Futuristic Battle for the Genate

[Assailant]

"Aktocrakh naklo thakrok!" A man raised his hands as the large, blue biped with wings spoke, or perhaps clicked, more aptly, aggressively at him. The man turned back to face him casually and made a defusing gesture with his hands.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, geez." He turned back to look where he was walking as he let out a huff of frustration while the blue creature made a similar huff and turned back to the vendor he was speaking to previously. The man shook his head. "Someone's sensitive." His feet clicked against the concrete ground as he looked around at the rock huts lining the streets. He bobbed and weaved his way through the crowd of multicolored creatures who called this place Shiro-4, which was just about everyone who lived in the Gireoneon Empire. This was a commercial planet, after all. It had certainly helped that this planet had such diversity of sapient natives to encourage the commercial growth of this world.

He held his credit disk up to a vendor's sapper and, with a brief handover of two volps, a fruit that vaguely resembled the combination of old earthen oranges and apples, the transaction was completed. He exited from the crowd and climbed onto the roof of a nearby building and swung his feet over the ledge, munching down on one of the volps he was holding and looking out over the crowd with vested interest.

The man had a somewhat built face, stubble above his lips and lining his jaws. His deep brown hair was a bit of a mess, but it rested nicely atop his head as a few clumps jutted below his hairline. His deep blue eyes jumped across the pedestrians below. Standing, the man was about 6'0": tall but not overly so. He was well built, his muscles clearly visible but not at all rippling. He appeared very healthy and strong, a visage he worked hard to maintain. His chest, and legs for that matter, were covered by a layer of protective black and brown clothing that criss-crossed in a flexible metal alloy mesh with some stronger plates for good measure. The fingers on his left hand tapped the concrete roof of the hovel he sat upon with the metal construct he lovingly called his right arm supported the volp he was eating.

Spoiler: Strange Man

(basically this unless anything in my description says otherwise)

Daisie

 

[Daisie]

Shiro-4. It didn't take much to see the beauty in the diversity of this place. It seemed like there wasn't a single moment that passed in which these streets weren't bustling. Quite honestly, there were too many species gathered here to count. Simply looking at a group of pedestrians could prove entertaining, considering the fact that wherever you looked, you could find some new alien you hadn't ever seen before. Certainly, there was no shortage of activity here.

However, not all that activity was necessarily good...

Terridas, sometimes also called Anthro-Chiropteras, were one of the more common aliens around these planets. Covered in fur of various colours from head to toe, many tend to associate them with bats, as well as a few bad omens. They bear broad wings, a fox-like face, grand ears, medium-length tails, and are often considered "Cute" in the same fashion one would appreciate a pet.
This masked Terrida made her way through the streets, weaving in and out of crowds of people, clutching onto an electronic clipboard tightly. Her mask was a deep velvet red with a shimmering golden trim, and looked like it was being worn for a special event. Underneath the mask, she adjusted the patch across her eye, and with a one-eyed gaze, she locked onto a nearby alleyway where a rather short, yellow alien was waiting around, tapping his foot. Her light, reddish-pink fur swayed in a cool breeze as she brought the clipboard from her chest and looked over a picture of the exact same alien. Her nose twitched beneath the mask as she brought her gaze up and approached the tubby, mustard-coloured character.

She spoke in a heavy accent one could only loosely associate with Russian. She conversed in some foreign language with the alien who was only three feet tall, which was rather small in comparison to her five and a half foot self. That is, not including the ears. They talked for only a minute or two, before the Terrida made a look around the busy streets, eyes scanning across the masses. She spotted some Karrekas negotiating something nearby, a lonely looking Samnu, some Bulligans debating heavily over some political topic, and a Human sitting on a roof, taking a bite out of a volp. After a quick glance at her surroundings, she smirked to herself slightly, and beckoned the small yellow alien to follow her, heading deeper into the alleyway. The alien fiddled with their thumbs a little bit as they followed her down, looking a little bit unsure as they were being led to a more... secluded area.

