Intergalactic Life: Among the Stars (IC)

[mr_pibbs]

Intergalactic Life: Among the Stars

OoC

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Planet Harridan, Poosh System

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​

"And that, is why you don't get caught in the Nova..." whispered Dylan Robertson, also known as "The Nova". Staring down at the recently deceased body of a Harridan Apiit, a carnivorous creature that was large enough to swallow an entire human being whole, Dylan sighed with relief at having survived the encounter. Luckily for him, the Apiit's had not developed tougher, blaster-resistant skin, so he was able to kill it quickly and efficiently. The only problem was, the animal was about 5x faster then an average human being, so having jet-boots really helped out in that situation. The Apiit had chased Dylan for the past four minutes before he managed to get a clear shot, taking it down quickly.

((Note: His "no killing" rule only applies to sentient beings, not beasts/robots)).

But as the words came out of his mouth, Dylan realized just how stupid they sounded. "Okay, note to self: Come up with a better catchphrase. That one was absolutely terrible..." he grumbled, walking away from the deceased creature just as a herd of wild Womprats ran over to the carcass and began to eat. Sick little creatures. As he turned his back to the body, Dylan ran a hand through his hair and moved towards the large and crumbling structure he was originally headed for (before the Apiit began chasing him). He was only a mile away, so he decided to walk back over to the ruins. However, a staticky noise suddenly echoed from his belt, forcing Dylan to raise an eyebrow curiously. He grabbed the small communicator from his belt and held it up to his lips and held down the "talk" button. "Yo, Nova here."

"BZTZZZZT-Sounds ra-BYYYZZZT-Angr-BZZZZZYYT"

"Didn't copy that, Casspian. Say it again?"

"I said, are you alright Nova? Have you come to terms that your decision to go out alone was... stupid to say the least? Don't worry, I can wait."

"First off, yes, I'm alright. Just got a bit close to a Harridan Apiit. It's dead now. Secondly, no, it wasn't stupid. Harridan hasn't been populated by any sentient lifeforms for over 200 years, so I doubted anything other than a hungry animal might pose a threat. I'm almost at the city, so j-"

"Wait, you almost got eaten?!"

"I didn't 'almost get eaten', Gemma. I had to out-maneuver it, but I killed the Apiit before it had a chance to eat me. Why, think that you'd miss my rugged good looks?"

"No, worried I'd have to cook for myself."

"Oh come on, admit it. You'd miss me if I was eaten."

"For about a week before we replaced you with a cat."

"We are getting a cat?"

"Nobody's getting a cat, Casspian."

"Awww..."

"You said you killed it before it ate you, right? Did it happen to-"

"No Gemma, it didn't eat my iPod."

"Damn."

"Sorry, beautiful. No such luck. You and the rest of the crew are stuck listening to my excellent taste in music."

Hearing nothing but complete silence after his reply, Dylan figured that both of his ship-mates had hung up. Letting go of the talk button and switching the power off, Dylan clipped the device back onto his belt. During the short time he had spoke to his ship-mates, Dylan had reached the gates of the ancient ruins. The City of Trenzalor. The last recorded home to the Gorrna civilization before they mysteriously disappeared from the face of the Universe. Nobody knows where they went, but they certainly left behind a lot of ruined cities... and valuable items. Items that people were willing to pay a lot of Galactic Credits ((the RP's main currency)) for. That's the whole reason they were out here: a quick and easy profit. In fact, the buyer who requested they locate an artifact from the Gorrna culture was a museum curator on Raxxus Prime. The museum was going to study the artifact and have it on display, which meant that selling it to them was better than selling the artifact to a collector, where it would just gather dust on a shelf.

Entering through the wide-open doors of the city, Dylan stared at the fascinating ancient ruins. The buildings were crumbling, but the architecture that remained was still incredible to behold. At the furthest point in the city, Dylan saw a collapsed temple; his final destination. Knowing that there was still a bit of walking to do and seeing as how he turned off his communicator earlier, Dylan was left with one alternative way to pass the time.

Quietly, Dylan reached into the front right pocket of his jeans and pulled out a pair of thin black headphones. Without waiting, Dylan slowly put them into his ears, making sure they were in there nicely and wouldn't fall out as he walked. Next, he got out his iPod and selected a random song from a playlist called "Nova's Awesome Tunes". Then, he hit the play button.

After 3 minutes and 26 seconds...​

Finishing his little dance as he entered the temple and "Come and Get Your Love" ended, Dylan pressed the pause button and approached the broken casing before him, containing a medium sized chest made completely out of chrome. The chrome casing was rusted and falling apart, but somehow it still retained it's natural sheen. Grabbing his communicator, Dylan held it up to his lips and said "Alright guys, I've got the chest. I'll be at the ship in a minute." He quickly tucked the communicator back onto his belt and grabbed the chest from its pedestal. That was a little too easy, but than again, the odds of discovering an "Indiana Jones"-esque trap were 99.9 to 0.01 (as indicated by Casspian). With the chest in hand, Dylan made his way out of the temple and the city, being careful about the pit of Ruena Slugs he had jumped over on his way to the temple. Once had cleared the pit, Dylan kicked his boots into overdrive so he could get to his pod faster. The Moonage Daydream, his beloved spaceship, was orbiting the planet so they could easily pop down to the surface, finish the job, and then leave, so Dylan had taken one of the exploration pods down to the planet's surface. Once he reached the exploration pod, Dylan deactivated his jet boots and climbed into the small pod. Moving to the cockpit and taking off, Dylan thought he was in the clear... That is, until the little radar on the control board indicated that something was out there. But that was just it picking up the Daydream... Nobody else was here except for the crew, right? Wrong. Quickly looking at the radar to confirm his suspicions, Dylan realized that the image on it was not of the Moonage Daydream, but of a Scavenger Droid Ship, which had apparently entered the planets atmosphere as he reached his pod. He heavily suspected that they were here for the chest like he was, which was only confirmed after he noticed the ship's flight path suddenly make a 90° u-turn and begin charging straight for him. "Oh hell." Dylan mumbled before activating his pod's communications link with the Daydream. "Hey, guys? Start the ship's engines and get ready for an immediate evac... We've got Scouters. Must've followed us from Fren. I don't think they're ar-" Dylan's words were suddenly cut off by a loud explosion close to his pod, which left behind the trails of a photon torpedo. "Scratch that, they're armed and dangerous! I'm almost at the ship, make sure it's ready by the time I reach it. I'm gonna try to throw them off."

Suddenly making a barrel roll, Dylan swerved hard to the right and tried to confuse the ship behind him, which followed blindly. Stupid droids. They were obviously programmed to have no idea of safety or common sense, so this was going to be fun. The ship continued to follow, firing the occasional torpedo that always managed to miss, thanks to Dylan's flying skills. Flipping switches and pressing buttons on the control board, Dylan tried to get the pod to fly faster, but he was already at the limit. Another torpedo was fired, this one exploding ridiculously close to Dylan's pod while the explosion violently rocked his ship. "Oh, so you wanna play like that, do you?" Dylan exclaimed to no one in particular (but was directed at the other ship) before he suddenly pulled the ship into a straight upwards climb. The other ship did the same, following closely behind Dylan. Once he reached a certain altitude, just breaking through the atmosphere, Dylan cut off the engines and let the pod plummet, turning it around so he faced the droid ship while he fell. Before the droids could even fire again, Dylan activated the ship's sonic-grenade and fired one of the devices at the ship. Once it impacted, the droid ship suddenly stalled. The sonic grenade was making every electronic device malfunction by creating a small, high-pitched sound. It halted any and all electric systems for up to five minutes, which was just enough time to get back to the ship.

