Starfinder: The Jade Regent Pt. 04

Ami nodded. "W-Well, then, set our course, uh, Sam!" She said, gulping and stepping away from Rakain, then crossing one arm over her chest, smirking slightly. "Good to know..."

"Weeeeell, about that. If we sell off out loot, then we have more room for future looting too." Hana smiled. Rakain made a show of licking his lips, his forked tongue darting in and out quickly.

"Gotta love that loot," he purred.

"Alright, setting course." Sam declared and tapped the destination into the autopilot.

As the ship shuddered, Ami walked out of the arcane lab, still glowing brightly. She looked around the main area of the place, biting her lip. "You know..." she said. "We could move the tables and chairs and this is alllllllmost the size of a one of those handball games rooms, right?" She asked. "The one with the hoops?"

Hana snickered slightly, "Like for permanent or just for the time being?" She said curiously.

Ami snickered. "If we want to pass the time with some kool hoops!" she said, miming tossing a ball over her head. She also managed to pronounce the K verbally.

Rakain cracked his knuckles and grinned. "I'm game."

"Pretty sure Alfie will be able to help you with that. Should be able to make what you want using the holo systems in that room," Nora mentioned through their coms, snickering while watching through the ship cameras.

"Oh, um, ma'am, we didn't have the power systems for the holographics," Alife whispered to Nora. "Well, we could have put them in, but you decided to get shields instead."

"So, first things first, we need a dozen holographic elven cheerleaders?" Hana said, smirking slightly. "No, first we need a holographic set up, THEN the cheerleaders.."

Ami snorted. "Well, hey, there's a reason to go to Absalom station!" She said, nodding as she walked past the table. "What do we want to do while we're flying? Since the ship mostly handles itself, right?" She asked. Then her belly rumbled loudly. She looked down at herself, then looked up. "Also, who wants to make the foods?"

Xata was researching the "hoop-throwing" motion Ami had made. Thus far she had found reference to a game played on certain orcish planetoids with severed heads, but that couldn't be right. The mention of food perked her up, though. "I have extensive access the recipes of many planets and cultures."

Rakain pointed to Xata. "She volunteered, you all heard her!"

Sam snickered to herself and used her tablet to shoot Nora a note. You wanted to peep on them through the cameras as they bounced around, didn't you?

"Calm down, Rak. She's asking who wants to MAKE food, not BE it.." Hana snorted slightly.

As Xata worked over the idea, her internal search engine brought up something else that made her circuits glow blushingly. "I have also found several suggestions about what to do with food that might be stimulating." She grinned. "Some of them could be described as 'kinky.'"

"I mean I'd eat any of you if you asked," Rakain said with a lazy wink.

Ami chuckled, then shook her head. She started to the kitchen unit set in the side of the room, pulling out silver wear and plates. She set them on the table. "I admit, I am a bit nervous about going into the cabins..." She said, nodding. "I halfway expect that Nora saved on space by just making a single big bed..." She snickered. "And please, stick with...not starving to death before kinky!" Ami called to Xata through the door to the bridge.

"I'll cook," Nora said, kicking up from her seat. She keyed a few things at her arm before moving toward the mess.

"Do both!" Rakain called to Xata, laughing.

"Or help even," Nora added before snickering at Ami, "And no. The cabin just has a lot of cozy bunks and stuff. Not that cheap."

"We could Work As a Team to Produce a Culinary Masterpiece," Xata suggested to Nora. Everyone could hear the capitals. Hana's brow furrowed.

"Why do you say that like you found it on TV Tropes?" She said to Xata curiously.

Just stating the obvious Sam shot back and chuckled before following - having set the autopilot on. "I'm not going to turn down food."

Ami giggled, elbowing Sam gently as she emerged from the bridge. "You turning down food is like you turning down a big gun."

Xata's circuits heated with embarrassment. "I do not know. I certainly didn't find it on TV Tropes." That was exactly where she found it. Ami giggled at Xata. Soon the group were finding the new hiccups in the kitchen systems - frying up food took only thirty or so minutes, but it filled the ship with the scents of food. Spiced salmon and chunks of meat, a hamburger and several bits of chopped salads. They were set on the table and Ami took a seat at the head of the table - still glowing brightly. She smiled at her friends, then sighed.

"So, I say we lay down some ground rules for the ship. If you make something dirty, you clean it up. If anyone dies, we pay to get them raised from the dead...anything else you can think of?"

