Intergalactic Life: Among the Stars (IC)

[Rax Rosetta]

"If you would just let me live in the engine room like I have asked several times now, Boss, you'd have one more bed freed up for tag along folks and their ilk. And I won't blame others intentions, Boss, I'm blaming your womanizing ways. Again. Like a broken damned record at this point." Spanner wasn't seriously calling Dylan out, like it might have seemed to some people and assuming it would even phase the man. It wouldn't, not much he did seemed to ever have an effect, so he never gave it a serious attempt. Hence him just going on several comments farther than necessary if he was seriously on the kid's case. Spanner liked to say he was too old for this shit somedays, but he was only, by human standards, 31 years old. Still felt older than he had a normal right to be. Probably since his boss was almost half his age, couple years younger (or if he was a couple years older), it would indeed be the case. It was pretty much a moot point though, he was getting paid, staying well and clear of his old enemies, all was good in the universe for him in the grand scheme of things. Working through vacations or not he thought with an internal smirk. All in the name of giving the kid a hard time, that seemed to be a part time job for him at times. But it was neither here nor there, and he proceeded with things like nothing untoward happened.

Spanner chuckled thankfully since Doc didn't decide to harp on him for smoking. Yea, he knew it was going to probably be the death of him, no doubt about that, but it wasn't stopping him. He didn't ever expect to get old enough to worry about his lungs crapping out from smoking for it to phase him. After all, the kind of life he was living? No way in hell he would ever seriously be able to retire and live a long and happy life as a retired mechanic. His parents tried that, it didn't work. They were both dead and buried because of it. Well, he was going to be dead and unburied in the end, since he doubted anyone would have time enough to be able to bury him before escaping to wherever it might be. But the Doc's general idea of not smoking was considerate of her, so he usually didn't give her too much trouble whenever she started. Usually. He was hardly the most perfect person in this motley crew of misfits, criminals, and renegades. But, either way, he didn't have much else to say to Doc at the moment. So he would track her down if he got sick later, otherwise he might just harass her for his own amusement between maintenance periods. Beyond that, he made an offhand response to Dylan, taking a long drag and blowing the smoke into the air of the room they were talking in, the thickness was starting to get a bit more noticeable now that he had been smoking for some time.

"Whatever you need boss. Just give the word and we can leave, no problem."​

 

[Grothnor]

Gemma sighed. "I gotta get back to the mainframe. That last jump made a real mess of the place. Don't worry, everything's working fine, just all the improvements I promised a while back got trashed, so I gotta deal with that." She had no desire to leave the ship anyways, so she was lucky to have an excuse not to go. "If I get to work on inventory now, I can get a list of parts I need by the time we get there." Getting up, she returned to the mainframe core and began sifting through the parts, trying to sublimate her frustration.

 

[Roose Hurro]

Formal Greeting...



Yes, the sound Pico made was indeed laughter. Free, unhindered mirth. In some ways Pico shared a commonality with Drassil... a bit of insanity to go with his civility. Again, a wild animal deep within his Spirit. Physically evident in many cues. Most strongly in his amber-jade eyes. Pico had learned how to conduct himself through long practice, his parents' teachings... their Beliefs... giving him guidance, even among the stars. And yet, still, deep inside... a predator. Alien. Different. Far, far from home. Laughter... something he'd learned from the humans who had first "adopted" him oh so long ago. A way of release.

Yes...

... Pico felt that release, his laughter calmed. A few final twitches, a rub of primehands over muzzle as he lay on his side, then... Jinx. He didn't miss the meaning of her name. Didn't miss this commonality between him and her. His chosen name... a small value of capacitance. Her name... someone unlucky to have about. Oh, yes, how unusual, three beings with so much in common! All meeting in the here and now, lives entangled by Fate. Or quantum uncertainty. Pick whichever you believe. For Pico, this moment gelled his certainty. He did not ignore Jinx's offered hand, he simply used his grace and speed, rose to all sixes, then to twos, then...

... "Pleasure is mine." He stood there, eyes closed, ears and feelers back, so calm and still, perhaps it could be considered frightening. Especially with his clawed subhands oh so gently holding Jinx's offered hand against his muzzle's end, right over his nostrils. A very soft exhale into her palm... "My former employer suffered a change in management... new manager took one look at me, screamed like a little girl, nearly emptied his bowels... and so, here I am, all by my lonesome."

 

[Jakers]

Drassil watched and blinked as Pico began laughing. Whilst he would have found this funny initially, he was still somewhat cautious around the Deek. A small chuckle did come from Drassil's lips, though, and he loosened up a bit. Who was he kidding? This thing wouldn't really try anything funny. Slowly, Drassil holstered the gunblade behind his back, and shook his head whilst laughing. The comment about deep fried rat testicles dipped in Wasabi made Drassil feel a little bit more secure. He was mainly fox, so perhaps he was safe.

"If you wish, I can promise not to eat your manhood, either deliberately or by... accident."

"Hehe... HAHAHAHAHA! How the hell do you eat someone's balls by accident?! Ahahaha... whelp, so long as you can keep that promise, you and me are gonna be fiiiine." Drassil ended with quiet laughter again, no longer hiding behind Jinx. To be honest, Drassil didn't really want to think about this testicle-eating nonsense any longer, and was eager to change the subject as soon as Jinx got the flailing Pico back onto his feet. Drassil wasn't sure what Pico was doing with Jinx's hand, but whatever. There were a multitude of things he didn't understand about a dragon midget that ate deep-fried rat balls.