Spoiler: The Terrida

Assailant

 

[Assailant]

The man looked over the crowd quite intently, scanning them for any indication that they might be of use to his objectives, when he caught sight of a shady looking Terrida. He narrowed his eyes as he watched her go deeper into the alleyway. He'd associated with a few Terridas in his day, after all they were common around the Shiro system, but he'd never really spent any quality time with them. He wondered if that was about to change. Before he could do that, however, he would need to determine if he was right.

He quickly finished the volp he was currently eating and shoved the other one into a knapsack before climbing down from the building and pushing his way through the crowd to the alleyway where the female Terrida had entered. He quickly placed himself around the corner of the alleyway and looked in. He reached up and pressed a button on a device near his ear and then turned a few knobs. A small, purple reticle appeared over his eye, and with a few more turns and clicks, he was zoomed in on the Terrida and other alien. If they turned any corners, he'd follow.

He knew eavesdropping was wrong, but he was never one to care much about that trifling "ethics" nonsense.

Daisie

 

[Daisie]

The Terrida gave her tail a flick as she turned around, looking down at the tubby alien who had started to protest. She made an assuring gesture as she tried to talk him down, bringing out her clipboard again and scrolling through it. Crouching down to the small creature, she showed the screen to him. Suddenly, although, things had taken an interesting turn as she tossed the electronic clipboard on the ground and grabbed onto the alien, lifting them with ease as she pinned their small form against the wall. Within a flash, a powerful looking energy pistol was whipped out and put up against the victim's throat.

"I dislike last words, but I am feeling kind this assignment," is what this now aggressive Terrida's words were loosely translated to. Her one eye narrowed beneath her velvet red mask, peering intently at her hopeless prey who began to struggle. When a loud yelp had almost escaped this mustard-coloured alien's maw, the shot was taken. A powerful, but quieted energy pulse was sent through their body, quickly followed by another one. Within just a few moments, the creature had been silenced. The sly-looking Terrida let the body go limp and slump to the floor as she sighed and stepped away, bending down and picking up the clipboard again. Scrolling through, she muttered something of a separate, but oddly familiar language under her breath. "Dormiat in pace."

The Terrida holstered her handgun and kept scrolling through, leaning against a wall and staring at the glowing blue screen with her one eye, through her mask.

Assailant

 

[Assailant]

The man grinned and finally stepped out into the alleyway. His feet tapped along the concrete as he left the hustle and bustle of the street and made his way into the dark and eerie silence of the alleyway. "Ah, antiquam linguam scis? Ego Latinam etiam fruor." A purple line made its way up the Terrida's body and the human tsk'd as a purple floating screen appeared in front of him with words written on it.. "Quite the track record you have here, I'm almost impressed." As he said this, he lifted his hands above his head, already anticipating the Terrida turning the gun on him as he did.

Daisie

 

[Daisie]

As anticipated, as soon as the Human rounded the corner and began speaking, the Terrida dropped the clipboard and immediately brandished her trusty weapon, pointing it threateningly towards the unexpected intruder. Recognizing English, the Terrida spoke quickly, firmly, and in her heavy accent. "Do not move. I would suggest you give me a reason why I should not blast you off this planet within the next ten seconds, Human," the agitated alien threatened, eye narrowed through the gold-trimmed mask.

Assailant

 

[Assailant]

"Predictable," he muttered. "You know," he said, now speaking loud enough for her to hear him. "I must say, it's rather kind of you to not immediately shoot me. But geez, I don't perform well under pressure. Ten seconds? And I've already wasted four of them, a shame." It was odd: despite having a gun aimed at him, he did not seem worried in the slightest. He shifted the weight on his hips and looked her up and down. "But I like that you're ready but not hasty. A good trait. I think I found my new partner... ah, that is, if you're interested." He moved and leaned against a wall, hands now folded in front of his chest. "See, you have quite the track record of, shall we say, 'public disservices.' Now, listen, I'm not the cleanest guy in the world either, so I don't care about turning you in or anything. In fact, I quite intend not to. But commiting murders on as crowded a location as one of the primary market districts of Shiro-4? That takes guts. And guts end with you in prison... or with them on the floor. Luckily, I think I have a way to help, and I could use those guts." He grinned and looked at her.

