'Arex'

Arex didn't obey the no gun rule, he even added under-barrel grenade launchers to each of his tech auto pistols loaded with 'safe cracker' grenades. But he did Leave his battle armour behind and instead opted for a heavy hooded leather coat that just, if somewhat poorly, concealed the guns strapped to his back.

"Oh great, now a fucking Nekros too. Something new for you to play with." Arex said to no one in particular as he patted _@Tickout Maxi on the shoulder in passing. He casually strode off away from the team and the docks going deeper into the town without further word or reason.

He hadn't met a Nekros before so he wasn't sure what part of his subconscious psyche or programming told him to dislike them. It could the company that implanted him with that bias or a genetic disposition from his deltanian DNA. Either way he decided not to fight it. Arex was still young in memory and learning a lot about himself. Today he learnt he was a speciest.

Best mission so far, drink and blend in. He didn't let this distract him from the fact he was still a prisoner till death. The bodies in the med bay were a testament reminder to that fact. So since they were light on communications and tracking devices as to not raise suspicion, Arex took this opportunity for some quick 'personal time' before rendezvousing at the designated bar. He walked the streets with a feigned familiarity, seeking narrow alleys to check if he was being followed.

@Crossfire

The moment Taleste left the ship, she didn't immediately enter the bar. Her instincts told her that everyone entering at once, while not suspicious, did suggest that they were a crew. Taleste could be seen outwith that group, even to their own contacts, if she came in later. Now that really was going undercover! Besides, she needed spending money first. She has expensive drinking tastes.

---

She entered the bar five minutes later, and went straight to the counter. "Oi, you got some homebrew in the back, don'tcha? I'll make it worth your while." she spoke to the barman in her alien dialect, that wasn't as strange in a place like this, and handed him several notes discreetly. Most bars in these sorts of docks made homebrew, though it was expensive and secret to all except those who have travelled to a lot of bars across the galaxy. The barman went to the back, and returned with a copper tankard full of a thick, brown, frothy liquid that was nothing like what anybody else was drinking. She took a large sip.

"By the cosmos, that's beaut'ful!"

Turning away from the bar, she looked around at all the patrons. She spotted Stryker immediately, and several of the contacts. They looked a rough band of mercs. Taleste was starting to feel sorry she'd left her gun on the ship an had only taken her knife and her lockpicking hit. Hopefully this mission would go smoothly.

@Crossfire

"Pew pew, aggggghhhh, pew pew!" Ace played with two toy starships while waiting for the crew they were supposed to meet, making noises as he played out a dogfight. A few of his crew members chuckled at his antics, though Kira had shot him a glare, causing him to gulp and pocket the toys. A few minutes later, the ship they were waiting for had docked. Standing there with his hands in his pockets, he put on the sternest expression he could to put up a tough front alongside his allies.

Alessio greeted the captain of the ship, talking with each other for a moment before the captain told Alessio about a contact he had to meet before they could head in. He went off to see said contact, who was pretty close by and gave himself away too easily. The captain lampshaded this, causing Ace to chuckle a bit. It was then that Ace noticed the Nekross who was with the contact, chains shackled around her. "Huh. Never saw a Nekross before. Thought they'd be uglier." He muttered to himself, chuckling once more.

Raisin

She licked a ladle covered by leftover protein porridge, sweeten and spiced for perfection. Which was a pretty difficult task because pre made protein pastes are disgusting globs from hell. Hair covered under a small cap with flowery patters humorously clashing with rest of her utilitarian cloths.

She continued licking the ladle although it was already cleaned, her eyes mirroring confusion and inner struggle. From what she got, they ALL should meet the other crew at docks. Truly the captain didn´t mean her, right? Cook is useless until running re-stocking errands. Or did he wanted her there as a bouncer? Surprising boom-boom elements? I´ll slap a bitch, just give me your word. She chuckled and proceeded to meet with rest of crewmates.

She followed mostly silent. Perhaps asked one or two questions and remarks and one of them was for Ace: “What have I told you about playing with your JUNK….” She willingly omitted plural S for what she though was humorous input.”….on public??” Laughter gargled in her throat and she took her place. Little bit at the back, with arms crossed on her chest. She was watching….and thinking….about what her little darlings would love to eat next.

