Andruss  nodded his head against hers,You never heard  tales of  Knights and dragons...or played games that had  dragons attacking people, or the other way around?  No matter, this one is a baby one, I saw it  once when i was  down in the  hold, using my Mech to hlep  sort out crates  so the Civies  can  get thier  supplies easier...

 there was a roar  far off.. andruss got the  Bino and looked through...Don't know what that is?

  handing her the Bino, she would  see a creature, a good. 10 miles away, that looked like  Lion,  but as  tall as   Bison.. it seemed to be challenging a Nuska , that was  having second  thoughts of Laming a dead  deer thing..

By this point Tarja was getting a little flustered, clearly not liking the fact that she simply didn't understand what was appearing to be a rather simple word "maybe...I don't know...tales would be in Finnish, they didn't teach that sort of thing in English class!" she said in an anguished voice, with the ten or so year gap since she started having to speak the language not helping matters "Could you find picture or drawing one, please?" she asked hoping that if she saw the creature then she would understand what he was saying.

It was around about this point that they were interrupted by the sound of a distant roar prompting Andruss to grab the binoculars and scan the horizon before pointing out the source of the noise to her. Looking through the binoculars she would spot a large lion like creature having a standoff with a Nuska "Oh wow...that is big" she exclaimed examining the creature in obvious fascination "I wish we had more time...so many animals to see" she said a little despondently as she passed the binoculars back to Andruss so he could take another look.

  Andruss nodded an unseen nod,I bet we could  live her 10 years , and not  seen  a small portion, of what is to be seen?

 She watched the creatures, as the Nuska decided it had better places  to be, the other  Creature didn't seem to worried about  chasing it.

   Adnruss  did  some searching and brought up a  site that was a Gaming site, that showed  various 'dragons" from the game.

 he nudged her to look,These are from a Game i have played, it is  a fantsy  game, , but ...when you look around at the    aliens and creatures we have met? you must wonder what  the old fables , and even holy book writers might have saw, as the aliens  came and left earth, dropping off thier    prisoners?

”True…but we could try” Tarja replied, rather liking the idea of spending her days finding and observing the planets wildlife, not to mention sketching them into her book with her wondering if there was perhaps a career in there somewhere.

Feeling Andruss giving her a nudge she would tear her eyes away from the horizon to take a look at the creatures on his comms unit. They were clearly from a game but all the same she would instantly recognise what they were ”Oh so that is dragon! We call that lohikäärme…wait…we have that in hold of ship!?” she said with the look of triumph quickly turning to that of shock as she learned that a large fire breathing creature was living in the hold and not too far away from where she worked ”are there any other monsters living on ship I should know of? Giant perhaps?”

 Andruss  chuckled,well? The Pirloc  is only as big as  chicken or  Quail ... Shoye> he's a smart Gun for a  SEC  trooper, he said  somehting abut , its  not  really fire, but  some  type of gas. mized  with  some  kind of  Juice  that store in sacs in thier chest. When it hits  the air, it  flames on...

 You seen the Largs..right?  we got a Until of them... They eat in the rec dec  with us, at thier own spot. Larry is in charge of them..i gues. He's considered thier pack leader... There a little Stem Kid.. he  helps two Niavrains   , in trainign them.... we  got som kinda   'Cat thing' from Roussathat Dock saved... it had two  .smittens .. we  used to call them snake cats..so...

 we got lots of  aliens... except Naragrans. The Admira;l didn't want them penned up like animals, since they are very smart , and  can read minds if they  get those  two spine -like  cals on you..

 Scariest   things on the  Ship is  the LC  and SM...That's why there such a big bounty on them..well..any hermite  has a Bounty.. but  those  'big names' have boat laods of creds attacted to a  kill order.

Settling back down on Andruss’ shoulder, Tarja would listen as he explained about how the Pirloc was only the size of a chicken along with how it breathed fire using a self igniting mixture ”Really? Interesting…wonder if anyone has researched this, would make for good flamethrower” she said imagining a flamethrower that would work in a vacuum, lending her unit even more versatility.

With him going on to talk about the Largs she would nod her head to say that she had indeed seen them, with her having also killed several of their number the previous day in the Burian jungle, before going on to mention some of the other animals upon the ship “Is it safe having all these creatures? Do they not cause issues?” she asked knowing it could get fractious enough with just humans let alone multiple species.

  Andruss  gave  another   shrug,out of my paygrade? But i know the SM has  a hard fast rule. most people,, and things can do  about what they want, until they become a problem, then they either straighten up..get locked up... and   stare at the Hermes  from outside the static  field.