"I've been hired by a person of... considerable financial endowment to retrieve an artifact of sorts. See, I'm a bounty hunter." He gestured his hands towards himself as he said this. "There are enough credits riding on this that I'd be set for life after this one job. I'm in the clear for good." He grinned before sighing and lowering his head, shaking it as well. "Unfortunately, it can never be that simple. I know very little about the details of this job, and I don't mean my employer's got tight lips. We both know very little. It's kinda a mystery, you understand. I have no idea what I'm up against, so I need to prepare for everything. It would certainly help me if I had someone with me who was more... subtle and understanding. Kind of like, say, a master criminal?" He raised his eyebrow. "And if those wings aren't for decoration, then you could really help me out with reconnaissance too. You'd get a split of the profits, of course, and... well, let's just say even a quarter of that money would be enough to absolve you of all your numerous crimes and thensome."

He left a silence in the air hanging for a few moments. "So... you in?"

Daisie

 

[Daisie]

The Terrida narrowed her eye at this strange man who was offering her a supposed great sum of money. An artifact? That wasn't quite her cup of tea. She spent a few moments thinking. "You are down the wrong alleyway, Human. How could you use a hunter for retrieving a precious artifact? I kill for money, I am not some adventurer who seeks useless stones."

"You would not think twice before stabbing my back and leaving me to rot. This sum of money that you say is so grand.. I see there is no evidence that it exists. Many people wish for my blood, I will not let it fall into the hands of a Human due to some.. poorly constructed scam."

"Numbers, names, and objectives. Then, perhaps, I'll consider your little offer." The Terrida scowled beneath her mask in suspicion. The lack of information and details, was... Unsettling, to say the least. She kept her gun high, though due to the Human's laid back attitude, she knew something had to be up. If a shot wouldn't work, she was prepared to take to the skies at a moment's notice.

Assailant

 

[Assailant]

The Terrida narrowed her eye at this strange man who was offering her a supposed great sum of money. An artifact? That wasn't quite her cup of tea. She spent a few moments thinking. "You are down the wrong alleyway, Human. How could you use a hunter for retrieving a precious artifact? I kill for money, I am not some adventurer who seeks useless stones."

"You would not think twice before stabbing my back and leaving me to rot. This sum of money that you say is so grand.. I see there is no evidence that it exists. Many people wish for my blood, I will not let it fall into the hands of a Human due to some.. poorly constructed scam."

"Numbers, names, and objectives. Then, perhaps, I'll consider your little offer." The Terrida scowled beneath her mask in suspicion. The lack of information and details, was... Unsettling, to say the least. She kept her gun high, though due to the Human's laid back attitude, she knew something had to be up. If a shot wouldn't work, she was prepared to take to the skies at a moment's notice.

Assailant

The man nodded. "Well, had it occurred to you that maybe I'd been a tad sparse on details because you threatened to kill me in ten seconds?" He let that hang for a few moments before sighing. "Look, as I said, we don't know a lot. If you came with me, our first stop would be in the Ferek system. On one of the moons there lived a tribe who worshiped the damn thing. The species went extinct before it could go interstellar, but someone stumbled across some of their writings a while back and managed to decode it. Maybe it will be there, maybe not, but it's our first lead." He rubbed his head.

"I can't give you my employer's name. I never told them that I'd be getting a partner, didn't think of it at the time, frankly, and I'm sworn to secrecy. And I don't know why they employed me either, before you ask. You don't get to be such a big name in this business by asking questions to the people who are writing your paycheck. I have no idea why they want with this, but I bet it's just some collector who wants a fine addition to their collection. But when they're paying you as much as I'm gonna be payed, I don't care to know." He grinned. "Speaking of... the matter of payment... 4,000,000,000,000,000 credits... and that's just your share." That was... a lot of money. Like an inconceivably large amount. The people who had that much money were the less-than-1%. "More than enough to pay off your crimes, any others you want to commit in the future, and still have a bit of spending money left over." He looked her in the eyes.