Quickly reactivating the engines and firing them at maximum thrust, Dylan managed to stop the pod's descent just before it hit the droid ship. After that, he pointed the pod in the direction of the Daydream and activated the emergency thrusters, speeding off before the droid ship had a chance to recover.

Once he had reached the Moonage Daydream, Dylan maneuvered the pod into it's proper place inside the top side of the cargo hull and exited the craft, keeping a firm hold on the chest he had recovered from the planet. Making his way along the upper railing ladder out of the cargo hull, Dylan dashed down the main hallway, calling out "Strap down people, we're expecting company!" through every door and room he could access while running through the hall. Within minutes of departing the pod, Dylan had crossed from the very back of the ship to the front and was now inside the cockpit. Pulling up a seat by the controls, Dylan flipped the engines on at maximum and powered up the shields just in case the droids came back early. Activating the P.A. system, Dylan clearly said "Alright everyone, strap yourselves in. I'm taking us out with a star drive power of 4." ((since light speed is impossible, the "star drive" system is basically like a high powered jet engine. Each factor on a scale of 1-6 ranks at a different speed, with 1 being the lowest and 6 being the fastest. It's the best way for speeding across the galaxy, in this universe)).

Once everything was all powered up and ready (thanks to his teammates preparation work while he was evading the droids), Dylan grabbed hold of the steering handles and pushed them forwards, forcing the ship to fly. From there, he adjusted the star-drive switch on the control board to setting 4 and pushed the button just below it. By now, the droid ships had managed to exit the planets atmosphere and was about to give chase, but all they could do was watch as the blur of a larger ship sped away quickly, leaving behind nothing but a trail of yellow star-drive energy.

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((Post Statement: to anyone who's character might be getting a snack, here's the dining area

and here's what the bedrooms/bunks look like without any personal items added to them)).

 

[Jakers]

Drassil​

"WHOOOOO-HAAAA! THAT! WAS! GREEAA...A... t..."

Drassil paused. After a few moments of processing the situation around him, he'd come to one solid conclusion: he'd fucked up.

Not only had he crashed his one working ship, but he'd crashed it right into a space station. Thankfully, he hadn't been going fast enough to blow up the place or anything like that - in fact, he'd barely left a dent on the space station, he hadn't been going fast at all. His one-man cruiser, craftily nicknamed the 'Shitbox 3000', wasn't anything special. It was a tiny ship that was barely capable of doing anything; it wasn't even armed, for God's sake. However, Drassil still had one big problem.

He was floating around in space.

"Well, shit." Drassil hissed under his teeth as he realised what the hell he'd done. He knew he shouldn't have tried to do that barrel roll whilst playing on his portable console, and now the SB-3000 was nothing but a few pieces of floating, meaningless scrap. Thankfully, he'd been wearing his power suit - which not only had allowed him to survive the impact of the crash, but it also allowed him to float in space whilst being able to breathe, and without his head exploding... or whatever happened to you in space. Either way, Drassil knew he was one lucky bastard. Luckily, his genius design was so that in the likely event of an explosion, and ejector seat whisked Drassil out of the ship once it detected a sudden impact before he'd be caught into a fiery blaze. His arms and legs still hurt, but hey, they weren't broken. Epic win.

"Whelp - nice knowing ya', SB-3000. But now, onto more important matters, such as, getting into that God-damned space station!" Drassil shouted inside his space helmet to the pieces of alloy wreckage that were floating away into the infinite. Of course, nobody could hear him out here in space, but talking to himself/inanimate objects was a thing Drassil had gotten used to after years of flying solo. Sure, he'd had some great banter with a few fellow travellers, but ever since he went off to do his own thing at around 18, he'd kinda been a lone wolf.

First thing was first - initate the convinient thrusters on the boots of his power suit. Praying that these would actually work so that he'd have some control as to where he was going rather than floating aimlessly, Drassil steadily pressed the green button on the centre of his glove, and, to his delighted laughter, it actually worked!

Ha! Idiot, they called him! Insane, they called him! After a while of fiddling with the controls and getting used to the speed of the boots, Drassil finally got used to the equipment, cruising towards the space station with a steady green glow emitting from his feet. He never thought he'd be doing this, but hot damn it was fun! Perhaps he should do this more often; it sure beat listening to crappy intergalactic radio or listening to the trashy albums of the 'Killex', or whatever that noisemaker was called.

"HEYYYY! OPEN UUUUP! IT KINDA SUCKS OUT HERE." Drassil screamed into the emergency airlock intercom of the 'KL-55 space station'. The airlock was usually for getting rid of waste through the world's biggest rubbish dump: space. Through an airtight window, a male human, dressed in a bland grey work uniform, watched Drassil with a dumbfounded expression. He clearly hadn't seen a Tyuu in space before - no matter. After a while, the emergency airlock finally opened, allowing Drassil access to the spacestation at last.

Switching off his boots and removing his helmet once the airlock protocol was complete, Drassil wobbled a little as he got used to gravity once more. Afterwards, he gave a wide grin to the man that had allowed him inside the space station. Having people use the emergency airlock entrance was extremely rare, Drassil figured he made this guy's day.

"Much obliged, friend!" Drassil said happily, storing his helmet under his arm to reveal a grinning face sleek with bronze-brown fur, and pointed, foxlike ears.
"Did... wha... you... you CRASHED INTO THE SPACE STATION! I-I SAW IT!" The uniformed male spluttered, looking at Drassil with sheer bewilderment.
"Gahh, relax! If I crashed into something important, you'd be dead!"
"But... t-that's still illegal! You'll have to pay for the dama-"
"SHHHH... don't worry about a thing, buddy. It's all good... aaaall goood... Oh yeah, and by the way, I don't have to pay for anything - cause' I didn't damage anything." Drassil grinned as the human realised he was correct. After a silence, Drassil fished around in one of his storage pockets within his bronze-coloured body suit.

"Here's something for your troubles, my good man! Thanks again!" Drassil said, throwing a can of fizzy drink to the man at the desk, before sprinting up the stairs, navigating his way through the space station. The confused airlock worker picked up the can of fizzy drink, wondering if what he just saw was real or not, and wondering if he should get a new job.
​

~ ~ ~​

"Hah! I have no idea where I'm going!" Drassil happily announced. but this place was sure fun. Unfortunately, Drassil knew that he'd lost mostly everything apart from his Magic Box (thank God) and his SK42. The truth was, he was going to have to stay at this space station until people got pissed off at him being here and kicked him out, or he found some line of work. Finally, after a couple hours of asking around whilst trying to look slightly normal, Drassil managed to find the 'Arrivals' section of the space station.

Sighing, Drassil decided to relax on a bench, watching various races pass by here and there within the space station. Thankfully, it didn't seem like the crash had even been noticeable from the inside because of the space station's size, which was a bonus. Stretching his muscles, Drassil avoided the odd looks of other people as he laid on his back at the bench, watching the various ships dock and leave again.

What he needed right now was to be part of a crew. And not just some old boring work crew - a crew of badasses, or cool people at least. In an ideal situation, perhaps Drassil would offer to work for nothing - he may have been an idiot, but he was a great tinkerer and - in his opinion - a dashing adventurer.

For now though, he needed a rest to calm down, even if he hated waiting. In an ideal situation, he'd see a crew that appealed to him, find the captain, and sign up to the ship and live happily ever after. Perhaps his luck would continue - on the other hand, perhaps not...​

 

[BB-Bauers]

"Kinkkan lah'rg ish lergen..." Jinx giggled, looking intentionally bashful. She was currently in the midst of conversing with a merchant at the KL-55 space station, playing up her 'womanly' charms. When she needed something off another person, Jinx had determined there were two most effective tactics. The first? Sharing a common language. No matter what the species, everyone is more open and honest if you are able to surprise them by speaking their native language. And since Jinx was fluent in twenty-seven languages (and counting), she used this to her advantage whenever possible.

