The Land After Time (Mr. M & Hahvoc Requiem)

[Mr Master]

As it turns out, the universe is full of life, and the amazing thing is how similar it is.

Despite all the possible variations, all the could-have-beens, the vast majority of life bears similarities. It has similar DNA in a similar helical arrangement, using the same chemicals. It used the same amino acids and the same essential cellular structure. For all that it seemed to develop on various planets from the start, they still evolved with mostly similar bilateral symmetry, with what seemed like repeatable forms. Creatures frequently had recognizable similarities between worlds; one could see canine attributes, feline attributes, porcine, equine, etc., etc.

What was even more strange was in those creatures who were sentient: psychologies seemed to be comparable. Oh, certainly, there were differences due to biology, instinct, environment, what have you. But there were similar needs, similar drives, similar responses from one entire species to another. In fact, it often seemed there were more severe differences within a species than between species from entirely different worlds.

For all the possibilities, for all that life sprouted seemingly independently on dozens, hundreds of worlds at different times, it was shocking how similar it was.

~~~

As it turns out, the universe is full of life, and the amazing thing is how different it is.

Despite the similarities in basic biology, the bizarre ways in which species from wholly different worlds seemed to converge on each other, life manifests itself in more ways than a single creature could imagine. With all the possible variations in how life expresses itself on just one planet, such possibilities are writ large across the span of the universe. Life and sentience took severely different directions, even when they did in fact share genetic similarities. No two intelligent species shared exactly the same attributes. There were no two primate-type species that looked really alike, there were no feline-type species that resembled each other, there were no canine-type species that had the same appearance. Variations were extreme.

Even though most life shared basic genetic similarities, in many ways, it was unpredictable how they could interact. Plants that looked strangely identical could be harmless or poisonous, and perhaps only to one species and not another. Pheromones and pollen and sap and allergens all had different effects on different creatures, and it was difficult to predict what effects things would have.

What could be even more strange was that each species had their own cultural and linguistic complexities. A human from Earth, speaking English, could meet a ct'roww from F'narth, speaking haat'fontor. The automated translators tended to simplify things, using common terms in translation, converting "ct'roww" to "parroteer," "F'narth" to "Beta Trianguli," and "haat'fontor" to "parroteese four" for the human, for example, but it was a small attempt to simplify an impossibly complex reality. Putting in additional factors of religion, individual psychology, gender issues, culture and history, etc., etc., ad nauseum, it's amazing that sentient creatures can possibly find common ground at all.

~~~

Yet common ground is found all the time. For all that there are such insurmountable differences, people (meaning sentient creatures of all sorts) still form bonds with each other, still meet and make friendships, regardless of the species. At times, there are greater differences between members of the same species than members of different ones. But you never know when commonalities can be found, even in the most unexpected places.

 

[Mr Master]

Re: The Land After Time

Dunny (Drrurnnniii, in rrariiixx, but Ham knew him well enough to nickname him) started wrestling with the sublight navigation as soon as they dropped out of hyperspace. All the fried navicomputer would say is that there was supposed to be a charted world with breathable atmosphere, and that had to be enough. At least the fire was out; depressurizing the whole ship outside of the bridge would tend to do that. Not that they had much choice, with the big hole that the control unit had blown in the hull when it left.

Ham got on the comm, and pumped up the broadcast to maximum across all bandwidths; power consumption was the least of their worries. "Mayday, mayday!" he said, as calmly as he could into his headset microphone. "Ship in trouble, ship in trouble. Catastrophic reactor problem; going to have to ditch."

Dunny snarled something, his pointy black ears flat back against his skull as he wrestled with half-functional control boards. I'm not seeing technology in orbit, he spat, sounding like the angry Siamese he frequently looked like and nodding to the scanner read-outs. Might be pre-stellar.

Great, Ham thought. "If anyone can read me, we need a beacon." It was sensible: if there was any technology on the planet, they wanted to crash-land somewhere nearby, if only so they could find communications to call for help. "We'll come in soft, but we need to know where to aim."

He repeated his message as the target planet swelled in the front screen. If anyone heard them, they would be legally bound to give them some kind of sign. It was one of the compacts of civilized space, particularly if there was any technological presence on an otherwise primitive world. He wasn't expecting anything, but then, suddenly, there was a blip. He stopped immediately and shunted all power to detection, and yes, there it was!

Dunny squinted at the screen. Low power, he complained. Might be nothing more than a droid.

"Droid's better than nothing!" Ham shouted. They were close to the atmosphere, definitely within the gravity well. "All right, I'm ejecting the reactor assembly; dive us in on anti-gravs!" The whole frame of the ship shuddered as the explosive bolts blew, rocketing the swiftly over-heating power generator away into higher orbit. The reactor was going to explode shortly, and if they got far enough down, they'd have the protection of the planet's ozone layer, so they might escape with little more than a sunburn. But diving into the atmosphere so fast could be tricky; too shallow a descent, they wouldn't be low enough fast enough, too steep and they might hit too much friction, and either literally "bounce off" thanks to atmospheric thermal expansion or heat up faster than the heat shields could handle, particularly on battery power.

