Cath

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“It’s quite alright, really! Into-The-Abyss-In-Search-Of-Light is just courting, and since I I know you won’t be able to handle that right now, I wouldn’t want to lead you on by accepting this offer of comfort.” HOPE directed the last bit directly at Light. Her skin betrayed no edge of malice to her words, but he flushed deep pink in embarrassment.

“I was not courting! And I would be able to ‘handle’ you, whatever that means.” Light protested. HOPE didn’t answer directly, but sloshed forward slightly so their gelsuits touched. Hers had a magnetic feel, like it was loaded with static. His attention was pulled again to the power plant surgically attached to her back.
“H-how did come to possess these augmentations, and what do they do?” He asked eventually. It was his interpretation of a forward question.

“My owners did this to me; I was a slave for a time before Omega freed me.” HOPE replied simply, as though it was no big deal. Her skin was a complex picture of suppressed guilt, shame and relief.

“These augs can let me do lots of things, but the thing you’ll see the most of is my shield. This gelsuit is designed to expand up to twenty metres, then the pack on my back turns it into a kinetic barrier. Its not foolproof, but it means we can travel under fire and return fire in more safety.”

HOPE caught Senjen glancing back towards where Omega lay sprawled out. “He’s fine for now, He just doesn’t like space flight. He’s used to vast mountain ranges, so to feel nothing outside this small area is unnerving to him.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Ruknar nodded cordially to the Humans as they exited their makeshift quarters. As he was far massier, she grabbed hold of Senjen as he floated out of the room to quickly keep up with him.

“The leader, Major, he’s not telling you something. I can tell in his body language. Even though the body is mechanical, the nervous system is probably imprinted from an organic specimen. It can't hide everything.”

---

Light found it difficult to remain level-headed during the first week in deep space. He was very used to having just himself, Senjen and maybe one other passenger on the ship during long journeys. But this time, there were no fewer than eleven passengers clogging up the halls and rooms of his home.

He coped by spending a lot of his time in the ship’s cockpit and his adjoining cubby hole. No one besides Senjen ever really bothered him there. There he could keep up with events back in Korit, water the half dozen small plants Senjen had discreetly hung up in pots, and plan what he was going to do with the spoils of this trip. If the Quadrarch was telling the truth, he could finally realise his dream of buying an actual QV shoalship. The trouble was that he had no shoal currently, nor had ever really bonded with other QV in that way. The other issue was that Senjen stood a real chance of falling out of the bottom of a shoalship without some strict programming and a few hardware updates.

On the occasions he did venture out to do his rounds of the ship, Light was always tempted to speak to Halo Of Pearlescent Eddies. He’d heard the others call her Hope, or Pearl, but to him the full name was magnificent. His colour-coded mind could paint a very clear picture of this female in his head, and from their he could imagine a connection and conversation well ahead of actually bumping into her.

Which is what actually happened about a week into the journey. Light turned left out of his cockpit to head to the engine room and slopped straight into Hope’s own gelsuit.

“Oh my, sorry!” He wailed. Hope flashed with bright amusement.
“It’s alright. I was beginning to think you were a ghost, so I’m glad you do in fact have a corporeal body!”
Light laughed in their own way, unconvincingly. He spied Omega laying against the wall on the far side of the rec room, purring contentedly.

“How is your stay aboard our humble ship? Are you comfortable?”

“Not very, but we have borne worse.” Hope replied frankly, making Light blush.

“Well, with luck we will be out of here in twelve or thirteen more cycles.”
“We don’t imagine the destination to be any more comfortable, but we’ll manage.”

There was an awkward silence, and then Light gasped gratefully as Senjen floated into view.

“Senjen! Can you think of anything we might do to make this area more comfortable?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Diarmuid and Bodach shared a smirk. The blue droid spoke up: “Fair enough. Suit yourself lad.”

Major stared into Senjen’s eyes, as if assessing his answers against some esoteric exam in his head. His expression gave little away, until eventually he nodded. “Very well, lets board the public side of the terminal and figure out a plan from there. We can watch some transports on their approach to see if an EVA is possible, but we can’t afford to lose you to some unnecessary gamble. It is imperative we get to the surface.”

“I’ll put some feelers out for people aboard who can spoof work clearance or something.” Diarmuid agreed.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Bodach boomed with laughed and reached over to clap Senjen on the soldier. “Stick with us, lad. You’ll fit right in! One time, I had to throw Diarmuid here into the refuse compactor of a Tindrel breeding ship to find this giant tapeworm-like thing that’d eaten a three thousand carat diamond!”

“Its true. To this day I’m not sure how I came out with four Jub Jub eggs instead!” Diarmuid chuckled.

