The Reluctant Vassal's Guide to Living in the Frontier (with some Treason)

By the time the first of the data packages finally arrived, Radana had don her suit and vectored over to you, her long hair sticking out from the helmet yet still somehow vacuum sealed. That made you fondly recall of the endless debates back on Helm between Prisms, about how such a thing was possible without somehow breaching the helmet seals. Not that many on the field complained at all, given the implicit permission then to style one's hair however they liked.

You shook your head then, shaking away the memory to refocus on what was important now. The data was unpacking and being analyzed slowly when the energy was directed back into the rest of your armor and you glided over to the door, gripping one side. "Ready?" You asked and your friend nodded, grabbing the other end.

Together, both your circuits flared up and the airlock was purposefully ripped open. There was a loud alarm when the room abruptly depressurized, loose objects sent flying into the hallway and crashing against the walls before coming to a halt. A quick glance within your helmet confirmed all systems were still green, so you confidently moved out into the hallway, your suit's EVA systems gently firing to help move you through the lack of gravity. Radana was right behind you, moving cautiously with precision in her vectors.

It meant that when you suddenly drew up to a stop in front of a window in the hallway, Radana could avoid bumping straight into you and came up to your side, her helmet tilted inquisitively. "Whatever is the matter?" She asked over a private channel only she and you had the code for.

You grimly gestured and she followed your gaze to see the rest of the colonization fleet floating there, with matching signs of catastrophic engine damage. It did vary across the various vessels, but there was no doubt that every ship had lost a not insignificant number of crew members today, and for those more unlucky, perhaps their entire passenger complement as well.

Critically, the royal flagship was one such victim, its hull structure clearly cracked and failing rapidly. You gave it a closer look and quickly concluded it was a lost cause, especially when a secondary explosion went off that broke apart even more of the ship. It wouldn't be long before it turned into a derelict wreck, but if life support systems were still online, evacuation was still possible to save whoever was still onboard. Hopefully that included the Solar King.

In a stroke of luck and fortune, your older sister's ship was closest and judging by the engines beginning to flare up, they were going to be mobile soon. You let out a relieved sigh, glad that she could handle the evacuation instead of you. It meant drawing less attention on you and you'd happily take that.

But then the data stream finally connected and you could listen in on the internal radio communications on her ship from your hidden bugs. What you heard sent a chill down your spine, and your mouth fell slightly agape in shock at her words. "...it's not worth it. We have to cut our losses."

"Your Highness?"

"Think about it. Our engines are likely about to sputter and die at any time. If we try to move in and save His Majesty, our own ship might lose power and we are then two derelicts floating uselessly about, tombs in the making. Better that we take what we can and move to make landfall immediately. We'll honor His Majesty's sacrifice later."

You watched with a sinking stomach when your older sister's ship began to turn away from the royal flagship and towards the third planet in the system. A few other ships with sputtering engines followed, perhaps those lead by her followers, entirely abandoning the crippled fleet. You could hear other ship communications erupt in confusion and shock with their coldhearted departure, a few of them even coming from the passengers being taken with them but unable to resist. This only added even more to the chaos of the disaster, your sister unintentionally- or perhaps purposefully- fanning the flames of tragedy.

Your mouth snapped shut and you squared your jaw, opening up a new communication line. "Kat, let's try and get moving. Forget my previous order, head down to Engineering and see if you can bring our engines back online."

"Huh-h? I mean, I-I will do my best!" She stuttered, her voice slightly perking up in the end. You nodded and realized it would probably be a comfort zone for her, so it would be best anyway if she was excused from meeting on the bridge. Maybe the Prism was so focused on that blessing that she didn't realize the reason behind your order. You pulled at Radana to snap her out of her shock, then hastily explained what was going on in the private channel between you two.

While you had a heated and furious tone explaining it all, she was notably cool and collected, taking in the information with stride. When you mentioned the possibility that this was all her fault, your friend paused, then shook her head. "It's unlikely your sister was involved in sabotaging the fleet's engines. If anybody were to be suspect, then...it'd have to be the First Princess." That came out as a whisper, the very mention of it being grounds for treason. Perhaps it was a sign of how much Radana trusted you to speak her thoughts freely. "From the last few gatherings I hosted, there was much mention about how much wealth the First Princess was granted to retrofit the engine design. More so than what should have been gifted by His Highness."

"Bribery?" You hissed and shook your head. "No matter. We have to save His Highness either way."

"Of course, of course." She was silent for a moment, then there was sharp intake of breath. "Violet, on the royal flagship, it's not just His Highness. It's your older brother as well."

You swore most unladylike. "The sneaky one without my restraint. The one who His Highness keeps a close eye on."

