I assume she must be a human version of a Maj'Ra.
Most species erupt into screams the first time they run afoul a drakonid, after all. Her screams were taunts, expressions of impeding violence, and curses.
I want to hear her yell at me again soon. It's fierce and exciting.
We come across a small stream, the water clear and cool. Kira kneels beside it, cupping her hands to take a drink. I watch her, noticing the way the moonlight catches in her hair, and the way her eyes reflect the light.
She looks up at me, catching me staring.
"What?" she asks, raising the fur above one of her eyes.
"Nothing," I reply.
She takes another sip of water before standing up, brushing the dirt off her knees. "Where exactly should we be going? You haven't been very forthcoming with details."
I hesitate for a moment, considering how much to tell her. "We're on a genali hunting ground. Supposedly, they have outposts stationed at strategic points on the planet where shuttles bring down supplies from orbit."
She narrows her eyes, studying me. "And you're just now telling me this?"
"I didn't think you'd be interested in the details," I say, my spikes taunting her. "But if you are, I can tell you more."
"Spare me thesarcasm," she mutters, but there's a hint of a smile on her lips. "Just tell me what we need to do when we get there."
I rasp out a laugh. "Don't get your hopes up, little one. I'm running off speculation here. For one, I have never been to a hunting ground before, so I have no idea how to find these drop points. But I do know that there's a drop point for every biome on a planet, according to the manual on genali methods. But this ground is fully developed, so it's definitely an older one. The design principle should be the same."
"There's a fornicating manual?"
"Every species has thousands of those to appeal to the baser instincts, but that's not what I'm talking about."
"Pornisn't what I—"
She just shakes her head instead of finishing. I don't know what it means but assume it is to communicate she is done speaking.
"Secondly, as I said, these are orbital drop points. Basically, it's where hunters head to, to communicate with operatives in the planet's orbit and place orders for weapons, ammunition, medicine, or whatever they need. Of course, I think we also might be on a planet where anything advanced won't work."
That catches her interest. "Tech doesn't work? That lines up with something I overhead on the ship."
"It either doesn't, or they have special rules here, though if they mentioned it, then we should assume it is a tech-suppressed planet. If you've run into any hunters, you'd notice that their weapons of choice are too elementary."
I point to her weapon as an example. "The blaster you're using is an outdated tech from the era of ballistic weaponry. If energy-based weapons don't work here, then communication tech doesn't either, which is what makes this talk of orbital stations questionable at best."
She lets out a sigh. "So basically, we've been charging through dense forests at night like a pair of directionless morons for the past couple hours."
My eyes squint as I hold in laughter. "But that's not why I'm interested, though. Hunters need a way to get off this world. What better place for extraction than such a place? If this planet destroys technology, then no ship can enter this planet'satmosphere and leave. Many have tried even with the most primitive exploration class models on tech suppressing planets. They all lose power and crash. Either way, they always have an orbital station above that steadily needs to drop off supplies. It has to connect somewhere, even if by space elevator."
Kira runs a hand through the choppy pink fur on her head and I resist the urge to stare. "That's a lot ofifsandmaybes."
I grunt out my agreement. "Do you have a better alternative?"
She says nothing for a while before she punches a nearby tree violently, splitting the bark and making me recoil in shock.
"Fornicate me sideways."
I can't resist the rumble of laughter that comes grinding along my chest and up my throat.
"I doubt that would be an effective method of copulation."
"Oh, fornicate off into a pit."
