Katheeri

[Tiger Carson]

"Alright, I'll give you the whole thing." Tiger said, "And I'll explain everything as we come to it so you know what's what around here." He then turned to Zera and Hawk, "Keep us posted guys, as soon as that guy wakes up, I want to know."
"You got it." Zera said, "I'll keep an eye on him during my watch."
"And I'll do the same for Sasquatch here when it's my turn for watch." Hawk said, "Still can't believe I had to eat my words..." Tiger chuckled as he heard Hawk say this.  He then turned to Laika again, indicating the door way with one of his hands.
"Let's get going then, we'll start on the bridge." He said, and slightly bowed to her as he used his arm to give her guidance, "Ladies first."

[Sylono]

"You can reach me at..." She couldn't recall off the top of her head, so she reached down with her free hand and snatched the personal comm-unit off her hip and read the frequency. "One-four-one point eight-zero."

"I don't want to sound paranoid, but, I think we should try not to be too specific when using radio." The cerinian suggested as she began walking walking away from Antoine, facing him still facing him as she added.

"They aren't known for their security." With that she turned and made for the hallway, pausing at the door as she realized it might take some time to find the next person on her list.

Not having time to scour the ship for the boy, Shepherd decided to instead rely on Zefran being restless and set a radio in the hallway by the hanger entry door where it'd be visible. Taking a marker she used for her earlier activities, the vixen scrawled in visible letters "FOR EMERGENCIES" with an arrow pointed at the radio.

With that issue (sort of) dealt with she bolted to the last location she saw the the "magic man". When she got into throwing distance of the fox she called out to him. "Hey Renard, catch!"

Shepherd waited until the red furred fox finally turned around before throwing the second spare transceiver.

[Renardfrost]

Renard had caught the The thing, staring at it confusedly before realization set in.
 
"Ohh.. it's like the tech equivalent to a Farspeaker pearl."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Wait, Elizabeth," Bohdan said. She stopped the hovercraft. "We should pick up the others."

"There's only room for one more, Boss," replied Elizabeth. Bohdan grumbled.

"We will take Renard, then," said Bohdan. "He is the guide here. He will tell us where to go." Elizabeth then turned the hovercraft around and back towards the ship. They soon stopped a short distance away from the docking bay's doors. "We should also do a communication's check."

[Renardfrost]

His tail twitched a bit as he heaved a sigh, looking out at the horizon before bringing a hand to the base of his ear.

"I know you're here.. i want more info. Tell me where you are."

Renard knew what two things would happen if he came face to face with him

No response. But he had a feeling. He turned his head to a set of structures in the distance, taking a moment to wonder f this was a really good idea.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Bohdan touched the communicator on his left wrist. It brought up a holographic interface, and he selected Renard's profile. He was now in connection with Renard. He also noticed a previous attempt at communication from Shepherd. He would respond to her after his correspondence with Renard.

"Renard, this is Bohdan," he said. "Do you copy?"

[Renardfrost]

Renard brought the strange thing up to his head, pushign the biggest button on it.

" I copy." Renard replied, looking around to see if he could see them from his view point.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Okay," answered Bohdan. "Stand by." He then started communications with Shepherd.

"Shepherd. Shepherd. This is Bohdan. Do you read me?"

[Sylono]

When Renard caught the device, she turned and made her way back to the 'Small Order' and climbed in. As she got settled in the cockpit, the comm-unit on her belt sounded off with the dragon's voice, startling the vixen. After a yelp, she grabbed and secured her comm-unit on the ship's dashboard before toggling it.

"'ahem'... I read you loud and clear." Shepherd confirmed as she turned the ignition of her ship on.

"Before anything else, sir, I should inform you I'll be taking a slight detour." After a few moments her ship was in hover though she wasn't quite sure if she was clear to leave the hanger, friendly injury by afterburner wasn't something she wanted to risk. "Something came up that I want to check, a quick swing-by and I'll regroup with you as soon as possible."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Bohdan was puzzled. Suddenly the Cerinian by-the-book mercenary went on her own? He sought answers.

"Why are you going elsewhere?" he asked. Elizabeth and Korben looked equally perplexed, as the hovercraft idled outside the docking bay. Sandor, meanwhile, peeked out from the cockpit of his own star fighter, wondering why his teammates returned so quickly.

[Sylono]

Silently she cursed, the vixen didn't think to come up with an excuse in case the dragon asked.

