It took the Archangel a day and a half to reach the rendezvous point within dark space between the Eldora and Baku systems. It was empty space surrounded by the two distant solar systems backed by the vastness of a spiral arm that gave existence a gentle array of color in contrast of the blackness of space.

Morrigan considered it a beautiful sight, one of very few things ultimately untouched by the hands of man, so beautiful that she spent the night on the ravaged sofa and dozed off to the sea of lights.

Nora and Mo’Emori had celebrated the engagement all night, disappointed that Morrigan had not joined in their merriment however, it had been a long time since Morrigan had truly been able to relax. Despite wishing to join her lovers, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to finally be at peace just by spending the night staring out into the void and absentmindedly pet Skoll as he lay against the length of the sofa. Even though her plan hadn’t worked out perfectly, it had still come together well enough to make it work which left her worry free for the moment. After all, Morrigan knew no plan was perfect.

Her peace didn't last long as she woke up to the roar of music blaring through the Archangel’s sound system, what could only be described as hard-core pop at full volume to jolt her out of her sleep.

Jumping from the sudden noise, Morrigan fell off the sofa and landed directly into Skoll who helpfully bolted upright, protectively pinning her between his massive body and the coffee table.

“What the fuck!” she roared, barely able to hear her own voice before scrambling to sit up. She growled as she scanned her empty quarters, knowing who the taste in music belonged to. Getting up, she moved swiftly and angrily to the panel that controlled the speakers in and killed the music blaring within her room.

Fucking hell, I thought this shit died out decades ago!? Apollyon complained in her mind, unnecessarily yelling over the sound of the now nonexistent music.

The sudden silence surrounding her gave way to a wave of disorientating pain causing her to sway on her feet. Luckily, Skoll knowing Morrigan hadn't been feeling well, dashed to her side catching her before she could.

“Thanks buddy,” she groaned as she regained her footing before stumbling towards her bedroom only to growl as found her bed empty. She knew Nora was behind the music though it did make Morrigan question how she managed to play it over the entirety of the ship.

“Sister?” She called out only to not receive a response as she waited a moment. It dawned on her that the music was playing through the communication channels though that still didn't answer as to why Sister did not respond.

With a huff, she looked back into the living room to see Skoll pawing at his ears, as if the level of the music was too much for him as well, which didn't surprise her given she could faintly hear it through her entry door. “Yeah sweetie, I agree,” she said gently, though her voice still held her irritation as she walked back into the living room. she gently folded his ear down as she held his head against her side in an attempt to protect him from the noise from beyond her room.

The way Skoll gave her a snort in gratitude gave her an idea. A small, devilish smile crept across her face as she looked at Skoll, “Find Momma Nora, sweetie,” she stated excitedly.

Skoll perked his head up and looked at her in question only for her to nod excitedly, “That’s right, go find her, go get Momma!”

The giant canine’s energy shot through the roof as he stamped his pads and let out a playful husky growl before beginning to sniff the ground for her scent, sifting through the variety of smells within the room. The moment he found Nora’s scent though, Skoll bolted to the door and scratched at it with his massive paws.

Please tell me you’re putting an end to that awful noise? Apollyon inquired, groaning in irritation.

“Yeah, Skoll will find her,” she thought in response, wincing at the sound of her own inner voice.

Thank me, Apollyon sniped in relief as she caught up with Skoll and opened the door to her quarters. The second it opened the massive canine leapt through nearly crashing into a passing administrator and began sniffing the ground.

Morrigan never realized just how soundproof her quarters were until she opened the door with music blaring throughout her ship. However, she had no time to contemplate the structure of her room as the splitting headache throbbed and Skoll, having figured out which direction Nora had gone, took off running.

Skoll had no regard for anyone in his way when it came to his mission to find Nora, running into passing personnel with reckless abandon and leaving Morrigan to hastily apologize as she trailed behind. Not that anyone could hear her.

Before she could become more annoyed by the excessive music, the freight elevator cleared out, pouring a dozen workers into the corridor and barely allowing her to watch Skoll slink onto it. Catching up, she found the giant canine sitting as if waiting patiently, though the sharp bark said otherwise. Morrigan rolled her eyes before stepping into the elevator and considered for a moment how to handle Skoll tracking Nora in an elevator.

To her disappointment, there was only one viable option and that was to go to each level and see if he picked up her scent once again. Floor after floor, Skoll would sniff the elevator floor for a moment before sniffing the air each deck greeted him with. It wasn’t until they stopped just before R&D did Skoll’s attention get captured, shifting out into the corridor as he sniffed the ground before heading down toward the stern of the ship.

Even though her head hurt, the length it was taking to find Nora was enough to let her anger wane and as she followed Skoll, she began to pick up the emotions of the ship. Everyone she passed, and those she didn’t, gave off more positive emotions which made her wonder why everyone seemed to be in good moods. Even passing by one of the hangers, Morrigan noticed that some of those working were partially enraptured by the music; lazily dancing as they worked or simply bobbing their heads to the beat.

