Gamma Capuli 5, a planet straddling the borders of space controlled by Sakamoto Industries; A gigantic mining corporation intent on finding the most rare and precious of minerals to sell to the bigger and more military focused Corporations for use in building bigger, faster and deadlier star ships, and Omniwide Food Inc.; a far smaller corporation who deal in transporting food, medicine and general supplies to war-torn systems or to planets suffering disease outbreaks. Gamma Capuli 5 was a thriving farming planet, responsible for producing great quantities of food which it traded across the galaxy to make income. There were several rumours going around regarding this planet, hinting at vast reserves of platinum, titanium and other valuable ores under the planets surface. Both Sakamoto Industries and the Omniwide Food Inc. were obviously very interested in thisplanet and quite the different reasons, and as such, neither were standing down from claiming this planet for their own. Countless amounts of credits had been spent on hiring soldiers and purchasing star ships to try and drive the other corporation away. This had been going on for a good few weeks now and there was talk of the Galactic Superpowers getting involved to sort this mess out. Sooner or later, someone was going to have to back down.


Down on the planet's surface in the Aule Trade Hub, one of the main off-world transportation sites, a scruffy looking man was wobbling his way down one of the streets. He seemed to be drunk, with how often his hands were waving to keep balance and with the snaking and staggering back and forth. Any second it looked like his feet were going to stop working and he'd trip up and face plant the floor, but surprisingly, he continued to keep his footing and continued, albeit slowly, his way down the street. It was early evening, so the streets were slightly busier then normal due to everyone finishing their shifts for the day and heading home. A gorgeous orange glow was lighting up the west faces of the tall starport towers where countless vessels of all shapes and sizes were docking and taking off, bringing in and taking out food and rations and supplies. The sound of the ocean surrounding the trade hub could be heard mixed with the engines of the ships that flew overhead, most of them small personal craft of the farmers that worked the endless expanse of farmlands that covered the majority of the planet's surface.

Pausing his staggering about, the scruffy looking brown-haired drunk glanced skywards and smiled brightly at the orange glow and the sight of the ships flying about. ”... One day... Errma get me a boat... flying boat... BIG ONE!”, the man slurred, his voice rough and deep, spreading his arms as if he was showing off how big a fish he had caught. A couple of by-standers chuckled and shook their heads at the sight of the poor man. He must have looked pretty down on his luck to those two. It happened to everyone. Some people made it out here as farmers and others didn't. What's to say he hadn't got stranded here by other means? The space surrounding this planet was more often then not a huge conflict zone between the Sakamoto and Omniwide Food corporations. Lowering his arms down and glancing at the couple by-standers, the drunk huffed I disappointment before wobbling violent and staggering into the pair of them. ”Whoa, careful!”, one of them spoke up in surprise. ”Watch where you're going!”, the other rose his voice, seemingly agitated and tired from a long day at work.

The drunk eventually regained his footing with aid from the two nearby men and after bowing down and rubbing the back of his head, the drunk gave his apologies. ”... Terribly sorry...”, he slurred before wobbling off on his way, leaving the by-standers looking down at their attire and brushing themselves down with huffs of disapproval. As the drunk swung around a corner, his erratic and staggering footsteps soon righted themselves and the 'drunk' ended up walking normally, a smug grin on his face as he raised his right hand and opened his palm, a credit chip belonging to one of the by-standers sitting there. ”... Too easy. Time for a drink!”, he said aloud, proud of himself as he made his way towards the nearest bar.

"I'm sorry, Tes, but my hands are tied..."

"You're sorry?! What the hell good is that to me? We had a contract, Bravus!" Tes spat, furious. Her fists clenched as she stood almost shaking in front of the balding, pot-bellied captain. "You can't just back out on a contract!"

Look, Omniwide aren't paying great these days and I gotta to make cuts. Bravus took a step backwards and raised his hands in front of him in a defensive gesture. His backward motion offered a very limited moment of surcease as Tes quickly closed the gap on him. Lightning was raging behind her eyes, Bravus and The Balthazar, his ship, crouched serenely behind him, were her way off this planet and she could feel that opportunity falling away, and her potential freedom with it. Despite not knowing him very long - they'd only met the previous day in one of A.T.G's bustling taverns - Tes had gotten the measure of Bravus. The man was driven by greed and cowardice.

"Cuts?! You must be the most monumental idiot on this entire rock, Bravus! You want to make cuts and you think leaving a ship the size of The Balthazar without an engineer - not to mention the best engineer this end of the Void - is a good idea? Her azure hair, shaved on one side of her head, cascaded down the other and she swept it behind her ear with a gloved hand. She no longer cared what she said to him, she knew that the avaricious reptile would never let her back on his ship. The fat bastard is already counting the bigger cut of the Omniwide job that he'll pick up with me out of the way. She could see he wanted to speak and beads of perspiration had begun to form on the fat man's spacious forehead. It reminded her of vaccum packed meat that'd been left out in the sun. She paused in her tirade to let him at least splutter out whatever irrelevant pleasantries he wanted to try and salvage some sort of equilibrium from this conversation.

"If any other jobs come up in future then I'll let you know, yeah?" Bravus shrugged.

She saw red.

Twisting her feet to shift her stance, she cocked her left shoulder back and launched an enraged fist towards Bravus. The punch landed halfway across the man's nose leaving her outer knuckles to connect with the flesh of his cheekbone. She felt his nose break as his head snapped backwards and his feet fell from under him. A spray of scarlet erupted from Bravus' shattered nose as he landed heavily on his backside on the floor of the hangar. He tried to say something but it came out in a sequence of wet vowels.

"To hell with you and your overpriced ship, you sweaty gargoyle." She snarled. Shaking loose her fist, a slight wince crossing her pale face. "I hope you're up there and you need me and those extra credits of Omniwide's money you earn are a great fucking comfort to you when the airlocks fail and the void reaches in and takes you!"

She picked up her bag and tool kit from the steel mesh of the landing bay floor, turned away from the crumpled mass of Bravus' and strode towards the elevator.

