Starspeaker IC (Closed for silvertongue217)

“Again?” The word whipped through Vera’s throat and into the tense air of the room. The council shifted in their seats as they exchanged concerned glances.

“How can this happen? How can you have failed again?

Silence. Thick, tense, incompetent silence.

With an aggravated sigh Vera rose to her feet. She strode across the glossy black floor to the full wall window beyond the table. As she walked past the table she made sure that she didn’t even bother to glance at the imbeciles. She stared out the window into the dark void of space beyond and waited. They had failed her and she would not give them the reprieve of assisting them to find an excuse for their inability to carry out simple tasks.


"The rebels, milady-"
"I don't care what the rebels did. I care about what you failed to do." Vera cut down Councilman Hal's simpering excuse without mercy. She had no time for his blubbering excuses. If the teams they had sent down had any skill to speak of the rebels would be nothing more than a mere annoyance.

“W-we are chasing a myth!” Councilman Zotto. The words burst from his lips as though he could no longer hold them in. Vera could imagine his face, red with frustration and from the effort of holding back his opinion.

“If it was a myth it would be impossible to track,” Vera snapped with a dismissive wave of her hand.

“With all due respect Chancellor Starborn, there is little evidence that the Lexicon was ever created let alone that it still exists.”

Vera turned and glared at Councilwoman Fierra. The woman was the calmest in the room. Her breath was even and round brown eyes steady. She was always a voice of reason in the council. Vera wanted to punch her. She had no patience for the hesitations of the council.

“Let me clarify this for you now,” Vera said, walking back to the table and resting her hands on it, staring down the eight people before her. “You, all of you, are here for no other reason than to humour me. It has been over half a century since you actually had any power in this universe. You know it, the rest of the people on this ship know it, everyone on our colonies knows it. If you displease me I will disband this council in a heartbeat.”

Vera straightened up, flicking her long black braid over her shoulder and straightening her shoulders. She crossed her arms over her chest and levelled her gaze at each one of the council members.

“Get out. All of you. And next time you’re in this room I expect results.”
Once again Vera made her way to the window. She admired the millions of pinpricks of light in the distance as she listened to the shuffling of seven pairs of feet.

“Chancellor?” The final council member remained in the room, the only one that had ever been of any use to Vera.

“Tomas, you know what to do.”

When they looked at each other, Vera could see Tomas’ concern turn to resignation. Without bothering to argue he turned and left the room. He didn’t use the door that the other councillors had used, instead he slid his hand over the join in one of the stainless steel panels on the wall and it slid aside without a single sound. It shut behind him just as quietly.

Vera slid into one of the vacated chairs at the large table and smiled. Finally, a chance to stretch her legs.

~*~

“Chancellor, how can I be of assistance?” The next time the hidden panel slid open, most observes would have sworn it was replaced by a mirror. Vera and Tomas knew better.

“Avery, a pleasure to see you again,” Vera got to her feet and walked over to the other woman. Avery had a long black braid hanging over her shoulder, her slightly tanned skin contrasting with piercing blue eyes. She was clothed in a practical but formal black jumpsuit, a weighty platinum pin on the collar signifying the rank of chancellor. Vera’s rank.

“The pleasure is all mine Chancellor,” Avery smirked at her. “I assume the council have failed?”

“You assume correctly.”

“So you wish me to take your place?”

“The think I love about you is that I never need to explain myself.” Vera returned the smirk. Both women looking once more like a mirror image.

“Tomas, ready my beta cruiser. I want to be planetside before sunrise.”

“I’ll have your team ready to go in an hour.” Tomas replied.

Vera strode through the secret tunnel her doppleganger had used. When it slid shut behind her Avery and Tomas left the room as though nothing had happened other than a disappointing council meeting.

MEANWHILE

in a hidden astroid belt

He bounced his head to the music humming to himself as he danced across the metal deck of his living quarters. He reached the ladder going down and jumped landing in the guts of his ship Lady Danger. He continued humming to himself as he whistled activating the lights.

"Your an idiot" Samantha said coming up from the holopedestal. She crossed her hands pushing her breast up as she cocked her hip and starred him down.

"uh huh says you and every other woman" Jase Smith said grabbing his tools and kicking them over "go ahead and give me the holo plans for the engine I want to give her a complete work down"

"Even though your not supposed to be working on a hyper class engine without wearing radiation shielding?"

"bah" Jase said grabbing the wrench out of the tool box and turning to her "thats just because people want to feel safe"

"Uh huh" Samantha said her sultry voice taking on one of annoyance before she paused "and even though i would ADORE helping you give your self cancer it would seem the general has a priority message for you patching it through now"

there was a blink and the general appeared a scowl on her sultry face as she took in Jase sitting there a wrench in his hands and naked.

"Dear lord your a mess" She murmured shaking her head

"Not what you said after the corellian invasion" He said snorting "whats up general?" He said turning ignoring his state of undress.

She sighed before deciding to ignore it as well "we just got word of the Empress's newest project the artifact she seems to be looking for our spies have been scouting and following the intel and why we dont know where the item is we do have a bead on what might be a map to it"

"A map you want me to steal i take it?" Jase said raising an eyebrow and watching her.

"Yes" She said "we have no idea what this item she is seeking is but we know its a weapon and we know the last thing the empress needs is another weapon go and get the map and use it to find this technology"

"You got it boss" Jase said terminating the link with a wave of his hand.

"Coordinates received plotting a course now" Samanatha said as the ships engines roared to life "ETA one hours"

ONE HOURS LATER
PLANETSIDE

Jase strapped on his thruster boot and admired himself in the mirror, with his black pants and red shirt and matching coat he looked the part of bad ass space pirate he wanted to give off. His green eyes assessed himself in the mirror before he pulled on his wide brimmed hat over his short black hair. He strapped a rebreather to his face and finally pulled his gun out letting the gun warm over his fingertips as he stepped out and onto the rocky surface of the planet.

"Samantha" he said as his eye reticule flashed with information "way points to the temple please"

"You got it boss" Samantha said as a string of markers appeared in his view "your ten clicks out"

"Thank you Ma'am" he said beginning the trek. He hummed ot himself as he went picking his way across the barren planet and using his jump boots to get over any cliffs or chasms. Before he knew it he was at the mouth of a temple made entirely of greenish rock.

"nice digs" he said going inside warily his gun out as he entered the entrance chamber

Vera Starborn

An hour after the council meeting Chancellor Vera was seated in the bowels of the planetary shuttle with eleven agents and Captain Feald from the Covert and Special Operations department. It had taken 45 minutes for the physical alterations that changed her hair and eyes brown in a more organic nature than old fashioned dyes and lenses would allow. With a change of outfit she had completed the transformation which turned her into Avery Watersmith. The arrangement that she had with Avery was one of complete convenience. There were times that, no matter how had she tried as Chancellor, there was information that she would just not be able to access. With Avery's position as Special Agent in the Covert and Special Operations team. It allowed her to get on the ground, to experience how her orders funneled down through the hierarchy, to get a good feeling for the true political atmosphere. It also gave her a chance to take a break from the smothering politics and to get planetside and shoot a few rounds.

