Welcome to Gaia! ::

___Inhaling deeply, lungs stretched at maximum capacity, Gash's eyes were closed and his head was low; a hand on a short post and the other one on a dirty cord, his body was bent forward as he relaxed and focused on the reason he was here in the first place. The stench of sweat, cheap alcohol and various narcotics filled the air, but the Quartermaster had gotten used to the smell. The shouts and loud growls buzzed in Gash's ears; the room had gotten more and more agitated as the minutes passed by. The ebony haired one's lungs released the air they kept as a long, loud sigh as his twin sapphires opened up and blinked a few times. Gash looked up, right and then left at the lively crowed surrounding him; a smile crept on his face as his heavier-than-usual head shot down once more. "Well, here you are again. For the same reason as the other times, too." the man thought out loud before standing straight and turning around to face his opponent who had been standing at the other side of the ring.

___Gash was standing at his end of the ring, wearing nothing but an old pair of washed out black cargo shorts and old gray running shoes. His eyes were analysing his opponent head to toe and his head was slowly shaking in disbelief: he really had to go up against that thing again? The thing in question was actually a female Shkark twice Gash's size. Blood red skin covered her entire body, with two massive ivory horns and short crimson hair decorating her head while four white, long pointy canines were stuck in between her two thin, unhappy lips. The lady was also wearing black to cover her atrociously muscular body: tank top and shorts, but no shoes.
A man's voice blared out of the place's speakers, announcing the two combatants and as soon as the voice stopped talking, a bell rang. Gash hopped on place two times then walked towards his rival.

"Hey sweetie, long time no see. Now, you remember me and my manners right? So... Ladies first?" he asked with a playful grin.
"Gash, I'll kill you on stage one of these days..." the red skinned giant growled.
"D'aww... Come on, you know you like me. So, alright! Give me your best shot."

Not a moment too soon after his last words, a mighty jab found its way to Gash's stomach, stealing his breath away, and a second punch came to meet his face, sending the Black Dawn's pirate twisting away and falling to the floor. Helping himself up with a hand and shaking his head to get his senses back, Stryker looked over his shoulder at his rival giving the crowd a triumphant roar. "Yep. Still totally worth it."

___With the fight finally over, Gash found himself sitting on an old stretcher in the club's infirmary room. As per club policy, every fighters had to be checked up after each fight to make sure no one suffered from terrible injuries. The Last Edge might have often been seen as a low-life's planetoid, but this place liked to keep things clean and their contestants alive. The Quartermaster panted from the previous brawl, cuts and bruises showing he had gotten quite a hard time against the Shkark woman even if he did hold his own pretty well. Body arched forward and arms resting on his thighs, the male fighter waited patiently, alone in the room, occasionally wiping blood from his face. The roars of the spectators were muffled by the room's walls and door until their volume abruptly rose. Gash looked up and smirked: An averagely tall, light blue skinned woman entered the room. As she closed the door behind herself, she pushed a white bang away from her face and stared at Gash with disapproving black eyes.

"What?" the smirking man asked.
"I swear. Sometimes, just sometimes, I think you lose on purpose just so you can get beaten up real good and checked up after." the clearly non-human medic sighed, walking towards her patient.
"Heh! Good evening to you too, Ellith."
"G'evening, Gash." she offered a smile back. "So, you don't seem too badly beaten up. I'll just treat your cuts and patch you up. Sounds good?"
"The usual. So, how have you been?" Stryker asked in a friendly manner and a casual conversation followed while the medic woman attended to her task. When Ellith was finally done with her work, she stood a few feet away while her patient stood up and put on the shirt he took off for the battle. "So, huh, do you have any plans for later tonight?" Ziek asked the girl while putting his normal attires on.
"Actually yes! I'm going out with my boyfriend to celebrate our fifth year anniversary!" she happily replied in a sing-song manner.
"Heh. That's grea- Wait! Fifth year anniversary? Boyfriend? That's news to me!" the pirate almost shouted out in surprise, but held managed to keep his voice low.
"Oh, I didn't tell you. We've been dating for five years now. Well, actually five years in a couple of days. Things are still going great, I'm really happy!"
"Well, huh... That's fantastic! I'm happy for you." he nodded and smiled to his friend before clearing his throat. "Well, I better get going now."
"Alright, then. It was nice talking to you again, Gash." she nodded back at the man with a warm smile.
"Same. Take care, Ellith. I'll see you next time I'm around." and with that, the man left the room.

