Tutorial's End

Katha

TeleP-Comute Hub, Vesheen City, Shee

Sitting atop one of the squat cutesy buildings ringing the TeleP compound, Katha observed the beings below as they came and went. Each of the buildings were impractical, constructed with shoddy materials for the sake of a specific aesthetic, one which was well known to attract tourists by the droves. Katha loved the stupid little buildings, they were both cute and worthless, just like her.

Humming softly, she kicked her feet as she watched the various buildings in the compound from her semi-elevated position as the sun rose in the distance. Given Shee was a small backwater planet, there were a grand total of five TeleP transit circles: each hidden and protected within one of their standard manufactured buildings.

The drop-in metal cubes were a clear eyesore compared to the quaint architecture boasting hand-painted ceramic tiles sitting atop rough-hewn log walls insulated with literal straw. Too bad for whoever had come up with the city design tenants, TeleP was well known for requiring all of their structures remain recognizable and unaltered. If rumor was to be believed, they didn't even allow the premade cubes to be obscured by a larger overall structure.

If a planet wanted something less conspicuous, or if they wanted their TeleP hub placed within an existing building plan, whoever owned the place would have to commission a custom hub. An expensive prospect, paid less in any of the numerous currencies and more in direct trade.

Finding she'd reached the end of her hummed tune and was repeating the final few notes over-and-over again, Katha started in on a new melody. All the corporate shenanigans of TeleP were no longer her concern, after all. Mistress Shivna had freed her from such worries long ago!

Usually, the mistress just let her do whatever. In fact, Katha rarely even bothered to think due to benevolent owner's kindness. Unfortunately, Katha had been chosen for a mission which required her to think a bit. Not too much, thank the gods!

Although this was only the second day on the job, Katha thought she and Mejah were doing a pretty great job. They'd found that Willow woman, who Mejah seemed to have something against but Katha herself felt entirely ambivalent toward. Since seeing her and listening to some of her conversation, with two humans and a silver-guy whose race Katha couldn't quite remember, Mejah had refused to stray too far from their target. He was convinced she was up to something, plotting something nefarious, and he wanted to be there to catch her and inform their mistress.

That was fine with Katha, it meant she could follow up on other leads. Their mission was to investigate and potentially gain Willow's trust somehow to better keep tabs, not to follow her around like a puppy. The elf snickered softly thinking of Mejah as a puppy. A big, dumb, charcoal skinned, human, puppy. The snicker turned to a giggle at the thought of the massive man on hands and knees, panting and barking. Maybe when we get back to mistress and she lets us stop thinking again I can get him to do that. It'd be funnnn.

Realizing that, as always, she was actively failing to do what she was supposed to, Katha - mostly - stifled her giggling and set her sights back on the compound. The reason she'd come here was simple. She'd heard Willow talking to with her companions about someone named 'Madrick' arriving today. The name was super, super, familiar. Not familiar enough to remember, though. It probably wasn't important, if she knew the being she'd recognize them when they arrived.

Why Willow and the others weren't going to meet their, presumed, friend, Katha had no idea. They'd never even talked about the possibility, all apparently assuming they wouldn't without discussion. The sliver-guy, who Katha hadn't gotten the name of yet, had seemed a bit confused as the others talked but hadn't asked for clarification. Being a spy would be SO much easier if everyone would just exposite everything they do and why! Ooh, like that one race! The…. The… Hmm… Can't remember. Oh well.

More humming, more feet kicking.

The sun slowly rose, eventually reaching its zenith. Katha was mostly distracted, but sometimes she looked over to see what was happening in the TeleP compound. Sometimes she even kept her eyes on the single exit for several minutes at a time!

Eventually, her vigilance paid off. Not because she recognized someone she thought might be called 'Madrick', but because she noticed a fae slipping into the small crowd which constantly loitered around the compound. A fae she recognized! That Tather guy who her mistress had told to do something. Katha couldn't quite remember what he'd been told to do, she had been way too busy playing with Viv and Bji. She wished she was still playing with them.

A few minutes of longing fantasy later, the elf caught sight of Tather again and she remembered why she'd thought back to before her assignment in the first place! She'd gotten distracted, failing at the simplest task once again. That guy should be doing something for the mistress. Should she talk to him? Maybe he knew about 'Madrick' and could just tell her, so she could maybe go back to her mistress sooner?

