"Coming out of warp in sixty seconds." Neirdith heard Jessie declare. The last eleven days in warp had been a bit boring, but fulfilling. They were finally on their way to getting Seth his treatment, and this was but a simple refueling stop. There wasn't anything that could happen here to take them off course or delay them.
As the all too familiar twisting lurch of a warp exit passed through the ship, she looked at her console again. The system that she had chosen to refuel at was named Hrule III, there wasn't much here besides a small refueling station that had grown into a medium sized town of around 11,000 inhabitants. Other than this small colony, which was named Geodrome, the system itself was a barren wasteland of shattered planets and asteroid fields. The large red giant star that occupied most of the inner system was prone to flares and it was only the intense magnetic field of the gas giant that the colony orbited that kept them from being washed away in a tidal wave of radiation.
"Welp, there it is, doesn't look like much." Jessie remarked as he looked at the sensor readings.
"It doesn't need to be much, we are only here for a quick refueling stop. I'll give you all some time off when we get to Highland, they will have nicer amenities anyways." She finished.
Creesh asked quickly "Uh, Neirdith? Does anyone know we are here?" Neirdith looked over to her and frowned.
Speaking thoughtfully she replied "Not to my knowledge, why?"
"Well, we just got hailed by someone, should I answer?" Creesh said in a cautious voice.
"I don't see the harm in it, what could they possibly want?" Neirdith said with a dismissive wave. Creesh hit a few buttons and the link was connected to her console.
To Neirdith's surprise a male Human's face appeared on the screen. They had blond hair that fell to their shoulders and were wearing a dark coat that looked to be made of some sort of leather. With a bright white smile they began immediately. "Why hello there, am I to assume that you are here in Geodrome for the simple purpose of refueling?"
Neirdith immediately got an untrustworthy feel from the man as she narrowed her eyes and replied guardedly "Your assumption would be correct. May I inquire as to who you are and what it is you want? I can tell you aren't a port authority."
The man seemed slightly taken aback by her rough demeanor but quickly recovered putting on that showman smile once more "Oh I am just someone in need of assistance, and willing to pay very handsomely to get it. My name is Yquillan." He declared with a flourish.
Sighing audibly she replied "That still doesn't explain what it is you hailed me for. Am I to assume that you require something from me?" She finished sternly.
Again the man flashed that too bright smile making her frown. He continued unabated "Yes I do require the help of a ship and crew, not anyone in particular, but you happen to fit the bill quite nicely. The IAS Shining Knight, not a ship I am familiar with, but I recognise the Vinarfelien design, which means it's a fast ship. You probably have a class one drive right? Well I am in need of transport to Highland Station as fast as possible. And I am willing to pay a large sum of money to the captain who is willing to assist." He finished with a few eyebrow raises in a suggestive way.
Sighing again she replied "Well Mr. Yquillan, I will need a bit more information before I make my decision but we can discuss that when I have landed." The man began to look furtive.
"That may be an issue, ah. You see, I am in a bit of a tight spot and unable to make it to the landing bay in person at this point in time." Yquillan said quickly, his eyes darting from side to side.
Before she could ask what he meant he said "Uh, I need to go, I will contact you again soon. Please don't leave me here." After his hurried statement the link was severed and she was left sitting staring at a blank screen in consternation.
"What was that about?" Samantha asked, having overheard the conversation with her enhanced hearing.
Neirdith sat forwards in her seat and mused "I'm not quite sure, but they sounded like they were in some sort of trouble. I'm not sure we should get involved."
Jessie asked her "Isn't helping people the whole point of us all being here?" Creesh looked ready to agree but Neirdith cut them off.
"My concern is who he is in trouble with. There is no security force on this station, it's locally policed. Is he in trouble with the local government? Or perhaps some sort of local gang. We need to be careful about this before we get ourselves mixed up in some sort of war." Neirdith mused out loud before looking at Creesh and Jessie.
It was Samantha that was the first to respond saying "Well, I guess we'll have to wait till he calls us again to ask. But to be fair, they did seem like they were in serious need of help. I just hope that they are all right till they can clarify what's going on." Neirdith nodded and stood for a moment before sitting once more.
