Tal Ravis entered the bar alongside an APM transport captain, his camouflage fatigues, vest, and helmet markedly contrasting with his associate's classic black suit and red tie mix. Smeared, bright tan marks dotted his sleeves and pant legs from constant exposure to the harsh desert sands of Planet Nauru, while his old, scratched and dinged up loaded carbine dangled loosely from his back, tied to a black shoulder strap.
The atmosphere was quite nice, definitely refreshing after several months worth of staring at nothing but the same sand dunes day in and day out, with various purple lights accenting the bar's sleek countertops. A very pleasantly pungent aroma filled his nose, masking the fact that he hadn't showered in about seven weeks. In the meantime, as he and his buddy walked with unbelievable confidence and swagger while perhaps the best song he'd ever heard played from the speakers, forcing him to not bob his head up and down for risk of looking unprofessional in front of such a packed venue.
A couple passed them by, on their way out, as the pair made their way to the center of the room where drinks could be ordered. Tal paid little attention to them, while the equally young transport captain had tagged the man's partner, a younger-looking female Core pilot with the most artificial red hair he'd ever seen, and followed her with his eyes as she left the room.
They eventually reached one of many well-lit bar counters, this one less crowded than the others, with the captain politely pulling out and seating himself on a stool. Tal instead opted to wrench the black bar stool away from the counter with a quick thrust of his left, gloved hand, creating a horrific squeaking sound as the chair's rubberized legs scrapes against metal flooring. He kept his left hand on the table from then on, leaning ever so slightly on the stool so that he could keep his spare hand on his weapon and keep it under check at all times.
Lucky would be a fairly good word to describe Tal, a mercenary working with Core forces on Nauru. Supplies ran low over the course of three months, and the only APM transport actively supplying installations on the barren desert planet was down an armed bodyguard. Naturally, he sprung at the opportunity to revisit civilization again, even for a brief moment, and take in the sights of space, it's stations, and the real women that inhabited it before he had to go sit in the desert and be content with twiddling his thumbs for another three months.
A bartender droid approached him, droning a request for an order. "Sweet tea," he had replied, well in need of southern Liberty's sweet nectar again. His partner had, in the meanwhile, ordered a Delta Dingerino, which was served to him in a fancy glass with a mini-umbrella on a toothpick for an adornment.
"Ah," he sighed, taking a deep breath after a tiny little sip, "Sometimes, Tal, you've just gotta experience the finer things in life. Strawberry synth gel with vodka, my friend, a lovely combination."
Tal never claimed to like this man for any reason other than he got him off of that burning rock for a few days.
"Pfft. Clear alcohols are for rich women on diets," he remarked, taking a long swig from a cup filled with some odd, light brown elixir that had just been placed on a neat little coaster bearing Erik Nodviet's face and "DOLAR TRANSIT GLORIA AETERNA EST" around it in bright white letters, whatever the hell that meant.
While his company was busy chatting it up with random women and slowly drinking his alcoholic beverage, Tal turned around to examine the bar's patrons, a miserable expression forming naturally on his face for some reason.
Mad Mako's crowd largely consisted of Core and APM personnel, mostly pilots and captains, which wasn't surprising in the slightest. He'd been in venues like this in the Colonial Republic and the Libertonian Marine Corps, although the latter instance consisted of him and two friends awkwardly making their way through a herd of offended officer wives that never stopped gawking at them like some kind of obscenity was growing from their foreheads.
Oddly enough, he hadn't noticed the rather large crowd of people surrounding Erik and what appeared to be some kind of futuristic space-ninja that looked so pale she'd probably burn up in the sun. She also had a weapon on her, some weird kind of hyper-lethal, micro-filament edged katana looking tool, and suddenly all of his worries about being kicked out for having a gun went out the window. Erik looked as he'd usually did, visibly glowing at the fact that so many people were under control.
In a random corner of the bar was a lone man at a booth, drinking a Dingerino. "Probably strokin' it or something over there," he thought, shifting his body around to look at the main hub.
Most of the pilots congregated at the large, circular main bar counter, with a crowd consisting of some random scene chick with artificial blue hair, a girl who was evidently high off cardamine or something, some creepy guy who looked like he was trying to get laid tonight, and a guy talking to some girl in a flight-suit, obviously actively in the process of trying to get laid.
It was an odd kind of culture shock that he'd never thought he'd experience, but for some reason this crowd of people was so diverse that it actually threw him off a bit, especially the space ninja wearing purple spandex and a tan scarf. Why was she even wearing that? At least he had an excuse to tote military-grade weapons and gear around.
"Yo, guy," he muttered, patting his buddy on the arm to gather his attention, "What did I miss while I was sitting in the middle of nowhere? Was everyone always this...weird?"
His companion shrugged lightly and returned to hitting on chicks. Tal facepalmed, sighing while reaching for his iced tea again.
Suddenly, going back to Nauru didn't seem so bad after all.
Shiro walks in silently, looking at her surroundings, admiring the place"Ohh~! so nice! no one told me that such a place existed here!"she says to herself. She then rushes to the main bar, she checks the menu silently and shyly asks"Uhm...C-Can I have...a Delta Dingerino...please?" she blushes after saying that, the barmaid nods and gets her the drink. Shiro smiles slightly and looks at her drink."hmm...I'm not sure if I should..."
Stop complaining. Staying shut inside that stupid-ass Cruiser all the time will give you a bloody beard. And you ain't even a man!
Hopefully.
"I have no snakes under my uniform last time I checked, jackass, and I'm now the Captain of that Vessel, I'll have you know. I've been put in command and I intend to not mess it up."
Whatever-whatever. In any event, stop talking to yourself. Half the people in this dumb place look like they want to throw you in a mental hospital.
