Space cowboy, When in space, closed for Aluris

[BRIGHTWELL]

The jungle is humid and slowly growing darker. The short days on Marcus 6 are a blessing to Halo. The troubled Trabian had told her of a missing shipment of Koriginite that had disappeared in the jungle near Rasper City. While Koriginite in and of itself is not valuable, it had its uses. And made for a better then average trading product.

As with all of Halo's adventures, it had started in a run down bar called the Rough House. She and Rex had just delivered a load of Blessed Holy Water to the brothers of the Holy Stellular Church on Marcus 6. The pay out was not all that great. It had covered expenses and a small profit. And, Halo noted, it made Rex feel good to do some thing good for the church.

After the delivery Rex had told Halo he had some business to do and would be busy the rest of the day. They would meet up later that evening at the ship, The Star Dreamer. Halo had a way of falling into schemes that got her into trouble. Some times it was local authorities other times it was her deals with outlandish characters that had pissed off Rex. And other times the deal was just outright dangerous.

This time Halo had been drinking a pale ale when a Trabian woman had come into the bar. The woman looked worried and glanced around the bar as if looking for some one. Halo, not one to pass on an opportunity to get in to mischief, asked the woman what was wrong.

The woman told her story of woe. That a shipment of Koriginite had been lost and the woman was the wife of the local trader. She was out looking for her husband to tell him about the missing shipment. Halo had asked her where the Koriginite had come from. The woman then got nervous and looked around the bar. In a low tone she told Halo that the shipment was actually stolen and that a reward had been posted. A 10% finders fee was offered. That amounted to 5,000 credits.

Halo had smiled at the woman and told her to go look for her husband and she would look for the Koriginite herself. The short trip to Rasper City had taken just an hour. Now, Halo found herself in the towering jungle with night closing in.

Halo moves slowly though the jungle looking for signs of broken trees and branches. After two hours she is about to call it a night when a single blinking light about forty feet away catches her attention. She makes her way over to the light. Its a small capsule with markings on it.

Holy Stellular Church
Karmas System
Planet: Trapax 3

Halo closes her eyes and shakes her head. She had done it again. She knew what was going to happen. She would bring this to Rex. He would deliver it to the brothers here on Marcus 6. And for some reason they would have to travel to Trapax 3. Trapax or more correctly the Karmas system is in the Bird's Nest. Home of the nastiest of space pirates, Kromas the Fangcatcher. A close ally to the Gatekeeper. Rex's most hated enemy.

 

[Aluris]

Trapax 3 - not somewhere Arisha had been before. With a grunt she swung herself from the co-pilot's chair, the console in front of her flashing with a confirmation of her having successfully entered the planetary atmosphere. The worst part was over; the hunter leaned against the length of lockers in the hall outside of the cockpit, downing a shot-sized glass of medicine. Over the last few years she'd gotten used to space travel... well, mostly. The reenter still turned her stomach.

"Mekkar?"
The main pilot of the ship was a tall fellow human, who went by the name Coin Lark and had been piloting for Arisha for over three years. They had a good friendship (at least, she'd like to think so), although they both still called each other by their work names, nicknames of a sort. Arisha had chosen 'Mekkar' at seventeen after her first minor contract and it had stuck ever since.

"Lark. Sorry, you know... the usual." Arisha gestured to the empty bottle, wrinkling her nose before she put it back in her locker.
"You should be used to it by now. Do you need to see another doctor after this?"
"It's not a serious medical condition. Plenty of people have this."

Lark shrugs, his eyes moving back to the monitoring screen above the door. Arisha knew him well enough to know he'd be doing that for the next hour at least, routinely checking the different streams on the board until the spaceport could ink them in. It meant she could relax until they were planetside... this medication made her drowsy, so most likely she'd spend it lying down, looking over the details of the request over and over until her brain finally allowed her to nap.

Karmas System
Planet: Trapax 3

It was unusual for someone to ask a bounty hunter to rescue someone, but not unheard of. Who else was better at tracking down one individual in a huge galaxy?
"Wake me up when we hit destination." Arisha finally said, scratching the back of her neck before ducking into her private bunkroom. "I want to be fresh and ready for this one. In, out, payment, back home before we know it."

