Cliffside Capers

Posted on Fri Feb 23rd, 2024 @ 5:23am by Lieutenant Marikit "Kit" Urso & Lieutenant JG Orion Wolff

Mission: S1 Episode 7: Prime Factors
Location: L'hur, Sikaris
Timeline: Date 2371-09-14 at 1330
7361 words - 14.7 OF Standard Post Measure

The planet Sikaris was a rather breathtaking world of natural and artificial beauty, well-maintained areas of nature bordered by the artificial landscapes of the native Sikarians. It was all designed to be a paradise world, a world of pleasures at one's fingertips with nothing to stop them from being able to indulge their desires. Orion had decided to come down to the planet, dressed in dark gray leather boat shoes, khaki pants, a light blue polo shirt, and a pair of sunglasses. He was wandering the bazaar, window shopping, and just taking his time moving through the crowds, with no real aim towards where he wanted to go and letting the feeling of it all take him where he desired to go.

He was taking in any of the sights or the hawkers' words for whatever they were trying to pitch him. He was down on the planet to get away from the rumor mill and everything swirling around the altercation between Andrei and Stagg. Stagg's defeat would have marked him as nothing more to be concerned about and if he made trouble, then there were ways of dealing with troublemakers and problematic people. There would be people trying to present Stagg's head to Andrei in the hopes of currying favor.

The exact details varied on who was telling it, such as Andrei beating Stagg handily with no injuries, the fight being so close, Stagg having Andrei on the proverbial ropes before a distraction let Andrei land a sucker punch KO on the XO of the Gladius. The Terran noble personally believed the truth lay somewhere in the middle of everything, given what he knew of both men. Their egos wouldn't allow either to submit, and it would have likely come down to the smallest opening or distraction determining the fight's outcome. He was curious to know how he felt about that since they weren't in a normal Terran situation, and Andrei more or less ruled the roost with no real rivals or opposition power bases. He was down on the planet wandering because he wanted to get away from the ship and felt confined there since he had to readjust to the reality of Terran life.

“What about poems? Do you guys like poems as much as you like stories?”

Marikit’s distinct voice cut through the crowd nearby. She was standing at a food stall holding two skewers with three round balls each on them. The Sikarian man behind the stall looked deep in thought, and a few curious onlookers were just looking at the outsider - maybe trying to get a “free” story themselves at the expense of the stall owner.

She was dressed casually in a dark wash jean, a Terran band shirt, and her favorite leather jacket; she wasn’t out to impress anyone, she was out to explore and have fun. She’d heard about Stagg and Andrei of course, then had to go install some holoemitters in the man’s quarters so he could beat the shit out of holograms while he was living out his punishment. She wasn’t thrilled about any of it, but such was Terran life in the end; Stagg had made his choice to handle the situation like he had and that was on him.

“Come on. I know a funny one.”

"It should be amusing if it is the one you were telling us on the Gladius." Orion spoke up, interjecting himself into the conversation as he approached the stall, more than a little curious as to what she was trying to haggle with the stall owner over. "Though I would have thought getting to meet the greatest engineer in the galaxy would have been story enough."

He teased Kit, but it was all in good fun and he felt that he could at least do that, it felt normal and familiar to him when everything felt less so.

“Oh, hey you. What are you up to down here? Getting into all sorts of trouble?” Kit asked, turning her attention to Orion though still holding the skewers.

"After a fashion, seeing what's good before I decide where to cause trouble," He smirked and looked at the skewers, waving his hand at them. "And just what is it that you have going on here? A new way to fix a warp core injector?"

“Yeah of course. What else do I do with my life?” Kit replied with a challenge, giving up on the story and just throwing the credits on the stall and walking away with the food while assuming Orion would follow.

Orion did follow after the unorthodox woman, falling into step next to her as he glanced over at her with a slight smirk. "I hear you took exception to our Ops Chief, something he said about the Gladius being held together with string and positive thoughts?"