After listening to Pico's story, Drassil sniggered under his breath, his tail swishing behind him.

"Pfff... most people who don't travel nowadays get scared by just about anything! Although I can't fully blame that new manager... no offence." Drassil added, putting up his hands. Drassil's own past was a little... crazy... to say the least. Perhaps he wouldn't share it just yet. Drassil had also noticed other people in the space station were kind of staring at the trio, which was no big surprise.

Craning his head to check the arrivals section, Drassil let out a large groan.

"UGHHHHH. Still no interesting ships. I'm getting so bored over here I'm gonna DIE!" Drassil exclaimed, laying upside down on the bench. "You know, perhaps we should see if we can find some sort of poker joint around here somewhere... I'm pretty new to these space stations, you guys have any ideeaaass-?!" Drassil's voice wobbled as he almost fell into Jinx in an attempt to balance upside down on the bench.

Truth be told, Drassil was looking for a way to make some credits and satisfy his love of gambling. Scamming people out of money in poker or blackjack was easy, but this didn't exactly look like the place for it. A shame...

 

[mr_pibbs]

Dylan waited for everyone to answer his request, which seemed to be positive until Gemma blatantly said no. Frowning a little, Dylan knew she wanted to stay aboard the ship for as long as possible, but she still needed to get out at some point. "Well whatever, Gemma. Write a list of what you need and we'll see what's up. Want a pack of Milk Duds while mom and dad are out?" Dylan replied in a smart-ass tone before she walked away. Turning to the group, Dylan's eyes fell on Eigar and he asked "How about you, Eigar? Wanna be the muscle on a trip that really doesn't require having a 'muscle'? Maybe you can pick out a dæmon sized chair, since it seems like you need one."

Before Eigar could respond, a loud beeping sound emanated from the console and Dylan turned his chair back around. "Hey, we're here early!" he exclaimed in a cheerful voice before he gripped the controls. "Those who are coming with me to make the deal, get whatever you want to take down to the space station ready. Everyone else, try to clean this place if you can, especially if we pick up passengers. We shouldn't be down there for more then an hour or two." he explained before tilting the throttle down slightly, allowing for an easy descent and intercept with the KL-55 space station ahead of them. Once they had slowed down considerably, Dylan pointed the ship towards the closest docking bay and rotated the ship 90° so it was facing sideways. Tilting it's thrusters to the left under Dylan's command, the Moonage Daydream gently shifted into the docking bay as several metal arms connected with the hull, gently guiding the ship in the rest of the way. Once the arms had gripped the ship, Dylan grabbed the chest, climbed out of his chair and activated his mask, all while he walked through the main hallway. Meeting with the rest of the landing party, Dylan entered the passcode for the airlock and let it open, watching as the loading ramp proceeded the heavy metal doors.

"Welcome to KL-55, kids!" Dylan said, staring out at the city inside the station with a proud smile hidden underneath his mask. "So, we're looking for a man named Julius Fern waiting by the Galaxy Burger in the central sector. Shouldn't be more then a five minute trek, but after that we need to keep a close eye out for the dude dressed like a scholar. Stay together and don't get lost. But most of all, don't cause any trouble. We're here to make a deal, that's it. No fighting. Now c'mon, let's get going."

Stepping down the ramp, Dylan activated his helmet's communicator and made an announcement over the ship's P.A. system. "Nova here. We're just leaving, so somebody get on door-duty and make sure the Daydream's refuelled and all prettied up by the time we get back. If anyone comes by looking for a ride, make sure they can pay and have proof of it. We're not looking for freeloaders, so do a double check for stowaways before we take off. I'll keep you guys updated about the job and where we are."

 

[Daws Combine]

Izzy spotted the Daydream as it was coming in. She was almost in awe. It was deffinately a good ship that much was certain. What remained to be seen, however, was just how good it really was. Izzy's guess was 'very'. Her staring caught the eyes of several bystanders. Makelo were reknown with their skill in all things machine, so one's slack jawed staring was sure to attract others. Soon enough, a good portion of the hangar was watching the Daydream's entrance. Izzy was quick to realize this, and even quicker to take advantage.

She dashed through the crowd, running past, under, and in the case of a few drunken hobos, over whoever she could to get to the Daydream. The staring would make the crew either nervous or cautious. Neither one was good. Once she was close to the ship, she scooped up Dizzy and hid next to the doors. After the landing party disembarked she immediately dashed inside, hiding in the nearest corner she could. None of the boots on the ground looked small enough to get into the vents, so those were her best bet.

She made her way to the nearest vent cover she could, careful not to encounter any of the homebodies that may have stayed behind. She was an expert stowaway. It was her main method of travel. Once she reached her destination, she slipped a small screwdriver out of her sleeve and undid the vent cover, making sure to only loosen three bolts to make it look like wear and tear, not that that would be believed. They would find out that she was there, but they might not discover her exact location. If they did, she would just have to pray for mercy. Thank god these vents were spacious...

 

[BB-Bauers]

It looked like Pico was getting up again on his own, so Jinx was about to retract her hand -- but before she could, Pico had taken it gently in his little subclaws and was holding it up to his muzzle, gently breathing into her palm.