 

[BRIGHTWELL]

Holy Stellular Church Marcus 6

The white stone with the alabaster statuary always impressed Rex. The rough cut stone walkway lead to the main entry of the sanctuary. He walks forward with great care. Aware of the rules that had been in place for hundreds of years. As he reaches the large heavy wooden door, he pauses. He turns slowly and looks back at Halo. She is carrying the capsule in her hands like it is to be an offering to the holy father himself.

Rex takes a breath and raise the large brass knocker and strikes the door. The echo thunders though the court yard behind the doors. He waits for some time and then raises it a second time. A thin voice from behind the door states firmly. " That has no need my son, for I am here."

Rex lowers the knocker slowly so it rests on the brass plate. The small pedestrian door opens and a brother in a brown cossock emerges. He looks at Rex with bright blue eyes. "Why have you come here, my son?"

Rex bows slightly. "I feel one of your brothers may be in danger."

The brother looks past Rex and looks at Halo. He sees the capsule and moves quickly toward it. Halo thrusts out her arms and presses the capsule into the monk's wrinkled fingers. "I..I found this in the jungle." Halo stammers.

The monk looks the capsule over and sees the stenciled writing.

Holy Stellular Church
Karmas System
Planet: Trapax 3

He nods his head. "This is a matter for Father Claudious!" states firmly. He moves toward the gate. He looks up and smiles at Halo. " You are a wayward child, but the church owes you a debt of gratitude. Follow me inside, I will find Father Claudious and hi will directs to a coarse of action" The bother monk lead them to a small room and left them.

After what seemed to Rex a long period of time the door opens and there stands Father Claudious and two other monks. They are dressed in black robes with the markings of the Church security force.

Father Claudious smiles at Rex. He turns slightly and nods and smiles toward Halo. "I understand that you are the one that found the message capsule from our endangered member."

Halo lowers her head and quietly replies "Yes Father I found it in the jungle."

Father Claudious nods his head and returns to look at Rex. " Rex you have been a servant of the church before. I had your bio researched. You are just the right man, at the right time in the right place. The heavenly father of the stars placed you here for just the reason he allow knows."

Rex rubs his chin and looks at the head monk. " I gather you have a mission for me, Father?"

"Yes my son, it seems that Father Trasis and three of his acolytes have been taken by Xorieses the Fang catcher. And they are in great peril. I need you to save the good Father and his assistants. It call for you to travel to the Karmas System. As you well know the church rewards those who come to the church's aide in times of need."

Rex looks at Halo, then back to the head monk. "Yes Father, I know the church will be there when the time comes. It has in the past and it always will in the future." Rex looks at Halo. " Well it looks like we are heading back to the Bird's Nest, again!"

 

[Aluris]

Arisha ended up crashing out for a good seventy minutes; by the time she was finally roused by the ship alarm system in her bunk room, the clouds had dissipated from around the Clockwork Seven - her ship - and the spaceport was already in sight. Ruffling her dark hair, she pulled a face in the stained mirror of her tiny ensuite bathroom. (The size was worth the privacy it granted her) Her hair needed cutting again... she preferred a tight bob, although now it was messy, curled and thick strands reaching her shoulders. Green eyes flashed back at Arisha as she checked herself out further whilst washing out her mouth, the sprinkle of freckles across her nose the only 'marring' feature on her lightly-tanned skin. She was naturally pale, but her work had her working outside too much for it not to affect her pigment eventually.

"Lark! ETA!" She shrieked out, opening up the window in the door so her voice would carry.
"Ten minutes." Lark replied evenly, as calm as ever as he organised their port placement.

Groaning, Arisha spat out the mouthwash and leaned her forehead against the cool surface of the wall. In those ten minutes she'd wrap on her body armour, recheck her identification passes, and then covertly have to make her way out to the given coordinates... for whatever sod she was supposed to rescue.

"Mekkar, move your ass out. I want you out of here as soon as we touch base-"
"Yes, I know. On it."

 

[BRIGHTWELL]

NGC 2207 and IC 2163

"This is merchant ship Star Dreamer, license number IS789-2-456 to Space Station Karmas do you copy?" Rex inquires.

This is Karmas space port control, go ahead, Star Dreamer.

