Starfinder: the Jade Regent
Chapter 1

Copyright© 2017 by Dragon Cobolt

Science Fiction Sex Story: Chapter 1 - In a future beyond imagination where magic and technology are one in the same, a group of friends embark on an epic adventure.

Caution: This Science Fiction Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa   Teenagers   Lesbian   BiSexual   Heterosexual   Science Fiction   Aliens   Robot   Space   Paranormal   Gang Bang   Group Sex  

Every other week, the vast dust plains of Akiton - without forests or hills to break them apart - allowed the winds of the planet, accelerated by the Coriolis effect, to whistle faster and faster and faster, picking up particulates and chunks of dirt as they went. By the time they reached the settled areas of the planet, these vast storms could strip a man’s flesh from his bones in a matter of hours. Most large, comfortable settlements were built either under ground or inside of vast force domes that could be activated during this time, to repel the dust and keep the grit from the streets.

Rustpoint was not a large, comfortable settlement.

Built centuries ago to mine thasteron - a fuel that powered sublight thrusters - Rustpoint had once had a far nicer name. But with the discovery of the Drift, the need for thasteron had faded, and Rustpoint had slowly died, until it was nothing more than a few hard knuckled scrabblers living on the edge, mining and scavenging what they could from the vast ship graveyards that stretched out into the dusty deserts.

Those ships were visible, even through the gathering dust storm, as vast, whale like humps on the horizon. But they wouldn’t provide a bulwark against the storm.

People rushed through the town, hurrying to their homes, closing down shutters, gathering the last bits of supplies. The homeless headed into the local chapel to Desna and Iomedea, while the inns and taverns were filled with travelers who had stopped on their way to better places.

At the edge of the town, though, five youths were settling down ... not with nervousness at the onrushing storm, but with excitement. The small home they had for themselves was called The Rusty Dragon, and it had once been a tavern before the economy strangled it. Named for its serpentine shape - the building had been crafted from several dozen shipping containers, lashed together and decorated over the years by the owning family - The Rusty Dragon was surprisingly comfortable inside.

A small generator, a laser-link com to an orbiting satellite, and a rather nice salvaged CRT-TV made for a respectable video den, with large cushions and bean bags laid out for everyone who had come to weather the storm with some bad movies and good friends.

“Okay, guys,” Ameiko said, grinning as she looked at her friends. “Here’s our choices for tonight’s science fiction theater delight. Innnn the one corner!” She held out a slender arm, holding up a rectangular box containing a video chip within. The cover of the box showed a buxom elf with blond hair and tattered clothing, recoiling in horror from a shadowy figure, while lurid red letters spelled out the title. “The Skimshaw Murderer!”

Ami held out her other arm. “And in the other corner, we have ... Rasputin Must Die!”

This box had a scheming looking man - human, with wild eyes and a huge bushy beard, standing on a snowy field, surrounded by rough looking adventurers carrying old style hunting rifles and revolver pistols.

Ami grinned at her friends.

They all had to wonder where the hell she got these fucking videos. They were definitely the kind of things that would have a single sentence entry on the InfoSphere Movie Database.

Though, to be fair, finding cheesy movies wasn’t Ami’s only skill. The young girl - an orphan who had adopted each of the others as her personal friend - was a stick thin teenager, with a thin spread of freckles on her olive-brown face. Her eyes came to a pair of slender folds, while her hair ranged in color from a haze of rainbow colors to pale as white depending on her mood. Today, she was favoring her natural black, with a single streak of white to accentuate her bangs. The only thing that Ami wasn’t proud of was her teeth - but that may have been due to the braces glinting on them.

But that didn’t stop her from grinning. Nothing really could, it seemed.

“Mmm, I’m gonna go with Skimshaw. Looks artistic.” Hana said. The young android grinning playfully as she laid back on her bean bag chair. Hana claimed on different days to be either the former concubine of a long dead king, a decommissioned combat droid, an assassin robot, or spontaneously generated from nearby scrap. None of her friends pressed her on it. Hana’s eyes whirred as she looked at the buxom elf appraisingly, her blue skin highlighted by the red neon lights in lines in her skin and her glowing red eyes, pressing back her blueish black hair as she nodded sagely. “Probably a deep and engaging plot.”

Ami giggled. “One for Skimshaw!” She said, nodding sagely.

“If Skrimshaw has a deep plot I’ll eat my spell cache,” Rakain said, arching a bony eyebrow. The huge vesk sprawled across two bean bags. The only vesk in the group, Rakain was made all the bigger by comparison to the others. Ami was short, Hana was short, Sam and Nora weren’t tall. But Rakain? He was close to seven feet tall. Muscle bulged under his green scales and his wide muzzled head split with a huge grin as he spoke. “I vote Rasputin.”

His finger caressed a metal choker with the symbol of Desna, which hung around his neck. His spell cache – being a Vesk didn’t mean he wasn’t smart enough to master magic.

“Our lovable lizardman says: Lacks literary...” Ami paused, sticking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth. “ ... legacy! One for Razzy!” She looked expectantly at her other friends – Sam and Nora.

A near pass for Ami’s elder, Nora sat with both of her legs crossed near the generator. A few cables lead from it to her false right arm while a visual display lit up on the human’s wrist. Dark hair framed her face and hung low as she stared down at the readouts on her arm lips mouthing phrases and numbers. A small little mechanical robot that looked like a blend between plastic and a small mammal skittered about on the ground near Nora as she tinkered. She finally tore her gaze up from the display in order to return to reality, “Uh? Uh, one with the pretty blonde?” She asked in confused while gesturing with her true hand toward Scrimshaw.”

Sam, meanwhile, was doing her best impression of a jellyfish by sitting in the beanbag chair, attempting to be as boneless as possible.

“Deep.” She commented with massive sarcasm and tapped the helmet that was at the side of the chair. Her collection of gear was sitting in a pile next to her, the upper half of her armor in that pile as she enjoyed lounging about. Sam was the only member of the group who had a job even close to her skill set. Rakain worked at a local tinkerers shop, despite studying magic. Hana livestreamed – what she remained semi-coy on. Nora worked on the various engineering problems that faced Rustpoint.

Sam?

Sam was a guard. She actually was trusted with a gun by the town sheriff.

“I should vote Rasputin-” Sam teased, proving that trust might have been misplaced. “But this storm likely isn’t going to be up soon enough so we get to see both. Let’s see what sort of Artsy has Hana hooked- Skrimshaw.”

“Sorry Rankin...” Ami said, pouting at the huge vesk, then turning and walking over to the console. As if in a deliberate attempt to test her friends, Ami bent forward to operate the ancient video console. Modern ones just streamed straight from the infosphere, but this one actually took primitive disks, chips, tapes and other esoterica, often from kludged together attachments that hung together more with duct tape and hope than from any kind of actual design.

Doing so tightened Ami’s short shorts - the kind of thing her adoptive mother would not approve of her wearing outside - across her pert, heart shaped rear. Ami made a production of sliding the chip in - sneakily glancing back over her shoulder with all the subtly of a Absalom stage performer. As she wiggled her hips from side to side, her necklace slipped from between her smallish breasts – dangling in the air.

That got her to act quickly. She tucked the necklace into her shirt again. The small disk had been found with Ami when she was a mere baby, and her adoptive mother said it was the only clue as to who Ami’s parents were. Not that it had helped so far.

“Whoo hoo! Machine superiority!” She said, holding out a hand to Nora for a high five. “You will both be remembered when your machine overlords take our rightful place as rulers.”

Nora glanced from Ami after a moments distraction to Hana, “Machine overlords? I’m like a century away from anything like that,” She said in confusion while returning the high five with her false one, glowing displaying flickering wit the movement.

Hana snickered, “Don’t worry, when we take over your efforts will be recognized and your full conversion will come.” She nodded, “And I promise I’ll do my best to get the rest of you choice positions in the pleasure domes.”

“I will wait for that day, and bribe Nora for a show.” Sam teased with a smirk, her eyes locked onto that nicely shaped rump and let Ami see her staring brazenly. The undersuit to her armor was zipped open and the upper half laid sprawled along the bean bag, leaving her in her tank top.

Ami, standing, turned to face the others. “Okay, someone hit the lights!” She pointed. “Someone else-”

“Amiiiiiiiiko!”

The voice of Bentha, Ami’s adoptive mother, came up the stairs leading into the room, echoing slightly.

“What, Mom?” Ami called back.

“You guys aren’t watching dirty movies up there, are you?” Bentha sounded suspicious.

Meanwhile, the menu screen on the CRT-TV showed the play option, the chapter option, the special features, and a running series of clips from the movie. The first of which was a blond haired elf getting her top ripped open in astounding resolution. Considering the TV.

Rakain glanced at Ami, saying nothing, just arching his bony eyebrow another half inch higher.

“Nope!” Hana called to the older woman cheerfully, then lowering her voice she said, “We’re about to, but we currently are not!”

“You know that I don’t approve of that trash!” Bentha sounded furious, making the android start. Clearly, she hadn’t quite taken into account the astounding acuity of a halfling’s ears. Bentha’s feet started to clatter on the floor downstairs, her voice sounding as if she was coming closer.

Ami glared at Hana, then blushed furiously at Rakin.

“Hannaaaaaaa!” Ami whined.

Hana spread her hands wide – as if to say: Hey, not my fault!

“It’s almost like she is psychic,” Sam whispered and chuckled. Then, raising her voice and cupping one hand around her mouth: “It’s actually a slasher flick Ms. Woodwillow!”

“I heard what you said!” Miss Bentha Woodwise stuck her head into the room. She was, as some people said, a MILF. She was about thirty, maybe forty years old. For a halfling, that wasn’t actually middle aged, as odd as that might seem to the humans in the room. Her hair was wavy and brown and her face was severe as she glared at the menu screen, which was showing another scene where the blond elf got her boddice ripped off, this time by what seemed to be a werewolf.

Ami shifted slightly to the side and covered the screen. “Come onnnn, mom!” she whined.

Bentha looked skeptically at the other youths.

Hana smiled, “It’s a murder mystery! It’s a tale of death and deceit, or murder most foul, and the efforts of a clever man attempting to stop a wicked killer before it’s too late!” She said, flaring out her fingers dramatically.

