They were the first non-human spacefarers to greet humanity, a meeting that would result in a prosperous five thousand year relationship. The broken ground that fostered this relationship was the development of The Gastium, a multi-species restaurant, situated in the middle of the Human Empire, on Saturn’s moon, Titan.
Managed by the Gastia, the restaurant features exotic dishes from Gasutis, alongside experimental dishes using ingredients from throughout the galaxy. It has gained a reputation as an important spot for inter-species relationships, both political and emotional, and thus has been protected by the Unified Galactic Coalition, a collection of thousands of various hyper intelligent species designed to keep the peace. However, since the great pirate explosion a decades past, the Gastium has fallen prey to pirates and gangsters, and while people have tried to defend it, it has begun to fall to the wayside.
There have been calls from both the UGC and the Gastia for Emperor Hyperia to do something about these attacks.
“While stability of the Gastia is of great concern, we of the Human Empire are dealing with a surge of violent pirates that plague our people. We humbly ask for support in our time of trying, and when we can, we in return shall help defend the Gastium.”
And with that statement, Emperor Hyperia Chinesne Habanero increased military presence throughout the solar system, an action viewed as contentious by the intergalactic community as a move toward authoritarianism.
Regardless of these actions, the Gastium is no longer the shining beacon it once was.
As Seraph and Eisen enter the vestibule of the restaurant, its conditions are clear. The once beautiful, upscale, space, is a shell of its former self; dirty, unkempt, left in shambles from whatever fight broke out this time, and no one to greet them.
Seraph is dressed to kill. Her top is a modified, navy blue Royal General uniform, cut short to expose midriff. A slit at the shoulders reveal her metal right arm. It is accompanied by a white bow with sharp lines, centred with a blue jewel. Her bottoms, modified uniform pants, cut at the top of the thigh, paired with dark tights, circled by a utility belt. Along the belt is a holster for her laser blaster, an ornate, white gun, with intricate, floral designs, clad in gold. All of this is tied together with a pair of black, knee high boots, with built in shock dampening. Her hair, remains wild and untamed, a blood red punctuation to her look.
Through the glass door entry, the dining area can be seen at the end of a dimly lit hallway, and dead centre was the target; Brown Bunny Jude.
From behind, his wide shoulders accentuated by his large brown fur overcoat, create an intimidating silhouette, made only more disconcerting by the bullet-ridden and tattered, rabbit ears, sprouting from irritated scars on his head. Seraph has him in her sights. Her body language tenses. Eisen attempts to quell the fire.
“Don’t just go running in, Brown Bunny Jude is incredibly dangerous.”
Seraph doesn’t budge, her eyes like a predator, but she responds.
“We’ve done this countless times before, I don’t know why you’re so freaked out.”
Eisen did not enjoy her flippancy.
“Because we haven’t! This guy is über dangerous! One misstep and w-”
“Holy Haræ, Eisen!”
Her eyes dart toward Eisen.
Her eyes were full of rage. Her face was neutral, but her eyes could kill. Eisen’s FFD goes dark in shock.
Seraph snaps back to reality, her face and eyes softening in realization.
She bends down and hugs Eisen.
Eisen lets out a soft purr as his FFD fades back on with a content face.
“Look…”
Eisen can’t see her face, but he can hear regret in her voice.
“I’m sorry… I love you…”
Her hold tightens. Eisen keeps in place, listening.
“I don’t know what came over me…”
Eisen does.
“Please forgive me, I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“Of course I forgive you, but please hear my concerns.” Eisen, pulls away from her slowly, revealing that her face is now in a softened smile. He always loved that smile.
“I already have a plan, and please trust me when I say I have thought this through. I’m not as careless as I seem”.
You’re not as cautious as you say, either, Eisen thought. But he kept that to himself.
“Fine, what is your plan?”
“So the hosts here are probably the only ones with any kind of freedom of movement in the dining area, so I figured, if I dress as one, I can get close enough to snag him. If all goes as planned, this should be a straight forward mission.”
The hosts of the Gastium were primarily attractive human men and women, a cheap way to appease the occasionally rowdy clientel. Most of the women outfits were tight, black, sensual and short, pantomiming suits with deep cleavage, leaving very little to the imagination. In Seraph's mind, something like this is more something she would enjoy to oggle, but not something she herself would dare to wear. The men wear black suits, midriff exposed, shoulders exposed, with a gold "G" monogrammed collar.