The whole thing was vaguely uncomfortable and perhaps a bit frightening, but Jinx decided to interpret this strangeness as flattering. After all, it must have been some kind of Deek greeting. Really, though, the thing that made Jinx most fidgety was the feeling of Pico's claws tapping against the cold metal of her hand, which she felt through the thin gloves she was wearing. He probably already knew she was a cyborg, as Deeks were a particularly receptive race. But if he didn't know before, he certainly did now.

Still, Jinx showed a friendly smile in return, as Pico didn't say anything about it. She understood well what Pico and Drassil meant about scaring people off; it didn't happen terribly often to Jinx, but she definitely had a few past incidences where such a thing was too familiar.

Meanwhile, Drassil was getting extremely antsy. Like a child that had been stuck in a spaceship for too long, he was laying in all sorts of positions and complaining about being bored with all the ships that were coming in. And all of a sudden -- he lost his balance.

Without even thinking, Jinx instinctively grabbed Drassil's legs as he almost fell into her. Peeking around the falling Tyuu, she glanced down at him and said, "Call me crazy, but something tells me you're not gonna die here." She laughed, letting go of his legs as she set him back down on the bench. "And unfortunately, I never quite caught on to gambling... Always kind of wish I had. It would probably make things a lot easier, but I don't exactly have the greatest luck."

Just then, Jinx noticed a strange group of people exiting their spaceship. It was quite the eclectic gathering of types, and Jinx was surprised. Not to mention, the ship they just came off of was quite nice looking. She turned back to Pico and Drassil with a curious eyebrow raised as the group was passing by. "Did you guys see that?"​

 

[Roose Hurro]

Interest Piqued...



Some kind of Deek greeting, yes... one reserved normally for siblings. Yet Pico was anything but normal for his kind. And his siblings were dead. With no family of his own kind, just as humans had adopted him, he adopted others. Parents... siblings... gone. No mate. No offspring of his own. His kind... yes, normally xenophobic to an extreme... yet highly gregarious. With none of his own kind to be gregarious with, with him being anything but xenophobic, his only means for company required him to be with others not of his species. To form the necessary connections with other living beings. Friendships, to keep the loneliness at bay.

Substitute siblings. Substitute family. Connections.......

So, Pico had just made a "connection" with Jinx. A form of promise. Touch her life with his, by letting her feel his breath... his life. His warm, soft-leather hide. Him, touching her metal with his own flesh, so he could feel her in return. Even if that part of her wasn't flesh and blood. Still, it was connected. All she had to give. Pico accepted that. Took in...

... Grrr... Drassil was being Drassil again. But Pico had laughed himself out for the day. Would get used to this Tyuu's antics. Adapt. Accept. Not yet sure how to approach this other male, especially with...

... "Thanks for puting away your weapon, Drassil..." Given his small size and sharp claws, he simply watched as Jinx broke contact and gave Drassil aid... "Given I'm entering rut, it's possible I might have interpreted that move as a challenge."

Indeed, Deeks were "particularly receptive"... Pico didn't make a habit out of not noticing what went on about him. Even though he seemed, more oft than not, focused on more immediate events. Would seem to be just one lone stranger in a crowd, going about his business... even if his business involved rolling around on the floor. Yes, he'd noticed the "hidden" weapon, that immediate event. But his ears and feelers had been busy multi-tasking, taking in other events round about. Including the arrival of a ship and the crowd it drew. And the beings that came out from that ship. So, when Jinx asked her question...

... "Yes... seen it." He gave her a grin, turned the grin on Drassil, subarms crossed over chest, primearms hanging by his sides. Him, standing more upright, like a meerkat on alert. Mane ruffled, ears and feelers up and a-twitch... "And yes, I have ideas......."


-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Grothnor]

The damage turned out to be far less severe than she anticipated, and mostly she spent her time sorting out messes of tangled wires. She passed the list of replacements needed to Dylan about 15 minutes before landing, giving her ample time to set up a e-scam. Once they got into transmission range of KL-55, Gemma cracked her knuckles and got to work.

First things first, she thought, Proxy servers. She started setting up the programs on the various network hubs, bouncing her signal several times before reaching whatever target she set her eyes on; it gave a split second of lag on her end, but anyone tracing her signal would have to wind their way through a labyrinth, alerting her every step of the way and giving her ample time to disconnect and cover her tracks. The hubs were public, so there was practically no security on them, if any.

Next she accessed the banks' networks, looking for the right one. After a few minutes, she found one: an Exchange-run bank. Suspicious private transactions were commonplace at these establishments and either were ignored or were actively erased from the record. The security was pretty standard for an Exchange establishment with a few twists from some local cyber-security expert: different, but easy enough to crack. Next she opened an account and turned to her next target.

The stores varied in security strengths, but what she was looking for were stores of a single type. Today I'll go with... food imports. She hacked into about a dozen stores that sold foodstuffs as she could and planted a clever little program in their servers. For each piece of food they purchased from G.L.I.P. Space, a small extra charge was added, labeled 'G.L.I.P. Tariff'. Nobody would suspect that the extra money they were paying wasn't actually a G.L.I.P. enforced tax; it was small enough that they would just grumble in annoyance and carry on, if they even noticed it at all.

