A job. Grav Lines. A hacker. A greenhorn.
Sublevel twenty-three proves to be exactly what Domitia envisioned it to be—a mostly gutted maintenance level kept alight by fading yellow overhead lights and chemical lamps strung up on hooks. The empty halls and service tunnels hold tales of the overworked and underpaid engineers and laborers who keep the spire alive despite how unfinished it all is.
Domitia's sabatons click and clank against the metal floors of the level, Dell keeping pace with the bellator, he makes far less noise as he hobbles along in a dull red void suit, which has been up-armored with Kevlar and ferro ceramic plates. Dell hates it; his suit never fit quite right, leaving him with slightly too big boots and his tail in a too-tight sleeve. He usually left most of the void work to Domitia while he piloted the *Providence*. Yet, he felt the need to tag along.
"A lot of wrenches need to turn on this gig. I'm pretty good at that," He rationalized while they were suiting up on the ship.
It made sense to Domitia, although now that she could hear the grunts and grumbles from Dell over the com-link, she began to suspect that he was regretting his decision to tag along. As they made their way through the level, a figure in a reinforced orange voidsuit turned the corner. The visor of the helmet was down, preventing Domitia from seeing the face of the person, but judging by the wrist mounts on the suit and the data-slicing kit on his belt, probably a net-head of some kind.
"Ah, you--" The figure stops halfway through his greeting before falling onto his back in shock. "You! Oh fuck!" He scrambles to his feet and darts away.
Domitia pauses, blinking for a moment; a strange sense of familiarity comes over her. Dell steps around the corner, whistling.
"He can move, that's certain." Dell remarks, "Know him?"
The bellator's armor clanks together as she shrugs, "No clue. You?"
"Don't think I've had the pleasure," Dell remarks. "Come on, he looked like he was a part of the crew; let's follow."
The pair of bounty hunters follow after the scrambling net-head, the sounds of his escape audible throughout the whole of the level. It becomes apparent that something had gotten in his way as the sound of voices echoing down the hall replace the frantic footsteps.
"--A fucking bellator! The boss hired a fucking bellator!"
"Wait, really?!"
"Yeah, and she'll kill me! She knows--"
The conversation ends as the bounty hunters round another corner to find an open bulkhead door, the net-head quickly hiding behind the other void-suit-wearing figure. With her helmet off, it's clear she's a felius, her fur shaven off, revealing her pink, wrinkly skin. Her hairless ears twitch a little upon looking over the pair of bounty hunters, teeth clicking together.
"You the hired guns?"
"Got that right, I'm Dell, she's Domitia."
"Clara," She points behind her, "You know this loser?"
Domitia thinks it over for a moment: " You were working with Vinnie, weren't you?"
"This is honest work! I swear! Don't arrest me!" Thomas pleads.
"The fuck did he do?" Clara asks, her voice carrying annoyance rather than curiosity.
"Worked with a pirate," Domitia says flatly.
The felius turns around, grabs Thomas by the shoulder, and puts him against a wall, "You never thought to mention that?"
"Was a simple gig! I wasn't even a part of the gang!"
"You touched pirate money, you got your hands dirty all the same, and no one leaves that life clean," Clara speaks with the kind of certainty that gives Domitia an inkling of the felius' past.
"He doesn't have a price on his head," Dell says, "Trust me, we don't pass up a free lunch."
"That better be all the surprises then, net-head," Clara levels a finger at the net-head, tapping his visor. "Come on, you two, I'll introduce you to the crew."
Following Clara and Thomas, the bounty hunters find a locker room, with a good portion of it having been taken over by a workstation haphazardly added into one of the corners. Several void suits hang from hooks, and a pair of workmen feverishly check and repair them. One of them looks up, pulling his protective goggles back, his bright blue eyes blinking a few times.
"Merde, Lopez wasn't lying about big guns then, eh? " The Euro-sounding man taps his coworker on the shoulder.
Cyber eyes look up, "Well, well, well, it is a fucking bellator. Never seen one up close..."
"Cut the gawking, make sure your suits are ready. We're stepping off soon," Clara looks back over to Domitia and Dell, pointing towards the other two workers. Euro over there is Klyde; his aug buddy is Sisco. Klyde, Sisco, these are our hired guns, Domitia and Dell."
"I'd shake your hands, but I've got them full at the moment," Sisco said, then went back to work, using a plasma torch to fuse the additional plating on.