The second tactic? As much as she hated to admit is, it was flirting. Jinx used to hate flirting -- it just felt so strange to her -- but she had gotten used to it at this point. When she needed to steal something, it was just the easiest way to distract the victim and keep them from noticing.

"Ahhhg, ni kurrgen lah'rg uu-ish? Ehh?"

"Mui mui, wo kekk lah'rg neyi'in," Jinx smiled at the merchant, quietly slipping a couple of shining gemstones into the pocket of her trench coat without breaking eye contact. The merchant didn't even blink.

How is it this easy...? Jinx wondered to herself. She knew she was improving, because she hadn't had to sweet-talk her way out of any trouble for the past month-and-a-half, at least. With the rare gems safely in her pockets, she knew they were worth enough for her to buy her way onto a spaceship and catch a ride to the next quadrant. And to also perhaps obtain some food -- legally, this time.

"Wull, ni ketti shu'u wo'm pullakk? Wo kekk lah'rg c'hen veek gux..."

"Ah hah, wo loc'hen, buuwk kekk." At this point, Jinx giggled (abeit, a bit awkwardly) and offered a sweet, nonchalant wink before waltzing off. She didn't dare look back, not until she was long gone, out of sight and around the corner. When that was the case, Jinx suddenly let out a huge sigh of relief. It seemed no one had followed her. "Oh, thank goodness..." She took the small handful of gems out of pocket to inspect them and smiled. They glimmered almost intrinsically, and they were all different and beautiful bright colors. They were definitely worth a good bit.

With this knowledge, Jinx began to head towards where the ships docked, hoping to see if she could mooch a ride off of some small crew. When she arrived, she noticed lots of hustling and bustling people of all different species, running to and from to take care of their busy agendas. It was a loud and slightly chaotic scene, but one person stood out to Jinx in particular. It seemed there was a Tyuu seated quietly on a bench, looking contemplative and watching everything unfold. He seems like a guy in charge... Just has that look about him, Jinx thought. Maybe he'll let me hitch a ride?

Figuring it was worth a shot, she approached the Tyuu warily and offered a small wave in greeting. "Hello there," she said, clearing her throat awkwardly and motioning to the empty side of the bench. "Is this seat taken?"​

 

[Rax Rosetta]

"One day the kid is going to buy the farm out there, running solo. And one day I'll captain my own ship and outbuild those damn Makelo."

Alexander Atreides, better know to the entire crew as Spanner, was sitting on a support strut in the engine room. He had a cigar in hand, and had just lit up his wrist mounted welder to light the thing up when the call came through from their boss to get the ship up and running. Well, there goes his sitting around doing nothing, the mechanic thought with a sigh as he lit off the cigar and took a slow drag on it before exhaling, leaving the thing loosely hanging from his mouth as he secured the welder on his wrist to prevent damage to whatever he was working on. Sure, the engines could be spun up from the cockpit, but it was actually faster for him to do it from here, assuming the mechanic happened to be in the engine space when an order came down to get the thing spun up and ready to take off, and fast. The constant tinkering and evolving design he applied during his time aboard the ship helped with that, and he broke into a short jog over to a jury rigged looking control panel. Spanner puffed on his cigar, typing out a series of commands in a very rapid fire sort of way before thumping the console once and jogging to another portion of the engine room. He hopped on ship wide comm to warn the other crew of what he was doing.

"Don't try to spin up the engines from the cockpit, it won't work. I already have them coming online, you lot focus on the whole droid and suicidal boss problem, savvy?"

Spanner chuckled as he cut the comm off, not caring for a response or not in the grand scheme of things. And disabled the control line from the cockpit to the engine room, the one that controlled turning the engines on and off to be more specific. The hum of the engine was a familiar, soothing even, sound to the mechanic. It meant things were going according to plan, and all his work had kept the engines purring along just as they should be. Tapping the ash of the end of his cigar into a container he kept around for that purpose, he took another long drag before exhaling. The engine room looked like it had a running fog machine most days, for the very reason of the fact that Spanner was usually found either starting or finishing his latest smoke. It helped discourage visitors too, the ones that might be uncomfortable or even sickened by the cigar smoke. It was an old brand, sold all over the galaxy, and also was a very acquired scent for those unfamiliar with it. Certain aliens were pretty much walking into a brick wall when they entered the engine room, ones with more sensitive senses of smell that was. Humming to himself as he walked about the engine room, everything was running in ample time for the Captain to finally arrive. Re-engaging the on/off line to the cockpit, he braced for the sudden launch to speed, grunting as the ship lurched and pulled itself to top speed for the given settings. Once at speed, and adjusted, Spanner made his way to the cockpit, trailing cigar smoke behind him. He would hold the half spent cigar in his hand while talking, otherwise, he had it clenched between his teeth.

"Took you long enough Boss, didn't think a droid would give you that much trouble. So how's the haul this time, enough to refuel at least?"

That was certainly the closest Spanner would be getting to being concerned or relieved about anything regarding the Captain's survival. It was genuine coming from him, so that was that. Spanner was in his usual working overalls, revolver on his hip (As he refused to let it out of sight) as he spoke to the Captain. He found himself an empty seat, kicking his feet up somewhere that wouldn't mess with keeping the ship controlled and moving. Otherwise, it seemed like a successful mission, hunter drone aside. They just were rude machines that hardly warranted the time and energy wasted, in fact this was not uncommon in belief. Either way, however, he was pretty much stuck until they docked somewhere. No sense chatting again, as always.
​

 

[Jakers]

Drassil gave a groan as he sat idly on the bench. Okay, it had only been a few minutes, but to Drassil, this felt like a few damn hours! The only ships he was seeing were boring old ships probably used for transporting metals or something boring. Giving a yawn, Drassil began to doze off.
"Hello there. Is this seat taken?"

"Gnng... eh... what?" Drassil said in a half-snore, half-groan sort of tone as he heard the voice of somebody addressing him. It hadn't even been five minutes, and Drassil already was starting to feel sleepy. Who dared to interrupt his rest, anyway? Was it some salesman trying to sell him stupid pictures, or - ohhh. No... definitely not.

Turning around to see who addressed him, Drassil's foxlike ears perked up a little with interest as he maintained a somewhat dumb expression. Hoohoo! No way! Five minutes in and already he was being greeted by other people - and this wasn't just any person - this, in Drassil's opinion, was a rare form of beauty... Drassil hadn't seen a lady like this before; strong and brown eyes, rich brown hair... pfft... when it came to these kind of ladies, you'd be crazy not to like them. Boy, oh, boy... and here he was thinking his luck would come to an end.

Hrm... then again, there seemed to be something different about this lady. Something different. Observing her for a long time without saying a word would be creepy though, considering Drassil could pull a smile like the Cheshire Cat without meaning to. Perhaps he'd get to know more about this curious individual. Despite trying to act normal in front of this woman, there still seemed to be an eccentric aura around Drassil as he shuffled over eagerly, a thin tail swishing behind him with a grin on his face.

"HA! That seat? Taken? Of course not, please, sit! Sitting alone was getting boring anyway." Drassil offered, gesturing to the spot on the bench next to him, snapping out of his sleepy state. Drassil observed the women as she supposedly sat, giving a quiet chuckle under his breath.

"Hehehe... and they tell me women this part of the galaxy aren't much to look at. I'm guessing you're not from around here, are you?" Drassil purred, before looking away and giving a strange laugh to himself.

