"Ouch." Creesh cried out as she dropped the box she had been attempting to move. Neirdith and Seth came running over to her and Samantha as she flapped her injured grasper while hopping around.
"Are you okay Creesh, what happened?" Seth asked worriedly as he reached her.
Neirdith's eyes widened as she saw the small swanith’s cut, from it welled a slow trickle of dark green fluid that slowly seemed to vaporize into a wisp of greenish fog. "Is your blood supposed to do that?" She heard Neirdith ask her a bit worriedly, taking a small step back.
"Yeah, that's normal, for a swanith at least, it shouldn't be dangerous. You didn't know that?" Creesh asked Neirdith.
Neirdith looked at her a bit sheepishly "Well I had read it somewhere, but it's different to see it in person ya know."
Creesh just rolled her eyes as Samantha tried to wrap a sterile bandage around her much smaller finger. "It can't be any weirder than you having bright blue blood, or Seth and Samantha both having red blood"
Samantha looked at Seth and said "Wait, you have red blood?"
Now it was Seth's turn to be surprised. Looking askance at her he replied "Yeah, humans and yeown have almost the exact same biochemical structure, it's what scientists call convergent evolution, that's why you can eat any of the meats that I can and vice-versa. You didn't get taught that in school?"
Samantha looked embarrassed before saying quietly "I never got to go to school, I had to teach myself."
"Oh…" Seth said slowly. “Well, school is overrated anyways.” He finished quickly.
Samantha looked rather dejected and Creesh tried to think of something to cheer her up. Coming to a decision she stepped forwards and reached up to scratch her friends back, the contact seemed to put her at ease and she perked up a bit before saying “Ahh, that feels nice.”
Seth just shook his head and chuckled before saying “Alrighty, we have most of what we need here already, but I need to go check with Silveena about our recent order.”
Samantha immediately said “Oh, I will come with you Seth.” But Seth shook his head at her.
“Unfortunately I need you here making sure the ship is in full working order. Don't worry I will make sure that you get your armour and gun personally, that will be okay right?”
“I guess so.” she sighed, her long furry tail swishing slowly at her feet in an upset manner.
Creesh asked Neirdith “What do you want me to do?” Neirdith looked over at Seth for a moment and then looked back to her before she replied.
“I want you to go with Seth and make sure nothing seems amiss. I know that your background makes you uniquely qualified in this field, and that you might be uncomfortable with this, but you are the closest thing we have to a weapons expert on board. Gloom only ever uses a Tesla projector.” She said flatly.
Creesh was taken aback by that, she knew that they had said her past didn't worry them, but here they were talking about it like it was normal. “I will make sure there are no issues then captain, I won't fail us.”
“We know you won't.” was all Neirdith said in reply before she turned to move some of the smaller crates around. The bigger crates had already been moved by Skorr, who was far more useful than she had originally imagined.
Seth looked at her and smiled "Well if we are going then we might as well go now, no sense delaying any further eh?"
Creesh flared her mane in agreement before giving Samantha a wave and following the human. Creesh had never been to the colonies before she met Neirdith and Seth. She had read about them as a hatchling sure, but it was just part of her training, never a personal interest.
As she walked with Seth down the narrow walkways on New Dundas, she was blown away by the sheer diversity of culture on display. Even between members of the same race there could be dramatic differences. She saw a small food cart bedecked in garish colors and bright pictures of vibrant foods, while next to it was another cart run by the same type of alien and yet they were selling neat and tidy looking parcels with practical pictures of somewhat drab looking food items. And yet they were both busy, many people of all races seemed to enjoy them both equally.
Back home on Sabith she had only ever eaten a few things prepared the same way. She knew that some of the more elite ate delicacies and other such things, but she had never seen such a celebration of differences before. On Sabith everyone tried to behave in a proper way, to emulate those at the top, but here every single place she looked she saw some new wonder or display of individuality.
Seth seemed to see her consternation and stopped, pulling her to the side of the street he asked "Are you okay Creesh? Your eyes are the size of plates."
