High End IC Episode I- Towards a Better Tomorrow

[ketaro]

Having abandoned the tense discussion at the previous scene, Katherine found herself browsing a catalog  of new toys. Her Astelion was a trusty speed demon, perfectly as that suited her, but it was looking like something with a bit more durability might be slightly more useful for now. Ooooh, a Wild Falken sounded fun! Definitely lacking as much speed, but then most models did compared to what she already had. "Wouldn't hurt to try it out at least," she absentmindedly said aloud to herself as she made the order. Express delivery, of course.

Thinking about new toys, her nanoarmor could use a bump up or two as well... Bringing up a personal HUD connected to said armor, new parameter limits had apparently been made available; always weird how it did that by itself. It'd just be so much easier if it'd just give her full access instead of this incremental progression it kept teasing her with. Regardless, dial this up...dial that up....thinking about it, Ammy makes being big so cool; max that out too!

Not paying too much attention to her surroundings as she plays about with her Nanoarmor's system settings, Katherine eventually wanders into the bar; initially her intended destination and as if reacting to her forgotten purpose, the screen floating before her pings her in a very much 'destination arrived' sort or way.

"Wait did I press the wrong thing!? Oh! No, where, right! I meant to come here! Er, but they are...Oh!" Spotting Hugo & the Princess, Katherine enthusiastically waves hellos at them as she bounds over in their direction. "I was looking for you two! If we're still gonna be working together, let's get to know each other beyond just our names!"

[oslecamo]

(click to show/hide)

The white-haired numan throws a smile towards Hugo and replies in draconic while extending an open hand:

It seems like the rumors about you being actually a nice person are closer to the truth, mr. Lotushand. My name's João Henrique. I'll follow your advice and keep open ears and eyes open around the lower levels of this ship and contact you if I observe anything of interest. I agree with your suspicions that the source of this problem may not be in the planet belo us right now but much closer...


The violet android however remains expressionless as she replies:
Standard courtesy protocols calls for me to identify myself as Elisa Delta 418, but if you want me to gather information about anything, I expect payment. You're a professional, you should understand mr. Lotushand.

Then Katherine enters the bar, and several eyes turn towards her and she hears several whispers directed towards her:

It's Yoshka the pirate hunter!

Forget Lotushand, she's the most mysterious mercenary currently in the guild!

Yeah, barely anyone knows anything about her besides that she gets the job done fast and hard. I didn't even know she was on this ship!

I had heard a rumor she was part of the mission to the planet...

Then the mercenaries hear Katherine adress Hugo and Baha and the rumors intensify.

She was working with them?

The Administration didn't spare any expenses...

Does this mean they suspect pirates raided the colony?


Meanwhile the newearl pink maid waitress approaches Katherine with an empty tray after having served a new round of drinks around and politely speaks:

Oh, miss Katherine, a pleasure to see you here. Mister Lotushand in his generosity is offering the rounds here today. What would you like to drink?

Meanwhile the blonde human woman in a green jacket drops her half-eaten cake in her plate and approaches Katherine with sparking eyes, holding her hands together. You then notice their hairs are quite identical while she starts sqeualing in a voice filled with respect and admiration:

I can't believe it! It's really you! I'm your biggest fan! I became a mercenary because of you! I spent thousands of meseta to make my hair look just like yours! I still didn't earn my nanoarmor but I'm working really hard for that... You're just so awesome and mysterious, defeating evil pirates all around the galaxy and then never boasting about your great deeds! I knows others call me silly for having such a silent mercenary for my role model I just can't believe I get to meet you in person! Can I get your autograph? Please? And perhaps we can chat while you'rehere? I would love to hear just how did you slaid Yelddir the cyborg captain of the purple pirates! Or how you bested your rival Sleigh on the Origins war?

She doesn't looks like she'll shut up until Katherine lets out something. Or suffers extreme body trauma.

(click to show/hide)

The shops are currently stocked with plenty of basic supplies, but they still don't have much variety on the higher-grade stuff that would interest people like you. The shopkeepers apologize and promise in a cycle they'll have a much better variety for you to choose from.

