Mari Aslin's First Report

((wow lol dat post xD))

Mari laughs lightheartedly and shook her head. "No, we haven't eaten. I suppose it couldn't hurt to grab something to eat. Where's _______ ((insert final character's name))? They should be here by now... we need to get a headstart on getting to our next destination."

((Yes, where is this ____ you speak of?))

((Ooh, Robless made a character ))

Sticks shook his head-segment mournfully. "You mean Ven? He's probably off sulking in a corner. You know how gloomy he is..."

Seeing Mari's face, Sticks changed topics. "Come on, Mari! Let's do something fun for a change. It's always work, work, work with you. Look, there's a club on 9th near the restaurant- we could go!" He shook his rear segments with a grin, "With this many legs, I have to be a good dancer," the Ceniean practically pleaded.

Mari sighed. They needed to get to their next intel source if they were going to continue their report, and if they didn't then they might lose the leaders' trail entirely. "Guys, let's at least figure out what our next destination is. We need to be ready to go, or we'll lose this report. Someone else will pick it up, and we'll be out of a great story."

((bleh low muse))

"I'm coming, I'm coming. An anonymous source just called." Ven strode into the lunch room, looking slightly disheveled but with a slight smile nonetheless. He crushed an empty, disposable coffee cup and it disintegrated, saving him the trip to the trash bin. The group greeted him as he approached.

Walking up to Mari, Ven pulled out a datapad and pointed. "Take a look at this. I think we've found our next source." He left the device with Mari, turned to Sticks, and said, "Hey, looks like that club will have to wait. We've got a different kind of dancing to do."

Mari took the datapad with interest, scanning over the address and the little amount of information that the source had provided, which indicated that they knew much more than they were going to tell in an anonymous call. "Hm..." she pondered. The recorded message was accompanied only by the name "Bane," which Mari assumed to be a shortened version of the new source's name, or perhaps simply a nickname. "This could be big, guys. This guy says he has information about where the leaders were last headed. C'mon, let's get a move on." Seeing Sticks' disappointed, scowling look, she sighs and says, "Sticks, we'll stop somewhere afterwards. This isn't just something we can take a break from!"

((Well, I guess it's up to me to continue this...))

Mari sighed, and then started for the door, the rest of the crew following reluctantly. It was only a few blocks to the station where their (some small civilian class ship) was docked. The walk wasn't bad, and they hadn't left anything in the hotel where they'd stayed so they didn't have to make any stops before they left.

Mari strode through, letting the customs officers check her citizenship papers and passports, along with the rest of the crew's. Once everything was verifyed they made it through to the docks and went to their ship. It wasn't much, but had interdimensional travel capabilities and good life support, sturdy shields and hull. Mari went in, the others following, and slid into the pilot seat, closing the hatch behind the crew. They'd just had the ship maintenanced, since they didn't have an engineer on board- which was a risk, Mari knew. If they ran into trouble and had engine problems or really any sort of mechanical problems, there'd be no one to solve them. They could get stuck in empty space, with dwindling supplies and...

Well, best not to think of that sort of thing now. Mari started the engines as everyone got settled and strapped in, and then as the docking clamps automatically receded she pushed forward the thrusters, slow and steady. The ship eased up out of the dock, making it up into the upper levels of Mars' atmosphere and then called back to the crew.

"Make sure you're strapped in, exiting the atmosphere will be bumpy."

And it was. The ship shook, and just like every other time they left or entered an atmosphere Mari worried that the ol' girl might shake herself apart. But the ship held, and they made it through safely, as always.

"Alright. 9th Dimension, here we come."

The ship sped through the empty space, then Mari shifted into the speed necessary to break the dimensional barrier, slip just barely through the interdimension, and into the next dimension. They dimension-hopped like this for a while before arriving at the ninth, and moving through to the place where "Bane" had specified for them to meet. They were a little early, so they had about a half-hour to wait.

"Well... here we are."

Raikon undoes his restraint, and peers out a small nearby window. "Man, I never get tired of that. Deimos has hardly a fraction of the technology used every day on other worlds. To work with that type of machinery every day...." Rai shakes his head, clearing his mind. "Anyway, are we meeting this new source via ships? Or are we landing and talking on the ground?"

"Well," Mari answered, "these are the coordinates he sent to us, and since there isn't much of a planet here, I'd imagine we'll speak either aboard one of the ships or just over the comm systems."

Moments later, a small, fighter-class ship appeared in front of them, having traveled through a rift like the other ship had come.

"So... they came after all."

Bane, shrouded in the darkness of his ship, approached the other, larger civilian-class vessel. He hailed them, awaiting a response from Mari Aslin. He knew much about her simply because she had been all over the news and radio recently, and Bane had been listening. The information he had to offer was more than enough for her to get a good solid lead on the leaders and track them to their location. Maybe she'd even catch footage of the upcoming battle. Bane would not let his interests be known to anyone, but he forsaw that he would soon play a larger part in the workings of dimensional politics.

Mari Aslin nodded as the fighter appeared, and she hailed him as soon as she had gathered her thoughts and put herself together.

"This is Mari Aslin, reporter. But you already know that. We received your transmission and came to the coordinates. What will be the payment you require for the information you offer?"