@Banana@Dealdric

"Err, right. Pirates is one way to put it" Stryker said as the agent uncuffed Lexi "We'll fill you in a little later, right now we're all headed in for a drink, come on"

Stryker led the way back to the group. Tibulus met him halfway and slipped him a note.

"Connections gave me this. Should have a vent map, where money is kept, and the easiest escape route."

"Well done" Stryker said, sliding the intel into a pocket to review with the other captain. He made his way over to Carver and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Lead the way"

A few minutes later, the group had arrived at the Sundowner Saloon. Both crews knew the score, get in, keep a low profile, and wait for further instructions. Carver swaggered up to the bar and within 30 seconds, he, Stryker, and Kira were sitting at a private booth, with a nice cold pint each.

"This is my wife, Kira. Kira, Stryker. She's the real brains in all this, so I wanted her to sit in."
"That's fine with me" Stryker said as he took her extended hand in greeting "From the intel we have, it definitely seems like this is a two-ship job, and your crew comes highly recommended, so I'm glad to have you aboard."
"We don't know anything about you guys, but from the look of your ship, I'd say the feeling is mutual" Carver replied before taking a large gulp of his beer. He discreetly slid a memory card across the table "This is what we were given when the Alliance transferred the advance, told me to hand it off to you when we met"
"That'll be the other half of the briefing then" Stryker said as he reached for his datapad. "Here's what we know..."

@Simple Unicycle
Grayson kept an eye on things as the captains spoke. Literally. The moment he entered the bar, he'd engaged his eye implant and began scanning the room for anything useful. He fetched himself a drink and decided to make nice with the mercenaries. He walked over to the nearest of them and nodded in greeting.
"How're ya?"

"...and aside from this new recruit the Alliance just dumped on us who may have some important intel, that's about it" Stryker finished.
"Well, I knew there was a reason we had to get here early. Let's see if I can't fill in the blanks for you. Sol's group, the Solengrad, they're more fanatical militia than pirates. They muscled in here and completely overthrew the old regime a year or two ago. I knew the guy that used to be king, and if Sol managed to take him out, then he's definitely no pushover in a fight. Take your first look at the man himself" Carver nodded upwards, Stryker followed his eyeline up to a balcony where several people of various species gathered. Ne'ero Sol jumped out immediately from the crowd. Bald head, reddish-purple skin, fairly hefty. Dressed in his finest suit. He looked more like an obvious crime boss gone to seed than the fearsome ex-general turned pirate king.

"He doesn't look so tough" Stryker said.
"Don't be fooled. Trakerians are slippery bastards. Besides, even if Sol is a little past his prime, he's surrounded himself with very dangerous allies. The Havarn standing off to his side? You can't miss him: eight feet tall, four arms, wide as a truck? That's Kovitar Qresh, one of Sol's top lieutenants. Word is the guy was spec. ops in the Federation army, followed Sol when he left the service. And he's just the tip of the iceberg, but let's get another round before we continue."

Carver slipped out of the booth to fetch the drinks, Kira took command of the situation.
"Your crew have comms active?"
"What?" Stryker was caught off-guard by the question and took a second to realize what he was asking "Oh, yeah, they should all be patched in to our network"
"Good, we'll let them be for a few more minutes, but as soon as we're finished here, I'm going to need a few of them to do something stupid and dangerous"

It was some time later that Arex finally arrived at the bar. A new pair of shades covered his eyes, a thick lit cigar hung from his lips and a shiny new watch was strapped to his wrist. Beneath his same old heavy coat was a tight new shirt accentuating his muscles and wide chest, lower down he wore a pair of stylish new jeans and sharp polished dress shoes.

Clothes and style were not the only new things Arex brought with him into the bar. His left arm hung loosely around the shoulders of a short bubbly blonde with wavy messy hair and very casual attire. Her bright red lips contrasting her soft smooth white skin were locked in a permanent wide smile. She giggles and stumbled about as they entered, clearly having already been drinking or perhaps on something else. Small plugs and ports lined her wrists and the back of her neck. Some shiny chrome could also be seen on her left temple, it glimmered under her swaying hair. All signs of her cybernetic implants.

