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Though she almost never needed either, Eva simply liked the way they felt on her. Rather, she never truly felt complete without them.

And certainly their presence helped give her a wide berth as she walked.

The Discordians all around her pretty much knew who she was and what she was capable of. They were all made wholly aware of all their capabilities. As a result, the pirates mostly treated the Ravens incredibly genially during their entire stay on the fleet.

Others avoided them for all sorts of reasons, though seeing one of them even moderately armed was good enough.

Most took a step or to and got out of her way, politely. Not that she was caring too much whether they did or didn’t, but it at least allowed her EyeCast to orbit without hitting anyone by accident.

She glanced around at the busy market all around her, and noted just how lively it all was. People in stalls called out to shoppers all around, and pointed them towards their wares. As Eva had seen in many of the more lawless cities and colonies, most of what they sold were weapons, armor, food, meds, and intoxicants.

Others sold more eclectic personal items or various sundries, such as hab decor, clothing, electronics, toys, and various types of tools.

.....

Eva noted that this was only one of the many shopping avenues on the deck. In fact, the Market Deck on Eris’ flagship was practically an entire city on its own. It didn’t just have small shops like where Eva was walking, but it had massive warehouse stores, quaint little street shops, and everything in between.

It even had a separate currency and commodity exchange section. Throngs of people were behind its doors, where they bought and sold everything across the galaxy’s multiple exchange markets.

This was a market that went up and down the entire scale, and it existed right under Eris’ throne.

The sheer amount of power and influence washed over Eva, and shook her deeply. Just as some around her were shaken by her presence. It was a mix of fear and admiration.

“So a bunch of you have been asking why the Sol Federation’s laws are so strict, almost as strict as the Drogar,” she told her EyeCast. Or, rather, the audience that watched her through it. “A bunch of you have also given me so much flak for killing Commander Chase, saying I was too harsh.

“A few others praised me, saying he deserved it. Or that he didn’t get enough of a punishment.

“Yeah, maybe. Maybe not. Doesn’t really matter in the end. Things happened the way they did, and there can’t be any regrets about it. I’ve gotta keep moving forward no matter what. If anything, I’ve learned to take the hits, use them to grow, then put one foot in front of the other. End of story.”

Eva took a good long exhale, as though she was cleansing her soul. Then she took a deep breath in, and continued walking.

“Not that I haven’t given it all a whole lot of thought, of course. Especially to the repercussions. The biggest thing we lost was honestly being able to see Jionna. Staying on the farm every few months was always really nice. It felt like home. We’re definitely gonna miss the Laertidus, Azrael especially.

“Lucifer told me this quote ‘Man is born free, and is everywhere in chains’, and I’ve been thinking about it nonstop ever since.

“It’s made me realize that the Federation and the Empire are basically the same. They’ve got differences: The Drogar are a bit harsher, and the Federation is a bit more underhanded. But both nations are all about squeezing the wealth out of their own people. I mean, through every way they possibly can.

“I get that nations don’t just need money, but they need to control money. How much there is, and how much flows in and out. It kinda dictates how healthy the nation is, as a whole. But that doesn’t seem right to me. Nothing is dictated solely by money.

“It’s like having a High Score in a game. It’s a decent measurement of how you’re doing, but you’re playing because it’s fun, not because you want a bigger number.

“And if you are chasing that number, you’re no longer playing a game. Or maybe, you’re playing a different metagame. Either way, what the actual game is hardly matters any longer.”

As she walked through the market and rambled to herself like someone who was completely insane, a bunch of street kids began to follow her. They ducked between shadows and behind other adults as they stalked her.

And giggled playfully.

“And the reason I’ve been thinking about all this is because the Ravens are turning into a nation-state. It can’t be helped. If we detest being controlled by a nation that doesn’t have our best interest in mind, then the natural course would be to create our own nation.

“Sure, it still means we’re under a few rules – our sponsor’s limitations, and the Hegemony’s on top of them. But we still get to keep our individuality and autonomy. We get to keep control of ourselves, as long as we play nice with the others around us.

“This works for me. It works for all of us. But the question now becomes – how do we keep control of ourselves?

“History is filled with the few holding power over the many. Kings and queens and presidents and dictators. Those kinds of people. They had their councilors or cabinet or duchies or generals who helped them keep control and spread power out a bit. But otherwise, they called the shots.