She took a few moments to compose herself before daring to reply "It's all so different, how are you not distracted by all the noise and color?" She looked around, her vision swimming slightly with an overwhelming amount of information.
Seth smiled and knelt by her, putting an arm around her shoulder, he threw his other out in front of them in an all encompassing gesture "This is what unity truly is Creesh, not taking a bunch of different people and trying to make them act similar, but by putting a bunch of different people together and making those differences fit. Everyone is welcome here, from any place, and that in turn inspires true creativity and devotion to one's peers. Sure you are always going to get bad eggs." He said with a wink, using a saying shared between their two cultures, "But people look out for each other here. That's the whole point of being in a Union." He finished with a broad smile.
Creesh continued to stare at everything while she took in his words. While the whole experience was overwhelming when taking it in all at once, she began to see the underlying order that was hidden by the chaos. There was a definite place for everything and people moved with purpose. She crouched slightly and covered her head with a wing for a moment to try and recompose herself.
Straightening back up to her somewhat diminutive height, she looked at Seth as he removed his arm and stood. Feeling more calm she told him "Thank you Seth, it didn't seem this intense yesterday."
Seth laughed and replied "That's because it wasn't, it's Saturday ya know." Creesh was confused. Seth saw her confused look and clarified "Saturday is traditionally the first day of the week's end, a week is seven standard days, where most people work on the first five days and rest on the last two. It's kind of a traditional thing, but it is observed in many of the colony worlds as it helps to promote high morale. This keeps everyone generally happier and has minimal impact on the station or colony's productivity."
Creesh nodded silently as she wrapped the alien concept around her brain, on Sabith, you went to work until your job was done and then maybe took some time off before you started your next task. Next he would be telling her that they set aside specific days of the year for celebrations or something ridiculous like that.
Before she could ask about such ridiculousness Seth said "Well Creesh, if you are feeling a bit better we need to be on our way. We aren't on a time limit or anything, but I am excited to see if Silveena actually came through with the merchandise."
"Yes I believe that is a good idea." Creesh said impassively, her heart calmed down a bit.
As they continued down the roadway she tried to ignore all the bright displays and colors to little effect. Her brain just wanted to see everything no matter how much she tried to resist it, but she was finding it easier to take in after Seth's explanation. The sounds, smells and sights took on a more friendly quality, and she could see the camaraderie written across peoples faces as they talked and traded.
Seth cleared his throat grabbing her attention once more as he said "You hungry Creesh? There's a food cart right over there that caters to swanith and gre'vahn. Want to give it a try?"
Raising her mane in excitement she replied "Yes, I must admit that I have never seen anything quite like this before, I am interested to see what the food will be like." As they waded their way through the crowd, Creesh had to keep a close eye on Seth as she was too short to see over the crowd.
They neared the stall and Creesh began to notice some familiar smells. Seth and her popped through the rush into a small calm spot in front of the stall and she was surprised to see the stall manned by a fit looking gre'vahn female.
The gre'vahn were an interesting race because they had a vastly different biochemical makeup from most of the other known races, being a silicate based organism unlike most other known races in the Union. Their skeletal structure was made from quartz and their blood was a type of oxygen carrying silicate compound that was a vivid orange in coloration and would slowly crystallize in contact with air.
The gre’vahn ate and drank foods that would be poisonous to every other form of life, except humans who seemed able to digest and neutralize almost anything. She had once read a story about a human that had liked to eat metal, and it seemed not to hurt them in the slightest. While dubious, she would not be all that surprised if it were true as humans were fascinating from a biological standpoint.
The gre'vahn female behind the counter exhibited many of the characteristics of her centauroid race. The large furred woman was wearing a sort of long flowing gown to cover her torso and a sash on her lower body that showed her house and family insignias, as well as her social ranking and some of her major accomplishments. Her face was oddly feminine even through her wide, almost stretched looking feline features. Her arms were long and ended in six fingered hands that she was resting on the countertop.
As she noticed them she gave a very wide smile revealing her blocky teeth and asked "Why hello there dearies. What can I get for you?"
Creesh turned to look at Seth and asked "I must admit that I have no experience here, I defer to your superior judgment."
