Starfinder: The Jade Regent Pt. 03

"Probably, with the scanners..." Nora said, snickering softly at the jokes. "That, and they should display nearly anything you'd like around the ship as long as you're logged as a crew member or admin."

"Not that we've really had to do a whole lot of imagining," Rakain chuckled. Ami giggled as well. Then she frowned as Sam's com unit started to ring and buzz loudly. Very loudly. Xata's circuits glowed as she looked at Hana, but she carefully suppressed her recall so as to keep focused.

"Got a secret admirer giving you a ring, Sam?" Rakain asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"Perhaps it is someone who would be interested in intercourse?" put in Xata helpfully.

"I wish, a grumpy old fart instead." Sam sighed out as she checked her caller ID and answered her comm. "Hello Sheriff, I take it this isn't good news?"

Ami bit her lip at the word 'sheriff', looking at Sam intently. The Sheriff's voice was too soft for any of the rest of the party to hear as they listened in on Sam's end of the conversation.

"Well shit Belor. You offering Danger Pay to this one?" Sam asked as she fished out her tablet and typed to the rest of her team: Raiders. Threatening to glass the town unless demands ceded. Several ships in high orbit.

"Timing!" Hana said, giggling slightly. "Good thing we didn't finish the ship tomorrow."

Xata frantically cross-referenced her databases. Her eyes went bright green. "Adventure!"

Ami gulped. "W-What were their demands?" she asked.

"They clearly want to be killed by devastatingly sexy adventurers." Hana nodded sagely.

Xata suppressed her immediate response and nodded at Ami's question. "'Miss Woodwise' is correct? We should evaluate the negotiating conditions."

"Been keeping tabs on me, the universe has a sick sense of humor. We just got her ready for her maiden voyage, what better test than some space rats?" Sam replied over the comm, holding up her hand to give herself time. She tapped out a response on her tablet once she could: Demanding people. Neither of us trust them enough to not do worse to everyone if demands are ceded.

Rakain cracked his knuckles. "We can take 'em."

Thugs like this best dealt with by the end of a barrel. Sam added.

"What race are they?" asked Xata.

Hana blinked, looking at Xata, "Kind of curious why that matters.."

Xata shrugged. "I'm better at entertaining in some languages than others." And she grinned. "Becuase I've always wanted to Provide A Distraction!" She puffed up her chest proudly.

Nora blew out a breath and moved towards a ship as she waved her wrist to dismiss the displays. "I'll get Sunwolf going."

Ami narrowed her eyes as she listened in on what the Sheriff was saying. Then her face went pale with the realization as she looked at Sam. "It's me, isn't it?" she whispered, her voice soft as she looked at her.

Sam tapped her comm channel closed and put away the pad. "We don't know the race, the message was text. They don't speak the common tongue though, they used phonetics to type out laughter." She explained, then stopped, looking at Ami. "Yes. It is. You are the person they want. Don't trust them either way."

Rakain patted his gun. "We'll deal with them like we've been doing. I've got a few new tricks I want to try on them."

"So.. we could try Tian if you wanted to actually talk to him?" Hana said casually, putting her hand on Ami's shoulder. Ami bit her lip, then shook her head.

"I say we shoot them down," she said, her voice soft. "If people are going to come for me, threaten people for me, then I say we show the whole galaxy what happens when people try that..." She said, quivering - clearly furious.

Rakain reached down and gave Ami a pat on the butt. "That's the spirit, Queenie!"

Sam nodded in agreement with Ami. "Talking with them might be counter productive. Remember, she was brought out here to hide her."

"Just thought it might help to find out how they know you're here or where they're from..." Hana said, shrugging.

Xata smiled. "It doesn't matter what they are. 'Miss Woodwise' is more than a match for them." She had cross-referenced the cultural data in her storage to confirm it. "Whatever Ami needs of me, I'll do."

"Oh, good pont..." Ami said - starting into the ship's airlock as she spoke. "We can bluff them, then blast them!"

"I'm not so good with words," Rakain said, following Ami. "I'll just hang back and wait until we get to the blasting part."

"You're right." Sam mused. "A number of ways getting that information too. Well you're all better with words than me, so the important question. Who is gonna fly this puppy?"

Hana snickered, "I am a fan of trying to get them to land, then we fly up and blow them away, but like I said, I just figured it might be good to get some basic info."