Flicking the credit chip up into the air using his thumb, the scruffy looking man snatched it out the air with a swipe of his hand. Upon doing so, a soft beep came from the small datapad tucked into one of the pockets of his heavy looking brown leather jacket, not too much different from old antique bomber jackets pilots apparently wore several hundred years ago. Whether this was a knock off or a genuine antique, was hard to tell, but seeing as the brown-haired man wore it out in the open and that the jacket had it's fair share of wear and tear, it was most likely a cheap knock-off. Pulling the datapad from his pocket, the sleep deprived yet sharp green eyes of the 'drunk' glanced over the Breaking News article that was flashing across the screen. One brow raised as the other furrowed. Seemed the conflict between the overhead Corporations was getting more heated and that the threat of a planetary lockdown was imminent. ”... Lockdown huh? Tha's not good. Gonna need ta find a way off this rock.”, murmured the average height male, one of his gloved fingers scratching at the week-old stubble covering his chin. ”... Still got time fer a drink though.”

Returning his datapad to his pocket, the young man continued on his way down the street he walked, squeezing between civilians who had stopped to watch and read the news articles that were now popping up on overhead displays attached to the side of buildings and hovering remotely across highways. A lot of mixed feelings were being shared vocally, but the increasing numbers of bodies were starting to drown out anything intelligible and it all started to sound like one mass of sound. As tempting as it was to try and swipe an extra couple credit chips, there were simply too many people here and the risk of getting caught was too great. No, the scruffy-looking man had to settle with what he had already got and was more then happy to keeping heading for the nearest bar. There were a lot of flashy main street bars and casinos, with fancy drinks and legit high-stake gambling opportunities, but those were hard to cheat and the posh, expensive drinks tasted like crap anyway. No, after a few more minutes of walking down the main street, the brown jacket wearing individual slipped down a side alley were places more suited to his tastes could be found, one in particular, the ever reliable Down and Out Inn. Heavy drinks, dodgy gambling, the occasional barfight. Perfect.

Proudly shoving his way inside, the scruffy man turned a few heads, whom promptly looked back at their drinks and meals with a collective groan when seeing who had walked in. Striding to the bar and sitting himself down, the scruffy man slapped his hands onto the bartop to get the barkeeps attention. A bald-headed man turned about, eyepatch covering his left eye with a meaty scar running underneath it. His left ear was missing and some of his teeth were on constant show from part of his upper lip missing too. ”Barkeep! In or out, does tha' Down an' Out 'ave an outhouse up or down or in or down or out and up?”, the raspy-voiced man asked. ”Fuck off Ruce. What're you drinkin'?”, came the reply from the barkeep. Ruce frowned sadly at the returned, unimpressed glare, which was answered by the scruffy man with a shrug of his shoulders. ”Tha' usual will do. Also these secret codes won't work if yer never give tha' correct reply.”

”I don't even know what the heck that means. Just shut up before you get yourself into trouble. I've had enough of your shit starting fights here. You're lucky you're not barred.”, the bald-headed man said with authority, turning his back on Ruce to pull a vial of bright, bubbling blue liquid from a fridge on the back wall of the bar. Snapping the cap off and pouring the drink into a glass, the barkeep slid the drink over. Ruce flashed 'his' credit chip and the bald-headed man took payment, which much to the surprise on Ruce's face, went through clean. The barkeep caught on and frowned hard to the scruffy man, whom just grinned in reply, snatched his drink and downed a sizable amount of the blue liquor. Ruce gasped at the taste followed be a second slap of the hand upon the bartop. ”DAMN tha' hits tha' spot!!”, Ruce exclaimed with much joy to his tone. ”Benner... y'know that crap will make humans go blind eventually?”, the bald-headed chimed on, which was brushed away with a dismissive wave of Ruce's hand.

The life of an honorable mercenary was a lot tougher than it needed to be. Sky had lost count of how many jobs he'd passed up because the one trying to hire him had less than admirable motives in mind. This fact sat at the back of the blond's mind as his eyes skimmed down the screen of his small datapad, looking over the history and research he'd gathered about an oppressive tyrant in another system. It was important to gather as much information as possible to separate propaganda from fact, anyone could warp things to support their own point of view and the last thing Sky wanted to do was take an innocent person's life because of his negligence. His train of thought derailed as a notification flashed atop the pad, and with a swipe of his finger he saw the same breaking news article. Sighing, he shook his head and his fingers danced across the screen as he chose to send a message to his girlfriend back home to warn her about it. No need for her to worry about his whereabouts when he could help it. Especially with what his plans were for his return.

The whole reason he'd come back to this world was to get the custom engagement ring finished by the best jeweler he knew in the galaxy. The center diamond had wings sprouting from the sides much like his family crest, however it was flanked by a small snake decorated in miniature rubies and black opal to represent her own symbol. A merger of the two, Sky thought the symbolic and personal nature of it would mean more to her than the run of the mill rings most people got. It was also difficult to put so much detail into something without it becoming gaudy, another reason he trusted this jeweler in particular. The ring was tucked away in its little box within the chest piece of his armor, safe from both prying hands and any attack he might find himself coming under for one reason or another.

With the chatter throughout the bar, and his focus downward Sky'd missed Ruce's entrance into the bar. It wasn't until his exclamation that the mercenary's eyes left the datapad, his sapphire orbs locking on the drunken pilot before they rolled. It seemed that no matter how much time went by, and how much things changed, some things adamantly remained the same. Flicking the device off and returning it to its pocket alongside the ring, he grasped his sword by the handle and swiftly made his way towards the bar with his cape fluttering behind him to stand behind his long time friend. There'd be plenty of opportunity to finish his research later, between the news and Ruce's arrival it was best to put it off before he ran out of time to get off the planet and make his way back home.

"Heh, you kidding? That's going to be the least of his worries when his liver gives out," Sky said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Chuckling a little as he closed his eyes,he bowed his face within the large clothed collar of his armor to hide everything beneath his cheekbones. It wasn't because he didn't trust the pilot, he always carried himself like that in public to add to the sense of allure he commanded with his profession. Ruce knew this of course, but it probably wouldn't save him from the ridicule or teasing that was likely to come as a rebuttal to his comment. "He'll be glued to a machine by the time he's thirty."

