Let the Stars Fall Down IC

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Auric stared at it.

He blinked once.

He blinked twice.

Then he sighed.

How the hell were they supposed to get that through customs? Still, when life gave you lemons, stay cool; it was usually just the drugs.

Still, frozen meat? Greeeaaaaaaat. Now that was probably going to have to go through three or four times more bio-checks than an artificial cyborg's corpse.

You know, just on the off-chance the denizens of Asano-17 weren't bored witless.
 
He was about to leave and meet up with Aeia to discuss the possibility of hitting the ship when a small beep from the holopad alerted him to an update on the guard's search results. A few moments and a sigh of disbelief later, two portals snapped shut once more and Icturin walked off with a hand scratching at his white hair. Really now, when he had said he wanted to know everything he hadn't meant it literally. It was good that the guard was being dutiful about his end of the bargain, but really, a shipment of frozen meat did not warrant an update. 'Now then...' A quick glance at the map of the Protective Dome he'd grabbed onto his bracelet revealed there would probably be fairly little places the "mechanic" would be at this time; likely somewhere serving alcohol if her complaints since Purgamentum hadn't been empty words.

To his luck the first bar he checked out had her seated at the counter, smoke wafting upwards from one of those damn stinkers she seemed to enjoy. As such, when he took a seat it was with a bit of space in between the two of them. Unsurprisingly, the bartender may have looked a bit annoyed when he made no move to order a drink and instead just brought up a holoscreen off his bracelet. He scanned over the contents before the display was flicked so it drifted in front of blonde, the contents of Asano-19's registration on view. "Finally got a Type-Ace. Not sure if it'll have what you need, but it's better than anything else that's shown up so far."

Aeia wordlessly glanced at the holoscreen, looking over the ship's registration as well as the actual image of the vessel. Taking a sip of her beer, she paused before putting her cigarillo back in her mouth.

"...What the fuck kind of design is this?" She scowled, completely perplexed. "It's more like an art piece than a spaceworthy vessel! Who fucking designs a ship with weak points this obvious? And no weapons! What the actual fuck?" Aeia seethed, puffing on her cigarillo.

He raised an eyebrow, but couldn't say he was all too surprised by her scathing comments. He'd heard enough from the emergency landing to their rickity flight over to Kroil about their "spacecraft" after all. There was a slight wince at a certain point raised, but he did mutter, "The same people who designed my Mecha apparently." He was still somewhat annoyed that said "weak points" was the reason this entire mess was happening in the first place. "Anyways, there's a few pictures of the Type-Ace, but aside from weaponry not much information. Think you can figure anything out from the appearance? Looked rather mundane to me."

The mechanic leaned back on her bar stool, blowing out a cloud of smoke from her mouth. "Not a clue. With a design that generic, it's hard to tell." She took a look at the weapons next, shaking her head. "Only outfitted with missiles and a machine gun. Not exactly an ace pilot loadout there. Either this guy's cheap or he's relying on his power. Probably both, really."

He scratched at the back of his head, spinning around so he could lean against the counter, and sighed. "Well then. Don't suppose you're up for getting a closer look?" The two would have to move quick if they wanted to get onboard before the ship was forced to return to the moon port since boarding after it came back for its crew would be impractical at best. The holoscreen flickered for a moment before it disappeared seeing as Aeia had seen all it had to offer.

Aeia grinned, tapping the ash off her cigarillo into an ashtray. "You're damn right I am. We gonna have some fun with portals?"

He eyed the flickering crack in space on the bar's ceiling, barely visible from his position, and nodded with a similar grin, "Damn right. Come on, they've got a small shipment to drop off apparently, so that should give us a few extra minutes." He hopped off the stool and dropped a Mahz stick on the counter, catching the bartender's attention with its color. His finger drifted about until it settled on a bottle filled with a multicolored liquid that illuminated it from within and he nodded. Frankly he had no idea what the hell he'd just dropped a rather tidy sum of Mahz on, but oh well it looked damn interesting that was for sure. Hopefully it'd also keep the man from gossiping if anyone came looking around.

