Lowthor
Idea Man
Lowthor
He took another drink from the glass and drummed his fingers on the bartop. It was some kind of new polymer composite that was almost too like wood to be real. The pain in his skull was almost bearable today, but then he'd drank the best part of a bottle of vodka in the last three hours.
"Don't you think you've had enough?" the barman asked, when he slid his glass over to ask for another large one.
"I'm a far easier drunk to handle than when I'm sober", the man replied, and the barman poured another drink.
"So what's wrong with you anyway? You've been in here every day for a week, and you don't look like my usual customers." The barman asked as he started cleaning a few glasses.
"Its a long story, and I only know about half of it at the best of times. Lets just say someone did something to my head, and when I find them I'm going to visit every moment of pain back on them." He threw back the drink and then put the glass back to the bar. "Oh shit!" He cried out and grabbed the back of his own head. He could managed the background pain well enough to cope, but the attacks were another matter altogether.
The glass in front of him started to rattle, and then it lifted from the bar and flew across the room. It didn't shatter, they'd invented shatter proof glasses for bars back in the old days, but it cracked and fell to the ground. The stools either side of the man shook and skidded around the floor, and then all of the drinks on the table beside the man leaped from their vessels, showering the three men at the table in beer.
Mithrandirxx
The Dreeh-Ehu, Trader , Za Ree Om stood in the door way to the bar his massive frame blocking the door way for a moment as chairs and glasses seemed to fly. With a loud harmonic noise he moved his eight foot tall frame towards a back wall his silvery transparent membrane skin glistening in the low light. IT seemed he was now not the resident freak of the station. Sliding up to where the man sat at the bar he stared at the barkeep for a moment before speaking in harmonics some of which caused the bottles to shake as if they were about to explode. Then went silent waiting for the barkeep to get him the same swill the barkeep had been peddling him since his first visit here roughly a year ago.
Lowthor
The men got up from their table, just as the attack came to an end. The guy at the bar let out a grunt as the sharp pain stopped, and was replaced once again with the dull background sensations. He shook his head and closed his eyes as he lay his head down on the bar. The three men from behind him seemed to hold him responsible for spilling their drinks, and they were planning on extracting some payback.
The man at the bar heard them coming though. One had picked up his chair, and its legs scraped on the floor of the bar. He came off his stool quickly and put the man with the chair down after a kick to the gut. One of the guy's friends threw a punch that never landed, and a second later the arm was wrenched up behind its owner's back.
"You and your mates go and find somewhere else to drink. Or I rip your arm off." The man from the bar said. The three guys seemed more than happy to accept, and they quickly left the bar. The lone drinker returned to his seat and took another drink.
"Sorry friend but I don't speak your language", he said to the trader.
Rhysis
The sound of a thick wooden rod striking against a man's temple with a loud ~crack~, followed by the unmistakable ~thud~ of someone falling to the floor shot out just as the commotion died down from the other three aggressors. An average sized, human-looking male, dressed in standard trader's clothes stood over the slumped down body.
He knelt down over the unconscious creature and spoke in an accent that sounded like a combination of Earthen Scottish and Plutonian Miner "Sneakin' up on guys ain't nice, there, ugly." The man on the floor had a broken bottle in his hand.
The man with the staff, Jik'tor, stepped over the sleeping ugly and sat down on the other side of the patron who had just had the attack. "You may not understand him, but I do." He looked to the Dreeh-Ehu native, then back to the other man. "He's harmless. Just another trader."
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om would have raised a brow if he had them. With the membran on the tip top of his head stalk shimmering for a moment and going to a dull white grey color was in essence the same kind of movement A high then extreamly low pitch came forth rumbling the mock wooden frame of the bar. The essencial message said " Harmless ? Harmless? I am not harmless I do much much harm just not since I meet the fleshings" Looking to the man whos brain had overflown with power moments before he hummed quietly as if thinking back to a device for such a problem called Psi-dampeners but it was a lost technology. As the bar tender set the common swill on the bar Za Ree Om looked at it and one could almost see a look of disgust on his face before placing his hand over the top of the glass and absorbing the liquide.
Lowthor
"Since you understand him then, could you ask him if he's got anything to solve my problem? Or at least to let me understand him." He took another drink and then started to rub his temples. When he'd finished the drink, he motioned for the barman to give him another, but the barman shook his head.
"Not unless you can pay for all the damage you just caused." The barman replied.
Rhysis
He laughed and looked to the other trader, responding to him first. "I meant that you did not intend to cause any harm at the moment. Forgive my poor choice of words."
He then looked to Steve. "Like I said, he's a trader. He can understand you just fine. I'll interpret for you, if you want."
Jik'tor looked to the barkeep and asked for a drink. When he got it, he downed it quickly, then asked for another, which he gave to the other man. "You look like you need it."
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om looked to the man Steve and let out a loud harmonic mix of high and low tones fluctuating for a few seconds before going quiet and waiting for Jik'tor to translate to Steve. His base message was simply" a psi-dampener would help but its a lost technology I used to have three but they are hot commodities"
Lowthor
Steve accepted the drink, and offered Jik'tor his hand. There were a couple of scars on the back of it, cutting through the remains of a number that had been imprinted into the skin. "Name's Steve. Cheers for the drink."
He drank about half of the spirit, and then nodded to the barman. "I'll pay for the repairs, but I'll need to get my hands on a few credits first." This seemed to placate the barman, and he left the bottle on the bartop next to the drinker and the two traders.
Ullery
Genecidal sniffed the air. There was something, here. Present. The wolf followed it's nose to the smell of food and drink.
But the door seemed to be closed. The wolf's teeth closed on the knob and twisted it and the door popped open.
The wolf trotted in happily and stopped as it looked around inside.
The wolf's fur was silver gray and black streaks of lightining zigzag's danced across it's chest, ear tufts, it's paws and it's tail.
Both eyes narrowed quickly and the wolf watched all occupants quietly.
Rhysis
He took the man's hand and spoke mildly. "Jik'tor, Ponzarian trader. The Dreeh-Ehuan says that a psi-dampener may help with your little problem, but they're really hard to get your hands on. He's not lying, either. I've been a trader for 43 years in standard Ayenee time. Use to sell 'em quite a bit. Past 15 years I've only seen one, and it went for over 300,000 credits to some antiques collector on Omeir Seven. That's about five light years from here."
He looked to the wolven creature who entered. He had, long ago, forgotten how to be surprised at a particular type of creature interacting with humanoids. Granted, most of the people who frequented establishments like that were humanoid. This was was no different, despite a grouping of creatures in one corner, with flat, curved heads, and nine appendages, three sides of three, coming out from the area that would be a human's abdomen.
Still, to have a canine, or at least something that appeared to be a canine, enter was rather unusual. He would have thought it a shape shifter, at first, but he'd noticed that it used its mouth to open the door. Most shifters would have manifested a tendril or something with a thumb to do that, unless they were a spy. Of course, that was possible, as well.
Mithrandirxx
The Trader looked for a moment as the two humans spoke it was a tad odd to watch two people speaking with you as a third wheel so to speak. Looking at the earth Canine, his silverish membrane gave off a faint greenish glow for a moment. Snapping his attention back to the two men he spoke the harmonics high and loud " Three hundred credits, wow, what a suction cup I sold my last one for a cool one hundred and seventy million, but I lose gambling" Like any trader Za Ree Omm had his vices and gambling had robbed him of damned near every deal he had made that and his innocent belief that humans would always deal on the up and up.
Lowthor
"Three light years away? Well I've not the funds for a journey like that. Its hard to get work when you're in danger of flattening everything around you should your mind get too worked up." He took another drink.
"I heard of a man who might be able to at least take a look at my brain, but he's a lightyear and a half away. I've some credits stashed away, but I'd need to get to them before I could go looking for either of them."