However you still get a bit of luck by spotting some pieces of pretty rare hardware. If you're feeling stingy with your meseta, the merchants will gladly swap any of your own Photon tech items by their selection in a 1-1 basis for people of your reputation for a measly 1000 meseta fee. They still have to make a living after all.

(click to show/hide)

(click to show/hide)

AA standard issue cannon. This model's barrel was redesigned from scratch. A minimal amount of new features were included, but much waste was omitted.

Simple two-handed Area Pinning Downfall ranged weapon, deals 2d12 damage with a range increment of 1000 feet and crit mod of x3. Comes with built-in nanofactory that constantly reloads shells. Can be bought in masterwork and magic burst tech versions as usual, but anything higher than a +3 total bonus will demand waiting time of 1 day per extra +1.

(click to show/hide)

A cannon that bears the color of the moonless night. It is unknown how or why this cannon was created, but its high performance provides its user with great power.

Simple +3 two-handed ranged Cold Burst Area Pinning Downfall weapon, deals 2d12 damage with a range increment of 1000 feet. Comes with built-in nanofactory that constantly reloads shells.

While wielded with both hands, the DCs of your abilities gain a +4 DC bonus.

Photon Tech-This weapon works by condensing nearby ambient light. It can be drawn or put away as a free action 1/round, but you can only have one such weapon equiped at a time.

(click to show/hide)

AA standard issue free lance. Midsized model with increased accuracy and lengthened blades.

Simple one-handed melee Finesse Disarming Grabbing weapon with reach 15 feet dealing 1d8 base damage with 18-20 crit threat. Can be bought in masterwork and magic burst tech versions as usual, but anything higher than a +3 total bonus will demand waiting time of 1 day per extra +1.   

(click to show/hide)

Free lances that tear everything to pieces with their six-pointed blades. Their intersecting photons' silver lights are certainly the last things their victims will see.
 This is a pair of weapons and must be worn as a pair to use them, although the user may attack with just one at a time if they wish.

 Simple +3 one-handed melee Shocking Burst Finesse Disarming Grabbing Rending Power weapon with reach 15 feet dealing 1d8 damage. Has 50% chance of ignoring immunity to criticals. They allow you to use your Dex bonus instead of your Str bonus on grapples and deal 3d6 Electricity damage per sucessful grapple check.

While worn as a pair, they grant a +2 Photon bonus to Str and Dex and allow you to move silently at full speed without penalty and turn difficult terrain in your path to normal terrain instantly and without slowing down (by tearing it apart of course).

Photon Tech-Those weapons work by condensing nearby ambient light. They can be drawn or put away as a free action 1/round, but you can only have one such set of weapons equiped at a time.

(click to show/hide)

AA standard issue gunsword. It is a single bladed sword and gun combined, and because you can change its mode at any time, it is an easy-to-handle weapon.

Simple Power Concussive weapon that deals 1d10 damage with a 19-20 crit threat. Starts as melee, but can turn into a ranged weapon  with the same properties plus Brutal as a swift action, range increment 300 feet. Can be bought in masterwork and magic burst tech versions as usual, but anything higher than a +3 total bonus will demand waiting time of 1 day per extra +1.

(click to show/hide)

The final prototype of a gunsword with a concealed gun function. This model was designed to further refine the concept of the sword that can also shoot.

Simple +3 Power Concussive Speed weapon that deals 1d10 damage with a 19-20 crit threat. Starts as melee, but can turn into a ranged weapon  with the same properties plus Brutal as a swift action, range increment 300 feet. While on Melee mode it also gains the Mighty Cleaving property, while on Ranged it gains the Seeking property.

While  equipped with the Vita Hatchet you gain a +2 Photon bonus to Con and Cha and  enemies damaged by the Vita Hatchet take +20% damage from all sources while you have it equipped, ending this effect when you're no longer equipped with it.

Photon Tech-This weapon works by condensing nearby ambient light. It can be drawn or put away as a free action 1/round, but you can only have one such weapon equiped at a time.

(click to show/hide)

(click to show/hide)

Heals 30% of the user's HP as a move or swift action.

(click to show/hide)

Heals 60% of the user's HP as a move or swift action.

(click to show/hide)

Swift or move action to activate, produces a Gate in an adjacent square that leads back to the ship where this was purchased, provided the ship is in stationary orbit of the planet, lasting up to 10 minutes. Creatures without a Hunter ID will need to be escorted by someone with a valid Hunter ID to use the Telepipe.

