Car Key's Story

Tools were scattered everywhere, weapons were stacked neatly in various crates for travel, and crates were stacked for loading onto a travel barge as well. A job was a job, Car Key was not one to back down on such a deal, Make weapons for a good cause, she was requested, we'll pay top dollar if not more. Car Key accepted the job on the spot. So now she was just packing the weapons, doing final tests on a few other weapons, and also making sure her own ammo shipment had come in perfectly intact at the time.

"I still can't believe you shot me!" Said a male voice, one of her many workers. Ston was not going to shut up about her boltshot going off in his arms and nearly shearing his foot clean off at the time eariler that week.

"You pulled the trigger ya fuckin' bluetard!" Car Key retorted, clocking herself perfectly on the back of the head as she bent upright. the lid of the crate now had a good dent in the thing. "Ow!" She snarled and made a weird motion before just sighing and closing the crate and activating the System Seal.

"Yeah but you made the weapon, so you shot me!" Ston replied.

"Pack it in Ston, we gotta load these crates onto the cargo pod." Car Key replied. Man she loved her line of 'work' When Ston didn't move she growled at him "Get busy dirtbag!!" She threw a socketwrench at him. Nailing him perfectly in the back of the head with a solid KABONG followed by a loud "OW" "I said get busy!!"

The short, stout, talking penguin chuckled. It was always tantamount to chaos around these parts, especially in any incident that Car Key got involved in. The distinguished yet naturally flightless bird stood at her side, barely knee-high to the gifted tinkerer. "Always the ticking time-bomb, aren't you?" he mused, in reference to Ston's little mishap.

Of course, such was the nature of the beast when one worked alongside the unpredictable Lady Car Key. Icarus, while truthfully always put his wishes against a workplace accident, also secretly anticipated them with glee. Although, he was much more careful to contain his amusement regarding Ston's incident.

He sighed, the air of a hard day's work overflowing him; not that he'd partaken in any of the labor himself. He'd be damned before he let his hands drift into the direction of manual labor. He was a scientist for Titanic's sake. The only work he did with his hands was to build machinery that aided his plight for scientific discovery.

However, he found himself, for some strange reason, surrounded by a crew of people, headed by Car Key, loading weapons onto a barge. And yet, this particular fact didn't seem to phase him. After all: this was the least precarious of situations he'd been in with Car Key ever since he arrived on Terra.

Car Key stood at the main entry to the massive massive cargo pod, already crammed full, in this case carefully stacked neatly to the point wherein everything was in a grid so perfectly that it made a hell of a lot more sense then downtown at rush hour.. She had a dataslate in one hand and she was using her free hand, or rather her index finger and thumb to check the manefest carefully as each crate was stowed.

"Wasn't my fault. He did it to himself" Though in all honestly it happened so quickly it was impossible to tell who did what and oinlpy the outcome of Stone shooting himself in the foot was the most noteable conclusion. Car Key however dismissed the thought and spoke with her eyes fixed on the dataslate she held. "So Shorty, last time I saw you you had on those legs I made for you.... Hey, that one goes there, this one goes there!!" She was doing three things at once, her eyes on the dataslate, pointing at Ston while giving an order and talking to Icarus.

"Where have you been anyhow ? I was looking for you earlier. Did you get the traveling papers sorted ?" As far as she knew, Icarus was a numbers guy and could get into and out of systems with ease. Better then she could at least, one machine and BAM she was stalled on something else. But Icarus was a focused fellow, albiet shorter then her knees, but still. She hoped he had the travel papers sorted out.

"Stop admiring the thigh bones we got work to do." Car Key said at the sudden silence from Icarus. Even Ston was staring at her. Though at her look he quickly resumed his working. She still had another few dozen, or more actually now that she thought about it. Crates, to put into the cargo pod. Most of it was for her employers, the rest was her gear and anything Icarus wanted to take along. She opened a 'page' on the dataslate and lowered it so Icarus could see it.

It read simply "DID YOU GET THE TRAVEL PAPERS SORTED OUT ?"

Icarus looked at the screen with the utmost daunted look on his....well....bill. Behind his goggles there was a rolling of the eyeballs. She always did know how to drive a point home. Into your head. Until it manifested itself into a tumor that shared her voice. He righted himself, clearing his throat. "Yes, I got the travel papers sorted. In fact...." he trailed off, removing his knapsack from his hip. He plunged a flipper into the leather satchel, rooting around various parchment, blueprints, and thingamabobs, searching for the very damned travel papers Car Key had managed to bring up thrice in one breath.