"Oh yeah, he's a pointy eared prick. Seemed pretty friendly with their Orion assistant chief - well, former - engineer, but given she is an Orion that's not exactly the most surprising thing in the world." Kit shrugged. "Just hope she's not the type too busy leaving snail trails around than actually doing work."

"We'll have to wait and see, though it's good to see you're already making new friends...and still as colorful as ever." He shook his head while chuckling in amusement before deciding to ask about Asher. "How is Asher fairing? Is he claiming all he needs to feel better is something stiff to drink and some willing trim?"

“No idea. I haven’t gone to see him or anything.” She used her teeth to slide one of the spheres up the skewer. “What about you? Making any new friends?”

She glanced up at him and then pulled the ball off the skewer to eat it.

"Of a sort, met my second, Ilan, I think you two would get on swimmingly since you both have a rather vivacious flair for adventure." Orion chuckled softly since he figured they would either hate each other or be like two peas in a pod.

"And I met our Chief of Security as well, she's quite the formidable woman."


“Mm? Yeah?” Kit got out around her mouth still being half full of food then returned to chewing while she looked up at Orion. She hadn’t met Cassiel one on one, but knew her relationship with Andrei and if the talk on the ship was to be believed, she was not one to be fucked with.

"I knew Andrei from Earth, there was a time that we ran in the same circles." Orion shared, not ashamed of it but never having felt the need to express it to anyone else really since it didn't come up in conversation often. "Back then his room had a revolving door for all of his conquests to leave and enter, so to see him monogamous tells me that there is something special about her and he's willing to ignore his baser instincts to try for something different."

“Right yeah, they are together. Found that out when someone warned me off of flirting with Andrei. To be fair he flirted right back, so maybe it’s not as monogamous as you think?” Kit offered and shrugged. “Or maybe he just decided it was time to grow up and be a man and not some boy falling dick first into anything willing to spread its legs.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “You can’t tell me you didn’t have your share of fun too, Woofy.”

Orion did his best to not make a face at Kit's suggestion, though it had been something he'd considered given that there had been some time separating when they had last really known one another. "I had my fun, I'm not denying that but I also had to be cognizant of my liaison's, the son of a Dominion Lord doesn't always have the freedom to simply go wandering about like a beast in its rut."

“Why not? Seems like the heir of Russia could; I know there were rumors about Petrov replacing your father as Dominion Lord once he retired from fleet service just because of the power and wealth Russia has been accumulating.” While Kit wasn’t particularly invested in the politicking of the noble families and took a “I just live here” policy about most things, she wasn’t completely out of the loop.

Orion was quiet for a moment, that had been a different thorn in his father's side for the fortunes of the family. "The heir of Russia, while it is a Terran sacred duty to eventually encompass all within the galaxy, do you know what the sudden appearance of a bastard can do to a family's standing? Especially the family of a Dominion Lord? Bastards exist on the rule of best never seen and never heard, if they make themselves known, you acknowledge it and then make sure its quietly forgotten....dalliances are tolerated as long as you are discrete, Andrei is neither discrete nor delicate,"

“I mean, yeah I know bastards are a problem. They are an even bigger problem for married men. You know, that reminds me: I heard that the Captain himself had a bastard daughter on this ship and he claimed her and welcomed her and had her come to family dinners and everything.” Kit chuckled. “Not sure if the man has balls as big as the moon or really hates his wife.”

Kit also was not oblivious to the lot in life of noble women. Strangely, common women certainly had more freedoms and success in life than noblewomen who were chained to the success of their husbands. Truthfully it seemed backward especially when one considered how the Empire had historically been most powerful and prosperous when run by women.

"Or maybe it's just the fact that Ivan Petrov is completely unhinged, and he just decided that he'd mix and match his family." Orion shrugged as he considered what Kit had shared, he'd heard that as well. To him, as a noble, the idea that a bastard child would be so openly accepted into the family was...insulting, to say the very least, and he did wonder what the Petrovs’ marriage was like; perhaps he really did hate his wife.

"Though the entire ship and its crew seems...colorful."

