Rhia Nemesis's Story

Sienna clapped her mandible-arm palms together with sandpapery noises from the thin hair covering her transceiver broadcasting cheer, "Oh good! Welcome to the extended Gardener family, Money Spider! It's good to have someone watching the budget I have my hands full in the field making sure dear Stanton doesn't fall off short cliffs or starve himself. Perhaps a few things you need to know then we'll be off, yes?"

The Matriarchs had a habit of precognition though it wasn't always conscious. Silver threads of consciousness pulled Midas's name from the aether and replaced 'money spider' in her mind.

She gesticulates with a shrug of her mandibles, "We're not hard to buy for mundane needs. Honestly, Midas, for my food you can get Gardener hardtack from Matriarch Rhia in Brillion. It keeps quite long. Gardeners are herbivores so only dear Stanton needs meat."

Her head torques rapidly in a vibration showing disgust, "I find that smell of cooking meat... hideous but I cook it for him anyway. A good steak now and again keeps him happy. His research hovercraft has a small stove I learned to use and someone needs to cook for him. Spices would be nice. The heat fan makes it moist and warm on the ceiling as long as I can take the smell. He's vegetarian most of the time whether he likes it or not."

She balls and shakes the one-jointed mandible-arms as her black leg tips disconnect so she can stand excitement coming from desk voice, "I like do so like a good fresh vegetable too though from time to time if you could. Stanton won't eat the hardtack he says it has too much sugar. They use water so it is an essential as there is little on Sopitos. Matriarch Oculi does not yet know why the land is so dry because some of the Matriarchy remembers lakes."

One pointing finger of each outer mandible-hand prods the ends of the hard ridged inner ones as she moves sideways out from the chair, "Ah, that's the simple things."

The two outer mandible-arms reach together and a pair of fingers peck at each other as she skuffs to one side of Midas's chair while rotating toward him, "I have no business left on the planet but for a certain misunderstanding at the hotel they put me in. I made pancakes to eat with this soy milk from a store but misjudged your gravity. A few times. Less than a dozen I'm sure. There is a matter of a cleaning bill. Once I deal with it I can help you move your things then go to the space port."

The transceiver made a small blue nimbus of coronal discharge then leaped from Mr. Indigo's desk onto Sienna's back. The faint glow moved to straps that threaded across the back of her cephalothorax to anchor underneath. That faint blue glow evidence of her finer telekinetic control.

She raised one of the middle rosy legs to bob the knees upward, "If I'm rested I can swing around a four-door vehicle in this low G you know! Not while up a wall but certainly for furniture."

Mr Indigo just smiled and said tersely, "You can contact either of us if you need to, Money Spider. Miss Sienna like most show hosts is always ready for the opportunity to be loquacious."

Indigo immediately opened Sienna's research file on his desk and made one important change. The notion that an adept seeker could already move metric ton or possibly more while on Terra rose her threat level considerably. He wondered how much power a brooding matriarch really wielded.

Sienna just turned her head then pointed with all her four fingers at her primary eyes then pointed with them at Indigo.

That Rhia wore clothing at all represented a token gesture to integrate with human culture. She looked sidelong at them from her bed: a black leather top and thin leather bottom with a clasp for going over her pseudo abdomen. Most of her body was covered in the stiff leathery armored skin one found on low soldiers rather than the hard exterior of the insects of which Matriarch Nemesis imitated using her birth eye. At least she had tithed children now to gently sand her down to a smooth matte finish that was quite silky. Of course certain portions needed servicing in ways she the tithed children couldn't appreciate quite as well as she'd like.

She turned toward the other side of the bed to rub an antennae down the back of neck of the buyer she'd recruited for just such an occasion. He tasted salty, especially after last night, and her antennae could still smell the gun oil and stale blood in his salt and pepper hair. He started to stir so she leaned in to rub a rough conical tongue up the back of his neck then rubbed the sweat and salt of it at the roof of her mouth. Proven soldiers were a thing she valued as customers and good natured ones for their other pastimes. Matriarchs arriving out of Sopitos had far less a concept of age than did the humans.

The husky voice of the old merc chuckled as she ran two well-manicured left hands across his fuzzy chin, "Heh. You're softer on the inside than you let on, Rhia."

Her black lips smiled as they rarely did while on the job and the flat black of her eye failed to hide the twinkle there, "You would know, soldier man. I'll make breakfast."

As she got up from the bed the side to side antennae told she could feel his eyes on her. Rhia rather liked the attention the tithed males were loyal but had so little appreciation in them. A stretch of four arms in a V and the straining of her pointed legs gave him a little eye candy as he was one of the few with an eye to look. It didn't hurt to leave them wanting more. Especially if she wanted them to show up again.

"So what's for breakfast, mmm?", He asked clearly implying at her when she looked back to see where his gaze was pointed.