She thought about the manner in which the man had spoken and the promise of a handsome reward. She wondered what he could be offering, hopefully a large pile of credits. Creesh broke her thoughts as she chimed in "I don't like it. This whole thing feels a little off. And that's my training speaking, not me."
Jessie looked at her and said "You got a bad feeling about it? I hope that it's nothing."
As they had been talking they had been growing steadily nearer to the station and had by now drawn close enough for the colony's port authorities to hale them.
"Geodrome actual to unknown vessel, please identify." A voice cut through as an automatic link was established.
Shaking herself, Neirdith replied "Geodrome, this is the IAS Shining Knight, requesting permission to dock."
The voice on the other end asked suspiciously "An auxiliary ship? What is your purpose here, there are no bounties posted. We don't want any of your trouble here." The voice said with some heat.
"Relax Geodrome actual, we are here for a refuel and potentially a minor restock that's all. We will be on our way as soon as this is completed." Neirdith said smoothly in an attempt to calm the obviously aggravated communications person.
The line again spoke saying "That's fine then, you are cleared to dock at arm seventeen, but I recommend that you be about your business quickly, the Administrator doesn't like trouble, and she will undoubtedly see you as such." The line was severed as they finished their warning.
Creesh muttered "This is feeling more and more ominous by the minute Neirdith, is there another fueling station close by we could go to instead?" She asked hopefully.
Neirdith shook her head. "I'm sure there probably is, but The Shining Knight's star charts are not fully filled out on all the minor stations in the area and as such I have no way of knowing where they would be exactly. We would have to update them here and by then we might as well fuel up anyway. It would just waste time to look for a friendlier port. Just stay with the ship and I'm sure everything will be fine." She said with a small gesture of hopefulness.
As Jessie piloted the ship up to the colony she mulled over the information she had. This Yquillan fellow needed help, and the station was locally run without SCU oversight. They were in a deputized auxiliary ship and for whatever reason that threatened this Administrator person, there were only a few reasons for that that she could think of. The first is that the Administrator herself spoke with a deputized authority, and as such held no actual sway over them as they were of similar standing. The other and more likely was that she was engaged in less than legal activities and wanted to do away with any potential scrutinization.
As the ship docked with the external docking arm and locked into place she stood again. Looking to Samantha she said "Samantha, go get your armour on, I want you with me. Creesh and Jessie, see what you and Gloom can dig up on this place. I have a bad feeling about this whole thing." Samantha rushed off the bridge to gear up as Creesh and Jessie nodded.
"Me and Gloom will find out what's going on, don't worry Neirdith." Creesh said confidently. Jessie and her walked off after Samantha.
Walking to the entrance she turned to Skorr and said "Skorr, I don't want to take you with me at the moment, but wait by the cargo airlock just in case."
Skorr seemed to stand straighter and rumbled "It will be as you command." And with that stomped off in the direction of the docking arm.
Neirdith flicked her tail and walked towards the armory, as she arrived she met Samantha on her way out, she was wearing her repaired combat armour. Neirdith gave her a smile as she walked past into the small arming room. Donning her own, much lighter armour, she also grabbed her beam rifle and slung it across her back. She was already wearing her beamer on her thigh.
As she exited the room Samantha asked "What's the plan?"
Neirdith was silent a moment as she adjusted her main plate to sit more comfortably across her chest "No plan, it just feels like we should be ready for anything here. This whole place stinks of illegal activities." Samantha nodded and hefted her gauss rifle, slinging it across her back in a ready position.
They made their way to the docking arm and as Neirdith was about to enter through the airlock she was messaged by Gloom. She glanced down at the text and read it quickly before sending a terse reply. Raising her assistant she frowned as she saw Yquillan's face appear.
"I would like to discuss terms and such niceties with you, but not across the network, they may be listening. Meet me at The Hullbreaker, it's a small tavern close to the docking area where you set down, if you need directions I'm sure you could ask any local." The shifty man spoke. Before Neirdith could even voice a question the line was cut once more.