"Listen, I have no reason to want your blood or whatever. You haven't wronged me, and I'm not so altruistic as to care that you just killed that man. In fact, I'm willing to bet I've killed more than you. So I'm not planning to turn you in or kill you. In fact, I got the drop on you. If I had wanted to, you'd already be dead or in an enforcer ship right now. I didn't. You can say no and I'll turn around and walk away. But as I said, I don't know a ton of details about what will be coming up, and I'd rather be 4,000,000,000,000,000 credits shorter than be dead. I'm covering my bases here. With this many crimes to your name, you should be in a maximum security prison for the next seven lifetimes. Yet here you are, which means I can trust you to handle yourself. There are things you can do better than me. I wanna make sure I have that covered if the need arises. That simple. So, as I said before..." his grin rose back up and he raised an eyebrow.

"Are ya in?"

Daisie

 

[Daisie]

The man nodded. "Well, had it occurred to you that maybe I'd been a tad sparse on details because you threatened to kill me in ten seconds?" He let that hang for a few moments before sighing. "Look, as I said, we don't know a lot. If you came with me, our first stop would be in the Ferek system. On one of the moons there lived a tribe who worshiped the damn thing. The species went extinct before it could go interstellar, but someone stumbled across some of their writings a while back and managed to decode it. Maybe it will be there, maybe not, but it's our first lead." He rubbed his head.

"I can't give you my employer's name. I never told them that I'd be getting a partner, didn't think of it at the time, frankly, and I'm sworn to secrecy. And I don't know why they employed me either, before you ask. You don't get to be such a big name in this business by asking questions to the people who are writing your paycheck. I have no idea why they want with this, but I bet it's just some collector who wants a fine addition to their collection. But when they're paying you as much as I'm gonna be payed, I don't care to know." He grinned. "Speaking of... the matter of payment... 4,000,000,000,000,000 credits... and that's just your share." That was... a lot of money. Like an inconceivably large amount. The people who had that much money were the less-than-1%. "More than enough to pay off your crimes, any others you want to commit in the future, and still have a bit of spending money left over." He looked her in the eyes.

"Listen, I have no reason to want your blood or whatever. You haven't wronged me, and I'm not so altruistic as to care that you just killed that man. In fact, I'm willing to bet I've killed more than you. So I'm not planning to turn you in or kill you. In fact, I got the drop on you. If I had wanted to, you'd already be dead or in an enforcer ship right now. I didn't. You can say no and I'll turn around and walk away. But as I said, I don't know a ton of details about what will be coming up, and I'd rather be 4,000,000,000,000,000 credits shorter than be dead. I'm covering my bases here. With this many crimes to your name, you should be in a maximum security prison for the next seven lifetimes. Yet here you are, which means I can trust you to handle yourself. There are things you can do better than me. I wanna make sure I have that covered if the need arises. That simple. So, as I said before..." his grin rose back up and he raised an eyebrow.

"Are ya in?"

Daisie

The aggressive-looking Terrida had to spend a few moments thinking, and weighing her options. She didn't let her gaze slip from the Human for one second. Very slowly and reluctantly, she lowered her weapon, though she refused to holster it for obvious reasons. "You have a deal, on only a few conditions."

She reached into a pocket and slipped on some gloves, keeping an eye on the man just up the alley. "Of course, I will not accompany you aboard any ships. I take my own ship to the Ferek system. I have had a few 'escorts' in my time, and it has not ended well for anyone." She leaned down and pulled an identical gun out of her boot, inspecting it briefly. "I have a foot in the door. I'll be able to leave at a moment, and in that moment, the deal will be off. I have no money as a reward, and you have no 'partner' to your name. I never see you again, and we have never met." She headed over to the body and placed the energy weapon carefully in the dead alien's hand, retrieving her clipboard from the ground again. Eye drifting down to the clipboard, she pressed a few things on it. It proceeded to turn red, beginning to wipe itself. As her gaze was away from this man, her large ears sufficed, as they kept pointed towards him. While the clipboard erased all its data, she took a small cloth out of her other pocket and wiped down the screen thoroughly.

Soon, the electronic clipboard had finished, and she plugged another small device into it. Within a moment, a long letter had been downloaded. "And if I do not get my promised amount, there will be consequences."

The Terrida turned the clipboard off and tossed it down next to the body, bringing her gaze back up to the man.

"You have yourself a deal."

Assailant

 

[Assailant]

The aggressive-looking Terrida had to spend a few moments thinking, and weighing her options. She didn't let her gaze slip from the Human for one second. Very slowly and reluctantly, she lowered her weapon, though she refused to holster it for obvious reasons. "You have a deal, on only a few conditions."