"There's a distress signal somewhere east of here, I'm surprised you didn't know about it." Shepherd started, figuring she'd tell a half truth and leave out any details she might find, "by the sound of it, it's probably a deep space probe, or... something synthetic at the very least."

That ruled out any assistance they could offer that involved any needed rescue efforts. Outside of parts or sensitive equipment, there wasn't much of a monetary reward for finding such things.

"It's a little too close to the Szabla for my liking, so I'm going to scout it out." Carefully leaving out the fact that to anyone else the signal is a garbled mess that wont stop randomizing it's location, she continued with her reasoning.

"Perhaps cut the signal before anyone comes looking for it." Letting her words sit for only a moment, she then added:

"Chances are, they'll stumble onto your ship if that happens." Shepherd hoped that would satisfy Bohdan from questioning the cerinian further.

[Tiger Carson]

A customized Cornerian Fighter which was teal and copper in color was falling through the atmosphere of Titania, it's pilot trying hard to pilot the ship as it plummeted. "Come on, work for me, work for me!" The voice of the pilot, who was female, spoke out.
"So long, Bounty Hunter Mai." Another voice rang out from the communicator. "You won't be collecting a bounty on me this time, or any time after you land on that death trap!" The communication was ended on manic laughter.
"Damn you Venomian..." Mai cursed, "I have to survive this!" Eventually, the ship made it through the atmosphere after enduring the friction and heat.  It then crashed into the sand, though Mai had managed to pull up just enough to avoid smashing nose first.  The ship skipped over the sand a few times before it got lodged into a skeleton of a eons long dead Goras, and smoke came from the ship as a result of this and it settling.
During the crash, Mai had almost blacked out from getting banged up in the crash.  Her head was hit, despite wearing a helmet and had received a cut to her head which was bleeding.  She also took on some injuries to her torso, banging up a rib and getting a contusion in her abdomen and even sprained her left shoulder a bit, but she was able to retain enough consciousness to do what was needed next. "Have to... send distress signal...  Have to... get out..." She struggled to say as she tried to see if the canopy would open. "Damn it all..." Was her weak response as the canopy started to open, but ran up against part of the Goras' skull. "Trapped..." She then started a message to be sent with a distress beacon. "This is Mai Coyote...  I've crashed against... a giant skeleton of some kind...  Need rescue...  anyone near by...  able to respond...  please help...  I'll be grateful...  Tired of damn Venomians..." She then ended the message, barely managed to set it to repeat, and then collapsed. She had hoped the signal would reach her personal freighter, though it was on the other side of the planet.  Failing that, she hoped someone who was friendly at least would pick it up.  But she likely wouldn't know, being mostly unconscious, and only just fading out of it enough to be slightly aware of what was going on.

[Renardfrost]

Renard blinked as a wayward communication caused the transceiver in his hand to crackle to life. Someone was here! and they were hurt! He remembered his oaths, much like any Mage or Knight and he had to enact them. "There's been a change of plans if any of you had received that!" Renard said, closing his eyes as he focused on the faintest life force he could find, a gust of wind bearing the fox into the air, His gauntlet turning a faint green as he shifted his elemental aspect, He started gliding ( Not flying mind you, he'll still eventually hit the ground.) Towards the distress beacon.

" My Brother's an Idanian Knight! He has the same Oath to help all in need! This might lead us right to him! follow me!"

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Kurwa," said Bohdan, frustrated at these multiple diversions. "Renard, we will follow you. Shepherd, you will be accompanied by one of us."

"Sandor!" Bohdan yelled over the comms. The young tykeriel jumped in his seat.

"Yeah, Boss?" said Sandor.

"Follow Shepherd wherever she goes," ordered Bohdan.

"Yes, Boss!" said Sandor, activating his fighter and slowly and carefully flying it out of the bay.

 

The hovercraft carrying Bohdan, Elizabeth, and Korben began following Renard to the crash site.

[Sylono]

"Interesting choice..." Shepherd muttered, obviously irked at the idea of having to bring the tykeriel. However this new distraction did prove useful, she'd have meet her unintentional guardian of secrets later. Maneuvering her way out of the hanger, the cerinian followed after Sandor, before accelerating ahead of him and turning in an exaggerated fashion to correct their course.

"Let's make this as quick as possible..." The vixen said after patching into the tykeriel's frequency. She could handle Sandor, it wasn't a secret that they were off on the wrong foot already, so her keeping the young bird-canine away from sensitive equipment wasn't much of a story stretcher.

