spacedustandpirates

[spacedustandpirates]

[spacedustandpirates]

Just another day..

“Esra.. send priority message to Kieran on Riven.”

“Aylin, the Riven is 4.6 lightyears..”

“ESRA, I didn’t ask where he was, I saiiiid send a priority message.”

“Recording, state message.”

“KIERAN…” She sucked in a deep breath. “I know you are passing by the trade guild’s space port in an hour - they make the besttttt home planet cookies. You should totally stop because it is important that you bring home that delicacy.”  She deepened her voice to mock his. “How do you know where I am, Aylin?” Her normal voice resumed. “Because, I made friends with Riven and Riven likes to tell me everything. And I mean eeverryyything — okay send.

“Message delivered.” The robotic voice confirmed the message status. "And it was priority, Esra?"

"Yes."

[spacedustandpirates]

Hair Inspiration

[spacedustandpirates]

Inspiration

[spacedustandpirates]

Up or down? She stared hard at the floor below her, attempting to see any movement in the dim light. If they invaded, they would come up the ramp in stealth. If they came by drone, it would be the roof. A chime signaled through the homestead tattled movement on the first floor. Her guns were there! Her suit! If they rocketed the place, she was talon muck. A low whine began, her stare turned upward before the purple glimmer of the living quarter doors caught her attention. CORSO. If there was one thing he had, it was booze and guns. She tossed herself to the side of the shaft and shimmed up the ladder to the second floor doors.

“Esra, open second floor.”

“Aylin, please remain where you are.”

“WE HAVE BEEN BREECHED. ITS OVER. DONE FOR –" She breathlessly screamed, her voice echoing in the narrow confines that would be her tomb.

“I’m here, Aylin.” The captain’s voice drifted through her com and panic hyperventilating and for a moment she simply hung off of the ladder with one hand, her foot and the other hand wedged into the crack in the living quarters door.

“Seem em, Captain? Is it twenty? Thirty?”

[spacedustandpirates]

“Look, if you take it from me then you don’t have to eat Corso and then the Captain can see you are a good boy. The goodest of boys!” Her hips pulled upward, knees dragging against the dirt as she inch-wormed beneath the tomatoes and toward where the leaf-looking creature lay. Leaf cutters were nasty creatures as a rule. They roamed in packs, tending to stick to forests and groves since they blend in so well with the foliage. She wasn’t sure how the creature got separated from its pack or how it got into the Captain’s ship, but she was confident the crushed part of its frame made it crabby. She’d be pissed off too if the captain landed his big ass ship on her leg. With arms stretched out, her chest against the dirt, and ass in the air she used her feet to push her closer and waggle the protein meat hunk from side to side.

Here in space, meat wasn’t really meat. It was made up of protein and vegetables to resemble meat in looks and taste, but in the end, it lacked a lot of the diseases that came from land-bound animals and contained more nutrients needed to keep their bodies working in fucked up conditions. She was sure he would like it over some scavenged dino. “It is good for you.” Flop flop. “C’mon Grinch - you can trust me. Didn’t I fix you up? Didn’t I give you a name? Didn’t I share my cookies—”

Beep beep beep.

The lights in the garden dimmed, all save for the purple hued growing lights needed to keep the plants alive.

Beep beep beep.

She dropped the meat to the ground and crawled to her feet only to stand and listen to the sounds of alarms and the Homestead locking itself down. Esra didn’t need permission nor instruction to keep the area safe from… from what? Nothing was here. The planet had water and rocks and ghosts.

“Esra?” She called out, a frown knitting her brow beneath pink curtain bangs. “Report?” She moved to the lift, once inside the green doors of the garden hissed closed behind her and the lift froze with her inside. “Wait.. what? Up..”

“Aylin, the west proximity alarm at 1,760 yards has been tripped. Safety protocol initialized, please remain where you are.”

“I am in the lift! What is it? What tripped the alarm? Is it Zirax?”

“Please remain where you are.”

“ESRA. What is it? Wait, let me onto the observation deck.” When the lift didn’t move her, she gripped the side of the welded framework and began to tug herself upward, little handholds made up the emergency ladder but the observation deck was on the roof and so she grunted and huffed as she pulled herself upward.

“Unknown. Please remain where you are.” The robotic voice sounded and at once Aylin wailed. Her shoulder hiked, pushing one boney shoulder into the bottom of her headset to activate her com.