Rhysis
Jik'tor laughed at the words of the other trader. He smiled in that half grin, half sneer that most humanoid traders held, and raised his glass. "Then you are obviously more proficient at bartering than I am, good sir."
He then turned his attention back to the man with the problem. He made a mental note that, though he had said "300,000 credits" to the The Dreeh-Ehuan, he had repeated only "300". He also noticed that the other man understood "five light years" as "three light years". Jik'tor would have to get his vocal translator reconfigured. It had been implanted in his throat to compensate for his lack of ability to actually speak the common tongue in an understandable manner because of the unique makeup of Ponzarians' vocal cords. Even that advanced of a technology was unable to fully compensate for the strange tones that truthfully came from his mouth. Every now and then it started to relay the messages incorrectly.
Then, he thought for a moment. A light year and a half away? There weren't many colonies worth going to that were such a distance from here. The only one he could think of would also be the closest place to get his translator reconfigured. He looked to the other. "I may be able to help you out there. What colony do you need to go to?"
Ullery
The wolf growled softly as it trotted in deciding the place was safe enough, course should someone try messing with the wolf the wrong way, well Genecidal wasn't called Genicidal GC wolf for nothin.
Mithrandirxx
A high pitched noise was comming from Za Ree Om as he pay attention to the wolf and then centered his attention on the other trader " One and a half light years theres only one realy coloney in that range the rest are mining camps but that one, that's a bad place bad bad place sickness death thieves! " Grabbing his glass he held it up as the bartender came back to fill it.
Lowthor
"As far as I remember its the only colony in that sector. Really not the kind of place to visit if you can help things, but I know a few guys there and I've some credits stashed away." He took a drink, and then glanced over at the wolf. That wasn't something you see in bars very often, but then given what he'd been through in the last year he wasn't shocked by much anymore.
"I think our friend doesn't approve of the place either", he added after he'd turned back to the trader. "You say you might be able to help then?"
Ullery
Genecidal proceeded to the bar and sniffed each patron carefully, just to be assured none were a threat or a undercover Uspf agent in disguise.
Once he was satisfied, Genecidal leaped up onto one of the empty seat's and gazed directly at the bartender.
He thought his order to the barkeep and followed it with a half-coughing growl that kind of magically conjured up the price for the purchase. What kind of liquid was it? The bottle said Brenegan's. But the liquid inside was much more potent when the bartender placed a bit of cinnamon and lit the bottle top on fire.
The fire flew upwards at a great pace, and the wolf's muzzle took to the firey abstraction with glee. Teeth snapped closed on flames and the tongue licked happily at the fire that was raging from the bottle.
Rhysis
HE looked back and forth between the two for a moment, thinking to himself. He looked at the wolf with a quirked brow, though his race's had no hair above their eyes, the ridge was still there. He shook his head then turned his attention back to the other two. "I see. And you're right. He doesn't seem to much enjoy the thought of that place. However..." He reached into his side pack and looked at something before shoving it back in. "Yeah. I tank it will do." He had actually said "think" but the translator didn't relay it that way.
Mithrandirxx
Drinking his next glass his attention remaining upon the Canine before looking back to his two companions. With a strong shiver which was visible over the entirety of his being he let out a loud almost sonic pulse before his harmonic tones ensued " Well do either of you have a ship ? or do we do public transit? I had snip but it was taken as collateral" . His tentacle like arm setting the glass down empty he awaited his companions answer, although he really had no ties to these two the colony they wanted to go to did have quiet a nice storage of Esth Crystals which were often sold as black market psionic drugs which could make a man rich if he knew where to sell them.
Lowthor
"You tank?" He asked then shook his head and took another drink "problem with your translator?" He said with a laugh, and then turned his head slowly to the left, where there was a wolf sat at the bar having a drink. "I think my symptoms are getting worse. I'm seeing things now."
Rhysis
Jik'tor laughed and nodded to the man. "Yeah. It needs rewiring every few cycles. That's why I need to get to the closest colony I can."
He then looked at the other trader, this time switching off his translator so his words couldn't be messed up. He was fairly sure that another galactic trader would be able to understand his language.
He spoke in a voice that, to a human who only spoke the common tongue, would sound like it was a strange combination of long hissing sounds and fast, low toned beats, like the kind that would come off of a bass drum. In truth there were more subtle sounds that an ear trained for various languages would be able to pick up. It was those less apparent tones that make up the majority of the dialogue. "So you plan on coming with us, then? This is a bit of a surprise. I don't have a ship here, but I know someone who owes me a pretty big favor. They can take us." (Good opening for someone to jump in with a character coming soon...left a specified gender out of it for a reason)
Ullery
The wolf's ears slipped upwards as the hearing took in all the different sounds.
Once the flames died down, the wolf growled softly and approached the three trade-peoples.
The wolf gazed intricateley at the whole lot of em and the eyes bore into each one, like the fires of heaven.
Then a soft, but very strong voice spoke directly into their minds.
"If it's a ship your looking to fly, I happen to know where there's one within a short walk of here. I'd fly the damn thing, but." The wolf's paw raises slightly. "no flippin fingers."
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om felt what almost felt like something trying to touch him but the feeling soon left him as he looked to the other trader and released lesser harmonic waves so that it would be easier on the ears of his companions "Well The colony has its benefits for the bold, or so I am told besides you could use friend who knows a few people here and there, that don't trade with fleshlings." His Tones changed as his membrane pulsed and then he spoke to his fellow trader " Must be a massive favor for transport for three one and a half light years fuels expensive" Swiveling his attention to the furry Canine as something attempted to make contact with his mind, almost all forms of telepaths knew better than to connect to a member of the Dreeh-Ehu species mind. The telepathic message would become a conduit allowing harmonic vibrations to build louder until there would be too much mental noise for the tep to remain conscious. Stiffening as he felt the connection a physical change started to occur. Za Ree Om's His membrane seemed to become glossy and hard like the surface of a crystal.
Lowthor
He looked around to see where the voice was coming from, until he realised that it was coming from inside his head. Great he thought, now I'm hearing things too.
"Well I can pilot it, although why I'm responding to a voice in my head I've no idea."
Ullery
The wolf let out a soft snort.
"Your responding not to a voice in your head, but a means by which the wolf in front of you, communicate's."
Rhysis
Jik'tor sighed and rubbed the flesh between his eyes, which was far less solid than that of humans. He then opened his eyes and looked to the wolf. "Well, whatever he's responding to, I suggest you stop trying to communicate with the Dreeh-Ehuan over there. Not unless you know exactly how to do it, anyway."
He got off his stool and moved around the humanoid with the mental attacks and over to the other trader, taking his pack with him. From one of the pouches he pulled out a peculiar liquid and poured it into the other's drink. "I go to your planet on a regular basis. These are in pretty high demand around the port cities where untrained psionics try and enter your kind's minds. This one's free. Trader's honor, right?"
He then moved back over to his seat and looked at the human. "The wolf's right. You're not imagining things. He's really doing what he looks like he's doing, and he's really talking into your head, too." He looked at the empty container of specialized stimulants and shook it at the other. "I'd give you some, but it's made just for their kind. It would propperly either make your head explode, or just turn your brain into goo." The translator was doing it again.
Ullery
The wolf gazed towards whom the one trader spoke of.
And the wolf realized all of a sudden that normal telepathy was not properly in tune with that stream of alien life form.
The wolf then switched to a more subtle approach.
It magically created an etch a sketch board that would transmit it's mental talk to the alien life form, but in the form of human words.
The wolf slid the red colored device to the alien and the message on it said "to erase message shake the item. I apologize for my error. I did not realize until now that my message was causing a integral interferance to your species."
Lowthor
"This is getting a bit much now. Life used to be simple I'm sure." He took another drink and then looked at the others "so this ship?"
Ullery
"State of the art, or so I was informed before I was forced to end the guys life."
"It's at docker area 23. About five and a half minutes from our present location."
The wolf jumped off the chair and gazed at the three.
