Cargo of Terra
Captain Zolvair of the Transport Ship Ootsgkgkgk was at an informal meeting of Captains.
Which meant she and five others who were currently on station were propping up a bar on Deck 9, where the view was good and the Grottled Greebs wouldn't upset anyone.
"Well. It's been nice knowing you – Except you, Grubbthrak – But I have a cargo pod full of Tellus Mercenaries... and no Human."
Grubbthrak (who nobody liked) shuddered and even said, "My condolences. I always hoped to hear of your untimely demise but... Tellus?" and shuddered again to make a point, his quills rattling.
The other captains took a moment of silence for their probably doomed comrade.
Throughout the systems, everyone had heard rumours of Tellus Mercenaries.
If you had the money, and you could get a signal through, they'd come for you.
It was aid they'd punched through the embargo fleet on Jamok (the planet) because they'd been hired to push back Sisiphon troops around Jamok (the city). They ahdn't been hired to, it was just in the way. One ship, they said, pushed through a fleet meant to keep a carrier group out.
And everyone knew that just 500 Tellus mercenaries took back the Oostin continent from the Rshk, who outnumbered them by 1000:1.
And as for what happened to the Sha Jarmak when he reneged on payment... well that got made into sixteen movies, three of which were horror genre.
Do not fuck with the Tellus
One Tellus who wanted to wander the ship was unstoppable. A whole habitat module of them? It was said that ships that didn't have a handler usually came back as salvage.
A tall feathery being in Trade Consortium of Duth colours whistled, "I heard they found a dead Tellus and peeled its armour off, on Jamok.
Grubbthark scoffed! "Ha! Everyone knows a dead Tellus will melt to slime - And eat through your deck plates if you open their armour."
The Duth captain waved a frond. "Even so, it is what was told. The being who said so, said the Tellus are cybernetic abominations, with scales and the meat of the slain still caught between their teeth."
Everyone took a drink. No Tellus Merc had ever been seen out of its combat suit. Rumour had it they were all synthetics, and thus they were themselves not wearing the dark and shifting combat suits — They were the suits.
Other rumours said that they captured anyone who'd fit and used them as unwilling pilots. Worse rumours suggested they would remove anything that didn't fit and still make you pilot the mech suits.
Others pointed out that the Tellus always logged captives, and treated them in accordance with galactic standards on prisoner confinement, but nobody likes a killjoy busting your deliciously lurid story telling.
What was known was that they were almost impossible to confine or deal with unless you had a Human.
For some reason, they were fine with humans and never pinned them down and ate them or whatever it was that they did when they got told 'no'.
Any ship carrying them always had a human or two to go down to their habitat pods and... well nobody knows. The Humans say they're not allowed to tell. And the Tellus don't really chat at all.
"Humans!" grumped the Captain. "'Oh we're so friend shaped ha ha tee hee fart bare teeth play with hair' - Ugh. There's nicer species..."
The Human captain coughed softly.
"No direct ooffenceintended." Zolvair stated, laying her back plates flat in contrition. "You know how it is."
The Human Captain, who's name was something unpronounceable ( Ooo-Yill-amn, woo-ee-lam... 'Just call me Bil'), shrugged and said, "I mean you're not wrong, but I have to stick up for the species. It's all part of the jjob,donchaknow." and fiddled with his hair.
Zolvair sighed and used the table's console to order him another drink for being a good sport... then thought 'can't spend your credits when you're gone' and bought everyone else a round.
Bil nodded at the kind gesture, and since propriations had been tendered, displayed some largess of his own: "Y'know a lot of my crew happens to be human. I could see if anyone wants to transfer for the haul..."
Zolvair, predictably was enthused. "Oh! Yes, absolutely, squeap yes! Full pay and a bonus when the delivery is complete." she said, turning into somewhat of a pinecone in her enthusiasm.
***
Und zo...
A mere 9 hours later, Zolvair's ship undocked and gently fell away from the station, with Sisi Amadalé on the bridge.
She was a dark human with tight curls that Zolvair considered extremely pleasing to look upon. She had a few scars she said she'd picked up as a stevedore and on Planetary Bioassay jobs – "It's not all carrying things and doing Human stuff!" she'd said – and a comfy looking set of overalls with the most fascinating array of pocket and loops. The decorative patches alone made Zolvair feel under-decorated.
She was carrying a clipboard, wearing a warm looking poncho and keeping a hand on a large bag that she claimed contained snacks that would keep the Tellus quiet.
She watched the undocking, and sighed. "Well. All yours, Captain." she said.
Zolvair, in her chair also sighed. "OK, well the Tellus are all yours. Go down, introduce yourself and uh, feed them snacks if that's your plan. Stay close to the emergency button and don't take chances."
Sisi snapped off a sloppy salute. "Aye aye, Captain!" she said cheerfully and headed aft.
Zolvair found the human extremely affable and could tell that the bridge crew had a favourable impression. She hoped the Tellus wouldn't eat her.
Meanwhile, in the cargo section...
The habitat pod, big enough to transport 16 mercs, their combat vehicles, provisions, and all the other paraphernalia loomed.
To say it was black would be like saying Absolute Zero was 'cold'.
Technically correct but missing on a whole lot of detail and context.
The pod, like the inhabitants, loomed. It was hard to look at - it's skin shifting, changing, hiding any surface detail. Now glossy, now matte like looking into a void. Now rippling in a way that made most sentients change their underwear. And one thing everyone agreed on about the terrifying pods: They really did watch you. They knew you were there. You could feel them staring somehow.
Sisi walked up and banged on the hatch and yelled, "Open up!".
The hatch opened in a disturbing way and Sis tutted and walked right in, swallowed.
Inside, as the inner hatch opened, the walls were a pleasant creamy colour with hand painted meadows and amber accent lighting.
The Tellus mercenaries, still wearing their pyjamas, raised a cheer as Corporal Sisi of the Tellus Mercenary group upended her satchel and tumbled out bundles of chocolate and bags of coffee beans.
"I had to cut short my civiliant roation for this!" she bitched cheerfully – After getting hit hard enough to break her leg in three places she'd been taking some R&R and doing some under-cover security for Catpain Bil's freighter for the pocket money and, honestly, because she was going bugfuck crazy at the resort she'd spent two weeks at after being discharged from the hospital.
"Remember guys, no scaring the crew on this trip. They're nice, and htey're already half sure you're gonna murder them in their beds." she said, cracking one of the packages open for the almond crisp chocolate bar stuffed into it. Someone groaned as she called dibs, so she threw half to them.
"Pff." said one huge, scarred man in Hello Kitty PJs. "The Tsin are never any trouble. Tell you what... if you want in on the action, I'll play Good ol' Sam, Freelance Chef on the way back."
"Chef?"
"Damn' straight. Bet you five credits they'll ask me to stay on just for the Chatophah rolls I make..." he said and got some eyerolls from the rest of the team.
"Always with the damn Chatophah rolls..." groaned a woman as she fed coffee beans into the autobarrista. "... which isn't to say I don't want any on Tsin Tuesday." she added hurriedly.
Sisi groaned. "Oh gawwwwd, coffeeee" around a mouthful of chocolate.
In half an hour she'd smear a little makeup on to make her look ragged, and take a knife to the cheap bag, and report back on the borderline feral space monsters in the hold, then go back to playing her favourite character: Good ol' Sisi, who never did anything more scary than get into a purple breadroll eating competition.
Now this was going to be some fun R&R!