"Karmas control, requesting docking instructions." Rex replies.

Star Dreamer be advised that lower level docking requires preapproval.

"Roger that Karmas control. A pylon docking will do just nicely. We are looking for privacy anyway. Rex say with a smile.

Pylon docking is for VIP's Star Dreamer.

"Thank you Karmas control, we are envoys for the Holy Stellular Church." Rex states.
There is a short pause as the controller checks with his supervisor. Then continues. Star Dreamer you are cleared to dock at pylon 6. Enjoy your stay in the Karmas System. This is NGC 2207 Karmas space port control clear.

Rex turns and looks at Halo. " What is NGC 2207?"

Halo shakes her head. "Rex! My god some times I think you would fly into a worm hole backwards if I were not here to navigate for you."

Rex smirks at her then retorts. " I'd like to see you fly into a worm hole backwards"

Halo returns her gaze to her controls. And mutters " I did once with two fingers."

Rex looks confused. "What?"

Halo closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "Pylon 6 coming up on your left. Switching to auto." Halo pauses. "Rex, NGC 2207 is the galaxy designation for this end of the Bird's Nest. The other galaxy is IC 2163. I thought you knew this stuff!"

" Damn Halo, I just fly the Star Dreamer. I let you do the NAV stuff." Rex says faking annoyance.

"And docking in....5....4...3...2...1. There is bumping noise. Then the docking clamps lock the ship in to place. " Welcome to Karmas space port. I'll be in the Double Dipper Bar level 3 if you need me." Halo disconnects her harness and looks over to Rex and blows him a kiss.

"Yeah up yours! You're going to the bar and I'm going to church. Some deal this is!" He says shaking his head.

 

[Aluris]

Karmas Spaceport - not the largest, not the smallest. Just another typical port, and Arisha did her best to fit into the crowd as much as she could. Her unruly hair was pulled back underneath a headscarf, worn over her usual light armour that was fastened over a skin-tight bodysuit. Although her pistol was locked to her side, it was deactivated to follow the regulations of a public space... but her knife, kept in her boot, was something that didn't require an 'on' switch.

Getting through the customs was easy enough due to Arisha's lack of planetside luggage, although as usual, the various aliens gave her the side-eye as she made her way through the crowds. In particular, the security guards - she self-consciously tucked stray strands of hair beneath the cloth by her ears, skirting her gaze to the floor. They're just lucky my hit-list doesn't include them.

Despite Lark's enthusiasm for her to get out of the radius of the port, Arisha decided checking out the local bar life would be better - both for her nerves, and getting an idea of what to expect out there. No one filed a rescue report without there being some fall-out, and a chance to listen to local gossip may be the thing to save her life. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Lemon." The woman requested at the bar.
"The fruit, or-"
"A drink." Arisha interrupted, with an exaggerated sigh, her accent slipping into a northern reach one that she'd picked up three years prior. A memorable, long-term mission.
The grey-skinned waitress rolled her eyes, extended elfin ears twitching as she went behind the bar to fetch whatever 'lemon' translated into here. It may be unusual, but Arisha just didn't like to be intoxicated before shooting a pistol. A rule not many of her kind followed.

 

[BRIGHTWELL]

Double Dipper Bar

Halo cracked the hatch and is greeted by two smiling faces. "Greeting emissary!" said the pale faced official. "Welcome to Space Station Karmas, how may we ease the burdens of your journey?"

Halo bows slightly. " I am the junior member of the mission. The main emissary is in commander of this ship. His illustrious name is Rex-which means king in the ancient language of his people. And his formal name is Lionheart- this has two means. The first was a mighty king also of ancient time Richard the Lion Heart. The second is that the name of the spiritual soul and blood pump of a great jungle beast.'

Halo pauses to let that soak in. Then she smiles and hands the official her E-Book. "As you can see, I'm a Blue Neon. I'm not allowed to return to my home world. I'm an outcast, taken in by the Emissary. I am his humble servant, his navigator." Halo bows again and moves around the officials. They smile brightly and hands her back her E-book. " We will wait for Emissary Lion Heart. " He says looking at the now empty hatch.

