Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » Serik: Civil war, Conspiracies, and stuff. (Open)

"Yes...sucks."

Was she really trying to convince her she was nothing but an innocent little girl? Oh she did hope this would give her the chance to be honest with her. The disguise was paper thin.

"For a transport ship bought at a surplus...it does seem fairly equipped. And stocked. Either you two use up a lot of resources or the rest of the crew left in a hurry." she trailed off, unable to help but smile to herself. Oh it was far too tempting to tease right now.

"Is he? A real fighter...he seemed quite the charmer when I first heard him. More of a caretaker then the kind to go in blasters blazing." she watched the girl carefully, peering down at her wounds. The cuts would be easy to fix. The broken bones? Not so much.

She murmured, peering down at her limp arm. She had pat herself down to clean her wounds of at least some of the blood before dressing up. But now she was topless...last thing she wanted to do was stain her new clothing with oozing blood. From this angle, Kaya would likely see the full brunt of the wounds. The one along her arm was rather nasty, the one along her chest was superficial. A deep cut. But her arm...it was almost cracked open to the bone , and the blood was seeping quite profusely even this long afterwords. The fact she hadn't died of bloodloss was a testament to her ability to survive.

"But I trust you...you look like the kind of person that can fix this all up." For a brief moment, part of her forgot the obvious genius and saw a little girl once more "If you need any assistance...I can lend you a hand. I still have one working." she waved her hand demonstratively to the girl, wriggling those sharp-taloned fingers before simply giving her a stern nod and letting her get to work. No playfulness, no silly small-talk, no babying her...she was the adult now.

"Well, of course it's well equipped. We bring people on here. I mean, we don't have any passengers now, but we did. Just dropped a whole bunch of 'em off at Whittouch. There's a lot of traffic out of Tara, but not much back."

Not-Kaya was starting to drop the 'stupid kid' act. It didn't seem to be helping, and it might be easier to earn Saka's respect with a show of intellect, rather than innocence. Besides, the bird-person wasn't a threat now, and if she became one in the future, well... hopefully Not-Kaya could deal with that quickly.

Once Saka was mostly finished dressing, Not-Kaya silently began her work, patching up Saka's injuries where she could. She had to admit, this mysterious guest was strong, or at least she had excellent reflex control and pain resistance. Saka hardly reacted to the pain from setting her broken bones, and the stitches were easy. The arm wound was problematic, however. Not-Kaya fixed it up as best she could, but it still looked nasty.

Not-Kaya? The sudden touch of a mind against hers startled her, and she involuntarily twitched, jabbing the needle into Saka. She wasn't easily startled, but Kaya always made her nervous. She was well aware of her position as both a prisoner and an intruder in the girl's mind.

"Tarrak. Sorry." She muttered. What you you want, Kaya?

I was just wondering, what's your name?

I don't have a name. We have discussed this. Names are assigned to people. I'm not a person, I'm a series of horribly improperly installed behavioral conditioning designed to make you an assassin.

I think you need a name. I think... Batali.

A portmanteau of the Chipi words for "beautiful prisoner." Interesting choice. Very well, if you need a title by which to refer to me, and Not-Kaya does not suffice, I am Batali.

A few minutes later she finished her work with Saka. She sighed, considering where she stood with the Sans'karah woman. "You seem smart, Saka." Putting the medical supplies away, she turned to see her patient's face. "I hope you know where to draw the line between knowing enough and knowing too much."

As long as she was dropping her disguise as an innocent child, she may as well do so with a warning.

"Very messy passengers. I would have spaced them all half way there." Saka murmured aloud, unable to help herself.

She was a fastidious creature. Hated messes, hated cluttering and clambering and people being messy around her property. And to her - her ship was her property. No one was going to lay their stuff around it.

She found herself momentarily at ease as soon as she was getting patched up. Never has a needle felt more deliciously refreshing to her. The one thing that made the her kind deadly in battle -at least in her eyes - was not the strength nor their agility...nor their quick reflexes. But it was in fact their adaptability. How quickly they could become comfortable in a new environment, how quickly they could memorize various locations and instinctively know where to go and what to do. And pain. Adapting to pain was hard. But when the situation called for it - and this did - one had to have a stiff upper...beak. She hardly had any time to breathe easy over her fixed up bones before the wound on her arm was stabbed by a needle! The violent needle attack made the woman jump in surprise, wincing at it, before waving a hand at the girl.

"It's fine...it's fine. A simple mistake." she hardly expected the girl to be a master surgeon in this case, though she certainly did not see the stab coming.

She was showing more of her true colors...intelligent, cunning, skilful...but also distracted. As she had her little internal monologue she kept her eyes on where it ALL mattered. The face. The expressions, the movements of the eyes, every last breath that left her body. She used her enhanced senses for more then being a hunter. No, she was the type to use them to her advantage in situations like this. A body can tell you a lot about what someone is thinking. Turmoil...internal. And her choice of words...was she threatening her? Shifting her weight, her body now feeling a lot better, she leaned in towards the girl, beak a few inches from her face as she gave her a stare that seemed almost...too calm.

"You aren't what you seem. And neither is your uncle. If he really is your uncle. I know enough." she huffed, dusting her feathers off as she ran a hand over her crest, which stood on end "If you want me to be honest with you, little chirp. I do not care what you two do. If it really is just a nice little transport service you run , or if you work with the local governments, or if you are bounty hunters...or even if you're on the run. That is your business. You helped me, I help you, that is the way it works. And you are a bright child." she reached over to give her a pat upon the head, before pushing herself onto her feet, stretching herself out.

