Starfinder: The Jade Regent Pt. 09

"Boots on," Nora said over their coms after a moment, keying at her wrist. She glanced around and waited before keying the gravity through her wireless connection. Her drone clung to her the whole time, firing a little laser shot off as the room shifted.

As microgravity kicked in, Xata took advantage of it to engage the jump jets on her armour, leaping straight at the fiend even as a Chant of Voltage built in her throat. The Song burst from her as she connected, striking him with a blinding light flash! The drauger squirmed with the impact, lightning surging along its body!

Rakain made good on his vow to blast the zombie, raising his pistol and firing. The shot connected with the draugr, sending it staggering back a few paces, but not ending it's unlife just yet! Hana leaped back, trying to take to the air as she wiggled her fingers, once again lubing up the ground under the monster.

The creature managed to keep its feet...but in doing so, lost its feet - the pressure it exerted to not slip pushed it away from the ground, causing it to float up into the air. It grabbed onto the chain, dragging itself back towards the floor, but was unable to attack at the moment!

Sam saw her chance when the beast lost it's footing, floated a bit into the microgravity and had to pull itself back down. She acted on it with a quick thrust as it lowered itself, aiming for it's head. The sword flashed - and the creature's head went sailing off into the air, black blood globbing as it came from the neck-stump! It was slain!

Hana dismissed the grease again, floating around in the air, kicking off the cieling, "Wheeeeee!"

As she kicked off the ceiling, Ami laughed. "Uh, gravity back on please..." She said, grinning as she called up the stairs.

Nora relaxed after a deep breath, leaning against the interior hull. She keyed at her wrist upon hearing Ami, turning the gravity slooowly back on so people wouldn't just come crashing down onto their faces.

"Let me get to the floor again!" Hana said nervously, moving towards the ground as quickly as she could.

"Oh, come on, Ami," Rakain said, swimming through the zero G environment with exaggerated motions. "Have a little fun!" Then the severed head of the draugr floated past him and he blanched.

Instead of putting the blade away Sam was using it as a tool to keep herself righted to the relative down, finding the transition easy. Once the gravity had returned she cleaned the edge and put it away. As they settled down to the ground - the head thumping onto the ground with a squish. Ami laughed, shaking her head. "Nice work everyone...so...we...gonna steal any of this?" She asked, stepping over and grabbed the sword.

Xata sagged in relief, and gave Sam a look of admiration.

"Why not? A sun is all any of this well meet. Who'll know?" Nora chuckled.

"AMI! We're not going to steal any of it! ..we're salvaging it." Hana said, smirking.

Xata added: "Oh, we should totally steal everything we can carry. It is a Standard Hero Trope."

Ami bit her lip slightly, then siad. "Hello, sword?" She asked. Then she frowned, then tapped the sword. "Uh, isn't it supposed to talk?"

"All of it. If we can hotwire the shuttle then it is ours." Sam said rather casually.

"Maybe it only speaks Tian?" Rakain said to Ami.

"And, don't ask me. I may be a sword sort of girl but not the talking sword sort," Sam said, nodding.

Hana frowned, "Well, your kami senses lead you here, right?" She said, frowning slightly.

Xata tried some Tian out on the sword, saying: "Were you not made to be wielded?"

Ami nodded. "It did...kinda..." She said, then blinked as Xata leaned over. Sam shrugged and went to examine the rest of the ship. She had a few more concerns than the sword itself.

Rakain's eyes flicked over the sword, and he spotted the problem in moments. "Welp, there's the problem," he said, pointing at the sword's hilt. "We're missing a gem." His finger pointed to an empty socket in the sword's ornate hilt. "Where'd it get to?"

As Rakain spoke, Sam saw that most of the mateirals on the ship...were fake. The gold was gilt and paint, the portraits were recreations. Everything was designed to look pretty...but be fairly valueless. But mixed among the materials within were SOME valuables that were easily worth 1,700 credits in total.

As she noted that, Ami blinked, then looked at the others. "Did they take the...animating intelligence of my freaking sword!?"

Rakain patted Ami's shoulder. "I think they did," he said sagely.

"People of False Heart often surround themselves with False Trappings. And steal the true power of those they cannot emulate." There were thousands of stories to this effect in Xata's databases.

Hana sighed, "Super.. Think it was them or whoever had them set this up?" She said, frowning slightly. "I remember them saying someone specifically wanted the body set here, didn't they?"

"Well, I did see a gem in the eye of the drauger." Sam noted as she went over to where the head had fallen when gravity returned.