“With supernatural baddies.” Sam added, nodding sagely.

“The designers just thought that having a garbage main screen would sell more copies,” Nora tagged on as she leaned back against the generator.

Bentha slowly frowned. “Well...” she said, sounding reluctant. “So long as you don’t do any drugs...” She muttered, slowly starting to retreat back down the hatch. As she left, Ami sighed, then flopped herself down on as many bean bags as possible. Her belly went over Rankin’s lap, her feet ended up near Hana, and her head was pressed against the small of Sam’s back.

“Mrurhrhghghghgble,” Ami groaned.

Hana looked over Ami’s body to Rakain and wiggled her eyebrows. Quite articulate, she seemed to say.

Nora watched Bentha go, wait a few moments before mumbling and slipping out a small little baggie to peer inside, “How’d she...”

Hana snickered slightly, playing with Ameiko’s feet, “Good times shall commence!” She said cheerfully, wiggling her fingers and tapping the start button on the player as soon as Bentha was gone. Ami squeaked, squirmed, writhed. But she didn’t actually yank her feet free.

“We’re watching Rasputin after this is done,” Rakain grumbled, leaning back on the couch and resting a hand on the small of Ami’s back. His palm caused Ami to stiffen slightl, her cheeks turning bright red.

“No complaints here Rakain. Though Ami, if you keep that up I’m going to roll over.” Sam noted. Only Hana really knew what that threat meant.

“But Rakain! Titties! You’ve got to appreciate titties!” Hana said playfully. She redoubled her assult on Ami’s toes. Ami squirmed and squeaked, then giggled, then manage to jerk herself up as the movie started to play. Her palm slapped down in a place in the center of Rankin’s lap and suddenly the blushing human girl was seated on a free beanbag as the movie started to play - the tinny audio of the ominous theme filling the room. Only Rakin knew that, for one moment, his friend’s palm has cupped his thick, semi-hard Vesk cock.

Rakain, controlling his blush in a way only a scaled man could, scooted Ami to the side, allowing him to get a view of the movie on the screen.

“I think there is a supply-demand thing when it comes to Titties though.” Sam whispered as the movie started.

Hana blinked. She looked over at Sam. “Your theory intrigues me and I request more information.”

Baggie tucked away Nora moved to get comfortable on a smaller pillow, laying her head on it while her drone curled up on her stomach. “Agreed. Pontificate,” she whispered.

“The more frequently or easily a nice pair of breasts are available, without an increasing demand of instances to see said nice pairs of breasts- either by sex drive or by more people, the demand to see a new pair of breasts declines.” Sam said, her head craned up to see the movie before she slid her arms under herself to prop her up.

Rakain, only listening to the breast conversation with half a hearing diaphragm, moved his hands to Ami’s thighs, not saying a word about her hand wandering between his legs. A languid grin curled up the corners of his mouth. Ami blushed, hard, then gently took a hold of Rankin’s hand - stopping it on her thigh as she looked at him, her cheeks incandescent. Despite the gentle motion, Ami’s nipples were still hard enough to cut glass, peeking out of her shirt.

Rakain glanced at her. He grinned.

Ami blushed even harder – but smiled slightly at him. Meanwhile, the movie was still going through the intro credits.

“I don’t know ... I think a nice enough pair of breasts will always have some base level of demand,” Hana said, frowning as she looked at Sam. “I mean, yes, they will not be AS demanded if they’re bouncing freely all the time, but depending on the quality of the breast there will always be a relatively high level of demand, if only for aesthetic value.” She nodding as she spoke, continuing to casually massage Ami’s feet. The intro credits faded and the scene showed some teens arriving at a summer camp via a shuttlecraft.

Ami squirmed, clearly a bit stunned at being felt up by her friends - but she kept herself quiet as the conversation about breasts went on over the really shockingly wooden dialog between the teens on the screen as they dragged luggage off their shuttle.

“I could live in a world of freely bouncing breasts,” Nora remarked while half looking up at the show. “Small, big. Don’t think it would decline.”

“There is also the fact that at a certain point making breasts less available will actually have a damaging effect on the desire to see them as it becomes less and less likely,” Hana said, moving her finger up her nose as it to push up a phantom pair of glasses. “If you believe you only have a less than one percent chance of seeing breasts, it becomes less of a tangible desire and more a fantasy beyond realization, therefore giving it a considerably smaller foothold on a person’s mind.”

Sam chuckled. “I think you are talking about the overall market and desire to see breasts, which is true.” She noted after a pause, just long enough to hear how bad the dialog of the movie was.

“Man, Castrovel is so pretty this ... time of ... the year,” one of the teens said. Sam picked up some popcorn from the communal bowl and threw it at the screen, before continuing her breastonomic lecture.

“The theory I am speaking of refers to an individual in their personal saturation of, in this case, breasts. The more easily or frequently one person can see a pair of breasts, the less desire they would have towards a new pair of breasts introduced into that pool as they would be leaning to what they feel familiar to and not seeing a value into the effort to see the new pair,” Sam said.

Ami, whose cheeks were even brighter red, threw up her hands. “Guys!” she said, laughing. “Maybe I should have just gotten a porno!” She giggled, quietly. “I mean, at least a horror movie wait before- oh, uh, there are some titties.”

The Lantashu bimbo character had stripped off her top and was going skinny dipping, while a heavy breathing sound came over the soundtrack. It was clear she was in mortal peril.

“Titties.” Nora droned, holding her arms up in response to Ami and the film both.

“Why have the breathing on the soundtrack?” Rakain said, slowly lowering his hands off Ami’s thighs. “It’s mixed terribly and it’s distracting as hell.”

Sam chuckled, her eyes having not left the movie since it started. “Because it is supposed to be bad, Rakain.”

“This breast thing depends entirely on the individual. I personally feel that if moments before the sun burns out I am given the option to see a new pair of quality breasts, I will still be plenty eager to see them.” Hana smirked, “And I would actually maybe like a porno more.” She giggled, “It’s an anticipation trick.” She said, engaging several conversations at once and still continuing to play with Ami’s feet despite Ami’s constant attempts to escape.

“I think it’s the bad guy...” Ami whispered as the camera slowly started to draw closer and closer to the skinny dipping girl. She splashed up, her breasts filling the frame as she brushed her hands along her hair, her antennas dripping with water...

And then the monster leaped onto her. She screamed and a knife flashed across the screen, then the scene cut away.

“Of course the bimbo dies first!” Ami said, then grabbed some popcorn from the bowl she had left out. “Boo!” She threw it at the screen.

“If you want the bimbo to not die first, then make her a Vesk,” Rakain remarked. “We’d kick the ass of anything that tried.” He waved a hand in the air, the sharpness of his claws highlighted in the light from the screen.

“Says the nerrrrrd,” Ami said, giggling and sticking out her tongue.

“Of course the bimbo dies first!” Hana said, pausing in her feet playing to grab some popcorn. It was a well known fact that androids still needed to eat. Apparently. Being a semi-magical construct had its strange rules “It’s assailing the very concept that bimbos are inherently the sexiest women available. We all know that a good personality, clever intellect, AND a rockin’ pair of tits is the ideal ... and ... I just thought a vesk horror movie must be kind of awesome.” She giggled.

“Hana- are you saying you would rather see a fresh pair of breasts instead of my own?” Sam teased as the murder scene was shown on screen, or rather just off screen. “Ami, I would be disappointed if she didn’t go first. Tropes to adhere too. I am disappointed that we haven’t seen the wolf yet. Also, remember: The virgin survives.”

“I don’t think Vesk and Bimbo can end up in the same sentence,” Nora snorted, reaching out with a leg to give Rakain a friendly nudge. “At least the scene ended with a good bounce before the end.

“On the subject of Vesk bimbos, there was that girl down at the general store,” Ami said, grinning at Nora. “What was her name?”

Rainbow Scales. She liked dying her scales. And she had definitely had a boob job.

Nora ended up blowing out a raspberry in response as she pet her drone. “Okay, maybe her.”

“You fleshlings are so limited.” Hana said, grinning playfully. “Of course Vesk and Bimbo can go into the same sentence! Observe: ‘The vesk found himself utterly unable to tolerate the bimbo and so left to find a better quality woman.’”

Meanwhile, the scene on the screen shifted to a nerdy human boy with glasses, speaking to an android. “I do not understand these e-mo-tions...” The android said, her voice not quite a monotone. Rather, she sounded a bit like someone who couldn’t believe she was being asked to read these lines. She wasn’t a very good actor.

“I’ve hacked microchips that could act better than that!” Rakain said. Deciding to join in with the popcorn throwing, he tossed a few kernels at the screen. They bounced off the CRT-TV. A loud gag slipped out of Nora who even mimed leaning over to the side with an overplayed ‘vomit’ noise.

“By the gods that’s racist!” Hana scowled, putting her hands on her hips. “If we do not end up seeing her in at LEAST a fellatio scene I’m contacting the makers of this film with my protest!”

Sam, meanwhile, seemed to have taken the depths of the acting quality in stride. She shifted herself about to reseat herself on her rear, sinking into the bag in a manner more comfortable to watch and laugh at the movie. Ami giggled quietly, then picked up a handfull of popcorn and jammed it into her mouth. Meanwhile, the nerd boy made a quiet ‘nyhay’ noise and adjusted his amazingly thick glasses.

“I, uh, got a program I can show you, heh, yeah...” he said, nodding eagerly.

“Shuviror?” Ami said around her popcorn. She swallowed. “Taking all bets on the Android Girl!”

“Five minutes!” Rakain said, thrusting his hand into the popcorn bowl. “Nerd gets it in five minutes!”

“3 minutes on the nerd dy- dammit Rakain.” Sam cursed. “I am betting the Android survives the movie. Invoking the virgin trope.”

“Got a five minutes on the nerd, whole movie for the robot girl!” Ami said, then picked up another handful, jamming it into her mouth.

“She is, of course, the only logical choice for survivor.” Hana grinned playfully. Her hands went back to the important task of playing with Ami’s toes, causing the other girl to squirm.