The latter comment made the barkeep laugh, causing Sky to smirk from behind the collar. It was going to be fun to see how the brunet reacted to him this time, he just hoped if he caused trouble he could end it before either of them got kicked out for it.

Her mood hadn’t improved by the time she disembarked the elevator from the port and, as she pushed her way through the throngs of people milling around in the streets below, a pall of anger and frustration had descended upon her, so potent it almost audibly crackled and roiled. Her mind was full of static. She had no idea whether to cry or scream or simply stop altogether. A man uttered an indignant exclamation as she shoved past him almost sending him toppling forward. If she heard, she was in no mood to engage. She flipped the collar of her oil-stained leather coat around her ears and pushed on.
She finally arrived at The Down and Out and ducked inside.

“A tall glass with something strong and a large plate of something that might kill me, please, Mani.” She said to the cyclopean barman as she slung her bag and tool kit down in front of the bar.

“With the greatest of respect, Tes, what the fuck are you doing here?” The hulking, scarred man responded. “I thought you had a junk ready to whisk you off somewhere?” He added.

“That wart-faced waster, Bravus went and backed out of our contract!” She began, venom dripping from every word. She felt her fists clench within her fingerless gloves. “Claimed that the Omniwide contract he’d secured wasn’t going to cover all the expenses.” She made ironic, emphasised air quotes with one hand. “The stupid bastard obviously doesn’t see an engineer as a necessary requirement.” A narrow glass filled with a honey coloured liquid was placed down on the counter top in front of her. Two long swigs saw it emptied and set back down. “I hope he kept enough in the kitty for a medic anyway.”

Mani sighed. “Put him on his arse, did ya?”

“He’ll be alright.” She replied. “Maybe a broken nose will add a level of intrigue to the pudgy fuckwit’s face.”

“You gotta be more careful, Tes. I’ve never known a woman who calculates every damn move she makes, be able to make such piss-poor decisions sometimes.” He smiled.

“He welched on a fucking deal, Mani!” She snapped before sighing. It wasn’t Mani’s fault and he was right. She was wired to take a Newtonian approach to everything yet she loses her cool and risks everything she has spent so long constructing. Closing her blue/grey, heterochromatic eyes, she rubbed her temples with her fingertips. “I’m sorry...” She said. “You’ve always been good to me and I like it here…” She gestured around the crowded bar.

“But you want less Down and Out and more Up and Away?” The bald man finished her sentence for her in a way that surprised her, both in its poetry and accuracy. He smiled and broken, lacerated smile at her and she threw him one back. He placed another glass of the swirling amber nectar down on the bar and nodded to a table at the back. “Grab a seat. I’ll keep ‘em coming, eh?”

Crying suddenly seemed like the perfect option but there was no way she was going to give that away in public.

“You’re the best, Mani.” She smiled before picking up her things and walking over to the table. Her boots thudded across the floor as she approached her seat and sank heavily into it.

The Down and Out was starting to fill up rather nicely, an assortment of all shapes and sizes coming through the doors of the pub and it wasn't all low life poor vagabonds either. No there were some people of noticeable looking reputation coming in. Weren't exactly the billionaire type, but certainly they had found their calling in life, per-say. Made you wonder why they'd pick a place like this over the more fancier places down the main streets of Aule Trade Hub. Could be the fact that there was little to no security here. Sure everyone drinking here was probably packing a blaster of some sort and Mani most certainly had a weapon of some variety stashed under the bartop, but there were no security scanners, no bodyguards and no ID checkpoints. No, here at the Down and Out, you could walk inside, ask for a drink and get one. Sure, you needed to be old enough, but that was about it really.

As Mani, the bald barkeep, went off to serve other customers who had arrived, Ruce placed both hands onto the bartop and leaned forth over the bar to quickly snatch a pack of potato chips from a box full of them under it. Sitting back down and swiftly rotating 180 degrees on his stool with an oil-lacking squeak, the scruffy man opened the bag and started to munch down on them, giving the person sitting next to him a wide, potato chip filled grin when they had clearly seen what he had done. This resulted in a roll of the eyes and a 'tsk' being muttered. Looking back ahead of himself and stuffing another fistful of chips down his throat, Ruce blinked when his view of the bar was blocked by rather sturdy looking piece of chest armour. The accompanying voice to the armour made the brunette grumble and slouch his shoulders. He glanced up to their face but couldn't see anything below the eyes from this angle. Squeaking his stool around slightly so he could reach for his drink, Ruce took a swig followed by another handful of chips.
”Look, I'm tired an' hungry, so at least lemme finish me chips before we fight, okay?”, Ruce said, taking a tiny sip of his drink now followed by eating his chips one by one, closing his eyes and holding his nose up, pretending to be a noble.

The second comment from the armoured individual caused Benner to open one eye as a confused expression spread across his face. I recognize that voice..., he thought to himself. Opening both eyes and looking down to the hand of the man blocking his view, Ruce glanced at the sword he gripped before looking back up at the individuals face. There was only one person the scruffy man knew who used a melee weapon over a blaster or any other type of firearm in this day and age. What the heck was Sky doing here of all places? Had his luck finally run out as well? Raising up his hand that wasn't holding onto his bag of chips and pointing a finger towards the ceiling, the scruffy brunette went to speak when a voice from across the bar caught his attention. He glanced over his shoulder to spy an azure-haired woman sitting a few stools away, engaging in conversation with Mani. She looked pissed. The barkeep seemed to know her, which was interesting. Actually, it wasn't. Mani seemed to know pretty much everyone that lived in Aule Trade Hub. When the pair finished their conversation, Ruce frowned as he lost sight of the azure-haired woman in the sea of bodies that was still arriving.

