The ORION Files (Closed/Started)

[mcpop9]

"I'm not even talking governmental stuff." The translator explained to him, the girl sighing back. "I'm talking health, my health. My body has never experienced any diseases known by your species or other interstellar ones. If i get sick, my odds of survival head into the single digits percentage wise." Resha fored back at him. "I wanna experience new cultures, just... I cant do that if im dead or dieing."

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Apologies for my silence. I am unused to this line of thinking. While Catican Shock troopers may be known for their destructive thinking, we are not primarily known for our deductive reasoning..." Edward said with a chuckle after a momentary period of silence, no doubt digesting all this information.

"Just two last queries and I think we're done analysing the data that we have. If the Sweet Child of Mine functions anything like a basic military vessel, she should have a log of the FAI-45's loadout just after launch and upon her return.

Also, if we can get the targeting telemetry data from Mary's fighter, we can see if she targeted the colony at any point. I don't think that it can clear us in a general sense, but I would like to know whether or not the crew member watching my back is the type of crew member that would fire upon noncombatants."

There was a momentarily lull in the conversation whilst Velka began to pull up the necessary information, shutting down the displays showing the audio and visuals of the news report; having no further need of them for the moment, but saved a copy just in case.


"Do you have any plans while we are here at the station?" Such a question brought Velka out of her reverie.

"Hmm?" She muttered turning to face Edward. "Oh, um, to be honest, I haven't exactly put much thought into it; I suppose I might have a look around, see if there is anything worth acquiring, although, given my past as a security officer, part of me might decide to try and clear out this hive of scum and villainy." She let that comment hang for a few seconds before eliciting a small laugh.

"That was a joke. I realise that given the circumstances, I have a statistically low percentage chance of succeeding in this venture, as I am but one being." She then turned back to the computer and continued to tap away. There was silence for a minute or two before Velka managed to find something.

"Just managed to find the munitions log, it appears that she used up the Spectre's complement of anti-fighter swarm missiles, along with somewhere around a quarter to a half of the 30mm revolver cannon's ammunition, usage of plasma weapons have been logged but I cannot get a precise read on the amount; finally Mary has used up the ten light anti-ship missiles that were supplied with the strike craft."

"As for targeting telemetry data, its gets a little more imprecise, suggesting a rush through the required procedures. Hmm... it looks like she may have targeted the TGR staging area with the anti-ship missiles, but judging from the spread out detonation points, may have caused some slight collateral damage to the colony. Log times suggest they were fired shortly before Mary returned to the Sweet."

 

[Generic NPC 22]

The Orion Files | Mother Ship: Sweet Child of Mine | Velka's Quarters
Findings and Salutations
Edward Aubergine​

[hr]

The words, "trying and clear out this hive of scum and villainy does sound like an ideal use of shore leave... inspite of the potential genocide that Mary may have committed," had been on the tip of Edward Aubergine's tongue when Velka had chuckled before explaining that she was both jesting as well had calculated the probability of being able to kill every being aboard the station. He could have jested right back that were his investigatory companion serious, she could have asked Mary for some pointers... but 1) it seemed inappropriate at the time and 2) Shock Troopers were not known for their sense of humor so the statement could have been taken seriously and 3) the results of Edwards queries had returned.

"Just managed to find the munitions log, it appears that she used up the Spectre's complement of anti-fighter swarm missiles, along with somewhere around a quarter to a half of the 30mm revolver cannon's ammunition, usage of plasma weapons have been logged but I cannot get a precise read on the amount; finally Mary has used up the ten light anti-ship missiles that were supplied with the strike craft."

Glancing at the report, the Combat Minded Colossus of Combat noted the model number of the anti-ship missiles in question. According to the specifications, if he was remembering them right, the warheads were unlike traditional warheads in that when it detonated, it fired off a number of highly concentrated, highly energetic gamma rays that were capable of ripping apart the thinner hull armor of lighter ships. Of course, if it was capable of doing this to a reinforced hull plating there it was not hard to imagine what it could do to building or humans.

"As for targeting telemetry data, its gets a little more imprecise, suggesting a rush through the required procedures. Hmm... it looks like she may have targeted the TGR staging area with the anti-ship missiles, but judging from the spread out detonation points, may have caused some slight collateral damage to the colony. Log times suggest they were fired shortly before Mary returned to the Sweet."

The statement made Edward frown as a low rolling grumble signaled his displeasure at hearing the news of "slight collateral damage." It might have been a joke on her part but given the properties of the missiles, the term collateral damage should have been replaced with civilian casualties since the imprecise nature of the warheads virtually guaranteed civilian casualties. Now that they had garnered what information they could, the question was what did they do with said information. While Edward could have gone to Captain Walker with the data he and Velka had uncovered, much of it was speculation and there were still too many unknown factors. Informing the crew of their findings might spell doom for Mary, which Edward could not allow given that she was his comrade no matter her actions. The only thing left was to confront Mary and, perhaps, gain more insight into the situation.

"Velka. I trust that we can keep this data to ourselves before we have a moment to approach the Captain with it. I suspect that Mary will be able to provide additional information regarding her actions." The Armored Arms and Ammo Nut commented as he started heading towards the room's exit, the door sliding open silently as it detected his approach, "However, not that the ship has docked with the station, I should check on Irina before she boards the station."

Turning towards the corridor, Edward saw a technically bipedal (through the use of augmentation) bag of trouble walking quickly through the corridors. Reaching out, the Catican Shock Trooper snatched Genocide Mary by the arm and pulled her into the room.

"Mary... it seems that you and I have become rather famous during our retreat from Sasleyria." The Catican Shock trooper commented as he forwarded the news cast to the former Pirate's Personal Communications Device, "Though... given the nature of your suggested action... it would appear that your gained fame eclipses mine. Would you care to explain why you are being shown destroying an entire colony?"

[hr]

The Orion Files | Mother Ship: Sweet Child of Mine | Catican Heavy Shuttle Redeemer | Irina's Quarters
What's a Taylor Swift? Does it yodel?
Irina Rostikova​

[hr]

"

What's this about a yodel?

" A familiar voice belonging to Irina's fellow hacker chimed in through the intercom, "

Cause thats an odd thing to suddenly need to know.

"

The Network Intrusion Minded Neko had been analysing the Redeemer's security protocols when Shanoa had spoken, discovering the nasty little trick that Grace had been responsible for. The urge to disable Grace's code was reigned back by a sense of caution and the knowledge that the Snippy Little Sniper would have been more underhanded than to allow Irina to simply disarm the newly installed protocol... which was a good thing considering that Irina discovered another routine that checked to ensure that Irina had not restored the original security protocols which was then backed up by a third and fourth sub process that ensured that the secondary routine was not tampered with.