Seth clapped his hands together and rubbed them saying "Well alrighty then, Can I get a horgrish with no toppings, and for my friend here, some crispy lovebugs." Smiling that same smile, the large female turned to prepare the mentioned items.
Creesh looked up at Seth and asked "What are lovebugs, I have never heard of them before."
Seth just waved his hand at her for silence as he took the two parcels the gre'vahn vendor handed to him. He wordlessly passed the smaller one to her and turned back to the vendor to pay.
Looking at the parcel dubiously, Creesh started to unwrap it and was met with an unfamiliar smell. It was, well it was unfamiliar, but definitely not unpleasant. Reaching into the pouch she pulled out one of the lovebugs and inspected it. It was a pale green and winged and looked to also be half coated in some sort of dark brown substance. It seemed as if it had been dipped into something.
As she turned to Seth to ask him about the origins of this particular snack she saw him take a bite out of some sort of round fruit like item on a stick. Seeing her looking he swallowed and explained "It's horgrish, kind of like a mixture of different dried fruits from Endless-Windswept, the gre'vahn homeworld. Anyways, its mineral content is a little high, but it's perfectly tasty. Oh you haven't tried the lovebugs yet?" He finished with a raised eyebrow.
"Actually, I wanted to ask if you could explain what these are." Creesh said meekly.
Seth smiled and replied "Ah, so those are genetically modified cicadas, a type of insect native to Earth. Swanith seem to really enjoy their texture, from what I have heard anyways. They are then coated in a type of chocolate analog that doesn't contain any cocoa powder, as it's actually rather toxic to several other species. They call 'em lovebugs cause they are the kind of thing you would buy for someone on Valentine's Day." He finished by taking another large bite of his snack with his knife like incisors.
Creesh shrugged internally and popped the dipped bug into her beak, chewing it with her pharyngeal jaws. It was delightfully crunchy and slightly sweet, but it was this coating of chocolate that had her the most amazed. It was unlike anything she had ever tasted before. It was equal parts sweet and bitter, a seeming paradox of flavor that filled the entirety of her mouth, and it smelled similarly complex as well with a strange roasted aroma she couldn't place. She found herself unable to keep from demolishing the rest of these lovebugs with an unseemly haste. Before she knew it the parcel was empty and with a disappointed look she crumpled it into a ball.
"Pretty good am I right?" Seth laughed, as she looked over to him she saw him paying for something at the vendor before he thanked the woman and stepped over to her. "You never had anything like those before?" He asked her amused.
Creesh snapped her attention back to his face and replied "Never, this is probably the kind of thing the spireborn eat all the time, but I was always fed the same few things. They weren't really bad, but there was no variety, these had more variety in a single bite than I was used to in my whole diet back on Sabith." She admitted.
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"Well then I am happy to have expanded your horizons." He made to walk back into the street but paused when Creesh didn't move to follow. Turning back to her he asked "Is everything okay?"
She looked at him with a questioning look and asked "What is Valentine's Day?" Seth looked at her agape.
"You don't celebrate Valentine's Day? But it's a collective Union holiday, it's been around for at least a thousand years or so." Seth said with incredulity.
"Holiday?" Was all she got out before he exploded into wordless stuttering.
"No way you don’t know about holiday's. It's a day that is specially set aside for celebrations and such, there are a few Union wide collective holidays and many species specific, and even religion specific, holidays." Seth rattled off before seeing her confusion.
Creesh just shook her head in disbelief, it was all so strange, but it seemed to work for these people. "We can figure it all out later, but I'm not going to make us late with my ignorance, so we should continue on our way." Seth closed his mouth and nodded.
As they made their way out into the crowded street Seth handed her a small package, she gasped in delight as she saw it was another helping of the delicious lovebugs. With a high pitched whistle of happiness she began to crunch on them while Seth laughed at her reaction.
**********
Seth handed Creesh the small package of lovebugs and smiled as she made a high pitched whistle and began to eagerly devour them. He felt kind of bad for her honestly, she didn't seem to have had much of a childhood growing up and many of the things that he took for granted were new and exciting to her.
