The City of Fiari

Gambit's entrance would soon open, Revealing Naomi. She was a "6Th Cut Ataru Ninja" around 5'6. Her attire was that of her clan, A black and dark red. Rest upon her head was a large dark hood hiding her face within.

Entering Gambit's, Naomi walked through the bar towards the counter. Her Tabi made no noise and she was almost weightless with her movements. Upon reaching the counter and taking a seat, She removed her hood from atop of her head resting it behind and around her neck. Lifting her right hand to her mouth, she lowered her Ataru mask and awaited her order.

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."

Aos Rollard woke up precisely 30 seconds before his alarm clock rang. He walked over to his holographic display mirror, stared at himself, and then sighed deeply in disappointment. Another day in the city. He thought, as he ponders about precisely how he would address the diplomatic issues that he was about to face. To begin with, his day had already been planned out down to the dot. Meet with directors to discuss funding, do a public appearance, and maybe fix the city. He hoped he won't have to deal with any petty bullshit today, but somehow, he doubt it.

He finished his shower within one minute and quickly slipped on his formal attire as he turned on the TV and set the volume to the lowest as he ate his breakfast. Once he finished, he called his chauffeur and walked out the door with as much dignity as he could muster.

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.

Unnamed Maul arrives, as if on queue.

Armful Bvetin boards "Korolev".

"Korolev" engages its warp drive, vanishing before your eyes.