Benner squeaked his stool around back towards the bar where he finished his chips and crumpled the bag up into a ball, tossing it onto the bartop. Getting Mani's attention with a wild arm wave and a couple shouts of 'Oi baldy!', the barkeep approached and frowned at the name caller.
”I've got customers Benner, what do you want?”, he asked, sounding a trifle displeased at the 'baldy' name. Ruce beamed a grin at the barkeep and raised his right hand, flicking a thumb over his shoulder in the rough direction the azure-haired woman went.
”Whose tha' blue-'aired chick?”, Benner asked with a quick glance over his shoulder to try and spot her again, but failed to do so.
”Just someone else down on their luck. Go find out for yourself, I'm not at liberty to say.”
”Not at liberty to say? Yeah right, yer tha' most dishonourable one in 'ere with tha' face.”
”When'd you buy those potato chips?”, Mani asked with a frustrated huff.
Ruce blinked, paused for a second, then snatched the empty chip back from the bartop, squeaked his stool around and tucked the bag into the folds of Sky's armour, before squeaking back and smiling innocently at the bald barkeep. ”Wha' chips?”, he asked with a wide-eyed smile. Mani frowned hard and shook his head, going back to his other customers. Benner took his drink and span about in his stool, standing up and crashing into Sky who was still standing there. Flopping back down onto his seat, Ruce grumbled and looked back up at the mercenary. ”I'm workin' on it! Go tell yer boss he'll 'ave his money by tha' end o' tha' week, alright?”

You could always count on Ruce to be a clown, that was for sure. On the surface you'd never think they could get along, with just how different they were in how they went about things. Sky was suave, delicately handling situations with his wit and planning things out to remain ahead of the opposition. Ruce meanwhile was rough and headstrong, rushing into a situation and sorting things out as he went along. Sure he was a lot smarter than he seemed, he was a genius when it came to flying and had a knack for getting himself out of seemingly impossible situations, but his hot headed temper was a far cry from the cool and collected mercenary. While some might get annoyed with the man, Sky found him quite charming and the carefree lifestyle of the pilot really could help you unwind if you gave it a chance. The goof was still up to his old ways, as getting caught by Mani showed. Sighing and shaking his head, the blond reached into his cloak to pull out his wallet and pull out the stolen bag, flicking through it before he lightly tossed a card on the counter connected to his credits.

"Please, the last thing I need is to haul you into a hospital again because your body can only pay up half of the checks your mouth makes for it. Thankfully for you and your wallet I'm a bit more responsible," he continued before opening an eye at the barkeep, "Looks like I found the luck for him, pay off his tab."

Before more banter could arise between the two, their conversation was interrupted when a young woman caught his friend's attention. All it took was a short skirt and a pretty face to get the man surveying you, especially after he had a couple drinks in him. Still, the blond couldn't help but notice her temper. At least she was respectable enough to know there was a time and place for it, whatever mess she'd gotten into was finished and now she was disappearing into the crowd to relax instead of taking it out on everyone around her. His thoughts were cut short when the brunet bumped into him, sapphire eyes falling upon the pilot as he grumbled at the barkeep. Crossing his arms back over his chest, Sky turned to press his back against the bar so he could look over the establishment while keeping Ruce in his peripheral vision.

"I wouldn't go digging into her mess," Sky said quietly, "She's a bit more woman than you can handle."

The second drink vanished as quickly as the first and she set the glass down on the weathered table in front of her. She idly ran her fingers down the side of the glass and sighed heavily through her nose. ‘Fuck you, Bravus…’ She thought.

She reached into her worn duffel bag and pulled out a metal orb, about the size of a tennis ball. The surface of the orb was smooth with symmetrical seams running in flowing geometric designs close to the middle of each of its hemisphere’s. On one side, in the centre of the shape, was a small circle made of a translucent material, almost like glass. Pressing her thumb onto it, the glass circle flickered - it became obvious that this was actually a fingerprint reader. The seams running over the orb began to glow and separate, several small plates rising out from the surface of the main structure. The object emitted a soft, high pitched sequence of whistles as Tes tossed it gently into the air. Rather than falling to the ground, the enigmatic little sphere hung in the air for a second before beginning a slow, methodical orbit around Tes’ head.

She called it an IMP – Individual Media Port – and it was a device of her own design and one of which she was most proud. The orb was a portable, hands-free, multimedia device, communication relay and cross platform data receiver. Twinned with a sub dermal implant, the prototype for which was currently embedded parallel to the base of Tes’ skull. The link between the implant and the orbital device allowed two-way communication between the two meaning Tes was able to access any open network and utilise information – much like the common datapad. Rather than a screen, however, the implant allowed for a direct link to Tes’ optic nerve, providing a neurologically controlled HUD.

She scrolled through the most recent news bulletins.



“Are you fucking kidding me?!” She hissed. She saw her hope of getting off-world dissolving before her eyes. There was no way she could get out now. Not through conventional and legal means anyway. She felt her blood bubbling in her veins and she held her breath, closing her eyes and trying to stop the anger screaming in her ears. Exhaling steadily, she opened her eyes again. She needed another drink.
Despite being female, Tes’ had never had problems holding her own and she rose from her seat was able to force her way through the growing crowd inside the Down and Out. Her IMP took a higher orbit to avoid colliding with anything around it. She arrived back at the bar alongside a blonde, armour-clad man and his drunken friend. She noticed the sword sat at the blonde’s hip. She knew that there were only two reasons why a person chose to wear a sword nowadays. Either he was some posh tosser who valued style over substance or he knew how to use it and was not afraid to. Out of the corner of her eye, she examined the man. She guessed it was the second one. Merc? Bodyguard? She mused.

She caught Mani’s eye and simply held up her empty glass and nodded. She wasn’t being rude and she knew that, when he could, Mani would get round to serving her.

The continued presence of the armoured swordsman gave the scruffy drunk enough of a reason to have a better attempt at figuring out just exactly who was standing before him and blocking his view. There had been no demand for money or threat of broken legs. This guy obviously wasn't here for 'business' then. Lifting the bubbling blue drink to his lips, Ruce took a swig of the alien alcohol, twisting his body slightly as he could more easily place the near-empty glass onto the bartop. Glancing back at whom stood before him, the scruffy brown-haired man carefully got to his feet this time and stood looking eye to eye at the man before him. Squinting slightly, the pilot finally seemed to recognize who was standing there. The deadpan look and sideways glance out the corner of the eye probably told Sky all he needed to know, but Ruce was mystery wrapped in an enigma at the best of times, so that facial gesture could have meant anything at all. Nothing was said or done while Sky reached for his wallet and pulled out a credit chip, other then Ruce's sharp blue eyes watching every movement, taking in every detail.

