Midnight City (SALVO)

Salvo was, at present, trolling the streets of Lux for work. Could never have too much on your plate, in her opinion. She considered herself pretty good at multitasking, and it was also going to be a bit until her next big job, from the sound of things. While she was still on Konats, Lux seemed like the place to be for someone in her line of work, with how wicked and unsafe its streets were, and how many unsavory characters were about. 

And, speaking of unsavory characters, Salvo's pointed ears twitched as she heard something crash way above her head. It was distant, but Herans had pretty good hearing, so the pirate had been able to make it out amidst all the other noises along the streets of Lux. And so, she looked up.

"Wot the hell's 'at?" she mumbled to herself as some kind of rapidly spinning green ball was barreling down towards the street at breakneck speeds. It looked like it was primed to crash right down in the street! Well, Salvo had to admit her curiosity as she stepped up, craned her neck and did a little bit of mental math to try and guess where this ball was going to land, then stepped over to that same spot she'd guessed, and held up her hands.

Sure enough, Salvo's estimations had been dead on! The green ball landed squarely in her hands, and had quite a bit more heft to it than Salvo had been predicting, though she maintained her grip on it. The ball then unfurled in her hands, and... "Oh, 'ello, there," Salvo said with a snicker as she found what she was holding was not just some bright green ball, but a little cute furry creature.

This thing was adorable, actually. Her hands were firmly gripped beneath the little creature's armpits, and it was being held up as if it were an infant. Salvo had never wanted to be a mother, but she had to admit, babies like this were pretty cute. "Wot're you doin' flyin' outta that window up there, aye? Could hurt yerself if ye hit the ground too hard, y'know," she gently scolded the child. 

Ha! The little guy was even cuter when its face flushed up all red like that. Salvo couldn't help but snicker at its surprised little gasp and gentle squirms in her hands. "Doin' fine, eh?" Salvo replied, and she was about to ask what animal the little creature was, but it beat her to the punch, instead insisting that it was, in fact, very much a human. Or, at the very least, a person. Well... Salvo supposed she'd met plenty different kinds of aliens in her life that had a bit more hair on them. Hell, even one of Jinx's friends back at the mine had been just about as furry as this little guy.

Or, little girl, rather, based on the inflection of her voice. 

Though they insisted they be put down immediately, Salvo still wanted to keep holding them. They were so fluffy and warm! Salvo kept her hair pretty well groomed and shampooed to keep it soft, but her ginger locks had nothing on this girl's green fuzz. "Ooh, yer like a li'l stuffed animal!" Salvo exclaimed, "Just wanna scoop ye up and go to sleep with ye squeezed in me arms!" The Heran let out a loud laugh, obviously and perhaps unnecessarily giddy at the creature's cuteness.

"Well, a'right, then," Salvo continued, "Li'l person, it is!" Salvo was still holding the little person when they noticed the thing they were holding in one of their hands. "Wotcha got there, now? Some kinda toy or somethin'?"  It looked unique, alright. Salvo released her hand from one of the creature's armpits to reach forward and try to take it from them, though perhaps the object would not be so easily retrieved...

Striker, huh? Not as cute a name as Salvo would've given her, if she'd been given the choice. Salvo probably would've named her something like... Fluffins, or maybe Snuffybuns. Salvo thought about suggesting those names to the little thing, though the creature's embarrassment was becoming quite clear across her face, so with a small chuckle, the Heran decided she would spare the 'Fauxbian' those further transgressions against her seriousness. 

And, as Salvo could sense energy, she could tell the little girl wasn't lying about slapping people silly who got on her nerves. Her power level was actually a chunk higher than Salvo's, even! Unless Salvo transformed, of course, though unless Striker was already transformed, chances were that she could go higher too. 

That did little to deter the Heran, though.

"Nunya? Ah, like nunya business? Sooo cute!" Salvo was still curious, though she was distracted when Striker said that Salvo ought to put her down unless she was 'offering her some proper cuddles.' "Proper cuddles, eh? I can give ye summa those!" Salvo yanked the Fauxbian closer, pressing the furry thing up against her chest as her arms wrapped around Striker's back and swinging her around back and forth as her bright blue cheek rubbed up against Striker's fuzzy green forehead.

"So warm and cuddly!" Salvo exclaimed, oblivious to any protests, verbal or physical, that the creature might have been offering her.

Striker's protests meant nothing to the Heran, if they had even managed to reach her ears. Heran ears may have been good at hearing, but that hearing could, at times, be somewhat... Selective. The Fauxbian's flailing arms didn't do much to help her situation either, as Salvo continued to hug the little stuffed animal up against her chest as if letting go of it meant death. Eventually, Striker went slack in Salvo's grip, and the Heran ultimately loosened said grip for fear of accidentally smothering the little furball to death.

It was then that her ears heard the sirens approaching. "Hm? What'd ye say, squeezeball?" she asked Striker. Something about how they should go? Was a bit hard to hear her when her mouth was being gagged up by the collar of Salvo's coat. 

