Strendents Chapter 3: Negav

“This is AI construct SCARAB 17 of the CTS speeder.,” SCARAB transmitted back to the mapper7. “Mr. Thorne suspects that the predator is blind and is attempting to distract the predator and disrupt its efforts to locate you by listening. We are moving into position to accelerate to Mach 1 and generate a sonic boom.”

“Hold on, SCARAB, the snake’s stopped looking,” David said, glancing out of the speeder cockpit. “Is it…singing? Pipe through the external noise, filter out the engine sounds.” SCARAB beeped once, and the speeder was filled with the sound of the naga’s voice.

“Odd, what language is that?” David asked after hearing the strange words.

“Unknown. I am not equipped with a linguistic database,” SCARAB stated. “In our experience with the local inhabitants, the ones who possessed magic often required vocal components to use it.”

“Kill the speaker then,” David said, hoping that nothing unpleasant was just cast on him. “If he resumes his search or stumbles on the Mapper 7, we’ll go to Mach 1. Otherwise I’ll maintain our current speed.

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Shada looked up at the new arrival. Though her face or posture betrayed nothing, she tensed slightly. This new naga was a good thirty feet taller than Crisis or herself, and could be trouble if she wasn’t friendly. But Crisis seemed willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, and waved cheerfully at the newcomer.

“Hello there, I don’t believe we’ve met before. I’m Shada,” Shada said, smiling. However, she saw what the new naga was looking at. Crisis did to, it seemed, as she wrapped a coil of her tail around Mordal protectively.

"Two minutes until arrival sir." Captain Ilidar stood in the bridge, away from his own seat, arms folded behind his back. A grim expression played across his features as he stared out the front of the Star Skimmer, hoping to see movement through the thick canopy that would allow him to know where his men were. As the massive capital ship decreased its altitude, a strong breeze hit the tree tops, generated by the Star Skimmer's movement.

In the Mapper-7, the three human crew members were unsure of what to make of the the new situation. N-72 however, was busy recording the wavelengths and harmonics of the naga's song. The AI however, was not displaying this information to the crew. N-72's only thoughts were that it could be an odd form of echolocation, and displayed only this opinion. Upon seeing this, Eric responded with a question. "What's the probability of that N Seven Two?" The AI took only a second before printing more text on the monitor. 3.7%

As the Naga sang the earth directly below him began too ripple slightly as the bard-song started to take effect.

“What the blazes is that naga up to?” David asked. “SCARAB can you see anything changing?”

“Not at this angle,” SCARAB stated. “Be advised: The descending star skimmer is causing increasing turbulence and irregular winds. The calculated path for acceleration will not remain valid for long.”

“So it’s now or never. Fine by me,” David said. “Lets see if we can break the naga’s concentration.” In the forest, the sound of David’s skimmer stopped abruptly for a second. Just as abruptly, it started again. But this time it continued to increase in volume as Davis sped along a straight course at ever higher speeds.

Near to the Mapper 7 and the black scaled naga, the speeder hit Mach 1, the speed of sound. A deafening sonic boom erupted and echoed through the trees.

"Eric, the Star Skimmer is nearly overhead." N-72's artificial voice filled the cockpit, completely calm. "Also, it seems David has broken the sound barrier." The sonic boom could be heard only a moment later, although muffled by the Mech's hull. Eric's hands began to fly over the control panels; hitting buttons in a rapid succession. He spoke in a hurried tone. "Sarya, take a seat!. Redirect power to anti-gravity. Prepare for lift off!"
Disappointed, Sarya left the top hatch and returned to her seat and strapped in. She was hoping to shoot something, not retreat.

As the Mapper-7 redirected its power supply, the mech shimmered back into visible sight. The first thing this naga would realize was the sheer size of the cartography mech. A distraction would be good right now. N-72 confirmed this. "Five seconds till lift off." That thing would still have time to attack if it wasn't caught off guard.