She reached into a pocket and slipped on some gloves, keeping an eye on the man just up the alley. "Of course, I will not accompany you aboard any ships. I take my own ship to the Ferek system. I have had a few 'escorts' in my time, and it has not ended well for anyone." She leaned down and pulled an identical gun out of her boot, inspecting it briefly. "I have a foot in the door. I'll be able to leave at a moment, and in that moment, the deal will be off. I have no money as a reward, and you have no 'partner' to your name. I never see you again, and we have never met." She headed over to the body and placed the energy weapon carefully in the dead alien's hand, retrieving her clipboard from the ground again. Eye drifting down to the clipboard, she pressed a few things on it. It proceeded to turn red, beginning to wipe itself. As her gaze was away from this man, her large ears sufficed, as they kept pointed towards him. While the clipboard erased all its data, she took a small cloth out of her other pocket and wiped down the screen thoroughly.

Soon, the electronic clipboard had finished, and she plugged another small device into it. Within a moment, a long letter had been downloaded. "And if I do not get my promised amount, there will be consequences."

The Terrida turned the clipboard off and tossed it down next to the body, bringing her gaze back up to the man.

"You have yourself a deal."

Assailant

Max frowned a bit. He did not quite like the idea of staying on different ships, but he supposed if that was what it took then it was a small price to pay. "Yes, yes, that is all well and good. I suppose the only thing I have to add in there is that, should you leave, you are to keep secret about anything you learned from me or whilst on this endeavor. As I said before, I am sworn to secrecy, so I can't have you leaving and telling people about any of this. Other than that, you have yourself a deal." He began to reach out his hand for a handshake before he paused and retracted his hand. "Nevermind that, I take you as the type to refuse a handshake. At any rate, I'll need your personal communications info to keep in touch with you. If you're going to be taking a ship especially, I need to make sure we don't get split up."

Daisie

 

[Daisie]

The Terrida narrowed her eye at the man slightly, ears flitting back a little bit. "No need to worry about any vital information escaping.. As you can imagine, I have a pact of secrecy with my clients." She decided, now, to holster her weapon, though her hand was ready to bolt back to it if needed. "And of course, communications will be provided, that is a given." She stretched her arms out before roaming towards the end of the alleyway, approaching the nameless man, as well. Her uncovered eye looked him up and down through the velvety red mask as she passed by. "You can refer to me as Novatris. And yourself?"

Assailant

 

[Assailant]

The Terrida narrowed her eye at the man slightly, ears flitting back a little bit. "No need to worry about any vital information escaping.. As you can imagine, I have a pact of secrecy with my clients." She decided, now, to holster her weapon, though her hand was ready to bolt back to it if needed. "And of course, communications will be provided, that is a given." She stretched her arms out before roaming towards the end of the alleyway, approaching the nameless man, as well. Her uncovered eye looked him up and down through the velvety red mask as she passed by. "You can refer to me as Novatris. And yourself?"

Assailant

The human stretched his back. "Maybe it's risky of me to trust a rogue, but I'll take your word for that." When the Terrida gave her name, or at the very least, her alias, the man smiled. He cracked his fingers and gave a cocky grin. "Well then, I'm kinda surprised you gave that up without me having to ask. Getting a little sociable over there, are we?" He chuckled. "The name's Maxwell Teller. Nice ta meet ya." He pulled out his communication matrix and presented the access code. All it would take is a scan from Novatris's communicator, assuming she had a standard brand, and they could contact one another.

Daisie

 

[Daisie]

Novatris didn't seem to take kindly to Maxwell's confident smile, nor his playful teasing, as she only shot him an annoyed glare from the corner of her eye as her ears flitted back again. With a personality like his, Novatris could tell, it was about to be quite a long trip. Seeing Max present his communicator, she took out her own, and, as predicted, scanned over it quickly. "It is good to make acquaintance with you." She continued out of the alleyway, being cautious to keep the man in sight on her left side. "Normally, I work on my own. But you have piqued my interest, Teller. Coming to me under such... Unusual and strange circumstances."