Xata said: "I am excellent with words." She did not sound entirely convincing, but she made up for the lack of conviction by nodding enthusiastically. She started for the airlock on the side of the ship -- walking into the narrow, scrap built corridors.

"I mean, I've gotten a lot of simulator time at the bar for shits and giggles. But if anyone is more serious in it then they can have the pilot's chair," Sam put in, her boots clanking on the floor of the ship. The whole party fell silent as they came to the bridge -- the doors hissing open softly.

As they walked onto the bridge, they found that Nora had activated the place. There were three gun consoles - a kind of ball turret set in the floor, connected to the twin-linked lasers on the front, one to the laser on the left, one to the laser on the right. There was a piloting console, a captain's chair, an engineering terminal and a science terminal...plenty of places for people to sit.

In the center of the room was a glowing holographic display, showing a luminous holographic halfling - an utterly gorgeous, curvy, blue halfling who floated in the air, her hair a nimbus of pale white light around her head.

"Welcome aboard," the halfling said, her voice echoing. "I am the Artificial Life Facilitation Integration Exocomp and I am here to assist you."

Hana blinked, looking to Nora, "Interesting choice there for an interface.." She said curiously as she gestured to the computer.

Hello A.L.F.I.E." Sam said casually. "Nora, I take you had something to do with this design?" She teased. Nora was already seated at the engineering terminal, keying a few things into different displays. She paused in her work and glanced up with a small flush.

"I was already working on a possible main system, and I had spent almost a solid two months sculpting her..." she said, brushing her cybernetic hand through her hair.

"I'm honestly surprised you didn't make her naked," Rakain said, hovering around the pilot's chair. Nora reached over on her console and toggled a few keys.

"Greetings A.L.F.I.E." -- Xata pronounced each letter scrupulously -- "We are delighted to have you with us."

A.L.F.I.E's simulated clothes shimmered away, revealing her pendulous breasts and trimmed bush of pubic hair. "It is a pleasure to be with you as well..." She said, nodding.

"So what was that Rakain?" Nora's smile was thin and her eyes danced.

Rakain nodded. "Nothing, nothing. Nothing at all. I like her already." His teeth were sharp as he grinned at Nora.

"Hey, you're not going to catch me judging." Sam giggled at Nora as she slipped into the pilot's seat, the chair squeaking slightly with her amazonian bulk.

"Sup, Alfie." Hana nodded, then looked to Nora, "So.. is she a full AI or just like the one in my ring?" She asked curiously.

"I used a lot of what I learned while making my little bot, so she's...kind of in between? More advanced than your ring, but not all the way there yet...About as close as I could get." Nora explained, stubbing her toe a little on the hull flooring. "True AI is...I mean," She gestured a little at Xat and Hana. "I can't really make pure souls..."

"Just wondering if I should treat her like a person or a utility." Hana said, shrugging slightly.

"Person." Nora said a second later without hesitation.

Xata gave her a knowing look and said -- her voice pitched low, as if trying to whisper, but not nearly low enough to not be overheard by everyone in the room: "I am aware that ALFIE reflects your sexual proclivities and I approve."

Hana nodded, "Fair enough. I'll try to remember that." She smiled to Alfie. Alfie bowed slightly, her breasts swaying ever so slightly with the movement. The simulation was spot on.

Sam nodded in approval. "Halfling booty is hot booty."

Alfie smiled back. "I do have a subroutine to appreciate being appreciated, if that does not seem overly recursive." She nodded. "It is active right now."

Xata nodded to ALFIE and said: "I am hopeful we could all be competitive with you on a beachfront that accommodates all of us."

Rakain was blatant in his oogling. "I am very appreciative."

"Thank you" Nora coughed, starting to flush a little more. She turned in her seat a little, eyeing ALFIE before shifting in her chair, "So the engines are nearly ready, right sug- er, um, Alfie?" She coughed and blushed slightly.

Ami, who had been looking at Rakain with a slight scowl, coughed. "So, uh..." She shook her head. "Lets not forget the approaching pirate squadron. If Sam is flying, who does the pew pew lasers and the shields and stuff? I can..." She sat down in the captain's chair. "I can at least give you guys some encouragement..." She nodded. "And look good in a skintight outfit."

Xata looked on in interest. "I wish to contribute, but cannot pilot anything more sophisticated than a temple cart."

"Well, you could be a gunner!" Ami suggested, rubbing her chin.

"I would excel at gun shooting!" Xata said, clasping her fist to her chest, her eyes shining with pride.

