Four Hundred and Eighty-Eight
A captain and his first mate meet within the corridors of the Belphemon, the largest cannon in the galaxy.
"Four hundred eighty-five, Four hundred eighty-six, Four hundred eighty-seven, Four hundred eighty-eight."
The mellow clack of soles against vacant halls ceased as Hoshi finished. He paused, basking in the brief solace brought by the quasi-silence, where the hum of his ship soothed him with its low, restless droning. Beyond the window before him, the horizon of the Reghast Plateau shimmered with the gentle sway of hundreds of towering helakyon trees. Masked by mist, each spiraling stalk sparkled with dozens of celeste bulbs, faint blue jewels twinkling in the rolling fog like stars swathed in nebulae. He drew a long draught of air with a distant gaze, one of yearning to be free from the soil, followed by a heavy sigh of surrender.
"Captain Rai-Onra?" Placidity, joyously interrupted by his first mate.
"Four hundred and eighty-eight." He spoke succinctly, as if the number was an epiphany all by itself, all to himself. The reminiscence weighing on his mind broke as his reflection in the glass faded into focus. A smile sprouted, then bloomed as he recalled the task he just completed.
"Pardon?" Tanora raised a quizzical brow, stopping an arm's reach beside him.
"Four hundred and eighty-eight." Hoshi nodded to his mirrored self, before meeting Tanora face to face. His joy was welcomed, but seemingly spontaneous. Confusedly, she glanced through the tempered glass and to the fog-smothered turquoise sea that captivated the captain when she rounded the corner.
She raised a quizzical brow, "You mean the trees?"
"No! No no!" His boisterous laughter flooded the corridor. Hoshi tapped the glass with his index, drawing attention not to the plateau, but the sound itself. "No! The windows Tanora! Four hundred and eighty-eight!" He shook his head in gleeful disbelief, hands propped on his hips in lightly balled fists. "I can't believe it."
"Let me guess, two more than last time?" Tanora couldn't help but begin a smile at the corners of her own lips, her captain's spritely mood too infectious to fight.
"You would think! But no! Three more!" His cheer bubbled with his words, "How does Eitchten do it?"
"Captain Rai-Onra, I don't mean to intrude on your hourly paces, but the Belphemon received orders from Asib-"
"Asibanasa!" Hoshi's eyes widened with his interjection, snapping onto Tanora in riveting anticipation. "What does the old lord want with my ship? Is it finally time to ready the cannon?"
"No-"
"Oh I cannot wait!" Excitement ripped through the hallway, and without a drop of hesitation he began to parade down the corridor towards the Belphemon’s bridge. “Quickly! I need to make sure that the firing button is well polished and ready for pressing- did you know that I took a look inside the EC 432-04 Rail Cannon’s diagnostics, and found that…” Hoshi’s voice trailed off faster than Tanora’s pace could keep up.
“Captain Rai-Onra!” She raced after her ecstatic captain. “Captain Rai-Onra!”
“...and so- well, basically, I bypassed the total amount of energy that can be built up in a single charge of the Star Cannon.” As Tanora finally caught up to his brisk pace, she was met with his oblivious smile. Between racing breath and heart, she stepped out in front of him.
“She said to stand down!”
Hoshi’s smile ceased with his stride- a sudden stop now that Tanora’s decree had planted herself within his direct path. She met his gaze, catching the bewilderment in his eyes snuff out his enthusiasm. Quickly, she attempted to dispel his confusion, “Captain Rai-Onra. Asibanasa has grounded the Belphemon. It is not to fire the Star Cannon.”
“Wha-” Puzzlement sank deeper into disappointment. Perplexed brows capsized to discontent. His sudden pout pained her, but beneath a tenuous, calm facade, she rallied her words.
“Explicit orders. They’re heading to a sister site of the Nasykranvik excavation, and Asibanasa is switching the priority of the Belphemon from engagement to surveillance.” Her stifled throat mustered the strength to swallow the dry pit choking her.
“Surveillance? I-” A scoff of disbelief. “I didn’t come here to be a glorified radar.” Tanora frowned with her captain, but also at him.
“It’s a precautionary order, to prevent any escalation.”
“Escalation?!” Hoshi’s retort lept from him, his befuddlement thick and torrid. She softened her stature with a half-teasing sigh and gentle shake of her head. Her voice broke through Hoshi's spurning storm.
“It is hardly a surprise, captain. Shall you argue you have the self control to not chase after the first thing that vaguely resembles a threat?”
“Yes, well…” Hoshi rocked his head, and with pursed lips, weighed different situations within his thoughts. Tanora couldn’t help but shake her own. She amused herself imagining what wild scenarios he was fabricating where he would not use the largest railgun ever constructed, given the opportunity. She took two paces forward to console him. She offered a soft smile of solace.
“You are a brilliant captain. But if it’s not explicitly stated, you do tend to read between the lines of your orders.” She chuckled, hoping her bashfulness would lure that bracing joy back to his face. She leaned forward with teasing memories on her mind, “Recall the twelfth time?”
Hoshi opened his mouth, but any words he may have spoke faded like smoke. Glorious memories of the twelfth time surfaced - intoxicated him - when he sailed the Belphemon into the azure atmosphere and spiraling cyclones of Burmorne. A drunken happiness bent his lips into a grin as the sensations flooded back to him. The stench of ozone. The bitter flavor of ammonia. Blazing bolts blinding him as he and his ship were tossed and burned and drenched by the vortex of the gas giant. Exhilarating.
Eventually, he nodded, accepting his defeat at the hands of his own impulsiveness. But, with a newfound resolve, Hoshi snapped his posture upright to match the pride in his heart. He met Tanora’s expectant eyes with a booming proclamation, “If the Belphemon is to be the eyes and ears of our lady lord, then my ship will be the finest appendages Serath could ever devise!”
Hoshi resumed his gleeful march down the corridor, face fixed forward, intent upon fulfilling his duty to perfection and an inch. Tanora’s outstretched hand was left without purchase from Hoshi’s sudden departure, her empty palm yearning to comfort him. To be there for him. A resigned sigh bled from her heart as she dragged her feet, head hung to the polished tiling. Only the captain’s voice remained as he rounded the corner, sinking ever deeper into his ship, moving ever further beyond her reach.
“One, two, three, four…”