But Dunny was an expert, and kept the indicators just kissing the redline, all the way in. The anti-gravs were flickering -- the power surges from the reactor's initial malfunctioning had damaged them -- but they worked well enough, keeping the ship balanced over the pull of gravity. The beacon, weak as it was, was something to aim for. There was a flash that was nearly blinding -- the reactor going up. It was far enough out in space, there wasn't a shock-wave to rock them around, but they still felt the heat of it from behind them.

"Well that's it; we're cooked or we're not," Ham muttered.

Look at it this way, Dunny shot back, if we die, you'll have the finest company imaginable!

Ham snorted. But the ground was getting close, rocky and mountainous, but the beacon was nearby, and Dunny needed to work on the drive units, fighting to force the remnants of the anti-gravs to guide them down. Ham got up, and ran to the back, snagging the emergency survival packs. Two were personalized, one with "Hammond" in English block letters and another with "Drrurnnniii" in flowing staccato rrariiixx script, and the other two were standard-issue. He slid his arms through the straps of the packs, two on each arm, as he buckled himself back in. He clipped the belts closed just a second or two before the first impact, so he wasn't actually thrown half-way through the control systems.

The ship hit once and plowed a giant furrow into the rocky ground. It eventually hit something that bounced it free, making it sail through the air, skipping it to plow again into the ground, bouncing once more and spinning half-way around until it skidded, throwing up more dirt and rocks and local scrubbery. Hull cracked, superstructure shattered, and components sizzled, fire starting once again. Ham was barely conscious by the time they finally slid to a stop; he felt Dunny dragging him out of his chair, and managed to stumble over to the bridge hatch. He came more awake as they had to work together to force it open; there was no power left to cycle the door. But the fire and smoke also sharpened his senses, forcing his self-preservation instincts to push past whatever concussion or anything he might have had, and making him try and stumble to the open air, hanging on Dunny as much as Dunny hung on him.

They finally pushed out into fresher, alien-smelling air. There was still a chance of explosion, and there was definitely a fire, so they kept going out into unfamiliar foliage and semi-rugged mountains.

 

[Hahvoc The Decepticon]

"You gotta be fucking kidding me."

Raimei couldn't believe her eyes as the spaceship literally crash landed in front of her and cut off her way from getting her bounty- Just when he had been in her grasp! HER GRASP! She cursed a few times in a very creative way, her droid beeping away spastically and pointing at her fleeing query. Grinding her teeth, the young bounty hunter stepped into high gear and grudgingly helped the two men off the burning ship before they died- though they deserved it and she had no idea why she even bothered to help in the first place. Really, they just interrupted her hunt! Pressing her lips into a thin line, she pulled them close to the treeline and deposited them ungracefully before taking Philip- her droid- to the burning ship. She didn't really have fear- which made her job perfect for her.

Working quickly, she gathered supplies and put out as many fires as she could with Philip's water cannon. Most of the fires were gas fires and the water wasn't helping much so she high-tailed it out of there before she heard a small explosion. She snorted at the irony of her ship being the only one on the entire planet that was functional and available. There was no way in hell she was sharing it. It was her ship! Sighing heavily as she dropped their junk down beside their dirty bodies, she started in on her lecture.

"You are so lucky I saved your asses! You helped my target get away! I really hope you have some life insurance because I'm gonna kill you! I out to beat you bloody and rip off your-"

Letting out a string of curses as she paced about to cool her jets after getting sprayed by Philip, Raimei kicked a rock clear across the clearing. She was strong for her short size and slender body- which made her one of the most notorious bounty hunters in the galaxy. And her temper was just as famous.​

 

[Mr Master]

Ham tried to stop her plunging back into the flames; there was very little left in there that was necessary, but she did pull out a few more items they could use, even if they could have done without. He just rested a moment, catching his breath with Dunny. The cat-man was gazing at the little spitfire of a woman like he was stalking a bird. Ham punched him lightly in the shoulder, murmuring “knock it off.” He didn’t even have to ask to know what Dunny was thinking about; given his species, he was a walking sex factory, and it was never far from his mind. It was like living with an unusually horny teenager, and given how horny the normal run of teenagers are, that was saying something.

When she came over after she and her droid (doubtless the source of the guiding transmission) were finished, he was about to thank her when she launched into her tirade. The violence of it was enough to make him blink, and even Dunny, with the verbal violence his species’ languages involved, was taken slightly aback. He let her rage on a bit, and waited until it seemed she had simmered down slightly.

“If I’d known it was going to inconvenience you, I would have arranged for our central reactor to go critical outside some other star system,” he said dryly. “However, as it stands, all I can do is thank you for fulfilling your legal obligations and not being a pirate or bodyjacker or anything of that nature.” Admittedly, she could still be looking to victimize him and Dunny, but she’d find it more of a fight than she expected, if that were the case. Plus, he didn’t get that vibe from her, and he’d always been successful with his skill at reading situations.

“I assure you, once we are back in contact with a networked bank, I’ll arrange adequate compensation. In the meantime, my partner and I will attempt to interfere with you as little as possible. We might even be of some assistance, depending on what you’re doing. My name is Hammond, and this is Drrurnnniii,” he butchered the rrariiixx word into something humans could more easily pronounce, eliciting an eye-roll from the felinid. “I’m afraid your translator is unlikely to have his language pre-loaded, but until we can set up a datachange between machines, I can translate.”

Tell her she smells marvelous, Dunny murmured, in a purr and a staccato growl, and Ham refrained from rolling his own eyes.