As soon as they entered Arex aimed straight for the bar, not once did he so much as even glance at his crew mates. Soon the duo found a quiet empty space, pulled up some stools and made their order after a few short laughs and giggles. Arex was using some newly acquired cash and none of it was of the Revenant's mission supplies. By the way he was throwing it about and the amount he was openly flashing, it appeared he had acquired an even larger some than the others shares.
It would be a couple of days until the medic even realised what had gone missing from the ships medical supplies.

After the bartender returned with the drinks, a conversation followed between the three that grew slightly heated but was kept just in the bounds of civil. There was short sharp whispered quips thrown back and forth as they bartered and negotiated fiercely. In the end the only one who seemed happy with the result was Arex's new friend.

There were a few more 'back and forths' traded in hushed whispers before Arex finally handed over a small wad of cash and in exchange received a narrow black sleek cylinder. While his female friend pulled a thin narrow cord out of the device and plugged it into her left wrist port, Arex finished his cigar and threw back a swig of his drink before pulling a cable from under his sleeve and jacking it into the strange little device.

Some sought a chemical high, while others a more digital one.

Once connected, the two grew quiet as they continued to slowly sip their drinks in silence, exchanging smirks and glances while they existed in two places at once. One here physically in this very bar, another digitally somewhere else, lost in a secluded cybernetic space.

Tobi was concerned with the plan. Both of his personalities argued internally about their role. Tobi approaches Stryker. Tobis' visor was red. "I don't mean to intrude but I have an issue. How am I going to be let into this location if I look like a warforged machine hellbent on the destruction sentient life? I mean, I'm all good for ripping out a person's vocal cords with my teeth...speaking of which, can I have a mouth instal-". his visor turned blue as his sentence was cut short. "Ignore That statement. Though he does hold a valid point. My appearance would surely cause concern and I have no doubts I would attract attention. I could perhaps record things from a distance if necessary but I will not be able to respond quickly in combat if a situation were to go south."

Amy slung her bag around her shoulder as she casually walked out of her room. She was happy to be getting off the ship for a little while. Not that she didn't like the company per se, but she was glad to have her feet on the firm ground once more. Amy was wearing one of the few outfits she'd brought on the mission: a white t-shirt underneath a dark olive jacket, fitted black pants, and white shoes. She was guessing she was one of the last few members to leave the ship as she had spent some time getting ready to head out. The rest of the team wasn't in any particular hurry either, although there was some small sense of urgency as they weren't going out to play, but rather, to work.

Once she was off the ship, Amy used her goggles to look around. The foot traffic was pretty heavy, but certainly not impossible to navigate. She asked someone for directions to the bar, and much to her surprise, she found out it was pretty close to her current location.

"Thanks," she said with a wave, heading off to the bar.

After walking for not too long, Amy arrived at the bar. Once more, she looked through her goggles until she spotted the person she wanted to speak with. His bulky size was a dead giveaway, and contrary to what she believed, he wasn't alone. That only meant that she would have to steal him for a little bit. As she made her way to Arex, Amy hoped that the other person wouldn't give her any issues.

"Ah, there you are," she plastered on a smile, putting her goggles away in her bag as she wouldn't need them for some time. "I need to talk to you for a little bit if you don't mind," Amy continued, leaning on one of the empty barstools adjacent to Arex.

Tibulus walked over to the side of the bar, leaning against the wall as he looked out into the street. Smoking the cigar was a nice way to pass the time, especially if another one of his contacts came close and informed him of something else about the place. There was also the chance that if he went in there he'd cause a lot of heads to turn and some rude language to be thrown at him. Speaking of rude language...

"Alright y'fuckin shroombrain. Hand over everything y'got, and I'll make your death quick."

A ruffian came up to Tibulus, a large baseball bat held in his hand. It was pretty clear that he wasn't looking for a fight, rather just a simple robbery and killing before the work got too dirty. Tibulus raised his head, as his mushroom head was obscuring his sight, and he chuckled audibly. "You're taking to me, right?" The robber stuttered as he held his bat in both of his hands. "W-Well duh? Who else here has a head like yours, y'parasitic mutt!" A crowd began to form around the mugger and Tibulus, and the robber was ready to take this skeleton and rob him blind.