"Keeping me under watch. Very wise. You likely keep your 'deadly' uncle alive, and you hardly take any credit... Which - if you wish to continue doing - I would suggest not going too far." She was not joking around. She knew how desperate people became when under suspicion. She had to go through it herself several times. If they became under the impression she was weak AND suspicious...this little one would waste no time before finding some way to kill her. She had to show she had some teeth.

"Do you have a favourite meal? I feel like cooking...unless that also needs supervision."

Not-Kaya – or Batali, as the real Kaya had named her, flinched away under Saka's touch, raising her lip slightly to reveal the tip of a fang. She despised being touched. She had been poked, prodded, and hit more than enough back at Scio Kio. Saka didn't mean any harm, but that didn't stop Batali from pulling back. She recovered quickly, however.

“Thanks for the offer, but I cook my own food.” Batali said, hoping Saka wouldn't interpret it as a lack of trust. It wasn't as if their guest would be able to poison them without her finding out. She just preferred to eat her own meals and nobody else's. Since Father had freed her from Scio Kio, she exercised whatever control she could over herself.

“Besides, shouldn't you be resting? A near death experience doesn't tend to be one of those things you shrug off before going to cook a lovely dinner.” Before they could continue their conversation, Father entered the room. As he approached Batali, his eyes passed over Saka's injuries.

“Excellent work, Arkhew.” He smiled warmly. “Isn't she a smart one? Gets it from my brother, I think. He always was something of a genius. A doctor in the GMPF, in fact.”

“Thank you, uncle Carn.” Batali nodded before turning back to Saka. “You may have full run of the galley and the bunk room. We've plenty of food and supplies. We'll leave you alone for now. You can find us on the bridge if you need us.”

Father raised an eyebrow at this, but wordlessly accepted. Together, the two Chipi stepped out of the medical wing and made their way down the corridor. As soon as they were sure Saka could not hear them, Father leaned over and hissed in Batali's ear,

“What are you doing? You can't just let her run around on our ship!”

“Relax, Father. I don't think she's a threat, not to us at least. Besides, we ought to be nice to our guest.”

“That doesn't sound like you.” Father said skeptically. “Or, it does... I mean, that sounds like something Kaya would say.”

“Oh yes,” Batali remembered her promise. “Would you like to speak to her?”

He almost tripped over his own feet as he turned to look at her. “Of course! Will you be able to hear our conversation?”

“I can't not hear it, but I won't interfere...” Batali closed her eyes for a brief moment, moving her mind away and allowing Kaya to take her place. “Hi, Dad!”

While the two caught up, Batali thought about the newcomer on their ship. Saka was unpredictable, for sure. Dangerous, certainly. But she had the promise to be a powerful ally. Father was an excellent leader, and fiercely loyal, but he was only average in combat. Everything about Saka spoke deadly - no, didn't speak; Whispered. Batali began to suspect that there was a good reason the two of them seemed so alike. She was, after all, an assassin. Perhaps now she wasn't the only one on the ship anymore.

"You clearly have never met one of my kind, chirpling...massive injuries are usually something we celebrate. We think of it as...getting an attractive scar." Saka cooed , ever so smug in her choice of words.

The truth was far from that. She was DEAD tired, she was aching allover and the fact she had gotten a few moments to sit down whilst being patched up was the only reason she was back on her feet. But why should she stop trying to give a good impression? Clearly they needed someone that is at a 110% on the ship. And she aimed to please.

"She is a fine girl...on my planet we would have decorated her with the finest metals and not only given her the most expensive of toys, but she would have received her first piece of battletech by now. I will have to thank you two properly after I rest up." she had hefted her equipment underneath her arm, holding it close. "Thread carefully."

Now she had been left alone AND given permission to wander about. This was a perfect opportunity to get familiar with the ship's layout. The girl was clearly a liar - a good one, fantastic one at that - but a liar none the less. She just could not believe they were simply suspicious of her being a pirate. Sans'karah were rarely privateers. Mercenaries working under them perhaps, but often times pirates worked in groups. Surrounded their prey, picked them apart. That doubt should have disappeared the moment they brought her aboard.

No...they were afraid of who she MIGHT be. Which begged the question, why? All of these thoughts raced through her head as she slowly made her way out of the corridor and towards the bunk room. The living quarters were now her top priority to scout out. She had to examine every single square inch she could, use her keep sight to gather as much tactical information as possible and then pass the heck out and take forty trillion winks.

As soon as she entered that room she quickly stumbled towards the nearest empty bunk, stopping to sit down upon it and lay her equipment down upon the bed with her. She took the device she had attached to her arm earlier. Upon making sure none of them were listening, she held it up close and peered at the button-laden pad at it's central axis, taking a moment to type something out upon it. One long bleep later, and another long bleep all the way over in the cargo hold, she had cause for putting it down.

"Arkew and Carn...I believe we could be fine allies if we all became a little bit more honest with eachother...lets hope you hurry up with that." she glanced back down at the device, before slowly moving to lay her head down upon her pillow, wrapping her arms around it.

She looked rather silly. Great assassin, deadly warrior and stealth expert...and hugging a pillow whilst snuggling against it. She looked like the utter apex of all predators while she lay asleep in a way so silly that the only thing she lacked now was thumb-sucking.

Kiri Tadis smelled blood.