Assailant

 

[Assailant]

Max nodded, finding her access number in his data array with a grin. "Yeah, I like to do that sometimes. Keep ya on your toes, as it were." He found her number and quickly established a fastline. That way, they could contact each other swiftly if needed. "Alright, so..." Max pulled up a steller map of the Ferrek system. "Our target is Ferrek-4-B. We land about 2 miles off of the abandoned settlement of Chio'quithal." He tagged the location and sent it over to Novatris's system. "There's a clearing there. The moon is basically one vast jungle, but that spot has some cleared area from the initial landing party, so we'll just hijack their work." He jotted down a few notes, things like the atmospheric makeup of the moon (in case it was somehow inhospitable to a Terrida, he wasn't sure," as well as how to enter the atmosphere appropriately, and sent it over to her before closing his communicator. "I suppose I'll see you there, then, yeah?"

Daisie

 

[Daisie]

Novatris briefly pulled her communications system up, her watchful eye looking over the location and other information pertaining to it. After only a few seconds more, she slipped it back into her pocket. "Understood, Teller." She responded with a cold and professional attitude, contrasting greatly with Maxwell's more lighthearted one. She stopped walking and looked up into the air, "Let us hope this is a quick job, hm? We can be on our way speedily." She shifted her gaze back to Maxwell, looking him up and down one last time with skepticism. She didn't put much trust into this man, truthfully; she really had no reason to. But something told her that this job held a lot of potential. A reward of cash with that many zeroes in it...? It seemed far too good to be true. Yes, Novatris knew how this mission would end. Either she was going to get her promised reward and proceed to forget that any of this ever happened, or there would be definite bloodshed. Either way, she was determined to get her way.

Wasting no more time, she snapped her head back to the skies, adjusting her deep velvet-red mask slightly, over her face. Using her powerful digitigrade legs, she launched herself into the air, spreading her wings out far and letting them whisk her away. At first, she had flown away from the general direction of ship.. Just as a precaution. But after she was certain the man couldn't see her anymore, she circled about and flew in the correct direction.

Assailant

 

[Assailant]

Max looked up as the Terrida flew off. He shifted the weight on his hips and crossed his arms with a tut. "Going the wrong way," he chastised to no one, already knowing that she was trying to throw him off of her trail. No matter, it's not like he intended to follow her. He exited the alleyway, sure to make sure no enforcers were around who might mistake him for the murderer in the alleyway, before leaving for his ship. When he arrived, he made his way in and began flying to the moon. Following proper hyperspace lanes, it was a two hour flight. He had some time to kill, and if Novatris tried to avoid the major lanes to assure she does not get spotted, it would take her a good deal of extra time to arrive. He flipped some switches, initializing the engines, before leaving the planet and making his way to the nearest lane. He uploaded Novatris's access code to the ship and sent a message.

"Message me at T-10 minutes from Ferrek-4-B."

With that, he began the trek.

 

[Daisie]

Novatris looked down at the ground as she walked the rest of the way towards her ship. She knew she had parked it somewhere around this area... In a more secluded location, as she preferred. She brushed a bush of some sort aside and looked down at the powdery dirt. Aha! That was what she had been looking for. The ground was almost completely flat here, which regularly wouldn't mean much to anyone. But it would soon be an important detail as the Terrida removed her communications device once again from her pouch. Her small claws clicked on it a couple times, soon bringing up a fingerprint scanner. Pressing her finger against the scanner, she brought her eye up from her trusty device and looked forward.

Within just a moment of the screen on her device flashing a bright and obnoxious "ACCESS GRANTED", a ship seemed to materialize through thin air. But obviously, as many would know, it was a cloak. Though it was one of very high caliber.

Novatris looked up upon her used, albeit surprisingly sturdy, ship. The door opened up to welcome her back, and she stepped on forward into it, touching a finger to the slightly rusty-looking outside, as some sort of wish for good luck. This ship was definitely not fitted with all the best equipment, but... She was still working long and hard on it. This ship was the pride and joy of her work; something she had continually expanded on for the past many years. The weapons were obviously slightly sub-par, the shields were sturdy enough, it seemed like an over-all okay ship. But the thing that Novatris blew all her money on was the cloaking device she had installed. This was some top-notch tech, able to cloak essentially indefinitely while the ship wasn't in use, and able to keep hidden for up to approximately 20 hours while the ship was in use. It could slip under most sensors, save for a few higher-tech ones, and was certainly nothing to take lightly.

