MF Max Intel Ch. 01-05

The Dwarven Rogue-shaman pulled out a dimly glowing cobalt-blue blade, a duplicate of one of her chosen knives, it's surface covered in slightly brighter Celtic knot-work.

Both of her forearms became covered in dimly glowing cobalt-blue tattoos, a beautiful display of intricate knot work. Vika's eyes were wide, and a broad smile broke out on her freckled face. She then reached back behind herself with her left hand, pulling out a Wakazashi already in a reverse grip, it's dimly glowing cobalt-blue blade was similarly decorated in brighter Celtic knot-work.

Vika's two weapons resembled deep-blue glass, they were translucent and glowing but not brilliantly so. The two nude women holding magical weapons smiled at each other, barely holding back the urge to jump for joy.

"So how do we put them away again?" Max inquired to Astrid.

Astrid blinked, then looked to Samira.

The Paladin shrugged, "I usually just let go of Durendal and it disappears."

Max nodded, held the two-meter pole arm parallel with the deck of the cargo hold and let go... It dropped the three feet, bounced twice then came to rest motionless.

Max's jaw dropped open, along with Samira and Astrid, everyone was surprised. Then after twenty full seconds, the hard-light Nagamaki faded away.

Max looked at Astrid, who still stared at the spot. "Feature or bug?" Samira asked.

Astrid looked up to Samira, she immediately shifted her eyes to Agatha. Max followed suit. Agatha smirked, "Bug... and exploitable, be my guest."

Astrid cackled maniacally.

Max blinked then turned to looked at her, "What does that mean?"

The Engineer caught her breath, "It means... We have the System Administrator's permission to use an exploit." Astrid pointed at Agatha and then made a heart sign with her hands. Agatha beamed a smile in response.

Max blinked again, "You need to say that in Terran Standard, Asa-chan."

Astrid nodded, "She didn't know it would do that, but she isn't going to 'fix' it, that means we can use that to our advantage."

"How will we do that?" Max inquired hesitantly.

Astrid grinned broadly, "I have a couple ideas."

0o0

Agatha walked at a steady relaxed pace, more of a stroll or maybe a saunter. She had been invited to tea with Mary, it was the second time in the last cycle she'd made this particular trek. Mary emphatically insisted 'this' visit was completely social, so Agatha decided to take her time walking up from the Depot03's Outlet Mall sandwiched between the two dock layers.

The Ghusmik Urr had docked in close proximity to Agatha's metal shop, but that impressive freighter was locked down and would remain so until a full investigation could be conducted.

That ship was of Ornalith design, similar in appearance to Golamar, each of its three hulls arranged neatly into the prism shape commonly associated with Ornalith ship construction. It is unclear when that particular design became prevalent as the majority of Ornalith interstellar history directly involved the Yelneg Empire.

Agatha reflected briefly on that Empire, if not for the reemergence of the Trankaran, this entire sector of known space might still be under the heel of the Yelneg's malignant fallen regime.

The casual saunter that Agatha was enjoying was coming to a close, she approached the currently extended access way connecting the primary hull of the Depot to one of the many attached hollow asteroids.

Agatha's presence was noted by several Bract maintenance personnel, but they did nothing to impede her: just a nod of greeting. The Terran metal merchant nodded back and concluded her walk outside Mary's door, in only a moment it opened to admit her.

To Agatha's delight, the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Bract Conglomerate now had an adorable little table set up for tea. The actual tea service was magnificent blue green Slarmian glass work, though it was a little garish for Agatha's taste with gold filigree and set gems.

Mary explained the tea service was a gift from Zalix the sixth of the Grand Slarmain Dynasty to the Conglomerate. The Chair felt this was the perfect excuse to use it, and perhaps get in some practice socializing. Agatha smiled and nodded, she offered assistance in socializing anytime Mary wished, they shared a giggle.

The Chair was in good spirits, but Agatha could still sense several layers of anxiety underneath, she did her best to instill positive emotions.

"Agatha..." Mary said, her glow was steady, "Thank you for that unexpected adventure earlier, It was a delightful association."

Agatha nodded to her, "I am so glad you were able to attend."

When Mary was informed of the dream party invitation, she was initially reluctant, fearing some kind of emotional trauma. Agatha explained that the meeting would be quite safe as she would be a buffer for excessive emotions and personalities.

Fortunately, none of the participants were in the least bit abrasive or acerbic. Though Agatha did need to smooth out some worrisome feelings between Zess and Suomii, she didn't happen to mention that to Mary.