The way he glanced around constantly was weird, though. He seemed nervous, anxious. She thought fae were supposed to be masters of manipulation or something, but all the ones she knew were rather bad at hiding their emotions. Except the mistress, of course. It was impossible to know what she was thinking, given the pretty cloud of soft-but-impenetrable which constantly obscured her.

Having kept her gaze firmly on Tather as she considered, Katha was proud of herself for not getting too distracted. Should she approach him? Maybe he could help her. Maybe he knew who 'Madrick' was. Wait, had she thought about that before? Yeah. Yeah she did.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm… Katha's hand moved by habit to play with her body, only to find herself pouting as the clothes she'd had to put on to not stand out so much got in the way. Why did she care about standing out, again? Right, right, the mistress' order! Of course!

Her eyes scanned the crowd and landed on a nervous looking fae. Oh! I know that guy! Tather, right?

Eventually, Katha had managed to remember that Tather was there and that she wasn't going to approach him. She'd just keep an eye on him, like Mejah was keeping an eye on Willow! Sometimes her mind got stuck in little loops like that, eventually she got out of them though. It was fine. Just another example of why she wasn't sure the mistress' choice to trust her was a good one.

The sun was beginning to set when something changed. Tather stood up straight and rushed toward the compound's large gate. He bowed deeply before a tall human wearing silly large clothes with bright silver facial hair, despite having normal straw colored hair on his head. Tather seemed terrified, nearly shaking as he remained in a bowed position speaking softly.

OOooh, right, I should listen! Katha reached back to tap her own back at the excellent idea.

Waving her fingers in front of her face, she cast the 'ears of wind' spell. A tiny jet stream of wind shot out and caught the words being exchanged between the human and fae, ferrying the noise back and depositing it into her right ear. Sometimes she messed the spell up and it was too strong, muting the people talking and making her eavesdropping obvious. Other times, she made it way too weak and it just tickled her ears. This time she'd done it right!

Katha giggled, Wow! What a good day! Before a sudden, unexpected, voice caught her attention and reminded her she'd just cast a spell to listen in on Tather and his human friend.

"…of course. I understand you're busy, so I'll make this swift. I wish to inform you, great lord dominator Lark, that a fae noble of your acquaintance is responsible for this city and bares you ill." Tather spoke quickly, voice strained and a bit faint as he had apparently forgotten to breathe between sentences. Katha nodded in sympathy. Poor Tather. She did that all the time! Maybe they had more in common, she should go say hi!

She hopped down from the roof, not perceiving the confused looks of passers by. She hadn't noticed them as they gave her odd looks for very obviously sitting on some random being's house, and she didn't notice them now. Taking a skipping step toward Tather and his friend, she stopped mid-hop as she remembered her task and scuttled back toward the slight shadow cast by the building she'd been sitting on.

Grumbling and dodging beings wove their way around as the clueless elf staggered backwards, just barely saving herself from ruining her entire mission.

"I see. Who?" The voice was scratchy, prickly like the clothes she was currently wearing. Why was she wearing them again?

Right! The mission!

"Shivna the Untouchable arrived on planet yesterday and began the process of consolidating her hold, lord." Tather reported obsequiously.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Hmph, just her? Nothing to worry about, then." The cactus-voiced man dismissed.

Letting out a strangled sound, Tather insisted quickly, "Lord, while I'm certain you feel she's no threat, she is close to becoming a legend again and she knows you're here! There's no doubt she'll seek vengeance against you for past wrongs."

After a beat of silence, the human asked, "What wrongs?"

"I… Uh… I'm sure the lord's intentions were quite pure and-"

"Just tell me what wrongs, I don't have time to waste on you dancing around it."

"Y-yes, lord. I understand she'd constantly tried to look in for her own amusement on both yourself and the Dominator's Guild only to find herself blocked and rebuffed every time. You were the one who sent her for respawn at the height of her power when you caught her watching one of your battles. I believe your army had been driven back and… You were angry at having an audience?"

The human was nodding along, as if everything Tather said made sense, "I remember her now. She was quite hard to kill, even being many ranks beneath me at the time. I suppose your warning is worth considering, then. You say she's nearly back to legend rank… And you, her servant? You feel like you're about half way through the ranker's grind?"

"I am!" Tather preened happily, even unbending slightly in pride. "It had taken me nearly four decades to reach this point. Before, I kept being sent for respawn due to being used as a spy by incompetent masters who sent me against far too powerful people and-"

"-I don't care." The large man broke in harshly. "Does Shivna trust you? Hold you in high regard?"