Finally, she encoded instructions in all her programs to stop and automatically delete in one week. The account was set to transfer all its accumulated funds to a safety deposit box on Dręxēl after three days, then after four more, transfer the remaining to a specific account on Keppur-Zeta before getting deleted. Mom will probably appreciate that.

The whole process took only a few minutes; most of the programs she used were automatic, and mostly only needed targets and directions. The only things she had to do manually was hack into the bank and set up the first proxy server. By the time the ship had landed, the entire scheme was pretty much operating on its own, needing only minimal oversight. She gathered her gun box and her portable net-terminal and headed out to the cargo bay to watch for passengers and hopefully not crazy people. She arrived a few minutes after everyone else had disembarked, and failed to notice the loose vent. She did however spot a strange group of people eyeing the ship, including a woman, a small lizard-like alien and a cat-man. She watched them over the top of her Net-terminal, monitoring the progress of her e-scam simultaneously.

 

[RomanCat]

Theron grabbed his arm. That fight was a bit more brutal than anticipated, but when he saw Artemia he chuckled to himself and gave his sister a hug. She was reluctant to take it, but wasn't going to openly object. Theron pulled away from her then turned to Syril. "Well done, you can definitely hold your own in a fight." Theron said. "Thanks. A lot."

Artemia looked away when shown affection, and spotted the flashing blue and red lights. She prodded Theron, who turned to regard her. Artemia pointed outside. "Damn." Theron said. The siblings not only were broke and in no position to be arrested, but they were both previous criminals, something that they had both yet to amend for.

"When I got out of the storage room, I noticed a back door." Artemia motioned behind them.

Theron looked back to Syril. "I'm not sure what you're doing here, but we have to leave." Theron motioned to Artemia and himself. "I don't know about you, but we're heading to the hangars. You're more than welcome to join us. And I'll have to put your order for that machine on hold for awhile."

Artemia grabbed Therons arm and pulled him toward the door. Theron quickly followed and the two left out of the backdoor into the alley. Artemia looked right while Theron checked right. Gave the clear and the two moved through the alleys to find somewhere far from the store. Atleast they didn't get a picture of their face. Hopefully.

 

[Grimoire]

[fieldbox="Pascal Pendaris, turquoise, dashed, 10, courier new"]@commiepumpkin @Key Tuzi @DANAsaur
[bg=#404040]"Pascal my sweet, watch over the tavern for a bit, will you? Cammie and I have a long list of orders to fill tonight and I have yet to bother Crys about our stunning costumes for the upcoming festival. Maybe later I'll steal you away from all the noise to get your measurements taken~"

"Yes, of course." Her eyebrows then furrowed at the words "festival" and "costumes." "Mao..." Poe groaned softly but before she could protest any further the elf woman was taken aback as Mao sat on her lap like a playful kitten and planted a kiss on her cool forehead. Heterochromia eyes opened wide from surprise but mostly embarrassment. Quickly, her hand shot up and pretended to push up on her glasses just to avoid awkward eye contact from her behalf. However Poe's hand wasn't big enough to cover her entire face and so bright red cheeks had made it apparent that she was uncomfortable with being touched in an affectionate manner even from women...beautiful women. After all this time, Pascal should be used to Mao's mannerisms but she has yet to do so. The distraction soon faded as Mao gracefully slid off from her lap and walked her way towards the large staircase. "Mao!" she called after her but it wasn't loud enough to carry over and so the sound of her voice had drowned amongst the rowdy crowd within Comatose Keep. Soon after, Mao made her dramatic exit and disappeared to speak with Crystal.

Knowing Mao, she was going to request something alluring which was great for her but.... Pascal doesn't DO "sexy". Worst of all was that she had to perform in front of a large audience and that was not going to be good. Already in a state of a panic and worry, she rested her head on the bar table and rolled her forehead from side to side as she groaned in dramatic-anguish and gripped on the table hard with her hands. Poe could now feel herself hyperventilating at the mere thought of standing in front of them all. There was no way that she was going to be able to get out of that performance, especially when Camrian asked her to do it. It was a tradition that the leader and her seconds participate in the grand festival plus all of Kalt was expecting them to perform. The flustered scholar tried her best to quiet her nerves by closing her eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly through pursed lips. "Serianna, help me..." she murmured under her breath in a desperate tone and then sat back up straight at the sound of Skylan's voice which she had completely forgotten about.

"My apologies, Lady Pen. I fear the purity of this beverage has been wasted on sour words. One moment."

"It's alright, Skylan" she said tiredly.

Luckily, Skylan was there to save the day with a hot mug of tea. The platinum blonde elf showed her gratitude by smiling weakly at him. Cold fingers grabbed hold of the mug and slowly slid it towards her miserable self. She blew on it twice and then took a sip. The heat from the tea warmed her body as it slid down her throat and for a brief moment had managed to forget about that scary scenario.

Pascal took another sip before answering him and smiled with her eyes as she looked at him. "I will continue to occupy myself so I won't have to think about that dreaded festival performance...I get nervous just thinking about it," she finished off with one hand holding her mug and the other tiredly rubbing on her temple. "Although, I should sleep," she sighed and set her mug down, "I've had a long day." The more tired that she was the easily flustered and worried she would get, "but I do have some new projects I need to work on..." her voice trailed off as Mao's voice filled her ears. Crystal had then appeared at the bar and shortly after Thomas, as well.

