Author's Note: Sorrrrrrrry for the delay. There has been a small mini-dragon running around my cave, brought by my sibling. He's just as adorable as Brash, and requires far more attention. So, only two days late, here is some STARFINDER! :D

Starring

Lucithanaas Hana Song

Kittyas Nora

Nathan Ravenwood as Rakain

Jasonas Sam

Cyrano Johnson as Xata

Previously, on Starfinder: With the location of the sentient sword, Suishen, in hand, our heroes now brave yet more dangers to get it back by sneaking onto the funeral barge of Asvig Longthews' former boss.

The shuttle that held the Mr. Johnson of the former shadowruner Asvig Longthews wasn't held in the nice shuttle bays.

It wasn't held in the bad shuttle bays.

It was held in the crappiest part of the shittiest level of the darkest corner of Kalsgard - an area of low hanging industrial pipes and gurgling machines, narrow corridors illuminated only by safety lights behind huge, spinning fans. It was a place as unpleasantly humid and hot as other parts of the station were cold - moisture collected on the ceiling, dripping down in slow patters of unpleasant warmth.

The ground was grated - metal rusted in some places, with thick, rough looking screws that attached the gratings to place and creaked as Sam, Hana, Nora, Xata, Rakain and Amikeo walked down the corridor, heading for the shuttle-port that held the funeral shuttle. As they walked, Ami shook her head slightly. "So, can I add my voice to Hana's statement that...I...can't wait to get off this station? "She asked, her voice pitched low over the distant thrum of machinery and hiss of steam.

As she spoke, Sam - who was leading the way - found the bulkhead leading into ORE PROCESSING-298. The paint on the door was old and peeling, indicating just how long it had been since Kalsgard has actually acted like a mining station. This was the berth that led to an old ore processing section of the station ,which was currently where the funeral shuttle had been attached.

With left the mystery...

Who puts a funeral shuttle down here!?

But as they considered that question, a loud clunk and squishy scrunch noise came from the far side of the door - and the low, frantic squealing of a rat being suddenly silenced.

"Who," Xata asked as she furiously scanned her databases, "would put a funeral shuttle down here?"

"And let rats have run of the place," Rakain muttered, drawing his gun.

Ami shuddered slightly - then blinked as she glowed a faint white for a moment, then faded. She gasped. "T-The Kami just did something!" She said, wiggling her fingers. "I think Suishen is near...w-which we knew, but...still, it's good to know..." She gulped.

The faint sound of chewing was coming through the bulkhead. Like something big was munching on something smaller.

Nora blew out a breath and held her hand out quickly. She urged her bot to jump down and peak forward at whatever the noise was real fast as she showed the feed to everyone on her wrist. Xata heard the munching sound and held position, her posture taut as she awaited a signal from Miss Woodwise or Nora.

"It would be down here to prevent it from being found." Sam offered through the comm, her paranoia having kept the armor's faceplate up in that mask as she led them, pausing to get the scouting feed from Nora's drone.

The little ferret bot hopped off Nora's shoulders, then skittered forward. IT stuck its tiny nose forward, peering under the bulkhead's frame, finding a hole in the seal, then looking there.

In the darkness of the ore loading dock - the massive space filled with automated machinery that had long been left to rust and crust over with age - there was a huge...form. Many limbed and chitinous, with black coloration - save for a few dull red flashes that the emergency lights of the machines illuminated. But whatever it was, it held the twitching form of a rat - blood pattering onto the floor as it ate noisily.

It looked to be roughly the size of a small horse...maybe bigger.

It was. Fucking. Huge.

"Holy rusted metal!" Hana whispered.

"Can we go a damn day without running into something horrifying?" Rakain grumbled.

"Do we have to head that way?" Sam asked, not exactly pleased with the sight.

Nora's expression went taut as she took a few careful steps back so that she was behind Sam. "Think it's distracted with food, so we can probably sneak past fast if we're careful," She whispered.

Ami sighed. "The map Korra gave us gives this as the best route - unless you guys wanna go back half a mile, go out the airlock, walk along the skin of the ship..." she shook her head slightly.

"Upside, if we run into something horrifying, we can take care of it.." Hana muttered slightly. Ami nodded, then lifted her hand for a solemn fist bump from Hana.

Xata said: "We should perhaps not risk something horrifying coming from behind us. Perhaps we should take care of it."

Hana fist bumped back the other woman, then nodded at Xata, "Or getting out to horrify someone less competent."

"Quite." Xata said, seriously.

Sam nodded. "Then into the rat's nest. I just hope there isn't a pack."