"Mutt. Such a guttural word, isn't it?" With a swift movement, Tibulus reached into the pocket of his jumpsuit as if he was going to pull something out, and the mugger immediately responded by swinging straight for Tibulus' head, preparing to kill with a single blow. The pilot dodged the attack with a single swift movement, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket and swinging it in front of the robbers face. The robber was able to get a good look at what was on the piece of paper.

A single word.

LOSER.

The robber fell to the ground in a twitchy spasm as Tibulus jabbed his side with his finger, delivering a deadly shock to him and effectively tazing him into submission. As the crowd dispersed in mixed reaction, Tibulus calmly walked into the bar and went straight over to the counter, resting his arms on it and calmly watching for any oncoming dangers.

It took a still paused silent moment for Arex to react. Slowly he turned his head to face Amy, looking over his shoulder he spoke to her. "Is now really the time?"
Not that she could tell, but his eyes scanned the room behind her before falling to her attire and then lifting to admire the detail in her face. "Nice jacket." he said as he took a sip from his drink, his voice muffled behind the ready glass.

"Drink with me and we can talk." He said having given in. Arex suspected that Amy wasn't going to take no for an answer. There was a small pause then he added in. "That's Liz by the way" Arex nodded to the other girl beside him before remembering Amy couldn't see without the goggles she took off.

"That's ok, she's in her own little world." Then Liz giggled in reply leading Amy to believe maybe Arex was speaking of her.
The sounds of footsteps approached from the other side of the bar. The heavy breathing of a man about to speak was interrupted by the squeak of Arex's chair as he stood up and leaned over the bar. Amy could hear the hushed whispers of his secret order. Next Arex sat back down and the barkeep walked away.

"Do we have a deal?" he asked Amy.

"Don't worry about it Tobi. SAL got in just fine, and no one's taken more than a second glance at you. Not uncommon for people of our caliber to have 'security robots' escorting them around public spaces. As far as anyone's concerned, that's all you are."

Stryker turned back to his drinking mates apologetically "Sorry about that, you were saying?"

"Right well, for us to truly know this position, if we are going to be staging the attack here, and take away Sol's home field advantage then we need to see everything, particularly in the back." Carver said without missing a beat "Now, I don't know about you, but I find it doubtful he lets anyone poke around his secret HQ, that's where the plan comes in..."

They were interrupted by a commotion on the other end of the bar. Tibulus was involved, but it ended as quickly as it began. Stryker's hand sunk into his jacket, reaching for his pistol in case it escalated.
"Hold on" Kira said, noticing his movement "It's fine, they're calm, now sit down before someone notices."

She was right. It was lucky enough that the natural din of the bar was enough to hide their already hushed voices. If anyone heard them talking, the plan would be fucked before it ever began.

"So what we need is a diversion. Distract everyone out front while a group pokes around back" Carver resumed "Say, two guys from each of our crews 'have a little too much' and get rowdy, an extra person gets involved and suddenly we have ourselves a nice big spectacle, lots of eyes on it, but no one's gonna get involved or do anything stupid, especially once the third pair enter the brawl and they realize its a crew thing. The guards might step in if it gets out of hand, but by that point, we step in ourselves to break it up. Meanwhile, everyone else sitting around can carry on with the analytics of it all. Once everything's clear and we 'calm down our guys' we leave separately, get off the station and rendezvous elsewhere to plan it all out with the intel we've gathered."

@Simple Unicycle@Banana@Silver Carrot
"Just crazy enough to work" Kira remarked "I'll lead the recon group, take Seth and Ace. Brought a couple photosonic scanners along. The data from those alone will be useful enough intel to build a 3D model of the area."
"Take a few of mine" Stryker volunteered, discretely pointing them out "Taleste is our infiltration specialist, could be useful if you come across any locked doors. And Tibulus there should get out of here for a little, lest the big guy wake up and want to make another run at him."
"Sounds good to me" Carver said "As for the diversion, Marcus and Ian are good candidates from our side. They've both been known to drink on occasion" he said the last bit with a knowing smile to his wife, Stryker clearly wasn't in on the joke"

@BKburke@baranica
"Grayson and Joe" Stryker said "They'll be our guys. And Tobi'll jump in after, when the time comes to escalate"
"Ranks are already gettin' a little thin, I suppose Raisin will help drive things up a level. She's got a mean right hook."
"I'll tell them to keep an eye on it."