The blonde girl paused for a second, glancing at Icturin's drink dubiously, followed by a raise of her eyebrow. "Uh...you do realize you just bought a bottle of liquid LSD, right?" She snickered, assuming he probably didn't. Well, either that, or she'd read the guy completely wrong in assuming he was straight-edge.

Somehow managing to twirl the full bottle in between his fingertips, he gave his soon-to-be partner in crime a small shrug. "Well it looks the part," he admitted as the bottle cast a small light show in his hands, slightly mesmerizing in itself, "guess I'll find out later." He made to leave the bar at that point and head back towards the docks for now, hoping to be just in time for the product unloading. It'd be the easiest time to approach and sneak themselves on board the Asano.
​
 
"So...our big secret cargo is...meat," Mana voiced the question on everyone's minds, disappointment evident in her voice. "That's not even something ridiculously illegal," she whined. Her own vision of the whole job was just as exciting as the others'. This was far, far too ordinary.

She quickly turned to one of the guards. "Uh, it's not right? This isn't a planet of vegetarians or something, is it?" She thankfully didn't wait for an answer before moving closer to one of the crates. "...Anyway, just tell us where you want these and I'll help get them moving," she said to the guards. Before they could ask what she'd be able to do on her own, she focused a bit on the crate, reaching out with her powers and carefully lifting it a good six inches or so off the deck, where it continued to float stably. "I may not look like much, but it's not like I need to rely on brute strength~" She smiled around, happy to make use of her abilities and show off at the same time.

Turning her attention to the Asano-17's slovenly-looking captain, she added another question. "You know where these are eventually going once they're through customs, right, boss?"
 
Oh look. Everyone else was disappointed as fuck as well! Yay!

Brent, needless to say, felt a little like shit. Motioning towards the guards, he said, in a disappointed tone, "So yeah, we're delivering meat. Should already be obvious from the labelling of the boxes, but the contents have already been checked and bio-scanned. Feel free to scan them over regardless."

Cricking his neck, he motioned towards Asano and said to the gynoid, "If you go take the other crate, we should be fine here. Mana, don't strain yourself, yeah? And of course I know. Just cause I'm lazy doesn't mean I have a bad memory." Bending down, he took the sides of another crate and lifted upwards with his legs. A year or so of cargo delivery missions had taught him the proper method of handling heavy boxes, after all, and while Mana's power was a welcome surprise, it'd be better if such things were physically handled. After all, a proper player revealed cards only when necessary. Walking down the incline until he was outside, the captain set down the boxes onto the wheeled platform that apparently served an easier way of transporting cargo to their super special inspection area.

After waiting for Asano and Mana to set their own crates outside as well, he asked the guards how long it'd take for everything to be checked through and received a rather ambiguous answer in return. More sighs were to be had, before the captain said to his motley skeleton crew, "Well then, sounds like we're gonna be here for a while, eh? And Auric, you're planning on staying inside, right? Just tell the guards to start their inspections from wherever you plan to camp out in."

"As for the rest of you…well, I'm going to go get some local food. Care to join me? Or do you two plan on shoe shopping?"

He flashed a smile at this, even though Asano's robo-body didn't have the sense of taste yet, nor had they actually been paid in advance by their employer.
 
By now everyone with prying eyes had probably seen Mana's ability, not to mention he actually got the guts to tell her not to strain herself...or was he just hitting on her? Though the real question was, what was more straining for her? Well, girls gotta stick together, and if Mana actually decided to put the crate down and use some heavy labour, the gynoid would make sure to play her role by carrying both of the crates! After all, being a cheap combat cargo robot and all, she could easily split some cattle bare handed.

It didn't take long to carry just those 3 crates to the specified spot, and with that work done they actually had some free-time. "Well, I definitely can't leave Mana alone with YOU." If there was one person in the crew who was allowed to make harmless fun out of her, it was the AI alone...or maybe they could actually team up against Brent. Though in reality, Asano just wanted to be as busy as possible and actively deny the creeping guards polluting her beloved ship, and while she obviously had an eye on them all the time, it was the thought that counted, no?
 
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Mana got her crate moved and loaded so it can go...wherever it needs to go next. "I'm not straining myself from just this much. I know my limits pretty well." Despite doing no actual work, she still dusted her hands off. "Shouldn't someone stay with the cargo, or will they let us know when it's cleared for delivery," she asked. "Do we even need to deliver this stuff personally, or is the courier job over?"

