Cath

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

The Tekeri looked mildly disappointed Senjen wasn’t ready to buy an entire new body, but wasn’t ready to give up on the upsell opportunity. They spoke quicker and with more urgency now the customs business was done, leaning in slightly.

“Oh sure. Very reliable. All the Utaysi who go through here look different, that's why I thought you were a synth, see? But I can get you any kind of upgrade you need. Limbs, weapons, processing, drones, even that personality thing you said. We had a Utaysi like you in trouble for trying to rob a corporate vault right here on the Factories a few years ago. I’ll make a few calls and get you a good price, what do you need?”

Light was paying no attention to the conversation. Instead he supervised the Tindrel unloading their cargo. They must have received a command to speed up, because they practically threw the crates to each other. Their two large chitinous front legs splayed wide to allow their manipular hands space to maneuver properly.

“Please be careful with our wares! The contents may not be fragile but the crates are, with the way you’re handling them! ” Light exclaimed, floating over. The Tindrel ignored him, causing the QV to quiver with rage. Even though their employer didn’t care about the physical cargo, if Light couldn’t imburse them the full amount for it they would be punished. He turned back to his assistant who was a few metres away.

“Senjen! These dolts need help getting the cargo safely out of the ship!”

Just then, another Human pushed the armed customs inspector out of the way and rushed to Senjen and the Tekeri. A Tindrel and murky-looking QV followed, while other onlookers weren’t far behind.

“Are you heading off-world? Can you take us with you?” The Human asked. “We’ll pay!” The QV flashed. “We have to leave now!” The Tindrel wailed.

The Human customs inspector didn’t try to stop them this time. Instead they moved quickly to their Tekeri colleague and grabbed their arm. No words came over public comms, but it looked like they were advising they all left immediately. Senjen would likely notice that the Human had drawn their sidearm and held it close to their body.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

The inspection took an age, even if the Human did appear to be hurrying. Light waited with bated breath for them to turn a scanner on Senjen and ask to see a memory drive audit. But no such request came. Eventually the woman gave a thumbs up to the Tekeri, who motioned for the Tindrel and the automated loader arms they controlled to start grabbing the cargo. They raced forward enthusiastically, as if wagering who could move the most boxes.

The Tekeri motioned for both Light and Senjen to join them outside the cargo bay, then handed them both a small rectangular card.

“These are your physical access keys. It lets you back into this bay, and other Level 2 unlocked areas. Many people visiting Korit also choose to use it as their currency card. We use the Veruhn here - the exchange rate against the Galactic Credit is currently very good, owing to the current…climate.”

The Tekeri stole a glance to the left now, up the side of the bay towards the front of Light’s ship and then round to the right where the exit was. A few people in mismatching environment suits were waiting and watching from a safe distance.

They looked back again. “I’ve registered all your goods on the Exchange. For a further fee, I can broker for you, get the best price? I know Mokhtar would be very interested in these enzyme tanks.” A flicker of greed registered in the Tekeri’s beady eyes.

“Hey, move back! Wait until we finish unloading! Don’t make me check your access level!” The Human commanded on open comms, taking a few paces towards the ragged group of different species who had wandered a little closer. They skittered back somewhat.

“I can also help you get whatever you need to buy. Perhaps some more gel for you, sir?” He directed his gaze at Light, who shook his body by way of polite disagreement then looked back at the Tindrel loading boxes onto a cargo conveyor. The Tekeri turned his attention to Senjen, ignoring the commotion off to their left entirely. “The Utaysi are customisable, right? How about some upgrades? I’m sure I can find you the best pieces. What do you say?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Very good. Keep it that way.” Light replied, relaxing a little. Once autopilot was enabled, he took one last look at the station through a navigation camera and his body flashed black with green trim out of fear. Even the smallest of the fourteen rings along that long central corridor towards the Great Elevator Bay was bigger than the rock he’d spent his formative years on.

“It will hold.” Light assured Senjen, heading to the first door outside of the control room. It opened into a spherical area about three metres in diameter which was originally the pilot’s cot. The room was full of more gel, some of which tried to float out. He collected the escaping blobs into his suit and entered fully into the room, closing the door behind him.

Immersed in the full extent of his gel bubble was the only time Light felt something approaching safe. It clung protectively to his frail body, instantly improving his breathing and alleviating some of the aches that gravity brought. He tried to swap the tired suit he’d been wearing the past day for fresh gel, though none of it was exactly fresh anymore. Light blanched at the thought of how much the replenishment would cost.