“It’s hooooorible,” Nora groaned, following by laughter. “I only hope we get to, at least, see her topless too...”

Ami wiggling her toes, as if trying to escape Hana’s grasp. “Why is everyone soooo sure the android isn’t going to get freaky?” she asked, grinning as the android and her best friend - a shirren girl - started to unpack in their cabin of the summer camp. The view once more switched to the monster’s POV - heavy breathing filled the room. Rakain mimed the heavy breathing to a comedic extent, doing it right in Ami’s ear to guage her reaction.

“Booo on the virgin trope!” Hana grumbled, “I was built without a hymen because I was crafted to be a superior being...” She grumbled. “Fuck off, monster! There is the chance of lesbian sex if you just piss off!”

“Oh, she is going to about to get something happen to her with someone, and the monster is going to stop it- put the assaulter of her purity out of the picture.” Sam explained. “Not spoilers, just genre.”

“Booooo!” Hana called out, holding her hand up to increase her volume. As Sam and Hana spoke, Ami giggled and squirmed, then punched Rankin in the chest. “Eee!” she gasped. “God, with ears and toes, I am so thanking Desna’s titties that I am not ticklish!” She laughed, then bit her lip, drawing her hand away from Rankin’s chest - her punch having harmed the huge vesk about as much as a gnat landing on him. Her palm had felt the thick muscles under his shirt, though.

Meanwhile, the android on the screen was taking the luggage to the nerd’s room. He plugged a jack into her ear after a bit of convincing, then uploaded a program ... and the android’s eyes went out of focus. The nerd licked his lips with clear delight, typing far too quickly on a keyboard to be sending anything other than gibberish. The android fizzited, then slid her shirt off and over her head, revealing her perky, grey-white tits.

“Really?” Rakina protested. “Come on, dude, that’s just cheating!”

“Hooray.” Hana said in a flat voice. “At least we’re getting a nice rape scene in...” She grumbled. “Why can’t exploitation be fun exploitation?”

“Yes!” Nora remarked, arms shooting up into the air again. At everyone’s look, she added. “Hey, I’m cheering titties, that is all.”

The monster bust into the room, then - it was some kind of gross mass of rotting flesh like a zombie as designd by someone with too much imagination. Their knife plunged into the nerd’s throat and gore sprayed onto the camera. The android’s cable was yanked free and she screamed and ran, her breasts lovingly framed by the camera.

“ ... have you seen this movie before?” Ami asked, glaring at Sam.

Nora’s arms remained in their cheer pose, as if the whole point of the scene for her simply boiled down to pretty android boobies.

“Whoo hoo! Creepy boy gets exactly what he deserves!” Hana threw up her arms in victory, joining Nora’s stance.

“Nice camera work,” Rakain commented dryly.

“Nope- it’s just that badly written.” Sam beamed. “Come on, virgin trope and they stated the robot-chick was emotionless. They telegraphed it from a mile away! Though really, I hope she trips and loses the pants.” She licked her lips.

“You are disgusting,” Ami said, giggling. The android wasn’t tripped. The monster actually tackled her and she kicked her way free, still screaming, revealing her tight white panties, with a heart stenciled over her rear. She was crawling away, the monster looming over her-

When the screen cut to a blue-white test pattern and a loud whirr filled the air. A moment later, a stern looking human behind a newscaster desk appeared.

“This is an emergency bulletin for all settlers living in the Thesnenma Desert region of Akiton,” he said, his voice serious. “A report has reached the Stewards that a gang of goblins - called the Licktoad Tribe - has recently found or stolen a cache of high explosives, fragmentation grenades, and military grade laser weapons. They have embarked on raids on merchant caravans across the Thesnenma Desert, and appear to be located within the Dustchoke Shipswamp.”

The map that flashed up showed a view of the region near Rustpoint - including the largest chunk of the ship graveyard. It was called a swamp because the dust was so thin and so deep that it effectively acted like a marsh. It was a dangerous place ... but apparently, not well picked over by scavengers due to the monsters living within.

“The Stewards, notedly understaffed for the area have put up a two hundred credit bounty per goblin slain by local militia or adventurers,” the newscaster continued.

Ami sat bolt upright, her eyes wide as saucers.

The service message cut off and Ami hit pause on the movie - freezing the frame with the android’s= butt in it.

“Guys...” she said, springing to her feet. “Guys! Are you thinking what I’m thinking!?”

“That’s an amazing butt, yes.” Nora said, doing her best to look around Ami. Her drone was doing the same, its litte head equipped with camera trying to snap images that didn’t get blocked.

“I think so, Ami. But where are we going to get fifty pounds of grease, two monkeys, and a pair of bolas this time of night?” Hana asked, beaming.

“That the heart on the panties was too much?” Sam asked as she begrudgingly pulled herself up out of the beanbag chair and started to zip up her suit, and get dressed back into her armor. There was a lot of her to get into the suit – Sam, once she stood, was nearly six feet tall, and the only girl in the room who came close to Rakain.

Rakain looked at everyone else in the room. “Okay, I want to go on record that I agree with Nora.”

Ami grabbed a bit of popcorn, then threw it at Nora. Then she grabbed more and threw it at Hana - the popcorn pelted Nora’s face and chest. Meanwhile, Hana was able to open her mouth and catch her popcorn easily, getting no grease on her.

“Noooo, guys!” Ami groaned. “We can earn enough credits to get out of this freaking no horse town! We can go to Absalom Station! Or buy our own ship! We can have an adventure!”

Rakain’s face lit up - as much as a Vesk’s face could. “I’m sold!”

“Yes!” Ami pumped her fist happily.

Hana snickered slightly, “Isn’t there a bit of a dust storm that will get in the way at the moment?” She said curiously. “Also- wait, shit! My main combat spell only affects thinking beings! It’s useless on goblins!”

Ami snorted. “We’d go after the storm, obvs.” She said, sticking her tongue out at Hana.

“Well, not selling me so much on the adventure part.” Sam teased as she was clicking her armored torso into place. “But I can follow for most of that train of thought. And it wouldn’t be the first goblin I’ve killed.”

“Adventure means cash and titties, Sam. It sells itself.” Hana grinned.

Nora let out a little ‘Eh’ after a moment, shrugging. “Better than nothing right now, honestly. Nobody will hire me for a lick of work ever since I fixed everything so it doesn’t break anymore. So, um, that might be better.” As she spoke, she popped a few popcorn bits into her mouth as she spoke, unbothered as it collected on her chest and drone. The drone, though, pawed at its ferretlike head with tiny metallic hands.

“Well, more like that’s what the money does with how it flows, both ways.” Sam said and took her seat again, her armor still missing the helmet. “So, guessing we finish the movie if we want to wait out the storm?”

She was, obviously a bit impatient, her hand going to her helmet.

Ami smiled. “Sounds like a plan, Sam!” Ami grinned, then knelt back down, settling back between her friends.

The rest of the movie was resoundingly stupid, but it did have one inspired moment of demented genius, where the android girl, using the intuitive knowledge of all machines that all androids had (which made Hana cry ‘racism!’ again) cobbled together a weapon out of a lawn mower and an old broken down plasma sword. The whirring, flaming death machine had made for an awesome final act.

The android girl never did get laid ... but she got groped a lot.

As the credits rolled, playing the weirdly catchy song of Love is Like a Machete to the Heart, Ami grinned and then laid back on her bean bag. “Soooo, for the adventure...” she said. “We all have guns. And, well, I know a little bit of magic. Kinda.” She coughed, looking slightly embarrassed. This was a bit of a surprise - none of the others had ever heard of Ami learning any kind of magic.

Rakain stared at her. “Since when did you know magic?” he asked.

Nora tilted her head, “Stealing lessons when nobody was looking?” She asked, still splayed out on the floor. Her drone chittered as it crawled along her back, the impassive girl not even twitching.

“Mystic or Technomage?” Hana said curiously, “It’s important you cast the deciding vote!” She said, mock seriously. She drew her own magic intuitively from the cosmos – calling down the power of the stars and the spaces between. It was in direct contrast to Rakain – whose magic was culled from an understanding of magic and arcane principles.

“Heeeeeeey,” Rakain drawled.

“Dammit, outnumbered again,” Sam muttered. Before, Ami, her and Nora had outnumbered the mages. As it was, Sam was once more in the minority of mundanes. Though it was hard to call her or Nora mundane.

Ami blushed. “Just ... promise to not laugh, okay?” She asked, drawing her legs up, scooting away to look at the rest of them, using her elbow to pop the video chip out of her kludged together player.

“Fair enough, I promise not to laugh, make jokes, or otherwise poke humor at it.” Sam put her hand on her chest, making the symbol of Iomede – the goddess of humanity.

“Don’t think one of us would. I don’t get magic but Hana and Raka sure do.”

“So, clearly not clownomancy...” Hana said, nodding sagely, her finger rubbing her chin.

“Thug’s honor,” Sam added, the symbol of the goddess turning to a pair of horns with her pinkie and thumb. Ami giggled, quietly, then shot a look at Rakain, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. Rakain raised a bony eyebrow again as a means of answering her. Ami sighed.

“Okay. Fine. No more delaying. I’m studying...” she blushed, then grinned - her braces flashing. “Bardic magic.”

Bardic Magic was ancient. As in it had been reconstructed after The Gap had wiped away memories and history with equal abandon. Only a few scraps of evidence existed to remind people it was there. But it wasn’t just ancient and obscure. It was also kind of not exactly well received by modern magicians, who could tend to do similar effects with a lot less work, and a lot less silliness. No singing required for technomancy. No mystic ever danced to cast their songs. Lutes weren’t required for solarians.

Ami tensed, some part of her clearly ready for them to make fun of her archaic magical choice.

Hana blinked slightly, “Why?” She said curiously, not mocking. “Also, gonna count that as a victory for mysticism, therefore ending the argument forever.”

Well you do have a good singing voice and you are charming in a manner of ways.” Sam said with a shrug, seeming to think her choice was normal.

Nora gave a shrug as she remained on the floor. “Doesn’t bother me any. I’m sure our technomago would tease me for doing things by hand and understanding the science.” She smiled ever so slightly at Rakain.

