FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 1

"Breaking the Wall"

Celestis Station drifted in space, almost 3 light hours away from the twin pulsars in the Cazaid system. The station was ancient in construction, dating back at least 600,000 years, built by a long-gone civilization seemingly as an experiment as to whether pulsar beams could be used as a source of power. The experiment seemed successful, but as to what happened to the creators, no one is certain.

Eventually, the Skoll'zhatis Alliance, representative of the three worlds of the Skoll'zhat system, Nycori, Nithar and Canar, found the station, partially restored it before deciding it would make an excellent transit hub and commerce post. They brought in the Azuran Galactic Alliance, a much more vast interstellar alliance they were a member of, to restore the station fully and now it sits as a beacon of prosperity in the Jyntalos Sector.

Once the SCV Kosa'var had docked, Zhalvir retrieved the cargo they were carrying from the ship vault and gated over to the station transit hub. He was a black Nitharian Forgebreed Lycan with a decent build, his fur slightly iridescent and showing random colors in light and his eyes also iridescent, ranging from blue to green. He a wore red tank top, a black leather armory bracer on his left forearm, a long black leather coat and black leather pants, and carried a blade in a scabbard on his belt.

He looked around at the busy hub, carrying two large crates of cargo, one in each hand. He headed off in the direction of the sign labeled "Celestia Plaza". Zhal worked his way through the corridors of the plaza of the immense station, greeting the owners of various kiosks and shops along the way, looking for Theilak's Tavern.

He stepped into the expansive tavern, moving around tables before getting to the counter where a tallish red, white and black-furred Vulpyran fox, dressed in a black suit, was standing. "Hey Theilak! Here you go, your cases of Hyvaxian and Vulpyran spices, as promised." Zhal hefted them up effortlessly, placing them quietly on the counter.

"Zhalvir, good to see you again!" The Vulpyran smiled. "Excellent. I was worried we'd run out before you got here. Here's your payment." He slides over a case in return. He then tried to pick up his cases and struggled a bit, almost dropping them on the floor behind the counter, "Oof, you brought a lot this time."

"I brought extra, I hope that's okay." Zhalvir grinned, "Did you want me to move the cases somewhere else? I don't mind."

"This feels like double what I asked for!" Theilak shook his head, "Nah, I'll take care of them later. I can just open the cases and remove the containers individually. And you didn't have to do that, it's expensive. Ah well, I'll give you a credit on anything you get here in the near future, depending how much you brought, deal?"

"Deal," The iridescent black Lycan smiled. "Thank you Theilak. I don't eat much, obviously, but my crew will appreciate it. Also, the supplier offered twice the amount for only 50% more, since they were trying to bring in new stock. I'll pass that along to you." Zhal sat onto one of the stools by the bar. "So, how have things been here? I haven't been able to stop by much lately, have been mostly on the other side of the quadrant." Zhal took his payment.

"Oh it's been on and off. It's been a bit slow, we don't have a whole lot of traffic lately. Mostly locals stopping by." The Vulpyran gestured with his arm.

"It seems like it. Don't think I've seen this station so quiet." He looked around the tavern, spotting a brown and white Nitharian Lycan sitting by himself in a corner. He had a decent build, had piercing golden eyes, wore a tight blue tank top, black leather pants and had a scabbard with an ornate blade hilt in it, and an armory bracer on his left forearm. There was some dried blood on his right shoulder. He seemed to be focused on reading something on his holodisplay. "What happened to him? I've seen him around before."

Theilak looked over at him, "Oh, Ravanos? He's another cargo runner. Usually keeps to himself. I... found him near the airlocks earlier, unconscious. Apparently a Rha'kahari leopard ambushed him, slashed his arm, knocked him out and stole his cargo. I heard the commotion but arrived too late. He didn't say much, refused treatment and produced his own medkit, and treated himself. I insisted he come to the tavern for free food and drink to recover, and he ordered a mug of Nitharian krathar, has been keeping to himself since."