"No they're not.
Yes they are. Damn it!"
Stop talking you moron!
Eventually, Alex turned off her voice and resumed her liquidy adventure with an embarrassed figure, trying to enjoy her glass of icy water, at the same time hoping people would stop with the stares.
Having just finished visiting his some of his crew in Medical Bay on Durban Station, Matt decided a drink or two would take his mind off what had just happened.
He had a look around, seeing several familiar faces; all of which were having drinks he though to himself. "Well this can escalate into a huge fight or a fun time."
He walked up to the bartender casually, before the bartender could even react Matt went ahead and asked. "Orange Juice out of a Champagne Glass please."
The bartender handed him his drink. "Thanks."
Matt casually walked over to one of the tables and sat down for a drink, still thinking about what had happened to his crew earlier in Omicron Iota.
Cas was smoking his fifth cigar, enjoying the view of the dancing girls, drinking the Sake he brought from his quarters, since none of the drinks in the bar made him feel woozy enough, when he saw someone enter the bar and checking the place out.
"well I'll be damned..... if it isn't Matt. I bet he'll be more entertaining than this sad lot."
He saw Matt didn't notice him, and he watched and waited for a chance, to cheer up his spirits. He saw Matt sit behind a table.
At that point Cas stood up, grabbed the Sake and casually started walking towards him.
Then he Slapped him on the back and said:
"Matt old buddy, old pal. The mood in this bar was making me think suicidal thoughts. Good thing you came around when you did, or else I'd drink myself to death ahah...AHAHAAAHAAHAH...."
He then starts to wave his bottle around spilling Sake all over the place and yells so the whole bar can hear him:
"YOU HEARD ME.... EVEN THE NOMAD GIVES ME MORE INTERESTING CONVERSATIONS THAN THE LOT OF YA! YA DAMN ALIENS!"
Tal turned his head around incredibly rapidly to face the source of such a random outburst, clutching the magazine well of his carbine tightly and bringing it up closer to his stomach, only to be disappointed at the sight of the man who tried to get laid. He disregarded him as some drunk guy who was still pissed off at getting denied a lay, and gradually his gaze drifted off to the right, where he noticed a very distinct, distant round armor plate and engine exhaust, painted a light shade of green. Slack-jawed, he nudged his partner again, who inquired his intention with a quick "yes?".
"Is that a...Rheinland cruiser?"
His buddy took a sip from his still half-full glass of Dingerino. "That's the Verdandi, Admiral Schmitt's flagship. She's here to attend a high-level meeting with Guildmaster Nodtviet."
He leaned in closer to Tal, moving a hand up as to block the sound waves from dispersing. "Keep your distance," he had whispered before returning to hitting on chicks.
Tal continued staring at the ship, deep in concentration with a slight squint. So that's what they looked like in person. He'd figured it look a bit like a big green turd as his senior Marines, most of which saw combat on the Rheinland front before the advent of Gallic invaders, had so vividly described.
Rayne walked in the bar, looked around and nodded to the people inside. As usual, she kept to herself, without anyone objecting. Half of the people Rayne met were scared of her, and the other half was dead anyway. But Rayne didn't care. Almost.
She ordered her usual bottle of vodka, or rather would be usual had Rayne visited this place more often. She turned her head towards the entrance, and yes, someone was coming. Not just someone, after all it wasn't a place for random people to visit, but someone Rayne began to care after and for. Why? Was it a reminder of her lost family and old life, or just a stroke of sentimentality in the harsh reality of the forsaken place which became her home? It didn't matter anymore.
She stepped aside, watching with a smile Shiro ordering a drink. Rayne took two glasses and approached her friend.
"Hey, Shiro, nice to see you here!"
Rayne moved her eyes in the direction of a table and they started to walk towards it.
"I didn't expect to see you in this place, my dear..."
As they sat down, Rayne opened her bottle, filled two glasses and slid one towards Shiro.
"Shiro, dear, do you know Mako is only for initiated?" She glanced with a smile at the glass she offered to Shiro, then raised hers.
"For you, my dear, for the Core, and for you in the Core. May we make a difference!"
She looks surprised and smiles"Rayne-san! I didn't expect you to be here!"she lowers her voice"I actually didn't expect to see any friendly face here..." she blushes and shakes her head slightly and looks at her Dingerino, then at the drink Rayne offered."I...I'm not much of a drinker sorry, I haven't even tried my Dingerino"she chuckles nervously "A-And...what did you say about a Mako? I didn't quite get it...
Ivy was watching all the people talk, have fun while she sits in the corner drinking alone. She shrugs a bit and sighs, looking at her wrist, from the Data Pad the human figure projects again.
"Startup..."
[::S.E.P.H. 1.0 Alpha::] [::Startup Complete::] "Project Sephiron online, how can I help the organic adjucant. Excuse me, I meant, the per-son?"
"Just say how can I help you, alright?"
[::Emotion::] "I feel the sadness, excuse the fabricant for dissapointing...you."
Ivy sighs but in her relief was seen, as her project is starting to learn slowly.
"Its okay, your feeling module still needs to be taught more..."
[::Visualise Emotion::] The figure seems to try and smile. "I thank you for the sympathy."
Meanwhile, a rather fresh looking face walked through the door of the Mad Mako. Wearing glasses, with a strange smug on him Andrew came in. He looked around at the people there, none of which he knew who they were. Making his way to the bar counter the only thing he asked for was a glass of ice water.
"Hmph..."
He received what he asked for shortly, taking the glass he kept looking around. Touching his glasses to set them straight, he stered the ice, shaking the glass by moving his wrist only while it was slightly off the counter. He started to get bored already, and it gets to him easy.
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