"That's a word for it, sure." Kit chuckled and then took another bite of her food. With her mouth half full, she continued speaking. "Andrei is definitely the unhinged one, so maybe it does come down from daddy. Or maybe it is his raging daddy issues that caused it."

"He's always felt that he's been hidden within his father's shadow; he's expected to outshine and outperform Ivan, who, if the stories are to be believed, destroyed an entire planet," Orion commented in a way that seemed rather matter-of-factly while they discussed Andrei and his family. "Though every child of a noble lord is expected to achieve great things and to outshine their fathers, to lead the next great Terran charge."

He gave a flourish of his hand as if he were swinging and pointing a sword forward before smirking and chuckling. "While I don't hold Andrei in any great esteem or regard, I can understand him to a point given our upbringing, along with the expectations placed upon us."

“Well they call him the Butcher of Rakal because he did give the order to kill millions, and yeah from what I’ve gathered on the ship he decimated species here known as the Ocampa and the Numiri, though I guess he credits Cassiel with the Numiri. Apparently something happened there but I haven’t really had the time to dig into it, way too busy.” Finally, she offered him one of the meat and vegetable filled balls off of the skewer she was eating, but only one. They’d always been cordial enough with each other - not to the point of really being friends, but friendly.

He took the proffered bite, rolling it between his fingers to get a feel for the outside texture before taking a bite and chewing, letting the flavors settle on his tongue and express themselves before he swallowed and popped the rest into his mouth. "Thank you, that's quite delicious, I have heard stories about the Ocampans and the Vidiaans, but I haven't gotten caught up on the Numiri, though I have to say that I'm intrigued about what our Chief of Security's involvement was in that."

"I'd heard about this zipline that takes you over and through a crystalline field, think you might want to join me?"

“Zipline eh? I haven’t been on one of those in years.” Kit mused while she finished off the rest of what was on the skewers and then threw them into a trash can conveniently placed for pedestrians.

“Yeah sure, not like I’m doing anything but wandering and that sounds like it could be quite a view. Thanks.”

"You're welcome," He turned to lead the way toward the hard to miss zipline tower that was off in the distance as he looked over at Kit. "So what's the Engineering situation like? We've come into something of a...how would you put it...we stepped to a giant pile of shit and the stink is lingering, after the ambush."

“Way too many words there, Woofy.” Kit waved her hand slightly. “But yeah it’s a mess and it’s not fun. At least everything has been kept pretty orderly down there between their former chief and assistant chief so I don’t have to also deal with a clusterfuck that way. What about you? I know you’ve got a pretty assistant chief of your own now but how’s the department as a whole?” Kit asked, looking forward to the building as they walked.

"My assistant chief preferred it when there wasn't anyone actually in charge of our merry little band, as the previous person to hold my position was rather hands off and one of those cybernetics-obsessed types with some rather peculiar views regarding humanity and the integration of cybernetics into the general populace." He replied while looking around at the stalls and the people crowding around them. There were too many aliens, but they were but two beings in the greater rush that surrounded them. "Though I've managed to clean out the office quite thoroughly, while I'm not a doctor, I believe that she had begun to fall into some sort of psychosis as some of the later logs I was able to access read more like ramblings rather than coherent thoughts.

“Well, too much cybernetic shit does that to you. I wouldn’t go near that if I had any choice in the matter, honestly. Some can be beneficial but… eh… rarely worth it. Fucks with your mind and the rest of your body.” Kit shook her head and shook her hands like she was trying to get rid of something.

"While from a purely scientific standpoint, the degradation in her writing is fascinating, like when you pull at a loose string and end up unraveling a whole tapestry," Orion admitted and he had been studying the psychological effects of cybernetics on the human psyche and had made use of some interactive medical programs to have the process broken down to be more easily understood. Though It would remain a side project of his since he didn't see any particular way that it could be readily weaponized.

"Though I do find your reaction to be a little surprising since as an engineer I thought you would like to be able to more easily connect with the tech you regularly work on."

"Hells no. Trust me I connect with it just fine without turning myself into part machine. No engineer worth their salt would ever recommend that kind of nonsense outside of the smallest degree." Kit shook her head and sighed. "Some of it's fine, I guess."

