Galaxy's Edge Space Bar

[Aluminator (Kit)]

In the skies far above the rundown bar, something strange is happening. One of the stars appears to be moving. It drifts through the sky, slowly getting lower... and larger. And brighter. And closer. Definitely closer.

Not a star, no. An object of some kind. This is pretty clearly a controlled descent. As the object draws nearer, it begins a wide circle of the area, still giving off a brilliant golden light.

By the time the object is circling only a few hundred meters above the forest surrounding the Galaxy's Edge Space Bar, it's every bit as golden-- and nearly as bright-- as Earth's own sun.

And from the object, echoing out across the treetops, a noise can be heard. There's a beat to the sound... a rhythm, almost. It's indistinct at first, coming and going on the slightest breath of a breeze, but as the object levels out over the lake and begins to drift steadily towards the bar's little shipyard, the nuances of the sound begin to resolve themselves.

"I can see clearly now the rain is gone! I can see all obstacles in my way! Here is the rainbow I've been waiting for! It's gonna be a briiiiggghhht (briigghht) briiiigggghhhht bright sunshiny daaayyyy!"

The object halts over the very center of the shipyard, belting out upbeat music and casting a light like the noonday sun. It's almost spherical, slightly squashed and elongated, and is only a bit longer than the Bug Fighters parked in the yard below. The light changes, fading from a glow like the sun to a series of white spotlights and sparkles like those that one might see from a disco ball, seemingly shining from every inch of the thing's surface. The myriad lights wave back and forth in time to the music, turning the sky, the surrounding forest, and the entire shipyard into a glimmering wonderland as the object settles towards the ground.

It finally halts a few feet above the earth, where it floats, perfectly steady, while a voice continues to sing, "bright sunshiny daaayyyy!" loudly enough to rock the bar and to shake the very earth underneath.

[guitarhero01234]

Guppy sits and listens to Keshin and Myitt's verbal standoff, trying to figure out just what to make of the whole situation. <<I knew it,>> Chris gloats internally. <<I told you she's off her rocker, man!>> Gaf, still in control of the shared body, takes a sip of his drink while Chris continues. <<We need to get out. This client isn't showing, man, and if he is, I have a feeling he's bad news. We bail now, and we might just get out of here with my head still on my ****in'->>

<<Chris, you know I usually listen to you, but shut the hell up. I'm trying to think.>>

<<. . . What!?>>

Finally, Guppy decides to speak up. "So, slow down for a second. Terenia, was it? Please, stick around for a bit. Even if you think you're done here, just humor me for a hot minute, a'ight?"

<<. . . Since when do you ****in' swear?>> Chris says, still taken aback.

Guppy takes a deep breath, trying his best to ignore his host's internal dialogue. "Myitt, I'm not gonna pretend I really know you all that well. We've been talking for, what, not even an hour now? But come on, you try to stab this girl right before I come in, and don't even bother to tell me? That's just . . . rude, on so many levels!"

<<Oh my god, you're drunk, aren't you? We're gonna die.>>


Nepek spends a good while resting his head in his hand, the scar where a blade used to be sitting comfortably in his palm. In all reality, he was finding it hard not to nod off. That drink he ordered was a mistake - a big one - and he made a mental note to be more specific if he ever needs anything else from the BT.

He's quickly jerked out of his thoughts by a strange, fast approaching noise from outside the Bar. As it grows closer and almost deafeningly loud to the Hork-Bajir, he realizes that it sounds somewhat familiar. "I can't be the only one hearing this, he mumbles. Is that . . . a Johnny Nash song? What? He shakes his head. And why do I know who made that song!?

It isn't until Nepek looks outside and sees the flashing lights that he knows for sure this bizarre turn of events isn't all in his head. "What the **** is happening!?" he shouts, equally out of fright and bewildered amusement.

[Terenia]

Fayleth comes to an abrupt halt, stopping to peer at the blind Controller. "I don't have anything to say to any of you," she says. "I don't know you and Myitt is clearly insane with grief. She's not thinking clearly and I'm not going to waste my time trying to tell her what to do, because she clearly doesn't care to listen. And the last time I hung around Keshin for any length of time I ended up getting my god-damned arm shot off!"

Her impersonation of Terenia's fury is perfect, rising sharply into a high-pitched snarl at the end, fingers closing into fists at her side. "This place is bad news, and I'm getting the **** out of here."