Hana shrugged slightly, "Yeah, I'm.. a spellcaster. That's all I do.." She sighed, looking around at the bridge with some trepidation.

"Not all you do." Sam replied as she leaned back in the pilots seat, stressing the word.

"Well, then, you can also be a gunner!" Ami said, smiling at her. "Or...do you know how to use computers?" She asked, curiously as Sam settled down in the piloting seat. "You could be the science officer! Which doubles as the communication's officer!"

"I think I'm gonna go with comms officer." Hana snickered, moving over to sit in the indicated position. She found the seat was quite comfortable -- though the console had clearly been kludged together from a bunch of different consoles. She started to fiddle with toggles, switches and dials, learning what did what.

Ami beamed. "Nora, you should be the...engineer, right?" she asked, chuckling.

"I could also be science officer," Xata was unwilling to relinquish anything. "Is there a computer officer? I am fully equipped for multiple roles."

Ami nodded, looking thoughtful. "Well, we could...always use two science officers!" She gulped. "Uh...y-you guys don't mind me being in the captain's chair, right?" She bit her lip slightly. She rubbed her hands along the armrests nervously.

"The Captain's chair is only correct for... 'Miss Woodwise.'" Xata 'Looked Crafty' as she said it.

Sam shrugged as she looked over the controls, familiarizing herself with the layout. "Don't mind in the slightest, my liege."

Hana giggled, "Aye, aye captain!" She said, saluting the Tian woman.

Ami gulped at the salute and the 'my liege.' Then she shook her head and sat up taller. "Well, uh...take us into orbit, Miss Sam!" She said, trying to imitate her favorite starship captain from the movies. Right down to the hammy delivery.

"If you guys have no objections, I'll take engineering duties if Nora ever needs to do something else." Rakain tapped his choker. "Technomancer and all that."

"There is a console in Engineering that functions a lot like this one," Nora said as she glanced over to Rakain, "So if you ever need to use it, do so. There should be some tools in a few places around the ship too. Though, for now, we need one of the guns readied."

Rakain stepped up to the open gunnery console, familiarizing himself with the layout. "Got it. Thanks, Nora."

Sam: Sam nodded and pushed herself through the launch checklist, firing up the engines. As the ship shuddered, they all felt a moment of...well, maybe not nerves. But some kind of mild questioning as to...well...would the ship hold together. But the Sunwolf reached into the sky with a sudden kick of acceleration, shooting up and arcing towards the heavens and then the pale pink sky started to fade and the blackness of space filled the forward view of the bridge.

Ahead of them, they saw four sleek yellow ships - darting forward against the blackness. A tiny com-light started flicking on and off on Hana's console - they were getting a signal on the communication arrays. Hanna looked over the controls, then to Alfie, "Yo, Alfie, make with the talking dealy!" She said cheerfully, pointing towards the holographling.

Alfie bowed her head - and the image faded away, replaced with a beaked, angry looking face. The eyes were small and stupid looking, while the hair was black and furry. It was...a humanoid bird, with a wickedly curved beak and an evil gleam in its eyes.

"Give us the Tian!" It squawked in Common.

Hana frowned, speaking to them in Tian "So, you're going to have to be a bit more specific than that. Who ware you, where are you from, and why do you want her?"

"Give us the Tian or we blow you out of the sky!" The bird creature screeched back, spreading its wing-like arms in an aggressive, violent gesture.

Hana frowned for a moment. Then she smiled brightly. "Sure thing, just let us get in close, lower your shields, and we'll teleport her right over!" She said, nodding earnestly. The creature on the view blinked.

He cocked his head.

Then he nodded. "Okay!"

"Alright, Alfie stop the talky thing.." Hana said, sweeping her finger across her throat in the universal 'kill' gesture. The view clicked off with a whirr and the view ahead of them filled with thrust plumes as the pirate ships dated towards the Sunwolf. Ami blinked.

"That...worked?" she asked, sounding shocked.

"You're the best Hana!" Rakain laughed.

Xata didn't know what was going on but stood ready at the guns.

"How close do we let them get?" Ami whispered.

"Fish in a barrel, though I am wanting to say two birds with one stone." Sam noted, her hands resting lazily on the yoke.

Hana grinned, "Might not be too useful on the technical side, but I am a fucking master of bullshit!" She said proudly. "So, how many do you think we can take out before they figure it out? Should we focus on one or try to damage all of them a bit? Also, think we can zoom past them and shoot them in the ass?" She said, truly a master of noble combat. Ami snickered at that.