Halo takes the people mover down to the main deck of the station. At first the crowds are thin, then as the noise of the station rises she realizes she has walked into the main bazar. Where merchants sold their wares. After making a few inquires she found that the Double Dipper was two levels down. She makes her way to a double stairway and descends the two levels.

As Halo reaches the third level she sees the Double Dipper Bar and makes her way inside. She scouts the place with a keen eyes for feminine source of sexual pleasure. She spots a well shaped woman in body armor over a skin-tight bodysuit. "Oh how sexy!" She says under her breath. She walks over toward her and unzips her loose fitting orange jumpsuit so her blue cleavage is in plain sight.

She hears the woman order "Lemon-a drink!" Halo moves in next to her and orders. " A plate of blue crabs and a tankard of Gremlin Screams. " Halo smiles at the woman. "The blue crab makes my nipples hard and the Gremlin Screams makes my pussy wet. Do you like wet pussy?"

The grey-skinned waitress with the elfin ears looks at her with a shocked expression that masks her face. Halo just gives her a slight smile and looks back at the woman with the head scarf.

 

[Aluris]

Arisha didn't even bother to look at her new guest. Another desperate alien.

"If you're meaning the animal, then not really. I prefer them dry." She finally answered, her eyes following the faintly-distressed movements of the waitress as she backed away. "Do you make a habit out of asking such frivolities of strangers?"
As soon as the words were out, she regretted them. This could be a local after all, and she needed to chat these people up for the information she needed. Still... pride stopped her from immediately turning and apologising for her demeanor. Some people just needed a sharp report to cool their jets, and Arisha genuinely did not appreciate being hit on. Did she have a sign above her saying 'Trying to do a job, please distract?'

Perhaps the bar hadn't been such a good idea after all.

 

[BRIGHTWELL]

Double Dipper Bar/Halo-Holy Stellular Church Space Station Karmas/ Rex

Double Dipper Bar/Halo

Halo leans against the bar. Looking intensely at the woman in body armor and headscarf. " Locals don't carry weapons on their own station. They have the Republican Guards and Karmas security for that service. No, your from out of town. You order, but they don't know you. So that also adds to the fact that your from some where else. No one comes to the Bird's Nest unless they have business here. And the biggest business around here is the Fangcatches. "

The grey-skinned waitress with the elfin ears, delivers the tankard of Gremlin Screams and a large plate of blue crab. " That is 180 credits!"

Halo opens a pocket on her jumpsuit and drops 200 credits in coin on the bar top. She picks up her tankard and slides her hand under the plate. She turns to the woman as she leaves. " Of you want to talk about Fangcatchers come over to my table." Halo smiles at her as she walks away. " Anyway I don't ask for frivolities of strangers. I offer them! I'm a Blue, its what we do!"
.............................................................................................................
Holy Stellular Church Space Station Karmas/ Rex

Rex greets the Karmasian officials smartly. He begs off a lengthy discussion pleading urgent church business. At the security check point he flashes his Republic Bounty Hunter badge and they don't even ask a question. Rex just states.
"Official Republic business!" And walks through the check point. He moves through the crowd till he finds an information display.

Holy Stellular Church of Space Station Karmas Section B16 Rex looks around and gets his bearings. He moves toward Section 16. Soon he is standing in the entrance of the Holy Stellular Church of Space Station Karmas. He is greeted by a brother in a tan cassock. " I'm here about Father Trasis and the three of his acolytes that have been taken by Xorieses the Fangcatcher."

 

[Aluris]

The bustle of the bar swallowed up the blue alien only partially, the strange woman apparently ensuring her table choice would be seen by Arisha as she sat away. It took all of Arisha's inner strength to not smack her over the back of her smug head as she walked from her. People like this were the worst, she thought sourly. But mostly it was bitterness at being identified so quickly. It was with that self-conscious thought that she shifted her pistol back under a belt layer... to perhaps ward off other suspicious beings from knowing her before she knew them. A little late, but better than nothing.

Arisha stayed where she was for as long as her nerves could take it, her stomach roiling with the ifs and buts of approaching the pretentious blue who could leave at any moment. She'd never heard of these 'Fangcatchers' before - sounded like some sort of new age pop band, if she was honest - but it could be the information she's looking for.