She takes a step towards the door -- just close enough to see the blazing light appear through the grungy windows, followed by a blast of music. Freezing, she stares through the panes, trying to figure out what the hell is happening.

"On second thought..." Fayleth breathes, taking a step back. "Maybe I'll stay in here a little longer."


The hatch to Dalik's Bug Fighter opens, the ramp extending. For a long moment nothing happens, but then William appears, walking backwards down the ramp with his hands raised. He's still half-naked, chest still smeared with blood, making him look more like a pirate than ever. The Yeerkish holster that was around his waist is gone, but his long knife and rope are still there.

Despite William's obviously placating gesture, he is smirking.

The moment his foot hits the soil the ramp sucks back into the ship, hatch closing firmly. Alone, William turns on the spot, looking around the ship graveyard. A faint light catches his attention, and he tilts his head back as it comes closer...closer...

Raising a hand to shield his eyes, he backs up until he hits the rusted skeleton of an engine pod, mouth dropping open as the alien ship soars closer. His hands clap over his ears at the obscene sounds that rock the shipyard, but he doesn't run. He stays to watch, eyes wide as he waits for...whatever might happen next.

[Myitt]

Myitt's eyes narrow instantly at Guppy.

"That's right," she says coldly, jabbing a finger at Chris. "You don't know me real well. And I didn't mean to--"

<<The ****?>> Tara wonders, as her gaze swivels to the door and the front windows. Myitt lifts a hand to shield her eyes from the sudden barrage of blinding light.

"Jesus," Myitt whispers, blinking until the spots in her vision are at least manageable, and she slides off the stool. In another moment, she's unlimbered the Dracon at her side and holds it steady, aiming at the door.

After a moment of heart-thudding indecision, Tara murmurs, <<What, you don't like oldies?>>

<<Shh,>> Myitt admonishes. The noise and the light is already making her head hurt. The ground beneath her quakes like it's about to tear apart, and she has to raise her voice to call out aloud, "I thought it was a ****in' a-bomb! Which one of us saps gets to go out there and make first contact?" She cringes at the deafening noise. "I don't speak ****in' reggae!"

[guitarhero01234]

Guppy makes no attempt to hide his laughter, having completely forgotten his prior train of thought. "Oh my god!" he shouts before noticing the reactions of Myitt, Fayleth, and Nepek. "How do you people not find this friggin' hilarious!?" he yells, a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Because we aren't idiots!" Nepek shouts back from across the Bar.

Having not heard the Hork-Bajir, Guppy turns to where Myitt is seated. "I'll go!"

<<You know what?>> Chris interjects. <<You go ahead. We're pretty much screwed here anyway, so fine by me. >>

"Anyone want to help make sure I don't smack into a wall?" Guppy says in a desperate attempt to be heard over the oldies music cacophony while standing up and turning toward the door. "C'mon, any volunteers?"

[Aluminator (Kit)]

The song finally slowly fades out, at its end. There are a few moments of silence, and then a voice rings out from the craft. It sounds like a human male's voice, deep and rich, but with an unusual and almost unnoticeable 'tinny' undertone. The voice reverberates off the bar and the trees, evoking a sports announcer in a stadium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, elder gods, decapods, heroes and..." the voice pauses. "Hold on a moment."

A few seconds pass, and then the voice rings out again, "He's known across the galaxy as the King of Keeping it Real. Some say he's like an Andalite trapped inside of a human trapped inside of a duck trapped inside of a larger Andalite, metaphorically speaking. Some say he's got three more..." There's a sigh, followed by another pause.

When the voice comes back on, it sounds slightly annoyed, and its tone is sarcastic. "I'm being told that this is a man who needs no introduction, so, you know..."

And with that, the spotlights shining from the object stop moving, shining off into space and through a haze that's surely been there this whole time and wreathing the ship in a halo of light a thousand feet high. A horizontal crack appears across the front quarter of the thing and slowly opens downward, the light from within outshining even the blinding surface of the object. Steam billows from inside with a professionally dramatic and well-timed hiiiisssssssss. By the time the bottom of the opening settles to the ground, it's become a ramp, squarely facing the front door of the bar, leading up into the smoky interior of the object.

