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Part
1
"Mother earth of dishonesty PART 1"
"Alright," Aero started, his team in a circle outside the
Hunter's Guild office, "Me and FUZZ will be taking the military's
transporter directly down to Ragol to investigate." He pointed
ColdFlame, "You and Teila should report to the Guild Counter...."
"Hey, wait a sec!" Teila protested, "Why do I hafta go with CF?"
ColdFlame maintained his usual look of obliviousness.
"Because CF knows Resta and Reverser," Aero replied, "FUZZ
doesn't."
"I do not need fancy magical pyrotechnics to protect my
apprentice," FUZZ argued with his team's leader, "My m4d Ranger sk1llz
will be more than sufficient. Please allow me to escort my apprentice
and continue her training."
Aero's eyes narrowed in a glare at his android comrade, "Well...
fine. Just be careful if you go to Ragol."
"Careful?!" FUZZ answered, inspecting the cleanliness of his
Justy 23ST rifle, "They'll never know what hit'em."
"Riiight," Aero snickered. He knew well the competence of his
RAcast friend, despite the fact that he'd been relieved of his
military duties when they discovered a slight defect in his A.I. that
made him somewhat unpredictable. Nevertheless, he was a tactical
genius and a good-hearted droid, assuming droids have hearts. "Y'know,"
Aero continued, "it's a good thing the military decommissioned you
before Pioneer I launched, or you'd be one of those missing."
Are you kidding?" FUZZ jeered, "An explosion like that? They'd've
said it was MY fault!"
-----
FUZZ and Teila strolled up to the Hunter's Guild receptionist's
desk. "Yo! Whassup?!" Teila squeaked.
"We're the two hunters from Blue Zonde," FUZZ spoke, "Apparently
Aero signed us up for some kind of mission...."
The receptionist was a trifle intimidated by the hulking camo-green
giant's presence, even though she worked with battle-hardened warriors
on a daily basis. "Um, yes, the Blue Zondes, right..." She searched
her files through a holo-monitor.
"Aht," FUZZ corrected, "It's 'Blue Zonde'; not plural, no 'the'.
Just 'Blue Zonde'."
Well, the receptionist thought, he's certainly an outspoken
android. "OK, I think I have your mission here. It's from a Mr. Zidd.
He had something stolen from him and he would like you to track
down...."
FUZZ growled some sort of electronic buzzing growl, "Playing
lost-and-found is not a job for a HUcast!!"
"Some mission," Teila griped, "Tell me, did this Zidd ever bother
checking with the police?"
"Um..." The woman struggled to remain professional, "I'll just
call Mr. Zidd up then...."
"So I can bruise his butt!" FUZZ exhausted, "Curses! Aero always
keeps the COOL jobs!"
-----
The Forest floor was littered with the remains of a hoarde of
native creatures foolish enough to even attempt facing Aero's Stag
Cutlery twin-saber or ColdFlame's infernal Rafoie. Aero was checking a
closed-off alcove while ColdFlame inspected a wrecked hovercycle.
"This one's got a military insignia," CF thought aloud for Aero to
hear, "Whatever hit the Central Dome, our guys fought it, or at least
tried to." He examined some exposed wires on the bike, "Y'know, I
wonder, if I kick a Gizonde into this thing if it'll...."
"Hey, CF," Aero interrupted, "Come check this out."
"What," ColdFlame answered skeptically, jogging towards the
alcove. When the motion-sensitive doors automatically opened for him,
he saw it. "Whoa...." CF gawked, "That's....weird."
A strange, tall monument stood in the middle of the alcove,
purposely partitioned off by the engineers of Pioneer I. It's
architecture seemed at once stone and metal, ancient and machine, yet
it almost exuded an alien presence. At the top, some form of alchemaic
circle had been inscribed, and along it's sides ran strings of text in
an unknown tongue. The circle and text glowed with a light that didn't
seem to be based on photonic energy, and it hummed and vibrated like a
machine.
"It only started glowing like that when I tried to touch it."
Aero explained, "What do you make of it, Force?" Aero hoped that
ColdFlame's studies in alchemy and psychokinesis would shed some light
on the mystery.
"I have no idea." Aero hit the floor with a thud in
disappointment. Scrambling to his feet, "Oh come on! You're a Force!
Y'know, all wise and mystical and stuff; you're SUPPOSED to know this
stuff!"
ColdFlame shrugged, "Sorry, no clue. You're guess is as good as
mine." Aero hit the ground a second time. The Force eyed a piece of
familiar technology on the ground near the base of the monument. "Hey,
Aero, is that your recorder?"
The HUmar dusted himself off, "Actually, I played it back a while
ago. It's from Rico Tyrell."
"Y'mean Red Ring Rico?" CF asked, "The first person from Pioneer
II to explore Ragol after the explosion? The Principal's daughter? The
famous one? THAT Rico?" CF was one of Rico's biggest fans, her
chivalrous actions were already the stuff of legend.
"The same," Aero answered, "It seems these recorders were her way
of blazing a trail for others to follow...."
"Kinda like the pioneers of ancient times did...." CF finished,
"Awesome...."
-----
"MAGS?!" FUZZ exclaimed after speaking with an 'incompetent
Ranger', a reluctant companion of Zidd's. "There are Mags out there?!
Alone??" FUZZ loved the mechanical critters. His own Madhu would
testify to that, if it could speak the words of men, of course.
So Zidd's trying to get rich by selling Mags as pets, Teila
thought, Mags that he found on Ragol after the accident....
"It's not my fault!" The Ranger defended, "This weird pink
android came and...."
"Where'd she go??" Teila asked impatiently.
"I dunno!! She went down to the surface through that teleporter."
And use of that teleporter is supposed to be restricted, FUZZ
thought, How much are we paying those armed guards in front of it,
anyway? Wait, did he say.... "The surface?!" FUZZ suddenly grinned
wider than his articulated metal jaws would allow. "YES."
"Um, FUZZ," Teila asked, slightly disturbed.
"Come, apprentice." FUZZ motioned as he began to jog towards the
teleporter, one fist raised triumphantly, "We have a mission!! To the
surface!!"
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