The Bridge

The bridge of Cynder's starship, controlled by drones

Cynder stepped onto the bridge through a portal inset into the wall. A drone clicked and whirred questioningly at her.

"Would you set up one of the quarters for a small group of wolves, my dear Lieutenant?"

The drone clicked affirmatively and went into the turbo lift to carry out the order.

Creekstone walked in behind her. "Nice shindigs."

Featherkite, Shadow and Chessru came through.
"It looks like the human ship..." Chessru mumbled.

Swiftwing stepped through, and the portal fizzled, showing only the wall behind it.

"It's not - It's my realm, the Starship Cynder. I only ask that you do not venture into the armoury, engineering or into any of the cargo bays unattended, and allow the drones to do their work. They will not harm you in any way, so leave them in peace, and by injuring them you may set off a shipwide lockdown. Being trapped in a corridor with drones hunting you to your doom is not a pretty thought."

With that, a drone clicked questioningly at her, his little robot eyes whizzing from the small group to Cynder.

"If they want something, get it for them. Send out a message to all the drones aboard and send a message up to Chef to prepare some venison." The drone nodded, and continued his work.

Shadow looked over at Chessru.
"My son is older than me" He burst out laughing. Featherkite was too busy watching the drones fascinatingly.
"They have human ranks though" Chessru pointed out.

Creekstone looked at a drone, tilting his head and wanting to see what was inside it. "No blood or heart, or lungs..." he said to himself. "Like Wingspan's wolves."

"I suppose they're control-able minions" Featherkite caught onto what Creekstone said.

He didn't respond. Studying the drone, he sniffed it for any scent of flesh. None.

"So he is." Cynder said to Shadow disinterestedly, then turned to Chessru. "Some of the drones are more intelligent, more advanced, more able to make decisions. The less advanced ones are Crewman, the more intelligent ones have ranks like Ensign, Lieutenant and Commander. The less intelligent bots can only take orders from bots with a higher status, just like in a Clan. This prevents crewman bots ordering the destruction of the ship." Cynder explained. "To tell, you need to see how many gold pips are on the head. None is crewman, one is Ensign, two is Lieutenant and Three is Commander."

"And you are their captain, correct?" Chessru questioned, clearly interested.

"Correct." Cynder nodded. "Now to finding your phoenix-blooded friend."

"I can't be in the same place as her" Featherkite muttered quietly.
"If Daybreak has her, he's a higher number" Chessru added.

"Are we still worried about her?" Creekstone said under his breath.

"...I don't know" Featherkite mumbled.

"Daybreak's downfall has always been in his minions. Where do you think I got the drones from? We'll take a few with us. Now..."

Cynder wandered over to the panel.

"I need some of Brook's DNA. Even a distant relative will do." She eyed the crowd.

"Cynder?" Swiftwing said. "I remember Mother saying that my grandmother was Brook's mother. So would I do?"

Cynder nodded. "I'm going to have to draw blood though."

Creekstone turned his attention to the others and sat down to watch.

Swiftwing nicked her paw with a tooth and held it out to Cynder. She cautiously dabbed it onto a panel which whirred and hummed. Then, a strand of DNA popped up.

"Swiftwing's DNA" She explained. Tapping the console a few times, another strand of DNA popped up.

"And Brook's."

With a few more whirrs, the computer popped up a window.

"She's in Winter Country, the realm of Kaiti. But... another signal suggests.."

She paled.

"Suggests she's in Daybreak's White Queen chesspiece."

"Thought so..." Chessru muttered.

"I don't think she's there, but the DNA's so fresh, it's confusing the system. I think Daybreak must have tortured her, then taken her to Kaiti's realm. On the other hand, I'm not sure whether we can even rescue her whilst she's there. I hope, pray even, she can find a way out." Cynder concluded unhappily.

"Daybreak must have got wind of our plan" Shadow muttered grumpily.

"He must have. I could probably drop a portal somewhere near the border of Winter Country, but I can't guarantee anything." Cynder growled softly.

"And Daybreak could always come here, right?" Chessru sighed.

"Kind of." Cynder said. "Most of the ship I protect to the point Daybreak would have some difficulty, except the airlocks. And they're always guarded.

"Can't he just walk in anyhow?" Shadow piped up.