A humanoid figure materializes from the mist, backlit in an awe-inspiring and almost definitely award-worthy fashion. It steps down the ramp with a casual grace, the shape of a cape or cloak flowing out behind it. As the figure emerges into the air of the little planetoid, its cloak catches a breeze and flaps around the figure's legs. It stumbles, slips on something or other, and falls face first at the bottom of the ramp, catching itself on its hands with a cry of surprise.

It climbs to its knees and stares for a moment back into the craft. "Oh, come on! You did the lights and the smoke? I can't see a damn thing!" the figure calls in the voice of a human male. This is a different voice than the one that echoed from the ship moments before.

There's an indistinct reply from inside the ship. The figure calls, "Can you just turn them off?" It sighs. "I thought I told you to wake me up when we were getting close!"

The voice replies again from the ship, and the ship's exterior lights suddenly all shut off at once. There's still a dim golden glow emanating from the thing's interior, and the smoke now begins to drift away and dissipate on the breeze. However, the object's exterior is now entirely dark. Unnaturally dark. Almost blindingly dark. Its color is so completely black that it gives the impression of being a hole in the fabric of space itself. It catches none of the surrounding light, reflects nothing, shows not the slightest hint that it's interacting with the electromagnetic spectrum at all. Nothing this black exists in nature, and it almost feels wrong just to look at it. The thing is too dark, in fact, to make out any detail or texturing on the object's surface, and it remains as visually featureless as it had when it was glowing brightly.

As the figure climbs back to its feet and dusts itself off, it calls up into the ship, "At least you didn't do your thing with the music."

About three seconds of silence follow. Finally, the figure shouts again, "Seriously!? Come on, man! I really need to make a good impression, and now I look like the biggest **** in the sector!" The voice from inside the ship replies again, and the figure visibly droops. It draws its cloak up around itself, then rubs its temples. "Maybe you're right! Look, I have work to do! If you're sure you're not coming in, I'll see you later!"

The cloaked figure turns and makes its way towards the bar's front door. It stumbles once or twice on the way. As the spheroidal thing's ramp slides shut behind it, the strumming of a guitar can faintly be heard from inside, followed shortly by "Here comes the sun, doodoodoodoo, here comes the sun..."

[Myitt]

Myitt is at Chris' side, though she only offers one hand to help; the other, her right hand, is still clutching the Dracon at her side.

"I'm not drunk enough for this," she grates, as she leads them towards the door.

The light and the music have stopped so abruptly that she can feel her legs still vibrating with the absence of sound.

"Dude," she tells Guppy. "I'm practically as blind as you are right now. There was this light, and it...Christ man, it was like a ****ing star landed outside the bar." She blinks some of the spots away, wincing as she pushes the door open.

And she nearly runs right into the caped figure.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Rathien snores a bit, lying in the back room that had been some sort of passionate, snowy escape during his fling with Merc, but now was just an old storage room with barrels, boxes, and a cot.  The cot had seemed dirtier than the rest of the room, so Rathien had opted to lay on top of a couple of the boxes.  Drinking too much miruvin caused two unique stages of drunkenness.  The first was much like any other alcohol.  Lowered inhibitions, lowered perceptions and reflexes, etc.  However, unlike regular alcohol, the passing out did not happen on the end of the drunken stupor.  The stupor faded much more quickly and left a person (at least a person used to miruvin) completely lucid.  The sedative action kicked in later, and it was this pass-out phase that had driven Rathien to the back-room yet again.

Music pulses outside, interrupting Rathien's snoring.  "Shut that **** off Al..." he mumbles under his breath.  "Why the hell?"  He starts snoring again, but the music gets louder.  "Damnit, turn it off!"  His eyes drift open blearily to the bright flashing lights coming through the small window.  Suddenly he sits up straight as an arrow, eyes wide open as if someone had dumped ice-water on his head.  "No you didn't come back here...you son of a **** ****..."  Rathien's face twists through a set of emotions, a strange mixture of sadness, anger, and...happiness.  He could hide...strike from the shadows as per the norm, but no.  No he wants Tobias to know it's him.  He's beyond caring that the nanites would kill him.  He'd been waiting for that to randomly happen ever since Tobias had sucker-shot him and left him for dead on that gods-forsaken moon.  It was a terrible thing, having your life tied to another in such a way.