"Hels blades!" She swore loudly. Samantha looked at her and raised a fuzzy brow in a questioning way. "It looks like we get to go to a bar then. This is exactly why I wanted you to come with me, no one is going to mess with you Samantha. You look like a total killer in that gear."
Samantha perked up at the compliment and said "You look pretty ferocious yourself captain." With a swish of her long furred tail she stalked into the airlock, Neirdith followed her in a more sedate manner.
Entering onto the colony itself she was immediately struck by how ramshackle it looked on the inside. The housing units were of Human manufacture and brutalist in the extreme with no unnecessary ornamentation and clean harsh lines. Many of the people she saw walking around looked slightly hunched as if they were expecting an invisible blow to land across their backs at any moment.
Speaking softly to Samantha she said "Tread lightly, we must stick out like a sore tail here. Follow my lead, and keep an ear out for any sign of trouble." Samantha nodded silently and scanned the crowds with her bright green predator eyes. They stood for a moment longer before beginning to walk down the worn out street towards the end of the docking area.
Neirdith linked her assistant to the local datanet before looking up the location of The Hullbreaker, it wasn't too far from their current location, most likely on purpose. This Yquillan fellow seemed to be rather competent at gathering information, he had no doubt been waiting to see where they would dock. As she and Samantha stalked towards the aforementioned bar she couldn't help but notice the looks she was getting from the ragged looking people around them. Their faces were contorted into mixtures of suspicion and fear that added an air of suspense to the already grim environment. She found herself unconsciously reaching for her pistol and stopped herself, the last thing they needed was some local to get spooked and attack them.
Soon enough they rounded another grimy corner to see a beat up establishment bearing the name they were seeking. Walking up to the door Samantha held Neirdith back as she walked through first, hands up in a ready to fight position. Neirdith knew she didn't need a weapon in these kinds of close quarters as her retracted claws were as sharp as knives and as hard as bone. Seeing nothing immediately threatening, Samantha waved her in and they walked up to the main bar.
The gruff looking Human male behind the counter asked in a voice like creaking wood "What can I gets fer ye? I gots hard spirits, maybe somthin a bit less bitey for ya miss?" He croaked out.
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"A crecini ale if you have one, and for my companion…" Neirdith trailed off indicating Samantha with a tilt of her head and flick of her tail.
"I'm fine." Samantha said quickly, still scanning the room. As the man turned and began to rummage around behind the counter Samantha leaned close to her ear and whispered "I see our guy, he thinks he's being real slick hiding in the far west corner, but I don't think he has ever met a Yeown before because I picked him up straight away. He smells like fear, we should be careful."
Neirdith nodded and accepted the drink from the grizzled bartender with a nod and a credit swipe. As he thanked her she turned and made her way straight to the far west table like Samantha had said. She didn't see anything in the relative gloom, but she knew that Samantha's eyes were much better in darkness and trusted her description.
As she neared the table she saw that Yquillan was indeed hunched over the table as if trying to disappear. She kept her face impassive as she slid into the booth across from him, Samantha took up position by the wall blocking his exit.
"So, you have me here now, what is it you wanted to tell me. And be quick about it, I'm short on time." Neirdith said while sipping her drink.
Yquillan's surprised features quickly turned to their normal smooth demeanor, but now that she was here in person she could see it was a facade. He began "So as you may have already picked up, Geodrome is a real tough town. But what you may not know is that the Administrator isn't just the one in charge, she is also in control of a criminal syndicate centered here. Her goons prey on the surrounding systems even up to thirty light years away." Before he could continue, Neirdith waved a hand at him.
"I gathered that, I'm an auxiliary ship captain, I know what to look for. Please tell me what it is you want me to do about it, I'm just one ship. Have you reported them to the Union authorities?" Samantha's head snapped up as a yell sounded, but it was just a drunk man hollering for no apparent reason and they quickly fell silent again.