In a way he was glad she was so inexperienced, her constant enthusiasm was rubbing off on him and it was nice to see the way her golden eyes lit up and her black expression feathers fluttered when faced with such mundane things.
As they continued towards The Keepsake, Seth realized that Creesh was not next to him anymore. Halting, he frantically cast his eyes around trying to locate her. She shouldn't have been hard to spot as probably one of the only swanith on the whole station.
As he searched, his frenzied eyes caught a glimpse of white feathers near a store window, cursing under his breath he strode over to see Creesh staring intensely into a small convenience store.
"What are you doing Creesh, I thought you had gotten lost and I was about to have to call security to find you." Seth breathed out fiercely.
Creesh tore her golden eyes from the colorful interior and looked at him. He snorted and she blinked several times before saying "I'm sorry Seth, but my curiosity got the better of me. What is this place? It has so many different things in it, are they all for sale?"
Seth felt his annoyance evaporate at her sincerity, hanging his head slightly he answered "This is a convenience store, they sell five types of just about anything you could want or need. And yes everything is for sale, but we need to take care of our business first before we can go shopping, here, tell you what. After we pick up the stuff from Silveena I will take you here to check it out ok?"
Creesh gave him a piercing look, but after a second her gaze softened a bit and she replied "That seems more than fair. But I will be making my own purchases this time, I have received my first pay installment from Neirdith you know." Seth just nodded his head and they continued on.
When they turned down the small alley to reach The Keepsake, Seth was surprised to see Silveena standing outside waiting for them. Seth approached she said hurriedly "I was unable to acquire everything myself and had to enlist the help of my long time associate Dreago. They have more experience with this kind of request than I do." She finished hurriedly. Opening the door and ushering them quickly inside, she pulled it closed and locked it behind her.
Glancing furtively through the blinds she motioned them to follow her into the back. Feeling a bit apprehensive, Seth loosened his .44 from its holster just in case. Creesh noticed the action and gave him a worried look but he put his finger in front of his lips in the universal signal for silence before he stepped into the back of the store after the nerivith woman.
The back of the store was far larger than the front and piled high with shelf upon shelf of random items, everything from lengths of hoses and shears to high quality computer components. As his eyes roved around taking it all in he was immediately drawn to the cloaked figure standing near several large crates at the back of the storage area.
As he and Creesh approached, the figure drew its hood back to reveal their scaled visage. The cloaked figure was revealed to be a slaaveth man of average build. His wide shoulders and blue grey scales shone in the harsh white light of the storage room.
Dreago smiled revealing his shark-like teeth, pointed and serrated for cutting flesh and bone. "I have what you asked for, if you have my payment." He said in a rough gurgling voice.
"Sure, sure." Seth said cheerfully, raising a hand in a stop gesture. "But not before my associate here checks the goods for any hidden… flaws." He finished in a more sinister tone.
Silveena looked taken aback and was about to retort when Dreago laughed heartily "Oh yes, I believe we will work well together Mr. Seth. I see you are not to be easily fooled. Sil dear, go get the good beamer, now." Dreago then motioned to Creesh to begin checking the goods which she did without a word, quickly pulling out various items and checking them before nodding slightly and placing them back.
Silveena came back with a NUV pattern beam rifle in her hands and placed it on the other box before pulling out an identical one and taking it out of sight.
"I hope you don't mind, but I always like to 'test' new clients to see if they are indeed worth the effort, and you passed the test." The underhanded slaaveth chuckled.
Creesh gave Seth a wry look before continuing her work as Seth asked him "So why did you assume that we would find fault in the beam rifle without testing it?" The grizzled man cocked his head slightly before looking between him and Creesh.
Seeming to come to a decision he stated "It was your companion actually, she has full bionic upgrades. Enhanced muscles, toxic chemical suppressors, neurological enhancements, upgraded organs. That's the wetware of a dangerous person, one that knows their way around a weapon."
Creesh stopped and fixed the man with a hard stare stating "And you would seem to have your own set of enhancements. It's rude to scan someone without their permission, you know."