One of the guards stepped in to explain that there wasn't a need to wait right there with their things, and they'd get their own passes through customs for their delivery when the cargo checked out.

"Hm," Mana considered both offers. "I'm not sure if we even have any money to do much shopping." She looked between Brent and Asano's android body. She wasn't sure she had much money to spend on food, much less if anything was any good. "But what the hell, it's better than sitting around. I wonder what sort of cool local stuff they've got, anyway." She started to wander off, motioning for the android to follow her. She had no clue where she was going, of course, but that meant that she'd get somewhere eventually.

"Captain, I'll meet you later for dinner," she calls out to Brent before getting too far. "You can let me know what's good, okay?"
 
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Auric nodded at Brent's observation. Outside was... ugh. Especially here. He hated the feeling he got from uneasy crowds. Not to mention the opportunity for a tiny bit of privacy, just for once, with Asano in her gynoid.
"Yeah, I'm just gonna be... in my room, I suppose. I'll go get one of the inspection people to check it over."
Hands rooted in his pockets, and armed with all the enthusiasm of a goth on his way to a swimming gala, the Nephalem pilot went off to do exactly that, directing two guards towards his quarters.
 
Asgharro let out a frustrated sigh. Having this Mahz stuff was annoying enough, but multiple different financial systems? Maybe life off Purgamentum wasn't so much easier after all. Once they no longer had to deal with the stress and frustrations of survival, they apparently sought to make the mundane stressful and frustrating.

"Whatever" he muttered, swiping his ID before returning to his food. A hearty stew, lightly spiced, with long elongated strings of what were apparently called "noodles". Try as he might, Asgharro could not trap them with any of the implements he had been provided, and ended up slurping the long strings out of the bowl, taking care that all the food went underneath his cloth mask, without revealing his scar to anyone. Given the appearance of most people on this planet, they might not like his teeth too much either.

As he finished, he looked out the window to see a familiar pair striding towards a docked ship. Aeia and Icturin. His travelling companions had been very secretive regarding their plans, though Asgharro had heard some mention of spare parts. His curiosity piqued, he slipped out of the cafe and joined the throng, slipping his cloak's hood over his head. Keeping his distance, he followed their path, curious to see what would happen.
 
The bottled LSD had been deposited somewhere safe for the moment and then Icturin had led the duo back towards the ship docks. Walking past the docked Asano, he discreetly gave it a look over in person and noted that the crew seemed to have mostly left the ship aside from an individual or two who'd forgone shore leave. While night fall would have made this much easier, it wasn't as if he had the luxury of choice. The ship would be back to the moon or gone with its crew by that time, so out in the open in the middle of the day it was. He grabbed his cloak from and threw it around his shoulder before muttering, "Come on, let's go."

Aeia shrugged and followed behind Icturin, pulling out a blowtorch from her toolkit.

"Just in case we come across any locked doors." She said, grinning. "So what's the plan, buddy?"

"We're probably going to have to bail if this fails and we'll have probably a few minutes," he began as began to walk for the ship's hatch. "Gonna create a portal on the interior, and link it to one on the underside of the cloak. You head through first, I'll follow behind, and everybody watching will just see us disappear. If there's someone on the other side, it'll be a second before I can help you out." A quick glance around revealed that none of the ship's members were in the immediate vicinity, having wandered off to explore, but he did notice someone that might pose a problem. "Shit... Whatever," he dimissed Asgharro's presence with a shake of his head and moved up to tap the ship's hull. The sensation of his power activating was felt and he raised his cloak up for Aeia to duck under, the crack in space bending and rippling with the fabric it was anchored to.

"Oh yeah," Aeia purred, glancing around the area for anyone watching. "We're totally gonna go have a quickie over here. And nothing else." She said sarcastically as she ducked under Icturin's cloak.

"So..." Aeia paused before she entered the portal. "What if I walk in on someone jacking off? And then he starts trying to shoot me for interrupting his happy fun time?"

Icturin tilted his head slightly as his expression turned somewhat exasperated. "Kick them in the balls first or something, you should know your way around those sort of things," he remarked before he dropped the cloak to try and force Aeia through the portal.