“He is thankful for your help as well,” he lied. Dunny grumbled.

He refrained from telling her his last name. He wasn’t sure whether or not she’d recognize Hammond Morgan, adventurer and explorer, and his trusty partner Dunny, from the fictionalized vids or the series of novels, but he wasn’t going to risk it. If she put it together, if she’d even heard of them, that was one thing, but he didn’t invite trouble.

 

[Hahvoc The Decepticon]

"Don't give me that tone, buddy! I've beaten people for less! As to why I'm being so reasonable, you can thank my droid, Philip."

She huffed a bit as she looked at the feline, hardly thinking of him as anything more than a nuisance as well as his partner. She didn't bother with introducing herself just yet as Philip beeped at her a few times and pointed at them and then at the direction of her bounty. She made sure she didn't grind her teeth-since her doctor told her she'd break her teeth that way- and bit her lip instead. She didn't bite hard enough to break skin, but that just showed how she was in control of her temper- well, mostly. Adjusting her black jacket that contrasted with her pale skin, Raimei assessed the situation. The man had said he and his partner would assist her. Removing her helmet that let free her long raven locks, she combed a dirty hand through them before fixing her helmet with goggles back onto her head. She braided her hair to focus and calm herself before her brilliant blue eyes focused on the duo before her.

"Listen, you aren't gonna get much help here except from me. The locals aren't very technologically advanced and have just gotten around to getting first model speeders that had to be modified to even fit them. Contacting another planet is possible, but not as far out as...wherever the fuck you're from. The only way to do that is with my ship and it's about....a hundred leagues from here."

She shrugged casually. She could make it back to her ship within a day's time, but she highly doubted that the couple were in any shape to go that far. Besides, she had her jet attachments to her shoes. Did those still have working fuel cells? She thought about it a moment, tapping her chin with strangely manicured fingers. She was pretty rugged for a woman, but she did like getting her nails done. She let herself be pampered every couple months, but manicures were her prime luxury. Philip beeped erratically before she kicked him lightly and he made a series of angry beeping sounds.

"Shut up, Philip! I was going to ask them sooner or later since they do owe us."

Turning to the duo, Raimei huffed lightly in indignation. She hated asking for help but she decided to ask, especially with the way Druu--whatever was growling. Maybe he was vicious enough to get her bounty with her. Not that they were gonna get more than a third of the profit! She crossed her arms under her ample chest before proceeding.

"Since you had uncanny timing and allowed my bounty to escape, you are going to help me track him down and turn him in for a reward. The money is about....five-hundred thousand credits."

She had to think over the number in her head a moment since she only went after higher end bounties- mostly because very few people decided to go after them and she was a very fine tracker. Besides, chocolate was hard to come by! Letting out a puff of air, she looked at Hammond, feeling like she knew him from somewhere but wasn't particularly sure. Philip seemed to know him, but she didn't always trust when he did or didn't know people. He got confused- probably from all the kicking. She picked up on a lot of signals between the two of them, but kept quiet. She had one major ability, but she always kept it a secret and she wasn't about to spill it now. Perhaps if she got to know them better and could actually trust the idiots...maybe..

"So, you gonna help or not? By the way, I'm Raimei and this is Philip. I'm a bounty hunter."

She smiled knowingly- perhaps they knew her name.​

 

[Mr Master]

Ham raised an eyebrow. A bounty hunter, eh? Tracking prey to a primitive planet; that was dedicated. He didn't often run in those circles, but he had enough contacts, it was wise to keep an ear out. He had indeed heard her name, and searched his memory for what was connected to it: tenacious, successful, definitely skilled enough to be hunting the six digit bounties, was the word he had. Good; at least she was a professional. It might not be the most savory of professions, but she had some sense of ethics, at least.

"Pleased to meet you, Raimei. Philip." He nodded at the droid; even if it didn't have a vocoder, it seemed to have a personality complex enough to be considered sentient, so he treated it as such. No sense being impolite. "All right, if you can use our help, we'll be happy to assist. We've done some hunting in our time, right, Dunny?" He smiled over his shoulder at the felinid, who nodded. "Of course, we won't take a share of the bounty; that's entirely yours. We just want to get you off-planet all the faster, and we can offer you compensation for your trouble saving our lives after that."

He looked at the survival packs, and what else had been salvaged. "If your prey is on the move, we'd better get moving, too. Give us a few ticks to pack everything up, and we'll see what we can see." He and Dunny began moving, collecting up all the salvage. The wreckage was burning merrily, pretty much just salvage for the metals, as all the high-tech parts were fried, by the fire now if not the radiation before. As he worked, he looked at Raimei. "So, is this basic tracking? Does Philip have sensors, or are you going old-school, broken twigs and footprints and the like?"

 

[Hahvoc The Decepticon]

"Since your ship crashed, I planned on giving you a third of the bounty since my ship is in pretty good working condition and yours is well...shit and rubble."

She said bluntly. Philip beeped away pleasantly and she rolled her eyes before tapping her foot impatiently. She watched them sort and pack their meager belongings as she thought of how much farther her query was getting from their location. She estimated about...three leagues was between them more. She could cover that distance easily, but with the questions Hammond presented, she would have to take the harder route and either use Philip to track him or use her nose. She tugged lightly on her hair and tried not to pace about in impatience. She got a water bottle from Philip's mini fridge compartment and drank it slowly, savoring the taste. Not many people she knew liked the taste of water, but she certainly loved it.