Not literally, of course, but the Katamain bounty hunter had been doing her job long enough to recognize the instinctive thrill that she got when she honed in on her prey. The Beaky family had been clever, that was for sure. In fact, she had almost lost them when they had dumped their crew back on Whittouch. It had been an intensely frustrating two hours, negotiating with a group of confused and angry soldiers. Apparently, Captain Beaky had informed the men under his command that they were on a secret mission, isolated from GMPF contact, which had complicated the situation immensely as she tried to prove her credentials as a contractor for the GMPF. A mess of jurisdiction and paperwork.

But none of that mattered. Soon, Antero and his daughter would be aboard the Raptor, and they could be on their way back to GMPF control to drop off both Chipi. The respectable reward would be hers - And Yale's, of course.

"Yale," she shouted through the intercom to the Farbian in the weapons room. "The Darasis-Ali is in sight. Activate the cloaks and get us as close as you can. I'll take it from there."

"Do I tell you how to do your job, Kiri?"

"You don't need to; I'm competent." she said with a smile. "Now shut up and get to work."

The frigate far outmatched Kiri's own vessel in all aspects but speed and stealth. Obviously just attacking would be suicide, even if it was only commandeered by a fraction of the normal manpower. So, taking care to match the ship's speed, and using a counter-intel system that made their vessel invisible to radar, Kiri and Yale drew up next to the Darasis-Ali.

"Would you look at that," Yale said. "They left the docking hanger open for us."

It was true. The docking doors were open, and a shimmering band along the edges of the door revealed the field used to keep the ship from decompressing. Of course, it wouldn't keep their ship from getting in.

Kiri was the first to spot it. "Yale, there's another ship in here." It was a small fighter-like craft. Black, beat up, and unlike anything she had ever seen. "No idea what it is."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say it's Sans'karah tech." Yale replied over the radio. "At least, it's definitely not standard GRP tech, it doesn't look like IPSF stuff, and it looks way too badass, even to be Gorrah tech."

"You think so?" Kiri gently worked with the yoke to set their small vessel down in the hanger. There wasn't a whole lot of room; The mysterious ship sat in the middle of the small hanger, but it looked like there was just enough room to land on the edge... "What the hell are the fugitives doing with a Sans'Karah ship? Unless they captured one... it does look pretty battle-scarred." If they had captured one of the notoriously dangerous Sans'Karah vessels without the tiny fighter self destructing, the Beakys might be an even more formidable opponent than she had expected.

At that moment, there was a horrific screech as the wing of the Raptor brushed, just a little bit, against the wall of the hanger. The protest of metal on metal made Kiri wince. The noise was likely audible all over the small frigate.

"Korma-fet, Kiri!" Yale snapped. "Why don't we just set off an airhorn and scream, "Look who's here?"

"Sorry! There wasn't enough room to land!"

"We had the element of surprise. Now both the dietan fugitives know we're here!" The disgust in Yale's voice frustrated Kiri. What did he expect her to do? He knew well as her that she could thread a needle with this ship. If she said there wasn't enough room, it was because there wasn't enough room!

"Just shut up and gear up, Yale. I estimate we've got a minute before the Superchild shows up. Stun 'nade launchers, full body armor, and - hell, crank up the Kinshield and see if we can stand close enough to the ship to absorb some bullets."

"If this goes sour, you botched it, not me."

This would be interesting.

WHAM! The death of a peaceful nap, consciousness bursting back into her. Saka didn't need long to hear that sound before she knew something was up. Only two things would have caused that sort of banging on the outside of the ship. Either the captain and his niece were somehow stupid enough to bump into spatial debris or something had just landed on the hull. Either way, she was not taking any second chances.

Hopping up onto her feet, she quickly reached over to the foot of her bed to pick up her suit, peering down at it. Well, the repair subsystems were still working. The massive tears in that suit were now gone, although the circuitry for her visor system were still broken. No matter, the cloak was still active. She'd just have to use her eyes this time. Pulling on her arm-mounted device, she felt it clasping onto her as she fit it, her gaze turning onto the door. For now it was best to start making her way towards two she was with and warn them about something brushing the hull.

She stepped carefully, after all - one could not be too sure. She wasn't sure enough to turn on her cloak, that would make her seem suspicious after all. Just careful enough to walk quietly, peer around every corner and advance. Part of her felt a little silly. It was just like back home - silly little war-games she used to play with her siblings. Oh her brother loved to beat her at that. The annoying thing was that he tended to use those painful Dal'tharanium weapons that hurt when he hit her. Not that pain stopped him from besting his sister.

Now she couldn't help it. Stopping by a junction outside of the messhall, she raised her device up to her beak, speaking into it as she would murmur.

"Computer...run a local scan inside and around the ship, within a radius of one hundred and ten naka-stem. Are there any inconsistent readings to the past twenty four trakka?"

A modulating blur of beeps, quiet as can be passed through her device before the muffled sound of the computer spoke back.

"Negative. No inconstant readings within that time. Minor abrasion to the hull inflicted four point five meters from your location." it blurred back, before awaiting any further instructions.

That did not settle well with her. The abrasion was something to go on. And now she had to work out what it was. She peered down at the device for a moment, the little clear console was tiny...but with her eyes she could see it very, very clearly. The computer was likely low on power with it's significant damage. Poor thing was on it's last legs.

"Computer. Scan the abrasion on the hull and report. Give me a visual simulation of the damage." she stepped further down the hall, moving to lean up against a nearby doorway.