He stands, running his tongue over his fangs as he marches purposefully out from the back room.  He pushes past the bar counter and through the swinging doors leading outside, pushing the human standing nearby out of the way.  He draws his right-hand fighting knife from behind his back, noting the hooded figure immediately, and the human-controller known as Myitt approaching him.  He shoulders past Myitt, right-hand knife at his side, and thrusts it forward toward the cloaked figure's belly with all the force he can muster, attempting to grab the figure's neck to keep him in place, all the better to stick him.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin, feeding out in the forest, notes the approaching craft.  The music...the lights.  <Wonderful.  Wouldn't know humility if it took his head off.>  He shakes his head and continues to trot at a brisk pace.  It shouldn't be surprising that Salem had returned to the bar, though Ossanlin feels little more than annoyance at the fact.

[guitarhero01234]

"Man, wish I could've seen the light show!" Guppy muses, still giggling like an idiot. "Sounds interesting, I'll tell you that much."

<<Alright,>> Chris tells Guppy, <<this guy is way too dumb to be dangerous, I think. Just a massive steamin' ego that needs to turn his subwoofers down.>>

<<So, everyone from Brooklyn, then?>>

<<Exactly. You don't think this weirdo is our client, do you?>>

<<Dunno.>> Guppy raises a shoulder, which likely would have looked awkward if anyone was watching. Although, given the current circumstances, it's unlikely that anyone is paying much attention to the relatively sane, normal human-Controller. <<I kinda hope he is, though. This guy seems like a blast!>>

Nepek does little but stare in shock at the entrance to the Bar as the newcomer's bombastic introduction reverberates through the air. His reaction is similarly confused when Rathien comes barreling through the Bar and attacks the cloaked figure. "Oh, for the love of Father Deep, can we get along for more than a few moments without assaulting somebody!?"

Having heard Nepek's reaction, Guppy wears a vaguely concerned look on Chris's face. "Uh, Myitt?" he mumbles in an attempt to keep the newcomer and his apparent attacker from hearing. "What's goin' on right now?"

[Shenmue654]

"Yeah, sure, I could go for another ruddy drink," says Joanne with a casual smile. "No worries, Myitt, I'm fine." She glances at Terenia with the same expression, but there's a glint of menace or interest in her eyes. "And I think, honey, you'd be doin' the whole world a ruddy freakin' favor if you---"

And that was when a sound emanated everywhere in the Bar that seemed to break Joanne's understanding of how the universe worked. It was deafeningly, impossibly loud, and it was very clearly a famous Johnny Nash song. "Agh!" Joanne cries out, clasping her hands over her ears. She glances quickly towards both the exit of the Bar and Myitt and goes, "What in hell is this place throwin' at us now?! Blasted ****in'---"

The song stops almost as abruptly as it began, though. Joanne draws her Dracon and whirls around in circles warily for a few moments. She staggers over to the Bar and points the gun at the Bartender. "What the **** man?! I'm trying to get five seconds of peace!" The Bartender doesn't even blink. Joanne sighs in defeat. It was no use talking with this thing, was it? Except when you wanted a drink.

At that moment, a cloaked figure--- Or whatever in the world was causing this temporary break in Reality--- Had made it to the front door of the Bar. <<I oughta give this ****er a peace of my mind, I swear to Christ!>>

<<Joanne, someone's moving. Fast..>>

Joanne shifts her focus and suddenly a figure brushes past her, brandishing a knife at the hooded figure. Joanne didn't know a lot about what was happening, but she was still almost positive that was Rathien. There weren't many aliens who looked anything like him. <<I'm not doin' another attempted murder, Kess. Joanne licks her lips, sets her Dracon to stun and fires, aiming for Rathien's back. It was a chancy shot, though, considering how quickly Rathien was closing the distance.
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Jeffrey grows tired of the dull conversations and duller people, all of whom hate him. There didn't seem to be any angle from which he could speak or bother those who remained. And there was nothing else to do. It was beginning to hit Jeffrey that because he was dead and stranded, he had...nothing. No enemies, beyond strangers, and no friends. Half of everyone here was part of an alien war that he didn't even understand all that well. Even the Paladin's a product. Jeffrey rolls his eyes, puts a couple of dollars on the table next to his drink, and stands up. He pushes open the doors to the Bar and gazes out at the stars.

