The Supernova was a bar on the outskirts of the Kyoto spaceport, one that mimicked its namesake by the swirl of colors along the ceiling, which were only highlighted by the dim neon lighting, perfect for those who are used to penny pinching captains who kept the lighting low on their ships. The place was only half filled in the middle of the day, a broad man behind the bar served as both the bouncer and tender, the intelligent gleam in his eyes and the thick corded muscles on his arms told that he was capable at both. Due to the cultural stigma across Yamatain society though, the air was clear.
The front door swung open as a young neko stepped in, glancing about a bit uncertainly. She pushed a pair of sunglasses up her nose a little, then straightened out her jacket, as she stepped into the building. Once the door started to slide shut behind her, she straightened herself and walked toward the bar, pulling a stool and seating herself into it. She avoided looking around aside of some glaces at the people she's close to, then lowers her sight to the bar slightly. Most of the occupants of the bar were geshrin traders or the occasional Yamatain spacer, so the neko was an odd sight (after all, it was not a military bar) but most of the occupants simply stuck to their own corners, muffled conversation filling the bar. The tender finished his conversation with another male at the end of the bar, and walked down the line to her, asking in an even tone "What will you be having today, miss?"
The neko looked up slowly, then nodded a bit, speaking in a soft tone, "I'll have a shot of some whiskey. Surprise me with the brand." Then she glanced up and smiled a bit, then looked about again quietly, frowning as her sunglasses slid down her nose, reaching up to push them back up again with a sigh. The bartender gave a slight nod, and walked down the bar, bending down to fill a glass before returning, sliding her the shotglass filled with the dark brown liquor, some pretty harsh stuff, but it wasn't like the bar carried fine wine either. The tender was soon off to another customer, seemingly always busy or talking despite the small area of the bar. The woman glanced around, reaching up to wrap a hand around the glass before sighing contentedly about not getting any comments of 'That drink being too harsh for a dainty lady' and whatnot. She tilted the glass up and back, downing a portion of the liquor before resting the glass, then hummed to herself as she tries to listen in around her, picking out conversations among the various patrons. The bar seemed rather toned down at this time of day, and the patronage mostly consisted of two groups, one a pair and the other a group of four in a booth, the rest were singles spread out through the booths and along the bar. Bits and pieces of the conversations wafted into her feline ears "My captain's a real ass..." "Fucking Yamatains...I need a smoke...." "One of my shipmates got himself..." "You seen these slips? Seems to be an interesting place to dock..." The woman muttered soft curses, taking another shot of the booze before looking about more willfully, skimming the whole bar with a slightly bored expression, though past the shades over her eyes, there was more of a concerned look. She flinched as the sunglasses started to slip down again, reaching to push them up again. "...I need to get these things tightened or something, damn..." she hissed under her breath.
For the most part, the people in the bar kept their heads low, and themselves out of the light, either out of habit or hangover. The pair in the booth seemed to be a couple, albeit a rough one, the man having a scraggly beard and the woman had a shaved head with tattoos along the skin of her scalp. The quartet in the corner booth all seemed to be wearing the same style of jacket...maybe from the same crew? Though otherwise they differed greatly, a female slim, two broad shouldered males, and a skeletal, haggard male in the far corner. The singles in the bar kept their head too low to really discern anything. She shakes her head and she turns back to her drink, then tilts her head back, downing the rest and setting the empty glass down.
After a moment, she sighed and pulled her shades down, the drink loosening her insecurities, pocketing the glasses as she glanced down again, trying to discern what the shipcrew might be discussing while fiddling for the money in her pocket. She noticed the crew had a slip of paper on the table, occasionally passing it between them and reading it. Even from a distance, it seemed folded many times over, then refolded. More bits of conversation drifted in from that table, now that she was concentrating she tuned out the rest. The skeletal man seemed to be the chattiest of the group. "Well maybe we would get to smoke there...." "Yeah, and I heard from this guy that the guy who runs the place brokers plenty of deals, even does advertising..." The skeletal man flipped over the slip and pointed to the writing on the back "Maybe we could get jobs like that?"
She taped her glass a little, then smiled to herself. "Need to find out..." she murmured, then rolled her shoulders and pulls out a few bills, sticking them in another pocket as she continues to eavesdrop, while glancing about, stopping when her sight falls on the washrooms, and the walking distance between it and the crew. The washrooms were indeed past the crews table, unisex it seemed. The crew huddled about as it spoke, some more bits of conversation drifting to her "Meh, combat experience? What does he want to do, rob Yamatain military ships?" "Hell if I know...but we may as well check the place out, the locals are a bit too well trained for my liking...I like to win a bar fight now and then, ya know?" "Lift off t-" The last bit of the conversation was cut off as the tender walked back over to her and spoke "Want a refill miss?"
She nodded to the bartender, then to the washrooms, to signal that she wasn't running without paying and would come back. She then rose from the seat and started walking toward the washrooms, pulling her shades out and slipping them on, then glancing down at the table in hopes of catching sight of the paper, keeping her head turned to the restrooms, however, to try and avoid suspicion. The nekos eyesight managed to catch the slips text was still flipped over, and she managed to catch 'Crew want....combat experien..." Before the normal stride of her steps would carry her past. As she started to enter the washroom, the crew would rise from the booth though, and started to walk out of the bar, the female of the group stopping to chat with the tender and pay the tab.
