Nera wanders among the gathering speaking quietly.

Alex smiles broadly at Commodore Kaliperna when she speaks to him. He stands and steps close to her in a fluid motion and gives a gentle friendly embrace he intuits her reaction if she shows discomfort he will give a gentle shoulder pat before backing off if she is comfortable he will do either a quick buddy hug or the pecks near each cheek greeting common among his people and many Terrans.

Ma'am, the Navy must have been good to you, I long for the story to be heard. He says pausing. then he shakes his head at her question, smiling wistfully as a man much older than he appears considering his impetuous youth. I separated from the Corps shortly after our .... Uh... Work He says. I had long dreamed of a certain path, a work of faith and knowledge as a ... A priest you might say. I was rejected the second time when I submitted to the draft and served. We say 'The crucible of agony reveals our gems.' At that time I thought I was ready. He smirks at a private joke. They saw me differently. It took a decade of wandering without purpose before I finally acquiesced to the grand design. When I gave up on my selfish goals the way was made clear. I am studying in university now. I have a wonderful mentor and am starting graduate school. He beams. Then briefly frowns. Though even there violence can find you.   He banishes the thought and looks at Nera to hear what she has to say. It's a bit disconcerting how he still looks the ageless man of his late twenties or healthy thirties that he did more than 12 years ago. But his eyes are older, and wise. In his naieve way.

After an evening of carousing with his new companions he makes his way to the wet bar pouring himself one last drink.  He also grabs another cigar lighting it before turning to face the group as a whole.

Directing his attention to his new boss he says to her "As it is getting late I will be retiring for the evening.  I have a room with all my necessary gear about 10 minutes walk from here, room 211 at the hotel up the road.  I assume we shall meet in the morning to look at potential ships and make preparations to be under way.  Would 8am at the star port be sufficient or should I wait until summoned?"

As the presentation was engaged Alex focused his mind not wanting to miss anything he drew a point from his psi battery to become even more aware and present in the moment.

Once the evening gets going he begins to loosen up, talking to each member in turn pouring drinks calling for food, telling jokes and stories in his country style. Everyone is able to have a nice time.

Just playing with the dice roller.
13:25, Today: Alex rolled 11 using 2d6+3.  Carouse.
13:23, Today: Alex rolled 13 using 2d6+4.  Expanded awareness .

Poppy strolled n beebopping to music that she heard in her head. Dancing  bit as she cleared the door Dressed n a skin tight body sleeve and cut off leather jacket that almost resembled a uniform in some way.The heavy guass machine pistols on each hip and another pair riding in shoulder rigs hinted that she wasn't the average club girl. Suddenly realizing there were other people in the room. She stopped dead in her tracks looked sheepish then waved awkwardly t everyone"Wow,....a party and I nearly missed it.You could tell a girl, I mean Walking in all dancy dancy.and not even saying hi looks kind of....crayyyyyyyyyzzzzzeeeeeeeeeee"

as she spoke she went all wide eyed, and put on a smile that was enough to have most people looking for the door out. A picture perfect impression off a lunatic girl off her meds, and about to do something wicked."Don't worry I'm not crazy, really they just programmed me a bit......Odddddd."

 Poppy grinned widely as she snapped to attention..a comical version of it anyway." Ma'am, supplies ordered and ready for delivery, we have an appointment at the shipyard at ten hundred hours, and funds are now available for disbursement to suicide squad members....um valiant volunteers...nobody volunteers for suicide duty, well yeah I guess they do..but ost of the time they get fed a line about a vital mission requiring the best of the best, and they have been selected...." She added a snappy salute and resumed a not quite standard at ease pose..the grin and bubble that quickly grew to match her skull in volume ruined the military precision.

the bubble burst ad Poppy spent some time extracting it from her bright blue hair.

At some point Alex buys Cain a beverage of choice and speaks when him.

Well, my friend he says with a half clap on the shoulder before taking a swig of own drink - you do not know how much you changed my life with your visit. This new environment is invigorating and full of joy.

Do you continue flying the edges of the universe? Have you considered setting in for a time or must you always explore?

As he listens the lady approaches and gives report.

Pleas join us when you have a break, I understand we can offer some synthetic blends from the bar.

 he says to the blue hair.

T'risa returned the grin "Hi Poppy. We're going shopping for a ship tomorrow. So they'll need to stay on the pallets somewhere overnight. Up to the task of amking sure none of it goioes missing?"