(click to show/hide)

Takes 1 minute to consume and effects to manifest, provides a certain bonus for the next 30 minutes. Trying to consume more than one Medical Drink before the duration is expired nullifies the effects of both and causes terrible nausea, headaches, zits and loss of sexual desire.

Shifta-Increases all damage dealt by 10%.

Deband-Decreases all damage taken by 10%.

Photon Drink-You gain one more readied maneuver or extra spell slot of your highest level for the duration. Mechas gain +10% energy.


Z Drink (+600 Meseta): Lasts 1 hour and minor random extra benefit
Ex Drink (+1800 Meseta): Lasts 2 hours and greater random extra benefit. Cannot be Z and Ex drink simultaneously.

(click to show/hide)

Learning Up-Gain +10%  Photon bonus to all skill checks for the duration.

Hate Accumulation-Can rage as a barbarian once for the duration.

Healing Up-All HP recovery boosted by 10%.


Weak Point Up-All weapons gain +1 crit range.

(click to show/hide)

Rare Up-At least one rare photon item will be formed from the remains of your next enemy,  no more than 1/day. If this is rolled again on another Medical Drink on the same day, no benefit is gained.

Special Up-Your abilities gain +3 Photon bonus DC to your abilities, can re-roll one natural 1 on an attack roll per turn.

Random Nullify-Gain a 10% chance of ignoring any attack.

Status Up-Gain +3 Photon bonus on saves, can re-roll one missed attack per turn.

[Kuroimaken]

(click to show/hide)

Hugo takes João's hand and shakes it firmly.
"Less to do with niceties and more to do with me not liking being out of the loop. Though if the opportunity presents itself...

And of course, miss Eliza. Your services are much appreciated."

Katherine's slightly more flamboyant earns a bit of a smile from Hugo. He actually enjoyed having attention deflected away from him.

[SorO_Lost]

(click to show/hide)

After seeing the hand shake she speaks up "Well if we're done here I need to see what Kenny is up to, he promised me some new toys.".

It must be nice having the family's resources to look after, but some of the trade goods here are much more offensive in nature. Perhaps his family is too anarchic in nature. Maybe he could return one day and steal a couple crafters to teach their trade to better refine the roles of both.

[time skip]
After touching bases with Kenny she heads for the stalls to really look at the things she missed before heading back the the guild hall for their next paying task.

[Anomander]

(click to show/hide)

Following her debriefing she returned to the lab for her regular checkup and to get the lastest data she would have to reconfigurate herself to. Supposedly the new technology was a step forward toward greater versatility in the administration and handling of missions but looking at the logs of the latest patches give her the impression it was probably a

After a quick detour at the market, Min-Yung made herself a virtual cart within which she would list her potential purchases in order to make the order easier for the vendors. She looked for frames but none were in stock so she went down the weapons market after purchasing five monomates.
She had bought three standard AA issue free lances and another three standard AA issue gunswords along with a special Pure Iron Gunlash that she would proceed to implement into her drones.
Then she would proceed to acquire a Phylactery of Faithfulness axed on Goodness and Lawfulness and immediately install it to her system.

That done, she'd head for the ship and wait for the hour to expire to meet up with Maia in her office.
After the initial greetings and protocol, she'd begin with the matter at hand.
"First, here is my report on the hired personnel.
Most of them seem... affected by a strange spark of madness. More so than is common to organics. If selected for more missions in the future, it should be taken into account that they have greatly violent tendencies and seem compelled to deal great collateral damage. The way they engage problems is chaotic and difficult to manage past perhaps the administration of where the mayhem can be directed. Baha and Amaterasu seem to be those most prone to chaos.
Katherine gave me the impression that she can be reliable but is influenced by the others.
Hugo has a good sense of logic though it may seem a little twisted sometimes.
Their combined recklessness led to the destruction of the main dome. It could have easily been avoided, leading to losses that far exceed the price of their services. Hiring them may well lead to similar results. While I cannot affirm that they can be managed to prevent similar issues, I can at least vouch for them in that we are obtaining results.