"Yes, I'm afraid we are quite occupied," Klyde says.
"Need a hand?" Dell offers as he steps on over, "Just reinforcing or checking for holes?"
"Both. It's a constant war against the elements on this monde." Klyde curses, "Plates! Stay there!"
Dell gets in there, holding the plate tight against the suit, "Trick is keeping pressure, any air underneath it will ignite with the plasma, cause bulging."
"Yes I am well aware," Klyde says as Dell holds it tight for him, "Too much to do. Too little time to do it."
"Sounds about right," Dell remarks.
"We have a time limit?" Domitia asks.
"Storm rolling in soon," Clara says, "It'll make working on their impossible. We got relatively clear weather for the moment. Boss wants to get in, and get out as quickly as possible. Speaking off, we're missing some..."
"Aiden and Ike are already on the train; I think Marsia is with them."
"And it's rolling in faster than we expected." Lopez marches in, having already suited up, his helmet in hand, "Klyde, Sisco, you two ready?"
"Suits are in okay enough shape." Sisco says with a sigh, "Boss, why now--"
"Alta and his boys are already in the air." Lopez announces as he puts his helmet on, "My 'distraction' will only buy us a little time."
There is a rumble as something mechanical comes to life and bolts forth. Domitia and Dell share a curious glance at one another as Sisco snaps his metalic fingers.
"That was Car Three-Three, right?"
"Sent off towards the central station," Lopez says, "Should be a good enough distraction."
"Shame. I quite enjoyed that rust bucket." Sisco says, "Suit'll be on in a minute."
"You got less than that." Lopez nods, "Come on, let's get to the train."
The bounty hunters follow after Lopez, Clara, and Thomas follow after them. They follow Lopez through a doorway and out into the immense space of the rail yard. The buzz of grav-haulers and cargo drones fills the air. Many of the trains have crews feverishly working to clean and maintain them, running cleansing mixtures over their hulls while others are getting new coats of paint. Their cargo is mostly liquid ammonia, charged with energy generated from the capture fields out in the wastes. The winds of the planet combined with the geothermal energy generate enough jewels of energy to charge whole fleets within a day or two. Or so Lopez says.
As they make their way through the yard, most of the other work crews steer clear of the advancing group. Some come close to greeting Lopez or Clara but seem to shrink away as soon as they see the imposing sight of the bellator and her grumlian companion resting on her shoulder.
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The mag rail trains where similar to ones on Janus Station - large, boxy craft, resting upon two rails which crackle with energy. 'Car Four-One' is written on on the side of the engine, the car behind it is completely sealed, more than likely to create a safe place for workers to stay in, while the third and final car is an open work area, with rusting tool boxes and spare parts kept in wire containers lining the sides of it.
There is no safety briefing from Lopez, so Domitia presumes the normal, 'don't be daft' policies apply. Stepping aboard the car she sees it's more than just a work area, but a tiny home away from home. Cots are built into one side of the train, with personal effects and decorum lining the walls of the train car. A small kitchen sat on the opposite end, a repurposed tool box acting as a table, stools and boxes acting as the chairs.
Inside, three other workers can be found; one of them is in the process of losing a game of chess, a thin, pale human with white-gold hair, and his opponent, a konii, or so Domitia thinks, their helmet's on, but the extensions for the ears make it rather obvious. A third worker is looking into a mirror, trying to tie up her hair to make it fit easier into the helmet.
"Cozy," Dell remarks as he steps aboard.
"Like you wouldn't even believe," Sisco steps aboard, hauling a large metal box with Klyde's help, setting it down in a far corner of the car, securing it with mag-holders. "Also, intros, blondie is Aiden, konii is Ike, and the beauty queen is Marsia."
Aiden looks up from the game, blinking a few times, "We got a combat drone?"
"No, dumbass, that's a bellator." Ike says, placing another piece down, "Check."
"Fuck the game," Aiden steps up to Domitia, looking up at her with wide blue eyes, "Fuck. I didn't know they were real."
"We are. And we don't like being stared at." Domitia curtly says.
"O-Oh!" Aiden steps away, "Sorry, it's just... I've seen a lot of Space Knight reels... I'm just a bit star-struck."
"Cut the chatter and get ready. Marsia, get this train rolling; Ike and Aiden, get on up there with her." Lopez steps onto the train.
"Got it, boss," Marcia puts her helmet on, "Let's get this old bitch rolling, fellas."