@Dark Light@Xandrya@Dealdric[@Azereiah@Tickout
"So that leaves everybody else to make up our last two units, the peacemakers and analytics." Carver said before draining his drink "As captains, we'll have to jump in, help break it up, my quartermaster too."
"I've got a couple could help. The Dalentian over there, one of the most powerful psionics I've ever seen. As for analytics, my doctor's always shown himself to be observant. Couple of cybers too, SAL and Rento, they'll have this place completely mapped out with a single glance."

"So that's it then, that's our plan. Get the word out."

Stryker whispered the details of the plan to the team over their encrypted comms channel. Everyone was asked to pass along the intel to anyone who forgot to slip in their earpiece before leaving the ship. As he spoke, he set up a new encrypted comms network with his datapad, so both crews could be in full communication on the mission. With everyone now in the loop, Stryker put the datapad away and sat back, watching and waiting out the time before Grayson made his move."

[OOC: Weird place to stop I know, but I was under a bit of a time constraint, so continue to mingle in the bar until it's appropriate for me to post again. Also, apologies if I forgot to tag anyone, yell at me in the OOC if I did]

So that's the plan then... Once the channel had gone dark, Amy directed her attention to Arex once more.

"I thought you'd never ask," Amy said, waving down the bartender, unsure whether they'd seen her as she obviously couldn't see them. "Could you order some rum for me, please?" she asked Arex, the drink being something that she was more than used to by now. But she couldn't complain; she liked it.

"Liz seems nice," she continued with a smirk, wondering what the woman really looked like. In some odd way, Amy was glad Arex had found a girl for the brief down time they had. He needed it as he usually kept to himself in the ship, and getting out and finding a companion was probably what would help him get out of his slump. It was then Amy felt as if she was intruding, but she couldn't wait as the mission didn't spare them the time.

"I wanted to talk to you about our...relationship. To say we haven't exactly seen eye to eye in this mission is a huge understatement, and well, moving forward I want to make sure that our differences don't get in the way of us effectively working together. You're my teammate and I have your back, and I want to make sure you have mine as well. If we were stuck in a bad situation, I want to know that you won't leave me for dead."

Maxi had, of course, heeded the mission call and got all the details. A pretty simple information gathering mission that he could be fairly lazy on and keep to himself for. He didn’t need any weapons- his mind would suffice in defending himself of any potential danger around him. His med bot could be seen as fairly suspicious, however, so he left it behind. Everyone else had left the ship before him; Maxi trailed behind last, looking around and taking in the sights as Stryker led them to the rendezvous point.

He didn’t head in off the bat; he spent some time looking around the vicinity, allowing the rest to trickle in first before he finally joined them. It looked as if more or less everyone had paired off and began to chat with the occupants in the bar- he took this as a queue to observe to spare himself from having to talk. Though, he did have to get a drink; he didn’t want to drink it, but he had to at least look natural.

A few moments later, Maxi was settled in near the back of the bar, a rather light drink in one hand that he really didn’t plan to drink. His eyes scanned over every inch of the bar behind his glasses, his perceptive power slowly turning on as he willed it to to detect any potential fatal danger that could occur. After a moment, he received Strykers instructions; observe and analyze while there was a distraction. Luckily enough, he was in a fairly good position to do so already; so he focused more on listening in to the people around him, remembering the faces, identifying the guards, and other social based interactions going on.

Arex had to wave off the bartender, undoing Amy's call. He had already ordered the drinks for this little game, and it wasn't anything nearly as easy as rum. If she wanted him to talk, really truly talk and open up, then they were gonna have to drink some serious drinks. They didn't have the luxury of time to leisurely play with some soft friendly spirits and Arex was pretty sure that couldn't take any of this money back with him, so he blew it all on some really top shelf vile stuff. It was probably barely legal. The type of drink you are supposed to delicately sip while planning the future of corporate economics in a yacht worth more than a small country.

And it come out on a tray in shot glasses.