Yquillan looked torn as he shifted his head side to side as if looking for an escape. Finally coming to a decision he leaned forwards and hissed "That's the thing, I AM Union authority, I don't have a way to prove it, not yet. But I need you and your crew to get me out of here so I can make an official report to the Union Intelligence Agency." With this admission he leaned back to gauge her reaction.
Neirdith couldn't stop herself from raising a single eyebrow in surprise, but she did manage to remain silent. "You are an agent?" She scoffed in spite of the situation.
"Yes I am." He retorted.
Neirdith looked him over again. He was thin and not that tall, his long blond hair was dirty and his black leather jacket was unkempt. He definitely didn't look like what she imagined an agent to look like, but then again she had never seen one herself. "Ok, let's assume that you are telling the truth, why do you need to get out of here so bad, who is threatening you?" She asked him skeptically.
Yquillan's eyes flashed dangerously and he slammed a hand down on the table beginning to raise his voice at her only to fall silent as Samantha let loose a low growl and unsheathed her claws. He swallowed loudly as he leaned back into his seat. Samantha flexed her dagger like claws and then retracted them in a single motion.
As she stood and faced out into the room once more Yquillan began again, much more reserved this time "I can't force you to help me, I don't have the sway or authority here. All I can do is hope to assuage your fears and appeal to your sense of integrity. The facts are, I was sent here undercover to try and determine the full extent of the criminal activities in this zone. What I found was worse than I could have imagined, this is bigger than Geodrome and the surrounding area. I have uncovered the details to a conspiracy, one as wide as the SCU itself. But before I could extract this data to safety I was discovered by the Administrator. Her name is Grunhort, and she is old. That's all I know as she keeps herself secluded from all but her most trusted advisors and captains."
He stopped briefly and Neirdith offered him her drink which he accepted gratefully. Whetting his throat he continued "I don't have the authority to raise your clearance level enough to tell you everything. But I can assure you that if you get me out of here, the UIA itself will owe you a debt, and that in itself is worth more than your entire ship. So what do you say, have I convinced you?" He finished with a huff as if he had just run a great distance.
Neirdith began "While I don't like the way you forced my hand, I must admit that your tale has swayed me. I believe that…" she was cut off by another loud noise. The sound of a door slamming open violently and the tread of heavy boots.
Samantha slid into the booth next to Yquillan and said "Get down, I will shield you." He didn't say a word, just hunched into himself as Samantha used her relative bulk to block him from view. As the clomping steps got louder Neirdith turned to see three people in various levels of protective gear walking towards their table.
The two Human males and single Slaaveth female stopped next to them and stared for a few moments. Samantha grabbed Yquillan's now discarded drink and took a pull as if unconcerned with their presence.
The lead man spoke "We are looking for a criminal that was reported in this establishment. You haven't seen a man matching this would you." He asked them with narrowed eyes and while holding up a slightly blurry picture of Yquillan.
Neirdith leaned forwards and squinted at the picture before saying "That shrij lookin feller? I would definitely remember seeing a shifty character like that. Sorry officers, but I don't think I can help you." The man shifted his glare to Samantha and she just finished off the crecini ale and slammed the empty glass down on the table snarling.
"The lady said she aint seen nothin, now will you let us drown in peace here?" Surprisingly her intimidating display seemed to work as the man recoiled slightly before regaining his composure.
Scowling again he said "If I were you I would watch the attitude there missy." In response Samantha unsheathed a single claw on her right hand and began to carve a smiley face into the hardened veneer of the table top.
"Big talk for a clawless meatsack." Turning her predatory green eyes on them she licked her chops and Neirdith had to stifle a laugh as she watched. The man recoiled again and seemed to lose his stoic demeanor as a tinge of fear crossed his face.
"Well, if you see anything, be sure to report it to the security force. C'mon guys. C'mon." He finished and all but scurried out of the bar with his proverbial tail tucked between his shaking legs.
As they disappeared Neirdith finally let out the laughter she had been holding inside. "Wow, that was incredible Samantha, you probably gave that poor guy nightmares for the rest of his life. He won't be able to walk into a bar ever again without pissing himself." She cackled.