As much as it grated her nerves, she could see how lively everyone was being, thanks to the music. However,  before she could make any more conclusions, Skoll stopped at a storage room door.

“Stay,” she commanded, watching Skoll sit by the door and huff before she entered the room.

Somehow, the music seemed to be louder within the room. To her surprise, Morrigan found Aleksei in the room entirely focused on an old drawing board, a series of complex chemical compositions and math equations scrawled across it from one end to the other. At a quick glance it was all gibberish to her.

To her amusement, Nora stood across the room bent over a workbench shaking her butt to the current song playing. Morrigan couldn’t help but smirk as she watched her girlfriend sway side to side, fully enraptured in whatever she was doing.

“Nora,” Morrigan called out, her voice drowned out by the sound of music. “Nora!” she called out louder, her frustration growing once again over the volume. Looking to her right, she found a data-slate haphazardly spliced into the wall panel next to the door. Her brow furrowed at the slapdash version of hacking Nora had attempted, under no illusion that it could possibly been successful.

Reaching and ripping the data-slate from the panel immediately ended music. However, when she looked back, Nora still danced, her focus complete unfazed by the newfound silence.

“Nora!” Morrigan shouted crisply, causing Aleksei to jump despite having his attention pulled by the abrupt silence.

“That’s me!” Nora chirped with manic energy. Her head rocketing up in unbridled excitement before turning to find Morrigan standing across the room with an annoyed expression on her face.

“Baby!” she cried, “I made a thing! Come, look, look, look!” Nora demanded excitedly, completely oblivious to her lover’s ire.

To Nora’s credit, Morrigan couldn’t help but find her antics so adorable that the irritation and anger bled away near instantly, eliciting a defeated smile and sigh as she stepped forward.

Entertaining her energy, Morrigan walked up to the table, watching as her girlfriend knelt down and adoringly stared at the device on the table, her lips resting against the backs of her fingers that held the edge of the table. “Its so pretty!” Nora forced out in a loud whisper.

Sitting on the table was a set of grenades, which confused Morrigan since the Inquisition had a wide variety of ordinance; however, taking a closer look revealed strange oddities about the device. In a sense, it was an older style grenade with a safety pin and striker lever. More so, the shell was riddled with uniform holes, large enough that she could stick the tip of her finger in them. Another key thing she noticed was that it wasn’t filled, the core of the grenade was completely exposed which made even less sense.

“Ummm…” Morrigan started, attempting to sort out the nature of the weapon before eventually asking what it was. Nora didn’t need her to ask though as she explained in a burst of energy.

“Aleksei helped me! See, these grenades have little holes in them and when I do this,” she paused, picking up a grenade and showing it to Morrigan. A moment later a soft mist of frigid air surrounded the device allowing Morrigan to watch small crystalline spikes grow out of it. However, before she could even make an expression regarding how she felt about it, Nora exclaimed, “Isn’t it awesome? They’re mage grenades! See, watch!”

Without a second thought, or possibly an initial thought, Nora pulled the pin and tossed the grenade towards the corner that was left of the bench, having it fall behind a nondescript crate and causing Morrigan to panic. “Seriously!?” She cried out as she moved Nora behind her and summoned a wall of energy that sealed off that corner of the room.

Two seconds later, the grenade went off with an impressive amount of power as Morrigan felt the impact against her shield before letting it fall. All the while Nora giggled and clapped like a child as she saw the devastation her creation caused. From the shards of ice that were embedded deep within the thick walls of metal that surrounded them to the entirely eviscerated crate and whatever contents that it once contained, even Morrigan, despite how momentarily furious she was, could appreciate the results.

We made her more dangerous, I love this man! Apollyon mused in her head.

“Are you crazy?” Morrigan demanded, turning on her giddy lover,, “Why would you do that in here!”

Nora merely laughed, grabbing ahold of Morrigan’s cheeks, “To show you, duh! I knew you had it.  Wasn’t it amazing?”

Near the edge of her wits, Morrigan looked to Aleksei to start reaming him out for giving her explosives only to snort as she saw him crouched in front of the drawing board, casually adding something to an equation while holding up some sort of metal pan to shield him from Nora’s antics.

“I don’t think that would’ve saved you,” she commented offhandedly, realizing it was no use being mad seeing as something would disarm her within the room at every turn. It also served to ease her headache by letting her frustration go though it didn’t help it disappear.

Aleksei looked up towards the damage and snickered, dropping the random pan, “That worked better than I thought.”

“Right!?” Nora confirmed with enormous pride, all the while Morrigan sighed once again.

“Babe, what the hell was with the music?” Morrigan asked, returning to the original issue, turning back to Nora. “I have a splitting headache,” she added.

“Aweeee,” Nora cooed before giving her a hug and kissing her forehead with more enthusiasm than necessary.

Instead of answering the question though, Sister interjected the answer. “I can explain. Ms. Flannigan inquired about playing music across the Archangel and after explaining to her that it was against protocol to use the audio systems for non-process purposes, Ms. Flannigan explained that music made people happier and more productive.”