Zhal sighed, "Ravanos... Why that name..."

The Vulpyran blinked, "What about his name?"

"Nevermind." The black Lycan rubbed the back of his neck. "He almost stabbed and shot me last time I ran into him," Zhalvir said, "I don't know what I did."

"You should be careful with that one. You probably didn't do anything, but he seems to have some trust issues."

"Getting robbed of cargo will do that to you," Zhal replied. "Can you give me a damp towel?"

Theilak shook his head, "It's more than that. He's pretty much always like that." He blinked, "You gonna clean his blood off? That might the worst idea you've had yet." He got out a towel, dampened it and handed to him. "He's definitely one that would bite."

"I like getting bit," Zhal grinned, taking the towel, looked the brown Lycan over for a long moment, before standing up, "Wish me luck. I'm going to talk to him."

Theilak blinked, "Be careful Zhal!"

The brown Lycan was lost in reading some reports when he looked up at the iridescent black Lycan approaching his table. He placed his hand on the hilt of his blade, "Don't come any closer. Last thing I need is another fucking pirate today." He spoke out. Zhalvir stopped in his tracks.

"Rav, do not fight in my establishment, please," Theilak called out, "I will kick you out if I have to."

Ravanos smiled to the Vulpyran, "Don't worry, I'll make it as clean as possible." He turned to the Lycan, "Well? Leave."

"I'm not a pirate," Zhalvir didn't budge. "I just want to talk."

"Well, got some balls on this one. What do you want to talk about?" The Lycan inquired, tightening his hand on his blade. "And what's with the towel?"

"A job? I want to help you, if I can." Zhal held his hands out front to show he was not dangerous. "And I just want to help with that," He said, indicating the Lycan's shoulder.

Ravanos laughed. "You want to... help... me? Seriously?" Ravanos rolled his eyes, his hand still resting on the hilt of his blade. "Do I look like I need help? And I already healed this earlier. It's just dried blood."

Zhalvir nodded. "To be honest, yes. Like I said, I want to offer you a job."

Ravanos eyed him for a moment, "Hmm, you're still standing here, you've definitely got balls." He nodded to the other seat, "Sit."

"Thank you, I'd like to think they're my best feature." Zhal winked, taking a seat across from the Lycan.

"Snrk... Ahem," Rav contained a laugh, though his tail did swish a couple times, "Okay, you have a sense of humor too. Bonus points."

Zhal nodded and smiled, "Thank you. This is better than last time already. You almost stabbed and shot me."

Ravanos stared at him for a moment, "I did? You mean I missed?" He looked a little closer, "Wait, now I recognize you. You're that Nitharian that I ran into on Argosi Prime at the Stormspire Exchange. Looked a bit lost, asked me where a vendor was." He rubbed his muzzle, "Thanks for not pressing charges, I guess. Are you following me? No one's that crazy."

"No, I'm just another cargo runner." He chuckled, "You just happened to be the closest person I could ask at the time. As I said, I want to offer you a job on my ship. And... I'll admit, your name caught my attention." Zhal unbuckled his blade and placed it on the table, and detached his armory bracer from his left forearm, placing it by the blade, pushing them in the Lycan's direction. "I'm unarmed."

Ravanos blinked, "My name?" He eyed the Lycan's weapons, "You know that's a pretty bad idea, right?"

Zhal looked up at him, "I've known one other person who chose that name, and... I don't like that there are those that feel they can't rely on anyone enough to choose it." He nodded to his weapons, "I don't want to be threatening."

"One can still be threatening without weapons you know." Rav still kept his hand on the hilt of his blade, "And this is getting awfully personal. Yes, I chose the name Lone Hunter because I realized that I could almost never count on anyone except myself, and a select few, like my former Captain." He let his weapon go, "So, how is it you feel you can help me? And what's YOUR name?"

