So much for Subtle

Posted on Mon May 25, 2020 @ 2:00pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Commander Cullen Walker & Lieutenant Commander James Holbridge & Major Victor Crowe & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant AJ Taggart & Lieutenant JG Aergad Halvor & Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD & Lieutenant JG Sydney Friedman Jr & Senior Chief Petty Officer Samantha Summers

4,592 words; about a 23 minute read

Mission: The Binary Suns
Location: A Bar

AJ continued his solitary walk down the crowded and dusty street, a variety of noises and smells assaulting his senses with every open shopfront that he seemed to pass, leaving him on his guard as he didn't want to be caught blissfully unaware should something pose a threat. Before he could react, a toothless old woman pressed a small piece of what felt like smooth ivory into his hand. "The finest Japor Ivory charms. Good for your sweetie!" she said. Reaching into his pocket, he handed a small piece of plastic material that functioned as a currency of some kind and quickly moved on.

Narrowly sidestepping a man who had stumbled out of a darkened doorway, the harsh smell of strong alcohol and stale sweat filling the air in his immediate vicinity, causing AJ's nose to wrinkle almost instinctively. As he did, the man took hold of AJ's hand and held on for dear life.

"I swear, I'll never have another drink again-" he slurred shortly before voiding the contents of his stomach on the ground at AJ's feet. Letting out a sigh of disgust, AJ leaned the man against the adobe wall and ducked into the darkened doorway, finding a bar permeated with the ever-present dust and the acrid scent of some sort of smoke. As his eyes adjusted, AJ saw all sorts of creatures that he had never laid eyes on before, including one with a face elaborately painted in red and black, horns sprouting from his skull, and glowing yellow eyes. There was also another that could only be described as a set of eyes peeking out from underneath a cloak. Keeping his head down, he walked over to an empty corner of the bar and took a seat on a vacant stool.

Nicole had lengthened her stride, catching up to AJ, but wasn't in time to save him from a puddle of sick. However, she was relieved when he deftly jumped aside and made his way into the building. She followed him, curious as to what drew him in, then saw the establishment. *Well, the music sucks,* she thought and wrinkled her nose at the smell. She smoothed her clothes to make herself more presentable and walked inside to the--relatively--cool air. She spied her prey on a stool and stalked up to him quietly, then leaned towards his ear. "Buy a girl a drink, sailor?" she said.

AJ smiled a little as he noticed Nicole taking the seat next to his and motioned to the scruffy looking bartender. "Two Juma Juices" he said quickly, recalling what he had heard two other fellow humans order and received a gruff "Twenty Credits." in return. Retrieving two of the small plastic chips and placing them into the man's outstretched hand. A few seconds later, two tall, plastic cups of yellow/orange juice were placed in front of them. Taking a sniff, AJ detected some citrus notes along with something that smelled similar to vodka. Lifting his cup, he tapped it against Nicole's. "To being on the run," he said.

"Nicole clinked her glass and took a sip, then made a sour face and swallowed. "Indeed," she said, then lowered her voice, smiling. "And here I thought we were just going to be innocent traders. What are we running from, exactly?"

AJ took another swig of his drink, which wasn't entirely unpleasant. "You mean aside from the legions of people and things that seem to want to kill us lately? I mean, we 've tangled with the Mirror Universe and found ancient temples that contained something that I can only summarize as 'scary beyond all reason' ,To top it off, we're deep in unknown territory with far too many variables. If that doesn't count, I don't know what does," he said, downing the rest of his drink and motioning for another.

"Fair enough," she said. "Then again, that seems to be the normal for us," she said, raising her glass for another ship, then thinking the better of it and putting it back on the counter.

Leaning slightly against the bar, AJ felt the alcohol begin to take effect and his vision began to blur slightly. Taking a sip of the fresh drink that had been unceremoniously dropped in front of him, he sighed a little as his inhibitions began to loosen. He continued to nurse his drink in silence until he was interrupted by a three-clawed talon roughly gripping his shoulder and spinning him around to face its owner- a black scaled reptilian creature with two serrated fangs protruding out of the corners of his mouth and hissing angrily.

Nicole hissed back and stood up, her hackles raising. "Let him go," she said, her voice hard.

AJ raised his hand slightly. "It's okay, Nic." he said, allowing it to slip down to his jacket. Focusing on his newfound guest, he put his free hand out non threateningly, ignoring the claw that was slowly digging into his shoulder. "What's the problem here?" he asked.