The easiest way around the problem would have been to shutdown the ship's main computers and restart the system one subsystem at a time, however, given that hey were docked to a pirate port of call, it might well have been a dinner bell for those who were looking for a ship to steal. Also, given the age and condition of the ship, there was no guarantee that the subsystems would have come back online in a timely manner, subjecting everyone to the possibility of a sudden and nearly instantaneous venting of atmosphere... though that was an improbable scenario... probably...

"Shanoa? Hey... it's Irina..." Irina paused as she realized of course Shanoa was aware of who she was talking to, "Hey... I'm stuck inside my quarters. SOMEONE messed around with the security permissions and made it so that the doors require a voice sample from me to open... except... the voice sample requested is something called a 'Yodel.'"

The Casino Bound Catican grumbled for a moment as she tried to manually force the doors open.

"Yeah... I'm stuck... think you could help?"

 

[FalloutJack]

Mary had a point about looking bounty hunter, but the only way that they were going to put a stop to that is by some sort of radical action, such as Elliot becoming 20% more grizzled and wearing an eyepatch, or Grace dying her hair black and wearing the clothes that Irina had ruined at the showers. All of this was possible, but none of it was going to happen. Pickpockets and price-gouging, Elliot expected, though. That is, he and Grace expected to have to hurt someone for trying to remove anything from them. Well anyway, they were docked now, so they could leave.

Entering Tortuga, they headed through the airlock area and...well...for the hallways, that sorta' just kept on going, and all of this was essentially walking from one ship interior to another. Tortuga wasn't a nice place. It wasn't even a halfway decent sort of a place. It was just a place, a series of tube and ships. It was Waterworld in space. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. Naturally, they had a few stares. They weren't pirates, and they DID have weapons. In this place, Grace was feeling a vibe similar to the streets of her youth. If anyone got too close to her with ideas, they were going to find bits of them missing. The expression on her face stated clearly 'I am not interested in you'. Elliot's expression was a bit friendlier, but the moment he saw anything threatening, that would vanish in a heartbeat.

So, they came across a place that had what they would be needing: A stiff drink.


Enter the establishment, and you will find yourself in a strange atmosphere. The music is odd-but-strangely-relaxing, there are a couple of men drunkenly dancing to it, falling over a few times, and things are not at all loud or lively. It's a pub. It's a pub like any pub. Elliot and Grace came to the counter and the owner of the place, apparently having no one to top off at the moment, came to them in a semi-pleasant manner.

"'Allo, what's this? I've got me license and all. Is this a bust?"

"Can't imagine why. I just got back from some rough action and, since we were coming here, I thought I'd invest some of our hard-earned currency to inflict inebriation upon our senses in a pleasant-ish atmosphere."

"Eh?"

"We came for a quiet drink."

"Oh! Right you are! Best drinks in all of Tortuga!"

.....

Due to the length of this post, the bulk of this discussion will be in spoiler tags. Enjoy!​

Spoiler: Here we go!

"Great, I'll have a rum. My partner will also have a rum."

"Is she under-age? She looks a bit young."

"She's not under-age...and what do you care?"

"Fair enough. Now, are you talking your basic sort of A-Rum or a bit lower-standard than that?"

"What?"

"It's a rating system. Y'see, we're all out of yer basic A-Rum...and your kosher B-Rum...and C-Rum, D-Rum, E-Rum for the cyberspace types..."

"How far down does this go, exactly?"

"K-Rum."

"K-Rum."

"Like the K-Rations of old. It's basically bottom of the barrel swill."

"Uh-huh... And do you have any?"

"Uhhh...nah. We ran out of that last night."

"But you have other things, right?"

"Oh yeah! It's a bar, innit? Gotta have drinks inna bar!"

"Alright, how about some beer in the bar?"

"We're fresh out of beer, I'm afraid."

"What? All of it? There's like a million varieties."

"Got some thirsty people on this station, ya know."

"Right. Got any Space Mead?"

"Only on Renn Fair and Lovecraft Nights."

"Wine?"

"Nah."

"Sake?"

"Nope."

"Cider?"

"No."

"Wkiskey?"

"Nah."

"Whiskey-Tango?"

"Nah."

"Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot?"

"Nah."

"Vodka?"

"Nyet."

"Tepache?"

"Yes?"

"Alright, we'll have some of that."

"Huh? No no, Tepache is my name. Walter 'Foxy' Tepache."

Elliot sighed.

"Tonto?"

"Only the weapon."

"Kumis?"

"No."

"Tequila?"

"No."

"You have got something resembling a drink in here, right?"

"Oh yeah! Listen-"

"No no, lemme guess. Blue Hawaii?"

"Nope."

"Champagne?"

"Never touch the stuff."

"Black Russian?"

"No."

"White Russian?"

"No."

"A Walk in the Phelopean Forest?"

"No thanks."

That was the name of a drink, though.

"Victory Gin?"

"No."

"A Vesper?"

"Isn't that a little bike?"

"Alright, look... You must have something around here. Those two dancing over there are clearly out of it. What'd they have?"

"Hah! You kidding? Them's not recovered from last night, on account of 'em havin' at the Pan-Galactic Gargle-Blasters!"

"You serve that HERE?"

"We're pirates! Serve anything we want!"

"Uh-huh... Okay... A pair of Pan-Galactic Gargle-Blasters, then."

"Fresh out."

"Last night?"

"Last night."

"I'm gonna ask you one more time, and if you say no, you will be punched out. Now, do you have anything here to drink?"

"No."

Elliot punched his lights out.

"Let's go find another place."

Grace managed a smirk out of all of this, though.

 

[Athol]

Having made a clean escape from Walker, Mary was thinking ahead to hitting a few key bars with Mar, as well as making a mental list of people she really needed to contact while they were in dock; unfortunately for her, all that vanished from her mind as a purple furred hand grabbed her and yanked her into a room.

"Mary... it seems that you and I have become rather famous during our retreat from Sasleyria. Though... given the nature of your suggested action... it would appear that your gained fame eclipses mine. Would you care to explain why you are being shown destroying an entire colony?"

?Jesus fuck-buggering Christ!? Mary yelled, jerking her arm free. Taking a moment to compose herself, Mary glared at Ed before speaking once more. ?You?re lucky I didn?t put a couple rounds in you, you furry idiot!? She snapped, raising her right arm to show that on instinct she?d deployed her hold-out gun. ?I mean, I know it?d take more than even a full mag from this thing to drop you, but still??