Zhal blinked, "Oh, forgive me. I'm Zhalvir Sironis Procyonis. And I want to give you a job and a home where you know you can rely on those around you."

Rav blinked, "'Seeker of Peace'? That's quite a name too. And you're a Procyonis? As in the trade pack? So, you're not a pirate or marauder?"

Zhal smiled, "My name is who I am. And yes, I'm a part of the trade pack. And I certainly wouldn't be 4th Order in it if I were a pirate." Zhal chuckled. He held up the towel, "Do you mind? That blood really doesn't look good on your fur."

"4thOrder?" Rav said, slightly shocked. "Well, if you were a pirate, Procyonis would be hunting you," Rav grinned. "And so would Altieris." He gestured at his holodisplay, "But I haven't seen any reports of pirates with your description." He dismissed the display, then looked at the blood staining his fur, then sighed and nodded, "Sure, go ahead."

"I've done that! Hunting pirates and marauders is fun!" Zhal laughed, standing up to step over to the brown Lycan, cleaning the blood off his shoulder, patting the damp towel on his arm, trying to not smear the blood. He could tell, even through his thick fur, the Lycan was well muscled. "And I always catch my prey. Do you mind telling me your packs?"

"Major pack only. I'm a 6th Order Altieris. I only have my Origin pack, and I'm not comfortable telling you that yet." He offered his paw.

"An Altieris?" Zhal blinked took his paw and squeezed gently, "Honored to meet you. And thank you for not stabbing or shooting me this time." He grinned, finishing cleaning the blood and rubbing the fur gently back down on his shoulder. "There we go. You know, you've got beautiful fur." He sat back down across from the Lycan.

He looked at his shoulder, nodding in appreciation, "Thank you. I try to keep it well-kept. Except when, you know, getting stabbed," He smiled, giving a wink. "Get betrayed often enough and you get jumpy after a while." He smiled, "Mind if I verify you?"

"Please," Zhal replied.

"He brought up his holodisplay, looking up details on Zhalvir. "Well, definitely a 4th Order Procyonis, Administrator of Zhalvir Shipping for 39 years. Owner of the Firehaven Class ship SCV Kosa'var, crew of 5 including yourself." Rav nodded after a moment, dismissing the holodisplay. "Okay, I'm impressed. I am sorry for my aggression towards you. One can't be too careful." He pushed the black Lycan's weapons back across the table.

"You're using an Azuran link, not a Nitharian link? That can't be very efficient." Zhalvir took his weapons, placing them back on his belt and wrist. "So would you be interested in joining my crew?" Zhalvir asked. "I could very much use an experienced command officer."

"I have my reasons for using an Azuran link. Private reasons. And in most cases Azuran and Nitharian tech are similar, only different networks." He blinked, "You need a Captain?" Ravanos asked, "I'm not sure I'm qualified for that."

"I think you are," Zhal Said, a sly grin on his face. "What I could see of your record said you were a member of the Skoll'zhatis Alliance for nearly 30 years."

"You looked up my Alliance record!?" He looked rather annoyed at that. Then his expression softened, "Does it say I'm a fugitive?"

Zhal blinked at the question, "No, should it?"

Rav chuckled and shook his head, "Nah, just curious. I haven't looked at my own record in the Nitharian network in some time, trying to put it behind me."

Zhal nodded. There was something more serious about the question Rav asked than he was letting on, but he didn't want to push the issue, at least for now. "Sorry about doing that without permission. As I said, your name caught my interest and I was curious. It's not a very common name. I didn't dig too deep though, a lot of it is classified anyways. And I didn't look into why you left, that's none of my business."

Rav thought for a moment, sighing. He seemed relieved. "I guess I can understand that, my name does bring up questions more often than I like. I guess could give it a try."

The black Lycan smiled, "Okay, we can go shortly. First, I must apologize for Argosi Prime. I was searching for a particular vendor and switched on my facial recognition uplink. And that's when I first picked up your name. I would not have normally done that, but the shipment was extremely time sensitive and the vendor was being elusive."