"Dick!" Aeia grunted as she rushed into the portal before anyone saw her. Thankfully, when she emerged from the other side, there was no one around. Stepping to the side, she waited for Icturin to come through before smacking him upside the head with her fleshy arm. "Fucking asshat. It was a legitimate question."

The moment she was through, he untyed the thick piece of fabric and let it fall over him and hit the ground as he was transported through the two cracks. He was about to take a deep breath after he let his powers fade, but Aeia's method of making her displeasure known sort of interupted that. "Ok, maybe half of it was legitimate, but jump back out of the portal or something?" The fact that there was nobody around meant he didn't really give that question any more thought as he glanced around. "Any idea where the hangar might be located on this mess of a ship's design?"

Aeia hemmed for a second, pulling up the image of the ship on her wrist computer and examining it. "Probably somewhere near the lower levels. On one of the not-swordy parts of the sword shape. Then again, I work with actual designs and not art school pipe dreams."

"Greeeeaaat..." So the there was essentially two choices, neither really all that appealing to him; wander around in hopes of stumbling across what had to be a fairly large portion of the ship, or find someone on board and interrogate them for said information. All with the clock likely ticking down on them as the people outside raised a commotion about two disappearing individuals or the ship's AI, likely present for such a large vessel, figured out their presence was undesirable. "Well, lead the way," he offered Aeia with a wave of his hand, "You've got just as good as a chance of leading us right as I do."

Aeia rolled her eyes, but walked onward. "Fine. Don't blame me if we get caught on a security camera, though. They're probably all over the damn place."
 
"Yesyes, off we go!" Asano now replied in all her glory, not being forced to play the more robotic robot anymore! Walking with the Mahou Shoujou through the dome. "Mhm, I'd like to check out part-shops and stuff! I am sure there are some bargains to be made! And if not, we can put your female charm to use to change that!" A evil chuckle followed, though quickly replaced by a more serious expression. "Oooohhh, I guess we have to postpone the shoe shopping and all! There are some uninvited guests on board, I wouldn't even mind some kids doing fun stuff BUT apparently they jumped out of a hole and..." her voice now changed to a negative imitation. "Fine. Don't blame me if we get caught on a security camera, though. They're probably all over the damn place... there are up to no good!" It didn't take her long to smile again. "How about it? I go snatch the captain and you deal with those? Or maybe I should go and you find the captain? This body is replaceable but you are not." Of course she could also just totally tell the guards but that would mean she had to reveal to Auric she is still present, play out the captains trump in regards to the AI and the entire fun of him dealing with those instead of the law would be gone! Not to mention they were apparently NOT happy with the design of the glorious Asano, if it had any kind of deficiency then it was the lack of a pink hull.
 
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Mana was excited by the prospective shopping trip, even if it would mostly be browsing for her. Did they even watch shows like Wonder Maid Magical Amber here anyway? The whole place seemed pretty bleak and militaristic. "Yay! Bargains!" She bounced up an down in joy, and almost missed what Asano said next. "Wait, what was that about my charm?"

Her pace slowed further at the announcement of intruders. "I'm not sure which of those would be best. I wouldn't be here if I were that great in a fight..." She trailed off, not elaborating on her past, as usual. "I'd love to see these evildoers punished firsthand, but I can't affect them directly with my ability, so I can't promise there wouldn't be any collateral damage. I'll chase down the Captain, you see if you can't stop those intruders." Mana was about to bolt off on her own when she had another idea. "What about Auric," she asked. "Couldn't you let him know somehow? He's still onboard, so he'd have the easiest time by far." She bounced up and down on her feet a few more times. "Well, see ya, I'm going to go find our boss." Her mind was made up, so she didn't stick around any longer to hear a reply, and took off like a bat out of hell to go find the captain. He'd said something about finding a place to eat, so the nearest restaurants seemed like the best bet.
 
Asgharro watched as the two of them tucked into a corner next to the ship, and groaned as he saw Aeia climb under Icturin's cloak. Great. All the intrigue, all of the mystery, for some casual sex? Asgharro turned to head back to the restaurant. Maybe he'd get some dessert. Leave the two of them to it. He never saw the cloak fall to the ground, empty. He walked past some weird girl babbling to a robot, and strolled back into the restaurant. Still a little stunned from the disappointment, he hung his cloak on the rack and sat down at his favourite table. Reaching for the menu, his fingers met empty air.