She smiled with antennae perked upward and one set of hands on her hips to feign ignorance, "Oh, I made a recipe for hard-tack waffles, Cinnamon-strawberry. I'll even cook you that bacon you like. You have to go soon."

"If I didn't know better I'd think you're trying to get rid of me. You can make candied soup into waffles, eh?", the husky voice said from behind her while shuffling clothes together.

Rhia went to the kitchen of her underground flat and pulled a few red round tablets out of a sealed drawer and some spices from a cupboard. She could feel the clothing was in his hands not on his person when a free hand hooked her front from cloth behind her back.

"Your shower and his bucket is here, I'll have you know it's my turn with the sponge next time. I think I'll use the facilities if it's all the same to you," came that rumbly amused quality to human men that she liked.

The intelligence caste tapped across the room and knew better to speak with their ever-hyper voice this early in her morning. She patted the small six-legged creature and widened her stance. A swish of water later he went about cleaning her legs and body with the wet sponge. She busied herself with adding some water to a blender and hard-tac to make the waffle batter.

~~~

An hour later after a nice breakfast that same six-legged tap came from below the counter she was looking at. This time, the intel caste spoke. Loudly like a radio that had lost all sense of stable volume control. Still, the orange-tinted intel caste named 'Sunrise' did what she told him to at least.



"I BROUGHT THE SEED THINGS! And the GUN Oil!", Sunrise said with gusto planting them on the table. She shooed him away with a free hand as the other three were dismantling a rifle.

One pair of hands dismantles a gun where the other two prepare the tray to receive seedlings for the hydroponics bay. She was was making this particular one to grow herbs for the meat she now kept in the freezer of her room. She hummed a happy tune minding her front desk after the pleasant morning.

High above the planet a ship glided down in careful descent more of unfamiliarity than any sort of damage. The ship had been recently painted with some emblem of hexagons as well as much of the rest of the ship. The structure would analyze very much as a pirate ship though its transponder read accurately through public ship registries. Assigned to one Rhia Nemesis of the Gardener Matriarchy. Such files would note its history of being a governmental seizure. Rhia herself had profiles among various interstellar merchant groups noting her as a general services trader and quartermaster for her mother, Matriarch Nemesis.

There was little about their home planet, Sopitos, as almost all information came from high soldiers sprinkled throughout the multiverse and all had a general sense of operational security. They had a widespread apparatus for providing service to their neutral mercenaries as well as funneling home income for purposes not well understood. What traders did know, as much as some researchers under NDAs leaked from time to time, is that some ecological catastrophe was being dealt with and precipitated their introduction to the universe at large. Thus most of their dealings named bottleneck intermediaries like Matriarch Volla or Rhia. Their mercs didn't deal with traders on their own so if Rhia was anywhere it generally meant trade.

~~~

Rhia gave her two compatriots an evil eye as both rough-housed in the pilot compartment. In zero grav their push-battles were more evenly matched when on leg-tips. Armful was an eighth of Jaunt's volume but much more technical. Jaunt solved his problems with hurled boulders and his sawtooth-mount assault cannon. It had to stop when she was about to land the vessel and didn't need them bouncing around the cieling.

Her antennae broadcast a message in Queitus which were more visual impressions of concepts than speech, [Two green low soldiers on stools pointing at corners with hard-tack tablets ricocheting off the back of their abdomens.]

They didn't reply but got to the saddle seats. Jaunt should know better so she was a little mean.

A very human-like voice came across commerce bands, "Rhia Nemesis to Fiari air control. Requesting permission to land. Three to disembark for trading."

The room was a bustle of activity, with control panels, desks and screens surveying the planet of Cortex, and it's surrounding orbit with a disciplined efficiency that mimicked a hive of worker ants.

One of the men at the desk peered in on his screen, squiinting slightly before twissting a dial, and bringing up a hologram in his small designated space within the room. His chair shifted slightly as he reached for a headset before double checking the visual was correct.

"Captain Larine, do you copy?"

The Captain's face was deepset and tanned, not concerned but focused on the task at hand, whether it existed or not. He pressed his two finger tiredly against the bridge of his nose, trying to ease off the tension growing there.

"Captine Larine speaking, report." he replied a little flatly, the whole day had been spent dealing with reports of debris and small rock particles from a a comet that had passed Cortex three nights ago. Whilst he glad the orbital station didn't miss anything, what the hell was he supposed to do to about debris?

"Sir, there is an unidentified spacecraft, approaching the city of Fiari, i repeat an unidentified spacecraft approaching the city of Fiari."

Finally something worthwhile he thought to himself. "Patch through the coordinates, over and out."
He moved around one of the situational command points within the network of the command centre, and approached a round desk. He pressed in his keycode on the keypad and a great spherical hologram of Cortex appeared in the space above the desk. He checked a creen and the coordinates of the vehicle were sent through. The map fuzzed slightly before shrinking to a point of dense light before re expanding to a picture of the city of Fiari. "And who just might you be?" he said out loud to no one. He cursed the surveillance team for their inadequacy, it wasn't often a ship got past them but with the comet shower he knew it would be unfair to report it.