Putting his arms up in a gesture of surrender Dreago responded "It's simply good business practice in my profession. It meant no disrespect by it, my fair feathered lady. Please accept my apologies and my humble gratitude for your forgiveness." Creesh seemed to be satisfied by his remark and went back to what she was doing, even going so far as to partially disassemble several items before deftly putting them back together.
Silveena reappeared at this point and stood to the side and slightly behind Dreago as he struck up a conversation with Seth "So, as I understand it you are the second in command aboard the Shining Knight, formally the pride and joy of one captain Medrigil. Tell me, do you feel confident in your abilities to destroy the remaining pirate menace in the area?"
Seth gave him a cold look before responding "My business here is to trade my credits for your goods, nothing more. If you want confirmative information I suggest you check the station logs."
"Fair enough then." Was all Dreago replied, just then Creesh straightened and made a show of dusting herself off before turning to Seth.
"Everything seems in order, a bit worn but perfectly serviceable, I suggest trying to acquire newer kit when we get the chance." Creesh told him.
He responded with "Thank you Creesh. Dreago, I trust you can have this shipped directly to my ship, for a slight bonus of course." He added.
Dreago nodded and bade them to depart to which they acquiesced with Silveena following closely behind. As Seth and Creesh exited the back of the store Silveena said "Thank you for your patronage, please come by again for any similar needs."
Seth just smiled at her and left while Creesh gave her a glare before following. As they exited the store Creesh asked "Do you trust them?"
"Not at all, but I trust their greed, they won't betray us if they believe they can wring more money out of our credit cards. And I already have them convinced of that." Creesh seemed to think about this for a moment.
Giving a slightly annoyed look she stated "It seems like things aren't so different here after all." She grumbled before giving a startled chirp as Seth ruffled the feathers on top of her head.
"Don't worry Creesh, they might be corrupt and greasy as they come, but we have something that they won't dare to challenge." He said with genuine mirth.
Creesh looked dubious but asked "Oh? And what's that?"
Giving her a mischievous grin he replied "We have Skorr."
**********
Samantha grunted as she whacked her head on yet another pipe, she winced and rubbed the sore spot as she talked into her new assistant "Alright Gloom, now try it."
A slight fizz could be heard from the pipe in question, barely audible even to her powerful ears as Gloom replied "The problem appears to have been rectified. Though this has revealed another loss of pressure in panel 18."
Cursing quietly Samantha wriggled out of the opened panel that she had wedged herself in and stood. Brushing off her new work overalls she started to replace the wall panel when her assistant dinged at her insistently. Sighing she got ready for yet another engineering disaster but smiled when she saw it was from Creesh.
Opening the link she said "Oh, I am glad to hear you."
Creesh responded with a whistle of amusement before saying "Come on down to the cargo bay, we have some new toys here. And we want to make sure the armour fits you."
'Seems fair to me.’ Samantha thought to herself as she finished replacing the panel and started towards the cargo hold.
Entering the hold she saw Creesh, Seth and Neirdith standing next to a few crates, trying on various pieces of gear. She was surprised to see Creesh with armour on, it seemed to be specially made to fit her light frame and mostly just covered her chest and lower throat with straps for a weapon to attach to. Neirdith’s armour was similarly light plates that emphasized vital coverage over full body protection, though she did have a back plate as well as leg plates. Seth on the other hand was wearing full combat armour, the dense plates much thicker and heavier than most species could comfortably carry, they covered his entire body with gaps for movement covered by additional pieces that made him look like a walking bunker. It wasn't till she got closer that she could hear the telltale whir of motors that informed her that he was wearing a powered suit. No wonder as it must have weighed in excess of sixty kilograms.
When she reached them she saw Seth raise his visor and smile, he gestured to the crate and said "Your armour is in that one, tell me if you have any trouble putting it on, this suit makes lifting those plates of yours easy."
Looking into the crate she saw what he was talking about, her armour looked even more durable than his. She supposed that made sense given her species inherent strength. As she hefted the heavy plates and began to try them on she saw Creesh and Neirdith watching her with interest. Seth helped her do the straps around her upper back and settled the back plate into place. As she finished putting on the last pieces she stood straight and flexed, testing the unfamiliar weight. She could feel the weight but it was so evenly distributed over her form that it didn't seem to really hinder her movement other than slowing her slightly, as she took a few experimental steps she heard Creesh give an appreciative whistle.
