Starborn: Origin of the Stars

“Ho, wait, don’t be in such a rush. Since you are already here, please take this container back to Seka. I’ll give Slice a call, so he will receive it when you return.” Gumvar said and pointed at the box to his feet that had roughly the same size as the first one, but a simpler casing.

Robin really didn’t want anything to do with them any further and politely refused.

“Unfortunately, we’ll not immediately return to Seka and aren’t for hire right now.”

“I have to insist, this is really important for me. A meager delay of a few days is not a problem and I’ll pay along the same terms as Slice.” Gumvar said, still smiling but with a firm voice. Robin was sure he wouldn’t take a no for an answer and gnashed his teeth. This was exactly what he was afraid of - there definitely was something off with that package. To his side he could feel Patience tensing up. They would have to comply for now, since all odds were against them if a fight broke out.

“Fine, how could I deny it, if it’s so important? 6k now, the rest after successful delivery.” Robin said and got a glance from his friend, she obviously didn’t agree with him. Gumvar shoved the box over and tapped again on his datapad.

“Great, thanks a lot! The credits are on the way.” he said and looked at one of his flunkies, “Open the shutter for them.”

While the guy hurried off, Robin picked up the crate and slowly walked back to his ship, Patience by his side. He once again was happy to be able to use his mutation while moving and with his eyes open, not giving anything away. When he activated his skill to scan the box’s insides, he wasn’t even surprised to find a bright blue glowing network of power lines that represented a receiving unit connected to a complex device.

He didn’t have to be an expert to make the educated guess that this was a bomb of sorts. It only confused him that he saw such a dense power grid - where was the blank spot that indicated the place of the explosive and why was the power supply so high?

‘I have no idea what kind of techno-bomb that is, but that is a fucking bomb for sure…shit!’ His mind raced with ideas. Gumvar and his men would probably wait until they were out of the immediate area around the workshop and then try to blow up the Melody II.

‘Shit, what to do…what to do…? Our only advantage is that we already know it’s a bomb…’

Robin thought and made sure to not let anything show as they came close to the ship. His eyes wandered around and as he saw behind Melody, he had an idea. One that sucked, but he had to use what he had on hand.

“We need a distraction, a rowdy one!” he whispered to Patience, who was still walking beside him. She already guessed that something was off and nodded. She then leaned at the ship while Robin slowly climbed up to the cargo hold.

Putting on her best cute smile, she looked for the eyes of Lope, the idiot from before.

Sure enough, he immediately caught on and laughed.

“Had a change of mind, beauty?” his lecherous grin instantly came back. Gumvar and his friends looked at him with confusion. They didn’t see Patience’s teasing smile as they were fixated on Robin, to make sure he stashed the bomb in his ship.

“Cut the crap, Lope!” Gumvar lashed out, having enough of his antics. But Patience didn’t let this chance slide.

“No, keep going, Lope. I really wanna hear more to get to know you better! And while we’re at it, why don’t we use this time to give you a chance to learn about me a bit?” She challenged him and grinned. Before Gumvar could step up and stop an escalation, she moved to the free space, arms open wide and body prepared for a battle.

“Come on, Lope, let's see if you could even handle me!” She mocked him and Lope rushed forward. He knew he was being played, but that only enraged him even more.

“Don’t play too long with him, Patience. I really wanna leave soon.” Robin called from his position on the ship. Gumvar looked strangely at him, since this remark would only add fuel to the conflict. Robin used this attention to make sure the man saw him storing the box in the cargo area of Melody II and reached inside to secure it in place.

Meanwhile Lope reached Patience and threw a punch to her face.

“Damn bitch, I’ll show you!” He snarled as she dodged. Lope at least knew what he was doing and didn’t blindly throw his fists around. He kept a good footing and was mindful of her retaliation. After he missed two more hits, Patience suddenly leaned in after a dodge and landed a nasty hit on his right thigh. Slowly she circled Lope and blocked or dodged any attack.

“If that’s all, then I really wonder who gave you the guts to spew such bullshit.” She grinned and threw two punches in quick succession, one hitting the thigh again and the other crashing in his stomach, pushing the air out of his lungs. She didn’t continue just now but gave him some time to recuperate, still circling around. The other people stood some distance away and Robin still had his hands in the cargo area, fastening the crate while being occasionally watched by Gumvar.

‘Come on Patience…’ He swore in his mind and waited for the right moment.

Suddenly his friend leaped forward after blocking another of Lopes fists and tackled him with her shoulder. She definitely used her mutation, as the impact lifted him off the floor and threw him back towards his boss. Gumvar now really had enough, he helped him up but held his shoulder.

“Argh, fuck… Boss! Let me show this bitch, how…” Lope rubbed his sore torso and tried to move back into the ring.

“Shut up!” Gumvar hissed and tightened his grip. When he saw that Lope stopped struggling, he turned to look at Patience.

“Your message was sent. Let’s end this here. Your friend is ready to depart and I cannot see how this meeting could regain any civility.” He motioned towards Robin who just closed the cargo hatch and climbed towards the cockpit. He nodded and Patience lowered her fists. “Fine!” she conceded, “Next time, don’t act out if you cannot back it up, man!”

She turned and also climbed into her seat. Before Robin closed the canopy, he addressed Gumvar once more.

“We will be back at Seka in three days at most. Please inform Slice of our additional cargo, I don’t wanna have it on my hands for longer than necessary.”

“Will be done, good flight.” Gumvar confirmed and they watched as the ship slowly flew out of their workshop, rising into the skies of Beakrath moments later.

Silence fell over the building, only disturbed by the low, steady humming of the big nuclear electric generator that was running some test programs. Keeping it stable without any of the expensive containment fields took them quite some careful tweaks and adjustments.

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“Close the shutter, we still have a lot to do. I want the ship out of here in two days!” Gumvar finally barked and left towards his office. The man that tried to calm Lope down before, followed him.

“Did you really have to go that far? They are just some kids!” he said in a low voice.

“They recognized the damn generator and there is a good chance that they have peeked in the package they brought. We are stuck here for two more days, I cannot risk them running their mouths and spreading rumors.”

“Well, an exploding ship will definitely raise some questions and as they were here before, we will get a visit from Beakrath Security. It’s quite the flashy move…”

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“There won’t be an explosion. It’s a small EMP blast, a typical byproduct of a failed plasma generator. As they are using a custom-built ship, no one will dig too deep in this case. There will be a brief blackout of the ship's systems and then they will just fall out of the sky, crashing to their deaths.”

Gumvar explained and they reached his office. He picked up a little device from his desk and pulled on its small lever. The device began to blink with a red light, clearly armed now.

His companion just shrugged. This was a solid plan, Gumvar knows what he's doing.

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“Well, I hope Slice doesn't take this personally!” Gumvar grinned and pressed a button on the device. With that, all the lights in the office and the entire workshop went out, plunging the big building in absolute darkness.

“What the fuck?” Gumvar exclaimed and looked around, fear slowly gripping his heart. The only remaining light came from the still running nuclear electric generator that glowed slightly green.

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“...Shit!”

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*BOOOOOM*