"I suppose it's beyond mine as well" Tarja responded with an accepting nod as she decided not to worry about it until she had to "...For now I will just take care of my own team" she continued, though to be fair they seemed to be a pretty decent bunch with no obvious trouble makers or issues.

Having eaten her lunch Tarja would sit for a while with her head on Andruss' shoulder enjoying the peace and quiet of the forest before quietly speaking "I suppose we should think about moving on...have you decided whether you like to go to fair or town?" she asked more than happy to do either...assuming of course Andruss didn't have any other suggestions on how to spend the last few hours of their shore leave.

  Andruss  stood  and offered  a hand  to  Tarja, frowning  a bit  as he didn't know if that would be  an insult.

  we may as well fill the   card and get bingo?  We  had  fun at the Faire... we saw this....wonderful countryside... let as take along at  Burians  City?. I mean...it might be like all cities..but the Burians have  ways of  making 'things thier own'

----->>>>>>> From Bura

 The driver stopped the car a few blocks from the merchant district, Sam got out, gave the driver a tip, and then looked at the start of the shops and said," Here we go ladies, Izzy I think that cobbler is a few blocks that way if you want to head that way everyone?"

Taking Andruss’ hand so he could help her up, Tarja would seemingly take the gesture in the way that it was intended…or at least if she was insulted she didn’t show it, though considering how she was that was unlikely. Instead she would quietly put the empty paper bags into her backpack as she replied to his suggestion of taking a walk around the capital ”sure, sounds good, maybe we find souvenir?” she said as she climbed into the hire car’s passenger seat.

They would follow the road back the way they had come to the city with them dropping off the hire car at the rental place before walking towards the centre of town with Tarja looking up at the tall buildings and seemingly taller trees all around her ”is certainly not like city I have seen before” Tarja quietly commented as they walked down the street with them pausing every now and again to examine the contents of a shop window before carrying on.

  It reminds  me of old stories  and Vids. except the  Modern  is merged with the Forest and  nature

  The  sign on one store  said ' Burain  outback ' in several  languages  including  'Space Human'.

 Looks  go there? see what they have?

”Yes, city is…balanced…technology fits around nature” Tarja agreed, wishing that some of the old Earth cities had done the same.

Stopping by a store by the name of the Burian Outback, if the large multilingual sign was anything to go by, Andruss would suggest going inside to see what they had with Tarja using a hand gesture as she nodded, something she did often, in agreement ”Sure, sounds good”she said before following him into the shop, curious to see what they would find inside.

——> Bura

Although the term block was perhaps a touch grand for a town of this size, the cobbler was indeed close by as Izzy recalled the area from her first visit “Yeah it’s just around that corner if memory serves…this way ladies!” Izzy eagerly said as she took Lizzy’s hand and led their little group to where the shop was.

The store was small and had a selection of handcrafted shoes, boots and even belts in a variety of styles and sizes upon its shelves, with a young Burian woman arranging a display whilst an older man who was clearly her father worked on a work boot of some kind ”Hey there, I bought these lovely boots from you last time the fleet was on Bura and just had to show my friends where I got them from” she said smiling at the young woman before turning to see what her friends thought.

 The   woman smiled.Yes!  those  are our boots.  No one can  copy my Father  and Uncle's  work. Please  take alot around.. there are   very nice  leather   Vests,  My aunt   works on, as well as   decorative, sidearm belts, since the  fleet insists

  Tarja and   Andruss  walked in, the shelves were   higher then their heads,  with all manner of   clothing, boots  and  coats  for  the outdoors... near the    cashier  , at the  front of the   building were  scores of  Knives, belts,  and  Burian  hard ammo sidearms  with  cases of  ammo behind the    counter., odd lookign Burian  axes with  smooth edged on  one face, and   jagged  on others  many of the  knives  had  hilts  from some  animals or another   that they used the Horns, or is  some cases, Tusks.

 there were many fleet folk in there, tryign on  Burian   Camo watch  cap. or  checkig out  sleeveless Tact vests.

The store would turn out to be a cross between an army surplus store and an outdoor activity store with racks of coats, vests and trousers in a variety of styles and shades of green, shelves full of camping and orienteering equipment among other things, with a display case at the back of the shop containing hunting knives, axes and sidearms ”Oh wow…this could be expensive” Tarja breathed as she looked around the store with the look of someone trying to remind themselves that they should blow all of their wages in one go as she picked up a pair of jungle boots and ran a critical eye over them before putting them down and walking on ”Is shame I am no longer jaeger…some of this stuff is very nice” she said to Andruss as she stopped to look into a glass display case containing the hunting knives, several of which were similar in design to her Sami knife, which was currently resting beneath her shirt at the small of her back ”These are good knives, well made…better than standard issue” she continued with an appreciative look in her eyes as she admired the craftsmanship.