He heard the incoming transmission just as he was preparing a communications device for contact. He signaled The Military Division on the surface, and the Civil force HQ to standby for further communications in the event of a threat.

"Unknown Vessel this is Helix Orbital Station, Captain Larine transmitting."

He pulled up the ships identifier on a console as he spoke and seemed to pull the ship from the hologram and into the console, which started scanning immediately and returned with any known information.

Search Complete...
Purpose:Trade
Captain: Rhia Nemesis
Affiliation: Neutral

She hadn't been lying, and he didn't see her being a threat.

"Rhia, Our information shows you are indeed a merchant, so i shall be lenient with you. We are now organizing a ground search of your ship for anything suspicious and or illegal. Usually we would call you back up here to do so but i don't fancy doing the paperwork. A ground team will be with you promptly to conduct the search, and in the future i ask that you check in with us, and our shuttle system can take you and your crew down to the surface. This prevents threats or us, and ensures the safety of any cargo of yours, precious or otherwise. While your vehicle is on the surface The Helix Corporation isn't liable for loss or damage of your items and or ship. If this is clear you may proceed to the surface."

Her voice replied cooly as she chattered in quietus to the panel flipping engine displays over to in-atmospheric flight, "Apologies, Captain Larine. The matriarchy had to blind quicken from Sopitos and find this place by gravity well. Relative momentum is conserved so I could either start landing or fall out of the sky. Our FTL engine still needs some maintenance. I was hoping you had parts I need to replace them."

A small broadband electromagnetic disturbance along her flight path discharged in orbit as a piece of metallic debris impacted the quicken point while it slowly closed. After a violent corona and a hard right angle the debris went from orbit to heading at quite a good speed away from the planet toward empty space.

There was a blast of air in the background which subdued her voice, "I am reducing atmospheric pressure. Please use respirators while on the interior. While breathable our environment on Sopitos is very heavily fluorinated and this freighter's former owners didn't care to install atmo scrubbers to life support. Please be aware this is a siezed freighter, while we have scoured the ship for non-schematic cargo locations we've been welding holes and picking things out of the walls for months. We will tend to the security of the ship while on the planet."

She looked back at Jaunt whom waved a huge blade-arm from his clamped bucket seat then added, "My high soldier is for my personal security. He is large and carries emplacement class weaponry. Please do not shoot him."

The freighter was a good size but while it had gotten more service in that three months than it had seen in its entire life under the pirates the large freighter was clearly a rugged piece of equipment. Most of the new sections were hacked-in gun ports that had been unscrewed and removed. Rhia rather preferred not to be shot at and needed more space than bullets. Rhia slowly piloted it in a holding pattern near a landing area while waiting for docking clearance then she would set it down.

" Roger that, ground team will be informed." Larine said in friendly tones, listening carefully in the din. He entered some information into a console.

"You should find a place for parts within the city, although looking at our information it could cost you a pretty penny, he observed the freighter on the holographic table. Could take some time to order in though. You are free to land, note the word land and not plummet." He laughed intending to lighten the mood as he pressed another button notifying the landing dock and the ground team set for the search of the situation.

"Welcome to Cortex. Enjoy your stay, over and out." he frowned slightly, shaking his head before moving off to do more work.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Ground Team were prepared, the intel was clear and they all turned their respirators on, which automatically diluted the proper amounts of various gasses into a chamber, depending on the atmospheric conditions it sensed. They watched as the ship hovered out above the landing dock, all serious in nature.

The man in charge made a few hand signals at the ship, intending for it to settle, then he made a few to his team, suggesting a simple search was all required, and that hostile activity wasn't expected.

Rhia smiled at the tone, "I'll do my best not to put a dent in your carpet. Thank you for the information. Rhia out."

Now given clearance to land Ria released a hand-anchor from her pilot's chair to give a thumbs up as the rumble started from a heavy swing about the ship's axis in the air. Quietus was now used to manipulate consoles entirely display in nature though they'd left some manual stick controls. Getting a freighter to land was an exercise in time as a product of its momentum. Landing this thing was something not done quickly as heavy as it was. The on-planet positional engines fired a brilliant white as they inhaled air to turn to plasma directed downward. One had a vane that was slightly off-axis but it functioned just fine. Sauntering slowly toward the man directing her landing she started priming the landing gear hydraulics.

The cargo she'd brought with her for trading was securely anchored to cargo bay one after she checked a monitor. Though two needed some more anchors installed. Three still had prison walls and a scavenged floor still in a state of removal. Something to make the anchors with while here she supposed.