___Outside, his back against the fight club's wall, the tall human waited for Compass, whom he had seen earlier while fighting, with his arms crossed over his chest; that little run was in the crowd laughing his heart out as Gash was being tossed left and right on the right. Stryker sighed and brushed his dark hair with a hand, remembering the fight (thanks to the stingy sensation his cuts were providing) and the reason he had hopped on the ring in the first place. "I can't believe it... Fifth year anniversary. Not sure the trouble was all that worth it now. At least I still got to chat with her a bit." he mumbled to himself as he waited for the Navigator to come out of the building.

"Ne'el-dra'phph'fao'gele-din'minad'nadal'a-ao Adeptus!"

"Ji'ein-gal'ost'dele-din'phphao'lahat'ha Adeptus."

It had been going on like that for nearly an hour at this point, to varying degrees of heated levels from both sides in a higher pitched tongue heavy on rough consonants, before Shasa had gotten tired of the customs official and policies. Having ended up sitting off to the side, waiting for documentation to go through, she had little to do other than to get a better idea of her surroundings...and to make a myriad mix of mumblings under her breath. The office wasn't particularly large, but then, a 'government' facility on a lawless asteroid has no need to be, even if it's more of a bounty office than anything else. With cheap plaster walls, smart-foam desks and chairs, out of date terminals, and something that once resembled a plant in one corner made the place feel just like it should; inefficient and apathetic. Complete with a creature behind the counter known as a Durgandian, something akin to a very overweight hairless nose-less human, in a cheap suit behind the counter just managed to complete the look of that place on the corner you avoid.

The argument had been over the matter of fee on bounty information; with an intricate matrix of people funneling money into targets and said targets funneling money in order to not be targets, in can be troublesome at the best of times to sort through who will pay what for who. Of course, Shasa has been doing this for some time, and while she isn't technically on the books as a hunter any more, well... a little extra capital never hurts, especially for the ambitious. Wearing a heavy brown overcoat, embossed over the chest on each side with her odd crest, Shasa gives it a small irritated tug, her gaze shifting back and forth between the small door window and the official behind the counter, head sinking lower and lower by the inch before the Durgandian waved her back over.

"Here-is-your-terminal-ma'am-have-a-nice-day." The official stated, having switched back to basic though the slurred nasal accent remained. Doing her best to be courteous, more out of habit than intent, Shasa slowly reached out to retake the data-card that she had given for both fund and information to be transferred to. With a stiff bow of the head, the Fellpool girl turns, wiping the card on the hem of her coat before sliding it back into her pocket. To the trained ear, one could hear her utter "Nek'nek-fa'lar-sha'vana" as she left, which would translate roughly into common as Damnable pig.

Adeptus... Shasa thought to herself, leaning back on a bench somewhere near the docks, though not the docks the Black Dawn was located. It's hard enough tracking part time, just wish I got a little more for that one. With a sigh and a bit of a bitter chuckle, the Fellpool started to dig through a small plastic bag, rifling through a few minor purchases that would certainly be hard to obtain once they left port. As for their usefulness... Peppermint Aroma candles? Why again did I buy these...? Well, their usefulness was questonable to say the least, but Shasa found nothing wrong with little eccentricities, especially if mint had a similar affect on humans as it did to her own kind. Well, nothing to be done about it now, might as well see if I can find... Twisting what looked like a decorative watch brought up a holo-panel of her system, based on the Black Dawn but with enough scalar range to easily reach her position on the station, she starts flipping and dragging menus around to find her list of things to get, most of which had been checked off already. Ah, that's the one. Human ice-wine... been meaning to try that. With a small chuckle, the panel faded out, the plastic bag vanishing into her coat as her cane starts to twirl in her hand, the odd feline girl humming softly to herself as she begins to move to her next destination...

Boots clanked on the metal entry ramp of the ship, and the lean figure they belonged to gave an involuntary shiver. She shifted the tote bag higher on their shoulder, and brushed the long hair back from her eyes. Fletch had had a frustrating day. She avoided crowds as much as possible, and the ship, she was accustomed to, but cities... No. The engineer hated cities. The cities, the thick, stagnant air, the crowded, overheated bodies. She preferred the cleaner, if slightly oily, air of a ship, with the constant chillness below the normal temperature. And, most importantly, much, much less ignorant people to deal with, and at least one or two decent people.

But. She had more important things to think about. Food, at the moment, as usual. There was no way she had been about to eat THAT food. Not something so maggot and spit-ridden as the food in such cities. Ship food was much preferred. Her new gadgets were calling to her, as well. She had taken a little personal shopping trip for a few select things that she had been craving, to work on her side projects that she found herself working on when the ship was working smoothly, which wasn't too rare, with her leading the engineers.