The Terrida stretched her arms and wings for a moment or two before capturing her rightful seat in the front. She pressed her fingers against a few screens, typed some more elaborate things out, and powered up the ship for takeoff.

Ping!

Novatris slipped her communications device, having received a message. "Message me at T-10 minutes from Ferrek-4-B," from Max. Simple enough. "Acknowledged", she sent back almost mindlessly, out of habit. Whipping the stellar map and location up onto one of the many screens on her left side, she gave it a look over before lifting off and taking the path she knew would be secure. Naturally, this alternate path would take a tad longer than the regular routes, but nonetheless, it would be a wiser choice for her.

Novatris laid back and started her own, longer trip, knowing that Teller would definitely make it there first. She carefully removed her mask and breathed a sigh, setting it down on the dashboard and kicking her feet up. She rubbed the crudely put-together bandages around her right eye, finally getting to relax after a day. She took the time to take it easy. And also pray that Maxwell wasn't the chatty type. Good heavens, she hoped there wouldn't be much social interaction during this mission. She'd once let an alien hitchhike on her ship. Ended up driving for hours. There wasn't a moment of silence during the entire period. She shuddered at the thought.

Assailant

 

[Assailant]

Max put the last screw into place as he examined the new phase-shift pistol. He grinned and plugged it into a computer and ran energy through it, checking multiple readings on a few screens, hand to his chin and humming as he nodded, eyes darting between different charts and numbers. After a few moments, he let out a content sigh and detached the gun and slotted it into a side holster. Ferrek-4-B loomed outside the window in the shadow of Ferrek-4, growing in the bay windows. Max did a little dance to himself before plopping into a chair and sighing.

"Tell me, why should I like you," Max said to himself in his best impression of Novatris.

"I've got a shit ton of money for you," he replied in his own voice. He did a faux swoon.

"Oh Max!" He replied, still doing an impression of Novatris's voice, but noticeably higher pitched and more emotive than reality. "Thank you! You are too kind and generous and also really handsome." Max grinned and chuckled, rubbing his chin and leaning in.

"Oh, I know. You don't need to tell me... but keep telling me."

He was really bored...

How long was Novatris gonna take?

Daisie

 

[Daisie]

Novatris was fully aware she was a little bit behind schedule. She paced around, letting the ship's autopilot take her to her destination. She stretched her arms and wings for a moment, bored, before checking the time. Realizing it was about ten minutes until she was to arrive at the planet, she sat back down in her seat and lifted her legs up onto the dashboard again, swinging her mask back onto her face and pulling her communicator out.

"Ten minutes until arrival, as requested, Teller. I am aware that I have taken longer than anticipated." She sent through her communicator before continuing the wait.


The ten minutes seemed to take forever. But, surely enough, a ship came into range, lurching out of hyperspace nearby. Very quickly after arriving and coming within range, Novatris opened her ship's communications with Max's. She sat up and dusted herself off, making sure her mask was secure on her face.

Assailant

 

[Assailant]

Novatris was fully aware she was a little bit behind schedule. She paced around, letting the ship's autopilot take her to her destination. She stretched her arms and wings for a moment, bored, before checking the time. Realizing it was about ten minutes until she was to arrive at the planet, she sat back down in her seat and lifted her legs up onto the dashboard again, swinging her mask back onto her face and pulling her communicator out.

"Ten minutes until arrival, as requested, Teller. I am aware that I have taken longer than anticipated." She sent through her communicator before continuing the wait.


The ten minutes seemed to take forever. But, surely enough, a ship came into range, lurching out of hyperspace nearby. Very quickly after arriving and coming within range, Novatris opened her ship's communications with Max's. She sat up and dusted herself off, making sure her mask was secure on her face.