T'risa nodded to the room at large "Let's just spend the rest of this evening in good company. When you're ready to leave, please stop by and leave contact details with me. I'll need to swear you in to CASAR before you get paid and I'll send you the location of where we are to meet tomorrow to assess the ships we're interested in."

"Ship shopping! I love ship shopping! I'd be happy to check the engine rooms out and see if they're ship shape. Well, engine shaped. And working."

She grins at Mixtzin. "Mix! Wow, I haven't seen you in...several bottles of alcohol at least. Did you get taller? Wait, did I get shorter? Eh, who remembers? Anyway you're looking good."

This was a diverse crowd, which made her grin.

"Hey Nera. Oh, you know, this and that. Well, technically if asked I didn't do that but I'm almost never opposed to it. When two intelligent beings do with power tools behind closed doors and all that...

In reply to T'risa K'mahda (msg # 54):

"oooooooo"</blu>Poppy squealed with girlish delight and bounced slightly..<blue> shopping......I saw this little boutique they have theeee cutest legs, you know how I am about my legs, four pair is the bare minimum thse days...you have to have one for work and one for hen work gets ugly.... then there parties you need a really nice set for parties anymore I mean since the series 1122s came out with that morphing skin and variable configuration girls are changing legs in the middle of parties just to suit which butt they are wearing...and don't get me started on those modular things, Oh lord a girl goes dancing one of the mag-links go out and plop, down you go in the middle of the floor....I'm babbling again ain't I?"Poppy chattered at a rate no human could match without turning blue. It seemed the pauses weren't so much to breath, being random and unrelated to what she was saying.

"Oh, ship shopping, well that's different we want something with JkL97 plasma guns, a 75mm rail cannon, and Oh yeah got to have those new positech particle cannon..1000Kay Em nooo problem ...zap..crispy bug-lizard..."

At the mention of ship shopping, Tal mentions, "That he can help in the engine room and can man and inspect the shipboard weapons."

Well, the AI lady doesn't seem interested in grabbing a drink, and with no skill in Ship shopping, Alex continues general carousing to catch up with old friends and make new ones.

 Poppy pauses for a second and glances at Alex as if he was only just now registered in her perception.

" Oh sorry I am a little scatter brained right now..."she smiled walked over and offered her hand." Poppy, tactical operations, logistics,computer operation...naturally... demolitions, and morale officer."

Mixtzin makes the rounds of the room, offering M'poc to those brave (or perhaps crazy?) enough to try it.  "Poppy, Pipiltin, Cuappetlatl-Ocelopetlatl, Ilhuicac-Yaotlahueliloque, Itzcuauhtli Mixtzin offers you his greetings, and some M'poc, if you're crazy enough?"

"T'risa, I'd like to have a look at the medical facilities on any ship we take, especially given Poppy's comments concerning the likelihood of injury...  I think I'll follow Rick's lead, leaving the partying to the youngsters.  You can contact me at the Quetzl High Commission, or via my comm," touches his comm to T'risa's, allowing their mutual aides to exchange data.

"I bid you all a good night." and with that he takes his leave.

Nera sipped cautiously at her synthetic brandy. Perhaps there were connoisseurs who could differentiate it from industrial alcohol that the engineering crews cut with water, but she wasn't among them.

Before leaving he offers his comm to T'risa to exchange information.  "Thank you for this opportunity, have a good evening."

He steps out and heads off back to his room for the night.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:14, Mon 14 Sept 2015.

In their moment Alex pays close attention to CAPTAIN Kaliperna. He speaks more quietly with her to mirror what he percieves as her comfort level.

To Kendrick: Well Mr Johnson Sir, I will enjoy the telling of your story at another time, idthansamahu.

To Mistzin: Crazy? Why is it crazy? This is a challang I am thinking - Alex will taste the I sane beverage and bid the wild reptilian goodnight as he goes.

If he survives the drink he will continue with Poppy:
Well, good greetings Poppy, Demolition and Morale, sounds terribly exciting. This is Cain, a great star Pilot, and CAPT Kaliperna, the Navy's Finest. I am honored to call them friend.

I'm afraid I am here by accident if you believe in that sort of thing. But I have some knowledge a little magic and I can shoot so I will stay and serve as I never let an opportunity out of my hand.