"The source of that mess a few years back when he assaulted a diplomat from a smaller House for refusing his advances." You could feel her lip curling up in a distasteful sneer. "Little wonder why then he is leashed to His Highness to prevent any more incidents. But in this chaos, with all the confusion, he might be...tempted."

There was a pause, then your suit thrusters fired up brighter as you accelerated quicker. Even when you reached the front of the ship that was pressurized and had gravity, you didn't stop at all. The circuits in your legs burned as you rushed for the bridge, even sometimes leaping and wall-running around shocked and surprised technicians in your hurry.

It meant when you finally burst into the ship's bridge, you were slightly out of breath and needed a moment to bend over to catch your breath. Radana arrived a moment later, but she had the much envied ability to take a second wind in stride and talk to the concerned captain, quietly informing him the plan to immediately prepare for evacuation duties. He seemed alarmed by the idea and pointed out the ship was still immobile, only for a report from Engineering to come up.

You could practically hear Kat shouting and angrily pounding away in the background of the ship intercom as the damaged engines flared to life and hid a grin. She came through, like you had expected, immediately surging in confidence the moment she was surrounded by welcoming machinery that accepted her touch unhesitatingly. But from what it sounded like, the current state of them required her undivided attention if you wanted them to keep working, and the Hyacinth Prism stressed that it'd be slow moving due to the nature of the damage.

A quick check of the distance of your ship to the royal flagship didn't give good odds. Worst of all, yours was now the closest after your sister had taken off. You gritted your teeth, cursed your sister again for putting you in the spotlight, and then ordered to make it so. While the captain and Radana tried to raise any other still mobile ships in the fleet to coordinate with them for the evacuation, you turned to your final aide who was looking uncomfortable being able to contribute nothing so far.

But as it was, you had a vital mission for the Lycoris Knight that was perfect for her nature. "Dorothea. I want you to take a shuttle with whatever Brilliance Knights we have onboard, and go ahead of us to help stabilize the situation on the royal flagship."

"I will do my best," She instantly vowed, then paused when you took off your helmet. "Will you not be accompanying us?"

You bit back a groan, realizing your mistake. Your plan had involved her going ahead alone with the knights to be the ones who drew the attention of the Solar King, instead of you. Perhaps she would claim it was on your orders, but her being there instead of you was definitely a way to keep eyes off you. You frantically racked your head for an excuse, only for Dorothea to unintentionally provide a, in your opinion, terrible one.

"Ah, you need to coordinate with all the other ships in the fleet about what needs to be done!" She decided and you wanted to point out that Radana had that handled. But judging by her growing resigned look, not all were willing to listen to a singular Camellia Knight's orders, especially given the recent activities of your older sister. Some were even wondering if they should follow her in making immediate landfall, abandoning the fleet. You realized with an internal scream that you had to shut that down now by actually talking to them for once, putting yourself out there. "I see, don't worry. Leave it to me to handle simple matter of boarding the royal flagship while you continue with far more grander efforts."

"...Of course," You weakly told, before giving a hasty final little mention. "And if you encounter my older brother or any of his followers, do not listen to any of their orders. Even if they rank higher than me, unless it comes from the Solar King himself, do not trust them. House Iris may very well depend on this."

"Understood," Dorothea responded instantly without pause, her eyes hardening into a moment of deep resolve. She probably had already created an entire internal narrative of you having goals beyond her understanding, all in service for the good of the Helmsmen. Your brother's awful reputation probably didn't help either. "By your leave then."

She departed the bridge and it wasn't long before reports came in about the shuttle launching off successfully. You already knew of course, given that you had bugged said shuttle before you had launched, and instead concentrated on working with Radana. Surprisingly, your friend insisted she do most of the talking while you just backed up her statements and declarations, being little more than the proof that her words were backed up with royal blood. Even more surprising was that it worked, Radana's words swaying many into accepting that your older sister had behaved most erratically and dishonorably, abandoning her responsibilities most selfishly.

Whereas you obviously stayed behind to carry out your duties and oaths, thus being the one who was the favored by House Iris at the moment. You had to politely restrain from strangling your smirking friend live on the radio at all this very much unwanted attention. But it did the trick and those on the fence were committed to follow your lead for now, and make their own conclusion of the matter once the Solar King was properly rescued.

Speaking of which, as your ship drew closer to the royal flagship and prepared to dock, the information taps were only intensifying in how worrying they were getting. Dorothea and her complement had no issues landing onboard, but then almost immediately came into conflict with your brother's followers who demanded they return back to their shuttle or surrender. The Lycoris Knight blatantly refused with your order clear in her head and was then attacked. After a grim clash of enhanced circuit warriors fighting one another in a chilling scene reminiscent of ancient battles, both sides retreated to lick their wounds and reassess the next fight.