Liz eagerly took one, anxious to try the drink she had only heard about. After smelling it and sipping it her eyes went wide and she tipped it onto her already premixed drink.
Arex just stared at her for a second and shook his head.
"She isn't." He flatly replied to Amy's comment about Liz seeming nice. The context of his meaning left unclear.
Arex took one of the many shot glasses off the plate and with a contemplative deep breath, suddenly threw back the small drink in one sharp gulp.
The liquid burnt as it ran down his throat and didn't seem to stop there. It's as if the very gas it emited was on fire. He let out a sharp gasp and blinked heavily as he shook his head shaking off the residual foul taste eating away at his tongue like an acid.

Without words or warning he places a shot glass into Amy's hand.
"But I would." He replied matter-of-factly without effort or care. I would leave you for dead is what he had just said so coldly and without compassion.
For a while it seemed as though that was all he had to say on the matter but then he finally spoke again.
"I wouldn't risk my neck for you and I wouldn't expect it of you either. Most of us didn't choose to be here. Some of us did really bad things before we were thrown onto this clown boat, so why should I risk my life for any of 'em? Why should I expect any of them to do the same?
We're killers, all of us! The only thing that separates you from the target is an order from the 'boss.' Don't think of it any other way doll, your only foolin ya self."
There was an obvious emphasis on the word 'boss' filled with a thick vile disdain.
"I have given you advice twice... What good has it done? Can you even remember what I told you or have you been to busy getting caught up in your fantasy land?"
Arex didn't try to soften his words. He was as cold as ever with a hint of spite. Even Liz distanced herself as she shuffled in her seat and unplugged from the black device in her hand.

Amy tightened her grip on the shot glass once it was placed within grasp by Arex, uncertain of what was really in it but deciding that it was too late to back down anyway. It didn't take a fraction of a second after the liquid made its way down her throat for Amy to regret such decision. She turned away, one hand clasped over her mouth as she anticipated vomiting but the moment didn't arrive. Instead, she felt an intense burning sensation, one that made her eyes water as a single tear managed to escape her eye and leave a wet streak on her right cheek. She was shaken up, but okay.

"What was that?" she said, more so talking to herself than asking a question. Amy straightened up again and immediately decided that she would not have another shot. She simply listened to Arex, slowly coming to the conclusion that maybe she should have chosen better words to explain herself. That, or she was using the wrong approach.

"Don't fuck me over again and we won't have any more problems," she said after he was done speaking. "Take that as a threat or a promise, the choice is purely up to you. I'm well aware everyone in that ship is a degenerate, including myself, but I for one intend on getting through all of this alive, and if any additional ulterior motives you may have get in my way of completing each of these jobs so that I may regain my freedom, then you'll have to start watching your back. It's as simple as that."

Amy started to get up, a sign that she was done addressing Arex.

"Eurephrian binzap" Arex said naming the liquid as he swirled a shot glass in front of his face, scrunching his nose at the strangely putrid yet sweet smell. There were at least eight more left on the platter.

Liz continued to shuffle off her seat to a standing position. Amy would hear some sort of interaction between her and Arex before Liz spoke up in her bright upbeat bubbly voice. "Jus going to the little girly's room, gotta powder my nose. Amy, care to join me? I don't mind sharing." Her voice went from cute to a little bit sultry at the end. If Amy could see she would notice Liz also wore an expression to match as she smiled and made her way off.

Ignoring Liz, Arex admired the liquid before him. It was hard to realise over the initial burning sensation but the drink was slightly slimy with a speckled dusty texture. It was quite pretty to look at, but maybe that's because he knew it's worth.

His chest inhaled as he sucked in a long slow breath, finding his calm and patience to use against Amy's words.
He wanted to yell at her.
He wanted to slap some sense into her.
He wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her like a child till she understood.
He wanted to punish her ignorance with degrading insult after insult.
He wanted to exaggeratedly roll his eyes and laugh at her.
He wanted to just forget it all, take her hand and leave.

An internal dialog instantly spat out a multitude of replies and answers one after another, all that could easily travel out on his held breath, but alas he releases it without any words. He deflates with that single breath. Tired and mentally defeated. He brings up another shot glass to his lips and slowly tips it into his mouth.