“CAPTAIN. CAPTAINCORSOKIERAN ITS ZIRAX” She wailed. “At the homestead. ERSA locked me in the lift, they are a mile out and incoming.”

Beep beep beep. As designed, all of the doors within the lift locked and the lights extinguished until only the small emergency lights above each door illuminated the space she hung. Once her foot found purchase she peered down the shaft to the first floor, waiting and listening.

[spacedustandpirates]

.

“Error. Location unknown.” A robotic voice drifted out of a crooked speaker box that reminded her of a drive-in movie theater box that people in that century used to hang on their windows to hear the movie projected onto a white sheet thing. As soon as she had seen it at the recycler she knew she had to have it and so hid it with the scrap that the captain was taking home.

“The fuck it is…” She used her free hand to pet the speaker. “It isn’t your fault.. It is esra’s fault. ES-RA.” She sassed. “Asmojdi - location Chala Gamma.”

“Error. Location unknown.” The voice repeated.

“Uhhgg..” Aylin’s head lulled backward with the groan, her face tipped toward the transporter room’s ceiling. The box of seedlings shifted from one hip to the other as she moved her hand from the relic and settled it on the railing.

“ESRA.”

“Yes Aylin?” The ship’s computer responded with limitless patience.

“Why can’t I port to the farm on Asmojdi?” Her chin dipped toward her chest and she fixed her stare right on the innocent speaker box.

“Aylin, you renamed the location to: hell hole with a view. Would you like to teleport to hell hole with a view?”

She sputtered. Her stare left the speaker box and drifted unseeing to the wall of the transporter room. Oh, when had she done that? She crinkled her nose, her hips rocking from side to side while she racked her brain for the — ohhhhhh yeahhhhh. It was when the farm’s glass didn’t hold and all of her crops suffocated and died.

“Esra, port me to hell hole with a view.”

“Did they give me daughters when I asked for ro - bots..” Aylin stepped off the teleporter pad, her head bobbing to some metal cover of a classic earth lullaby that played through her headset. The transporter room was a separate building away from the homestead, the main house, purposely done in case one or the other failed - which may have happened once or maybe twice.

She checked the forcefield on the box of seedlings before resting it on the cargo pile just inside the door. ‘Hell hole with a view’ was what the crew called the place but really it was what people called a dead planet. No air, no life, and no growth. Just metal carcasses in the shape of houses, farms, and shuttles to remind anyone stupid enough to touch down that this rock had once hosted life. Now? Not even Pirates and Zirax would touch it - and that was why they settled here.

As always, she peered out the window of the teleporter room before exiting the building, eyeing first the flight deck before searching for movement alarms on the main building - homestead. This had been their recovery home for five straight months, with a beat-up ship to get them here that she was sure the captain just about traded his whole ass for. She paused as she considered the doorway and the shimmering forcefield. That salvage yard alien had it baddd for him, whatever happened to that female? She shook her head, anyway! She fixed the helm of her suit and listed for the rush of air before checking the gauge. The dead planet had no air and random clouds of radiation to make life miserable but there was water and water was life.

The doors sighed open and she collected the seed box before she bounced down the stairs, her jetpack humming against her back. The place was a junk heap, really. With sleeping ships, piles of unused scrap, hastily placed storage pods, and a beach lined with ugly water extractors, the homestead wasn’t the prettiest of places but it was their home. Now it was used more to grow their food since they managed to tape together a space station.

“Mister.. I’ll make a man outta youuuuu.. - Esra broadcast to homestead.”

“Broadcasting music.” A robotic answered in her ear.

“Ah yeah..” She bounced up the ramp that would take her to the first floor of the building. Once the ramp shut behind her she pulled her helm free, listening to make sure the music could be heard before shimming out of the armor suit. “You can bet… before we’re through…” She hummed, snatching her box of seeds and making her way to the lift. “I’ll make a man… out of youuuu.” The lift was a box tunnel creation that used energy and air to cart a person between floors, as she floated to the second floor, her bare toes wiggled impatiently. Some lullaby… she mused, waiting for the lime green doors to open before she stepped into the second floor or what she’d like the call the garden.

The garden was made up of over a hundred plots of dirt, nestled within the floor, and situated under grow lights and mist spouts. Esra took care of making sure the plants had just what they needed to grow but since Esra wasn’t an organic, someone had to actually harvest the stuff. That somebody was her! Not that she minded, the smell was nice and Corso brought home a few butterflies that he captured the last time he stopped at Haven. The Captain brought her a leafcutter that had been partially crushed by his ship, well, he didn’t bring it. It sorta got stuck in his landing gear and she found it tucked inside the ship spitting mad. Since it couldn’t be set free in space or on the dead planet - she stuck it in the garden and fed it protein from the constructor.

