Katheeri

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel's mouth became crooked at the sight of Renard's dishes, while he looked on at his pathetic venison steak. He started cutting it and eating it by himself angrily, although he kept his emotions almost totally hidden due to his mastications. However, his vexations could be seen in the aggressive manner in which he cut the venison.

~

Roy, being interrupted from tuning his guitar, picked up, on his console, an attempted breach into the armory. He zoomed the camera in to find that Shepherd, the Cerinian, was attempting to gain access to the armory, although she clearly failed. He shook his head, and went back to tuning his guitar.

~

Elizabeth opened her eyes, breathing deeply. She was disturbed by two distinct bangs coming from the other side of the armory doors. She turned on the holographic display to see Shepherd waiting on the other side, hoping for entry. Elizabeth opened the doors.

"Hey, Cerinian," said she, wiping her forehead.

[Sylono]

"Miss Elizabeth?" Shepherd greeted the husky with an awkward wave, she had been readying to bang on the door twice more.

"Getting some practice in, are you?" The vixen guessed noting the husky's worn state as she stepped in, she scanned the room for a suitable location to set her weighty bag down. Spying something she could set the rucksack on, she walked up and did just that.

"I hope I'm not interrupting."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Oh no," said Elizabeth, shaking her head, "no interruptions. And yeah, I just finished a practice run with some holograms." Elizabeth stepped back, anticipating Shepherd's entering of the armory.

~

Korben examined the wound with his scanner. Although small, it managed to deliver a glancing blow to Bohdan's small intestine. Worried that it received damaged, Korben opted to place Bohdan in a Med-pod just to be safe.

"Pod," ordered Korben. Bohdan grumbled as the two of them walked to an open Med-pod, its capsule revealing a seductive soft bedding inside. Bohdan laid inside, his impressive body frame fitting snugly in the large pod. The pod closed, and Korben began scanning. The pod revealed some internal damage, but it was mostly superficial. The most worrisome injury was minor scraping to the small intestine, which was quickly repaired. Within a few moments, the capsule opened, and Bohdan stepped out.

"Am I finished yet, Korben?" Bohdan asked. Korben examined him briefly from head to toe.

"You are," answered Korben. "Don't eat." Bohdan rolled his eyes, and left the infirmary. Korben followed, but however he deviated from his superior's path, and went down to the mess hall. The door opened, where Korben stood in it, examining Aura intently.

[Sylono]

"Holograms... Sounds fun." She said as she took a seat next to her gear. Reaching into the bag and pulled out a weapon, a shotgun to be exact, the vixen began inspecting it. An insignia bearing the words 'Macbeth police department' was molded into the gun's grip, it's sights were basic but that was expected. She then checked the weapon's charge, finding a lower grade type charge that most law enforcement were issued.

She deflated slightly, disappointed, though she expected that to be the case. If the charges weren't military grade, that meant the vixen was going to have to swap out the intake and a portion of the other innards of the weapon.

After figuring out what she wanted to do with the stolen gun, a thought occurred to her. It was a question, a distracting question that she couldn't rid herself of after her visit to the infirmary. Taking her attention from what she was doing, Shepherd sighed and looked at the husky.

"Elizabeth, you've been a mercenary for a while, correct?" Shepherd asked rhetorically, "would you mind giving me an opinion on something?" The husky was observably older than herself, so it wasn't much of a stretch that she might have some thoughts on the matter on the vixen's mind.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Elizabeth sighed, and was slightly flattered that Shepherd asked an opinion from her. She turned to the curious Cerinian.

"Well..." started the experienced husky. "You need to let all your affiliations melt away, as a mercenary. Choosing a side in this business called war is a very risky and very foolish decision. Job opportunities dry up. Enemies are made. Expectations are set. As a mercenary, you need to be fluid, and changing with the winds, so to speak." Now, Elizabeth pulled up a chair next to Shepherd and sat down beside her.

"You're rather young, I can tell," said Elizabeth. "You've got the energy, the talent, and above all, the skill set. Skills get you far. Never stop honing them. Every experience is a learning experience, even the most mundane missions. And above all, learn from the few mistakes you try not to make, because although failure makes you think about things, it can spit you out as a corpse."

Elizabeth made one final remark. "Oh, and if you intend on having a family or friends, make sure they're far from you. This job can get personal, and if you lose your family, especially to rivals on the job, it can break you. Just look at Fox McCloud."