"Well I'm ready whenever you lot are."
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om pulsed with harmonic vibrations and tones came out loudly fron his body the rough translation would have been every curse word known in English, a few words that were untranslatable along with telepathic dog. Grabbing the drink his hand pulled the liquid from the glass and into his hardening membrane. The process of his skin hardening slowly ceased and begane to revert to his species normal membrane appearance.
As he came out of his tirad and nearly catatonic state he looked to Jik'tor his skin clearing as if looking through a crystal ocean as his harmonics came forth " Thank you mo friend, the council only knows how long I may have stayed a statue with this damned hair ball throwing its thought waves around like that, although he didn't pass out which is odd"
Looking to the Etch-u-sketch The color of his membrane mimiced the color of the edges glowing faintly red. The Dreeh-Ehu had no love for Telepaths that were uncontroled and felt they had the right to peak and speak into others minds. It was an insult to have a Telepath try to read you if you were a Dreeh-Ehu. Kicking the object his harmonics rose and fell which could be translated if Jik'tor felt like telling him " I have no need to communicate with the likes of you furball, you insult me and my kind and then try to give me an earth toy to make up.
Ullery
Oh the "furball" could understand quite a few languages.
"Insult? How was I to know that your particular species was not mental-instilated to recieve mind wave's in a normal pattern?
I don't exactly "hang" about your kind every single flipping day.
This is a spacebar. I can't be expected to know every species in the entire galaxy."
"And don't call me furball!"
"And it isn't a toy, it's the only other way for me to communicate in language-type, to you without causing another mental disturbance."
Lowthor
He finished the drink and tossed the barman a credit chip. "That should cover the damage, and my tab. I doubt I'll be back this way any time soon." He got down from his stool and headed to the door.
"I need to grab some things from where I've been sleeping. I'll meet you at the airlock." Then he left the bar and headed towards what passed for a cheap motel in this day and age. He winked to the girl behind the desk as she buzzed him in, and then went to his room. It was quite simply a dive, but it had suited him. More expensive hotels tended to be a bit more touchy about damage to furniture. This room had been in such a state anyway that the effects of a few psionic attacks weren't even noticable.
From under the matress he took out a gunbelt, along with a pulse blaster and two clips of energy cells. There was also a canister of less than legal painkillers, which he dropped, along with the weapon into a kitbag that he took from the wardrobe. Once he had his things, he set off for the airlock, and was waiting there when the others arrived.
Rhysis
Jik'tor was a bit confused. How was it that they had, all of a sudden, agreed to any of the decisions that had been placed before them? From what he could tell, the options were there, but nothing was ever chosen.
He shrugged and looked to the other two. "So uh...which ship is it we're taking again?"
Ullery
he wolf nodded quietly and followed out the door before it could close, allowing his speed to help him catch the door with his snout before it fully closed.
The wolf then headed for the proper airlock.
The wolf nodded to the ship off to the right once it was near the airlock.
"That's it over there." the voice still printed out on the etch a sketch.
"The one marked with an Sx over the Uspf."
"Best in it's class as far as weapons and speed go."
"I'll meet you on the inside of the ship."
The wolfs body glowed a deep green color as it began to fade in and out.
A moment later it was gone. Already inside the ship.
Mithrandirxx
Looking to Jik'tor his body shuddered which would be akin to the human form shrugging " Well I guess we go with the .....creature" He said in his harmonic tones. Slowly moving away from the bar he left the etch-u-sketch on the floor and moved towards the door. Passing through the door the station seemed a tad quiet but then again most of the real action on the station was a few decks up from where they were the main gambling areas.
Lowthor
Steve waited outside the airlock until the others arrived, just to make sure they ended up at the right place. He left his kit bag on the floor and leaned against the wall with his arms folded. There was something about the wolf he wasn't quite sure about, and he wanted to wait and see if anything happened following the wolf transporting himself onto the ship.
Rhysis
Jik'tor finished his drink, paid, and walked out. He made a few quick stops, collecting things he would need, or that were owed to him. He had a feeling he wouldn't be returning to this particular planet any time soon, and the debts would likely be forgotten by the time he did manage to make it back.
He would, eventually, make it to the airlock, and meet up with Steve. By that time, however, his translator was failing quickly, so he simply nodded.
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om Looked at the other two as he arrived at the airlock his silvery skin reflecting the dim lighting of the airlock. His attentioned seemed split between his two hapenstance companions. Letting out a wave of fluctuating harmonics he asked " Where is the furball ?"
Ullery
A message appeared on the side of the uspf shuttle that said.
"Get in here, already!"
Lowthor
Steve stood up from the wall and pushed a button on the airlock control panel. The door slid open with a hiss and he picked up his kit bag before he stepped into the airlock. He waited for the other two to follow him before entering the ship itself.
Rhysis
He shrugged as he looked to the other trader. "Apparation he's into here." He flicked the translator as it messed up, yet again.
He let Steve go in first, then turned his translator off as he spoke to the other trader in his native tongue. "This is going to be an interesting ride if they can't understand either one of us."
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree nodded his head as the other trader made light of the language barrier before following him and Steve into the ship. His harmonic tomes came for a moment mentioning somthing akin to " Well if they can't understand us who will understand them on the backwater rock we are heading too ? "
Lowthor
Once they were both inside, Steve his the button inside the airlock. The outer door slid shut with a hiss, and then a second later the sound was repeated as the inner door slid open. The ship looked sleek, white polymer composite panels covered the walls. None of the workings were visible, but there were clear indications that they were easily within reach should the need arise. He walked inside and set his kit bag down on a bench seat opposide the entrance to the next room.
"I dread to think how our furry friend managed to get ahold of something like this." He commented.
Rhysis
Jik'tor simply laughed mildly and shrugged his shoulders. He hadn't turned the translator back on, yet. He was giving it a chance to, hopefully, reset itself, so he could at least get a couple hours of decent use out of it before it was totally shot.
He moved out of the airlock once the door opened and looked around in his silence, taking in what he could identify, and the peculiar things he couldn't.
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om, Shimmered and moved forward onto the ship looking around he had seen similar ships and sold a few like it before but the ones he sold usualy exploded on the fourth flight without massive work to the engins. Resigning himself to that kind of fate he looked around slowly before leaning against the wall opposite of the airlock.
Lowthor
"Well then. I think we should have a look around. There might even be a translation system." Steve said. He did not realise that the other two probably couldn't understand him anymore. After he'd picked up his kit bag he tapped the door open switch, and the door to the next compartment opened with a hiss. The next room was a long coridoor, with a number of doors along the left hand wall. The first door was marked <storage> in a number of different languages, including Terran.
Steve opened it and walked inside. There was a weapons locker, with a pair of pulse rifles, as well as four pulse pistols and a half dozen stun grenades. There were also four storage cabinets. Each was marked with an electronic cargo manifest.
Rhysis
Jik'tor understood him just fine. What kind of trader would he be if he didn't understand most of the major languages of the galaxy? Granted he knew a few who could only understand their own. Those were the ones who only traded in the boonies of their own home planet. He, however, was a galactic trader, and would starve to death if he couldn't figure out what the other major races were saying. He simply didn't have the vocal capacity to formulate words in the standard Terran language, which is why he was in need of the translator. But, Steve was right, the ship may, very well, have a translation system and, while it probably wouldn't be able to identify with everything he was saying, it would do better than the malfunctioning device he wore now.
He moved along the corridors with Steve and took careful note of the fact that the "storage" compartment was stocked with weapons. That was typical of only one kind of ship that he was aware of...a smuggler's vessel. -Great- He thought to himself. -I'm gonna get arrested.-
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om, Moved back a little and began looking around there should be a translation system on a ship like this but often times it was a connection port for patrol ships to understand what crews of different species were saying. Wandering a little down the main corridor of the ship he looked on the walls for markings indicating where the main control systems were. A low rumble he started to emmit would have been akin to a humans mumbling. * Locating the translation system he pushed the activator " Can you hear me ? " He said after pushing the button it was a rather odd system but it got the main point out.