Her mostly leather-clad body shivered again with relief at being 'home,' before her arms reached over her head, and her body tensed as she stretched. Her arms shook out, and her mouth opened in a large yawn, before her arm moved to cover it, and, mentally drained, she moved to stow away her new special little gadgets. Her step was a little peppy, and in a rare good mood, her expression was calm and controlled, nothing bothering her or getting on her nerves as her boots made the lovely echoing knock on the metal floors they were so accustomed to.

The halls were blessedly empty, and she hummed quietly to herself as her feet took the familiar route to her one true sanctuary, her small, cramped, but appreciated room aboard the ship. She heard nothing but the echoes sent back to her that her feet made upon the metal floor, and she prefered it that way. Silent, with nothing to bother her. She took the stairs to floor with her room, enjoying giving her legs a quick stretch. Her humming joined her footsteps' echo, giving off a rhythmic little song. It surprised her, though she listened for a few more moments, and stopped, wishing to be rid of the bulky bag, and heading to the cafeteria to grab a snack.

It was nothing to toss her bag onto her bed, switch to more comfortable clothes, and then head over to the mess hall, thankful to be back.

The Captain left the Dynastic restaurant, her high boots clacking on the iron gangways that made up most of the smaller pathways inside the hollow planetoid. She moved off the equivalent of a back alley onto the main thoroughfare, the path changing from metal to smart concrete – a modification of the old fashioned concrete that allowed it to hold its own shape until it dried around whatever metal supports it was directed to wrap around. Various richly dressed aliens passed her in either direction, many of them glancing at the short human curiously. It was perhaps the manner of her dress, or perhaps the way she held herself – she never understood why she drew attention to herself. It had been like that all her life, it was probably why she had been singled out all those years ago when the Black Dawn attacked her family’s ships. It did not bother her really, it made it easier to command attention amongst her crew and when she required it with others.

She yawned softly behind the back of her hand, the time flashing up in her vision. There was still a little time before it was time to turn in. Normally she stayed up very late, but she wanted to get a good night’s sleep for a change. The final morning was tomorrow and she planned to gather the crew together to make a speech. It wasn’t going to be anything particularly inspirational or such, she just wanted to make sure there were no illusions about what they were about to do or the risk they were about to take – the last thing she needed were some of her crew freaking out and causing trouble on her ship when they would be potentially hundreds of light-years away from civilisation.

A map sprang into view in her eyes, prompting her to take an elevator next to her if she wished to return to the ship. She did not, however, so instead instructed the map to guide her to one of the main shopping districts. There were some good clothes shops there and she liked the idea of getting a few new things to wear when she was not on duty – at the very least it would provide some entertainment for the last couple of hours of leave she had allotted to herself. Tugging at her gloves to adjust them, she flexed her fingers until they felt nice and tight, as she moved towards another elevator. A few aliens of different hews, shapes and genders moved out of her way, eyeing her while trying not to look like they were doing so. Josie could not help but smile slightly, shaking her head as she stepped into the elevator to take her to the shopping district. Some of those watching her joined her, doing their level best to return their attention to what they had been doing before the unusual looking human had appeared – golden eyes were a Dynastic trait and not many Dynasts, loyalist or otherwise, made it this far out so she figured perhaps that was part of the fascination, it did not explain why Dynasts had acted the same, however.

The elevator opened, disgorging its misshapen and ambling contents, a small figure in dark clothing flitting between them until she was out in the open. A small peaceful smile was still on her face as she entered the shopping district, the clamour of various languages washing over her as the young woman passed under the metallic archways that marked the entrance and exits to the main market area. Stores of all sizes, styles and materials reached up into the darkness above. The docks were a good mile or so above, the natural darkness of a cavern swallowing even the bright lights of the commercial district after only a few hundred metres. It almost felt as if the darkness resented the coming of life and the creation of light. She wondered sometimes if this place would come to a bad end one day – a few cults had sprung up on that very subject, proclaiming doom either for the sins of the Flesh Pit or for the science teams attempting to get down to the very core of the planetoid. Personally, Josie had no interest in what made this place work or what people living there did; this place was not her home and if it was destroyed, then so long as she was not on it then it would be no loss to her. Another Last Edge would appear somewhere else.