"Never talking about that second one ever again," Nora said with a wince.

Ami blushed. "Sorry..." she said, quietly, pushing around some of her food with her fork - clearly embaressed.

"Didn't mean it rude," Nora said with a little smile, "Just...rough subject."

"Hey, better to decide it now." Hana said, shrugging slightly, "Are we going to be splitting all the cash equally or putting some in a little pony for group purchases? Like sponges to collect the corpses of fallen party members." She giggled.

Rakain picked his teeth with a claw. "Keep the bathrooms clean, for the love of Desna. You make a mess, you clean it up."

Xata added: "We also should have a rule for what we do if we get each other dirty."

"That's mostly going to be on you, dudes are the ones who keep missing the toilet," Ami said, sticking her tongue out - her foot bumping Rakain's ankle.

Sam walked over and gave Nora a pat on the back to attempt to reassure her. "We should add an extra share I suppose. Also covers things like ship upgrades when needed."

Rakain shot her a playful glare, rubbing her ankle with his scaled toes. "Excuse you, I take bathroom hygiene very seriously," he growled.

Hana nodded, "Sounds good to me." She snickered slightly, "Calm down, scale rump." She giggled slightly.

Ami shook her head. Then, quietly, she looked down at the table, tapping it with her fingers. "So..." she said. "If I do become the Empress of the Tian Empire...we'll still be friends, right?"

Rakain's face grew serious, his violet eyes distant. "I mean, uh, it'll be an adjustment to say the least."

"So long as you don't dump us for being losers or try to make Xata or I into scrap." Hana said, grinning.

Xata nodded seriously. "I would not wish to be scrap."

"I may strap you down," Ami said, casually. "And sic my fuckstables of eager massive dicked dragonbeasts on you" She nodded. "The Tian Empire has that, right?"

Rakain grinned. "I'll gladly head up that department."

"Based on all the historic data available to me, yes." Hana nodded sagely. "Oh, also, Xata and I will need to be upgraded to kill/sexbot chassis."

"You're not already?" Ami asked, reaching across the table, stealing a french fry off of Hana's plate with a grin.

"Sexy killsex Chassis?" Nora asked.

Xata grinned playfully, now. "Hana already has a sexbot chassis, because of her physical attractiveness." She was really getting the hang of this Joking Around stuff!

Ami giggled. "No, I'm making Xata my ambassador!" she said, grinning slightly.

Rakain leaned back, throwing an arm over Ami's shoulders. "Xata gets it."

"Sexbot maybe, but sadly my internal lasers can barely rip through the hull of a tank." Hana sighed morosely.

Ami gasped, leaning back against the arm laying along her shoulders, her eyes shining eagerly. "That's tragic!" she said, dramatically.

"I have a feeling you will Discover Hidden Depths." Xata was more serious now. "And yes, I did look that up on TV Tropes. But it's still potentially factual!"

"I know, right? What's the point of being able to survive in space when you can't act as a mobile weapons platform?" Hana pouted slightly.

Rakain leaned in close to Ami and murmured in her ear, his voice a sensual growl. "I bet Xata and Hana know a lot about hidden depths," he snickered.

Ami snickered. "The beauty of the cosmos?" She asked, then blushed as Rakain purred in her ear. "Mm...good...point..." She said, slowly, grinning. "What about Sam and Nora?" she whispered - stealing another french fry from Hana's plate. Xata overhead Rakain's crack and looked at him speculatively.

"Their depths might not be hidden but they're still probably a sight to see," Rakain purred. "Like the cosmos, just more...personal."

Xata smiled and looked away, humming quietly to herself. Hana pouted, stealing Ami's fries in retaliation. Ami gasped. "Thief!" she said. "It's not theft when I do it. Then, it's utterly normal taxation!" She beamed.

Sam had been quiet through most of this, choosing to focus on her plate. "I don't see things changing between me and you." She said honestly.

"I'm collecting charitable contributions from the crown!" Hana said, nodding sagely. "I'm just not bothering you with the bureaucracy!"

Ami narrowed her eyes. "I'll trust you on this for now..." She muttered, her voice completely ominous.

Xata broke off her humming and said: "We perhaps should not Count Our Chickens, at any rate, yes? In 80% of Castrovelian operas, this occurs just before the heroes are Tragically Slain. I prefer that this does not happen to us."

Hana nodded to Ami, "Don't worry, I'm a robot and we are perfectly logical and am not ever mistooken!"