Rav blinked, then unexpectedly laughed, "So it was you that flagged me there. You're honest to a fault Zhalvir. Thank you for telling me." He smiled, and rubbed the bridge of his muzzle, "And I should apologize too. My aggression at Stormspire was because I got a warning from my ship that I had been identified. Thought someone was tracking me. You just took a lot of weight off of my shoulders."

Zhal chuckled, "Glad I could help. Well how about we try to get your cargo back?" Zhal smiled.

Rav shook his head, "I already canceled that shipment. I doubt I could get it back," he shrugged, "I'm used to it."

"T-that's not something you should be getting used to." Zhal gave him a side-eye, "You should un-cancel it. It's going to leave a black mark on your record otherwise. I can help you get it back."

Rav nodded, and brought up his holodisplay again to restore the shipment status. "Okay, shipment's been restored. So how do we get it back?"

"First, lets start with where it happened, and what was this shipment you lost?" Zhal brought up his holodisplay.

"Well, I lost it on this station while I was picking it up and taking it to my ship, to a Rha'kahari leopard who snuck up on me near airlock L32, slashed my arm as I was reaching for my blade and knocked me unconscious with some kind of energy weapon. Woke up to a massive headache, missing cargo and Theilak checking me over, trying to get details on the whole thing. I was already rather embarrassed enough with what happened, didn't feel like spilling everything to a bartender. That was about 3 hours ago." Rav shrugged, "He's probably long gone. The cargo was a case of unrefined praxcillium crystals."

"Fuck, praxcillium crystals? That's an expensive shipment, but also unusual, so should be traceable." He brought up additional information on his holodisplay. "Okay, let's see here. I doubt he'd leave immediately, all the airlocks have sensors on them to track stolen shipments and would put the station on lockdown. He won't leave through the gateway terminal either, that cargo would be flagged instantly as stolen. His only option is... the lower levels, possibly?" Zhalvir started a scan across the entire station. "Seriously, a Rha'kahari? That's disappointing."

Rav nodded, "As I've learned time and again, you can't trust anyone."

"I hope I can prove you wrong." Zhal continued to look over the scans of the station, before noticing Rav seeming to be focusing on something behind him, his eyes widened somewhat. Zhal turned around, "Did you see something?"

Rav seemed to be trembling a little, "N-no. It was nothing."

"Your respiratory and heart rate are elevated. Are you sure you didn't see anything?"

"How the fuck do you know that!? And no, I fucking didn't! P-please stop asking!" Rav seemed rather annoyed, shaking a little.

Zhal blinked, "I'm sorry, it's force of habit, I didn't mean to be intrusive. I'm a Forgebreed."

"A Forgebreed?" Rav blinked, "Who runs a cargo business? I'm surprised you're not in the Alliance."

Zhal shrugged, "I tried that. It wasn't for me. I prefer more freedom than being in the Alliance allows."

"I can understand that. Just please keep the scans on me to a minimum?" He smiled, "I can say every Forgebreed I've ever worked with has been the most trustworthy though. And I should've caught your odd fur coloring sooner. The iridescence of your fur mixing with the black... It's beautiful."

"Thank you, I'm glad you like it." Zhal smiled, "I'm very glad you like working with Forgebreeds. I'm one of two on my ship, the other doubles as a medic and the ship avatar. I didn't actually scan you. My eyes just let me see a much wider spectrum, and I can see slight movements much more easily, so all that comes in whether I want it to or not. I'll try to back off on that though, for you."

Rav nodded, "Thank you, very much appreciate it. I don't get along with doctors, either, for the record." As Zhal continued to look over the scans of the station, Rav chimed in, "I hope you realize I don't consider this more than a fun distraction and I'm waiting for the moment you betray me like everyone else..."

