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The message had come in just as Samus had exited the slipstream in Cygnus X1 region to allow the highly modified flux drive that took up much of her gunship's central quarter to cool. The price of compacting the transit capabilities of a drive intended for a ship several times the size of her lithe vessel into what normally was a mark one model; it could run at full speed only so long before it would overheat and have to take at least a couple of hours to cool down and resume travel.
That said, the rest stop was enough to receive a reply from this Ash'kar Be-hek of the Mawkin. With her father out of reach by now, Samus had been left with only the apparent military commander of this lost tribe of Chozo offshoots to confide with for the time being. She had sent an offer to rendezvous with him at Daiban, explaining the situation as far as she knew.
Unfortunately, I do not know any more than what I have told you already regarding your father and his kin. We may rest in the knowledge that he appeared to be at peace with this move, however. If you so desire, one of our tribe, Eresh Tarren by name, is to be registering himself as a hunter with your Federation. He has been my eyes and ears where the Nest at Ili Zebes Na-lima has been unable. A brash warrior, but worthy in his way. He may aid you further in learning more of our people. Perhaps he may even be useful in your own hunts.
Interesting. "Silent Talon". It was curious to see just how much these Mawkin had developed such a similar verbal language to the Brood. It made communication far easier, she had to admit. And meeting another Chozo who wasn't an elder nearly a millennium or older, or her father, would definitely be an experience.
It was merely a couple of hours to reach Daiban once her ship's drives had sufficiently cooled down. With a landing bay secured upon contacting the Capitol's flight control, the young hunter left her vessel secured and made her way into the city and toward a very familiar spot just outside the congressional district.
If she was to run into a Mawkin who was here to registered officially with the Federation Police as a bounty hunter anywhere, it would be after they inevitably found their way to the Outrider's Reach.
As it turned out, by the time the young prodigy of the Zebesian nest-world returned to the Capitol, Eresh had already made his way to the mentioned bar- the directions given to him by the woman he had met during his registration proving to be correct. Prior to reaching the bar, however, the Strix-12 had received a message from the in-transit Itorash; which relayed it to his suits comm system.
The message was a one-way communique from Ash’kar himself, and it simply stated:
“The Zebesian Warrior Samus Aran has been notified of your presence on Daiban, Eresh Tarren, and has been given the recommendation to convene with you. Expect to see them at some point prior to my arrival, I ask for you to make sure to avoid giving them an incorrect impression of the Mawkin. If you have yet to register as a bounty hunter by the time this message reaches you, I wish you good fortune in your application. If you have successfully done so, I look forward to receiving the report of your success.
Contact me at your next earliest convenience, I have matters to discuss with you prior to our rendezvous. Until we next meet, Eresh.
Power is Everything.”
And that was that. On one hand, Eresh was mildly bothered by how.. familial this message was, as if Ash’kar was a parent pre-admonishing a fledgling for any potential misbehavior.. and that caused his feathers to ruffle under his helmet ever so slightly. He was a veteran warrior of the tribe, not an unruly child, and it was a bit aggravating. On the other hand, the words of encouragement were a pleasant surprise, and it worked to soften his mood, as well as piqued his curiosity. If the Hunter was going to meet with him at some point, that was quite interesting. He knew very little of this Samus, though from what he had been told, they were a promising warrior- especially since it was said they weren’t even fully Chozo in blood.
That last part was the most mystifying thing about the warrior, and he looked forward to their eventual meeting.
His passing as he arrived at the Outriders had drawn a lot of hushed, perplexed attention from many pedestrians, stopping to gawp at him as he strode along.. much to his own bemusement.
‘That officer wasn’t exaggerating it seems, I’ve never drawn this much attention before. This is a first..’ he thought as he entered the establishment.
And much like outside, the commotion would gradually Slow to a halt.. as dozens of people began taking note of the towering avian standing in the entrance.
Looking about the various faces, the Mawkin scout would raise a hand in hesitant greeting.. and would then begin approaching the bar itself- eyes still following him.