"Whether they are worth the trouble or not, I leave to the Higher Management. The recent expression of their distrust may compromise the accomplishment of future objectives on Ragol, however. Our enemies may discern it, or simply hear of it since since being keep quiet about it in public does not appear to be part of their professional ethics, as they displayed when we arrived, and then they may try to turn them against us. Worse, it is possible that hints, fabricated, misanalysed or real, of the involvement of a management branch of the Administration could have them take it against the whole of us. A most foolish notion that yet seem quite possible to them. I'll leave you the logs of my interactions with them for analysis."

"Secondly, I was by chance the only one to explore the underground facilities of the main dome.
The installations were the best among those I have seen in the colony so far, and they weren't listed in the records open to my security level. Elle and her babe were found in a purple cell within these installations.
That my security level wasn't high enough to be informed of these installations, I can understand; they may be well outside of the operations of my department. But I find most disconcerting that the invaders found them and were making use of them.

"There is a possibility that there is a spy within the Android Administration, or that one branch of management is corrupted, malfunctioning or has been assimilated or otherwise hacked into. My primal concern for the possibility that there may be a spy is that among the experiments we met in the central dome, some seemed to be attempts to... turn organics into android-like organisms. Anarchists and others who oppose the Administration could benefit in the possibility of sending their organic agents among us for infiltration by passing them as fellow androids.

"I have collect Elle's sister, Anna, who appears to have been treated into becoming such a creature."

She opened her main mecha frame to let her drone carry the apparently neutralized Erinye Prototype out for Maia to observe.
"It appears that this conversion was operated recently and may still be reversible. I suspect that, given our lack of samples of such cases, it would for the best to use this opportunity to uncover a reversion process as it is quite possible that more of her kind may be used against us in the future. If we can learn how to stop it now, we will be ready later."

That said, she figured it'd be best to inform them better on Elle and her child.
"Similarly, I am almost certain that her sister Elle and perhaps also her child have been modified as well. Her vital signs were much higher than someone of her profile should be and she manifested a strange behavior sometimes, as well as aptitudes for combat. If it is so, I believe that she is well aware of her new aptitudes but it is indeed possible that she isn't aware of possible problems that these operations might have caused to her and her child's system. I imagine that she is also conscious of that possibility and intelligent enough to understand what that implies, so I expect her to be docile if the well-being of her child is assured.

"It may be that observing them and a certain amount of experimentation to better understand their situation would be necessary for their well-being as much as it may be for our own interests but I would advise against their maltreatment during the process. She has information and excellent aptitudes for handling colonists and for future work on Ragol in the current situation. It is also obvious but worth mentioning that she is very cooperative and that this excellent trait would be compromised if we are not careful. Sentient resources are much easier to manage when their are content, and usually more productive too."

There was perhaps more to consider but for now the moment it felt complete enough.

[ketaro]

Katherine was rather caught off guard by the sudden fangirl, this probably being the first time she's run into some one so....excited about her. She didn't have much to offer besides a nervous smile as the girl went on and on and one, but it was a little creepy to her how the girl was trying to mimic her appearance as well.

"Uhm, ah, ahah...That's awesome, um, of course you'll be great some day...Um, yeah, alright..." She does indeed give the girl the asked for autograph however. "Um, well, I'd love to talk but, er, work's calling and I can't say no, eheh. But, um, yeah, alright, you could probably, um, hang out another time. Yeah! Yeah, okay." It was probably a poor decision to pass a random obsessed fangirl her contact info, but then....time to leave!

[oslecamo]

(click to show/hide)

Hugo takes João's hand and shakes it firmly.
"Less to do with niceties and more to do with me not liking being out of the loop. Though if the opportunity presents itself...

And of course, miss Eliza. Your services are much appreciated."

After shaking hands, João gets up and starts moving towards the exit of the bar, turning back to Hugo:
Until next time then, Mr. Lotushand! I would advise you to take care, but you clearly know more about that than me.

Eliza finishes her drink, gets up and starts walking towards the bar exit as well:
Seems like we have a contract then, Mr.Lotushand. I will contact you when I have any intel relevant to your interests. Make sure you have meseta at hand.

