"Then perhaps you wouldn't mind having one with me~" A smooth, casual voice remarked flirtatiously in response.

The man who had spoken approached from off to the side before pausing to lean against the wall with his arm, just as casual as his tone. He was quite a tall specimen, and lean as well, but perhaps more notable was the vibrant blue of his slightly translucent skin and purple and orange fins. His own uniform was worn with somewhat less decorum than most other members of Trident who were present, the collar loose and open to make breathing through the gills which trailed all the way down his neck easier. A necessity, but one which seemed to match his demeanor, right down to the roguish glint in his luminous orange eyes.

Eyes which cast a glance toward the staff member whom she'd previously dismissed, then back to meet her own clear blue ones with a knowing brow raise. "You seem stressed." He noted. "Parties not your thing?"

Voice's eyes danced through the crowd, naming people she'd seen before and making account of the new faces she hadnt. She sat in a far corner out of the way from others keeping to herself for the most part. She tugged slightly at the Trident Uniform she was required to wear at events like these, making a mental note to get a bigger size when the time was right. Though anything is better then winter planet USS uniforms, it hadn't been more then a couple months ago she was on a frozen planet dealing with another round of USS bullshit. Being on a beach planet was a much needed mission and with the Rear Admiral supposedly making an appearance, should make for some good moments for the time being. Truth be told she still had little understanding of what her mission truly was and thinking about what on earth could be here that the USS wanted so bad they asked her to come here only made her groan more internally. "Whatever the case may be, anything is better then having to deal with more snow" she shrugged and went back to people watching, her irises shuttering like a camera as she zoomed in and out.

Until her eyes came onto the captain. She had been briefed on who she was and had done her own research on the woman. She liked that another hard body was around, it made her feel less...alien if that was even possible. Seeing the young Droquilian beginning go talk to her, she felt a sudden need to inject herself into the conversation and hopefully save the poor guy from getting skewered verbally and mentally. Grabbing two strong drinks, she started over to the two, placing a drink down next to the Captain and one on the table in front of the Droquilian. "I'd reckon it would probably be whatever the reason shes been staring at that stage for a while now" she gave a two finger salute to the two "nice to finally meet you Captian, can i just say how much of an honor it is to serve under you. Izumo Yuriko but you can call me Izzy, callsign Voice. What about you gills?" her irises zooming in and out a little to capture the mans details, she had to agree with the reports, Droquilian were a beautiful race people.

Jules walked through the hallways of Trident HQ he was surprised how nice it was. Usually the only bases he had seen have been the old military ones on the coast when his carrier pulled into port..and those weren't very nice though since being contracted by the USS he has seen some nicer things . As Jules walked down the halls he started to hear voices speaking ' wonder who it could be ' he thought. He quickened his pace walking in the direction of the voices he new he had to meet with the CO(commanding officer ) also known as the leader and he was very late. Breaking into a light jog he finally arrived in the room where the voices were coming from a big hall with a bar and saw one of the natives of nautilus , a tall woman and another woman he assumed to be the CO from the symbols on her uniform.

Uruna floated by, wandering around the party silently and only keeping to herself. All the members of the Trident were present at the moment, and the Quirinian was shocked to see so many of them all at once. She couldn't even recognize a single face so she was currently floating in a sea of unfamiliar faces, literally. She wished Ommo, the cutest turtle in the whole entire world and her best friend forever, was here but she left him back at the safety of their quarters because he didn't like large crowds. Every minute that passed by made Uruna wished she did the same as Ommo.

Music and laughter filled the whole HQ as members of the Trident, both young and old, talk and catch up with one another. Those who couldn't walk and/or breath on land like Uruna simply swam by through the raised glass pools that lined the walls which also connected to the outside. Some of Uruna's kin were at the several pools at the balcony area that have glass domes. Thanks to the marvelous technological advancement in their society, the glass didn't muffle any noise at all and people of all species, fins, and legs were able to communicate just as effectively as actually talking face-to-face. There were several others who wore land suits and mobile glass capsules so they could wander around on land. Uruna was given the chance to use one, but she felt safer in the comfort of the waters.