Settling onto a stool, which gave a faint groan from the weight of his armor and his body combined, he would set to work removing his helmet while the bar patrons around him quietly watched as if expecting something to jump at them. With a hiss of pressurized air he would remove the top plate and lower armored plates of his helmet that covered the majority of his face and head, and then removed the lower portion- essentially an internal mask with its assorted electronics- revealing his face to the onlooking crowd.
The Chozo had an almost crow-like head, covered with black feathers and glossy, dark gray beak. Eresh would then give his head a few quick shakes, letting his feathers fluff out for a moment before then smoothed themselves once again, the movement causing the light to catch an inky, equally glossy blue iridescence similar to the Terran bird that history books would call the magpie.
Taking out what looked like a collar or necklace with a speaker attached to it from a pouch on his armor, he would clip it into place and then make several sub-vocalizations to synchronize his translator before plainly addressing everyone:
“Yes, I am a Chozo. Yes, I’m a new bounty hunter. I’m just here to relax and hopefully get a drink, I have had a long day.”
And with that, people’s attention slowly returned to their former business.. though a few people still stared at him in a mystified manner every now and then.
The bar tender would give a small chuckle, stopping in front of him: a rather short human male with several military tattoos along his arms.
“I take it you’ve had a bit of attention today?” He asked, a knowing grin on his face.
Eresh regarded him for a moment, nodding. “Something like that. Apparently my kind are a bit of a rarity these days, so it seems that I’ll have to get accustomed to being something of a.. side show attraction? That’s an appropriate analogy right?”
The tender laughed at that, his eyes crinkling from amusement. “It’ll pass with time, especially if you’re going to be a regular. So, what could I get for you, mr. Chozo?”
“Eresh Tarren,” his frown was then visible as his secondary translator also translates his name into Silent Talon “And I would like the hardest liquor that you’ve got, if that’s possible.”
“Alright, coming right up mr. Talon. And don’t worry, first rounds on us.”
There seemed, as she stepped off the relay shuttle, to be a bit of a commotion at the Outrider's Reach by the time she had arrived. Curious indeed. What was causing this kind of stir? A thanks was given to the shuttle driver, and adjusting her jacket and her gearbelt, Samus headed for the entrance to her usual choice for work and food when in the Capitol.
"Are they saying an actual Chozo is surface side?"
"Saw the big thing walk into the Reach. Hard to mistake them for anything else."
The overheard conversation made Samus chirp faintly in surprise. General Be-hek had advised her of one of his own tribe already being on Daiban to register with GPF as a hunter. Had they really gone to the planet's more notorious mercenary bar and hunter's hub right out of registration? Either way, she was very curious.
Stepping in, she saw the enormous avian almost right away seated at the main bar. Almost surprisingly fast as she was accustomed to Chozo being tall, but not nearly two and three quarters meters tall. Even the tallest of the Cho'za or the Al'fa tribes back on Zebes had been in the range of two to two and a quarter meters. But she could see the species root traits. If this was the "Eresh Tarren" that Ash'kar had advised her of...
"Eresh Tarren tar ha'sana Maw'kin na Cho'zo?" A pause to let the avian notice her now standing a few few away. "Ana man Samus Aran, ad'haga tar Maru tar Sa'Lima na Mo'kru. Ana me'hen mir ata habar bugi ha'do'ran mei Ili Dai'ban Na-lima."
And now everyone who could hear her was staring as their own translators identified her speech as Chozia, even if it wasn't properly converted for them. Lovely, that cat was now out of the bag, as Adam was fond of saying. Samus was now having to refrain from smacking herself from that complete lapse of judgement...
Eresh had gotten his drink a few minutes before and had waved off yet another hunter that approached him, asking questions he either had no answer for or wasn’t allowed to answer. So many asked if he had fought on the Kromus war or if he was involved with any of the recent goings on, and he politely, yet insistently made it clear that no, he didn’t fight in the war.