”How kind o' ya. I'll take another one o' those blue drink things too while yer at it!”, Ruce said with a firm slap on the mercenary's shoulder. He glanced over his shoulder and stuck the thumb and index finger of his right hand into his mouth, letting out a sharp whistle to catch Mani's attention, which momentarily silenced the bar before banter rose back to it's normal levels. The bald barkeep was busy with other customers and one of his assistants appeared from the back store room to aid in serving the growing number of customers. A desperate flail of the hand succeeded in catching the assistant's attention and forcing Ruce to the front of the queue.
”Two o' those blue bubbly tube things.”, the scruffy man asked, picking up Sky's credit chip and handing it over to the assistant. Purchase was taken and the drinks delivered with no complications and even less communication from the assistant. This one had always been a bit odd, with their pale skin and jet black hair. Holding both glasses in one hand and Sky's credit chip in the other, Ruce turned about and offered the mercenary his own card back.

No sooner had Sky warned the pilot not to bother with the blue-haired woman, did she herself arrive at the bar beside them both. No sooner had Ruce stood up to squeeze past Sky to search for the blue-haired woman, did he immediately sit back down and slide Sky's drink towards the female stranger instead. Putting on his best seductive grin, he leaned towards her a fraction.
”... So, are ya free tonight, or is it gonna cost me?”, his deep, raspy voice asked with high anticipation. He spared a second to glance at Sky, winking and holding his right hand in an 'Okay!' gesture. Upon peering back at the azure-haired woman, Ruce caught sight of her glancing at Sky's sword. The scruffy pilot grinned and tilted his head to the left, letting out a small chuckle. ”Heh, if his sword impresses ya, wait till yer see my 'weapon'!”. The pilot's attention was, amazingly, broken from the blue-haired woman when the holo screens dotted about the bar finally caught up with Tes' IMP, now displaying the full planetary lockout announcement. This brought about a lot of mixed emotions within the bar, mostly negative ones from the groans and complaints that arose throughout the room.

Ruce tutted and turned his eyes back onto the woman sitting beside him at the bar. He shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head to the right this time, taking in all her features.
”Tha's a shame. Yer look a space girl. Reckon you'd 'ave enjoyed a ride on my ship!”

Honestly, Sky had forgotten how much of a lightweight with alcohol Ruce was compared to himself. He shouldn’t have, it was the reason the pilot usually got into fights and had to be rescued more often than not. It certainly hadn’t been an exaggeration when Mani said his friend was lucky for not being barred from the establishment, merely from the amount of times Sky had to dig him out of trouble much less the majority of the time when he wasn’t around to save him. That’s why he rolled his eyes at the man’s antics of forgetfulness then making a fool of himself to get the barkeep’s attention, probably a show he found humorous somewhere in that drunken head of his. The sigh came as the crowd grew quieter, with Sky shaking his head a little as he watched on. At least nothing came of it, this time at least/

He didn’t bother saying he wasn’t going to pay for a second drink, it wasn’t like he minded having one though more than likely the brunet would end up drinking it himself. He just made sure to nod at the assistant as he looked at the card then at the blond, and say “Ruce’s tab, the chips too,” before he took the bag and set it on the counter. The assistant took care of both the purchase and the debt, and Sky silently took back his card to return it and the wallet back to their safe haven in his armor.

Before he even had a chance to throw another snarky remark at his friend, the azure-headed woman arrived on the seat beside Ruce with a musing glance towards Diamond Wing as if she was contemplating his efficiency as a swordsman. Not that he cared what she thought, unless she was going to hire him it didn’t really matter. What bothered him was the fact he’d just tried to save her the grief of dealing with the advances of the drunken buffoon between them and she waltzed right up into his snare. Sure she was just looking for another drink, but still... Whatever, it wasn’t his problem to deal with. When she knocked sense into the brunet he’d get the pilot out of dodge before it evolved into a larger problem for the whole bar to deal with.

While Sky’s drink was slid to the woman and Ruce began in vain to woo her, starting off by alluding that she may be a prostitute no less, he pulled his datapad and flicked it on to see there was a follow-up alert to the one from a moment ago. A few taps of his thumb and the words came up boldly, making Sky sigh and feel glad he’d sent the message to Alexia when he did. Ignoring the wink of Ruce, he turned the screen off and returned the device back into his chest plate before crossing his arms over his chest. It was immediately followed by the holo screens sharing the announcement to the mixed reaction of the bar. Terrific, now the chances of a brawl breaking out were even higher than just his friend causing a ruckus with the woman. He’d have to ponder the reasoning for the lockdown in a moment, for now he needed to make sure he got Ruce out of here in one piece.

And that was if she was merciful to him.

She had noticed Ruce looking at her as she strode up to the bar but had let it slip right by her. He made further lenience impossible as he addressed her. She let her left hand fall out of the pocket of her black cargo trousers and hang at her side. She resisted the urge to clench a fist as she had no idea how handy either the mouthy brunette or the armoured blonde were, and really didn’t need a kicking right now. That said, she couldn’t let the obnoxious comment stand.

“Will it cost you?” She fixed her gaze on the drunken man. ”It’ll cost you a fistful of teeth and about a litre of blood, if you speak to me like that again.” she threw him a wry smile before turning to look at Sky. “I suggest you ensure your mate watches his tongue. Not everyone is as delicate and forgiving as I am. She snapped sarcastically.

Mani refilled the glass she had set down on the bar. She nodded her thanks and tossed a credit chip down onto the bar. She lifted the glass to her lips, fixing her eyes back on Ruce “Oh, and as for ‘swords’,” She said. “Let’s just say they’re not my weapon of choice.” Another smirk flew Ruce’s way as she tried to hide the fact she was sizing him up. There was something about him that scratched at her. She got the feeling he wasn’t everything he seemed. The jacket told her he was pilot but the condition of it suggested he didn’t do very well out of it.

Waster or not, if she was right, and he was a pilot, there might be a ship. She needed to work this out.

