Snippet #2811605

Days if not weeks had been spent in what Rei Harkov politely referred to as the "the damnable jungle" just trying to survive long enough to find another mode of transportation besides her own two feet, had left Rei in anything other than a good mood. The only thing that had propelled her forwards and convinced her to put one foot in front of the other, was the motivation to get off world and find out what had happened to her ship.

The Ghost Dance was a precious thing to her, and while just a ship had been both home and refuge for as long as she could remember. With it's alpha level artifical intelligence and hyper diamond hull cladding combined with it's fierce point defense weaponry, there had been little that stood in her way of getting what she had wanted. But a brief entanglement out in the Aschen Rim had left her questioning everything.

The time spent underground in the Cenote had only left her with time for more questions, and it wasn't likely she was going to get any satisfactory answers.

Easing back on the shuttle's yoke, Rei looked towards a small jungle clearing not far from what looked like the remains of an old mining camp.

Precious minerals and other valuable resources had long since been stripped from this section of the jungle. All that was left were the old workings left from the Aschen's efforts to extract everything they could from an often inhospitable and unforgiving jungle. Locals had been eager for a job that wasn't involved with the planet's on going war, but as soon as the ore veins had played out, the company left. Anything that had been left behind was abandoned in place down in the mine or destroyed to prevent anyone ever using it again.

Flying her shuttle low, skimming across the canopy of the jungle, Rei looked for anything that would prevent her from safely landing. In her mind, abandonded was good and meant that she wouldn't have to be dealing with anything or anyone. She just had to keep an eye out for any wild life that might decide to make a meal out of her.

Easing the ship down, Rei breathed a slight sigh of relief, glad for once to be back on what passed for solid ground these days. "Well it can't possibly get worse can it?" She muttered to herself as she hopped out of the shuttle ignorant of what potentially awaited her on the ground.

Sky's Edge had earned its reputation as a no go or even no fly zone, except for those willing to risk themselves and their livelihoods to earn a few credits. It had long since stopped becoming news outside of the colonial territories that some poor soul and their ship or shuttle had disappeared in or around Sky's Edge and it's few cities. One such city, Nueva Valpariso, was especially prone to seeing many a man disappear as he came to seek adventure, or his fortunes in the wars.

The small landing strip that Rei had picked was no where near Nueva Valpariso and its problems, instead it like the Cenote was as far out in the jungle and away from any known routes as possible. This was both a blessing and a curse, as there was little to find a person or for a person to be found if they disappeared under the right circumstances.

"Lookie here guys, we got ourselves a new shuttle." A man spoke as he stepped out of the thick canopy and pointed a older model beam rifle at Rei, who raised her arms carefully and slowly before turning around. "Didn't anyone teach you not to come on other people's property girlie?" He asked as he motioned to two others to check her for any hidden weapons and then detain her. "I'm just looking for Roland.. you know Cossack? Someone said if I found the old Iodralt mine, I'd find him. I'm an old friend of his!" Rei quickly explained not wanting to go through the whole mess of being captured yet again. The first man squinted at her and then the shuttle before motioning the two that had held her to bring her with. "Aren't we all." One of the men chuckled as they dragged her through the jungle and down through the tunnels to Roland.

"Oi.. Misser Cossacks. Broad says she knows you." He commented before roughly shoving Rei into the room.

"You need to hire new help Roland," Rei admonished, glaring at the three that had intercepted her at the shuttle. "Now c'mon tell them I know you so I can.. we can get this over with." She insisted. It was hard to believe that the woman standing in front of him was Rei Harkov, she was dirty and unkempt. Her pale skin was scraped and burned from time in the jungle, and underneath that was a lurid set of bruises from her time in the Cenote among other misadventures.