"Oh, oh! Let me guess something again: you're looking for a crew too, rrright? I kinda blew up my ship an hour ago, so I'm the same way. Call me Drassil, tinkerer, engineer and dashing adventurer extraordinaire! Pleased to be of service!" Drassil introduced himself with an eager tone, enthusiastically grabbing the lady's hand and giving it a firm shake before releasing the hand, and tapping his feet rapidly. When it came to sitting still, Drassil was extremely impatient, but at least he had some company whilst he waited for this 'crew of badasses' that would probably only appear in his dreams when he fell asleep. Come to think of it, this girl looked pretty badass. If Drassil was right about the girl looking for a crew, perhaps he'd be in even further luck...! Chances were a ship would rather take in two than one; Drassil had all sorts of questions to ask this girl, but for now, he'd keep the conversation casual as he could.

 

[Roose Hurro]

Up And At 'Em...



THUD!

No... no, not that loud, really. Just a distant vibration, muffled, indistinct and of no significance. Still, it wasn't every day a ship ran into the station. And it wasn't every day said ship ran into said station close to where he slept, in his cozy little rented room. Somehow, though, it registered in his dream....... *

*Just a bar, him sitting at the best place to see outside, a mug of cold beer in his claws. And a half dozen empty mugs strewn across the table. When someone threw a dead rat against the window.*

The unexpected shock of that image threw him out of his "attempted drunkeness" dream, not enough to fully awake, buuut... enough to make him grrr in his half aroused state, roll over and fade back into... well, that grrr seemed to translate as: "Five more minutes... just five more minutes, Mom!" Which turned out to be the case five minutes later. Awake, a deep sigh-huff. Roll out of bed, toeclaws a-clatter on the hard floor. Drop to sixes, tail and hips in air, chest to floor, sharp teeth evident in his wide, wide yawn. Ears back, mane ruffled. More toeclaw clatter as he made his way to what passed for a bathroom. Took a long, relieved pee... Flush!... then into the shower, to soothe the itch in his primearm wrists and wash away whatever reactants had gathered in the night. Clean hide important, just one of many things done to make himself not only presentable, but as non-lethal as possible. If such a thing was ever really possible.......

....... towels, yes. Soft, absorbant and so large, his small frame had no issues getting dry. Even though his claws gave issue when it came to reusing said towels. But not this time. He'd been careful enough not to shred this one. Always careful not to shred things.

A stool helped bring him to sink height. He needed a reflection to finish grooming. Felt the need, anyway. Close stare into mirror, flare of nostrils... another yawn... his right subarm pinkie claw used to pick at his teeth. Seemed the one thing it was good for, other than scratching behind his ears. Then primehand claws through mane... headshake... a silent tongue-out gape at his reflection. Just because. Today was "check-out" day, time to move on. This station, only a waypoint to somewhere else. Gurgle...* But breakfast came first.

Again, clack of toeclaws as he hopped off stool and made his raptorine pace back towards bed. Toolbelt secured around slender waist, locked against hip-hide. Hesitation over his backpack, eyes on that "old" arrow scar. Mind on memories. Benevistol, the one responsible for the itch in his primearm wrists, for what said "itch" meant in his life. For his life, period. All the others in that quest... that adventure. Life, never boring. Lonely, yes... "one of a kind" some would say, though a whole world of his kind still lived and breathed. And did other things living creatures did. But a self-imposed exile had its costs. Survival... well.

Backpack secured just as solidly as toolbelt, hide and mane freshly washed, he dived out the door, clacked down the hallways, and joined the throngs. Sniffed out the nearest coffee. Entered, clacked to the nearest empty barstool. Ordered the strongest, blackest coffee on offer... shame, no rat-nads on the menu... so, coffee, eggs, hash-browns with ham and sausage or some odd meat. Over time, he'd learned not to be picky over his meals. Carnivore to omnivore. Saved a great deal of hassle with "natives." Or any other squeamish beings he happened to be staying with. Or working with. Reason, to be honest, for his present presence on this station. Reason he presently existed "in between" jobs. Reason his lifestyle remained nomadic. Of course, being frugal... not having much in the way of expenses... no need for shoes, socks, shirts, pants or underwear... really, just the necessities of life gave him great contentment. Gave him a rather solid bank account, over the last one hundred fifty years or so. Heh... amazing how much money you could save when you didn't go about buying clothes or other such frippery.

Breakfast done and paid for, then. Next stop? Well, as always, before "shipping out," he always made sure to restock his meds. Nearly every civilized place in the universe had an "apothecary" able to mix custom meds for a wide variety of life-forms. So...

... mind elsewhere while senses kept him on track, stomach and medpak full, all he could do... arrive at the "port" and wander about, "people" watching, alert for... alert.......*

So many beings. So many sounds and sights and scents and bioelectric signatures. One of which caught his senses, due to its "loneliness." A Tyuu... male. Waft of scent. Strong bioelectric patterns... young and vital, by the feel. No other Tyuu sensoria present. Amber-jade eyes sought out the source, curious. Large ears perked forwards, alert. Claws flexed. Grin showed teeth.

The Hunt Was On...

 

[BB-Bauers]

"HA! That seat? Taken? Of course not, please, sit! Sitting alone was getting boring anyway."

Jinx was startled by this sudden outburst, to say the least. She raised a curious eyebrow. Based on his previously sleepy demeanor, she guessed that he would be a bit more mellow in personality... Clearly, she was wrong. Nonetheless, Jinx smiled in return and took a seat, trying to ignore the fact that he seemed to be observing her.

"Hehehe... and they tell me women this part of the galaxy aren't much to look at. I'm guessing you're not from around here, are you?"

Again, Jinx was startled -- but not by volume this time. "Oh, I-- I uh..." she sputtered, caught off-guard by his suddenly flirtatious words. "I'm-- er, no. No, I'm not from around here, hah hah..." she managed to get out, going red in the face. Good God, what have I gotten myself into? she thought, beginning to wonder if she should weasel her way out of the situation somehow.

But this guy didn't seem like a weirdo in that sense. He just seemed like he was Mr. Personality -- he had a lot of energy and liked talking people's ears off. "Oh, oh! Let me guess something again: you're looking for a crew too, rrright? I kinda blew up my ship an hour ago, so I'm the same way. Call me Drassil, tinkerer, engineer and dashing adventurer extraordinaire! Pleased to be of service!"

Blew up his ship?! Jinx's eyes went wide at that part. And to think, I was going to ask him for a ride...! Still, if he was looking for a crew, it meant he wasn't piloting -- so that was a relief. And besides that, Jinx was also in search of a crew... Perhaps it was no accident that she had stumbled upon this Drassil guy. Perhaps they'd have better luck if they tried to find a crew together?

Jinx couldn't hold back her snickering, as a chuckle began to break through her otherwise indifferent facade. Drassil's endless positive energy was absolutely contagious, and she couldn't help but smile back and return the handshake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Drassil," she piped. "My name is Jinx. And while I don't have any fantastic titles of my own to boast, you are entirely right -- I am looking for a crew." She paused. "Well, more like a lift. Just trying to get from place to place."

She turned to face Drassil, casually crossing her legs and relaxing her body-language to be much more friendly. So her initial thoughts about this guy had been waaaay off the mark, but now Jinx was intrigued for different reasons. Drassil seemed like a loner, a bit of an outcast, just like herself. And she was interested to learn more. "So then what brings you here? To the beautiful and luxurious KL-55 space station?"​

 

[Daws Combine]

The fact is that human spaceports were horrible. They were dirty, disgusting, full of rudeness, and generally just a simple pain to live on. Especially for a Makelo. It didn't matter which port Izzy went to, they all were the same. Human. She didn't blame them. It was part of their upbringing. They just didn't have the refinment of a certain number of other species. But she wouldn't hold it against them. That didn't stop them from taking her money, though...

"Hey. Inkface. Up here."

The voice came on schedule, as it always did. Once a week. Izzy kept her eyes glued to the ground in an attempt to act like she hadn't heard them. The metal boot to the head reminded her that she wasn't going to get away from that.

