Both Ko and Fischer stood almost in Quin's arms as the jump ship broke through the airlock shield and entered the hangar of the Tyrant station. The knowledge that they were now boarding a potentially hostile station out in the middle of deep space was not one that Fischer put a lot of comfort in.
Quin seemed to unintentionally cover them almost like a mother would to her children. She lay a hand on each of their shoulders and her tail seemed to curve around them like a snake constricting its prey. If she was trying to comfort them it was working. He felt a lot safer under her gaze. And he knew Ko would be safer as well.
Looking out the window the sheer scale of the station became very apparent. The inverted trapezoidal hangar doors they entered through were at least twenty meters high and doubled in length. There was lime green field of static keeping the air inside the station and preventing debris and other unwanted materials from floating inwards.
Gravity aboard the ship seemed much heavier than Xarder or Earth. Fischer could feel himself being weighed down with each step as the four of them walked down the now opened rear door of Spatch's ship. They were greeted by three figures standing at the bottom of the ramp,
Almost instantly Fischer felt Quin beside him tense up like she'd just seen a ghost, her fists clenched and her eyes wide open and horrified at what she was looking at. Following her gaze, he tracked it down to the three mercs at the bottom. Two of them were a species which he wasn't familiar with. They had strange almost skull like plates across their rather jackal like faces, sharp teeth jotted out from their gums. A pair of beady yellow eyes sat around halfway up their faces, a smaller pair behind the front two. Two burly arms the size of tree trunks sprung out from their shoulders and a large collar of fur encased their thick necks.
Unlike most species that he'd interacted with so far, these creatures did not have digitigrade legs, instead being plantigrade like humans. The creature in the middle looked slightly thinner than the one to its right, but was covered in what appeared to be dense armour plating around its chest, across its shoulders and on its shins and knees.
Across to the left stood a different being, this one almost looking avian in nature. It had black feathers all across its body and a large grey beak that was adorned with scratches and scars sprouted from its face. Two bulky arms extended from its shoulders. Halfway down the arms, the feathers stopped and gave way to what looked like the same material large bird's legs were made from.
As the three mercs approached them Fischer heard a small whimper escape Quin's lips.
"Spatch! You never told me there would be tyreptoids here!" She hissed through clenched teeth.
"Ah, right. . . yea probably should've said something about that. . . sorry," he laughed nervously.
Before Fischer had any chance to ask what a tyreptoid was they were greeted by the rather unsettling face of the middle creature.
"So. . . you lot are the ones after Tonner?" It asked. Fischer recognised the voice as the same one that spoke to the radio operator back aboard the ship.
She began to ponder back and forth, eyeing down the group of strange aliens in front of her.
"A veranah. That doesn't surprise me. . . you rats are everywhere nowadays," She scolded. Fischer was next.
"A human? Well well, that is a surprise. We don't get many human visitors here. Come to think of it, I've never tried human before. Wonder how you would taste?"
Her raspy words sent a sudden chill down his spine as she scanned him. He had to do a double take to make sure he wasn't imagining things. Did she say she wondered how he. . . tasted?
"Zaphermonarian. . . a small one as well." She kneeled down in front of Ko and her four eyes glared menacingly into hers. "You have very pretty eyes my dear. . . best not to let your guard down. The boys over there will take anything as a trophy," she chuckled as she motioned back to the two guards that stood behind her. Ko gulped and scurried as close as she could to Fischer, grasping his hand.
Finally she turned her attention on Quin. And she had her full attention on her.
"A carcan hey? You bring us a peace offering did you? Well, I can't say no to that now can I? The breech will feast well tonight. We haven't had carcan in a while!" She exclaimed while licking her scarred lips. Blobs of white drool seeped from her teeth as she growled like a rabid dog.
"Alright now, that's enough. She's not a peace offering, and you're not going to eat her. Like I said, we just wanna speak to Tonner," Spatch interrupted.
The tyreptoid turned her attention back on him. With every growl Fischer felt himself grow colder and colder. Ko's icy cold hands were the only thing he could feel as they were interrogated. However right now he really wished she was anywhere but here.
"Right, of course you are. Tell me. Why do you think I would just let you waltz in and get face to face with the boss huh? Why in my right mind would I do that?" She asked with a viscous tone.