"Uhm, ah, ahah...That's awesome, um, of course you'll be great some day...Um, yeah, alright..." She does indeed give the girl the asked for autograph however. "Um, well, I'd love to talk but, er, work's calling and I can't say no, eheh. But, um, yeah, alright, you could probably, um, hang out another time. Yeah! Yeah, okay." It was probably a poor decision to pass a random obsessed fangirl her contact info, but then....time to leave!

The pirate hunter can still hear the blonde human squeal in delight behind her back:
Kyaaah, Katherine talked to me and wants to be my friend! Go kick some ass miss Katherine! I'll be cheering for you!

(click to show/hide)

"First, here is my report on the hired personnel.
Most of them seem... affected by a strange spark of madness. More so than is common to organics. If selected for more missions in the future, it should be taken into account that they have greatly violent tendencies and seem compelled to deal great collateral damage. The way they engage problems is chaotic and difficult to manage past perhaps the administration of where the mayhem can be directed. Baha and Amaterasu seem to be those most prone to chaos.
Katherine gave me the impression that she can be reliable but is influenced by the others.
Hugo has a good sense of logic though it may seem a little twisted sometimes.
Their combined recklessness led to the destruction of the main dome. It could have easily been avoided, leading to losses that far exceed the price of their services. Hiring them may well lead to similar results. While I cannot affirm that they can be managed to prevent similar issues, I can at least vouch for them in that we are obtaining results.

"Whether they are worth the trouble or not, I leave to the Higher Management.

Maia keeps her cold smile:
The destruction of the dome is lamentable, but within the acceptable range of the losses we had predicted. The Administration was well aware that several of the hired organics were more unstable than the average, such is to be expected from the great powers each of them wield. But more subtle approaches at gathering data on Ragol's situation had already failed.

The recent expression of their distrust may compromise the accomplishment of future objectives on Ragol, however. Our enemies may discern it, or simply hear of it since since being keep quiet about it in public does not appear to be part of their professional ethics, as they displayed when we arrived, and then they may try to turn them against us. Worse, it is possible that hints, fabricated, misanalysed or real, of the involvement of a management branch of the Administration could have them take it against the whole of us. A most foolish notion that yet seem quite possible to them. I'll leave you the logs of my interactions with them for analysis."

It is extremely pleasant to confirm you keep going above and beyond your given tasks, Mao.  Those logs will give us invaluable data on predicting the results of this unique team's work on the future.

"Secondly, I was by chance the only one to explore the underground facilities of the main dome.
The installations were the best among those I have seen in the colony so far, and they weren't listed in the records open to my security level. Elle and her babe were found in a purple cell within these installations.
That my security level wasn't high enough to be informed of these installations, I can understand; they may be well outside of the operations of my department. But I find most disconcerting that the invaders found them and were making use of them.
There is a possibility that there is a spy within the Android Administration, or that one branch of management is corrupted, malfunctioning or has been assimilated or otherwise hacked into. My primal concern for the possibility that there may be a spy is that among the experiments we met in the central dome, some seemed to be attempts to... turn organics into android-like organisms. Anarchists and others who oppose the Administration could benefit in the possibility of sending their organic agents among us for infiltration by passing them as fellow androids.

Maia's face changes to serious and several blue floating holographic panels form around her, running hundreds of lines of code.
...Your concerns and warnings on this will be given high priority. I'll be personally running maintenance scans on this ship's mechanic units and changing all main system passwords as a first precaution. If there is a virus among us, we need to find and root it out before it manages to spread.

"I have collect Elle's sister, Anna, who appears to have been treated into becoming such a creature."

She opened her main mecha frame to let her drone carry the apparently neutralized Erinye Prototype out for Maia to observe.
"It appears that this conversion was operated recently and may still be reversible. I suspect that, given our lack of samples of such cases, it would for the best to use this opportunity to uncover a reversion process as it is quite possible that more of her kind may be used against us in the future. If we can learn how to stop it now, we will be ready later."

Maia turns off the holographic panels and her eye lenses expand, focusing on Erinye Prorotype:
What a fascinating new unit! And you managed to bring her back almost intact! I'll contact the cyber-medic bay to arrange for a full examination of her properties. Although from what I can observe, I don't know if reversion is a possibility at all. This unit seems to be missing several core organic systems... Perhaps we can clone a new body from her cells and transplant what remains of her nervous system to it... Still I'm no qualified organic doctor. The specialist units will be able to provide a better report.