A grey haired man that AJ recognized as the man that had vomited at his feet just a half hour earlier. Poking AJ on the shoulder, he glared at him. "He doesn't like you! He says in you're sitting in his spot."

AJ moved his hand slightly. "Well, I don't want any trouble. I don't suppose buying you a drink would help." AJ said, attempting to defuse the situation, noting that the reptilian's grip wasn't loosening.

"AJ," Nicole said carefully, "perhaps we'd best toddle off. We may not want to be here if he truly doesn't like you, as difficult as that is to believe," she said, giving AJ a small smirk.

The man pushed him more forcefully now. "I don't like you either! You just watch yourself! We're wanted men. I have the death sentence on twelve systems."

*Amateur,* Nicole thought.

Halvor had a girl on his lap talking to her. She was a uniform bunny. He knew the type. He picked her up and put her in the seat next to him. He was watching Nicole and AJ.

Following this feeble attempt at intimidation, AJ slid so that he was standing but leaning on the barstool, AJ's free hand found the karambit in its sheath. "Like I said, I'll be careful." he asked, seemingly good-natured but guarded as he slipped his fingers around the grip of the knife but waited to draw it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw several bar patrons beginning to stare.

The man came even closer. "You won't be careful, you'll be dead!"

In a flash, everything seemed to move in slow motion. The reptile swiped in his direction but only ended up knocking AJ slightly off balance. With a quick swipe, he quickly brought the Karambit up with his left, aiming for the neck of the creature but missed his target and ended up piercing a layer of chitin in the creature's back- causing a wail of pain and a gout of purple blood that splattered against the floor. Regaining his footing, AJ drew his phaser with the opposite hand and pointed it at the man who had poked him.

As AJ swung his knife, Nicole grabbed the other attacker's wrist and bent his arm back. As he cried out, she swung him around, knocking the bridge of his nose into the bar and then kicking the back of his knee, using her other hand to pull a dagger out from behind her, she held it to his neck, kneeling in front of them as AJ held the other one on his knife.

Someone tried to attack AJ from behind. Halvor was up and tackled the guy with a shoulder spear to the guy's gut. Halvor lifted the guy and dropped him head first into the bar. He wasn't happy.

"Now look," AJ said sternly, "I don't know which one of you had the bright idea to come over here and try what you did, but know that I have zero qualms about vaporizing you and--" he twisted the knife deeper, causing a deep yelp and fighting the urge to wince as he felt an intense burning and wetness in his shoulder. "--taking my newfound frustration out on your friend here." he said, twisting the knife again, causing the reptile's claws to scrabble against the counter top and splattering drinks everywhere.

Nicole felt the one in her grip slacken as he gave in and she smiled. "There's a good lad," she said, shoving him away. She nodded to AJ to release the other one and stepped back, folding her arms. "Now, you gents be on your way, and we'll let you get off with just a broken nose and a deep scratch."

The epithets the drunken one spat at her were no doubt intended to hurt. However, he neglected to realize that slurs in an alien language only went so far when their meaning is completely lost. He also neglected to notice bottle that shattered against the back of her skull, completely distracting her from what had been said.

She spun around, eyes red and fangs extending. She grabbed the shocked attacker by the throat, lifting him off the ground and tossing him over the bar as chairs scraped the floor and others stood up.

Summers looked over at the commotion, wondering how Anderson & Taggart had ended up in this..umm what did they use to call places like this? Oh yes..a 'Dive.' She then began to wonder how *she* had ended up here, in this 'revealing' outfit. She looked herself over. " The last time I showed this much flesh, I was having my physical." She shook her head and took another sip of what ever this liquid was. She looked around again, wondering what next might happen. She glanced around and noticed a few members of the crew, and waved at them.

Walker was in the bathroom washing his hands. Six guys came in there, "Not enough facilities in there." They attacked. He caught the first punch and then punched the guy in the back of the elbow. He used him to shove the other guys back in. One kicked him into the sink knock it off. "Oww." He rolled over to get up and someone kicked him in the balls. His face hit the wall. He was getting kicked in the ribs. He got up sink in hand and started hitting them with it.

Halvor was shot by a man with some sort of energy rifle. He went through a wall. The guy was bragging about having killed one of them. Halvor's voice came from the other room. "You fucking prick." Whatever he was shot with, his body decided the serum that kept him human looking wasn't enough. A grey rock skinned man came out, "What the fuck did you shoot me with?" His uniform was torn.

As a few of the brutes advanced, Nicole growled and backed up, going back-to-back with AJ.