“Aylin, you at the homestead?” A voice sounded, though it seemed to come from everywhere instead of in the room with her.

“Thatsa yes from me, Captain. Just getting some veggies..”

“Put your bug away, I am going to come collect some seats.”

“Ah, it won’t hurtya… will you buddy?” She chirped. Eyeing the leaf-like creature weaving through the pumpkins. “He is a sweet lil’guy.” She cooed.

“Corso’s visit to the med ward says different. Put it away - what are you listening to?”

“Yes Captain, I’ll close up the garden doors then. And I dunno, some ancient civvy stuff I got from the last time we visited the trader.”

[spacedustandpirates]

See you on the soil..

I can’t feel my toes.

… oh, there they are. But.. what if I think I feel my toes but they are just phantom toes and my legs are really gone.

Am I dead?

Slowly her eyes opened, at least, she thought they were opening. There was nothing to see, no color, no pod, just black.

Great. No legs and blind. Now she’d never get a date. She exhaled and let herself sink back into nothingness.

Rust, the coppery metallic scent drew her from a dreamless sleep. Not rust! Rust on metal was a devastating thing, it spread and separated ship walls into layers before flaking apart with devastating results. How did rust get on her Jellyfish?

“C’mon me, get your shit together..” She stretched one arm out into the darkness before moving her hand to her head, dirty fingers sliding over an equally dirty face. “So we are blind - “ …fingers found eyeballs and white sparks exploded within her vision causing her to clap her hands over her eyes and howl. “FUCK ME. FUCK ALL OF ME. Right down to my legless body –”

Her eyes squinched shut, tears running over her brows and into her hairline.

At least she still had hair, that was a plus. And a good taste in music - can’t over look that. She was still a good catch without legs. She sniffled loudly, already thinking up nicknames Corso would call her. Oh hotstars- he’d call her stumpy. One hand gripped the release buckle and held, listening intently to what may be outside. Nothing? As she waited, liquid plunked onto her chin before sliding to the crevice of her lips. Rust.

No. Blood. It was blood. She needed to get out of this pod. She yanked the release cord and tumbled to the headrest, legs cracking against the wall to prove in yet another explosion of white hot pain that she still had legs.

Well. That was nice.

“E-enie, lights.”

When the pod’s computer didn’t respond she leaned forward and squished her cheek against the seat, it was still warm from her back, and for a moment she rested, reveling in the fact she had legs and she wouldn’t get the nickname stumpy.

“Eenie.” She tried again. When the computer didn’t respond she slid her palm against the leather her cheek sat on, fingers seeking the manual eject lever and she gave a quick yank. After a few moments of nothing, the hatch shot free and water hurried to fill the interior. The grimy liquid along with the disturbance of the door’s trajectory stole her vision and she kicked off in a panic-laden attempt to find aid.

When her head broke the surface she bellowed. “I CANT SWIM.”

“Then stand up, human.”

“I AM SINKING..”

“How is that possible, Medlic? The water is maybe three torlac deep..”

She felt a hand grip the back of her sweater and the water rush from her as she hoisted into the air and .. oh - aliens.

“Hi…” She sputtered, limbs hanging limp at her side.

“You landed in our crops, human.” One of the two savage-looking aliens scowled at her. Luckily, it wasn’t the one that held her above the water.

“Sorry about that..” She squinted down at the shallow water and the upside-down pod. Huh. “You are Talon?”

"Yes."

"You got cookies?"

Leafcutters chitterd in the darkness, low toned threats to those close enough to hear. Warnings that were not good enough that the leaf lookalikes were actually creatures of foul disposition that would tear a target to pieces. They moved in small packs, which meant if you saw one there was at least four more you didn’t see.

The urge to peer out the window and search for the creatures was suppressed since they sounded so close and the village windows didn’t have glass. Just a hole. Just stone. Just jungle heat.

“Terran –” A voice came from the doorway of the borrowed hut and she lulled her head to peer at the tall, green seaweed looking alien that filled the frame. There was a hint of kindness in the tone and she’d take it!

“You can all me Aylin, if you like?” She rolled to a sit, her suit had been replaced by some wraps about her chest and hips, when she complained it was too close to a diaper the alien helping her offered to keep it. Since she didn’t want her female bits chewed off by leafcutters, she kept the diaper-shorts.