Or it could be a rabid fangirl of music looking to recruit. Either way.

Drumming her fingers on the counter, Arisha waited another excruciating minute before finally sighing, pushing herself off her chair and making her way over to the stranger.
"You have five minutes of my time." She stated, sitting down heavily. "If you know so much, prove it."

 

[BRIGHTWELL]

Double Dipper Bar

Halo pulls the leg off the crab and snaps the leg in half and sucks the meat out of the exoskeleton. She is working on her third leg, when the woman from the bar struts over . "You have five minutes of my time!" She lands heavily in the chair and looks intently at Halo. "If you know so much, prove it."

Halo snaps the leg of the crab and pulls the leg apart and looks at the woman. She pulls the zipper down on the front of her orange jumpsuit and rubs the crabmeat over her nipple. "What a taste?"

The woman starts to stand up. Halo gets serious and before the woman's hands leave the armrests. Halo raises her voice a bit. "Xorieses!" That seems to have caught her attention. Halo lowers her voice. " Your wearing a multi-phase Hypersonic L62 pistol. Your over compensating for being a woman. My boss carries a Republic P-35 and some times a P-38. In your boot is a Trapian bone knife. I had one too. I lost it in a card game to a Mechlinite transport Captain. The bitch was holding four blue diamonds "

Halo watches the woman sit down again. She looks a little stunned. Halo continues. " Your a bounty hunter. I get that. Relax, have a crab leg. Your nipples might get hard too."

 

[Aluris]

"Overcompensating for being a woman? By wearing two weapons?" Arisha shook her head, not bothering to counter the woman's (correct) assumption of her career path. "You either haven't met many hunters, or you met liars. I'm actually pretty under-geared for this work."
Arisha decided not to give the alien any satisfaction by reacting to her behaviour; she did, however, take a crab leg.
"So, you work for someone." She continued conversationally, snapping the snack in two between her teeth. "I'm assuming you have approached for a reason. Stop with the foreplay, get to the point. You had the same call-out?"
Even though the bar was quiet, Arisha lowered her voice and leaned forward as she spoke. It was bad practice to speak openly about business, even if the addressee was a blue alien who apparently had a penchant for sharing dinner with her nipples.

 

[BRIGHTWELL]

Call out?

Halo almost choked on her crab meat. "Callout? It was a bloody good fuckup if you ask me." Seeing that the woman could not be seduced easily, she zippers up her jumpsuit. " I was hunting Koriginite in a fuck 'n jungle. And there sitting forty feet in front of me is this bloody blink 'n light."

Halo breaks off another crab leg. "Of course I bring it to Rex and he delivers it to the church and well, here sits my ass on the edge of the fuck 'n Birds Nest. Again!" She shakes her head. "It was all so much easier, just dancing and servicing the ladies sexual needs. Then I fall off the fuck 'n stage and bust my leg. After that my stock plunged. And trust me sister. I was bringing in 2 to 3 k every time I took those ladies into my love nest. After that I was give 'n blow jobs just to eat."

Halo leans back and looks at the woman and ponders. " I think you misunderstood what I meant earlier, about over compensating for being a woman. Hell on Trekulon 5 I had a Republic M-2 sniper rifle, Mitchner assault triple phase pulse rifle, a Carlson hand blaster, a Badger knife and two lock blades. I understand the need for carrying good equipment." Halo leans to the side and looks at the L62.

"What I meant was your L62. Sure its puts a nice hole in your target and it defeats a lot of basic body armor. But its heavy as hell and kicks like a mule. Its stabilizer gyro tends to stick and the front sight is too shot to align a shot. Its great for in close fighting, but over 50 yards....forget about it!"

 

[Aluris]

"Maybe I just like close-combat." Arisha retorted, her eyes narrowing. "You assume a lot for someone who knows little."
Again, she regretted the outburst, but whoever this bitch was - she knew too much. Perhaps someone to test her skills, to tag her, or just some know-it-all who wanted to distract her so someone else got the target. Shit. She should have thought of that before.