Lowthor
"You're thinking smugglers." Steve commented when he helped himself to a spare pulse pistol and a couple of grenades.
"I don't trust that wolf. Wouldn't be shocked if he's working for the people that're after me." He tucked the pistol into a hidden pocket in his clothes, and put the grenades in his bag.
"Who's that then?" Steve said back into the intercomm.
Rhysis
Jik'tor simply nodded as Steve guessed what he was thinking. The last thing he needed was to be caught onboard a smuggler's vessel. He was in enough trouble with the "Galactic Procedural Enforcement", a fancy name for the cops, as it was, over the trading of some "questionable" goods. Stupid narrow minded twits just didn't get that some races couldn't consume the same food as everyone else. Either way, it had gotten their eyes on him. If they caught him here, he was toast.
As the translated voice of his companion came over the speaker system, and Steve responded with his question, the trader laughed. Granted, it may not come off that way to the Terran, but that wasn't something one thought of when responding to an amusing situation
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om, Looked at the other two and shook violently before allowing out a loud harmonic sound which the translation system processed rather quickly " Yeah we are so done screwed, but hey at least the ship hasn't blown up yet " Before moving back to the main compartment and glancing around slowly his silvery membrane shimmering in the ships interior light before a low harmonic pulse was emitted " So Who's after you flesh ball ? " He said human in his language and that was what he got translation systmes were ususlay a little buggy.
Lowthor
"Britania Special forces? Some comercial organisation? Bounty hunters? Could be anyone. I've killed three men that were after me, and not one of them had anything that said who employed him." Steve shrugged his shoulders and followed into the main compartment.
Ullery
"Well." GC said with a light hearted snort. "It's about time. I thought we'd never get this warsh..um vessal outta here."
The wolf wagged it's tail joyfully. "Anywhere's better then here, trust me. With those uspf forces, god only knows where the havana their at right now."
"And hopefully they won't have a tracking system to locate this war-um vessal."
"I'd fly, but like I said before, no opposable thumbs."
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om Turned looking to the wolven creature and pulsed in a very violent fashion the translation system kicking into effect " I have a ship he says , I have power to fly, he says but I don't have opposeable thumbs so how the hell did you fly it before ?!?!" His body was slowly begining to glow as the harmonics built inside his skin. It was pretty obvious Za Ree Om was about to snap.
Ullery
The wolf snorts loudly at the alien creature and pads over to a side cockpit thing that looked like it had a major malfunction.
"Well before I had a little run in with one of the ships interior guards, I was flying thanks to this little gizmo. But that stupid guard blasted the thing to hell and I couldn't repair it. the thing's fried to a crisp."
The wolf sits down and gazes at the alien. "Any other questions mr alien?"
Lowthor
Steve shrugged and walked over to the control consoles. "I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this ship." He said to himself quietly, and began to study the controls. They were pretty standard. Navigation, weapons, shields, FTL, all the usual.
"Shouldn't be any trouble piloting this thing, as long as the ship is in the condition these readout say it is." He said to the other three.
Mithrandirxx
If he had eyes he would have narrowed them upon the fur covered mamal, alas he was without such an obvious weakness. He pulsed a little In regard to what the wolf said " Yeah I'm the alien, and your a freakish furball that talks" His attention wavered a moment to Steve as another pulse came forward the ships translation system churning it over " Well lets get the hell out of dodge, if the ship blows up the people following you will have a hard time catching all of you."
Lowthor
"Disintegrate myself. Why didn't I think of it." Steve laughed and then punched in the launch sequence.
<Docking Clamps Disengaged> The words flashed up on the HUD, then there was the sound of the airlocks seperating and the docking arm retracting into the station.
<Automated Departure Notice: Co-ordinates transferred to Navicom> A second message appeared then Steve actived the auto-navigation system and brought the manuvering thrusters online.
"And we're off." Once they were clear of the station he powered up the main sublight thrusters and allowed the auto-nav to take them out. "Take a couple of minutes to process the FTL co-ordinates, then we can really get underway."
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om Looked towards the command chairs and shuddered before bending in the middle looking somthing like a quivering bow, but it was much more akin to shaking ones head as if the point was missed. Pulsating with a loud harmonic intonation " Well I don't mind if you want to disintigrate your self but make sure I am not in the same atmosphere your species smells horrible when disintegrated. " He said before a small echo of his harmonic intonation followed it was similar to a laugh but the translation system seemed to ignore it.
After a few seconds he waited to see what type of Faster than light drive this ship carried many times a jump drive of phase drive were installed on these kinds of vessles. Each type had its own unique issues and if they had a problem it would be far easier to fix if he knew what he was dealing with.
Lowthor
The navigational display changed when the ship's computer systems had finished processing the co-ordinates. Steve tapped a few buttons on the FTL panel and then turned to Za.
"Time to see how fast this thing can go." He said then hit the last button. The ship lurched as it shifted into hyperspace, then began to accelerate rapidly upward to many multiples of C. It was a version of a hyperdrive that employed warp technology to stabilise the passage through hyperspace and increase velocity.
"According to this we should be there in four hours. I might grab a bite to eat then come back to make sure we don't explode." He reached into his kit bag and took out a tub of painkillers, poured five onto his hand and knocked them back. A moment later he clutched the back of his head, without having replaced the painkillers so they dropped to the ground and spilled out over the carpetting.
Rhysis
Jik'tor had been silent the whole time. He was too busy pondering what all could go wrong during their travel. He'd caught the slip up by the wolf. At least, the second time, anyway. So, they'd gone from a smuggler's vessel that may have possibly gotten intercepted by someone and escorted to the nearest commercial authority, to a warship that would get blasted out of space. Great. And reflecting back on his time in the Interplanatary Defense Council, one of the countless organizations that claimed to hold the peace throughout the galaxy, he realized that this was, indeed, a warship.
He hadn't even noticed the departure of the planet. His species had a strange ability to adjust their bodily distribution to compensate for various gravitational conditions. Now that they were in space, however, to hopefully keep his mind off of some opposing group to whomever this ship actually belonged, using a hyperspace disruptor in order to take them out, he decided to go for a walk.
Ullery
Genecidal had momentarily fallen asleep and blinked awake when a bottle of pills hit his body. He stood up alert and let out a quick defensive snarl, when he glanced about he noticed these pills.
He sniffed them and started to poke them back into the bottle gently.
He then whined and gently nudged against steve's hand, concerned that this new recruited traveler was in some kind of jepordy.
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om's attention turned back to Jik'tor it seemed that perhaps the other trader might be sleeping with his eyes open although then again it could be a metabolic freeze while the consciousness remained active. Swiveling his attention back to Steve he watched as the pill bottle hit the floor . The pilots a pill popper and the other person who Za Ree Om liked taking too was spacing out in space. Although the type of pills the pilot was taking were what interested Za, they didn't look like any run of the mill market brand. With a subtle Harmonic burst the ships translation program came to life " I'm going to take a nap" With that Za Ree Om headed towards one of the seats and fell into it as his body slowly began to harden into a crystal.
Lowthor
After a few seconds the super painkillers took effect and the nervous shock in his brain calmed down to a dull throb. He shook his head then bent over to collect the pills with the wolf's help.
"Cheers. Don't worry about me. Just one of the side effects of whatever those mysterious bastards did to me." He tucked the pill bottle into his pocket and then stood up and walked off to look for the ship's mess.
Ullery
Genecidal followed Steve, wagging his tail all the way.
"Food hall's this way!" The wolf commented via thought-waves to the translation-thought-tron 1000.
The wolf turned at the V intersection going to the left hand side.
Genecidal stopped at the end of the corridor and pressed a button with his snout. The door opened and a wide looking cafeteria style hall-room presented itself to them.