Ami nodded. "True, I may be sex slaved by pirates before I become an Empress..." She said, grinning at Xata.

Xata's circuits heated again. "If so, I will be right beside you, Miss Woodwise."

Nora found it better to dig into her meal rather than debating back.

"Hey! If anyone's making you a sex slave, it's me! I've got dibs!" Hana said indignantly, waggling her finger at Ami.

"If so, I will be right beside her," Xata repeated loyally.

Ami giggled, quietly, then stood. She started to take dirty plates now that everyone had eaten. Soon, they were working together to clean. The next two days would pass quietly. The party found that each of them had to sleep in the same shared crew quarters with a set of bunks ofr each of them. Which meant...well, if any wanted privacy, they'd need to find somewhere else on the ship. THe bridge had to have someone visiting it every few hours to ensure the autopilot was on course, and engineering had constantly checking from Nora and the technomages.

But it still passed...nice and quiet...

Hana split her time between editing her programs, playing games, doing private recordings, reading, and hanging out with the others, treating it a bit like any other day really. For much of the time, Xata seemed inert and oblivious to the outside world, her self-diagnostics searching for hidden systems and capabilities... and memories. Sam mostly, well, goofed off. Between a basic routine of eating, sleeping, and double checking the auto-pilot she was spending time on her tablet looking up various things, teasing and flirting with most of the crew, and working out. Nora spent her time either going over the ship, going over her drone, going over the jet systems in her spare time, or passed out with beer in her cot.

As for Ami and Rakain, they tested out just how well the table in the arcane lab could hold weight. As Rakain fiddled with the equipment in the arcane lab, Ami came to ask him a question. Within several minutes Ami was on the table on her back, legs spread wide as Rakain plunged his thick shaft into her. Though the walls muffed the sounds of their hips meeting, Rakain had to keep one of his hands over Ami's mouth and his lower lip between his teeth to prevent their cries of delight from alerting the whole ship to what they were up to. They reached their peaks together, and Rakain let a long breath out through his nose as he shot his load into Ami's quivering pussy. In the afterglow he allowed himself to trail his tongue down her chest and between the valley of her small, pert breasts. "If you ever do get that dragon harem," he panted as his cum leaked out of her. He gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. "Let me know if I need to up my game..."

Ami panted, then laughed - and then blinked as an alert rang through the ship. Well, less of an alert and more of a low chime...and then Alfie's voice followed up on the PA: "Emerging from Drift Space in T minutes one minute."

As everyone hurried onto the bridge - Ami walking a bit bow leggedly - they watched as the Drift engine whirred...and then punched a swirling hole from the Drift to the Prime Material. They emerged with a roar of sublight engines and Ami's skin faded from its bright glow so suddenly that it was almost startling.

But then they all had only eyes for Absalom Station. It was nearly five miles wide and five miles tall, a massive spire of gleaming silver and dark blue metal with glowing windows along the lower spire...but the top was made of a huge disk that expanded outwards into several massive docking arms - triangular in shape and covered with ships that had landed on hundreds if not thousands of berths. Other ships waited in massive holding patterns around the station, while Drift portals opened and shut by the dozens.

The very top of the station itself was a huge dome, which covered a beautfiul lookign city with...actual greenery and trees and grasses. It looked utterly lovely - even from a distance.

"Whoa..." Ami whispered.

Alife appeared on the hologram, smiling. "We are getting a signal from Absalom Traffic Control," she said.

Rakain raised a hand, using the other to adjust his pants. "I solemnly swear I will not attempt to get naked on camera this time."

Xata nodded earnestly. "Seconded. Times and Places."

"Times and places," Rakain echoed, still immersed in the memory of Ami's pussy shuddering around him not ten minutes ago. Ami beamed at the two of them, clearly quite happy about these statements.

Hana snickered slightly, "Like, while we're talking to them or just in general?" She said, nodding to Alfie, "Bring it up."

Alfie bowed. An image appeared of a bored looking Lantashu woman with a pair of antennas sticking out of her bill fold cap. She was drumming her fingers and wore a set of headphones and looked completely uninterested in everything and utterly...well, she was a Lantashu. That meant she was also god-droppingly sexy even though she was dressed in a rumply bit of station coveralls. Her skin was pale grey-green, and she had a pair of cute antennas sticking out of her forehead. She was also not looking at the screen - rather, her eyes were only set on her fingernails.