All the human remains from cargo bay three or the ship at large had long since been removed, honored, then composted. There were stiff wax obelisks everywhere with human names carefully carved into them. Memorials to false Matriarchs they found dead and could not save. The stain of that bay's history on its floors were a more stubborn animal. A long bloody history of false matriarchs injured by the pirates that stole them. The heady iron scent of the place made the low soldier engineers unsure if all the bodies were fully gone. That first scene upon their arrival earned the pirates, dead or temporarily alive, a rightful skipping of step two in the assault. The foray was documented in a report to security forces that enquired after the ship later and likely met a news feed somewhere as the false matriarchs dispersed by way of the arriving transport. 'Aggressively recomposed' was the phrase used as she recalled. All destroyed without the recording of their names. Nemesis poured the unexpected bounty back into refurbishing the freighter and integrated some of the improvements made to its base design. A few prisoners with nothing left remained on Sopitos but none wanted to serve Nemesis to remove from existence all evidence that the pirates ever were. She could not blame them. Matriarch Nemesis willed it her instead.

Switches for all the landing gear flipped as she sang at the quietus interface. Flat heavily shock-absorbed legs angled down toward the earth a few dozen meters in the air. The console lit up as one of the starboard pistons failed and a leg stopped moving downward. She still had two working on that side so she wasn't too worried but throttled up the engines a little to slow her descent.

She turned and put Armful on the job using english as she was well-engaged with singing quietus to balance the engines and control hardware, "Armful! Starboard foot 1 hydraulics has severe cavitation noise and locked down. Please get down to it and figure out where the air is!"

Armful clapped the two cybernetic human hands strapped to his back as his bucket seat released, "Ok! I'll go fix it!"

~~~

Armful hurried down from his chair to a maintenance vent and picked up a small rectangular tool pack stuck there. The low soldier engineers had long since changed the vents operable sliding doors as they were small enough to walk through with some careful positioning of the legs. Starboard foot 1 wasn't far from the control module so after a few hops down ladder wells he got to the hydraulics master. He put his mandibles on each of the hoses in turn looking for the telltale vibration from the circulating fluid. The one he got wasn't one he was hoping for. Foot actuator bypass, connected to the foot currently outside.

Armful looked around the foot well join and found the heat shield. They could hold a vacuum just fine though he could only hold his breath for a few dozen minutes. Portable heat shield would keep him from getting fricasseed by the active engines. He chittered quietus at a nearby service airlock which hissed open as he checked the heat shield batteries. Full enough to get to the console. Stupid pirates removed hydraulics bypasses to put in an armor spar. Arms tucked into his pack Armful held the heat shield with two of his legs held up above his head then turned straight to the airlock hissing open so he could walk out into a deafening roar of plasma engines. Climbing up the ceiling then down the leg a green speck could clearly be seen walking down the stalled metal leg with a hexagonally patterned heat shield bubble held above him. He stopped at the hydraulics panel then opened it for a moment testing the tubes again. Finding the right one mandible arms tighten the hose then torques a valve nut to bleed out air with a little hydraulic fluid emerging as well. Now that the hose didn't wobble the relatively small spider gave a thumbs up to the ground crew with one of the arms on his backpack. Blue bubbled green spider then quickly skittered up the massive landing gear. The leg started moving once more and engines throttled down as Armful closed the exterior service access. Jointed legs spread wide a secure position in one of the tunnel annexes since they were so close to landing already.

~~~

Jaunt didn't much like space or getting quickened anywhere. It wasn't green. He really really wanted to be near green things again. A spindly four-fingered hand appeared from under his cephalothorax to caress the sawtooth mount of his assault cannon stored upside down and backward as it was. Having his weapon ready was calming. Thus when the ship finally mounted the pad and hydraulics fired to brace with a creak of metal and tubing his bucket seat was already empty. The ground crew would find in the small boarding cargo airlock cycling already as Rhia rolled her eyes on the bridge to start the ramp downward. Inside the airlock window a very large and enthused Jaunt was fully occupying it sideways all eight legs and writhing leathery body bent to cram itself inside the space. The assault cannon left on the floor as the cargo airlock was higher than it was wide built for humans as it was.

Authorized-Access Monorail: Landing Pad Station
Doctor Carlyle Errin

As soon as the news of the newcomers hit his feed, Dr. Errin had quite literally dropped what he was doing in the Research Center (much to the chagrin of his assistant) and rushed off. Few in the center had ever seen his wiry, hunched frame run before, but it was quite the sight. Lab-coat billowing like a trench coat in some old noir film. He was still panting from how far he ran as the monorail full of military, exploration, field-study, and off-world-bound personnel hummed to a steady stop. Dr. Errin could see the cargo ship descending slowly with the incandescent glow of ATI-VASIMR-type thrusters rumbling. From here he could not see it, but he imagined the vessel's rattling and drifting; and for a brief moment thought he could smell the thick ozone scent on the landing pad. A memory in an excited mind.