"Mighty winds Samantha, you look like a warrior goddess in that. How much does her armor weigh Seth?" Creesh exclaimed.
Seth replied "The medium armour package should weigh around forty five kilograms or so. Not too heavy for her, she could probably carry twice that and be ok for short engagements."
"It feels good, it makes me feel like I can take anything the universe can throw at me." Samantha said with a predatory grin.
Neirdith chuckled and said "I'm sure it does, but remember not to take any unnecessary risks. A sufficiently high caliber weapon or a lucky shot could do some significant damage to you still." Creesh gave her a concerned look but masked it quickly.
Samantha asked "So the armour works, what kind of gun do I get?"
Seth laughed at her question saying "Excited to get to the fun stuff huh? Not to worry, I was just about to start handing these out." He said while starting to rummage in the last crate.
Pulling out the beam rifle he handed it to Neirdith before turning and grabbing an MR-12, a type of kinetic assault rifle chambered in 8x45, he set it to the side before handing Creesh a pulse rifle. Finally giving Samantha a grin he turned and grabbed a final weapon from the crate, turning he presented it to her like a trophy. He was holding a weapon type that she had never seen before, it was blocky and made of a jet black metal, likely titan steel stamped over plasteel for the best of hardness and elasticity. It has a long barrel that seemed to contain a series of tightly wound copper coils wrapped around the barrel.
"Whoa, what is this?" She asked as she took it from him, it was heavier than it looked but not uncomfortably so.
Still smiling Seth answered "That is a work of art is what it is, that right there," he said pointing at the gun "is a GR74F gauss rifle. It’s capable of accelerating a small tungsten slug to major ouch levels, this baby will make quick work of anyone that's dumb enough to get in your way. It practically ignores light armour and likes to over penetrate targets, killing multiple baddies in a single shot. It's also majorly illegal to own for a civilian." He smiled evilly at that last statement before continuing "I guess it's a good thing that we are registered as temporary security forces in the New Dundas database, otherwise we could get in serious trouble just for owning that." With his explanation finished he stepped back and put his arms out with his assistant up.
"Okay Samantha, look fierce for me please." She thought for a second then held the gun at an angle and put on her most gruff expression. Seth busted up laughing and walked over to Creesh and Neirdith before showing them something on his assistant. Creesh warbled in amusement and Neirdith smiled widely while trying to stifle her own giggles.
Getting impatient Samantha asked "Hey, what's so funny?" In response Seth shook his head, still laughing, and tapped at his assistant. She looked down at her assistant as it dinged at her and opened her mouth in shock. What Seth had sent her was a picture he had just taken of her, she was standing there in her armour looking like a total badass with her gun except for the absolutely goofy look on her face. Seth had taken the picture in between her deciding to look fierce, and her actually doing it. The result was a sort of half grimace with her eyes partly shut that made her look like she was trying to hold in some kind of bodily function. Sucking in a gulp of air, she retorted angrily "Delete that, it makes me look like a fool."
Smiling and trying to keep some semblance of control Seth said "No way, that's gonna be the new screensaver on my workstation."
Growling in frustration Samantha set her gauss rifle down and began to undo her armour saying "I got work to do, unlike you kids." Creesh gave her a sympathetic look before walking over.
"Hey, at least you still look pretty cool in your armour right?" Creesh chirped cheerfully.
Samantha just gave her an exasperated look as she stood and made to leave.
"How much more work do you have to do?" Neirdith asked her.
Samantha sighed and said "Most of the minor problems are done, there were no major issues so that's a bonus, probably another few hours before I would recommend getting underway."
Neirdith nodded and said "Thank you Samantha, while I could probably have done it too, you are a better engineer than I was. I'm glad you are here."
Samantha smiled to herself as she exited the cargo bay. She was glad she was here too, and nothing that happened would change that in her mind.