Then, to Dorothea's surprise (and by extension, yours as well), the Solar King actually reached out to address her over the flagship's faltering intercom system. It was undoubtedly his voice without any notable sign of coercion, nor did his order align with that suspicion. "Secure and guard the evacuation effort. I will handle the Prince." The communication line cut off afterwards and Dorothea uneasily obeyed, wary of a possible attack by your brother's followers in revenge. But there was no follow-up assault and she audibly voiced her confusion.

You meanwhile had a clear idea of what was going on thanks to your information taps. Radana looked on with a worried expression when you gripped too hard and accidentally channeled some energy into your circuits, resulting in crushing a non-functional bridge console with your fingers. She silently pulled on her helmet and you matched the gesture to create that private secure line. "My brother, when the drives detonated, decided that now was the time to make a play for the throne. He had his followers attack the Brilliance Knights under His Highness, and it is a bad fight. Say what you want about his horrid attitude and tastes, but he's a good fighter regardless."

"But surely His Highness is the better warrior," Radana tried to reassure, but it did little. Not when you dropped the defining thing that could tilt the match.

"He also loves his children too much," You solemnly pointed out and there was silence after that.

It lasted all the way until the docking was complete and the evacuation underway. Thanks to Dorothea's efforts, everybody was already ready to go the moment the go-ahead was given and a mix of the ship's crew and passengers began to board your vessel. A few other ships were also coming close to dock alongside to provide more room, and those too far away or too slow were sending shuttles to ferry more onboard them. All in all, it was a rather touching effort of rescuing the bloodied and traumatized survivors from the royal flagship while it continued to break apart around them.

But while many were hurrying to leave the ship, two souls in particular were instead stepping onboard and engaging circuits to hasten their steps to go deeper. It was just you and Radana, both of you now armed with proper weapons should worst come to worst. You had wanted to grab a medical kit as well, only to bluntly realize your sire would be horrified if they were prioritized over treating an evacuated victim of the drive failures. There were too many wounded to justify reserving or setting aside medical supplies You could only hope that you wouldn't come to regret this decision.

When you arrived at the failing bridge of the royal flagship, you dimly realized it didn't matter. No medical equipment you had on hand could possibly treat the wound you were faced with.

Just right before the entrance to the bridge were bodies that Radana identified as either your brother's or father's followers. They were scattered about and showed signs of violent conflict, some of their flesh even burned from overloading their circuits with too much energy, either unintentionally or on purpose. But it was nothing compared to the scene on the bridge itself, where bodies were so scattered wildly from the likely intense battle that had taken place.

Your brother laid there on the ground, a seemingly triumphant look on his face even as it rolled away from his headless corpse. But the reason for it was clear, where your sire, the Solar King, your father, sat slumped in the command chair, a glowing blade buried in his stomach and the surrounding skin already burned and scorched with the circuits in them destroyed.

He was dying, unmistakably so.

At your approach, his helmet lifted so slightly and his hand weakly grasped the sword at his side to raise up. A moment later and his likely fading vision made out who you were. "Daughter. Have...have you come to take your chance too?" He weakly asked, hand already beginning to shake from the effort. "I warn you, I have already been foolish today in staying my blade from the first mortal blow. It has cost me, as you can see."

Radana held back while you gingerly stepped forward, notably putting your own weapons away. "No, I'm...I'm here to save you." Despite the seeming futility of it, you still tried. You still stepped closer into the swinging range of the Solar King and, when you weren't immediately beheaded, tried to pull the sword out of him. "Please, just...save your strength! Don't close your eyes!" Your voice picked up slowly and louder, eventually turning into a roar when you tried your best to rip your accursed brother's weapon out.

His arm finally relaxed and his blade dropped to the floor when he let it fall limp, instead channeling the energy into the other hand to raise gently and grasp your shoulder. "I'm sorry, but I think...I think this is it. The end to my story." His head seemingly bowed forward for a moment with a half-chuckle, half-sob. "To think, that I have lost so many comrades over the years in service of the Stellarch, so many deaths of dear friends that I withstood stoically. And now, after slaying my own rebellious child, I find it too much to bear. The idea that not just one, but at least three would look upon what I have made, and turn away from it all to their own ends..."

"Which is why you're not going to die here, dammit!" You shouted and tugged harder, showing more emotion that you ever had in recent memory. Or perhaps ever. "Live and spit in their faces so that you can continue to be the great leader that the Helmsmen need! Continue to be the protagonist of your great story, the one who everybody looks and sees and adores! Don't you dare make me the star of this mess, I just...don't want to be seen!"