He was about to take a drink from his glass when he then heard heavily accented, but incredibly fluent Chozo. His feather head turned towards the direction of the voice, and he found himself staring at a blonde, scarred woman. While his face was largely expressionless at the sight of her, the faint floofing of his feathers and the faint tug of a grin at the corners where his mouth and beak met indicated a mix of surprise and slight amusement.
“Ah, so you are the Hunter,” he said, His translator masking the spoken words with its mechanical monotone- this device being less advanced than his suits inbuilt one as he swiveled around to stand, emphasizing his height even more.
“Yes, I am Eresh Tarren, son of Silver Hand and Nest Warden, warrior of the Mawkin. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Samus Aran. I do have to say, I’m quite surprised to encounter you so soon.” He then paused, setting down his drink.
“And it seems that you are just as surprised to find me here. Fate is a strange thing, isn’t it?” He asked, placing his hand over his chest, fist closed.
“Ash’Kar Behek has told me good things about you, it is reassuring to see that it was no exaggeration. And oh, I’m finding Daiban to be.. interesting so far, very.. interesting.”
It seemed her father had been a little talkative about her with the leader of these Mawkin. They seemed peaceful enough for a warrior tribe, and her messages with General Be-hek had been benign enough. It made sense, if they were indeed from a lost branch of the Chozo and unaffected by whatever had driven the Brood to sterility, that Maru wanted to maintain friendly relations and help establish such between the Mawkin and the Federation.
Especially given the ongoing conflicts with the Kromus.
"Your general had told me I could find you filing with the hunter registry, and since he was still enroute at last contact, I figure finding out about your tribe is a better use of my time right now." Since she'd never reach Zebes in time to find out what DAW and the Arbiter were doing. "Considering that I have a number of high up contacts in the Federation and Sol's military, I'm not surprised my father told your leaders to reach out to me."
Her fingers tapped at an open screen on the bar, ordering a drink and pressing her thumb to the payment scanner. "So what has a Mawkin warrior been doing out in the Spur while his commanding general is just now making overtures to the Federation Congress?"
“The General is rather interested in the wider world, it’s merely prudent for him to have open lines of dialogue with the other powers of the galactic community. We had until recently been somewhat, how would you say, migratory for a few decades due to an interpersonal disagreement that doesn’t bear further mentioning.. that tribulation has made us realize just how important it is to be connected to a greater community.”
Eresh would bring his drink to his beak and gently dab his tongue into it for a moment or two before then continuing.
“As for me? Well that is a bit of a long story, and requires a lengthy sit down if I’m going to be perfectly honest with you. But if you truly want to know, I’d be more than happy to regale you for awhile.” The Mawkin would them look up and glance around the bar, taking note that several people seemed to be giving Samus herself a few telling glances as well, not too dissimilar to his they were regarding him.
“Although.. I fear that we have a bit of an audience.”
Speaking with a Chozo other than her father, especially one who was comparably, it seemed, her own age range, had distracted Samus from the obvious attention they had been gathering as they spoke in Chozia without the benefit of translator units. Her drink arrived moments later, and she picked up the half pint of slightly greenish clear liquid. "Might be a good idea to discuss your business affairs less publicly," came the melodic words as she took a sip of her drink, then let the rest slide down her throat in a matter of seconds. "I never found out from your general when he was expecting to arrive. I need to contact a few people regarding current situations as it is, you're welcome to tag along and I can get you set up with a bunch of the basics for a new bounty hunter on Daiban."
A pause as she set the half pint glass aside for the bar drones to pick up. "If you have a basic wristcom, you should add the Big Shot network as a default feed, their whole system is arranged to help new Hunters get situated and give updates on open bounties."
As she was herself already pulling up her contacts on her own wristcom and typing in a message for her ship's communication array to send to a certain fleet admiral regarding where her adoptive father was being moved and why. "Sorry about that. Little personal business I needed to poke an admiral about. Shall we get you familiar with Daiban?"