Dorian's scream of pain halted his signing, his ears rattled and he swore shaking his head to get the ringing out of his ears., meanwhile his tale made a wide sweep hoping to hit whatever made that godawful noise. Their plan had gone perfectly except for one problem, now they had to deal with a hungry AND pissed off naga, feeling the air displacement caused by the descending ship, Dorian went on guard as the ringing began to fade.

Not even a second after David hit Mach 1, something struck the speeder with incredible force. David didn’t see what hit it, but the speeder was sent careening wildly. David was slammed into the side of the cockpit. The canopy became a spider web of cracks, and the cockpit was suddenly filled with smoke. All across the control board red lights flashed warnings, and a multitude of alarms added to the confusion. The speeder lurched again as it bounced off a large tree bough.

SCARAB, fortunately, was well secured and immune to the sudden confusion and chaos. It transferred the piloting controls to himself and halted the speeder before it could crash again.

David’s vision was swimming, and he couldn’t think straight. He placed a hand on his head, and felt something wet. Pulling back his fingers, he saw they were red with blood.

“Get us…get us out of here,” David slurred, pressing a cloth against his head.

“Affirmative,” SCARAB responded. Jerkily, the speeder rose above the canopy of the forest and flew towards the star skimmer. It’s flight was erratic and uneven. A trail of black smoke emanated from it’s side, and occasional showers of sparks burst from it’s underside.

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Even as Shada watched this new naga, a loud boom echoed through the forest, compelling her to cover her ears for a moment.

“I wonder what that was,” Shada said aloud. Acting on impulse, she slithered up a nearby tree to get a better view.

“Hey! You should see this!” Shada called back down after a moment. “There’s something huge hovering over the forest! I think it’s human made.”

((Sorry for my absence. I have been quite busy.))

Finger hovering over a single button, Eric had a wide grin on his face. The last few seconds seemed to crawl by; the muffled drone of the SCARAB's speed. N-72's artificial voice was now a great thing to hear. "Power re-directed." Eric moved his face closer to the communications system, grin never vanishing. "If you're still in one piece Dave, now's the time to get to safety." With no further words, Eric pushed his finger down. With a great amount of speed, the Mapper-7 bolted from the ground. The engineer always loved anti gravity; it didn't use propulsion, so there was no noise or turbulence what so ever. Only pure, uninterrupted speed, the only sound when it left was the rustle of the foliage it was touching. Of course, with all the commotion, that last fact didn't matter.

Only a moment had passed before N-72's voice again filled the area. "The SCARRAB's trajectory has deviated widely from its previous pattern. Even if David was breaking off to reach the Star Skimmer, those movements would not aid him. I suspect damage to his ship." Jackson leaned forward to meet Eric eye to eye. "You think he'll be okay?"

Mordal motioned for Shada to lower her gaurd. "It's okay. That's my friend." Mordal said as he took off his helmet. The Naga was none other than Rua. "Hey, Rua. Long time no see, eh?"
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Rua smiled at Mordal. "I was worried about you!" She scolded playfuly at him. She looked at the other Nagas. "Hi there!" She waved cheerfuly at them.

The slight change in air pressure as the mappers bulk moved, set off mental alarms for the Naga but it was overshadowed by the feel of the even larger bulk overhead, "damn!" he cursed before slithering back into the forest to find a less painful breakfast.

(((Just so you know, SCARAB is the name of the AI, which can transfer itself between the speeder’s computer and a repair robot.)))

The speeder’s flight was erratic, but under SCARAB’s guide, the speeder gradually made its way into what appeared to be a docking bay. It’s flight slowed to a crawl as it drifted into the Star Skimmer. A trio of struts descended from the underside of the speeder as it landed. One of the struts was bent, causing the speeder to rest lopsidedly. SCARAB powered down the speeder’s systems, casuing the sparking and smoke to stop, though the smell of burnt circuitry still lingered in the air.