"But...yes, we will be doing a combination of using Philip and my tracking skills. Not quite so old school, but close enough."

She shrugged as Philip beeped a few times, calculating the distance the target was going. It seemed the prey had gained a few more leagues in the past couple minutes- which meant he had gotten a speeder. She bit her lip and groaned with impatience and Philip beeped at her to calm down and relax. She was very tempted to kick him again.​

 

[Mr Master]

"Don't worry about the ship," Ham said as he and Dunny started strapping themselves up, moving with practiced efficiency, as if they'd done this sort of thing before (which they had). "That's why you buy insurance. Even when you're dealing with sabotage." It might have been sabotage; he had enemies. And Dunny had jilted lovers. Would any be capable of murder? That was a question for off-world.

He turned his partner around; Dunny was wearing the pack marked "Hammond" even as Ham himself was wearing the felinid's pack. It was to make it easier to do things like take out a water ration and start sipping it. Raimei had the right idea, there; the two adventurers were feeling wrung out with stress, but they didn't have injuries and they could push through until the next time they had a chance to rest. But they needed something to keep going, and water was as good as any. He turned around so Dunny could grab something as well.

"Dunny's a good tracker with eyes and nose, if you need it, but considering you have Philip, I imagine you're set," Ham noted. "Are we on foot, or do we have transport? Both of us can ride just about any beast, and one or the other of us can figure out how to pilot whatever we find." Once, the two of them had been required to cooperate to drive an Octopoid ground-skimmer. That had been interesting. He wasn't looking forward to the prospect of actually running after someone, but he was willing to push through, if it got them off-planet and back to someplace civilized again.

Within a few minutes, they'd packed up everything Raimei and Philip had pulled from the wreckage. "Okay, where are we going?"

 

[Hahvoc The Decepticon]

"Before we leave, you guys might want to have some of this.."

Raimei extracted two mini bottles simply marked 'energy'. She handed them each one as she took one for herself. The liquid inside had a sweet taste-not too sweet, though- and warmed her tired body up. She rarely used the little drinks, but since she was far behind her query and was going to hoof it-like usual since the bastard had blown up her speeder- she could definitely use the energy kick. She looked at the two after she had finished her shot of energy.

"Those drinks will give you an energy boost for twelve hours and help relax your muscles as we go. By the time we'll be ready to sleep, you'll be relaxed enough to simply pass out for about six hours of deep sleep. It will help you revitalize. I use them and know they are safe, so don't worry, I won't randomly poison you. I would have just let you get blown up."

She gave them a cheeky grin as the bottle in her hand disintegrated into eco-friendly dust, which she brushed off her hands. Those Cnidarians sure knew how to make helpful items when she needed them. Being a bounty hunter and the occasional trader did have its perks. Philip beeped a little more erratically, and she snorted in annoyance. The machine was getting very, very annoying.

"I heard you the first time, Philip! Shut the fuck up!"

He seemed to deflate a little bit before puffing up and beeping with android rage. She got into a mini shouting match with him and ended up kicking him. He settled down and she grinned in victory before she looked at the two otherworlders with a shrug. This happened all the time and wouldn't apologize for it in the least.

"We will be running so just try to keep up."

There was a certain smugness in her voice and a little bit of challenge. She wondered if there were beings alive that could out run her. She appeared human enough, but it wasn't exactly true, now was it? Before they could offer an answer however, she dashed away, a little stream of dust lifting up as she booked it. Philip beeped once in defeat before jetting off after his master, waving to the two stranded people in his wake.​

 

[Mr Master]

Ham gaped after them. She moved so fast! He’d seen faster, but rarely from a human, and never unaugmented. “Holy crap, this is going to suck,” he muttered to himself. Dunny snickered in his cat-like way and loped off in pursuit, a rangy Siamese on the run. Ham, who was not really augmented in any way that was useful right now, lurched into motion, finally, and huffed into pursuit.

He wasn’t bad, for a human, but he was the slowest of them all. When he got to the break in the rocks where the others had disappeared, he looked around. There -- a six-furrowed mark on the moss. Dunny was leaving trail-signs as he passed, as he usually did when a situation like this arose. The felinid was keeping Raimei or Philip in sight, and leaving a trail for Ham. He hated being last, but he at least knew he had endurance, and he took consolation that his true gifts were elsewhere.

The terrain was rocky and hilly, and covered with both scrub and occasional stands of actual alien forest. He didn’t see any natives, and very few local animals; the others running through would have sent the local wildlife into hiding. When he started surprising the local equivalent of bunnies again, he’d know he had fallen far enough behind that the beasties were relaxing and coming out again. That would not be a good sign.

But he kept at it, jogging along as tirelessly as he could. The energy drink helped immensely, he had to admit; he’d used something similar before, but this formulation was better. It was making it easier to keep moving, despite the troublesome comparative slowness of his pace.

Whatever was happening up ahead, he just hoped if Raimei needed some backup, Dunny would be adequate to provide it. And he’d be along eventually, himself.