Summers looked at Anderson & Taggart and walked over to them and glanced at their opponents. "Say....been noticing that you guys are in a bit of a mix it here, need some help?"

"Get f--" Nicole said as she got knocked to the side by a large fist as two of the men charged at them. She rolled and grabbed a chair, catching one of the attackers between the legs and throwing him to the side.

AJ was unable to avoid being grazed by a bar stool that someone decided to swing near his midsection as he stepped sideways and grabbed it as it's wielder- another drunk and gray haired humanoid prepared to swing it again. With a bodily push, he knocked his assailant into a corner. As another one came up behind him, he fired off a low kick, catching one between the knees and causing him to slide to the floor. He dispatched another with a spinning back fist before ducking and watching as another would-be fighter sucker punched his companion in the side of the head. Rolling to the side, he quickly popped up to his feet and ducked over to Nicole. "We should probably get out of here!" he said loudly as he picked up a broken bar stool and used it as a crude melee weapon.

Nicole grabbed AJ and rolled over him as he ducked, her legs kicking out and knocking aside two assailants. She stood up and turned towards the entrance where a group of men had gathered and were advancing. "That may not be an option," she said, backing up slowly. "I regret to say, we may have drawn some attention to ourselves."

Samantha cocked her head at the group advancing upon them and smiled. "Well, two extra fists and feet might help - if you'd like?"

"What the fuck are you waiting for, you idiot?" Nicole shouted at her as someone came up from behind and sucker-punched Summers on the back of the skull, knocking her into a table, a group landing on her.

Walker came out of the bathroom and hit a guy with a sink. "You kicked me in the testicles." Walker hit him again. He looked up. "What the fuck happened to Halvor?"

Nicole spun around, bringing her hands together as a club and cracking Summers' attacker across the jaw. She reached under her shirt and hit her communicator. "Anderson to anyone near the town center: am with Taggart at a pub, and the locals are drunk and hostile. Request back--" she stopped as a fist swung in the air over her and she ducked quickly, then kicked a foot out, connecting with his knee...at least she hoped it was his knee.

"Halvor's through a wall," she said as she ducked another swing.

"Wooooohooooo!" Summers gleefully shouted at the top of her lungs as she pushed her self through the group entangled around her. Smashing one head with a fist, she kicked another attacker in his privates and then threw her other fist into the throat of a third. "I haven't had this much fun since...since...what the heck...this is more fun!" Summers turned around to face another attacker.

A few minutes before the fight had begun, Camille had quietly snuck into the bar and found a table in the back. Hood up, trying to remain covert, she slowly nursed a drink that the bartender called Corellian ale. In this cantina were dozens of different species, none of whom she'd encountered before. Those two looked a lot like the old Earth description of aliens -- Roswell Greys, they were known as in mythology. There was another furry one with a proboscis. Did that one have two mouths coming out of a head that looked vaguely hammer-like? Was that---was that an honest-to-God devil?

She barely noticed when the fight began. She continued to study and scan, tricorder up her sleeve, combined with that fun contact lens she got from Nicole that displayed it directly in her eye. There were at least two different lupine species here. Another alien looked like a lamprey, somehow making conversation with one of the wolves and some kind of elephant.

It wasn't until some kind of walrus-man, injured from a punch to the throat. She looked up and saw Samantha Summers in a skimpy outfit, apparently having thrown the throat-punch. Chaos abounded as patrons scuffled. They had been fighting for some time, too, and all she noticed was the cool new aliens. Looking more closely, she also saw AJ and Nicole.

Camille stood and got out from behind her table. She saw an alien with a strange head and bright golden eyes drawing a blade, and it looked like he was going to throw it at either AJ or Nicole. She grabbed the remains of her drink and smashed the cup into his face, knocking him down. She kicked the blade away and got into a fighting stance. "Need any help, chère?" she called to Nicole.

Nicole snarled as one of the assailants bent her backwards over the bar, hands at her throat. "No, my love, by all means just watch," she snarled.

"Stop being a bitch, and tell me who to punch, mon amour!" Camille said.

"Just be a dear and get me a drink," Nicole said.

Camille saw on a table within reach a glass bottle of some kind of beer. She picked it up and tossed it, careful to keep the open end up, towards Nicole. "You really should cut back on your drinking," she quipped.

Someone hit Halvor with a barstool and it broke. Halvor hammer-fisted the guy in the top of the head.

A guy tried to punch Camille in the face. Halvor yanked him back, so he never made contact. "Hello, Doctor Lévesque. I'm going to need yours and Doctor Anderson's help later." His grey foot kicked the guy's legs out from under him.