"As soon as we finish, head back to the Szabla, Sandor." She had to hope that he wasn't as inquisitive as his handlers, or at least was more interested in spouting his usual non-sequitur. As much as they confused and annoyed her, Shepherd preferred dealing with nonsense over curiosity right now.

 

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Understood," said Sandor. He decelerated to compensate for the slower speed of Shepherd's vehicle. He was now following her from the air at a very low altitude.

"But why are you going so far from any of our objectives? Whatever they are..."

[Zaphyr Stone]

Antoine straddled the four-wheeler, strapping on a pair of tinted goggles, a red do-rag to protect his head and neck from the sun, and a black kerchief around his snout to block the inevitable flurry of sand that would be blown his way. Hearing all of the commotion through the wireless earpiece synced up to his radio, he hurried to catch up. It certainly didn't take long for things to pick up.

----

"Thank you," Laika chuckled as she walked ahead of Tiger.

The ship really was pristine. It was reminiscent of the Great Fox to her. While she had never been aboard personally, she had seen plenty of video tours and pictures, very clean and bright.

----

"Okay, they're gone!" Zefran perked up excitedly as he watched the group take off, "Let's go!"

He dragged Aura along, heart racing with excitement as he made his way down to the hangar bay, which was still open. He stopped, noticing the radio with the note and rolled his eyes. What was going to happen to him on the ship? Still, he grabbed it up and hooked it to his jean pocket. The pair descended the ramp and out onto the firm sand. The wind was at a decent speed, the perfect environment for flying.

"Okay." Aura began, "First, you're gonna do some leg exercises."

"Shouldn't I start with, I don't know, my wings?" Zefran flapped them for emphasis.

Aura laughed. "Your wings aren't taking you anywhere if your legs aren't strong enough to launch you high enough to catch a wind current. First some stretches. Follow my lead, if you please."

She shifted to her right leg, bringing her left leg back so her foot rested flat against her backside. Zefran attempted the same thing and stumbled a little bit before he finally got the hang of it.

[Renardfrost]

Ren spoke into the radio again.

" I'm sorry to drop our original plan for this.. But Where i come from if you train in any sort of thing that makes you stronger than most. it's your duty to help folks if they need it."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel hummed as he glided along the sweeping air currents, tumbling gracefully throughout the air. He was soon high above the desert sea, the sand dunes stretching for what seemed to be forever. He looked down to the ground to find Zefran and that Katheeri woman exercising. He stayed at his altitude to observe from a distance.

~

Elizabeth and Korben looked at each other, wondering what good would come from this Good Samaritan schtick. Bohdan, however, had a clearer sight than his teammates, and ordered Elizabeth to forge on.

"Follow Renard!" he said.

[Sylono]

"Our objective, Sandor, is to assist Renard in seeking out his sibling." Shepherd explained, a hint of a mocking tone lined her voice as she added, "if you'd not been prancing around, committing blue-on-blue with a pair of scissors, perhaps you'd be more informed."

While no one could see her, the vixen allowed herself a smirk at her own remark, before checking their distance from the SOS.

"You and I are off to deal with a signal we've landed too close to." She wasn't sure if Sandor would understand the tactical reasoning (even if it was an issue that was a tad exaggerated), and not really caring either way.

"Keep an eye out for something that looks like it belongs in space." The vixen ordered, as she examined her own surroundings.

 

{[-~-~-]}

 

The signal was getting stronger, in fact, the sound of space superiority fighters were now being picked up by the synthetic's audio sensors. With a debate that ran at speeds incapable by organics, it dropped to the ground and covered itself with sand, hiding as best it could from detection. The sound increased and a potion of the sand covering the synth was displaced as two (As far as it could tell) ships passed overhead, one being closer to the ground than the other, before fading off.

When it was sure it was safe, it turned to look in the direction of the ships for a moment, it noted non-uniformity. Not taking the time to guess the reasoning behind such a formation, the synth pulsed its shield to remove sand that had found its way in side the platform and continued its trek.