[Sylono]

She reflexively frowned at the mention of the famous mercenary. "The big name who took up his father's legacy, right?"

Even if the example person wasn't one the cerinian enjoyed being reminded existed, she had to admit the fox's sorry history was a good cautionary tale to keep in mind.

"Hmph, I haven't spoken to my family in a while," Shepherd said as she began focusing on the gun once more, while adding, "I wasn't exactly sure where any of us stood anyway way."

Retrieving and activating her knife, she began removing any identifying marks. When she finished she set the knife aside and grabbed the electronic multi-tool and began disassembling the weapon, placing all the bits into two groups, "keeping" and "replacing".

the weapon wasn't too complicated in it's design, yet she proceeded with some caution, the innards of the gun weren't things she wanted to have springing out and breaking.

"Would you take a job of virtue, even if there was a good chance you wouldn't be paid by the end of it?" She spoke up once again without looking the husky in the eye.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Of course," said Elizabeth, nodding. "We're lead by a priest, after all. And it doesn't hurt to have a sense of proper morals once in a while. It keeps you connected with the sane mind, as well as a steady connection of reliable friends and associates. Not many people want to work with a sociopath, even if they pay good money."

Elizabeth looked down to Shepherd's work on the shotgun she had, converting it to fire higher power energy shells. "You know how to disassemble guns, I see." She leaned in a bit closer to examine Shepherd's craftsmanship further. "And you know how to modify them. Where'd you learn that?"

[Zaphyr Stone]

Zefran was in awe over the spread. He had never seen anything quite like it. Each sight and smell left him wanting more. It wasn't food; it was art.

"You're quite the cook." Aura smiled, "Thank you, Renard. Everything looks wonderful."

"I almost don't want to eat it. It looks so nice." Zefran ooo'd and awe'd.

----

Laika nodded in understanding. "Well, Tiger, I'm currently in need of new employment. Do you know of anywhere that would take a hard worker with police experience?" She asked with a knowing grin.

She was determined to learn more about this. There was more going on than either of them knew. She could feel it.

[Tiger Carson]

"I just happen to." Tiger grinned in his response, showing all four of his fangs and some of his rear teeth on the right side. "This employer needs someone with some deep and long experience with the law, and some of it's intricacies.  He'll also be happy to know you can take care of yourself in a bind." He leaned his jaw a bit towards her in hinting, specifically the side she decked him on.

[Sylono]

"A few places; extranet, the workshop in the academy I attended, personal fiddling that I could sneak... my 'mother'." Shepherd listed off her many educational sources as she further stripped the gun down. Once the more techical bits such as the plasma ignition, internal heatsink and magnetic accelorators were removed and set into the "keeping" pile, Shepherd moved on to the things she wouldn't be needing of the weapon's old design.

"I started at eleven, I believe." She wore an amused smile at that, well, the cerinian looked eleven when she started.

"This heavy blaster right here," She paused and un-holstered the gun on her leg, and set it where she found free space, in case the husky wanted a closer look at a finished work of hers, "was my first personally customized build."

"Um..." She gently scratched her cheek in slight embarrassment, before admitting: "It's the first one that worked, if I'm being honest."

When all was done, Shepherd was left with three main parts: The buttstock, the frame/receiver and the barrel. Reaching inside the rucksack, the vixen withdrew a simple marker and began making lines around the gun.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel had enough of eating. "F--k this sh-t," he said under his breath. Pawel impaled a large piece of the venison steak with his knife and left the room, not even wasting the energy to observe Renard's food. He walked out of the room angrily, but barreled through Sandor as if he was simply dust. "Out of my way, bird-dog." Sandor looked at him nastily.

"What went down in your alley?!" Sandor yelled to Pawel as the latter walked down the corridor. Sandor dusted off his bare chest and went into the mess hall. He noticed a nicely cooked venison steak sitting helplessly on a table on the far side of the hall. Sandor's eyes became glossy with wonder, and he rushed to the table. The "bird-dog" began eating the steak happily. carving piece after piece and placing it in his snout to eat.

~

Elizabeth heard her various sources for knowledge, nodding at each once sounded off. She was a bit taken aback when Shepherd mentioned her mother, but shrugged it off, assuming she came from some sort of military or law enforcement family. Elizabeth picked up the heavy blaster Shepherd put down for her to examine. The handiwork was a bit rough, but functional. It seemed very sturdy, if weighted, in Elizabeth's hand. She put it back down.