Putting the gun away, she stepped back from Ed and took another couple of deep breaths to steady her racing heart. ?Okay then,? She said a few seconds later. ?What are you on about?? Pulling her comm device from a pocket, she played back the file that Ed had sent her. ?Can?t speak for the ground side footage, but this stuff of ?me? is a decent forgery, assuming your target audience knows fuck all about milspec gear. While my ?Spectre? could carry city-burners, she?d have to do it external and even then she?s only got hard points for two; and nothing I brought with me could do much more than chip the paint on a cruiser, assuming my birds even got through its defensive fire?and ten AIM-60s are nowhere near enough to swamp one cruiser?s point defence, let alone a pair of them.?

Playing with the footage a bit, rewinding it, playing forwards slowly etcetera, Mary let out a low chuckle. ?My guess is that the Grandies are doing their best to spin the fact that I tore their main LZ to shit.? Looking up from the vid, she regarded Ed for a minute. ?I was listening to you guys when that ambush happened. My guess is the Grandies, or their Chronus leash-holders, sent in a retrieval team before you guys to secure whatever the item was and ?sanitize? the area. You lot were supposed to good little scapegoats and die so they could blame the massacre on some ?rogue element?, probably that tied into their bullshit justification for attacking Sasleyria in the first place.?

?Once I realized that, and that Mar had a clean shot back to Sweety, I sent ?em a nice litter ?fuck you?. Yes I did launch at the Grandies, but it was ten little two kiloton laser heads that popped in high atmo, well outside the city. The only thing that would?ve hit were the grasers themselves, and even then, those would probably only sweep through a couple of city blocks.?

Closing the vid, she made dismissive ?throwing away? gesture. ?This is just Grandie propaganda bullshit to try and sell to the drones back home that they really are the good guys, and that everyone else is wrong and bad.?

 

[Lunar Templar]

Irina's effort to try and force the doors open amused her. "maybe you shouldn't be skipping 'arm day' if you want to do that." she snarked, but opened the door. "So where you heading? Must be going somewhere if your dressed like that."


meanwhile ...

Shanoa being in the ships systems at present gave her Omnipresence, least with in the ship, and while she wasn't really spying on anyone, she was keeping tabs on them, if for no other reason then one of them might be up to something she might be inclined to join in on, and while Irina was an amusing distraction, by virtue of being trapped in her room another conversation caught her attention.

Ed and Mary where apparently having words. Apparently a TGR news broad cast was painting her as some kind of colony nuking terrorist, or something, and Ed was a bit displeased with it. Understandable. "I'm not about to defend a pirate." Shanoa said to the two once a break in the conversation formed. "In fact, far as I'm concerned only time a pirate has any value at all is when a bounty is put on their head, but in this case, regardless of whether Mary burnt a colony by mistake, or not is moot. The news is controlled by the TGR, and they do to lie or twist facts to suit them more then often then not."

 

[Texas Joker 52]

Tortuga Drift | Shore Leave | The Blackstar Club
"Ooooh, maybe I ought to keep it to a two Mind Crawler maximum."​

[hr]

As it turned out, it didn't take very long after stepping onto the docks to find a wide variety of different bars, clubs, and other shops meant to draw people in the moment they were off their ships. In fact, it made her think of a Terran word that she had heard once, it had something to do with the produce called maize. But when she saw the dark blue neon lighting surrounding the sign for a club called The Blackstar, Mar knew which one she was going to start off in.


The Shree Ace could feel the music pounding through the air the moment she stepped inside, and like sitting in the cockpit of a fast ship, she felt completely in her element. The fact that she turned a few heads as she began to strut her way to the bar certainly helped.

After roughly an hour of dancing, chewing on Mind Crawlers, and halfheartedly flirting with several of the other club patrons, she found herself sitting at the bar with the fourth Mind Crawler of the night. As she felt the hexapedal reptile squirming helplessly between her teeth, she moved it around in her mouth until she found the head and slowly bit down with a rather bored expression.

Mar enjoyed a good party like the next pilot, but she was ultimately waiting on Mary at this point. Turning on the bar stool, she leaned back against the bar itself and took the time to swallow as she scanned the crowd. Her eyes were obviously glazed. The slightly glow-in-the-dark body paint that she had meticulously put on earlier was well-smudged by this point. And she was wondering where in the void that damn pirate was. After all, she knew the station better than anyone else on the crew, and she wanted to see at least some of Tortuga besides a club.

The Shree slid off of the stool and nearly fell on her face, but she managed to keep it to just an awkward stumble forward. Alright, maybe that fourth Mind Crawler was a little too much, she thought. Her head spun a little as she sat back down, and despite her irritation, she couldn't help but feel a little giddy. Maybe a few more minutes of waiting couldn't hurt.

 

[Generic NPC 22]

The Orion Files | Mother Ship: Sweet Child of Mine | Velka's Quarters
Standup on the Sweetie
Edward Aubergine​

[hr]

The Mountain of Cat Meat released Mary's arm as he listened to her explanation, following her train of thought as to why she was not responsible for the utter destruction of the colony the was formerly located on Sasleyria, trying to be as neutral in his evaluation of her story as possible. As she proceeded through her retelling of what had occurred from her perspective, Constable Kitty ran through the list of facts that he and Velka had determined through their analysis of the TGR broadcast, mentally checking them off. By the end of Mary's story, Edward was fairly convinced of his findings and of Mary's innocence, especially considering the fact that the TGR news cast had implicated him in the massacre by broadcasting images of the Catican Shock trooper walking away from a building filled with burning bodies.

"This is just Grandie propaganda bullshit to try and sell to the drones back home that they really are the good guys, and that everyone else is wrong and bad," The Freighter's resident pilot concluded as she closed the video.

"I'm not about to defend a pirate," Shanoa's voice stated via ship's intercom, "In fact, far as I'm concerned only time a pirate has any value at all is when a bounty is put on their head, but in this case, regardless of whether Mary burnt a colony by mistake, or not is moot. The news is controlled by the TGR, and they do to lie or twist facts to suit them more then often then not."

The Colossal Combat Cat scratched his head with one of his four arms rather sheepishly in response to Shanoa's analysis of the situation. While he did agree that it was irrelevant whether or not the former Space Scallywag had reduced a colony to fine radioactive dust, what was of importance was getting a gauge on Mary's character and whether or not she would be the type of Space Psycho that would bring more trouble to the ship in the future, a determining factor on how cautious Edward would need to be when on shore leave... and how much ammunition he should purchase... and how much armor he would need to wear... and how many people he would have to kill... and...

