Rockhead Reminiscences

Dead Fish Tavern 
 * A large, wood-floored establishment with dim lights, and faded leather-and-wood booths lining the gray brick walls, it features real candle-lit chandeliers made from old ship's tills, and new-looking square tables lining the edge of the room. In the center, a large, lit dance floor takes up about a quarter of the floor space, and is well-worn from use. A holographic kareoke machine, a raised band platform, and a small DJ's booth make sure that the building is filled with music at all hours of the day. A polished wooden bar sits at the far end, with a thirty foot long stuffed Washingtonfish mounted on the bar's back mirror. It has been named Herbert, and is dressed in a new hat daily by the barstaff. A sturdy wooden door leads outside to Birthright Parkway.

Ace sits at a table talking with Korthall who stands nearby, "You are Nall," Ace replies, "Your people have slaughtered mine for years. Would a human in a Nall uniform be treated any different by the Nall? Am still curious how it is you ended up here of all places."

Denson enters by way of ducking through the entrace, speaking lowly into a handheld communicator. "Yes... yes, I know. I've taken care of it. No, I know what I'm doing. Yes... Yes, of course." He moves on to the counter, listening to the speaker on the other end as he draws up a stool. "Yes, dear. Listen, I'll be back in a bit, okay? Just stopping to have a drink. I'll see you later. Love you." He snaps the comm unit off and nods at a bartender. "I'll have a, hmm. Something juicy. Surprise me."

"I wassss sssstranded on Tomin Kora after our sssship wasss ambussshed by the Royal Navy," explains Kor. "I wassss the only survivor when we crasssshed. I lingered there, until I found managed to ssssecure passsssage to Nalhom. But my people had fled, and I wasssss imprisssoned by the Ssssivadiansssss. With little further reasssson to hold me, I wassss dumped here."

"Am surprised you were not killed outright," Ace says, pausing again to size up the Nall, again scratching behind her chin as she considers the situation. "Have met more than my share of Nall and have known them to be honorable, but the ones I have met more recently...they lacked anything that resembled honor. Am still not certain where you fit in, Kor of Hatch Thall...have never once thought a Nall could consider himself a Nall while wearing the uniform of a human, but still," she pauses, "What you have chosen to do, it is not without a great deal of courage."

Korthall shakes his serpentine neck and snorts. "No, it wassss foolisssh of me to join the Militia. Perhapsssss some ressspect me, but to mosssst I am jusssss that: a Nall in a human uniform. Did you and your male friend not react in sssssuch a way when we met?"

"Reacted to a Nall trying to press his authority with my ship," Ace replies. "Do not take kindly to anyone troubling me about my cargo or lack thereof and da, like it less coming from Nall. Was at Nalhom, both in the sky and on the ground and was on Ungstir when it was invaded..." she leaves the rest of that thought unfinished. "Again, I ask you - how would it be if the situation were reversed and a human in Nall uniform in Nall spaceport demanded you answer to him?"

"If I wassss sssstill in the CFF and my sssuperiorssss told me to follow the orderssss of a human, then I would do sssso," responds Korthall. "Ssssuch issss my duty. Do you think you could follow the orderssss of a Nall? Ssssince we are sssharing opinionssss."

Ace shakes her head, "Nyet, I could not," she replies honestly. "Not after the things I saw on Lebal. Have respect for Nall in combat, but too many of your people have no respect for life or of others beyond their own people."

The Zangali ducks through the entrance and gives Herbert, the mounted Washingtonfish, the evil eye as he lumbers over to the bar. Once there, he thumps a handful of credits down and places his order, "Urf want juice. No stupid no gooderer juice. Urf want gooderer juice."

Denson is sitting at the bar, or rather, just sat down. Counter in his back, he spreads his arms and rests them on the free space to his left and right while he waits for his drink to arrive. Though facing the room, he is only marginally watching the other people present.

"I make no apologiessssss for the othersssss," says Kor, giving the shrugging motion with his tail. "Each being isssss what he isssss. I ansssswer only for myssssself."

"So you wish to see what has become of your people beyond the Nexus?" Ace asks, pausing to take a sip of tea now that the waiter had finally shown up with her late night breakfast. She wrinkles her nose at the taste and sets it back down, "How would you deal with this mission that I spoke of if you were to be with us."

The Zangali glowers at the bartender as he waits; although, he glares off at the fish every now and then.

"What would you have me do?" asks Korthall, countering with his own question. "If you are assssssking if I would betray you to my people, then you already have your ansssswer. I bear them no further loyalty for their betrayel of Nalia'sssss will."

It only takes a few minutes for a bartender to present Denson with a tall glass that bears an orange-coloured and fizzy liquid. Sweeping it up for a first taste, the enormous Ungstiri screws up his face as he decides whether to like his choice or not; in the end, he nods graciously and takes another sip. He glances along the counter to the one side, noting the huge block of lizard that has taken up space there with a bit of disgruntled snort; then his gaze goes to roam the room.

Urfkgar keeps right on staring down the bartender until the man finishes with Denson's order and fetches the big lizard his juice. The juice, it should be noted, is delivered in a large, disposable cup. He releases his grip on the raydens, and the bartender trades the cup for the money. The Zangali produces some straws from a pocket and sticks them in his drink, turning his head till his good eye faces the Ungstiri. He grunts vaguely.