"Now that's not the kind of ringing endorsement for technology that I've come to expect from you," Orion teased, shooting her a playful grin before shaking his head as they approached the line leading up to the ziplines. "I'm of the opinion, if you've lost a limb or need a replacement organ, that is fine but to needlessly modify your body, I feel there is something else beneath the surface, something rooted in your own head that makes you feel you need to do that."

“They usually think they are people who think they are better than everyone else to begin with and tech will just enhance that. Reality is they just suck at life and have a giant inferiority complex to boot. Holy shit this line is long.” Kit crossed her arms and leaned out to look at the rest of the people lined up.

There were about a dozen people in front of them, the line was moving but it seemed to be moving at a snail's pace as Orion looked out over the heads of the crowd, considering the situation as his gaze shifted to the tower and he watched as several indistinct figures seemed to go flying off into the air. A few minutes later the same thing happened. "It looks like they are staggering the trips, maybe five or ten minutes between them."

“I should just leave you here to wait and come back in an hour.” Kit grumbled, clearly unimpressed with the situation he had dragged her into.

"If you feel you must, I'm not going to stop you," He replied absentmindedly, his expression tightened a little as he thought about a way to change their position as he looked to the attendant at the head of the line letting people through. "These people barter with stories, yes?"

"Yeah, or money. They really like money too, but sometimes you can tempt them with a story." She replied and shrugged slightly. "Why, got an idea?"

"I was thinking perhaps we might have a story or two that we could share to try and get ahead of the line, maybe the story about the time we managed to escape that swarm of duranium-devouring pests in that asteroid field," He offered up, to see if she thought that might be a good enough story to barter with.

"Well don't let me stop you from giving it a go." Kit replied with a bit of a smirk and looked at him expectantly. She was curious to see if he could pull off something that would entertain these people - entertaining wasn't really a quality she attributed to Orion - or really any noble.

"Mmmm, I see you doubt oratory skills," He smirked and turned, marching up to the attendant and clearing his throat to get the alien man's attention. "I was hoping that I might be able to barter for a better place in line for myself and my companion, possibly even the next to go up?" He spoke confidently, putting forth his best face to the alien as he met the man's eyes directly. "A story for our place,"

The Sikarian man lifted a brow. He was young, probably barely out of his teenage years who looked tired and possibly a bit hungover. Still, even he was aware of the Terrans that had come to visit Sikaris, and these two exuded "outsider". Lifting his bony shoulders in a shrug, he waved a hand. "If it's a good story... we'll see."

"It should be an exciting story," Orion confidently assured the young man as he cleared his throat to tell the tale. "My friend and I are initially from the Gladius; our ship has been plucked from the furthest reaches of the galaxy and flung far from home."

"All alone in the night in a foreign part of space, we set ourselves to finding a way back home. This particular adventure saw us being hounded by Kazon pirates, three ships; it was testing our pilot's skills to avoid the lances of blue energy that pirates fired in hopes of crippling our ship." He continued, drawing on his oratory training, though he did admit that it was rather rusty and the Terran noble had to resolve that later. For now, he was focused on his audience of one. "I alerted the captain and the pilot to the presence of a debris field, and we decided to take cover within it, powering down once we'd found a suitable piece of wreckage to use as cover from our pursuers."

He paused briefly to see if he could gauge the young alien's interest in the story.

Orion considered his tactics but didn't see how else he could make the story more exhilarating, maybe with details of some sort. "As we lay hidden within the debris field, my crew mates and I held our breath, waiting for any sign that we had been discovered; he could hear the creaking of the ship, heard the scraping of metal on metal as another piece of debris had dragged across our hull, causing us to expect the worst, we waited again for the hammer to drop, but nothing came of it."