It complied with her almost immediately, displaying a tiny graphical representation of the scratch, enough for her to look at it well. It certainly brushed along, the minor trail it caused gave her a rough idea of it's trajectory. That must have been one fast rock if it was outrunning them!

"Scan complete. Traces of unknown metals detected in hull fracture."

Oh...right...she'd purged his entire database. No way of knowing if that was a ship or some metal-laced asteroid. Still. The Evidence was not pointing to anything fun. And seeing as there were no other bumps against the ship, she figured it might be a good idea to warn the others.

"Thank you, computer. Power down and remain on stand-by. We might need you one last time." she spoke into her device, the computer complying almost instantly as it beep and powered down. Lowering her device, she started to make her way swiftly throughout the ship, making sure to peer around corners before hand and stay as silent as she could. Her suspicions were rising, little knowing of the two armed assailants that were planning to head in. And as far as anyone knew - she wasn't wielding any visible weapons, which would make her easy pickings.

Antero's smile grew wider the entire time he was speaking with Kaya. When he had first rescued her, she had been disorientated, and apparently schizophrenic. Once the two identities in her mind had settled, the new one - which Kaya had referred to as, "Batali," though she didn't make it clear who had selected that name - had immediately taken over. Even after Batali had told him that Kaya was still alive in her mind, he suspected it was a lie to string him along, and that his daughter was, in fact, dead.

But now, it took every bit of willpower he had to keep tears out of his eyes as he spoke with Kaya - the real Kaya. Here was the little girl he remembered. She was different, for sure: A little quieter, a little more alert, eyes darting back and forth as she recounted favorite memories with Antero. But it was definitely her, not Batali.

Kaya giggled as she recounted an old favorite. "And you remember what the Kerrik did then, Dad? Flew right up, perched up in the ceiling, screamin' all kinds of swears."

Antero laughed along with her. "That chorpin was certifiably insane. Now if he was allergic to Queseto wasp stings, I could understand the reaction. But the dietan thing didn't even-"

Screeecchhh. The noise cut Antero off mid-sentence. He hopped to his feet, spinning around to face the door. "What the hell...?"

"Dad, what just happened? Should I get Batali?" The frightened girl's question made him shudder. The last thing he wanted was that... thing... inhabiting her brain again. But he could use Batali's tactical expertise... If he let Kaya go now, when would he get the chance to talk to her again?

He sighed through gritted teeth. "Yes. Get Batali, and get down to the armory, and..." He had been about to say, and unlock the doors for Saka, but now he wasn't sure. Odds were, she had something to do with whatever that sound had been. It had come from the cargo bay, after all, where their guest's ship sat. If the Sans'Karah really was a traitor, the last thing they needed was to arm her. "Let's just get to the armory, and prepare for the worst. And I swear to God, if Batali so much as touches a Clarus, I will have a nervous breakdown. The last thing we need is to get out guts pulled out from a hull decomp."

"Yes, Father, you don't have to lecture me. If Saka is a threat, or if there is some other enemy, we want them dead. The Clarus will not be our ally."

Together, the two of them fled to the armory, Antero furiously wondering what had disturbed their conversation. If Saka really was a pirate, or a traitor, or whatever, as unlikely as it may be, he'd see to it that her funeral would not be open casket...

She stopped. Now it all made sense. The sound coming from the other side of the ship. The armoury. Her eyes filled with a latent mixture of frustration and...pleasure. No, this was the perfect opportunity for her. If someone was trying to get in, she could be there to greet them. With a flash of blade and raking of talons. Part of her - an innate bloodlust was being brought forth in all of it's ugly glory. Saka wanted this, it was a chance to work out her frustrations from being beaten back from home. Her people may have scared her away, but she was not weak. Not anymore.

Balling her fist, she slowly turned and made her way towards the cargo bay. Her body seemed to shimmer for a moment, before the cloaking device kicked in. She would seem to completely disappear from sight, her body a barely visible shimmering as she would rush down the corridors. Her movement speed was quite impressive, turning on a dime and gripping onto passing pipes, surging down corridors and trying to avoid the pilots. That little girl and her relative needed to stay out of her way. They'd interrupt her chance for a perfect kill and they would likely interpret her as some sort of traitor.

As she made her way past the armory. Stopping dead as the two of them approached. She silenced her breathing, talons digging deep as she stood as stiff as a corpse, hardly moving a muscle as they made their way inside. The very moment they were both in there she rushed on ahead, feet moving to make the least amount of noise possible as she turned to head towards the cargo bay.

So close, they were coming. Whoever they were, it didn't matter. The governments, her people, pirates, angry civilians...it didn't matter! They interrupted her nap, they were invading the new ship she was calling home and they happened to be the first people she found the want to kill. Rushing into the cargo bay - trying to be as quiet as she could with the door ( unless it was locked. At which point she'd try the silent method of cutting a large hole in it ) before she attempted to hide behind the first thing she could find.

Crate, box, the ceiling if she had to! There she would go quiet. Part of her training involved waiting in the same spot for several hours if need be. Boring as it was, she knew a way she could keep her mind busy with a little game. It mostly involved counting eggs before they hatch. A childish method, but it was a way of keeping the mind busy.

For now...she just had to wait. Her excitement making it hard for her to breathe quietly, her heartbeat going off at high speeds. She wasn't perfectly undetectable, but she was invisible.

Kiri glanced nervously out of a viewport. She hissed into the radio, "Yale, I've been watching the door for a solid five minutes. Nobody's come through."