  Andruss looks  at the   Knifes,I Just have a  reg boot knife , you know?  be nice to have  something that  would be different , like the cooler guys have...

 Of course? if  I have to knife   fight  in the   field, I'm probably not  coming back anyway...

In reply to girls (msg # 454):

Madison raised her eyebrows as she looked around. She liked leather and new boots and a vest sounded awesome. Maybe some leather pants too, just for some sizzle. She went right over to the boots first and started pulling several pairs down in her size and started to try them on. They were all so beautiful and the craftsmanship was just amazing. After trying on six pairs and seeing how they looked on feet, she narrowed it down to three. The others were nice, but the three she chose were the nicest. The next thing was to look at vests and match something to the boots.

The vest selection was truly staggering. There were so many, even if Madison just picked those in her exact size. So many would match that she had a hard time deciding. It was only a bad thing because she had only so much money. She didn't want to break the bank, but she was also feeling a bit indulgent. It was that kind of weekend. But maybe some leather pants would help her think in terms of outfit. The good news was that there was only a few in her size. But the bad news was she liked them all. And, the hats.... She was in such trouble.

 Lizzy smiled and walked in with Izzy and Lizzy also headed for the boots right away." This place is amazing Izzy the work is awesome, I like these vests a lot." Lizzy wondered how long Izzy would stay here with Lizzy seeing a jewelry store two stores down when they came in.

 Lizzy found some amazing brown and red leather knee high boots that looked amazing, they fit Lizzy so she grabbed them. Lizzy then joined Madison looking at the vests.

 Sam smiled as she walked in and went to the smaller boots like Izzy got, she found a great soft brown pair she loved. What caught Sam's eyes were the fancy leather holsters she looked at them and said," These are amazing do they hold any sidearm?"

  The   woman  gave  Sam a  quick nod that had he    hair   swirl about.There are many  sizes  and shapes of holster   , we have  made  as we  acquired different firearms  to   build around?, We also have some of the  Plaka Leather? It is made from   a reptile like creature   that lives along our rivers. it will stretch, but...of   course..they will on  stretch so far? It is best to  try a  side arm?.. we have a  rack of  sidearms in the back , My cousin  will help you pick out a weapon to try that is like...or close to  yours? if you have your own, then it  should not be a problem.

”Is more to knife than fighting…but I could teach you a few moves if you wanted” Tarja replied, not that she was an expert or anything but she’d picked up a thing or two during the war. After looking through the display for a minute or two Tarja would attract the attention of the guy behind the counter ”could we have closer look at that one please?” she asked, pointing to a knife on the second shelf with single edged blade and a handle made from some kind of horn. Turning the blade around in her hands Tarja would take a moment to examine it before turning to Andruss ”This is good knife, well made, nice balance…if you wanted knife this would serve you well…better than boot knife would anyway” she said placing the knife in front of him handle first so he could take a look and decide for himself as she meanwhile looked at the sidearms on display.

She didn’t know much about Burian firearms, with her suspecting that they were built on license considering the planet’s apparent tech level, but then again she could be mistaken ”excuse me do you have any Angel made sidearms? Either automatics or revolvers” Tarja asked the guy behind the counter, knowing that they were good quality weapons…though whether she could afford one was another matter entirely.

Seeing the look on Maddy’s face Izzy would giggle as her friend tried to decide how much of the shop to buy as she gathered several boots, vests and trousers to try on and compare with Izzy not daring to point out that they also did custom work.

With Lizzy moving over to join Maddy in admiring the vests Izzy would join Sam in looking through the holsters ”oh hey those are cute…you know if you want any alterations or detailing they can do it right here in the shop” Izzy quietly said as she admired the pair of ankle boots Sam had found ”…only don’t tell Maddy else we may never get her to leave!” Izzy then added with a giggle.

After the shopkeeper had explained about the holsters Izzy would produce her pocket pistol with Jade grips from out of her jacket and eject the magazine and clear the chamber in a professional manner before holding it out for the shopkeeper to see, with being able to recognise it as the weapon Steve Howe had bought her on her first trip here ”Do you have anything that would hold this? I was thinking a shoulder holster in either black or dark brown leather?” she asked with the compact weapon being smaller than the norm.

  The person   looked at  Tarja and said,we have   hard  ammo weapons. They shor burian steel  ahrd ammo. it  breaks  upon entry and is  feared  by Demons... they are only a  rung or two  down the Ladder of Largan make.  The Pulse weapons  are all either Angle make or Earth make.