Change of Pace

[Sarath Crescent]

At the time Sarath was stood in the hanger bay over seeing the final preperations. In from of him two transports were being checked over and loaded with various cargos. Sarath fiddled with the blade tied to his waist, his fingers playing over the grip with an eager anticipation. It wasn't like Sarath to be nervous but right now he was a little more than unsure about his situation.

Presently a shimmer ran through the air to his left and a moment later a tall brown puma stepped into the hanger bay out of thin air. It was Roxanna, the feline using her skills in Star magic to avoid walking. She turned slowly towards Sarath and bowed low. Sarath returned the gesture with a small nod in her direction as she stood up.

"Greetings my Lord, I trust the preperations are to your desires," she spoke politely.

"Indeed my dear Roxanna," replied the fox as a small smile spread across his face, "You understand your instructions correct?"

Roxanna gave a small nod and bowed again, "Of course Lord Crescent, completely."

"There is no need to address me in such a formal manner, you have earned the right to address me in the casual way." Sarath held up his hand towards her palm down. "You have done very well recently."

The change in Roxanna's eyes was clear to see, like a student being praised by her teacher for good work. Of course Roxanna was was 28 and hardly a child but she couldn't help feeling half her age at that point in time. She quickly gave a small courtsey and reached forwards both her hands to lightly clasp Sarath's. Leaning forwards she planted a small kiss on the top of his hand and let go.

"My Lord, it is my honour and duty to serve you to the best of my ability. My recent actions do not deserve any such praise, I am your humble servant." Roxanna averted her eyes to the floor as a light blush spread across her cheeks. "But you do honour me with your kindness."

Sarath's small smile broadened slightly and then faded away again. He glanced back at the transport crafts and began to fidget with his swords again. Roxanna just stood looking at the floor with a small smile of her own and the ever present blush.

[Tallulah Sonne]

I rounded the corner just in time to hear the idle words spoken between Lord Sarath and Roxanna. It came as no surprise to me although my fur seemed to bristle as I heard them talk. I brushed it off. The hangar felt fairly cooler than any other part of the ship. Only after their conversation did I decide to approach them.

There was a small case held at my side and a bag around my shoulder. Most of it was medical supplies. I doubted we would be down there no more than a few weeks. We had been generously funded by a few of the more reliable crew members who had returned from Radical City, so if there was anything we had to supply ourselves with elsewhere, we could without issue. Probably. I had a feeling that I would be the one in charge of anything that dealt with investing in our resources. Tanya had made sure to let the whole world know of her existence and although it was questionable that Roxanna had been spotted, it was better that someone who had not touched down on the planet before to proceed.

"My lord."

I held a curled hand in front of my lips and closed my eyes. It was a more informal gesture of respect, but the luggage made things difficult. Soon afterward, I continued forward until I was within a close distance. I settled my collection of belongings on the cold flooring and stood by. Due to an early arrival, I could see that many of the prep work was still being completed. I was familiar with roughly half the faces. Mostly, it was the hard workers and the unreliable ones who would end up recovering in the medical bay from punishments.

One of them spotted me and whistled. It was a very bizarre habit of his. I smiled mildly and tried to return the gesture. Try as I might though, it came out more as a guttural purr and I found myself frowning. He grinned up above me which only caused the corners of my mouth to recess even more.

"Tallulah, I did not see Tallulah there. How has Tallulah been?"

"Progress as usual, Jonin. Everyone has been recovering rapidly and in well health. How has Jonin been?"

"Very well. The ship should be ready to depart in an Earthen half hour as the Crescent Lord has requested. Maybe even sooner. I wish I could go with Tallulah. Maybe next time?"

"Maybe..."

I trailed off as I watched him disappear back into the ship. He was probably checking a few more diagnostics and then he would be on his way back to repairing the rest of the Monoceros. Although a good amount of the other crew members thought him as a fool, Jonin surprised most of everyone he met with his detailed insight and unmatched speed of renewing broken panels and all sorts of other systems that were most unknown to me.

[A note on "Crescent Lord": Jonin's culture seems to be the case where his respect is shown by withholding the name (although "Crescent" is Sarath's last name, he is referring to the name of the organization and not his surname) due to Sarath's high status. The second highest respect is always referring to other people by their first name. Not "you". If he were to have a lot of respect for the people he works with, he would probably say "Bob, Bill, Randy, Joe, Jim, Jacob, Larry, Fred, Cal, and I" instead of "us" or "everyone". He's that persistent.]

[Sarath Crescent]

[Hahah, that's just classic! XD]

As Tallulah spoke Roxanna quickly composed herself and looked up again. For a moment it was poosible to catch a glimpse of embarressment rush across her face but it didn't last. Sarath turned slightly to give Tallulah a small nod in response to her address before allowing her to continue with her own things.