Zhal chuckled, "Asero isn't really a doctor. He is fun to be around though." Zhal blinked, "Really? And I thought we were getting along pretty well."

"I've gotten along with people before Zhalvir. And it's usually gotten me stabbed in the back. I'm not convinced this is any different," Rav shrugged. "And you're offering me a Captaincy on your ship! That's the best job offer one I've gotten yet."

Zhal sighed, "I hope I pleasantly surprise you then, on my honor as a 4thOrder Procyonis. And please, call me Zhal." Zhal hesitated for a moment, before speaking again. "I am sorry about this, but I need to ask you something." He paused for a moment, "Did you give up?"

Rav blinked, "Give up? What do you mean?"

Zhal shrugged, "Well, you seem like an experienced fighter to me. You even have a masterwork Skoll'zhatis blade. How did a Rha'kahari sneak up on you?"

The brown wolf looked a bit frustrated, "I-I'm not sure, I guess I wasn't paying attention."

"But you saw the leopard." Zhal shook his head. "I can see the quoron particle emissions from your Tak'roki armor. So I'm even more surprised someone could get a hit in. Nitharian hearing and sense of smell are unmatched. So I ask again, how did a Rha'kahari sneak up on you?"

Rav growled at the question, his claws practically digging into the table, "I had to have been distracted by something... And I didn't have my armor activated at the time."

"If you were to attack me now, I would have my armor activated before you had a chance to stand," Zhal narrowed his eyes at the Lycan. "The activation of Tak'roki armor by an experienced Skoll'zhatis warrior should be a reflex, Ravanos. Even if you missed the sound and smell of that Rha'kahari, the second you saw it was a leopard, you should've instinctively activated your armor, and you didn't."

Rav was breathing rather heavily, seeming very aggravated. "Maybe I'm not an experienced Skoll'zhatis warrior," He growled through his teeth.

"No offense, but that's bullshit. You served in the Skoll'zhatis Alliance for nearly 30 years. That's plenty of time to get intimately acquainted with Skoll'zhatis weaponry, defenses and fighting skills." Zhal gazed intensely into Rav's eyes, "Look, Ravanos. I want to help you, but I still feel somewhat like you let this happen to you. You could've been killed," Zhal said, looking concerned. "The only reason I brought this up is if I do hire you, I need to know we can rely on you as much as you would rely on us."

Rav looked like he was seething for a moment, piercingly gazing back at Zhal, before he closed his eyes, and took some deep breaths. "Y-you're very perceptive, Zhalvir. You're seeing things about me I haven't even noticed about myself." Rav sighed. "I am so fed up with my situation, and I let my guard down because of it." He rested his face in his paws, staying quiet for a long moment. "That was fucking reckless of me. If you do hire me Zhal, I will not let that happen again. I won't let you down." He gazed back into Zhal's eyes, obviously embarrassed at being exposed. "You can rely on me."

Zhal nodded, and smiled, "That's all I ask, Ravanos. I want to make sure you want to do this. That you want my help."

Rav seemed to have calmed down, having thought about what happened, and smiled, "You... You're already helping me. Please call me Rav." He looked down at the table. "I'm... I'm just so tired of not trusting people."

As Zhal looked over the Lycan, he could see a hint of sadness behind his eyes despite the smile, "I can tell. I will do whatever I can to earn your trust."

Rav gazed at Zhal for a long moment. "You got me curious now. You know an awful lot about the Alliance for not being a member."

Zhal shrugged, "Just because I'm not a member of the Alliance doesn't mean I haven't done my research. I did want to join at one point, but I didn't fit in there."

Rav shook his head, "I mean your combat experience. It sounds like you've been through a lot more than what you've told me."

"Because I have," Zhal grinned, "I've been in this job for 39 years. I took some combat training through Procyonis so I could deal with pirates, marauders and other adversaries."

Rav chuckled and nodded, "Sorry, I forgot you've been at this almost as long as I've been alive."