[Tiger Carson]

Indeed the Sanctuary Tiger was very clean, partly from the crew, and partly from some cleaning robots that were wandering the halls, but they made sure to avoid being stepped on due to their small size.  Tiger walked beside Laika after catching up with her once she exited the door. "You're welcome," he said to her after she had thanked him.  When it closed, Hawk and Zera began to have a conversation about Tiger and Laika.
"They look kind of cute together, don't you think?" Zera said as she monitored one of the screens. "I mean, they seem to be very friendly with each other, and that play talk they used."
"Bit soon though, isn't it?" Hawk asked in return. "I mean for them to be together that is."
"Oh, I don't think they're rushing it." Zera replied, "I've seen good relationships build from just spending a few hours together, and those two have spent quite a bit of time together already."
"True..." Hawk said, not too sure himself. "Just don't let your eagerness to see Tiger get with someone cloud your judgement.  I mean, she decked him in the face after all."
"Which was his fault as he explained." Zera said, "So things started off rough, they began anew, and look at them.  It's just too cute."
"Yeah, I just don't want to see him get hurt." Hawk said, "Or see her get hurt."
"I don't think they want to hurt each other." Zera said, "I get the feeling they'll be careful enough."

Meanwhile, Tiger and Laika continued on their walk, a lift door being in their way. "This lift will take us to the bridge." Tiger said as he approached the door, it opening to his signature.  It would react to Laika as well once her signature was added to the ship's crew manifest.  He held an arm out once again, like he was keeping the door open with it. "After you, Laika."

-------------------

By this time, the tip of the smoke trail from Mai's fighter would begin to be visible to those who were coming to her aid.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Sandor grumbled at Shepherd's comment. Nevertheless, he followed her diligently. He then noticed smoke over the ridge of a sand dune.

"We must be getting close, Cerinian," said Sandor over the comms.

[Sylono]

"It's Shepherd," The vixen shepherd corrected firmly, "I don't refer to you by 'doggy-chicken'."

Examining the smoke with a critical eye, Shepherd then glanced at her device to confirm. Well, it wasn't a space probe like she had guessed, but from what she could make out past the smoke, the signal was coming from a ship.

"But, you're right, this seems like what we're looking for." She agreed, before easing her joystick downwards, intent on landing the Small Order.

"I'm going ground side." The cerinian said as she slowed her ship down, a flick of a switch and the hover thrusters activated as the landing gear extended, making contact with the sand.

"I'd suggest staying-..." Stopping herself mid-suggestion, the vixen figured there was a reason Bohdan sent him along with her, "actually... forget it, follow if you must."

Popping the canopy, she climbed out of her ship and hopped down onto the sand.

[Renardfrost]

Renard came to a rest before the....

" Whoah.. this thing is pretty sizable." Renard said, looking up at the goras skeleton.

" If the craft is beneath that thing, we just need to attach a tether to the crashed ship, and your hovercraft. and slowly tug it out.. we can't yank it. the person in there seems grievously injured... It's no medical pod but i think I can pull enough aether from around here to stabilize her."
 

He nodded at his plan, approaching the skeleton, and the ship contained within

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Sandor held the control sticks of his fighter with a vice grip in seething anger at Shepherd's slur.

This brought him back to when the children in the schoolyard would call him names like "doggy-chicken", and poke him with sticks they found along side a fence where a tree had been planted. Sandor would try to avoid the children by hiding in the plastic tubes found in playground sets, but they would nevertheless find him, the "doggy-chicken". And they would poke him and laughed at how he squirmed, amused by his torment.

Those days, however, were long gone, and at his command, Sandor had enough firepower to destroy thousands of playgrounds. But he withheld his furious arm, noticing the value Shepherd had to the group in general, and somewhat fearful of the consequences of friendly fire.

He and his ship hovered close to Shepherd as she disembarked.

~

The hovercraft carrying Bohdan, Elizabeth, and Korben came to a drifting stop beside the Goras skeleton, its figure weathered and eroded by the harsh winds and sands of its arid native world. The trio disembarked, with Korben attentively scanning the wreck lodged in the remains, finding a living survivor inside. As Bohdan and Elizabeth moved towards Renard to get a sitrep, Korben dashed hurriedly to the wreck, carrying his medikit in one hand. He placed it on the ground safely away from the fighter as he prepared to move it out of the Goras's frame.

"Boss, help," he said, gripping one wing of the fighter. Bohdan moved to the untouched wing. "One, two... Three!" On three, the two of them, with their immense combined strength, managed to smoothly pull the fighter out of its prison, and drag it safely out into the open. As they stopped, Bohdan let go and stepped away, allowing Korben unmolested time to do his work. He ripped open the canopy, and tossed it aside. He began to stabilize the patient within.