Presently two more figures entered the bay, that of Latooni and Tanya. Latooni held a long staff in her right hand but otherwise carried nothing. The staff was very plain, simply a long pole of varnished wood that carried various scrapes, cracks and stress marks from earlier battles. Tanya carried nothing at all although she appeared to have changed her outfit to something less conspicuous; most likely something that had been stolen during one of the raids. It seemed Tanya had a little sense in her at the very least.

They both stopped in front of Sarath and gave a small bow. "Latooni and Tanya at your service my Lord," said Latooni quickly as Tanya agreed with a nod.

"Excellent," replied Sarath, "We may even be ready to leave ahead of schedule..." He scanned the assembled crowd with a growing scowl on his face. "...providing everyone is ready on time..."

He turned away and started to walk towards the nearest landing craft. Roxanna gave a visible scowl towards the entrance door and then looked away at the others. "Tallulah, Tanya, get yourselves onboard. I want us ready to go before our Lord even gives the order. Latooni, go and make preperations yourself. If Lefina doesn't show up feel free to leave without her!"

Roxanna gave a easily heard growl at the door and then spun towards the other landing craft. Latooni watched her for a moment, "That Lefina...always making trouble!" As she spoke several of the runes cut into her skin gave a small pulse of colour before she turned to follow Sarath.

Tanya grinned broadly, "Oooooh, someone is in trouble!" She quickly punched one of her hands against the palm of the other causing a shower of firey sparks to erupt around her fist.

[Tallulah Sonne]

My focus shifted to the entrance momentarily as the others scowled or teased. Now as I thought about it, I hadn't seen Lefina since the meeting. Although Roxanna had commanded Latooni to continue without her, in the end, the matter was under Sarath's jurisdiction. Not hers. Nevertheless, I recollected my bundles and padded off after the puma at a regular pace. We were already ahead of schedule and with a member missing from the group, I was in no hurry.

Inside the ship, I reopened my bags. I began shuffling through them for probably the fifth time that Earthen afternoon. Not a syringe out of place. I sighed almost happily to myself. It had been a long two Earthen weeks in a bay full of whining, injured or sick crew mates. I had not enjoyed it in the least.

[Sarath Crescent]

Roxanna watched Tallulah from across the transports cargo bay. She was still unsure about the tigress but so far she was proving to be capable if nothing else. She aimlessly shifted her cards through her hands before sliding them into a pouch under her cloak. "I hope you appreciate the position you have been granted? I do not wish to boast but my word carries the most weight on this ship after our Lord. If you do well in this assignment I can assure you that word of it will reach his Lordship...likewise any failure of course."

She bowed her head slightly as a show of respect and then turned away heading for the cockpit. Tanya wasn't far behind Tallulah, the young mink having followed her closely as she had entered the transport. "No need to be all meany Roxy!" she called after the departing puma, "Pfft, ROxy is always so serious! She needs to relax and have some fun." She hoisted herself onto a nearby crate , her gaze flashing around the cargo bay with interest.

If one looked out of the open bay doors at that moment they might catch sight of a white dressed figure jogging slowly across the landing bay, it was Lefina. The wolfess slowed to a walk as she approached the second transport and then stopped all together. She looked down at her hands, lacing them together and flexing them slightly. She swallowed and looked up nervously at the transport ahead of her before glancing back at the landing bay entrance.

Biting her lip she headed up the ramp into the second transport. Inside Sarath was stood in the middle of the bay as Latooni arranged a suitable seat for him. The mouse looked up as Lefina entered and gave her a scowl before going back to her task. Lefina quickly slipped into a seat along the side of the bay and looked down at her hands. Sarath's glance rested on her for a moment and then left her.

He stepped forwards and walked through the door leading to the cockpit. Behind the controls a young badger was preparing the ship for launch. He jumped as Sarath entered, bowing slightly before looking up. "We're ready to depart at your order my lord."

"Good, let us not waste any more time. We'll depart immediately, signal the other ship."

[Tallulah Sonne]

"I do believe I'll have to keep that in mind then." I performed the same gesture in return. It was an odd gesture to me, but I wanted to become used to the feeling. As Tanya caught up and I gave a most generous smile in Tanya's direction. "Do not worry. I have been studying this planet in whatever time I have had to spare. I will try to follow through with what I have read. It should be helpful."