Nora let out a breath, "I'll lob a flash grenade around the corner real fast. Once it goes off we'll hit it?"

Xata unlimbered her katana. "We may have work to do, Foundling," she told it. She had heard that Famous Warriors sometimes spoke to their weapons. And nodded agreement to Nora's point.

Hana frowned, "Kind of hope there is actually. Much better we take them out now then run into them later." She nodded to Nora. "Sounds like a good plan."

Ami grinned, giving her a thumbs up as she drew her own laser pistol. Sam readied her blade as well, waiting for the agreed moment.

"I've got a few new tricks up my sleeve since our last big scrap," Rakain said. "Let's make it happen."

"Cover your ears, close your eyes. When you feel the grenade go off you'll be safe," The mechanic blew out a breath and nodded. She dug around in her bag for the grenade and checked it fast. Keying a few things on her wrist she closed her eyes and muttered to herself before turning to toss the grenade around the corner and duck quickly back behind the metal to protect her eyes. Hana moved into cover herself, covering her eyes and ears to keep from getting blinded. Xata Followed the Instructions. Sam took the moment needed to protect herself from it's effects.

The grenade flew forward, tinked around the corner - and as they tensed, there was a loud flash and the hideous spider-like monster, with large, crab like arms, reached out and thrashed its limbs...and dropped from where it had been hiding, arms flailing - and charged at the door, clearly far from blind, hissing with fury!

Sam dashed forward to meet the crab of unusual size before it got close enough to grasp at her companions. Those steps turned into a lunge as she thrust her blade forward. The blade bounced off the side of the chitinous, crablike monster as its claws reached towards Sam. Sam stepped back - but then both claws grabbed either side of Sam's body, lifting the amazonian woman up and off her feet, squeezing with a dull groan and creak of metal!

Nora leaned around the corner after a moment, watching Sam while holding something to her shoulder. She had been practicing and getting better with the laser rifle they had managed to acquire and finally felt comfortable bringing. Good thing as the sleek, dark weapon fired a searing bolt that struck the creature. Her drone missed though, much to the chagrin of Nora's programming.

The searing beam of light scored into the hideous creature's side, sending it staggering. It screerched, dropping Sam to her feet - the massive woman landing with a grunt! Hana raised her hand, whispering softly as she wiggled her fingers, the ground under the crab-beast becoming glossy and slippery. The crab-beast's legs skittered wildly and almost comically as it flailed its arms above its head, hissing like a steam kettle, then landing on its belly with a loud THUMP!

Rakain lunged forward, keeping his footing on the slick surface and kicking off, jumping atop the prone creature. His hand glowed venom green with what looked to be sparks flitting off it, and he slapped his palm down on the space crab's husk. The space crab hissed and screeched, thrasing its limbs as it tried to throw Rakain off it's back as steam hissed from a nearby vent - clouding the scene momentarily.

Xata balled up a fist, sang a Chant of Chanticleer's Electrifying Wisdom and swung at the creature! Sadly, the creature managed to jolt away from her at the last moment, there were difficulties after all, trying to slap a monster that was skidding around on greasy ground, with a massive Vesk riding it like a pony. Ami - trying to get her pistol to angle at the creature, didn't quite manage to get a clear shot.

"Yeeeeeee-haw!" Rakain whooped.

Sam had managed to keep her footing with being dropped from those crushing claws, and turned her attention to them as they flailed about- their owner having trouble keeping steady on the magically slick ground. She took that to her advantage as she noticed the way the hardened armor folded around it's joints as it moved, and as it tried to bring one of those massive arms in to maintain it's balance she slipped under it's reach and slammed the impossibly sharp edge of her blade home into the joint. The spider twitched as the sword slammed home again and again - then hissed softly, then laid still. AS it lay there, Ami peeked over Nora's shoulder. "Is it dead?" She asked.

Blood seeped through the grating - dripping down, along with the magically summoned grease.

It seemed it was.

"Dead," Nora said after a second, watching as well as Sam stood over the creature. "I hope. Should probably set it on fire as a safe bet."

Hana nodded, dismissing the grease from the ground. "Wonder if it's good to eat.." She said curiously.

"Who knows what sort of parasites it carries." Sam said in a tone of disgust as she took a step away from the blood and grease and went about cleaning her blade again before stowing it.

"That IS one of the points of cooking." Hana snickered.

Xata shot a shining look at Sam, who of course had prevailed. Ami snickered. "Well, it is a crab..." She said - but then a loud BANG echoed out from ahead of them - and a low hiss - a sound that each of them recognized as the sound of a fuel injector being detached...