Meanwhile, David was recovering from the shock of his wound. The flow of blood from his head was all but stopped, though he kept the rag pressed against the wound anyway. With his free hand, he unbelted himself and pushed the cockpit canopy open. SCARAB, meanwhile , transferred it’s programming back to its usual spherical repair drone and detached from the speeder’s systems. It glided out of the speeder and began inspecting the damage with a variety of sensors.

“She’s taken a beating this time,” David commented, clambering out and joining SCARAB.

“A significant understatement,” SCARAB commented, using an articulate pincer to pull a sizeable tree branch out of the speeder’s hull. “There is significant damage to multiple systems. It will take time and raw materials to repair. Until then, I advise against using it.”

“Do what you can. At least we can fix it up this time in relative saftey,” David said.

“Very well. If I may say, it is ironic to note that this damage, the direct result of our decision to generate a sonic boom, occured shortly after you cautioned the crew of the Mapper-7 against such actions,” SCARAB stated.

“It was not lost on me, thank you very much,” David said. “Of course if you’ve already been found, all bets are off.”

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Shada visibly relaxed after Mordal told them about Rua and her friendship with them.

“A pleasure to meet you Rua,” Shada said, leaning back on the tree. “You didn’t mention you had another friend Mordal. You shouldn’t be wandering off without her, you know.” She added, prodding Mordal with the tip of her tail. “Anyway, I’m rather new to these parts. Do you happen to live around here, Rua?”

Ilim was currently seated in the captain's chair, looking through the external cameras below. Able to see the Mapper-7 and a damaged speeder clear the tree line, he drummed his fingers on the console. In order to survive here, it seemed they would need to adjust the hull mounted cannons. The idea of firing on the Mapper-7's attacker occurred to the captain, but the smaller cannons were not designed to fire singly. It always took a barrage to bring down a capital ship. Additionally, the predator's coordinates were sent automatically by N-72's subroutines, but without the area map, they wouldn't be able to match up the coordinates anyway. It was safe to say that the Mapper-7 would not have air support while doing its job. This fact alone kept Ilim worried, but the cartography mech and its crew were safe for now.

Standing now, Ilim made his way off the bridge. "It seems I will be introducing myself to another new friend. Keep things running here until I return." The bridge staff saluted and quickly returned to their duties as the bridge door hissed shut behind their captain.

Onboard the Mapper-7, Eric was maneuvering the mech into the Star Skimmer's hangar. The mech's odd shape combined with touchy controls made it a delicate operation. "N Seven Two, what's the damage report?" The AI scanned the systems for the three hundredth and fourty second time that mission and everything came back green. "All is well Eric." Of course, the AI felt it needed a little humor in the air and continued. "You could say that after the anti gravity was activated, we entered a rather, elevated state." A short burst of mechanical laughter filled the Mapper-7's speakers, but the crew did not return the sound. Jackson was the only one who replied at all. "Nice try Seven Two, but ye gotta work on that a bit."

Meanwhile, a message was being sent to the ship containing David and SCARAB. "Please proceed to dock in the designated location being uploaded to your shipboard computer. If you have an astrogation AI, we suggest letting the subroutines complete the procedure considering your condition."

Mordal was glad that they were getting along. "Yeah, I do, actualy." Rua replied with a smile.

“Incoming message,” SCARAB stated, relaying the message that was sent to David’s speeder. “Do you wish to reply?”

“Tell them I appreciate their concern, but I’m doing better now,” David said. “I’ll attempt to relocate the speeder per their instructions, but don’t be surprised if the damage makes it impossible,” Clambering up the side of the speeder, he sat back down in the cockpit and began working the controls. He restored a little power to the hover systems, and the speeder slowly lifted off of the docking bay floor. Using tiny bursts from the thrusters, David slowly guided the speeder to the designated area.