That said, she figured it'd be best to inform them better on Elle and her child.
"Similarly, I am almost certain that her sister Elle and perhaps also her child have been modified as well. Her vital signs were much higher than someone of her profile should be and she manifested a strange behavior sometimes, as well as aptitudes for combat. If it is so, I believe that she is well aware of her new aptitudes but it is indeed possible that she isn't aware of possible problems that these operations might have caused to her and her child's system. I imagine that she is also conscious of that possibility and intelligent enough to understand what that implies, so I expect her to be docile if the well-being of her child is assured.

"It may be that observing them and a certain amount of experimentation to better understand their situation would be necessary for their well-being as much as it may be for our own interests but I would advise against their maltreatment during the process. She has information and excellent aptitudes for handling colonists and for future work on Ragol in the current situation. It is also obvious but worth mentioning that she is very cooperative and that this excellent trait would be compromised if we are not careful. Sentient resources are much easier to manage when their are content, and usually more productive too."

Maia makes a metallic chuckle:
Mao, you know full well that the Administration has an unbreakable policy on ensuring the comfort and well-being of organics, even those that tend to self-destructive behaviours. After Elle and her offspring are examined and we make sure she's not a danger for herself or those around her, we'll find a new position for her to work on, as well as proper installations to oversee her child's development. Your recommendations for them both will be recorded and taken in account when making those decisions, so rest assured you don't need to worry about them anymore. Now please focus your protocols on your next mission. This misteryous monolith must be investigated, and it would be best we use the same team.

(click to show/hide)

So, where's everybody going? Monolith coordinates, or go for some sight seeing on the Vale of Smoke and Fog via Katherine's plane shift? If Hugo learned greater teleport this level, he'll still need to prepare his spells. Or spliting up again?

[Kuroimaken]

(click to show/hide)

"Ah, Katherine. Just the one I needed to see. I'm going to need a favor. Should be small enough for you, but it'll do wonders for me."

[Anomander]

(click to show/hide)

The destruction of the dome is lamentable, but within the acceptable range of the losses we had predicted. The Administration was well aware that several of the hired organics were more unstable than the average, such is to be expected from the great powers each of them wield. But more subtle approaches at gathering data on Ragol's situation had already failed.

Mao agreed heartily.
"I will try to keep the damage to a minimum. It'd be nice if there were still a planet to colonize when this incident is resolved. For management purposes, could you please send me a chart of the acceptable losses? I have estimated them so far but I would prefer the range of values to be more precise so that I may better handle these situation in the future and decide when a trigger happy colleague should be subdued or restrained from becoming a liability."

It is extremely pleasant to confirm you keep going above and beyond your given tasks, Mao.  Those logs will give us invaluable data on predicting the results of this unique team's work on the future.

Being praised was pleasant but she couldn't let it get to her head. Being humble made serving easier, and management was better done by those who served.

...Your concerns and warnings on this will be given high priority. I'll be personally running maintenance scans on this ship's mechanic units and changing all main system passwords as a first precaution. If there is a virus among us, we need to find and root it out before it manages to spread.

She nodded sternly.

Her reaction to Anna's situation was expected. It reminded her of something worth mentioning.
"Indeed. I fear not for her well-being and the opportunity to learn from her is quite excellent, but I would have those appointed to have her in their care informed that reports of madness have been made on her prior to her current, modified state. She said her mind was much clearer now that she lost many of her organic traits and she expressed a great appreciation for her new form. I suppose it comes to no surprise to us, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility that her modified state didn't come with a few psychological alterations that would drive her to behave in a way that isn't conform to her true wishes. The experiment that involved her was also violently interrupted, and the ramifications of this are unknown except perhaps that she hasn't been turned into a puppet of the invaders. She displayed signs of free will. She also didn't seem to like us much, so while I believe it could be good to interact with her further before perhaps attempting to revert her, we shouldn't expect her to be docile or cooperate willingly.
Also, Elle shut her down when she approached her. Perhaps she has an ability or an access code to do so. Asking her might serve if her sister becomes violent and endangers herself, our staff and our installations."