The shuttle was getting ready for launch!

Rakain hopped off the creature's corpse. "I dunno if that's a good idea, given the nanobots made out of my blood that I pumped into it," he emphasized. "Shiiiiiit, we gotta move!"

"Yeah, let's go." Hana said, heading in the direction of the sound.

Ami nodded. "That we do!" She scrambled over the corpse, rushing forward. Xata flashed into motion behind her. Sam quickly followed the rest of the group. They all arrived to find that the ore processing area...was empty. The large shuttle they had hoped to hyjack was currently merrily floating away - about ten feet beyond the shimmering, semi-permeable force field that kept the air in and space out.

"Balls!" Ami said, then grabbed the hood of her armor, unfolding it and snapping it into place. "This is a bad idea!" She ran forward, then dove through the force field - sailing out into space...and grabbing onto the airlock of the shuttle, swinging around in microgravity to wave at them as the shuttle continued to drift away.

"What the fuck is she doing?" Rakain yelled, grabbing at his head spikes in panic. Xata fought back the urge to call out. Surely Miss Woodwise had to know what she was doing?

Hana sighed, "How about letting the people who won't actually die in space do that shit?" She called out, running to join Ami grabbing the shuttle.

"Beating me to the punch." Sam said before tapping an unseen button, her armor giving a hiss as it sealed and she followed the foolhardy pair. Nora cursed before taking a deep breath. Picking her drone up she went sprinting after Sam, leaping to follow the rest. Seeing Sam make the leap, a grumbling Xata sealed up her armor and followed, as it were, suit.

"Maybe someone stay back so you can get our damned ship!" Hana cursed as she grabbed tight to the shuttle.

"This is dumb, this is dumb, this is so goddamn dumb," Rakain muttered to himself, engaging his suit environment and following his companions.

Hana sailed out into space, transitioning from the thundering noise of the interior of Kalsguard to the utter silence of space. She grabbed onto the side of the shuttle next to Hana, while Rakain, Xata and Nora arrived as well - all of them grabbing onto the side of the shuttle. As they clung to the side, Ami grinned shakily. "So, uh..." She said, her voice crackling over the radio. "That worked. Anyone know how to open this door?"

As she asked, the shuttle's engines started to glow - getting ready to turn on...and accelerate away from the station!

Hana grumbled slightly, crawling along the side of the shuttle, looking for a door. "Got it," Nora said over their coms. As she hung to the shuttle she keyed at her wrist, using her own computer to hack into the shuttle airlock and cycle it to their side. Xata gave Nora a huge grin. She had never had a doubt.

As Hana crawled around, Nora hacked and Ami chuckled. "T-That may have been...a bit hasty..." She said, watching the engines glowing brighter and brighter as the airlock door hissed open, light shining from within!

"No shit." Hana sighed as she moved into the shuttle, "Now we just have to hope the controls on this thing still works..."

Sam followed them inside as she synced her tablet with her comm to boost it's strength and range, reaching out to the Sunwolf. "Alfie, do you read? Please grant me access to navigation." She requested kindly.

Ami snickered. "Well, it's a day long flight to the sun...and Brash the dragon is on Sunwolf. He won't let us down..." Ami blushed as they stepped into the airlock - the artificial gravity of the ship preventing them from feeling more than a faint sway as the engines kicked on.

"This is Alife, I read you," the faint voice of the holographic halfling came through Sam's tablet.

"We're kind of pressed for time here," Rakain added hurriedly on the channel Sam spoke on.

Ami rubbed the back of her neck, muttering. "I...I'm just...sick of everyone else doing the dangerous stuff..."

"Everyone else is not an Imperial Space Princess," Xata reminded her mildly.

Hana sighed softly, "You have to gauge risk versus reward. Two members of our group can be thrust into deep space and survive, and you my dear Ami, are not one of them."

"Lets save any form of lecture for being on the Sunwolf when we have the sword, ay?" Nora asked as she keyed at her wrist, slipping in to the airlock with the rest. "Lets finish this first."

"We're all just partially sex-crazed lunatics who are tagging along for this wild ride," Rakain said, patting Ami's shoulder. "Let us do the heavy lifting.

"I tale exception to partially sex-crazed," put in Xata. "But I agree with Rakain."

Ami sighed, then muttered. "I'm a sex crazed lunatic..." She said, sounding mullish as the Sunwolf started to move to intercept their ship - but it'd take a few minutes to get there. Looking around, they saw that the first deck of the ship was completely empty, though there was a set of stairs heading down to a lower level.

