Emblems Saga: Call of the Emblems

The Katti's Chosen

"The footsteps of fate rarely travel in a straight line."

Transport Shuttle The Vicinti, Hyper-space, Sacean Expanse

Civilian travel, no matter how opulent, was quite boring. Especially for a mind such as the one he had. But under current circumstances, it was tantamount to torture, since there was nothing to plan, nothing to predict, and nothing to think about, other than how damn long it was taking for the transport to reach Bulgar from Badon.

It didn't help that right next to Mark sat a very corpulent woman and her infant. The younger of the two seemed intent on making a noise as loud as it was physically possible to make, despite the vain efforts of its mother to hush and coo it into submission. If that foul, grating noise weren't enough, the snoring man on Mark's other side was clearly an attempt of some demon from the ninth circle of hell to break free into the world of the living. His headache was going to be long and would reach depths of pain he'd never known before, when this funhouse ride finally ended.

Thus it was with great relief and a small shout of joy from Mark when The Vicinti finally dropped from Hyper-space. Looming large in the port windows, even from his seat in the middle, was the blue and greens of Bulgar. Largest planet in Sacea by population, and full of opportunity, this was the best place, Mark reasoned, to start out.

Once his feet hit the boarding ramp, he was nearly running to get away from the shuttle. Once in the waiting lobby, he stopped to catch his breath. The number of people moving around him was staggering, and luckily for him, he blended in quite well. He did notice several security officers standing guard here and there, but they seemed more interested in the ebb and flow of the crowd.

The trip down the space elevator to the surface of the planet took about fifteen minutes, giving him a breath taking view of the planet as he and a dozen other descended. By the time he'd left the space port, his only traveling bag hooked over his shoulder, he was ready for whatever fate planned to throw at him.

Almost everything thrown at him. Something quite heavy smashed into the side of his head almost as soon as he'd stepped out onto the street. Darkness came shortly thereafter.

Capitol City Bulgar, Planet Bulgar, Sacean Expanse

"I suppose that's a deal, little miss," said an aged lion Laguz. His fur and overalls were smudged with so much grease that it was hard to tell what color he really was, but Lyn thought it was safe to assume it wasn't pitch black. "I'll even throw you a deal and haul these two pirate mechs out of your hanger for free. It's the least I could do for how much they'll fetch me piecemeal."

"Thanks, Lamb," she said, patting the lion on the arm. "Well, I'm off to the surface to see if I can get some work. Got to eat somehow."

"You take care, little miss," Lamb said with a wave. He turned and walked away as Lyn left toward the exit. She took one last look behind her into the cavernous hanger built to house a Mothership. Since there wasn't a Mothership anywhere near that would ever need the kinds of repairs that this hub could provide, the small time mechanics and other entrepreneurial minded people rented out space for repair on smaller vessels, such as Carriers like The Lorca.

With one last glance at her home, she turned and walked from the hanger. She entered the hallway leading to the space elevator and found Bob waiting for her. It wasn't the first option she would have chosen, but when Bee rebooted, that was the first suggestion out of her emotionless digital vocal cords. Unfortunately, the name stuck.

"Go to vast plains for hunt?" Bob asked.

"Yes," she said. She still wasn't sure what he meant half the time. But after a week of normal space travel to Bulgar, it was reasonable to assume she probably never would. "We'll need to pick up odd jobs to earn money for food. We'll come back here for rest. It'll probably be a week's worth of work before we're ready to head out to Lycia. That is what you're more fluent in, so I assume that's where you'll likely find a lead as to who you really are, Bob."

She enjoyed poking fun at his temporary name. It was that ridiculous. But her erstwhile companion didn't seem to mind. His only reply to her barb was a toothy cat-grin that only Laguz cats could pull off as well, which she found cute. Thus she'd been using the name every chance she got.

As the elevator descended toward the surface, where it would eventually dock at the space port, Lyn listed in her mind all the places to go for work. There were the farms, always a good source of day labor, though the pay wasn't all that great, it was better than nothing. An honest day's work for an honest day's wages.