Mao, you know full well that the Administration has an unbreakable policy on ensuring the comfort and well-being of organics, even those that tend to self-destructive behaviours. After Elle and her offspring are examined and we make sure she's not a danger for herself or those around her, we'll find a new position for her to work on, as well as proper installations to oversee her child's development.

"Oh. Certainly. Only, organics tend to misunderstand what is good for their well-being and can take security measures taken for their safety as conducts of aggression. She is particularly protective of the child and any mishandling or mistakenly giving her the impression something improper might happen to it could trigger hostile responses. More so than is usual for organic mothers given the accumulated stress through the recent events."

Now please focus your protocols on your next mission. This misteryous monolith must be investigated, and it would be best we use the same team.

"Absolutely. I will return to my installations to finish my reconfigurations and prepare for duty.
"Also, besides the monolith, there are still these underground facilities that may well have survived the collapse of the central dome. The invaders have probably also taken control of some of our other facilities. If management has any point of interest they wish investigated beside the monolith, please send the request over or prepare it for when we will return with any data we might find on the monolith. You may send the mission request over to the Hunters' Guild or directly to them, as you please. Or I can take care of it. Thank you for receiving me."

When that was all dealt with, Mao would return to her installations as she had announced and deal with her own affairs until mission's start.

[ketaro]

"Huh? Oh, um, sure Hugo! What'cha need my assistance for!"

[Kuroimaken]

(click to show/hide)

"I need your help getting somewhere quickly. It's in another planet, though, and I don't want to use a regular ship transport - too much attention."

[ketaro]

(click to show/hide)

Katherine gave Hugo a perplexed look, not quite sure what he was asking for. "Um, it's awesome you think I can do something like inter-planetary travel so easily but I have to admit I'm not that fast. I mean, sure, I could probably out-fly a ship at least for a little while, but between the two of us, Ammy is really the real speed demon here. I don't think I could beat her in a real race, well, at least, not a fair one....Hmm, yeah, not a fair..."

She looked away for a second, as if a very delayed light bulb just turned on, and she raised her hand to bring up a miniature display of which she quickly started scrolling through with a few waves of a finger.

"Yeah, but then, fairness doesn't get the job done." As she reached the bottom of a list then quickly waved the whole thing away; a slight smirk that didn't seem to fit her character forming on her lips. "I've learned how to cheat though. So, what do I get out of it?"

[Kuroimaken]

(click to show/hide)

"I suppose that depends on what you want out of it, right?"

[ketaro]

(click to show/hide)

Katherine tilts her head slightly as she ponders it, tapping a finger on her chin. "Mmm, from what I know you sound like you're good at information, at least. Just asking, but there's a specific ship I've been looking for; registered call sign Nova IV. Its probably in some pirates' possession if not outright abandoned somewhere out there.....Just, yeah, if you ever hear anything."

She breaks out in a smile then and angles her tapping finger to point in Hugo's direction. "Or if nothing ever comes up, I could always go for some cake~"

[Kuroimaken]

(click to show/hide)

"Sure, I can keep my eyes peeled. Tap into some contacts. Wouldn't mind taking a crack at it too, if you need any help.

I'd bake you some myself, even."

[ketaro]

(click to show/hide)

"Yay! Thanks! So, where we off to?"

[Kuroimaken]

(click to show/hide)

Hugo pulls a galactic chart and a planet and points out: "...here."

[ketaro]

(click to show/hide)

"Huh...Not a place I'm familiar with. So don't blame me if I overshoot it. Which....might happen, I'm not terribly familiar with what I'm about to do either. Well, probably not here though, we're right outside a bar full of people. Actually, just in case, should probably take my mecha...Overshooting the destination might indeed leave us in the void of space looking back at it, eheh."

[Kuroimaken]

(click to show/hide)

"I didn't mean for us to go immediately, of course. Grab your stuff, maybe some gear, meet me at the hangar?"

[ketaro]

(click to show/hide)

"Right right, follow and let's go!" Katherine says as she turns to start energetically walking off to the hanger to pick up her new mecha, almost with a bounce in her step. "By the way, I might need a liiiiitle more information than a spot on a map to get to wherever it is you're trying to get a ride to."