But Ami did look somewhat chagrined - avoiding meeting Hana's eyes.

"So.. since we're here, let's find that sword." Hana said, smiling slightly, clearly wanting to put the awkwardness behind them.

"Okay then," Nora said, blowing out her breath. "how about, until one of us is an all knowing god, we stop acting like we KNOW WHAT IN THE STARS HOW THINGS WORK. We all STARTED in that little podunk junk yard with Ami, so STOP selling her skills SHORT. Now LETS get that DAMNED sword."

Ami nodded to Hana, then blinked slightly as she looked at Nora, grinning. "A-And here I thought I was grumpy..." She said, shyly. "Um, question..." She paused. "Does anyone else hear that?"

"Thank you Alfie." Sam commented as put the tablet away, satisfied with her quickly drawn up set of instructions for the auto pilot to follow. "Yes, let's check the ship out."

Xata held Foundling at the ready and began to move, then halted at Hana's suggestion. "Hear what?"

Each of them heard a faint rattle of chain and clink - something like chains being tugged around in the lower decks of the ship.

"Aaaaaand that's not creepy," Rakain said, grabbing his gun again.

"No," Xata agreed. "It is Extremely Creepy."

"I swear, if we are having to deal with the undead again, it isn't going to need a grave." Sam complained as she retrieved her sword.

"So.. think maybe the guest of honor isn't as dead as his men thought?" Hana snickered slightly, "Nah, bunch of clever, upstanding fellows like them would never get confused like that."

"...they...didn't send out a living person to get buried, did they?" Ami whispered. "Ugh, yeah, exactly..." She nodded at Hana.

"We must Seek Him Out." Xata's tone wasn't as resolute as her words. "That is what Heroes Would Do in this situation."

"If it looks like a zombie, I'm blasting it," Rakain said. "No hesitation."

Ami stepped forward, heading towards the stairs - but staying off to the side. She shone her flashlight down, then whistled. "Well, there's definitely gold down there..." She said, casually. Sam nodded and started for the stairs, taking lead as she went deeper into the ship.

"Who's going first? Sam or Rak?" Hana smirked slightly, following the others.

Xata followed the group. Rakain looked at Sam and held up his fist. "Rock, paper, scissors?"

"Hey Nora, you got control of this ship's gravity?" Hana asked curiously.

Sam smirked and humored the Vesk. She gave him a pair of quick shakes of the fist to signal their start of the game, and snapped her finger out into the shape of a gun before continuing. "Just be glad Brash isn't here..." Ami said, grinning slightly as they headed down the stairs - finding the lower level of the ship was, indeed, filled with gold. There were gold chairs and some piles of gold and a few paintings and portraits. Funerary goods. There was also a sleek, curved, katanablade...held in the hands of a rotting, desiccated corpse of a massive Wulfen man - his once blond hair turned to seaweed, his body smelling of salt and rot.

He shambled around - chained to a coffin, and his left eye gleamed...it was a pale white stone, not a real eye at all.

"...ew..." Ami whispered, quietly.

Rakain sighed and raised his gun. "Fucking. Zombies."

"We must lay him to rest," Xata said after consulting her Tropes. The undead creature looked up at them...and then started to shamble forward - and each of them saw that the chain was long enough to more than easily let it reach them!

Hana frowned, then thrust her hand out, a massive cloud of glittering dust, adding to the shine of the gold in the cabin, coating the undead being and making it insanely visible, and hopefully blind. The undead captin lifted his hand at the last moment, gurgling, salt water dribbling from his mouth, then continud to step forward - not seeming very blind at all as he lifted the curved blade...and brought it whistling down towards Hana!

And smashed it into the ground as Hana stepped back a single half inch, a single lock of her hair hitting the ground, but leaving her otherwise unharmed!

Sam stepped into the gap between the undead captain and her companion, her blade slashing out in a set of hard and fast strikes. He was fasted than she expected though, his blade parrying her blows.
"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?"
"Alright, wiring the shuttle around then. Might as well keep all that scrap metal and parts," Nora said with a shrug-bounce to Brash, keying at her wrist to connect to the shuttle.

"So, just to confirm, the raven statues aren't magical?" Sam asked.

Brash shook his head. "They weren't coming from the station. The shimmer came from the shuttle." He said, his voice serious, his eyes narrowing. "They were on the shuttle, then shimmered over! Like Hunter From Space in that movie with the guy with the mustache!"

"Which movie?" Rakain muttered, trying to make sense of Brash.