"Taking care, we set about working to repair our ship so that we could get back underway, we discovered another problem that was more immediate, the piece of debris that impacted our hull had carried with it a lifeform of some kind that fed off of duranium, and it was discovered in a truly grisly fashion as one of my crew who was making repairs in that section was suck through the hole that had been eaten through the hull itself, turned into a slurry-like paste." He watched the unimpressed youth but continued since he didn't seem like he wanted Orion to stop. "So it was that we were trapped between two dangers: stay and have our ship devoured from beneath our very feet or charge out, uncertain as to whether our pursuers were lying in wait, a terrible choice to be made, but the longer we waited, the more dangerous it became for us."

"So it was that my friend and I devised an ingenious solution, we were able to find a way to cleanse the lifeform from our hull, then captured a piece of the infected debris with magnetic tow cables, then with the spirit that paved the Terran way to the stars, we burst forth from the debris, dragging the piece of hull with us and as the lead Kazon ship loomed before us, our tactical officer released the cables and used the tractor beam of our ship to hurl the jagged shard into the ship like a dagger piercing the heart of an enemy, our sudden appearance and attack threw the pirates into disarray, we were able to make our escape to safety so I could bring you this story today."

At the description of the science officer’s grisly demise, a few of the Sikarians scoffed at Orion and moved out of line of their own volition, seeming finding that preferable to such a gory tale being weaved. Thankfully for Orion, he was talking to a barely out of teen boy, so if anything he probably thought someone getting turned into a blood and flesh slurry was “cool”.

Kit shifted her weight from one foot to the other and then looked around at nothing before she leaned to the side to look down the line and see if whoever was getting launched next was clearing out.

“Why didn’t you just use weapons on the Kazon though?” The attendant asked.

"Before we had entered the debris field, it has been a running battle and we had managed to disable one of the pirate ships, but eventually they had been knocked offline and with the danger posed to the ship, we didn't have the luxury of time and had to get creative in ways to create an opening and deter pursuit....a calculated risk but one that paid off for us " Orion explained to the best of his ability but Kit would have known the exact reasons why

Before the attendant could speak up again, Kit cut in. "So anyways we won. The story wasn't free so we're going up now."

Without waiting, she grabbed Orion's arm and pulled him along with her up the ramp to the lift and stepped on it. The attendant sputtered, but ultimately didn't try to stop them which of course resulted in an argument with the people who were next in line. That was far from their problem though.

"Didn't trust me to stick the landing or just tired of waiting?" He questioned Kit, eyebrow arched as he looked over at her as they ascended the tower in the lift together.

"Yes." Kit replied without any hesitation, knowing it answered neither and both of the questions at once. He hadn't done too bad she supposed, though she wasn't really sure that the pick of story was the best given Terra had so many tales to pick from itself without it being personal experience.

"Excellent to know that I always have your full confidence," Orion sighed and shook his head, turning his attention to the ascent and the view through the window as they were overlooking the city outside and how far it sprawled. The lift ride took what seemed like a few seconds as the pair stepped out onto the launch platform high above the city and from their vantage point they would have a rather breathtaking view of the alien world.

"Impressive," Orion commented and thought about how it would be a rather magnificent vista to put on canvas.

“Yeah, it is.” Kit replied, leaning on the rail with interest and looking out at the view without fear. She could see the shimmer of a force field in front of her, and really she didn’t think Orion was the type to just push her off anyways.

“Honestly this place kind of reminds me of home.”

"Where was that exactly? You mentioned home vaguely but never really spoke about it...or at least not much with me." Orion moved to join her for a moment while he shared the view with her, seeing the shimmer of the field and the city streets far, far below. Academically, he knew what could happen if someone were to fall from this height, it was an interesting thought experiment that he had some practical experience with. As a young boy, he'd traveled with his father and some of his men as he watched a would-be rival being thrown out of the back of a shuttlecraft at a high altitude, watching as he plummeted toward the ground, his father turning his head to force him to watch as the body impacted the snowy field far below, creating a gory impact.

He shook himself from that gruesome reverie before he focused on Kit once more.

“Well you and I weren’t much for small talk there, Woofy. Too low class for you.” Kit replied with a smirk that showed she wasn’t offended by that fact and really didn’t care much. “Born and raised in the Philippines with a family bigger than it had any business being, really. I suppose that’s what happens when you don’t believe in birth control though.”