Running some gloved fingers through her hair, she flicked it a little before sighing and stopping to look through the window of a clothing store. She smiled a little, looking at the pretty articles of lingerie on display. They were all made and sold by an amazing race of beings known as the Art’Ech. A highly advanced and gregarious race, they had been quick to embrace any culture which approached them in peace. They did not really share their technology, but they were more than happy to adapt technology they considered to be of peaceful nature to anyone. Some of them had come to realise they could make a lot of this money and had adapted the technology of their adaptive armour to create clothing that would adapt to perfectly fit a wearer – in effect any clothing made from the material they crafted would appear to be perfectly fitted to one’s body. Feroca had a few pieces, and although they felt a little unusual at first, they were extremely comfortable once you got used to them. She had never had underwear made from it, however… She wondered what it was like.

A commotion drew her attention away from the simple automaton models, the sound of a familiar voice raised in argument in accented basic with the oddly lilting and dreamy tone of an Art’Ech. She smiled slightly in amusement as she saw Shasa being escorted by a large security android out of the store, clad only in her brown overcoat with the rest of her clothing held tightly to her chest. The pilot was accusing the alien of trying to cut her tail off, and the store owner was accusing her of damaging a pair of panties that she now held up as evidence, a slight tear at the waist where the tail would be.

Josie could not help but laugh softly to herself, covering her mouth with a gloved hand. She waited until the droids and the store owner had left before approaching her young looking subordinate. “So Art’Ech clothing not to your taste?” She chuckled softly. “Although perhaps you should wait until you’re fully dressed before you upset them by telling them that?” teased the Captain.

___The tall Quartermaster was still hanging around, arms crossed over his chest and head into thoughts, the mumbling still going. As his mind got lost into his own silent complains, laughs broke his train of thoughts. His twin sapphires rolled to the club's door only to see that giant red woman step out of the place with a few friends of hers. Gash's red jacket caught her eye and as she looked at her ex-opponent, she gave him a wide taunting grin; Gash wouldn't reply to that, it would only make that monster of a woman happy. Instead, the human looked away and ignored her. It was only moments later that the black haired man heard more laughs coming out of the fight club; this time however, the laughing was more familiar to the Quartermaster's ears.

"Oh, man, I can't believe you got beat by a girl".

Of course, the new Navigator had to be there at the fight. In all the fight clubs the Last Edge had, this one was where Gareth had to go to and the Navigator had to see Gash lose his fight. "To a girl? Pfeh. More like a giant golem thing..." he thought, only returning a blank stare at Compas. "Eh, yeah well..." Stryker started off his sentence, rubbing his eyes with a thumb and an index finger from the same hand, "I think she went easy on me, probably due to pity or something. Maybe she thinks I'm her friend, I don't know. But one way or another, my spine is still intact from all these fights against her." Gash let his arm fall back to his side and scoffed once, followed by a light chuckle. "Maybe she didn't break me in half yet because she's crushing. Wouldn't I just be the damn luckiest man alive, eh?" he joked and chuckled some more. After shaking his head a few times, the pirate started walking in the ship's general direction, telling his companion to follow with a gesture of his hand.

"Well, we still have some time left before going back to the ship. Anywhere you need to go before we leave this planetoid?" Gash asked casually as he walked, looking over his shoulder to see if Compas was following.

Tobias considered the question, and seemed to catch some meaning as to his question. He had in fact, not tried to court any of the women aboard the ship, but that was in fact for good reasons. The first being that, all the women were crew, and if bad things befell the two of them, it could cause conflict. Also, it could impair his judgment on a mission, or cause favoritism to either manifest, or appear that there was favoritism. Woman caused complications. His past relationships had never ended well, which was to be expected as someone adopted into the Rahl family, you had fake woman who were only interesting him out of position and most were disappointed when he told them he was entitled to nothing.

“Right you are. I never seem to have much time when were off at port for me to go out and socialize. I’m mostly dealing with the cargo. “ He paused cracking his knuckles one finger after the other let loose some strain and tension that had built up in them.

“I don’t really have the leisure as being First Mate to prowl the town as it were.” The soft clicking of his boots on sounded on the floor as he started paddling his way towards to the ships mess hall. Since pretty much all of the ships crew was gone, he would be forced to make something for himself. Actually, this didn’t bother him at all, as he felt he was a better cook anyway.

“Right now, the only socializing I have time for is Black Dawn.” He chuckled trailing his fingers along the cold grooves of the ships hull.

“Though I must say, I do feel sorry for the female crew, as the men that float about these ports are real ugly folk if you ask me. I’d say we would be good catches to prowl around the bars!”

He finally reached the mess hall, which actually wasn’t to far from his location. He had loaded up a lot of the ships new food reserves already into certain areas.