"Our order are fresh from Chancellor Vera. The most recent attempts to uncover the Lexicon have been intercepted by rebels from several different groups, A-One, Deep Space Operatives, Starseekers, you name it. We are going down to Iterverto, ETA in two and a half hours. We will be landing in one of the desiccated oceans; the surface is relatively smooth where we're going but can be littered with sink holes. If you travel too far out we'll hit cliffs and chasms, and once you go down there we will be dealing with all sorts of nasties. We are landing and hour and a half trek from an ancient temple, just south of one of the shallower chasms in the area. We can't get any closer due to the interference from Seastone the temple is built from, and because we cant risk landing in a sink hole."

There was murmur from the team, the other agents clearly unhappy with the distance from the ship to the temple. The trek itself wasn't the problem, it was more the fact that once on the level landing, they would be open to all sorts of interference from outsiders.

"Get your jet gear on just in case you run in to any sinkholes or make your way to a chasm. Our scanners have not picked up any other humanoid lifeforms in the area, so we should have a clear run, but you never know. Also, we'll be relying on old fashioned navigation to guide us as the depth of the area and interference could render our devices unreliable."

Luckily Vera had completed all of the same training that Avery had. Nothing in this mission sounded like something she wouldn't be able to handle. Apparently finished his brief, Captain Feald turned and made his way back to the cabin. Once the door slid shut behind him the chatter began.

"Sounds like this mission will be fun," Oren turned and spoke to Vera. She grinnned in acknowledgement. "No wonder other attempts have failed. A hell of a lot of our corps are shit at conventional methods of operation. Training has really let down the meatshields."

Vera just noded and hummed in agreement, listening to the other mutterings of the people around her.

~*~

The entry into the planetary atmosphere was rough. It seemed that there was a storm brewing, and storms on Iterverto were something to behold. However, their entry point was far enough away from their destination that the possibility of a storm wasn't terribly ominous.

As promised, their ship touched down just south of a chasm that disappeared into darkness. It may be one of the shallower in the area, but that was clearly relative term. From the window of the ship Vera could see the telltale signs of the sweltering heat outside; wavey distortions from the evaporation. She shifted in her full body work suit and grinned. It may be hot out there, but it was better than the sanitary cool of the ship. She had months worth of disappointment to excise and she knew that this was the best chance they had to recover the Lexicon yet. Even though her position was one of mass delegation, there was nothing she enjoyed more than cutting the shit and getting down and dirty.

"All out!" Captain Feald barked as the bay doors lowered. "Let's get this map and get of this hunk of rock before that storm finds us!"

Mean while deep in the temple

Jase hummed his jump boots kicking up as he crossed through the big stone pillars marking the entrance into the temple. He cut the thrusters and slid to a stop looking around as his HUD began scanning the large cavernous room.

"This temple must be ancient" Jase murmured grabbing one of the orbs hanging on his belt and smacking it. The ball exploded with light and he threw it up letting it hang above him and illuminate the stone.

"Carbon dating marks it as several hundred years old" Samantha said appearing next to him as if she was really there thanks to his implants "This planet has been marked as barren for years"

"well some one used to live here" Jase murmured moving deeper into the temple "you picking up any thing that would help us figure out where our mysterious mcguffin is?"

"Negative so far"

Jase swore turning and looking outside the empress's goons were bound to be here any second. Jase only had another half an hour tops before the planet became significantly more populated. He had no doubt he could handle a few waves but it wasn't his style to get drawn into a long fire fight.

Not if he could help it at least

"lets find this thing and get the hell out of here" Jase murmured quickening his pace. He spent another fifteen of his precious minutes combing the temple. However there was no sign of any maps. Instead the place just was... empty as if there had been nothing here in the first place. No fossilized signs of life or even furniture or broken trinkets.

It was almost as if no one had ever lived here

He finally found himself back at the entrance way with nothing more to show.

"Damn it" Jase said kicking the ground under him the dirt swirled in response hanging in the air for a few seconds and causing him to cough and look down.

Right at a small latch

"Wait a second" Jase murmured kneeling down using his gloved hand to brush off the dirt "whats this" he said feeling the latch, he gave it a tug but it refused to budge even with the servos inbeded into his duster. HE tried a few more times before he finally gave up and instead pulled out a small black disk.

"You sure thats a good idea?" Samantha asked watching as he slapped it down on the latch "you have no idea what is down there"

"Fortune favors the bold" Jase reminded the AI hitting the little touch pad. A small countdown began and he quickly moved ducking behind the largest pillar. He pulled out his gun unfolding it and hanging it by his side waiting until he heard the rumble and the explosion before pushing himself out of cover and approaching with his gun warily drawn.

The smoke cleared revealing a large slightly jagged hole big enough for him to fit through. He approached it and whistled signaling the light ball to zip over to him and fall into his hand. He dropped it down watching it illuminate a pair of crumbling stone steps.

"activate your full electronic suite" Jase whispered to Samantha "tell me if any thing is sneaking up behind me"

He turned pulling out a small sensor and slamming it down into the stone. He waited until he got the affirmative from Samantha and then stepped down into the hole. He began picking his way down the stone steps. It only took him a few seconds to reach the bottom which led to a narrow hallway that finally opened up into a large cavernous dome shapped room. In the middle was a pedestal on which a small blinking green ball sat.

"hello beautiful" Jase murmured coming over to the ball and pulling out another small gadget. He flipped it open and began scanning the ball from all angles not daring to touch it. Once the device blinked green he reached out ready to grab the ball as he pointed the device at the pedestal.

"One two three" he counted down quickly snatching up the ball at the same time he hit the button on the device. A slightly corporeal version of the ball fell into place mimicking the exact shape size and weight of the original. The fake ball would disappear in ten minutes which would igve him plenty of time to make his exit.

"Jase you got incoming" Samantha said as a small window appeared in his HUD of a imperial ship flying out of orbit "touch down in ten minutes"

"shit" he said grabbing the small case and sealing the ball inside "time to bug out"

He raced up the steps taking them two at a time. He reached the entrance just as the ship touched down over the mountains. He grabbed the sensor jammed into the ground and tucked it back into his coat keeping his gun trained on the horizon. Luckily enough his ship was parked on the opposite side as their landing but it was close enough that if he dared to start it they would gun him down from the sky before he could break orbit.

"shit in a hand basket" Jase said shaking his head and running out of the temple. He was going to have to wait for them to get distracted sneak over to their ship sabotage the weapons then make his daring escape all while facing the elite of the empires forces.

Not the best odds

He spotted a crack in the ground that would let him squeeze in and boosted over to it dropping in to the crack. He pushed himself into the shadows and kept his gun at his hand ready to blast any one who decided they were going to look down into his hole.

Vera Starborn

'Watersmith!" Feald's voice cut through the whizzing of the wind. Vera turned, thankful that she had gotten good at responding to Avery's name. "Take point Watersmith! It's been quiet so far but I don't like it." Feald had stayed on the rear, making sure that they weren't being tailed.