Tather hesitated for a moment, then wobbled his head around uncertainly, "I am sure I can gain her trust. I only met the woman yesterday and-"

"Good enough, then. So she won't have you on her list to allow messages through."

"Messages?" Tather seemd baffled, his golden blond hair falling to the side as his head leaned to the side in confusion.

"Yes. Now, stand up straight. It'll be easier." The man commanded.

Tather stood straight immediately, jumping as if prodded by a hot poker, "O-of course! Make what eas-"

The human once again cut him off. This time, with a rapid sweeping motion which was much too fast for Katha to see as more than a blur. The blur started below Tather, and ended above his head. Then she saw the Lark guy holding a thin sword, some kind of rapier or something, though it had a bladed edge.

Such a thin foil really had no business bothering with a blade. After all, it would just break or bend if… Katha's train of thought stopped quite suddenly as Tather fell to his left. And to his right. The bark-clad entling was cleanly bisected. Each side fell opposite the other, appearing for all the world like a split log. With a flick his blade, the killer cleaned his blade of some kind of body fluid, Katha thought maybe sap, and sheathed it.

Other beings began reacting at about the same time that Katha remembered she was right there and not watching from some distant viewing orb her mistress had conjured for her to watch from! With a screech, Katha turned to run. She slammed into a large furry being, who grunted at her to pay attention, then looked up to see what she was running from, and fled himself.

Rubbing her sore butt as she got up, Katha realized she was wearing some really uncomfortable clothing. Leathers of some kind. The leather probably made the fall worse. She didn't remember falling on her ass feeling so bad when she wasn't wearing it. She started pushing the dumb garment off, then stopped when she remembered her mission.

Oh, yeah! I need to watch for someone called Madrick.

She turned around and saw an oddly familiar human walking toward her. He was pretty funny looking, his hair and beard colors didn't match. Then she saw the two halves of a fae she knew behind him. Tather! Right, right. This human had just killed Tather.

Why'd he do that? Oh, right, because Tather mentioned the mistress. So if I don't do that, he won't hurt me.

So realizing, she smiled brightly at the man. He gave her an odd look, but passed without saying anything. Katha knew he was nice, he probably just hated that the mistress didn't let him play all day. She knew she hated that, too. She'd definitely kill someone in one hit for reminding her of that, if she could.

Skipping, she fell in step beside the nice human, "Hiiiiieya!" She greeted brightly.

"What do you want?" He asked with a deep sigh. "Are you also trying to get in my good graces? Have some critical information to share?"

"No, no! Nothing like that! I was just wondering if you knew someone I'm looking for! I'm Katha, by the way!"

Staring at her for a very long time, long enough that Katha started wondering if he disliked her clothes as much as she did, he finally answered, "Okay, Katha. You at least seem less interested in licking my boot than the last being. What do you want?"

She pouted at him, "It's not polite to not introduce yourself!" Then she realized she may have only imagined introducing herself and quickly appended, "I'm Katha, by the way! If I didn't say before!"

The human was staring at her again. She kind of liked it. She started humming the same tune as earlier, it was a nice one. Real jaunty. The lyrics were fun too, though she didn't remember them. Something about hooky-tooky? No…Badonka chonk? Something…

"Madrick."

"Whaaa?" Katha was reminded sharply of her purpose here. "What about him?" She asked, confused. Was this guy looking for him, too?

"I'm Madrick. You wanted me to introduce myself." He tapped his foot now. He probably liked her humming! Though, he wasn't really tapping to the beat. He must not have very good rhythm.

She bobbed her head happily, "Great! Good! That's a good name!" She frowned. She wasn't supposed to tell Madrick she was looking for him, right? Or was she?

Hmmmmmmmmm….

"Well?"

"Oh! Sorry! I'm useless, I kinda forget what I'm doing sometimes." She giggled happily, "But it's okay, what's the point of remembering anyway? It doesn't make me happy!"

"So… You don't want anything from me?"

"Nope! It's nice to meet you though, Madrick!" She shot out her hand. Humans usually liked shaking hands, right?

Slowly, he reached out and took firm grasp of her wrist. Oooooh, he does that wrist clasping thingy! I know what comes next!

Fully embracing the obvious next step, she got ahead of herself. Before he could pull her forward, she threw her supple body into his broad chest. Looking up at him with wide eyes she opened her mouth in a small, "oh!"

