The Apahanta reached the Inverness system and uncloaked behind Planet Cannish, out of sight from Invergordon Space Port and the little traffic around it. Entering the hangar, Ezrael was met with an unusual sight, as the twentythree years young Noel stood right infront of him with a large box on the ground. The brown-haired engineer trainee smirked up at Ezrael, who in return smiled back at him. "What are you on about?"
"I have your coat!" Noel said and smiled widely at the curacaoan playboy. Kneeling down to open the box, the boy revealed the black something that was inside of it. Ezrael took a step closer, giving both Noel and the box a curious and suspicious look. "I've modified one of APM's nauruan environment armors. Put it on and it will regulate your body temperature even in a hostile environment like Elgin. It's like an extension to your Apahanta suit, tailored for your body measures. I replaced the armament-related stuff for extra mobility."
Bowing down, Ezrael took the shoulder attachments and put them on. They were jet-black. "Like these sci-fi armors Auxesia uses. I'll look like a power ranger..."
"It's better than wearing an EVA suit down there, don't you think? More mobility, looks better and can be taken off easily." Watching Ezrael putting on the armor upgrade, he couldn't help but smirking about it.
"Stop laughing at me, I could just take you with me and force you to wear this thing as well!"
"We only have that one, and it's for your body measures. That being said, I don't laugh because you look funny."
"Why then?"
Moving around the box to help Ezrael putting on the armor at the back, he remained quiet for a moment. When they were done, Ezrael made a few moves to test the actual mobility. "Doesn't weight as much as I thought."
"And the helmet. With integrated comm system, so you can stay in contact with us. That is as long as the Auxesian's don't jam the signal, which is likely. We'll keep an eye on you, though, so don't worry." Noel handed him the helmet. The visor was transparent, with a touch of black and blue.
"I'd feel less helpess if this was just a meeting with Raven," Ezrael sounded, then the helmet was sealed. Noel then pushed a button on Ezrael's wrist armorplate and the comm system was active. "... with Hunt things are more likely to turn less funny and more stressful. The last time I even lost consciousness. Pretty embarrassing."
"That shouldn't happen again, but if something goes wrong, we'll come and get you," Noel said without having thought about it. Given it was most likely to happen on Elgin, that wouldn't be possible with the Apahanta. Ezrael knew if they wanted to trap him, there was not much the crew could do about it. And they had their orders for the worst case scenario.
Audibly sighing, Ezrael moved to Noel to give him a squeeze, then ahead to the Charming Rover, the Hussar-class Light Fighter ready for the flight. Short time later the hangar doors opened and the bretonian interceptor launched into space, thrusting through the shields. It was time to head for Elgin and see what Raven and Leviathan had to show him.
The Ixion was maintaining a slow pace along the perimeter of Elgin, accompanied by the unit designated Epsilon-4. Otherwise known as the call sign Valkyries. The heavy patrol took their duty of border security seriously, the newly appointed ex-Core cruiser captain Caleb Walker took the job as a high honor for leaving behind his comrades. He kept a tight reign on his crew, but Walker wasn't a tyrant. A pair of Marlins strode past the bridge windows of the light cruiser, taking point of the patrol. Walker stood from his command chair and walked forward. He looked down towards the two pilots. To his left, the sensor station. A series of alerts pinged from the terminal.
"Sir, target approaching fast. Interceptor by the looks of its speed." Said the sensor operator.
Walker looked over to the sensor operator, then waved him off nonchalantly. "No worries." Caleb responded. "That's gotta be the guy." He spun on his heels and walked back to his chair. He plopped down lazily and prepared to transmit. "Attention vessel, this is the ACV-Ixion, Covenant First Fleet. We've been instructed to ferry you to the Citadel. I hope you're ready to dock." Caleb announced on the local channel. He lifted his finger from the console, ending the transmission. The two pilots looked back at him. Walker raised his hand and gestured forward. The pilots didn't waste any time, and immediately began accelerating from their slow pace. They were on an intercept course to meet the incoming fighter.
The Valkyrie unit wasn't far behind. They quickly adjusted their trajectory to follow their patrol leader. Security was quite high, but obvious exceptions were being made. It wouldn't take long before the patrol would meet his path. Walker placed his finger down on the transmit key once again. "We'll take you from here, where they'll move you to a shuttle." He explained further before waiting for a response.