The banter within the Down and Out had already started to shift away from the planetary lockdown announcement and went back to more mundane topics, all blurring into one noise as it had when more patrons started to arrive at this establishment. It wasn't loud enough though that you were unable to hear your own thoughts or even the conversation of the person next to you. No, it was actually a pleasant volume and the mixture of laughter and cheers results in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Few places in the galaxy were able to achieve such a state so easily. There was a lot of turmoil out there, a lot of conflict. It was nice, really nice at times to be able to come to a place like this and just forget about it all. Even with the planetary lockdown looming overhead, the people within the place seemed to have already forgotten about it and went back to enjoying themselves. After all, what else could they do now? Attempting to leave the planet at this point would more then likely lead to your death.

Ruce thought his conversation with the azure-haired woman went off to a flying start! She actually looked at him and replied to him. It's not very often he got THAT far. Usually all he got was a roll of the eyes, a displeased 'urgh' and then being walked away from. No, this woman, she went one step further and she spoke! Her terms were an interesting lot though. What did she need a fistful of teeth and a litre of blood for? Sounded like she was into some really weird shit. Or maybe it was really interesting? The scruffy, unshaven man patted the outside of his jacket down as if he were searching for any spare teeth he head. After a frown, he stuck his left hand into his own mouth, pinched one of his teeth and tested pulling it out, but failed. His teeth were set fast into his gums. A sideways glance was sent towards Sky at the thought of socking him across the face, but Sky would probably not feel a thing and stamp Ruce's ass into the floor if he tried. The brunette looked back towards the azure-haired woman when Mani brought her a fresh drink. She'd completed ignored the odd blue concoction offered to her. She probably thought it was drugged or something.

The comment about swords not being her thing caused a grin to spread across the pilot's face as he glanced up at the blonde beside him and chuckled.
”Ah, bad luck big guy!”, Ruce sneered as patted his old friend on the chestpiece before he reached for the drink he had offered Tes and returned it to it's rightful owner, raising the glass up off the bar for Sky to take. ”Don't worry, yer'll find someone who'll wanna swing tha' sword of yers one day!”, he beamed a bright grin at the mercenary. Snatching his drink from the bar, the scruffy man took a hearty swig before pushing himself up to his feet. Glancing over his shoulder towards the azure-haired woman, Ruce grinned at her.
”Don't ya be goin' anywhere! I'll find ya some teeth an' blood fer whatever crazy ritual yer 'ave planned before the night is through!”, the brunette pilot said as he reached for the brim of a hat he clearly wasn't wearing and 'tipped his hat up' before swivelling about on his heels and squeezing between Sky and another patron looking to reach the bar.

However, after only travelling roughly four feet in his quest for 'teeth and blood', the shout of an enthusiastic-sounding 'Another round!', reached the pilot's ears through the blurred mass of sounds coming from every spot of the pub. Swiftly changing direction, Ruce made his way towards the owner of the voice and soon came across one of the handful of gambling tables set up in the Down and Out. Poker seemed to be the game of choice and there were currently three people playing. One was your average looking Joe, short fair hair, farmer's attire, an average pile of chips before him. Second was a stocky alien, muscular over body fat with a bald head, grey skin and a thick, bristle-like moustache, essentially a walking humanoid walrus complete with tusks. The cards looked tiny held in it's thick fingers. This one's chip pile was about the same as the farmers. Finally there was another human player, doing much better then the other two, as his chip pile was greater then the others combined. The unmistakable flash of military medals pinned to the breast of his jacket flickered and glimmered even in the dull light of this place. Ruce hovered around the edge of the table, cupping his right hand about his chin as his eyes darted across the table, taking in every movement, every gesture, every action. The cogs in his mind had started to turn.

The twitch in the woman’s hand is what Sky had expected, but instead of balling into a fist it stayed there as she snapped at Ruce instead of laying him out. Well, at least it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been… Even if the blond knew that he deserved the alternative. Under the collar of the armor Sky’s lips curled into a light smile, that sarcasm… He liked her. What came next though was even more surprising than the lack of an attack, was she… Flirting back to Ruce? The smile vanished as his mouth hung open a little, and more than ever the mercenary was glad they could’ve see beneath his eyes. What in the world was going on here? She even tried measuring the brunet up, which just baffled the blond. There had to be some alternative motive or something to her act, even if the hadn’t quite figured out what it was yet.

Surely when Ruce searched for the teeth and blood, he was merely jesting and playing along with her joke. He wasn’t that stupid, was he? Of course not, Sky needed to have a little faith and relax. Things were going to be alright, there wasn’t a fight breaking out over this and it wasn’t like he couldn’t step in if the woman tried to pull anything out from under their noses. In fact, the whole bar had settled down quite nicely despite the announcement, perhaps people just resigned to their fate for now. It wasn’t like this planet was all that bad, and the ban probably wouldn’t last very long anyway. Besides the food and drink in the establishment were good, able to help the common folk relax and forget about their troubles even if it was just for a little while. No need getting upset over things that you couldn’t control after all.

The surveying eyes and thoughts of the mercenary snapped back to the situation at hand when he felt the tap upon his chest-piece. Sky took the glass in hand, though his eyes narrowed and the icy glare stared daggers through his friend. Honestly, he had half a mind to break the glass over Ruce’s head, but it wasn’t like he’d even feel it as thick headed as the bastard was. He was just trying to show off anyway, the blond was sure the moron still remembered Alexia with how long they’d been together now. With a snort as he closed his eyes, his free hand lowered the front of his collar so he could take a shot of the drink then rest it at his side.

“We both know Alexia’s more woman than I can handle already, besides I’m not insecure enough to have to keep adding notches to my belt to feel worth something,” Sky shot back coolly. Unfortunately, Ruce was intent on getting himself into trouble, even if it wasn’t in the first place he looked for it. With a sigh, Sky finished his drink and set it on the counter, pausing for a moment as the warmth slid over him. Then he opened his sapphire eyes to look at the woman and nodded, politely saying “Excuse me, let me see if I can keep him alive long enough for you to cash in on your threat.”