“Well, looks like she’s doing okay,” David said, coming to a stop over the area. “Perhaps it wasn’t-” A burst of sparks erupted from the damaged speeder, and it suddenly dropped to the floor. The bent landing strut buckled entirely and caused David to hit the side of the cockpit as the speeder settled at a steep tilt. He swore as he pressed the rag back to his head and climbed out.

“Blast it all, SCARAB, what’s going on now?” David said, surveying the damaged speeder.

“Main power has been cut. The reactor has been locked down to maintain its stability,” SCARAB stated, attempting to hook up to the speeder’s computer again. “Auxiliary power is functioning at 31 percent. The primary computer has been deactivated; I can’t obtain the diagnostic results. And I note your head is bleeding again.”

“It isn’t too bad. Anyway, begin repairs to the speeder. After I talk to the crew of that Mapper-7 vehicle, I’ll come back and help you.” David said. He walked off and watched (at a safe distance) as the Mapper-7 entered the hangar. SCARAB, meanwhile, began removing damaged sections from the speeder.

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“I hoped so,” Shada said. “I’m rather at a loss of what to do at the moment. I was following a quarry who came to this region, but he’s found a few friends of his own it seems. I saw him fleeing to some huge flying machine over the forest. I can wait until he comes back out, but until then I’m just twiddling my thumbs. Perhaps you can recommend a place to visit. If you know of something that would help with catching a very fast human, that’d be even better.”

As the speeder hit the plated ground, the docking bay staff all took a wide step back as automated fire control units sprung from the floor. As a brief period passed and the pilot exited his vehicle, the control units returned to their compartments. The Mapper-7 was docked nearby; it's mechanical legs anchored in place to the deck. Eric was the first to exit the mech, followed shortly after by Jackson. Both of them noticed David and began to walk towards him.

Sarya exited the Mapper-7 last, wheeling a large cart with an assortment of warning labels. No less than three rifles were strapped to her back as she pushed on and exited the docking bay, not even taking a glance to David or his speeder. "She's in a right mood." Jackson's words fell upon Eric lightly, only causing him to laugh. "I think she just wanted to blow something up Jack."

Eric refocused his gaze ahead of him and continued to walk. It was always nice when he didn't have to greet and or meet another military personnel. The constant standing at attention and saluting were wearing thin on the young man. "You must be David. I think we should at least owe you some repairs." he said while extending a hand. "Eric Dawns. Armada Engineer."

“David Thorne, formerly of the Centauri Terraforming Station,” David said, grasping Eric’s hand and shaking it. “I’d be grateful for any help you can give me and SCARAB with fixing up the speeder. It’s about in the worst condition I’ve ever seen it.”

“Again, a significant understatement,” SCARAB stated back at the speeder, while using a small laser torch to remove a pierced hull plate. David only chuckled at the small robot.

“That’s SCARAB. Salvage, Construction, And Repair Automated Being. He’s been my only companion for quite a while. That doughty little droid could build you a planetary defense station with the right blueprints, raw material, and time. Anyway, thanks for granting us berth on your ship. Being able to rest and repair in safety is a rare thing on this world.”

Eric sighed at this. "From what we know so far, the ground seems excessively treacherous. Although..." The engineer looked behind David at his speeder. "The most interesting thing is the similarities our technology shares. With how we can assume this world works, there would exist the chance of seeing people from advanced periods of numerous existences, but the odds are just--" Eric was cut off by the call of "Commander on deck!" Every crew member quickly turned, slid their heels together and saluted sharply.

Captain Illidar had emerged from one of the hangar's access doors and was making his way over to David's vessel. "At ease men." As he said this, the individual crew members returned to their tasks. Before the captain arrived, Eric quickly put in a few final words. "You can have SCARAB stay here and oversee the repairs then."

As Ilim reached the trio, he first addressed Eric and Jackson. "Excellent work on the M Seven. We will discuss the data in due time." Jackson was the one to interject now. "At least Eric's piloting tested the durability on the way down." Those words hit a nerve in Eric, but he did not show it. Getting into an argument with the soldier in front of the captain would be distasteful.