With a tight clench of his flipper (the not having fingers issue kinda made it hard to have a grip), he reached up, jumping even, to hand Car Key the exact bloody travel papers she'd been on about.

"I handle my business. See for yourself." The papers even had his official "flipper of approval", stamped in ink and everything. All was in order; that is, until Car Key managed to introduce the copious amounts of chaos that she was so wont to carrying with her.

He stood by, a smug smirk decorating his beak. He waddled around, looking about the shipping dock. Various laborers were scattered about, checking and hauling cargo, making absolutely sure that they didn't manage to mug up this particular operation. Such a mishap would undoubtedly incur Car Key's wrath and, at the worst, bring about a few workplace casualties, some of which being workers who were completely innocent of fault.

Icarus sighed. It was a simpler life back on the Antarctic Peninsula. However, he could honestly say that leaving that life behind was the best thing to happen to him since he first tasted fish. And by the powers, was fish amazing.

"As long as your business does not include sending Bobo into my sleeping pallet as a plushie....." How penguins looked so much like a stuffed animal she had no idea whatsoever. She trailed off as she took the papers carefully. She did not bother to question just how the hell a penguin could even handle anything as delicate as paper, muchless make stuff and be a reknown scientist.

A full minute passed, but none of the workers slowed their careful stacking of the crates within the massive cargo pod. So far she had managed to fill nine of the things, and from the look of it, this last one was half to two thirds full. Which was, for the moment, a good thing. Since she was almost out of crates to stack inside the thing.

Finally she nodded. Icarus was right, the papers were all in order. "Good we'er almost completely loaded, took ten of these cargo pods. I had Ston get your gear on board and make sure your freezer was wel lstocked as well." She said passing down the papers. All the better for Icarus to handle them and keep track of them. The only time she could keep track of travel documents was when they were logged in her dataslate, but most planets required written travel papers with seals of three major groups or local governments of planet of origin. With Icarus' seal on the papers that meant that all they needed was a pitstop at the spaceport before lift off to seal the deal.

Ston came up to them, "You do know you're taking an awful risk doing this right ?" He asked. "I mean seriously, weapons for rebels. Who knows what could happen enroute to the delivery location."

"Yep" Car Key replied, "Just like everyone else, you take a risk just waking up in the morning, going to the bathroom or getting your balls caught in the radiator belt of a Bunny Mech." Car Key said. Ston looked ill at that thought. "How many crates are left dockside ?"

"Three dozen to go after this bakers dozen. Then there's the travel gear for you, your tools, my stuff. And then the other workers and the Prof here" Ston replied.

Car Key smiled and nodded, they were making perfect time. Soon they'd be off

Soon

Everything was going according to precaution. The word precaution is used, because a plan is highly unlikely in the presence of Car Key. So, Icarus took what he could get and made the most of the situation at hand; they were nearly all set to meet up with the rebels to whom these weapons would go, deliver the cargo, and get their money.

He chuckled at the Lady's mention of the Bobo ordeal; he never thought a member of any species could scream so loud for so long and not incur some form of bodily damage to another living thing. However, furniture had been toppled, lamps had been broken, and pillows shredded because of that past mishap. Despite what Key believed, Bobo had crawled into her sleeping pad of his own volition. "She looked uncomfortable," he squawked, seeing as he was incapable of human speech, unlike Icarus himself.

Suddenly, Ston walked up, signalling preparations were nearly complete, and that shipment was near ready to be delivered. The stubby bird had always regarded Ston with a mixture of something that resembled humor, and something else that resembled pity. The man seemed prone to habits of workplace injury, usually brought on by his employer's contraptions. It was comical in its own right, but in a way tragic.

Either way, Icarus resided to go along with the plans; he was rather tired, despite not even lifting a finger to load the crates. He yawned a avian yawn (a feat not many people could say they bore witness to), and waddled around, waiting until it was time to depart on their journey.

This trip would be a blast; literally, if any of Key's weapons happened to go off on their own.

It took another hour or so before the crates were all packed into the cargo pod. Ten cargo pods exactly. One hell of a caravan. Ston entered first, all but locking himself in heavy plate armor. the poor guy was totally freaked out over being employed by a woman with a knack for workplace injury giving. However his fear was short lived as Car Key was more intent on sorting here gear properly in her stateroom. Each worker had a room, some bunked with others. But most of them had their own room, like Car Key, Ston, Icarus had Bobo with him. Thank goodness for small favors Car Key thought. Bobo was a sneaky little bird, small even compared to Icarus himself.

