Author's Note: Everyone is eighteen!
Starring
Lucithana as Hana Song
Kitty as Nora
Nathan Ravenwood as Rakain
Jason as Sam
Cyrano Johnson as Xata
Previously, on Starfinder: Hana, Nora, Rakain and Sam -- childhood friends and currently unemployed 19 and 20 year olds -- decided to set out together on an adventure with their shared friend, Amieko Woodwise (a local orphan.) However, their adventure ended up uncovering the ship that brough Ami to their backwoods town...and the truth that it was a vessel from the mysterious Tian Star Empire -- fleeing with the last daughter of the Emperor in cryogenic storage. That daughter...is Amieko. Now, sworn to protect her and discover the truth of her birthright, our heroes settle down for the night.
*
Unaware that darker forces than they could imagine already begin to stalk them...
"Zaiiiiiiiiiiobeeeeeeeee!"
The voice echoed through the guts of the musty, rusty, damp and generally smelly Brineice Asteroid Base. It was high, whiny, nasil, and entirely unpleasant. Zaiobe stuck her nose into the air and then crossed her feathered arms over her chest as she refused to turn towards the doorway leading from her chambers.
Zaiobe was upset with her boyfriend, and she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of anything.
Kikonu stuck his nose and his head into the room. The nose came first and came for quite a while - it was nearly six inches long, and thrust from his bright red head like a finger. It twitched as he grinned at Zai, his teeth flashing brightly as he sang: "Zaiobe! Don't sulk!"
Zaiobe made a quiet 'humph' noise and turned her back to face him even more intently. Her tail feathers twitched upwards and Kikonu stepped into the room. The red skinned, long nosed humanoid put his hands on the golden-brown skin of Zai's shoulders, squeezing gently as he purred in her ear.
"If you put out," he said, his voice shifting to a musical, beautiful female voice. "I'll give your voice back."
Zai turned around and punched him in the chest as hard as the harpy could. Kikonu laughed nasily as he stepped backwards, avoiding the punch, while Zai silently picked up her laptop, clearly about to try and brain him with it.
"Boss!"
A squawking voice interrupted the lover's spat as a beaked head stuck into the room from the doorway. The sleek, black furred human/raven combo wore a crude blue and black uniform that hung around his muscular form in tatters. His eyes were dim and unintelligent - but they looked at Kikonu with a serious worry
.
"What
is
it, you stupid corby!?" Kikonu snarled, stepping over and kicking his minion in the stomach. The corby fell to his knees, coughing, beak opening then clacking shut.
"It's the KCU!" the corby gasped.
Kikonu sighed, dramatically, and put his hands on his hips. "What about the KCU?"
"It's acting funny!" The corby said, looking up at him.
"Ugh," Kikonu rolled his eyes. "Fine. Lead the way."
The two walked through the asteroid base - walking past rooms where other corby were lounging around, chatting and playing dice and eating what victuals they had grabbed. Several had recently come back from a raid on a Pact transport and so had plenty of fresh limbs to gnaw on, though the corby who had called 'dibs' on the half-orc was clearly realizing that munching on the greenskin had been a mistake, considering how they were still trying to bite through the bicep. Kikonu nodded, clearly quite happy with his little operation.
Then he and the corby came to the engineering bay. A thrumming, green paneled reactor filled the room with a bright light while an immensely obese woman lounged on a wheelchair. Her flesh was green, even accounting for the greenish light of the reactor - green and covered with pustules. Her left eye was milky white and her right was a large, crudely made augmetic one that whirred and clicked as it zoomed in on Kikonu.
"What's the matter, my darling Muthldah?" Kikonu asked.
The ogerkin snorted - more accurately, she inhaled through her nose, then spat the phlem out into a large bucket near her console. "Tha' fuckin thing's gone nuts..." She said, gesturing with a single fat hand at the central reactor. She tapped a few buttons and the green shutters fell away. The room's light changed to a brilliant white - and the reactor opened upwards and outwards, like an inverted metal flower.
Suspended in a glowing magical field was a bright speck of white light, bouncing around as it thrummed in circles, spinning around and around and around, making an almost perfect donut of movement.
Kikonu rubbed his long nose.
"Looks like she's awake," he muttered. Then, beaming, he turned to the corby. "Get the fighters ready."
"Why, boss?" the corby asked. "We just came back from a-"
Kikonu clamped his red palm around the beak, snarling. "Because I said so you stupid bird..." he snarled, then shoved the corby back. Then, looking at Muthildah, he purred quietly.
"Find out what's drawing our precious kami's attention..."
###
Amieko Woodwise walked into the room that the whole party had claimed in the Rusty Dragon, leading Rakain - who had offered his bulk and broad shoulders to carry the immense coolers that Ami had been filling for the past half hour.