It hurt. There were no two ways about it but one pain covered the other. The external distracting him from the internal. He slams the empty glass down, then on a dry raspy breath still recovering from the shot he whispers. "Good talk" having realised that Amy had already said her piece and was now done.

'That was short. Fuck! Seven more of these.'

@Crossfire

As lexi downed her drink, she listened to the plan. "Hey Human, when do I get to drain one of the gits that you came here for, Hmm? I've been using 'friends' of mine to watch the creeps for a while, and it itches my scales." she said inquisitively. She then looked at the false guard and then the crew, estimating their chances of success. She turned her attention back to the captain,"...besides, I may be a xenobiologist, but I'm not one to do nothing but what she has done for weeks..." she paused and smirked. she laughed "Besides, I already have a bounty on head here for draining a captain's son."

While she let that set in, she grabbed another drink, laughing all the way...

---

---

Deep within the confines of the Revenant, Ren idly watched and listened. The ship didn't have much in the way of internal security, but if push came to shove, Ren was, even in its downtime and operating under the simplest of AI routines, confident that there was no risk of losing the ship while it was on board. The chances of the Revenant being boarded were low enough of course, but as far as any "enemy" was concerned, there was a monster on board that wasn't in any crew logs or shipping manifests. Ren was the ship's security system, and if a threat appeared, Ren wouldn't be trapped in the ship with them: they'd be trapped in the ship with Ren.

---

Renli and Rento quietly stepped into the bar alongside SAL. Renli was the active unit, while Rento was performing her duties via her onboard non-sentient AI systems. Rento was more akin to a simple droid in this state, albeit with a better paint job, just as Renli had been when he was first unboxed. Things were going smoothly, for the most part. The patrons weren't terribly concerned by the ships' crews, and as far as any of them could tell, it was business as usual at a shady bar in a bad part of town. His sharp hearing let him listen in on a number of conversations happening, and for the most part, it was just the usual stuff. Drug deals, smuggling rare medical supplies, banned virtual reality games in one corner, alcohol induced arguments, embezzled funds, the works. Nothing too worrisome there, but there were some things that properly caught his attention.

The first was a short-lived brawl: some poor sod had made the mistake of picking a fight with their funganoid crew member, Tibulus. Wait, Tibulus!? Renli let out a slight chuckle at the skeleton's shitty pun of a name. Probably had it long before his current state, but if anyone could be resurrected by sentient necro mushrooms, it'd definitely be someone with a name like that. And so he swiped a credit note that was hanging out of a large, furry creature's jacket pocket and took a seat at the bar next to the Revenant's shocking choice of a pilot. One of the bartenders, more attentive than any he had seen before, swung one of many its heads up towards him as if implying he should place an order or get off the stool. "Earth style moonshine. In a mason jar, preferably."

Other drinks were infused with various mind altering substances that made them hit far harder than even the purest of Earth's traditional brews, but Renli was attached to his old preferences. "Sorry. No münshine. Ünly Earth drink is Jakk Danyell's Ten'see whiskey." Disappointing, but not unexpected - that old brand had been around for so long it'd more or less swallowed the entire rest of the liquor export industry, leaving other, better drinks as old fashioned delicacies primarily to be found in Alliance territory. Renli nodded and accepted the offer, then pushed forth the stolen credit note. The Bartender's wall-eyed, dinnerplate face didn't seem to notice or care and left the credit note on the table, then firmly planted an entire unopened bottle on the bar in front of Renli.

Did everyone in space have stupidly high tolerance or something? Either way, Renli turned to Tibulus. "Enjoying yourself?", he asked with a smile, still surveying the space for any sign of trouble.

The second thing he noticed was that Stryker had left his name out of the conversation with the other captain, either intentionally or by accident. He preferred being referred to as one person anyhow, so that was fine by him. But what was Stryker playing at, here? Was the other captain untrustworthy? It was a question better left to better men though, so Renli turned his thoughts back to the 750ml bottle of bourbon and Mr. Bones.