"You're correct, Shanoa, the point is moot. Velka and I determined that there were a few inconsistencies presented in the video the TGR presented and concluded the Mary had not destroyed the colony. What is noteworthy is that this news cast was transmitted to everyone living within broadcast range of the TGR and that, in order to maintain their outraged humanitarian stance, they will likely place a bounty on our heads. Given that it was relatively easy to connect the Spectre in the video feed to Mary and that Chronus is likely to be able to provide a full roster of this ship's crew, it is likely that anyone with even the slightest of rudimentary knowledge will be able to connect all of us." Edward Aubergine said, using what his thought process as a preface for the follow question, "The question becomes, what what us four should do next. Presenting the information we have gathered to Captain Walker is likely our best option. Given that he has not called for a meeting with you, Mary, means that he has likely not seen this news cast yet. From there it would most likely be best to propagate the information throughout the ship and warn our fellow crewmates to be on guard while on shore leave... or we can keep this information to ourselves as not to panic the crew, a panic that might come to the possible but unlikely conclusion of Mary's expulsion from the ship."

The Catican glanced around, noting that the two in the room and the one... where ever Shanoa was... had probably already thought of the best next step and he was simply and unnecessarily vocalizing them. With his glance, he also felt that it was a bit tense in the room given the topic of conversation. They were wanted fugitives whose words decrying their innocence would fall upon deaf ears. They would likely have to continuously look behind their backs until such a time that they could clear their names and it was likely that there were already an unknown number of mercenaries and bounty hunters already looking for them. Yes, it likely a situation that would cause them all to be nervous... which is why Edward did what he did next.

"I think that in the best interest of saving the ship, we vent Mary out an airlock and sell her Spectre as quickly as possible..." The Massive Mountain of Maul Capable Muscle said rather flatly and in a serious tone before clarifying his intentions, "... I'm joking... I'd best find Captain Walker. Anyone who would like to accompany me is welcome."

[hr]

The Orion Files | Mother Ship: Sweet Child of Mine | Catican Heavy Shuttle Redeemer | Irina's Quarters
Irina is not swole...
Irina Rostikova​

[hr]

The doors to Irina's quarters had refused to move even a quarter of a micron as she strained against their ceramic and organic composite material, which was expected since each of the Redeemer's internal doors were expected to be airtight in the event of a hull breach, allowing not even a breeze's worth of atmosphere to escape the ship. Of course, things might have been different had the Casino Bound Kitten not left her Muli-Arm Module in the main crew compartment of the ship since they could have cut through the door. Stepping away from the unmoveable and irritating entryway, chafed Catican consigner settled down on her bed, the bio-gel material shifting under her to offer more support.

"So where you heading? Must be going somewhere if your dressed like that," Shanoa's voice commented through the intercom.

"Well... I checked out the local directory of shops and locations aboard the station and I figured that I would sell some of the goods that I got from Chronus, since there's probably an innumerable number of tracking devices embedded in them, and taking my earnings and multiplying them by a factor of five in the station's casino..." Irina said as she stared at the doorway, wishing that her deceased boss had added Taroskan telekinesis to her genetic chain, "Get myself pampered for a bit by some burly boy at one of the local Catican run brothels before grabbing some new gear and heading back to the ship."

Of course, that wasn't the only thing that she had planned on doing while on Tortuga. Because the station likely had access to hyperwave communications, she wanted to do a bit of research on the Artifact that had been taken right from under their noses in that last mission. Also on the list was grabbing some gear for the prisoner that they'd taken. Given the amount of violent that they were bound to see, it wouldn't help SARA's fragile physique to be flopping about in the open. While the other crew likely wouldn't understand why she would invest her hard earned credits on someone that had tried to kill her, she did detect the telltale signs of Catican gene splicing on the poor prisoner... one that was quite famliar to Little Miss Meow Meow.

You see, every Gene Splicer in the Catican Hegemony had their own process and chemicals that they used in their life vats. This imparted each of their creations with a unique scent that acted as a sort of business card that identified the Master Splicer. While each of the families in the Genetic Engineering Caste were fairly unrestricted as to what they were able to create, there were a few rules that they were to follow, the primary being that all creations were to contain at least 25% Catican DNA in their genetic makeup. From what Irina could tell, Prisoner SARA had less than 5%. Further expanding the mystery regarding their unwelcome guest the fact that it appeared that her DNA had been spliced together using the same chemicals and processes used when Irina had been created...

 

[Athol]

"I'm not about to defend a pirate, in fact, far as I'm concerned only time a pirate has any value at all is when a bounty is put on their head, but in this case, regardless of whether Mary burnt a colony by mistake, or not is moot. The news is controlled by the TGR, and they do to lie or twist facts to suit them more then often than not."

Mary twitched as one of the comm speakers chimed in. ?Stupid frakkin? toaster?? She muttered, flexing her left hand as she did, in an unconscious reflex to try and bleed off the newest spike in adrenaline. Ed nattered along with what Shanoa was saying, with Mary barely paying attention, but when he got to mentioning tracking her ship, and IDing the rest of the crew, she shook her head. ?That is why, unlike the rest of you chuckleheads, I used a fake identity; and as for the Spectre? Those have been on the ?public? arms market for a few years now. Anyone outside of that shit-show we escaped from is going to be looking at either one of the larger merc fleets or a well to do Outer Colony world as the origin point for my bird.?

"I think that in the best interest of saving the ship, we vent Mary out an airlock and sell her Spectre as quickly as possible... I'm joking... I'd best find Captain Walker. Anyone who would like to accompany me is welcome."

Mary was tired, depressingly bordering on sober, and wanting to get off this tub as soon as she could; so when Ed tried to make a ?joke? it tweaked all the wrong nerves. Anger flashed through her, and she was about to call on her gun once more, when she realized he wasn?t serious. Looking up, she stared straight into the towering Catican?s eyes. ?I have many other things I?d rather be doing than dealing with Dick right now.?

With that she moved towards the doorway, and the corridors beyond, stopping only briefly to address Ed one last time. ?Ed..if you do decide to come at me, I?ll tell you this straight. You?ll probably get me, but I?ll make damned sure I take you with me.? Storming off, she made a B-line to her quarters to gather a few things before heading station-side.

--

Now, having freshened up a bit and with her ?main? sidearm in an underarm holster, she exited the Sweet Child of Mine and stepped onto the docks. Her first stop was a heavily fortified structure that had been built into an old internal airlock between the docks and the main area of the station; this was Obsidian Financial Services? Tortuga branch, because someone had once realized that even pirates wanted somewhere secure to store their credits, and as long as the morality of how they came to get those credits didn?t bother you, there was plenty to be had.