Ami nodded. "Yeah! They took that Ulf guy, that Korra wants back?" She said. "They took him to Ravenscraig. Who wants to bet they took my freaking..." She blinked, then gasped, running over to the head. Then she blinked. "No...I...don't think it's the right size..." She winced, prodding the side of the draugher's head.

With her toe.

Daintily.

"Man.. I hope that the sword wasn't animating the zombie.." Hana grumbled slightly, "That would be awkward as hell.." She sighed, "So.. guess we need to go find Ravenscrag?"

"Korra did have the map," Ami said, kneeling down, then reaching into the drauger's eyesocket. She winced as she pulled it free. "Anyone know what this is?"

"Eeeeeeew, don't go groping zombie eyeballs, Ami," Rakain groaned, cringing.

"Looks like an ioun stone to me." Hana said, "Try tossing it in the air and it should float around your head and.. keep you from aging."

"It's a stone, not an eyeball!" Ami said, then blinked at Hana. She shrugged and tossed it up into the air. The stone whirled around her head, spinning in a slow circle. She grinned. "So...does this mean I get to live forever?"

"Well, you won't age. As mister a head shorter will point out there are many more ways to die than that." Hana snickered.

"Assuming you aren't already immortal. Just Kami things." Sam noted before starting to turn her attention to something more pressing. Ami nodded. She started to open her mouth to speak, but then the PA of the shuttle crackled on and a computerized voice spoke.

"Self. Destruct. Initiated."

Ami blinked. "NORA! DID YOU TOUCH SOMETHING!?"

Hana blinked, "So.. that's.. not good.." She frowned, "Think you can undo it?" She said, looking around, as if she could somehow suddenly figure out what a self-destruct looked like.

"And quickly, maybe?" Rakain said, panic tinging his voice.

As Hana looked around and Nora tapped at the computer, trying to get it to shut off, Sam - who had moved to find the ship controls - saw the airlock door open and a figure clad in a sleek black space suit enter, sword drawn, pistol in hand - three others following behind him!

"Huh.." She frowned slightly, "So.. not to tell Nora her job, but it looks like the fusion reactor's going to go boom." She said, biting her lip, unaware of the ninjas who had just entered the shuttle.

"That sound Sub-Optimal," said Xata with concern.

"Guys! Bad guys! Worry about self destruct later!" Rakain yelled, stepping back from the stairs, his eyes wide as he looked up the stairs.

"An assassination attempt on an exploding ship? A little overkill don't you think?" Sam said sarcastically, both over the comm and in realspace to the interlopers.

"No kill like overkill," Rakain said, drawing his gun.

Rakain, Hana, Xata and Ami were still on the lower level - looking up at the ninjas coming into the main room, while Sam and Nora were on the top level, Nora typing away furiously to try and slow the auto-destruct sequence!

Two of the ninjas rushed towards Sam - their swords drawn, their movements utterly silent. Their faces were concealed behind reflective faceplates on their space suits. One of them swung their humming weapon - a curved blade on a stuck on a chain - at Sam. Sam lifted her arm, catching the chain and jerking the ninja off balance, while the other kicked off the floor and slamming into Sam's back. Sam casually smashed backwards - crashing the ninja against the side of the wall, preventing the blades from finding any weak points in her armor.

Meanwhile, the other two Ninjas stepped to the stairs, and then pulled their pistols and opened fire - streams of laser light firing down indiscriminately into the group - but Ami dragged Rakain back and Hana sprang away, with Xata in tow, all of them entirely unharmed.

"Self destruct in...sixty sec...sec...sec...sec...MINUTES!" The AI said as Nora tapped buttons frantically. "Self destruct in...T minus...Sixty Minutes."

Xata nodded a thanks to her fellow-android for the assist. Rakain drew all the heat from the machine parts around him and thust out his palm. The air in front of him rippled as he heated it in a split-second, bathing the two Ninjas on the stairs in searing dry heat. The ninjas jerked aside, so that they were only lightly scorched, rather than caught full on in the blast. They resumed firing laser blasts down at the group - trying to keep their heads down.

Xata spun up from her crouch and wove her katana's strokes into a dazzling, hypnotic pattern as she Sang the Chant of Everosa's Beguiling, a poignant hymn to the necessity of accepting another's wisdom. The two ninjas slowly lowered their pistols - looking as if they had become utterly enraptured by Xata's whirring blade, the laser blasts ceasing.