Since it looked like the party was breaking up, Tal will give the Marshal his contact information before leaving to go to the local hostelry for the night.   But before he will leave he will try the crazy drink that was being offered but will promptly leave after that and will express his shortcoming with alcoholic drink and begging for forgiveness as he leaves the room.


16:52, Today: Tal Atvar rolled 7 using 2d6+2.  END ROLL/ drinking crazy concoction . Roll just in case of not holding it
This message was last edited by the player at 23:55, Mon 14 Sept 2015.

"Rick...and Mix...Mitz...M...Bruce! I got it! Cheers!"

Cain raised his glass to both Kendrick and Mixtli then went and found a comfy seat in the corner to watch proceedings. A mixed bunch they were, but just the sort of people who could form a very effective team, for what that was worth.

He sat for a while puffing on his cigar and nursing his bourbon, feeling a lot better than he had an hour or two ago, but eventually he returned to the wetbar, where Alex was keeping everyone entertained. The clap on his shoulder felt like it would have dislocated it on another day, and Cain's eyes widened in surprise. And that surprise increased when Alex spoke to him, with genuine, humbling words.

"Uh...you're welcome, my friend. You looked like you needed a push in the right direction back then, so I'm glad it all worked out for you, really glad. Guess you've been working that body as well as your mind..."

Cain grinned as he rubbed his shoulder, to show he was only (slightly) kidding.

"Me? Yup, still following the stars to the outer reaches of the multiverse, trying to keep my nose clean. And I'll stop doing that when trouble stops beating on my ass..."

Cain hoisted another drink and toasted Alex, then turned and looked around. It was time to speak to an old...friend. It had been years, but he remembered that blonde: she didn't look any different...well, maybe apart from the dirty overalls. It had been an interesting time, with all that implied...

"Hey Lynn. Long time, no see. How's the old man?"

Lynn turned to Cain with a mischievous grin. "Cain! Hey! How's it going?"

She bounced over to him, doing wonderful things to the front of her overalls.

"Oh, you know Daddy. 'Hey pumpkin, how's it going? Everything ok? Did you get those assassins and bounty hunters I sent? Great.'" she makes a face. "But hey, the more things change and all that. How have you been? Did you lose weight? No...the hair, that's it. You cut your hair."

"Oh, you know...flying to the ends of the galaxy...getting shot at...having cute girls leave you in the middle of the night without saying a word...

That's meant to be my role."

Now it was Cain's turn to be grinning, and he offered Lynn a hug.

"Nice of you to keep your dad interested in his hobby, though, some care in the community and all that! I see you took your interest in ships and ran with it, huh? I may have left the Navy not long after we parted, but I stayed with spacecraft, doing exploratory work with the scouts. It's been good, although trouble seems to follow me around. More things chane, like you say...

And thanks, but my weight is fine and my hair hasn't changed - I'm not needing to hide the grey, unlike some people..."

Elsbeth had made her way into the room at Balkiir's side; she was never more than a few steps away from T'risa at any point, however.  She'd spent much of the briefing continuing to eat and drink, as she watched the reaction of the crowd.  Though not a Valkiir, the thin Praetorian seemed to have the ability to eat almost as much as any of the large, blue-skinned warriors.  Perhaps it was merely one of the functions that had been genetically engineering into her metabolism; whether it was byproduct or not was still up for debate, but the raven-haired Tae woman had always found it useful.  Especially once she'd joined the CA Marines and had to be able to eat whatever and whenever the opportunity presented itself.  And especially now, here on Suhn Shae with Balkiir and his brethren, whom she'd determined planned their social calendars from meal to meal.  In fact, she'd 'helped' carry a couple of serving plates of appetizers in order to ensure that their corner of the table might have an undisrupted supply of food available.

Poppy's entrance brought a slight, if rather vague, smile to her lips.  Her programmed irreverence had always amazed and bemused Elsbeth.  And not for the first time, the young Praetorian Frank touched the dimpled bumps at her right wrist unconsciously.  Both she and Poppy were the products of Tae minds; attempts to create life in their own images.  Two spurs along the parallel paths of forced convergent evolution.  Though mechanical in her original genesis, Poppy seemed to display so many more emotional human traits than her that it made Elsbeth wonder sometimes about their roles in the bigger picture.  But, then Elsbeth had never been the brightest bulb on the tree - even if she was one of the smartest ones in her clutch; so, she tended not to dwell on such lofty abstract ideas too much.

It was only once she was in the room with the others, that she began to put faces to names.