Likewise, after two years of being separated from his own people Eresh was happy to be able to just sit and have a conversation with someone who was of the Chozo- Unorthodox their connection may have been. He would take another tongue-dabbing drink from his glass, and Samus would be able to see that his tongue rhythmically expanded and contracted somewhat every few seconds before he withdrew it back into his mouth.
“I do not have a wrist communication device, but my helmets’ communication capability fulfills the same purpose, and I would definitely appreciate any suggestions on who to invest my attention towards, clientele-wise.” He said with a small chuckle, that was robotically replicated by his translator collar. He would take a final drink from his glass and allow a drone to collect it, his eyes regarding her curiously as she sent her message before casually switching to a few of the other patrons who would occasionally glance at them or whisker to their friends. Truly, it did seem a little too crowded after all.. who knows what one could accidentally stumble upon by eavesdropping.
“And of course, I would be honored to be given a tour, it’s how your people would say.. a date, yes?” He asked, his tone light and conversational, though it was unclear if he was trying to lighten the mood with humor, or was earnestly using that phrase without really understanding its context.
Samus found herself nearly snorting as she heard those words. Even the old as dust elders knew better as to the meaning of that particular human idiom. But as far as she could tell, these Mawkin had never really encountered humans in general on a long term basis. "I wouldn't quite put it that way," the blonde replied as she pushed away from the bar and led the way out of the Reach. "You've already been to GalFed Police headquarters if you just registered with their system for hunting. I don't know how long your General Be-hek is going to take to get here, since I'm not sure where your tribe settled. But I can see about giving the right people a heads up that he's on his way and his intentions."
Her ears twitched as she heard a few muttered whispers; her new companion, it seemed, had garnered quite a bit of attention. Considering it had been, according to her father, over thirty standard years since the Chozo had been seen at all in any public capacity, she wasn't all that surprised to see him attracting this much notice. "We probably should get going before too many decide that curiosity is better than minding their own business."
“I’m was there, yes. And while I cannot tell you where our world is, going by the distance from this planet to there and the specifications of his ship.. my safest estimate would be in the range of twelve to fifteen days; give or take about seven-to-eight hours.” Eresh helpfully offered, again looking around the bar, his beak softly clicking in thought.
“Well then, shall we depart, Samus Aran?” He asked, picking up the mask component to his helmet, beginning to reassemble the helm.
As the Chozo nearly finished putting his helmet back into place, one of the patrons who had been getting a pair of drinks turned and with just enough force to make it clear what was happening was intentional, roughly pushed his shoulder into the tall Avians back. It was barely enough to cause him to sway due to the weight of both his armor and his own body offering him a good deal of stability, but it surprised him and caused the upper plate to slip from his talons and fall to the floor- though to the equal surprise to the man who shoved Eresh the Mawkin was able to lift his knee and knock the plate back up into his hand as if it were a foot bag. Fastening the plate in place, the towering Chozo would turn to stare down at the human who had bumped into him.
“I’m sorry, did I do something to offend you?” He asked, though even with the suits translator his tone sounded more curious than upset.. or apologetic. Looking up at Silent Talon with an expression that was considerably more sheepish that was probably intended, the man drunkenly sputtered indignantly at his question.
“Your dayum- damn right you did! You barely give my brother the time of day, but you’re all buddy-buddy with this kid?” He asked, pointing at Samus with one of his mugs- nearly sloshing alcohol on her. “You bird folk disappear for years and you .. you just think you can show up and act like you can look down on people who just want to get to know your story ?”
This caused Eresh to think back at the various people who had been making conversation with him before Samus arrived, and he gave a small noise of realization.
“Oh I see, that’s what this is about. I meant no disrespect either to you or your brother, I just didn’t have answers to the questions he was asking. I am something of a,” he then stopped talking as the man threw his drink at the warrior, splashing the liquid all along his chest and even reaching his helmet.