"Weather outside is relatively calm, who knows, maybe will get a peak at the sun." Lopez says as he closes the door behind them. "Get settled, it'll be a minute before we arrive."
Domitia found a spot to sit at the back of the car by a window, Dell sitting down next to her, finding a perch on a clear, sturdy-looking shelf. The car rocks as the engine starts up, and a low hum fills the air as the train begins to pull out of the station. The acceleration reminds Domitia of a ship leaving orbit, and before she knows it, the train exits the tower. The rail it rides upon rests hundreds of meters above the surface and begins to descend downward at a rapid rate, going round and round the tower as it does. Dell is barely able to cling to the shelf, kept there only by the momentum of the car. Domitia looks out her window and sees the same angry sky that had greeted her before, but then it vanishes as the train dips below the clouds.
A moment later, she can see a different sky.
A faint pink horizon dominates a flat landscape, and bolts of blue light pepper the surface from time to time. In those brilliant cyan flashes, the ghosts of valleys and canyons can be seen, and as the train descends further and further down, the jagged, rocky terrain becomes far easier to see. The rail flows down into one of those valleys, and a brief sight of onyx tinged with magenta is seen before they are below ground, racing through one of those valleys.
Inside, the bellator sees life. Strange, glowing plants line the walls, with vines that seem to reach out, extending tendrils that move on their own will. Four-legged beasts with black and red skin and heads more akin to flowers seem to watch the train pass, long bioluminescent tentacles seemingly following the movements of the train as it went past.
"Holy fuck." Dell remarks as he leaps from the shelf, landing on Domitia's shoulder. He looks out into the valley and says, "There's life in this hell hole?"
"Dangerous fauna, too." Sisco denotes, "Company never disclosed that there were aliens here. Let alone that they were hostile."
"Sapients?" Domitia asks.
"There have been rumors, but nothing ever confirmed," Klyde answers.
"Would be wild," Clara adds, "Being the first to encounter other, soul-having, beings."
"Havin' a soul ain't got anything to do with it," Dell counters, "Just matter of the ol' pink matter between the ears... Or wherever the thinker is."
"You don't believe in a soul?" Asks Clara.
"I believe in what I can see," Dell answers, a hint of contempt in his words.
"Oh come on," Clara exclaims, she pointing at the two bounty hunters, "In your time out in the void, surely you've seen things that go beyond explanation?"
"Explanation, sure, but that doesn't mean it's magic or some other crap." Dell waves dismissively, "I mean, I get why people believe in a god or some other mess, but to me, it ain't no comfort. On top of that, why would I scare myself with business about ghosts or ghouls? Ain't there enough scary things in the galaxy?"
"He makes a good point, Clara," Klyde adds, removing his helmet to light up a cigarette, "Why worry about things you can't understand."
"Cause you still have to deal with them," Clara counters, her eyes narrowing on Klyde, "In case you don't know or forgot, we're happening to go up against something akin to the supernatural."
"Oh please," Klyde rolls his eyes, "Probably some corpo experiment got loose."
"That doesn't worry you?" Thomas meekly asks.
"I'll worry about it once I finish my smoke." Klyde takes a long drag on the smoke, "Besides, we have her," He points at the Bellator, "Are you seriously worried about anything with that walking tank with us?"
"Should have some care," Domitia adds to the conversation, "Just because I'm here, doesn't mean you don't have to watch your sector."
"She's right," Lopez steps in, pulling the smoke from Klyde's fingers and putting it out on the pauldron of his suit, "I've told you before, Euro-Trash, no smoking on my car."
Klyde exhales the rest of the smoke from his nose. "Fine."
"We're going to be hitting the first station, Thomas, I'll need your expertise," Lopez says, motioning to Thomas.
"What am I doing exactly, boss?" Thomas asks, rolling his shoulders.
"I'll need you to slice into the system and bypass the safety locks. It'll allow us to switch the tracks to get us where we need to go." The veteran explains.
"You... sure it's safe?" Dell asks.
"Safe enough," Lopez says, "Helmets on, train's arriving at the station."
As Lopez announces that, he kicks the steel box Klyde and SIsco brought aboard, it popping open, revealing a stash of weapons. Nothing too high grade, a handful of SMGs and PDWs. Not an arsenal, but good hold out weapons incase things went wrong. Dutifully, Clara begun passing them out. The workmen look them over, checking and stowing the weapons on their suits.