Vera made the signal of acknowledgement and moved forward in the formation, keeping her weapon at the ready. She looked around watching the hot barren wasteland around her and saw some variation in the flat sand ahead. It was different from the fine red dust that rippled across the ground. She looked back over her shoulder and saw the dark clouds pushing forth, creeping towards them from a distance. It was ominous, and the weather was moving faster than she had expected.

"Let's move!" Vera called out after a visual scan of the area, the troop moved in formation behind her as they pressed towards the temple.

From a distance Vera hadn't noticed the green stones. They were bright, but the red dust swirling around had obscured their brilliance. Now, as they approached, she marvelled at their beauty. The facade of the temple was tall, solid, and had a bearing about it that spoke of ancient times. It looked as though it had been standing for thousands of years and would stand for thousands more. The archway that was the entrance trailed off into darkness, and Vera looked at the dust before her. It was disturbed, but most of the dust in these parts was. With the wind that was rising in gusto around them, she knew that even their prints would soon be obliterated.

~*~

The entrance hall and two side room were clear. The stone inside had worn down with age, but it only made the green interiors prettier. What would have been a smoky green quartz like crystal had now been polished by the grit of sand and time. The beams of light from the torches of the twelve bounced around the room, illuminating it in all its glory.

When Vera spied the entrance to another area at the rear of the temple she motioned for her team to follow. They did. At least until she held up a hand to halt them.

Vera's hand moved from a stop position into one to signal for Feal to come to point.

The walls of the room were smooth, and it looked as though there were no other entrances or exits, but there was a panel on the floor that had been blown to smithereens. No care had been given for the ancient and delicate nature of the temple.

When Feald joined her she could sense his body stiffen beside her. So they might have company after all. He signalled for the team to get in position, and with near-silent shuffling everyone surrounded the blasted hole, slowly closing in like a noose around it. With weapons pointed they looked into the area below to find a spiral stone staircase.

This time Feald took point, leading down, down, down until the staircase flattened into a narrow hallway that opened up into an unexpectedly large domed cavern. It appeared empty, as had the rest of the temple, save for a pedestal.

An empty pedestal.

"An empty fucking pedestal!" Feald growled, voice echoing through the cavern.

The tension in the air disappated into what Vera knew was disappointment. She felt her own stomach drop in anger, but she took a deep breath and centred herself. The hole above hadn't looked old, the debris was sitting on top of the ash, it wasn't covered in it.

"Jones, scanner," She said, reaching a hand out to the woman beside her. With a shrug the blonde woman handed her the scanner with an eyebrow raised.

Vera made her way over to the pedestal, looking around for tracks. Over to her left she noticed something. Footprints that were lighter than expected, but there was also a stuttered line beside them. It could have been the jet stream from some thruster boots. She pointed them out to Feald as she powered up the scanner.

When the three lights signalled it was ready she waved it over the top surface of the pedestal. The scanner let out two beeps in quick succession and Vera swore under her breath.

"Analysis shows that this part of the pedestal has only been exposed to the air within the last hour. There was something here. Whoever took it could still be in the vicinity!"

Feald froze and looked over at her. This was the closed anyone had ever come to the Lexicon. So close Vera could almost taste it. She watched Feald calculate the cost versus risk in his head. The storm was coming in fast, but if the person who took the Lexicon was nearby this could be their first real, and possibly only, chance at getting it.

"That storm is coming in quickly," Feald began, voice slow. Vera watched him consider the options and her shoulders tensed. They were so close. So very close. If he ordered the team back to the ship and the weather outside may still hold, she considered it may be time to discard her disguise and pull rank on him.

"But the Chancellor has given her orders. We will check the weather when we reached the surface, but it looks as though we have a goose chase on our hands."

Feald turned and led the team back towards the surface. Jones, who was just in from of Vera turned with a smirk on her face.

"Some good the fucking item will be to the Chancellor if we get it and us carried away in a dust storm." She laughed. Vera just grimaced and nodded, trying not to let her excitement get to her.

~*~

"Feald to Nova One. Feald to Nova One. Come in Nova one," Feald called. The request for communications ringing in all of the team's ears.

Silence.

"Nova One?"

He waited until they were gone digging his boot and his hand into the dry cracked rock as he breathed in an out slowly. It was hard to tell when they were completely gone so he waited an extra five minutes before finally clambering back out. The coast was clear and thankfully the storm was picking up which would only make what he had to do that much easier.

"samantha cover me" He whispered watching her nod in agreement right next to him. She would use the suits sensors to keep track of the forces but the storm wouldnt give her a far reach. He needed to get out of here and he needed to leave fast. He began jogging towards their ship his gun out as he warily moved from the limited cover the planet provided him.

He reached the imperial ship with no problem stopping as he noted the guard assigned to watch over it. Luck looked to be in his favor once more given the solitary gaurd.

"Idiots thought they were alone" He said shaking his head and aiming down his sights. He whistled and popped up aiming at the guy as he turned.

"Drop the gun mate" He said "kick it over and then be a dear and turn with your hands on your head"

The man seemed to debate before complying kicking his gun across the sand. He turned placing his hands on his head allowing Jase to get closer before he finally shut a stunner round out of his gun. It latched onto the solider sending an sty course through his system and locking his armor up. The human paperweight toppled down onto the sand dust kicking up.

"block his coms to" Jase said to Samantha walking over to the ship. He cautiously peeked his gun in and checked clearing it before moving into the interior.

"Get to work Samantha" Jase said watching as she moved over to the console and touched it. It lit up blinking rapidly as she began to work it with her powerful encryption software.

Jase moved into the ship looking around. IT was a standard imperial ship favored by special forces. There was enough equipment that they could face any kind of terrian and situation.

In short they were the best of the best

"its done" Samantha said in his ear "but there have been several attempts at communication since we came in here and im sensing them on the onboard sensor"

"lets give em a surprise then" Jase said smirking "reconfigure the defense turrents tag us as friendlies and them as hostiles and deactivate them until i say to turn them on"

Jase ignored her protests and walked out ignoring the man still land locked on the ground and leaning against their ship. He pulled out the map and slid it into his backpocket waiting and watching the horizon.

"Sir?" Agent Claus' voice was full of wariness.

"Nothing," Feald replied voice tight with the effort to remain calm. "Probably interference from this blasted storm. Let's get back to the ship."

Even though Feald had put the lack of communication down to interference, the change in his posture spoke of his concern. The entire team tensed as they walked, their weapons pointing at the horizon rather than the ground. Vera grew concerned; not only about the lack of communication, but about the fact that it meant that Feald would not try and hunt down the missing Lexicon. Until they touched base with Bomber at the ship they wouldn't be able to track anything down.

Captain Feald tried to contact the ship a number of times on their trek back only to have no reply. There was no interference or static coming through the comms, just pure radio silence. When they finally crested the dune hiding the space craft one of the team members laughed.

"Bloody pilots!" Jordan cackled "Bomber just couldn't wait patiently in the bridge like he was supposed to. Just had to come out to greet us. I wonder if he's baked cookies to greet us too!"

After a few stops Feald stopped. Vera froze in his wake and looked around.

