Rocket Fox: Part Eight
Pau Theta II colony. The term was rather polite considering the entire population of the second largest moon of Vulpinia was working for either the maximum security prison, the reclamation sector that gathered and distributed supplies or the Main Authority which was the policing agency of the sector of the star system surrounding Vulpinia and Lupinia. There was also the prisoners of the prison that made up that population. All told, through five different communities that surrounded the main hub which was home to the prison, there were over 450,000 individuals that lived on Pau Theta II. Most were made up of Vulpine and Felanus, the principle races of Vulpinia. But after a while, there became small pockets of Lupine, Pantheran, Lionid and Critainian sections of the colony.
Pau Theta II itself wasn’t the most welcoming of places. For a planetoid that held a breathable atmosphere, it was incredibly humid. It was often hit by storms that ravaged the entire planetoid. The colony had to make defences to protect their citizens from the elements as well as creating a system of government to protect the citizens. Those who chose to come here, were hardy souls. Those who didn’t, had only heard the exaggerated stories of the hard life of the colony and it’s prison population. Admittedly, it wasn’t the green fields of many of the northern continent’s rolling hills or majestic mountains, but for those Vulpine and Felanus that came to work and live here, they prepared to make it their home.
Even the bounty hunters had found some solace here. Many were very solitary individuals who spoke rarely to anyone outside a small circle of acquaintances. And none of those they really called friends. Often, those who were deemed unfit for regular service were sent here. Many of those had suffered injury in past battles. Still others had been ostracized by their own people. But they made the best of their situation, because they knew they had a duty to perform. They were the ones who chased tail after the criminals in the sector.
These bounty hunters had a leader. An old, grizzled Vulpine named Gregory Chatham. He served with the 45th Battalion during the Great Lupine Land War, and lost his right arm, and his left ear for his service. The most he could do was administrative duties, but even then he still honed his skills. His assistant, Trella Mar, a black coated Pantheran who was discharged from the Imperial Pantheran Fleet after she suffered injury from a hyperdrive explosion. The result ended her ability to walk. Like Gregory, Trella managed to find a way.
“Status, Trella?” Gregory said as he sat behind his desk and picked up his glass of tea.
“Lenk is coming in with the catch of the day,” she answered as she wheeled her chair to face Gregory. “Ten days it took him to capture that one.”
“I think that’s a record,” Gregory chuckled as he tapped the information into his data pad. “Looks like he beat out Range Runner by one day. Send Lenk a wave and tell him to take a few days off. That’s five bounties in a row, I know he’s a Felanus, but he needs to rest sometime.” Felanus were the cat like race of Vulpinia, small, like the Vulpine, with features more like Lionids and Pantherans. And incredibly studious when it came to a hunt. They prided themselves on capturing prey, whether that be for food or capturing wanted criminals.
“Getting a wave from Port Omega,” Trella said as she read over the communication logs. “General Gerring’s office. Looks like she wants to talk to you.” Trella looked back to Gregory with a small smirk.
“Patch it through,” Gregory said with a sigh and leaned back in his chair. Trella patched the link to Gregory’s desk communicator and wheeled herself over to his desk. Soon, the face of General Gerring appeared on the comm. “Good evening, General Gerring. Wasn’t expecting a wave from you.”
“Good evening, Colonel Chatham,” Gerring began then took note of Trella. “Captain Mar, good to see you. I trust you’re keeping the Colonel out of trouble.”
“He can’t out run me,” Trella said with a grin. “My wheels are faster than his legs.” Gregory snorted a laugh and sipped his tea, shaking his head as he thought of Trella’s comment.
“Good to hear,” Gerring replied. “I have news for you. Whether you consider it good or bad is your choice. You remember Left-tenant Senia Felix?”
“I do,” Gregory said as he picked up a data pad off his desk. All of Felix’s service information was covered on it. “Got word from the tribunal yesterday. Though, I think she’s been tossed into the fire awfully quick, don’t you think?”
“The tribunal has their unofficial reasons,” Gerring said with some degree of disgust in her voice. “However, I’ve taken it upon myself to make sure that Felix has some help. Both with her duties and with settling in. I realize Main Authority can be rather intimidating.”
“No, General,” Gregory said with a chuckle. “That’s just us.”
“Regardless, Colonel, I’ve sent you information on two other cadets who will be joining Senia,” Gerring replied as she poured herself a cup of coffee. “And no need to worry about a ship, all of that has been prearranged.”
Trella picked up a portable communication pad from one of her wheel chairs easy to access compartments and tapped it, letting the General’s information come to her location. She looked up to the communicator on Gregory’s desk for a moment, then to Gregory. She handed him the data pad to let him look over the information.
“I take it you saw the specifications of the craft,” Gerring stated, having seen the look on Trella’s face.
“Begging your pardon, ma’am. But I thought the Nighthawk was still in experimental stages.”
“That’s what we’ve lead others to believe,” Gerring replied. “I apologize if it was any degree of subterfuge, but if this works for Felix, Billings and Maynard, then I’m going to make a suggestion to the Central Command that Nighthawks are constructed for use at the Main Authority.”
“When are they arriving?” Gregory said as he looked up from the data pad.
“Tomorrow afternoon,” Gerring replied. “1400 hours. I’m sending those supplies you requested along with them. Colonel. Captain. Treat them well. Being sent to Main Authority wasn’t even on their radar. We’ve tried our best to prepare them here as it is. Gerring out.” With that, the communication ended. Trella and Gregory looked over to each other for a moment.
“Three new recruits,” Trella mused as she leaned over and looked at the data pad Gregory held. “All with top scores in their fields. We’ve been suggesting that we get some dedicated members here.”
“I just hope they work out,” Gergory replied. “They aren’t veterans, they’re rookies.” He tapped the data pad some more. “But they do look good on paper, and come highly recommended. It’s the Nighthawk that I wanna see. I’ve read so little about it.”
“Make you wanna get back in the saddle again,” Trella teased. Gregory looked up and rolled his eyes to her comment, forcing her to laugh. “Oh, trust me. We see that beauty come in, it’ll make us want to get back behind the helm of a ship. Maybe those three could bring us up to speed.”
“Go do your work,” Gregory said with a smirk. Trella laughed and wheeled over to her comm station once again, leaving Gregory to go over the information one more time. Even though they had just joked about it, maybe bringing in new recruits like these, along with that ship, would do the Main Authority some good.