“Terran is easier. I am going to check on your wound, come.”

“Sure..” She carefully moved to a stand, her pace slow and easy. The pod had landed without much damage and she did count herself lucky that it was only a few scrapes and bruises that saw her safely to land - well- Talon crops, same thing. It wasn’t until she had explained what happened to the Talon Chief, gained permission to wait for her captain and then was digging for her beacon that she tangled with one of their ‘pets.’

The beast had almost taken off her leg!

The same beast walked near her now, over long tongue hanging out of the its mouth.

“Turnada - it likes you.” The Alien commented, earning the narrow vine-like back a scowl and a sniff from the lost pilot.

“It likes my blood, yeah?” She huffed, eyeing the creature near her with it’s odd legs and hunched shoulders. It was just as wild as the rest of this place, kept in check by the villagers that raised it and used it to hunt and guard. “No more.. No more Aylin for you.”

Once they reached the medical building she exhaled loudly as she limped inside the cool stone interior. Outside the air threatened to drown her and her hair stuck to her back in damp, clingy braids - inside? The shimmer of something tattled that they used some sort of… something… that was older than she was to create comfort and healing.

“Have your hunters seen any other Terran?” She sank onto a cool stone table, the length covered by a thin blanket that further regulated her body’s reaction to the planet as soon as she settled.

“No..”

Great.

[spacedustandpirates]

The Fall

Beep Beep Beep Beep

Aylin rolled as the warning sounds bled into her dreams, the bedding curling about her legs as she slowly separated noises and alarms. That wasn’t a dream, that also wasn’t music.

The pod, attached to the high ceiling of the bridge, was really just an unclosed section of the roof that she slapped her bedroll in and never left. Posters from friendly space stations decorated the walls and that seemed to be all she needed to be happy, cept cookies of course.

Beep Beep Beep Beep.

BOOM. The ship groaned with the hit.

She gripped the edge of the pod and rolled free, dangling mid-air for a moment before she dropped the ground and bound over to the navigation station.

Red. They were surrounded by red. Zirax? Here? Initial scans showed nothing.

“CAP –”

“Aylin - I don’t want bad news..”

BOOM. The shields weren’t going to hold.

“CAPTAIN – I…” She reached for her goggles, dread bubbling in her chest as she fit them over her eyes and dropped into her chair. The station lights turned red, flashing in warning to the crew, and at once drums added to the chaos. “I can fly it! I – “

A warning voice echoed throughout the ship. Robotic. It even had the audacity to interrupt her stress drums. ‘Shields at 2%’

“HOW? THEY WERE HIT ONCE.”

They couldn’t die this way, not getting jumped by shit stain Emperor lackeys who couldn’t fly better than she could.

BOOM.

Shield failure in 2 minutes.

“I CAN FLY HER, I just need to get us down to B–”

The goggles were yanked from her head and she felt herself lifted up and over one thick shoulder. No words, just quick steps that saw her away from the bridge. The doors hissed shut as the glass cracked, spidering what should have been her view of the fight and path.

No way.

No way. This wasn't real. The Jellyfish wasn't just melting..

“Take this beacon and as soon as you touch ground, activate it. I will find you.”

“The others?”

“Heading out already.”

She watched the Captain as he strapped her in and then closed the hatch on the rocket-like shuttle. One person, very fast and hard to catch - scary.

“See you on the soil.”

[spacedustandpirates]

[spacedustandpirates]

[spacedustandpirates]

A year ago.. part three

[Captain] It always felt like getting punched in the gut, and then doubling over afterwards, when they came out of warp. Or maybe that was just the industrial warp engine their ship had, not as smooth as those luxury liners.. That, and he hadn't even been close to strapped in when Aylin punched it. The sudden deceleration threw him to the floor of the cargo hold and he lay there sprawled out getting his bearings.

"Aylin.. Where'd we end up and are they following us?" The captain asked after a few moments, working his way up through the ship towards the bridge and where she'd be. [Aylin] It took a special kinda person to not only fly a ship but fragment their attention enough to give dozens of things a bit of notice at the same time and not go mad. Luckily for them, their pilot had a severe focus issue in the first place. At some point, their fight or flight music changed and just added to the chaos that hadn’t been contained to the bridge as of yet. Aylin danced in the half-circle seat, legs crisscross apple sauce and arms stretched over her head with fingers doing gimme grabs to the air. Her flying goggles remained in place, data scrolling before her eyes, music drowning everything but the stars and data, and monitors checked and rechecked in brief sideways peeks.