A few minutes after making sure her gear was in its place, {her very unkempt quarters} She was ready for lift off. She went for the bridge of the craft. Hopefully everyone was onboard and ready to leave. She shifted carefully through the dataslate, making sure everything was in its proper place while also keying in her code, pressing her thumb to the scanner when requested by the starship to do so, then she progressed to access the internal comm and also the dockside channels and announced that lift off was in ten minutes.

Everything, for the moment, was going smoothly. Too smoothly.

Icarus was very right in the fact that Car Key was a powder keg ready to go off without notice. a ticking time bomb.

Though she and everyone else onboard had no idea just how much of a bang the trip was going to be in the first place. For all Car Key knew, there was not going to be any blowing up, not until she got the next firing range at their target planet of landing. Just a supply run, she was told to tell any police or similar groups should she be stopped. Car Key however made clear of what exactly was to occur should she get stopped in any manner. Just keep going, completely unseen. The cloaking network worked only so far though. It did nothing to mask heat signatures of people, machines sure, but people...

Icarus took scope of the place. It was nearly time to depart, and he felt rather tired anyway. Looking to Car Key, he saw a look of, what seemed to be anyway, concern. However, trying to tell what was going on inside her head was nearly as fruitless as trying to chisel a statue with a drinking straw. However, the good doctor felt he knew human facial expressions, as well as the lady herself, enough to ascertain some semblance of understanding.

"Fret not lass. It'll be smooth sailing for sure," he said, reassuringly. "Now, I must retire to bed before I succumb to exhaustion." With that, he made his way to the crew's quarters, Bobo in tow, looking for his room.

The room wasn't very impressive, but he'd had worse: he used to live in a cave, after all. There was a single bed, which he would take, with a rather plushy dog bed on the floor, for Bobo. Icarus unloaded his belongings, placing them against the wall, before climbing into the bed, shutting his eyes, and commencing to erupt with the weirdest snores one would ever hear in their lives.

Thankfully for Bobo, the old diver's helmet he always wore was enough to drown out the sound.

As she passed Icarus' quarters she heard his snoring, a bizarre and scary and sometimes downright flabberghasting confusing noise. She peeked in briefly, the noise was far louder as her friend slept, she hit the snound override. Soundproofing, had to love it. She thought. They'd be at their desired planet within the next day or so. If they were lucky. Which thanks to her cloaking network she devised for the ship, could help in hiding their signal.

In the mean time. She needed something to do. So naturally she went to her cargo pod, the one she made sure had what she wanted inside it. And began tweaking one of the items in there. A massive mech of some form. Maybe about twice the hight of a man in size. Wires were strewn everywhere. This was going to take some work for sure.

No time like the present.

With Ston piloting the craft--in relative safety, or so he thought-- The ride was going to be quite boring to say in the least. At least until Ston shot himself again. Whenver that may come.

Trashtown Orbit
Under cloak

It was a good flight, a long sleep....... and Icarus' snoring completely unitterupted whatsoever on the flight. At least the snoundproofing system worked perfectly. there was nothing else wrong with the flight, nothing unwanted occured. At least, until they made orbit over Trashtown. That was when the party really got underway.

It was rather simple. Car Key at the time paid no heed. The loud snoring of Icarus got slightly louder for but a few moments before it went to a lower tone. She heard something open, but in her sleep she paid it no heed. She did not even notice, or feel the fact there was another in her stateroom.

He stirred, grumbling at his pathetic luck. How he savored sleep; it was almost a sin. However, he felt the compelling call to the conscious world beckon him out of bed. With a last emanation of a series of sharp, brief snorts, he felt himself being pulled towards the awakened world. His eyes opened, scanning the now dimly-lit room.

Bobo was gone.

"Oh, hell," he stated, clambering out of bed. He fell, much to his shame, but was thankful that no one was around to insult him for such a spill. He got dressed in a hurry, exiting his quarters and striding down the halls of the ship in his vain search for his assistant. "Bobo!" he whispered sharply, hoping the petite bird would catch his voice on the wind. He looked around hurriedly.

He would surely never hear the end of it if Bobo had managed to sneak into Lady Car Key's chambers again.