"I already told you. We don't want any harm-" Spatch was cut off as the tyreptoid grew uncomfortably close. He shuddered as the horrid smell of rotten food wafted towards him.
"I don't care about what you want, veranah. Rules are rules. You're gonna have to do a bit better than pretty words if you want to see him. What's in it for us?" She growled. Her eyes began to wander from Spatch back towards Quin as her terrified form stood there.
Noticing her shifted attention he moved forwards slightly and put himself back in her focus. With a heavy sigh he rubbed his neck and pulled the collar of his jacket down slightly, revealing a light grey marking etched into his feathers just above his collarbone.
The tyreptoid's eyes widened as she saw the mark, her posture changing from one of confidence to uncertainty. She squinted slightly, her stare cutting through Spatch like a sword.
With her eyes still locked on him, she reached to her hip and grabbed a small radio.
"Boss? It's Akagi. I've got some people here to see you."
After a few seconds a gruff voice cackled through the other end. "What? I'm busy right now. What do they want?"
"One of them has a mark sir."
The other end was silent for a few seconds.
"How many are down there? Who are they?"
"There's four of them sir. Human, veranah, zapher and a carcan." Akagi licked her lips as she watched Quin's petrified movements.
"A carcan? They wouldn't bring a carcan on board unless they were desperate. Or stupid. . . send them up. I'll be in my office."
The radio switched off and Akagi focused her attention back on the four of them.
"Follow me."
---\/---
"Hey. . . Spatch?" Fischer whispered as the passed through the scrappy maze of halls that was the station's interior.
"Hmm?" He muttered, looking down at Fischer.
"I uh. . . I noticed that Quin was. . . real spooked by that woman. . . and she said something about 'tyreptoids'? What's that all about?" he asked quietly.
Spatch turned with a grim look on his face.
"She's a tyreptoid," he stated, pointing to Akagi. "They're. . . not the nicest bunch in the world. As I'm sure you've figured out by now. And their favourite food is carcan."
The sudden chill down his spine as Spatch spoke to him wasn't something he particularly enjoyed. Nor was it something he wanted to think about.
"W-wait. . . th-they eat carcans?"
"Yup," Quin interjected with a heavy tone in her voice. She walked with one arm slung across her body and holding her other. Ko made sure to keep close to her to try be of some comfort. Neither of them had seen her like this before and it was an uneasy feeling knowing that the friend who towered over both of them was just as frightened as they were.
As they walked Fischer got a good long look at the mangled grid of pipes, grates and wires that ran all along the ceilings and walls of the station's halls. The lighting was a very grim bronze colour making everything looking like it was made from copper. Short jets of steam periodically jettisoned from the pipes, boiling the air around them. The whole place looked like it had been left to decay for decades.
Akagi lead them over to a bulwark door with a hand scanner to the side of it. Placing her right hand on the digital blue screen, she leaned forwards to a small wall mounted microphone.
"Boss? They're here."
"Thank you Akagi. Back to your post."
With one last beady glare at Quin, the tyreptoid retreated from the group and headed down the hallway they had just come from.
With a steamy hiss, the door split in half horizontally and retraced into the ceiling and floor. It revealed a rather fancy looking office that was a stark contrast to the dingy halls and hangars they had seen previously.
The walls of the room were a mix between pristine varnished wood and a white metal. Hexagonal spires acted like columns and supported the roof. In the middle of the room was a nice wooden desk with all sorts of paper work and utensils on it. Fischer even spotted what looked like a handgun lying next to some pens.
The group took a few steps inside and the door shut behind them. Sitting behind the desk in front of them was an alien similar to one of the guards they saw in the hangar. Avian, with black feathers and a grey beak. Three fin like organs protruded from either side of its head, the biggest one on the right had a large chunk torn from it. The creature had scars covering its face, all along its beak and above its eyes. It wore a reddish brown tank top with a camouflage sash hanging from its right shoulder. A pair of what Fischer could only describe as aviator goggles sat atop its head.
"What do you want?" The alien asked without looking up from his paperwork.
Spatch took a nervous breath in and stepped forwards.
"H-hey, hey Tonner."
Upon hearing Spatch's voice the alien dropped his pen and looked up. A dark grimace suddenly overtook his face and he stood up aggressively.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me."