She waited until the stars ceased to blur before she answered. “We gonna talk about why we hot-footed outta there? This jellyfish can’t take that kinda heat captain, she likes slow and steady. I think they shot at er also, that is fuckin’ rude.” Her arms dropped once he made it to the bridge, thumbs pressing the underside of the goggles until they pinched her brow instead. “We landed in.. Zaebokira’s sun, I think the black bits. Not much interesting here by the looks of it so far, I sorta pointed and went - if they wanted to follow, they would have and that warbird is way faster than us so I think we are good.”

She exhaled and slouched in her chair, her dark stare on him. Her suit pinched at her hips, unzipped with arms tied so that her belly and up were exposed but still covered! Instead of a space-faring top, she wore a ragged blue sweater that had been so stretched out it hung off one shoulder with the slouch.

[Kieran] Kieran had locked himself down in his seat before he'd had a chance to remove his helmet. He did so now, the rugged features of the ranger coming into view as he made his way to the armory and stowed his rifle back into place, then returned to the armor locker to have it remove the heavy combat armor he'd worn. He hadn't come through unscathed, he'd have to repair the equipment before the next outing.

He made his way to the bridge, just in time to hear Aylin complain about shooting at the ship. "Sorry about that, Aylin. They were shooting at me. What in the hell happened in there, Cap," he asked, turning towards him. "There wasn't supposed to be any hostilities." [Aylin] Aylin’s naked toes of her right leg became her ores as she used them to push against the floor and turn herself slightly more towards Kieran as he arrived. “Aww s’okay, Kieran. You didn’t even go inside, can’t blame you for cover fire.”

As Kieran took over questioning the captain, she settled in to listen, turning herself in a complete circle. Each time she passed the main display she reached out, touched something here or there before making another complete turn.

[Corso] "Aha… what a rush." Corso said as he unbuckled his harness and leaned forward in his seat. It took him a moment to shake off that light headedness that followed…. especially when one had been drinking alittle. He pushed himself to his feet and followed after the captain, eager to find out just where the hell they had warped to. Entering the bridge, he wasted no time plopping down at his station to kick his feet up as he fired up his console.

"All things considerd, were getting better at this." He smirked as he scanned long range comms for any sort of chatter pertaining to them. "Noone needed a trip to the Medbay this time." After finding nothing of intrest, he reclined his chair back just enough that he could still see and coverse with everyone. "Shame shit went south though. Fridge is starting to look pretty barren." [Captain] The captain's fist smacked against the bulkhead, smirking to himself as he listened to Aylin over the comm's. "Yeah, she does. She can take a rough tumble in the sheets now and then, though. If it couldn't be done I wouldn't have asked, Aylin." The hiss of the door opening up to reveal the bridge and that dark stare from the pilot herself as he stepped through.

"Better question would by why half of you are surprised at a bit of violence in a pirates nest like that one as it is. It was either that or Corso and I got strung up like trophies for insulting Xinjex's sister. You all would have hated the job offered anyways so now's about we best be lookin' for better options. I don't want to be drawin' straws for who gets eaten first when we're starving." His stride bringing her to where Aylin sat and on that next rotation of her spinning seat his hands came to rest atop the back of it, peering over the multitude of displays and endless space beyond the glass of the bridge. "Get a scan going, if there's nothing interesting out there I'd like to keep it that way for the moment."

"Corso, see if you can hone in on any colonist frequencies. There's always salvage nearby wherever they're at and that's a spot of quick credits to tie us over for a bit."

[Aylin] “No surprise here Captain, trouble just likes to find you – I wanted the dirrrrrrrt. I never get ta leave the ship and get chased by pirate aliens through a cored asteroid with hookers and gun dealers and …” The twisting was stopped and she lulled her head back to blink owlishly up at the underside of his chin.

“Did it when we arrived - we are sitting in the black but you got a few things out there that look pretty.” She dropped her stare from his chin and exhaled, leaning forward to change topics and displays quickly.

“See here? You got Zaebokira, type M. Nothing really special. I suppose. Lots of registered dead planets - mighty good for salvaging but where there is dead - there are pirates. Only plus size is that that means Zirax aren’t looking too much over here.”