Morrigan blinked several times before pointing out, “That doesn't answer my question, or explain that,” she stated, pointing to the semi-broken wall panel even though she knew Sister had no visual registry within the room.

“After reviewing the Archangel’s productivity reports, I determined that there had been a gap, one that signified a decrease in productivity. To determine if what Ms. Flannigan said was true, I offered to give a preliminary test before having a request for protocol change sent to you, “ Sister explained.

“See! I told you it was a good idea!” Nora chirped only for Morrigan to silence her by holding a finger up.

Thinking about it made her head hurt, “Yes, music can make people more positive and productive. There is no reason to play it that loud though!” she complained before rubbing her temples, “Sister..  if you want to perform social experiments that’s fine but don’t do it over the general communication channels! And if you’re going to play music, do it at a reasonable level…”

“Understood, Lord Inquisitor. I apologize for any distress that has been caused. I will create a specified audio channel,” Sister said before going silent. All the while Nora wrapped her arms around Morrigan from behind and pulled her close.

“I’m sorry baby,” she cooed. “Everyone has been kinda bored and meh lately so I thought they could use a little pick me up,” Nora stated sheepishly, pressing her lips against Morrigan’s shoulder as she nuzzled her neck.

Awee, don’t belittle the girl for trying to reach the pinnacle of devastation, Apollyon lightly admonished her.

“She just threw a grenade, in a small room…” Morrigan thought back, her inner voice riding the dissipating steam of her anger.

Sure, but one doesn’t learn to raze worlds without earning a couple of scars. How many times did I save you from yourself? Let the girl have her fun, Apollyon countered in a grandfatherly tone.

It wasn’t surprising that the deity supported increasing the output of violence, but the way Apollyon spoke made it seem like it genuinely cared about Nora’s feelings, which was odd to Morrigan. “Yeah, but she doesn’t have a god to keep her from killing herself…”

Sliding her hands gently along Nora's arms and taking a calming breath, Morrigan leaned back and rubbed the side of her head against Nora’s forehead, “Its okay sweetie, to be fair, people are genuinely happier,” Morrigan noted before slowly turning in Nora’s arms and taking hold of her face, “Just promise me that if you’re going to be designing weapons… just test them out in the training ranges,” she begged before side eyeing Aleksei and adding, “And under supervision.”

Nora grinned from ear to ear before giving Morrigan a quick, hard kiss. “You got it!” she chirped before pulling away and scooping up her grenades in her arms and bolting for the door.

Just before the door closed behind her, Nora exclaimed, “Hey! No! You can’t play fetch with these,” as Skoll growled incessantly at her.

Morrigan chuckled to herself as she shook her head, “What even is my life?”

Aleksei chuckled to himself as he stared at his work, intensely focusing on one of the mathematical equations. “Glorious, Boss,” he commented absentmindedly.

She couldn’t help but snort as she approached the board, taking a closer look at what he was working on, “So, what’s this?” she inquired.

Standing to his full height only to sit back on a crate beside her, Aleksei began to explain, “Finding chemical ratio. We can’t just fill warhead and fire. So I take historical Earth atmospheric composition, calculate rate of expansion congruent to theoretical amount of Nitrogen in atmosphere to establish amount of Kruosten IV we need in warhead.”

Morrigan stared blankly, attempting to use the man’s explanation to make sense of all of the math and chemistry written before her. She could vaguely understand the chemical compositions but outside of that, she hadn’t a clue.

“Will it… will this cause a problem? Like, will it dissolve or something once the fighting is over?” Morrigan asked nervously, realizing she never considered the repercussions of releasing a global chemical into Earth’s atmosphere.

Aleksei snickered as he sensed her nervousness, “No worries. It is harmless. As said before, only until Proycium is introduced. Eventually, Thurmerg breaks down when exposed to oxygen over long periods of time. So, eventually it becomes argon if left alone.”

Morrigan let out a sigh of relief, “Okay, good… when will this be ready?”

The giant Russian man hummed to himself as he considered the answer, “I am nearly done. Danson is figuring out material needed for warhead,” he stated before explaining in further depth, “We need warhead to break up mid-atmosphere. So thickness and type of metal is important. But, once he figures it out… week? Week and a half?”

Despite not being 100% sure, Morrigan was satisfied with his answer, “Good. I can work with that,” she said as anxious excitement began to flutter in her chest. Soon, she would draw Amaranthe out into the open and dangle his head in front of all to see and then, the war would be over. Soon, she could focus on her own life.

“Keep up the good work,” she said, patting the big man on the arm before heading to the door.

“You bet,” he responded. “Oh, boss!” he exclaimed, reclaiming her attention, “Congratulations,” he said with a wide grin as he imitated an obscenely round belly.

Morrigan looked down in a moment of embarrassment to find that she was barely showing at all before giving the man a sharp, pointed glare. She wasn't angry though as her pointed look relaxed into a soft smile, “Thanks.”