Rakain, though, just let out a breath. “I thought you were going to say necromancy or something really weird, phew!”

“Well now I am picturing Ami in one of those cheesy bone corsets, you know the ones with the skeleton hands as supporting the breasts?” Sam noted.

“The reason why I’m studying bardic magic is cause Benda didn’t want me to learn other kinds of magic,” Ami sighed. “And now that I think about it, I don’t think she’ll be crazy cool with me going into a dangerous starship graveyard and fighting goblins...” She smiled at Rakain. “No, of course I haven’t gone into necromancy. Haven’t we all just seen a serious minded take on the dangers of necromancy in the form of well directed art film?” she asked, holding up the Skinshaw Murders box.

Rakain gave a conciliatory shrug. “Point.”

“Serious.” Sam noted, dripping in sarcasm.

Hanna rolled her eyes. “That is necromancy for evil purposes, silly girl! You need to use necromancy for noble purposes, such as a perfectly preserved harem of girls who don’t need to breathe.” She grinned playfully, then winked at Ami. “And we’re not doing that, silly! We’re going out on a walk to get some exercise and some fresh air in our lungs! I mean, sure we might run into goblins, then we have to defend ourselves, right? And not taking the reward for them is just wasteful!”

Nora mouthed ‘breasts’ before rolling and pushing herself up with a yawn, “Don’t let her stop you learning something awesome.”

“Though for the record, almost android rape is apparently what Hana was wanting in Deep and Artsy.” Sam said, her tone mimicking that of a professor as she side tracked the convo. Or attempted to.

Hana frowned, “No, I was just hoping for innocent jiggling titties and wasn’t expecting super skeezy almost rape.” She grumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“At least we got jiggling, soft titties with her running away?” Nora put in.

Rakain snapped his fingers and pointed at Nora. “She’s got a point.”

“Just saying I prefer if titties are going to be covered in blood it’s because the lady in question just finished beating ass.” Hanna said, her voice prim.

Ami nodded, then blushed. “So ... um,” She bit her lip. “Do you guys maybe want to, um, get a jump on the other adventurers who might head for the shipswamp by, uh, heading out the instant the storm drops in the morning? Maybe ... before Bentha wakes up?” She asked - her finger tracing a circle on Rakin’s thigh as she looked at the floor - clearly knowing she was proposing running away.

Sam blinked, not expecting that response from Hana. “Yeah, I already dug myself a hole so lets dig up a ship instead.”

“Sounds good to me!” Hana said cheerfully, “So, now begins the slumber party!”

Rakain put a hand on Ami’s shoulder. “I’m game. Let’s do it.”

“Just make sure your leave a note.” Sam added pointly.

Ami’s hand went to her necklace, touching it under her collar. Her eyes closed and then she smiled as she looked up at Rakain. “So, um ... Rakain...” She grinned. “Do you promise to behave yourself while all us pretty, innocent, nubile girls are sleeping?” she asked, her voice teasing as she grinned. “Because Hana would never ever do something pervy. She’s as innocent as a daisy! Men are what I need to worry about.” She blushed as she spoke, looking a bit concerned. “T-That was a joke, just to be clear!”

Rakain let his hand drop. “If Hana’s not pervy, I’m a ysoki.”

Ami snorted. “That does explain the tail. I can’t think of any other logical rational for it.”

“Heeeey! Wait a second here! I think you’re making fun of me!” Hana said, pouting playfully. “Gods! You molest a girl fifteen or twenty times on camera while she’s asleep and you get some weird reputation!”

“It’s true,” Sam said. “People are very judgmental sometimes.”

Ami blinked. “Wait, what now?” she asked, in faux surprise. Her hands went to her chest – miming feeling herself up, as if to check if she had been molested recently. Nora snorted softly as she cradled her drone, lifting the little machine up so it could perch on her shoulder. “So much evidence...”

“Pffft, you got your cut of the profits, don’t act all innocent.” Hana said, waving her hand dismissively.

“With Hana on that one, after that performance setting up the video- innocence doesn’t suit you either,” Sam pointed out, sticking her tongue out at Ami. Ami stuck her tongue out at her friend, then laughed.

As the party wound down, everyone got their sleeping bags. Soon, the room was only lit by a faint night light, and the only sound was the soft breathing of everyone - and the faint rasp and sussurations of the dust pattering against the walls. The morning came with the dust ceasing and Ami sitting up the instant the dust storm settled. It was easily five, maybe even four in the morning. The entirety of The Rusty Dragon felt as if it had been alyered

“Come on! Everyone!” She whispered. “Lets get up!”

Rakain sat up, rubbing grit from his eyes with his knuckles. Quietly, and with normal Vesk efficency, he stood and grabbed his small arsenal of gear - laser pistol, knife, comm unit - and before hooking everything to his belt. He rubs the choker on his neck, feeling the spark of magical energy within. “Ready,” he whispered.

Hana, who seemed to wake up instantly without grogginess, snickered as she sat up. She rolled from her sleeping back and began stuffing an almost obscene amount of clothing into her backpack before standing up and giving Ami and the others a thumb’s up. Since it was only an hour or so off Nora’s usual wake-up time she was only sleepy for a little before getting everything she needed. Her bag and toolkit hooked onto her back and her drone scurried up onto her shoulder, perching there like some star pirate’s parrot. Ami, meanwhile, had slung on a set of leather jackets that looked to have some metal plates sown into them for a form of armor. She strapped a sleek dueling sword to her hip, then picked up and twirled around a sleek Azimuth laser pistol. She holstered it and grinned, braces flashing.

“Do I look badass or do I look badass?” she whispered.

Rakain nods emphatically.

Sam, meanwhile, had just groaned awake, rolling over in yesterday’s black tank top and grey panties before pushing herself up and to her feet. She took a moment to get changed with her back to the rest of them, stripping down and giving herself a wipe down before getting dressed in a fresh set of- tank top and panties. From there, she donned the undersuit and armor, collected her gear.

“Suitably bad ass,” she said, grinning at Ami.

Hana held up her ring-computer at the other girl, then at the others and herself and smiling, “Wicked!”

Nora yawned as she fumbled with a packet of instant coffee and a thermos. She did manage to say something that sounded a bit like ‘cute’ in response as her tired brain struggled to start up fully.

Ami giggled. “Okay ... lets all be werey werey quiet. We’re hunting gobbos...” She winked.

As they crept together down the ladder out of Ami’s room and into The Rusty Dragon, they moved past where Bentha snored, then came outside into the town itself. Rustpoint looked as if it had been covered in a thin layer of snow ... but the snow was red. Blood red. Walking along the street, their shoes kicked up dust as they stomped along.

The edge of the town was circumscribed by a wall made of scrap and metal and ceramics. A few heavy artillery lasers had been mounted near the gate, but they weren’t manned at the moment.

Once they were beyond the gate, Ami turned on her T-Pod and started to sing along with a popsong, filling the air with her beautiful voice. The sun rose overhead and they trooped across the vast red flats, heading towards the shipswamp. Ami paused in her singing, laughing as she missed a note, before grinning and walking backwards as she looked at her friends. Her hands slid into her pockets. Her shoes sent up tiny puffs of red dust into the air.

“So!” she said. “I bet we’re going to take on a dragon at some point. That’s how the stories go: You eventually will fight a dragon and will explore a dungeon. If we fight a dragon, I say that I try my hand at it.” She put her hand on her chest. “For I am clearly team leader, and team leader always takes on the biggest, baddest threats.”

“When you say take on ... are you talking like sexy or violent?” Hana said playfully. “Because I need to know how to edit it properly.”

“Why not both?” Rakain added, his hands in his pockets as he walked. “Fight it naked.”

“Yes, brilliant. The smallest among us, clad in leathers most fine, to step before the maws of a dragon.” Sam teased. “Oh, though, I didn’t think of that angle Hana. Might not even need the hoard then.”

“The ... vesk raises a good point,” Ami said, her voice super serious. Then her tone dropped into a grizzled, macho whisper. “Only nude can we bare our souls!”

“Sadly fighting nude is impractical.” Hana grumbled, sounding annoyed. “Trust me, I’ve looked into it.” She sighed.

Sam chuckled. “You are all crazy.”

Rakain snickered, trying not to let his mind wander too much over the images of naked fighting. He only partially succeeded. His muzzle turned a slight red as he stood a bit straighter, his tail twitching from side to side.

“Look, logically you either fight as free or armored as possible, right?” Hana said, perking up at the discussion of nude fighting.

Ami giggled. “This madness is why you love us, Sam!” She said, sticking her tongue out at her. Then, turning around, she stopped. “Whoa.”

The others walked over as well. Each one whispered essentially the same word. Whoa. The shipswamp lay below them, in a broad gully, about a hundred feet straight down. They stood on a ridge line that surrounded half of the ‘swamp’, giving them a perfect view of the swamp itself. Hundreds ... maybe even thousands of ships, ranging from large to small, had been left to rot there. Their components mixed together, forming metal walkways between the vast pits of reddish-pink dust that looked thin enough to drag someone straight to the bottom. Looking down, they could see five entrances: clear patches of wreckage that were at the edges of the shipswamp.

Seeing anything underneath the wreckage was impossible, considering how thick it was, and how many ships had broad tops and wings, creating a kind of foliage. Sam looked over the edge of the gully, her hands resting on her hips, the armored knuckles clicking against armored leggings. She looked back at her friends, stepping away from the edge.

“So, we pick an entrance, map our way in and through it, and systematically search for our targets?” she asked.

“Sounds good to me!” Hana said, giving a thumb’s up to the walking humanoid tank that was their friend.

Rakain drew his pistol, holding it by his side. The weapon seemed tiny in comparison to the rest of his hand. “Seems like a start. But which way should we go in?”

“Shouldn’t be an issue...” Nora mumbled, rubbing her cheeks in thought. She glanced at her drone and began pulling the little machine into her hands so she could double check the little firearm built inside of its body.

“Well, the nearest path...” Ami said, pointing. “I think it’s the one that leads to that weird old hermit who lives out here...” She said, nodding. She glanced back at her friends to see which of them knew what she was talking about.