Josie rose an eyebrow at all the cursing emanating from her pilot, the translation program from the Black Dawn – the new link was more useful than she realised – interpreting every single curse and oath the alien girl muttered. She smiled and shook her head slightly, drawing a few material covered fingers through her long black hair, flicking it out slightly as Shasa adjusted her clothing and muttered about the clothing she had been attempting to wear.

“The problem is the clothing wasn’t made for people with tails. I’m afraid you need a specialist for that,” explained the Captain, one corner of her lip still upturned in a slight smirk. It was quite impressive how her subordinate got her shoes on without showing anything off, perhaps a testament to her agility or just plain luck. Regardless, she could not help but be amused by the situation as she held her clothing to her small form – Shasa helped her with her out height issues.

She shook her head. “No, I was just window shopping when I heard your voice.” Glancing at the Art’Ech who was drilling its three yellow eyes into the back of the Fellpool’s head, she waved at him, causing him to pale – as much as a purple skinned being could – and disappear behind some racks of clothing. Her smirk grew a little more apparent. She still had it.

The young woman reached out a gloved hand, gently touching Shasa’s chin and tipping her head up until their eyes met. “Of course, my dear. I’ll go get it and perhaps I can take you to a place where you can try underwear more suited to your anatomy.” said Feroca, not really phrasing it as a question.

Releasing the other female’s chin, she breezed past her companion, the lower part of her black and green dress flaring out behind her as she strode up to the large androids standing in front of the door. They were fairly high-end security androids, covered in heavy armour plating with diffusers to redirect energy weaponry away – not quite shields but they were much cheaper. It was a little rich for a store like this; she could only assume that somewhere a deal had been made. Regardless, the androids moved out of the way as she approached, staring down at her impassively as she breezed past them and entered the store. Searching out the alien who had ejected the Fellpool, she strode up to him, her boots making soft clicking sounds on the tiled floor.

“May I help you… madam?” asked the tall almost skeletal being, its three eyes blinking rapidly and averting their gaze from her golden eyes. Its clothing clung to its body, all ornate shapes and silver threads giving him the appearance of having wings, although his species were most definitely incapable of having real ones.

“My pilot was wondering if she could have her cane back which she left behind when you ejected her.”

With a snap of his fingers, a younger looking female Art’Ech scurried from out of nowhere with the cane held in her small hands – the females were a good feet or so smaller than the male Art’Ech who usually stood at least six feet tall. She handed the polished wood to the captain before disappearing to talk with another customer. “W-Will that be all?”

Josie nodded. “Yes, thank you for your assistance.” Turning on her heel, she left with a slight nod to the female alien on the way out. “Here you are,” she said, offering the short cane to her pilot. “Now let’s go to that store.” A thought occurred to her, her mind quickly cycling through the communicators of her senior crew and filtering it down to just the female members. She sent a quick message, inviting them to join her for some clothes shopping and drinks at the store she was taking Shasa too. It should be fun having all the girls together. If they others chose not to attend, she did not mind – it was really only the Fellpool next to her who had been drafted into attending.

“Having fun on this planetoid?” asked the Captain, her tone light as she looked straight ahead, glancing down at her companion on occasion. “This is one of my favourite places in the galaxy to visit. Although a few of the major sector capitals are very nice, and actually have a sky to look at.” Looking up at the impenetrable darkness beyond the neon glow of the upper district of the station, she looked down at the street again as a large store loomed up before them. It was the most prestigious and well-known store in this corner of the galaxy. Very few could get entry, let alone have the money to actually buy anything there. Josie was one of those people who could do both, and she was in the mood to treat those who turned up to join her. “This place will give us some privacy and will give you the opportunity to try some Art’Ech clothing that won’t try to remove parts of your body.” Chuckling slightly behind one of her gloved hands, she opened the door and let Shasa enter before her.

An Art’Ech female in a very clingy and filmy black dress approached them, bowing her head slightly. “Captain Feroca. Would you like your usual room?”

“Yes, Erriass. I may have some guests while I am here. Could you please send them to my room if they arrive.”

“Of course.” She gestured down the empty corridor decorated only with rich black carpeting. “Right this way.”

Eventually, after a few turns, they were led into a small room with comfortable looking leather couches, a small bar and lots of mirrors. A glowing terminal stood in the middle of the room, small holographic items of clothing cycling through on a loop.

“If you need any help then please call me on the terminal,” said the female, bowing again and closing the door behind her once she left the two alone.

Feroca smiled and moved over to the terminal, cycling through various outfits with a gloved hand. “We order the clothes to try on using this. Just tell me if you see anything you like.” She looked over at the Fellpool, and gestured for her to join her. “You can also get dressed again if you like. Whatever takes your fancy.”