“And if it doesn’t go as planned? Shouldn’t you be trying to isolate him from his crew?”
Seraph, thinks for a moment.
“How about this, just keep quiet, hide somewhere, listen in and back me up if things get sour.”
Seraph taps on her communicator placed just within her ear. Eisen lets out an exasperated sigh. He knows there is nothing he can say, but before he could try, Seraph walks away through the employee entrance.
“Dammit”
Serrano sits in the customs office for the Djerba to Earth gate. The half-moon room was free of distractions, evenly lit by Quasmarquada lights, giving the dissuasion of an infinite space, only broken up by a desk and seats opposite the entrance door. Serrano, a slim man of 34 years, with short and well kept hair. His military uniform was well ironed and a wedding circlet clad in gold is tight on his wrist. Scars along his hands and neck resemble those on Saraph.
Serrano sighs as he opens up the file on his desk. A holographic document projects from the open file. The space in front of Serrano begins to populate with vitals, immigration documentation and a photo of Elita Mirasol.
“Please enter!” Serrano shouts toward the door.
The door opens. Elita enters into the office, clad in a black and white, frilled, french maid outfit. Their face is soft, youthful and feminine, matching the dainty stature and shy presentation.
“Hi- Is this the customs office…?”
Serrano holds his attention on Elita, with a firm but not unfriendly face.
“Indeed it is. Are you Mirasol, E.”
Elita nods in affirmation. Serrano gestures at the chair in front of him, for Elita to sit.
Elita sheepishly comes in and sits.
“Could you please state your name, age, species, planet of origin and purpose of your visit.”
Serrano holds eye contact with Elita.
“Elita Mirasol, 28, Human, Djerba, and I’m moving for work.”
Serrano takes a moment to input something into the file, before bringing his attention back.
“What is it you do for work?”
Elita, clears their throat.
“Ah-uh, so as you can see from my visa I am moving to Mars to become a zoo keeper.”
Serrano cocks his head to the side in confusion.
“A zoo keeper?” He asks inquisitively.
“Oh yes.” Elita affirms.
“Dressed as a maid?” He’s clearly confused.
“Oh no, definitely not, this is just something I love! I will be in whatever uniform they have me wear.”
Elita laughs an incredibly uncomfortable laugh. Serrano, just takes a deep, exhausted, breath, closes his eyes, and gives his attention back to Elita.
“Which zoo?” Continues Serrano.
“Ah, the -uh, Chinense Komodo Martian Zoo of Mythobiology.”
Elita is trying to be as confident as they can.
“Yes, near Curiosity Crater. What is it that you’ll be doing exactly?” he inquires.
“I will be cleaning the cages, you should have a copy of my sponsorship.” Elita hesitantly points to the document and holograms on his desk.
“I do see this, and I had some questions about that. Who exactly was your contact on Mars?”
Elita’s throat goes dry. They’ve always been anxious, but this is truly stressful.
“W-well, I think I was in contact with a Herit Sonora.”
“The dragon keeper?” Serrano asks.
“Oh… Do you know him?” Elita asks, hopeful that they in fact do not know each other.
“No.” Serrano affirms.
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
An awkward pause permeates the room. Both sit, deeply uncomfortable.
Serrano’s eyes dart around Elita.
“So, I have to ask… did you make the dress yourself. I cannot help but notice its high quality fabric and design.”
Elita perks up in their seat.
“Oh? I can’t say you strike me as a fashion guy, but yes! I made this myself!” The sense of pride is palpable.
“It’s quite well done. Do you happen to also do repairs and alterations?”
Elita is now entirely confused, but goes with the flow.
“I mean, no one has ever asked, but I do not see why not. What do you need?”