“Oh, an Captain? Corso gets eaten first - we drew straws last time.” [Corso] "Enough beef cake to keep you all going for atleast a few more days." He flashed Aylin a smirk before slipping his headphones on and giving his full attention to the screen before him. He lazily flicked his finger at the reciver, tuning up and down the numerous radio waves of varying strengths.

"Ohh, heres a good one." He flicked the loudspeaker switch on his console on. A very monotone alien came over the loudspeaker, seeming to repeat its message over and over again. "Annnnd for the translation." His fingers danced across the keyboard, swiftly changing the alien language to english. "Weve been trying to reach you about your spaceships extended warranty."

"Fuck, even all the way out here we cant get away from these god damn scam calls!" He leaned down and flipped open the door to the little minifridge beneath his console and pulled out a beer, frowing at how few remained within. He cracked the can open and took a long, joyful sip before poking at his screen. "Got one here." He dragged his fingers across the screen and shot them out towards the large bridge monitor to transfer his data that they all might see. "Distress signal. Colonist frequency, but weaker than all hell."

[Captain] The captain chuckled as he peered down at Aylin, shaking his head. "Tell ya all the grubby details about it later.. Next time we draw straws, can draw for who has to stay on the ship." Afterwards, he'd look to where she pointed as her focus moved to the screens. "Well, no Zirax in sight is a pretty good plus.." When Corso's screen popped up on the main display before him he'd stand straight, folding his arms up across his chest. "Distress signal? There any way to get a scan near where it's comin' from? Like Aylin says, could be pirates.." [Aylin] “Pirates … sneaky beaky pirates.” She kept her goggles on her brow, and since he was no longer holding her chair, she used her toes to turn herself in a circle once more.

“So.. Captain – did you grab me a cookie on the way out or..” Her chair turned until it faced him, its back to the window and screens. As soon as the chair stopped she peered up at him and coaxed her lips into a pout that clashed with the hope that was rapidly dying. She saw no cookies on him - not even broken ones! Not even CRUMBS. Corso’s whoring strikes again. (edited)

[spacedustandpirates]

A year ago.. part two

[Captain] "Me?! Why you always assume that -I- said something? I wasn't the one flirting with a space gangster's sister-thing!" The captain shouted back, crashing through a pile of crates in an effort to avoid getting vaporized by blaster fire! "Holy shit why are there so many of them?!" Though it seemed everyone and their alien mothers had the same idea as them as patrons of all types were booking it towards the hangar bays!

"Tell Kieran to watch out, whole bar is comin' with us to their ships too!"

"I'M NOT SHOOTING AYLIN! THEY'RE SHOOTING AT US! -- Wait how ugly we talkin'? Emperor's fourteenth cousin and his big bad fleet ugly or that slimeball from Akua ugly? Either way we're way past our welcome here get ready to turn and burn for us ya hear?" [Kieran] "Corso's going to get some venerable alien disease at some point, sticking his dick in any xeno that'll stand him," he rumbled to himself, thankfully not over the comms. Didn't need the hassle from the Captain or Corso. "Hear you loud and clear, Cap. I've already taken one down, what's a few more bodies on the kill counter?"

He brought the laser rifle up and sighted, snapping a shot off at one that was bound and determined to shoot the Captain in the back. He also managed to get a snap shot off at one pursuing Corso. "Let's get going, people." [Corso] "And what's wrong with that?! Sayin' I'm not good enough to be talking with space gangster's sisters!" He went tumbling head over ass as they collided with a large stack of crates. "Besides! Shootin' didn't start between her legs, did it?!"

Corso propped his hands atop a crate and took some precise shots at their pursuers, making sure not to catch any civilians in the cross fire. A few well timed shots sent the gangsters ducking for cover, buying them just a few more seconds of time to escape.

"MOVE!" He got to his feet and emptied the last two rounds downrange as he backtracked. Corso couldnt help but laugh to himself as their alien counterparts seemed to have no idea what was firing at them, with a virulent lack of bright laser flash's. He ejected the spent magazine and swiftly replaced with a fresh one before turning around and hauling ass after the captain. [Aylin] “Ohhh..” Her voice became sing-song, her stare locked on the monitor that supervised the loading ramp and that section of the ship. “You knowwww - fourteenth cousin kinda ugly - pretty sure they aren’t looking at you yet. They just entered the backdoor of Boom Shakalaka..”

That was fun to say, boom shaka - boom boom shaka. She wiggled in her chair, one leg lifted to tuck her foot behind the opposite leg’s calf.