He took another drink from the glass and drummed his fingers on the bartop. It was some kind of new polymer composite that was almost too like wood to be real. The pain in his skull was almost bearable today, but then he'd drank the best part of a bottle of vodka in the last three hours.
"Don't you think you've had enough?" the barman asked, when he slid his glass over to ask for another large one.
"I'm a far easier drunk to handle than when I'm sober", the man replied, and the barman poured another drink.
"So what's wrong with you anyway? You've been in here every day for a week, and you don't look like my usual customers." The barman asked as he started cleaning a few glasses.
"Its a long story, and I only know about half of it at the best of times. Lets just say someone did something to my head, and when I find them I'm going to visit every moment of pain back on them." He threw back the drink and then put the glass back to the bar. "Oh shit!" He cried out and grabbed the back of his own head. He could managed the background pain well enough to cope, but the attacks were another matter altogether.
The glass in front of him started to rattle, and then it lifted from the bar and flew across the room. It didn't shatter, they'd invented shatter proof glasses for bars back in the old days, but it cracked and fell to the ground. The stools either side of the man shook and skidded around the floor, and then all of the drinks on the table beside the man leaped from their vessels, showering the three men at the table in beer.
Mithrandirxx
The Dreeh-Ehu, Trader , Za Ree Om stood in the door way to the bar his massive frame blocking the door way for a moment as chairs and glasses seemed to fly. With a loud harmonic noise he moved his eight foot tall frame towards a back wall his silvery transparent membrane skin glistening in the low light. IT seemed he was now not the resident freak of the station. Sliding up to where the man sat at the bar he stared at the barkeep for a moment before speaking in harmonics some of which caused the bottles to shake as if they were about to explode. Then went silent waiting for the barkeep to get him the same swill the barkeep had been peddling him since his first visit here roughly a year ago.
Lowthor
The men got up from their table, just as the attack came to an end. The guy at the bar let out a grunt as the sharp pain stopped, and was replaced once again with the dull background sensations. He shook his head and closed his eyes as he lay his head down on the bar. The three men from behind him seemed to hold him responsible for spilling their drinks, and they were planning on extracting some payback.
The man at the bar heard them coming though. One had picked up his chair, and its legs scraped on the floor of the bar. He came off his stool quickly and put the man with the chair down after a kick to the gut. One of the guy's friends threw a punch that never landed, and a second later the arm was wrenched up behind its owner's back.
"You and your mates go and find somewhere else to drink. Or I rip your arm off." The man from the bar said. The three guys seemed more than happy to accept, and they quickly left the bar. The lone drinker returned to his seat and took another drink.
"Sorry friend but I don't speak your language", he said to the trader.
Rhysis
The sound of a thick wooden rod striking against a man's temple with a loud ~crack~, followed by the unmistakable ~thud~ of someone falling to the floor shot out just as the commotion died down from the other three aggressors. An average sized, human-looking male, dressed in standard trader's clothes stood over the slumped down body.
He knelt down over the unconscious creature and spoke in an accent that sounded like a combination of Earthen Scottish and Plutonian Miner "Sneakin' up on guys ain't nice, there, ugly." The man on the floor had a broken bottle in his hand.
The man with the staff, Jik'tor, stepped over the sleeping ugly and sat down on the other side of the patron who had just had the attack. "You may not understand him, but I do." He looked to the Dreeh-Ehu native, then back to the other man. "He's harmless. Just another trader."
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om would have raised a brow if he had them. With the membran on the tip top of his head stalk shimmering for a moment and going to a dull white grey color was in essence the same kind of movement A high then extreamly low pitch came forth rumbling the mock wooden frame of the bar. The essencial message said " Harmless ? Harmless? I am not harmless I do much much harm just not since I meet the fleshings" Looking to the man whos brain had overflown with power moments before he hummed quietly as if thinking back to a device for such a problem called Psi-dampeners but it was a lost technology. As the bar tender set the common swill on the bar Za Ree Om looked at it and one could almost see a look of disgust on his face before placing his hand over the top of the glass and absorbing the liquide.
Lowthor
"Since you understand him then, could you ask him if he's got anything to solve my problem? Or at least to let me understand him." He took another drink and then started to rub his temples. When he'd finished the drink, he motioned for the barman to give him another, but the barman shook his head.
"Not unless you can pay for all the damage you just caused." The barman replied.
Rhysis
He laughed and looked to the other trader, responding to him first. "I meant that you did not intend to cause any harm at the moment. Forgive my poor choice of words."
He then looked to Steve. "Like I said, he's a trader. He can understand you just fine. I'll interpret for you, if you want."
Jik'tor looked to the barkeep and asked for a drink. When he got it, he downed it quickly, then asked for another, which he gave to the other man. "You look like you need it."
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om looked to the man Steve and let out a loud harmonic mix of high and low tones fluctuating for a few seconds before going quiet and waiting for Jik'tor to translate to Steve. His base message was simply" a psi-dampener would help but its a lost technology I used to have three but they are hot commodities"
Lowthor
Steve accepted the drink, and offered Jik'tor his hand. There were a couple of scars on the back of it, cutting through the remains of a number that had been imprinted into the skin. "Name's Steve. Cheers for the drink."
He drank about half of the spirit, and then nodded to the barman. "I'll pay for the repairs, but I'll need to get my hands on a few credits first." This seemed to placate the barman, and he left the bottle on the bartop next to the drinker and the two traders.
Ullery
Genecidal sniffed the air. There was something, here. Present. The wolf followed it's nose to the smell of food and drink.
But the door seemed to be closed. The wolf's teeth closed on the knob and twisted it and the door popped open.
The wolf trotted in happily and stopped as it looked around inside.
The wolf's fur was silver gray and black streaks of lightining zigzag's danced across it's chest, ear tufts, it's paws and it's tail.
Both eyes narrowed quickly and the wolf watched all occupants quietly.
Rhysis
He took the man's hand and spoke mildly. "Jik'tor, Ponzarian trader. The Dreeh-Ehuan says that a psi-dampener may help with your little problem, but they're really hard to get your hands on. He's not lying, either. I've been a trader for 43 years in standard Ayenee time. Use to sell 'em quite a bit. Past 15 years I've only seen one, and it went for over 300,000 credits to some antiques collector on Omeir Seven. That's about five light years from here."
He looked to the wolven creature who entered. He had, long ago, forgotten how to be surprised at a particular type of creature interacting with humanoids. Granted, most of the people who frequented establishments like that were humanoid. This was was no different, despite a grouping of creatures in one corner, with flat, curved heads, and nine appendages, three sides of three, coming out from the area that would be a human's abdomen.
Still, to have a canine, or at least something that appeared to be a canine, enter was rather unusual. He would have thought it a shape shifter, at first, but he'd noticed that it used its mouth to open the door. Most shifters would have manifested a tendril or something with a thumb to do that, unless they were a spy. Of course, that was possible, as well.
Mithrandirxx
The Trader looked for a moment as the two humans spoke it was a tad odd to watch two people speaking with you as a third wheel so to speak. Looking at the earth Canine, his silverish membrane gave off a faint greenish glow for a moment. Snapping his attention back to the two men he spoke the harmonics high and loud " Three hundred credits, wow, what a suction cup I sold my last one for a cool one hundred and seventy million, but I lose gambling" Like any trader Za Ree Omm had his vices and gambling had robbed him of damned near every deal he had made that and his innocent belief that humans would always deal on the up and up.
Lowthor
"Three light years away? Well I've not the funds for a journey like that. Its hard to get work when you're in danger of flattening everything around you should your mind get too worked up." He took another drink.
"I heard of a man who might be able to at least take a look at my brain, but he's a lightyear and a half away. I've some credits stashed away, but I'd need to get to them before I could go looking for either of them."
Rhysis
Jik'tor laughed at the words of the other trader. He smiled in that half grin, half sneer that most humanoid traders held, and raised his glass. "Then you are obviously more proficient at bartering than I am, good sir."