The captain now turned to David, extending his own hand in greeting. "Greetings David. Welcome to the Star Skimmer. My name is Ilim Illidar, captain of this vessel and officer in the Strendent Armada."

“A pleasure captain,” David said, shaking Illidar’s hand. “She’s a fine vessel. Thank’s for letting me dock here. If there’s anything I can do for you, just let me know. I take it at least you’ll want to know what happened down there?”

The captain relaxed his stance before responding. "You are correct on that assumption. We have not been here long and our incoming information has only encompassed the regions aerial activity and basic topography. Everything else about this place is throwing us for a loop." Ilim paused for a moment so he could recall what needed to be said. "Our on board research team has no idea what this region even is. There appears to be a ceiling that takes anything we try and put up there and just offs it without a trace." Rubbing his brow in frustration, he brought himself to bring up their more dire issues. "We have already lost good men to those things and what we have learned on them thus far is minimal. I hope it's not too much to ask of you, but we know there is a stronghold in this forest. Thing is, we are unable to determine if they are hostile or not. Perhaps you know. They are south of a large river. Near a bend in its path."

Aside from the conversation, the crew of the hangar were already started on the repairs to the Speeder. Workers assembled various tools and alloys as they questioned SCARAB on the vessel's construction. The crew of the Mapper-7 however, were no longer in the hangar. Eric was now walking down the hallways, taking only a few turns, having a specific destination in mind. "N Seven Two, was there anything aside from the mapping data you found... odd?" The robotic voice quickly replied. "If you are inquiring about the naga, I have no information beyond visual and seismic records. Aside from that, I found the plant life interesting." Eric opened a final door and entered a room filled with numerous terminals and other odds and ends. The recently acquired data along with stored information flowed across the screens. "Continue." Eric spoke the word casually as he moved in front of a terminal, bringing up data on the Mapper-7's systems. "The sizes of the plant species were outstanding. I ran a soil analysis but found nothing conclusive. There was however, an anomaly that I detected, though the source and nature elude me." Eric thought for a moment, looking over the data he was searching before responding. "Hold onto that data. It may prove useful." Seeming satisfied with what he was looking over, Eric turned and left the room. "In a few hours, remind me to make some adjustments to the Mapper's stabilizers. I don't want to crash the ship during decent again."

“An inhabited stronghold?” David mused briefly. “The only one that comes to mind would be Negav. I’ve been there once, and your description sounds about right. When it comes to protecting settlements, brute force rarely works, but Negav managed to pull it off. Anyway, I wouldn’t call them hostile, but they are rather suspicious. Understandable given that they are surrounded by a jungle full of sentient predators, some capable of taking the appearance and scale of a human. Don’t ask me how, I haven’t the foggiest idea how they do it.”

“The people of Negav generally won’t refuse to shelter any sentient being, provided they aren’t much larger than the average human. They will keep a close eye on any newcomers, and if they turn out to be dangerous, I'm sure they have the means to deal with them. However, I don’t know how they would respond to the Star Skimmer. Personally, I wouldn’t take the chance, it looked like they had some formidable artillery mounted on their walls. Not to mention a tendency to shoot first at anything too big and ask questions later.”

“If you want information about the predatory species on this world, Negav would have a good deal of it. Far more than the data I’ve gathered in my time on this world, though you’re welcome to that too once the speeder’s computer is back online.”

The captain allowed himself a brief smile. This was the best news they have had since they arrived on this odd world. "We certainly won't pass up the opportunity for information here. The only problem now is that of currency. We don't have anything in the way of sellable goods." Having listened in on the conversation, N-72 was quick to put in his own, artificial thoughts. "We could sell the maps captain. The data we have gathered thus far suggests the surface of this world changes at inconsistent intervals." The pair seemed to halt the conversation, as if awaiting confirmation from David.