What she felt much uncomfortable with was the uniform. It did look sleek and classy, Uruna couldn't deny that, but she really liked it if she was... 'au naturel'. She hated using the term 'naked' because she believed that it was only natural for Droquilians not wearing anything at all. They were under the waters anyways, so why bother? The closest to a set of clothes that Uruna wanted to get to was a piece of kelp wrapped around her bare breasts because they were, according to some human males, 'too distracting'.

Still, she had to follow protocol. Maybe she was even over-thinking about it, seeing that most of her kin wore their prescribed uniform. Uruna kept on rubbing the sleeves as it still felt very strange against her body. Well, she'll get used to it eventually. After all, it was a very cool uniform.

Another cool thing for was the bar. On land, bartenders served drinks on glasses. Doing the same thing underwater will be obviously impossible so they had to improvise. Under water, the different types of drinks were all in each containers that have faucets. The bartender would simply turn a faucet and the preferred drink will come out in what humans liked to call as 'edible water bottles'. It looked like a bubble but it was more of a gelatin blob, allowing anyone to hold it without breaking the 'bottle'. They could peel the outer layer of the blob like a fruit and pop it in the mouth, or simply puncture a hole in the blob to suck the drink.

Speaking of the bar, Uruna just decided to get a drink from their and went against the glass to wait for the people that were supposed to give a speech. She was holding a 'bottle' that contained a non-alcoholic drink humans liked to call orange juice, and she was thinking about drinking from it when she heard people converse near her. She didn't realize a table was right against her side of the glass so she could easily hear what they're saying. It was a white-haired human woman being talked to by a smug-lookined Droquilian and another orange-haired woman.

Uruna used 'being talked to' instead of 'talking to' because it looked like the white-haired woman wasn't in the mood to talk at all. The orange-haired woman introduced herself as Izzy and called the other woman as captain. It was then Uruna realized that she was Captain Weaver Sinclair. She didn't know if they could see the Quirinian as she was floating right behind them so she lightly tapped at the glass to call their attention. "Um, hello! I am Uruna and I'm one of the newer members. It is very nice to meet you, Captain Sinclair," Uruna politely said before she bowed in respect to her. "You look troubled, Captain. How are you feeling?".

Jules heard the jellyfish like droquilian introduce herself as Uruna and made a mental note of it. He would like to figure out everyone's name before introducing himself so he looks professional. ' though that probably won't happen' he thought smiling to himself a little bit. ' I'll just get a drink at the bar before I introduce myself ' he thinks. Walking up to the bar he signals for the bar tender and orders some blurb a soda type drink that was flavored after a fruit on this planet that could beat he described as a mix of a cherry and a strawberry. He grabbed the container for blurb witch was a seashell twisted in a funnel shape to hold the drink. 'only bad side is it stains my lips and mouth a deep red for hour's he thinks then shrugs and takes a drink.

Captain Weaver was flanked by Trident members in what felt like a blink of an eye. She resisted the urge to step away, grab some fresh air out on the balcony, and jump into the ocean all together. That wouldn’t be very Captain-like now would it?, the Admiral would say.

“Oh, don’t concern yourself with lil ol me.” She said to Val, letting the country twang in her voice hang loose. The Droquilian was known to be a bit mischievous, but he had a way of putting her at ease. “You should be worrying about yourself. You stayin’ out of trouble?”

Classic deflection from Weaver, but she wouldn’t get off that easy. Izumo Yuriko introduced herself soon after. She knew all about Izzy, or Voice, as she received a thorough briefing about her from the Admiral. Weaver introduced herself in kind, restraining from making a salute. Voice was USS after all, but the Trident was an informal attachment. Aside from Captain, there really wasn’t a ranking system.

“Well, there’s no getting passed any of you.” Weaver nodded as Voice mentioned the staging area. “I’ve a speech to make after Rear Admiral Omarkei makes his introduction, whenever that is...”

It was odd that the Admiral hadn’t shown his face yet, but he was a busy man. He didn’t have to be here, but he insisted, and perhaps that’s why she was so nervous about going up on stage. The speech didn’t have to be good, it had to be the best, because that’s what she always gave him.