"So, ah, I'm finished with the practice room," said she. "You can use it now."

[Renardfrost]

Ren blinked a bit as Pawel huffed past him. It then occurred to him that he had never really noticed the man before, leaving the fox to shrug.
 

" It's fine. Eat up." He said, crossing his arms as he sat down he felt off... something felt off about titania.... Something just felt so wrong.. this couldn't be that easy... Trigger had to have pointed him here on purpose... but for what?

Even The rumor felt wrong.. Yes those flowers bloomed wherever his father stay for too long. But in a Desert world? why make himself so obvious? He barely thought about it right now, but since he gave that heading, it was too late to ask for a change in direction.

Renard Shook his head, despite himself. His heart was pounding, his head was beginning to hurt. He retreated to the kitchen for a glass of water.

" Excuse me." he mumbled as he stumbled past the Sandor.

[Sylono]

"Thank you, I will need to put this through a stress test eventually." She said, reaching into one of the pouches on her belt and retrieving a dark pair of goggles. "A little practice of my own couldn't hurt too."

Placing on the goggles and returning her focus back to the now marked up weapon, Shepherd retrieved her knife and activated once more. "Miss Elizabeth, you may want step back somewhat, or find a welding mask."

"Now I really wish I didn't lose my keffiyeh..." She mumbled, expecting a stray spark to come off and leave her with a patch of fur on her face to regrow.

Inching her blade's heated edge towards the lines she left on the shotgun, Shepherd carefully began "cutting".

 

[Kurt]

"Any new information on the events?"

"Sir we found a matching energy signal , the source is weak, but it's there."

"Where is it private?"

"On the surface. A Hospital."

"Hmmmm..." 116 thought for a moment running her left hand down her right arm, the runes in both arms glowed a dull gold. "We can't go to the surface, but I want full Biometric scans. I want to know every living thing in that room!"

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Elizabeth stood up and stepped back, as Shepherd requested. She observed the hazardous remodeling the Cerinian was doing to her shotgun, the heat and sparks warding off Elizabeth from further, closer inspection.

~

Despite being sat down for only a few moments, the venison steak was nearly gone. Sandor's appetite was that insatiable. However, he did receive some help from Pawel before his departure.

~

Bohdan arrived on the bridge, and sat down in his command chair. Roy and Jacob looked behind them to see their commander, although he was wounded.

"Colonel, are you alright?" asked Jacob, noticing the stab wound. Roy was equally surprised.

"Sandor," said Bohdan, easily explaining the wound. Roy and Jacob uttered a collective "Ahh..." and returned to their consoles.

[Zaphyr Stone]

The pair of katheeri glanced at each other curiously.

"Well?" Aura's eyes glittered in amusement.

"Ah, please, ladies first." Zefran grinned somewhat nervously.

Having gone from having no one his age to interact with to suddenly a handful, mostly girls on top of that, Zefran found his social skills playing catch-up.

Aura eyed the salad first, stabbing a leaf of lettuce with a delicate hand and taking a dainty bite. She smiled on satisfaction.

"This is delicious! The blueberry really comes through, but not like a dessert. I'm going to need to remember this."

"Hmmm, my turn." Zefran went for the pilaf first, immediately enthused by the flavors, "Ren, have you considered a position as a ship's cook? I bet I could convince Antoine to hire you." He laughed, "This beats canned ravioli any day."

----

Laika laughed. "Good to know! Should I consider that my résumé?"

"Excuse me, Mr. Carson?" A nurse approached the pair, "You have an incoming call."

[Tiger Carson]

"Yes, and consider it accepted." Tiger told Laika with a chuckle, he then turned to the nurse when the pair was approached. "Oh, thank you." Tiger replied, having a feeling it was probably from General Pepper. "Patch it through a secure line here if you would, please."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel gazed out of the large plasma window of the observation deck, one deck directly below the bridge. From the cushioned red and gray chair he sat in, he saw the stars, glittering like candles in the massive cathedrals his parents brought him to during his youth. Their black backdrop hid the monsters and myths of the Universe, just waiting for an adventurer to stumble across them. Someone like Pawel. Out there, somewhere, was the legendary Aiolius, its wondrous technologies and riches ripe for the picking. Pawel was going home with something from Aiolius, and he did not care if bodies had to be dropped in order for that to be.