“Sureeeeee thing Captain.. Shakashaka -la, just waiting for you to wander on aboard.” If the crew weren’t currently being chased by a mob of gangster aliens with the threat of aggressive Zirax jumping into the mix the cargo hold, loading dock and bridge would be thumping with some base heavy music but most time it wasn’t so good in a fire fight.

[Captain] "I'm sayin' we make terrible gangsters!" The captain shouted, sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him, while weaving left and right to avoid blaster fire from their pursuers! "Serpentine, serpentine!" He quite nearly tripped when Aylin confirmed what type of ugly was being added to their current predicament, stumbling forwards.

"You gotta be kidding me.. Jump thirty-two times, navigate not one but TWO asteroid fields, and they're STILL managing to keep pace with us? Sticky sonofabitch that one!"

They could see the ship now waiting just past the the forcefields on the outer docks, ramp extended and all. With such a welcome sight ahead of them it would stir newfound speed within the captain as he flailed his arms above his head. Maybe as a signal to Aylin. "Gogogogo! We're jumpin', just don't close the ramp!" [Kieran] Kieran switched the rifle to automatic fire and began to lay down supressing fire on the pirates as Corso and the Captain ran towards them. "I gotcha Cap, just move your ass!" Two more pirates went down, lanced by the red laser fire as. He looked up at his helmet's HUD, taking control of one of the external cameras of the ship to keep an eye on the Zirax. "Don't wanna be tangling with these Zirax bastards while we're dealin' with pirates!" [Corso] "I wont argue with you on that!" Corso was blazing a trail right on the captains heels as they came bursting into the hangar. "Aint got caught up yet though, gotta count for something!" He laughed as the blazing inferno of the engines nearly knocked him back, managing to keep his footing as he leapt onto the loading ramp before it got just out of reach.

Once they were all aboard and getting underway, he kept low and rolled to the side of the loading bay and jammed his heel into the emergency blast door controler. "Were all accounted for!" He pushed himself to his feet and sprinted to one of the flight seats at the rear of the hangar. "Buckle up less you wanna taste bulkhead!" He slammed down in the seat and secured his cross harness and braced himself for warp. "I fuckin' love this part! PUNCH IT, AYLIN! YEEEEEEEEEHAWWWWW." [Aylin]

Jumping?

Close the ramp?

Her nose crinkled as she tried to focus on the captain’s voice in the chaos. Well, if he said so. She flicked the switch and listened for the warning sounds to let her know that they were no longer latched to the asteroid. Another button pressed and the ramp began to retreat into the ship, the auto doors did remain open for them.

Guess they were really gonna be jumping! And that kind of adventure called for some speaker music -quick fingers found more buttons and the ship’s speakers blared the fast paced, bass filled music throughout every inch of the ride. Enjoy.

“Get fucked..” She held up one middle finger to the Zirax pilot who watched the excitement. He was docked and his men were somewhere inside so he wasn’t going to be doing anything but staring with his big ass head and gross mouth.

Once the hanger door signaled as shut, the ship rolled away from the rock and the pissed off gangster pirates. Seated or not, they were off.

“Hold on to your balls, boys.” The music interrupted only for a second to as she relayed the warning.

Yeeeeehawwww.

[spacedustandpirates]

A year ago..

“Man, I haven’t been off this ship in a month… why did the captain say we couldn’t go again? I just wanna walk around - I think I see cookies from here. Do you see cookies?”

“No. And no. And lastly no. Captain said he has a friend of a friend that is stationed here and that is the only reason we were allowed to dock on this rock. If you haven’t noticed, it is a rock.”

“Pirates..” She huffed, perching her elbows on the window frame so she could peer through the protected glass. “Pirate stations are way cooler than other waystations, they got spice.”

“And guns.”

“Everyone has guns!”

“Pirates like to use em more.”

“But they always got the neat stuff, Captain said he saw Zirax hounds at the last one. Imagine what a Zirax puppy looks like.”

“Helllll noooooooo. They smell, don’t you remember when we were on Haven for a week and the Zirax attacked the Talon market? I think those hounds tainted the ground for days even after they were burned.”

“Think it was the hounds? Dunno why I thought it was somethin’ else. Do you know what this asteroid is called?” She lulled her head back and to the side, eyeballing the woman standing next to her - at least, she thought it was a woman. The captain wasn’t so keen on picking up aliens for work but humans were so odd now adays, she couldn’t tell if Gains was a male or female or if they were even human really. Not that it mattered to her.

