People have been disappearing for months now, and no one's doing anything about it! I'm not talking a couple of people; entire towns along the outskirts of the city have fallen silent! I need help. Please come to the following coordinates... and please come armed - I can't lose anyone else! - Oxyi.
Diego slowly ruffled his slicked back, dark messy hair, his eyes carefully reading over the advert in his hands. There was no further information; just the coordinates and a cry for help. Another opportunity for a man like him to try and earn back some good grace from the universe. He nodded slightly to himself; there was yet more work to be done.
There's always more work to be done.
A black-scaled coralith komodo, Diego was a little leaner for his profession than perhaps he should have been, but he was well-built nonetheless. A rare and unusual species, the komodo are considered reptilian despite their wolf-like snouts, with large ears more akin to a bat than any type of reptile. Equipped with a massive, single edged meta-steel sword strapped across his back and unusual plated armour, saying that Diego stood out from the crowd was an understatement. The other, more typical nomads around him were dressed mostly in heavy duty work clothes, nipped here and there with wear and tear. Most also wore a pistol or melee weapon of some sort strapped by their sides, and carried a rucksack full of only their most important travelling possessions. Nobody came even close to Diego's aesthetic, metal plate armour and a sword the length of a typical human - or roamer-sized - being. He didn't mind the curious stares, but saying that, the crowd on the shuttle seemed to have other, more important things on their mind than this unusual passenger.
His ears twitched as he picked up on a conversation just a few seats over from him. A nervous-looking passenger was sat in his chair, upright and alert, legs tapping against the floor. He was a 'premapis,' a bee-like humanoid with a series of glowing, colourful, twitching antennae on his head, and a vibrant third eye planted squarely in the middle on his forehead. A stronger, more confident-looking human girl sat next to him, looping her arms around his and trying to comfort him as the bee's anxiety intensified. Behind them, a crowd of equally nervous looking nomads of various species huddled together, all watching the bee closely and exchanging worried glances between one-another.
"I trust you." The girl whispered gently to the bee, gently pushing her face into the soft golden collar of fur around his neck.
"S-Something is going to go wrong there. I know it. That reactor just felt wrong. It's just... I-I can't explain it." He replied shakily.
"They don't call them 'devil reactors' for nothing... At least your brother lives close. Is he still okay with us crashing there for a bit?"
The bee nodded, doing his best not to take notice of the crowd following him.
"W-What if I'm wrong?"
"You didn't force anyone to follow you. Trust your heart." The girl replied softly, guiding the bee's head into the crook of her neck.
Diego sat in silence, listening, contemplating the bee's words. The premapis were a species that could feel disturbances within the universe; they had a way of detecting anomalous activity in the space around them, but their gift came with a cost. Many of them were paranoid, anxious and self-loathing individuals. But, be that as it may, if a premapis was running away from somewhere, or something, it was generally a good idea to follow. The lizard made a mental note in his head, after he was done here - there might be somewhere close that needed help too.
His seat suddenly started rattling loudly. He watched through the window as the dark, seemingly endless void of space was shattered by a brilliant scattering of light, and blue sky with fluffy white clouds. The shuttle would be landing any moment now. Passengers around him quickly began to gather their belongings, interrupting Diego's train of thought. All eyes landed on the premapis as he grabbed his one bag off of the floor, and held it tightly in his lap.
The ship landed with a gentle thump. Fresh, cool air rolled into the craft and the ramp slowly unveiled the landing pad to the shuttle's occupants, who had gathered around to alight.
But something was wrong.
Tension filled the shuttle as the passengers laid eyes on who was trying to board the shuttle.
It was another premapis. And behind him was a significant crowd of assorted nomads, following the bee in exactly the same nervous fashion as those already onboard. This one's demeanour was closer to out-right panic than just anxiety, his antennae twitching in an awry and chaotic way. His third eye stared out into the surrounding treeline of the landing pad, firmly fixed on something, but there was nothing there, nothing other than the usual autumnal trees.
The first bee, who had shuffled towards the front of the barge, was staring at his brother in open mouthed shock.
"W-We can't stay here." The second bee murmured, clutching his bag close as he ascended the ramp. "I-It's wrong. This place is wrong. I can feel it. Not here. I-I'm sorry, Reeva, we have to keep moving."