Zhal blinked, "Oh, we're close to the same age?"

Rav smiled, "I'm 48. I'm guessing you're around 40, 42 active years?"

"You were talking as if your life was over, you still got at least a good 250 years on ya," Zhal chuckled and nodded, "I'm 42. So I was building my business while you were still a pup."

"Heh, don't remind me," Rav sighed, and smiled, "Well, I'm glad to be working with someone more experienced in trade than me then."

Zhal eyed the Lycan, "You... really don't sound happy about that. Are you sure you're okay?"

Rav sighed, "Yeah, it's just... long way to go still." He rested his face in his paws for a moment, "Wish I could say more, but it unfortunately starts with C-L and ends in assified."

Zhal stifled a snicker at that, before realizing what he just said, "Oh, I'm sorry." He eyed Rav sympathetically. "Well, I'll do whatever I can to help you, I hope you know that."

Rav smiled, "It's okay, I was trying put a little humor into my situation. And thank you, I really appreciate it, but as I said, you're already helping me."

Zhal smiled and nodded, "Well, I'm here for ya if you ever need to talk more." The holodisplay suddenly lit up in a specific location, deep beneath the asteroid the space station was built into. "Fucking Elements, they're deep in the lower levels. Near the pulsar shield, too. Fuck, that's gonna make gating in and out impossible."

"I've got a fold array on my ship, I'll be able to get us out," Rav smiled, "How close of a gate can you open down there?"

"Really? I don't even have a fold array, that will help immensely." He checked the scans. "Let's see... about 150 meters out. My question is what are they doing down there? There's nothing but the pulsar accumulator." Zhal continued to scan the location.

Rav shrugged, stretching his arms above his head, "Good question. Those sections are off limits. Shall we prepare ourselves and head down there then?"

Theilak joined the two at the table as they chatted, "You're planning on going to the lower levels?"

Zhal and Rav blinked at the Vulpyran as he sat down with the two, "Uhh, yeah." Zhal replied. "We're trying to find Rav's cargo."

Theilak looked between the two, "You... you do realize I'm head of station security, yes?"

Zhal and Rav both blinked, "No actually, I didn't," Zhal said.

"Me either, never had to come to you before." Rav replied. "Does explain why you were asking me so many questions earlier though."

"Sorry, I probably should've said something then, you probably thought it was weird that a barkeep was interrogating you." Theilak chuckled, "Being owner of the tavern makes my job surprisingly easy sometimes."

Rav laughed, "That would've made me more forthcoming, yes."

"Will keep that in mind for next time." Theilak smiled, "Well, I can help you get down there. Sure as Firefall there shouldn't be anyone in that section, and I'm wondering why my internal sensors didn't pick them up." Theilak eyed the display. He brought his own holodisplay up, checking, "Huh, they've been redirected." He turned to the two Lycans, "We should probably move soon, they might notice our scans."

Zhal nodded, "Agreed. I was gonna open a gate 150 meters from the location here, since the pulsar shield is preventing us from getting closer."

Theilak blinked, "I'm surprised you can get that close. Closest the internal gateway system can get is 300 meters with all the interference the pulsars are putting out."

Rav looked over the data, "Once we get down there, how long until the pulsar sweeps along that section give us a fatal radiation exposure?"

The Vulpyran checked his own scans, "The shields hold it back pretty well, so radiation shouldn't be an issue. But the interference prevents a lot of other equipment from functioning." He looked to Rav, "You have an Archivist ship, so you must have a fold array."

Rav nodded, "Yep, that's right."

Zhal blinked at Rav, "Wait, you're an Archivist?"

Rav sighed, "Yeah, on reserve. Is that a problem?" He seemed to be getting a little annoyed again.

"No, not at all. But I know how outsiders look at Archivists." Zhal shrugged, "I just understand why you're so defensive all the time now."