"I am curious, Agatha." Mary politely prefaced her question.

Agatha courteously played into the Chair's preamble, "What about?"

Mary brightened noticeably, showing her appreciation of Agatha's engagement. "Your nature is quite fascinating, I am hesitant to inquire, though I feel I must and please understand I do not wish to offend."

Mary focused carefully on Agatha. Agatha had an inkling of what Mary was going to ask, but she didn't want to assume. The Elder Bract was immensely intelligent and exceptionally perceptive.

"You may ask me anything, Mary, I will not take offense, but I may choose not to answer." Agatha stated openly.

Mary nodded slowly, "Will you envelop all under your influence?" Agatha smiled softly,

"My wife Joon has asked a similar question." She continued with a clear soft voice, "No... I have no great ambition, I do not harbor a desire to consume, control, or conquer. Instead, I endeavor to keep my dear family and close friends from harm and to promote prosperity and positive associations."

Mary's glow was never so bright as it was just then, her tiny club-like antennae vibrated strongly. "Thank you, Agatha, I am very pleased to have you as an associate."

The Chair of the Board of Directors of the Bract Conglomerate lifted the ornate gold filigreed Slarmian teapot and leaned slightly towards her guest, "More tea?"

0o0

Vika stared at her own fingers, she thought she could see the faintest glimmer of cobalt blue. Astrid said she could imprint the design herself, she just needed to concentrate and 'let it happen'.

The day crew were sitting in their seats at the Mess table, they were also closely watching Vika. Astrid had just spent ten minutes describing the process of imprinting an additional weapon design to Max and Vika.

Max said she wanted to break for tea, and everyone agreed; but Vika wanted to keep trying, she was stubborn like that. So in between bites of rich shortbread and sips of hot beverage the Dwarven Operative made an attempt.

She set her jaw and narrowed her eyes... Staring at her fingers held at eye level in front of her while sitting at the table. Vika exhaled... picking up her teacup, maybe a fifth time would be the charm.

Max glanced at Agatha. Agatha smiled softly then nodded. Everyone relaxed for a few minutes. Joon turned to Agatha, "How is Mary?"

"She is good." Agatha replied, "Still a little anxious about the Galleon and the refugees." The Oneiran smirked, "She asked me an RGC question."

Joon's jaw dropped open, "Did she really?"

Agatha nodded.

Max, Vika and Samira looked perplexed. "What's an RGC question?" Max inquired.

Joon smirked, "Ruthless Goddess of Chaos."

"Oh!" Max's eyes widened.

Paula turned to Agatha "I hope you assuaged her fears."

Agatha nodded, "I did my best, she has put a lot of trust in me; Mary seemed to take my declaration to heart."

Joon smiled at her most exotic wife, "From some of our conversations last night, I get the impression Mary is one smart cookie."

Agatha nodded, "Mary is exceedingly wise, she has earned that wisdom the hard way."

Vika held her right hand out again.

Everyone watched while sipping beverages.

She tried very hard, her brow furrowed, and her jaw strained...A hand of Agatha walked into the Mess then around the table she lifted something up and affixed it to the bulkhead.

"What the hell?" Joon asked no one.

Vika turned to see what evoked Joon's comment. On the bulkhead was a thick oblong rounded fibrous mat, it was one of three that Vika had brought with her from her time with her Largath family.

"Throw at the target." Max said, her eyes focused on Vika.

Vika pursed her lips and glanced at Max. She nodded and turned in her seat. Vika inhaled and made a throwing motion... nothing.

"Don't think about it... Just throw." Max encouraged.

Vika sniffed, then casually waved her hand... nothing.

"I thought you could hit anything you could see?" Max taunted.

Max received a withering glare from the Dwarven Operative. Without looking back at the target, Vika's arm shot out behind her...

Thunk.

Vika's eyes went wide, she spun around to see sticking out of the target...A deep-blue feather made of glass.

Max nodded and smiled, "There we go."

0o0

The three Hands finished securing the Salon.

Agatha wasn't too worried about her present safety on Golamar, but she did want to establish a secure centralized location for the future. The Salon that Suomii had suggested for the leadership meeting fulfilled all of Agatha's requirements.

Its location was mostly centralized being just off the main palazzo and fairly adjacent to the command center. It wasn't considered large enough to be classified as a residence on the platform's directory.

The Salon was a quiet, nicely appointed parlor, with a decent commercial kitchen and washrooms. It had a generous storage area that Agatha could partially convert to her personal quarters.