Hana frowned at the hypnotized ninja, thrusting out her hand and cast, the ground under the two ninjas by Sam turned greasy, hopefully tripping up the two men. The two men beside Sam threw out their arms - and like acrobats, kept their balance despite the carefully aimed grease, slipping only slightly while Sam stood tall and proud.

Sam fought seemingly barehanded against the pair assaulting her, maneuvering her armor her her advantage and protection. It was to set a bait, an expectation as to where her threats and strengths were before she showed off her blazing fast draw. Her hand went to her sword and drew it in a strike, pommel first as it hit the one in front of her in the chest to knock him back. She then plunged the blade backwards to the one behind her seemingly blindly- and getting the satisfaction of the feeling of resistance as his flesh tried to stop the metal, as the edge buried deep into his chest.

She freed the blade in a followup swing at the one before her but he didn't remained stunned or shocked by the attack, instead stepping back out of her reach for a moment to dodge the blow.

In an instant she had flipped the hilt from the reversed grip, regaining her reach as she stared him down.

"Freaking sweet," breathed Xata as she watched the display of martial prowess, keeping her own sword at the ready. With her hacking complete Nora pulled free her rifle and carefully took aim. She focused, taking a deep breath while her little drone gripped hold of her shoulder and did the same. In sync they both fired and struck, their beams forming together as their shots struck the non-distracted ninja square in the chest.

That ninja sprawled backwards, thumping into the ground with a groan. As he lay there, dead, the remaining two ninjas remained hypnotised by Xata's swerving, dancing blade. Rakain crouched low and moved towards the two mesmerized ninjas, his hand glowing green again. "Yeah, that's right, follow the birdie..." he muttered.

He extended his palm, swarming with nanobots, and slapped it roughly on the face of the ninja closest to him! The palm slapped home and the third ninja tasted death as magic flowed through his faceplate, causing him to shudder, twitch, writhe, then fall down to the ground with a thump! Xata leaped forward, her katana transitioning from hypnotic motion into deadly accuracy as it struck out at the remaining ninja.

Hana smirked, thrusting her hand out and firing out a small bolt of lightning that slammed into the already weakened ninja, the bolt slamming through his chest, sending him to the ground as she once more dismissed her grease. As the ninja sprawled on the ground, Ami shook her head. "W-What kind of assassination party attacks a ship flying towards the sun with the self destruct on!?" She asked, sounding appalled.

"Someone who REALLY wants people dead.." Hana said, frowning slightly.

"Yeah, but...the assassins had to know they'd die too!" Ami exclaimed, her face pailing slightly.

"Better question is what idiots take the job to attack someone on a ship about to blow up?" Sam asked as she kicked one of the corpses.

"It seems like an eccentric decision... or sign that something Truly Extreme is at stake," commented Xata with a worried frown.

Hana frowned, moving over to check one of the bodies curiously, lifting up their helmet.

"They're not just any idiot though. That gear...it's Tian..." Ami said, nodding to the black clad figures - there was a uniformity to their armor and weapons after all. As Hana tugged a helmet free, she saw a slender Tian face, eyes wide in death, beneath. Xata couldn't say why the sight brought up an unutterable sadness in her. She turned away and tried not to think about it.

"Wish we kept one of them alive, would have been nice to poke them for questions," Nora mumbled, rubbing her cheeks. "Probably have something shit like cyanide false teeth or something though I bet."

Sam nodded. "Makes sense in a way I suppose." With a shrug she left checking over the bodies to the others as she resumed checking the controls of the shuttle.

"Or fucked up flash grenades in their head. I heard about that once," Nora muttered.

Hana frowned, "They're Tian special forces armor. Except it's black market. They should have a locator chip in the helmet, but it's been taken out.." She frowned and shook her head, "Yeah, they don't seem like they'd be the type to surrender..."

"Probably not," Rakain agreed with Hana.

Ami shuddered, then frowned. "Lets get back to the Sunwolf..." She said.

Then, as Sam took a seat, she noticed that Brash's tiny lizardlike head was peeking through the front pane of glass on the shuttle. Brash waved at her happily, then called through the cockpit window - in defiance of all known laws of physics. "Hi Sam!"

"Brash!" Rakain said. "What's up?"

Brash waved. "Hi Rakain! Or...should I say..." Brash shifted, and suddenly was a rather shockingly pretty girl with short black hair, bright blue eyes, wearing nothing but a shift of cloth that clung tight to her smallish breasts. "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii Rakainnnnnnnnnnnnn!"

Ami blinked. "Rakain...do I...want to know?" She asked.