Stepping into the bank, she surrendered her sidearm, and the magazine of her holdout, before proceeding to the teller. The teller booths were all faced with kinetic resistant two way mirrors, and all communication between teller and customer was via intercom.

?Greetings, how may I help you??

Came the query from the unseen teller. ?I want to access all accounts pertaining to the vessel Regent Star, passcode Six-Niner-Gamma-Romeo-Whiskey. Authentication Red-Four-Four.?

There was a few moments of silence, then the voice returned.

?The authentication looks good, but the [i]Regent Star[/i] was reported lost with all hands. We will need DNA verification.?

As the voice spoke, a small receptacle opened in front of Mary.

?Please place an organic digit here.?

She stuck the index finger of her left hand into the port, there was a slight ?sting? in the tip of her finger and the port closed.

After another moments wait, the voice spoke once more.

?Genetic ID confirmed. As senior surviving executor of the accounts, what would you like to do??

?Well?how much is there in the accounts??

?There is 120 000 credits between three accounts.?

?Alright?I?d like to withdraw 1000 credits right now, and then transfer the remaining total balance to my personal account. Romeo-Mike-One-Sixer-Alpha.? A few minutes later, she left the bank with credits in hand and her personal account nicely topped up. Now?Mar?

It wasn?t long before she heard the buzzing electronic ?music? that Mar, for some strange reason, seemed to enjoy. Weaving through the crowds outside the door, she pushed her way inside where the noise was even louder and more jarring. Making her way to the bar, she got a drink and a couple of shots; downing the shots in rapid succession, she then headed for Mar...she?d spotted Mar easily enough, but getting to her wasn?t so simple.

After a few judicious kicks, stomps and one elbow, to get people out of her way, Mary slid onto a stool beside the obviously intoxicated Shree. ?Hey, sorry I?m late, had to take care of a few things.? She said while motioning to the nearest bartender for another drink.

 

[FalloutJack]

The thing is...they weren't getting into trouble OR getting turned away OR getting gouged. No, it was literally that the first twelve places that he and Grace had come across to get a drink - A drink drink, mind you - were fucking out of anything drinkable. Navigating this station was also a pain. They were slowly committing its layout to memory, but to fully get a grasp of the place, they would actually have to cover alot of it before it became second nature. Uhh...no one was risking trying to pick their pockets. That was for damn sure. Anyone who wanted some of their cash was going to have to earn it...and the first candidate that might actually make it...


...was The Blackstar. The two mercenaries decided to use earplugs, the easy way to filter out the music. They didn't care that much, but it was a big difference between hearing it and being assaulted by it. Neither of them noticed Mar and Mary at the moment as they headed to the bar. There, Elliot signalled the one tending and proceeded to order by hand-signals. Given that the place was pretty loud, this was frankly just a better way to DO that. So...

Two strong drinks, go easy on the ice.

Then, he finally noticed Mar, and knowing that Shree biology was a little different, he added...

For human biology.

Coming right up.

Much better...

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Velka. I trust that we can keep this data to ourselves before we have a moment to approach the Captain with it. I suspect that Mary will be able to provide additional information regarding her actions." Edward stated as he motioned his way towards the exit. Velka quietly nodded in response to this, she supposed getting the information directly from Mary was probably the quickest method, but the Reshani Commando didn't want to utilize such a blunt method; coupled with the fact that both she and Mary weren't on the best of terms at the moment.

"However, now that the ship has docked with the station, I should check on Irina before she boards the station." He then left the room, turning a corridor and quickly moving out of sight, which was surprising for someone of Edward's stature.

Velka | Sweet Child of Mine | Personal Quarters
Looking for Work: Chapter 0​

After Edward had left, Velka decided that she probably should leave the ship and explore Tortuga as well, for what it was worth; whilst she didn't like pirate ports and would love nothing more than to burn it to the ground, she realised that given their soon-to-be wanted status; it was more than likely that the Sweet's crew would be making use of such stations in the near future.

This realisation left Velka feeling annoyed and frustrated, she then thought about what she could do to rectify the situation; obviously, the consumption of either drugs or alcohol, or possibly both, given the situation was crossed off the list almost immediately, given her synthetic nature, she wouldn't feel any of the so called 'highs' or the 'buzz' one would get, then again, she wouldn't feel the lows either.

Going to a brothel or other such dens of pleasure was also crossed off, as she wasn't exactly equipped for that area, nor again would she derive pleasure from it, and she didn't want to deal with 'sex bot' comments from the rest of the crew. She had briefly considered gambling or hitting up a local casino, but she thought that might be better done with others and if she was to hear correctly, the others had made plans.

Somehow, her mind went back to her original plan of burning Tortuga to the ground; whilst Velka knew fully well that she could not perform such a service, perhaps she could do something similar on a smaller scale, perhaps deal with a few bothersome elements on the station, surely even a pirate port had its criminals?

"Well it is better than simply hanging about the ship all the time, and it would almost be like my old job as a security officer."

With that being said, Velka got up, got her gear together, and went out searching for trouble, as one might say.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

Tortuga Drift | Shore Leave | The Blackstar Club
"Always know your limits."​

[hr]

When the ex-pirate finally showed up, Mar was in the middle of talking herself into heading back to the ship, and sleeping off the rest of her Mind Crawler high and, hopefully, the impending hangover. But the moment Mary sat down on the vacant stool next to her, Mar's lips quirked upward as she turned to face her.

"Hey, sorry I'm late, had to take care of a few things."

"Oh, that's fine, I was just killing time for over an hour. No big deal." she said dryly, although while the synthesized voice of her translator was clear, her real voice underneath was both slurred and oddly lilting.

So once the bartender brought Mary a drink, there was a moment of hesitation as Mar worked her teeth and frowned. Then she lifted a true-hand and said, "You know what? Give me another Mind Crawler. On my friend here."

The bartender was a human, which was a fairly common species on Tortuga as far as Mar could tell, leveled a knowing look at her. Had she been more sober, she would've been able to immediately tell that she wasn't the first Shree he had seen going past her Mind Crawler limit. Which made the fact that he simply nodded and went to go get another one a sign that he either didn't want to argue the matter, or felt that potential entertainment outweighed prudence.

What he brought back was a clear canister containing a wriggling hexapedal lizard with mottled red skin that had an odd sheen to it. And from the way it's mouth worked, it was trying and failing to squeal in obvious distress, although the pounding music easily drowned out it's cries. Handing the canister to Mar, she promptly twisted the cap off of one end and knocked it back like most people would down a shot.