The doctor was the first to surge through the sliding doors of the tram and he pulled out a small plastic rectangle which he pointed at the checkpoint. He clicked a button as he walked briskly through and all of the red lights lit green as the gates opened for him. The guard on checkpoint held up a hand and Dr. Errin stopped for only a briefest moment, flashing his ID and sneering out the words. "Doctor Carlyle Errin - My security clearance is higher than the numbers you can imagine." then he kept walking, leaving the guard slightly baffled. To be fair to the guard, he did not leave the doctor unchecked and signaled one of the other security personnel to follow. Dr. Errin simply did not care.

He flung open one of the double doors to the flight deck so violently it bounced off it's stopper and trotted up the stairs post-haste. Grim determination was on his face as he was stopped at the top of the stairs by three armored and armed guards. One of them went to speak and the doctor held out his ID.

"You have..." He tapped a button on the side of his glasses. "..120 seconds."

The middle guard looked down at the ID, back up at Doctor Errin and fingered the thick electronics laden card idly for a moment.

"Next time, Doctor, please show due courtesy to the gate guar-"

Dr. Errin cut him off with an exasperated sigh and an eyeroll.

"You really think that I have time for any of this?! You have wasted precious minutes! By now, the-they-they-they- THEY COULD BE GONE!"

Dr. Errin fixed his hair as it fell apart and snatched the ID from the guard. His eye twitched visibly under his glasses.

"I swear, if the resources and opportunities here were only marginally less..." His face began to redden and his voice grow low without breath for his shouting. "...I'd render you down into your base working components, use them to make a monkey and train it to your job with... ! WITH!" He paused and sighed, all anger fading from his face as he looked up at the ceiling, mouthing some words and seeming to have an argument with himself. His tone was more calm and thoughtful "Well, realistically, with only about a 5% increase in work efficiency. Far too expensive for the gain..."

There was a long, pregnant pause.

Then, Dr. Errin shrugged. "Good day!" he piped cheerly and walked off toward the landing pad to meet the new guests. He pressed another button on his glasses, filtering sound through noise-cancelling earphones and looked with interest through the glass at the final landing checks for the freighter.

The team surrounded the ship as it landed, with precision that came after practicing a great number of times.

"Stand down, and proceed to the deck, we have been ordered with a search of the ship and we would appreciate your cooperation."
The major commanded loudly to any crew aboard the ship.

The team then proceeded to enter, efficiently and as unobtrusively as they could as they look above and below decks, searching carefully but with a care to keep the belongings safe and wherever they came from.

After a few minutes of searching a member returned from the deck.

"Nothing of any great significance, a few basic weapons sir, we have recorded them, otherwise they are set."

"Just a simple misunderstanding then." the major replied to the wide-eyed cadet.

He approached Rhia and held out his hand for a shake. "Welcome to Cortex, we appreciate your cooperation. I'm told there was some basic weaponry on board, we've cataloged them so in the event anything does happen, we will know exactly where to look. I'd suggest heading to the sphere to find the parts for your ship, They usually order in from either the IOC or Research Centre, depending on what you need."
He looked at the ship and could only begin to imagine the costs for such a patch up, but managed to keep any expression from reaching his face.

"If you need anything then there is the Civil Force HQ which is where you can get in touch with me." He noticed a figure approaching, one he recognsised to be Dr Errin. They had met once previously where he had escorted Dr Errin on an errand. While he thought the man was strange and eccentric initially, he realised after time with him that he was indeed a genius, and several ranks above him. " Dr Errin sir, I hope there isn't an issue?"





"Basic weaponry sir, nothing of any major impact

The doors on the vessel opened when approached but the human accessors like buttons or touch controls were oddly absent. There were instead a great number of X marks in blue paint throughout the hallways and where consoles used to be. When they met Rhia walking down a hallway she came with a six pack of cheap tablet computers in one of four hands. The pointed last part of her legs curved in half making small noises as she stuck to the metal on and off. A brown fuzzy wrap around her neck was cotton in nature though it covered her shoulders well enough. The black leather bra and panties rather petite enough to be an obvious token gesture intended for human comfort.

She put a side of hands on her hips were a small set of black leather coverings shifted and the other gave the major's inspectors an interface to her systems. They'd find almost no actual physical controls and barely any displays, as they required more electronics they couldn't make much of yet, but everything responded through the augmented tablets. Pervasive multi-band routers provided a wireless encrypted network throughout the ship that provided the control connection. It was actually difficult to find a dead spot in the mesh network though the routers themselves were wired interconnectedly.

Her antennae shifted to stretch as did the wings on her back and smiled along with shining black eyes, "I'm more familiar with Terra rules than here. It's good to get out of that captain's chair, Major. No driving while I'm away."

She clipped a small transceiver manacle over the bottom of one antenna and pointed at him pointing at him, "I'll be watching!"

