Joseph Barnes's Story

All was silent for a moment in Gambit's Bar. Just then, the main door opened and in walked in a group of people.

First to enter was a man, looking no older than his mid-twenties, wearing a hoodie with jeans and, with two katana's strapped to his back and a Glock firmly secured in his holster.

The next to walk in was a man, looking roughly around his thirties with some burn marks on his face, in a suit and wearing blue medical gloves, with what looked to be a modified Uzi Submachine Gun holstered on his belt.

Following him was a female, looking to be around her early twenties, wearing a jacket with a pair of shorts and high-heeled boots rounding out her outfit. She didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary, but then, a mana mark appeared around her right eye, indicating to anyone observing that she was a Witch.

The final person to enter Gambit's Bar was a man, looking somewhere in his forties, wearing some futuristic armour, with some assault rifles strapped to the back of his armour. He may seem pleasant, but deep down, lurked something behind the control. A thirst for revenge? Who knew?

The group took a seat at a table, before placing their orders. It was only after the barmaid had gone to deliver their order that they started talking.

"Not gonna lie, but that was perhaps one of the worst missions we've done. The intel we got was faulty as fuck. Next time we see Matt, I'm going to punch that wanker right in th-" said the man in the suit, before the man in the hoodie interrupted him.

"James, even Matt had no idea the intel was bogus. Obviously, I should've seen the warning signs, but I let my instincts get the better of me." he replied.

The man in the armour stood up. "Personally, I think we should've made sure the intel was legitimate. Would've prevented us from getting our asses handed to those Blue Sun dogs." he said, before sitting back down.

"A valid point Damien." said the man in the hoodie. He turned to face the female sitting in the corner, tapping on her phone. "Alyssa, what're your thoughts? Should we have verif-" he asked before Alyssa interrupted him.

"Well, Joseph. Now that you mentioned it, we should've not only verified the intel as Damien said, but also properly prepared for those fuckers. Otherwise, we wouldn't have lost most of our haul." she replied, her tone a bit snappy, but sharp.

"This is one time that I have to agree with your sister. She pointed out... pretty much everything that went wrong with the mission." James said, aiming the comment towards Joseph.

Joseph sighed. The barmaid brought their meals over. As the crew ate, Joseph began to think about why the mission was a disaster, but he decided that that was a thought for another day.

Elanna checked her watch one last time before she made her way into the infamous Gambit's Bar. The flickering holographic numerals gave her at least an hour before she had to be off on some assignment, so this was her chance to stop by and grab a quick drink.

She pushed the bar door open, and let her eyes passively take in the inside. Those inside the bar would be greeted with a woman in the doorway, wearing what looked like a dark grey uniform trimmed with dark blue, a polished black sam browneb with shoulder strap belt crossed her chest, where a few pins adorned to display a few commendations. Diamond shaped rank pips adorned her black high collar, and her hair, which was tightly pulled back into a bun at the back of her head, was kept under a dark grey peaked cap, where the golden phoenix insignia of the Imperial Aschen Navy proudly adorned the crest.

"Looks like a rough bunch." She muttered to herself, as she pulled the cap off her head, tucking it into the crook of her left arm, and letting her right hand rest upon a holstered Aschen disruptor pistol, which was clasped securely in a polished black leather holster that was affixed to her sam browne.

Slowly, the woman made her way to the bar, weaving through the crowds.

As the crew consumed their orders, the silence between them was broken by Damien, who then turned his gaze to Alyssa.

"Alyssa, last I heard, you were training with some Grand-Master Warlock or something. His name was Alistair, da?" he asked, curious about Alyssa's previous mentor and her training.

Alyssa stopped typing on her phone, turning her gaze to Damien. "Alistair? Yeah, that was him. But let me tell you something, he didn't like being referred to as Alistair when he started mentoring me. He preferred to be called 'Master', given how he had a dislike for taking on apprentices. For someone who was over 500-years-old and spent more time as a statue of a blue fox, I found it odd that I wasn't able to refer to him by his real name. Wasn't until I gained his trust that he allowed me to call him Alistair." she replied.

James chuckled in response. "Sounds like a right bloody nutter if you asked me. Surely, there were times when he wasn't in Fox-form, weren't there?" he asked, interested in Alyssa's background.

Joseph stood up from his seat. "I'm going to grab some drinks. Does anyone want something?" he asked his crew.

"I'll just have a Beer. Nothing else." James replied.

"A Pepsi if possible. Alcohol is one thing I tend to avoid." Alyssa said.

"Water." was all Damien said in response.

Joseph nodded and walked over to the bar. As he asked for the drinks, he looked at the Minotaur sat there, with stout next to him. Odd drink for a Minotaur to drink. But that's not my concern. Joseph thought.

The Bartender handed Joseph the drinks. As he walked back to his crew, he noticed the door open and a woman walking in. From what she was wearing, she looked like some military brass or something. Joseph thought nothing of it.

He returned to his seat, handing everyone their drinks, before speaking. "Did anyone see that woman come in?"

"Who, the military looking devushka or the girls in skimpy clothing who were following that armoured knight?" Damien jokingly asked.