Wait, what?!

Looking up, Asgharro saw someone sat opposite him, peering over the menu with curious eyes. Shit. Asgharro froze, stunned by the realisation of what he'd done.
 
After the guards had finished searching his quarters, Auric trudged in and locked the door behind him. They'd had some issue or another with a formula on his computer, demanding to know what it was, and refusing to believe that t'=t/√(1-[v2​/c2​]) really was about time dilation as invoked by velocity and not about some kind of explosive. He had eventually resorted to beginning to explain it to them bit by bit, at which point they'd given up and left.

Which was fine, frankly. If they didn't know how motion speed affected temporal rate, he didn't want nor need their kind skulking around his room.

It did get him thinking again, though. Did he want more time? He wasn't even sure what to do with the time he already had. Was he wasting it? Was someone suffering for how he was spending it?

Fuck it, he decided with a mental shrug. Let's check up on that XM from earlier.
 
Ouch, he didn't think he'd be rejected so badly that they wouldn't even consider the offer. Scratching his head, the Captain smiled helplessly as the girls left him on their exciting shopping spree. Like, geez, he hoped Asano understood that there were no ship or mecha parts for sale on Kroil, only the raw materials for such things.

Welp, whatever. Shrugging off his sorrows, Brent walked into a rather bland restaurant and sat himself down on the outside portion of the restaurant. It wasn't like there was any benefit of sitting 'outside' as opposed to 'inside' but the air still felt a little better out there. Taking out the menu and ordering a cold glass of water, the ruggedly handsome Captain narrowed his eyes at the exorbitant prices, sighing very, very slowly at all this. These prices were bullshit. It made him mad as fuck how expensive the meals were. Was this high-quality food or something? Or was it just because the Kroil government want to suck dry all the money of all the people who dared purchase food from the surface layer of the planet?

Geez, it really did hurt his heart, seeing this…but at the same time, that "Kroilian Elbeleze Slow-Roasted Fish Steak" did look rather good…

Placing the menu aside for the time being, Brent was about to raise up a hand to call for a waiter in the unassuming restaurant-café thing, when he noticed that someone else was sitting in front of him. A man with young eyes, the lower half of his face hidden by a handkerchief. No matter how one looked at it, the person before him was suspicious as hell.

A hitman from the Organization? An enemy from a previous job? A monster from a dark and edgy past?

Or maybe just someone who wanted to look like a stereotypical thug from a movie.

"Sup," Brent said casually, his hands drifting off the table, "Got a job for me?"
 
Dear heavens, this city was annoying as all hell! Not only did Radsul have no idea as to where he was headed or what the hell he was looking for, he also had this strange, creeping feeling that he was going in circles. Of course, rather than blaming his ability to navigate cities and asking a random person on the street for some advice, he decided that it was the fault of the city's architects who made everything so... bland. Everything looked like a carbon-copy of something else to his eyes and his other senses were simply overwhelmed by the din that pressed into his brain. There was simply no escape from this insanity, it seemed, so he sighed and decided to head straight forwards until he literally bumped into a building that he could not get past.

At least this seemed to have some sort of an effect, because Radsul got clear of the current distinct within a few minutes, landing himself in another one that seemed at least slightly different to his senses, though upon closer look, this too, was composed of buildings that were all too similar. Sighing in disappointment, the mercenary added yet another negative to the already sizeable list that this planet possessed in his mind while damning every single individual who lived there. Why could people not recreate the jungles of his home, or at least something that had more colour to it? There was nothing he could use as a reference point here. Nothing!

Or at least, he thought so, until an idle, faraway thought brushed by his senses. Instantly recognising one of his gearpillars as the source of the strange, animalistic thought that reeked of hunger, Radsul turned towards it and started running through the crowd. He did not care what sort of commotion he caused, whom he brushed by or whom he trampled to death; as far as he was concerned, the people here were idiotic aliens who knew nothing about everything that he could think of. Of course, he ended up causing no small amount of chaos through the streets, however, there was nothing that could deter him from reuniting his beloved gearpillars again.
 
