"Courier." The robot on the left said as the other walked over next to Jeremy.
He sighed, narrowing his eyes as he stared. "Explain."
The figure in font snugged and signed before continuing onward with the conversation. "So here's the deal Jeremy, we need an highly capable crew who has had experience with an...very prominent party that has worked against both, us, your crew and your employers in the past in order for the maximum safely in this delivery. This package will heavy weaken them..adding us and your employers as well." He said with a confident tone before stretching his right arm.
((No internet at my apartment right now; extremely bored and desperate. Phone post ahoy...)
The streets of the Bonram market were somewhat more lively and inviting than those of Picara, especially under the midday sun. Yanim quickly sold off her remaining drugs and was somewhat ashamed when she realized just how much money she wasted on what amounted to a bad trip. It would be a while before she would even consider trying again. She then exchanged that money for a new peacoat- since her old one had been a standard cut exported from the Collective, she was able to purchase an identical replacement.
The other two went their separate ways. Gat went back to the hotel to continue her job search, and Arkadam returned to his own crew. Unlike on Rigel, this time there were goodbyes exchanged and promises to stay in touch. Yanim planned to honor her offer of building Gataska a new arm, and Arkadam told Yanim to update him on her travels so that they might cross paths again. She was sorely tempted, as he had turned out to be quite endearing once she had gotten to know him. However, while she was willing to tell him about the mission, she knew that she had to draw the line somewhere. She promised to meet with him again either in two month's time at a location to be determined, or at the conclusion of her mission at the location of his choosing.
She felt ready to rejoin the crew. Picaea may have been a disaster, but if her faith in the crew could survive the aftermath of Gadon, it could easily survive Duroma. Plus, she needed to find Jeremy and share with him the message she received from Arthur. Perhaps now, the dispute could be decisively settled.
[Now you know how I feel.]
"Okay okay, who are these guys and what destination?" Jeremy hurried as he wanted to see Viper. Whoever these guys were, they found them in a bad time right now.
The figure in font let out an deep sign as he leaned back on one an wall that still capable of standing near Jeremy. "Benefactor, allow his request for level 5 information?"
"Acknowledged, "these guys" are an shadow organization that has it's influences within crime undergrounds in all of the major systems within the know galaxy. Acting though mercenaries, corporations and pirates as proxies and fonts to help further their goals. Often, the very groups that add them will be destroyed in the end of organization achieving it's goal. Little else is known due to their highly secretive and elusive nature." The Robot said in detail down to Jeremy.
"Or as what you been told...the Crimson Son." The figure said with an worried tone before letting out an loud breath.
"I'm aware of them. So you're telling me this package will weaken them? May I ask how? As far as I know they're heavily armed." Jeremy walked closer. "They outnumber us. They do not know when to quit. What's your turning tide?"
-snip-
Things were getting kinda quiet around the campfire, so Varn turned on the radio for some background noise. "We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you the news from our partners from Intergalactica."
"This is Kate Lockwell for Intergalactica, delivering the up to the minute news. The Koprulu sector has issued a self-quarantine in order to "protect the interests of those inside the sector". Many speculate it is due to the unstable nature of the sector, others claim its a move from the Terran dominion to tighten its grip on the sector."
"The MAFAU, short for the Mercenary and Fee agent union, has addressed the concerns about the recent splits and change in management in some of it's members and whet they could mean for galactic safety. A representative had this to say. 'We have dealt with this sort of problem before, as I'm sure the press will remind you of the "Stardust" incident. Our priority is to minimize collateral damage and civilian casualties that may get caught in the crossfire. If these new groups wont follow the code, they will be blacklisted or worse.' "
"Tune in tomorrow for our special report "Monolits: Ancient messengers or just magnets for doomsayers? This has been Kate Lockwell for Intergalactica. We now return to Sounds of the 20th century."
"Glad to hear that galaxy continues to be a calm and happy place." Varn said as he looked at the lake and music played.
It was about two in the afternoon when Arkadam finally responded to the messages he had been receiving all morning, now that he was finally away from his mark. As soon as he dialed in, Rhedal answered as if he were waiting anxiously for the call.
"Where have you been?" he demanded, angrily.
"Didn't Iyoko explain-"
"Yes, she said you were speaking with the Archius head of engineering as of, what, 2100?"
"I've been with her since then," Arkadam tried to explain.