Then there was dock work, which she's found distasteful but endured anyway. It wasn't so much the hard labor as the disturbingly long looks some of the men gave her. There was also a woman doing the same once, which in her mind didn't jibe right at all.

After that, there was mechanical work. People in the Expanse respected the native Sacean technicians for their natural talent in the technical field. This played to her benefit when she looked for easy money sometimes, since there were some exceptionally rich people on Bulgar that were not Sacean. Mostly vacationing people from across the galaxy.

Finally, there was good, old fashioned hunting. The planet was home to a fruitful stock of wild animals that, for the most part, were docile. More apt to run away than fight back, giving many a good chase for their food, or for sport if the hunter was so inclined. Since the majority of the population lived in one city and a few surrounding villages, the planet never really had problems keeping up the wild animal population.

"I'm going to guess that the faster we get funds, the better," she said as the elevator was slowing to a stop. "We'll start with looking for technical work then, since it pays faster. After that, we'll just have to work our way down."

"With honor!" Bob said. Lyn shook her head, a bemused smile on her face, as the elevator doors slid open and she walked out.

Ten minutes later…

The space elevator doors opened to reveal the wide, bright smile of Sain. As he walked out, stuffed duffel bag slung over his shoulder, he left in his wake Kent, who was most certainly not jovial in the least. Not after that shuttle ride with him.

"I can hardly believe we have arrived," Sain said with his arms outstretched, as if to greet the new planet with a hug. "It seems like only yesterday we were walking down the streets on Caelin. Ah, how wonderful modern technology is. Wouldn't you say, my ever dour McGrumpartner?"

"Sain, if I had my way, you'd have made the trip in a body bag," Kent said. He straightened his stance and lifted his duffel as he walked out of the elevator and past Sain. "You have no morals at all, and your incessant flirting with every-single-woman on our ship as put both of us on the death list of at least half the men in Sacea by now. Frankely, I'm not sure how you survived childhood acting like this."

Sain, grin never leaving his face, wrapped his arm around Kent's shoulders as they walked toward the exit. "My boon companion, please, you wound me. We're on an adventure through the stars. What kind of adventure would it be if there was no romance involved?"

"The only romance you'll find if you keep flinging yourself at every pretty set of eyes is going to be found at the barrel of a gun when their husbands, boyfriends, fathers, or whatever male that cares about them finds out about you." Shaking his shoulders, Kent pushed Sain's hands off of his shoulders and walked faster. "Now let's start asking so we can find this Sacean fleet and hurry home."

Pushing through the throngs of people coming and going in the space port was an event in and of itself. Beings of every species mingled and moved, talked and interacted. The gathering was great enough to cause a low din of constant sound in the background.

As Kent pushed through the final throng of people, he ran smack into Sain's duffel. When did he get in front of me? He was about to nudge him to get him moving again when there was a loud snapping noise followed by Sain's whole body jerking. Kent rolled his eyes as Sain massaged his jaw with one hand and let his eyes follow the green haired beauty that had stalk away, followed quickly by a cat Laguz. She was dressed in the traditional Sacean garb of a simple long dress, blue, and a grey cloak

"Pray tell, what was that about?" Kent asked. He fought hard to keep his amusement to himself. To be professional. He just couldn't keep that hint of a snicker from his voice as he asked.

"I'd barely gotten a word out when her cute cheeks became all red and her perfect green eyes grew dark," Sain said distantly. "I didn't understand a word she said, but... she's beautiful. Even when she's cruel. I think I'm in love."

Kent rolled his eyes and pushed past Sain. "You've said that about every woman we've met so far. C'mon, let's go find a place to stay before we begin our search. There should be hotels nearby the space port. Perhaps you'll find your rosy cheeked, dark eyed beauty there."

The last line was said in jest, but Sain of course took it to be whole hearted. "I do hope so," he said with a dramatic sigh. "She looked an awful lot like that picture of the Governor's wife too. If only I could hook up with someone that striking. I'd be the envy of the department. Hah! More like the galaxy!"