That last bit slipped out unconsciously and you froze for a moment when the grip on your shoulder suddenly tightened. But it was a merely firm one, almost warm that brought you carefully around the protruding sword and into your father's embrace. When you froze there, shocked, his hand reached up to gently grasp your helmet and lift it off, exposing your teary face for all to see. In a mirrored gesture, your trembling fingers reached up and gently pried off his helmet, showing a bloodied, broken, shattered, proud parent.

"You were also just so shy, it was so precious," He murmured, eyes flickering with the last of his strength finally leaving him. "I wanted to let you play forever, preserve it for all good. Perhaps then you could keep your...older sister in check…" He coughed weakly, then seemingly made a decision.

Slowly, he reached into his chestplate armor and withdrew something that made Radana audibly gasp at the sight. You were too stunned to do so, especially when a seemingly innocuous electronic tome was pressed into your hands. It glowed brightly despite its immense age, the relic of a lost era unearthed in a data vault to chart your people's great ascent to the stars. "Take the Solarium Codex. The very thing that makes us who were are.

"The proof that I choose you in the end. The one...who was truest of them all, and so I...I bestow. Violet d'Iris...please...lead our people. Protect House Iris. Protect the Helmsmen. Protect...your story."

The hand pressing the tome into your fingers became lifeless at the same time as did his eyes.

The Solar King was dead.

You stared uncomprehendingly there, clutching the precious holy relic without understanding. I...am chosen? I'm...the heir now? But that means...wait, does that mean-!

I'm the Solar King, or Queen now?!"

Thankfully Radana was there with a choked sob at the loss of your sire to help break you out of the haze. So too did an explosion near the bridge from another structural failure, the impending depressurization lights coming on to alert you to quickly requip your helmet and seal it tightly. The Solarium Codex was tucked reverently into your chestplate for now and you gave one last look at the sire, a strangely peaceful expression on his face that stared blankly at you.

Protect your story.

Your throat felt very dry as you turned away to quickly follow your friend out of the collapsing bridge and back to your ship. Minutes later, a generator detonation would consume the entire part of the flagship, immolating all the corpses onboard with a searing heat that ensured nothing but cosmic ash was left. This explosion in particular continued on through the entire ship, the hull finally shattering and falling apart to catastrophic failure, turning into a derelict wreck with no signs of life onboard.

That was because then those who survived were onboard the other ships in the fleet, being treated or reassured that the colonization effort would go as planned. However, you yourself retreated into a private room for the time being, mentioning only that Radana would convey your thoughts and wishes while you took a period of deep reflection. She did get pestered on the reasons behind your sudden retreat and contemplation, but dogmatically refused to gossip or mention a word of it without your permission.

After listening in on the seemingly hundredth demand through your bugs, you decided to help your friend out by giving the people something else to focus on. Namely, where you have decided to make landfall. You weren't going to go anywhere near your sister's location for now, meaning that the third planet in the System Andernia was out of the question. But that left three other planets to decide, with some interesting picks highlighted as valid options.

Choose the landing site for your first city.

[ ] [Planetfall] Andernia I
-[ ] Location A. A patch of warmer ice than the inhospitable frozen surroundings that make it possible to settle upon.
-[ ] Location B. A small but deep underground cave system underground that offers shelter from the bitter cold above.
-[ ] Location C. A large deep valley that adequately shields those within from the constant blizzards that rage on this world.


[ ] [Planetfall] Andernia II
-[ ] Location A. A position that coincides with the trajectory of the frozen comet in orbit, leading to gentle petals made of snow amid a dry and rocky landscape.
-[ ] Location B. A rocky plateau stands out amid a frozen sea, a suitable location for constructing a remote settlement.
-[ ] Location C. A strategic location that dominates an entrance into a ravine system, thus necessitating half the city to be built into the ground itself.


[ ] [Planetfall] Andernia IV
-[ ] Location A. The planet's intense temperature necessitate settlements to be at the polar caps, which have a slightly milder temperature in comparison to the inhospitable heat.
-[ ] Location B. Near a polar cap is a stretch of rolling plain with dry but arable soil, enough to grow the hardier foodstuffs in.
-[ ] Location C. Strangely, readings here indicate that the heat is lower by a considerable factor, but this also coincides with the mysterious organic signatures detected from the planet.


- Hopefully the maps should be clearly marked enough to see the locations I've labeled as suitable landing spots.
- A city's location is mainly just what sort of terrain it'd have on the battlefield map, along with what possible node connections it has. Empty nodes are basically suitable landing/battle sites but are not conducive to concentrated development. There can still be local settlements in them, but nothing on the scale that matters for galactic industry.
- You'll figure out what proper title you'll take later, but I don't mind discussion on that already now.