He then turned his attention back to the man with the problem. He made a mental note that, though he had said "300,000 credits" to the The Dreeh-Ehuan, he had repeated only "300". He also noticed that the other man understood "five light years" as "three light years". Jik'tor would have to get his vocal translator reconfigured. It had been implanted in his throat to compensate for his lack of ability to actually speak the common tongue in an understandable manner because of the unique makeup of Ponzarians' vocal cords. Even that advanced of a technology was unable to fully compensate for the strange tones that truthfully came from his mouth. Every now and then it started to relay the messages incorrectly.
Then, he thought for a moment. A light year and a half away? There weren't many colonies worth going to that were such a distance from here. The only one he could think of would also be the closest place to get his translator reconfigured. He looked to the other. "I may be able to help you out there. What colony do you need to go to?"
Ullery
The wolf growled softly as it trotted in deciding the place was safe enough, course should someone try messing with the wolf the wrong way, well Genecidal wasn't called Genicidal GC wolf for nothin.
Mithrandirxx
A high pitched noise was comming from Za Ree Om as he pay attention to the wolf and then centered his attention on the other trader " One and a half light years theres only one realy coloney in that range the rest are mining camps but that one, that's a bad place bad bad place sickness death thieves! " Grabbing his glass he held it up as the bartender came back to fill it.
Lowthor
"As far as I remember its the only colony in that sector. Really not the kind of place to visit if you can help things, but I know a few guys there and I've some credits stashed away." He took a drink, and then glanced over at the wolf. That wasn't something you see in bars very often, but then given what he'd been through in the last year he wasn't shocked by much anymore.
"I think our friend doesn't approve of the place either", he added after he'd turned back to the trader. "You say you might be able to help then?"
Ullery
Genecidal proceeded to the bar and sniffed each patron carefully, just to be assured none were a threat or a undercover Uspf agent in disguise.
Once he was satisfied, Genecidal leaped up onto one of the empty seat's and gazed directly at the bartender.
He thought his order to the barkeep and followed it with a half-coughing growl that kind of magically conjured up the price for the purchase. What kind of liquid was it? The bottle said Brenegan's. But the liquid inside was much more potent when the bartender placed a bit of cinnamon and lit the bottle top on fire.
The fire flew upwards at a great pace, and the wolf's muzzle took to the firey abstraction with glee. Teeth snapped closed on flames and the tongue licked happily at the fire that was raging from the bottle.
Rhysis
HE looked back and forth between the two for a moment, thinking to himself. He looked at the wolf with a quirked brow, though his race's had no hair above their eyes, the ridge was still there. He shook his head then turned his attention back to the other two. "I see. And you're right. He doesn't seem to much enjoy the thought of that place. However..." He reached into his side pack and looked at something before shoving it back in. "Yeah. I tank it will do." He had actually said "think" but the translator didn't relay it that way.
Mithrandirxx
Drinking his next glass his attention remaining upon the Canine before looking back to his two companions. With a strong shiver which was visible over the entirety of his being he let out a loud almost sonic pulse before his harmonic tones ensued " Well do either of you have a ship ? or do we do public transit? I had snip but it was taken as collateral" . His tentacle like arm setting the glass down empty he awaited his companions answer, although he really had no ties to these two the colony they wanted to go to did have quiet a nice storage of Esth Crystals which were often sold as black market psionic drugs which could make a man rich if he knew where to sell them.
Lowthor
"You tank?" He asked then shook his head and took another drink "problem with your translator?" He said with a laugh, and then turned his head slowly to the left, where there was a wolf sat at the bar having a drink. "I think my symptoms are getting worse. I'm seeing things now."
Rhysis
Jik'tor laughed and nodded to the man. "Yeah. It needs rewiring every few cycles. That's why I need to get to the closest colony I can."
He then looked at the other trader, this time switching off his translator so his words couldn't be messed up. He was fairly sure that another galactic trader would be able to understand his language.
He spoke in a voice that, to a human who only spoke the common tongue, would sound like it was a strange combination of long hissing sounds and fast, low toned beats, like the kind that would come off of a bass drum. In truth there were more subtle sounds that an ear trained for various languages would be able to pick up. It was those less apparent tones that make up the majority of the dialogue. "So you plan on coming with us, then? This is a bit of a surprise. I don't have a ship here, but I know someone who owes me a pretty big favor. They can take us." (Good opening for someone to jump in with a character coming soon...left a specified gender out of it for a reason)
Ullery
The wolf's ears slipped upwards as the hearing took in all the different sounds.
Once the flames died down, the wolf growled softly and approached the three trade-peoples.
The wolf gazed intricateley at the whole lot of em and the eyes bore into each one, like the fires of heaven.
Then a soft, but very strong voice spoke directly into their minds.
"If it's a ship your looking to fly, I happen to know where there's one within a short walk of here. I'd fly the damn thing, but." The wolf's paw raises slightly. "no flippin fingers."
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om felt what almost felt like something trying to touch him but the feeling soon left him as he looked to the other trader and released lesser harmonic waves so that it would be easier on the ears of his companions "Well The colony has its benefits for the bold, or so I am told besides you could use friend who knows a few people here and there, that don't trade with fleshlings." His Tones changed as his membrane pulsed and then he spoke to his fellow trader " Must be a massive favor for transport for three one and a half light years fuels expensive" Swiveling his attention to the furry Canine as something attempted to make contact with his mind, almost all forms of telepaths knew better than to connect to a member of the Dreeh-Ehu species mind. The telepathic message would become a conduit allowing harmonic vibrations to build louder until there would be too much mental noise for the tep to remain conscious. Stiffening as he felt the connection a physical change started to occur. Za Ree Om's His membrane seemed to become glossy and hard like the surface of a crystal.
Lowthor
He looked around to see where the voice was coming from, until he realised that it was coming from inside his head. Great he thought, now I'm hearing things too.
"Well I can pilot it, although why I'm responding to a voice in my head I've no idea."
Ullery
The wolf let out a soft snort.
"Your responding not to a voice in your head, but a means by which the wolf in front of you, communicate's."
Rhysis
Jik'tor sighed and rubbed the flesh between his eyes, which was far less solid than that of humans. He then opened his eyes and looked to the wolf. "Well, whatever he's responding to, I suggest you stop trying to communicate with the Dreeh-Ehuan over there. Not unless you know exactly how to do it, anyway."
He got off his stool and moved around the humanoid with the mental attacks and over to the other trader, taking his pack with him. From one of the pouches he pulled out a peculiar liquid and poured it into the other's drink. "I go to your planet on a regular basis. These are in pretty high demand around the port cities where untrained psionics try and enter your kind's minds. This one's free. Trader's honor, right?"
He then moved back over to his seat and looked at the human. "The wolf's right. You're not imagining things. He's really doing what he looks like he's doing, and he's really talking into your head, too." He looked at the empty container of specialized stimulants and shook it at the other. "I'd give you some, but it's made just for their kind. It would propperly either make your head explode, or just turn your brain into goo." The translator was doing it again.
Ullery
The wolf gazed towards whom the one trader spoke of.
And the wolf realized all of a sudden that normal telepathy was not properly in tune with that stream of alien life form.
The wolf then switched to a more subtle approach.
It magically created an etch a sketch board that would transmit it's mental talk to the alien life form, but in the form of human words.
The wolf slid the red colored device to the alien and the message on it said "to erase message shake the item. I apologize for my error. I did not realize until now that my message was causing a integral interferance to your species."
Lowthor
"This is getting a bit much now. Life used to be simple I'm sure." He took another drink and then looked at the others "so this ship?"
Ullery
"State of the art, or so I was informed before I was forced to end the guys life."
"It's at docker area 23. About five and a half minutes from our present location."
The wolf jumped off the chair and gazed at the three.
"Well I'm ready whenever you lot are."