“Whoa!” Weaver nearly jumped out of her boots from the sudden knock against the glass behind her. She turned to see the Quirinian Uruna, floating majestically in the aquatic space. The glass was so well-polished that it almost looked like there wasn’t a barrier between them. Sinclair thought back to when she read Uruna’s dossier, and how intrigued she was about her medical skills. She hoped the Quirinian won’t have to use them too much in the coming days...

“You’re all so nice to come talk to a stubborn ol goat like myself. I’m doing fine, really. Tonight, I want y’all to let loose and enjoy yourselves because tomorrow’s a big day.” Captain Weaver realized that her mood got a whole lot better and felt a little bit more confident about making her speech.

Startled as well by the tapping, she gave a wave at the girl in the glass aquarium. She could not get enough of this planets species and she would love to get some time to interview the ones on their team about what its like. She hadnt seen her type of species mentioned in the logs which could of meant a number of things.. She took pictures from her eyes, everyone would just see her staring at the girl and her eyes focusing like a camera lens. Before directing her attention back to the captain letting her speak. "Well i wish i could get drunk with you all but..." she knocked on her stomach, getting a satisfying thud "this type of body doesnt let me drink, but dont mind me, in fact" Voice looked around making eye contact with one of the waiters and she motioned for him to come over. When he reached them, he gave a slight bow

"how may i he of assistance tonight?" He held is hand behind his back, waiting patiently like a dog.

"Could we get a couple of the strongest bottles you have and some non alchoholic bottles, with a lot of glasses?" She held up a card between two fingers, making sure to block the lettering as to not out herself on who she was. The waiter on the other hand recojized that type of card as some other people in the room used and he took it fast. If this card ment anything, the boy certainly was realizing it and most of the people that had this type of card were leaving huge tips for the staff, he wasnt gunna be the one to fuck this up.

"Of course, right away miss!" he bowed again before speeding away, walking through the crowd with haste.

"Id say pop a few glasses back and you'll probably give the best speech you've ever given" Voice laughed and looked over to the stage. In any of her experiences, under the influence was usually how she got her best speeces to date, though it was hard to remember if it was her or Izzys memory. Blocking it from her mind, she turned her attention to the waiter who approached with a platter of huge bottles, ranging from darks, to clears, even some native liquor was present. Behind the waiter, a waitress followed with bottles of juices, sodas, anything youd want to make a mixed drink. "I dont want to see any of the bottles full, otherwise my feelings will get hurt" she joked and whispered in the waiters ear, telling him she was gunna leave a generious tip, before grabbing a bottle and giving it to the boy with a wink "i dont think anyone will care and if they do just tell em to talk to me" she gave him a pat on the shoulder and the waiter bowed greatly, stuffing the bottle into his clothes and walking away slyfully.

"Who, me?" Valhan asked with a tone of false innocence in response to the captain's question. "Always, of course~" Naturally, the wily man noticed the deflection, however, and indeed, she was not going to get away with it... not until the sudden approach of another woman with rather striking eyes, that is. She did come bearing gifts, however, and those of alcohol, no less. She seemed to have made a rather pointed interruption, though. By use of observation of the situation which he'd deliberately avoided for sake of banter, and he was not sure whether she had done it with the intent to rescue Weaver, or himself.

Either way was incredibly amusing to the tall Droquillian.

That, coupled with the rather intriguing addition of the way that Izzy (as she had introduced herself) looked at him with unnaturally expanding and contracting pupils, suggested that she was not at all what she seemed- a fact which he felt was confirmed by her later remarks.

Before those, however, another woman entered the conversation. This one most familiar to himself, perhaps, but he was familiar enough with all manner of races on Nautrias from his escapades in and over it that she was no more familiar by this point than the humans. Well, the android was a bit of a new experience.

He almost regretted having approached the captain for how much she was no overrun with attention. Certainly, he liked to tease, but it was another thing to overwhelm someone entirely with sheer numbers. That had been outside of his calculations. She did seem to receive it well, at least, so perhaps it was fine. In any case, she probably couldn't blame him for it. Right?

