A long day awaited Rahs, and just when the ADD had miraculously gotten lax about his capture for being involved in certain attacks or assaults against their property and even being accused of homicide of one of the ambassadors of a very supporting race. All of the attempts at taking him in failed, the mercenary having fended them off completely, including a clever redhead and even some assassinations.

The soldier didn't know exactly why everything stopped. One of his conclusions was that he at last proved too much for the agents and they opted to leave him some time alone, possibly to strike later when he least expects it. He hadn't expected practically any of the previous, but they were getting more predictable each time, so Rahs decided to choose that conclusion as the most possible.

He was expecting to finally be able to have some free time, but it looks like his previous feats attracted the attention of yet another client that wanted some dirty business done. It was a very respected slaver that hailed from Vanejin VI, and was named Oltrize Ivetiu Retoc, more commonly known as Oliver the Artist. The reason behind the nickname is due his excellent 'training' of the slaves and his large harem filled completely by the most beautiful females of the most exquisite species, like if every girl was a piece of art.

Talking with him disgusted the mercenary, but after meeting, there was no way he would do anything to him. Not because he was hired by him, but because under his command was a large group of bodyguards and soldiers for hire that protected him at all times. If Rahs had met him going fully armored and armed, he would have taken the risk of doing the galaxy a favor by getting rid of such an egocentric being.

"There's this small planet called Tellius, Rahs Xalezel. It is a very primitive planet as yet, but the species living in it are very rare and beautiful, so have my scouts told. Unfortunately, none of them were capable of bringing the most beautiful of them all. There's a tribe of winged beings, called the Heron tribe, part of all the bird related species. They, as you can deduce from my job, are humanoid in form, somewhat, but have the features of angels. These bird people, or more like its females, are in my sights to be the next species in my harem.

"But, only their rumors were brought back by my incompetent soldiers. It is said that the place where they live resides in Serenes Forest. This community of theirs, however, is deep within it and trying to reach it without being familiar with the land is practically impossible. Trying to find it by air is also impossible due the density of the forest. Anyway, even though I'm more than willing to take my entire crew and retrieve those beautiful herons myself, a move involving more than two ships will attract the attention of my competitors and it will be harder to bring them back that way.

"My mission for you, Rahs, is that you'll need to go to Tellius and search for the Heron tribe in Serenes Forest. I'm sure that someone as capable of you will obviously find it, sooner or later. Preferably much more sooner than later. You have to bring me as many female herons as possible, and obviously without being suspected by other slavers." Oliver talked like he owned the entire galaxy, and yet seemed worried about the security of these herons. Hesitantly, the mercenary agreed and set out immediately to Tellius, thanks to the coordinates the slaver's crew handed. No one followed him and the only trouble then would be to find them.

It didn't take that much for the far-off planet Tellius to be in sight and Rahs landed on it, near the giant green sea of trees called Serenes Forest. This job obviously was not so easy for him, and so reluctantly, he decided to search for a small time. And just like he thought, not even by the end of the day he found any heron or the community. Wonder if he'll get mad... Rahs thought, obviously planning to go armed next time.

But his luck changed as he went back to his ship. Near the outskirts of Serenes Forest, a person lied on the ground. Upon closer inspection, the mercenary was surprised to have found an unconscious, blue-haired girl with black and white wings. She was truly beautiful and very well-endowed too, and that was the fact that made Rahs conclude he had found his target. This must be my lucky day. She's even unconscious too... I wonder what happened to her though... Ah, better hurry to take this one. At least it will help me in the end, I guess.

Rahs carried the unconscious heron back to his ship and took off immediately. Wondering how he would manage to keep her still for the rest of the ride, he had to do with the little stuff he had. He put the voluptuous heron girl in a cage he had kept from his last slavery mission, but decided it would be best to at least check out the goods he had acquired. And so, he got rid of all the clothes she was wearing, and left her only with a blue clothe he had as a personal belonging, the mercenary obviously taking in the sight of her bare chest but never doing anything with her. After all, his head would roll if Oliver lost a virgin specimen. To make sure she wouldn't be able to move much either, he also cuffed her hands and moved her to the cockpit of the Sky Breaker.