“The weird hermit with weird hermit powers?” Hana asked, “Yeah, I’ve heard of him. Walthe or Walter or something, right?” She sighed. “We should check and make sure he’s okay. Like ... not bug him, just make sure he didn’t get murdered or anything.”

“Making sure he is doing well after the storm.” Sam said in agreement.

Nora made a noncommittal noise as she continued checking over her drone.

Ami nodded, then grinned at Nora and Rakin. “There’s an old kasathas who lives in the shipswamp. Some people – not just Hana - say he has weeeeeeeird powers!” She wiggled her fingers as she started towards the path, her short shorts clinging tightly to her rump as she walked forward with a confident pace.

“I heard he’s a fan of old school magic like you. I also heard he wants to be left alone, which is why I didn’t want to make him sound too interesting...” Hana sighed slightly as she followed after the other girl.

“No such thing at this point,” Nora snorted aloud, happy with her drone as she set the quietly beeping little machine back on her shoulder.

“Weird is subjective, so considering our group.” Sam added as she started after them. Rakain - who had been looking out at the shipswamp, grunted and turned to follow up the rear.

Ami snickered, quietly. “I’m sure we’ll be polite...” She said as they walked onto the path leading into the swamp. It was made of a solid chunk of corrugated metal that had been laid out on the dusty ground, propped up by poles. It clacked as Ami stepped onto it, turning back to face the others. She grinned.

“Today is the day,” she said, nodding. “Where our lives truly begin. Where we face down evil and wickedness and-”

A tentacle reached up from the dust, wrapped around her ankle, and yanked her feet out from under her. Ami screamed as her butt crashed onto the metal floor. She grabbed onto the edge, holding on as the tentacle tried to drag her off and under into the dust below. The ground humped upwards and each of them saw that an immense shape was lurking underneath the dust, the tentacle coiling around and around Ami’s ankle.

The tentacle dragged at Ami, yanking her leg out straight as she clung to the metal dock. “Let me go!” she snarled. “I may be fucking Tian, but that doesn’t mean I want to be in a hentai!”

Nora’s reaction was instant as she reached for her belt. Her drone too moved, little arms gripping hold of Nora’s shoulder to give it a good perch. With almost perfect timing both Nora and her drone expose and fire their weapons – Nora using a chunky revolver, the drone firing a bullet from its mouth. One bullet – the drone’s – pinged off the wall overhead. The other, though, slammed into the tentacle. Blood splashed onto the dust. Ami gritted her teeth. “B-Be careful with the guns!” She said, then added. “N-Nice shot! Ee!” She squeaked as the tentacle yanked harder.

Sam: Sam rushed forward, closing the gap between her and Ami with the intent to slam all of her weight down on that tentacle, using her armor itself as a weapon. The tentacle yanked Ami’s leg around, making the young girl scream in fright and pain. Sam jerked her knuckles back before

“By the way Ami, that explains why Bentha didn’t approve of this kind of life.” Sam teased lightly, trying to take the edge off of the situation.

“Noted!” Ami squeaked.

Despite her urging caution, Rakain didn’t have anything in his spell repertoire that screamed “hit tentacle monsters with” so he took aim at the tentacle with his pistol, sighted, and pulled the trigger. The shot scoured a neat line along the meat of the monster’s tentacle. As a string of smoke started to rise into the air from the burn mark that Rakain left on the tentacle, its grip loosened somewhat. As Ami yanked on her leg, Hana pulled a small blue glass stone from her pocket.

“Hey! I got dibs on tentacle fun with Ami!” Hana said, her voice irritated. She lifted up her hand, the stone covered in a glowing blue energy as it flew from her hand. The tentacle, though, chose this moment to let go of Ami. It whipped away under the dust as the stone pellet slammed into the ground it had been on mere moments before.

There was a moment of silence as Ami pushed herself to her feet, panting quietly. “Okay...” She said. “T-Thanks, guys. Do ... you think we-”

The dust to the other side of the walkway exploded open and several tentacles whipped about as the monster emerged from the dust, screeching. It swung at Nora’s face with one the tentacles, but her bot slapped the tentacle away as the beast menaced the teenagers. “Oh, come on!” Rakain yelled.

Nora flinched and let out a noise of frustration as she narrowly avoided the tentacle. She turned her pistol on the monster, her drone aiming too, and both fired in sync. Again the highly advance and programmed drone missed while a pissed of Nora’s bullet blew through the creature’s side. Sam found herself without the space between herself and the monster to retrieve the cannon strapped to her back. Instead, she took a step between it and Ami to provide her cover, sweeped with one arm to attempt to knock away the tentacles it was reaching out with and put herself behind a full powered punch aimed for the creature’s center mass. The punch slammed home ... then through the creature’s face, crumpling iit inwards in a spray of blood and viscera. Then, jerking her arm back, Sam watched as teh creature slumped back, then hit the dust, starting to sink into the silty material.

Ami panted. “Everyone okay!?” she asked, looking around, her eyes wide.

“Good,” Rakain said, hurrying to her side. “Nice hit, Sam.”

Hana grumbled, “No ... I barely got to do anything and was totally ineffective.” She grumbled, then smiled, “But the rest of you guys did great!”

“Fine,” Nora said with a small huff. She shifted and dug into a pouch at her belt and pulled free a few spare rounds to reload her pistol. She even fed a few to her drone like a treat. The tiny robot chomped up the bullets with a tiny squeaking noise.

Ami grinned, then stepped over and put her hand on Hana’s shoulder. “B-But you still get to take my tentaclevirginity!” she said, nodding slightly, her cheeks flushed with a slight glow.

Hana smirked, “Unless someone else steals it!” She pouted, hugging Ami before they continued on.

Sam snorted, turned back to Ami and Hana. As she turned, she shook out her hand, dripping gore and blood onto the ground. “Tentacles?” She inquired as she continued along the path.

“Hey, why not?” Hana smiled playfully, “They provide all sorts of fun oppertunities!”

“Tentacles.” Nora agreed, patting Sam’s shoulder.

They started forward, heading deeper into the shipswamp. As they walked, together along the narrow platform, the oppressive nature of the swamp started to settle in. The air was bone dry and sunlight gleamed off metal everywhere, dazzling their eyes. The heat started intense, then got more intense as they walked along - the faint sounds of clanking metal and groaning ship skeletons filling the air.

Ami stepped off a metal gangplank and onto the back of a huge eoxian freighter who had been left to die in the middle of the swamp, the bone-like protrusions of its wings framing the walkway ahead like a ribcage.

“This place is spooky...” Ami said, quietly. “Is it just me, or is it spooky?”

“Fairly spooky,” Rakain said, ducking udner a piece of low hanging metal. Then, as if he was trying to more accurately describe the situation, he coughed. “Fairly. Moderately ... moderately spooky.”

“I was thinking it’s a shame that all these things are sitting here unused. I mean, I’m thinking if we looted this place proper we could just build our own ship! ... and by we, I mostly mean Nora.” Hana nodded to the mechanic, who nodded back to her, face impassive.

Ami snickered, quietly, looking over her shoulder at Rakain. “I thought vesks didn’t get spooked.” She whispered.

“That was before I knew that tentacle monsters were a part of the equation here,” Rakain said.

“It didn’t try and drag you under. But ... yeah.” Ami nodded. She shook her head then, standing straighter. “Lets focus on what Hana said. This is not a spooky ship swamp. This is instead, um, loads of opportunity. Right?”

Hana nodded, slapping Ami’s back. “Right!”

The group came around a corner and found that someone had set up a home in the middle of all this junk. The building looked sturdy and well made, though it was made of scrap. There were two stories, with the front door being made of smooth metal. The lights seemed to be out - but since the sun was shining overhead, that was not entirely unexpected.

“Nice place for a recluse...” Ami said, grinning at her friends. “Who wants to knock on the door, then run away really fast?”

“Yeah- not exactly the most welcoming atmosphere. But it is a graveyard.” Sam said and nodded as she added more to the map she was making to the computer mounted to the underside of her left armguard.

Sam just chuckled at the joke and walked toward the front door of the building.

Hana snorted, “Weird anthropomorphization for something you can take apart and put together, Sam.” Then, turning to Ami, she shrugged, “I can do it if you want.” She smiled as she joined Sam in heading for the door.

Ami shrugged, then grabbed Rakin’s arm and walked with him towards the door as well. Hana reached up and pounded her pale fist on the door, each strike causing the red lines that transcribed her body like cicutry to flare with illumination. Ami tapped her foot impatiently as they looked at the door. The wait seemed to last forever – but couldn’t be more than a minute or two before the door opened. Kasathas were a race who had come to the Pact Systems in a massive worldship, arriving to find the solar system far more inhabited than they had expected. They had settled in despite that, though they remained somewhat standoffish.

This one was dressed in a sleek gray jumpsuit, his face gray and severe, his eyes a pale blue. His four arms were crossed over his chest, and his face mask was tucked around his mouth - Kasathas hated to show their faces to all but the closest relatives.

“Can I help you, younglings?” he asked, his voice a deep rumble.

It was obvious to each of them that the Kasathas had been wounded recently - a bandage was tucked against his side. His skin looked pale. Sallow. And that was saying something considering the Kasathas were normally gray skinned.

Hana, her eyes flicking from his bandage to his cloth covered face, smiled. “We just wanted to check if you needed any help. Like say ... healing magic applied to your wound?” She said, pointing to his side.

The Kasathas looked down at himself, then chuckled quietly. “I ... well, if you want to...” he said, sounding a bit pleased. He held out his lower right hand to them for a shake. “Wather...” he said. “My name is Wather.”

Hana reached out, her hand glowing with a bright blue energy before she took his hand and shook it, “I’m Hana Song.” She said with the air of someone who was ready and eager for recognition. The blue magic flared along his arm, reaching the point where his bandage had been wrapped. There, it faded and the Kasathas stood taller and looked considerably relieved. He reached down with his lower left hand, pulling the bandage aside to check the wound. There was now only a thin scar. He grunted appreciatively.