She greeted Cain warmly, if a touch formally.  It had been a number of years since the man had help spirit her off-planet from Enchoa Rhi.  She'd been a much thinner, more bedraggled self and a much more scared young woman (of sorts).  At least more adrift, having crossed a vast desert to make it to the planet's downport and escape the forced labor camp that she'd been interred at.  One of the reasons that she'd not recognized him immediately had been that he'd been much more sober the last time she'd seen him.

Luckily, the drunken pilot was already in conversation with another man that she also knew.  She seemed surprised the two knew of each other.  But, then Elsbeth had come to expect such surprises.  Ifni and her fickle hand always seemed ready with serendipitous surprises when it came to people and showing just how small the vast expanding universe could actually be.  Alex was a welcome sight, having been crucial in helping her get out of the prison on Enchoa Rhi.  And the man could fight, which was one of the reasons that they were still alive - 'forced labor' had included violent 'entertainment' for the pleasure of the guards and warden.

Later, Elsbeth paused in conversation with the room's lone Quetzl, when Neva had approached her.   Nodding to Kalaperna, the lanky Praetorian introduced the two, "Pleased to see you again, Commodore.  This marine medic's name is Mixztin."  She got the inflection pretty much right, before continuing, "I was just showing him the new hardware."  And she flexed her left arm, an appendage that had been missing when Mixztin had last had the privilege of treating her as a patient.  Her left arm wasn't brand-new, but it was at least two iterations later than the temporary stub prosthetic that Mixztin had been able to administer in the field before she bled out.  Elsbeth added helpfully, genuine admiration in her voice, "It is only due to his ministrations that I am still alive."  An effective, if rather simple, statement from the terse marine about her past.

She watched with amusement as Lynn and Cain reconnected.  The young engineer looked very familiar to her, but Elsbeth couldn't quite place her.  And she wasn't about to burst in on a conversation between two people that knew each other so well.

"I don't have any grey. All this hair color is natural and mine. And we don't go grey in my family, we go distinguished silver.

She gave him a quick hug.

"And technically I didn't leave in the middle of the night, it was more like mid afternoon."

Alex raises a brow as the lady tells Cain what for, surely it is an entertaining story if it were to be told.
Hello, he says to the woman, I am Alex, a friend of good Cain here.

After a brief introduction he leaves them to their catching up and notices Quiet Elsbeth, his eyes widen and he reaches out then pulls back unsure. By the makers and the Firstborn! And all who Came Before! This is the most unexpected night of many decades!

It is wonderful you are living and living well it seems. Eme, no Eli uh ..... Elsbeth! Yes! From that most challenging places, are you one who is behind all this ?
He says noticing her proximity to the others.

Or am I hallucinating from that Qetzle drink? He wonders looking for signs of reality.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:14, Thu 17 Sept 2015.

Nera smiled and nodded at Mixztin.

"Pleased to meet you Mixztin," she greeted, inclining her head in greeting. She tried hard to unbend, the urge to start giving orders to organize the gathering. Noticing the others looking at her. She covered her mouth with a gloved hand and coughed.

"Sorry, not exactly in my element here."

OOC: All of this before he makes his exit with Kendrick


His skin showing the deep indigo of interest, Mixtzin examines Elsbeth's new arm, Elsbeth, I am pleased to see that your new prosthetic suits you well.  I have passed beyond mere medic since our paths last crossed.  I had the good fortune to receive some very intense training and experience during my last tour.  I hope my new skills are not required in our joint enterprise, but should they be called upon, I expect to be somewhat more useful than I was for you.


"Pipiltin, Cuappetlatl-Ocelopetlatl, Ilhuicac-Yaotlahueliloque, Itzcuauhtli Mixtzin greets Nera Kalaperna, the friend of Elsbeth.  Please call me Mixtli, or Bruce, if you prefer... the brigh blue of amusement briefly flashing through the rose pigments of  pleasure, and his long forked tongue flickering as he constantly tastes the air for the new scents around him. "I too am not in my element.  I would rather be leading a Zero-G assault or performing complex surgery, but we must begin to form ourselves into a team, and such interactions are the beginnings."

He calls and beckons to Kendrick, "Kendrick, come and be introduced to another friend of mine and her delightful companion.  Kendrick, I present to you Praetorian Jannissary Elsbeth, and her friend Nera Kalaperna."  Turning to his companions, "Elsbeth, Nera, my old friend Kendrick Johnson."