He had to admit they were beautiful. Although their shine reminded him of a person he utterly despised. Jeffrey grins, spreads out his arms to the light, and says, "Hahaha Ellis Straylight. You were right! There's a lot that's great about the stars! So many people and places dotted throughout the black abyss for a hundred million miles. So much..." Jeffrey sighs. "So much we never knew."

Jeffrey's reverie by the sound of a song his research allows him to distantly recognize, but impossibly loud. Jeffrey screeches, his own voice echoing at a piercing banshee pitch, holding his ears. He edges as far as he can away from the impossible disco ball that now seems to be landing in front of the Bar. When he's certain that he won't be run over, he gets closer, listening. He grinned wide at what he heard. Now this was a King's entrance! Whoever was in the disco ball was absolutely a showman like himself, and he wanted to meet him. He straightens his posture and his tie and waits with a polite, calmer expression.

Except that as soon as the man manages to leave his ship, he trips flat on his face. Jeffrey facepalmed. "Oh boy," he says aloud. "Yep, things like that have happened to me before." He waits for the man to get his bearings and watches as he re-enters the Bar. I need a moment to get in to talk to him. It seemed probable, though, that every other person in the rotten place would have a past with him and want to talk to him first. Jeffrey shrugs. He can wait a few minutes.

He walks up close to the impossible black Void of a ship and marvels at it. What was it made of? How did the cloaked guy get it to move? He reaches out a finger to poke the ship.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

The cloaked man-- one Salem by name-- is pretty definitely a human male, probably somewhere in his mid-twenties. He stands a bit over six feet tall with his boots on, and under his hood is an unkempt mess of brownish-red hair that falls somewhere between curly and wavy. His face is thick with stubble, and his blue eyes are bloodshot, with dark rings underneath. His gray cloak doesn't seem to be one solid color-- it shimmers almost imperceptibly as he walks.

As he reaches for the door handle, the door springs open and he nearly plows right into someone.

"Sorry," he mumbles eloquently, stumbling back a few steps. "I was just, uh..." He blinks a couple of times, trying to clear the floating purple spots from his vision. "Is that Myitt?" he asks, his tone surprised and a little amused.

Then someone pushes past her. He recognizes the face and barely has the time to murmur "Oh sh..." before Rathien's hand clenches his collar tight. On instinct, he rolls to his left-- Rathien's blade skitters along his torso, tearing a gash in his cloak but not making it through whatever durable underlayer Salem's got on. The sheer force even of this glancing blow, however, is like a punch in the stomach through his armor, and he gasps as the air is forced out of him.

Adrenaline shoots through his system, replacing his groggy partial-blindness in an instant. He tries to keep his spin going, to use his momentum to jerk free of the Ildari's grip on his collar. He's seen Rathien in hand-to-hand combat; his only chance is going to be to somehow put some distance between them. His hand goes to his belt for a weapon, but he hesitates. The only close-quarters equipment he has on him is potentially lethal. He changes his mind, going for his Shredder in its holster instead, but the indecision has slowed his draw considerably.


Salem's ship is smooth and chilly under Jeffrey's touch. It rumbles with a constant thrum thrum thrum that can barely be felt through the hull.

A voice comes from the hull, sounding muffled and modulated, like the voice on an old film reel. Should Jeffrey's finger still be in contact with the ship, he'll feel the entire thing vibrating as it acts as a single humongous speaker.

It's a speaker set to 'low', however, and the voice is quiet, almost intimate, and friendly. "Look all you want, fondle if you must, but you break it, you buy it." It's the same voice that'd boomed out from the ship earlier. Now it sounds amused and somehow welcoming.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Rathien's emergency shields kick on automatically to absorb the stun shot which had arced through the doors from inside the bar, flashing around the pair, though Rathien himself barely notices.  All of his attention and focus is solely on the architect of his pain.  He drops his fighting blade and makes a grab at Salem's Shredder-wrist, attempting to hold it at bay as he moves with the human, grappling.  He performs a swift leg-sweep, aiming to knock Salem on his back.  "You sick, twisted, son of a ****! You demented ****!  I let you IN god damnit!  I let you past my defenses and you tore my heart out and threw it back in my face!  Do you know how many people I've trusted in my life?  Hmm?!  Do you?!  One, you unmitigated ****!  ONE!"  Should his leg-sweep succeed, Salem would end up on his back, Rathien straddling his midsection.