The car begun to slow, coming to a abrupt stop which causes Domitia to shift, and Dell to leap off the shelf and onto Domitia's shoulder. The doors of the train open into a airlock, Domitia following behind the rest of the workers, the doors closed behind them, and then the airlock depressurized and the doors out onto the surface of Ifrit opened.
The bounty hunters follow the workers out onto a platform lit by fading orange lights, the shadow of the cliffs above shrouding the work area in darkness. Around the platform, the same glowing fauna from before lit up the edges of the valley. Domitia is no expert at biology, but she could guess that the 'things' that seem rooted to the dirt were probably a form of the plant. The way the 'vines' moved from them gave her thoughts of coral, so it's probably an incorrect assertion to make.
Exploring the platform a bit more she finds what you expect in a work area, shipping containers, dead batteries, empty ammonia cannisters. All of it having a tinge of rust and decay across it, indicating to her that this had been left to waste for sometime.
"Looks like this place has seen better days," Domitia observes over the open comm.
"The place used to service an energy farm is not far from here. Bad storm knocked it out." Lopez explains.
"No one thought to fix it? Just leaving money on the table there." Dell adds.
"Yeah, well, bosses aren't exactly smart." Sisco chimes in. "Hey, uh, who else is here?"
Domitia is about to ask what Sisco is talking about when she sees it: another train. From what she can tell, it's still running by how it rests on the tracks, but the amount of rust and decay across it tells her that no one has been keeping up with maintaining it.
"Didn't... Didn't we lose that engine? Six-Six right?"
"Another mystery for later." Lopez cuts in, "Come one, we got work to do."
Domitia finds a good spot infront of the switch station and motions for Dell to rest his SMG on her shoulder for better stability, "How long are we going to be here?"
"I don't know. Thomas, how long does it take to work your magic?" Clara asks.
"System is ancient, but in the good sort of way, I should be able to brute force in..."
Something catches Domitia's attention; a strange sensation causes her eyes to sting and her mind to go a bit blank. Something is there, out in the foliage; she knows it's there, yet her actual eyes can't see anything. It's simply a void, a place where she should be seeing something but instead is seeing fauna. The thing that tips her off about it is how fuzzy and precise it looks as if it were not the actual fauna, but the thought of what it might look like made manifest.
"Is it true you guys have two brains?"
Domitia spins around, nearly launching Dell off her shoulder, seeing Aiden standing before her, she knows it's Aiden cause of the 'Space Knights V' sticker on his helmet. She personally thought the movie was fine, just fine, inaccurate and completely full of itself, but fine.
"Two what?" Domitia asks.
"Buddy, this might not be the best time to talk," Dell adds as he regains his bearings, "We're on the clock."
"I know and... I know we're up against so nasty stuff, maybe, I don't know. Lopez said he needed some additional hands, so I volunteered." Aiden says, "But like, I also get to meet a bellator, which is cool."
Domitia furrows her brow underneath her helmet; she almost wants to smack the kid for not paying attention. Yet a far more innocent part of her feels some kinship with Aiden - he's still curious about the galaxy, his soul yet to be crushed under the endless march of misery that it can bring. So, she decides to play along a bit.
"No. We don't have two brains."
"But what about the second mind? It's a big part of the movies. That's how Ney was able to transfer his memories after he died." Aiden questions.
"Well... Listen, the Legacy is a complicated matter." Domitia tries her best to explain, "It does contain combat data from previous bearers, and does assist with muscle memory and reaction time..." Domitia trails off as another void grows near.
This time it's unmistakable, there's something there, yet something is occluding her perception of whatever it is. She focuses, slowly allowing her Legacy to take hold, her target landing up. There is some voice on the outside, asking her something, but her focus on the entity causes her to filter it out entirely as Sejanus focuses on it.
There is a sudden beam of light that causes Domitia to snap back into control, her gaze looking upward. A ship of some kind hovered above the station, lights beaming down from it, making it difficult for Domitia to make it out. Two large, stout forms landed on the rusting platforms, lights beaming from their hulls. Domitia's helm identified them as shells, armored exoskeletons, one arm holding a shield and the other an HMAR. Alongside the Shells, a half dozen more figures descended afterward on Ion Thrusters. At the head of them, a humanoid in an up-armored void suit landed a fancy-looking ion pistol in one hand, an ornate shock maul in the other.
"Alright! Funs over, Lopez!"