“Possibly,” David said, “Most people are quite content to spend their lives in the safety of Negav, and wouldn’t need maps. However, I’d imagine that you could find adventurers who would be willing to buy some, particularly if they marked known areas of danger, predatory plants or permanent anomalies or such like. Including spots that could be potential refuge would also increase their value. Any information to make a journey through the wild lands safer and shorter would get good money.”

“But your AI is right, the maps would have to be fairly recent. The terrain can change quickly, even instantly. I don’t pretend to understand everything that goes on, but this land has an insanely disproportionate amount of anomalies. Spatial, dimensional, gravitational, even temporal, and some that defy classification altogether. You name it, this world has screwed it up somewhere. The knowledge to avoid them would be valuable, but the functional lifespan of a map would be shorter than normal.”

((Going to be ending this segment after your next post most likely.))

"Thank you for this information. I am sorry that we couldn't have met with more time permitting, but I need to square away a few things." Again the captain extended his hand, this time as a farewell. "If you would like a bed until the repairs on your ship are complete, just ask someone for directions to the barracks." Turning to leave, the captain again spoke, this time into a communicator on his person. "Mapper crew, get some sleep. You have a new job tomorrow."

Rua thought for a moment. "Actualy, the only human I have seen all day is Mordal here."

“Understood, captain. And thanks, I’ll take you up on your offer later, but I promised SCARAB I’d help him work on our speeder,” David said. After the general left, David made his way back to the docking bay. Upon entering, he saw his damaged speeder being worked on by a group of human technicians and robots alike. After a second, David walked over to join the group.

Repairs to the speeder were progressing rapidly. A couple hours later, the reactor had been safely brought back online, auxiliary power was up to full capacity, and almost all of the major systems were more or less functional now. Becoming increasingly tired and fatigued, he decided that it was a good time to take the bed that the Captain had offered. Setting down a bolt driver, David began to leave the docking bay. Moments later, he was joined by SCARAB.

“Well, what do you think?” David asked nonchalantly as he walked to the barracks.

“Their technology is largely similar, requiring only minimal adjustments and alterations to be compatible with the speeders systems,” SCARAB said, hovering alongside David. “But it isn’t identical. I’ve used a good deal of micro-resistors to modulate the reactor’s standard voltage and amperage to acceptable levels. Additionally, they use a different technology for their anti-gravity capabilities which is completely incompatible with the solid-repulsion systems. However, they said they would deliver raw material I can atomize and reconstruct into the suitable components… And we now have a proper coolant system.”

“Thank goodness for that, I hated that cobbled together liquid nitrogen system,” David said. “How about the gate?”

“I doubt it. Though they have a good deal of technological systems, it is not a scientific vessel. I have not seen anything that can be used to synthesize the needed exotic matter.”

“Well, if they can’t, then I don’t know who can,” David said. “I’ll ask Eric about it when I get the opportunity. He seemed interested when I mentioned sending Jennifer back. Until then, I’m going to sleep well. Keep working on the speeder. Oh, and when the computer is up to it, download the info we have on observed class 1 species. Images, DNA profiles, known magical abilities, everything.”

“Yes, David,” SCARAB said, turning to return to the speeder. “Sleep well.”

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“Pity,” Shada said, shrugging. “Anyway, I’m going to follow that big flying ship, to see if Thorne will come out again.” She said, slowly getting up and stretching a little.

“Oh, before I go,” Shada said, once upright, “I’m curious, Mordal, why did you come looking for Crisis? Most morsels like you do everything they can to avoid nagas they don’t know. That was quite a risk for someone so…edible.” She added, leaning down to bring her face to Mordal’s level. Crisis’ normally cheery smile faltered a little, and her tail coiled protectively around Mordal. Shada shrugged again and straitened.

“I just wonder what would be worth so much to take such a chance,” Shada said.