"I want that cloak tech," Nora groaned, closing her eyes. She nuzzled Brash's bulgy lap like a pillow and pouted, "Super jealous..."

Hana nodded, "Not magic.. though maybe they had the same plans we did?" She said curiously. "Like, they planned to sneak in, grab the sword, and sneak out again?"

"Possibly," Rakain said to Hana, eyeing Nora getting touchy feely with Brash.

"Except the sword's AI was already gone," Ami said, frowning, her voice grim. "No, I think whoever is behind all this KNEW we were going to try and get the sword...and left behind suicide assassins on the shuttle to make sure we bought the fucking farm!"

Sam nodded, ignoring Brash for the most part as she tried to unravel this mystery. "And the idols don't have anything hidden inside them? Check them out in the lab?"

"Odin's Eye, I think," Nora groaned. "That damn bird had it's eye on us the second we got onto the station."

"It could be that our employer is Double-Crossing Us," Xata theorized. "It is common in Cyber-Punk Trids."

"We're getting paid for this?" Sam asked jokingly

"I wasn't aware," Rakain snickered.

Hana frowned, "Maybe.. I guess I just have a bit of an issue with the idea of suicide soldiers..." She said, frowning slightly. She shrugged, offering a statue to Sam, "Here you go." She blinked, pointing at Nora, "That's.. a good point. And the closest thing we have to an employer is Ami."

"Yeah, I'm your employer, dude," Ami said. "Since I'm the one whose going to get a throne. I'm not betraying you!"

Brash frowned. "Raven's are jerks..." He said, grumbling under his breath. "Ohh, look at me, I'm super happy with tinfoil. It's just FOIL, it's not special..." He grumbled, looking jealous.

"I mean the individual who put us onto this tack could be Playing a Double Game," Xata elaborated. "But hopefully not."

Hana snickered, "Ravens have a visual defect which lets them see tinfoil as gold."

Brash nodded. "Exactly! Jerks!" He said, cheerily, while Ami shook her head.

"You think Korra betrayed us?" she asked Xata, looking at her.

"Not Korra. The Man in the Mansion." Xata thrust her finger dramatically into the air.

"I think she means the guy who had the sword before us," Hana murmured to Ami.

Xata rubbed her chin. "But I can't think how he would have done it."

"Ohh, right, that guy," Ami said, rubbing her chin.

"Or why," Brash added, nodding.

"Well, we still have-" Ami started - but then Alfie coughed quietly.

"Um, we're getting a com signal from Kalsguard station," Alfie said, her voice soft.

"Bring it up!" Hana said cheerfully.

"This oughta be good," Rakain said, leaning on a nearby console.

We really should clean out the shuttle, Sam typed on the tablet for the rest of the team.

Brash nodded, then leaped off Nora's shoulders. He leaned against her back happily, leaning against her as the com came on and they saw a rather nervous looking Korra filling the screen.

"Hey," she said. "Did you get the sword?"

Hana paused, looking over Korra curiously, seeing if there was some special reason she was nervous, like someone off-screen. Xata shared her curiosity. Hana pursed her lips, then frowned. "No, we didn't manage to get the sword. Some ninjas appeared out of nowhere and ran off with it." She said, sounding disappointed. As she spoke, she texted: Something's up with Korra.

Xata followed her lead. "They really sent me for a loop with their Ninja Skills." She did her best to look punch-drunk.

Korra punched the wall. "FUCK!" She swore. "Shit, I'm sorry, I have even more bad news...I've noticed this weird as shit raven roosted in my berth - they've been watching my ship for the past thirty minutes and I don't know why, but...it creeps me the fuck out. It's also got cybernetics."

Rakain kept his mouth shut, not trusting himself not to say anything dumb. Ami squeezed Rakain's shoulders gently, seeing his tension.

Nora swore under her breath, "Oh damn it..."

Hana frowned slightly, "Well, if you want, you can meet us at out berth and we can maybe commiserate over some drinks." She said sympathetically.

"Should I do anything about the-" Korra blinked. "What the fuck!?" She asked - a shadow fell across the screen, as if the light in her room was being eclipsed by something...and then the screen went to static!

"I know I could use one or two," Xata amplified, trying to sound like someone who had ever had a drink. "What the-"

"Alfie, com off!" Hana said, pausing a moment as the com shut down. Then she turned to the others, "We need to get to her now!"

"Agreed. Something is very wrong," Xata said.

Alfie nodded. "Do you wish me to set course to the station?" she asked.

"With all speed, Alfie," Rakain said.

Nora blew a breath out of her mouth, eyes closed. "Please let her be okay..."