"Inkface. Look. Up."

Inkface. It was disgustingly human. Something that only they could come up with. While most Humans simply lacked social graces, the amount of them that were just plain ignorant was staggering. They weren't tattoos. Tattoos were small flakes of metal embedded in the skin. The design on her face was apart of her skin. Not flakes of metal. Hence, not a tattoo. They didn't care. Another kick to the head knocked Izzy from her train of thought. She looked up at the man, glaring more in annoyance than rage. He was fat, ugly, bald, and smelly. His three friends all looked the same way. It wasn't a surprise that this was the type to pick on homeless minorities in the streets. The man knelt down, letting Izzy get a good smell as to the cheap whisky on his breath.

"Good girl. You know the drill. What have you saved up for us, this time?"

She sighed and produced a few small coins from her pockets, holding them out to the man. He frowned at them and kicked Izzy once more, tossing them back at her.

"That's it?! That's all you got?! We do you the kindness of letting you live on out station, and this is how you repay us?!"

All four of them joined the fun, now. They kicked her and kicked her until she bled from the mouth. They would have killed her if one of them hadn't spotted a cop walking by. After they all stumbled away, Izzy made a few brief signs with her hands. Dizzy came crawling out from under a nearby dumpster and curled up to Izzy. She frowned. This was it. This had to be the day. If she couldn't pay her way, she would stow away. She was leaving the station today. She stood and put Dizzy on the ground, the two of them walking off towards the hangars. It was the only chance they had to survive. If anything, being thrown out an airlock would be better than being beaten to death...

 

[DoomyCakez]

@Sora1297 @Rax Rosetta



"Be that as it may, Captain, Harridan Apiit are rather dangerous creatures. I'm surprised you actually managed to..how do you say...'take the bastard down' with nothing more that that primitive pistol for a weapon...I believe mine would have been far more suitable."

Casspian sat, hunched slightly over one of the many flashing screen of "The Moonage Daydream's" cockpit...Compared to something like Casspian, the leading edge of technology, super soldier of the future, prototype, or whatever the hell else the GLIP had ranted over during his creation, the ship was...primitive to say the least. Not to say it went without its homie touches. The Captain, as well as many of the crew members were rather tech savvy, meaning that most of the electronics and mechanics, including Casspian, usually fell prey to prying.

Casspian had been a member of the crew since its creation, the Captain having picked him up like a stray cat or dog on the street. Casspian had always found himself grateful; however, he had indeed paid his dues back to "Nova", having kept this ship and its crew majority safe...and somewhat intacked on most of the mission. This one had been slightly different, being that "Nova" had wished to travel out alone...It was not the usual, but Casspian had not been very surprised. A moment of glory to pick up a box on an abandoned planet...well short for the resently dceased Harridan Apiit; however, Casspian could never shake the feeling of impending doom...It seemed to be a reaccuring factor in this crew, especially with the sort of jobs that Captain insisted on taking.

"Back on the subject of a cat, Captain.." The Droid spoke once more, the Captain's own feed coming through the communicator built into the droid's fore arm. "I believe it will actually increase the amount of morale seen in the crew...I mean, who could resist something as soft and innocent as a kitty-" Casspian leaned back in his chair, a fre hand coming up to lightly just a bit of dust from his shoulder as he continued to eye the screen...There was something on the radar that was bothering him...He had noticed it a while back, but had deemed it either potato chip crumbs, or just a minor blimp in the feed...

"Captain...I would be wary of where you shoot off from your pod...It seems like there is something hovering just above-"
It had been loud enough to shake the ship, the ringing of the blast quickly forcing Casspian into action, way ahead of the Captain's orders. He straightened, rising from his seat as he lightly touched his fingers to the blue headset attached to his ears, connecting himself with the engine room. "Spanner, be a dear and ready the engines for a speedy departure. It seems that the captain will be bringing company..Unfortunately, I do not believe we will have enough seating." Even in times like these, the Android still managed to be snarky, mainly because he had programmed himself to be as such. The crew seemed to respond best to it, mainly because a majority of them were worse that he was.

He had not waited from an answer, instead connecting instantly with the ship's mainframe. "Initiate Battlemode Alpha, passcode 'Sexy Showgirl'. How quickly the ship managed to arm itself, a bit of buzzing ringing about the cockpit as the Daydream's blasters pushed free from their holds...They, alike to the ship, where primitive, but they had enough power to get the job done. Casspian was fully connected, his screen switching to shooting mode as he connected with the aiming system just outside the ship. He looked around in silence, hearing the reeve of the engines, and the blaring of Captain's struggle in his headset. "Captain, if you would proceed with bringing the droids here, I can take care of them in a few- Oh there you are" In the corner of his vision, he could see the pod speeding towards the Daydream, baddies in tow. Casspian quickly took aim and fired, the strength of the blasts ratting the ship as it's defense took hold. The Droid took care not to aim and hit his captain, not wanting to 'blast holes in the Captain's face' because of his own sloppiness, not to say the Droid was ever sloppy..He was programmed not to be.


It seemed his firing show had done the trick, for the Captain docked. Within moments, Casspian was able to hear his voice coming down the hallway, the reeve of the engines growing loud and louder as it readied itself for its warp. Casspian had not halted his barrage of blasts towards the droid ship, forcing it to turn away and hits, unfortunately it had avoided the worse. "Rather bothersome little bastards, would you not agree Captain-" Casspian was suddenly cut off as the ship jolted forward, forcing him to to sit in one of the nearby seats and strap himself in, only before the ship suddenly blasted off, leaving the drone ship in the dust.

"Rather sloppy on the execution Captain, but..other than the Harridan Apiit, no one died and you managed to retrieve the chest...So I suppose you can call this a success, yes?" ​

 

[Sofa King Fancy]

If anyone had wandered into Eigar's bunk, they would have witnessed a strange sight. The large alien was on the floor, his rear thrust into the air. All around him were the deconstructed pieces of his weapon. They were organized by size, and then by function. Currently he was fiddling with a small bit of casing that had come lose during that bar brawl a few weeks back. He couldn't help that the piece was miniscule, and the tools to fix it were even smaller. His hands looked massive as he tried his best to grip them.

"Vardet!" Eigar exclaimed as the casing fumbled from his fingers and rolled around on the ground. He reached over and grabbed it, looking around that at that time. His domicile was as large every else's in the ship, which meant it was quite close. The bed nested into the wall, and while it looked comfortable—Eigar didn't know if it was or not. He pulled the bedding from that nook every night and slept on the ship floor. He had tried to sleep in that small shelf once before, and only managed to get his wings stuck in there. Fortunately he had weaseled himself out before any of the other crew came looking for him.

He grabbed his tools and fiddled with the casing once again, and after a few attempts he managed to tighten it up. Quite content with that, he began to reconstruct his gun piece by piece. This was done with a brevity and preciseness of a surgeon's scalpel. Once the Door Knocker was fully reconstructed he tested the weight, balance, and sight. He would have liked to discharge a shot, but he didn't want the captain berating him for damaging the ship… again. Eigar hated seeing that small Terran get fired up about anything. It always reminded him why he disliked humans. And yet here he was on a ship that consisted of nothing but humans and their pet android. The only one that Eigar could truly tolerate was Spanner, but the older, surly engineer enjoyed the hum of the engine room. The alien couldn't fit into those small spaces even if he tried.

Storing his weapon away, Eigar climbed out of his room. He ducked underneath the low door frames and slid into the dining area. His tail wrapped around one of the many plastic cups and he brought it to his nose and sniffed. It had been washed recently. He then grabbed some water from the compressed fridge and poured it in. Maybe on their next trip to a dock he would actually shell out the credits for some backwater planet moonshine. It had been a while since he had drank, and the monotony of soberness was getting to him. When he was pirate he had drank as much as he had stolen and busted heads. He missed those days.