"That's not Bomber," Feald said, voice coming out as a low growl.

Vera looked closer at the figure leaning against the hull of their ship. Now that they were a bit closer she noticed that he wasn't wearing the standard Council issued fatigues, and his build was entirely different to boomer.

"Who the fuck is that?" Jones hissed under her breath.

Feald motioned for the team to fall into back up formation as they approached the ship. They stopped within shouting distance.

"In the name of the Pangalactic Exploration and Access Council, I order you to step away from the ship!" Feald commanded, raising his weapon and aiming it at the interloper.

Vera looked over at the man. He was wearing black pants with a red shirt peaking through an unbuttoned black jacket. His hat was sitting rakishly aswek on his short black hair. Vera was unable to see much of his face due to the large rebreather wore, but she could see that he was trouble. He looked as though he could have been one of those space pirates who had harassed her teams. Perhaps, she though, he could even be the one who had the Lexicon. Her own weapon raised slightly as she waited not-so-patiently for Feald to get on with the conversation.

"In the name of the Pangalactic Exploration and Access Council, I order you to step away from the ship!"

"I think there here" Jase said to Samantha "go ahead and get the guns ready"

He didnt wait to hear her answer instead stepping forward. He didnt bother to instead draw his gun instead putting on his most rougish smile as they inched towards him.

"Now now now no need to raise the guns at me" Jase said smirking "not when i got what you want" He said pulling the ball out (the fake one not the right one) and bouncing it in his hands.

"I just wanted to introduce my self" He said moving forward carefully staying in the arc of the ships main gun "My name is Jase, Jase Crestfield perhaps you have heard of me perhaps not...."

He trailed off noticing the girl who was aiming a gun at his head.

"holy shit your hot" He said his eyes widening "way ot hot ot be part to the empress's goon squad" He hollered to her.

"Perhaps you'd like to vamoose with me instead" Jase said waggling his eye brows "we could-"

"JASE" Samantha snapped "focus"

"Right" Jase said speaking to Samantha before turning his head back to them "So I'm going to leave now with the map thingie you guys aren't going to follow me until I'm in orbit and to make sure you follow my instructions" Jase trailed off nodding at Samantha.

The turrent on their ship popped up its plasma gun warming as it tracked them. Jase did a little dance in front of it showing them that the gun wasnt firing on him.

"so do we have a deal?" He asked ignoring every one and instead winking at the girl.

Vera Starborn

Jase Crestfield.

Vera squinted across the distance as they inched closer. The perpetual thorn in her side. She had never been able to hunt him down, he'd always been too quick for even her best teams. She had even started believing he was a lie- a cover for a range of different people. A convenient construct for the rebels to make her think they were more competent than she imagined. When she had imagined him he'd been older. Grizzlier. More gruff and less... well, attractive. She smirked to herself, that was one thing about imagining your nemesis, you always assumed they were horrible. The smirk dropped when Crestfield's eyes zeroed in on her. His loud appreciation of her appearance made her eyebrows raise. And the good squad reference? Only made her trigger finger itchy.

Vera watched him bounce the Lexicon irreverently up and down and she wanted to pummel him. If he damaged that, so help her. It was interesting that he referred to it as a 'map thingie'. After all of this time searching she assumed it would be the Lexicon itself. Perhaps he was just bluffing. She wondered if he even knew what hew as holding.

"We most certainly do not have a deal," Barked Feald, ignoring the fact that Jase was not really talking to him. "Claus, Jordan, arrest this rogue."

As Clais and Jordan stepped forward the plasma cannons snapped towards them and started to glow red. They had just a moment to jump away before the ground where they stood was shot and smoking.

"Get him!" Feald cried. Four more team members joined the surge to reach Jase as Vera watched. The plasma cannons fired at them, barely missing.

"Stop!" Feald changed his command when he saw that the bastard had completely changed the programming of their weapons. Now they could see that Bomber was unconscious and tied up behind where Jase was.

"We need that Lexicon!" Vera argued, her weapon following Crestfield as he backed away from the scene. Her colleagues were in front of her and she couldn't get a clear shot without changing positions.

As it was, the five agents that had surged in to arrest him were now running back to regroup at Feald's side, letting the rakish thug get away.

"WE WILL FIND YOU!" Vera cried out, darting this way and that, trying to find the limits of the canon's range. Unfortunately the only way to get to him would be to track well out of her way, but by that stage he would be long gone. She growled in frustration as the red dust kicked up around her. "THERE IS NO PLACE IN THIS GALAXY THAT YOU CAN HIDE FROM THE CHANCELLOR!"

She was so close she could almost taste it, and they had lost the Lexicon due to a serious of stupid errors. She was beyond furious.

But what she had said was true.

She would hunt him down. And when she found him, he would pay.

"Good luck with that" Jase called back to her winking and blowing her a kiss

and just like that he was gone

He made it back to his ship with no problems (besides a nasty sand storm) and was off the planet. He made sure he was in orbit and could get away before he disengaged the turrent giving them back control of the ship. He blew her one last kiss before he was gone gone with the loot he had managed to snag from the temple.

Then came the hard part

The egg heads at the rebel base weren't able to figure out the dead language the map was in. Apparently it belonged to an ancient race that sported a language many considered to be dead. The few who could read it had long been snapped up by the empire either legitimately or stolen in the night.

Which basically left them with a map they couldnt read

Until they got a break

ONE MONTH LATER

IN ORBIT AROUND ARIDIA

"This place is filthy" Samantha said a scowl on her face as she looked around the bar

"relax its not like you can even touch any thing" Jase said trying his best not to laugh as he downed another beer and watched the strippers gyrating on the poles.

"Ugh you are though!" Samantha tutted looking at the glass with horror "Jase how many people-"

"Time to go dear" Jase said noting the bar tender nodding at him. He got up putting a few credits down for his drink and walked over to a airlock on the otehr side of the bar.

"The lizard shall see you know" An electronic voice said as the airlock cycled through. He nodded and stepped in letting the decontamination showers spray all over him before he stepped in to a small warehouse.

"Hands out" A gruff Brute of a Klugorian said waving a sawed off plasma shotgun

"no need to shout" Jase said holding his arms out letting the alien pat him down "I was a good boy"

"one can never be to careful Jase"

The voice belonged to a woman a woman lounging on a couch and watching him. Her dress was revealing and a deep blood red but no one could mistake the gun on her hip that meant business. She was staring at him her lips plump as she was patted down then thrust forward to meet her.

"Alexia darling" Jase said giving a soft smile "Or do you prefer Queen of Aridia?"

"for the purposes of this meeting Doctor Merian will do just fine Jase" Alexia said sitting up pushing her chest out as she slipped on her old fashion glasses "can i see the device?"

"You can see some pictures of it" Jase said puling out a flash drive and putting it on the table "you dont think I would have been crazy enough to bring it with me did you?" He asked giving her his patented roguish smile.