Grasping his sword once more, the blond slowly pulled from the bar and made his way through the crowd as he surveyed the situation Ruce was getting himself into. It looked like an ordinary game of poker, nothing special about that, but the man winning at the moment caught Sky’s eye and he stopped. What in the world was a captain doing here? Well, not so much what was he doing here since that wasn’t too unusual, but why was he wearing his dress uniform? This certainly wasn’t an occasion for that, especially if he was here by himself and no other of his ilk. Whatever it was they needed to be careful, something fishy was definitely going on here. A bump from a drunken man behind him made Sky take a step forward and grunt, but he ignored the man’s complaining over his standing still as he swiftly made his way to his friend’s side and nudged him with his arm. A glance towards his friend with that expression was all Sky needed to do to get the message across: something was wrong here and they needed to tread lightly. This had a chance to get really sour, really fast...

Maybe he was going to drag Ruce to the hospital after all.

She stifled something physical within her as she let Ruce walk away. She wasn’t sure whether it was a laugh of a hastily thrown punch but either way, she buried it. She glanced at Sky – if he was the drunken wanker’s bodyguard then she didn’t fancy getting into something that would compromise her life, her plans, or Mani’s bar. She let the pair walk away but watched them blur into the crowds inside the crowded bar. The Down and Out always seemed to do well “for a shady, back-alley dive of a place” as Mani used to call it. And she hadn’t lied to the hulking cyclops, she did like it here – the patchwork of skin tones and the symphony of languages and accents that hung all around her brought a smile to her face – despite her dire situation. She sighed.

“Another one, Tes?” Mani’s voice from the other side of the bar made her turn around.

“No, thanks, Mani.” She replied, placing the glass down on the bar. “Wouldn’t want me getting to pissed now, would we?” She winked at him. She had looked at his face a hundred times and it always strangely perked her up. The labyrinth of crags, scars and craters told a tale of a life far more turbulent and complex than she knew. They had spoken at length about this and that but it was only then that she realised Mani had never offered up too much about his past. She wasn’t going to press him either. She owed the big oaf that at least.

“What, you mean like a month or so ago when you downed an entire bottle of Hylurian absinthe and tried to hit that handsy navigator with the jukebox?”
She snorted out a blast of laughter. “I’d have managed it too, if you hadn’t have stopped me!” She exclaimed, smiling broadly. Mani shook his head, his lips parting into a grin as he turned to walk away. “Oh hey, Mani?” She stopped him. “I know you’ve got a humidor behind the bar there…any chance?” She winked.

“You’re a pain in the arse, De Vries.” He sighed, discreetly fishing out the glass-topped box from underneath the counter. As he opened the lid, the cigars seemed to exhale, letting their scent wash over the bar and into Tes’ nostrils. “These are not easy to come by, y’know.”

“You’re the best, Mani.” She whispered, even more discreetly lifting one of the cigars from its felt resting place and running it under her nose. “When I get out there,” She began, nodding upwards “I’ll bring you back a box of these.”

“I know you, Tes’. If you ever get out there,” He mimicked her nod to the stars. “There ain’t a force in the void that’ll drag you back here.” He smiled. “And if there was, it damn sure won’t be to bring a bum like me cigars.” He finally turned away and made his way down the other end of the bar to tend to another patron.

Turning to lean her back against the bar, she pulled a lighter from her pocket and lit the cigar clamped between her teeth. Smoke danced up from the end and the glowing ember crackled and ebbed. She checked her IMP again.



“Shit…”

She reached out and took hold of her IMP. The glowing panels on the orbiting sphere retracted, the tuneful humming ceased and she placed back it in her holdall. She needed a new plan desperately. How the hell was she going to get past the lockdown? Her train of thought drifted back to the drunk pilot. If he was even a pilot. She took a long drag on the cigar and let the smoke roil over her tongue before exhaling slowly. Allowing the smoke to billow out from between her lips, she peered over the crowd to see where to enigmatic duo had gone. It was a long shot, but beggars could not be choosers. She pushed off from the bar and set out across in search of Ruce and Sky.

The gently bubbling blue concoction of a drink was returned to the lips of the scruffy brunette, where a small sip of the liquor was taken. Holding the glass before his mouth, his hands covering his face from the bridge of his nose down, Ruce's sharp blue eyes looked upon each of the three card players sitting at the poker table, studying them carefully. A new hand was dealt, the button sitting at the Farmer's side and the human walrus and captain played their small and big blinds respectively. There didn't seem to be any tension or hostility at the table. No, it was just a game of poker between three strangers. No weapons were visible, no death glares were being sent around and the general relaxed atmosphere was present at the poker table much as it was across the rest of the pub. Bets were made, chips were slid into the middle of the table and the flop was revealed. A king of hearts, a three of spaces and a four of diamonds. The cards were in near pristine condition, which was a surprise for the Down and Out, so the ability to cheat was minimal. Did the deck belong to one of the players? Unlikely.

Ruce took another sip of his drink and continued to study the players, watching their faces as they looked at their cards and decided on their next moves. They all seemed average skill players, with perhaps the Captain having slightly more skill. Or perhaps the flash of his medal or maybe the stripes on his sleeve, or maybe even the looming hostilities overhead in orbit, gave him an advantage, psychologically? The Turn card was played, an eight of spades and bets were made. The humanoid walrus opted out when the Captain raised his bet, but the Farmer called and the River card turned over, a jack of diamonds. A near inaudible intake of breath between pursed lips came from the Captain, Ruce's ears picking the sound up. Was that deceit, or perhaps the River card had been unkind? The fact that both Captain and Farmer checked this turn made Ruce wonder if they had both been bluffing the entire time. Their hands were revealed and the Farmer took the pot, winning with a pair of kings compared to the Captain's attempt at a straight, four through eight, but since the seven never arrived, he ended up with a high card of eight.