"Hello hello, I'm here to ruin everybody's fun by insisting that the costumes can't make us flash the audience, borderline or otherwise, regardless of whatever Mao may or may not have insisted was ok."
"And before you inevitably tell me that that is exactly what she told you to design, I'm going to need Skylan to boil me a pot of that black tea I had imported last week, please and thank you."

"Thomas, you know I whole heartedly concur with your suggestion..." she then grabbed hold of her tea again which was like her security blanket, "I really am not looking forward to the festival's performance," she sighed to herself and drank her sorrows away with more tea.

She then turned to Crystal, "so what did Mao have in mind for our costumes this year?" she asked.

[/bg][/fieldbox]

 

[DoomyCakez]

Casspian was surprisingly muted as the Daydream docked in the station's portal, tilting gracefully with the ship as it came to a silent halt in it's place. He had never been to this station before, and the natural curiosity built into his programming was virtually radiating off of him.

As Nova relayed the plan, putting that odd mask atop his head, Casspian forgot that humans cannot just tap into P.A systems with their own communicators...or that they did not even have communicators. He only blinked, watching silently and falling in line just behind Nova's left shoulder. He reframed from switching to battle mode, but he was slightly on edge. New city and huge amounts of people, the possibility of bugulars, thieves, murderers, thugs, gangs, etc. Casspian felt he would have to be especially watchful, as to keep his small group from any danger.

As Nova stepped down onto the ramp, Casspian followed close behind; however, his concentration dampered slightly as he stared momentarily wide eyed at the massive buildings and flashing lights...He felt as if his senses were being momentarily overstimulated as his A.I. took in all the new information around him.

Sadly, Casspian stood out like a sore thumb, with his crisp white nano armor, nearly silver skin, and steely blue stare. It was only natural that he was pulling attention from passersby, who would either stare at him quizzically, or just gawk at him with wide eyes. New technology coming into an aging city...maybe he SHOULD have stayed on the ship.

No matter, Casspian was too fascinated with all of the happening of the city. He glanced to Nova as he relayed more orders: look out for the man dressed as a scholar. Casspian noted that, a small smile coming to his face as he continued to scan the massive crowd.

"I wonder how many you humans managed to shove onto this station...rather efficient."

As Nova demanded no fighting, Casspian could not help but feel as though that was more directed towards him than anyone else. It was true that he was edgy from the large crowd...but he was going to keep with captain's custom...Until provoked.

They were going to head to galaxy burger, a 5 minute trek. Casspian was already setting the coordinates into his GPS system, selecting the fastest route through the crowd and to their destination.

As the Captain demanded no stowaways, Casspian only nodded, eyes falling on a few bums making their way towards the new ship. Casspian's stared turned to that of a minor glare, his nano suit glowing slightly as he started to arm himself; however, he was quick to stop himself, halting his transformation when he remembered Captain's orders...This trip was going to be rather frustrating if Nova was going to keep him from doing his job.

He returned to scanning the crowd, eyes falling on an odd group not far from the ship's post...what looked to be composed of 3 completely different species. The first was a human...at least by the looks of it; however, one could never be certain. The second was a Tyuu, orange furred and slightly cat-like, causing Casspian to oogle for more than a few moments. Tearing his gaze away, his looked to the 3rd creator and smallest of the group. Casspian had never seen on in person, but his A.I was relaying that it was something along the lines of a Deek. Casspian was fascinated, only stating at the conversing group in mild wonder, confused when the Tyuu yelled something along the lines of
"accidentally eating balls."

"Odd creatures..." Casspian only stared for a moment more, looking away to follow behind Nova as he stepped off.
​

 

[RomanCat]

@Grothnor @Grimoire
"WE MADE A DEAL! YOU OWE ME A DAMN SLURPEE MACHINE!..." Syril said.

Theron took a step back, and kept his hands in the air. He didn't want to start a fight with her, it was pretty obvious to him that that wasn't the best idea after taking that things arm off with a metal disc. She walked past him and began to leave. "I'm sorry, but this isn't the best time to buy you 250 pound machine." It was clear however that Syril wasn't listening. Theron followed her out the back door.

Theron didn't keep up with Syril, thinking it best to let her calm down on her own. He knew she was probably headed to the hangars, and that's where they needed to go as well."Theron, give me your jacket." Artemia had blood splashed across her shirt. Theron nodded and took off his energy absorption jacket and handed it to his sister, who took off her backpack then promptly put the jacket on.

The alley exited nearby, a restaurant aptly named galaxy burger. Theron leaned out around the corner, checking for police. He didn't see any, just lots of people. He walked out casually trying to mask his injured arm, Artemia kept her eyes low, the jacket zipped up to hide the blood.

They walked toward the hanger, passing a strange group clearly with a purpose. The two walked passed, paying no attention.

They reached the Hanger, dozens of ships flying in and out. Artemia noticed Syril, talking to a crew member of the ship she was stationed. Theron didn't want to interact with Syril again so soon, but the ship did look like it wasn't staying for long.

"What about two more?" Theron said, approaching the two. "What do you need? My sister here is an excellent pilot." Theron pointed to Syril. "And she is a good fighter. I promise we'll pull our weight, wherever you need us."