She pulled a tablet from a clasp on her back and pointed to a file on the network as the tablet navigated through control in Quietus, "The tablet contains fire testing forensic data and serial numbers per Terra protocol you can cross-reference with what you logged. We respect any local licensing and arms sale laws."

She walked past to meet the new older human making his way over looking at him askance for a moment. She turned to put the knuckle of one finger to the major's chin, "I'll be sure to call you if I need anything inspected."

At a bare cost of a few hundred calories to her a lean in to kiss the major's cheek came from the vitalist to disperse exhaustion like several cups of coffee, "Ta!"

She folded each pair of hands together hip shifting sideways, "Dr Errin is it? Welcome to my ship! Can I help you?"

~~~

Jaunt had shot out of the airlock around the oncoming crew and left to the tarmac to hug a small shrub. The buick-sized high soldier hugged a small plant with his assault cannon quick-mounted upside down to the spring-lock he wore.

Armful was shortly behind him crawling back out the service port after leaving the heat-shield behind. Armful went just behind to one side of Jaunt where Jaunt could see him. The human arms reached forward palms up as a green light popped up from a small speaker on his backpack, "Come on, Jaunt, it's just space! It's not like we were gone more than a few hours!"

Jaunt's back legs crossed the other at a high joint then curled straight up in a rather offensive human gesture he'd learned.

Armful returned it with his two cybernetic arms waving middle fingers about, "Hey! Same to you! I know you can see me!"

Fiari City Auxiliary Landing Pad C
Doctor Carlyle Errin

The doctor ceased his disconcertingly rapid ambling as he saw the squad of HeliSec gather around the ship's loading ramp and watched with interest. His thoughts raced in rapid little circles like a fleet of hamsters on wheels.

What if these folk are actually here to cause harm? What if they had heard about my work for GenoCorp and thought Carlyle was best to eliminate? What if they have a bio-agent on board the ship that would only affect homo sapiens but lie dormant long enough for them to get away free? Hm... yes possible but the last time it tried that I was thwarted by underestimating advancements in immunotherapy. A decade of deadly virology gone mild head-cold in twenty four hours! Hah! There's no way they would try something like that. Noooo. They came for trade, Carlyle... Trade.

Then, out of nowhere, he let out a bark of a chuckle that crackled like a pre-pubescent boy. His eyes flicked right and left to see if anyone noticed but it seemed like everyone was focused on their jobs. The doctor took a deep breath, quieted his mind, and peered through tinted glasses at the variety of shapes that exited the vessel. He cataloged every observation and detail quietly and without attempt to hide it. He was not seeing anyone here as an individual. He was seeing them as a thing.

The tall figure modeled after female sapiens approached Dr. Errin and she knew his name. How does she know my name?! Oh wait. I'm famous. Right. Faces. The good doctor smiled and carefully tuned his expression to be more veil-like; a practice he picked up from being around politicians, CEOs, and other useless scum-bags. It's a good thing he wasn't a scum-bag, though; he was a scientist!

"Indeed."

He responded with a nod, though he head up a pointer finger in a hold on gesture.

"And after that display moments ago I must inform you, unlike others of my species, I do not like being touched."

He put his hand down and peered around at the Major for a moment.

"The fact that you escaped that unharmed is a testament to how bewildering your arrival is."

The Doctor shook his head and sighed. His voice was quick, nasal-toned, soft, and tinged with an ambiguous accentation. "But yes, I am Doctor Errin. I would quite like it if we could talk business sometime today. Your ship needs repairs, I see, which is beyond me, but even so; I am quite eager to learn about you and your crew."

Fiari City Auxiliary Landing Pad C
Doctor Carlyle Errin

Rather suddenly Dr. Errin paused as though distracted and his glasses emit a thin glow inside, as though they were tiny screens. Caryle put a hand to his right ear and cocked his head, listening. He held up a finger once more to Rhia as if to signal that he was distracted and sighed aloud. "Give me a moment, Mr. Jackson" he said impatiently before muting his microphone.

"I'm terribly sorry." he said emphatically and handed Rhia a card. "Here is my information. Do contact me! I think we can help each other out. Duty calls in the corporatocratic heirarchy!" He giggled in mania and spun about, moving swiftly toward the doors to arrivals. A guard nearly stopped him and he snarled, loud enough to be heard from far away.

"Out of my way."

The doors to the arrivals area hissed opened and he immediately turned off, badging himself into an employees only stairwell. With some peace and quiet achieved, he slowed his pace and listened while Dr. Oriander gave his assessment. Visuals were popping up on Dr. Errin's glasses as things were said and Carlyle paused in the stairwell. People outside probably heard him cursing and yelling. Thankfully, he was still muted.

When Dr. Oriander had finished, Carlyle Errin unmuted himself and hissed into the microphone.

"Imperial Aschen Navy. Very large. I was working for GenoCorp on Terra when they attempted an invasion. As for Dr. Oriander's assessment, well I am no weapons expert as you know, but I read examiner reports on some of the bodies. Particle weapons, I heard, but these are in a class called... ehh... Dis.. Disruptors. Yes that was it. They did some nasty work. They leave behind a lot of energetic residue as the charged particles disrupt molecular bonds. I always wondered how they kept them together, though... usually ions fly apart..."

