Act 51: Checking In

With that, Ranii heads out to do her thing. Once out of sight of everyone else, she teleports away, and does exactly what she said she would. 
After giving the news to Stic  and updating him on the situation, and warning him about the cannibal smuggler possibly still creeping around Sandstone and receiving his assurances that they'd look for him, she finds herself one again in Ara's Barthol. She wanders up to the bar, sets herself down, and waits to be served.
'If only I wasn't too pressed for time' She sighs to herself. She wishes she could sneak in some 'girls time' but... duties are duties. She knows it's fortunate enough that she can at least see Ara during this time, thanks to teleportation. Still, though...

Jocelyn is here too, but that's beside the point. Better not waste time with her either.
Ara sees that someone has arrived at the bar counter. It is...Ranii? The Abra doesn't know if she should feel surprised  or if she should have expected her alien friend to have been able to come here anyways. "Warm days, Ranii." She greets her with a smile.

"Warm days, Ara!" She greets. "I could use a drink. Just one though. I have some time, but not a whole lot, so no back room shenanigans today I'm afraid. Still, I thought I'd drop by to see you at least."

"Sure thing, coming right up!" No need to ask her twice. Ara is already picking up a bottle and a cup to fill it up for the Avali. "Still though, can we go to the back real quick? There is something I want to talk with you about...it's nothing like the usual things we do, I assure you." Though she then realizes that even this doesn't make it sound NOT lewd, maybe she should explain it a little better. "It's a bit of myself that I share with very close friends."

"Well, alright, if it doesn't take too long. I'd gladly do the usual things if I had time. Though, sadly I don't." Ranii smiles at her. "I'll take the drink with me, if it's all the same."

"Yeah of course. Let's get going." She would like to make the most of the short time they got as well. Ara grasps the Avali by the hand and they both teleport to her bedroom.

Once in her bedroom, Ranii sits down on the bed, seeing as there's not much else to sit on. Other than maybe a dresser, but those make notoriously poor seats. "Alright, so what did you want to share with me?" She asks.

She sits beside her friend and places a hand on her shoulder. "Well, I don't believe I ever told you about what I was doing before setting down here in Sandstone, have I?"

"I don't believe you have." The avali replies, taking a small sip of her drink as she listens.

"Right." She nods. "Believe it or not, I wasn't always someone running a place where you can find drinks or companionship. I actually used to commandeer a ship at sea as a captain! Her name was Dread Of Pearls, the ship I mean."

"A sailor?" Ranii asks as she takes another sip. "Where were you sailing? And what were you doing? Were you some sort of explorer or naval officer, or?"

"Heh, Nah i wasn't part of the nobles' naval forces if that's what you are asking." She shakes her head. "Nope, I was an explorer, but also did many other jobs...just not the ones that payed TOO well, that often means that it's dangerous. Also we sailed the Oracle Sea, that's where i was born too. It's an interesting place...the islands are changing all the time, all except for a big one in the middle that belongs to the 'civilized' folk."

"Ah. Freelancer. Got it." Ranii says. "Sounds like an interesting place." She comments as she gives the glass a light swirl in her hand.

"Have you ever sailed too?"

"In a sense." Ranii says. "My 'boat' is a little different. And so was my sea. But... yeah, you could kind of say that."

"Aaahh i see." She doesn't quite 'see' it in it's entirety but it's good that they both can relate somewhat. "I'm getting a little nostalgic talking about this...Anyways, what got me into wanting to sail was just wanting to make something of myself at the time. Getting a ship was not really easy but I managed."

"Ah. So... what happened?" Ranii asks as she takes a drink. "I mean, it's rather obvious that something changed at some point."

"Oh, well...nothing too bad, at least from what I heard of what happens to others sometimes." She looks down a little, thinking about her old crew. "You probably already heard me talk plenty about Brene, I met her in my life at sea. That's when we became really close." Talking about her always makes Abra feel somewhat sad, but she remembers her past lover well. "Eventually we decided that we wanted to be together after retiring from life at sea, if we could get to that. And well...we did get to that, the day we retired was when we got to the coast of the Land of Sands, me and the crew split the pokes we had and then most everyone went their separate ways." She smiles a little. "But that was fine with me, really. I was under the assumption that life on land would be safer than in the Oracle Sea, and honestly...it was, I thought it was perfect for us to settle down, so we ended up in Sandstone and the rest."

Ranii nods as she listens to Ara explain the Oracle Sea. "Do you miss your days on the Oracle Sea?" She asks, avoiding the subject of Brene for now, as she knows darn well it's only going to bring a measure of pain to ask about her old friend/lover. And if there's one thing Ranii does not want to do, it's cause her pain.