 

[BB-Bauers]

Out of the several people in the interesting group leaving their ship, there was one in particular that caught Jinx's eye. He was clearly an android of sorts with his silver, nearly shining skin and electric blue eyes. Jinx was fascinated by him, mostly because he looked so... human. She'd never seen such advanced technology before, and it was startling to see in a form that looked so personable. It made her wonder how different she would have turned out had her operation been done even just 5 years later than it actually was. Technology seemed to be changing even more quickly than ever now, and Jinx began to wonder if there would ever be a day where she was mistaken for an android rather than a regular human.

When Pico said he had also noticed the group, and that he "had ideas", Jinx was both nervous and exhilarated. Mostly, she didn't know what the Deek meant by "ideas," and she hoped it wasn't anything she had to be concerned about. But she was also excited because it felt like she had finally made some new friends and they were going to investigate something together -- as childish as it seemed, the idea of partaking in adventure with others was thrilling for Jinx, as she only ever really got inklings of that feeling when she read books as a kid.

Her face lit up with these thoughts as she looked back to Pico. "What exactly did you have in mind?" She inquired. At that moment, Jinx noticed the person sitting outside the interesting ship, using a net terminal as she guarded the entrance. She was approached by a group of three more people, and as the group conversed, Jinx got to feeling a bit antsy. If they didn't act quickly, this ship might fill up and take off before they could do anything.

@Roose Hurro
@Jakers​

 

[Jakers]

Drassil turned his head in the blink of an eye at Jinx's mention of something interesting, trying his best to ignore the creepy fact that Pico had known about the weapon behind his back earlier. Scrambling onto his feet from where Jinx had set him down laughing, Drassil decided to have a glance at this ship... it'd be probably be something mildly interesting, but hey, better than nothing.

As Drassil looked at the ship, his jaw dropped as if he'd seen a beautiful lady, and his tail stopped swishing in awe. No way. This wasn't just any fricking ship - not even just a nice ship. When it came to spaceships, Drassil was somewhat picky - and when it came to knowing types of ships and their lore, he was more than an adept. As if in a trance, Drassil ever-so-slowly and silently walked towards the ship to get a closer look, rubbing his eyes as if it were a dream. He barely even payed attention to any of the crew, because... because... he never thought he'd see it. An actual, interesting ship that wasn't mildly interesting... it was something to actually gawk about.

"Holy... crap..." Drassil breathed at last, before turning to the others and pointing to the ship with a huge grin, as if it were made of diamond or something.

"Do you know what that is?! This ain't just any old ship! And it isn't one of those pompous over-customized modern ships either! This is... this is..." Drassil took a moment to breathe, wiping his mouth before continuing. He was sure to stop himself from shouting too loudly, but this ship was in the sort of style that Drassil loved. And there weren't many ships that Drassil truly appreciated.

"A Hawk Cruiser... series..." Drassil studied the ship closely. "3, by the looks. A real classic beauty, they don't even make these anymore! And not only that... but look - they added freaking rocket launchers to it!" By this point Drassil was hyperventilating, and he turned to Jinx and Pico. That little devil better have something good planned, because you don't get on a ship like this easily; it didn't look like they were looking for crew members. And... judging by the crew Drassil could see getting off, they had a robot with them. Robots were usually dangerous, even if that one looked remarkably realistic... there was some kind of teenage human with them, but he surely couldn't be the captain. Drassil wondered what the captain of that fine ship actually looked like.

"Okay Pico, hit us with those ideas of yours. Because HOT DAMN! Whoever owns this ship has taste. They've turned an already great civilian ship into something better... that's something I neeeed in my life! So much to customize... you could add cloaking systems, more rocket launchers, freakin' drones, a RTU92 Plasma Cann-" Drassil realised he was going overboard, but he'd never been more eager to board a ship... like... ever. Unless something like a WingBeat TPM Mark 4 would show up out of nowhere after this.

 

[four]

"Welcome to KL-55, kids"

Space Station KL-55.

The air inside the space station was surprisingly pleasant. Not entirely like the air at home that she much missed- there was, after all, discrepancies between what each species breathed, but it was comfortably cool, yet quite saturated in moisture.

The city that stood in front of them was similarly saturated with the sounds of thousands of people each going about their own business.

"Dude dressed like a scholar, eh." She remarked. The last syllable was stressed not because she was trying to emphasize how vague a description that was in comparison to the haystack of a crowd in the station, but also because she was having a little trouble stepping off the ship carrying a large, long metal case that contained much of her equipment.

She made something of a jog to place herself near the middle of the little batch that was the landing crew, led by the captain.

A few years back, the first few days she was part of the crew, she had a fair amount of trouble remembering to consider the circumstances before determining whether to refer to the captain as "Dyl" or as "Nova". Later on, though, she developed the practice of calling the captain Dylan, and calling the funny helmet Nova; and she had only to remember to speak to the helmet instead whenever they weren't aboard the ship.

"Odd creatures..."

Odd creatures indeed, she thought. There must be at least a dozen different species on those streets, and many times more if you counted variations. Although that's quite the mundane case ever since she took up travelling, she still finds it very hard to resist getting too excited in a scene like this.

"Odd, but - fascinating as well."

Then something caught her eye.