She pushed the door to the washroom open and stepped in, walking over to the sink and staring at herself in the mirror a moment. Keeping a watchful eye on the door, she idled infront of the sink a bit, wondering to herself if she could go through with it all. After a few moments of stalling, she gathered her resolve started to head back out. By the time the neko left the washroom, the door to the bar was swinging closed, and the crew seemed to have disappeared from the bar. She started to head for the exit herself, pulling the bills she separated from the rest of her on-hand cash earlier, holding it to the barkeeper, then making her way outside, humming to herself. The bartender took the bills from the neko, and took her shotglass off the bar as she walked out, a casual "Come again" coming from his lips before he returned to serving other customers, as was last seen when the door swung close behind her. The part of the city around the bar was obviously a tourist style destination, overpriced stores around, hotels, and various eateries. It was moderately crowded, but in the distance heading towards the spaceport was a small group of auburn jackets.
She glanced about a moment, pushing her shades back up her nose with another curse. She then asked a random person for the time, not really caring either way, just trying to act casual. The man glanced at his chrono before looking up and answering with a simple "A bit after noon" Before continuing about his own business. The group was in no hurry either, joking and chatting as they glanced around at the scenery of the tourist district. She frowned to herself, thanking the man as he left. She stuck her hand in her pocket, counting her remaining cash and flinched. "Not good..." she murmured, then continues heading toward there she perceived the group was going to. The group continued on unstopping, and eventually they made their way onto the spaceport proper, taking a left down the rows of covered berths. She made her way into the spaceport, looking around and stalling a moment, then started to follow the way the group moved to. She started to tense a little, but simply pushed her shades back up over her eyes as they slid down again. 'Damn these things...'
Eventually the group stopped at one of the numbered berths, discussing amongst themselves for a moment. One broke off, one of the broad males, and headed further down the berths towards the main spaceport office. The skeletal man put something in on the keypad, which opened the small door beside the main shutter, and the group started filing in. The neko rubbed the back of her head stalling a moment and frowning to herself. She sighed a bit, then continued down toward the main offices, after the broad man. By the time the neko got there though, he was already walking out, hands in his jackets pockets.
She turned to the man suddenly. "Excuse me. I'd like to ask you something..." She shifted a little, waiting for the mans reply. The man turned and gave her a blank look for a moment, before quirking his head to the side and responding in a drawl "Ya? Whatcha want little kitty?" She tried to avoid making a face at the 'little kitty' comment, and answered, "Well, at the bar, I kinda overheard your talk of some kinds of jobs at a location. I'm looking for work myself, and was wondering if I could tag along to wherever you're going? Maybe help out on-route...Or pay, though I don't have a lot at the moment." She then flinched and pushes the shades up her nose again, internally hoping she wouldn't get her ass kicked for this one. He hmpf'd at that "Weell..." Came the drawn out response "The cap'n isn't really into freebies...but you'd havta talk to him 'bout this whole thing..." He shrugged, and started back towards the berth. She blinked after he turned away, then started after him. "Where can I find him?" she questioned as she walked behind the man, putting her hands behind her back. The man continued to walk as he spoke "He's preppin the ship right now." He reached the same berth the rest of the crew had walked into, and started poking some numbers into the pad "Wait here, Ahl get him for ya." She nodded and put her hands behind her head, arching her back as she glanced about. He pushed the door in, and let it click closed behind him, leaving the neko in front of the berth.
After a few moments, voices could be heard through the metal of the door, and soon the door clicked again, the skeletal man poking his head out, blinking at the renewed light and muttering out "You the one wanting a ride on my ship?" She nodded a little. "Yes, if it's not a bother. I could help out, or pay, though I don't have a lot at the moment..." Her weight shifted to the other leg, watching the man quietly. The man huffed a bit, and looked over the neko, before glancing up at her sunglass covered eyes once more. "Do you even know where we're going? You know I can't take you to Neplisia, and I'm not too happy about having a weapon like you on board..." She shrugged a little. "Anywhere is better than here. Also, I've been released, if that's a concern." The sound of an engine gave a whine behind him, and caused the ground to shudder a bit as the engine gave a quite unhealthy noise. The door suddenly closed and shouts could easily be heard over the whine, mostly expletives, before he poked his head back out "Fine fine, can you clean? These assholes can't keep my supplies straight, do that and some other handiwork around the ship, and we'll get you to Halna, I'm sure you can get somewhere useful from there." He shoved the door all the way open, and walked back towards the ship, running up the gangplank, shouting again. She smiled a bit and nodded quickly. "Sure thing." she then quickly chased after the man down toward the ship. 'Can't be any worse than the messes I made at home..' she thought to herself. While she made her way up the gangplank, the shutter was opening, letting in the daylight. The engine finally started to sound even, and the noise of a lifter moving into the hangar sounded, gangplank closing behind her. The transport was a Ki-F5 light transport frigate, so the thing was pretty spacious, and the crew had already disappeared into the ship. She blinked a bit as the shutters opened, then shielded her eyes and ran to board before they took off.