Approximately twenty persons of Agatha's size could comfortably occupy the 'dining' room, two medium and six small tables were spaced around in the booth-like bench and saddle style seating that was generally acceptable in the M.E..

Joon called it a 'Hole in the Wall' establishment likening it to a small T-Fed Pub and Agatha liked that.

Agatha felt two people approaching the Salon, she recognized the 'flavor' of both, one of her hands quickly walked out into the parlor to greet her guests. Mosira and Suomii peered around the ornate door of the Salon. "Why would she want to stay here?" Mosira inquired quietly.

Suomii responded, "It's one of the nicer places on this level, that's why I recommended it."

Mosira looked down slightly, "Oh, I hadn't realized you suggested she stay here."

"Well, actually, I didn't..." Suomii clarified, "I chose it as a place to have the meeting."

"An Excellent choice if I may say so." Agatha commented as she came in from the back room.

The Dauzakai and the Kintark both flashed teeth standing at the doorway.

"Come in, please... You are welcome here anytime." Agatha beckoned.

The reptilian duo committed fully and walked into the Salon. "Have a seat, can I get you something to drink; Wunai moon tea perhaps?" Agatha inquired.

Mosira blinked, but Suomii smiled broadly. "Oh! Wunai... Yes, please." The Mayor of Freeport almost bounced.

Mosira smirked, "Ssure, I'll give it a try."

The two ladies slipped into the same side of one of the medium booths as Agatha disappeared back through the service door to the kitchen. She had spent a fair number of hours setting up the kitchen and unpacking some of the foodstuffs she brought with her.

Another Hand came through the back door into the parlor, she daintily sat on a saddle chair at the occupied table. "So, what brings you by?" Agatha asked with a smile.

Mosira glanced at Suomii. "I was curiouss what conssisted of esstablishing a 'toehold' on Golamar." Suomii explained.

Agatha nodded, "I suppose my message was a little vague."

"I was just surprised; I didn't expect your family to depart so suddenly." The Dauzakai commented.

Mosira focused her eyes on Agatha, "It wass very ssudden, like an emergency."

Agatha nodded, "I cannot confirm or deny the circumstances. I can say, however, it had nothing to do with anyone or anything here." The Kintark's mental antennae pinged. Agatha noticed Mosira's spike in emotion and briefly shared a look with her. Mosira nodded subtly, she reflexively put an arm around Suomii.

The Dauzakai missed the exchange as Agatha changed the subject.

"I can confirm information concerning dialogue with the Ryshi shipyard." Agatha continued, "Golamar will have an entire third of the shipyard to herself. Mostly because this platform has twice the mass of the shipyard, the Ryshi managers want to give us as much room as possible."

Suomii clapped her hands together, "Marvelous, I hope we can make efficient use of that facility."

Agatha smiled, "You've been there, yes?"

The Dauzakai nodded, "I vissited for an employment interview yearss ago, though I didn't get the job, I thoroughly enjoyed the tour."

Mosira smiled, "A well run shipyard iss always appreciated."

Agatha tilted her head, "I estimate Golamar will take one-hundred forty-seven hours to travel to the Nethril system."

"Yess, that iss a good estimate... I have been running prechecks for hyper-warp for six hours now," Suomii stated, "We should be ready to depart in three, as long as everything passes jump check."

Agatha nodded, "I am looking forward to it, Director."

Suomii giggled, "I confess, I am nervous, this will be my first time supervising the jump."

Mosira interjected, "Ssuomii, you've been running the jumps ass long as I've been here."

"True, but I haven't been technically in charge." Suomii responded.

Agatha looked up as her Hand came out the service door with tea. The tea was set out and Agatha poured. Mosira watched Suomii and took cues from her. In a few minutes the Kintark sampled her first taste of Wunai moon tea.

Suomii and Agatha observed her.

"Oh!" Mosira said softly, "That is delightful."

Her Dauzakai partner beamed, "I am so glad you think so." Agatha had a feeling she meant much more than tea.

0o0

Max let loose another red-glass arrow, it streaked out of the docking bay door into the kaleidoscope of hyper-warp. The projectile itself seemed oddly unaffected by how much, or in this case how little, actual physics were involved.

She managed to replicate the heavy long-limbed look of her target recurve; the dark tiger stripes gave the bow a fantastical otherworldly quality. A complete departure from the Bjornwerx Panzer, without any of the bits and bobs found on the over-engineered compound bow.