Covenant First Fleet? Citadel? Ezrael couldn't help but smirk for a moment. The sensors revealed not just a little patrol unit but a small capital ship. His grin grew wider. "I guess there is quite a bunch of new things you're going to show me, Big Borb..."
When the patrol intercepted him to guide him, he gave them a quick response via comms. "Vertiga here, following your course," This was going to be interesting, and it didn't take long to surprise the curacaoan even more as Valravn emerged behind Elgin, surrounded by a bunch of ships Ezrael already knew. Taking in the view in awe, he leaned back in his seat, taking a bunch of guncam pictures. This was an impressive sight!
The tiny bretonian fighter was lead to the little hangar section of the citadel, and Ezrael gulped as the ship anchored, hovering slightly over the ground. Now it was time to fully surrender to whatever Auxesia would want to do with him. Taking a deep breath, he took off his helmet and shook his head for a moment, not liking it when his long black hair was squeezed against his head like that. With the helmet under his armored arm, he opened the cockpit to allow the ladder to move down. They were probably waiting for him, and Leviathan was not known for being patient. Or funny. Or in any way entertaining. Or kind.
In fact, Ezrael realized how much he was hoping for Raven to be around as well. The girl had a few emotions left.
The interior of the hangar was well kept. The floor was black, and so polished it reflected almost like a dark mirror. The atmosphere was fitting for the people who wore masks seventy percent of their day. The foot traffic inside was minimal. A handful of deck workers were minding their own business as they prepared a set of crates to be loaded into a waiting freighter outside the hangar. A shuttle was waiting nearby, with the familiar four-lighted head of Leviathan stood between him and the atmospheric vessel. Unlike the official face he wore, the traditional black robes and the dark attire was absent. Instead, he was in a suit. Much like the one he wore when he still called himself Hunt to the public. It was a little off-setting, seeing a metal man in regular clothes, yet to no surprise there was still a holster present on his belt. The silver-colored hilt of his personal sidearm glinted from the white lighting above them.
"I'm glad you could make it." Hunt said on approach. His tone wasn't aggressive or authoritarian as it usually was, but calm. Hunt stepped to the side, taking his hands out from behind his back, gesturing towards and moving to enter the shuttle that awaited them. "There'll be a bit of bumps because of the wind, but once we get there, things'll level out." He explained, taking a seat in the shuttle. "They didn't try and put a bag over your head, did they?" Hunt asked, almost a little regretful.
The shuttle sealed up once the two were inside, and took off, making a sharp turn for the planet. A pair of fighters formed up on either side. R-1 Series "Lich" Fighters, with their trademark engines glowing brightly behind them. The trio of ships descended for the planet, making for the Northern hemisphere. The shuttle would zip past a large range of mountains, eventually lowering into a small path, which began to widen. Turbulence began to increase as the path got wider, and visibility outside was reduced to a few hundred meters at best. A snowstorm. The shuttle continued on with its fighters as they lowered into a valley. The shuttle passed through an atmospheric shield. To the left, a large spire reached up and projected the bubble. A bridge extended below the shuttle's flight path towards an elevated series of towering structures. Upon closer inspection, nearly over half of the buildings remained largely unoccupied and under construction, with drones who needed no sleep working on the more crucial structures they required. The shuttle flew over the colony, which had very little traffic below.
"Welcome to Ismara." Hunt said as the shuttle flew out over another bridge which led to an adjacent spire that made up the shield network. It aimed for a landing pad, which had a walkway leading to what appeared to be a courtyard. The shuttle set down and began to power down. The weather outside seemed way more temperate than expected, yet it was visibly windy. Hunt stood up and gestured for Vertiga to go first, moving towards the door. Outside, a pair of guards in ornate armor stood at either side of the walkway at attention. Hunt gestured for him to go ahead and continue. "Take a right for the tower. Raven and Foulke are waiting for us at the door." Hunt explained.
Given the rather unique environment he was confronted with, Ezrael needed a few moments to take in the surroundings. It was bright and shiny, and everything here was foreign, almost taken out of a novel. There was nothing like this on Sirius, at least not to his knowledge. "I'd like to take pictures of all this to show it to my crew later, but I guess you wouldn't want that. Do tell me when you have post cards of this place, though," Ezrael joked, not even facing Hunt as he stared at the spire. "This is the stuff fairytales are made of..." He was clearly overwhelmed by it.
Following Hunt's guidance, the Curacaoan realized it wasn't as cold as he had expected it to be. Either the internal heating of the armor upgrade was working better than expected or Auxesia had a very high heating bill.