 

[Hahvoc The Decepticon]

She couldn't help but laugh as she raced along, feeling the feline behind her as she raced along the ground, barely leaving a trace of her passing. Philip beeped and whirred in delight as he kept up with her easily, but making much more of a racket. Her eyes took in everything, her pupils constricting to pinpricks as the light flared around them from the two suns in the sky. When she finally reached a clearing, she stopped- hardly breaking a sweat. She had to thank her wonderful though unknown genes for such things. Philip banked to a stop, kicking up some debris as he did so. He beeped and looked about the clearing the same as she did. She would wait for the cat-man and his partner. Though his partner would take awhile to catch up. He was a full-human, after all. She took out her water and took a nice swig, rubbing the bottle on her face to cool it down. The temperature of this planet was nice but it could get brutal when you ran for so long without pacing yourself properly.

For the moment, she decided to be girly and look at some of the local plant life. She had studied a book of them before she went after her query to figure out which were poisonous but not all of them had been documented. She found a pretty little flower that was like a rose only with starred edges in black while the main color was a vibrant orange. She had her gloves on so she carefully stroked the petals, noting their softness and deceptive delicateness. She wafted the fragrance to her nose instead of doing a full inhale and got a huge cloud of perfume. She sneezed and coughed until the scent- however pleasant- was out of her nose. She would have to ask Draliskin what kind of flower it was. Perhaps it was one of the ones they crushed up to make their soaps. For a moment, she was groggy and shook her head clear, Philip beeping at her. She waved him away before drinking from her water bottle. After a few good swallows, she felt fine, and knew the scent of the flower was all over her. Maybe it would help her blend in more.

Sensing around for her target, he was still a good couple leagues away. However, he wasn't going to get far. The speeder he jacked had a rusted out tank and was leaking out precious fluids that kept it running. She could smell the nasty stuff from here and hoped it didn't injure any of the wildlife or natives. She glanced around and found foot prints from some of the natives, noticing the various sizes. A family lived around here though was farther away from the clearing than she first thought.There was a lake nearby that they lived near, which was smart. Observing, observing, observing...She tapped her foot with impatience as she waited for the stragglers.​

 

[Mr Master]

The cat-man surprised her; he'd arrived while she was investigating the flower, but had raised no sound, had stayed downwind, hadn't made himself noticeable at all. He'd mostly kept up, keeping Philip in sight, and now was prowling around the perimeter of the clearing. His nose wrinkled at the stench of the speeder-juice, whatever the locals used; apparently, he could smell it as clearly as she could. He looked over at her, seemed to raise an eyebrow (judging by the widening of one of his eyes), jerked a furry thumb in the direction the speeder must have gone in, and murred a gentle query, his curiosity clear: why weren't they following?

He did step close, then, angling his head and smiling down at her in a nearly-humanlike fashion. Oh, he was clearly not human; the proportions were off, even besides the fur and the head, but that was hardly unusual in the galactic community as a whole. His body language was certainly unmistakable... again, if he were a human. Different signals for different species, but he moved closer to her like he was interested in her. It really wasn't the time, but he was purring as he came up, nonetheless. He wasn't even really breathing hard, which was impressive in its own right.

He gazed down at her, his eyes blue with amber flecks, purring like there was a motor in his chest... and in the distance behind them, a regular, heavy tread sounded up the trail, Ham catching up, still just out of sight.

 

[Hahvoc The Decepticon]

She didn't jump at all when she realized Dunny was just a little ways away. She noticed his gestures and sign language and rolled her eyes and pointed towards the path they had just taken, feeling a little fuzzy again from the puff of perfume to her face. Her body felt a little too hot and she tugged at her collar as she explained to him why they weren't following.

"We're waiting for your partner to catch up so he isn't eaten."

She muttered, obviously not happy with the news as she tugged off her jacket, and tossed it to Philip after removing some of her hardware and strapping it onto various places on her body. She was well-armed with various devices and weapons like any other bounty hunter- except her stuff was much more lethal and up to date. She let out a sigh as she noticed how close he got and how he was...purring? Purring?! He was fucking purring?! The strangeness of it had her stepping back. She wasn't used to people getting so close to her- especially during a hunt. The glint in his eyes was something she'd seen before- but reflected at wives, lovers, and one-night fucks. She waved her hands in front of her face as if to get rid of the sight she'd seen before she felt warmth in her body that wasn't from the heat or the running. She could feel her heart speed up a little and her body grow a little clammy. Damn, had that flower been poisonous? She preyed she wasn't sick. Her eyes swiveled around, before they planted back on the feline and she studied his mouth way more than she would ever have. Licking her suddenly dry lips, she glanced away and crossed her eyes, clearly getting pissed off.​

 

[Mr Master]

Dunny could scent the hormonal changes, and it was a little bit confusing; human females seemed to have multiple minds on a given subject, but most were not quite so conflicting as this one. He could tell she was getting angry, or frustrated, so he backed off a bit. Were his overtures being misinterpreted? He’d learned from long observation and practice what it took to woo human females (and males, for that matter), and while some might say the rituals and signs and responses were horrendously time-consuming and dull, he found it a challenge that paid off excellently. He just wondered if she was at all amenable to the same impulses as others he’d known.