Standing up, Arisha dismissed the woman with a wave of her hand before walking off, her armoured boots clunking against the floor with firm taps. She felt some of the other patrons watching her, but she ignored them to leave the bar, her eyes scanning the spaceport crowds before she adjusted her headscarf to cover more of her hair. Stop wasting time, Arisha. Get on the trail.
With that, she did her best to disappear into the crowds of people, hoping to lose the strange blue alien and whoever she represented amongst the chaos.

 

[BRIGHTWELL]

Holy Stellular Church of Space Station Karmas

The Holy Stellular Church of Space Station Karmas Is a small out post almost at the edge of Section B16. There are three brothers that served at the small sanctuary. Brother Thomas was the most senior. He has been with the order 5 years. Brother Theodosius had the middle watch. He has been in the order two and a half years. The night watch is covered by Brother Zephyrinus, who has just been elevated from a novice.

Brother Zephyrinus has not yet received his new garments from the church supply center. This is not unusual, outposts are some of the last to get new supplies. And Brother Zephyrinus is confident that it will be only a matter of time before his new brown cassock would arrive. Till then he would wear his tan cassock. Early prays had been said and a short inventory of the small library had also been completed. When a single man walks into the sanctuary.

He is rather tall and rugged looking, He is deeply tanned with dark hair. He looks serious in his manner and commanding in nature. He looks firmly at the bother. " I'm here about Father Trasis and the three of his acolytes that have been taken by Xorieses the Fangcatcher." He looks around some then looks back at Brother Zephyrinus. " Well, who is in charge here? My name is Rex Lionheart captain of the Star Dreamer. Republican Bounty Hunter of Criminals, and entrusted envoy of Father Claudious of Marcus 6."

Brother Zephyrinus blinks and looks at the bounty hunter. "You have come a long way!"

 

[Aluris]

Arisha blinked at the sunlight outside, the twin suns of the planet beating down on her harshly. Snapping goggles over her eyes from under her headscarf, the woman kept her head down as she began to move away from the spaceport, activating her comm bead as she stalked her way into the city.
"Lark?"
"What is it?"
"I'm properly planetside now. Slight delays, but I'm back on schedule."
"Find out anything?"
"No."

Lark cut the connection, and Arisha disconnected her comm again before continuing. The adrenaline of the hunt began to pump through her as she scoured the nearby buildings before walking past them purposely, ignoring the eyes of anyone watching her. Whilst she made her way to the nearby outskirts, the words of the stranger came back to her... Fangcatchers. What the fuck were they? Arisha tried to remember if the alien had said anything else, but apparently, not anything worth remembering. With a hiss of frustration, she turned her walk into a jog and moved out of the main streets.

 

[BRIGHTWELL]

Double Dipper Bar/Halo

Double Dipper Bar back room casino

Halo looks at her cards. Three reds and a yellow and a blue. Not a great hand. it is a small pot just 250 credits. She is not sweating out this hand. The other four players have been less lucky. The local girl a Thebian, had control of the bet. She is cautious and playing poorly. She is down 560 credits. The Matrian dressed in bright red made slurping noises when she drank from her cup. She was doing alright, she was up 175 credits. The one that Halo is watching is the human woman.

Dora Slaibok known as the 'Busdriver', her bright yellow ship is well know it the galaxy. She had more connections then most of the intel agencies. Technically she is a merchant. But the bright yellow ship was more of a people mover. Or more accurately a people smuggler. The other player is lesser known that just wondered into the game. She bets lightly and folds quickly. She is out of this hand. Halo starts to think she is a grade 'C' spy.

Always looing for an edge, Halo looks side ways at Dora. "So what do you hear Dora?" Halo knows Dora will only say what her employers what her to say.

Dora looks at her and gives her a knowing look. Raybob's is having a sale on cloud tractors. Ah, Arrgiols is moving into the Janus sector. Dora pauses and puts her card down on the table. But the big news is that Xorieses the Fangcatcher is in the Holus sector.

Halo lays her cards down on the table also. " Xorieses the Fangcatcher? I thought he was here in the Karmas System."

Dora smiles and looks at the grade 'C' spy. "Yes he was. He found what he was after and moved deeper in to the 'Nest" Halo nods her head." I fold!"

"Its not your bet!" The Matrian cries out. Halo shrugs. " Sorry!" She stands up and winks at Dora. "Thanks for the game ladies."