Mission successful, I guess... Rahs thought as he sat on the main seat of the cockpit and stared into space. The cage containing Lira was behind him, slightly blocking the door that allowed access to the cockpit but at least kept her close for now. It would turn out soon, however, that the day would end differently that he had thought.

Mere days before the mercenary arrived on Tellius, the young herons of Serenes Forest would unknowingly do something that would make the mercenary's job much easier. Something that would lead to the disappearance of one of their kind forever.

In that quiet forest at the home of the heron clan the young herons of the clan were learning the Galdr, the sacred songs of their kind, when this story begins. Their teacher, standing before the young herons, said "Lira, you're next." Stepping forward she sang the assigned Galdr perfectly and as she stepped back in line she heard her classmates whispering "Little Miss Perfect does everything right. If she's so good why bother coming at all. At least if she wasn't here we would have a chance to shine." The one next to him said "Shut up. She can hear us."

Later, outside the practice hall, two of her classmates approached her saying "Lira, we have something we want to show you. Would you mind coming with us?" Happy that she was being included in something she said "Sure." Seeing that they wanted to go now she followed them out into the forest and as they continued walking she asked "Where are we going? We're not supposed to leave the forest." Walking in front of her she could not see as one of them smiled at her question and he said "Not too much further. It's just outside those trees."

Finally as they left the treeline, looking out onto the area surrounding the forest the one in front of her said "We're here." Looking around she asked "Here? What's did you want to show me?" Before she could even wait for an anwser she felt a hand cover her mouth, covered with some concotion of plants, and soon drifted off into unconciousness.

Much later and far from her home now, Lira finally awoke from her slumber. Sitting up, she looked around quickly noting the cage surrounding her and as she looked down she immediately blushed as she saw she was practically naked. Finally mustering the courage to speak up she asked "Where am I? And why don't I have clothes on?"

Darkness. It was the only thing that surrounded the syrictae and the heron while heading towards Vanejin VI. The Sky Breaker's insides were painted either black or gray, and if the heron turned slightly around, she would be able to see an absolute darkness dotted with many small points of white... And a huge ball of red, which was another planet they were passing by.

Rahs had spent a long while of searching for the slaver, and then Tellius, and finally Serenes Forest, so he didn't do much while sitting in the cockpit, the large seat in front of the cage. A boring day actually, the mercenary was just about to yawn when a sweet voice sounded behind him.

He was slightly surprised that the heron had finally woken up and stopped doing any movement. "Ah..." His hand tapped lightly on the seat, his gauntlet showing off a bit as the seat remained turning away from her. "Looks like you're awake now," he said, his voice echoed a bit, the tone not being as cold as it usually appears to be.

The chair turned around and Rahs looked down at the caged heron. "You're..." How was he going to explain it to her? It was true what they said about Tellius. They wouldn't go for the stars in many years to come, so what was space for her? "You're in outer space... Far, far away from Tellius now..." His covered arms rested on the seat with some buttons flashing weakly. The mercenary was wearing a tasset and battle boots to cover his legs, which then crossed in front of the busty heron. He had only removed the heavier parts of his armor to move the cage around and wore nothing on his upper body, except for his usual mask and helmet. "As to why you're naked... I have been hired to take you to a - disgusting - slaver. That's just how he likes to dress girls... Or rather, likes them not to be dressed at all." His bright blue eyes stared at her own as he answered her questions, not giving any other kind of information for the moment unless she would ask for more.

"Outer space?" she asked him after his chair turned around, her head cocked to the side in a curious glance, and her chained hands doing their best to cover her bare chest. Being sheltered in the forest for all of her life she knew little of the other races of Tellius let alone anything else.

However she could see that whoever was talking to her was quite tall, and well muscled even if she had no idea what he was. The anwser to her second question left a shocked expression on her face she asked him "A slaver?" She didn't know exactly what they were but the mention of being dressed by him left her fearing what would happen to her.

Hoping that his apparent disdain for whoever hired him might help her she asked "If you don't like this person, Why would you help him?"

Rahs watched how the heron cocked her head to one side as if offering her ear for the terms to enter her mind. He could notice how her hands were trying to cover her exposed bosom, and smiled a bit, and yet this remained hidden by the mask.