"With her... all night?" Rhedal repeated.
"Yes. She invited me in to partake in some narcotics she purchased yesterday. I agreed so that I could stay close but the drugs were heavier than I expected."
"Well?"
"I've learned that the Archius' mission is to transport pieces of the Kauzen Oracle."
"...and that's all?"
"What do you mean 'and that's all'? The content of the Archius' cargohold was at the top of our objectives for data gathering in the file-"
"What I mean is, do you have any proof? Did they let you into the cargohold itself? Did you see it with your own eyes? Don't bother- we already know that the Archius itself isn't on this planet."
"What? How could it not be?"
"The crew is here but the ship is somewhere else. They're flying some sort of bucket in order to lay low for the time being. We're not sure if the cargo has been transferred to the new ship, but we've already endeavored to keep a close watch on the situation as it develops," Rhedal said with annoyance as he realized that he was updating his subordinate rather than the other way around. "More importantly, we contacted the local commissariat for instruction on this matter and they told us the same thing as you."
"Oh?"
"Field agents on Gadon found evidence of a struggle over an archaeological dig site consistent with the fleet battle which sparked this whole investigation in the first place- they found Kauzen artifacts near the site and concluded that the only artifact which would motive both HarkArk and the Crimson Son would be the Oracle. So I'm asking you again, is this redundant piece of information the only thing you gathered while in that engineer's presence last night or will I be forced to assume that you spent state time and money on getting high and chasing after girls? Again?"
Arkadam was nearly speechless. He had no idea that the operation had been moving so quickly around him. "I... I'll have to give it to you in the report..."
"Arka, I gave you so much credit when we brought you on this crew because we were friends back at the Academy, but apparently I made a mistake. You're totally unprofessional. I'm going to call a shuttle service for you to return to Kanadys, and I want you to look for employment elsewhere."
"Rhed, wait-" Arkadam was cut off by Rhedal again.
"No, no more waiting. You don't produce results, so you know the rules. The shuttle crew will be by to pick you up at your room at the Torama-Bonram tomorrow morning. You're going to have a hell of a lot more problems if you're not there when they get there."
"Varn, you wouldn't mind if I looked through the radio stations?", Dwan asked, sounding like he wanted to look for a specific station.
"Go ahead."
Dwan began to change through the radio stations, looking for the station he wants. As he flicked through the stations, he switched to "Intergalactica 24/7", which isn't the station he's looking for, but he stops at it when he hears the words "BREAKING NEWS!" from the radio.
"Intergalactica 24/7! Your place for news on the radio!", the radio announcer said. "This is Harriet Chin with breaking news! Two days ago, a large-scale deal between two major organizations, Buy n Large and Octan Organization, ended with their deal not going through due to a linguistic issue. BnL wanted to conduct the deal in Esperanto, while Octan didn't due to its lack of an Esperantist translator. Octan tried to use Spanish as an alternative, but BnL just believed they were being insulted, leading to the deal to fall through.
As you are all aware, a while back, the movement to get rid of conlangs as the lingua francas of communication, specifically Esperanto to be removed from its position as the lingua franca of human-xeno communication, started up once more when Théodore le Sieg, Bronwen Snilye and Guchdid Hansson complained about it. While it has been slowly dying down, Octan speared headed the movement with its support, leading to many other organizations to join into the movement too.
Pressured, the United Galactic Community held a vote last night to see if conlangs will lose their lingua franca status. The results have been just announced and, with a 97% for yes, they were finally removed! The lingua francas of human-xeno communication will now be the same as the lingua francas of human communication!", the reporter said.
"Finally!", Dwan yelled out. "I swear, I learned Esperanto only to use it like, thrice.", he said. Having heard the breaking news, Dwan continued on his search before finding the channel he wanted. The Jazz station, which is currently playing [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2iEulpX910"]"It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"[/URL].
[img]http://i.imgur.com/5TvOg7p.png[/img]
[ok guys, going to be on vacation for about a month or so, Jeb is NPC for the time being. have fun]
[Hope you have a lovely vacation.]
Lion was quiet. To everyone around him, it would appear that he was perhaps enjoying the calm. While that is mostly true, Lion was currently monitoring media channels covering the recent shootout.
It would appear that the identity of the crew remained safe, as the only details given by witnesses were that some of the participants wore worn-out SDF armors and that one of them was a robot.