The crowd within the shuttle exchanged further worried glances, waiting for the first brother to make his move. As the bee hurriedly made his way back to his seat and sat down, the crowd immediately followed suit. The shuttle's seating rapidly filled with boarding passengers... or, perhaps, fleeing passengers.
By the end of it, Diego was the only passenger to disembark and a sudden rush of quiet hit him. Now that he was alone, the welcoming autumn breeze felt more like a slap in the face.
The concrete landing pad wasn't completely empty though. Diego spied a concerned looking security official, manning a table off to the side of the queue of boarding passengers. She was a lioness, dressed in decent security gear consisting of a bullet proof vest, combat trousers, thick black boots and two handguns strapped to her hips. Normally, there would have been nothing unusual about a member of security waiting on a shuttle platform, but her slightly puffy and reddened eyes told him that the lioness had been recently distressed.
As Diego approached, he noticed a sign on her table: 'Missing Civilian Recruitment Aid.' He breathed a gentle sigh of relief; he was in the right place. He squinted his eyes as he attempted to read the nametag on the officer's chest: 'Oxyi.' She was thickly built, muscular and tall, with short, spiky blonde hair, nothing out of the ordinary for someone who worked a demanding job like hers. She was just turning to leave, gathering her things and sniffling quietly, trying to hide her face, when Diego approached the table.
"Oxyi? I saw your ad for help? The missing people?" He spoke softly, placing a hand on the table. "My name's Diego Harley."
"Oh! Excellent! Th-That's good, thank you!" Startled, she turned back around. Several emotions flickered across her face as she quickly looked Diego up and down, her eyes lingering for a moment on his chiselled chest, before quickly flicking her gaze away to his gear. "T-uhm-uh. Yes! Uhm, that's great! I - I see that you're already armed! With a giant sword... That's not... strange at all... I mean, God I'm so sorry! You've actually come here to help me and I'm just prattling on and embarrassing myself -"
Diego laughed and smiled warmly.
"I can understand the scepticism! I can't imagine you get many wanderers geared up like this around here. That's not all though; check this out." He held his hand out, palm flat and a series of bright yellow electrical sparks crackled from his fingers. Oxyi gasped.
"Oh! You have psyonics! Amazing! Well, you must be confident in your abilities if you're wielding half a lamppost as a weapon... There might actually be hope on the horizon! You're uh... not put off by the bee leaving?" Her words were punctuated by the heavy rush of the shuttle leaping into the air. As she shifted to a more positive tone, a subtle southern twang appeared in her voice.
"Nah, just means I'm in the right place!" Diego said, and with a flick of his wrist the sparks faded. "Your advert caught my attention... I don't want to sound like an ass or anything here, but it sounded pretty desperate. I hate to mention it but it didn't say anything about payment either."
"I am desperate, and... I've got nothing to pay you with... I hope that's not..." Oxyi paused and looked Diego in the eyes, trying to gauge his reaction. He stared back without a flicker of doubt in his eyes.
"That's okay. I came because I want to help. How about just a place to stay and something to eat?"
Oxyi's face broke into a warm and genuine smile.
"Yes, I can do that! Help me fix this mess and you can stay at my place as long as you want!" Her smile faltered as she realised what she'd just said. "OH-SHIT, UHM, I didn't mean it like that-I-just-meant that-" She scrambled for words.
*
Oxyi continued to ramble away. Unnoticed by the pair, sitting on a rooftop near the landing pad, a draconic figure took particular note of the conversation, his eyes narrowing as he observed Diego closely with a pair of binoculars. He thought for a few moments, then ducked back down and spoke softly into his wrist communicator. "Potential CW exile spotted on nomad freighter route, investigation requested."
*
"It's all good Oxyi, I know what you meant." Diego snickered, placing his hands on his hips. "Let's get to the bottom of this for you, shall we? You got anyone else helping?"
Oxyi shook her head. "Just me, I'm afraid. I meant what I said in the advert. Look, let me give you a bit of background on the way to my headquarters."
She stood from her post and quickly gathered her belongings, wiping her eyes dry as she turned her back briefly to Diego.