Hana blinked slightly, "I want to be a dragon when I grow up too..." She snickered. She checked over the body just a bit more to make sure she hadn't missed anything.

"Hi- Brash." Sam said, just a little startled by the small dragon. She double checked the readouts to see if he was actually here or if it was another one of his tricks. Though she tried not to laugh at the obvious taunting Brash was giving Rakain. She would have to figure out what put Brash up to this. With a sigh she set herself to the task at hand, getting the shuttle docked with the Sunwolf.

Rakain's nostrils flared, but he kept his face neutral. "No, Ami, you don't. I'll tell you later."

Nora let out a snorting laugh, "After him turning into a cute dicked stud, your surprised by that?" Nora asked, sneaking up behind Ami just to give her a playful nudge. "And Hiiiya Brash."

"..the fuck?" Hana said, frowning as she pulled a raven statuette from one of the ninja's bodies.

As they docked, Ami blushed and snickered. "N-No, true..." she admitted, shaking her head. "Just...didn't know Rakain was into corrupting the yo..." She blinked. "What is that?" She asked, looking at Hana.

"Each of these guys had one on them.." She frowned. "Also four fugitive grenades, eight potions of vanish, four monomolecular swords, four corona laser pistols, and four masterwork thieves tools. ..total, not each."

Nora snorted and resisted the urge to comment before waving around, "Head around to your side Brash, and I'll cycle the airlock if you want to slip inside real fast."

Brash focused, then teleported from the outside to landing on Nora's shoulders. SInce he was still in his cute girl form, this left Nora with a girlcape as Brash hung off her shoulders, locking her legs around Nora's throat. "Whee!"

"Sounds like a wetwork team alright." Sam noted.

Hana frowned, "But.. raven statues?" She said, frowning. "And each one has one..."

Nora flinched in surprise, not expecting the sudden weight. She recovered quickly, holding her arms out after a brief stumble and broke into a snort as she then held Boy-Brash's legs to support her. "Maybe they're their escape route?"

"Maybe they're just for identification purposes?" Rakain offered.

Ami shrugged. "We could show them to Korra," she said, nodding as Brash sat up, nodding.

"Korra seems nice!" She said, cheerily, shifting to his Male form, his pants tight, the bulge of his cock bumping Nora's cheek from where he sat.

"Who wants a Vanish potion?" Hana said, pocketing at least one for herself.

"I like Vanishing," Xata affirmed eagerly. "It's very Adventurous."

"I won't turn one down." Sam noted from the pilot's seat.

"I'm good without one," Rakain said.

"...but Sam could make Mighty Use of its. She should have it," Xata said, nodding sagely.

"I'm good," Nora said. Her cheeks went dark after a moment once she realized why something warm was against her cheek and carefully nuzzled as Brash sat on her shoulder.

"There's eight." Hana snickered, "No one needs to go without." She said, moving over to Sam and Xatan, giving them a couple potions each, "Want a couple, Ami?"

Ami grinned. "I won't turn down the chance to turn invisible when most funny," she said, nodding sagely.

"So, um, are we just going to let the other ship fly away?" Brash asked, craning his head back to look at Sam. As he did so, he twitched his hips - and each twitch bumped his bulge against Nora's nose. Bump bump.

Bump bump.

...bump...bump.

"We can all be invisible?" Xata said excitedly. She tried not to let her mind turn to the uses this could be put to in the next orgy. Tried and failed.

"Nora taking the grenades I assume?" Hana said, picking them up, then frowning, "Other ship?"

"The shuttle!" Brash said. "That you just robbed and fought ninjas on!" He giggled, quietly - the funerary shuttle was starting to sail away from the Sunwolf, still flying towards the sun.

"Totally taking the grenades," Nora nod-nuzzled, walking to observe a little through the viewport about the shuttle Brash was talking about. "Did the ninja's just attach and sneak in?"

"If we can disarm the self-destruct.. we should totally keep the shuttle. We can definitely sell it for a shitload of cash, right?" Hana rubbed her palms together at the thought.

Brash shook his head. "Nopes!" he said, leaning back slightly. "I was watching, and I thought I saw a weird shimmer, and then the door opened - then before I knew what was what, they were heading inside. So, I figured I should come and help, but you beat them up before I got there..." He said, nodding.

Ami beamed. "That's a good point." She said, grinning.

"A shitload of cash is always good," Rakain perked up.

"So.. the ninja came over from the station invisibly?" Hana said curiously, "Maybe they didn't know about the self-destruct?"