Brash frowned, then shifted into his dragon form, hopping onto Ami's head. "Okay," he said. "It's pretty clear to me that cyberlooky raven mcdickhead is definitely being a jerk! Did you know that you can hear with your eyes?" He asked, looking down at Hana. "If he was hearing with his eyes, since it is a cybernetic eye, he could have heard that! And if he thinks that we failed, then he'd know that the only thing we have left to go on is Korra, cause she said she knew where Ravenscraig is! So he'd have to smoosh her!"

"...hear...with an eye?" Ami asked as the engines kicked on - the Sunwolf leaping towards the station.

Hana frowned, "Shit.. starting to think I should have just told her we had the sword.." She bit her lip nervously.

"Smoosh her?" Rakain said, petting Brash vigorously.

"Then whoever-it-is would also know," Xata reassured Hana. "Your Cyberpunk instinct was correct."

Nora groaned, rubbing her cheeks, "Shit...shit, shit, shit."

"But they MIGHT be less likely to try and kill Korra.." Hana sighed, rubbing her temple in annoyance.

"We don't know she is dead." Sam pointed out.

"They well not kill her, or they would have already done so. They need her for something." Xata nodded, trying to reassure her android friend.

"OR she's a loose end they're just cleaning up now.." Hana said, gritting her teeth.

"I have read all about this sort of thing," Xata started - at that moment, the Sunwolf arrived at Kalsgaurd's docking level. She had been built and designed by Nora for speed and maneuverability, and so it was easy enough for Alfie to glide the ship forward into the berth that Korra's rockhopper was parked in...and they saw the rockhopper was being attacked...by a rock.

A big rock.

A big walking rock.

The Earth Elemental stood above the dented and damaged ship, smashing its fists into the armored side with resounding CLANGS as the Sunwolf swung around to face it, hovering on its jets. THe elemental roared and threw the wireless antenna it had ripped off first - which had been what had shut down their communications - right at the Sunwolf, which clanged with the impact but was otherwise undamaged.

"Oh, he just wants some peace and quiet," Brash said, nodding sagely. "Rock elementals always want to lay down and take a nap."

Hana frowned, "I'll take care of the raven.." She muttered irritably, heading for the ship's airlock, trying to get outside as soon as she could.

"Guys look!" Rakain said, pointing to the berth at the top of the shuttle bay. Perched there was the Cyber Raven. "Fuckin' bird's having the time of it's life!"

Xata tore droid-ass for the nearest airlock, cycling though it and leaping out to the surface with her blade at the ready. As Xata leaped from the hovering Sunwolf and landed dramatically on the floor of the berth, the massive earth elemental turned to face them - and the raven laughed. A human laugh. Not the laugh of a bird. It flapped up into the air, then held up its claws - creating a portal of magic, then shot through the swirling magic as it teleported away.

Meanwhile the immense earth elemental started to thunder towards Xata - moving forward with grinding thumps! But it was slow for its immense size - and didn't reach her in time to take a swing!

"Xata, close your eyes," Nora said as she blew out a breath. She keyed a few things on the sunwolf, creating an interface for one of the broadside cannon's on the ship. She started taking control, lining the shot up carefully. "Aaand...droping shields, loading all power to this cannon."

With that, she pulled the trigger on the stone elemental.

The Sunwolf's side gyrolaser whirred, swung around, and fired off a single blast. A rather weak shot, for an anti-ship weapon.

But it was hitting a twenty foot tall rockman. Not a space ship.

The impact slammed into its chest and when the white flash faded, Xata was standing before a few tiny rocks, a few other chunks of rock falling from the sky to clunk onto the ground, smoke coiling slowly away from the chunklets.

"Well..." she said, as Brash gasped.

"This ship has GUNS on it!?" He asked, sounding stunned.

"Well that happened," Rakain said, holstering his gun.

Xata was a little dazed. She maybe hadn't closed her eyes quite in time? But she was deliriously impressed. Hana cursed slightly, "Damned bird got away though.." She sighed, shaking her head, "At least Korra's okay..." She shook her head, heading out to the other woman's ship to make sure she was okay.

"Remember the ship has guns," Nora said, breaking into a small snicker as she said the phrase over coms to Xata. "We'll be down though to help. Go check on Korra real fast."

The door to Korra's ship opened as the Sunwolf settled down on the ground. Korra stepped out of the ship, her forehead having a single cut on it, wincing slightly as she said. "So, uh...fucking thanks..." She laughed, shaking her head. "Holy shit, does your ship have a fucking Pact World PBC on the fucking roof!?" She asked, pointing at the huge turret on the top of the Sunwolf.