Speaking of others, Hammond was approaching swiftly -- well, swiftly for him, at least. Humans hadn’t evolved much in the way of natural weaponry, and unaugmented, their muscle/mass ratio was relatively crappy, but they had endurance and brains, and Ham happened to have a lot of both. Dunny gave him a little yowl of greeting, and added a question.

“Dunny wants to know,” Ham panted as he came closer, “if he could go ahead and keep tracking that smell. Apparently the machine is leaking, and he’s eager to continue the hunt.” He paused and looked Raimei in the eye. “I think you warmed up his hunting instincts, but trust me, he won’t kill your target. Pounce, perhaps, but he’s not a killer.”

Dunny made a restrained snarl of a word, and Ham nodded. “Not a killer of sentients. Prey animals, though, better watch out. Fixed?” he asked the felinid, who nodded. They both looked to their ostensible leader in this enterprise, one waiting to go, the other appreciating the chance to stop.

 

[Hahvoc The Decepticon]

"If..uh...he would like to go ahead, then sure. Go for it."

She muttered, putting her hand to her head. Her body felt way too warm and she plopped her butt down on the ground. This feeling of weakness was not lost on her and made her more irritable and Philip beeped at her in worry and concern. She waved him away as she snatched her water bottle again and drank a few good swallows, feeling the refreshing drink cool her jets down. She wasn't used to come-ons, much less feeling a response. Her line of work got people killed and she had never wanted people around much except for a target practice. Obviously, she had people skills since she traded items around the galaxy but still! She hadn't...well, lets just say she moved around too much for such things to happen. She rubbed one out every so often, but she was too busy with other things to think about romance and those sort of things.

Grumbling as she held her head against a headache that would probably burst behind her eyes, she made herself stand up and walk around the clearing a bit to calm down and clear her head. Why was she suddenly focusing on those things? She had experimented when she was younger and in school, but ever since she got away from her chained existence she hadn't bothered. People were disposable or on sale from what she could tell. And what her mother's profession had been proved the latter. But damnit! She wanted to get back on track! Practically growling to herself, Raimei glanced at Hammond before flushing from what she would call heat and nothing else, she started jogging after the feline, making sure Hammond wouldn't lose her so easily this time. Philip beeped along in exasperation.​

 

[Mr Master]

As soon as she said "go for it," Dunny took off, like a blaster bolt. He casually swiped the bark of a tree as he passed, leaving yet another trail sign. He was out of sight by the time Raimei got her hand to her head.

"Are... are you all right?" Ham saw her reacting as if she were ill; he took a step toward her, but she seemed to shrug him off, if she even noticed him, turning to walk around the clearing. He watched her uncertainly. He thought about keying into the MD Expert System, but let her roam a little bit. He glanced about, wondering if something around here had infected her. Biochemistry was a strange thing, and reactions could be unpredictable.

He was about to ask if she'd touched or eaten anything, but then she looked at him, an unreadable look in her eye, then turned and started off on the trail, following where Dunny had gone. He sighed and started off after her. If she was well enough to travel, there wasn't much else he could do right now. Perhaps if they ever rested, he might find something out.

At the moment, though, he lurched back into movement. His legs were tired, but still going strong. He'd catch up, no matter how far they went. He just didn't know when. "Hey, Phil," he called out to the droid. "I hope you were paying attention to what was going on back there; we might have questions later."

 

[Hahvoc The Decepticon]

Raimei just kept going, following the trail signs. She doubted that the feline would catch their prey any time soon and after all, it was hers to catch. But still, she needed a break after that run-in with the flower. What had it done to her system? She was just glad she wasn't all covered in a sticky green mold or something- like acid. Her breasts ached a bit and so did her thighs, but she ignored those signs because she had to keep going. The suns were starting to drift towards the horizon and only when nightfall hit would she stop. Or close to night fall at this rate. She heard Philip beeping at Hammond and looked back to see him gesturing in his odd way. He was trying to tell Hammond something about whatever might have happened, but probably wasn't making progress with the human. Poor little droid.

Jogging still, she found that soon time began to pass very slowly- or at least for her. She still felt hot and was beginning to feel even more achy- enough so that she knew the sign of arousal- at least that was what she suspected but really wasn't sure. It'd been awhile but she remembered the need to relieve herself of certain pressure. But it wasn't like she could just stop and take care of the problem and hope it abated! Throwing her arms up in frustration, she noticed how dark it was becoming in the forest, especially as the trees grew a bit thicker before spanning out into a few small clearings. With her body charged and drained and all kinds of screwy, Raimei stopped and whistled for the feline to come join them. When Philip caught up, he noticed she didn't plan on going any further and went about making a little pit to start a fire.​

 

[Mr Master]

The droid beeped at him, and although he didn't understand Binary, his earpiece had enough of a translation matrix to give him the gist. There was a flower, and then she acted strange. Pollen? Fumes? He didn't know, and Philip didn't have the kind of programming needed to analyze what was going on. "If you see some when we camp," he muttered to the droid, "be sure to point them out to me." The droid beeped affirmatively, and pulled ahead to keep better pace with the gradually-accelerating bounty-hunter. Once again, Ham was left behind a bit, but not to such an extensive degree, at least.