Mana started her search with the places closest to the spaceport docks, and began to spiral outward from there. She didn't do more than make a few quick glances at each place, but she was still quickly tiring herself out. She really hoped she didn't miss the captain at one of the places she'd already checked. She glanced back over her shoulder to make sure, and ended up bouncing off one of the other passerby for her trouble. "Ah! I'm really sorry, but I'm in a hurry!" She didn't stop long to apologize before she kept on her way.

A short time later, a young woman in a clearly out of place frilly, lace-festooned dress burst into the door of the cafe where Asgharro and the reliable captain Brent happened to have run into each other. She looked out of breath, as if she'd just been running around for some time, and took a few moments to stand inside the doorway and look around. Her eyes fell upon Asgharro's table and she was quick to start walking in that direction, still out of breath. "Ah. There you are..." Mana focused her attention on other man at the table. "Captain, there's some trouble on the ship. Intruders or something."

She glanced over at Asgharro, "Ah, sorry, am I interrupting a conversation or something? I just thought it'd be important to bring the news right away..." She probably shouldn't need to personally, but for some reason she still didn't own any form of portable radio or wireless communication, in this day and age. It was quaint, having to always relay communications personally. And knowing the Captain ,he probably was in no hurry to change the status quo if it meant a pretty girl running up looking for him every now and again.
 
Asgharro stared at the man opposite while he spoke. Thoughts dashed through his mind, vying for supremacy. What am I doing here? How did I not notice him? Is he an unemployed bum who just happens to dress well?

Noticing his table partner's hands drifting below the table, Asgharro caught hold of the static buzz he could feel within himself and pulled it to the surface of his skin, feeling his body become energised. At the slightest hint of a sudden movement from the person sitting opposite, Asgharro would release his power and make good an escape amidst the chaos.

" My apologies. My thoughts were elsewhere, and I didn't notice you were here already." Talk him down. "I'm afraid I can't give you a job, I'm a recent arrival here myself and mostly just drifting. I wish I had the money to give you a job - I'd be able to refit my mech if I did. Since leaving home, I've become painfully aware of how...shit...everything was there."

As if to emphasize his point, Asgharro found his hand drifting into the jerky pouch he carried on the back of his belt. He carefully slipped a piece into his mouth, making sure his scarf didn't come loose or reveal his scarred cheek. Chewing steadily, Asgharro was about to make his excuses and leave when a woman burst into the cafe area and made her way towards them. As she spoke, he examined her features. She looked attractive enough, except for some really weird piercings. There was something almost embarrassing about her eyes though - they were puppy dog eyes that would instinctively trust anyone. He'd seen people like her before...they rarely made it to their teen years without losing their innocence or their life. This was what the soft living of the world outside Purgamentum created - naive idiots even in adulthood.

Wait, what?!

"You're a captain?! Why are you asking me for a job?"

The rest of it sunk in.

"Ah, my apologies, dear lady. I sat down at this table by accident, and it now seems I have become embroiled in something that does not concern me. I wish you all the best with your intruder problem, Captain."

Asgharro climbed out of his chair and, stopping to collect his cloak, headed towards the exit. Always best not to stick your nose where others didn't want it. If you liked keeping it, anyway.
 
Oh? A person with a mech? And no job prospects at all? That was rare indeed, but seeing how he said that it WAS broken and whatnot, it made sense. Kroil wasn't the most friendly place for mech repair, really, due to how all those repair facilities are for military use only. Waving off his concerns, Brent replied, smiling a little at the youth's audacity for eating outside food at a restaurant, "Fair enough, I guess. I'd tell you to find some sort of part-time employment in the upper colonies, but I guess you didn't have any luck with that?"

It was unexpected, but Brent never had anything against casual lunchtime conversation. After all, meeting new people was part of the fun of interplanetary freelancing!

The conversation, however, was cut off by the appearance of Mana, wearing an expensive-looking dress that made Brent lurch over at the thought of how expensive it must have been. Dammit, Asano, stop throwing around Mahz like it's water. However, those mental cursings were cut off by the message that the dark-haired girl delivered to him. There were intruders in the Asano-17. That was certainly…a rather interesting thing to do. The captain shrugged once more, before saying, "Well, I hardly imagine that it matters. After all, the guards are still in there, right?"