Sleep was a wonderful thing. But it was the waking up that needed severe work. As she came back to the land of the living Car Key noticed one thing was out of place. Where'd that diving helm come from ? she sleepily thought. Sleep had completely overrun her brain, it cleared slightly. It looks like Bobo's helm...... A sleep addled hand snaked out and poked at the helm in confusion. Heh, what do you know, it looks liek Bobo in there.... She thought turning over in her bed. her eyes drifting closed.

Then one snapped open. Bobo..... Ah crud.

Waddling around the ship's quarters was not his ideal imagining of how to spend his waking hours, but his missing companion held precedence over his personal comforts; mostly because his personal comforts would be compromised should his companion's whereabouts remain concealed. So, waddle around he must.

He began to head towards Car Key's chambers, almost certain the Bobo would be there. Damn him and his fatal attraction to that woman. Was it the perfume? The smell of motor oil? What made him so irrevocably drawn to her? Maybe he was just simple, and was unable to control his primitive instincts. Fool.

Approaching her quarters, Icarus used the backside of his flipper to rap upon the bulky metal door. "Lady Car Key?" he called out tentatively. "I fear my companion may have escaped me. Could you assist me in locating him?"

It was a good ten minutes before Car Key moved, Bobo was asleep, apparently, flat on his back on the edge of her bed, Better then in it somewhere Car Key mused.. He looked so harmless. Helpless even. For a long moment she just laid there tangled in the blankets. Then she scooped up the little fella and deposited him on a unused pillow. Out of reach of her arms, but in a safer place to sleep, better then the edge of the bed that was for sure. then she drifted off to sleep.

A full hour later she heard the voice of Icarus. Bobo was nowhere to be seen. Yet she was sure he was not in her bed somewhere. She had put him onto a pillow rather then too much closer to herself. She stood up and threw on a dark brown skirt and plain brown top. the coil of wire on her left arm was tangled slightly tighter as she went to the door. Hitting the controls she found her two and a half foot tall friend out in the hall. "'Morning Doc. You looked worried. Care to come in ?" She seemed calmer. Which meant that the uneventful trip was getting to her greatly. Something bad was about to happen.

Suddenly, the door shifted open, and there she stood, towering above the penguin by a good number. "Morning Doc," she said. "You look worried. Care to come in?" He nodded, waddling his way into her chambers. "Nice to find you dressed this time," he chuckled. He took a seat on one of the pillows on her floor. Grunting, getting his sense of the room.

"Well, my dear, I am worried. You of all people should know that Bobo can't be out on his own. Dear Lord, he can barely walk without fumbling like a buffoon." He remained seated, solemn and quiet for a moment. "Yes, well, I can only imagine that he was here sometime earlier. Have you seen him at all recently?" He got the feeling that she lost track of Bobo as well.

He always did enjoy a good game of hide and seek, and he was surprisingly well-adapt at playing. He once remained hidden for half a day while Icarus tore his laboratory apart searching for him. Of course, he had been carrying an important component that was vital to one of the doctor's inventions, and decided to take the opportunity to play a little joke on him. Of course, Icarus responded by discharging 10,000 volts of electricity into Bobo's person after locating him, thoroughly stunning the little bird for quite some time, and instilling a rational fear of electricity for many months to come.

In orbit above Trashtown
Unseen

Car Key was thoughtful for quite some time, "I have yet to search my quarters, but the last I saw Bobo was on that cushin" She pointed at the black edged green pillow on the sleeping pallet against a wall. There was a slight shift in the floor, Car Key felt it as the cargo craft slowed. Ah, they were nearing their destination she hoped. She went tohe intercomm panel and went ot press it when she spotted something on the intercomm out of order. Ah, there is the little fellow! Gently she scooped up Bobo from his perch on the Intercomms warmth, spoke swiftly to Ston on their heading, then turned to Icarus. "Found him. He was on the intercomm. Oddly so, the casing is heated somehow. I am sure not from himself." She deposited the tiny bird on a nearby nightstand. I'll have to fix the intercomms later. She thought.

"Anyhow, we're almost to our targeted destination now." She informed Icarus. "Is there anything in particular you need to have done before we dock ?"

Icarus, relieved and slightly perplexed at Car Key's finding of his assistant, gave a long sigh in contentment, happy that he didn't have to give up on Bobo just yet. He listened as she gave Ston his orders, and awaited the moment until they could dock and be aboard land once again. He disliked flying in spaceships; ironic, as he was the first penguin to ever fly.