Rakain jabbed a thumb at Sam. "Ask this one."

Xata walked into a wall and told it: "We have Very Advanced Weaponry. We are a Ship of Heroies."

Hana blinked, "No idea, you'd have to ask Nora or Sam about it. Are you okay?" She said with concern.

Korra shook her head. "No, my ship's smashed to shit..." She sighed. "A-And apparently, we're totally fucked. No sword, no Ulf..." She sat down, looking close to tears.

Hana opened her mouth, then paused, "Come over to our ship, we need to talk someplace secure." She waved Korra over. Xata would have tried to look meaningfully at Hana at this point if she could tell where she was. As it was, she wandered in a daze.

Korra nodded. "Sure, sure..." She pushed herself up, grinning slightly as she started to walk towards the ship - clearly putting on a brave face as she walked. "So, is the inside of the ship as nice as the outside? Who made her?" She asked. "Did you buy it off the rack?"

"Hey~" Sam said, rising to the taunt. "It's not a Pact Worlds PBC. It's a Vesk Destroyer Particle Beam Cannon. Clear difference." She boasted before they headed back to the Sunwolf.

"Nora made it herself. Inside is fully holographic." Hana said casually, waiting until they got inside. "We got the sword, but I was worried you were being watched. ..with good cause it seems.."

Sam noticed the matter that Xata seemed to not be, well, walking in a straight line and having a few difficulties starting. She went back and took ahold of her arm to guide her. "hey." She offered as reassurance.

"Now we're all gonna be seeing ravens in the corners of our eyes for days now," Rakain muttered.

As Xata's optics rebooted, she found herself staring into Sam's face. It was like providence. She smiled at her. "All better. Thanks to you."

Brash bumped against the side of Rakain's head gently. "There! Helped!" he said, cheerily, while Korra frowned.

"So..." She said, quietly, looking at the sword. "We find the AI gem, we find Ulf, and we figure out who is behind all this by going to Ravenscraig..." She smirked. "Want me to lead you the way?" SHe looked around the inside of the Sunwolf. "And...this is some fucking ship..."

Hana nodded, "That is the idea." She smiled, then snickered, "Nora is pretty damned impressive." She said cheerfully, patting Korra on the back.

Rakain grabbed Brash and bundled him in his arms, hugging him close and snuggling him hard. "We like it in here," he said to Korra.

Nora beamed, "I mean, it wasn't easy getting everything working in the right way. Alfie helped a bunch. "Speaking of, Alfie? I'm giving Korra VIP guest rights."

Sam couldn't help but snicker at what was about to come.

Alfie bowed. "Of course," she said - her sudden appearance making Korra blink. She bit her lower lip, slowly, whispering under her breath.

"Hoooooooooooot dammmmmn..." Korra looked like she was reconsidering the value of her starship in the grand scheme of the universe.

"Much as I'm fond of Alfie, I find this rather more impressive." Hana said, using her computer to summon up a hovering chair and crawling into it.

"Hey now, careful. Don't want to lose your jaw." Sam teased the newcomer.

Korra blushed, shaking her head. "S-Sorry, just saying..." she said, coughing quietly. "Uh...right! The route to Ravenscraig..." She paused. "It's this old planetary defense fortress run by the Thanes, before the collapse led to the rise of the mega-corporations." She looked at the others. "Do you guys all have the supplies you need before we try and take them on?"

"If not, we should once we sell off that shuttle, right?" Hana said, smiling at the others.

"Could probably grab some grenades or explosives. Have to sell that shuttle off. I can use the parts and income to make the Sunwolf tougher to take out." Nora suggested.

"Can you tell us what supplies we would need to take them on?" Xata inquired. "I suspect we may not have time to upgrade our ship beforehand, am I correct?"

"Not saying that's a bad idea, but...won't it take time to upgrade things?" Korra asked. "I don't know how long Ulf has before they decide to take him out, right?"

"I'm hoping to snag a new gun before we head out," Rakain said. "Our enemies are getting bigger and I need a gun to compensate for that."

Sam nodded. "We should sell off the shuttle, as well as anything we aren't keeping. We may not be so welcome back here after doing this if it's under the control of the local powers."

"I feel like Time is of the Essence." Xata was confused.

"How long will it take to get to Ravenscraig?" Hana said curiously.

Korra thought. "About...a day. No, two, since we can't drift drive there." She shook her head. "The asteroids have weird stuff in them that make drifting harder." She nodded.