“I hope you don’t mind me being sudden, but I have a simple medkit in my bag. I could help if you wanted,” Nora slipped in, gesturing to the Kasathas’ side. He looked at her, then at Hana. As he did so, Sam coughed.

“Sam,” she said, introducing herself. Rakain simply hovered behind his female companions, nodding to the kasatha.

“Rakain,” he said.

“Uh ... I should make you all breakfast...” Wather said. “A-And no, no, the healing is more than enough.” He said to Nora, hurrying back. Nora’s brow furrowed slightly. Magical healing could handle surface wounds and simple abrasions. But if he had been injured for some time, he might have gotten sick. It took more than a cantrip to heal sickness. And it was better to check twice. Or, so she thought. But she kept her tongue – as Nora was wont to do.

They stepped into the home. Ami opened her mouth, clearly planning to compliment the place. Slowly, she turned to her friends, mouthing the words: What a dump. There was a dining table with a seat before it, but the seat had been knocked over. A pot had been shattered on the ground, and a pair of puckered holes had been punched into the back wall of the house. Fragments of other bits of shattered furniture was left on the floor, while dust gathered on the ceiling and walls. Everything had a worn down, shabby look to it, made all the worse by the surrounding mess.

As they looked around, Wather bustled to the kitchen, his long, limber arms pulling down supplies and starting up the burner.

Nora’s head slowly canted to one side as she watched Wather work. Her brow furrowed. “The option is there should you change your mind. For a medkit. I won’t press. I go by Nora additionally.”

Hana poked Ami in the ribs, “Be nice!” She hissed as they headed in, moving around the room and righting the seat, looking at the damage, then looking to Rakain expectantly. Rakain looked back at her – his brow furrowing with confusion, then went back to examining the wall.

“So- it looks as if you have been in a bit of a scuffle?” Sam asked, not exactly with any real sense of decorum.

Rakain touched the edges of the holes in the wall. “‘A bit’ seems like an understatement,” he muttered.

“There were, uh ... goblins,” Wather said, nodding as he walked back into the room. He held out the bowls to them - the food looking somewhat ... unappetizing. Thick bowls made of some kind of salvaged metal, filled with goop and thick lumps of barely cooked vegetable matter. As if he was trying to disguise his total ineptitude, Wather had placed a thin dusting of spices and herbs on the top of the mounds.

Hana leaned over and muttered to Rakain in Veskish, “You don’t know Mending?”

“I don’t,” Rakain answered in Veskish. “Just some detection spells and some basic offense stuff. I’m not that good yet.”

Nora shifted, having spent a few moments watching their host. She reached out with an arm and let her little drone skitter off and settle onto the tabletop while she moved over to Hana. Hana, meanwhile, had picked up one of the bowls. She looked at the bowl, then shrugged. She used her fingers to scoop out a bit of the food and trying it curiously. Looks didn’t always impact flavor after all. She paused in mid-bite, working hard to keep her expression off her face and her gag from being audible. Subtly she wiggled her fingers as wove a thin patina of magic. The energy flowed around the bowl, starting to heat and mash the chunks of uncooked veggies. It didn’t seem to be doing much, but at least it was an improvement.

Sam gave a nod and took one of the offered bowls, holding it before her as she took her time removing her helmet. “Makes sense. About the goblins, I mean,” she said, seeming to be unaware of the awkwardness growing between the guests and their hoast – Walther was watching them all intently, silently. “We are currently looking for them. How many went through here and do you know anything about them?”

Rakain simply upended the bowl into his mouth, keeping his face neutral as the ... whatever it was slid down his throat, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. If he didn’t like it, he didn’t show it. Meanwhile, Nora – ignoring the food in favor of looking right back at Walther, frowned. She leaned over to Hana – but a sudden silence in the conversation, a lull in the bustling and clattering of bowls, made her whisper audible to the whole room.

“He’s sort of ... rippling,” Nora said.

Walher froze, his face a picture of pure terror.

Then he sprang at Nora with a snarl, his body melting and rippling. Skin folded backwards, and clothing shimmered away as arms became lashing tentacles, a yawning mouth opening wide as gleaming fangs burst from it. The shapeshifter smashed into the table, sending bowls of unappetizing food scattering, and lashed a tentacle around Nora’s throat, the mechanic grabbing it with a squeak of shock as the rest of the party sprang backwards in shock.

Nora, though, wasn’t entirely helpless. Her drone hopped from her shoulder and bit down on the tentacle. Hard. The tentacle released her throat and her response was automatic. She rolled backwards, snapping her pistol back up. Her drone hopped off the tentacle, landing beside her. He turned, mouth open as well. Both fired at nearly the same time. Thee shapeshifting creature surged backwards with the pair of pistol shots – one skimming through its shoulder, the other thudding into its chest.

Black blood flecked the food, making it slightly less appetizing. But only slightly.

Ami, who had drawn her pistol as well, put what everyone was thinking into words: “Is everything i this fucking swamp a monster!?”

Sam tossed her bowl of garbage food at the- thing. It batted the bowl away with one tentacle, but Sam was already charging forward. Her armor whirred as she and followed her toss up with a quick left hook. The monster surged backwards and Sam’s fist plunged into the wall with a squealing crack of metal meeting metal. Rakain, meanwhile, had trained his laser pistol on the beast. As it writhed away from Sam, coming back to its full height, he pulled the trigger. The laser blast seared a burning, smoking wound in the monsters chest.

It screeched – but more in fury than in pain.

Hana, reacting with amazing calm, put her hands up to the side of her head as she took half a step back. Red light flared along the lines of circuitry on her body. Then her eyes flashed blue and a nearly invisible wave of psionic energy pulsed from her forehead. It slammed into the shapeshifter. It writhed, squirmed, screeched. Blood poured from what it used as eyes for the moment. But as the pain faded, it reached out to grab the wall and used its momentum to lunge at the woman who had hurt it so badly. Plates and crockery went spilling to the side as the creature sprang towards Hana.

Hana, cool as a cucumber, slammed her shoulder into the creature’s side, sending it spinning off and smashing to the floor. Nora took a step back and to the side as she kept her pistol held and trained on the creature. Her little drone barked out another bullet – this time, the bullet pinged off the wall. But Nora’s revolver kept level and she put another round into the monster.

“Hey! Pay attention to me Mr Bitey!” Sam snarled as she stepped forward and grabbed onto the back of the shapeshifter. She slammed a sucker punch into the monster’s head, the armored knuckles of her fist leaving a divot almost an inch deep in what passed for the creature’s skull. It groaned loudly, then shoved Sam backwards. Thinking his luck would hold, Rakain fired at the dent in the creature’s head. Somehow, it’s concussion addled brain managed to sent the required signals to it’s limbs for it to dodge.

Hana pulled out another one of her glass stones, the small blue stone firing at the creature’s head, but it managed to dodge the little blue bolt as she cursed. It seemed being so wounded had given it extra incentive to not get hit.

The monster gurgled and roared. “Allllll diiiiiiie!” it screeched. “My home! MINE!” It writhed, coiled around, then sprang forward, slamming at Sam’s chest plate. It bashed into her armor, sending her staggering backwards slightly. But Sam shook herself and shoved back- her armor absorbing most of the impact, leaving her only lightly bruised. The two fighters were locked together, though, tentacles lashing around Sam’s shoulders and wrists. Nora leveled her revolver – but held up her hand to stop her little ferret drone before it fired. There was too great a risk of hitting Sam.

“You know,” Sam said around gritted teeth. “It’s more effective if you try hitting around the armor.” Sam smirked before she yanked her arms free of the tentacles wrappinga round her. She clasped her fists together over her head and brought them down together on the monster’s head. The impact pulped the shapeshifter’s head with a wet splortch. The corpse thudded to the ground and, for a moment, every member of the group stood, panting. Ami kept her pistol leveled at the creature. She stepped forward and kicked it.

“H ... Hello?”

Ami squeaked – but the voice hadn’t come from the shapeshifter. Instead, it came from upstairs. It sounded both deathly afraid - and slightly hopeful all at once. Ami gulped, looking at her friends. “Think it’s another shifter?”

Rakain kept his pistol drawn, his eyes flicking up at the ceiling. “Let’s hope not,” he rumbled.

Hana smirked at Ami, holding out her hand. The blue stone she had fired at the shapeshifter floated into her palm and she put it back into her pouch. “That way madness lies, dear. Start thinking anyone can be a shapeshifter and you think everyone is.” She shook her head and started for the stairs at the back of the room.

“Doubt that...” Nora said with a sigh, reaching once more to reload her own pistol and feed her little drone. The drone chomped up each bullet happily.

“I also doubt it. If it was then it should have struck from behind in an ambush.” Sam said rather confidently. She shook her hand, trying to get some brain matter off it. “If it is another shape shifter, it is too stupid or weak to be a threat.”

The group started up the stairs – each of them, by unified and silent consensus pushing Ami to the back, making her squeak with frustration. She glared at them as they came up to the corner at the top of the stairs. The second story of the house held a few other rooms – a makeshift computer den, a bedroom ... and a panic room. The metal door had been pushed open from the inside and the very Kasathas they had been talking to before leaned on the door frame. His body was covered with bandages and he looked almost white with blood loss.

“Is ... is it dead?” he asked, his voice filled with relief.

Hana nodded, “Yeah, the shapeshifter below attacked us.” She bit her lip, moving forward to heal him unhesitatingly, hoping he wasn’t another shapeshifter. Despite her words, the worry remained in the back of her head. Nora did the same, stepping forward while reaching for her medical kit.

“Don’t crowd him, ladies,” Rakain said, keeping an eye on the floor downstairs for any more threats.

Walher – the real Walther - groaned as he was healed, his head hanging forward. “Thank the gods...” he said, pushing himself slowly to his feet, bags under his eyes making it seem like he hadn’t slept in a while. As Nora knelt down and started to tug his shirt up to check for any extra wounds ... she found that the Kasthus was lean and ripped, his muscular form clearly honed by years of combat. Nora blushed slightly, then started to run a diagnostics tool over her. She figured that was why the shapeshifter had been so cagy about technological healing – this diagnoster would have noticed that he was a shifter.

