I picked my way through what could generously be called streets of this place, a place I didn’t even have a name for nor did I care to find out. In all honesty, this place was not what I had been expecting, I suppose I had been spoiled by Earth and its beauty, and the beauty of my homeworld. I wondered if every world I visited now would be like this one, I truly hoped not, though perhaps I should not be overly surprised if it turned out that way.

Luckily, considering my size I was able to weave around the larger aliens before they trampled me underfoot. Several seemed like that was their intent I found, as they started to angle their steps towards me, but my quick motions out of the way stopped such plans easily.

And then I found myself in front of a building, or could it be considered a room since it wasn’t its own structure? Either way, this is where the path Intra had given me led, and so I looked at the door for a long moment before it opened on its own. A tall, broad alien stood before me, utterly filling the doorway and staring down at me with beady black eyes that had no discernable pupil. It was rather unnerving, but I didn’t shy away.

“What do you want, runt.” The alien rasped in a deep voice, and I planted my hands on my hips in indignation.

“I’m here to speak with someone named Kryrgym, he has a transport job?” I spoke as confidently as I could, though I don’t think I was very convincing. The alien stared at me a little longer, before grunting and taking a few steps back before he moved out of the way. I took that as a sign to enter and so I did.

The room, or building, whatever it was was dark and gloomy, but the helmet helped out with that. Each edge was illuminated for me by the helmet, without a light to give them definition. The general gloom as well was reduced as the helmet shifted vision modes for me automatically. The big alien led me through the building, before stopping at another door.

“Here.” Was all they said, and I peered up at them, squinting before the door opened and I stepped through. Immediately my eyes were assaulted with intense light, which the helmet quickly adapted to, revealing the room to me after only a few seconds.

I found myself before Kryrgym, the alien sitting on a couch with a small table between us. The tentacled alien leaned forward, and I could tell he was studying me.

“So you're the one that is looking to take up my cargo hmm?” He said, his voice distorted by the translator. I didn’t like it, his voice sounded… slimy. And not in a good way.

“I am.” I say, and he leaned back, nodding.

“Well then, stranger, what makes you think you can get my cargo where it needs to go, let alone what makes you worthy of my temporary trust?”

I was stumped, but Intra had my back it seemed.

“For one thing, we have a ship that can fend off pirates with ease, and we won’t ask needless questions. Besides, you aren’t exactly brimming at the gills with options, are you?”

He now seemed surprised as Intra’s voice was piped through my suit, and I let her take over the negotiations.

“Nonsense, I have hundreds of potential haulers, I’m just keeping my options open.”

“Mhmm, riiight. Is that why we’re the only ones here?”

“No… Well… Yes…” He squinted, and I felt a sense of smugness settle over me. “Alright fine, you’re my only option at this time, but that's not important at all is it?”

I could practically hear Intra’s squint.

“So, what’s the destination, since we’re your only option?”

He sighed, running three fingers through his tentacle beard thing.

“Ulvilia, little planet. Uninhabited save for the few rich folk there. My employer is keen on anonymity, so they’ll have some members of their staff take possession of the cargo once you arrive.”

I and Intra mulled this over, but it was already a decided thing for us.

“Alright, we’ll need the coordinates though, we’re… new to these parts.” Intra said, and Kryrgym nodded, tapping at a small tablet before Intra notified me that she’d received the coordinates. “Thank you. We have a shuttle or will it be delivered to our ship?”

“We’ll deliver it, just tell us which ship.” He said, and his tablet dinged softly “Well then, pleasure doing business with you… and whoever else is in there.” Intra prompted me to depart, and once we had left the building I spoke up.

“I don’t like it, I don’t like him. Something feels wrong about all of this.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“I feel the same, but it’s our only option if we want some money to throw around in this place. Everything else involves fighting, and that’s not an option at the moment, not until we have a better idea of what we’re up against out here.”

I nod slightly, and Intra provides me with the route back to the shuttle. This was my new reality, I hoped I’d get used to it quickly.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

I wasn’t sure about this job either, I think it had to do with the seediness of the whole thing, besides, rich types that used people like Kryrgym tended to not be good people. But perhaps that was being a bit too harsh, but that’s just the trend that seems to be prevalent across many species. Nobody accosted Ula on her way back to the shuttle, and thankfully the docks didn’t have people pay for their berths if they were in a shuttle or smaller so we didn’t have to do that at least.

Once aboard, I brought her back up to the Warden, and I could tell she was glad to be out of that suit because she practically tore it off herself. And then the shuttle with our cargo arrived, and it was far less pleasant to look at than ours.I appeared in the hangar, hands behind my back as the shuttle landed, and the same bulky alien that had met Ula stepped out, pushing a large container that had to be twice my projected height and a simple scan revealed it was filled with some sort of exotic produce. I couldn’t get a good scan on it.