"Give me a coffee drip on endless tap and I can get anything done in hours." Nora said, rolling her shoulders. And with that, they got to work - heading out to purchase whatever could be done while Nora did some quick spotwelding on the Sunwolf. Within a few hours, they were ready, and within a few minutes of that, they were soaring towards Ravenscraig.

###

The Sunwolf darted through space as Korra guided Sam away from Kalsguard. They soared through the solar system - their engine roaring as they flew closer and closer to the cold, red sun that dominated the center of the solar system.

After two days of mounting tension, they came on an icy asteroid that tumbled through space - painted blood red by the vast red sun that shone its cold light on the ice, making it glint like a ruby.

Then Alfie spoke up. "Detecting radar sweeps." She said. "I suggest we land in a crater, then approach the fortification on foot."

"Anyone getting deja vu?" Ami asked, grinning as she checked her laser pistol.

Hana snickered slightly, "You know, helping someone become royalty seems to involve a lot of raids on asteroids." She said in amusement.

"I blame the fact evil likes being away from planets," Ami said, grinning.

"More accurately, Evil likes planets and planetoids, and hate space stations." Sam teased as she checked the sensor mappings to find a suitable landing spot.

Brash puffed up. "Oh! Oh!" He said, excitedly leaping off Rakain's lap - where he had been lounging in his dragony form. "Can I come with this time?!"

"We need a Mighty Presence on the ship, Brash," Xata said solemnly. "Who will guard our escape route if not you?"

Brash giggled. "Korra!" he suggested.

Korra, who had been sharpening her ice pick, which seeme dto be her primary weapon, started. "What!?"

Xata leaned down to stroke the dragon by the ears. "Korra is very nice. But she is not Brash Who Kept Faith in the Dark."

"So, what you're saying is you want to leave behind your gold pile and Alfie to go out into a boring old space station?" Hana said curiously.

Brash bit his lip, then slowly rolled onto his back. Then he rolled in a circle. Then he rolled out of the room, giggling as he did so - and a few moments later, a crash and tinkle of coins indicated he was now playing in his coin pile.

Ami smirked. "Logic had carried the day!"

"He's so cute but so dense," Nora mumbled, covering her mouth with a small snort.

Ami's eyes looked faintly' distant. "You can say that again..." she murmured, sounding quite pleased.

"No, he's just very direct." Hana said, shaking her head slightly.

"He is not dense." Xata sounded a bit cross. "He has a very clear idea what the important things are. Who is to say he is wrong?" This made her pensive about her own notions of Adventuring... but only for a moment.

"You find him much cuter than I." Sam admitted in a tone that said she knew her opinion was heresy. "But he is young, and I hope he enjoys these years. And we are all dense when we are young." Sam teased, trying to lighten the mood.

Nora pursed her lips and turned to focus on her console.

Ami gasped. "You take that back, or I will order you out the airlock!" she said, playfully - even as the ship started to settle down onto the crater - hidden by the shadow.

Hana snickered slightly, shaking her head, "Calm down, guys. Brash is a bit simple, but that's not a bad thing. I'm sure once he gets a century or two under his belt he'll out think us all."

Ami snickered, then shook her head. "So...out the airlock, then?" She asked, tugging her helmet over her head with a faint click.

Xata barely even noticed the cross-currents. She was Ready for Adventure. "Out the airlock, Miss Woodwise!"

Hana nodded, "Out we go!" She cheerfully headed to the airlock with the others.

"Once we are landed, yes." Sam said in agreement. She would wait until they were getting into the airlock before closing her helmet. Rakain checked all his seals and tapped his choker, feeling his spell reserves still pretty full. He unslung the laser rifle he'd bought in town. He'd had to sell the asimuth pistol he'd left Rustpoint with to afford it, but figured it was worth it.

Greater firepower beat out sentimental value any day.

Ami nodded - and together, they walked into the airlock. The door hissed open and they stepped out into the ice asteroid. Walking forward, grabbing onto the edges of the crater, they came out and saw...Ravenscraig.
The building had clearly been designed by people with an eye towards defense and style. It was a broad longhouse built on the top of a large crag of ice and rock. A single winding stair led to it, while a stone tower thrust into the sky. Several sleek looking anti-ship weapons thrust from the corners of the building...but they seemed to be long defunct A few swirling life-sustaining spheres surrounded what looked like gardens within a grotto of stone...it looked hospitable, but defensible and cold.

And flying above it - within the narrow sheen of the life sustaining shields - were ravens...

Lots of them.

Ami chuckled, quietly. "Well...at least the name is accurate..." She whispered.

TO BE CONTINUED