But when she set the canister on the bar and turned to Mary, it was clear that she was in the process of gingerly chewing on the poor creature while it was still alive. She seemed to mumble something after a moment, but what she was trying to say was so incomprehensible her translator didn't even bother to try and make sense of it. What was worse was that on close inspection, it was clear that her eyes were having trouble focusing and had a wicked gleam to them as the Mind Crawler high went straight to her head.

That was when she spotted Grace and Elliot walking in, and she finally pushed the Mind Crawler against her cheek and waved at them.

"Hey, didn't know you two liked the club scene! Didn't figure you two for the type." she said cheerfully, before the Shree turned to Mary and asked with that same gleam still in her four eyes, "Anyway, so what is your plan for this glorious night on the town here in Tortuga Drift? Don't really care what we do, because I'm wasted, I'm horny, and I wanna have some fun!"

 

[Athol]

Mary nodded when the bartender raised an eyebrow about Mar billing her for the ?crawler, it wasn?t unheard of for the dumb and or intoxicated to try and get others to cover their expenses. Second drink in hand, she knocked it back quickly then signalled the closest bartender for three more, doubles this time.

For her part, Mary simply gave a small wave of acknowledgement as Mar greeted Elliot and Grace; she didn?t have anything against them personally, but they were bounty hunters so that led to her feeling a little ?professional? aversion to them; some of the crowd must have been picking up on it judging by the side long looks some of the patrons were giving the duo, but fortunately no one seemed stupid enough to actually start anything.

"Anyway, so what is your plan for this glorious night on the town here in Tortuga Drift? Don't really care what we do, because I'm wasted, I'm horny, and I wanna have some fun!"

Downing her third and fourth drinks in rapid succession, she then just sipped her fifth. ?Well, now that I?m not so depressingly sober, I?d love to go find a real party; it?s been ages since I?ve had a good brawl.? She chuckled, flashing her all to prefect teeth. ?As for anything else? Well the night is young as they say.? Sidling up ring next to Mar as she spoke, Mary ran a finger of her left hand down Mar?s spine; Mary had ?encountered? more than a few Shree in her life, and had picked up a few interesting tidbits.

One was the location of a small nerve cluster near the base of the spine; a hard strike, like a kick or a punch, caused a temporary incapacitation, but with just the right light] touch, it caused the nerves to tingle in a much more pleasant fashion.

 

[Lunar Templar]

The door to Irina's rook slid open, with Shanoa's robotic cat body on the other side. The AI summoning it while Irina was talking. "Sounds ... better then hanging out here. I Shall join, since I've got fuck all else to do right now." AI said, her voice once again coming from the mechanical body.

Though, truth be told, she had 'this feeling' she should get out and have a look around the station. She didn't know why though, just that she should.

 

[FalloutJack]

While they were waiting on their drinks, Elliot and Grace both noticed Mar trying to talk to them. They both knew that between the music and the eyeplugs they were wearing FOR the music, actually hearing her would be impossible...but they both got the gist of what she was asking. The two of them looked at each other and made hand-signs.

You tell her. I don't have the voice for this.

Allright.

He walked over, after having taken his drink from the tender of the bar.

"We're not. Pretty much every place we came across was literally out. There's at least eleven KO'd bartenders around the station for leading us along."

He also caught wind of Mary's plan to bar-crawl-and-brawl. It sounded like something they should shadow... Well, Grace was the better shadow. Elliot was the better lure than the shadow, pretty much on purpose. Well, it would serve, at least. They had to make certain Mary didn't get herself axed, and frankly their pilot friend didn't deserve it either.

 

[Outcast107]

Walker sigh as he wasn't really used to this. He was used to people being able to handle themselves and use to aliens already having things they need. Though it seem with Resha thats all different since she is a brand new alien that just jump into a large ocean that is the galaxy. "I know..which is why I said i'm not used to first contact stuff. I don't even know the first thing about it." Walker said as he added, "But I'm going to try my best and make sure you don't get sick and die while we are at the station or anywhere for that matter."

Then he added, "Just promise me that next time something like this happens with Mary..or anyone for that matter, that you will come talk to me first. I can't run a ship when my own crew is hiding stuff from me."

 

[Generic NPC 22]

The Orion Files | Mother Ship: Sweet Child of Mine | Velka's Quarters
The Bearer of Bad News
Edward Aubergine​

[hr]

Walking through the extremely cramped corridors of the Sweet Child of Mine, the Armored Alien Enforcer headed towards the location of where the ship's computer reported Captain Walker's last known location, the Hanger. As he was still wearing his equipment in case any of the station's less savvy inhabitants decided to forcefully make their way onto the ship, the ship's crew gave him a rather wide berth, which was probably a wise thing as he was wearing the same exact armor as had been broadcast on the news feed.

Looking about, the Ever Observant Four Fists of Furry (yes I know I wrote Furry instead of Fury) noticed activity coming from the direction of Resha's prototype ship. Considering that Edward did not see him on the hanger deck and that it was very likely that both Mary and Mar had already departed for the station, it was probable that the Captain was speaking to the Former Test Pilot. Walking towards the unique craft, Edward paused for a moment, listening in to the conversation and ensuring that he was not interrupting anything of great importance... or at least greater importance to the information that he had for the Captain.

"[small]Just promise me that next time something like this happens with Mary..or anyone for that matter, that you will come talk to me first. I can't run a ship when my own crew is hiding stuff from me.[/small]" The Captain's voice drifted through the air, filled with a certain amount of anxiety and possible annoyance.

Given that the topic of the conversation, it seemed like a rather appropriate time to pass on the information that he was carrying. Rounding the corner so that both Resha and the Captain could see him, the Massive Mountain of Catican Muscle cleared his throat, vying for their attention before speaking.

"Apologies for the interruption..." Edward said respectfully, nodding in the direction of the suited alien pilot, "I could not help but overhear the topic of the conversation and thought it prudent to share some news with you, Captain Walker."

Without further word, the Catican Shock Trooper forwarded both the recorded news feed and the analysis that Velka had performed to the Captain's Portable Personal Device.

[hr]

The Orion Files | Mother Ship: Sweet Child of Mine | Catican Heavy Shuttle Redeemer | Irina's Quarters
Preparing to Depart for New New Vegas.
Irina Rostikova​

[hr]

The nearly claustrophobic kitty found herself able to breathe a bit easier as the door to her quarters slid open quietly, a slightly audible pop could be hear as the airtight seals on the door were released. It wasn't a far stretch in Irina's morbid minded sense of humor to imagine that her body would have been perfectly preserved has she passed away in the room, protected by some sort of freshness seal... though that might have been the waning panic doing the thinking for her. As the door slip open, it revealed Shanoa's robotic visage. It might have been the lack of air in her quarters speaking but rather than a nice and calm and simple thank you, Irina burst out of the room flying, her arms wrapping themselves around Shani's robot neck as the jubilant, jiggling chested Catican hugged the A.I. in thanks.