He heard the whistle before he saw them. When he caught up the next time, he noticed Raimei was pacing, and Philip was excavating a fire-pit. He realized she'd whistled for Dunny, but he could have been out of audible range. Well, even though their interstellar comms were down, they still had their short-range, which would cover a few dozen leagues. He touched his wrist unit, and tapped twice, then paused, then a third time. That was his signal to Dunny, and the felinid would know to come back when he felt he was done tracking for the moment.

Figuring they were going to be staying a little while, Ham started to unbuckle his packs. "Is there anything I can do to help set up camp?"

 

[Hahvoc The Decepticon]

Philip beeped to him about food and blankets and other little necessities. He seemed pleased with his fire and put his little robot hands to it as if he could feel the flames- which he could. He moved about and cleared sticks and debris out of the clearing to make it smooth and easy to sleep on. Raimei always slept in style, so it wouldn't be too much trouble for her, but the other two might have more of an issue. Philip carried extra sleeping packs just in case they got ruined in some way that was unfix-able. Speaking of Raimei, she hadn't really heard the question because she had wandered off, sniffing around for water and such. She heard soft gurgling sounds and felt the air grow a little bit warmer and foggy. Soon, she came upon a bubbling hot spring and sighed in relief. She could have a nice hot bath! Sweet! She grinned in victory before heading back towards the campsite.

Philip beeped at her in question and she waved him off and told him to set up the sleeping gear. She had a mini pack of her own strapped to her waist and a variety of things in her various packets. She was the type to come prepared for everything- even if it was overkill. Philip took out her sleeping back and tossed it to the ground where it puffed up into a large mattress with blankets on top of it. She loved the galaxy- she really did. She got out her change of clothes for the night- stretchy but comfortable pants and a tank-top. She was prepared for getting snuck up on, so she always slept with a weapon. She only slept naked in her ship and never outside of it or anywhere else- no matter how uncomfortable it could be. Philip started to get out the food to cook on the open flame while she organized some supplies and set up a perimeter. She programmed it to allow them in and out of the campsite but none of the natives or other animals. It didn't protect against gunfire or anything of that sort, but at least it kept them relatively safe.

"We're used to traveling along so we're pretty efficient by ourselves. If you wanna get a sleeping pack from Philip for you and Dunny, then go right ahead. I keep extras. They are nifty little things. And if you wanna help him set up dinner, then go ahead as well. I found a hotspring so I'm going to take a bath."

She got her bathing supplies and put them into a small little knapsack. She stared at Hammond a moment and really thought about asking him to join her..which wasn't like her at all. She flushed and shook her head before storming away to go to the hotspring and enjoy herself. She deserved it, damnit!​

 

[Mr Master]

"I appreciate the hospitality," Ham said cheerfully, unpacking some of the salvaged goods, "but we're covered. The survival packs have most anything we need." The long-term foodstuffs in the survival packs ought to be saved for later, as they would keep; the more perishable stuff should be eaten first, so he popped out the canned goods and packaged rations and offered them to Philip. The droid seemed to know how to set up a camp, get things cooking, so Ham chose to stay out of his way.

He watched Raimei head off to the side, disappearing in the foliage, and shook his head. Something was up with her, and he wasn't sure what. He thought he'd read her pretty well back at the crash site, not in a telepathic way (he'd met some telepaths, so he knew the difference), but in the way that he was good with people. But now she was acting just slightly off, and he didn't know what to make of it.

Philip was just starting to prepare their evening meal, and Ham was just starting to feel recovered when Dunny came loping back into the clearing. He saw they were setting up camp, and strode toward the fire, starting to shuck off his packs. The speeder ran out of fuel just a few leagues on, he yowled softly. Single occupant got out. Stumbled around like he was terrified. Had no sense of direction; if we're half-lucky, he'll find his way into our camp sometime in the night. He eased his packs to the ground, and raised his head, sniffing. Where's Raimei?

"Bathing," Ham said automatically, then realized he should have chosen his words better. "You, sir," he said, leveling a warning finger at the cat-man, "will not go interrupt her. Not without invitation."

Dunny cocked his head and wiggled his whiskers in what passed for a laugh among his species. You're not curious? Just a peek.

Ham hung his head. "God, you're so high school. Aren't you supposed to be an adult for your species?"

Adult action is what I'm looking for, Dunny scoffed, and then started sneaking over toward where Raimei had disappeared. He was almost at the edge of the clearing when Ham stood up.

"Wait," he murmured, knowing Dunny's ears would hear him. He sighed and started moving to follow. "Someone has to keep your oversexed ass from half-raping a girl just because she can't say 'no' faster than you can shuck off your pants..."

 

[Hahvoc The Decepticon]

Raimei got to the edge of the hotspring and double-checked to make sure no one was watching. They were heading deeper into native territory and she really didn't want one of the locals thinking she was food. Shucking off her layers of weaponry and clothes, she soon was naked and dipping her feet into the warm and bubbling water. She had many scars on her form, mostly on her back with what looked like old whipping scars that overlapped and meshed together to make an odd pattern. She had a few tattoos on her back as well, both strange and beautiful in nature. As soon as her feet touched the water it felt so good that she could help but shiver and let out a little groan of delight before she waded her way into the water. Sinking in up to her breasts, she relaxed. It wasn't a tiny hot spring but rather large enough for the locals to fit in and still be room. It wasn't overly deep, thankfully and she could swim around if she pleased.