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om pulsed with harmonic vibrations and tones came out loudly fron his body the rough translation would have been every curse word known in English, a few words that were untranslatable along with telepathic dog. Grabbing the drink his hand pulled the liquid from the glass and into his hardening membrane. The process of his skin hardening slowly ceased and begane to revert to his species normal membrane appearance.
As he came out of his tirad and nearly catatonic state he looked to Jik'tor his skin clearing as if looking through a crystal ocean as his harmonics came forth " Thank you mo friend, the council only knows how long I may have stayed a statue with this damned hair ball throwing its thought waves around like that, although he didn't pass out which is odd"
Looking to the Etch-u-sketch The color of his membrane mimiced the color of the edges glowing faintly red. The Dreeh-Ehu had no love for Telepaths that were uncontroled and felt they had the right to peak and speak into others minds. It was an insult to have a Telepath try to read you if you were a Dreeh-Ehu. Kicking the object his harmonics rose and fell which could be translated if Jik'tor felt like telling him " I have no need to communicate with the likes of you furball, you insult me and my kind and then try to give me an earth toy to make up.
Ullery
Oh the "furball" could understand quite a few languages.
"Insult? How was I to know that your particular species was not mental-instilated to recieve mind wave's in a normal pattern?
I don't exactly "hang" about your kind every single flipping day.
This is a spacebar. I can't be expected to know every species in the entire galaxy."
"And don't call me furball!"
"And it isn't a toy, it's the only other way for me to communicate in language-type, to you without causing another mental disturbance."
Lowthor
He finished the drink and tossed the barman a credit chip. "That should cover the damage, and my tab. I doubt I'll be back this way any time soon." He got down from his stool and headed to the door.
"I need to grab some things from where I've been sleeping. I'll meet you at the airlock." Then he left the bar and headed towards what passed for a cheap motel in this day and age. He winked to the girl behind the desk as she buzzed him in, and then went to his room. It was quite simply a dive, but it had suited him. More expensive hotels tended to be a bit more touchy about damage to furniture. This room had been in such a state anyway that the effects of a few psionic attacks weren't even noticable.
From under the matress he took out a gunbelt, along with a pulse blaster and two clips of energy cells. There was also a canister of less than legal painkillers, which he dropped, along with the weapon into a kitbag that he took from the wardrobe. Once he had his things, he set off for the airlock, and was waiting there when the others arrived.
Rhysis
Jik'tor was a bit confused. How was it that they had, all of a sudden, agreed to any of the decisions that had been placed before them? From what he could tell, the options were there, but nothing was ever chosen.
He shrugged and looked to the other two. "So uh...which ship is it we're taking again?"
Ullery
he wolf nodded quietly and followed out the door before it could close, allowing his speed to help him catch the door with his snout before it fully closed.
The wolf then headed for the proper airlock.
The wolf nodded to the ship off to the right once it was near the airlock.
"That's it over there." the voice still printed out on the etch a sketch.
"The one marked with an Sx over the Uspf."
"Best in it's class as far as weapons and speed go."
"I'll meet you on the inside of the ship."
The wolfs body glowed a deep green color as it began to fade in and out.
A moment later it was gone. Already inside the ship.
Mithrandirxx
Looking to Jik'tor his body shuddered which would be akin to the human form shrugging " Well I guess we go with the .....creature" He said in his harmonic tones. Slowly moving away from the bar he left the etch-u-sketch on the floor and moved towards the door. Passing through the door the station seemed a tad quiet but then again most of the real action on the station was a few decks up from where they were the main gambling areas.
Lowthor
Steve waited outside the airlock until the others arrived, just to make sure they ended up at the right place. He left his kit bag on the floor and leaned against the wall with his arms folded. There was something about the wolf he wasn't quite sure about, and he wanted to wait and see if anything happened following the wolf transporting himself onto the ship.
Rhysis
Jik'tor finished his drink, paid, and walked out. He made a few quick stops, collecting things he would need, or that were owed to him. He had a feeling he wouldn't be returning to this particular planet any time soon, and the debts would likely be forgotten by the time he did manage to make it back.
He would, eventually, make it to the airlock, and meet up with Steve. By that time, however, his translator was failing quickly, so he simply nodded.
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om Looked at the other two as he arrived at the airlock his silvery skin reflecting the dim lighting of the airlock. His attentioned seemed split between his two hapenstance companions. Letting out a wave of fluctuating harmonics he asked " Where is the furball ?"
Ullery
A message appeared on the side of the uspf shuttle that said.
"Get in here, already!"
Lowthor
Steve stood up from the wall and pushed a button on the airlock control panel. The door slid open with a hiss and he picked up his kit bag before he stepped into the airlock. He waited for the other two to follow him before entering the ship itself.
Rhysis
He shrugged as he looked to the other trader. "Apparation he's into here." He flicked the translator as it messed up, yet again.
He let Steve go in first, then turned his translator off as he spoke to the other trader in his native tongue. "This is going to be an interesting ride if they can't understand either one of us."
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree nodded his head as the other trader made light of the language barrier before following him and Steve into the ship. His harmonic tomes came for a moment mentioning somthing akin to " Well if they can't understand us who will understand them on the backwater rock we are heading too ? "
Lowthor
Once they were both inside, Steve his the button inside the airlock. The outer door slid shut with a hiss, and then a second later the sound was repeated as the inner door slid open. The ship looked sleek, white polymer composite panels covered the walls. None of the workings were visible, but there were clear indications that they were easily within reach should the need arise. He walked inside and set his kit bag down on a bench seat opposide the entrance to the next room.
"I dread to think how our furry friend managed to get ahold of something like this." He commented.
Rhysis
Jik'tor simply laughed mildly and shrugged his shoulders. He hadn't turned the translator back on, yet. He was giving it a chance to, hopefully, reset itself, so he could at least get a couple hours of decent use out of it before it was totally shot.
He moved out of the airlock once the door opened and looked around in his silence, taking in what he could identify, and the peculiar things he couldn't.
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om, Shimmered and moved forward onto the ship looking around he had seen similar ships and sold a few like it before but the ones he sold usualy exploded on the fourth flight without massive work to the engins. Resigning himself to that kind of fate he looked around slowly before leaning against the wall opposite of the airlock.
Lowthor
"Well then. I think we should have a look around. There might even be a translation system." Steve said. He did not realise that the other two probably couldn't understand him anymore. After he'd picked up his kit bag he tapped the door open switch, and the door to the next compartment opened with a hiss. The next room was a long coridoor, with a number of doors along the left hand wall. The first door was marked <storage> in a number of different languages, including Terran.
Steve opened it and walked inside. There was a weapons locker, with a pair of pulse rifles, as well as four pulse pistols and a half dozen stun grenades. There were also four storage cabinets. Each was marked with an electronic cargo manifest.
Rhysis
Jik'tor understood him just fine. What kind of trader would he be if he didn't understand most of the major languages of the galaxy? Granted he knew a few who could only understand their own. Those were the ones who only traded in the boonies of their own home planet. He, however, was a galactic trader, and would starve to death if he couldn't figure out what the other major races were saying. He simply didn't have the vocal capacity to formulate words in the standard Terran language, which is why he was in need of the translator. But, Steve was right, the ship may, very well, have a translation system and, while it probably wouldn't be able to identify with everything he was saying, it would do better than the malfunctioning device he wore now.
He moved along the corridors with Steve and took careful note of the fact that the "storage" compartment was stocked with weapons. That was typical of only one kind of ship that he was aware of...a smuggler's vessel. -Great- He thought to himself. -I'm gonna get arrested.-
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om, Moved back a little and began looking around there should be a translation system on a ship like this but often times it was a connection port for patrol ships to understand what crews of different species were saying. Wandering a little down the main corridor of the ship he looked on the walls for markings indicating where the main control systems were. A low rumble he started to emmit would have been akin to a humans mumbling. * Locating the translation system he pushed the activator " Can you hear me ? " He said after pushing the button it was a rather odd system but it got the main point out.