As Izzy engaged a waiter in ordering a rich cocktail bar worth of spirits for the group, Valhan chuckled and ran a hand over the purplish filaments which crowned his head, not unlike the hair of humans. "Well, Cap, seeing as how you're so popular tonight, I think you'll do just fine with your speech." He noted in amusement. "The fans will be going practically wild, I'm sure. And I can't complain about being surrounded by so many beautiful women here, so I think it's a win for everyone~"

"Oh, I didn't mean to scare you. Apologies", Uruna said as she sheepishly laughed. The Quirinian then gave the others a serene smile. Even though they were all much different from each other, it looked like they were all kind and thoughtful as well. Uruna was glad to know the other members of the Trident were just as kind as the ones she met before when she was still in training. She was sure Ommo would like them, but the blue-skinned Droquilian? Maybe not so much.

She floated before them and enjoyed watching them talk to her and each other. Uruna has always been the silent, observer type. She did not like to be the center of attention, and would rather blend in with the crowd than stand out. The nice thing was she felt right at home with them despite just meeting them the first time, though she did feel kind of strange when the orange-haired girl stared at her for a minute too long.

She was so entertained by the lot that she forgot she was holding a 'bottle' of her drink. It's non-alcoholic as Uruna still felt weird drinking alcohol despite being of legal age. Besides, she didn't know what she was like when drunk. She could unintentionally will her tentacles to become active, and her nematocysts might hurt someone. That won't surely make a very effective first impression.

Even then, most of the Droquilians on her side of the glass would steer clear of her tentacles, either looking at them in fear or in annoyance, possibly both. Uruna would've taken the chance to tell them she can control her tentacles, but she's sure no one would even touch them even if they got paid to do so.

She held her 'bottle' using two hands and punctured a hole on it with her teeth so she could suck and drink it. It was very refreshing indeed, and she eagerly drank all of it. "Mmm... Oh don't mind me, I don't drink alcohol but thank you for being thoughtful! You guys drink to your heart's content," she told the orange-haired lady.

Then she turned to Captain Weaver. "They're right, Captain. Giving off a speech in front of an audience is indeed nerve-wracking, but we will be here to support you."

The Captain's little pre-speech drew more ears then she might have noticed, people took especial note of "Enjoy yourselves because tomorrow’s a big day.” Amélie took a deep breath from her seat near the edge of the gathering upon hearing that. The hard work was never behind them, always in front. Taking a quick swig of champagne Amélie remembered to smile, and kept smiling through the nerves. Dr. Amélie Sellens was the 'USS expert' on Nautrias and she was here on an advisory role, even if she'd only stepped foot on the planet a few times before now. And besides, who needed an expert when you had locals?

Amélie had made her move before anyone higher up the pecking order asked that same question. She exerted her influence to join the expedition so she could write her next grand text on the whole ordeal, this time it would be political. And now she was here, by choice she reminded herself. But she had a hard time putting her heart into it. Now she was down on the planet the magic she had known when she was studying the eco-sphere back when she was writing her two previous texts was gone, choked by apprehension. Instead of the excitement of discovering new things she was instead fussing over what she might have to admit to have gotten wrong, and was too anxious to begin corrections by meeting and greeting the locals.

So instead Dr. Amélie sat by the wall relatively alone, nodding at a few passers by. She had briefed many of the people in the room right now, though she wasn't close to any of them and felt too awkward to spark up conversation. New planet, same old anti-social me...

Forkies? The tall Droquillian repeated inwardly, a smirk of wry amusement touching his features as he looked over the abrasive intruders. Such an uncreative and rather childish nickname. He couldn't even feel insulted over it. Not that much bothered him, anyway.

As such, he remained calm despite their interruption, maintaining his place standing casually beside the table with his drink in hand until the trio drew near, at which point he reached out smoothly in order to catch the wrist of the first one before he could grab any of the beverages displayed there. The man was certainly big, he noticed, quite unusually so for a human, but Valhan gave no indication of acknowledgment of the fact. It was not as though it changed anything. "Sorry, mate, but this particular lot was actually paid for by the lady there." He said as he gestured with his cup-holding hand toward VOICE. An amicable grin flashed across his face, yet within the orange glow of his ethereal eyes was a dangerous glint. Warning, or perhaps daring.