"Should we keep waiting, or are they coming to us?" Yale's voice on the other end sounded anxious. Whenever they were ready to move, Yale was always the one who wanted to press the attack, to rush. Now, however, Kiri wanted to be extra careful. Her antennae tickled; something was wrong.

"It's definitely a trap, Yale." It had to be, right? The mysterious ship in the center of the hanger, the lack of an apparent response, the intel they had received on the little girl...

"Antero's not a threat," Vexel had told them. "It's his daughter you've got to watch. She's ruthless, dangerous, and she'll kill you very easily if you underestimate her."

"And if we don't underestimate her?" Kiri had asked.

"Then she'll still kill you easily... just not as much so." It had not been a comforting message.

"No, Yale," Kiri brought herself out of the memory. "I'm sure something's wrong here."

"The easiest way to discover a trap is to spring it." He said dryly.

Kiri sighed. "We just need..." Bait!That's when inspiration struck. "Wait, I've got a plan. Let Dako out."

"What?" Kiri flinched away from the radio at the sudden shout. "Are you serious? Tarrak Kiri, the guy's a kormein serial killer!" They had three prison cells on the Raptor. One was empty. One was occupied by a Katamain - one of Captain Beaky's soldiers - taken as leverage. The third was occupied by Dako Escala, a Kerrik with seven murders on his record and an ugly habit of murdering his exes. He was the bounty hunter's latest captive, and they hoped to turn him in to the police for the considerable sum he carried on his head.

"Which means that it's not so terrible a loss if he were to be killed by the Beakys. Sure, we lose the extra 15% for bringing him in alive, but in return, we stand a chance against the fugitives."

"Is Kaya Beaky so dangerous that we're willing to unleash a serial killer on the off chance it will give us an edge?"

"It's worth a shot. Turn the power off the cell gates, and disable the aux security gate for just Dako's cell. Make sure to keep our other captive locked up, and leave the boarding ramp unlocked. He'll probably think the jostle we just had when we hit the wall knocked out the power or something.”

And that's exactly what they did. Kiri remote-locked all the doors except those directly in Dako's path and released him, using the security cam to watch the confused Kerrik as he contemplated the sudden shift in power. Eventually, Dako decided to try his luck and stepped outside his cell. As he did, he turned around to face the Katamain still locked in his cell, laughed, and left the room, making his way to the boarding area. With a confident smirk and raised spirits, the murderer stepped off of the Raptor onto the boarding ramp.

First blood. First meat. She could see him from her place behind a stack of crates. He was a tiny creature. Kerrik, the perfect prey. Confident as they were intelligent, they had survived for so long simply on their luck. This one - on the other hand - was stupid enough to just wander out as if he'd just won the intergalactic lottery and was going to go cash in his ticket. Unfortunately for him, that ticket was never going to get there.

He was free, no doubt he'd head towards the only door there. She'd have to use some strategy for this one. This Kerrik was going to be fast, so she'd have to be faster. The first sign she had that something was wrong was from the fact that this little critter had just wandered out on it's own. NO way it was anything but a scout or simply cannon fodder. They were waiting for her to blow her cover.

Of course, if she simply killed him out of sight that might inspire them to wait. Or presume he was running amuck. No, she wanted them to be very, very sure that something was out there and waiting for them. Paranoia was already wrecking this ship, no doubt adding that to theirs would be an effective strategy.

So she waited. Waited until the Kerrik wandered towards her set of barrels and before he could head out of the next door, she attempted to attract his attention with a falling crate. Gripping her claws into one of the metal boxes by her side, she pulled it over until it thumped in front of her. Should her luck be all fair and good, she'd distract Dako's attention long enough for her to reach out and attempt to grasp the man by his throat. Considering the size and stature of the Kerriks compared to the Sans'Karah's superior amount of strength and dexterity, she was hoping she could silence him with the strength of her grasp. Acting quickly, there would be nothing but the sound of a slight energy discharge, a little 'woosh' before her blade had become active. She knew where to go.

Looking into his eyes were the eyes of a far bigger killer then he was. With a twitch of her muscles, she released her grip enough for him to squeak out his words rather then yell, enough for her to ask him a question.

"Welcome aboard." she whispered "You have ten seconds to tell me who it is you people are. Fail to answer and you die."

The last thing the murderer would likely see was the eyes of the Disciple looking right back at him. If he chose to be an arrogant creature and show any anger, she would waste no time in finishing him. If he answered her question? Well...the same fate awaited him. The second an answer came out of him, she promptly attempted to stab her blade right through his centre of mass. If that did not kill him, the following series of cuts would.

She made sure she slice his body into as many messy and tiny pieces as she could in order to insure that when the other members of his crew came out to investigate, they were well aware that they were messing with something very, very deadly. It wouldn't be long before they noticed, considering he never even got to the door. She kept his head in tact, propped up on the box she'd dropped. Even twisted the lips into a little smile. So precious.

Now her heart was pumping. Covered in blood, the drops would give her away if she didn't lay low. She had no working armour, her suit was offering her no protection. One shot could easily hurt her, re-aggravate her wounds and kill her. This was far more dangerous for her then it was for them. Did she care? Oh no...it was just another exciting fact. Typical Sans'Karian soldier. No form of self-preservation.

((Well that seemed... slightly unnecessary Minor OOC note; You didn't really give Dako a chance to respond!))

"Well, korma-fet." Yale's voice broke the silence first. "That was expedient."