“Don’t be giving me that BS!” The man barked, ignoring the bartenders shouted demands for him to cool it. “I know what you aliens are like, you all think your hot crap, looking down on us monkeys. I can’t stand guys like- like you—“ he would then sway slightly, just as a bouncer began stomping up to the three of them as the Whole bar seemed to be watching the argument unfold.
Eresh would wipe at the alcohol staining the lenses of his helmet, and while his posture was still rather calm, Samus could see the talons of his other hand flexing in agitation. This was starting to turn into a rather unwanted situation.
Oh lovely. From the looks of the human who was harassing Eresh, he was another 'down on their luck' under-rank who barely got by on the basic open bounties, and didn't make enough back on even those to keep his head out of the bottle.
"Look, pal," and her voice when speaking Terran English was noticeably an octave lower than when she had spoken in Chozia, "He's not from the same tribes we all know about. They haven't known what's going on in the Spur, and I doubt he's gotten too much under his belt since he got here."
"An' whoo the fu-"
A howl just as he had drunkenly swerved toward her, nearly hitting Samus with the sloshing mug. That yell came as she snapped herself around and was now behind the man, his arm bent back and pinned against his spine while his drink now stained the floor.
"Samus Aran, Hunter Iota Class." A pause as she breathed in to keep her anger from overwhelming her. "My parents were at Krom and fought that bastard Ridley in the siege. They were boots first on the Chozo worlds to keep the Pirates from killing them, and I was asked to meet with this Mawkin to help him with getting settled into Daiban." While not pushing more on his arm, Samus would squeeze his wrist, allowing her normal self control to lapse a bit as the drunk was all but screaming. "You and your brother are going to leave, right now, and that will be the end of this...got it?"
"Aran?" The drunk seemed to sober a bit at hearing that name. "Like, John Aran...the ÆSIR?"
"Wanna find out how much super soldier I got from my mom and dad?"
A fearful shake of his head, and the drunk was released to stumble back to his companions. Bruises were already forming on his wrist, but he took one look at Samus, then at the nine foot Mawkin, and realized that he had just gotten off far easier than if she had not stopped him. "Uh...I gots a job to do…"
As the grungier bounty hunters quickly made their exit, Samus would sigh, then tapped on the bar interface and entered in a not-too-small amount of seguru in, and logged her thumbprint. "Sorry about the broken mugs."
Well, that was bound to start some whispers for a week or two.
Eresh was just about to snatch the man up and give him a not-so-friendly warning against pushing his luck when Aran sprang into action, prompting him to watch. As she explained the situation and dressed the hunter down, Talon couldn’t help but be reminded of a time long ago: ________________
‘
You two are Silver Hand’s fledglings? Hah, as if the old man would have unruly brats like you two-‘
‘Don’t you dare say that about our father!!’
A red feathered Chozo tackled an older boy to the ground, their limbs tangled together as a black-and-blue plumed Chozo tried to separate them, his calls for both of them to calm down were ignored.
‘’Red, stop it! Father is going to let us have it if he hears about this!’
‘Come on, Eresh! You have to stand up for yourself! You aren’t going to let this jerk talk badly about us or Father are you!?’
A young Eresh Tarren would look at his sister and then at the Chozo boy who was flailing and cursing underneath her before sighing.. and leaping into the pile along with them, a hand smacking the bully upside his head as the three of them tussled and attempted to beat each other into submission. __________
He was brought out of his reverie by the drunkard mumbling about how he had work to do, and once that small clique of hunters had left he couldn’t help but chuckle, that then give a small series of chirruping laughs as he placed his hand over his chest as a gesture of thanks.
“It seems that I am in very good hands, Hunter Aran. I apologize for you having to deal with him, I didn’t wish for you to have to stoop to his level. But I do appreciate your assistance.” He gave the bar tender an apologetic nod before turning his attention back to her.
“I do believe I would like that tour now, Samus Aran.”