Brown Bunny Jude's crew was 15 men strong. Most of them have individual bounties well above ℱ50,000, with Jude sitting a whopping ℱ300,000, a bounty he most definitely has earned. His right hand is Becon Di Toro, a vile and devout Technotheist, clad in long black priest robes, paired with a tophat and black round glasses set upon a bald head and face. He's incredibly intelligent, serving as the brains of the crew, often managing hacking operations. Jude's left hand is Van Ooty, a bombs expert made infamous after his terrorist attack on the New America Venusian Settlement which resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people and Billions of Fig in damages. Due to this attack, Van Ooty is technically more sought after by the UGC than Jude, however, Jude's consistent crimes of violent piracy have given him priority.
Seraph exits the kitchen, dressed in the mens uniform, carrying a a full float-cart filled with tankards of Gastia Ale. The dining room of the Gastium is a large circular space with an almost three-hundred sixty degree view of the Titan landscape from within the lower clouds through an incredibly thick composite glass window. The daylight sun casts a warm glow throughout the space, an often romantic set on scenery if not for the rowdy pirates currently celebrating in a most disturbing manner. Some of Judes goons surround the table, lazer guns trained on staff and patron alike, protecting their boss. Eisen sits in the dark of the hallway, and has his sights on Seraph.
"Seraph, can you hear me?" Eisen, sends the message directly to Seraph's com, a perk of being a machine.
"Loud and clear." Seraph, with her mouth closed, speaks silently into the tooth set communicator.
"Dare I ask why you're not wearing the hostess outfit?" Eisen inquires.
"This is all they had, plus have you seen what the girls wear here? Damn fine to look at, but not for me."
Predictable. Eisen clocked her hopeless ass from a mile away. He lets out a deflated sigh.
Seraph gets to the table, trying her best not to interrupt their celebration. She sets the float-cart to auto; the cart of drinks glides delicately to the table before shutting off.
"Please enjoy your drinks!" Seraph exclaims enthusiastically. Pehaps too much.
Jude clears his throat. His crew quickly ceases their celebrations. Jude, Beacon and Van Ooty all turn their attention to Seraph. Seraph just keep up her best hostess smile, doing her best to not break character.
"What happened to our other hostess?" Jude grumbled, a thick unplaceable accent glazed his speech.
"She's on break." Seraph quickly responds.
"I ain't seen you heard before... You new?" His eyes look Seraph up and down.
"Yes sir. Today's my first day!" Keeping up the lie.
A massive, lecherous, grin crawls across his mustache laden face. Two massive buck teeth, sharpened to points are revealed.
"Well today is your lucky day, fraülein." The malice in his voice was palpable.
"Oh?" Her smile softens, a violence twinkling in her eyes. "Why is that?"
Brown Bunny Jude takes a large swig of one of the tankards on the table before eyeing her again.
"Because you get to serve me and the boys!"
A feeling of disgust begins to rise within Seraph as they break into an orchestra of laughter. Her metal hand inching ever so closer to her hidden laser gun under her apron.
"Is there anything else I can get you?" She's keeping up the facade, but the anger is building. The bloodlust.
Seraph steps back slowly from the party, however not before Jude reaches his unaturally long arms around her waist, pulling her in with an unexpected strength. Seraph grimaces in disgust as she's drawn toward him. The crew just laughs. The patrons and staff, petrified silent.
His eyes were filled with lust and violence. "Well... I could use a little company."
The crew eggs him on with laughter.
"You see, fraü, space can be such a lonely place, for me an' the boys." His grin disturbingly wide.
Seraph pulls away sharply, reaching under her apron, when Jude yanks her back toward him, knocking a glass off of the table. Jude cringes at the sound of the glass hitting the floor, giving Seraph a chance to break his grasp.
Seraph bares her teeth and gets in Judes face.
"Grab me again and I'll rip your arm off and shove it, and your stupid ears where the sun doesn't shine!"
The room goes silent, and now everyone's attention is on her.
Brown Bunny Jude slides his seat back, stand up and stands before Seraph, hulking over her with his unnatural size of three metres.
"Oooh, you’ve got teeth. Well, I wouldn’t make a scene if I were you. I’ll let you in on a secret. My men and I need security. I’ve had good dear Van Ooty set up bombs throughout this here establishment. So, darlin’, do as you’re told and no one gets hurt." He growls.
Seraph smiles a most devious smile. Bringing her metal fist up and slamming it into her left hand, cracking her knuckles upon impact. Her eyes are sharp, her body is loose.
"Go ahead, let's blow this joint."
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