The doctor fell into thought for a moment and then shook his head.

"But, yes, the Imperial Aschen Navy is a nonsensically large beast that makes utterly no sense to me. Dangerous? Yes. Unstable? Yes."

A lithe female humanoid form clad in smooth black and yellow skin with token garments for human sensibilities sat on a bench near some mansions or another. It felt good to get her wings out of the cramped quarters of her transport though found on her way that there didn't seem to be many nonhumans here. Gardeners then were certainly a novelty for gawkers. The ship would be fine sitting where it was at and she'd locked the doors behind the inspection team once they'd finished. Thus free to roam she decided to take in the local architecture rather than remain in a stuffy port. Humans so often lived in a gaudy low-density but she had to admit living in an artwork of your own design did have its appeal. The buildings as lovingly painted square pottery shaped by some other hand that their owners happened to live in. Her depot was very utilitarian. Perhaps she'd decorate when she got home.

Away from the depot the Matriarchy was worried about her, half of the better precognitives kept seeing potentials of death from above, though she thought if she were in danger then she could hardly dodge her lumbering space whale around it. Being in the city away from obvious military targets seemed a better idea. The scientist she'd met seemed interesting so she'd left her communicator id with some secretary or another. More and different humans were on her list to meet anyhow as Rhia was here for the purpose of avoiding the psionic myopia common to barren matriarchs. Too much time about the same six gardeners tended to reduce one's sense of potentialities. She knew Hygieia hoped it would restart her birth eye at some point.

As a response of the doting Matriarchy escort and wielder of high-caliber safety held his large blade-arm overhead casting a toothy shade to hide the glaring sun. They'd never let her go off to see random humans for long without someone for safety. She'd sent off Armful at least to the trading depot to gather pricing data. That would take several hours and Jaunt was a far quieter escort. Not in a talkative mood she enjoyed the fancy buildings taking in the faint flow of minds and bodies in the vicinity around her. Sharp pairs of fingers on one side traced ivy patterns into the plain wooden bench her other two in her lap. A Shaper's mind was never idle and craved to touch order to where there was not any, create it. Physical periodelia that turns thought to reality as a psionic mind reshaped the wood into nonliving imitation of what it once was.

Rhia slowly descended through the atmosphere after following Hestia's direction of wandering coordinates. Whatever they were following moved quite a bit and Hestia had to repeatedly recontact a high shaper to get Rhia to where she could pick him up. As the engines whined down and she lifted the protective field Rhia breathed heavily from the repeated exertion. Sunrise reached over to the armored hardware with its soft if matriarch-shaped socket that served as a captain's chair. Over white quietus her own visage with a nimbus fading to grey while holding a palette of color aloft. In reply to his worry an image of her holding a small Sunrise to her chest with a feral light fending off toothy predator skulls.

Sunrise relented inquisitively caressing her thighs to check for strain or bleeding then leaped toward his sensor station. Small reinforced bunkers than seats with controls. Each in craters of their own right scattered weak brown quietus from the other crew came as Sunrise informed them their Barren Matriarch was fine. Noisy signal echoes recognized as her visage they were relieved since her exhaustion had become clear with the slow loss of color in her Quietus. They worried but smiled and thought well of them. Soon at his station, though he did not look up, Sunrise broadcasted an image of a planet attendant an angular engram pattern to access the data systems for that sensor reading. In reaching out for the data sharp numbers filled her mind from the computer system. They finally picked up a planet on the sensors she had half expected some space station moving around by what Hestia said. If the planet moved around constantly she would have to evacuate Earthrend quickly.

By her will within the ship's ganglion opens a small armored panel nearby to actually capture sound within her ensconced station, "Korolev to Hayslem space control this is Matriarch Rhia on passenger pickup."

Rhia felt about the system for a response as several detonations of color she did not look at indicated among her other crew. They passed data from the sharp parts of the metal mind she didn't like touching. Then the loud colors ended with a response from the worker manning the security subset sent an image of the planet with two forelegs strained away then crossed downward. Their ship was once a slaver ship after all and it got that reaction sometimes. Her boys had handled it for her.

The conversation that followed was guarded but less overtly hostile. They granted her approach after some meat-flapping intensity of the human security but Earthrend had told of her arrival so they did not much argue. That suited her just fine as they didn't seem her type but did their job at least. The twinge in her head wondering at the crotch at a particularly asymmetric dock employee tells she needed to find a dreamer soon. Her mind went immediately of her silver fox back home the strong psionically compatibile human. Though the man noticed her displaced interest makes a nervous chuckle when she didn't say much but to smile at him. The humans were far less touchy than herself or other Gardeners decided to leave him to his embarrassment. Sunrise offered a drink which her thin black tongue strips on his forehead a pheromone marker. A good deed to his Matriarch should be known.