“Vice Nova … four I believe.” Gains scowled, their dark stare searching for something outside.

“VICE NOVA? FOUR? YOU KNOW WHAT THEY HAVE HERE.”

“Shh Aylin.”

“THEY HAVE HOOKERS. HOOKERS.” Aylin laughed, once more leaning forward to press her face against the glass. “Have you seen a hooker before? Why are they always human? I haven’t seen an alien hooker…”

“Are you looking for a hooker, Aylin?”

“Well, not to buy but I just wanna… you know. Ogle. I wanna ogle one.”

“They charge for that - let me know when the captain is coming back.”

“Surrrrrre.” Aylin puffed her cheeks squinting to see into the dark recesses of the named asteroid Vice Nova IV. From here she could just make out the flash of neon lights and blue call boards that gave warnings and directions. Pirate owned, Vice was a den of thievery, stolen goods, and sex. If you didn’t have it and couldn’t get it legally, guaranteed the pirates had it. [Corso] "Captain aint comin out from his little soiree for atleast an hour. So live it up while we got the time." As if the word hookers had summoned the man out of thin air, out strode the ships so called 'Head of Security' Corso Blaze. His voice was almost drowned out by the loud blaring of music and a mixing pool of alien dialects. "Get your ogleing out of the way, Jupiter here is all paid up for the night." He grinned as he looked to the…. alien in skimpy pieces of clothing his arm was wrapped about. "Jupiter here is a-…. uhh, shes a-… welll. I frankly dont know what she is, or if its a she even for that matter." Corso let out a gruff laugh as he polished off the last few swallows of his Ziraxian Brandy before hucking the glass off into the depths of space. "Cmon, you two gonna catch a cold out here. Or worse, get swooped up by some Palovian Slave Traders. Cmoooon!" He waved the two in after him as he marched back into the party. [Aylin]

Aylin’s mouth hung open and she gawked at Corso as he made his appearance, walking down the short loading ramp that allowed them to breathe while moving from ship to occupied asteroid. He had someone with him! She shoved from the window and stomped across the stiff white cushions of the couch before she leaped to the ground and raced towards the loading doors.

This week her hair was colored space black and tied into buns that bobbed on either side of her head as she moved. Gains was gone, off being responsible somewhere else on the ship, and that left only Aylin to greet him and his companion as soon as the doors wooshed open.

“HOLYSHITCORSO!” She bounced from foot to foot, her chocolate state moving to the alien hooker. Of course, Corso found one. “Nice ta meet you Jupiter! Thatsa.. nice suit you have.” The alien’s thin lips tugged down at the corners but before any response could be had, Corso was off - heading back down the sealed loading ramp and back to the party. The party that they had specifically been told they couldn’t go to – “Hey..” She protested to nothingness.

The doors shut in her face, a woosh sound was all the alert she needed to lean back to keep her nose in place.

“No fair.." -= Later that evening =-

“You spin me right round baby right round..” Space. Bridge lights. Space. Bright lights. Space. Zirax fighter vessel. Bridge lights. It took two more spins in the captain’s chair before she stuck one leg out and let her bare foot catch on the navigation console.

Zirax.

Aylin felt her stomach bottom out and she studied the ship as it leveled before her very eyes. The tattletale black body and red markings warned anyone who looked who the fighter ship belonged to and what would happen if someone remained in their vicinity for too long. They were the slimy, extremely violent reach of the Emperor and no one wanted to be touched by that.

Slowly she crawled to a stand, the ship faced where she stood on the bridge and she could just make out the pilot through the glass. Were they searching? The crew wasn’t exactly on the best terms with the Zirax and may or may not have enjoyed some drone hunting on downtime. Surely…

"AYLIN! START THE SHIP, WERE COMING IN HOT! KIERAN, IMA NEED SOME HEADS POPPING AS SOON AS THEY COME OUT THE DOOR BEHIND US!"

“Uh Cap – “

Wait. The Zirax were docking? She blinked wildly before dropping back to her seat and leaning forward. It was time to fly.

“Uh Captain, we got some ugly birds landing out here - whacha doing in there?” Her fingers hovered over the button that would unlatch them from the asteroid and waited word.

“Is that shooting? Why are we shooting?!”

[spacedustandpirates]

Aelin by the talented AND clever AND AMAZING @burrichgreer

[spacedustandpirates]

Aelin by the talented @burrichgreer