Ara gives a nod to that question. "Sometimes I can't really help but. It was where I used to live after all. But...I can't argue with the fact that life here is way more stable."

"Grove assholes aside of course." Ranii gives a very very light chuckle to that. "I do have to ask though... Is there any particular reason you bring this up now? Was it a random thought, or... ??"

"I suppose it is a random thought. I have just been thinking a lot about it lately."

"Hmmm..." She takes one last sip of her drink, emptying the cup. "I suppose it's only fair then that I share some of my past. Well, you should know by now I'm not exactly from... around here. If you know what I mean."

She nods. "Mmm-Mmm." With all the time they spent together, Ara doesn't really need to read her mind to figure that out.

"And... have I told you where exactly I come from? Or rather where I was raised? By Alpaca?" She asks.

"Yeah, in a way you kind of told me about it."

"Hmmm..." Ranii thinks. Then she suddenly realizes. "You've been peaking into my mind again. You-hoo little sneak!" She laughs that last part out as she reaches out and rubs the Abra's bald head playfully.

"Hehehe." Ara giggles, funny only now Ranii figured this out. "Yeah. Sorry about that by the way."

"It's fine. Better you than anyone else." She giggles a bit at that. "But anyway, yeah. After I was brought back into Avali civilization, they tried to put me in a pack but I'd been a kayo for so long that it just didn't work out. So after school I got me a ship and did some freelance work, going from place to place in space doing this and that. That continued up until a few months ago, when Khaako called in a favor and got me hooked up with the Four-Eyes guild as an agent for a project her pack was working on. Looking back on it..." She looks at Ara and smiles. "I'm quite glad she did. It was getting quite lonely out there, truth be told."

"Wow...I can't imagine how it must have been having to sail alone..." She said, pitying Ranii a little.

"Like I said, it was lonely." She replies. "I mean there was the occasional bar trip and the occasional sexy fling, but nothing like now."

"Really?" She smirks. "I wonder what changed that. I'm betting it was Luca."

"Well, yes. Luca... though definitely not at first. Hell, we barely got along at first, and when I first got here, I was beginning to wish I hadn't owed Khaako that debt. But yeah, Blueberry definitely grew on me. But also.." She leans in close to Ara, their faces a mere couple inches away from each other before she says. "Also you, Ara."

The Abra blushes, not really sure what she can say to that, but she doesn't need words really, a little kiss that she gives to Ranii should be worth more than words.

"Mmm" Ranii moans softly at the little kiss, and returns one of her own, before giving one smack dab on Ara's own lips, and wrapping her tightly in her claws. She may not have time for a full fuck or even a quickie, but she definitely still has time to show at least a little affection to the Abra she's come to love.

Ara also hugs her back tightly as they kiss. "Mmmm." It is a shame that they can't have more time together, but this is fine, she doesn't want to keep Ranii from her duties.

After keeping her lips locked with the Abra's for just a little longer, she slowly pulls away. "I wish I could take this further today, but I'm afraid I really need to go." She says with a sad sigh. "I promise once I get a free moment, I'll come back and we'll have another time together." She grins mischievously. "Maybe I'll even bring Luca again, you both seemed to enjoy that last time."

Ara can't agree more. "Heh, yeah i really did! I must say you really gave him quite a nice cock to use."

"You're telling me." She laughs a bit with pride. as she gets up. "I do take pride in my work after all."

"Yeah i can see why." She laughs too. "Aaahh...sooo you will be going now?"

"I'm afraid so." Ranii sighs. "Duty calls, and all that."

"I see." It is a bit of a shame. "But it's alright. Just be careful out there, okay?" She sounds a bit worried saying that. She is really trying to hide it but...she is afraid of losing Ranii too, especially with her line of work being even more dangerous than Brene's.

"I'll be okay. I've had more pitched campaigns than this." She reassures her GF by giving her one more quick kiss on the cheek. "Okay, ready to take me out of here so I can return back?"
Actually, speaking of teleporting. 
"That reminds me though, one of these days I do have to take you aboard my ship, just to show you. Isn't much as far as ships go, and it's a bit ... cold, but still worth seeing."

That kiss brightens things up for her a bit. "Huh, i would very much like to see how your ship is like! But yes, one of those days. You probably need to get back to work so...let me take your back." She places a hand on the Avali's shoulder and they both teleport back to the brothel's bar.

Once they get back, Ranii waves as she gives her final goodbyes for the day, and heads back outside. She takes a turn down an unused alleyway, and once out of sight, she teleports back to her ship. From there, she takes a quick drink, eats a quick meal, and then teleports back to an area just outside the camp, to a beacon she's specially placed there just for this purpose. She looks around the camp for her partner, in order to start whatever chores need to be done...