As the bottle landed in Nicole's hand, she grabbed it and smashed it against the head of her attacker, shattering it and knocking him aside. How else can I put up with this constant sh--" She was cut off abruptly as another patron decided to make a grab for her.

[HIDDEN OBSERVATION POINT]

Jim Holbridge moved his hand to his ear. "Sonofabitch! Vic! Something's going on in the cantina! Get on the rifle, I'm going in!"

Vic slid over to the sniper rifle as Jim leaped to the second-floor awning, then down to the street; breaking into a run. He reached the door and threw open the door, pulling his 3p as he entered. He recognized Drs. Anderson and Lévesque and pointed his 3p at the ceiling, firing three shots. "EVERYBODY KNOCK IT OFF, RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"

Everyone froze, looking at the door. Nicole took the opportunity to land one more punch to the jaw, putting her latest opponent down for good and stood up, looking extraordinarily confused.

When the scuffling stopped, Jim looked around. "I'm Commander James Holbridge, Starfleet Task Group 214. I'm tracking a party of humans that wandered into here. Doctor Anderson, are you here alone?"

"Not hardly," Nicole said, resetting her broken thumb with a wince. She stepped over two of the unconscious patrons without sparing them a glance, and walked up to Holbridge. Her eyes narrowed, then she turned back to the room. "My friends and I are leaving," she said. "If anyone has an issue, my associate here will be happy to let his weapon discuss it with them."

Camille smiled and waved at the crowd as she followed Nicole and the rest out. "Merci, Jim."

Jim simply nodded, his eyes scanning the crowd. "I'll cover your exit, Doc. Head towards the temple ruins half a click to the east. Major Crowe is providing top cover with a very nasty looking rifle." Jim suddenly aimed his pistol at a patron about to draw down on Lévesque. "You pull that piece and I'll splatter you all over the back wall, shithead!" Jim growled menacingly

The alien glared at Jim and tried to complete his draw, only to have his head explode from a transported sniper shot.

Jim looked at the doctor and shrugged. "The major sends his compliments. I suggest we get moving before these people realize there are just a few of us. There's a gunabout waiting two klicks south of here. AJ, take point!" Jim unslung his duty rifle and tossed it to the younger man. "Vic, we're leaving! Cover our egress route and we'll swing by and pick you up!"

=/\=Roger that, Jim. Be advised there is a magnetic shield in place preventing transport use, and there is a 4-man contingent of local constabulary headed towards you.=/\= Vic's voice said via com-badge.

"Wouldn't want this to be too easy, would we?" Jim muttered.

AJ adjusted his jacket and walked out, tossing a pole he had grabbed onto the dusty floor. Reaching into his pocket, he tossed a few golden credits onto the counter towards the bartender. "Sorry about the mess." he said wearily, massaging his side.

"But I want to keep studying the cool aliens!" Camille said. "Did you see the Cyclops?!" She pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose.

Nicole smirked and gave her a wink, then turned back to AJ. "You get them out of here. I'll handle the constabulary."

Jim looked down the street then handed Nicole a portable tracker. "Twist that and we'll come pick you up." Jim turned and sprinted down the street.

Up in the observation point Vic kept his weapon trained ahead of AJ, scanning for hostiles. The sniper's weapon felt like an extension of his own arm as he blasted yet another alien drawing down on AJ. The kid was good, but he had tunnel vision. Vic made a mental note to talk with him about that. "All team members, this is Major Crowe, Holbridge's partner and the guy behind the trigger of your sniper cover. Streets are clear all the way to our gunabout. Access code is 2-1-3-4-Tau-Theta. I'll see you all there!"

Nicole moved past Holbridge and out into the dry heat, rewrapping the cloth over her head to protect her from the strong sunlight. She wiped the blood from her face where cuts used to be and flexed her newly healed hand as the peacekeepers approached. She took a step up to them and folded her arms.

"Do not approach any further," one of them said, his padded blue-and-orange jumpsuit rippling in the heat. Nicole took a final step and stopped as he stepped forward and approached her. She could hear the others filing out behind her.

"We've had a report of visitors starting a fight," the lead officer said. "You'll have to come with us."

Nicole's eyes flared red and she stared into the lead guard's eyes. His hardened expression wavered, then slackened.

"We're not going anywhere with you."

"You're not going anywhere with us," he said, slowly.

"We're not the brawlers you're looking for," she said.

"You aren't the brawlers we're looking for," he repeated.

"Tell them my people are here to trade, and are to be left alone."