So I would hope. Jonin and I had spent quite a few Earthen evenings together reading about the world. He had always been fascinated in the planets we had traversed and his enthusiasm had found its way inside my own heart. Even if I was not reading, I would often hear something new if I just happened upon him during an errand. I would have liked to believe that my knowledge was very extensive, but I doubted it greatly with how limited my time had been to its study and the endless resources left me with only finishing roughly under a fourth of them. That was only the minimal resources the ship had, too.

I found myself following the puma into the cockpit. There really wasn't anything else I could do at the moment.

[Sarath Crescent]

As Roxanna and Tallulah entered the cockpit the pilot was already prepping for launch. He glanced over his shoulder as they entered but otherwise fixed his attentiopn on the task at hand. Ahead of them two large metal doors blocked the exit to the bay. Slowly they slid open revealing the Monoceros' hull and the mountainous landscape beyond.

A loud roar to their left signalled that the other transport had just fired up her engines. Its rear tail booms rose into the air, propelled by a large jet engine mounted on the end of each one. A moment later the thrusters mounted on its wing tips also fired sending the craft gracefully into the air. A moment after this her main engines fired sending her slowly out of the bay.

"My respects ladies but you may wish to hold onto something," stated the pilot in a light tone. He slowly moved his hands to the controls and pulled a few back. Roxanna slowly took hold of a handle mounted beside the door with one hand as the engines roared to life and shortly afterwards sent the crafts sailing out of the bay after its companion.

On the other craft Sarath was watching the lift off from the cockpit also. He played his hands back and forth over his sword handle and then settled himself into a seat behind and to the side of the pilot. He quickly ran her hand over the console and tapped a few commands into the panel. A screen lit up in front of him, "Roxanna my dear, are you there?"

A moment later the pumas face appeared on the screen as Roxanna assumed a similar seat in the cockpit of her craft. "As always my Lord."

"Good, I assume Tallulah is present also?"

Roxanna gave a gentle nod and beckoned for Tallulah to join her at the communication screen.

"Excellent, now that we are on our way I shall go over a few more details. You will have to take your team in carefully. I understand that this world has primitive radar and will detect your approach should you fly too high or approach from an obvious angle. I would suggest that you locate a suitable landing site away from any major population areas and proceed into the city on foot. Tallulah I understand that you have been studying this worlds culture and history. As Roxanna has been incapacitated as of late she has been unable to fill this role. I would like to leave an social interactions to you and if you would inform Roxanna of any important information you've found it would help."

"Keep communications to a minimum, I doubt they could trace our signals but we do not wish to make things obvious. If you find anything interesting you can relay it to this ship in a data stream, that should be less noticable. I shall contact you in time for a status report. Good luck."

With that Sarath gave a small nod of his head and cut the link. To their port side the first transport peeled off and headed away on a different heading. Roxanna slowly turned to Tallulah. "It seem you may already have caught our Lord's ear. You have my cooperation."

On Sarath's transport the fox settled himself into a seat for their journey. He had a rising sense of confidence in the abilities of Roxanna and Tallulah. Roxanna was no fool and knew how to use a good resource...and Tallulah was proving to be both loyal and intelligent. Tanya was always a loose cannon but he was hoping that she'd provide the other girls with the distraction they would need to acquire the required information.

His own team was bothering him though. Whilst Latooni was loyal and obedient she was also a violent unpredictable asset. He hoped that a simple search would not cause her to enrage. Lefina was fast sliding down his good books. Until recently she had been second to Roxanna in his priase but now she was bottom of the pile, even below Tallulah. She had always been rather outspoken but until recently had never directly questioned his orders. He would have to watch her closely.

Lefina herself was still sat huddled in a corner of the cargo bay with her head in her hands. Behind her furry paws a number of tears rolled down her face. "Forgive me my Lord...please forgive me..." she murmured to herself.

[If you wanna split this into two other topics we can any time you like.]

[Tallulah Sonne]

[Yeah, sounds feasible. I'm assuming that we'll be moving to Cross Country as well?]

I gave a low formal bow as the others tended to refer to it at Sarath's command. Even though Roxanna had mentioned it earlier, hearing it from the lord himself had really shaken my perception. Something this important was festering in my claws, something that Roxanna herself even could not fully handle. It was both exhilarating and terrifying and I immersed myself in these feelings.

From inside one of my bags, I removed a scribe pamphlet, or notebook as was the common referral. I opened it and began to study the contents, rereading what I had written. I almost had to pause to regain my senses when the writing didn't come to me immediately. It was an embarrassing feeling. There I was reading my own tongue and I had nearly forgotten it from days of studying the common word of the ones on the planet we now found ourselves stranded on. I knew a lot about the world now. But it wouldn't hurt to keep my mind fresh. I settled into one of the seats and continued to read for the while as the ship soared off to our destination.