

"I don't know how to do that!" Yvian snapped. She grimaced. "Sorry. This is just frustrating." She'd tried recording the speech six times now. "I shoot things for a living. I'm not made for public speaking."

"She really isn't," Scarrend agreed. The Vrrl lounged comfortably atop a cargo container, his head propped under two of his hands. He was armored. Mims had grudgingly agreed the pixens needed to dress up, but everyone else was combat ready.

"You're the one who wanted to start a country," Lissa told her. "You're going to have to speak in public from time to time."

"I know," Yvian grumbled. "I know. It's just... can we take a break or something? Maybe give me time to memorize the speech?" It was a good speech. Lissa had wrote it. Yvian just needed to figure out how to say it with feeling. She didn't think memorization would help, but it was worth a try.

"It is pretty close to dinner time," Captain Mims noted. "We could make some stir fry."

"Negative," Kilroy disagreed. "This unit told the citizens to expect a statement from Mother Yvian. The statement is scheduled for fifty three minutes and nine seconds from now." His eyes flashed yellow. "Also, this unit is enjoying the show."

"Of course you are." Lissa sighed. "This was a bad idea."

"Maybe we need a different approach." Captain Mims stepped in. "Have Yvain just... I dunno... talk about what she thinks."

"Mother Yvian has shown she can can speak well when she is speaking from the heart," Kilroy concurred.

"It can't be much worse than what you're doing," said Scarrend.

"I don't know about that," said Lissa. "You remember Zenla Station?"

"We don't talk about Zenla Station," Mims chided.

"What happened at Zenla Station?" Scarrend was curious.

"We don't talk about Zenla Station," Mims repeated, more firmly this time.

"Alright," Yvian hurriedly changed the subject. "Alright. I'll speak from the heart." She paused. "Um..."

"I'm gonna need a beer after this," Mims muttered.