"Well, you went all vengeful on his arse," Jordan said when the team had settled into their seats. Vera just shrugged and looked away. At this stage she only had enough restraint to stop herself from slamming her fist into the side of the ship. She was angry. She was beyond angry. She had argued with Feald for twenty minutes as that pirate-arsed bastard sped off into the atmosphere. They would not follow him. By the time they reached orbit his trail would be cold anyway.

So Vera tried to contact their base ship to see if they could track him. They couldn't even get through to the base; when Crestfield did over their weapons is must have effected their comms as well.

As the Nova One finally powered up Vera swore an oath to herself, an oath that she would personally hunt down Jase Crestfield and make him pay for his insolence.

~*~

"You have failed me again. For all of the planets we control, all of the individuals we govern over, it seems that there is not a single competent one amongst you all."

Once more Vera was addressing her council. She slammed her fist down on the table and she watched them jump in shock. The tension in the room was at least as thick as her anger, so she did not bother holding back.

"Not only did you not retrieve the Lexicon, but you failed to pursue the pirate who did. To say I am disappointed would be an understatement. The only thing stopping me from punishing you fools is the fact that I would need to punish almost half of my army for their failure as well."

Every word Vera spoke was laced with angry venom that came from her own poisoned body. Each word is something that she had hissed at herself in the days that had followed the botched mission.

"Chancellor Vera, you have my every word that we will find this pirate. This Jase Crestfield. We will not rest until we do," Councilwoman Fierra said, voice fierce. Now that they had confirmation that the Lexicon existed, the councillors had lost all of their simpering excuses for their lack of interest. They now believed in the possibilities the Lexicon held for their cause, and they had begun to understand what the loss of it could cost them.

Vera got to her feet without another word and turned, ignoring the look of amused irony in Tomas' eyes. She did not need to see the judgement there. She walked out of the chambers with a dismissive wave of her hand.

~*~

After three weeks PEACe had nothing. No one was able to locate Crestfield's ship. The rebels had been unusually quiet. Vera had called on every single sleeper and spy she had in place and the reports were the same- all quiet on the rebel front. Vera begrudgingly admitted that it was a wise move on their part. Any obvious sign of their activity would be pounced on with every ounce of PEACE's resources.

The doorbell to Vera's private chambers sounded. She made the open gesture and the door slid into the recess cavity, revealing Tomas.

"News?" She barked, not even bothering with pleasantries. By this stage everyone in the council knew the mood she was in, they knew that they would not return to her favour until some measure of progress had been made.

Tomas gestured the door shut behind him and then spoke the command that opened a secret door in her room.

"Your Highness," Avery said, stepping into Vera's quaters with a respectful nod.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Vera said, eyebrows arching as her eyes settled on Avery.

"I believe I have a lead, your highness," Avery grinned as she spoke. "I have consulted with the last of the Serrin-speakers. He mentioned a child. A daughter of one of his former colleagues. The two of them had worked on ancient Serrin translations in their early collegiate studies. Even though you destroyed all of his translation guides, he believes that his colleague's work may have escaped the culling. There was a diary, old fashioned, paper and pen, that was left to the colleague's daughter upon the woman's death."

Vera sat straighter in her seat at the news. She and the council members were under the impression that they had tied all of the loose Serrin ends. They had known that the only signs leading to the Lexicon were in Serrin, and they wanted to make sure that no one else would be able to interpret them. Some of the people with the knowledge of the language had come forth freely; they had been offered a life of luxury aboard the Chancellor's own vessel. Their only sacrifice was their freedom. Others had believed that the finality of death was preferable to a life with limitations.

"This daughter? Who is she?" Vera asked, her heart beating a little faster at the thought of progress.

"Alexia Merian"

Vera turned to Tomas, her teeth clenched at the sound of that name.

"The so-called Queen of Aridia?" Vera sneered.

"Yes, your Highness," Avery replied with a mournful nod. "When I discovered this I thought you might appreciate my services once more."

Vera got to her feet, energised by equal measures of anticipation and righteous fury.

"And where does the Good Doctor reside these day?" Vera asked.

"She remains in the hole in which you left her. It has become quite the den of iniquity, Chancellor," Tomas informed her. Vera's laughter bounced throughout the room.

"Of that I am not surprised," She looked between her two closes confidantes and the plan formulated in her own mind. "Tomas, could you please have Feald assign Avery, Oren and Claus to do a sweep of Aridia. I believe there is a great deal of illegal trading going on around and on Aridia. I want a sweep done of the planet's trading posts as well as the stations in orbit."

~*~

A week later Vera, disguised once more as Avery, was seated in a booth agents Oren and Claus. They had conducted a sweep of the trading posts and questionable bars in the northern hemisphere of Aridia and decided to take their search to space to break it up for a while. The station they were on fit every definition of iniquity that Vera had ever heard, and she hoped she was getting close. She had been the one to suggest they take to the black beyond, after hearing whispers that Merian no longer found the ground an appropriate place for her home. Oren and Claus had only been too happy to agree. Aridia was cold at this time of the year, ice and white for miles, which made the taverns rowdy and the traders grumpy. Despite the rough repuatation of the station they had boarded, at least it wasn't a seasonal stop out.

According to the order Feald had given them, they were looking to gather evidence against Alexia Merian. She had already been banished to Aridia for crimes against the Pangalactic Exploration and Access Council. After a lengthy trial and conflicting evidence they had been forced to let her live. It seemed that their threat of retribution for further crimes had fallen on deaf ears. It appears that she had done nothing more than relocate and rename her smuggling business. Not only that, but she had given Aridia a level of wealth and intergalactic regard that it never had before. Something Vera had allowed her council to overlook in the search for the Lexicon. Perhaps her oversight was a blessing in disguise; if this was where the rebels would come for information, PEACe may be obliged to turn the other way for a while longer.

"As far as assignments go, I think this is one of the better ones I've had," Clause mumbled into his beer as his eyes settled on one of the gyrating stippers nearby. Vera rolled her eyes.

"I don't know, I think I prefer my women with green skin." Oren added with a shrug. He himself had the green hued skin tone of his people. Otherwise, he appeared mostly like Vera's own race.

"Green, red, scales, I don't care. I love females of any persuasion,"Claus raised his glass in a salute to the woman dancing in various parts of the room and chugged the rest of his drink.

"What about you Watersmith? What type of beings tickle your fancy?"

Vera was about to shut down the conversation when Oren sniggered.

"Looked like you were into Bomber for a while there. You're running hot and cold though, gotta give the guy a break," Oren advised. Vera's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "One week you're spending your spare time with him and going all doe-eyed, the next it is all business and duty."

Well, that was news to Vera. She took some of her artificially brown hair between her fingers and frowned. She rarely took any time to talk to Avery of her personal life. She wasn't supposed to even have on. She was a genetic derivate of Vera's own composition, a sibling of sorts, created solely for the purpose of providing Vera with a confidante and doppleganger.

"If not Bomber, then who?" Claus asked, looking around the bar. "That Klugorian over there looks meaty. You like that, Watersmith?"

Vera couldn't help but laugh as she looked at the thuggish Klugorian. She certainly wasn't attracted to that monstrosity; she doubted Avery would be. Even so, Avery knew her duty. Any relationship she attempted would be second to her responsibilities. She was aware of this; work was her life. She had never expressed the desire nor been given the option of a love or a family. Her life was in PEACe, as was Vera's. As was their parents'.