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She finished cleaning a few of the dishes from the last meal eaten. She didn't remember if it was breakfast or dinner, and didn't really care, as she wanted at this point was off the damn ship. 'It couldn't be worse than me...What the hell was I thinking!?' she murmured to herself as she stacked the dishes up. The trip was basically her cleaning up the mess that was the storage bays, and sleeping in one of the empty crew rooms, and the additude of the captain was generally cold, and the others crew ranged from derisive to lewd. The crew was actually busy now, faster than light drive didn't really require much effort on their part. Most of them were heading to the cockpit since they had never been to the Halna system before either. The captain was punching in an IFF signal into the console, before steering towards one of the little balls in the distance.
A sigh escaped her as she puts the dishes up and away, then slowly stretched. "Damn, I wonder how bad things were before I got here...?" She then turned and looked as she sees the crew milling to the cockpit, then blinked and went to follow. The captain was in the actual captains seat, though it seemed to just double as the pilots couch, the others were taking various other seats, whose screens were dark as there wasn't really any need for fire support or the like. Noone paid the neko much attention, more intent on the planet, and the slowly growing moon that was orbiting it, and seemed to be their destination. As they neared it, it became apparent the surface was a black tint, probably from the planet looking as if there was no moon except when it obscured stars...if you could see the moon through the yellow haze that covered the planet. 'Lovely' she thought to herself in a fit of sarcasm, rubbing at her eyes a bit. She then glanced about, choosing to remain standing than sit in one of the ratty old chairs about the cockpit.
It took a while for the ship to near the planet, and soon a message came from the moon. The captain took it on a headset, and mostly responded with 'yeah' 'ok' and 'uh-huh'. pushing the occasional button on his controls. The ship eventually maneuvered to the moons surface, and touched down on a large circular plate in what appeared to be the remains of a mining base. After a long time sitting, the ship would shudder, and slowly descend, the shaft walls rising around them. She blinked a bit, then just leaned on the wall by the door, watching quietly. The passage seemed to go on for what seemed like forever, then it shuddered to a stop. The walls were now lit with various lighting that ran along the roofs and walls, and around the ship were many passages, with the occasional person walking through them. It seemed to be old mining tunnels, recently renovated. The crew started getting out of their seats, and some cast the neko a glance before shouldering past, heading towards the gangplank. She blinked at the odd looks, then shrugged and started making her way out as well.
Once down the gangplank, the crew was greeted by a rather rotund fellow, covered in grease stained coveralls. The man introduced himself as Mick to the captain, and asked for the paper slip. All around in some berths that had been taken out of the walls of the cavern, there were other ships in various states of disrepair, with mechanics scrambling over them. The crew was soon debating docking fees with Mick. She just listened quietly as she came down the gangplank, shouldering her belongings and slipping her shades on quietly. Mick had already pocketed the slip of paper, but as the captain debated with him over fees, good natured callings of 'pirate' and 'swindler' being exchanged, the rest of the crew gave the cap'n a wave, and headed off to ask one of the mechanics about the nearest place for entertainment. Soon Mick and the captain agreed on a price, and shook hands, Mick heading to arrange the transport of the ship into a berth, and the captain walking off towards his crew.
She made her way to a mechanic herself, blinking as she pushed her shades up. "Hey, know a place I could try and find work around here? Or at least a place I could drink enough booze to forget the past week? Maybe both?" The mechanic looked up as he had started to pick up a toolbox, and almost dropped it, really not expecting to see a neko, especially on Blackmoon. "Uhm....ya....the bat caves where all the spacers hang out...and they serve decent booze...though I wouldn't wear those shades in there unless you like stumbling around..." He turned back to the toolbox, starting to walk towards a nearby ship. She smirked a bit, then nodded. "Thanks." She then starts to make her way out, taking the shades off as per the mechanic's suggestion. Midway, she froze and turned back. "Hey, waitasecond..." She sprinted over to him with a light smirk. "And, uh..How do I get there?" The man turned back around, giving her a blank expression, before his mouth formed an 'oh', and pointed towards one of the passages "Go to the very end of that tunnel, its blocked off with steel curtains." She nodded a bit. "All right. Thanks." she replied before heading out, sighing and faceplaming at her own ignorance a moment once outside, then glancing about quietly.
The area around her was basically a lift used in the mining of ores when the place was active, and had been converted into a drydock facility. Various tunnels lead off to the other parts of the mine, with varying amounts of activity and population. She rubbed at her eyes a bit, still not used to all the dark, and started to make her way down the afformentioned tunnel. The tunnel was quite long actually, but along the way various makeshift buildings had been placed, most of them looking to be made out of old shipping containers with a door cut out of one side. The place looked to be like one giant slum from what she saw. She finally reached the end of the tunnel, where it was blocked off by large lead curtains, requiring a bit of effort to push into. Once inside, the bar was lit only by dark lights, giving everything an odd tint to it. The 'bar' so to speak was tended by a robot with multiple limbs, that busied about on treads tending to various unscrupulous looking fellows that sat around circular tables in the dark place. She blinked a little, then made her way to a table with a wall near it, turning the chair to sit with her back to the wall. She then slumped down and sighs a bit, glancing about silently, trying to pick up bits of conversation if possible.