It bothered the archer in Max that the bow didn't have a draw weight, hell it didn't even have a string or cable. Max would hold the weapon, grasp an imaginary string and a magical arrow appeared at her knuckles, she could alter the arrowhead with a thought.

No extra motions, no arrows in a quiver, just draw and loose. Drawing back made the limbs bend, somehow... Despite the lack of physics, it did look amazing. The arrows leapt from the bow at a ridiculous velocity, by Max's estimation they had to be at moving least four-hundred meters per second, which was insane.

Another aspect that was hard to get used to was the sound... There wasn't any. Max would have to wait to find out what kind of sound the magic arrows made when they landed on a target, if they could arrange for a proper target.

After Vika's hand thrown magic wind-blade had buried itself in the bulkhead through the thick fibrous mat she had used for years...Astrid couldn't guarantee that any target she could construct would contain the magic arrows Max shot with her magic bow.

Hence, Max and Vika were standing at the open cargo door perfecting the mechanics of calling and using their magical ranged weapons. The basic atmospheric shielding in service on TFN ships for hundreds of years did its job, entirely unaffected by the magic missiles.

After two hours Vika was able to throw four of the blue-glass feathers at a time faster than she could throw one of her old mundane wind-blades; Where Max could rapid-fire her arrows up to three per second for as long as her enhanced stamina could last.

Then Max tried Haste... and Vika laughed so hard she cried. Max had 6 arrows in the air before the first one hit the barrier.

0o0

Teffa slithered up the ramp well to the third floor of the Embassy, she was hungry and tired. She managed to get through half of the TFN memorandums, she was even able to retain a good part of it. Teffa learned that the T-Fed had very few trade agreements with 'any' of the nations surrounding it.

That fact seemed very odd to Teffa, growing up in a vibrant multi-species trading culture was something she took for granted. Terrans had been mostly isolationist for centuries, many of those policies seemed a result of xenophobia. Excluding foreign or alien concepts gave the T-Fed more control of their citizens, restricted freedom and stunted creativity. That style of culture was more often than not... Oppressive and extremely volatile.

Teffa thought of the Yelneg Empire and how it compared to the Terran Federation. But very recently things had taken a hard turn, a paradigm shift occurred These TFN memorandum proved it, Teffa wondered what could have caused it.

The Major-domo slithered into the family common room and promptly face planted onto the huge, reinforced couch. There were delicious smells, and she could tell Lakita was cooking, Teffa listened intently but couldn't hear any conversation. Teffa thought she heard the rasp of a slither, so she looked up.

Peering over the back of the couch was Zuki, she had two of her arms folded and her head lay across them. "Rough day at the office, dearest?" The erstwhile courier inquired.

Teffa smirked, "It wasn't that bad, just a lot of reading and teasing out overall comprehension of the intended message."

Zuki quirked an eye, making her fin stick out on that side. Teffa giggled, "You're so cute!"

"Was your comprehension successful?" Zuki smiled.

Teffa shrugged, "Somewhat... I will ask Agatha."

"Ask me what?" Agatha walked out of the kitchen with a stack of plates, presumably to set the table.

Teffa turned her head towards her closest friend and immediate supervisor. "What changed in the Terran Federation so that all of these policies have been revised?" The curious Slarmian inquired.

"I can answer that..." Zuki said.

Agatha put down the small stack of plates and did a double finger point at the Pilot, she spun on her heal and went back into the kitchen.

Teffa turned her head back, "How would you know?"

Zuki smirked, "Because... Agatha told me."

Teffa giggled, "Okay, so what changed?"

The Slarmian Pilot and thoroughly devoted fiancee replied, "Lions and lionesses."

Teffa blinked, "Oh... Yes, I suppose that would explain a great deal."

Agatha walked back out with a double fist of silverware.

Tefa turned back to the Terran, "Is John Blake able to make policy changes in the T-Fed, Agatha?"

Agatha replied while dealing out the cutlery, "He has an inordinate totality of influence upon the Federation and likely beyond. I would not want to bet against him or his family in any circumstance." Agatha smiled, "I suspect, the Lion is far and away more capable than any other single person in known space."

Teffa blinked in surprise.

Agatha went back into the kitchen.

Teffa turned to Zuki, shared a meaningful look with her and said, "That statement means a lot... Coming from Agatha."

Zuki nodded in agreement.

0o0

A dark brown two-kilometer ship with a distinct shape dropped in at the edge of the Yh76 system and immediately made course for the L4 cloud in the single planetary orbit.