Tilting his head to the side, Brent thought for a bit, before grinning audaciously. "Actually, since you're here, you might as well sit down and have a meal, eh? You too, Senor Bandito! It really is nothing to worry about. If the intruders do some damage, the Kroil kiddos will compensate us. If they escape, I get to laugh at their incompetence. If the intruders are just sight-seeing, well, there's no harm done, eh?"

"Waitress, mind bringing over another chair? And a menu as well?"
~
BOOM

A rather loud sound reverberated throughout the ship, followed by thumps and other things that sounded suspiciously like police brutality. By the time Auric reached the cargo bay to investigate the noise, he'd see the guards present, as well as two oddly dressed strangers restrained by nets.

"Don't worry, freelancer," one of them said, "We got dis shit."

And, just like that, Auric and Asano missed their chance to do anything useful.

A few minutes afterwards, an announcement was made throughout the town, that the thieves responsible for so many ship-robberies in the past had been caught, and would be receiving 69 years of hard labor in North Korea's Kroil's PJSalt Mines.

Also, apparently, there was a third accomplice involved, some scary thug with goggles and a handkerchief wrapped over his face.
 
Auric was kind of relieved, actually. He hadn't wanted to get involved in that too much. Even if he had managed to safely throw a hunk of astatine, that tended to have spectacular abilities to rake in Brent's insurance claims. Still, it made him wonder what kind of idiots would try to rob a ship still under inspection. It was kind of a stupid move.

Not impressed that he had wandered all the way out to the cargo bay for nothing, he wandered back to his room, noting the newest message, coupled with several images.

The images were of a seemingly perfectly ordinary black cube in a glass cylinder, from multiple angles. This was what surprised Auric. He checked over the text of the message, trying to make sense of the comprehensible.

Hi A,

Tried injecting it with electrons like you suggested. Odd results, as you can see. Mass unaffected, can't make heads or tails of the entropy. Maurus thinks it's to do with the speed of light being affected... :s

The ED has gone down to -17.8492MJ/kg now and TR rate has slowed to 0.83rs/s. Nakato thinks more power might decrease both of them more. Your thoughts?

Maybe if we find a pattern we might even be able to replicate it.

-Léa

He was silent for a moment, before beginning to write up a response.

Thanks Lea,

I'm gonna need a lot more information on it before I can make a decent guess at anything. If you have the test data, that would help, but I expect Eka's insisted on pen and paper like a lunatic again. If not, can you send me it?

I don't know how much longer I can sit here before they throw me off to deliver this frozen meat. Yes, frozen meat. Looks like I can't field test Achron's dilator any time soon, but I'll let you know when I get the chance.

Wishing everyone well,
A

P.S. DO NOT LET SYLRA TEST FOR SATURATION. WE ALL KNOW HOW WELL IT WENT LAST TIME.
REMINDER: IT DIDN'T.

He sent the message. It wouldn't arrive right away, of course. The data would have to be carried offworld by ships, in encrypted form, before being deposited at whatever planet they arrived at via satellite relay. But he was certain it wouldn't be more than a few hours.

In the meantime, this odd little cube had some explaining to do.
 
Asgharro froze on his way out. On the one hand, strangers were very likely to cut your throat and leave you dead in the wastes. On the other hand, this wasn't Purgamentum anymore, and something told Asgharro that this smiling ebullient stranger may well not be able to get away with murdering him in plain sight. Besides, to offer food to another was always a sign of peace and friendship. Tossing his cloak back onto the hooks, Asgharro spun on his heel and made his way back towards the table, pulling his goggles off as he did so.

"What kind of fool would I be to refuse a free meal from a deadbeat ship captain and his glamorous assistant?" Asgharro said, sliding himself into the chair he had so recently vacated. He swept his hand back through his shoulder length hair, brushing it away from his face. "The name of this Senor Bandito is Asgharro Elghis, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, El Capitan. And a great pleasure to meet your charming lady."

A little over the top perhaps, but Asgharro had learnt that a confident, relaxed and entertaining approach could avoid nasty incidents down the road.
 
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