"Welcome to Absalom Station," she said, her voice uninterested. "And-" She blinked, sitting up as she saw the lot of them. "Hellloooooo!" she purred. "Welcome to Absalom Station, where do you want to berth? We have stations for your ship's size in Docking arm A, B and the Plaza, if you want to." She grinned brightly.

Rakain leaned close to Ami's ear. "Geez, what perked her up all of a sudden?" Ami giggled, then subtly pointed - it was easy to see the Lantashu's eyeline went straight to Hana's titties.

"The plaza sounds like the best idea, I think." Hana said, nodding to the lashunta woman, grinning at her and winking slightly. "Hopefully that's close to where you are."

Sam eyed the holo-projection with a bit of suspicion at the change in tone. Xata kept her face studiously blank, though noting Hana's clever exploitation of the lashunta woman's interest with approval. The lantashu bit her lip. "Well, the Plaza is for diplomats and other bigwigs, so there's going to be a bit of a price jump compared to the docking arms...buuuuuut I know where a cheaper berth on the plaza is, if you happen to be carrying supplies that might be wanted to be delivered to someone!" she said, nodding.

"I just thought it sounded like a fun place to be." Hana laughed, "But if you know a good place to unload some scrap we managed to collect from some pirates I'm all ears."

The lantashu typed away. "Oh! Oh! The Eoxian ambassador needs a bunch of necrotically infused metal!" She said. "Since they exploded with people on board, you can land there for free!" She nodded excitedly.

Xata blinked a bit at this. "Exploded?"

Rakain looked around at everyone. "Can someone translate for me what she just said? Eoxian? Exploded?"

"Sounds good to me." Hana said, grinning, then winking, "Don't suppose there's any bounty on pirates we could collect on too?"

The lantashu grinned. "Well, you mayyy need to visit my work place for that, cutie." She winked - then logged off, elaving them with route to follow on their navicomp.

Hana frowned, "Necromancers want the metal because we killed the people who were in the ship. Basically it's infused with potential necrotic energy that they can make use of."

Ami snickered. "Think that our bored dock worker is into the beep boops?" She asked, bumping Hana's hip.

"Ah. That tracks." Xata laughed. "She certainly seems to approve of at least one beep-boop."

"Hana, that lantashu clearly wants your butt," Rakain said. He tapped his spell cache to check his magic - he was running hot. "You can take lead on this one. And if something happens I want to watch."

Hana snickered, "She's into me at any rate... Wonder if I can actually wrangle us some cash for taking those guys out. Since they were pirates it seems there should logically be a bounty, right?"

Sam shrugged. "Alright, I'll bring us into the indicated dock."

The Sunwolf darted forward - the engines smoothly fluttering as they flew towards the dome...then through it. Suddenly, it was as if they had dropped into an actual atmosphere. The sky was blue and clouds hung overhead - a false sky projected on the inside of the force field dome. They landed on a large landing pad. The ship settled and automatic re-fuelers deployed from the ground.

"I'm Commander Sharkin and this is my favorite shuttle port on Absalom Station," Ami said, giggling. "I'm glad I've stopped glowing..." She said, looking at her hands - blushing. "Guess it only happens in the Drift..."

Hana snickered slightly, "So, first we try to unload the scrap on the necromancers, then we look into info and the bounty?"

Ami nodded. "Sound good. Who wants to come with us to meet the spoopy Eoxians?" She asked, grinning at the rest of the bridge.

"I will come," Xata said, nodding sagely.

Rakain raised a hand. "Count me in."

"I kind of figured we'd all go meet the Eoxians and split up from there." Hana said, standing up and stretching slightly.

Ami grinned. "Well, come on! Grab your gear, lets go!" She turned and started for the airlocks in the main room. They were a pair of rectangular squares on the ground - marked with red lines to indicate that they would open up. As they stood on the airlocks, the floor whirred down, shunting them into a small box. There was a hiss, a thin blue line that ran along each of them, then the outer door opened, letting them step out underneath the Sunwolf

.

The air smelled fresh and clean - and they had never felt an air so...wet. And...not filled with dust.

"Is it just me or is this place weird?" Ami whispered as a woman walked towards them from across the broad expanse of the shuttle port. She was dressed in a skinny black jumpsuit with a red lining around her collar, and looked like a human who was as pale as porceline, with pitch black hair, black lips, and blood red eyes. She sighed as she pulled out her tablet.

"You're the ship with the NTM?" she asked, holding out the tablet. "Sign here, here, here, and here." She nodded.