Emily trotted quickly over to the android, nearly knocking herself over with the inertia of the case she was carrying. She stepped sideways to keep up with the group's movement forward as she placed a hand on Casspian's shoulder and shoved her face near his ear:

"Cassie, can you please do me a favour -"

She said, her syllables hardly forming coherently separated words anymore due to the pauses between them being removed for her to get the polite prefix of her request over with as swiftly as possible:

" - and take a look at the lady over there."

By the way the girl was moving her fingers around, this was at the very least an outstandingly excellent case of limb reconstruction - and she didn't want to imagine the best case because she wanted to be excited over getting news that was better than she expected. And so - while feeling a bit guilty of it just having brought up a related complaint earlier on the ship - by "taking a look", Emily meant actually for Casspian to carry out as detailed of a scan as possible while she attempted to appear inconspicuous by resuming walking forward at a normal case while keeping the frequent glances towards her left as infrequent as possible.

 

[Roose Hurro]

What To Do...



Pico's ears had picked up the distant sound of sirens, then noted the approach of first one then two more beings, humanoid. These being closer, his large ears turned and alert, he had no trouble picking up conversation... noting the clues of "pursuit" that tingled his predatory senses. Body English, crisp and clear. At Jinx's question... at Drassil's effusive "explosion" on sight of this new ship... Pico could only grin. Well, not only grin. Drool a little, perhaps, his own curiosity towards ship and crew like a hunger. Because, like Drassil, he'd noted the age and the mods and all those little tech details that gave every ship its personality. Patina. Purpose. He liked what he was seeing. His first idea? Very simple...

... "Easy... walk over, threaten to eat their genitals if they don't allow us aboard."

With that, he flashed a grin filled with sharp teeth, and then made that proverbial "bee-line" towards this new ship's crew, his focus to intercept the one most of interest... the android. Yes, that would be the one to keep eye on, his instincts whispered. Decision made, hormones flared... a quick rub of itching primearm wrists against thighs before toeclaws started clicking away...

... "Try to avoid stepping on my tail......."

Perhaps... perhaps Jinx and Drassil wouldn't take Pico's "threat" as serious. But then...?

 

[BB-Bauers]

Drassil was freakin' out at the sight of the ship. Quite literally. Jinx thought his eyes were going to bug out of his head as he just kept going on and on about the magnificent spacecraft that sat before them, in all its glory. Jinx just nodded along slowly -- she was listening, and she was glad to see this genuine side of Drassil (not many people were so straight forward in sharing their passions), but most of it flew right over her head. She didn't see how he could tell what the ship did and didn't have just by looking. But of course, Jinx didn't know much about the ships she boarded. As long as they worked, that was all she ever cared about in the past.

She wondered if it would be best to approach the group that seemed to be conversing outside the ship. The one with the net terminal seemed like she was a part of the crew and was perhaps deciding who could and couldn't board. And in terms of payment, the gems weighing down Jinx's trench coat pocket were probably worth enough to cover a ride for three people if necessary -- well, two and a half, considering Pico's relative size.

But Pico had other ideas. He wanted to intercept the other group that was just passing by and get directly to the source. After some snide comment about threatening to eat their genitals, Pico was suddenly off, hunting down the group quite similarly to the way he had "hunted down" Jinx and Drassil earlier.

"What?? Pico -- wait!" Jinx hissed after him, trying to keep her voice down. As she glanced up, she noticed a blue-hued girl that kept casting sidewards glances at her, and Jinx was suddenly a bit self-conscious. She wasn't sure what those glances were for; she could only hope they didn't mean anything negative. Still, Pico was in the zone and continuing on his way, planning to intercept the group.

Although it was clear from earlier that Pico did indeed have a sense of humor, it was unclear whether his statement about threatening to eat genitals was intended to be a joke or not. Jinx bit her lip in a moment of hesitation, but she couldn't just let Pico go off by himself. In a panicked yet decisive moment, she rushed after the Deek, expecting that she may have to clean up some messes if 1) he actually did threaten anything, or 2) this group wasn't as friendly as she hoped. "Pico! Wait up...!" Jinx glanced back over her shoulder at the still-oggling Drassil, hoping that he would notice they were moving and keep up with them.​

 

[DoomyCakez]

@Thurrbo @four

Casspian had only managed a few steps before he felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn rather defensively, his arm automatically switching to battle mode as his Gama blaster came into view. It had only taken a few moments, the blue lines of his white nano-suit suddenly glowing with the same intensity radiating from his electric stare as his left hand balled into a fist and virtually came apart, reassembling at his forearm and leaving a large, glowing barrel of silver, white, and blue...The smallest hum radiated from it...an eerie noise that to most would be the last they would hear. The transformation had happened so quickly, that not even Casspian fullest noticed, his reflexes and nerves causing this reaction; however, he visibly calmed upon seeing Emily's face, his serious expression faltering and once again melting to that same, polite smile.

"My apologies, Emily. I believe you startled me." That was the most human response he could think of, his blaster deconstructing and reforming once more to his graceful hand. He flexed his fingers for a moment, adjusting a few of the mechanical joints as he listened intently to Emily's request. She wished for him to look at someone? His gaze automatically followed hers, landing on the small group he had seen only moments before. It seemed as if they were making their way towards the ship, the odd little Deek leading the procession with an odd amount of hostility. Casspian felt himself wishing to go back in case there was any sign of an altercation; however, with the current mission, he saw it rather unfit to. Casspian believed his loyalty belonged more so to the captain that to the other members of the crew, ONLY because Casspian felt that the members left behind were more inclined to fend for themselves. Nova was the fleshiest of the crew, despite the fighting training and his guns...Casspian still felt him to be the one to protect...maybe from the idea that "If the Captain goes down, the whole crew goes down."