"Thankyou.Thankyou.Thankyou.Thankyou.Thankyou.Thankyou.Thankyou.Thankyou.Thankyou.Thankyou.Thankyou.Thankyou.Thankyou.Thankyou.Thankyou." Irina machine gunned her thanks before releasing her captive and settling down to finish preparing herself, checking her dress once more before leaving the shuttle, making a mental note to disable the security auto-sync when she returned.

"(Dress? Check. Credits? Check. Side Arm? Check. PPF? Charged. Fashion tape?)" The Casino Bound Kitty Cat paused for a moment and gave the front of her dress a momentary downward tug, ensuring that nothing would pop out, "(Check! Weapons Shipment? ... ... check)"

Having been trapped for some time, the Feline Weapons and Cute Clothing Dealer had not been able to check the Freighter's logs to ensure that the weapons and goods that she was going to sell had been packaged, separated and made ready for delivery once she had sold the entire thing. Running quickly through the cargo manifest, she found that her goods were ready.

"Hey Shani, since we're going to need a bankroll, I've gotta check on a contact or two and see if I can sell them the merchandise that I got from Chronus before we hit the casinos, if you don't mind. Shouldn't take too long. Do you want to come with or do you want to grab a couple of drinks and wait for me... wait... can you drink?" Irina asked her voice innocently curious. While it would have been a waste to give an AI a sense of taste and the ability to be affected by mind altering chemicals... there was something about Shanoa's personality that struck her as different from most A.I., at least not in the Technically Minded Merchant's experience. Most A.I. personalities were rather flat, except for entertainment models, and could put anyone to sleep with their voice alone were they to speak at length.

Passing through the Redeemer's doors, Irina and Shanoa entered the hanger. Spotting Edward waiting near the Resha's ship, she have her cohort a friendly and courteous wave as she waited for Shanoa to answer.

[hr]

The Orion Files | Mother Ship: Sweet Child of Mine | Holding Cell
Beep... beep... beep...
SARA-00735​

[hr]

If it wasn't obvious why SARA-00735 needed to be carried to her holding cell, it should have been noted that her muscles... or lack of muscle development kept her from moving under her own power. Years spent locked inside of her armor had made their conditioning superfluous as the armor acted as both the Blue Haired Human Hybrid's skeleton as well as her musculature. Laying inside the small room. SARA could only lay atop the thinly padded cot as the medical scanner installed in the room's ceiling scanned her.

"

The following conditions have been noted in your medical record,

" The machine droned before listing off her symptoms, "

Severe muscle atrophy caused by lack of use.  50% of nominal bone density due to calcium deficiency.  Moderate hypoxia due to inadequate airflow.  Low White Blood cell count...

"

The Prisoner ignored the scanner as it continued drone on about the wide array of health issues that she was facing as it was fairly obvious that SARA would not be released from her holding cell any time soon nor would it make sense for the crew of this freighter to assist her with any of her health related issues unless it was simply to prolong her life so that they could interrogate her at some future date. Besides, her head hurt, her body ached in a manner that felt as if she was getting sick and she was too tired to listen to the ongoing litany of diagnoses. Closing her eyes, Prisoner-00735 drifted off to sleep.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Velka | Tortuga Drift | Security Terminus - Bounty Office
Looking for Work: Chapter 1​

After passing through the surprisingly thorough security checkpoint, Velka wandered around the Drift station's concourse, keeping an eye out for any opportunities that caught her attention. She didn't have to wait long though, as the specialist started seeing wanted posters for a human named Taliesin Rafe.

Said human looked to have a lanky sort of figure, appeared to be either in his late thirties or early forties with a medium length dark brown ponytail with some powder blue highlights. Eyes were a pale green, yet one of them looked to be a cybernetic implant judging from the slight sheen it gave. Dressed in what appeared to be a mixture of professional business attire and a military, as evidenced by the lightweight ballistics vest worn underneath a suit jacket in his picture. His tanned face appeared to have a few scars around the right eye, and a horizontal one going across his nose

As was usual, there was a listed dead or alive payment, bringing him in alive would net the victor around 20000 Credits, though there might be some deductions based on the condition of the subject; Velka wondered what that was about. Bringing them in dead would make the payout 10000, whilst evidence of their demise would 7500. "Certainly quite the drop-off in pay," Thought Velka, "then again, it pays to have quality service, let's hope I meet their standards."

Before she set off to the bounty office for more information, she made a copy of the bounty details, which listed the perpetrator's crime as; DISRUPTING CASINO OPERATIONS

"Someone is robbing from a casino? Well, that is certainly a bad play." She asked herself as she walked off towards the bounty office.

Five Minutes Later...​

Gantu, a somewhat large, amphibious looking humanoid and head of security for this part of the station was busy watching the security cameras when the little red light on his intercom started blinking. Breathing a heavy sigh, he pushed the receive button.

"What is it, Merrick?" He asked in a bored tone.

"Hey uh, boss, some metal, and I mean Metal, looking chick wants to see you, says its about a bounty or something."

"Bounty?" He asked, confused for a moment before letting out a low chuckle. "Heh, heh, heh, looks like someone finally wants to take a crack at old Taliesin. Send them in Merrick, I want to meet this here 'metal chick'."

"Right boss, just a sec." The intercom went silent, shortly after, a dull sounding buzz was heard, and the door to his office unlocked, opening up to reveal Velka. She stepped in, took a brief look at her surrounding, before taking a seat at the offered chair.

"Well, this is a surprise, didn't expect to see a Reshani of all things out here, thought you Synths kept to yourselves. Still, if you looking to take down Taliesin, I won't judge on who or what you are; so long as you're capable. Now, what have you come to me for?" He asked, leaning back in his chair with arms crossed.

"Information, Mr Gantu about the target, about the exact nature of his misdemeanours. The poster says; 'Disrupting Casino Operations', but what does that entail exactly?"

"Well good on you, most hunters would have gone off and tried tracking him down, and not care about the why's and where's. Nice to see someone who does their homework for a change. Say, can I get you a drink before we start, Miss...?" He asked, reaching down to get something from under his desk.