Salvo looked up at the building Striker had just leapt from, down at the thing Striker was gripping, then over towards the approaching police, and narrowed her eyes. "The fuzz ain't after ye, are they?" she asked Striker, although the answer seemed pretty obvious to Salvo. Well, no way was Salvo going to let the police take away her new little sleeping buddy! "Well they sure as hell ain't catching ye while I'm outta Davy Jones' locker!" the Heran proudly declared.

She readjusted Striker's position and scooped one arm beneath the furry creature's stomach, then held her down at her side, leaving one arm free to draw her pistol. "Ta hell with runnin'! Let's just blast 'em as they come!" she bellow as she raised her pistol towards the approaching sirens, determined to defend her little buddy to the death if it came to that.

So the coppers were after Striker, huh? Well, all the more reason for Salvo to blast apart each and every one of 'em! "Sit tight, Fluffins!" Salvo assured the Fauxbian as she readjusted her grip around the furry creature's stomach slightly. "Leave it t' me and I'll be blowin' 'em all sky high b'fore ye can say 'hornswaggle!'" 

Salvo had had her fair share of shootouts with the authorities before. She'd even been shot a few times before! Usually the bullets and beams just bounced off her ki-empowered skin, but every now and then she had a scare or two where a lucky bolt would pierce her gut or breast. It'd take more than a simple beam through a vital organ to keep Salvo down for good, though! ...They usually kept her down for just a few weeks or months, at most.

"Eh?" Salvo replied as the creature insisted it could help out. She looked down at her fluffy little prize, and gave it a smirk. "Ah, sure, yer hands are free there, aren't they? I'll hoist ye up and ye and I can shoot at 'em together!" Salvo didn't let go of the Fauxiban, but she did let her wriggle her arms free and point her forward towards the incoming flashes of lights and sirens. 

"Don't ye worry," Salvo added, "I'll block anything they'll be shootin' at us with me own hide, so yer furry rear won't get all scorched up! I already be havin' plenty 'a scars on this blue flesh 'a mine, so a few more ain't no trouble." With that, Salvo primed her pistol with her free hand and hoisted it up, ready and aimed as soon as those cops got within an easier distance to shoot them from.

"Yea, yea, Striker," Salvo dismissively replied as her adorable, fuzzy friend insisted the Heran call her by her real name. Something about it didn't seem all too fitting for something as cute as she was, though. "Ye sure ye ain't open to other suggestions, though?" Salvo had to ask, glancing down at the top of Striker's head as she did so. "I'm just thinkin', I've got a few other potential names ye might be a fan of, if yer willin' to actually hear me out. Might be worth yer time, is all!"

Enough of that for now, though. They had quite a few problems to sort out before they got to talking about name changes! One of those problems pulled up to the Heran and Fauxbian and got on a loud speaker of some kind, warning Salvo to put the green creature down, 'or else.' "Yea?!" Salvo called out to the fuzz, defiantly. "Or wot?!"

Enough of that. Salvo was ready to start shooting. However, her furry little friend seemed to be struggling herself. "Wot, ye don't carry a piece with ye?" Salvo asked her, a little surprised that someone who had attracted this much police attention didn't actually have a weapon on her. "Eh, hold on a sec," she grumbled as she stuck her gun back in its holster, and then reached around beneath her coat as if she was searching for something.

A few moments passed, and then Salvo pulled out a different gun, this one a fair bit smaller than the one she was using. "'Ere ye go, love," she said as she handed it to Striker, then retrieved her own back from its holster. "Tuffle sized one, just for ye! Figure it's about the right size, still. Now, then..." With that, Salvo immediately raised her pistol an fired off an explosive round that barreled through the air and slammed into the hood of one of the police's vehicles - then exploded just about the entire car!

"Ahahaha!" Salvo bellowed with laughter. "Yer turn, love, give 'em hell!" she ordered Striker as she shifted the Fauxbian forward to be in a better position to start firing upon the officers.

"Yea, yer doin' it!" Salvo cheered on her little friend as she took some pot shots with her weapon at one of the vehicles the police had pulled up in. Said police officers were also openly firing on Salvo and Striker now, so the Heran decided it was time to get moving. Most laser bolts just singed her skin and didn't exactly hurt a whole lot, but you never quite knew for sure what caliber a weapon was. Plus, she didn't want to get any holes in her coat!

The Heran leapt ahead in the air, Striker still handily carried beneath her armpit, and laser bolts rocketed through the air around them as cops on both sides took aim and fired. Salvo clenched her teeth as she felt one nail her square in the back - had she been of a more normal power level, that'd probably have been the end of her right then and there - but it was mostly due to the knowledge that she'd need to get her coat stitched up, rather than a wince of pain.

A moment later, her boots landed with a firm thud atop the police cruiser that had just pulled up to them, and Salvo whipped her gun down towards one of the officers. "No, wait-" the officer cried as they realized their weapon wasn't going to save them, but Salvo simply flashed them a grin and opened fire at point blank range. 

The officer on the other side fired up at Salvo in a panic, but she swung her gun out and knocked away the bolt mid-air with the butt of her gun, then thrust Striker forward with her other arm. "Go on, lass, this one's all yers! Finish 'em off!" she urged the Fauxbian as the officer stumbled back and fell to the ground in fear.