After about ten minutes, Light exited the cot back into the corridor. His gel suit was about twice as thick as before, amounting to a metre of ‘meat’ around his otherwise lithe frame. The gel was more blue-grey than green now, though sickly patinas still bubbled to the surface occasionally.

Light made his way to the main cargo hold, where Senjen had busied himself with piles of crates of all different makes and sizes. The current configuration of the room wasn’t original to this ship; it’d been transplanted in at some point in the past. Tindrel rock-material met cool brushed metal of Human design. A large ramp door with black and yellow stripes at the edge made up one entire wall of this room.

Light’s implant told him the dock authorities were ready for them to unload, so he hit the archaic switch dangling from the ceiling that opened the bay doors. A bright light flashed and spun in the room as the door swung slowly down and they joined the vacuum of space. The utilitarian backdrop of the docking bay appeared. Light could make out a tall Tekeri in a sanguine red environment suit flanked by two hulking Tindrel dockhands and one Human. Automated cargo handling machines stood solemnly behind.

“Welcome to Factory Number Five. Customs Declaration and docking fee, please.” The Tekeri asked, accessing their comms.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Light sighed, which manifested as a low-pitched staccato clicking. He then shivered as pain shot up his deformed tentacle. He had started this day in a foul mood and felt none of his usual satisfaction in imparting knowledge.

“The dock inspectors are the nerve endings for most of the rest of Korit. They know who would be most interested in your cargo and can set you up with a meeting to do business, taking a percentage. Those are your ‘customs charges’. If you’re disagreeable with the inspectors, they may inform on us and we’ll end up losing the whole lot anyway.”

Light detached from the ship’s controls and floated towards Senjen. “In this case though, the cargo in our hold is just a decoy. What's really important is inside your head.” His other tentacle reached out to tap the Utaysi’s jaw, the gel suit stretching lethargically to accommodate. The QV resisted the urge to pry open his assistant’s mouth to look inside, as sometimes his species did around opaque species.

“So don’t give away that you’re storing anything, no matter what they try. Ok?”

The ship shuddered violently around them, and several items came free of their hooks to float around the control room. A detailed hologram of a planet beamed into the middle of the cavernous room room and alien symbols flashed around it, indicating they had arrived in the system.

“Just tell them what else we’ve got and where we got it from. If they ask how we got it, make something up that isn’t ‘it was in the ship when we got here’. You know how to do that right? I’ll take us in.”

Light floated back to the control and plotted a course for the Fourteen Factories orbital station around Korit.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

A Quelun-Vosh approximately named Into-The-Abyss-In-Search-Of-Light tugged irritably at the ship’s controls and let out a wracking cough. His gel bubble was uncomfortably thin and sickly green in hue; his tentacles could barely make the requisite moves to control it. He made a mental note to replenish it when they got to port.

The control room, like much of the ship, looked like the inside of a cave. Control panels protruded from roughly hewn black walls. The displays were programmed to relay information in ways a QV could easily understand, though they did also bark reports at him verbally in Tindrel. He could understand some of it and his gel suit translated the rest, flashing separate lights on the inside of his bubble.

His suit also alerted him that his assistant had entered the cockpit fully. He turned and watched the crude lights flashing off their metal casing, then coughed again. “The best way to survive on Korit is to be invisible. The more you give away, the more people have to use against you.”

ITAISOL, as Humans often (and annoyingly) called him, looked distastefully at Senjen’s distinctive shell. His suit used sonar and echolocation to paint a picture of his surroundings, and he was increasingly worried the Utaysi was going to attract more attention that it was worth in protection.

“Did you mention you can change bodies? Mayhaps embody something more…discreet.”

“Four minutes to translight exit to our destination.” A Tindrel voice barked into the room.

He glanced back, then gestured to Senjen.

“Time to prepare for inspection. Do you have the docking and customs fees?”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

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Congrats! Looking forward to seeing this brave new direction.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

The Glen soldier grabbed Mallory and chucked him across his hindquarters like the XO was a rolled up carpet. At that moment a shadow crossed the bridge, causing more of the Glen to look up. They were about to be crushed by a stone hand the size of a farmer's cart.

“Look out!”

Mallory and his ride leapt out from under the shadow in the nick of time. Another Glen wasn’t so fortunate. The thick stone arm crashed down onto the bridge, cutting Eva, Ibarra and a few Glen off from the bulk of the group.

Shirik’s Great Blue Balls Of Fire took a while to create, but their effect on the mimics was devastating. Each were frozen solid instantly, including the one wrapped around Eva. Fog and mist obscured their view immediately after blinding lights, causing disorientation among the Glen ranks in particular.