Later that day, with the sun setting... 
The teleporter in the Sandgun base brings in someone, it's that human that keeps contact between his own group and the Avali and Sandstone. Mattias is in a hurry this time, he jogs straight away for the tent where the commanding Avali is located...he has quite some news to report about what's going on in the sea these days. 

The base commander is right at his desk, when the flap flies open. He looks up from his papers, and sees the human in front of him. "Oh, it's you again." He says. "You came just in time, a few more minutes and I would have called it a day." It's at this point he notices the frantic panting of the human, and the expression. "Wow, you look like you rushed over here. Do sit, and catch your breath." He motions to the chair in front of him.

The man raises one his hands. "Alright, look...off the record things so don't record this." He pulls the chair back a bit and sits on it before continuing. "Alright, look...I'm gonna start with the more serious thing. I don't think you might be the only outsiders on this planet anymore. Boris found out this...this 'thing' called 'The Black Isle', a place shrouded in many rumors and covered in an unnatural fog." But that's not even the worst of it, he thinks. "And it has an automated defense system. Hang on, let me just...show it to you..." Now he begins trying to look for something in his pockets? At least it appears so, if he has some sort of storage in this body-tight suit of his.

"Okay, won't be recording any of this." Though this is disturbing. Automated Defense System? If there are indeed others here, Stic may have to be informed. They could keep him in the dark about one single gun appearing where it shouldn't have. But an entire alien base? That is not something that should remain under wraps for long... if that turns out to be true that is.

From somewhere in his person, Mattias gets some sort of crystalline cube object.

He begins pressing on it with his thumbs almost as if he is typing on it...and the thing folds itself into a phone-form of sorts.

"Here! take a look at this!" He holds it sideways, much like a phone, so the Avali commander can look at it's 'screen', which seems to be displaying a video. "Here's a re-creation footage of what Boris saw."
The footage displayed shows a small vessel with a Oshawott and Abra. Floating in front of them is a form, a slender body, with four disks protruding from it on each diagonal side by unmoving arms. After the two parties stared at other in silence, though it's hard to tell since there is no audio, the small vessel and it's crew of two got quickly decimated by lasers shooting down onto the boat

"Well.... well..." The base commander looks intently, having downloaded the footage, 2nd hand, to his own neural video recording. He clicks a button on his desk, and the video appears in holographic form in front of them. The video repeats on a loop as he watches.
"Yes, this is definitely quite disturbing. Definitely an attack drone of some sort." He rubs his chin. "Though it seems this one has been modified for undersea to air usage. Weaponry seems to consists of beam-based energy weaponry... which would make sense if used in sea-to-sea or air-to-sea combat." He notes as the footage loops.
"Hmm... let's see if we can't get an id on this thing, or at least a model type. Might give us an identity as to this.. 'black isle's mysterious inhabitants.'"
The commander's eyes narrow as he watches the loop playback one more time.
"There. Freeze frame." 
On command, the footage stops, frozen in a place, right at the point to where all four limbs are visible. Moments before the occupants in the boat are blasted. 
"Enlarge on this subject." He commands, pointing to the mysterious, fog-obscured outline.  The image zooms in, past the boat and its occupants and filling the screen with the drone's form.
The commander looks over to a space next to it, and points to it with a pair of his claws. With a swift upward pulling motion, another screen appears, as if pulled up out of the desk.
He then points to the fog-hidden drone, and a yellow outline appears around the drone. On the other screen,  the words "Searching database" appears, and images start flashing by, images of drones of various shapes, sizes, armaments, and colors.
The Avali scratches his chin as this process takes place. Until suddenly the images stop, and the words '94% possible match' appears, along with a single image.

Some text begins to type itself out besides the image
Model: Sea Hawk
Role: Medium-Heavy Perimeter Defense
Max Speed: (Air) 50KPH, (Undersea): 23 knots
Armament: L30 Laser Minigun
First production run: 2377
Known Producers: Terran Protectorate, USCM, USCM factions, Knightfall (offshoot), Miniknog (Discontinued), Lethia (Discontinued)