The patrons seemed to be less chatty than the other bar, mostly keeping hushed tones, extremely hard to hear over the clatter of the robot serving people. In the far corner of note though, there was a man in a long coat, color hard to determine under the light, wearing a tricorner hat with what appeared to be a sword on his belt. The hat was tipped low, and he appeared asleep, chair balanced on two legs. The rest of the patrons were much less flamboyant, seeming more like your typical thugs, thieves, and low class citizens...if this place could be considered to have citizens. She had to take a moment to pick her jaw up off the floor after seeing the first man, then had to resist snickering, idly wondering who in the hell wore things like that without being odd in the head in these days, then just looked up, waiting for the bot to head her way. Eventually, the bot passed by her table, red eye turning to look at her, and then the treads stopped, waiting for her order. "Whiskey." she just asked plainly. The bot rolled on, and would soon return, placing a bottle of whiskey in front of her, and a small screen on its side displayed the price, 30KS. She tilted her head, then reached into her pocket, flipping out 30KS and handing it to the bot, before cracking the bottle open and just downing a portion of the fluid without as much as a flinch. The bot filed away the cash inside itself, then rolled away to other customers. "Hnm. Never seen that before." She glanced about again, just idling, waiting to see what would happen for a moment, feeling quite unsafe for the moment. Most of the patrons simply ignored her, and everyone else unrelated to their interests, either concentrating on whoever they were speaking to, or the booze on the table in front of them. She tilted the chair back and just continued to take moderated gulps of her booze, hmming thoughtfully, trying to keep her ears open for potential work.
As time passed, eventually one of the newer patrons would approach the man in the back table, and he would lower his chair to four legs, leaning forward to discuss things with him. Muffled sounds of a discussion could be heard, a few noticeable words coming along as ship, combat, and gun. The man with the tricorner hat seemed to be depicting space combat with his hands, like many spacers were want to do. She hummed thoughtfully, and waiting for the man to be left alone. The larger man finally rose and walked off, a slip in hand, and was soon out of the lead drapes. The neko just rode and strode over, as the man with the tricorner hat started to kick his feet back up, and tilt his chair back on two legs, though the hat did not lower, seeing the form approaching in the darkness. She just took a seat at the table, putting the bottle up and smirking a little. "So, by the motions I saw, you're looking for help, or know of a place that needs it, huh?" He didn't seem inclined to lower his boots this time, idly rocking back and forth on two legs "I dunno..." He tipped his hat up a bit, looking over the neko in dim light "If I was, why would a neko be looking for work in a dump like this?" She lifted the bottle and took a shot. "And why would someone dressed like yourself be in the same location?" she added quickly. The man smirked at that, and came down from the two legs of the chair, boots clunking to the floor, the grip of a pistol shown from this position "Now now...there's a major difference in those questions....I could just have a lousy sense of style...don't you guys have loyalty chips or something? That might be a serious detraction if someone wanted to hire you...after all, who knows who our employers might be, or what we might do between employment." She shrugged a bit. "Yeah, and I withdrew from that kind of crap a while ago, tried my hand at a normal life, and got bored." She leaned back a little, swirling the bottle in her hand. "If it'll make people feel better, I could wear a little hat or something." The man rolled his eyes at that "I am sure that will cause everyone to miss the fact that we have a neko on board, especially on those long journeys....You realize that being on any ship, not just mine, will make people assume you are a spy, correct?" She made a 'tch' sound and took another shot of the bottle, then turned her eyes back to the man. "Well, I suppose." She then swirled the bottle around again, looking upward.
The man then smirked at her "However, if you are a spy, I think SAINT should fire you....seriously, you come here with no contacts, and wander in just asking for a job?" He reached across the table, leather gloved hand asking for hers "I'm Jelan, I need combat experienced crew for my ship, can you handle power armor, or a fighter? Or are you another grunt for the raiding parties?" She smirked a bit. "Saki Takahashi, experienced ex-military, power armor and skirmishing." She reached up and takes the offered hand, clasping firmly, also putting a slight bow habitually. Jelan gave a firm grip in response, before withdrawing his hand, crossing it over his chest, fingers of one hand idly brushing against the grip of the pistol sticking out of his jacket. "Well, we don't have mindys, but you can work with what we have..." He pulled out a wad of slips, picking one out and handing it to her "Thats the berth of my ship...Mick has techs running all over it right now, so don't think of trying to run off with it. He takes security of his docks pretty seriously, and I've seen a few would be thieves shot and spaced already. Should be plenty of bunks to choose from, I haven't picked up many crew yet." "Sure thing, chief." She took the slip and nodded slightly. "I guess I'll go get myself situated then." She started to stand up, grabbing the bottle and taking a big gulp from it, then put it back down on the table. He waved his hand at the bottle "Eh, take it, I have to be sober for now...just don't plan on drinking that stuff while on duty." She shrugged and grabbed the bottle, then started to head out to the spaceport again. She stared over the slip in the hallway outside the bar, then clenched it tightly and made her way to her new job.