"I suppose so, though, are large families something the Philippines are known for? As part of the culture of the region?" He questioned looking over at his companion as they spoke, glancing back as he heard the high pitched squeals of a pair of alien women as they were sent careening down the ziplines towards the crystalline gorge.

"I mean, not as big as mine, no; and usually it is more known for multiple generations of family living together. That kind of fell out of practice as time went on but we still usually live very close to each other." Kit shrugged slightly. "I came to space to have some peace and quiet."

"Hmmm, peace and quiet? I don't think we've had an overabundance of that lately." He chuckled a little but glanced up at the sky. "Though it is a nice thought, being able to just look out of a view port and get lost there, in the dark void and the stars."

"Oh trust me, with the amount of siblings and cousins I had, even with all the bullshit, it is still quieter." Kit laughed, but the expression on her face was a bittersweet one. She loved her family, overwhelming as they were, and it bothered her more than she cared to admit that she might never see them again - or if she did they would all be very old.

"I'll have to take your word for that," The Terran noble considered and tried to empathize with Kit as he watched the melancholy expression overshadow her normally vibrant features as he considered her and her words. "I had two siblings, a younger brother and sister whom I'd want to leave me alone but if someone ever hurt or bullied them I was always the first to come running and make sure that person knew better, believe it or not when I was younger I was rather hot headed."

As she stood there waiting, Kit’s brows lifted just slightly and she was clearly amused, though it wasn’t mocking or malicious. She let Orion finish and even gave him a few beats to muse on his family before she spoke again.

“I’m the oldest of fourteen children.”

Orion took a moment to process that and blinked a little and then smirked. "Is your father still alive? I imagine at some point she might start threatening to cut something off at the very least."

“Surprisingly yes, though I think she’s a masochist. I don’t think anyone could enjoy pregnancy that much and that’s saying nothing of the noise and neediness of children constantly pawing at you from something… and when they aren’t your husband is.” Kit made a face as they moved forward in the much shorter line.

"Isn't it a woman that said men are merely children in bigger bodies?" Orion countered as he walked with her over to the line; as they moved forward and closer, they could both see that there was some magnetic rail or launch system in place to send the passenger rocketing off down the line the harness was connected to as the current harnessed up individuals flew off at ridiculous speeds. At the same time, their cries lingered on the platform much longer than they did. It took two more trips before Orion and Kit were ushered toward the harnesses; there wasn't any spiel given about safety by the attendants strapping them in before they were guided to the ledge and finally, with nothing beneath their feet but open air and a drop that would be decidedly lethal if something should happen.

"Keep your hands on the line when you get to the valley. The crystals are sharp enough to sever limbs, and we are not liable for any injuries." The attendant finally spoke up, but before either of the Terrans could question the statement, the pair suddenly found themselves rocketing away from the station with enough force to push the skin of their faces back for several minutes as the world around them became a blur. Orion whooped in excited surprise as they left the station, and he held tight to the harness line.

Despite the abrupt warning and little communication, Kit didn’t seem bothered as she was loaded into the harness and dangled precariously over the chasm. It is not like they would feel much if they fell.

There wasn’t any time to even dwell on the possibility before they were shot off at an incredible speed. Kit let out an excited yell of her own, coupled with loud, jubilant laughter.

For what would seem like an eternity to the pair, they were speeding through the air while the world around them was a blur of color before eventually they started to slow to a more reasonable pace through the track. They were moving through a part of the city that was obviously set up for this very purpose given there wasn't any kind of air traffic near them. The taller buildings were vibrant and fashioned in a way to help channel light ahead of them with mirrored panels. Orion was grinning ear to ear as he'd absolutely enjoyed that and glanced over at Kit to see how she was doing.

Kit was looking around as much as she could, taking in everything around them as they slid along the line at a decent but no longer breakneck speed. Her brown eyes were filled with wonder and fascination, and an excited smile remained on her face every moment. Eventually, she looked at Orion.

“This is really cool!” She shouted over the wind.

