Criminal shootout

Orbivis was a horrid, horrid planet. Bleu flexed, hardening her outer membrane against the dust and grime in the air; she’d need to soak after this to flush all the grot she’d already picked up out of her system. But, this was the job she had chosen - doctor on a starship captained by one of those curious primates from Sol’s only habitable planet. And to tell the truth, this mission was exciting. The whole world was a mess of arguing factions - a gigantic multi-species mega-colony that had started out as a trading outpost, turned into a gaming hub due to the thrills of grav-cycle racing in the lower-than-average gravity, and had then attracted the kind of elements you got when a lot of people and little in the way of law enforcement start hanging around gambling opportunities.

Double checking her scanner to make sure it was fully charged, she stepped forward to follow the others down the well lit but grimy main street. Shoes were horribly confining - hell, the concept of legs was a pain most of the time with all that difficult balancing on spikes sticking out of your body, but with the state of the pavement she was glad she’d opted to wear actual clothes for once. Her bag jostled at her hip on the opposite side from her scanner and she gripped the strap a little more tightly. Medics in theory shouldn’t be attacked - but the people that said that were usually the same idiots that ran governments and as such were mostly just saying what they wanted the populous to hear.

Up ahead, the Rabyth woman paused to check a scanner of her own before gesturing down a side road. Dustin indicated for the rest of them to follow, and so she trudged on. Rye, that woman’s name was; a competent engineer as far as Bleu could make out, with very interesting hormone and pheromone emissions - most likely as part of the semi-ritualistic mating process she was engaging in with the captain. For the third time that week, Bleu idly wondered if she could get a sample of the bunny girl’s blood for analysis then decided against it as usual. While the data would have been fascinating, there were several council diktats against investigating Rabyth ‘pairing’ lodged with the Queri medical board, and she really didn’t want to risk giving them a reason to strike her name from the list of licensed doctors.

Returning her thoughts from mental grumbles about the stupidity of her species’ government, she reviewed the rest of the team for this mission. Dustin, the captain was present - which was idiotic in the ****, even if she had to admire the human’s dedication to doing the right thing. If all authority had acted the way he did, she’d probably have had a higher opinion of it. Alongside the human, he had also brought the Velcan chief science officer. Bleu bit her lip for a moment. Technically, it wasn’t patient confidentiality, the secrets she knew about Meli’a and what she was working on with Trea’k, but she’d still not told the captain. Should she have done so?

A call from up ahead scattered her thoughts. Dustin and the others broke into a run, and she hurried to keep up. Enough time to debate the merits of risking a working relationship with the science officer later, for now she had a job to do. She half stumbled as part of her thoughts seized on the word relationship in that sentence; rather crossly she ordered the subsection of her that had caused the malfunction to move, reforming her body as she ran to put the daydreaming parts out of the way of important limb control. And daydreams they were - she was well aware that she had an abrasive personality as well as a moderate case of synchronization decomposition syndrome which she was still surprised that none of the other Queri had ever diagnosed. More evidence of the inadequacy of her fellow medics. In any case, she was a misfit with issues both internal and external, and just because the captain and his crew seemed to find being misfits a valuable commodity in their intimate partners…

Rounding a corner, her thoughts were cut off as a crude projectile punched a hole through her shoulder. It was pitifully slow, and she’d reacted fast enough that it didn’t cause any significant damage to her body, but it utterly scrambled the part of her that had been debating the situation and punctured a neat hole in her outfit. Her primary focus snapped around from following Dustin to the rag-tag group of figures who had ambushed them. “So much for the medic not getting attacked. And I liked this shirt!” she thought to herself, dropping behind cover as she started to literally pull herself back together, slime flowing in to fill the hole the arrow had made.

Dustin hit the deck as the energy blast rippled overhead. “Shit, get down!” he yelled, glancing behind him as he skidded into cover just in time to see the arrow slam into Bleu’s form. “Bleu!” He yelled out, rolling and freeing the blaster from his back as he did so. Meli and Rye were already moving - the bunny girl had been in the lead and one kick of her legs had taken her into cover behind some large packing crates as she wrestled with the multitool at her hip. The Velca meanwhile had dropped next to him, pulling her own weapon free with a practiced ease as she did so. As his lover sent covering fire skittering over the top of the barrels they were crouched behind, he was suddenly grateful for the time she’d spent in the range after the attack on the comms outpost.

Second only to Dustin himself now in terms of handling ranged combat, the brunette’s fire was swift and widespread, causing their attackers to dive for cover of their own. Dustin risked a peek around the side, sending a blast from his weapon into the retreating heels of one assailant. As they stumbled and fell, their bow skidding out of their reach he glanced sideways again at his medic. To his relief, Bleu seemed unharmed, the slime of her shoulder neatly filling in the hole the arrow’s passage had left.

“Think these are the ones we’re after Dusty?” Rye called, finishing up her work with the multitool. “What do you think?” he called back, wincing as another round sizzled against his cover. Poking his gun over the top and spraying wildly, he gestured at her with his free hand. “In your own time, please, chief engineer. Wouldn’t want to rush you!” Rye grinned, then licked her finger and stuck it in the air to check the wind - not that there was any in this tight alley. Tweaking one final setting on her multitool, she pointed the end around the corner. “What’s the human expression? Oh, yea, fire in the hole!” the Rabyth excitedly said and pumped the trigger.

One second, two… if it’d been anyone else, Dustin would have worried that the engineer’s plan had failed - and then there was a loud pop and a crash. The hostile fire stopped immediately, and in it’s place a chorus of groans echoed out. Taking a hesitant peak out from cover, Dustin grinned. “Nice one Rye.” He said, standing and walking over to where their attackers lay sprawled in a pile in the middle of the alleyway. Taking a moment to remove one or two sidearms and weapons from their bodies, he beckoned back over his shoulder. “Dr Bleu, if you wouldn’t mind checking that Rye’s little toy didn’t injure any of them too severely, I’ll signal to the station to send a wagon to pick them all up. I think this should cover our mission just fine shouldn’t it Meli?”

The Velca woman stepped up and kissed him on the cheek. “Indeed, li’ah’a. Non-lethal weaponry has it’s issues, not least that it allows an enemy to run away, but I believe this is all the individuals we were requested to apprehend. Mission accomplished, and more staff for Yril’k from those who want to see the wider universe rather than have the job opportunities of criminal enforcer or underpaid law enforcement.” Dustin grinned at his lover. “Yup. And a few less crooks on this planet. Going to be fun writing the report on this place up for EarthGov; the more I see out here the more it looks like the galactic council is just straight up lying to people about the state of the cosmos.”

Rye stood up from where she’d been helping the doctor untangle the pile of bodies. “You’re starting to sound like Bleu, talking about governments like that. Don’t disagree with ya tho Dusty. Anyhow, when we get back to the ship mind if I take another day off the weave engine stuff? This little gravity distort was good, but I reckon I can make it better with a day or so tinkering.” Dustin waved idly in agreement. “Take as much time as you need, love. It was a clever idea to solve the issue, and these clowns didn’t see weaponised anti-gravity coming.” Then he bent and picked up the bow. “Although, given their weapon’s tech level, I’m not sure they even know what anti-gravity is despite how much technology there is in this city.” He grinned and held the weapon up to the light. “Think the law would mind if we kept this as a souvenir?”