"Velka, and thank you for the offer Mr Gantu, but alcohol doesn't really do anything for me. Besides, I would prefer to keep a clear head when on assignment."

"Fair enough, more for me then." Gantu said with a smirk, putting one of the glasses away before pouring some amber coloured liquid in a tumbler glass. "Velka you say? Name rings a bell. A specialist in your field in I'm not mistaken? Anyway, onto the matter at hand." He added before putting the bottle to one side.

"The reason we're after Taliesin is that he has been secretly cheating at the slot machines and various card tables, and we believe it is to do with some kind of special poker chip he carries on him." As Gantu spoke, various security cam pictures began showing up on a holographic screen in from of him, showing Taliesin from various angles, with a few focusing on a red/white poker chip, seemingly ordinary at first glance.

"We think this chip allows him to influence the slot machines so that they increasingly give him better odds, and to view cards to engage in a form of card counting, meaning he can better predict when to play or fold." He said taking a sip of his drink.

"If you are so sure it is him, why haven't you dealt with the problem?" Velka asked, sounding somewhat annoyed at the incompetence of security here.

"Because this man is a slippery bugger, seemingly able to escape when we move on him, and the times we do catch him, we can never find the proof of the chip for a conviction, or better yet, smooth talk his way out of it. If we could catch him with the chip, everyone could breathe a little easier."

"I best go catch a crooked card shark then," Velka said with a little smile. She got up to leave before being stopped by Gantu.

"Before you go, here is a list of casinos' that Rafe likes to frequent. And be careful, he has been seen with a couple of guards on occasion; but you look like a walking small-scale arsenal, so I doubt you'd have issues dealing with some goons." He tapped a few commands into his keyboard, and Velka received a notification.

"Thank you for the warning. You should have your man by the end of the day." Velka then left the office, reading through the information as she went to the first casino.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

Tortuga Drift | Shore Leave | The Blackstar Club
"Oh, you might regret that."​

[hr]

If it had been in question before, the way Mary slammed back her third and fourth drinks laid to rest any suspicions that she could possibly be a lightweight. But when she came to her fifth glass, she decided to nurse it more slowly as she answered the heavily intoxicated Shree.

"Well, now that I'm not so depressingly sober, I'd love to go find a real party; it's been ages since I've had a good brawl. As for anything else? Well the night is young as they say."

Then her hand reached over and stroked Mar's back, paying particular attention to a sensitive cluster of nerves. The result was a sharp gasp and a shiver of pleasure that went up and down her spine, and spread through her limbs. Mar gave Mary a sidelong glance, not even noticing Elliot's reply. Once she took the time to finish off her Mind Crawler and swallow it, she regarded her Pirate companion with a wide and wicked grin with a plethora of slightly bloodied teeth.

"Well then, why don't you show me what you consider a real party?" she purred as she pushed herself away from the bar and onto slightly shaky feet.

Thanks to her near-fall earlier, she was at least somewhat aware of how fucked-up she was, so she managed to avoid face-planting this time. And since she was on a heady Tsi'vaan trip, she was looking forward to any kind of fun at that point, and a brawl among other things had piqued her interest.

 

[Athol]

"Well then, why don't you show me what you consider a real party?"

?Atta girl!? Mary replied, knocking back her fifth drink. As she stood, she felt the familiar ?buzz? of alcohol washing through her system. That?s better? Mar had turned slightly towards the door, and Mary seeing an opportunity too good to pass up, reached out and gave Mar a slap on her well sized rear end. ?Good to tall, dark and chilly??

The Shree nearly jumped, and had to fight against stumbling into the bar, before her four eyes locked onto Mary's two. Her earlier grin returned, but with a decidedly more wicked edge to it. "Oooh, I'm gonna make you pay for that." she promised with a purr as she wrapped both a true-arm and a false-arm around the ex-pirate's waist, "Lead the way."

?I?ve never paid for anything in my life.? She laughed, wrapping her own single arm around the former racer?s much more substantial waist in reply. Guiding them out of the crowd, Mary set them onto the main thoroughfare of the station, pointing out places of interest as they went. The Shipbreaker?s station-side office, the bank and most of the larger and more popular places to drink and consume other various intoxicants were located right near the docks; as to be in the best position to cash in arriving crews flush with credits.

Pointing out the various places, she singled out the Shipbreaker?s office, while taking an opportunity to grab a handful of Mar?s backside. ?Before we head out, I should take you to meet Shipbreaker?fun toys and he?s a big race fan, hell he?d probably get mad at me for not introducing you.?

Mar nodded as she moved to return the favor with her false-hand, while her true-hand continued to casually rub her companion's hip as she said, "Not a bad idea, but not while I'm on a Mind-Crawler high, and you promised me fun, remember?"

Mar?s ?response? caught her off-guard and much to her annoyance she let out a bit of a ?squeek? as the false-hand upped the ante. ?Easy there,? She muttered, running a thumb over the nerve cluster on Mar?s back again. ?We get too carried away out here, we?re likely to find company?and I don?t feel like sharing today.?

After that, they passed ?Bordello Row?, where Mary exchanged surprised greetings with a few of the workers, and then the arms bazaar and general markets. Now past the big draws, she turned them down a smaller side corridor and into what even the residents of Tortuga would call a ?rough? area. As they walked, heavy driving music became louder and louder. Rounding a corner, they stood in front of what had once been one of the mining stations crew break areas; now a damaged sign the read ?Dead Orbit? hung above the door.

Stepping inside, the music was much louder; the bar, over in a corner, look more like a fortified gun position than somewhere to get drinks, the atmosphere was heavily charged with excitement while most of the patrons placed bets on a bare knuckle brawl going on in front of the live band. Still with her arm around Mar, Mary took them over to the bar where she banged on the kinetic resistant window with her right fist. ?Hey you old fucker!? She bellowed while smiling. ?You owe me a drink, I ain?t dead yet!?

A Shree male, obviously pushing 100, but still very large and powerfully built stepped into view. ?Well look what the Void spat out.? He replied, in a rasping voice. ?Never thought you show up here again.? As he spoke, he poured a glass of something and slid it though a small hatch, towards Mary; even at a distance one could see heavy fumes coming off of it.

The old Shree turned his slightly foggy gaze to Mar. ?Watch yourself young blood, Red here is what we call ?destabilizing influence?.? Out of the hatch came a jar with a very small, but blindingly colourful, and very animated ?crawler. ?Hey!? Mary said with a touch on indignation, downing her drink rapidly. ?The correct term is ?fucking shit disturber?, get it right!? Laughing, she waved across the room with her mostly empty glass. ?Welcome to my home!?