The front door swung open as a young neko stepped in, glancing about a bit uncertainly. She pushed a pair of sunglasses up her nose a little, then straightened out her jacket, as she stepped into the building. Once the door started to slide shut behind her, she straightened herself and walked toward the bar, pulling a stool and seating herself into it. She avoided looking around aside of some glaces at the people she's close to, then lowers her sight to the bar slightly. Most of the occupants of the bar were geshrin traders or the occasional Yamatain spacer, so the neko was an odd sight (after all, it was not a military bar) but most of the occupants simply stuck to their own corners, muffled conversation filling the bar. The tender finished his conversation with another male at the end of the bar, and walked down the line to her, asking in an even tone "What will you be having today, miss?"
The neko looked up slowly, then nodded a bit, speaking in a soft tone, "I'll have a shot of some whiskey. Surprise me with the brand." Then she glanced up and smiled a bit, then looked about again quietly, frowning as her sunglasses slid down her nose, reaching up to push them back up again with a sigh. The bartender gave a slight nod, and walked down the bar, bending down to fill a glass before returning, sliding her the shotglass filled with the dark brown liquor, some pretty harsh stuff, but it wasn't like the bar carried fine wine either. The tender was soon off to another customer, seemingly always busy or talking despite the small area of the bar. The woman glanced around, reaching up to wrap a hand around the glass before sighing contentedly about not getting any comments of 'That drink being too harsh for a dainty lady' and whatnot. She tilted the glass up and back, downing a portion of the liquor before resting the glass, then hummed to herself as she tries to listen in around her, picking out conversations among the various patrons. The bar seemed rather toned down at this time of day, and the patronage mostly consisted of two groups, one a pair and the other a group of four in a booth, the rest were singles spread out through the booths and along the bar. Bits and pieces of the conversations wafted into her feline ears "My captain's a real ass..." "Fucking Yamatains...I need a smoke...." "One of my shipmates got himself..." "You seen these slips? Seems to be an interesting place to dock..." The woman muttered soft curses, taking another shot of the booze before looking about more willfully, skimming the whole bar with a slightly bored expression, though past the shades over her eyes, there was more of a concerned look. She flinched as the sunglasses started to slip down again, reaching to push them up again. "...I need to get these things tightened or something, damn..." she hissed under her breath.
For the most part, the people in the bar kept their heads low, and themselves out of the light, either out of habit or hangover. The pair in the booth seemed to be a couple, albeit a rough one, the man having a scraggly beard and the woman had a shaved head with tattoos along the skin of her scalp. The quartet in the corner booth all seemed to be wearing the same style of jacket...maybe from the same crew? Though otherwise they differed greatly, a female slim, two broad shouldered males, and a skeletal, haggard male in the far corner. The singles in the bar kept their head too low to really discern anything. She shakes her head and she turns back to her drink, then tilts her head back, downing the rest and setting the empty glass down.
After a moment, she sighed and pulled her shades down, the drink loosening her insecurities, pocketing the glasses as she glanced down again, trying to discern what the shipcrew might be discussing while fiddling for the money in her pocket. She noticed the crew had a slip of paper on the table, occasionally passing it between them and reading it. Even from a distance, it seemed folded many times over, then refolded. More bits of conversation drifted in from that table, now that she was concentrating she tuned out the rest. The skeletal man seemed to be the chattiest of the group. "Well maybe we would get to smoke there...." "Yeah, and I heard from this guy that the guy who runs the place brokers plenty of deals, even does advertising..." The skeletal man flipped over the slip and pointed to the writing on the back "Maybe we could get jobs like that?"
She taped her glass a little, then smiled to herself. "Need to find out..." she murmured, then rolled her shoulders and pulls out a few bills, sticking them in another pocket as she continues to eavesdrop, while glancing about, stopping when her sight falls on the washrooms, and the walking distance between it and the crew. The washrooms were indeed past the crews table, unisex it seemed. The crew huddled about as it spoke, some more bits of conversation drifting to her "Meh, combat experience? What does he want to do, rob Yamatain military ships?" "Hell if I know...but we may as well check the place out, the locals are a bit too well trained for my liking...I like to win a bar fight now and then, ya know?" "Lift off t-" The last bit of the conversation was cut off as the tender walked back over to her and spoke "Want a refill miss?"
She nodded to the bartender, then to the washrooms, to signal that she wasn't running without paying and would come back. She then rose from the seat and started walking toward the washrooms, pulling her shades out and slipping them on, then glancing down at the table in hopes of catching sight of the paper, keeping her head turned to the restrooms, however, to try and avoid suspicion. The nekos eyesight managed to catch the slips text was still flipped over, and she managed to catch 'Crew want....combat experien..." Before the normal stride of her steps would carry her past. As she started to enter the washroom, the crew would rise from the booth though, and started to walk out of the bar, the female of the group stopping to chat with the tender and pay the tab.