“Impressive sorcery, but now we’re as blind as the day we were born!” Silbermine bellowed into the mist. He’d moved to intercept the mimic rushing to finish Shirik before it essentially exploded.

“My Lord, let us move off this forsaken bridge!” One of Silbermine’s knights pleaded.

Eva’s mech suit hummed and whined, before tearing straight through the frozen mimic. Her windscreen was covered in frost.

“Phew - sounds like a plan to me!” She urged, just as another loud thump sounded out further along the bridge.

“What was that?”

The stone arm laid across the bridge twitched. Then again. Then it began scraping across the bridge, coming towards Ibarra and Eva. It was easily two metres high.

The other arm appeared through the mist, sweeping from the goal-end of the bridge towards Shirik, Silbermine and Mallory. It looked set to either crush them all between the arms, or push them all into the river.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Clara Anselm stood on the ridge surveying the Jotunheim’s crash trail. Nearby were two engineers from Mythadia and the Ascendency, heatedly debating over a series of thick paper diagrams.

Down below on the slope, a team of mages were slowly easing the snapped VTOL out of the earth. It hovered in the air like a miracle.

Anselm looked down at the tablet she was cradling. It was connected to the ship’s vitals, all comms channels and camera feeds from the various drones and helmet cams. One of those feeds was from directly under the VTOL; she zoomed in to inspect the damage.

She absent-mindedly itched her scalp. She hadn’t showered in two days - Her yellow hair was slicked back in a tight ponytail underneath the headset she wore.

“Easy…Easy!” She urged, watching the equipment wobbling in mid-air.

In the ear not cupped by the headset, the sturdy Dane could hear the regular crack of firearms; Ezra was running fire drills with the civilians to get them used to weapons. Many of the aliens had taken a great interest in this, edging closer until the mercenary had warned them off. So instead they had set up their own drill squares.

Anselm was jerked out of her focus by a squark of radio chatter. Eventually she made out Eva’s voice.

“Jotunheim, this is Eva! We’re under attack, requesting immediate assistance- woah!”

Anselm immediately turned away from the engineers and found Warden Esedel watching her from afar. That tall dragon lizard was creepy as hell.

“Eva this is Jotunheim. Say again, are you under attack? What's attacking you?”

There were lots of sounds coming through all jumbled together - it sounded like a struggle.

Then a priority alpha alert popped up on her display. [IMMINENT THREAT]

“Get this >crkkkkk< off my beautiful face!” Anselm heard gunfire in the background.

“Eva!”

Anselm tapped a few icons and got Eva’s suit cameras up. Some of the feeds were simply black and writhing. In others you could see clopping hooves and spears being jabbed at the suit.

“My god.”

She switched to all crew comms.

“Attention, I’ve received a priority alpha alert which means there could be an imminent threat to the ship and our lives. Bravo team is in trouble, so everyone needs to get back to the ship and set up a perimeter now!”

Anselm then got in touch with Wodan.

“Wodan, you already know this but Bravo team needs our help. I need you to ready a strike package on their location. Await target paint.”

She then switched back to Eva and Bravo team.

“Bravo team this is Jotunheim. Distress call received. What is your situation? If you’re under attack I need you to paint targets for Wodan to fire at, over!”

Up on top of the Jotunheim, the long thin cannon slowly oriented to point at Eva’s last known location. A red light flashed and a siren rang out.

---

The black sludge was corroding the very fabric of the barge, even while it was beached on the side of the river. The boat creaked and rocked unsteadily on the silty shore. Zey slipped over - her shoulder and ribs took the impact, winding her. Probably for the best, as the fall helped her avoid an arrow to the neck. Scrambling back onto all fours to avoid sliding into the black pool in the middle of the deck, Zey crawled along the gunwale to where Dr Lambert was firing her rifle. Arrows thwacked into the boat and whizzed over their heads.

“Jotunheim, come in! Over!” Zey violently cleared her throat, then spat onto the floor. She didn’t hear Nellara’s call over all the commotion, though evidently Vigdis had the same idea.

Breathing heavily, Zey grabbed her backpack from near Lambert's feet and eventually extracted a pistol. The back of her head was throbbing. She press checked, then peeked over the top. One of the beasts lay dead where she’d shot it, and the other was crawling along the floor. Dead soldiers littered the riverside.

“Someone finish that thing off, then shoot those archers!” Zey shouted, just as an arrow pierced the gunwale and stabbed her thigh above the right kneecap. The Captain grunted in pain, her faulty implant flooding her head with pain suppressors. A loud crash nearby caught her attention and Zey found Kareet lying prone with a giant arrow in the chest.

“Kolvar! Kolvar, where are you?”