Lowthor
"You're thinking smugglers." Steve commented when he helped himself to a spare pulse pistol and a couple of grenades.
"I don't trust that wolf. Wouldn't be shocked if he's working for the people that're after me." He tucked the pistol into a hidden pocket in his clothes, and put the grenades in his bag.
"Who's that then?" Steve said back into the intercomm.
Rhysis
Jik'tor simply nodded as Steve guessed what he was thinking. The last thing he needed was to be caught onboard a smuggler's vessel. He was in enough trouble with the "Galactic Procedural Enforcement", a fancy name for the cops, as it was, over the trading of some "questionable" goods. Stupid narrow minded twits just didn't get that some races couldn't consume the same food as everyone else. Either way, it had gotten their eyes on him. If they caught him here, he was toast.
As the translated voice of his companion came over the speaker system, and Steve responded with his question, the trader laughed. Granted, it may not come off that way to the Terran, but that wasn't something one thought of when responding to an amusing situation
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om, Looked at the other two and shook violently before allowing out a loud harmonic sound which the translation system processed rather quickly " Yeah we are so done screwed, but hey at least the ship hasn't blown up yet " Before moving back to the main compartment and glancing around slowly his silvery membrane shimmering in the ships interior light before a low harmonic pulse was emitted " So Who's after you flesh ball ? " He said human in his language and that was what he got translation systmes were ususlay a little buggy.
Lowthor
"Britania Special forces? Some comercial organisation? Bounty hunters? Could be anyone. I've killed three men that were after me, and not one of them had anything that said who employed him." Steve shrugged his shoulders and followed into the main compartment.
Ullery
"Well." GC said with a light hearted snort. "It's about time. I thought we'd never get this warsh..um vessal outta here."
The wolf wagged it's tail joyfully. "Anywhere's better then here, trust me. With those uspf forces, god only knows where the havana their at right now."
"And hopefully they won't have a tracking system to locate this war-um vessal."
"I'd fly, but like I said before, no opposable thumbs."
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om Turned looking to the wolven creature and pulsed in a very violent fashion the translation system kicking into effect " I have a ship he says , I have power to fly, he says but I don't have opposeable thumbs so how the hell did you fly it before ?!?!" His body was slowly begining to glow as the harmonics built inside his skin. It was pretty obvious Za Ree Om was about to snap.
Ullery
The wolf snorts loudly at the alien creature and pads over to a side cockpit thing that looked like it had a major malfunction.
"Well before I had a little run in with one of the ships interior guards, I was flying thanks to this little gizmo. But that stupid guard blasted the thing to hell and I couldn't repair it. the thing's fried to a crisp."
The wolf sits down and gazes at the alien. "Any other questions mr alien?"
Lowthor
Steve shrugged and walked over to the control consoles. "I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this ship." He said to himself quietly, and began to study the controls. They were pretty standard. Navigation, weapons, shields, FTL, all the usual.
"Shouldn't be any trouble piloting this thing, as long as the ship is in the condition these readout say it is." He said to the other three.
Mithrandirxx
If he had eyes he would have narrowed them upon the fur covered mamal, alas he was without such an obvious weakness. He pulsed a little In regard to what the wolf said " Yeah I'm the alien, and your a freakish furball that talks" His attention wavered a moment to Steve as another pulse came forward the ships translation system churning it over " Well lets get the hell out of dodge, if the ship blows up the people following you will have a hard time catching all of you."
Lowthor
"Disintegrate myself. Why didn't I think of it." Steve laughed and then punched in the launch sequence.
<Docking Clamps Disengaged> The words flashed up on the HUD, then there was the sound of the airlocks seperating and the docking arm retracting into the station.
<Automated Departure Notice: Co-ordinates transferred to Navicom> A second message appeared then Steve actived the auto-navigation system and brought the manuvering thrusters online.
"And we're off." Once they were clear of the station he powered up the main sublight thrusters and allowed the auto-nav to take them out. "Take a couple of minutes to process the FTL co-ordinates, then we can really get underway."
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om Looked towards the command chairs and shuddered before bending in the middle looking somthing like a quivering bow, but it was much more akin to shaking ones head as if the point was missed. Pulsating with a loud harmonic intonation " Well I don't mind if you want to disintigrate your self but make sure I am not in the same atmosphere your species smells horrible when disintegrated. " He said before a small echo of his harmonic intonation followed it was similar to a laugh but the translation system seemed to ignore it.
After a few seconds he waited to see what type of Faster than light drive this ship carried many times a jump drive of phase drive were installed on these kinds of vessles. Each type had its own unique issues and if they had a problem it would be far easier to fix if he knew what he was dealing with.
Lowthor
The navigational display changed when the ship's computer systems had finished processing the co-ordinates. Steve tapped a few buttons on the FTL panel and then turned to Za.
"Time to see how fast this thing can go." He said then hit the last button. The ship lurched as it shifted into hyperspace, then began to accelerate rapidly upward to many multiples of C. It was a version of a hyperdrive that employed warp technology to stabilise the passage through hyperspace and increase velocity.
"According to this we should be there in four hours. I might grab a bite to eat then come back to make sure we don't explode." He reached into his kit bag and took out a tub of painkillers, poured five onto his hand and knocked them back. A moment later he clutched the back of his head, without having replaced the painkillers so they dropped to the ground and spilled out over the carpetting.
Rhysis
Jik'tor had been silent the whole time. He was too busy pondering what all could go wrong during their travel. He'd caught the slip up by the wolf. At least, the second time, anyway. So, they'd gone from a smuggler's vessel that may have possibly gotten intercepted by someone and escorted to the nearest commercial authority, to a warship that would get blasted out of space. Great. And reflecting back on his time in the Interplanatary Defense Council, one of the countless organizations that claimed to hold the peace throughout the galaxy, he realized that this was, indeed, a warship.
He hadn't even noticed the departure of the planet. His species had a strange ability to adjust their bodily distribution to compensate for various gravitational conditions. Now that they were in space, however, to hopefully keep his mind off of some opposing group to whomever this ship actually belonged, using a hyperspace disruptor in order to take them out, he decided to go for a walk.
Ullery
Genecidal had momentarily fallen asleep and blinked awake when a bottle of pills hit his body. He stood up alert and let out a quick defensive snarl, when he glanced about he noticed these pills.
He sniffed them and started to poke them back into the bottle gently.
He then whined and gently nudged against steve's hand, concerned that this new recruited traveler was in some kind of jepordy.
Mithrandirxx
Za Ree Om's attention turned back to Jik'tor it seemed that perhaps the other trader might be sleeping with his eyes open although then again it could be a metabolic freeze while the consciousness remained active. Swiveling his attention back to Steve he watched as the pill bottle hit the floor . The pilots a pill popper and the other person who Za Ree Om liked taking too was spacing out in space. Although the type of pills the pilot was taking were what interested Za, they didn't look like any run of the mill market brand. With a subtle Harmonic burst the ships translation program came to life " I'm going to take a nap" With that Za Ree Om headed towards one of the seats and fell into it as his body slowly began to harden into a crystal.
Lowthor
After a few seconds the super painkillers took effect and the nervous shock in his brain calmed down to a dull throb. He shook his head then bent over to collect the pills with the wolf's help.
"Cheers. Don't worry about me. Just one of the side effects of whatever those mysterious bastards did to me." He tucked the pill bottle into his pocket and then stood up and walked off to look for the ship's mess.
Ullery
Genecidal followed Steve, wagging his tail all the way.
"Food hall's this way!" The wolf commented via thought-waves to the translation-thought-tron 1000.
The wolf turned at the V intersection going to the left hand side.
Genecidal stopped at the end of the corridor and pressed a button with his snout. The door opened and a wide looking cafeteria style hall-room presented itself to them.
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