Kent took two more steps before what Sain said sunk in. He whirled around and grabbed Sain by the shoulders. "Did you say she looked like Madelyn Blitzkrieger, as in nearly exactly?"

Sain nodded, still dazed. Then it hit him. "Oh no, you don't mean… She is our target? What a dolt I am!" He slapped himself on the forehead and hurried after Kent, who'd left him standing there to chase down Lyn.

The two of them got out of the space port and onto the busy street, only to witness the most distressing scene of five burly men wielding vibro-axes attacking the girl and her companion. While the cat Laguz was quick on his feet and had gotten a few good hits in, it looked like he was clearly outmatched by the bulky behemoth he was attempting to take down to get to the girl being held in a choke hold behind him.

Kent rushed in without a second thought, ducking underneath the slug of one of the men only to come back with an upper cut. The blow stopped Kent cold when his hand exploded in pain from the impact and he fell back to nurse his wounded knuckles. The bandit didn't appear any worse for the wear and smirked as he picked up his axe and hurled it at Kent.

Sain leaped in at this point, knocking down Kent out of the way. The axe sailed by overhead and smashed into some poor unsuspecting fellow just walking out of the spaceport. He dropped like a sack full of bricks. By the time Kent and Sain were back on their feet, the five men and the girl were gone, a black, non-descript everyday transport carriage making quick tracks down the road.

By this time, a crowd of people had formed a ring around the four of them. The cat Laguz had apparently been knocked to the ground as well. Kent and Sain, no worse for the wear, swore under their breath. The guy on the ground groaned. This was how the Port Authority Police found them.

"Alright, no body leaves," said an officer. "You've caused a disturbance and are going to be placed under arrest and questioned to get to the bottom of this disturbance."

"Officer," Kent said, "quick, there's been a kidnapping. Five big, hulking men took a girl wit-"

"Hold your words for when we get you back to the station," the officer said. He motioned toward other officers behind him. They all moved in, grabbing Sain, Kent, and the cat Laguz.

"But-"

"I said quiet," the officer shouted, "unless you want to spend the night in the city jail. Take 'em away boys." Kent continued to shout and resist as he was led away. Sain, for once, looked serious as he contemplated the situation they were in. The cat Laguz tried to break free to go chase after the girl, but the officer's grip on him was too tight.

"Sir, what would you like for us to do about this one?"

The lead officer looked down at the young man who was out cold on the ground. The still active vibro-axe lay on the ground a short distance away from his hand. A small dribble of drool dripped from the young man's mouth.

"He's got a wily look about him," the officer said, "and maybe that other guy was telling the truth and this guy is one of the kidnappers. Certainly looks like he'd fit in with that crew. Though, maybe a new recruit. Book him too." The officer asking the question nodded and called another officer over to help carry the unconscious man. "We'll get to the bottom of this real soon," the lead officer said. "Everyone else, please go about your business. There's nothing to see here."

The crowds had watched all of this in relative silence. When the lead officer had left, they began milling about, talking about what they'd just seen. The rumors started this day would spread across the city faster than the meager news service could report it. Reports of wild cat Laguz attacking in gangs sprang up, followed closely by rumors of gangs of kidnapping thugs roaming the streets.

A/N: I've found that this story is really fun to write. A lot of things are similar to FE7, so far, and for the moment that will likely remain the same, but aside from plot direction, that's all that is the same. I've had to make up a whole galaxy of inter-related cultures and stuff within the boundaries of FE lore. It's lots of fun so far, and I hope it stays that way. I suppose I wanted to stay close enough to the canon plot to give newcomers to my idea an easier learning curve.

This chapter was a bit of a chore to write, since it really didn't have much action. I was going for a kind of criminal drama kind of chapter, with different scenes, each from a unique perspective that together weave an interesting tale. Mark getting knocked out and the fight scene at the end, ended up tying the whole thing together in an unplanned way. This chapter was initially supposed to go until Lyn got rescued, but this felt like a more natural stopping point.

Next Chapter: Wheels of fate be turning round. Lyn finds herself being held by some unscrupulous men. Does she find a way out or is she rescued?

Constructive criticism and comments welcome. Thanks for reading.