Zey held the pistol at arm’s reach, aimed down the iron sight and pulled the trigger with one of the distant archers in view.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

“I’m not leaving you to die sir - get out of my way!” Eva replied to Mallory, then turned her suit’s translated loudspeaker on briefly for the benefit of the Glen traffic jam near the swamp-end of the bridge.

Eva’s voice soon continued on the crew’s shared comms channel.

“Jotunheim, this is Eva! We’re under attack, requesting immediate assistance- woah!”

A fifth mimic beast burst from the water and flew straight at Eva. Its body was morphed into something like a large net with eyes, teeth and limbs. She didn’t see it til too late. She only managed to turn partially toward it and pull back a punch before it wrapped around the mech. Servos whined as Eva tried to stabilise her suit’s footing with all the extra weight and momentum. Metallic *pung, pung, pung* noises rattled across the water as hidden barbs on the mimic’s body tried to puncture the cabin.

“Get this thing off me!”

Two of the closest Glen turned and promptly began stabbing the mass of black tendrils with their spears. The creature squealed and tried to grab the weapons off the knights.

Mallory’s first shots ripped straight through the fleshy tornado whipping towards Shirik and Silbermine. It howled and lost its deadly shape, collapsing onto the bridge. Evidently, bullets made more of an impact than cutting off its extremities. It turned and began skittering back towards Mallory; Silbermine pursued it, hacking away at it with his sabre.

Mallory’s quick thinking and second burst of shots stopped another creature from flanking the nobleglen. It splashed noisily back into the water with holes in its face.

A few more Glen soldiers had sorted themselves out now and filtered past Mallory to make a defensive wall. One more reached down, offering a hand to the Human. They seemed to understand he was hobbled.

“Get on my back!” The Glen would haul Mallory out of the shallow water running across the bridge if he chose to take up the offer.

-

The mimic trying to grab Itxaro recoiled when its arm was crushed to dust, but didn’t stop. They climbed up and peered over the top of the bridge. Seeing Itxaro had turned away and was shooting another of its kind, the mimic jumped up to engulf the Human.

Shirik’s icy spear flew from out of nowhere into its body. A cloud of steam blew in all directions and when it cleared, the mimic was frozen in place, still reaching out for Itxaro. Thick, sharp icicles jutted up around its feet.

The inferno mimic recoiled from the impact of each shot Itxaro fired into its back. One of the bullets missed and went through the breastplate of the Glen the mimic was fighting too, killing him instantly.

Gouts of flame burst out of the tendril creature’s eyes and mouth. It turned and clattered towards Itxaro, seriously wounded and very angry. It’d reach her in just a few seconds.

The corkscrew mimic finished murdering the Glen immediately in front of Shirik. It’d absentmindedly taken a spear off of another Glen that’d tried to stab it while the mimic tore its prey apart. Seeing Shirik upon raising its gruesome head, it threw the spear at the Iriad with its tendril like an atlatl. It then charged forward, meaning to grab the fiery tree and douse it in the river.

Meanwhile, the ground underneath everyone began to tremble. The bridge rippled and undulated suddenly, as if coming free of the riverbed. One of the Glen stumbled and fell into the water.

With the sound of a terrific scraping and splashing, Two broad stone shoulders emerged from the water. They were connected to either side of the bridge about one third of the way across, near where Mallory, Silbermine and Shirik stood.

Then appeared arms, and finally crude, roughly hewn hands. The right hand swung slowly, laboriously up into the air in an arc that could end with it crashing down onto XO’s head.

---

“We got one!” Zey whooped from the gunwale of the barge as her second magazine clicked empty. She glanced instinctively around to check her crew were alright. Richard the medical assistant was firing an assault rifle in single shot mode to her right, shouting and screaming the whole time. Dr Lambert was on her left, filming the whole thing. Zey moved over to her.

“Where is Vigdis!” She shouted over the din.

“Ran in back. I need a weapon!” Dr Lambert shouted back. Zey had forgotten she’d forbidden the scientist from having a firearm.

The Captain unslung her backpack and kicked it over to Lambert. She then gruffly put her rifle into the doctor’s hands.

“Ammo is in my pack. Keep hold of it for me, I'm going to look for her!”

Zey then promptly turned and stalked towards the other side of the ship, avoiding the mess of black tar coating the middle section.

In the end it was the rattle of darts rolling around the deck that gave Vigdis away. The Captain found her scrabbling round on the floor trying to get them back.

“Vigdis, what's going on back here? We need you in this fight!” Zey bellowed. She reached down to grab the engineer by the shirt and haul her up.