She pushed the door to the washroom open and stepped in, walking over to the sink and staring at herself in the mirror a moment. Keeping a watchful eye on the door, she idled infront of the sink a bit, wondering to herself if she could go through with it all. After a few moments of stalling, she gathered her resolve started to head back out. By the time the neko left the washroom, the door to the bar was swinging closed, and the crew seemed to have disappeared from the bar. She started to head for the exit herself, pulling the bills she separated from the rest of her on-hand cash earlier, holding it to the barkeeper, then making her way outside, humming to herself. The bartender took the bills from the neko, and took her shotglass off the bar as she walked out, a casual "Come again" coming from his lips before he returned to serving other customers, as was last seen when the door swung close behind her. The part of the city around the bar was obviously a tourist style destination, overpriced stores around, hotels, and various eateries. It was moderately crowded, but in the distance heading towards the spaceport was a small group of auburn jackets.
She glanced about a moment, pushing her shades back up her nose with another curse. She then asked a random person for the time, not really caring either way, just trying to act casual. The man glanced at his chrono before looking up and answering with a simple "A bit after noon" Before continuing about his own business. The group was in no hurry either, joking and chatting as they glanced around at the scenery of the tourist district. She frowned to herself, thanking the man as he left. She stuck her hand in her pocket, counting her remaining cash and flinched. "Not good..." she murmured, then continues heading toward there she perceived the group was going to. The group continued on unstopping, and eventually they made their way onto the spaceport proper, taking a left down the rows of covered berths. She made her way into the spaceport, looking around and stalling a moment, then started to follow the way the group moved to. She started to tense a little, but simply pushed her shades back up over her eyes as they slid down again. 'Damn these things...'
Eventually the group stopped at one of the numbered berths, discussing amongst themselves for a moment. One broke off, one of the broad males, and headed further down the berths towards the main spaceport office. The skeletal man put something in on the keypad, which opened the small door beside the main shutter, and the group started filing in. The neko rubbed the back of her head stalling a moment and frowning to herself. She sighed a bit, then continued down toward the main offices, after the broad man. By the time the neko got there though, he was already walking out, hands in his jackets pockets.
She turned to the man suddenly. "Excuse me. I'd like to ask you something..." She shifted a little, waiting for the mans reply. The man turned and gave her a blank look for a moment, before quirking his head to the side and responding in a drawl "Ya? Whatcha want little kitty?" She tried to avoid making a face at the 'little kitty' comment, and answered, "Well, at the bar, I kinda overheard your talk of some kinds of jobs at a location. I'm looking for work myself, and was wondering if I could tag along to wherever you're going? Maybe help out on-route...Or pay, though I don't have a lot at the moment." She then flinched and pushes the shades up her nose again, internally hoping she wouldn't get her ass kicked for this one. He hmpf'd at that "Weell..." Came the drawn out response "The cap'n isn't really into freebies...but you'd havta talk to him 'bout this whole thing..." He shrugged, and started back towards the berth. She blinked after he turned away, then started after him. "Where can I find him?" she questioned as she walked behind the man, putting her hands behind her back. The man continued to walk as he spoke "He's preppin the ship right now." He reached the same berth the rest of the crew had walked into, and started poking some numbers into the pad "Wait here, Ahl get him for ya." She nodded and put her hands behind her head, arching her back as she glanced about. He pushed the door in, and let it click closed behind him, leaving the neko in front of the berth.
After a few moments, voices could be heard through the metal of the door, and soon the door clicked again, the skeletal man poking his head out, blinking at the renewed light and muttering out "You the one wanting a ride on my ship?" She nodded a little. "Yes, if it's not a bother. I could help out, or pay, though I don't have a lot at the moment..." Her weight shifted to the other leg, watching the man quietly. The man huffed a bit, and looked over the neko, before glancing up at her sunglass covered eyes once more. "Do you even know where we're going? You know I can't take you to Neplisia, and I'm not too happy about having a weapon like you on board..." She shrugged a little. "Anywhere is better than here. Also, I've been released, if that's a concern." The sound of an engine gave a whine behind him, and caused the ground to shudder a bit as the engine gave a quite unhealthy noise. The door suddenly closed and shouts could easily be heard over the whine, mostly expletives, before he poked his head back out "Fine fine, can you clean? These assholes can't keep my supplies straight, do that and some other handiwork around the ship, and we'll get you to Halna, I'm sure you can get somewhere useful from there." He shoved the door all the way open, and walked back towards the ship, running up the gangplank, shouting again. She smiled a bit and nodded quickly. "Sure thing." she then quickly chased after the man down toward the ship. 'Can't be any worse than the messes I made at home..' she thought to herself. While she made her way up the gangplank, the shutter was opening, letting in the daylight. The engine finally started to sound even, and the noise of a lifter moving into the hangar sounded, gangplank closing behind her. The transport was a Ki-F5 light transport frigate, so the thing was pretty spacious, and the crew had already disappeared into the ship. She blinked a bit as the shutters opened, then shielded her eyes and ran to board before they took off.
