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This... was probably not good. And now, don't get him wrong, Sampo Koski had found himself in many a sticky situation before and escaped unscathed, but...
Maybe he shouldn't have snuck aboard the Astral Express and stuck around for as long as he did.
Yeah.
That would have probably been a good decision.
But oh well, he was here now. It didn't matter where he was going, as long as it was somewhere new! Having spent such a long time on that frozen wasteland of a planet, Sampo was beginning to grow bored of Jarilo IV. Even his normal ventures brought him no joy, because he just simply knew everything and everyone there far too well. Nothing suprised him anymore. Sure, the Trailblazers had sealed the planet's Stellaron, but nothing had really changed. Same old streets, same old people. He waited a few months for something exciting to happen, but had ultimately been let down. The main event was over, the final act resolved. Someone like him had no place in the epilogue. So, really, this was a good thing! A great thing! Yes, he still had some unfinished business left behind in Belobog, but none of that was important any more! He had been praying for a way off of this dreary planet for ages, and now he was getting his wish! A new destination... so much to do, so much to see, and so much new fun to be had! He could do whatever he wanted in this new place!
...wherever that was, exactly.
Actually, the The Astral Express crew didn't seem too sure on that themselves. They were taking an awfully long time to chat before leaving... surely they would already have a destination planned out if they had been trailblazing for as long as they claimed! I mean, come on! Should it realistically be taking a bunch of supposed 'experts' this amount of time to say 'Yep, that's where we wanna go!' and leave? Letting his curiosity at what could possibly be holding them up get the better of him, Sampo peeked out from his hiding spot and into the lavishly decorated main carriage of the Express, only for a moment of course. He wouldn't want to risk being spotted before the time was right. Although it would be, quite frankly, hilarious to see the crew's suprise and (more than likely) fury, what would happen after that? They'd most likely send him right back to Jarilo IV, and then he'd be back where he started. Literally.
But as all of this rushed through his head and he peeked up over the side of the counter, he found himself greeted with a... rather unusual sight. The Astral Express crew were standing together in the middle of the cabin discussing something, and that oversized rabbit thing was wandering around, getting in the way as he had expected. That wasn't what was odd here. No, the strange thing he hadn't expected was the pale blue-ish transparent hologram transmission currently standing within their little huddle. They were... tall, with middle-length hair tied in a ponytail. They wore a black coat and... that was pretty much all the information he could glean from such a short glance. Sampo couldn't really recognise them... at least no name immediately sprang to mind. But they were facing away from him, so perhaps he could put a name to a face when he could... you know... actually see a face. Whoever they were, though, they were seemingly in discussion with the group of Nameless only a few meters away from him. Sampo couldn't quite catch exactly what was being said. The speaker had a smooth, warm voice, akin to spider's silk, with a slight crackling electronic distortion (no doubt from the hologram transmission) but, from his distance, almost everything they were saying just became one muffled blur. However, whe he really focused, he could manage to barely pick out one or two words, mostly of little to no importance. Just stuff like 'destination'... 'concern'... 'Luofu'...
Wait, Luofu?
As in, the Xianzhou Luofu?
This was... interesting to say the least. A rather unexpected suprise! But a pleasant one none the less. Whilst Sampo had truthfully had no idea where the Express was heading, he had picked up whispers of Penacony and so, naturally, that is where he had assumed the intended destination was. Nothing too special, he had been there before. Plus, she would likely be there and, as he had told Giovanni when the old aquaintance had visited Belobog for that tournament thing, Sampo wouldn't be particularly disappointed if he never set eyes on her again. Why she always felt the need to take things to far was honestly beyond him. But a Xianzhou Alliance ship? Sampo had never even seen one of those. He knew many individuals who had visited one, and had been regaled with tales of good humor, but he never really found the motivation to take a look around one himself. He was just never in the right area, or just didn't have the time. Before ending up stranded, he was too busy rushing from place to place to even spare it a thought. But here he was, heading out there right now!
His eyes remained intently focused on the interaction before him as he came to these small revelations and allowed his mind to wander, until he was forced to snap back to the reality of his aching muscles from being cramped up in this position. Actually, they really were hurting quite a lot, and whilst most of the time he wouldn't bother to do anything about it, (pain is just reminder of this cruel joke of a universe, after all) what would he do if he lost sensation in his leg and fell face-first on to the floor when making his great escape from the Express? Again, it would be a great laugh in the short term, and Sampo was sure his good 'friends' at the tavern would agree, but it would be a waste to be found, captured, and dragged back to Jarilo IV when the Luofu would offer so much more excitement. So, surely it wouldn't hurt if he just had a little stretch... besides! The Nameless were all preoccupied with this oh-so-mysterious individual, they probably wouldn't notice if he just...
His leg collided with a table leg.
Fuck.
It was okay though, it didn't make too loud of a sound. Maybe he got lucky and they were all distracted...?
A sigh of relief.
It seemed that nobody had noticed him. As he cautiously peeked out from his hiding place once again, he scanned the faces of his fellow inhabitants of the space. No signs that they had heard him. Perhaps they had simply assumed that it was that nosy rabbit thing again. But just then...