He wasn't past crashing a party himself, but not to spoil other people's fun. These three clearly had far more disruptive intentions, and while the blue-skinned Trident member wasn't interested in starting a fight, he was more than ready to take one on if it was thrown at him. "How's about you lot have a drink on me at the bar and let us be?"

Voice made note of the girl in the tanks preference remembering to bring something specifically for her in any similar situation. Looking out towards everyone else, someone close by caught her eye but she could not place the woman. She did feel however she had seen her face somewhere in her reports regard trident. Snapping out of starring at her, she turned her attention to captain weaver as she got up and went to prep for her speech. She was already liking this group, everyone seemed good of character. That was until a group of USS meatheads decided to annoy them. Turning her head, she studied the two, before they came closer, slowly getting up and position herself next to Val. Surprised by her blue comrades speed, she felt this situation turning worse. Putting a hand on his shoulder, Voice's gaze was almost menacing, analyzing the situation and smiling from her comrades sly remarks. It wasn't until the women started approaching her that it was almost as if a switch went off in her brain, her smile gone.

Walking up to the three, she stood unwavering "do you know how you get one of these cards?" she pulled up her shirt, flashing one of her two guns on the back of her hip in their hidden holsters "you kill a lot of people, or have your hand in a lot of USS Bullshit. But im assuming you know that, being USS of course" she picked up a bottle of spirits and held it out to the woman, bottom facing her "I also assume you know what its like to get your hand crushed and your have your bones splinter into a million pieces, yeah? I think a drink at the bar might not suffice Valhan, so you guys can take this bottle and be on your way. Unless there's a bigger issue here, in which case i'd love to be of assistance" she felt this could go one of two ways, either the gun flashing was enough for them to leave the group alone, or she pissed her off, so she held the bottle ready to break it off the woman's face if the situation chose the latter. She only prayed her companions were up to fighting in this situation, otherwise her superiors will crucify her for starting a fight by herself.

Jules gets up leaving his drink on the bar as he walks up to the men. " No we don't think I were better than you." He says but takes a step closer with a nasty glint in his eye. " We just don't want you to do something you'll regret and get hurt. " he says putting an emphasis on hurt. " Now if it's all a prank like you've been saying then we're cool I'm sure we can take a joke. " he said and held out his hand" so why don't we just shake and call it even. "

The Quirinian was shocked to see the three USS human offices approach their group and began to act mean to them without any reason. One of them even tapped on the glass as if trying to annoy Uruna. She was indeed getting annoyed but she wanted to wait first to see if they could explain why they were being so mean to them. Uruna inclined her head to the side as the trio spilled their story to them. They were goading and spiteful at first, but now they're more somber and heartbroken as the trio told the group about the horrors they have faced. The smallest of the three leaned his forehead against the glass instead of tapping it, and Uruna could perfectly hear the sadness from his voice.

Uruna placed her hand on the glass opposite where Frutz leaned his forehead, showing him how sorry she was. "I have seen so many faces etched with pain and suffering as a medic. While in training, it was important for us to go on field missions so we could experience treating the wounded first hand in the outside world. The experience was nothing compared to what they told us. The miasma of sickness and blood in the waters, the painful groans of the sick and wounded, the pale faces of those who abandoned hope and succumbed to the pain...

She paused for a bit and breathed deeply to relax herself. "Even saying it out loud made me remember all those horrible things. But we in the medicine field have become used to death. Not so much that we are numb to the pain and suffering of our patients, but that exposure helped us realize how truly ugly real life is. It has taught us to maintain our composure, keep our heads leveled, and focus on our tasks so we can concentrate on treating and healing our patients.

We medics promised to do whatever it takes to help them. There is no point in wallowing about the future as we all know pain, suffering, and death are inevitable. The best that we can do is to make the most out of what we have today. That's why we must make sure to do our best and complete our missions so all of us can come back to our homes safe and sound. We will mourn our departed and we will celebrate their legacy, while we should continue on living no matter what. As the saying goes: just keep swimming." Uruna said to the three members of the USS while giving them a sad smile, hoping her words would at least help them in their endeavors.

@Headhunter