[Shenmue654]

Joanne curses as she watches Rathien's shield absorb the stun shot. "Crap," she says. She glances warily at the new man and Rathien, and a slow confusion crosses through her eyes. She squints at the figure. "Wait a minute." <<Is that Salem? Holy ****balls what is that guy doing here...>>

<<We don't have time to think about it! How can we stop Rathien without murdering him?>>

Joanne grits her teeth. <<I...I don't know! That guy is inhumanly fast and strong. If we get between them now, we're going to get killed ourselves or badly injured.>>

<<Then don't do anything. We've gotten in enough trouble for one day by doing nothing. Let Salem die.>>

Keshin's inner voice was harsh and strained, and he was right. But Salem had been the one person who had risen to Joanne's defense when nearly the entire Bar had tried to kill her. He deserved her favor, or every code on which they operated meant nothing. And Joanne had long since tired of failing to uphold codes.

"Hey you sick ****!" screams Joanne at Rathien. "Quit it! There's been enough death! Why don't you pick on someone at your own speed?!" Something seems to crackle behind Joanne's eyes, a rage Jeffrey would find familiar, lighting them up to a brighter blue. But Joanne tries to stifle it as soon as it rises. It wasn't worth it, although Salem was worth her time.
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Jeffrey's expression changes from eager to quizzical when he first hears the old 50's movie voice coming from the ship. The cloaked guy had definitely already left. Jeffrey had seen him go inside the Bar. Was there someone else on the ship besides him? It was strange. Jeffrey traces his finger along the ship and feels a strange humming pulse all throughout it as the speaker talks. Hmm. Jeffrey takes his finger off the ship and backs up to a position where anyone inside could see his whole body.

"Hey tell me: Are you a machine or what? Like Auto? Does my voice work on you? It doesn't work on machines," questions Jeffrey, being careful to throw in the general impression of an uncanny man wearing a white Gestapo-like military trenchcoat with startling red eyes. If the speaker could see the image in his head, it was working."Even if it doesn't work, if you're like Auto your diagnostics should still be able to pick up on that ****. My name is Void Val-- Well..." Jeffrey shakes his head. "For now just call me Jeffrey Barnes."

"This thing is cool!" says Jeffrey, grinning. "How does it work?"

[Terenia]

Fayleth remains frozen as a cascade of action develops around her.

<<What?>> she breathes, digging through Terenia's memories of the bar as quickly as possible, stitching together context from the sudden movement of Rathien, the Dracon shot from Keshin, and the general ruckus.

<<Salem,>> Terenia supplies darkly, though Fayleth has already surmised as much. <<What is this, a ****ing reunion someone didn't tell me about?>>

Fayleth takes a few steps back, eyes scanning the bar. <<We're getting out of here. Now,>> she says, her anxiety spiking up Terenia's adrenaline. Unfortunately, all that does is make Terenia more irritable.

<<Or we could finally finish things,>> she says darkly. <<Ossanlin's here too. We could finally just -->>

<<Just what, Terenia?>> Fayleth demands. <<You aren't honestly suggesting we pause to murder all of the people who have slighted you on your last visit here. Not only is that ridiculous and a complete negation of all the progress you made, but it's impossible. You're pitting yourself -- a mere human -- against a turelek, an Andalite with some very un-Andalite powers, a human with technology even I don't understand, and...whatever that is.>> This last bit indicates Rathien, and Fayleth takes another step back. <<You'll die ten different ways before you get a word in edgewise. So let's go.>>

The front entrance is clearly blocked, but the back hallway is wide open. Decision made, Fayleth takes a few more steps back, stopping near Nepek. She glances at the Hork-Bajir, sucking in a slow breath. "Probably a good time to leave," she says, foregoing the imitation of Terenia's dark sarcasm and quick temper in lieu of her own anxiety.


From his spot behind the engine, William watches with wide eyes as a sequence of incomprehensible -- and impossible -- events play out. "This place," he huffs, laughing to himself. Unable to help a grin, he slides out from behind the engine, inching closer to the hovering craft. From his position he can't quite see the ramp, but it sounds as if a scuffle has broken out -- not surprising given what William has learned about the patrons of this bar.

Skirting around the side of the ship, he comes to a stop just behind Jeffrey. "I'd like to know exactly the same thing," he says lightly, eyes on the ship.