Major pursed his fake Human mouth in an expression of deep thought. “My concern is that we don’t know the interior of the ships, or what is on them. Myrmidon insist they are automated, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t automated defences inside as well. The advantage of stealing the transponder in the drydock is those defences will very likely be deactivated. Can’t have innocent decontamination droids getting junked every five minutes.”

“Look fellas, I’m not a fan of overcomplicating tings." Diarmuid said. "Why don’t we just take the terminal by force? We’ve got the full team here, plus our boy Senjen, whoever this lovely Chekeri is- “ He motioned to Ruk, who’d been hanging back in the doorway and observing. She blushed slightly. “-and a shotgun toting pilot. That ought to be more than enough to make somethin’ happen.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Major shook his head. “If there was a way to get people down to the surface individually. What use would we have for you?” He thought for a moment. “ITAISOL may disagree, but we might be get you close enough to EVA onto one of the freighters without triggering any anti-ship defenses. Then you could steal the transponder, jettisoning it along with yourself for us to pick up again.”

“That’s a tall order, boss. Our Senjen looks fast, but I bet he handles like a brick in a vacuum! No offense, lad. Its harder than it looks.” Bodach added.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“It seems likely the freighters go straight from the planet’s surface to the terminal. If I were Myrmidon, I’d be closely watching them. They’re easy targets for pirates, and the fact they haven’t all been robbed suggests to me they’re well defended. Maybe your friend has thoughts in this regard?” Major mused.

Bodach pointed back towards the public area of the terminal. “There’s a market here, a boozer, repair shop…I’d be surprised if there wasn’t someone who could spoof a pass for you. Then maybe we make a bit of noise, cause a distraction; you'd slip right through without so much as a second look!”

“Or why don’t you just…you know…take a job there? These corporate frames all get first pick of the work, right?” Diarmuid interjected.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Major smirked, then looked at Diarmuid. “Show him.”

Beams of light burst from the forest green synth’s eyes, constructing a 2D holo map in the area in front of them. It showed an intricate plan of one floor of the terminal.



“I had an organic buddy who worked there about twenty years back. His memory implant made this for us. It could be inaccurate or out of date now, but it gives you an idea. The automated freighters dock on the ‘north’ side.”

Major pointed to the segregated section on the ‘west’ side of the diagram. “That part is open to hauliers, but there’s tight security between there and the operations side. Cameras and security droids checking passes and serial numbers. Only Myrmidon staff and contractors allowed, and no organics at the moment.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Major did not look impressed by this revelation. “That does not bode particularly well for your half of the operation. Luckily for you, I have done my research. Myrmidon were part of a consortium that invested in Veppecantel. The rest of them pulled out of the planet when the Holophage first appeared, or abandoned their people completely. But Myrmidon continued with a staff mostly made up of its synthetic range. It seems the only reason the blockade fleet allowed them to continue is because of the mineral they’re extracting. Its crucial for the manufacture of starship reactors or something similar. Anyway…they operate one line onto and off of the surface of Veppecantel, and that is directly below a geosync terminal in orbit above one of their cities. However, only ships with a registered Myrmidon ID transponder can make it through; the rest are destroyed en route. All the ships with an ID are automated and completely decontaminated, which stops the spread of infection. They’re all housed in this geosync terminal, so we need you to sneak aboard one, remove the transponder and bring it back so our illustrious pilot can set us down safely.”

“Or we do it the hard way, and try to bust our way through the blockade!” Bodach boomed.

“That’s suicide – they’ve got c-beams and have made orbiting rocks into homing missiles don’cha know it?” Diarmuid said jovially.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Aye lad, a wee dram to warm the cockles of my heart. Its freezing in here!” Bodach boomed.

“While you’re at it, a pint of the black stoff would be grand. Thank you very much!” Diarmuid chimed in.

“We’re doing great. Thank you Senjen. Come, sit with us.” Major said.

The synthetics had tidily stowed away most of their gear into the cargo webbing around the room. In the one patch of free space they’d installed three lightweight docking chairs into the floor which they now sat on in a semi circle. Before them a small portable hearth that flickered with energy and heat. All three had traded their cloaks for khakis and loose fitting tops, the kind Humans wore to blend in, or obscure their hardware. All three wore a holstered sidearm.

“Please do let me know if anyone on my team is being a burden. Our aim is to be as profile as possible.” He continued, shooting a glance at the other droids.

“How are you both feeling about this trip, then? Excited? Nervous?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“It just likes you.” Seraphim said to Senjen, distractedly. Her eyes lingered on the unused lab set, as though she could see something no one else could.

“However you do that, don’t put yourself in danger. The last thing I need is you being locked in a gulag before we even get to the surface. Surely someone else on this ship can help you get us to the surface.” Ruk said, unsure.

“I think we’re all set now. Shall we go properly meet who we’re bunking with for the next 20 cycles?”