She rubbed the water along her arms and neck, feeling the warmth and wetness calm her sore muscles. She hummed with pleasure and swam around a bit, enjoying the bath. It was just...so nice. But still she felt off. Her nipples were hard and if she even brushed them accidentally, she felt a pang of need. It made her gasp and twitch just a bit. She was gonna destroy all those flowers if it was the last thing she did! She really hoped whatever was going on with her body went away and she could be normal again. Diving down until the water briefly, she came back up and combed her fingers through her hair as she rested back against a smooth expanse of rock and closed her eyes, humming as she listened to the birds in the trees.​

 

[Mr Master]

The two crept along the rock, getting a high vantage point. Ham could scent the hot spring now, the slight chemical tang to the air, and honestly, a good long soak in a hot bath sounded wonderful to him, too; he hadn't had a chance to relax since the reactor controller started malfunctioning. But that's not why he was here. He was here to make sure Dunny didn't let his instincts take advantage of a woman who could kill them, or strand them. She was their only source of knowledge of exactly where they were, even, and they couldn't afford to lose her good will. Which Dunny's sex drive had been known to do, from time to time.

The fact that it sometimes cemented their relationships with others, as well, was immaterial at this point.

They made no sound as they carefully picked their way up a rocky slope. They weren't professionals, but Dunny was a hunter and Ham had been in enough scrapes, they both knew how to move silently when they needed to. Dunny's ears were forward, alert, as they moved on their bellies to peek over the crest of the rocky hill. Beneath them was the hot spring, a not-small pond of geothermal warmth, and lounging against the side was Raimei, in her naked glory. The gently bubbling water (Ham made a note to stay away from the actively bubbling part; that was not only the hottest water, but also where the toxic volcanic gasses were venting) obscured most of her submerged flesh, but her lovely breasts were quite visible, and seemed buoyant beyond even the support of the water. They also seemed quite natural.

Dunny glanced over at Ham, and he had that old gleam in his eye. Ham gave him a warning look and shook his head slightly, but Dunny started to slither backward, back down the slope. Ham waved emphatically to him to stop, and glanced down again at Raimei once more before pursuing his impulsive friend.

 

[Hahvoc The Decepticon]

Raimei felt her eyes drift closed until she felt...well, a disturbance in the force. She sat up a little and looked around but she couldn't see anyone. She thought maybe it was just her imagination but she really couldn't be sure. Maybe it was the flower making her paranoid? She never really ignored her instincts but she couldn't be sure of anything while not of her right mind. She grabbed her cleaning gear and started rubbing shampoo into her hair before rinsing it out and then working in the conditioner- which was soon washed out as well. The last thing on the list was to apply body wash. She felt really uncertain with how this was gonna go.

Working up a lather, she took her time in making the bubbles before putting the subs on her skin. Oh, gosh, did that feel good. She bit her lip from moaning as she worked the soap all over her skin, paying special attention to her breasts before standing up slowly to work her way down. She was in a heightened state of awareness by the time she was done and sank back into the water, panting breathlessly. No wonder so many people got involved with foreplay, she mused. She rinsed herself off completely and relaxed against the stone, feeling wired and excited like she hadn't felt before. This was not like her at all and she wondered if it was just going to get worse.​

 

[Mr Master]

Dunny could move faster while staying silent, and Ham didn't want to let her know they'd been peeping. So he couldn't catch up before Dunny got to the trail. The cat-man grinned, and deliberately stepped on a few twigs. They were far enough away from the pool itself that the noise wouldn't make her think she was being attacked, but it took special effort to actually make noise when you were so suited to silence. Dunny began to stroll toward the spring, tromping loudly and yowling to himself, his species' equivalent of "la la la la" as he approached Raimei. Ham finally got to flat ground and hurried after him.

He caught up with Dunny just as the felinid paused at the entrance to the spring's clearing. Dunny tossed Raimei a jaunty wave and spoke in rrariiixx. It was up to Ham, almost skidding to a stop beside his taller partner, to grudingly translate. "He's asking if we can take a little soak." He glanced at her and then politely turned his eyes away, although Dunny didn't. "It's been a stressful day for us, as well, what with the crash and everything."

"You'll have to pardon him; he doesn't have the same standards of propriety or decency. It comes from his species' mating imperative. Believe me, I've tried to change him, but it's too deep rooted."

Dunny winked at her and shot a finger-gun, grinning madly. Ham literally face-palmed at that.

 

[Hahvoc The Decepticon]

Raimei heard the deliberate sounds and rolled her eyes with a groan. She wanted to be left alone! But as soon as the pair stepped into the clearing, she blinked. She had expected one of the locals- not them. She didn't make a move to cover herself with anything substantial except for the water by sinking in deeper until the water was up to her neck. Her towel was too far away for her to grab and her body was a weapon so she didn't have any actual modesty. She had some only because of her mother's profession. She shook her head a bit and smiled when Hammond tried to cover for his friend- the little pervert. But she had to give them points. She really didn't care if they bathed with her- the pool was big enough to give her space away from them anyways. But she did laugh when Dunny did the finger gun. Priceless!

"If you two want to soak...go ahead."

She couldn't stop laughing and it made the water splash up and about and tease her sensitive bits. She winced a bit before she calmed herself down with a small giggle before diving under the water a moment to clear her head. She broke the surface after a little while before swimming around and away from the duo.​