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She finished cleaning a few of the dishes from the last meal eaten. She didn't remember if it was breakfast or dinner, and didn't really care, as she wanted at this point was off the damn ship. 'It couldn't be worse than me...What the hell was I thinking!?' she murmured to herself as she stacked the dishes up. The trip was basically her cleaning up the mess that was the storage bays, and sleeping in one of the empty crew rooms, and the additude of the captain was generally cold, and the others crew ranged from derisive to lewd. The crew was actually busy now, faster than light drive didn't really require much effort on their part. Most of them were heading to the cockpit since they had never been to the Halna system before either. The captain was punching in an IFF signal into the console, before steering towards one of the little balls in the distance.
A sigh escaped her as she puts the dishes up and away, then slowly stretched. "Damn, I wonder how bad things were before I got here...?" She then turned and looked as she sees the crew milling to the cockpit, then blinked and went to follow. The captain was in the actual captains seat, though it seemed to just double as the pilots couch, the others were taking various other seats, whose screens were dark as there wasn't really any need for fire support or the like. Noone paid the neko much attention, more intent on the planet, and the slowly growing moon that was orbiting it, and seemed to be their destination. As they neared it, it became apparent the surface was a black tint, probably from the planet looking as if there was no moon except when it obscured stars...if you could see the moon through the yellow haze that covered the planet. 'Lovely' she thought to herself in a fit of sarcasm, rubbing at her eyes a bit. She then glanced about, choosing to remain standing than sit in one of the ratty old chairs about the cockpit.
It took a while for the ship to near the planet, and soon a message came from the moon. The captain took it on a headset, and mostly responded with 'yeah' 'ok' and 'uh-huh'. pushing the occasional button on his controls. The ship eventually maneuvered to the moons surface, and touched down on a large circular plate in what appeared to be the remains of a mining base. After a long time sitting, the ship would shudder, and slowly descend, the shaft walls rising around them. She blinked a bit, then just leaned on the wall by the door, watching quietly. The passage seemed to go on for what seemed like forever, then it shuddered to a stop. The walls were now lit with various lighting that ran along the roofs and walls, and around the ship were many passages, with the occasional person walking through them. It seemed to be old mining tunnels, recently renovated. The crew started getting out of their seats, and some cast the neko a glance before shouldering past, heading towards the gangplank. She blinked at the odd looks, then shrugged and started making her way out as well.
Once down the gangplank, the crew was greeted by a rather rotund fellow, covered in grease stained coveralls. The man introduced himself as Mick to the captain, and asked for the paper slip. All around in some berths that had been taken out of the walls of the cavern, there were other ships in various states of disrepair, with mechanics scrambling over them. The crew was soon debating docking fees with Mick. She just listened quietly as she came down the gangplank, shouldering her belongings and slipping her shades on quietly. Mick had already pocketed the slip of paper, but as the captain debated with him over fees, good natured callings of 'pirate' and 'swindler' being exchanged, the rest of the crew gave the cap'n a wave, and headed off to ask one of the mechanics about the nearest place for entertainment. Soon Mick and the captain agreed on a price, and shook hands, Mick heading to arrange the transport of the ship into a berth, and the captain walking off towards his crew.
She made her way to a mechanic herself, blinking as she pushed her shades up. "Hey, know a place I could try and find work around here? Or at least a place I could drink enough booze to forget the past week? Maybe both?" The mechanic looked up as he had started to pick up a toolbox, and almost dropped it, really not expecting to see a neko, especially on Blackmoon. "Uhm....ya....the bat caves where all the spacers hang out...and they serve decent booze...though I wouldn't wear those shades in there unless you like stumbling around..." He turned back to the toolbox, starting to walk towards a nearby ship. She smirked a bit, then nodded. "Thanks." She then starts to make her way out, taking the shades off as per the mechanic's suggestion. Midway, she froze and turned back. "Hey, waitasecond..." She sprinted over to him with a light smirk. "And, uh..How do I get there?" The man turned back around, giving her a blank expression, before his mouth formed an 'oh', and pointed towards one of the passages "Go to the very end of that tunnel, its blocked off with steel curtains." She nodded a bit. "All right. Thanks." she replied before heading out, sighing and faceplaming at her own ignorance a moment once outside, then glancing about quietly.
The area around her was basically a lift used in the mining of ores when the place was active, and had been converted into a drydock facility. Various tunnels lead off to the other parts of the mine, with varying amounts of activity and population. She rubbed at her eyes a bit, still not used to all the dark, and started to make her way down the afformentioned tunnel. The tunnel was quite long actually, but along the way various makeshift buildings had been placed, most of them looking to be made out of old shipping containers with a door cut out of one side. The place looked to be like one giant slum from what she saw. She finally reached the end of the tunnel, where it was blocked off by large lead curtains, requiring a bit of effort to push into. Once inside, the bar was lit only by dark lights, giving everything an odd tint to it. The 'bar' so to speak was tended by a robot with multiple limbs, that busied about on treads tending to various unscrupulous looking fellows that sat around circular tables in the dark place. She blinked a little, then made her way to a table with a wall near it, turning the chair to sit with her back to the wall. She then slumped down and sighs a bit, glancing about silently, trying to pick up bits of conversation if possible.