"The Klugorian looks more like your type Claus," she scoffed, taking a sip of her own, non alcoholic beverage. She liked having her wits about her when she was on duty. "Green skin you said? He's got plenty of that. Scales where it counts too, I'm sure."

The three of them laughed as they watched the large male edge his way through the crowded towards an air lock on the other side of the bar. That air lock led deeper into the station, somewhere few people seemed to go. The other ones led to various outer docks. Vera wondered whether it was a store room, or staff quarters.

Vera's laughter stopped abruptly as a figure followed the green giant through the air lock. A figure with short black hair and far too much leather. The man turned around, a habitual check to see if he was being followed, before stepping into the decontamination showers beyond the lock doors. That look was enough for Vera to know they were in the right place.

"Jase Crestfield." She hissed, under her breath.

Claus and Oren froze for a minute, looking at her with surprise, and then resumed their laughter, now it was more like howling.

"Is he your kind of guy then?" Oren asked.

"That explains the melodramatic threats and fist shaking. You wanted a piece of his space-pirate arse before he bolted on us!"

"No you fracking fools!" Vera snapped, getting to her feet. "Crestfield is here. He just stepped into the air lock. The laughter stopped and they both turned for a better lock.

"I'll radio for back up!" Oren said, voice low as he looked around the crowded bar.

"No time," Vera said, ready to move.

"We have no idea if he is here alone. We can alert base and they'll send ships out to track and arrest once he leaves the station."

"I have no intention of letting him leave this station." Vera said, her hands confirming the presence of her blaster guns in their holsters before pushing through the crowd.

"I'll radio and then join you. Don't lose her." Oren's voice was barely audible through the chatter, but Vera heard it a moment before Claus was at her side.

"You sure you don't want to wait? There are a lot of possible hostiles in this joint." Claus warned as they slipped past a sweaty naked woman swinging around a pole as though she loved it.

"Imagine how hostile the Chancellor will be if we fuck this up." Vera said, her voice full of warning that even Claus didn't bother arguing with.

They had been conducting this mission under cover. With fake identification chips and plain clothes, they had been able to gain a lot of information. It was also how they managed to go through the bars without notice or harassment. It was also why no one paid them any mind as they crossed the room. Just another bunch of low-life smugglers hoping to make a buck.

MEANWHILE

IN ANOTHER PART OF THE STATION

The guard on watch didn't even see it coming

no one attacked the station hell not since Dr. Merian set up shop. She was widely known and widely feared both in the system and out. It was well known also how she had strolled in taken the station from tis previous owner then kicked him out of an airlock into deep space.

All by her self

So the guards were lax which allowed the strike team the full ability to move in to the stations control room. The guard weekly reached for his plasma pistol either to kill himself or force the team to kill him no one knew.

Either way he got his wish

One shot the slug taking out most of his head even with the armor. turning it into bloody chunks on the steel deck. The man who shot him moved in disengaging the seals on his helmet as he did. It was a male mean looking but with a face devoid of emotion as he watched what was clearly his team move in and secure the control room.

"Patching into the system now" One of his men said hunched over the main control room working furiously at the main console.

"once your in jam all communications" The man said turning back to the door "the rest of you with me

"lets go find that bitch doctor"

.....................

"unbelievable" Doctor Meiran breathed studying and scribbling down translations on and old fashion pen and paper note book "do you know how rare these markings are even without the map?"

""We've heard" Jase said shifting unable to shake the feeling some thing was about to go wrong. He had done every thing to make sure he wasn't followed yet he couldnt shake the feeling it was about to blow up in his face.

"how long will it take you to translate?" He asked checking his chronometer in his HUD.

"You cant rush this Jase" Doctor Merian hissed glaring at him "dont worry we are secure"

Just then the power went out

"Oh fuck"

"communications are cut sir" One of his soldiers said "nothing but static"

"Good and the doctor?" The man asked stepping over the dead guards and watching the carnage.

"We found her in a bar with some guy ten meters from our position"

"Good" the man said latching his helmet back on

"Some one hand my the rocket launcher lets bury the good doctor in rubble"

The decon shower would only take one at a time. Vera dashed in before Claus could protest. By the time the shower was done she saw Oren arrive at the air lock door, a concerned look plastered on his face. She could see the wild gesturing towards the pocket in which he held his radio. If it wasn't for the sound of the air lock door opening behind her Vera would have wondered what was going on. Instead, she turned to see Jase Crestfield talking, discussing what appeared to be some Serrin symbols in her notebook. Luckily, her guard was too busy palming through the security screen in the corner to notice Vera's arrival.

Reaching down for her plasma gun, Vera took a step forward.

Then the room was plunged into darkness.

"Oh fuck."

The word echoed around the warehouse. It was Cresftield; Vera remembered his voice well. She set her plasma cannon to stun and let off a round to her right. The bright round streaked a path through the darkness to strike the shocked Klugorian in the neck. Darkness returned and she could hear the sound of his meaty body crumpling to the floor.

"Patrick! Patrick, what the fuck is going on!" Merian's voice sounded more annoyed than panicked. There was a low growl and for the first time Vera also wondered what had happened to the lights. Perhaps PEACe were already here; they would have cut the comms before outing the lights. It would be the best way to prevent the lowlives from seeking help.

With a whir and a flicker, the emergency back up lighting phased on. The warehouse was now barely illuminated by the glowing red lights. It was, however, enough for Vera to see everything she needed.

"Crestfield, you're coming with me. Now."

She raised the gun that she had used on the guard and pointed it at Merian, while the other one was pointed at Crestfield.

"Don't bother to intervene Merian; we have no desire to involve you in any of this."

From behind her, Vera could hear Claus and Oren ripping at panels in the decon shower to find the overrides. They both knew their way around the circiutry on a vessel, so she had no doubt they would be there to back her up soon.

"why hello darling" Jase said getting up raising his hands putting them up as he flashed her his charming smile

"no need to point those guns I mean were all friends here" Jase said eyeing her up and down "wow baby your just like I dreamed"

...........

"we are here"

The man raised his hands stopping his team. He reached out feeling with his gloved hand touching the wall for a second as if probing it for weak points. He finally nodded satisfied with himself and brought up the rocket launcher. He aimed down the sight and adjusted his position aiming it sqaure at the walll.

Then he fired

..................

Jase world turned upside down

He shot his leg out kicking the chair at the woman at the same time he snatched up the notebook. The table still had the actual map but getting the translation was arguably more important than.....

Then the world exploded

He watched the wall where the bar was explode glass and drink showering down on him. He watched the shrapnel flying towards the imperial girl and threw himself at her tackling her and slamming her down as the fire pushed into the room.

"Gaurds to me!"

"Fuck this" Jase murmured reaching under the high end carpet and finding the bolt hatch. He opened it letting the air hiss and revealing a ladder built into the side. He grabbed Vera pushing her towards at the same time the mercs began pilling in.