Joseph let out a sigh. "Really? Damien, I swear you've made that joke a thousand times so far. It's getting a bit boring." he responded.

"I don't mind it. I find his jokes to be funny." Alyssa responded, sipping her Pepsi as she took a selfie.

"I'm... on the fence. See, on one hand, Damien's the comedy relief of our crew. But on the other, he reuses old jokes continuously, without trying new material. You see where I'm going mi'lad?" James added, giving his own thoughts.

Joseph chuckled slightly. "The sooner Epsilon finds us a new job, the better. All this sitting around ain't good for my katana's. For now, I guess we wait." he said, before drinking his Gambit's Bar Super-Strawberry Milkshake.

"I want an ambrosia, on the rocks." Elanna ordered quite simply, and her eyes moved to the bartender as he reached for a dark brown bottle with an embossed golden logo bearing a tree, and nymphs surrounding it.

The Bartender poured the emerald green drink for Elanna, but no words were exchanged. She paid him promptly with a single rectangular gold coin, and a pair of rectangular silver coins. The Bartender nodded and took the currency, before he went back to his duties.

Elanna looked back towards the mercenaries. They didn't bristle when she entered, they noticed, but they didn't bristle.

"Must be new to these parts." Elanna said quietly to herself. Usually people bristled at the sight of an Aschen military officer, knowing all too well the misery that tended to follow in their wake.

She looked back towards them again, but calmly dismissed them, they weren't bothering her, so she would pay them no mind.

"New to the area?" She asked the bartender, and he simply shrugged. "Why don't you ask them yourself, Admiral?" The Bartender replied, while cleaning a mug.

Elanna simply chuckled, and then picked her drink off the bar. "It's not my job to keep tabs on every armed group on Terra, it's the IIA's job." She said, grinning before downing the rest of her drink.

The holo-communicator Joseph had on him started to beep. Pulling it out of his bag, he checked the frequency. It was Epsilon. He activated the holo-communicator.

"Epsilon, you there?" Joseph asked, wondering if the crew's A.I. was trying to reach them. Moments later, the holographic figure of a person wearing Spartan armour appeared on the holo-comm. Epsilon. The crew's A.I. companion. The one who bagged jobs for the crew.

Yeah, I'm here. I was just contacting you lot to inform you that I got a job offer. Something about some rogue androids hiding in New Canda or something. The guy who's offering wants them "Retired", which if you know what that means, then I don't nee-

Epsilon responded, giving the details of a job offer before he was interrupted midway through the details by Alyssa, who had activated her Mana Mark.

"I hate to break it to you guys, but I think we're being watched. That woman who entered moments ago was eying us up a few times." she said.

"Der'mo! Who is she? Blue Suns? Helghast? Weyland? UAC?" Damien whispered in response, his tone hinting that he was getting slightly paranoid.

"I don't know. But the best bet is that she's military, though who she's with is out of my knowledge. Epsilon, try and run a scan on her and see if you can find who she is." Joseph replied, before turning to Epsilon and speaking with the A.I.

On it. It'll be a couple of minutes before I get anything reliable, so hang tight.

Epsilon responded, before starting a scan on the woman.

Alyssa turned her gaze towards Joseph. "Right... so what's our plan of action?" she asked, curious to see what his plan was.

"Here's what we'll do: I'll go over to the woman and find out who she is and what she wants. Damien, you'll be by my side in the case that things get ugly. James and Alyssa, you'll stay here unless there's a fight, in which case, you come to our aid. Sound like a plan?" Joseph said, laying out his plan to the crew.

"I'll drink to that." James remarked.

"Da uzh." was all Damien said.

Alyssa let out a sigh. "Fine. But next time, you better take me with you in scenarios like this." she said.

Joseph nodded. "Let's not keep fate waiting shall we?" he said to Damien, getting up from his seat.

Damien stood up from his seat in response, before following Joseph as they walked over to the woman drinking at the bar.

Elanna continued to enjoy her drink, somewhat oblivious to the group seated at the table for the moment. She tossed a couple more Imperial Aschen Aurii coins onto the bar, their gold color glinted in the light of the bar as they landed with an audible metallic clank.

The Bartender moved to pour the woman another drink, while her watch began to vibrate, the three-dimensional bust of a feminine figure flickered over the watch face, and she spoke to Torres with a soft voice, and a language that rolled off the tongue, a language that was ancient, but still widely spoken among the Aschen.

"Novum munus vestri." The woman spoke. 'You have a new assignment'

Elanna offered a nod, and a smile, while the flickering blue holographic woman continued. "Classemque iam imperatoria triginta quarta assignata ad pugnam coetus, qui prima classis Langara." 'You have been assigned to the 34th battlegroup, First Langaran Fleet.'

"Imperare tuum erit vas Imperii Portitorem Kapisi" 'Your Command Vessel will be the Command Carrier 'Kapisi''

"Et tu intus tribus diebus ibi referre." She finished. 'You shall report there in three days.'