Sam just kept quiet, her attention mostly on the Kasathas. Her eyes did alight appreciatively on his muscular tummy, though.

“It’s kinda hard to heal him without getting close, Rakain.” Hana snickered slightly, letting Nora deal with him now that she had provided the magical healing. “So ... what happened? And, uh, not that we’re not happy, but do you know why it didn’t kill you?”

At the bottom of the stair, Ami crossed her arms over her chest and stepped back to stand beside Rakain. She crossed her arms under her breasts, muttering softly to him – the conversation inaudible to the others. Still, she looked miffed that she had been pushed back behind the others.

“Blood drained mostly,” Nora commented, glancing over her shoulder with a little wince. “Sorry to butt in Hana.”

Hana snickered, “I don’t think he’ll mind as much healing as he can get. Just figured I’d start with the magic, since ... magic is cool...” She said, blushing slightly. AS she blushed, Nora started pulling out supplies from her medkit.

Walther chuckled, softly, his face covering twitching slightly with his breath. “My name is Walter. Which, ah, you may already have guessed. Right?” He chuckled softly. “And the monster came here in the guise of a traveler. When my back was turned...” he shook his head. “He sprang on me. Drained me with those damned fangs. I fought him off, wounded him, then fled up the stairs and locked myself in the safety room. The thing remained down there...” He rubbed his side, sighing. “I think he was afraid I’d kill him if he got close. I was afraid he’d kill me if he found my safe room while I was asleep.”

“He was using you like a supply to maintain your form,” Nora said, wincing a little as she dug through her medkit. She slipped out a few tablets and held them out, “These with water will get your body reproducing all that lost blood. That plus some ‘cool magic healing’ and you’ll be right as rain.”

Hana giggled slightly, “So ... um ... are you going to be okay out here?” She said, biting her lip slightly.

Walther nodded, slowly. “Yes...” he said, starting towards the stairs, wincing slightly. As he walked, Ami stepped away from Rakain, watching Walther walk by. “I lived here for years without trouble. And I’ll be sure to check for any more shapeshifters any time someone comes calling.” He chuckled. “But I owe you a reward.” He turned back to look at them as they filled the downstairs. “I have some equipment you might find useful, if you’re...” he paused. “What are you doing in this swamp?”

“We’re on an adventure,” Rakain said. “To where and to what end...” He shrugged. “Well, we haven’t gotten that far yet.”

“Youthful adventure,” Nora said with a little quirk of her lips after packing her medkit up. Hana snickered and added her own to the conversation.

“Most specifically, we heard there were goblin thugs in the area and we’ve come to hunt them for the reward.”

Sam nodded at Hana’s comment.

Ami snickered. “What Hana said,” she said.

Walther nodded. “I know these goblins - apparently, they’ve been throwing around a lot of explosives. I’ve always made sure to keep clear of their den.” He chuckled quietly. “But I do know where it is located.”

“That would be quite useful!” Hana said cheerfully, then looked to Ami, “How were we going to prove how many goblins we’ve defeated anyway?”

Ami opened her mouth, then closed it, looking a bit queasy. “Uh ... I ... don’t ... know...” She lied. Badly.

“By the head?” Sam suggested. Ami looked even more green at that idea.

“ ... will a recording suffice?” Hana asked hopefully. She held up her hand, wiggling her ring finger to bring everyone’s attention to her ring recorder.

“I’ve got a knife...” Rakain offered, his hand dipping to the weapon on his belt.

Ami’s face twisted further. “Eeugh, yes, I hope a recording will suffice!” She said, then punched Rakain in the shoulder. He laughed, as perturbed by the shoulder punch as a tree by a fly landing on it.

Walther chuckled softly. “Well, if you need a place to rest, to refresh yourself, this home is yours. But, first, your reward.” He turned and headed into the back. When he returned, he was holding a jumble of parts, setting them down with a chuckle. He also held out a small stick of plastic. A cred stick!

Nora quickly and gleefully found herself going over the parts, eyes roaming and her hand reaching out to point and count. She ignored the stick, which Hana picked up and ooohed. She waved it in the air, then started distributing it to the other’s personal cred sticks.

“Anything good?” Rakain asked, leaning his big frame over Nora’s shoulder, pocketing his cred stick with a twirl of his fingers.

“Juuuuuuuuuump Jets.” Nora said, leaning back into Rakain for a moment. She blinked over her shoulder before gesturing, “Set them up and get a good jump and you’ll rocket a solid thirty or so feet in the air. Foosh.”

Sam, meanwhile, had stepped over to Walther. She showed him her mini-computer on her wrist, her voice soft as she spoke. “Well, you said you know where they are? I have been mapping out out trek in here. Oh, and right- I’m Sam.” She nodded to him.

Walther took her hand with his lower right, nodding, then pointing with his upper left at the map on the mini-comp. “There,” he said. The goblin camp was about two miles off, but it might take an extra three or so to follow the winding paths.

Hana blushed. “Oh right! Hana Song!” She said, raising her hand to him and waving. “That’s my name.

Ami, though, was entirely distracted by the box of parts. “Oh cool...” she said, picking up one of the jets. She looked over at Hana. “We could put them on Hana, and she’ll be even faster!” She stuck her tongue out at Hana playfully.

“I would say I’m not some toy for you to play with, but I don’t mind being your playtoy in the slightest.” Hana winked playfully at Ami.

Ami blushed and stammered. “H-Hana!” She squeaked.

“Hana just likes being a playtoy,” Rakain said, grinding himself against Nora for a moment. Nora’s drone bumped his head against Rakain’s chest.

“Well, just make sure to plug her in when you are done with her.” Sam teased

Ami blushed harder. “Gods, why did I get a bunch of hormonally hopped up teenagers as my friends!?” she asked.

“Aren’t you also a teenager, miss... ?” Walther asked, looking at her.

“Amieko,” Ami said, nodding. “Ami Woodwillow.”

Her last name was the same as her adoptive mother’s - no one was quite sure what her actual last name was, as her parents had died in the trip between their old home and Akiton. Bentha had named her Amieko because it seemed to be a Tian name. And since The Gap had erased history and memories alike centuries ago, no one was around to argue what was and was not Tian, beyond some scraps of text and pictures found in ruins. Tian seemed to mean ‘human with epicanthic folds’ as far as anyone in the modern era could tell.

Ami didn’t seem to mind her name, though.

“Still,” Walther said. “Are you going to set out for the goblins now or should I cook you some food?” He sniffed. “Assuming that monster didn’t ruin all my stores.”

Nora flushed a little at the grinding between her and Rakain and leaned back to stare hard at some of the jump jets, “There was stew but we might want to, uh, check it for people-meat.”

Rakain made a face, remembering the sensation of the gruel sliding down his throat. “Eugh. Why did we watch that stupid slasher movie, again?”

“Well, we did just ... Gods damn it, Nora...” Hana sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Now I’m tempted to flush out my system just in case...”

Walther chuckled. “Yes, of course.” He stepped away as Ami stuck her tongue out at Nora. A few moments later, Walthe called out: “There were no untoward meats within the stew.”

“Just making sure!” Nora did her best to stress after finding a bit of jump jet engine very, very distracting to stare at. But that was Nora for you.

Hana snickered, “I’m thinking Nora’s in love there.” She jerked her thumb at the jump jets. “Well, I’m good if we’re ready to head out.” She smiled at her friends. Sam chuckled softly at the exchange.

“Well,” the amazonian warrior said, having finally finished wiping blood off her armor. “I actually didn’t get any of the stew first time around. So, I vote we stay.”

“Seconded,” Ami said. “And since I am team leader...” She stuck her tongue out at Hana, who laughed.

The meal, once it was cooked by an actual cook ... was delicious. Walther might have lived alone, but he did know how to cook his own food. Once the group had eaten and felt considerably better about themselves, they set out once more. The sun was starting to dip on the horizon as they continued to creep around the swamp, following the map that the “swamp warden” had given them. Nora had spent the whole meal getting to feel up Rakain – while also, simultaneously, attaching the jump jets to his armor. Rakain had pointed out his suit had the room for it, and he might need to get away from bad guys in a hurry, being a ‘squishy wizard.’ The others had agreed.

Now, though, they came to an open area in the swamp - a large crashed ship that looked like a flat dinner plate made up the home of the goblin tribe. A dozen or so rickety metal and bone buildings were clustered around a central clearing. Utter silence hung in the air above the goblin village ... and as they looked at it from a distance ... they could see corpses.

Goblin corpses.

They were sprawled on the ground in the middle of the town, scattered about in the dozens.

“Did someone beat us here?” Rakain asked, his scaled brow furrowing.

Ami gulped. “Maybe?” She whispered, looking at the village - which had tiny strands of smoke rising into the air.

Hana frowned and started forward. But she was stopped as Nora held up her arm. “Don’t like it...” The mechanic mumbled. She brought her other arm up and glanced at her drone. “Scout ahead,” she said before keying the camera display to appear on her arm rig. Her drone jumped down and skittered off at her command, vanishing into the dark almost immediately.

“I doubt that someone beat us here.” Sam said quite plainly. “It would be unlikely for bounty hunters to beat us here, both by the shorter distance we had, the storm, and having a map of this maze.” She explained. “Rather I would bet they ran afoul of local fauna.”

“So ... that means we get to claim the reward for ourselves, right?” Hana said, smiling brightly. Sam smirked under the faceplate and nodded.

“Though generally, what kills them is more dangerous than them,” she said as she waited on Nora’s drone to return from scouting.

“True ... just trying to look on the bright side.” Hana said, shrugging slightly.

“I just hope I don’t have to say something like ‘No, those blast points are too accurate for sand shirren,” Nora muttered as she looked at the holographic display shimmering above her arm rig – showing the rough haze of metal fragments that made up the ground the ferret drone was scampering across. Ami leaned over Nora’s shoulder, her eyes locked on the view. It crept forward, moving in swift, furtive motions. It came to one of the corpses - which was clutching a kludged together mess of a pistol. The goblin had four smoking holes blasted in it’s chest, easily visible despite the grainy green night vision feed.

“That’s laser fire...” Ami whispered. “Not exactly wild critters.”