The patrons seemed to be less chatty than the other bar, mostly keeping hushed tones, extremely hard to hear over the clatter of the robot serving people. In the far corner of note though, there was a man in a long coat, color hard to determine under the light, wearing a tricorner hat with what appeared to be a sword on his belt. The hat was tipped low, and he appeared asleep, chair balanced on two legs. The rest of the patrons were much less flamboyant, seeming more like your typical thugs, thieves, and low class citizens...if this place could be considered to have citizens. She had to take a moment to pick her jaw up off the floor after seeing the first man, then had to resist snickering, idly wondering who in the hell wore things like that without being odd in the head in these days, then just looked up, waiting for the bot to head her way. Eventually, the bot passed by her table, red eye turning to look at her, and then the treads stopped, waiting for her order. "Whiskey." she just asked plainly. The bot rolled on, and would soon return, placing a bottle of whiskey in front of her, and a small screen on its side displayed the price, 30KS. She tilted her head, then reached into her pocket, flipping out 30KS and handing it to the bot, before cracking the bottle open and just downing a portion of the fluid without as much as a flinch. The bot filed away the cash inside itself, then rolled away to other customers. "Hnm. Never seen that before." She glanced about again, just idling, waiting to see what would happen for a moment, feeling quite unsafe for the moment. Most of the patrons simply ignored her, and everyone else unrelated to their interests, either concentrating on whoever they were speaking to, or the booze on the table in front of them. She tilted the chair back and just continued to take moderated gulps of her booze, hmming thoughtfully, trying to keep her ears open for potential work.
As time passed, eventually one of the newer patrons would approach the man in the back table, and he would lower his chair to four legs, leaning forward to discuss things with him. Muffled sounds of a discussion could be heard, a few noticeable words coming along as ship, combat, and gun. The man with the tricorner hat seemed to be depicting space combat with his hands, like many spacers were want to do. She hummed thoughtfully, and waiting for the man to be left alone. The larger man finally rose and walked off, a slip in hand, and was soon out of the lead drapes. The neko just rode and strode over, as the man with the tricorner hat started to kick his feet back up, and tilt his chair back on two legs, though the hat did not lower, seeing the form approaching in the darkness. She just took a seat at the table, putting the bottle up and smirking a little. "So, by the motions I saw, you're looking for help, or know of a place that needs it, huh?" He didn't seem inclined to lower his boots this time, idly rocking back and forth on two legs "I dunno..." He tipped his hat up a bit, looking over the neko in dim light "If I was, why would a neko be looking for work in a dump like this?" She lifted the bottle and took a shot. "And why would someone dressed like yourself be in the same location?" she added quickly. The man smirked at that, and came down from the two legs of the chair, boots clunking to the floor, the grip of a pistol shown from this position "Now now...there's a major difference in those questions....I could just have a lousy sense of style...don't you guys have loyalty chips or something? That might be a serious detraction if someone wanted to hire you...after all, who knows who our employers might be, or what we might do between employment." She shrugged a bit. "Yeah, and I withdrew from that kind of crap a while ago, tried my hand at a normal life, and got bored." She leaned back a little, swirling the bottle in her hand. "If it'll make people feel better, I could wear a little hat or something." The man rolled his eyes at that "I am sure that will cause everyone to miss the fact that we have a neko on board, especially on those long journeys....You realize that being on any ship, not just mine, will make people assume you are a spy, correct?" She made a 'tch' sound and took another shot of the bottle, then turned her eyes back to the man. "Well, I suppose." She then swirled the bottle around again, looking upward.
The man then smirked at her "However, if you are a spy, I think SAINT should fire you....seriously, you come here with no contacts, and wander in just asking for a job?" He reached across the table, leather gloved hand asking for hers "I'm Jelan, I need combat experienced crew for my ship, can you handle power armor, or a fighter? Or are you another grunt for the raiding parties?" She smirked a bit. "Saki Takahashi, experienced ex-military, power armor and skirmishing." She reached up and takes the offered hand, clasping firmly, also putting a slight bow habitually. Jelan gave a firm grip in response, before withdrawing his hand, crossing it over his chest, fingers of one hand idly brushing against the grip of the pistol sticking out of his jacket. "Well, we don't have mindys, but you can work with what we have..." He pulled out a wad of slips, picking one out and handing it to her "Thats the berth of my ship...Mick has techs running all over it right now, so don't think of trying to run off with it. He takes security of his docks pretty seriously, and I've seen a few would be thieves shot and spaced already. Should be plenty of bunks to choose from, I haven't picked up many crew yet." "Sure thing, chief." She took the slip and nodded slightly. "I guess I'll go get myself situated then." She started to stand up, grabbing the bottle and taking a big gulp from it, then put it back down on the table. He waved his hand at the bottle "Eh, take it, I have to be sober for now...just don't plan on drinking that stuff while on duty." She shrugged and grabbed the bottle, then started to head out to the spaceport again. She stared over the slip in the hallway outside the bar, then clenched it tightly and made her way to her new job.