There was the frantic sound of feet pattering down the hallway, and not a moment later the captain's voice shot across the PA. Eigar sat his glass down and uncoiled his tail. He followed suit, and headed towards the cockpit for the proper "strapping in." He ducked a few more low doorways and saw the group that was already gathered. He drew his wings tight into his back and flopped into a seat, his knees about even with his stomach as he sat.

"I hope whatever you were doing produced enough credits for there to at least be one chair that will fit me in this eskerdat Terran ship." Given Eigar's tone and tight pronunciation of the word "eskerdat" one could assume that it was not a polite sentiment. Another word of similar value left his lips as he tried to "strap in." It always involved him pulling at the buckles until they were almost together and then holding them together with his hand. It didn't help that Eigar was not only tall, but was pretty wide around. It was all pure muscle, thick chorded musculature that made sure he could carry his metal appendages. He also enjoyed the added benefit of being able to squash anything that threatened him. Still, the hulking grayish-blue giant looked silly in Terran furniture, like an adult trying to get comfortable in a child's plastic play chair.
"And what are we running from anyway? Is it another overgrown bug? Because I wasn't lying when I said I would take care of the next one. They do not bother me." He paused. "I would also like to add it to the roster of things I have murdered… err… hunted." If anyone thought him holding a miniature screwdriver and fiddling with gun pieces was adorable, they should have seen his scrapbook of things he had killed. He was quite fond of the book—his little book of death.

 

[RomanCat]

Theron bowed his head with a smile as he thanked the yellow Sha'Ni for his service. He grabbed the packets of food from the table and turned around walking through the crowded cafeteria of the KL-55 station.

Theron wiggled one of the packets in his hand and tossed it to Artemia, who barely moved as it bounced off her head and landed on the table she was sitting on. She slowly turned to look at Theron, her chin in her hand.

Theron sighed with a chuckle and grabbed the bridge of his nose. "Look, you gotta put some effort into this thing called being alive." Theron said.

Artemia stared at her brother blankly before replying. "I'll put some effort in when I have a ship to fly." She said, her compressed jaw slurring the words.

Theron sat into a seat and placed one of the packets into the center of table. It didn't take long for the food to lower into the table to be processed. "Wow, your so needy."

"That's me. Just bitching all the time."

Theron grabbed the recently created cup of coffee from the center of the table and passed it to Artemia casually staring into the abyss. Artemia continued her gaze and grabbed the cup and took a large gulp of the artificial beverage.

"We'll find a ship to take us sooner or later. This place is full of traffic, a captain with two bunks to spare shouldn't be to hard to find." Theron stood up after his sandwich had ascended back onto the table.

"Come on, let's check the docks." Theron said. He grabbed Artemia's arm as she slid off the table and onto the ground.

As they walked through the halls, Theron pointing out strange stores and strange people to Artemia. She laughed at them, a store advertising the selling of animal testicles with very few patrons, as few would be interested in such strange things. A merchant being pick pocketed by a girl playing on her womanly charm. And a vary robust and ugly looking man with a group of friends, clearly there for something other than his receding hairline and receding personality.

Theron didn't notice, occupied trying to get to a free sample of juice, but Artemia watched as the group approached a very small girl off to the side, out of view from the main area, but where the siblings had come just close enough.

When the first kick was issued she tryed not to notice, but as it continued she couldn't stand by and watch.

"Hey!" Artemia called, her voice rough and waved her hand to a standing officer. As he walked toward her she pointed toward the scene, although the assaulters had stopped and fled before he could notice.

The peacekeeper grimaced at Artemia, who sneered at him before she proceeded into the alley, to see the girl, and her pet, leaving.

"Hey, girl, are you, umm, okay?" Artemia called out. She wasn't good at being nice, but she hoped she sounded convincing enough. The girl seemed to be in a hurry and Artemia could understand if she needed to leave, but she needed to make sure.

 

[Jakers]

"So then what brings you here? To the beautiful and luxurious KL-55 space station?"

Drassil paused for a few moments, his face seemingly serious for a few seconds. Suddenly, he exploded into laughter.

"HAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHA! Eeehehehe...! Ah... hehehe... well..." Drassil caught his breath, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. He wondered if he was being too insane, but, nonetheless, he was glad to see that this 'Jinx' woman seemed to be one of the friendly types. And she seemed to like him rather than want to punch him in the face.

"It's... uh... hmm, let's just say it's a little... complicated! Remember how I said I crashed my ship? Well... you see that scrap floating around?" Drassil pointed outside the window that showed a nice view of the infinite, where the remains of his SB3000 drifted aimlessly about in space. Drassil felt like shedding a tear for the Shibox 3000, now that he thought about it. The ship had got him about for a couple of months, despite it being... well... terrible. Then again, it looked pretty cool in its destroyed state, so it didn't really matter anyway. A wide grin spread across Drassil's face as he pointed at the remains of the SB3000.

"That was my ship! Hehehehe, I suppose it was pure chance I crashed into this station!" Well, not purely chance. A large chunk of it was Drassil being an absolute idiot. "Perhaps it's fate that we met here today... romantic, right? To be honest, I don't really care about losing my ship anyway. This space station seems like more fun."

Drassil looked like he was about to say something else, but paused, suspiciously looking around him with squinted eyes. One of his ears went to a sideways position, whilst the other stayed up and alert. For some reason, he suddenly felt paranoid. HA! Maybe he really was insane, that would be fun. But... he felt like someone... or something... was watching him. Drassil slowly grabbed the shoulders of Jinx, looking around himself constantly.

"Hey... call me crazy, Jinx... but... you ever get the feeling something's watching you? Because I'm getting that feeling rrrright about now! I... don't... feel... safe...!" Drassil whispered as quietly as he could, his tail cautiously suspended behind him. Usually his intuition was never wrong, so... why did he feel like something was watching him? Bah, he wasn't this crazy!

 

[Grothnor]

Gemma was in the kitchen looking for a snack when the captain called about the Apiit attack. She switched on her comm."Wait, you almost got eaten?!"

"I didn't 'almost get eaten', Gemma. I had to out-maneuver it, but I killed the Apiit before it had a chance to eat me. Why, think that you'd miss my rugged good looks?"

Gemma scoffed. "No, worried I'd have to cook for myself." Dylan's cooking had really started to spoil her. She reached in the cupboard and pulled out a tube of protein paste. A year ago, she would have happily savored the taste of it for up to a half-hour. Now it just tasted bland and artificial, and she only ate it to stave off hunger. Krud brand chicken-flavored protein paste. The company catchphrase 'Tastes like Krud!' was sounding less like the joke it was meant to be and more ironic.

"Oh come on, admit it. You'd miss me if I was eaten."

"For about a week before we replaced you with a cat." The gibe was meant in good nature and part of their friendly dynamic. She welcomed his flirtations as opportunities to sharpen her wit; she hadn't had many opportunities to use it during the years she worked with her stern and humorless mentor, Case.

"We are getting a cat?"

"Nobody's getting a cat, Casspian."

"Awww..."

Gemma chuckled at their antics, listening but not transmitting. "You said you killed it before it ate you, right? Did it happen to-"

"No Gemma, it didn't eat my iPod."

"Damn." she muttered, half statistically, still smiling, glad he remembered their not-so-inside joke.

"Sorry, beautiful. No such luck. You and the rest of the crew are stuck listening to my excellent taste in music." She snorted and turned off her comm, returning to the mainframe to prepare her hacking programs for their next stop and queue up a horror movie for the trip there. However, with Dylan's call for a speedy evac, what she ended up queuing up was a virus. She frantically searched through her files for some malevolent program that might help.