”Ah, good job! You're not bad at this friend!”. The Captain said heartily as he tossed his cards down on the table, clapping his hands afterwards and raising his drink towards the Farmer. The Farmer rubbed the back of his head and smiled, giving the Captain a sort of half nod half bow, before gathering in the pot from the middle of the table and adding them to his pile. Between the three players, there looked to be an easy 60,000 credits to win. To the Captain that was probably a day's work, but to the Farmer that could be a brand new piece of equipment for his farm.
”You're not too shabby yourself, Captain.”. Came the young man's reply as the table settled and the players got ready to receive their new hands from the dealer. Before that happened though, the scruffy pilot stepped forth and approached the table, sitting down in an empty seat and placing his drink down, beaming a grin at the other players.
”So, 'ow much is the buy in?”, Ruce asked as he rubbed his hands together, interlocking his fingers and cracking his knuckles. He seemed to have all but forgotten about his mission to acquire teeth and blood for the azure-haired chick back at the bar.

The dealer cast a sideways glance to each of the other players, whom all seemed happy to let the pilot join their game. It was clear that none of them knew who the brunette was, perhaps bar the dealer, and that was all fine and dandy with Ruce.
”It's a 20,000 credit buy in, if you want to play.”, the dealer confirmed as he returned his attention to the scruffy pilot. Ruce nodded his head and pulled out the credit chip he stole earlier, checking the balance. There was enough, just about, so Ruce handed the chip over and the dealer took payment, followed by sliding the scruffy man his chips. Benner looked far too excited and he glanced over his shoulder to see if he could spot the young lady at the bar, but the bodies around the table, mostly that of Sky watching over him, blocked his view. Twisting back around to view the table, Ruce grinned and picked up his drink, raising it to each of the other players in turn. The Farmer and the humanoid walrus gave puzzled looks, but the Captain just smiled and nodded his head.
”May tha' best man win, gents!”

As Ruce ignored his silent warning and continued to drink, Sky watched on as at least so far things seemed to go going smoothly. There were signs that perhaps the brunet could hold his liquor better now than he used to, instead of loud boasts or idiotic ramblings he was being quiet and attentive to the situation before him. Did that mean that it'd all been an act at the bar behind them? What would be the purpose of that though, to make people lower their guard and underestimate him? If that was the case, why not continue the act now especially going into a game like this? Had they really been apart so long that he didn't have a great read on his friend anymore? Maybe he just let his annoyance over the antics get the best of him, and he hadn't been thinking clear enough up to now.

Regardless of why things were how they'd been so far, now was the time to really make sure he stayed on top of what was going on in front of him. Even if it'd all been an act, this was potentially too dangerous a situation to take lightly. The lockdown of the planet wasn't helping matters either, complicating how they could respond if things did go as the blond worried they would. No need to stress about it now, Sky knew he just needed to relax and take things one at a time as they came to fruition. Despite his flaws Ruce wasn't that big of an idiot, he knew how to get himself out of jams at least so Sky could count on him for that much.

While Ruce (unbeknownst to Sky) believed that the cards didn't belong to any of the players, the blond tucked away in the back of his mind the chance that they belonged to the Captain. That wasn't to accuse him of cheating of course, that could be just to show off how good he was at keeping things clean and organized like wearing that outfit here did. It could add to the intimidation factor, let people think he'd truly better at things than he was, but still to attract this kind of attention... Maybe it was some sort of trap, a ruse with someone else around here pulling the strings. Maybe it was the supposed farmer, Sky could see the anxiety from the sweat on his brow but then again unlike for them this was a lot of money for someone of his status. It honestly was too early to make any decisions as to what was going on here, making it best not to overthink things and just take them in as they happened.

There was nothing out of the ordinary for games like this with how the round went, the captain probably didn't want to lose but it wasn't a high stakes game for someone like him so that explained why he wasn't nearly as stressed about the turnout as others might be. That was when the situation got interesting, at least for the blond. From the corner of his eye he saw the young woman approaching, to collect her teeth no doubt, to which Sky merely stepped to the side so she could get a better view of what was going on. Friend or not, Sky wasn't about to protect Ruce from getting something that he deserved. Speaking of friends, the 'drunk' decided to enter the game. He wasn't going to give Ruce the satisfaction of a sigh, and closed his eyes for just a moment to keep himself from rolling them. Of course the brunet wasn't going to listen to his warning and enter the game. What annoyed the blond though was the pilot's ability to just dump that many credits into a game he very well might lose when he'd had a tab to pay and stolen the bag of chips earlier. Perhaps he had only himself to blame, if he hadn't paid those off for the man he may not have just jumped in and instead ask Sky for help to get into the game thus giving him some control over the pilot and the situation. That or he was just being an ass to the barkeep, which wasn't out of character either. No matter, what's done was done and Sky wasn't going to stew over something so trivial.

Let the bast man win indeed, tch. Not that the standards seemed that high anyway.

Following the pair through the crowds, she thought she heard Mani say something but it got lost amongst the furore. She never considered that it might be the last time she heard his voice. Had she known, she may have dwelt a little longer on it, but instead she found herself completely focussed on the brunette and his enigmatic companion. She considered briefly the lockdown and realised that she didn’t have anything even remotely constituting a plan. The knowledge made her uneasy to say the least.
As she approached the table, she drew up alongside Sky. Sparing the blonde little more than a sideway glance, she let her gaze settle on the unfolding card game. She watched Ruce buy-in a sit down.

“You think your boy has enough brain cells left to walk away from this one with his pride or wallet intact?” She asked Sky. Mani’s generously provided cigar still smouldered between her lips and she took a long drag. As she exhaled the thick, aromatic smoke whispered from her lips. She formed a ring with her mouth and blew a single smoke ring that whirled away from her, slowly expanding and dissipating as it went. “Military man over there probably wipes his arse on 20,000 credits but for the farmer boy and your drunken mate…that’s a small fortune.” She added. “Unless you know something I don’t?” She pulled once more on the cigar.

She had to commend the dealer’s dexterity as he expertly shuffled and dealt the cards across the crisp green felt rolled out on the tabletop. The man had done this before, his skill would not have looked out of place at one of the large corporate casinos, dealing hands to CEOs. Maybe he had? If so, what sequence of events lead to him ending up dealing hands to louts at the Down and Out?

She watched each player look at their cards, watching the faces of each one, trying to read something in the movements of their eyes, twitches in the sides of their mouths. She was no novice but it’s not as though she had 20,000 credits lying around to buy-in.