"One." Xata didn't know where it came from, what voice was speaking from her innards now, but she was certain. "Blow one out of the sky and the rest will be scared!"

"Plus we'll have a better chance of getting one quickly than all of them," Rakain said, looking up from his weapon.

Hana began to spin in her chair, "So, we wanna try to slip past them, spin around and shoot right up one's ass then?"

"Agreed. I'll see what I can do." Sam licked her lips nervously. It was one thing to accelerate off a planet and reach orbit. This was actual combat. As she took the controls with a new, steadier grip, Nora tapped buttons and switches on her engineering console. Each gunnery console glowed with extra power. Nora looked up at the rest of the crew.

"Rerouting power through the systems. Giving weapons a nice boost since they're being so kind and waiting..." she said. Sam nodded and fired up the engines, bringing the ship in a lazy turn toward the clueless raiders and drifting the nose of the craft to bring as all the weapons to bear on one single ship. Xata's circuits were almost incandescent. She's so fucking ready to shoot something.

As the Sunwolf smoothly turned around to bring its forward and side guns to bear on the enemy fighters, a com signal came through from the clueless space pirates: "So...drop your shields!"

Hana almost giggled, responding, "Sure thing! We're new to this, so we apologize if we don't get it right right away, okay?" Then she stood and hurried to the last open gun turret. As Hana scrambled to her gun turret, Ami called out. "You can do it!" She said, nodding to her. Xata was poised in the forward gun turrets.

Hana grumbled as she took hold of the weapons and pulled, "At least one of us has some kind of faith in me.."

Xata grinned at her sidelong. "Multiple members of the team have faith in you, fellow beep-boop!" Her circuits were a little rosy-coloured as she said it.

"Fair enough. I just meant I didn't." Hana laughed. Ami lifted her hand.

"Fire!" She shouted, like she had waited her whole life to say something like that.

The laser blasts from every turret on the Sunwolf slammed home - smashing into the sides of the pirate craft. It shuddered and slewed to the side, smoke pouring from several impact marks on its side. It looked like the power core, sensors and forward mounted laser turrets were all damaged!

"You biiiiiiitch!" The corby captain screamed back over the comlink.

Alfie pursed her lips. "How rude!" she said - still buck naked.

"Said the feathery shite trying to demand payment or death..." Nora growled under her breath, keying buttons on her console. As the shields whirred up, growing stronger, the pirate ships all flared with thrust plumes as their engines kicked fully on!

"No seriously! That was totally an accident! Don't put up your shields, we'll totally beam her over this time!" She called out to the captain, curious just how much she could get away with. But as she watched, the enemy ships simply turned to face them, their engines flaring -- shields whirring as they came online. Hana shrugged, as if to say: Well, hey. Worth a shot!

After the barrage of laser fire catching the opposing ships off guard Sam kicked the engines into a hard burn forward for a moment before cutting them- using the burst of acceleration to zip between the raiders before using thrusters to flip the ship end over end in a 180.

Ami grabbed onto the chair, whooping. "Whoa!" she laughed as the enemy ships tried to bank around - but they were clearly unable to bank fast enough, their engines still guttering, giving the Sunwolf an amazing flank shot at their backs. Shields or no shields, it was never a position an enemy wanted to be in. Every gunner pulled back on their triggers and a flurry of laser blasts flew out - the damaged fighter crumpled and exploded with a flash of orange light, filling the view screen with the explosion. Rakain, no longer having a target for his ire, quickly swung his turret around and fired a blast into the third fighter. The rear shields dropped and the back engines flared with some small damage!

"Come on!" Rakain yelled. "You guys are easy!"

Nora leaned forwards on her console as she keyed a few buttons. "Shields still at full, shunting to power to weapons. This is going amazing!"

"Well, we did talk them into fighting for a bit without their shields." Hana giggled.

As she worked quickly, Alfie leaned her holographic body over, her shimmering blue breasts almost caressing Nora's hair as she poitned. "You missed that interlinkage," she said, quietly. Nora's face went red but she still managed to smile and reply with a 'Thank you sugar,' as she quickly fixed the interlink. Recovering from the flip-and-burn, Sam grinned as she fired the side thrusters, bringing the Sunwolf into a hook around to their target's starboard sides from behind.