"Did... Did that just happen?" Kiri had been watching the whole thing. "Jesus, I almost feel bad for the guy. I mean, he was a piece of Tarrak, but that was just terrible." Collecting herself, she turned to her console by the viewport and quickly retracted the boarding gate, closing the airlock and running a hard decon. If the cloaked figure had gotten inside the ship, the airlock decontamination cycle would incinerate them. Somehow, though, she didn't think Dako's killer would have entered the ship.

"I guess we're not collecting the bounty on him?" Yale asked, in a failed attempt to lighten the mood.

"Don't be silly, Yale, whoever's out there left the head intact. He's still good credit." Whoever, indeed. The cloaking device that Dako's killer used was high quality; Even when the figure moved quickly, they were still difficult to see. However, based on the height and figure, she would guess that it was a Chipi. She relayed this thought to Yale.

"You think so? That looked too tall to be Kaya, and we know Antero is a commander, not a fighter. I don't think he could move like that. That was fast."

"Who else would it be? The only other Mabi that height and size would be a Katamain, like me, but that person only had two arms. No antennae either."

Yale considered this for a moment. "Sans'Karah?"

"You still think so?" Kiri considered the fighter ship sitting in the hanger. "I've never met one face to face..."

"I think that's the idea," Yale muttered. "They don't greet you face to face. They're a bunch of backstabbing-"

"Racism, Amari Greks." Kiri said lightheartedly, trying to push past Dako's violent demise.

"Not racist if it's true. If this person got aboard, maybe... Maybe they already got Antero and Beaky?"

"You think so?" Kiri pondered this for a moment. "Isn't Kaya supposed to be a supersoldier? Even a fine fighter likely couldn't take on them both."

Yale let out a noncommittal grunt. "Weren't we planning to take her?"

"Not in hand to hand combat!" Kiri said. "Look, if we play our cards right, we don't have to fight this Sans'karah - or whoever it is. We've made no hostile move. As long as we make it clear that we're just here for the girl-"

"Dako didn't make a hostile move. How long did he last?"

"Look, we can at least try to negotiate..." She looked over her console for a moment before finding the external loudspeaker. Turning it on, she allowed her voice to fill the cargo bay.

"Attention, unidentified hostile party; We would like you to reveal yourself. We wish you no harm. We are here for the fugitives known as Antero and Kaya Beaky. They are two Chipi, on the run from the GMPF for terrorism and murder. If you interrupt our attempts to bring these criminals to justice, we will be forced to attack. This is not desirable for anybody, and I'd rather prefer that everyone comes out of this situation relatively alive - Except Dako, that is. He was a shitbag."

"Nice language, Kiri."

"Quiet Greks." She turned a dial that opened up the ship's external monitors. Dako's attacker would now be able to talk to them. "Let's see what this ghost has to say..."

((Oh, no problem. He certainly was a throw-away (Although there was a clever little plot thread for his demise later if you decided not to kill him)

Anywya, I know I said multiple paragraph posts in the Propose a Game area, but if you're having trouble filling the gap, you can go a bit shorter. Forcing posts to be longer than they should be is just detrimental

Also, interesting that you say "Wee hours of the morning." It's almost midnight over here ))

Okay, I need to not make a habit of OOC. (Maybe we should PM OOC stuff if we need to in the future?)

((Alrighty! I was simply trying not to disappoint you ^^ After all we've done I've been hoping to keep up the good show. And, it's actually 6:41 here right now. I was heading off to sleep after this post! Sadly I'm one a 'murrikan, I'm a 'pean! ))
Negotiate? Really? The notion itself had managed to shock Saka into a state of bewilderment. Were they really attempting to negotiate after she had just violently ripped their own squadmate apart? By all means, she had even done it in the most violent and demented way she could think of for the sole purpose of intimidation and taunting. And now they were going to try talking things over peacefully. Somehow she couldn't see that happening.

Still...this might be a chance to get some more information. Fugitives, as she had guessed. But murder? Now that was something found curious. Especially terrorism. Somehow the mental image of a little girl causing vast amounts of destruction alongside her strangely docile killer uncle was quite humorous to her. And once more, bravado would likely come to be the woman's downfall.

Out she walked, like a bloody parrot in a wetsuit. Her cloak de-activated as she stood before their ship, within sight as she peered over towards the boarding gate. She knew they had sealed themselves in there. A logical reaction to seeing someone getting ripped to shreds, but now they had the significant advantage.

"Fine threats you can dish out, law bringer. I just took out your comrade there with one arm. Do you think that a boarding gate and the vacuum of space will keep you safe? Especially after you woke up from a really, really good nap."

Perhaps a lot more then they think, but she hoped they'd buy into her bluff.

"Now...while I'd usually help out people like yourself...since I AM like you... I am afraid I tend to be a bit protective of the people that drag me out of a twisted wreck and tend to my wounds. Even if the child is a little on the dangerous side. On the other hand they've also lied to me. So what I would suggest is that you come out of your hidey hole and face them yourselves. Because I think they are very aware of you being here."

It almost frightened herm just how...noble her choice of words were. Defend those who've helped her? The little girl? Was she honestly feeling bad for two people who - in all fairness - were apparently murderers and terrorists. Then again ,she was also a murderer and a terrorist...and these two seemed to be trying to communicate with her.