The guard looked back at his officers. "These people are here to trade. Leave them be."

"Tell your men to arrest the people on the floor inside," Nicole said. "If they resist, restrain and gag them."

The guard straightened up and turned to his men. "Arrest everyone who is laid out inside. They were involved in the brawl. If they resist, use restraints and gags."

"Same shit, different day," another guard muttered.

"Move out," Nicole said.

"Move out!" the officer said, leading his men towards the cantina.

Nicole blinked, her eyes returning to their usual icy blue, and turned as AJ approached, leading the others away. "We shouldn't have more issues with the peacekeepers," she said. "All the same, we should probably avoid bars going forward. The local traders seems to get violent when drunk."

Walker grabbed a bar towel and made an ice pack. He was sitting on it. More so, he was icing the balls he got kicked in. "What the fuck started that?"

Halvor had the energy weapon in his hand that shot him. He was trying not to break it by accident. He carried it to AJ.

Nicole huffed and looked at Walker. "AJ and I were enjoying the local alcohol as were some of the others. Someone was a might pissed and decided to slosh by, bumped into AJ and decided that was a good time to pick a fight. It escalated from there."

=/\= Uh, Doc, AJ; let's get to the gunabout before anymore of these gomers decide to pick a fight!=/\= Jim radioed impatiently.

"Clearing out now," Nicole said, tapping her combadge." All right, everyone, let's clear out and let the locals sober up before we explore any more around here." She took Camille's hand and held her close.

Samantha grinned widely. "Wow..I haven't had that much fun since....since..oh yeah...since some of us set fire to the Headmaster's Summer house...almost got caught too. "

Nicole shook her head and pulled Camille close as they all started walking away from the scene. She ran her hand over Camille, scanning quickly and looked her over, letting out a breath of relief. Then Nicole took a longer moment to scan AJ more carefully and frowned. "We should get you back to the ship and patched up," she said, concerned.

"Naroot to Lévesque!" Penny's excited voice came over their comms.

Camille smiled at Nicole and tapped her commbadge. “Lévesque here.”

"You need to come to Occarator's Reclaimed Salvage Yard and see this!" she said, excitedly.

“C’est quoi?“ Camille asked, hoping to learn a bit more before running off.

"Just get over here! It's so cool!" Penny said, then closed the channel.

The scientist looked to Nicole, AJ, Halvor, Samantha, and Cullen. “I should check this out.” Anticipating a reaction from Nicole, she lifted her hand. “I’ll be careful. I have my sidearm. And the Salvage Yard is just over there.”

Nicole nodded and pushed down her knee-jerk reaction. "All right. Don't stop to window shop. The sooner you're with her the better." She kissed Camille's cheek and let go of her hand.

AJ smirked slightly. "I'm glad this ended in such a picture-perfect moment but if I may ask, what's next?" he asked, gritting his teeth in pain, presumably from a couple of cracked ribs.

"Well for you and I, it's going to be Sickbay, as soon as we clear the shield and get out of sight," Nicole said, putting her arm around him to help keep him aligned and upright. "Move slowly. I don't need a punctured lung to deal with as well."

Halvor's clothes were torn up. Whatever that energy signature was had triggered a reaction that made his serum quit working. "I'm coming with you. I can swaddle him like a baby." He was much larger than his normal size. His skin was grey and no ears. "Last time this happened, they had to use the hypospray on my tongue."

Summers just slightly smiled as she walked with the group, rubbing her jaw.

"I'll handle the swaddling, thank you," Nicole said, keeping AJ's ribs aligned.

She looked at Walker who wasn't quite limping, but wasn't walking normally. "Do you require attention as well?"

"I think I may have three of my testicles bruised," Walker grunted.

"All right then," she said. "Well, we'll address that...erm...privately."

The readouts from her gloves scrolled past her eyes, and when they'd finally gotten out of the shielded area, she let out a breath of relief. She nodded to Holbridge to head towards a deserted alley nearby. They quickly made their way over, ducking out of sight, those of them who could duck. "Everyone coming to Sickbay, prepare for beam up," she said, holding AJ as the others gathered around. "Anderson to Sickbay, five to beam directly to Sickbay."

AJ smirked as the pain started to overwhelm him. "Hell of a day, huh Nic?" he asked as his voice became raspy and he struggled to breathe.

"Never a dull moment," Nicole said as the transporter beam took them away.

Jim looked over to the tower where Vic had ensconced himself. "I think we better hunt a hole. There's a whole passel of constabulary bearing down on me. Holbridge to Washita two to beam back."

 

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