"fucking blood pack pirates!" Jase murmured ducking in and sealing it just as Merians gaurds came in and began exchanging fire with the blood pack pirate forces.

The Lexicon.

There, on the table, no more than five meters away. She could almost touch it. Jase's sweet talk flowed straight over Vera. All she could think about was getting her hands on it.

It all happened so quickly. Jase kicked the chair and snatched up Merian's notebook. The dimly glowing green orb wobbled and rolled as Vera ducked, narrowly escaping impact from the flying chair. She went to take a step forward to retrieve the Lexicon and then there was an almighty bang, the wall to her right exploding in a brilliant glittering mess, flames and glass shards surging towards her. All of her focus had been on the Lexicon, so if it weren't for Jase as he leaped at her, Vera would have been in the path of the flame and glass. Instead, her body was flung to the floor, her head banging the rug beneath her painfully as his body covered hers. He reached around behind her and tore open a hatch moments before the door to the air lock slid open. Her own men were lying dead or unconscious at in the passage way as a horde ofugly and angry looking pirates pushed into the room.

Jase pushed Vera towards the hatch and had it shut above them before she had a chance to protest. Clinging onto the ladder with one hand and foot, sharing the narrow space with the pirate. As the world exploded above them she swore under her breath. This was not good.

"You left the orb up there!" Vera growled, voice pointedly low so it would not be heard above the commotion above them. She stepped up a few rungs, her stomach now at the level of his face as she pressed her ear to the hatch. She couldn't leave here without that orb.

Fuck she smelled good

a combination of sweat and some exotic perfume, her stomach was inches form his mouth and he wanted to badly to push his tongue out and trail it down the flat expense of skin....

The sound of gun fire shook him out of that causing him to jump slightly and grab her leg.

"Get down here" he hissed pulling her and pointing down "unless you want to become molten slag in that armor of yours i suggest we move"

Sure enough seconds later the hatch began to glow as a blow torch was taken to it. Jase didnt bother to wait and see if she was coming instead dropping down to the deck the ladder led to and pushing against his temple.

"Samantha are you there?" Jase asked frowning as a system disconnect screen flashed on his IRIS "Fuck"

"my AI is down" He said turning to her and folding his arms "and the station is being invaded by the blood pack pirates your teammates im guessing died waiting to ambush me which means you and i are effectively on our own"

He pulled out the note book and showed it to her "the orb is just a map this is the translation of said map you help me get off this ship and i will share a copy of it with you IF you and i work together and you dont shot me in the back if you do well"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a match "do we have a deal?" He asked raising an eyebrow

The loud staccato of gunfire continued and Vera swore as she listened in. There were also dozens of footsteps above, heavy metal booted ones. If the orb had fallen then one of the thugs might even crush it. She gritted her teeth at the thought and went to open the hatch.

"Get down here"

Crestfield tugged on her leg and she lost her grip on the ladder. She managed to catch a lower rung as she glared at him. Her annoyance was short lived though, as the edges of the hatch turned red. Jase seemed to struggle with something and then announced that his AI was down, then swore about the Blood Pack Pirates. Vera knew very well what would happen if they found her and managed to get to her identification chip. Her own personal data as chancellor had been encrypted and she now carried Avery's credentials. That was worse though; as Chancellor she was a bargaining chip. As a Special Agent? She was worth less than her gear to the pirates. PEACe wouldn't bargain for her life.

Vera felt a sense of loss eating at her, knowing that the orb was stuck above them in that shitfight. They would have to get it- there was no other way.

Then Jase held up the notebook. Merian's notebook. The fact that the orb was not the Lexicon intrigued her, instead he claimed it was a map with to the Lexicon itself. It made her wonder; the previous evidence they had gone off had talked about the 'path' to the Lexicon. She had always just assumed it was a mistranslation of semantics; perhaps the orb was a map. Surely the Serrins would have better protected their greatest secret. If their planet wasn't well known as such a waste land any old space pirate could have happened across the Lexicon.

"Do we have a deal?" Vera looked at Jase, her gaze assessing as she took in his rather handsome features. The way his eyebrow was cocked made him look as roguish as she thought he was, but he was offering her something she wanted. If the translation turned out to be useless she could get back to her team and infiltrate this base to find it. The Blood Pack Pirates would see it as nothing more than a pretty bauble.

"Luckily for you, I don't rely on AI," Vera said with a grimace as she joined him on the platform and looked around. "My intelligence is all natural." With a wicked grin she turned, taking her weapons out and turning to the passage to their left. This was a D Class Orbit Station. She had studied these during the training she shared with Avery. She knew how to use the service tunnels to get back to the docks.

"My ship is this way." Without waiting for him to follow, Vera jogged off down the tunnel, eager to get some distance between them and the Blood Pack before they broke through the hatch.

"I guess i will take that as a yes" He said shaking his head. He swore at the hatchway above them glowing bright red and jogged forward watching her as she took control of the situation.

"Damn is she hot" he thought to himself before shaking his head and thinking about his current situation. On a ship crawling with pirates, teaming up with a woman who swore to hunt him down (yes he had heard), and without his AI....

He had been in worse

He followed her down a emergency tunnel before noting some thing. He grabbed her shoulder jerking her to a stop as he wordlessly pointed to a air duct to their right. He reached under his boot pulling off the jet booster on it before affixing it to the side of the grate.

He stepped back counting down for her

three

two

one

He hit the booster letting it snap off the grate and slam into the armored merc underneath it. He watched him fall down to the deck and jumped down grabbing the mans plasma shotgun and sighing as he felt a weapon in his hand.

"sorry bout that darling he said turning to her and winking "I just felt a little naked without a gun and not in the good you and i naked kind of way" he said keeping the gun level at the door way.

"your ship should be dead ahead" He noted looking over at the door "your not the only one who has some smarts though i have no doubt its crawling with enemies perhaps you and i should get cozy and take a look before we go in guns blazing" he said grinning at her and nodding at the air lock door.

"beautiful girls first after all"

Vera Starborn

"Do you find your charming wit and cheeky comments usually have women falling at your feet?" Vera asked, pushing past him as she made for the air lock. She, however, had no intention to use it. Instead (thankful for the loud noises already above them) she shot the opposite door three times before they disintegrated. Activating the air lock would alert anyone in control to their use. In this part of the station they were used for emergency purposes only; to stop a fire, or reduce decompression. The Blook Pack pirates would be less concerned about an air lock destruction showing up on their screens than a simple opening, what with their penchant for rockets and flames and all. For Vera and Jase the air lock was nothing more than an obstacle.

"Looks like there is a service grate further up. My ship should be just above that. If we can get up there we can crawl under the ship to get a better idea of what is going on."

Vera jogged ahead to the grate and reached up. It was heavy, but she gritted her teeth and managed to push it up and aside. She wondered whether Avery would have an easier job of it; Vera tried to keep fit and strong, but these kinds of strength tests were not part of her everyday career.

Unfortunately the grate was up too high for her to see just by jumping up. She let out an exapserated breath through her teeth and looked around for something to stand on. The thought of asking Jase, who was taller, to look out for her did occur to her, but she wasn't in the habit of letting other people take control.