“But what qualified them to have those positions? Their blood? Their wealth? Their intelligence? Their weapons? Their charisma? Their brutality?

“No matter who they were, they took what they wanted, and through force of will made everyone around them bow down. You could say some were voted in, but take a look at the Federation’s Chief Minister’s trait – he was obviously born to rule.

“His parents spared no expense in ensuring that it happened. He himself strove towards the role. They used vast amounts of their wealth to influence people of their truth. Him becoming Chief Minister certainly wasn’t an accident. They bought and sold their way into leadership.

“Is that good? Is that bad?

“In my opinion, I don’t like having people like that around me. It feels wrong to be made to idolize someone, to believe they’re some degree of amazing, simply because they, or someone equally powerful told you so.

“And how could they possibly know what their people actually want? These people have those positions for their own selves, not because the people wanted them to be there.”

Eva scoffed at the idea of that kind of leadership. She felt it was driven by ego, rather than compassion, and was as empty as the meaningless pursuit of raw wealth. And as she walked, she gathered more and more ragamuffins behind her. There were now a half dozen of them, trailing after her.

Each one looked at her with wide eyes, that of adulation. They saw someone strong and powerful and beautiful. Many wanted to be just like her.

A few began to copy how she walked.

“What’s the alternative, though? Do the Ravens simply follow the flow of the group? As some kind of collective? Or a commune? We put our faith in each other, build each other up, that sort of thing?

“No-one at the top, ever. Just people who have needs that are provided by whoever that can. Everyone looking out for everyone else. Living for your friends and family and neighbors, never for one’s self.

“It just sounds so idyllic and beautiful. Doesn’t that sound like paradise?”

Eva quickly waved it off.

“Doesn’t seem like the answer to me, though. There’s not enough order in it. To be perfectly honest, it would only work if everyone was selfless. The problem is, you can count on half of everyone else to be selfish. And like it or not, for everyone who’s like Azrael, a deeply selfless person, there’s people like That Idiot, who only thinks of himself.

“This disparity is at the root of humanity. We’re joined by community, but separated individually.

“So I think the only way to go forward is to be somewhere in between. Like the Hegemony, they keep order through the council of Great Houses, who in turn are supported by the Major Houses. Then the Minor Houses, and the Nation-States under them.

“It’s this vast hierarchy that sort of keeps things stable between everyone.

“Obviously, there’s still a lot of infighting and double-dealing, like with Eris undercutting the Ravens’ true sponsor. But it’s all tolerated to some degree because it’s all part of their game. The balance between everyone is ultimately kept, and no boats are rocked to the point of tipping. That’s when things start getting ratcheted down.

“The only problem is that they all still measure prosperity through a single value – their ledgers. And maybe that’s where the Ravens could come in. We could show that there’s more to wealth than the amount of credits or ducats or krohn we have.”

Eva, having long since noticed the growing kids shadowing her, began to play around with them a little. She ducked down small side alleys between stalls and hopped to the street market adjoining. Or she wove through the crowd more quickly.

And certainly, the more enterprising and agile of the kids kept up.

“If the Ravens grow into a nation, maybe not a few hundred thousand like the Temple, but just a thousand, or ten thousand... how do we keep everyone happy? Should everyone get a vote on every major change? That sounds incredibly bureaucratic, and probably not our style.

“So then do we do an electorate council type thing? Say we seven have our own ships with our own people, and we seven serve as the main ruling council. Raijin leads a crew of scientists and engineers. Xylo leads a crew of scouts and spies. That sorta thing. Does their crew’s majority vote then dictate their votes on the council itself?

“Would that be fair? I don’t know the answers... But I’m honestly excited to try. Building a nation sounds like a real challenge.”

Eva shook her head at the quandary, but she put aside her thoughts for the moment.

The kids had gotten bolder, and began to get closer and closer to her. They often even playfully waved at her EyeCast, as it spun around and caught them in its view.

She suddenly spun around with arms out, and hands clawed, as though she was a beast on the attack. But the little kids scattered in every direction, giggling and laughing as they ran into the shadows.

“Huh. I really could’ve sworn someone suuuper dangerous was following me,” she said loudly. “Guess I was just imagining things.”

With a grin, she spun around, continued her walk, and resumed her AMA.

The kids followed along as she did.