TIME:
AT THE SAME TIME
LOCATION:
CYSA, ORENTHIA
ORENTH FAMILY MANOR
POV:
Ryder Orenth
While I was viewing the map of the region I was planning to "hunt" in, I glanced at my computer impatiently. I truthfully was nervous this region was unlike any other on this planet. It was untouched and pristine land, but not because of its beauty or that it was hard to reach which was very much the case. This area if family verbal legend is correct was where the void ship Alexander was found. This sight could not be allowed to be known to the military council; it was just too valuable.
We have yet to return to the ancient site in 100 years. The records of its exact location were lost during the first war with the Thorns of Eidolon. Since then we haven't had the time nor excuses to try and find it again. This location was also said to act strangely, doors refusing to open and turrets randomly opening fire. Rumors of an AI's presence might have more truth to it than others suspect in my opinion.
Ding
I look over to my computer and seeing the emblem of the Freelance Guild I almost sprint towards it. The requirements for the request are rather high for how little the reward is. I guessed not many were likely to agree even if it got them a free trip to Orenthia.
I was surprised to see that someone had indeed managed to pass the combat requirements and despite that they agreed to it. I read over the person who had accepted and how the guild rated them.
"Lilith Runethari of the void ship Astro Dawn..." I mutter.
Her record stated she was a new system governor of a system dubbed, 'Beta Charon" and her behavior was also described. I grimaced at the rather negative description of Lilith, she was arrogant, psychopathic, and a sadistic all of which came up in bold in my mind. Her more positive descriptors told a story of a genius at anything involving fighting, and was considered trustworthy enough to guard moderately important VIPs.
I wasn't sure if I should accept her and decided that I would wait and see if anyone else applied. This hunt was a good way to cover for the search, hopefully my escorts don’t find out. If they did it would make things annoyingly complicated, but nothing a good bribe won't solve… hopefully.
TIME:
20 MINUTES LATER
LOCATION:
ORENTHIA PRIMARY
COMMERCIAL LEVEL 1
POV:
Lilith Runethari
I look at the hardware arrayed behind shelves with utter disappointment. They were extremely costly and worse they could barely take any punishment. I eventually sighed and pointed at the things Mother said would be good enough.
The nervous clerk opened the glass panel with jittery hands. speaking with a voice that screams he pretending to be confident he asks if that was all I needed.
I hum my response which seems to not help the man calm down. He walks to the counter and eventually rings everything up the price is about 10,000Ʉ but I just pay it regardless. These things were top of the line—for this ignorant era—and still durable, add a few cameras and I could reason with myself just to wave it off.
I walk out of the store and wait outside while wondering where the woman is. Messaging her I decided to talk with Mother for the brief moment nobody surrounds me.
"Anything I need to know about before we go planet side?"
"There does seem to be something odd going on in the station. Just as we entered I fought off a few attempts at creating backdoors into the Astro Dawn. I was unable to punish those responsible as they hid themselves among vital infrastructure. So far I have marked 2 people of interest on this station but both seem to have nothing to do with it and have no knowledge of anything," Mother explained.
My eyebrow twitches at the word backdoor, "What kind of backdoor are we talking about, I can excuse—though not permit—something to harvest travel data but if it relates to anything regarding safety of you or I that is unforgivable."
The bubble of people avoiding me expands slightly as I wait for Mom's response. What comes is the exact thing I said I would not permit.
"Then I will begin looking further into it. They seemed to want to swipe passwords and security codes. Their methods were rather advanced for this era, I suspect they used a beefed up Class IV EWAR system. Regardless I was unable to track them and the EWAR system seems to be vital to this station's continued existence. I do agree however that this is worrying there has yet to be an attack this bold to date."
I take deep breaths to calm myself down and soon I am greeted with the thrall approaching me. She looks twitchy for some reason but I don't bother asking as I walk away towards the ship. She quietly follows behind me with a bag holding something but I barely notice.
'I swear whoever is behind this bullshit is going to regret it. Maybe someone with a bit too much greed and too little brains has finally learned of the Astro Dawn.'
I suddenly get a notification through the department of tourism, though it seems oddly well timed in my opinion.
"Dear Governor Lilith Runethari, I have reached out to you on behalf of one of my friends to inquire about your void ship the R.E.V Astro Dawn. You see we have reason to believe that you pilot an as of yet undocumented Class V void ship and likely don't know its value if your current profession is anything. If you don't document the vessel soon we might have to ask further questions of its origins. You can rest assured though we wish you no harm. -Head of Planetary Security Mathieu Vallis."
I stare in amazement at the message with the most poorly disguised non-threatening, threatening letter I have received since gracing this pathetic race with my presence. Anger starts to ignite as I remember the recent cyber attack on my ship and I scream at the snide remark. I stood quietly in a street that was quiet once but now had the sounds of people running away. The damn thrall was looking around and being a source of frustration as she tried to get close to me as if she could protect me from some unseen attacker.
Mara seems awfully quiet and unwilling—or unable—to make me calm down so I can only imagine this must have upset her as well.
"Mother... I wish to know for the sake of my own selfish desires the location of a certain head of planetary safety lives. I also wish to know who this friend he is talking about is. These absolute fools have said and done something utterly unforgivable." My voice was the vocal equivalent of smiling but that same. smile not reaching the eyes.