Casspian decided not to dwell on it, putting his trust upon Gemma and Eigar to protect the ship to their best abilities...Casspian did put a tab on it, however, knowing that if anything were to happen, he would return within moments and deal with it. He returned his gaze to the human girl, finding Emily's sudden interest in her to be an oddity; however, he complied with her request, switching his vision to his scanners and gazing over her form.

What he found was something of complete interest. While using his scanners, all weapons and metal items usually showed up on his screen as red; however, upon scanning the girl, Casspian found that from the neck down, she was completely red...what looked to be a weaker version of the vibranium that made up his entire form. He continued to stare, momentarily dumbfounded upon his find; however, he halted his gaze upon seeing her turn towards them. Casspian was unsure whether he should feel embarrassment or not, his scanners continuing to gaze over her form as he noticed a few blue objects underneath the fabric of her pocket. Gems. They usually showed blue upon his screen and Casspian was unsure whether or not they belonged to her - by the look of her attire, he made a guess that they did not; however, that was not his place to suggest.

"She is a cyborg." Casspian relayed rather emotionlessly, almost forgetting himself as his eyes remained narrowed on the objects in her pocket. "It seems that from the neck down, her body is composed of the same metal alloy that I am composed of...as well as some of the objects on the ship; however, her seems slightly primitive, although not detracting from the overall marvel of it. I believe you would have more knowledge of how she could exist that I, Emily...although...I believe her fists seems to be some sort of weapon..." It was rather amazing that all of that could be read from a single glance; however, his explanation leaved much to the imagination.

He waited a few moments before he tuned back in, blinking as his scanners switched off and his gaze returned once more to Emily, the same small smile working its way onto his surprisingly handsome face. "I believe you will be able to ask more of her condition, Doctor...for it seems that she, as well as her small group is moving towards the ship..." Casspian did not wish to dwell much more on the possible new crew members. He wanted to stay focused on the task at hand: getting the crate to their customer; however, he was now finding his mind constantly wandering to that odd rarity, the cyborg girl....He had never seems someone who was almost all mechanical, yet still remained to have remnants of the human form...the best of both worlds, Casspian supposed and he could not stop the mild twinge of discomfort and jealousy that somehow managed to rise, artificial, in his power cell compartment. It was still glowing, his initial startle causing him to remain on guard in case he would have to switch fully to battle mode....He was not much liking that hostile Deek either...2 feet tall or not...he knew they were a rather rambuncious race.
​

 

[Jakers]

Soon enough, Drassil stopped his staring at the ship, pushing the exciting thoughts of 'MORE ROCKET LAUNCHERS' out of his mind. At Pico's suggestion to threaten to eat their genitals, Drassil snorted with humour. Although it was a funny comment, Drassil wondered what Pico's actual plan was going to be to get on board the ship.

Drassil knew by now that it was harder to get into the ship than going 'Hi! I'm a great a tinkerer! Hire me please!', because this universe was filled with 'great tinkerer's, and although Drassil didn't like to think about it, there were in fact better tinkerers and mechanics out there, even if he could whip up something like a plasma grenade a minute or two.

Sneaking on board the ship as a stowaway was a simply terrible idea that was... terrible. The tiny Pico might have stood a chance, but for Drassil and Jinx, it would basically be suicide. Stowaways were always a thing to be checked up on: especially after leaving a space station. Back in the day when he used to be a mechanic on a ship, there were at least one or two stowaways after each spaceport visit. But who could blame them, the ship he used to work on was an awesome make. They got thrown out the airlock by the captain nonetheless.

As if parting from a lover, Drassil sighed remorsefully and turned away from the ship, realising the others were quite far ahead already. Thankfully for Drassil, Tyuu were quite light on their feet, and Drassil managed to keep up with two. Privately, Drassil shot a look to Jinx as if to say: 'I really hope he knows what he's doing'.
"So then, lil' Pico, whatcha got in mind? If it involves sneaking or stealing, as much as I really really REALLY want in on that ship... my pirating days are long-gone, hehehe." Drassil explained. Well... he'd only stole a two-man ship one time, and crashed that anyway. So he wasn't much of a pirate. It made him sound kind of cool, though.

As he followed, Drassil whispered in Jinx's ear.
"He wasn't serious about the ball-eating thing... right...?" He muttered urgently. He wasn't going to threaten to eat someone's balls to get on even that beauty of a ship. Then again, rocket launchers- NO! Nope, not doing it. Drassil then remembered that Pico could probably hear his whispering anyway, so he wasn't sure why he bothered. Those feelers... always sensing, always watching.

Damn it! In the commotion, Drassil had lost track of whoever the crew members were. He did recall a young human male (probably a whelp of the crew, or something) accompanied by a modernized android - dripping with juicy, custom parts no doubt. Space stations were pretty crowded places, and he'd spent most of his observation time drooling at the ship. One thing was currently on his mind: getting on that ship. Or at least being able to touch it...