The drone kept moving forward, crawling over more goblins - others had been struck down by some kind of ferociously sharp blade. But as the drone started to check buildings, it found that several buildings still had goblins inside ... living ones! Five of the buildings had three goblins cowering inside, each one hiding under a different piece of furniture, each of them whispering to one another in goblinese.

Ami gulped. “Anyone speak goblin?” she whispered.

“Oh that is the bright side!” Sam said, quite a bit more cheerful even though the video feed was showing the opposite of her prediction... “Taking on numbers is always a risk, something that is one thing would likely be wounded and easier pickings now that the goblins have softened it up. Though, the laserfire does add a complication...”

Hana frowned slightly, “No. I speak a couple languages, but not goblinese...” She sighed, mildly annoyed.

“All the mainstream languages, no goblin,” Rakain admitted. “I can make an attempt, though, if you want to see a comedy act.”

Sam shook her head. “Languages aren’t exactly my thing.” She lifted her fist, as if to say ‘punching things is.’

“Not me,” Nora said while she watched the feed with a frown.

Hana, though, cocked her head. “Wait. I do recognize some of those words, I think.” Her brow furrowed as the drone peeked into one of the fancier goblin homes. Though, that was fancy for a goblin. She nodded slowly. “Yeah. They’re talking about bone-walkers. So, uh, maybe some Eoxian came here to take them out?”

Ami frowned. “Eoxians creep me out...” She muttered. Eox was a world of the undead. It was part of the Pact. One of the first world to join. But it was still...

Creepy.

“Higher bounty for them, if they’re attacking villages?” Nora asked as she focused, getting her drone to snap small pictures. “Not seeing anything but hiding goblins so at least we’re safe...”

Hana frowned, “Not sure people would be all that eager to reward us for helping out goblins...” She said with a sigh. “So ... do we want to try and talk to the goblins or what?”

Ami bit her lip. “Well, goblins eat babies...” she said, looking grim - remembering a popular story that had bounced around Spacebook recently, about a goblin hiding in a kids closet. The story had ended with the goblin dead ... but also the kid’s father and pet dog. And no, it hadn’t been disproved as an urban legend by Scopes.

Rakain fingered the butt of his pistol. “Maybe try talking with a bit of insurance?”

Sam shrugged. “The Eoxians may have a bounty on them but she should figure out exactly what is going on or went on. If at the least for how the bounty is to be paid out.”

“Maybe just try talking for information?” Hana said, then shrugged, “If not ... well, we can head in and finish them off at least. If they’re hostile.”

Ami nodded. “Well, wait, does your drone have a mic?” she asked Nora. “If so, we could find the goblin with the biggest hat and ask him! W-Without ... needing to get close...” She blushed.

“Nothing to transmit on his end, no,” Nora said with a shake of her head, “Sorry.”

Ami nodded, then squared her shoulders. “W-Well, then...” she said. “Lets go and knock on a door?”

“Gotcha, chief!” Hana giggled and saluted Ami playfully. Sam nodded and started to make the way down to the survivors. Rakain followed behind, still pawing at his gun. His face was stoic, but his tail lashed from side to side, showing his concern. Ami snorted and shook her head before following the others. As they walked together towards the village, Ami moved to try and take the lead. The others blocked her. Ami groaned. Striding into the center of the village, every member of the party became aware of how the buildings were ... short.

The roofs came up to their chins. They could literally look down at the roofs by standing on their tip toes. However, once they stood there, a snarling voice called out from the largest, fanciest building - in squeaky, but understandable Common.

“Go ‘way longshanks! We carve y’up! Carve y’up good! Leave you for the bone-walkers, yes! Go! Now!”

Hana put her hands on her hips, clearly not interested in playing around with goblins. “How about instead of that, you tell us about the bone-walkers and we won’t bust down the door and make you tell us about it?” she said sternly.

There was a short pause. Then the goblin started to explain, terror clear in his squeaky voice. “W-We find treasure! In crash! Many golds and coins that shine so bright!” The goblin king sounded more and more frightened the more he spoke. “Find ... weapons. Use the weapons! But then ... then the deadcrew, the dead longshanks, they come! They come and they kill and kill and shoot and stab and slash, and I realize, I cleverest of goblin, I realize they want t-treasure we took, so I put it out and they take it, and they go to ship, and ... we hide. Uh.” There was a short pause. “H-Here!”

A loud ting sounded. A glinting metal disk flew from one of the windows, landing on the dusty street.

“L-Last coin! I not realize I keep! T-Take and go, bribe, yes?”

“ ... Last coin of their treasure?” Nora called out as she openly stepped back from the place the coin landed. Rakain looked at the others.

“Poor little gremlin’s losing his mind with fear. I say we take it and go,” he muttered. Hana held up her hand – indicating she wanted just a little more time.

“What ship did they go to?” she called out to the goblin.

Sam, meanwhile, approached the coin that was thrown out. She knelt down and picked it up.

“It east! It far east!” The goblin king suqeaked. “Not know ... make or name. We goblin very smart, we not put words into symbols, so they get stole, not like you longshanks. We not know how to get words from symbols, hah!”

“I’ve never heard of anyone be quite so proud of not knowing how to read,” Ami muttered.

As she spoke, Sam picked up the coin. It was sleek and silver, with a coiled, slender serpent of a dragon on one side, and a stylized symbol that she didn’t recognize - it was all lines and curves and such.

But as she held it up, Ami gaped - looking at the coin, her face draining of color.

“Ami?” Rakain said, touching her shoulder. “What is it?’

“Fine, what does the ship look like?” Hana asked the goblin king, sounding mildly frustrated, her hands on her hips. Ami blinked, her hand shaking as she reached up, taking a hold of the necklace that she had worn her whole life.

“ ... is ... green and old and battered, but ... narrow. Like a knife!” The goblin said, sounding like he was nodding.

Ami’s finger looped under the necklace she wore, then tugged it from udner her shirt, revealing that the small amulet that she wore ... wasn’t really an amulet.

It was a coin, punched through to make a space for the string. A coin with a coiling dragon and the exact same symbol on it.

“B-Bentha said it was the only thing I had on me...” she said, sounding stunned.

Hana looked at the pair of coins. She blinked. “Huh.” Then, slowly, she smiled. “So ... we’re totally checking out that ship.” She turned back to the goblin’s house. “Go out, find some place civilized and tell them the gods spared you so you can go and live a proper life! No more killing or stealing, you earn your living now!”

“Well fuck me,” Nora said bluntly, staring at the coin hanging from Ami’s hand.

Sam recited a bit of poetry under her breath, about a kingdom without a princess, a throne without a queen. “Yes, we are checking out that ship. I don’t think a 200 cred bounty per goblin matters much anymore, not with this. But still, take a photo confirming each of the dead.”

Hana held up her ring, “Already done!”

Ami gulped and nodded. The group hurried from the village, moving into the darkness of the shipswamp and starting to pick their way eastwards. As they walked together, Ami remained silent, her hand on her chest. She bit her lip. Finally, she broke the silence. “M-Maybe we should go home...” she said, quietly, looking frightened as she walked forward, so distracted that she nearly walked off the walkway and into the dust.

Hana snickered slightly, reaching out to grab Ami to keep her from wandering off, “Kind of thinking this might lead to just that, dear...”

You want to go home now?” Rakain said. He reached across Ami’s chest and took hold of the coin around her neck. His fingers brushed her neck. “What about this, though?

Ami shivered and blushed. “T-That’s just it! I’m just Ami! Ami Woodwillow, not...” She gulped, looking down at the necklace, her cheeks. “I’m just ... I don’t know what to think of this. Mom ... Bentha’s been my Mom my whole life, I...” She trailed off.

Sam nodded. “I would say we at least look at into this. Once we know you can decide, and whatever we find out will not change who you were, are, or your past. You aren’t going to be alone either.” She patted Ami’s back.

“Yeah. Learning something new about yourself does not undo anything you already know. It simply adds to who you are.” Hana smiled slightly, putting her hand on Ami’s lower back. Ami blushed. Meanwhile, Rakain kicked himself inwardly for being a bit confrontational. He was never as articulate as his female companions.

“What Sam and Hana said,” he said.

Nora seemed more quiet, rubbing her chin and thinking to herself. She glanced up after stewing internally, coughing. “This is still rather rocking. I don’t blame you being shaken Ami.”

“Your mom will always be your mom, she is the one that raised you.” Sam said with a simple surety in her voice.

Ami smiled, shyly. “You ... you guys are really bad at this.” She said, shaking her head as she turned and kissed Hana on the cheek, then Sam, then leaning up on her tip toes to kiss Rakain on the cheek. Well, side of the muzzle. She sighed. “But you’re ... right.” SHe smiled at Nora, nodding slightly. Then she leaned forward and kissed Nora right on the nose, leaving the shy mechanic almost melting with embarrassment.

“Lets go.”

As they started together, Nora’s drone leading the way, the sun continued to dip. The sun vanished behind the horizon, bringing utter darkness to the swamp, save for the lighrts of their com-units. Those lights shone forward and then fell on a sleek wall of green metal and a yawning cargo bay. The ship, what little they could see of it, was elegantly built and sturdy.

And painted on the prow was a series of letters in common: Kaijitsu Star

“So ... think this it?” Ami asked, quietly.

“Well, it fits the description.” Sam remarked, her hands on her hips.

“Green, old, battered, narrow.” Hana said casually nodding. “Not just to see if it’s crammed with undead and treasure.” She snickered.

“Hopefully more of the latter than the former,” Rakain added.

Ami nodded. Together, they stepped forward, into the cargo hold. Ami’s brow furrowed. “Hey...” she said, softly. “I see some red lights - maybe there’s a computer that still works?” She pointed. Each of them could see the red lights that she had seen – glowing in the darkness. As they stood in the hold, the six red lights flipped around, suddenly, and a loud thump filled the air. Ami gasped and sprang backwards as the red lights grew larger.

Emerging from the shadows with deliberate steps and skin crawling speed came a massive, furred rust-spirder. Venom dripped from its fangs and a hideous hiss emerged from its body as the light from their com-units played across its form.

It hissed...

And leaped!

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