Lion wasn't worried. Why would he?
Former SDF soldiers were a common sight and there were plenty of combat droids in the galaxy.
He continued to monitor the channels as be rose up and walked up to the Lancier to do some maintenance work.
Nycho rose from up next to the fire.
"I hope you boys enjoy your stay here in the wild, I will return to the ship to do some studying."
As she walked to the ATD she made a detour via the Lancier.
Walking up to Lion she used the earpiece to secretly communicate with him.
"Mr.Lion, as you seem to be a competent one I must entrust you with a mission. If you happen to do more 'Sightseeing', see if you can pick up a kauzen artifact."
Lion looked down on her and was just about to ask for details when Nycho squinted tauntingly and bowed "Cheerio, Mr.Lion". She skipped over to the ATD and took off back towards the ship.
[quote]Harken Saw was completely intolerant of the Council's decision. So much opportunity vanished without care. He sighed as Vara watched him. "This makes things difficult in a way." Harken Saw blurted out.
"We need to rethink our strategy, we have to bring more evidence to show them that they're a visible threat." Vara bought up. The crowds of officials swarmed the hallways, eager to get by with pushing or shoving if they have to.
"If anything we have to bait them out of the shadows." Harken said. Both turned to see Derrick Meers with two of his colleagues. Harken Saw narrowed his eyes as he glared at Meers.
"Harken Saw, I apologize if I caused dissatisfaction within your interests. But with the state of affairs within the council we can't assume these men endanger the Galactic state unless there's more to it than petty criminal charges common compared to other syndicates." Meers said in distraught.
"Yes, I suppose so." Harken Saw grunted. The crowds got to mad one of the pushed aside Harken Saw, accidentally dropping a glowing object on the floor. One of Meers's colleagues picked it up and handled it over to the HarkArk founder. "Thank you." He said.
"Nice collectable. I have some fancy toys of my own, but that's not relevant." Meers said, he pulled out an envelope sealed. "Don't get too upset with this meeting. But I can assure you by my own matter I can at least help you about the Crimson Son in some way." Meers said.
"I wasn't [b]upset.[/b] I was merely disappointed." Harken Saw accepted the envelope, gesturing Vara. "Good day Meers." Both left behind the officials.
"At least he's helping. It's worth something." Vara said out loud.
"Pfft, let's hope that's the case."
Vara could only shake her head and smile. "How is the new Agent doing?" Harken Saw chuckled at the mention. "Babysitting."
"That's the first mission? You hired her two days ago."
"I'm aware, she'll be fine." [/quote]
Arthur slowly rose. He rubbed his throbbing head, moaning as he mustered enough energy to roll onto his side.
"Ugh... Wh-where... where am I...?" He blearily wondered. As he attempted to roll onto his back, Arthur lost his balance, falling off of a table he soon realized that he had passed out on.
Arthur attempted to scratch his chin. As he touched his face, it felt... wet and slimy. Arthur felt around the substance on him, eventually finding the edges and peeling it off. It was... a slice of ham.
The room slowly came into focus. He observed a number of serving trays beside him, a sink full of knifes, forks and spoons, along with a couple of large cooking vats, boiling away. Arthur's assumption that he had been abducted and had his kidney's stolen proved false; the head of science had broken into one of the canteen's storerooms during his drunken rampage. Feeling extremely hungover, Arthur promptly ate the piece of ham that had attached itself to him, and made his way out of the cafeteria before anyone realized that it was him who had created the mess.
Lion finished tinkering with the Lancier and walked back to Dwan and Varn. "What do you fellas feel about packing up and heading back?"
"Yeah, we've relaxed for long enough.", Dwan said in agreeance.
"Yeah, lets pack up and leave. I'm sure mister Saw already has something for us to do." Varn stood up and started packing up.
Lion nodded and walked into the cave where he began to pack things up into small equipment boxes and packages. Before he left the cave, he pulled out a signal spike which he slammed into the bottom of the wall before covering it up with stones.
"Could always be a good spot for any future trouble." He though to himself.
He packed up everything to the Lancier and looked to Dwan and Varn.
"Ready to leave?"
As Yanim approached the Archius, she reminded herself not to tell anyone what actually happened that night. As far as they knew, she had a bit of reasonable fun at a safe hotel. Her head felt like it was full of fluid and her brains were stewing; the less questions they had for her the better, it would mean a faster route to her bed.
