The steady sound of her footsteps always put the receptionist off. Her face was always blank or angry, and though she didn’t have the pleasant duty of dealing with her everyday it was unnerving whenever the Government heads summoned her.
“I’m here to report to the heads?” She said calmly. Her foot desperately fought the urge to tap, as the receptionist simply nodded her head and pointed down the hall. Her footsteps grew further away and the blonde woman let out a sigh of relief. It’s not easy dealing with someone who could snap your neck.
The other woman opened the door without a knock, closing it behind her. “You have another mission for me?” She asked simply.
“You’re a bit late.” The one in a yellow suit grumbled.
“Hush…” The blue one hissed, turning back to the Hunter. “We have become aware of a… certain mistakes on a new recrutement flight. 2 of the finer cadets were ejected onto planet A1.”
“Cadets?” She murmured. “I’m not a babysitter.”
“But you ARE on my payroll.” Yellow hissed, standing up and walking around. “And one of these two cadets is very important to the fleet. We aren’t asking you to do anything more than land there, find them, and bring them back here.” She snapped her finger, forcing the hunter to clench her fists and pay attention. “Is that clear, Coral?”
“Crystal.” She said flatly. “I’ll need pictures and information on the cadets, a PX7 ship, and rations...”
“I have already sorted all of it out.” Blue said calmly. “I already assumed you would want your usual demands.”
Coral managed a small chuckle. “Well good. You said planet A1? The dead planet?”
“Classified as dead, yes. But that is the special case of this mission.” Yellow sat back down again, and blue stood, finishing her thought. “There is a class of people on this planet. I’m sure you are familiar with Benders.”
“I thought the Government wiped them out?” Coral sneered, but not completely surprised.
“They held onto this planet rather stubbornly.” Yellow sighed, rubbing her temple. “It’s resources aren’t required enough for us to send troops in anymore. So we let them be.” She opened her eyes. “You don’t need to have any interaction with them. Just retrieve the cadets.”
“If it gets too dangerous… one of them IS priority.” Blue stressed. “Cadet Lazuli has… particularly high scores. If they are both retrievable, that is excellent, but if it comes down to one or the other I stress the preference.”
“Got it.” Coral said flatly. “Shouldn’t take more than… Mmm… a week, at most. I will keep you updated on that timetable as I go.” She turned, walking toward the door. “And don't send any of those bullshit tracker bots. Not again."
"Safe travels, Coral."
"Yeah yeah."
___________________________________
"Approaching Planet A1, landing gear prepping; be mindful of turbulence."
"Wow, thanks." Coral murmured, flipping a few switches on the control panel and double checking her safety harness. "Nice and easy…"
It was only about ten minutes later she dropped out of the ship, geared and looking around the smoking pod. She walked around it, and climbed in. To be honest, she had hoped to find them cowering in the pod, but nothing but two secured bags;their allowed belongings, and a small smatter of blood on the edge of the window.
Fuck.
That means one of them was injured. Fucking great. She got closer, taking a sample and running it through the database. The priority target popped up and she cursed under her breath. Of course.
She took a moment to glance around for anything else, then hopped down out of the pod.
"Log 1 of mission 247; I have located the missing cadets pod. Despite my hopes they seem to have left it's safety and wandered elsewhere. A small amount of blood was on the far window, and I identified it as Cadet Lapis Lazuli's. Which concludes she most likely has an injury. Other than that there is nothing strange. I will be following a small trail of smashed earth grass towards a forest, and will keep you updated on anything else I find. End Log."
She sighed, and followed the trail with her eyes before actually moving to walk along it. There was a distinct pattern in the grass. On one side the grass was smashed almost religiously, as If the person was taking short panicky steps, but being cautious of dangers in the grass.
The other side was much more focused. Calm, even. It was almost easy enough to see the individual footsteps.
Strange.
It made her stop at the edge of the woods, and glance back. One panicky cadet, one calm. Again she lifted her arm. "Log 2 of mission 247; The trail of smashed grass reveals that one cadet was panicking under the pressure of their sudden course change. I can only assume it is the secondary target. Due to scientists/engineers usual finicky nature. The trail is harder to follow into the woods. End log." She bent down to look at the heavier footsteps, leading to a more obvious trail. Though it was good she could follow that trail, if the two somehow seperated the primary target would be extremely hard to track.
Which, of course, happened. Coral reached a Segway with footsteps and beastprints. Heading in two seperate directions. After a quick scan she identified the unknown creatures prints, and left a log about the "Horse" and decided to follow the trail away from where it headed. She could only hope that she wouldn't have to go farther in to find the primary target.
It seemed forever, the bounty hunter following the clear trail of heavy running footsteps. Out toward the edge of the woods and then along the treeline till she reached the cliffs. Suddenly the footsteps got lighter and she had to pull out a heat scanner. The trail had gone cold, obviously, but the tiny blip nearby made it known that one of the cadets was nearby.
Coral followed it, which led her to walk along the cliffs, until she reached an opening, and she crouched down in front of it. "Cadet?"
She heard a small gasp, and then the sounds of someone scrambling up toward the entrance. A disheveled and panicked looking engineering cadet emerged, looking relieved to see someone in a familiar uniform. "Oh thank the stars, hello!" She pulled herself up and out, gripping the arm of the bounty hunter. "I knew they'd send someone."
"Cadet Pearl Hemway?" Coral asked flatly. She knew the answer, which meant she will have to head back to follow the other trail to find the priority target.
She nodded. "Yes! I… I don't know what happened, Lapis said someone ejected our pod and she wouldn't stay in the pod so I had to follow her… and then these people chased us while riding on these big four legged creatures!" She shook a little. "Me and Cadet Lazuli got seperated…"
"Thank you. I will escort you back to my ship quickly and then head after her. They were much harder on her trail though. I have a bad feeling." She turned and started walking, expecting the frightened engineer to follow. Then once again lifted her arm. "Log 4 of mission 247; Successful recovery of the secondary cadet target, Pearl Hemway. Tracks leading deeper into the forest suggest a chase by benders of the priority cadet. I am escorting the target back to the safety of my ship them proceeding with tracking Lapis Lazuli." She beeped her log closed, and continued.
"Lapis is much stronger and faster than me. If I could get away I don't see why she shouldn't be able to." Pearl said firmly. "And you… you said benders?"
"That is none of your concern." Coral said, slightly annoyed. "I will handle what needs to be handled and you will remain safe and secure on the highest tech PX7 ship. Camo'ed and all."
Pearl opened her mouth to speak again, but closed it and silently followed her savior. It was almost sunset when they reached the ship, and Coral disappeared into a side room while Pearl made her way into the two bunks just outside the cockpit.
Meanwhile Coral was prepping for contact with benders.
Of course, there was still a chance the other cadet had escaped, but taking chances with benders around was not something she would do. Last time she did…
Coral shook her head, grabbing a simple stun pistol and a silent sniper rifle. She holstered and slung them over her shoulder respectively, and made her way to the main cargo, stopping to nod at Pearl. The young cadet saw her, but just sat cross legged on the lower bunk, staring blankly at the wall.
The bounty hunter shrugged, and made her way out of the shop, and back into the field, then into the forest.
"Log 5 of mission 237; after a quick gear exchange and the securing of the other target, I am back into the trail of the priority target. I will have to venture further into the woods and possibly closer than would be preferred to the enemy camp. I will keep updated when I either find the cadet or the camp." She pulled her arm back down, and stared at the junction at which just this morning she had run across. Following the heavy footsteps of both Cadet Lazuli and the Horse, she made her way deeper into the forest.