As Dylan's ship landed, she executed the best virus she could find from her copious collection. The virus interfered with the droids' thrusters, causing them to fire wildly, skewing their targeting and making them occasionally crash into each other. It wasn't the best solution she could have come up with, but she didn't have time to find a better virus, much less write one from scratch. Fortunately, Casspian managed to fire up the turrets, and keep them at bay long enough to escape. Her computer's directories were full of viruses and other malevolent programs but she didn't have many for dealing with droids. I'll have to fix that, she thought as the she settled in for the trip to their next stop, relieved that they all were still in one piece.

 

[BB-Bauers]

That thought Jinx had before? About Drassil seeming like a normal, energetic guy -- totally not crazy?

Yeah, hah hah, no. She was wrong. So, so wrong.
This guy was off his damn rocker.

Jinx's first clue was the explosion of laughter at her joke. People barely ever laughed at her jokes -- let alone, laughed that hard. The comment perhaps deserved a chuckle of acknowledgement, at best.

And what was that about fate? "Perhaps it's fate that we met here today... romantic, right?"
Ugh, this is hopeless... I can't be stuck on a ship with this guy! Jinx thought. If she still had the physical capacity to puke, she would have thrown up in her mouth a little right there.

He didn't even show any remorse about his broken ship floating through space. What was he, a sociopath? No... No, he was too bubbly for that. Still, Jinx raised a skeptical eyebrow and pursed her lips, showing very little amounts of amusement. "Right..." she slowly responded, deciding she probably didn't want to hang around Drassil too long. "Hey, pal, listen... I, uh, I actually gotta get going. So, if you'll excuse me--"

But at that moment, Drassil grabbed her shoulder, looking panicked as he whispered something about feeling like he was being watched. Jinx's first thought? O-Oh my God -- he's clinically insane. She awkwardly smiled a toothy grin in response, not really knowing what to tell him at this point. This is the part where she's just supposed to baaaack away slowly, right?

Jinx gently and gingerly lifted Drassil's hand off of her shoulder and placed it down on the bench, still cautiously smiling. But as she turned to leave, she suddenly stopped -- had Drassil actually been right? Through the crowd, Jinx caught a glimpse of some small creature staring in their direction, completely still. It's bright amber-jade eyes seemed to pierce through her very soul, and it weirded her out. She stared back at it for a few moments... but Jinx certainly didn't recognize him. She had a thing for remembering faces, and she had definitely never seen this guy.

Huh... It would appear Drassil wasn't totally off his rocker. Because this creature was definitely watching them. "You know that guy?" Jinx asked, turning back to face Drassil with a curious expression. She pointed through the crowd at the gleaming amber-jade eyes that were fixated on them.​

 

[Jakers]

"Hey, pal, listen... I, uh, I actually gotta get going. So, if you'll excuse me--"

Drassil mentally punched himself - as soon as she'd said this, Drassil knew he'd gone too far. Crashing ships wasn't funny; he needed to remind himself that he'd quite simply fucked up.

What the hell was he talking about with that 'being watched' business - he was being paranoid, and now he'd scared this lady off. And with the fate thing... perhaps she thought he was being serious with the romance part. Whilst Drassil did give off the odd flirtatious comment, he wasn't being serious, but... he must have got lost in his crazy train of thought again. Why was he such an idiot?! Drassil gave an awkward grin before spinning back to his original sitting position.

"Gah - sorry! I'm being a crazy asshole, aren't I?" Drassil apologised suddenly, letting go of the woman's shoulders and looking a combination of both embrassed and ashamed.
"Ha, I don't blame you for going... e-erm... perhaps we'll meet again! ...Idiot, idiot, idio-" Thinking she'd already gone, Drassil began tapping his feet with agitation, cursing himself under his breath. First person he'd met in ages, and he'd blew it alread-

"You know that guy?"

Hm? She hadn't run away? Whirling around, Drassil followed Jinx's finger to spot a... AHA! So he wasn't crazy, he knew he had the feeling something was watching him! Drassil was just glad he wasn't fully insane and his intuition was still mostly correct.

Drassil was about to jump off his feet and confront this crazy stalker, but... firstly, he couldn't even properly see the figure. And secondly, all he could see was a pair of glowing green eyes that was probably the creepiest pair of glowing green eyes that he'd seen in his life. Drassil stood up, but didn't think approaching would be a good idea.

"Whelp, that's nightmare fuel!" Drassil burst out nervously. What did it want? What should he do? Well, it wasn't like he was going to get murdered or anything like that - this was a public place. Fishing around in his pockets, Drassil pulled out another can of eCola, and threw it in the direction of the scary eyes as some sort of peace offering.

"Know that guy? Hehe... I don't know any guys, I've travelled pretty much alone for ten years! Easy to get used to, heheh! Er... anyway, no, I haven't even seen whatever that is." Drassil paused for a moment, losing his nervous smile before soon regaining it again.
"Damn it, it's not going away...! If it doesn't want an eCola, what the hell does it want?!" Drassil whispered to Jinx in panic. Most of the panic was due to the fact he didn't have any eCola left; Drassil was just hoping that he wasn't going to suddenly get jumpscared by those soul-piercing eyes. He'd been caught off guard by random creatures too many times in the past...

 

[mr_pibbs]

​

Dylan was proud of his team when they jumped into action. Casspian fired the turrets at another droid ship (presumably partnered with the ship on the planet) to try and hold them off while Spanner revved up the engines and Gemma released a virus on the other ships. There must've been at least four more ships that Dylan didn't realize existed while he was flying away, but he knew he had taken care of at least one of them on the planet. Good thing his crew had his back. Once they were out of range and speeding through the stars once more, Dylan let out an excited sigh and stroked the control-board. "That's my girl..." Dylan whispered before he swivelled around in his chair, facing the doorway as the rest of the crew piled in. The first to really speak up was Spanner, who asked if the haul was worth anything. Then, came Casspian's remark about the droids being troublesome before the droid also asked about their prize. But probably the worst response to come from anyone in the team was Eigar, who insulted his ship by claiming it was too small. Holding up his hand to silence the crew, Dylan raised an eyebrow and sarcastically said "Gee guys, I'm glad you're so concerned about my well being. I'm totally alright, by the way. Not like I was attacked by droids and a Apiit an hour ago, so yeah." Running a hand through his hair with a playful laugh, Dylan shrugged his shoulders and tapped the chest with his other hand. "Good news is, aside from the run-in with those droids, we earned a mighty fine profit. Mr. Smithy is willing to pay a handsome 300,000 credits for this chest, which is just enough to get us some much-needed repairs, buy a new Gravitron Compressor, yes Spanner I actually listen to your requests, and best of all, we can pick up some fresh food and still have cash left over for later."

Dylan smiled at the group as he spoke about their success, tapping his gloved hand against the chest. "So, just to let you guys know, we're meeting Mr. Smithy's contact at the KL-55 space station, which is pretty close to where we are now. Should be there in just under an hour, so we have some time to kill." explained Dylan. "There's no G.L.I.P. outpost on the station, so we should be able to have a nice drop off. I'll need a team to come with me to hand off the chest, so volunteers would be appreciated." Looking over the group of people standing before him, Dylan was reminded just how different each of them were, personality wise and biologically, but they all had one common reason for being here: they had nowhere else to go and wanted to see the stars. Although they caused him trouble from time to time, Dylan hoped that none of them ever left. Especially not Gemma, as he had formed a pretty close friendship with the slightly-older woman. She was a good hacker and a valuable asset to the team. Dylan tried to get along with all of his teammates, but Dylan felt like Gemma was the only one who actually considered him a "friend". There was also Casspian, but he was still learning how to be human, so it felt like there was more of a family-bond between the two of them.