Liza the damn woman seems to start panicking and I notice her heart is racing and her breathing is growing more rapid. She also quietly mutters some shit about solving some problem and becoming calm again.
"The person in question seems to live on Orenthia in the city of Cysa the capital of the planet. I already have his address saved to your other tablet though I ask you to be calm as if you act too quickly it will be clear who targeted him."
I storm directly towards the elevators as I make plans to exact some form of revenge. I won't target the man or his family though... but maybe his in-laws can use a quick visit from me to make my displeasures clear...
I decided to send a message back saying I will discuss this at a later date and to send all details to my ship. Making every effort to be as passive aggressive as possible.
'Worst comes to worst I can complain to Mathew's parents and threaten to cut all future business off with them. They would be fools—even by human standards—to laugh that off once I show them what I'm planning to sell. Also dear Mathew would have to be reminded to never utter a word of MARA or it wont be just him who dies if the deals off.
Regardless I head back with a mind full of plans and a grinding jaw.
TIME:
12 HOURS LATER
LOCATION:
ORENTHIA PRIMARY
HANGER +12SP
ASTRO DAWN
I slowly open my eyes now, bashing my thoughts of yesterday's event away. That really was an amazing show of human stupidity. Slowly getting out of bed I approached the door wearing the same clothes I wore out shopping. I was advised by my Mother that I should try to sleep before I make any regrettable decisions; yesterday had been awful.
Inside the shared living space I look over to see the thrall diligently sweeping the floor as if the very thing was holy. Looking up her eyes—one of which I had bruised after she couldn't stop trying to ask me questions—widened briefly before she quickly started looking back down.
After that incident with the thrall Mother recommended I sleep as I was clearly not acting normal. Taking her advice with mild grumbling I went along with it. I still feel that smoldering resentment but it's not that pale blue hot star that it once was.
For the day I decided I would try and calm down by reading. As if to spite my efforts I received a new email, though this one was much more welcomed, saying that I would be clear to land at Cysa planetary space port in half a day.
I decided to go out to a cafe as I just couldn't stand being in the Astro Dawn. If I got any alerts of anyone trying to force entry though I gave MARA full permission to do whatever is necessary to kill the aggressors. We still had three Class V war automatons that functioned on board. Nothing short of a man portable railrifle would take one of those down reliably and easily.
Entering the elevator I decided I would try to find a cafe on commercial level 3. If someone attacked me it would also help me calm down so there were many reasons for my choice. Wearing a cloak and my usual officers uniform I pressed and selected the floor I wished to visit.
The ride was rather smooth. It seemed I had awoken in the early morning of this station so nobody seemed to have awakened yet. Stepping out of the elevator I was welcomed to a sight I hadn't seen since Garnet station. The streets were empty but the store front I saw reeked of shady businesses and more than a little barely legal dealings.
I opened a map and looked for an out of the way cafe when Mom recommended an address to me. Looking at it I found it was a cafe that seemed to have been buried by other businesses; intrigued I decided that's where I would go.
As I walked through back alleys passing the occasional vagrant I was surprised by just how out of the way the location was. There were multiple times I had to walk through some hole in the walls that lead directly to forgotten maintenance tunnels sealed off years ago.
Eventually after half an hour of complex mapping I arrived at the back door of a tenement, but Mother had located it as a spot where few go and where questions wouldn't be asked.
Opening the door and strutting in I found a cozy, rustic space with tables and chairs standing empty. I walk over to a counter and look at what they have for sale. I eventually decided I would just get nutrient bars—I wasn't very confident in the quality of anything else.
Looking down hearing the stuttering heart beat of someone stressed but trying to repress it I see a familiar face. My eyes widened at the surprise appearance of the little girl from yesterday still clutching her bat plushie like her life depended on it. Clearing my throat I recited my order asking for water as a drink. She hastily nodded her head after a moment of staring at me and rushed off to the back.
I found a chair in the corner of the building where I thought it would be clear I didn't want to be disturbed.
While waiting I decided to ask my mother about this establishment, "Hey Mom I have a question... why did I have to go through such a convoluted path, I can see the door over there why not just enter through the front."
"This would save you time, the door is a standard bulkhead but it seems the only way to open it is from the inside. I would be unable to open it for you if I wanted. Despite being a hazard I found multiple reports of it but it seems the station has deemed it unimportant as they haven't sent anyone to repair it. Personally I think someone is just covering for them, it also seems to serve as a way to also seem more exclusive" Mother ended her answer with a theory of her own.
Nodding I looked up as I heard light footsteps approaching. The girl from early on seemed to be extremely nervous and tried to go at a slow pace. She was panicking. A glare directed at her made her hurry her pace a little more. She eventually reached my table and placed my food and drink on the smooth stamp metal surface.
"Would–would that be all mi–miss?" She squeaks. I was sure a normal human would struggle to hear her.
I stared at her wide eyed as she messed with her black hair. I was confused, why was she like that? I knew this was clearly a misunderstanding but my brain for the first time was unable to process something that was incredibly trivial.
Realizing what I was looking at she tried to hide it and back away but I grabbed her hand and stopped her from leaving.
"Why? Why do you have pointed ears?" I was astonished at the discovery.
Behind her black shiny hair that seemed so familiar I stared at an ear that was exactly like those I had. Why did a human have the ears of a vampire?