He stood in contemplation, thinking about what he would do once they touched down on the surface; pondering just where their mission would take them next. "I'll just need to gather my things." With that, he ushered Bobo from his resting place, turned and waddled out of the door, down the hallway towards his own quarters, where he proceeded to gather all of his instruments and contraptions, as well as spare clothes.

One never knew when their shirt would spontaneously catch fire. Especially in the company of the sort he was now with.

In Misranan space, a ship with three crew members flew up to meet another.

The first ship was a wondrous construction that was a gargantuan breeding of a Nautia Derr, a Misranan fish with a long body, seven eyes, and a plated back. It floated with ease, translucent red fins gliding through the air, mimicking the frills of a dress. The ship seemed like a touristy Zanzarian ship. Little did the Supremacy know that there were Nazuan rebels inside.

The first of them was named Urian, an ustelan pilot who had been gifted a hefty file concerning Terran and Earthen culture. It rather showed, as the bigheaded, bulb-eyed, grey alien with six arms was wearing a baseball cap and a soccer jersey. He had classic rock blaring on the sound system.

The second was Amar, a white-headed human boy in his late teens. Constantly irritated, he stomped into the pilot room and did his best to scream over the music that Urian had blazing.

And as for the third, he was enjoying the tunes in a much more lively manner than the first two. Palku was tiny, as malemni often were, and many would not hesitate to call him a cybernetic goblin of sorts with his gangly limbs and his ear-to-ear grin that screamed mischief as much as he screamed "Ohhh! Black Betty! Bam ba lam!"

This was the crew sent out to receive dangerous weapons from strangers.

They were nearing their new nav point they'd recieved from 'a friend' Which Ston said simply "Still risky" to which Car Key replied "You want I should shoot you in the nuts next time ?" To which Ston promptly shut up. Car Key had since taken the controls, which in most cases spelled complete doom for those onboard with her, and yet, the cargo she carried in her craft. Each weapon she made completely by hand. Each worked exactly as required, if not better then expected. She planned to deliver it, not get herself roasted in space of a foriegn planet!

She was also oddly calm. Which worried Ston to no end. When Car Key was that calm she was normally working on something, which normally kept her attention focused on a single item or group of items. In this case. She was more intent on finding certain things. Of course she had a list of items to collect before doing any work on the requested weapons. But once she had the items needed to begin the work, she got busy. But she never forgot her other business as a tinkerer. Helping people, repairing items as needed, unlocking several drunken mens doors and tossing them inside. All in all, making weapons she surmised at the time, was more of a hobby.

She decloaked the ship. The massive kilometer long cargo craft was loaded with cargo pods attached to the outside. A hollow shell covered most of the surface into a cylinder like shape. Almost like a crabs pinchers. {Or a fish with severe overbite} Ston had aquired the ship though means still unknown to Car Key, but hey, it got her to where she needed her cargo. SO she asked no questions.

She saw the three incoming vessels and slowed the speed of her own cargo ship. Lightly armed, yet none of the weapons actually worked {She was never really able to work on the ship.} As she slowed she brought up system infomation on several screens scattered throughout the bridge of the cargo vessel. "Yo Doc" Car Key called on the ships internal comm system. "You might want to get up here. I've no clue what the hell I'm looking at." She meant the three craft nearing the area the planned meeting was to take place. And it was starting to make her slightly nervous.

Icarus found himself in the precarious position of being on the same vessel that Car Key now had control over. However, he had complete faith in her ability to get them to ground safely, so it hardly mattered. He sat up in his bunk, going over some research notes he had made regarding Misrana's fauna, climate, and populace. He muttered to himself about how further, personal investigation would be necessary to validate his hypotheses. He was especially anxious to study the ice formations on the planet.

Suddenly, however, the comm. burst to life, with Car Key's voice on the other end. "Yo Doc, you might want to get up here. I've no clue what the hell I'm looking at." He sighed, putting his notes aside and hopping off of his bunk, waddling his way to the bridge, Bobo following lose behind.

Upon his arrival, he jumped up on the stool next to Car Key. He turned his attention to the blip on the radar; a single spacecraft was nearby. "It would seem we are being pursued by a lone ship," he said flatly. "Perhaps we should try hailing it; see if the crew aboard doesn't intend to shoot us into a nearby lake."