"Yeah, it is!" The Terran man agreed as they moved along the line, swinging about as the landscape around them began to shift from city streets to something a little more rural, plots of land covered in wide fields of what looked like sunflowers, workers seeming minuscule moving through the rows as the tall flowers fell. They continued along the course and encountered more solar mirrors along the way that seemed to be gathered at stations that appeared to be providing power to the local area but also sending more light down along mirrors.

Eventually they left even the rural landscape behind as the ground started to show the jagged edges of crystal grow the shimmered in the sunlight and a subtle hum had filled the air.

“Oh wow, look at that!” Kit called out, pointing forward with a finger as they began to approach more of the humming crystals. “That’s amazing!”

Orion enthusiastically nodded and was about to say something more as his mouth fell as they crested a hill and came across a field of the crystals that made a sort of pathway to the valley. "This is fantastic!"

Terra had beautiful and unique views all over and Kit was surprisingly well traveled, but she had never seen anything quite like this. Her excitement gave way to silence and perhaps even a bit of awe at the view before her. She could see why there was a warning to not try to reach out and touch - it was tempting.

Their pace slowed a little as they descended down into the valley as the hum began to change pitch as they moved through the space, becoming almost musical. The crystal spires were carefully manicured to create a safe path through as bursts of sunlight traveled through the crystals, creating a scintillating light show and casting rainbows across their paths.

Orion looked on in wonder at their surroundings, it was breathtaking and certainly a sight that he felt matched or even put to shame some of the natural grandeur of Terra to shame.

“It’s like a song!” Kit called out again and laughed, then began to hum to herself to try and match what she was hearing. She had a pleasant enough voice - not that anyone could hear it - but the crystals were reaching pitches too high for her range. It didn’t stop her from trying completely though.

“Wonder if we can walk this?!”

Orion looked around for some stop-off station or a platform to get down to the ground below as they continued riding along their harness lines. The Terran man didn't see anything that seemed they could, but it wouldn't hurt to find out if they did ground tours. "That would be amazing, also give you more of a chance to enjoy it!" He laughed, enjoying himself as he felt relaxed after going back to the norm of the Imperial lifestyle, it wasn't that he hated it, he'd just gotten used to a bit of informality even if he'd held himself a bit more aloof.

Or as Kit was fond of saying, with a stick stuck so far up his ass, it was lodged there.

“Yeah!” She was quite obviously excited by the notion. Her attention went back ahead and around them and she shifted around a bit in the harness to try and get better views without compromising her own safety.

Soon enough they were reaching the end of the canyon and returning to the open air, the musical humming of the crystals fading away to just the gentle background hum as their speed increased to the pace they were at before. Though with a glance the pair could see that the crystal valley went on much farther along with the indistinct shapes of what was likely the drones they had seen before cutting away at the crystals while large vehicles seemed to be hauling away what had been harvested. "I wonder what they use them for, I'd love to get my hands on some of the raw crystal to run some tests on back at the ship!"

“What?” Kit called back then waved a hand to signal that he shouldn’t try to answer and he should just wait until they were done on the ride.

The world became a whirl of shapes and color as they picked up speed. Soon they had returned to the rural outlands surrounding the city shortly before the bustling sounds of commerce returned and the pair where bypassing skyscrapers and flying over market squares, the smells of food drifted up as they rounded a building and the launchpad came into view once more, their pace slowing until they were being gently guided in. Once inside the rear of the launch platform, attendants stepped up to release the pair and helped them over to a seating area, offering them a bright blue drink.

"It will help with any after effects you might experience from the crystal song, it can affect the inner ear in some people." The attendant informed them both with a reassuring smile.

Orion quirked a brow at the alien but accepted the drink and took an experimental sip, before nodding his head slightly at the effervescent beverage.

"Holy shit... hooooly shit." Kit began immediately as she was taken down from the harness. "World spinning. Whaaat the fuck? What did you do to me?"

She staggered a bit as the attendants grabbed at her. "Hey, get off meeeee! Woof! Where'd you - fuck me. What the shit."