The dockworkers seemed off-put by their complete silence if not the utter lack of physical interfaces on the umbilicus. Eying a grey worker clung to the bottom of her ship by a landing spar she sent him an image of gardener's hands holding a book bearing the ship's name to a pair of human ones. That silent exchange sent upside-down engineer scuttling off to get physical manuals for the dock workers to use.

As the dock alert notified Earthrend a message came across her PDA in text, [I will arrive shortly, Barren False Matriarch Rhia. I have resources for the reserves of Hestia.]

She replied in kind where tillers had their inevitable preference for English whether text or spoken, [Hestia was worried about you. Nemesis couldn't find you. Come home and we'll see what you have. Hestia has a new place for you to work that is not so hard to find. She'll keep you safe with some more soldiers this time.]

Another message sent via Queitus to her PDA alerted dock control. The lobby rang out with Rhia's voice with the telltale lack of breath or noise common to Eigengrau, "Korolev at dock Aleph-4 to Taeth, taking passengers at Gardener standard grey rate. Environment is safe for non-Gardner passengers. Safe meal and drink also provided during transit. Departing in one solar cycle."

Grey rate meant it was a cargo freighter but they had rooms built for normal gravity with actual beds. On the brown commons feed for the ship she could hear them singing some artwork together about growing beds. They knew she was tired and must be getting her bed ready. Dead on her feet after so many jumps sent a message in brown quietus to her high soldiers with two blade arms crossed at the top of the ramp she was climbing. They replied with a familiar thumpthump crater image in dust that only made sense if someone understood gardener contexts. As she glided down the hall in partial-g after nearly hitting a crossbeam one of her crew scuttled out of a metal panel leaving a dockworker to yelp in terror. Other dockworkers looked on and chatted about the spectacle of a dozen spiders popping out of the metalworks to carrying her on their backs by their fingertips. She was too tired to listen as they put her in the comfy sleeping nest. The feel of small sponges appearing to clean her body lulled her to sleep as they arted a soft colorful cloudy drone to drown out background noise. Sunrise could handle the boarders.

Geniti Biritege stepped swiftly into Yungseong Yard and took in the decorations. The floating glowing hearts were a nice touch by The Sixth College. As promised the Pho Real food truck was here. The scent of Pho and flowers mixed into a nice perfume. She touched a hand to her subtle tiara and plopped into a big red cushion, fanning out the pleats of her skirt around her. The sun would be setting soon.

Criston Diamonyx posted up near a bush a little ways from the Princess, keeping an eye on everything at once.

Interested by the soiree and a growing need for a dreamer Rhia walked into the yard with a roving and curious eye. Gardeners did wear clothing so she hadn't any casual wear to speak of. Gardeners were careful and doting creatures to their Matriarchs and tended to her clothing for humans with great care. A careful application of hydroponics left her with a dress of silver frog buttons in a ladder at her back to support the heavy dress of carefully tended moss. Abdomen and wings obscured by the heavy dress a set of lime silk gloves covered her arms to insulate against the cold night.

Rhia's walk made little more than a noise of soft heels carrying her things in a bag with two hands the others at her side. She hadn't eaten since waking up and the ship only had hard tack and bread stones. The pointed tongue licked her black lips at the thought of food then sighed and moved on for now.

A flourish of one of her free hands asked the woman on a cushion, "Here for the party? I hope there are some males coming. Though, I've never had Pho. Is it vegan?"

Lei Wufang basked in the sunlight, appreciating the warm rays of energy as they cascaded onto her face. Looking to her left, the banners for the Valentine's Day event caught the corner of her eye as she strolled to a stop. Was it really Valentine's Day already?

Adjusting her books on her hip, she set off the paved path and into the grass of the yard for the open area, lingering only for a moment to remove her shoes to feel the grass beneath her feet. These things were always the best place to meet interesting people, and she could afford an afternoon this year.

Geniti Biritege giggled at the mention of boys; she hoped for a good turn out in that regard as well. The princess moved a white lock behind her shoulder and flashed a grin at the woman.

"Yes, it should be a beautiful evening! You've never had pho?" Geniti sounded earnestly surprised at this. Pho Real was one of the best restaurants in all of Freeport. She continued, "Of course there is vegan pho. At it's simplest you may consider pho to be a soup, I suppose."

Criston Diamonyx raised a brow at the girl taking off her shoes, but said nothing. Nobody was going to enforce a thing like a dress code. To do such a thing would be against the very code of the Free Knights, as well as the way of things in Freeport. Still, bare feet at a soiree? Well, the Free would do as the free would do. He shifted his weight from one leg to the other and turned attention back to the Princess.