She pulled up into the hangar and, after retrieving her guns and Skada, assigned a droid to put the ATD away. It was then that she noticed another one of the bikes abandoned on the hangar floor, with some sort of damage...
"Eyyah! What happened?" Yanim quickly shuffled over and located the stenciled name. Pulling up her communicator app, she selected Sledge. He had updated his status to show that he was sleeping, and so she couldn't call him. Annoyed, she decided to wait for him to wake up, rather than just sending him a strongly-worded text message. He'd probably find it hilarious instead, and this wasn't something she felt keen to laugh about.
---
Arkadam sat in the bar of the Toroma-Bonram with his head in his hands. State Security had already frozen his work account. He tried hard to remember what his last balance was, as any amount over the limit would have to be paid back (and he knew he was dreadfully over budget.) Just one day earlier he had been such a hot shot, but now he was disheveled, drinking a cheap beer and wallowing in his own unemployment and indebtedness: a total reversal of fortune.
He looked down the length of the bar for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, hoping to see a familiar face just entering the room. It was no use; Gataska and Yanim had both moved on. Months from now, when the latter calls looking for him, she will find him poor, and confined to the mother planet, and under total state control- the fate of a disgraced agent. It will be clear then, who he was and what he had done on the night they had spent together.
What would he even do back on Kanadys? All of his "skills" were only useful for deceiving people. He was fluent in English, but that was no use on a planet where so few humans resided. He knew all about the local trade posts, the market power players, and the names of dozens of arms suppliers and their buyers in the smugglers' rings. What would he do with that knowledge?
Thinking it all over, he wondered if he deceived himself, as well. In truth, he didn't care how many drugs were imported to the Collective, or whether a small-time band of pirates got their hands on a few heavy guns. That was life in space. The thing he loved most about his work was the drinking, the schmoozing, the girls, and most of all, the sense of adventure. In other words, he loved his life abroad for most of the same reasons any offworlder enjoyed it.
Arkadam was an orphan and had grown up in the care of the state, as his parents, both involved in ship construction, had been on hand during an oxygen-exposure incident when he was away at the Academy. His caretakers saw in him the desire to explore, and encouraged him to use his ambitions for the benefit of his people. He wasn't interested in the Black Fleet, but espionage sounded intriguing. Simply living and working abroad as an offworlder was never presented as an option to him. Now it would be less than a day before the state called him home again, spiteful and uncaring toward their failure of a son.
Or maybe there was another option. He looked at himself in the reflection of his bottle and saw a blank slate- a man with no family and no possessions. A passion began to rise in him.
"Fuck the Collective," he said under his breath. "Arkadam is dead."
Dwan got onto his ATD, having checked if he has everything that he took with him. "I'm ready.", he told Lion.
Varn put on the desert armor and hoped on his ATD. After a final check that everything was there, he gave Lion the all clear. "Ready as well."
The figure in font turned to walk an few steps around the room, looking at the decayed ceiling as he paced before turning back to face Jeremy.
"Sadly, As much I would like to reveal the package contents...My employers need to keep it an secret until it reaches it's destination." The figure said with sense of regent in his voice before looking over his shoulder to the machines behind him.
"Explanation, The Cooperation offer..." The left bipedal automaton burled out with it's loud,monotone voice. "Solari Hunter drone 7-34, Head Security Officer of the Archius XI class cruiser is currently detained under the odyssey Sanghvi sect..Probability of Solari Hunter drone 7-34's survival after 48 hours......0.01%." It said after it's pause.
The figure turned back to Jeremy with his arms crossed. "You agree to deliver the package and will wiggle out you chief in exchange...I apologize for putting you in an hash place Mr. Starhawk but business affairs have never been fair." He stated.
Jeremy was furious, "You are in no demand to blackmail me for a mysterious package I don't even know what I'm dealing with. You give me Viper right now and I'll deliver the item. No man should be left behind with people I don't even know." The Captain declared towards him.
"To be completely honest here Jeremy, me and my men are not the ones holding your officer." The figure said back to Jeremy.
"My unit was stationed to guard this Sanghvi sect that's holding your officer." He continued with a sense of anger starting to rise in his words before taking an minute pause.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Jeremy said, shaking his head. It always felt like another branch of a quest the crew has to do. "Give me the package and destination, no bullshit."
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