Oddly, he seemed surprised. Katha was certain this is how those plays the mistress had taken her to had played out. The big man grabbed the cute little woman and then-

Ahhh, there it is! He put his large hands on either of her shoulders. He'd now lean down and- He shoved her roughly back. She rolled as she hit the ground, remembering how bad the leather pants made hitting her rear feel.

Standing out of the backwards roll, she threw her hands up, "Tadaaaah!"

The human, Madrick, stared for a moment, then shook his head and vanished. Katha stared at where he'd been. Oh? Did I imagine all that?

Oh well, back to watching for Madrick to arrive! She turned and skipped back to the house she'd used as a lookout post. The door was open and it smelled like a stew was on. I'm so hungry! I guess stopping in for a stew before I get back to my duties would be fine. I gotta eat to keep my energy up!

Accepting the nice being's invitation in, Katha strode through the door and helped herself.

Vekres Unduule

Bridge, The Devil's Snout, Space

"What, exactly, does that mean?" Vekres asked her technician as she leaned over him to observed the readings he'd called her over about. She thought she'd parsed the chaotic mix of colors and shapes, but her time as a Commander had taught her not to trust her own knowledge over the expertise of her crew.

The expert in question, a gnoll by the name of Orlesh, explained succinctly, "Commander, there is a large amount of mana lingering in this area of space. Not six light-years from here. What's more, the mana is very clearly nature aligned. The signature has mostly faded, but the equipment matches it with Captain Jemer's last recorded mana reading."

Leaning back, Vekres spent a moment in thought. Though she liked to trust experts, she found snapping questions out as soon as they occurred to her tended to reinforce the 'dumb-orc' stereotype. It wasn't a good look for a hell-spawn orc, not to mention one of clan Unduule. Deciding there was no way for her to confirm herself, she asked her question, "If Jemer fought during a boarding, either as the defender or aggressor, would her mana have leaked out into space like that?"

"Almost certainly not, Commander. The sheer amount of mana suggests that it isn't just runoff from a large spell or mana leaked from personal enhancement. It is…" He hesitated a moment, but continued when Vekres' expectant gaze fell on him. "If I had to make an educated guess - I would say this phenomena is the result of a sudden release of a massive amount of unfocused mana. There is enough mana here that I would be surprised to learn if it wasn't at least close to Captain Jemer's maximum pool."

The revelation was a surprise, certainly, but it also raised more questions than it answered. "Can you think of any reason for a being to concentrate all of their mana and then release it without a purpose?"

"I cannot, Commander."

"Very well, continue your analysis and let me know if you find or can think of anything else. Either way, let Navigator Jor know when you're done. We're going to follow the trail of the vessel that last passed this way regardless." Orlesh barked a sharp agreement and turned back to his work.

The investigation into Jemer's assignment had been underway for a bit over a month now. It would have taken significantly longer, but when she'd reported the strange disappearance to the Brigadier General: he had officially assigned her the task of tracking her cousin down. Technically, she was supposed to oversee the investigation, not necessarily conduct it. She hadn't been ordered not to participate directly though, so that's what she had decided to do.

Not alone, or without an appropriate roster, of course. This ship wasn't her usual vessel, but rather a sleeker, and less comfortable, scouting sloop. The swift ship was the only reason they'd managed to make their way along Jemer's intended route after interviewing the assignment officer and reviewing the orders she'd been given.

Jemer's task had been fairly innocuous. She'd been ordered to take a skuttle-bust, a ship which was on its absolute last legs, to a spot along a known smuggling route. From there, she and her crew would use leach-pods to board the ship and subdue the crew. Jemer was then to return the ship to an O.F.F. controlled world as quickly as possible.

The process was a standard operation called the "smuggler's tax" by seasoned operatives. Once they'd known the entry point, The Devil's Snout and its crew had little trouble following the mana trail left by the presumed smuggler's ship. After all, the ship was specifically designed for such tasks and her crew was experienced.

The trail they'd followed had been odd. For some reason, after taking the ship, Jemer had plotted a direct course back to O.F.F. controlled space. Then, a few days into their trip she'd suddenly changed course. From there, the ship had gone to Motrendi of all places. After nearly arriving, the course changed again and headed into a random position in deep space.

What came next was anyone's guess, though the patterns Vekres had noticed on the tracking expert's monitor as she passed behind her was concerning. It almost seemed as if the ship had turned around and headed back toward Motrendi at a slightly different angle.

Whether the following destination was Motrendi or somewhere else entirely, she hoped the next stop would lead to answers.