While enroute to a trade lane which was scheduled to be high in trade traffic that day, she happened across the two small creatures emerging from the dense badlands, soon followed by a Bounty Hunter. Taking the situation at face value, a pair of apparently defenseless creatures being hunted by a well equipped and typically nasty breed of pilot, Alison opened fire. Though she had did not quite realize what they were, she felt a strong need to protect their frail bodies. The hunter's fighter was cut into pieces by the red and purple tachyon canons of her gunship. Ali looked back to find the two beings huddled behind her ship, having taken shelter from the hunter's barrage.
'Don't be scared, little ones' she muttered to herself, 'I'm here to help you'
She took a fancy to the morphs, admiring their natural curves and inquisitive nature. The morphs circled her from a distance, sensing comfort and security coming off Ali's ship.
'Come, little ones. I know of safer space'
She nudged her ship in the aforementioned direction, hoping to herself that whatever those beings were, she might have the pleasure of looking out for them. She could no longer produce an offspring herself, but felt a sense of connection to the beings orbiting her ship. As she pulled away from the scene, the translucent beings followed suit. Perhaps she might lead them to acquire knowledge of their home, they thought amongst themselves.
Two brilliant blue creatures circled about the gunship, dancing in the shadow she cast from the new York sun.
*... (Happiness)~ Freedom...*
Alison sped onwards to her usual hunting grounds, preparing her data aquisition servers as she hummed merrily to herself. Today would be a good day, and no one was about to take that from her. Ali waved out the port side View port to one of the dancing nomads. Sophia, was the name the three of them had agreed upon for that particular spirit
*...Known Breathers of Fire. (Fright) Withdraw to, Sanctuary...*
Alison looked over the readouts of the approaching bounty hunters. Eagle, codenames, nukes. Roc, nova, emp. Not a threat to her safety or that of her children, not in that gunship. Still, others would always show, and that was the danger the approaching hunters brought with them. Reason enough to extinguish their lives, she reckoned.
The fight was short, but enough to hold the two nomads captivated by the display of red particle cannons and electromagnetic resonance the shield hits gave off. When the first fighter began to burst into flames, they even ventured forth from the hold onto the stubby wings of Alison's ship, absorbing the scene, learning.
*... (Excitement) Seek out "Others"...*
Stars flashed by as tiny specks of light during the system jump. Alison rapped impatiently while the two gazed in fascination at the vast systems being reduced to mere moments in the flight to Alpha.
There was something else present in the planets orbit, apart from the typical mash up consisting of Tridents, Ranseurs and even the odd Sabre fighter. Off to the side, apart from the Maltese ships, the gently pulsating blue hue stood out to Alison, who was coaxing her gunship to the yards. The flight was long, and the ship was not built for such jaunts to the cardamine fields, but took the beating of hyperspace nonetheless.
*... (Happiness) "We" observe "similar ones" wish to swim with, know, more...*
There, naked and disheveled upon long unwashed sheets, both covered in all manner of bodily fluids, lay Alisoun. Or Athena, whatever. She groggily turned her head to catch a fleeting glimpse of a man-sized ape.
'The hell was....'
She was in Omicron Kappa. How and why she was there is too long and repetitive a story for here, but it all started aboard her "Party Cruiser", the Athena.Y.Dionysus, where a fellow enlightened hacker suggested a concoction of cardamine, synth, sake and various hallucinogenic herbs of old. She went on quite the journey afterwards, in every possible sense. But now here she lay in the cramped, once luxurious bedroom of her gunship, the Elegantiae, about to experience one of the most head splitting headaches of her life.
'GORRRAMIT WHAT THE.....THE.....'
This wasn't hangover pain.
'Where's... BLUEY! Where are... Where are you?!'
Anxiety wrenched at her gut as she made her way to her feet, wrapped a decrepit bed sheet about her and stumbled to the retrofitted cargo hanger. Relief. There were her babies, as pre-menopausal Ali referred to the beautiful, translucent blue and purple beings circling anxiously about.
*..."Ours" have (Fear, Despair)...*
{ A vivid image of Alisoun on the floor, blood pouring from a chest wound, with a mixture of vomit and froth tricking from her mouth takes over her view. The scene changes to that of a Nomad Morph, alone and afraid, having been gutted by a bounty hunter's plasma cannon }
She shivers violently and dry heaves
'I'm so sorry my dearies! Let's...let's go home. Would you like that?'
*..."Ours" look forward to, (Enjoyment) of Swimming with "Athena" named...*
She turned around, still uneven, and made her way towards her bedside drawer for a much needed bump of cardi. Seconds later, it was as if her bender had never happened.
'Yeesssss that's the stuff. Maybe it is time for a bit of honest lane hacking after all'
With that she shook her head and made off for the cockpit, coords ready at the tips of her fingers. A shower would come later
'Poor babies'
She mutters as her gunship lifts off from that strange lost planet