"Outer space is... This," he said as moved a hand to the window and showed her the small dots in the darkness along with the red planet nearby. "Let's say you manage to fly over Serenes Forest, and then somehow you can go as high as you want. You would eventually come across this... Though, you wouldn't live out there. There's no air," the mercenary explained the confused girl.

"A slave is someone that acts, or rather, is the property of someone, or something, else. It will have to do anything his or her master desires. A slaver is a trader of slaves." He went on explaining the terms to her as his eyes rested on her bare flesh once more. Rahs looked at her in the eye quickly as she began to talk... And so quickly, even when surrounded by unknown stuff she still feared for her safety or freedom. "Two main reasons. The first is that I am getting paid for doing this... The second is because I was forced to do this or else I'll surely die against the army this slaver has." Rahs answered once more, his gaze turned to a wall, as if looking through it into the darkness outside. They would be a fun bunch... But fighting them in their own home is a terrible idea too... His own tone inside his mind was matter-of-factly.

Nallia had managed to slip close to observe Rahs' meeting with the shuro Oltrize Ivetiu Retoc. She had scowled invisibly at them both, but the shuro gained a little stronger than normal scowl. Nallia had seen his harems, his slaves, his 'masterpieces'. The entire concept was disgusting and vile. Fortunately, for the shuro at least, Nallia was on a hunt and would not let anything distract her from it.

Her interest was in Rahs, and in Rahs alone. She watched him as he moved, the way he stood, he talked. Taking in every possible detail she was quickly building a mental picture of him, his capabilities, his likely courses of action. She had already read the ADD brief on him, and had grilled the agents who had encountered him as to his capabilities.

By the time she attacked, she would have every possible advantage. But the heart of a slaver base was not the opportune time to strike, at least when she could guarantee the target would move on. When their deal had started to wind down she had quickly made her way to his ship, planting a virus in the slaver's security system via her visor's uplink as she left. It had been simple to hack into his ship's network, and once that was gained it was easy to slip aboard.

From their she spent her time getting familiar with the layout, with the various ways she could move. This was his environment, and even though Nallia had an override to his ships main computer he still had the advantage of familiarity. But as the ship made its way through space she avoided him, and worked on removing any edge he had from understanding exactly where each part of his ship was.

By the time they had reached the planet Nallia was ready to strike. But before she got the chance he had left the ship. Nallia had remained on board, she may have been around equal to him in reaction speed, but he could travel quicker. Following him would achieve nothing, her chance would come once he returned.

And eventually he did. Nallia had spent the time well, reasoning that he would utilise the cage his ship carried. She also guessed that he would move it to the cockpit so he would have access to her. Since she had a probable location she worked on setting up a couple of traps in the cockpit, things she could use to giver her an edge when she struck.

When he returned, and carrying a winged girl, Nallia waited until he settled down. The ship was travelling through space and Nallia watched, still cloaked of course, as he set up the cage exactly as she predicted. As the female he had placed in the cage and chained woke up the two started talking. Slightly unexpected, but not enough to make her change her plans.

Nallia waited, her blade ready, and her left hand hovered over the keypad on her wrist as it waited for her to strike to activate the various booby traps around this room. Fortunately none of them would be obstructed by the cage, Nallia had guessed roughly where it was placed and had placed her traps accordingly.

Nallia wanted him to settle down a little bit, to relax. Once that had done she would strike.

"So this outer space is where the stars in the night sky rest? I never knew you could get so close to them." she said to him while adjusting her arms around her chest and causing the soft flesh to push against her cuffed arms. A shocked expression crossed her face as he tried to explain further about why he was doing this. Why would you sell me as property? What did I do to deserve it?"

Thinking hard of some way to get herself out of this situation she said "You sound as if you don't want to help him. If its your life that keeps you wanting to do this I may be able to help you. I can't fight but my Galdr can surely help you fight this army."

"You can... Maybe someday your world will be able to do this too..." Rahs replied, as if he was getting lost in thought. He remembered how the stories of the syrictae told that they left the planet where they lived to meet the stars too. Such an impossible thought, it brought nothing but a huge nirvana. He also remembered how he was shown about piloting and being told that you could travel around the galaxy.