Orion set his glass down as he rushed over to wrap and arm around Kit to help steady her. "Right here KitKat," He didn't realize that he had called her that, rarely one to give nicknames to people but she had always reminded him of a cat by her behavior, so it just leapt out and he hoped she didn't remember it while helping to guide her over to the seating area and picked up one of the glasses filled with the blue liquid.

"So it seems you are one of the visitors who has equilibrium problems caused by the crystal song we heard, the attendant said to drink this as it will help with the issue." He took a drink from the glass to show her that it was safe and then helped her to hold it to her lips so she could sip it.

"I've got small ear holes or some bullshit. I don't remember what they told me." Kit groused as she sat down and took the drink from him and held it in both hands to keep it steady. She brought it to her lips and took a sip then immediately made a face.

"Gross."

"It might be gross but it is meant to help," Orion stated with a gentle firmness as he shook his head before continuing. "I don't think I've ever heard a more you statement, Kit,"

"Yes, the beverage will help equalize the song from the crystals still singing within your ears." One of the attendants spoke up, hovering nearby given that Kit was obviously impacted by the crystals."

"I'm drinkin'! I'm fuckin drinkin' it leave me alone." Kit growled, gripping the cup harder as if to prove a point.

"I'll let you know if we need any further assistance," Orion stood and smiled at the attendant, the alien man frowning before nodding and stepping away.

"I didn't know about the whole equilibrium thing, otherwise I wouldn't have dragged you along." Orion smirked a little as he settled into his seat beside her.

"What you think I'm going to let that kind of horse shit stop me from having a good time?" Kit moved one hand to wave at him like he was crazy. "I would have just taken some drugs had I known, but it's fine. It will calm down in a minute here."

"Did you just wave me off?" He asked with mock indignation before letting a smile form on his lips.

"Shh, I'm drinking the magic juice." She put a finger to her lips and then downed the rest of what was in the glass before haphazardly tossing it over her shoulder without caring. "Yeah, still real gross."

A shattering sound came from the glass breaking as the attendant made a distressed sound and Orion tilted his head, looking at Kit for a moment. "I can only imagine the chaos you would wreak at a gala dinner given the chance."

“You wanna take me to one?” She challenged with a smirk and then reached up to rub her face.

“Alright. I’m good. I think.”

"If I'm ever ready to burn down everything my family has worked to build, I'll consider it." He shook his head at the incorrigible woman before he helped her to her feet and waited a moment to make sure she wasn't going to sway and collapse because she thought she was good immediately. A few steps and a few unpleasant words grumbled under the breath of the attendant, the pair were descending the tower as the Terran noble looked over at his companion.

"Back at the canyon, I said we should get some of the crystal to run tests on, to see the potential that it might have."

“Oh sure, why not. I’m always down for a good project. Rocks are more your thing,” she waved her hand at him, “but maybe they’ll be cool for me too. Hopefully just walking out there doesn’t fuck with my ears too much but if it does, oh well I guess.”

"I'd say let it rest for the moment just to make sure there aren't any further after-effects from the crystal songs, though I am curious as to what might be causing it." He mused out loud as the lift came to a stop and they were able to disembark, moving through the crowds as they soon found themselves back out on the main thoroughfare of the market plaza.

"Treat you to something to eat?"

“Nah, I’m alright since I had that food before I went. Thanks though. I may just go back to my room and take a nap since you decided to try and kill me.” She teased.

"Yes, it was my insidious plan to lure you out to kill you with sound." Orion shook his head while giving his wry reply to her before looking around, his attention turning back to Kit. "Then I'll see you around, going to see if I can hunt something down, maybe drinks later?"

"Maybe. We'll see. You go collect your rocks and if you want to give me a call later and see what's going on, feel free. I won't be offended if you find yourself doing something else though." She chuckled and slapped him on the back. "Have fun."

"Take it easy, and I'd say stay out of trouble but it is you." He shook his head while wandering off to find something to eat and deciding it might be best to pay for his meal. given his poor outing at the ziplines.


END