The flickering woman offered a slight nod, as a smile crossed Elanna's face. The flickering hologram inevitably disappeared, just as the approaching Damien, and Joseph. Her right hand almost instinctively moved to her lap, close to where her disruptor pistol, which was likely an unfamiliar weapon made from unfamiliar technology to the group. It's white and black lines, sleek ergonomic casing, and smooth contours set the weapon apart from other human technologies.

With another emerald green ambrosia in her left hand, she slowly spun around in her stool to let her dark eyes settle upon the two men.

"Can I help you?" She asked with a soft smile, a strange accent lilting her words slightly, the ice in her glass clinking, and rattling with her movements.

As Damien and Joseph approached the woman, they watched as she spun around in her stool to face them, before she asked who they were.

"Who we are is none of yo-" Damien began to respond before Joseph cut him off and pulled him to one side.

"Let me do the talking big guy. I don't want a repeat of what went down on Chuai Station, understood?" Joseph quietly said, his tone sounding a bit serious. Damien nodded. They walked back over to the woman.

"Apologies about my friend's lack of manners. He's Russian, hence the lack of manners. Anyway, I noticed that you've been glancing at me and my crew a few times. Might I ask who you are and why you've been eyeing my crew up?" said Joseph, curious as to who this woman was.

---

Meanwhile, Alyssa and James watched Joseph and Damien from afar table, preparing should things got ugly. Just then Epsilon showed up on Joseph's holo-comm.

Joseph, I ran that scan as you asked me to and I got- Wait, where did he and Damien go?

said Epsilon, only to see that Joseph and Damien had moved out of sight.

"They went over to that woman. You took too long with the scanning." Alyssa replied. "Speaking of which, did you get anything about her from the scan?" she quickly asked.

Well, there wasn't a lot of stuff I could find, no-thanks to Gambit's Bar's shitty CyberNet, but I got something interesting. That woman over there has some connection to The United Aschen Empire.

Epsilon replied, revealing all that he could find.

"United Ashens Empire? How the fuck did Stuart get an Empire of his with someone as good looking as that lass over there?" James remarked.

James, I said Aschen, not Ashens.

Epsilon responded.

"Look, regardless of spelling, if we were to mess with this 'United Aschen Empire', how dangerous would that be?" Alyssa asked.

I err... I don't honestly know. Truthfully, I'm hoping that Joseph and Damien don't fuck up. Otherwise, we may have 2.5 Trillion people after our heads.

Epsilon replied.

Elanna cantered her head slightly, and then offered a soft smile. "I apologize." She said, looking at them with an almost sweet, naieve expression on her face.

"Not every day armed groups move through a place like this when we're here." She said, sipping her drink. "Usually when us Aschen come through a place, it clears out, but it seemd you've taken a keen interest in me. I'm Elanna, Elanna Torres." She said, keeping her words friendly. "Commander of the Command Carrier 'Kapisi'"

The words rolled off her tongue quite nicely, she was pleased with it. She rattled her glass and took another sip.

"It serves one well to be aware of their surroundings; can I buy you a drink?"

Joseph and Damien listened to Elanna as she explained who she was and why she'd been glancing at the crew. Once she'd finished, Joseph nodded in response to her offer of a drink.

"The name's Joseph. The big guy here..." he said, pointing to Damien "He's Damien. The girl over at the booth is Alyssa, my younger sister. And the suit with her is James. We're a group of Mercenaries. It's only us four, plus our A.I. companion Epsilon." he continued, not wanting to give Elanna too much information on them.

"I don't mean to be rude sudarynya, but we've never heard of this Aschen group you speak off. Who exactly are they?" Damien asked, curious about this 'Aschen' group Elanna had mentioned.

Elanna cantered her head slightly in confusion, her brows furrowing as her expression turned more incredulous. They hadn't heard of the Aschen Empire? Elanna briefly considered what backwater rock could these people possibly come from, nearly everywhere she had been had heard of the Empire.

"Mercenaries, huh?" She replied, swirling her drink in the glass, ice rattling with her movements.

"We're not a group, we're a nation-state." She explained. "The United Aschen Empire is the sole remaining military superpower in this part of the galaxy."

"Our Imperial holdings span nearly a quarter of the galaxy." Elanna added.

Elanna leaned forward slightly. "Considering we've waged about three military operations on this planet alone, I'm surprised you haven't heard of us."

It was a busy day, locals and tourists alike were ordering drinks and other consumables non-stop. It would also seem a group of people was talking about some business about an empire and some mercenaries, but either way nothing too out of the ordinary in this place. As it would seem, things were going about the usual.

Then, a man in a brown button up shirt stumbled through the door. The steel crosses on his bandaged arms glistening in the light. He stumbled for a few steps before collapsing on his hands and knees. He looked down for about four seconds before looking up. When he looked up he rasped out the word "Water!!" before lowering his head again.

And just like that, things were...still the same, really.

Alighieri evaporated into existence with a foul hum emanating from what seemed to be the very walls themselves. After what felt like nearly an aeon, all sound was annihilated from existence as he manifested his corporeal form.

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh~

he exhaled, extending his claw-rife hand towards the center of the room as a faint red glow began to illuminate the mysteriously-darkening Bar.

Let's see if anyone remembers me at all, lol.