Her desperate questions about being sold like property drew him back from the trance. His eyes returned to her, and immediately caught how her soft, bare flesh got pushed by her own arms. Though he enjoyed the sight, he decided to think in her questions, until he chuckled. "Would you rather be my property?" The mercenary asked jokingly and rested his head on a raised hand.

"You didn't do anything really... He just found you herons to be... Beautiful. And he wants you for his collection," Rahs added, explaining to her how Oliver felt about them, though tried to stay out what the slaves were really used for. He sighed as he kept watching her. She really looked like a beautiful bird inside a cage, waiting to be left alone again.

It was then that the heron girl offered her help to fight against Oliver. Rahs looked directly at Lira's eyes, possibly giving the feeling of watching into her very soul. "What's the Galdr? Is that a weapon? You have nothing on you, quite literally. And if you can't fight, I can't exactly see how you could help at all..." He was still ignorant to the incredible powers of the magic singing of the herons, and obviously would not risk taking her word just like that unless he knew that she could in fact do something to help him.

"I'm not sure of that. I've never seen anything like this before." she told him as she looked around the cockpit of the ship at his mention of her kind going into space. Her captor seemed to drift into thought at his own statement, possibly remembering his first trip into space she thought.

"I'd rather be no ones property!" she told him with a slight huff as her face reddened when he teased her. With the mention of her people and this mysterious employer she looked puzzled as she said "How does he even know of my people? I've never heard mention of someone besides our own clan coming near our colony.

At her mention of the Galdr she felt that she must have gained his attention as he looked straight into her eyes, seeming to probe at her very soul. "No the Galdr isn't a weapon. It's well.... Perhaps if it would make more sense if I just showed you." And with that she began to sing, it was a mysterious song whose lyrics likely meant nothing to the syrictae, but he would soon feel its effects. As she finished she looked at him and said "That was the Galdr of Bliss. I've never used it on someone before but it should have increased your body's biorhythms to its peak state. I've heard it said that such effects would increase your abilities in combat."

All species evolve... It sounded logic for the mercenary to hear the heron girl think that the people on Tellius would never be able to do such a feat like reaching outer space, after all, they obviously didn't even think of that. And probably it would take them many hundreds of years.

Rahs laughed lightly as she answered to his teasing with a quick blush. Well, it's not like he could just drop her on some planet even if she helps him. She wouldn't survive a single day without possibly being captured again or tricked or even killed. "Ah... He had some of his people go to Tellius and then they figured out about you herons. They couldn't find your community though, and I wasn't capable either. Luckily, or rather unfortunately, you were unconscious outside the forest so I brought you with me," the mercenary explained. Sorry about that, he didn't quite have the courage to apologize after saying that, but his emotions were a bit dull.

"Hmm?" She had tried to explain what exactly the Galdr is, but couldn't find the right words, and instead decided to use it. He really didn't expect to her sing all of a sudden, and actually thought she was joking, for the lyrics were like nothing he had ever heard before. Rahs was just going to tell her to stop, but suddenly, he felt something weird. It was actually a very familiar feeling, like getting his adrenaline going, but it felt like his body was meant to work that way. He could feel his blood circulating and his muscles ready for anything. His head slowly rose from the hand and looked at her, his limbs moving a bit to reassure himself of the effect of the Galdr. It definitely is bliss for me... "So this is your people's form of magic? Singing? ... It does feel different. How long does it last?" His words weer full of interest, his mind beginning to beg for a fight to test this new power, but it would probably wait until he was with Oliver. Would he be capable of such a feat then?

Even Nallia was startled as the winged female began to sing. As the song filled the cockpit Nallia felt its effects, either it could not be directed or she hadn't seen the point and had let it affect all who could hear. Considering the way she was talking about it, probably the second. After all, neither of them had any inkling of of Nallia even existing, let alone the fact she was standing in the cockpit.

Her entire body seems focused, guided, coiled. Nallia knew without testing that her body was suddenly at its peak performance. A powerful tool, and potentially a dangerous weapon. For the first time in her life Nallia was tempted to abandon the hunt. Her priorities started to shift. That voice, and that song, could not be allowed to fall into the hands of some shuro. Nallia could come up with a couple of ways that such a song could be used against freshly caught human slaves, or against the ADD agents and soldiers.