"Also, depending on the about of customers, we might re-open our transportation company again. I'm thinking we should try to visit Planet Dręxēl*. I think we've all earned a week's vacation, so it'll be nice to get a break. How's that sound, guys?"



**Planet Dręxēl is a tropical planet covered with white sandy beaches and deep blue oceans as transparent as glass. It's the #1 vacation spot in the Xenayar Galaxy and offers a variety of things to do including: swimming, animal watching, sun-bathing, a variety of spas and health centres (for both organic's and droids), hiking trails, sky diving, and many more popular recreational outdoor activities. Dylan also happens to be good friends with the resort's owner (they pulled a job for him years back) and as such, he gets an 85% discount when booking vacations.**

 

[BB-Bauers]

Jinx continued to stare down the creature watching them through the crowd as Drassil began rambling on about some nonsense or other. None of it even phased her... that is, until some of his words actually did phase her. "Wait wait wait," Jinx suddenly interrupted, swinging around to look Drassil in the eye, "Ten years? You've been flying solo for ten years? Why?" Her eyes went wide in disbelief. "I mean, why would you travel alone for that long?" It was no wonder Drassil was a weirdo -- ten years of what was essentially solitary confinement was enough to drive anyone crazy. Not only that, but he must have been far more competent then he seemed at the current moment to have survived out there as an adventurer by himself for ten years.

Jinx was stunned by this fact, but the comment about running out of eCola brought her back to the present moment. Right... they were being watched. Jinx glanced back over her shoulder at the creature for a brief moment before she was suddenly hit with a realization. "Oh, shit..." She breathed, reaching into the pocket of her trench coat to feel the handful of recently pick pocketed gems sitting there. "Drassil, I don't think he's after the eCola... But I do think we need to leave." She tied the belt on her trench coat shut, one side weighed down slightly by the pocketed gems. "Like, right now." Maybe Jinx had been wrong before (after all, it wouldn't have been the first time today) -- maybe someone had noticed her stealing off that merchant, and now his cronies were after her to get them back.

Either way, she wasn't about to stick around and find out. She grabbed a freaked-out Drassil by the wrist and started walking -- casually, of course. She didn't want to attract attention to herself... But it was a brisk walk, none-the-less.​

 

[Daws Combine]

Izzy glanced behind her at the woman who had tried to help her. She gave the Makelo sign for thanks, which was an index finger on the chin pushed outwards to point at whomever was to receive the thanks, in this case Artemia. She proceeded to dash with Izzy down towards the ships, trying to find one to stow away on before anymore damn humans decided she was an easy mark.

Once she reached the hangars, she was quick to dissect each ship's specs. None of them were very special. Mostly just rundown merchant ships and pirates. She did notice something, though. Rich looking man waiting by an empty hangar. He was expecting someone. Even better, he had money on him. It wasn't hard to tell. The sheltered body language was enough for anyone who was in need of a sudden influx of cash. And boy, was Izzy in need...

She knelt down to Dizzy and made a few brief gestures before nodding. Dizzy then proceeded to run up to the man and latch onto his pocket with her teeth. Izzy walked up and pried the creature from the man, signing profuse apologies. As they walked away, Dizzy dropped the man's wallet from her mouth into Izzy's hand. That was easier than expected...

She dashed into the nearest confined space and took out the wallet, counting the GC's. 300,000 credits. Almost one for every year she's been alive. It was a hell of a find. She was eating good, tonight...

 

[Roose Hurro]

Short And Sweet...



Laughter...

Loud, long and... well, all he could do, tail's tip a-twitch, was stare. Evaluate the "crowd" about him, so he didn't get stepped on or tripped over. Mostly tripped over. Which could be awkward and messy depending on....... oh, he'd been spotted by his "prey!" Slow pace now... *tap clack tap clack*... as he moved, muscle under hide sliding, limbs moving him in a graceful dance. Curiosity even more aroused by sight and sound and.......*

*CLUNK! skirrrelll...*

A can landed before him and rolled over the floor. Halt... stare... his prey talking with a female, their voices exchanging conversation about... him. A graceful sweep and bow, can clasped in his subhands as he moved again. Intercept. With practiced ease, he surfed the crowd. If This Tyuu male and human... yes, female... her signature indicating cyborg, human parts replaced by tech. If these two had looked down they would have...

... "I believe you dropped this..." He held out the eCola, quirk of grin split across his muzzle, eyes bright, ears slightly back and mane ruffled in humor... "Should take more care."

 

[Jakers]

Drassil pouted a little as he was grabbed by the wrist, looking back over his shoulder like a kid being taken away from a toy store. He would have esplained to her how he managed to fare alone for 10 years; but the eyes were the focus of his attention right now. Yes, the pair of eyes were scary, but still - it might be fun to see who owned them!

"Aw - whaaat? Come on, you must be a little curious as to what that thing might be!" Drassil observed Jinx, then paused. Judging by her expression... that wasn't the only reason she was so eager to leave the situation. Slowly, Drassil groaned as he was practically dragged along by this woman. But wait! Drassil slowly grinned. He had another theory.

"Hold on... you did a bad thing, didn't you? I bet you're being chased by that guy or something... hehehe! Here I was thinking you weren't that kind of girl! But I could be wron... er... aaanyway..." Drassil stopped his whispers, not wanting to look insane or have the risk of being slapped right in the chops. He supposed he'd go along with the girl, he honestly had nothing better to do. Perhaps there'd be some sort of cool space-station shoot out, with exploding barrels and everything!

Drassil looked over his shoulder, and he could see the pair of green eyes approaching. Swallowing, Drassil urgently whispered in Jinx's ear.
"It's coming! Fast! I think a good time to high-tail it would be about noooooow..."

...

Before Drassil even knew it, the creature was right there. And Holy Jesus - it was a lot worse than he'd imagined. It was tiny, but still bloody terrifying... razor-sharp claws, four arms - it was like a bloody dragon on legs but without the wings! Drassil had heard of some scary races - but this?! This was... this was... Drassil looked down at the short yet terrifying male, and swallowed hard.

"Ohhhhhh... hiiiiiii...?!" He squeaked, secretly reaching for his gunblade. Holy shit - this thing was going to kill him and Jinx if his earlier theory about Jinx doing a naughty thing was correct. Was he a bloody bounty hunter? A trained assassin? Suddenly, the dragonlike male reached for something - and that was when Drassil thought everything was over. Then, Drassil opened one eye to realise that the drake was holding a can of eCola.

"I believe you dropped this... should take more care." The drake said. Drassil gave a face that could only possibly express 'I'm sorry, what?' Before he realised the situation. Blinking, a grin slowly spread through Drassil's face, and he began to laugh, bending down to take the eCola whilst matching the dragon-man's wide grin. Drassil loved somebody with a good sense of humour, unless it was a malicous grin and Drassil would shortly be killed.

"Hahaha! Here I was thinking you were some bounty hunter here to take my head for a couple credits, ahahaha! Hahahaha! Priceless! Oh, by the way, feel free to keep the can, I'm in one helleva generous mood today!" Drassil chuckled, standing in a more relaxed position once he could see that this thing wasn't going to kill them, even if it had a shit-scary grin.

"So... hehehe... why were you watching us like that? And - no offence, my good man - but what the hell are you? I've never seen a race that looks as... pffft... badass as that! Man, why couldn't I be born a four-armed dragon-midget..." Drassil mumbled under his breath. He looked to Jinx, and grinned as he gave her a playful nudge.

"False alarm... but you gotta tell me if I'm right or not... did you steal something?" Drassil whispered into her ear. He'd noticed how she tied her coat shut suddenly, and had a general shady look about her as soon as she noticed somebody was watching her; theft was the only crime that went unnoticed at a space station, after all. Then again, Drassil could be completely wrong.