"Hmmm..." The base commander thinks. "Well, first let's consider this drone. Top of the line model... about a hundred years ago." He says with a slight chuckle. "Still, quite dangerous, though. Not the fastest or most maneuverable drone around, but still very accurate even at considerable ranges. As for makers, it's definitely a human make. As for what faction... Hmmm... Terran Protectorate is doubtful. Even ignoring the little fact that there is no Terran Protectorate anymore, their versions were never that aggressive. In fact, they were especially programmed to drive living targets away rather than straight up murder them like this. Knightfall's version, though slightly more aggressive, uses its own weaponry, not straight lasers like that. Lethia and the Miniknog are in the running for likely suspects as both of their versions would be hyper-aggressive like this, especially if they're guarding something 'important', and especially considering they're the only ones on that list still around in any real capacity. I mean, technically Knightfall still is, but they're basically just an arms producer for the Reborn Illuminate and allies at this point, and we'd know about it if it was them. Though, as it says in the database, this model was discontinued by both Lethia and the Miniknog decades ago in leu of other designs. My guess is it's some sort of USCM remnants, or a clandestine operation, or something of that nature. Might also be space pirates, though then again most USCM these days are basically pirates."
The avali clears his throat. "At any rate, it matters little. What does matter is that whoever or whatever is using them isn't friendly, doesn't have this planet's best interests in mind, and this really needs investigating." He looks at Mattius. "You were right to bring this to our attention. Looks like the Night Witches squad has a new mission."

"Alright then." He nods. "So you want just this squad to take on this 'Black Isle' case? Boris could support them too, he can be quite resourceful."

"Hmmm, alright. I mean, this is more than likely a human operation, so it might help." The commander nods in approval.

"That's very good." He thinks there is much to learn from working together with the Avali, after all. "On another note...you do remember the UFO underwater, right? Turns out that it's...populated, as Boris found out. There are extra terrestrial pokémon in it who seemed to have been doing something on the ozone layer, acquiring other extraterrestrial pokémon that forms there. And their ship suffered some sort...problem and crashed into the ocean, it's missing something critical and is stuck there as a result. That's as much as Boris could figure out, communication with them has apparently been very difficult."

"So there are other pokemon outside this world?" The commander wonders. "And here I thought that UFO might have just been some penguin wreckage."

"Yes we do know that there are pokémon that can come from space...though we never really found out from where exactly." He finds it kind of shameful to admit this. "But, maybe you could figure that out...besides it could be another lesson for you in pokémon things! If you are alright with the Avali getting into contact with these stranded aliens and maybe solve their problems to become friends with them........it sounds like that's the sort of thing the Avali have going as far as i know."

"Definitely."

"Alright then, before I go we just need to discuss two final things. One is a way for Boris and the Night Witches to communicate so they can get together and coordinate. Two is the matter of where the crash alien space vessel is, I shall give you the coordinates." 

The commander nods to one of his packmates milling about the tent, and with a return nod, they head out of the tent. A few minutes later, they return with a device in hand, one that looks like a headset of some sort, complete with a microphone. 
"This should suffice." He says as he hands Mattias the device. "See to it that this 'Boris' gets this."

The human carefully holds the object in both of his hands. "Alright, I will make sure he gets this and keeps it safe." He will just hold on to this until he leaves. "Anyways, I'm gonna give you the coordinates through the Nexus." He remembers how the Avali already have something named like that. "Not like, your Nexus i mean...i will just leave this here since we are going to be working more closely, probably..." He says sheepishly before getting another one of those medallions and placing it on the table.

"Oookay and how do we operate this?" The commander asks as he picks up the strange object and looks like it. Looking at it, it looks almost like some sort of toy for human freshborns.

Moments after being picked up, the colorful object lights up.

"The Expedition Gadget. It's not too different from how you use your own technology, i a wager. We can use this to communicate if needed, and update each other more quickly. It's also another link to Stic, with me in between. Aaaand if you are also the type to explore that also a map function but it does not work as of now...would quire more of these to be in the hands of others across the region for mapping to work but I only hand these out to key individuals for easier coordination and communication." Though he is pretty aware that this is probably superfluous to these high-tech aliens. "You don't HAVE to make use of it now if you don't need it. But we could sync our networks and get ahead with establishing connections when we move beyond the Land of Sands."

"This sounds quite useful. For the mission, what we have is sufficient. Besides, I'll need instructions on how exactly to use this." The commander replies.

Mattias gets up from his seat and goes to the Avali's side. "Alright so...you can press and swipe it like this..." He proceeds to give him some basic instructions as to how this gadget works, so he can know how to make use of it.

After a while of listening, a while full of nods and 'mmhmms', the commander seems to have gotten it.

Yeah it looks like he understood it well. "Alright then. So i got nothing else to report really. So i will be going if that's alright..."

"Alright. Take care of yourself."

With that, the human leaves the tent, with less of a hurry than when he was when he first arrived. He really wonders where things will go from here, things look like they are really going to be picking up on the sea waters of this world...