But she suddenly realised that if she pulled off this attack, if she killed Rahs, it would be easier to prevent the female from becoming a slave. She was in position, the environment was trapped in her favour, and he was unaware as to the threat waiting behind him. If she moved now she could kill him, and simply change the ships course. She already had access to his main computer. But if she waited she would have to break the female out of the shu, or slave, pens.

Nallia waited as she felt her body return to normal, and than a little bit longer until her visor informed her it had worn off on Rahs as well. She had no intention of engaging Rahs in a fair fight. While she could match his speed, in these close quarters offering a battle would probably bring about her defeat. She wanted him relaxed, unprepared for her attack.

When he did she pressed a button on her wrist, and a alert chime sounded from his main display, signalling some potentially catastrophic problem. When he turned to face the main display, and with his attention completely focused on the sudden reported problem with his FTL drive Nallia struck.

Her cloaking disengaged as she stepped and swung her katana in a deadly arc towards Rahs' head. Her feet made no noise on the ground, and Rahs never even noticed the attack as it effortlessly sliced through the chair and into his hea ....

WHAT? As the impact shook her arms Nallia stepped back and spoke a single word, triggering another trap, to buy her time to recover and determine what had gone wrong. Kissk At the word several of the displays were shattered from inside as mechanical crossbows fired small orbs of hollow plastic towards the mercenary. As the orbs shattered against his skin the liquid contained inside them, a very powerful and painful acid, was sprayed across his body.

With that in play Nallia tried to work out how he had survived. She had never encountered anything that her katana did not simply slice straight through. The fact something had stopped it had completely thrown her. She looked at the mercenary, and her visor identified the mask as damaged on one side of the face. The blade had cut into it, and in addition to the main cut hundreds of hairline cracks had formed in its side. No doubt if she could get multiple strikes against it she would be able to break through.

But as the mercenary faced her and her combat stance she realised that with surprise gone her chances of getting a second strike were nearly completely gone. Her only hope was that the several traps she still had left undeployed could throw him off balance enough for her to get a killing, or at least a crippling, blow. She had read about his magnetism, and when she had selected her equipment for this fight had only used things that would be unaffected.

"Yes. I guess it would fit to think of the Galdr as sacred songs" she told him, easily able to tell that she had gained his attention by the tone of his question. "As to how long it lasts I really couldn't be sure cause like I told you earlier I've never actually used it on someone in a fight. I do know a couple of other Galdr that I'm sure would be helpful though."

Soon after an alarm blared through the cockpit causing Lira to jump in her seat at the unexpected sound. "What was that?" she asked over the blaring alarm watching as her captor turned around to whatever was in front of him. She was so preoccupied by the sound of the alarm that she didn't see the attack until it had already happened and her captor had turned around to meet the attacker.

It seems that the heron girl was saying the truth as after some moments the effect of the increased biorhythm was starting to wear off. "Amazing what you can do with some songs..." Rahs expressed, honestly impressed with what only some vocal chords could do to another being. "Hmm, you are pretty interesting. I'd like to see what they do maybe some other time... If you were able, since you still are going with Oliver." It seems that the potential benefits of her Galdr in battle still weren't enough for the mercenary to be more noticeable than taking care of her if he decides to rescue her.

"You got a name, winged girl?" She seemed interesting enough to know her name, and even possibly even ask for her some other day to Oliver, though that was hardly possible too. Once she answered, the syrictae would give her his entire name as well, just before the alarm went off. It didn't startle Rahs at all, and he didn't seem to panic either, totally staying calm even when the alarm clearly was the one for a danger so great it would mean imminent death.

He didn't answer Lira's question as he turned around in his chair and saw a huge warning blinking red and yellow. Below the 'DANGER', was a description of the situation, but upon reading it, Rahs could only mutter a "What?" The alarm was about an explosion around 50 megatons occurring just few kilometers away. Which of course wasn't possible considering he already knew there was no other ship remotely close at all. But his thoughts died suddenly.

He only heard the material of the chair being ripped slightly before his head was bumped slightly to one side, a loud clank of the metals clashing. What he did hear perfectly was how his helmet got cut and how it cracked lightly around the katana. This fact that there was something else outside of Syrictova capable enough to damage the armor he wore obviously startled him for a couple of seconds, and his astonishment died like his thoughts before quickly too as many hollow balls exploded on contact, breaking the panels of the ship and releasing the acid on his body.