"Sorry about your friend, by the way. I didn't like his smile. Or that smell of dead meat he had. Almost like a decoy...clever. Very clever. I like that. So please, as two very clever people whom I know are going to do the wise thing in order to catch their prey or die trying...please, step out and meet me here. Saka'kah of the Disciples. Look me up. I'm trustworthy." If she had teeth, she'd be flashing those pearly whites and blinding them with their glare right now.

"Alternatively you could wait for me to punch a hole through your little tin door...then your ship...and then your midsections. "

"With all due respect, Mabi Saka'kah," Kiri responded, annoyed by the stranger's pride, however well earned it was, "You are more than welcome to try to break into our ship. That blade of yours won't poke a hole in it, and the autodefense turrets'll turn you to mulch before you can get in."

"Please, Kiri, don't antagonize the freaky bird-ninja." Yale's voice irritated Kiri. She twitched an antennae, annoyed.

"And, my apologies if I don't take you at your word for being trustworthy. We did start our relationship with you brutally mauling a rather valuable prisoner of ours. I think we can talk with you from the comfort of our own, heavily armed vessel, if it's all the same to you."

This was a fighter, this "Saka'kah" person. Dako's violent death was psychological warfare. - which might have worked if Kiri and Yale had any attachment to the man that wasn't purely financial - and now, their enemy stood proudly before them. Brave. Maybe too brave.

In any case, a display of strength might secure their position with the stranger, but at the same time, they had no guarantee that a knife wouldn't await them as they stepped out of their vessel. She knew nothing about Sans'Karah culture, but what she had heard did not imply an honorable group of well-intentioned warriors. Better to play it safe than dead.

So, for now, they would wait it out. Saka'kah seemed interested in what they had to say, and that might be enough to make them valuable to her - valuable enough to keep them alive, anyway.

Antero had been creeping slowly down the hallway, with Kaya - no, Batali - at his side, for a minute or so before they heard the voices coming from the cargo bay. A female voice, low and a little gravely, with a metallic quality to it, as if it were being transmitted over a low-quality radio, and then Saka's distinctive tone. They couldn't make out the individual words, but Antero redoubled his pace to reach the cargo bay and hear what was being spoken. When they arrived, there stood Saka, right in front of a spaceship that had most certainly not been there before. It was obviously a combat ship. Sleek, lithe, and bristling with weaponry ranging from small point defense turrets to what looked like a rather dangerous railgun. Bounty hunters.

And blood. As Antero and Batali got closer - not close enough to be seen by whoever was in the ship - he spotted a corpse... or most of one. The small Kerrik's body was mutilated beyond recognition. Only the head, perched on a crate and silhouetted against a backdrop of the stars that shone through the hanger forcefield, was untouched. Saka's work? He instinctively put his hand over Batali's eyes, but she pushed him away, clicking the safety off her gun and risking a step closer. While the bounty hunters couldn't see her, Saka had most certainly heard her approach.

Antero gritted his teeth. Now what?

There was that word again. Mabi. It's meaning kept being lost on her but it was slowly becoming Saka's least favourite word due to the contexts it was being used in. The worst part of it all was that the woman actually did have a good point. She couldn't punch through their door even with her blade. It's metal composition was likely strong enough to nullify the energy output. A fair cop's a fair cop.

Most she could do is try to detonate her ship which -incidently - would also likely destroy ALL of them. Which wouldn't exactly be a big win, would it? As much as she hated to admit it, this was certainly a defeat for her. But, she wouldn't let THEM know that.

"You are aware I could just cloak right now and you'd have to start your little search allover again? I could probably find some snacks in one of these crates, maybe even a soda or something...this could be a long wait to get a single bounty job done. And , hey , thinking you're safe is what your friend did! And I think I still have chunks of him in my feathers."

Talking. Yes! Distraction, long enough for her to figure out some way of getting to them.

"I don't think you quite understand the situation you're in right now. Look, I'm sure you have a very busy day ahead of you, sending your valuable commodities head-first into certain death and then losing a huge cut of your profits. But I really think this could all just end faster if you simply stepped out and dealt with this yourself. You could find some way to blast me from where you are, but honestly all that would do is alert your prisoners that you have weapons that can hurt them from there...and then they'll find some way to escape. Trust me, these two are very inventive." she cawed, hands upon her hips as she paced up closer towards the door, giving it the biggest shit-eating grin she could possibly conjure out without any actual teeth.

The sound of footsteps. Small ones. Likely that little girl. As much as she didn't think they should be there, this was their battle. Still, she'd hoped they were listening to everything she said. She gave a short pause, tilting her head aside slightly but not gazing behind her as she would hope this gave Batali an indication she knew they were there.

"So forgive me if I'm a little reluctant to turn on my saviours that quickly, but you might be surprised to know that some of us do have a modicum of respect." she added briefly, before raising her arm up and glancing down at her device.

Toying with the input for a moment, she attempted to use what little of the hacking capabilities were still left within that thing to try and cut off their visual and audio feed for at least a minute or two. Or long enough to have a quick word before they either blasted her to bits or started yelling at her again.

((Mabi is a term used to formally address someone, used in the same context as "Mr." or "Mrs." If Saka doesn't travel outside Sans'Karah systems often, it's understandable why she may not have heard it before.))

Kiri sighed. "Listen, Saka'kah; I don't know if I made this clear, but I really don't give a Skarish's ass about you. We're here for the two Chipi. Captain Beaky coerced his GMPF crew into assaulting an almost defenseless research firm, and his daughter killed two security guards on their way out. Whether they saved your life or not, they're not good people. I don't know who you are or what you've done, but you don't have any legal grounds to protect them on. Now we could get into a lovely little standoff for the next-"

"Kiri!" Yale cried over the radio. "Something's screwing with the ship's computers! I just lost video feed."