"Here's the drinks!" Ami laughed, reaching up and slapping one cooler, which whirred and clicked, opening up to reveal what looked like every single bottle of soda in town, as well as some whiskies, beers, ales, lagers and gargleblasters.
"Here's the food!" Ami slapped the other cooler, which whirred open to reveal snacks, snacks, marvelous snacks. Crackers, chips, cookies, and a few dehydrated pizzas for the hydrating ovan in the middle of the kitchen. With both revealed, Ami grabbed a can of Stoka Zola, flopped down onto a bean bag chair, and sighed.
"Here's to being a...stupid...space princess..." she muttered, her voice growing dark. "Also, please, just, right now, can we keep that on the DL. I don't want you guys telling everyone we meet that I'm a space princess..." She grinned. "It'd make my ego get huge. Then, I would be a bad...queencess...or whatever they use in Tianland."
She sighed, then started to glug down the Stoka Zola.
They had about four hours before Bentha returned from visiting her friends - but for some reason, Ami's slightly dour mood had radiated outwards, leaving everyone feeling slightly...
Well, like...
Just...
It was hard to place. But they felt like there was a shoe hanging overhead, just waiting to drop.
Rakain, though, shook off the feeling and dug through the drink cooler for an ale, grabbing one and popping the top off with a claw. He sat down on the floor next to Ami's beanbag, his tail curling around the puffed out fabric. "Deal."
AAmi gasped as she set the now empty soda can down - leaning forward to place it on Rakain's head. "I now crown you my head of...secret...keeping." She nodded slightly. As she did so, Xata pulled her violin -- a sleek, glowing plastic instrument -- and started to slide her bow along it. Her magic crackled in the air, adding some ghostly accompaniment to her music.
Rakain moved his head from side to side, keeping the can balanced. "What, no gold and diamonds?"
"Probably just better to not go broadcasting it in general practice honestly. Never know when somebody will try for a ransom or something." Nora commented, fiddling with the readout on her arm. Her little drone skittered over to Ami in order to get the mechanic a cool can a beer.
"I'm pretty sure you graduate from princess to incest, right?" Hana said seriously as she moved over to reach for a can of soda, popping it open and drinking it with a wicked smirk. Ami stuck her tongue out at Hana as the can fell from Rakain's head to the ground behind him with a clank. Rakain stared at the can like it was an annoying bug.
Xata soared into the music, throwing her whole being into it, doing her best to discover new angles and dimensions. Response to her busking on Absalom Station had been tepid, but possibilities occurred to her and she felt herself begin to Sing, conjuring up new -- to her -- aural variants. Ami bobbed her head with the music as it filled the air, grinning slowly. "That's...pretty good..." She said. "You are now my royal bard!" She said, cheerfully.
"Don't worry, we won't spread around that you're a space princess. We don't even know if you are- you may be an heir apparent or actually an empress now." Sam teased and knelt down before Ami. "What is your desire- my Queen?" She hammed out in a manner that made the first letter of queen actually sound capitalized. Ami lifted a single bare foot -- she had kicked her shoes off earlier -- and pushed Sam away playfully. Since Sam was a freaking Amazonian musclewoman, she reacted to Ami (who was a hundred pounds soaking wet) in the same way a boulder did to a kitten rubbing against it.
Xata's circuits glowed with delight at Ami's pronouncement, but she stayed focused on the music. Hana snickered, "Already abdicating your barding duties, Ami? Laaazy.." She teased slightly, then frowned, "I'm thinking we should set the cans up for target practice so maybe I can learn to hit shit." She stuck out her tongue playfully.
Xata promptly launched into a new song with the Elvish title "Hit Shit."
"Or maybe reprogram that drone of yours a bit," Rakain teased, taking another swig of his ale as he looked at Nora's ferretbot, which still glowed brightly thanks to its newly incorporated laser pistol. Ami grinned, then stood. She stepped over, picking up her empty can, then sat it back onto Rakain's head.
"Boom, now you have a reason to not miss!" She said, sticking her tongue out at Hana.
Rakain kept his head still, his expression flat. "I swear to Desna if you actually..."
Hana snorted, "Oh yes, life or death situations are not a reason to aim properly, but not cracking Rak in the head is totally going to do it." She snickered.
"Too much effort put into the active camo, not worth it." Nora answered in comment to reprogramming her bot. The little near-mammalian looking machine dragged the can of beer over with it's jaws before nipping Nora to alerting her to the drink.
"Well, to be fair, during life or death scenarios, you're protected by everyone else!" Ami said, cheerily, grinning as she leaned her elbows on Rakina's broad shoulders.
Xata took up a refrain, adding it into her song: "Don't crack Rak in the head. Don't crack Rak in the head, y'all... don't crack Rak in the head. Don't crack Rak in the head, y'all... don't crack Rak in the head."