Just then, the hologram figure turned around as if they had heard something, and Sampo caught a glimpse of their face.
Sharp features.
Small, elegant beauty mark.
An all too knowing look in her eyes.
Sampo recognised her now. He had never had the... pleasure... of meeting her himself, but he knew her face and name. Who didn't? On almost every inhabited planet in almost every local star system, her face was plastered on blank walls almost everywhere, accompanied by an official statement from the IPC, and a lovely little ten million credit bounty.
This was Kafka, a Stellaron hunter.
And the fact that she was contacting the Express crew (because it couldn't possibly be the other way around) meant that there was something bigger going on that he had originally thought.
Ducking back down so that he was obscured from view, Sampo began to piece together what he knew about the current situation, until he came to a conclusion, albeit a vague one.
And once he had, he had to physically supress his laughter. Because it really was funny, wasn't it? The Astral Express crew, a group of oh-so righteous Trailblazers, taking instructions from a wanted criminal and, not only that, a Stellaron Hunter? Who would have thought it?
---
'The train is about to make the jump!
5
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1
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A wave of nausea washed over Sampo as light filled his vision and the world seemed to shift. He desperately clung to the table leg in front of him, so that the sudden fluctuation in gravity wouldn't toss him out of his hiding spot. The sound made by the impact of his back slamming against the wooden counter behind him was (thankfully) drowned out by a loud crash coming from the middle of the carriage, so he managed to remain undetected.
After a while of the train drifting through space, it was almost close enough dock. Footsteps and muffled voices were pretty much all Sampo could hear.
He still hadn't really gotten his bearings by the time the Express had finally slowed to a halt. Warps on a small, battered spacecraft crowded with screeching maniacs had been one thing, but his first time experiencing a jump in a vessel such as this had been... strange. The comforting jolt before the world seemed to dissolve into light and sound was gone, leaving only the nauseating shaking behind. And here, he didn't have one of his companions cackling madly in his ear the whole time. One would think that the Astral Express' overall smoother style of travel and more pleasant company (even if they weren't actually aware he was even here) would be more enjoyable, but Sampo was only left with a sense of unease. Despite his many capabilities and apparently applaudable lack of inhibitions, he had always hated warp jumps. For a moment, it was like nothing was real, and he was suddenly a mere child again, in some Aeon-forsaken rock at the edge of the civilised universe, the world and even his own body melting away into a murky pool of nothing, before the vibrant, wild reality returned to him after what in reality was no time at all, but felt like an eternity. Without anything amusing to distract him in the roaring silence of that all-enveloping blue light, he could do nothing but ask himself over and over "What is the point?"
But anyway! Back to what was happening in reality... ah yes! Sampo was still rather dizzy, so therefore his movements were uncharacteristically sloppy and uncoordinated as the Express finally stopped moving. There were a few clicking sounds, as some kind of mechanism whirled to life in the walls, and the ship docked.
Just then, a robotic female voice rang out through the carriages of the train
"Welcome to... Luofu Skyport... Starskiff Haven..."
"Please await transfer... Please await transfer..."
A pause, filled only by muffled conversation and stifled breathing.
"The Jade Gate is now opening..."
"On behalf of the Xianzhou Luofu, welcome, guests from afar..."
Sampo waited patiently for a window of opportunity, the perfect chance to make his grand escape. Very patiently. Totally.
Actually, at this point, he was starting to consider just sprinting out as fast as he could, to hell with any dramatic exit. But, then again, he was a performer at heart, and who would he be to deny his audience a good show? And so, he continued to wait patiently.
After what felt like forever (but was likely in reality only a few minutes, the sound of a door opening and closing rang out through the carriage. He was itching with excitement at the prospect of this new stage on which to seek the one thing he truly desired. Who knows? Perhaps he'd finally find it here?
After a few more minutes had passed, he was ready.
Taking up a sprinting position, he readied himself to leap out of his hiding place and run to the door, perhaps flashing the crew one of his winning smiles on his way out.
3...
2...
"Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here!"
Slowly, Sampo raised his view, and locked eyes with none other than that stupid, stupid rabbit thing. He had always felt that it would somehow ruin his plans, and here were his fears being actualized. But no time to stop, he had to get out now.
Leaping up over the counter and aiming a kick at that thing for good measure, (annoyingly, it somehow managed to dodge out of the way at the perfect moment) he bolted for the exit. He heard a shout of suprise from behind him, but paid it no need. His freedom was so impossibly close, if he could just manage to make it a little bit further...
He reached for the door handle.
He pushed it down.
He opened. The. Door.
It was so refreshing to finally be somewhere new and unexpected, he would have laughed, if he hadn't been running. But if he could just make it a little further, he could revel in it, in the hilarity of these circumstances and the unusual feeling in his chest that he hadn't felt for a long time. Was it excitement? Was it fear? He couldn't tell, and he didn't really care either. All that mattered was that he had finally got what he had wanted.
Something new.