Samantha smiled sheepishly and was about to reply when a muffled noise sounded from behind her. Jumping slightly as if pinched, Smantha scooted over and Yquillan gasped as he hacked and spat. "While I appreciate what you did there, I just wish you weren't so fuzzy and hot, I damn near suffocated just now."
"Sorry, but it was the only thing I could think of to hide you." Samantha apologized to the small man.
He waved a hand while picking something out of his mouth, Neirdith saw it was a long grayish hair, most likely from Samantha's back or shoulder. "It's quite alright, not the first time I had to hide somewhere uncomfortable in my time. Anyways, I'm sure you saw those goons are no security force. They are amateurs, brutes trained to apply fear, but apparently they don't react well to their own tactics." He said with a smile at Samantha.
Neirdith looked at the scruffy man that was apparently an agent of the UIA, she asked "So I had a plan before those crooks showed up, but now I'm forced to reevaluate my plan, what do you suggest we do Yquillan?" The small man seemed to think for a moment before he replied.
"While I'm sure your friend's little stunt has bought us a respite, the Administrator no doubt knows that you were in contact with me by now. You may notice that I'm not wearing an assistant, it's because Grunhort has managed to illegally hack the datanet here and give herself total access. Not only is that a massive violation of privacy and a federal offense, but it gives her the ability to track every citizen on Geodrome who has one." Samantha cursed and Neirdith looked at her own assistant, sitting on her wrist in an innocent way. No doubt they were tracking her from the moment she connected to the local datanet.
Looking back at him she asked "So they know that we are here, when they don't find you nearby they are probably going to assume that you are in here with us and that we lied huh?" She finished ruefully.
"And it's much too late to ditch them as they already have our position fixed." Samantha added sharply.
Yquillan gave her a quick nod before saying “This establishment is only a single story, but there is a side exit that opens into an alleyway next to a two story structure next door. If we can get on top of that building we can maneuver our way across the rooftops and out of relative danger from Grunhort's goons. But it's going to be risky. If they see us there isn't going to be any cover.” he finished. Neirdith didn't like the sound of his plan but it was the only one they had at the moment.
“Do you have a weapon?” Neirdith asked him, he shook his head. “Here take this,” she said, handing him her beamer. “You had better not lose that, that has some pretty significant sentimental value to me.”
He nodded in understanding as they stood from the table and slowly made their way towards the back of the building. As Neirdith reached the far wall her eyes spotted the exit that he was speaking of. “Wait, there is a silent alarm on that door.” Hissed Samantha.
Yquillan looked at her and said “No there isn't, I checked it before I even called you over here.”
Samantha huffed softly and replied “I'm telling you there is, give me a second and I can disarm it and prove it.” with that she walked over to the door and pulled a small pouch from her waist. Opening it revealed that it was full of small tools and electrical components, as she knelt on a knee in front of the door she seemed to mess with the handle before she said “There, told you the door was rigged.” she said while handing a small button shaped device to Yquillan.
He stared at it for a minute before throwing it down and crushing it under his foot. He gave her an appreciative look before saying “Alright, you proved it to me. Is it good now, we need to get out of here.” she nodded and opened the door silently.
As the three of them crept out into the dimly lit alley way, Neirdith could hear shouting voices coming from the main street. Not wasting any time they walked to the rear of the alleyway and began to climb the rusted service ladder that was attached to the side of the taller building. Neirdith and Yquillan made it up without a fuss, but as Samantha neared the top, her weight broke one of the rusted rungs free and it bounced off the far wall to clatter to the ground below. Samantha scrambled up the last few rungs as angry shouts echoed from the roadway.
“Shit!” Cursed Yquillan. “That was not ideal. Come on, we need to move now.” He sprinted across the rooftop and vaulted over the low wall separating the roof they were on from the next with an ease of the enhanced. Neirdith noted that Yquillan most likely had bionics as she followed as fast as she could. It wasn't long before the punishing pace being set by her two heavy gravity companions wore her down.