Pawel's cell phone rang, which caught him by surprise. The caller must have a subspace phone, like Pawel does. He answered it.

"Hello?" asked Pawel. The voice of Pawel's sister, Antonia, called him over the phone.

"Paul, it's Toni. I really nee-"

"Toni, no." Pawel said.

"Paul, lemme-"

"Toni! Not now." Antonia sighed.

"Paul, if you keep running around like this and being absent from our lives, and you try to come back, one day, we won't open the door." There was a long pause.

"Yeah," said Pawel.

"God, Paul... Just come home soon."

The two of them exchanged good byes, and they ended the call.

"Goddamn," uttered Pawel quietly. His phone rang yet again in his hands, and he answered it once again. It was a certain underworld celebrity who called him.

"Paul, it's Wolf. I'd like you to know that our offer is still on-"

"Go f--k yourself," Pawel said, interrupting Wolf. He then hung up.

[Sylono]

Part way through the improvised welding, Shepherd set both the knife and whatever was left of the gun aside. Growing tired of stopping and patting down any part of her face or neck she thought a spark may have strayed, she unzipped and took off her jacket, then threw it around her muzzle and neck. A makeshift facial protection, if there ever was one.

With that, she went back to work.

"Titania's our next destination, if you weren't informed." Shepherd stated as she started on shortening the barrel.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Uh-huh," said Elizabeth, putting on her sunglasses to protect her eyes. She stood a healthy distance away from Shepherd as she worked.

"So, why are we going to a sandy ball full of old ruins?"

[Zaphyr Stone]

The nurse, a lemur, nodded in understanding. "Of course. There's a secure line you can use up by the nurses' station. If you'll follow me?"

"I'll keep an eye on the beastie." Laika made herself comfortable, "I'll still be here when you come back."

[Tiger Carson]

"Okay." Tiger said to the nurse with a nod.  He then turned to Laika, "Alright then, he's all yours until I get back." He said to her, then turned to the nurse again. "Let's go." he said, ready to follow her to said station.

[Sylono]

"With the destruction of Aura's portal, our trail to Aiolius runs quite cold... and she says she doesn't know any other way back." Her voice came out a touch muffled as she spoke.

"Mr. Renard's family, however, are somehow involved with the legend," As she explained, the knife worked it's way through the gun's metal. "according to him, Titania is our next location."

A clang rang as the barrel hit the floor and the vixen placed a foot on it to keep it from rolling away. Now she was left with the buttstock, it was wood, that was a bit of a rarity in this age so it felt wrong to damage the thing. It was likely she wouldn't need it again so the cerinian set her knife aside, and began detaching the wooden piece with her multi-tool.

"My only objection is to walking, I don't want to risk Zefran getting a heatstroke." Shepherd stated as she pulled the jacket off her face and tossed it on the floor, then moved the goggles onto her forehead.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Ah, it'll be fine," assured Elizabeth. "He can use his wings as a way to block the sun. I know Bohdan does it. He can also do it for others. And besides, we're going to bring plenty of water, enough to keep us hydrated for some time."

[Sylono]

"He's a non-combatant, we should be limiting the risks we put him through." Shepherd said, taking her focus off the weapon for a moment to give the woman a hard look, before shaking her head. "Though I suppose it isn't my call to make."

She said as she switched the mode on her multi-tool to allow for grinding uneven metal surfaces.

"At the very least, we should consider using a transport, we got lucky Bohdan commandeered an escape vehicle the first time." The vixen pointed out, then began smoothing out the edges of the spots she had cut.

When she finished with that task she reached inside the rucksack once more and withdrew a gun lever and trigger guard, two flat fan cooling systems and a hand guard.

With that, she started on placing the weapon's old and new innards inside the gun, the internal heatsink placed at the bottom of the frame first, magnetic accelerators going in and connecting to the base of the barrel. The plasma ignition fitting in a snug attachment connected to the lever which would lower it closer to the heatsink, but when set back into firing position it'd connect to the accelerator. The two flat innards were placed on either side of the insides of the shotgun, everything needing one feature or another of her multi-tool to re-attach them permanently.

Once the internal parts were dealt with she slid the hand guard over the shortened barrel and locked it into place.