Assailant

Max perked up as communications came through. He jumped over to his chair and saw the notification. As he saw Novatris's ship approached, he pulled up the terrestrial map and sent the landing location to her. He wasn't sure if he'd done it yet, but he was just making sure to cover all his bases. With that, he opened up communications. He looked her up and down, humming to himself in thought before looking to his computer. "Could ya send me the schematics for your ship? Or at least the armaments and engines? I need to know what we're working with going in. I've already got a bit of a plan, but I'd like to be sure of the details."

Daisie

 

[Daisie]

Novatris paused for a moment, obviously a tad hesitant to give the man the specs for these things. This guy had pushed her trust a lot already, now he had been asking for info on her ship? She was reaching her limit. It would be clear to see the weaknesses for her ship which she's worked so hard on; something she held quite valuable. The extremely skeptical Terrida looked up at the planet, her gaze then rolling over to the landing coordinates, and circling back to the communications screen, thinking of all the possible ways this could go bad for her. Crossing a leg over the other, she reached down to her controls and began sending the required data over. The information on her decent engine and slightly sub-par weapons array was sent, purposefully excluding her cloaking technology as it may serve her well in an emergency escape. That is, in case Maxwell decided to try something.

"I'll take your word for it," Novatris muttered, clearly agitated, but not speaking out against him. "All the information you need has been sent, Teller. Now would be a good time to tell me precisely what we are up against. What did you so desperately need my services for, again?"

A bit of restrained frustrstion shows after a long trip, in her voice.

Assailant

 

[Assailant]

Max cocked an eyebrow up. "Really? I feel like we've been over this. I don't know what we're up against, Nova. Could be anything. You're my insurance. You can do things I can't, and I have to cover my bases just in case we end up hitting a wall that I can't vault alone. For all I know, we'll waltz down there, find the thing, and you'll get your money by night's end. Now I don't suspect it will be that easy, but it could be. That said, here specificially, the wildlife can be a bit hostile, so you'll want to have something to defend yourself."

Max hummed as he examined Novatris's schematics. "Hmmm... yep, about what I expected. Pretty darn fast, nice hyperdrive, but subpar weapons systems. That's what I figured. Alright, my weapons specs are better, so I'm gonna head down there first. You follow suit close behind me. I'll clear out anything that might be in the way on the landing area, and then we'll land and make our way to the town and do some investigating. Sound good?"

Daisie

 

[Daisie]

Novatris growled, barely audibly as Max read over her ship's schematics. "Forgive me for wanting to know where I am setting myself before diving in and shooting my weapons. For the record, this is not a mission I would regularly join. Let us hope that price tag measures correctly." It was true. Looking for treasures was definitely not her forte. If it wasn't for the suspiciously large reward, she probably would have denied the offer and/or tried to shoot him. She just had to see for herself if it was true or not.

She seemed, although, to switch gears as Max talked a little bit more. "Reasonable." She agreed, letting out a breath and controlling her ship again, readying to follow behind Maxwell in their descent to the planet. But her tone turned stern as her ship shifted into position. "And..."

"Refer to me as Novatris, Teller."

Assailant

 

[Assailant]

Novatris growled, barely audibly as Max read over her ship's schematics. "Forgive me for wanting to know where I am setting myself before diving in and shooting my weapons. For the record, this is not a mission I would regularly join. Let us hope that price tag measures correctly." It was true. Looking for treasures was definitely not her forte. If it wasn't for the suspiciously large reward, she probably would have denied the offer and/or tried to shoot him. She just had to see for herself if it was true or not.

She seemed, although, to switch gears as Max talked a little bit more. "Reasonable." She agreed, letting out a breath and controlling her ship again, readying to follow behind Maxwell in their descent to the planet. But her tone turned stern as her ship shifted into position. "And..."

"Refer to me as Novatris, Teller."

Assailant

Max exhaled, shaking his head. "Alright, Alright Novatris." He began to fly down to the surface of the planet, hopefully with Novatris in toe behind him. Making his way into a clearing in the giant jungle, he looked around for any possible danger. Seeing that the clearing was still remarkably clean, despite not being used in so long, he parked off to one side, leaving just enough room for Novatris to land if she was careful. He quickly took some readings with his external sensors and nodded, sending a message to Novatris. "The atmosphere is safe to breath for a human, but I dunno what kinds of atmosphere Terridas can take, so keep that in mind."

Daisie