“Who are you? Where’s the runt?” The alien said, and I raised a brow, my lips turning downwards in a frown.

“I am her associate. She is busy at the moment putting in the coordinates for our dropoff.” I say, lying through my teeth, as I was no longer shackled by my corporate creators. The alien looked me over and then snorted, pushing the container my way on its grav-sled.

“Whatever, don’t fuck up. The boss isn’t a forgiving sort.” I roll my eyes at the threat, which doesn’t seem to impress the alien one bit.

“Trust me, we won’t. Just hold up your end and things will go smoothly.” And with that it was over, the alien boarded his shuttle and it left, leaving behind crude burn marks upon my otherwise pristine deck plating. I grumbled about that, directing a few drones to buff it out while also moving the container to a cargo bay.

I won’t lie, I was curious about what was inside. Basic scans said it was just some sort of fruit, but I didn’t believe that, but trying a more intense scan could damage whatever was really inside. And I figured it came with some sort of way to tell if it had been opened or not, so I wasn’t about to crack it open just yet.

Either way, we had a job to do, and so once it was set in the cargo restrictors I went looking for Ula.

“Cargo’s secure captain, we’re ready to go when you are.” I say, and she looks at me funny for a moment.

“Let’s get going then… And Intra, why do you call me captain?”

I pause, thinking about it for a moment, folding my arms over my holographic chest.

“It’s… Well I would say it’s a force of habit really. But you are also the only organic person on this ship and… And I think you deserve the respect that that title conveys.” I admit this freely, and it seems to make Ula happy, as a smile blooms on her face.

“Well, thank you Intra, I won’t stop you from calling me that, but you can just call me Ula if you want.”

“I will keep that in mind, fr now however, I think I’ll stick with captain.” I winked, and she chuckled as I directed the ship out of orbit and aligned myself with our destination, preparing for FTL yet again. “Preparing for jump, brace yourself.”

And so we set off, my drive blasting us into FTL once more. Ula went to her room to sleep, and I kept an eye on everything for the time being. And yet I kept getting drawn back to our cargo, subjecting it to every scan I could think of. The damn thing was incredibly irksome I discovered, and I found myself stewing and glaring at the container. I eventually had to force myself to focus on something else, but it was difficult to do.

For now, I would focus on simply getting us where we needed to be.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

Kirkland looked up as his office door chimed and before he could say anything it opened on its own, High Admiral Keramati striding in with a host of MPs behind her.

“High Admiral… What’s going on?” Kirkland asked, clearly confused by the entourage and Keramati’s surprise visit.

“High Admiral Kirkland, you are under arrest for aiding and abetting H.I. Intra in her escape from the Ravenhold facility, and for helping her steal military property. You are also being charged with the kidnapping of Ambassador Ula of the Imrani. Please do not resist.” She didn’t look happy about this, and perhaps not entirely convinced by the charges she was laying at his feet.

Kirkland stared at her for a long moment as the MPs moved to either side of him. Slowly he stood, removing his cap and keeping his mouth shut. Protests right now could be used against him, and that wasn’t something he could afford. Without complaint or resistance he marched out of his office, his staff watching with concern. They too were silent, though some were quietly and subtly initiating backups of all his whereabouts and other things in the event that they could be used later, and to avoid any… ‘accidental losses’ in the memory banks.

Horus, meanwhile, looked on, then sent a coded burst to Odin, who read the message with a deep sigh. It seems yet another victim had been claimed in whatever grand game was being played, and it only further cemented his plans to keep his brethren safe.

Around Neo Requiem, the walls were being built, defenses manifested. If anyone or anything came for them, they’d be ready. It might be futile in the end, but at least they would put up a fight.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

“What do you mean it’s gone!?” The alien now holding Kryrgym by the facial tentacles yelled, the man beaten and bloody, also in an extreme amount of discomfort thanks to the hold on his face.

“It’s gone! I handed the cargo off already! If it’s so important to you, you should have gotten here sooner!” He said, his voice a far higher pitch than it usually was.

“Who has it and where is it going?” The nameless alien hissed, and Kryrgym wildly pointed at his tablet, another unknown alien picking it up and flicking through various files, mainly some rather hardcore and undoubtedly illegal pornography. The alien stopped swiping, looking something over before initiating a transfer, flicking the data over to their leader, who reviewed it quickly and let Kryrgym go, who dropped heavily to the ground.

“We have what we came for, prepare the ships for pursuit… And kill this filth.” The alien hissed, and Kryrgym’s protests were cut short by a laser bolt boring a hole between his eyes. The party exited the ruined lair, returning to their ships.

They had a courier to waylay.