@Banana

---

Rento was "off" and thus blissfully unaware of any conscious thoughts that might have otherwise interrupted her security sweep. Every bulging pocket, every possible hidden weapon, every avenue of escape was recorded, processed, and sent to Ren's and Renli's internal transmitters. She was wearing baggy cargo pants and a leather jacket, zipped up over an ancient band tee shirt from before the era of neuroprosthetics and AI. The pants were the obvious place for a hidden weapon, so she had hidden three out of five of her M1911s under the jacket and on her back. Renli was carrying the other, more well maintained one, and she had placed her own personal pistol from her time in the United States Army inside the Tower's storage cabinet for safekeeping before departing the ship.

Some of the more questionable patrons were leering at her, clearly mistaking her for some sort of 'companion bot', and like all other information, this was transmitted to Ren and Renli. She would step in for herself if it caused a problem, but the patrons seemed to all be too drunk and distracted to do anything stupid.

Stryker's mentions of Ne'ero Sol brought Rento's attention to the large man in the gaudy suit. Possibly dangerous, potential unknown. The bodyguards were a much greater threat. One of the organics was very large -- a Havarn, a species known for its martial prowess, and this one was larger than average. But like with all organics, the Havarn seemed rather squishy. More troublesome was the presence of a series of robotic patrons that seemed somewhat out of place. Three older model labor automatons, clearly modified but with unknown potential were present, and Rento's backup AI marked them as suspicious. Whether or not they were actually guards remained to be seen.

A simple logic to speech system waited for a lull in conversation and fed equally simple descriptions of potentially armed patrons, guard armaments, and figures of interest to Stryker's communicator under the assumption he was actually wearing it.

@Crossfire

"Eh. If you saw what happened out there, that's one of the better things that's happened. Although, shouldn't last for much longer now..." Tibulus spoke as he slowly unzipped his jumpsuit slightly, just enough for his hand to reach in if he had to. Afterwards, he raised his hand and fanned down the bartender that gave the moonshine to Renli. "The strongest shit you have, please." The bartender nodded as they brought over a bottle of a mysterious purple liquid, the liquid glowing vibrantly through the blackened bottle. "Damn, you guys carry this? It was illegal here last time I came."

Just as Tibulus uncapped the drink, the same man from before rushed over to Tibulus, no longer feeling any of the effects from being tazed a minute ago. As he swung his around to collide it with Tibulus's head, the funganoid quickly ducked down to avoid the hit, reached into his jumpsuit to withdraw his stun gun, and turned around, firing the weapon into the chest of the mugger. The mugger fell backwards onto the ground, twitching every couple of seconds, and Tibulus returned to drinking. Nobody in the bar really cared, as most of the patrons were too drunk to think, let alone take warning of the dangerous skeleton.

Tibulus slipped a note to Renli, simple writing put on the piece of paper. When turned over, it would read the sentence. "What're you seeing?"
@Azereiah

@Dealdric

"All in due time Lexi. Just relax for now" Stryker muttered into the comms, Grayson was starting to stagger across the room. It was about to begin.

---------

There was one thing that Daniel Grayson exceeded at outside of killing. And that was drinking, or at the very least, being able to put out the appearance that he was an extremely sloppy drunk. Over the last 20 minutes or so, he'd ordered drink after drink of the strongest stuff he could spot with a familiar label. His tolerance was pretty high, but even professionals have a limit. He decided to get things going and got himself into character, looking up and down the line of the bar's counter like a wild animal, he pushed away and begin to wobble down the line, over-exaggerating his impairment. Marcus saw him coming and took a step back from the bar right on cue, so the duo collided and went sprawling to the floor.

"Fuckyoudoin ya fuckin' tosser?" Grayson slurred, just loud enough to catch the attention of a few bystanders. He pushed himself back to his feet "You fuckin' blind mate? Don't you see me walkin here?"
"I see a drunken fuck who's barely standing" Marcus snapped back, again loud enough to catch attention.
"Fuck you!" Grayson spat in a drawling slur as he brought a fist back and swung for Marcus's face. The distraction was now in full swing.

-----------

"And the game is afoot" Carver said, opening up the comms line "Recon team, green light. Additional fighters, get ready to jump in. We don't have long people so let's do this fast!"

@Dark Light@Xandrya@Azereiah@Tickout@BKburke@baranica@Simple Unicycle@Banana@Silver Carrot