Kiri sighed heavily. "I don't know what you just did to our cameras, and I don't particularly care, but you do know I can still see you, right?" She waved through the tinted viewport, even though the alien couldn't see her on the other side. "What's it going to take for us to get the Beakys? You obviously don't want money; You seem to think you owe these murderers something because they helped you out. They're manipulating, it's what they're good at. Now please, for the love of God, stand down. We don't want to kill you, and we certainly hope you don't want to kill us."

Just after she had finished her speech, Kiri heard a soft click, and glanced over to see that whatever Saka'kah was using against them had disabled their exterior speakers. They could still hear what was going on outside, but they couldn't say anything back.

"Kata diet, Yale, what just happened? Can you get us our mic back?"

"Gimme a minute." The Farbian sighed. "I have no idea what this thing is. It's foreign tech, and the only thing keeping it from taking over our ship is that we're just as strange to it as it is to us."

"So she's broadcasting some sort of signal?"

"Looks like a Denial of Service attack, but the packets are small, and they're only clogging up certain systems."

"Just get it fixed. I'm going to suit up in case we need to actually go out there."

"God help us if we do."

(( Haha, I guessed that! XP Saka could not, on the other hand. She had never left her home systems. In fact she'd barely ever been beyond her home colony's territory. You make up some interesting terms!))

Oh by the Shadowlord's tailfeathers they were FINALLY quiet. If she had to listen to that woman's ranting for a moment, she was sure she'd have to stab herself through the head to be free of the pain. Now that they had a few moments of silence, she'd turn her back towards the ship, crossing her arms over her chest to - hopefully - make it seem like she was simply thinking to herself, stroking her beak slowly as she stared right at the duo behind her, perking a brow at them as she'd speak up to them both.

"In case you're both wondering, they seem to be here to take you in. I believe the terms 'manipulative terrorists and murderers were bounced about more then once. So I'd make your choice quick before they have a chance to suit up and come out here. And make it fast. I'm not quite sure who to trust here." she hissed with a certain degree of displeasure in her voice, clearly not happy to be lied to.

She wasn't sure who's side to pick here. The two of these guys clearly seemed to want to help her - though they clearly were reluctant and they clearly lied to her. And on the other hand, she could ally herself with the people who sent a valuable prisoner in as a decoy in a clearly dangerous situation, likely expecting him to get riddled with holes. So one side could likely shoot her in the back when they least expected, the others were likely to sell her out a little more openly. It was a lose-lose situation in her eyes, so why not go with the first side that got to her?

"They'll get their feeds back at any moment. I can't keep whispering like this forever so whatever you two are going to do to stop them - do it." she murmured quieter.

If they were going to make any moves to stop them ,this was time time. It'd no doubt be a short time before the goons in the ship would have everything back up and running and then THEY'LL be in control of the situation again. She'd rather avoid that, seeing as they were also very condescending. And nothing angers a Sans'karah off more then talking down to them. Pouty, stuffy bastards that they were.

In the end she was doing something against her principles. Choosing sides. A task she knew she'd eventually have to face when going out into that universe out there. It was scarier then she'd expected. NO matter how fearsome you are, once you're out of home and facing new ways of life with no allies to call your own? you tend to start seeing things entirely differently then how you used to.

"But we should go now, Kiri!" Yale insisted.

"I said no, Greks. We're staying put. Have you dug that DoS out of the computers yet?" Despite her resistance to Yale's idea of an attack, she had gotten her equipment together. Light body armor, her favorite stun rifle, and every pocket of her vest stuffed with grenades.

"I'm working on it!" Yale snarled, suddenly angry. "But this is stupid! We should press the advantage now, while we can! Look, we both know I'm a crackshot, and you're Katamain."

"What does my race have anything to do with it?"

Yale made that irritated sigh in the back of his throat, that Farbian sound that was almost - but not quite - a growl. "Don't be stupid, Kiri. You can split your brain up autonomously, and you have four arms. You can fire four guns without losing any accuracy."

"Okay, so that puts us at five gunners to one, but what happens when Kaya shows up? She's a dietan assassin!" Kiri knew she was resisting the inevitable truth: If they wanted to go, they had to push the advantage now.

"Kiri, you're being paranoid." Yale's voice took on a softer, almost parental tone. Kiri hated it. "Vexel told us Kaya was a high priority because he wanted us on our toes. If she were half as dangerous as Vex claimed, we'd already be dead."

"Okay, fine, fine!" Kiri caved and threw her arms up in irritation. "Here's what we do; We grab Mabi Attle from the brig and bring him out for protection. Kaya shows up or makes a move, and we use him as a meatshield. Anybody tries anything, and poof: Attle gets his brains addled."

"Damn, Kiri." Yale sounded impressed. "That's cold. That's something I would think of."

She didn't take it as a compliment. "Just shut up and finish scraping that DoS out of our system. I'll get Attle. Meet me on the boarding deck."

Within minutes, they were ready. With an ominous scrape, the Raptor's door opened, and the long ramp extended down to the floor. The three figures stepped off, with Attle crammed in between the two bounty hunters, looking more than a little terrified. Saka'kah saw them instantly. Now they just had to talk their way past her, collect the criminals, and be on their way to becoming quite wealthy.