Gasping for breath she paused while leaning against a roof access hut. “Hang on a second.” she managed. “I just need… to catch my breath…” she panted. As if to spite her a crack rang out and she felt the whoosh of a projectile missing her head by millimeters. Dropping to the ground she scrambled for cover behind the access hut and pulled her gun from her back holster.
Samantha and Yquillan were already over on the next roof and behind the raised partition, she thought about making a run for it but realised she would never make it in her exhausted state. Thinking quickly she yelled “Samantha, Take him to the ship, GO!”
Samantha replied in a savage tone “I am NOT leaving you behind!”
Neirdith felt tears welling in her eyes and she made no effort to stem them as she yelled back “Go now! That's a direct order. They are jamming my assistant so I can't send to the others for help. I need you to go to the ship and tell Skorr to come back for me. Don't worry about me. I will be fine.” She lied through her tears.
She heard Samantha swearing loudly as she cried out “You had better be right, cause if anything happens to you then I'm going to make you pay for it.” with that the sounds of them running off could be heard as more shots rang out.
Neirdith took a few deep breaths, she wasn't ready to die just yet, and if she had anything to say about it the great darkness wouldn't be claiming her today. Popping out of cover for a moment she let off a series of shots, the bright purple beams leaving after images in her vision. She heard the yells of alarm as the corrupt security forces fanned out to find cover. She knew it wouldn't be long before they realised that she was alone and rushed her, but she would be damned to hel if she would go down without a fight. It was against everything that the Nerivith stood for to surrender, she would fight to the last drop of her blood to survive and more if possible. Letting lose another series of bright shots she was rewarded with a pained scream as one of the beams struck home in vulnerable flesh. She heard the detonating crack of blood flashing to superheated steam as the beam dumped its energy into a tiny point on its victims body. It was most likely a mortal blow as they would die from blood loss very quickly without treatment.
More bullets impacted her flimsy cover as the small concrete hut started to disintegrate under the onslaught. She peered through a small crack and saw one of the guards standing erect, popping out of cover again she put three shots into the man's chest and shoulder blowing his arm off entirely and cratering his chest cavity in an explosion of gore. She heard the hail of gunfire intensify as she put her back to the wall once more. That was two down, there couldn't be more than four left. She checked her ammo and saw that she had more than enough on her to finish them off. Rolling out from the other side she caught another guard with a flurry of beams to the face, thair head ceased to exist as their lifeless body slumped to the ground with a clatter. She put a round into the leg of another as they tried to flank around the left side, with a scream they pitched back over the side of the building and impacted the street below with a dull thud that she could hear from her position on the roof.
As she jumped back into cover she grunted in surprise and pain as she felt something hit her shoulder. The cover she was hiding behind was degenerating to the point where a bullet fired from one of the remaining guards had pierced all the way through, it hadn't had the force to fully pierce her shoulder however and had just dug a deep hole just below the shoulder blade. Knowing that it wasn't a fatal wound she sucked in a breath and prepared to jump out to take on the last guards. As she jumped out of cover she blasted the closer guard to pieces, but as she was attempting to line up on the second they fired a burst of automatic fire straight into her chest.
Neirdith was wearing combat armour, but at this point-blank range, even the automatic fire had the strength to penetrate her armour as she felt a row of bright hot pain stitch its way up her front from her belly to her sternum. Even as she was thrown onto her back from the force of the blows she knew that they were not fatal, they hurt sure, but they hadn't gone far enough in to do any real damage. As she attempted to reach for her beam rifle it was kicked away followed by a kick to her side. She screamed in pain as she felt one of her ribs snap, the cruel boot kicked her again, this time in the lower side, she screeched again and writhed in pain as she felt something else snap inside her. As she lay there shivering in pain she rolled onto her back.
She blinked her bleary eyes a few times and her swimming vision cleared just enough to see a woman in riot gear standing above her with a cruel look on her face. Neirdith bared her teeth in defiance as the woman put her rifle away, but faltered as the woman drew a small sidearm from her belt.
The guard leveled the small weapon at Neirdith, aiming right between her eyes. The guard pulled the trigger and Neirdith’s consciousness was smashed from her in a wave of agony.