Not one sound was emitted from his mouth the whole time, even as the acid was burning his skin, which obviously hurt but would take a bit more to severely damage the thick layer. But he wouldn't wait for that, as every part of his body affected by the acid made tentacles sprout quickly and cut them off, the acid staying on the tentacles and reforming the skin beneath.

It was then that the mercenary quickly turned in his chair an stood up, his fists clenched and his bright blue eyes filled with a killing intent so great that his gaze would kill anyone if it such a thing was possible. Every inch of his body was filled with an intense rage at the insolence of the agent as he immediately saw her body and fighting stance. To have one's armor damaged was both an honor and a shame. There was much to praise to have survived a blow that cut or broke your armor but there was shame in that it was proof that you weren't able to avoid it.

And right then, Rahs was not only angry for having his only helmet damaged, nor either having been able to avoid it, but also because of the back attack... In his own ship. Not a single thought passed through his mind, there was only an instinct tattooed into his very bones by punishment in his early life. It didn't even take half a second for Rahs to try and send Nallia crashing to the wall with his magnetic capability, and as soon as he didn't see her without breath being crushed by her own armor he immediately leaped forwards, his large body practically moving like lightning as he aimed for the intruder's head.

Nallia slipped out of the path of Rahs attack, like she had observed earlier they were near matches in speed. Nallia had the advantage of a blade, and the extra reach that provided, plus some extra traps scattered around the bridge. But against that was Rahs' strength, his tentacles, and most crucially of all his combat experience. Nallia had watched as he had used some more tentacles to remove the acid and silently cursed him. But she could not stop a smile spreading on her face, the rush of blood through her body, the thrill of the hunt, this was what she had been trained for. This was what her intelligent mind desired over anything else. The fact that she would probably lose could not diminish that.

Although her mind was prepared for defeat she fought on, her blade lashed out in a series of short cuts that would slice skin and muscle if they hit the unarmoured flesh of his arms as she moved around him. She moved through the cockpit as if she had been born there, and knew every single inch of its layout of by heart. She danced around him, her blade being the only thing that kept him at bay. Nirri, Shula. At those two words two more traps activated, and a thick smoke poured out of the main console while a series of thin poisoned needles extended from random parts of the cockpit. She didn't know if either of these traps would have any effect on him, she hadn't been able to find any data on his sight or his immune system.

Just before his claws could reach for Nallia's head, she managed to slip away, barely missing for his target. He would have been slightly surprised if it weren't for the fact that he was planning to make her pay for ruining his helmet. As soon as he landed, a light twist of his waist and move of his leg made him stand in a position ready to leap at her again, and so he did.

It was a chase around the cockpit that would probably cause Lira to stare back at forth as the two fighters danced around. He was always so close to get her, but was never able to reacher her completely. Her quick and short slashes were dodged masterfully by him, but he didn't plan on doing something else yet.

It was until she activated two more traps that he realized he was between the wall next to Lira's cage and the chair he was on. Smoke quickly filled the room and the needles sprouted from many places. She wouldn't have been able to see like him if they weren't equipped to do so. Nallia had her visor, but Rahs had his natural heat vision since his species was derived from snakes. It was as clear as day then, where was Nallia located. Even managed to learn the ship's design? You bitch, he thought as one fist slammed the wall, his gauntlet crushing the needles like they were toothpicks though two were able to puncture his skin lightly.

They wouldn't affect him either. It was his own genes and evolution that made the syrictae completely immune to a great majority if not all of dangerous substances, including drugs and poisons. His immune system quickly broke the poison down to harmless and more simple substances as a part of the wall fell and revealed a hidden lance. It was one of the three melee weapons he used most of the time. His sword and staff he liked to carry, but his lance was only used in special conditions, and therefore was hidden there, just in case if he was away from his sword. Rahs quickly gripped the lance and leaped towards Nallia, now having a longer reach than her. If she had a heat vision activated, she probably wouldn't see the weapon very well, as it had remained as cold as the rest of the walls and floor, but it was heading straight to her midsection, as many tentacles were sprouting and surrounding her. She maybe would be able to cut most of them, or even all, but the mercenary wondered if she would be able to escape both the tendrils and the lance.