Las'Tai was very surprieed to see the captain standing in the corridor. Strangely enough, she did not pick up the same stress and tension from him, as the rest of the ship seemed to be saturated in .

Following him down the corridors, they soon arrived in a part of the ship she rarely visited. There, in front of a battered old door, Eirik stopped and turned to face her.

"What I am about to show you is the single most valuable object in existence, for me. I hope the gesture helps nail down the severity of this talk." He said as he opened the door. The silence as it opened was a stark contrast to how battered and ruined it looked.

The smell was the first Thing she noticed. Fire, ash, old wood, some kind of scented oil and.. something Else. Something ancient. The inside of the room was not much to look at. steel walls and a steel platform in the middle of the room. In the far end, a wooden figurine of sort, placed on a pedestal. Eirik walked inside slowly and went straight for the figurine. from behind the pedestal he produced a piece of cloth and a bottle of what must be the scented oil. Dousing a little of the oil on the cloth, he started rubbing the little figurine with it.

"This wooden figurine is a representation of Odin, the mightiest of the gods in my faith, Allfather to them all." Eirik explained as he carefully rubbed oil on every part of the figurine. "This room is where i go to make sacrifices during long voyages and everyone knows this is sacred ground to me. If you look closer at the walls, you should see markings. It took me almost a year to finish them all.

They are letters in an ancient alphabet on Terra, Runes they are called, and legends say they carry power beyond their ability to convey written messages. The study of the runes never stops. It's the study of a lifetime and even then you will only have scratched the surface of the esoteric knowledge there is to find in the runes." Eirik finished polishing the figurine and put it back on the pedestal with great care. sitting down on the floor, he continued,

"I wanted to talk to you, here, now, because there is a very real chance that my life might end here today. I know you have questions for me, and should i die, David can answer most of those questions for you. Furthermore, your position on this ship is secure. If i die, David will inherit the ship and he has been left instructions to keep you employed for as long as you feel like it.

Should i win however, I have no idea what you should do. Could you work for the man that killed your mother?"

The question took Las'Tai by surprise. After a long period of silence, she finally said, "I have no idea captain. I will not have an answer until the situation appears in front of me"

Eirik nodded slowly, "I can respect that. Another question, do you want to stand amongst the honor guard tomorrow? or would you prefer to stand with the command staff?"

"The honor guard" The answer came without hesitation. "If trouble comes, i want to be amongst trained soldiers. My mother can interpret rules in quite a .. creatively."

Eirik paused for a second. "Thank you for telling me that Las'Tai. It will allow me to take precautions for the sake of my crew."

Silence fell over the 2 as they mulled over each others words. Then Eirik spoke again.

"Las'Tai, i have not known you for a long time, but i have come to consider you a friend. In case i die, a Terran lawyer will contact you regarding something i left you."

"Why would you leave something for me? I am not your family."

"Family is many things Las'Tai. The entire crew is my own little quirky family and i consider you a part of it. You fit in better than i expected. I have said this before, but we are all misfits here and we look out for each other. So i am looking out for your future freedom as well."

Silence once again fell over the two. This time, Las'Tai was the one to break it.

"What happens now captain?"

Eirik smiled a hard smile as he got to his feet. "Now? Now we go put on a show for the gods"

They both went to the armory to suit up.

____________________________________

Tai'Tanu was impatient. She had been at the location specified by the Terran for the last 2 days, setting up her backup plans and the ambush that would ensure victory. If the Terran was stupid enough to come to her, she would abuse the fact. Her soldiers would never dare expose the truth.

Finally, finally, had she gotten word that the Terran ship was approaching. She had abided by his rules about cultural pre-industrial weaponry only, but she had the armor made out of modern day alloys. A full suit of Kloxna plated armor like the one she was wearing now had not been seen in a thousand years. Yet, she wore it and she had to admit, she felt powerfull. Indestructible. She could well understand why the nobles of the past insisted on wearing this as a status symbol as well as protection.

Her long blades with the sideways handle, designed to follow the curve of her underarm instead of protruding from her claw like a modern blade, hung at her sides, ready to be drawn at a moments notice. She had no shield but had the thickness of the armor on her tail increased, making it perfect to deflect blows with. It also added more weight, making a hit from her tail absolutely devastating.

As the Terran' ship docked, she expected to hear the uncoordinated shuffle of feet that usually followed Terrans. Instead, she heard what sounded like a massive creature coming from the outside of the arena they had arrived at. a sharp sound of metal hitting metal could be heard in between the heavy steps

*Stomp*

*Clang*

*Stomp*

*Clang*

*STOMP*

*CLANG*

The sound kept getting louder and closer and as it finally passed the large gates covered in shadows, the reason was revealed. The humans were walking in perfect unison, their gruesome looking melee weapons slamming into their metal shield between every step. They made no other sounds beyond the steps and clangs of metal. In front of the group walked, she assumed, the Terran that had challenged her.

Clad in a suit of steel chainmail, wearing a thick quilted leather jerkin underneath, carrying a heavy wooden shield wiith iron rim and shield buckle, 2 axes and a sword at his hip, a large knife strapped to his thigh and 2 spears, as long as the Terran was tall, in the hand not holding the shield. On his head, a steel helmet with more chainmail protecting his head and closed metal plates in front of the face. A man of steel and leather. A warrior.

Tai'Tanu finally understood why this Terran dared to speak of honor. He was leading his men, not cowering behind them. He came to her, dressed for battle and with a fire in his eyes that made her reevaluate her chances of winning this combat.

As the Terran stopped, the soldiers behind him stopped as one, along with him.

"So you are the one i am here to kill??" The Terran sounded arrogant and combative, the same kind of voice she would use against an inferior being.

Boiling with barely supressed rage, Tai'Tanu stepped forward.