The distant city almost seemed like a mirage, shimmering in the distance. As the two walked, the area widened out. Like any street there were a series of drains leading to a sewer system. Yet, these didn't appear to be designed for intake. They were vents, pouring natural heat into the air to maintain a mild temperature throughout the city. The shield which was projected from the spire, and the other structures like it off in the distance seemed alien in nature. It couldn't be anything else. "Careful you don't trip." Hunt commented as they went along the path, noticing Vertiga's distraction. Various robots scurried around the area, with people either in uniform or out of it walking to and from the various other structures that were connected to the courtyard. Some of the buildings were dotted with anti-air batteries and sniper positions. The spire itself had visible blast doors on the exterior wall for deploying its own security measures, and armed guards in similar ornate armor to the first two patrolling what could only be described as castle ramparts. This place seemed like a fortress.
"I'm surprised you haven't been hounding me with questions or jokes. You've gotta have a few." Said Hunt. In the opposite direction of the spire to the far end of the courtyard was a tram station, which was ferrying people and cargo to and from this platform into the rest of the colony across a suspended bridge. The other buildings seemed like barracks or apartments for important staff within their society, and a good majority of the others moving around likely were working and disinterested in the armored guest in their midst. The guards no doubt had been keeping a keen eye on Ezrael since they had landed. Separating the walkways were various arrangements of foreign flora being maintained by drones with multiple appendages and cameras.
"Here we are." Hunt said as they approached. The distance between their landing zone was two and a half blocks, at least. It wasn't a large area, but it was tightly packed with towering structures and narrow alleyways. The base of the spire had a heavy, armored door. A security measure in case of invasion, it seemed. Waiting for them to the right of the security door were the other two of their little party. The first Keeper, and the new Curator.
They were in fact waiting there. Raven was being her usual, brooding self, and to her right, the Curator was looking off at some robotic drones hovering about. His back was currently facing the approaching visitor, too busy talking to the little helpers. Only the lavishly-embroidered silver-on-black mantle hanging from his shoulders was visible, with the hood raised.
"Right, and you make sure that when Maya arrives at the rendezvous point, you give her that bottle of cognac that's been sitting in my quarters for the past four months. I owe her for that business she went through on Wichita. Now, get buzzing, little bees," he said to the two automatons, watching as they bumbled their way to another district.
"God, those little bastards are cute," he muttered, turning around to face the guests. The Curator was dressed from head to toe in a white suit of advanced armor that mimicked ancient, ornate suits from Earth's distant past. For the moment, his face was obscured by the dark visor that accompanied his ensemble. Upon seeing Leviathan and Vertiga arriving, he outstretched his arms in a welcoming fashion.
"Finally, you've arrived! I'm sure our mutual friend over there has already welcomed you to our humble little boudoir on this frozen pizza of a planet. I trust you had a pleasant flight here?"
"Without intending to offend, Hunt, but as far as I can recall, my humor was lost on you. I'll just save up the best parts for Raven," the Curacaoan returned when Leviathan asked him, remaining rather quiet during the transit because of the same reason. He didn't make it obvious, but remembering how Hunt enjoyed to play the power card, he preferred to not give him more opportunities than necessary.
When they arrived, Ezrael couldn't help but have mixed feelings. Seeing Raven was good! And then there was that nurse guy who, obviously by the way he was speaking, was from Liberty. He remembered him, and the context was negative. Still keeping up a charming smirk, especially for the woman in question, he approached them. "I'd like to say it wasn't special, but by all means, seeing what you've been doing here all the time was making the trip already worth it. New capital ships, a big space station and a base carved into the ice of Elgin. Have you extorted Interspace for funding all this?"
Hunt chuckled slightly at Vertiga's comment. Offend? "No offense taken." He replied. "Truthfully we've never really interacted much outside of official business, and our history hasn't exactly been great. Hopefully in time we can rectify that." Hunt added to his reply before they arrived.
Once they arrived, Hunt moved over to The Curator and Keeper. He took up a position by Raven's left side, waiting for the dispense of pleasantries.
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"Extorted Interspace, hm. Thank you for bringing up the security leak, we'll have the responsible people purged as soon as possible. " they said in a monotonous manner, toying with him to make it ambiguous if it was a joke or not. It appeared that their attire was their typical Keeper robes, seeming to be vigilant in mannerism, observing everything, otherwise they kept mostly quiet.