"not all the time" Jase admitted watching as she shot the door. He smiled impressed with her abilities "but hey a guy has to stick to what he knows right?" He said smirking and watching as she lifted the grate.

"man this woman could be a game changer" he said eyeing her up and down. She was intelligent smart and knew her way around a gun and a space station. He wanted to ask her if she had ever been a smuggler but instead watched as she tried to look up and see.

"Allow me princess" he said picking her up and sliding his arms around her waist he lifted her until she was sitting on his shoulders and then moved over to the grate. Their combined height let her look and also allowed him the pleasure of feeling her smooth warm powerful thighs....

"see any thing?" He asked looking up at her "is your ship viable?"

Vera chuckled when Jase called her Princess, taking amusement in the irony of the situation. When he lifted her up she felt his hands slide from her waist to settle on her thighs, keeping her steady as she saw on his shoulders. Even though the pants of her armour were thick, she couldn't remember how long it had been since she had been touched in those parts by a man. Normally, she would have told him to remove his hands, that she was perfectly capable of keeping herself upright, but she decided not to. They were warm, strong, and he was good looking. If she was running away from pirates under a false identity, she might as well enjoy it.

After allowing herself a moment of playfulness Vera returned to business mode. She peeped out of the grate and was pleased to see the familiar wheels of her aircraft class around her. She could see a couple of pairs of metal booted feet patrolling the area, but not too many. Looking around she spied an access panel to her right. She frowned as she considered her options.

"Okay," Vera said softly, slipping her legs from Jase's grasp and sliding down his back until her own feet were on the floor. "We have two options."

She righted her clothes as she took a small tool kit from her belt.

"I only saw two of the pirates guarding the three ships in there. We are directly under my ship which is good. There are either only two pirates in the dock, or there are more searching the ships. So, we can either go in, guns blazing, like the space cowboy pirates you seem to emulate, or we can get under the ship, I can access the CPU with this, and get a better idea of where the bastards are before going in. I can also get a read on the vitals of my colleagues to see if I need to recover them before I leave. You can keep a look out while I figure out all of the complex stuff, yeah?"

Vera was talking in a rushed, hushed tone as she had no idea how long they could remain undisturbed for.

"well as much as it might hurt my reputation" Jase said pretending to be upset before chuckling

"I choose option two ready" He said grabbing her by her ass and pushing her up. He waited until she was up before jumping up grabbing the rim of the small entranceway. He grunted and pushed himself up joining her and keeping the grate open.

"No offense princess but im a piss poor lookout with a shotgun" HE said handing her his approiated weapon and taking her gun "dont worry ill take good care of it" he said winking at her before inching forward in a classic duck crawl.

He picked out the best lookout by the ships wing and went prone flipping on the gun sights. He didnt bother to mess with them instead using his IRIS to zoom in and tag the targets. Even with Samantha down the upgrades would allow him to keep track of them himself. She was right there was barely any one in the hanger.

Which had him worried

He was willing to bet none of the ships in here worked and the guards were just to hit any one who was stupid enough to try it. This guy if it was HIM was smarter than that and would have made sure that no one was getting of the station until he captured it.

Vera Starborn

The banter between Vera and Jase was something that Vera rarely got to enjoy. All of her councilors were serious to a fault, and even Tomas held a level of awed respect and obedience towards her. No on ever spokes so freely to her, nor could she joke with someone without then worrying for their lives. She allowed herself a small smile as he boosted her up. She was well aware that his hands were unnecessarily grabby on her arse and she swatted at his fingers as he boosted her through the grate. Vera turned to offer him her hand in assistance, but he was able to get up without any trouble. Not that she was surprised.

Before Vera could argue Jase took one of her plasma blaster and crawled off, leaving behind his shotgun. It wouldn't be a terrible loss if he turned on her- both weapons had their advantages. Instead of dwelling on it (she had a feeling she needn't worry about it at this stage, they needed each other the same amount to escape alive), she crawled off towards the cover panel for the CPU.

This sort of vessel required a special touch to remove the CPU panelling without activating security lock out procedures. She knew the order in which to remove the screws, and she also knew which of the five ports to attach her linking cable too. Within a few moments she had gained access to the ships' controls and pulled their Body Assessment Unit onto her screen. First, she looked up Claus' vitals, only to find there weren't any. She let out a heavy, silent sign and closed her eyes for a moment before trying to find out if Oren was still alive. He was, barely, but judging by his stats he wouldn't be for long. It was possible that he would die any moment. She shelved that information and then focused on getting into the security system.

Her ship was crawling with pirates. They had already begun to deactivate and disassemble it. They had taken the accelorators off line, deactivated the thrusters and already removed the weapons. Typical pirates- they cannibalised anything they could touch.

Except...

A blinking light on her bracers screen gave her hope. The escape pod was still active. For how long, she didn't know, but it was there. She could access the controls from here and program in the destination before they made a run for it. She could even open the outer hatch so that it was ready and waiting for them to jump in. From there it would be an easy jump into space.

If they could get the dock doors open.

She motioned for Jase to come over to her, needing to run the information by him before moving forward.

Jase kept a eye on the pirates watching as they continued ransacking the station. Typical he thought to himself go and take every thing you can. He thought about killing them just on principal but before he could decide one way or the other vera was motioning for him to come over.

He crawled over looking at the information on the computer he sighed and turned eyeing the pirates milling about talking here was to risky so he pointed atr the grate and motioned for
Her to follow him.

"Okay" he said once they were back below "I say we use the scape pod my ships hidden in the astroid field we can use it-"

Before he could say more there was a burst of static in his ear causing him to swear. Seconds later a series of beeps went off followed by another few beeps.

"What the" he murmured before his eyes lit up "its merian an SOS she must be trying to give me her position!"

"What do you think princess?" He said raising am eyebrow at her save the queen of the station or get our ass out of here?"

"I'm not a princess," Vera corrected, rolling her eyes as she thought about their options.

If they managed to retrieve Merian then they would have tied up all of their loose ends. On the other hand, Merian came with her own horde of complications; if the Blood Pack were after her then they would follow Jase or Vera to the ends of the galaxy to retrieve her. Not only that, but Merian's own people would soon get wind of the situation and come after her too. On top of that, Vera was concerned about the dynamic shift when Merian arrived. Merian was crafty and seductive, of that she had no doubt.

"You may be looking for a damsel to save, Crestfield, but I think it is too dangerous. This ship is crawling with Blood Pack. Then they will hunt us down. They may be willing to ignore the escape pod if they think no one important is on board, but if we take Merian with us they will follow us anywhere."

Vera frowned, more at the idea of the trouble they were in than the thought of Merian being left behind, but she hoped Jase couldn't read her mind about that. She didn't want to appear callous. It was a logical decision here, not necessarily a moral one.

"Besides, she is worth more to them alive. If she had debts to pay then she can only do that if she is still in command of Aridia. Plus- I have no intention of getting sucked into whatever shit they have between them. Nor can I risk them thinking I act on behalf of PEACe...."

She crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at him, waiting to see what his line of thinking was.