Rav smiled, "That would be a part of it, yes. That's why I'm not wearing the badge now." He seemed to remember something and rubbed his face with his paw, "Skoll's fucking fiery balls. Speaking of badges. I think that Rha'kahari was a member of Swords of Ya'Rati."

Zhal's eyes widened, "Fucking seriously? You only remembered now?"

"Sorry, I've had a lot on my mind," Rav growled, "That wasn't high on my list at the time."

Zhal smiled, "It's okay Rav. We can still work with this, though we'll need to be prepared for anything. I can have my ship scan for anything at the back side of the asteroid, make sure there are no surprises."

The Vulpyran sighed, "...This is gonna be a nightmare. Last thing I need is a pirate syndicate on my station." Theilak growled. "I'm gonna try to get more of my team down there."

Rav shook his head, "The more we have down there, the more deaths we risk if the pulsar shield fails. If you send anyone, have them wait outside the secondary shield in case we need backup."

Theilak nodded, "Good point. I'll contact the station Captain and let him know I have Altieris and Procyonis representatives here to help, should be enough for them." He then stepped away from the table for a moment to contact station ops.

Zhal held up a fist at Rav, "On the plus side, this will fill our quota for pirate hunting for our respective packs."

Rav grinned, and bumped fists with Zhal, "Fuck yes it will."

It was about then that Zhal spotted a familiar Rha'kahari tiger walking past the tavern. "Hey, Lycosi!" He shouted.

The tiger looked around before seeing Zhal in the tavern, smiling as he walked up to the group. "Hey, Zhal! What's up?"

Zhal smiled, "Lycosi, this is Ravanos. He's thinking about joining our crew as Captain. Rav, this is Lycosi, my ship's tactical and security. Plus a mean cook."

Lycosi smiled at the brown and white Lycan, "Pleased to meet you." He chuckled, "And he means I'm a mean cook because I don't let anyone near the galley when I'm cooking. Plus I'm good at it, I guess."

Rav laughed, "Well, if end up accepting I'll have to keep clear of the galley when you're there." He smiled, "Pleased to meet you too," He offered his paw to the tiger. Lycosi took it firmly and shook. "Sorry if I seem a bit subdued. I'm used to working alone."

Lycosi nodded and smiled, "No worries. You'll find we're a very relaxed crew if you join us."

Rav smiled, "One step at the time. For right now, we're working on a plan to get my cargo back."

"From the Swords of Ya'Rati apparently," Zhal added. "We'll need you back on the ship shortly to handle... Well, potentially shooting other ships."

Lycosi blinked, "Wow, Ya'Rati is here?"

Just then Theilak returned to the table, "Yep, that they are." He turned to Rav, "Hey, you couldn't use your fold array to bring us any closer, could you?"

Rav shook his head, "Sadly, no. While the fold array's reach is infinite, it requires live sensor data of the destination to make sure you don't end up stuck in something, and with all the interference the pulsars are putting out, my sensors can't reach there any better than Zhal's or yours. I won't be able to get us any closer than the gateways, plus if you haven't gone through a fold in a while, it can make you queezy."

Theilak nodded, "So, it's the gateway only then to get in then. I haven't used fold in a couple years at least, so I'm probably on the queezy list."

Zhal nodded, "Yeah, we really don't need you incapacitated as soon as we get in there." He looked at Rav, "So, I guess we're ready?"

"I think so yeah," Rav replied. "Got my weapons and armor ready."

Theilak grinned, "Yeah, about that. Don't bring weapons in here in the future. They're banned unless you're station personnel."

Rav chuckled, "Will do. Keeping my armor ready though."

Theilak nodded, "Of course, I wouldn't expect you to give it up. Sometimes weapons do sneak through."

The Rha'kahari tiger who'd been watching the exchange finally spoke up, "So what's the plan for getting Ravanos' cargo back?" he said, as he took a seat at the table with the others.

"Here's what I'll need you to do, Lycosi..." Zhal began.