Ace takes a deep breath, muttering softly, "Cannot believe I am even considering this..." She looks up to Korthall then, "Would you help us?"

Such choices are not made in an instant. Several long minutes stretch by, and Kor is nearly motionless as he ponders his next words. Finally, he nods his snout. "Yesssss. Yessssss, I will help you. I will help you resssscue your friendssss. Ssssuch a thing issss an..... honorable missssssion."

Denson only marginally pays any attention to the Zangali, nursing his drink with the leisure of someone not at all in a hurry to be done with it. As his wandering eyes pass by Ace and Korthall, he squints.

Grunting again, the Zangali drinks juice through his straws. He returns his attention to staring down the hat wearing fish, scratching at his shoulder with his non-drink holding hand.

Instead of offering her hand, Ace gives a small, eerily Nall-like bob of her head accompanied by a hand gesture that spoke of grudging acceptance. "Am assuming you will need to speak with your superiors before you go?"

"Yesssss," says Korthall in response, giving Ace a curious look at her Nall-like motion. "There are thingsssss I musssst conclude before I leave. Do you have a sssssship waiting?"

After a period of time spent on watching, Denson gets off his stool to stroll, drink in hand, closer to Ace and the Nall. He crosses his arms lightly, one hand in the elbow pit of the one holding his glass, which he sips at intermittantly.

The anti-social Zangali remains at the bar, staring down the glasseyed, mounted fish. Every so often, he remembers his drink, sipping through the straws. Korthall gives a look at Denson from the corner of his eye but does not seem focussed at the massive Ungstiri at the moment.

"Da," Ace replies to the Nall as she watches the big man approach, "Am owner and kapitan of the Faux. If the ship is not there, send message to me and I will return for you." She takes another sip of the tea, this time bracing in advance for the non-Ungstiri taste of it. "Privet, Denson, has been awhile, da? Kak dela?"

Denson screws up his face, dropping the glass from his mouth. "Fine up to the moment you blundered." He raises a finger to his lips. "Incognito, Lady. Incognito." He gives the Nall a disparaging look from up on high, but does not bother with the reptiloid. "I reckon the place is getting to be a bloody vacation spot for us old-time Rockheads. What devil rode you here?"

Urfkgar finishes off the juice, removes the straws, and tucks them away into his pocket. Then, he crumples the cup and tosses it over the counter in the general direction of a trash can - which he misses. The shot actually flies nearer to the bartender who is busy washing glasses, doing his best to ignore the Zangali and the crushed cup on the floor.

Korthall ignores Denson and turns towards the exit. "I hope I will not be long." Offering nothing more in words, he pushes open the door and vanishes into the bustle of humanoids outside. Korthall heads into Birthright Parkway .

"My apologies," Ace replies quietly, "Thought from what you were wearing that you were simply on vacation yourself. Me, I am here dropping off Jack so he could pick up his ship and decided to stop in for a bite. Ran into Kor of Hatch Thall and we struck up quite the conversation." She looks to the Nall and simply nods as he retreats.

Denson lets the Nall pass without paying him much in the way of attention, opting instead to draw a chair back and sit. "No harm done yet, I reckon. But what's there to talk about with a bloody handbag?"

Urfkgar scratches at his shoulder as he tears his gaze away from the fish and looks around the bar, grumbling.

"Bloody handbag in military uniform," Ace shrugs, "Made for some interesting breakfast conversation, da? So what is it that brings you here and incognito no less."

Denson puts his glass down and loosely crosses his legs at the knee, one over the other. "You weren't far off with the vacation, I reckon. The woman talked me into it." He rolls his eyes slightly, but with an amused expression. "Not that I don't appreciate the leisure, mind. But as to your other question: I'm always incognito when not in 'full costume'. Matter of habit. Don't like my face and my name being connected, I reckon you know what I mean."

Urfkgar's eye is eventually attracted to Ace and Denson, but he is quickly distracted by the need to crack his neck, using a hand to push his jaw up and right, then up and left. By the time he's finished that, he's turned back to glowering idly at the bartender.

Ace nods, "Is very much understandable, da, though you are a very hard man to miss," she chuckles. "May I ask who is it that you are vacationing with?"

Denson briefly holds up the hand with the thin gold band around his ring finger. "The wife of course. Who else could talk me into taking a vacation?" He winks as he reaches for his drink, sipping it. "I reckon she's looking after the kid. They were planning on a guided tour to see some of them ferretmonkeys out in the woods."

Grunting, Urfkgar turns once more and lumbers off, ducking through the exit. Urfkgar heads into Birthright Parkway .

"I no offense, but is sometimes very difficult to picture you as a family man, da?" Ace grins and pauses to take a bite of her eggs. "Then again, am now mother to an eight year old Castori cub and engaged to be married myself. Funny how things, they can change, da?"

"I've always been a family man." Denson interlaces his fingers as he rests his hands on the table. "Been no day of my life that I wasn't. But I reckon I know what you mean: Lady Midnight looking to tie the knot isn't something I would've expected four years ago. Myself, well; I've pushed past fifty now. No need to go rushin' around no more. Though sometimes my fingers still get that twitching feeling."

"Do not know what it is like /not/ to have that 'twitchy feeling', as you call it," Ace shrugs. "Is still too much I do not remember and is still too many faces I think I know but cannot recall. Will always wonder if they are searching for a lost friend or for revenge, vi paneyamete? Still, the Faux is as good a home as any, though it is much emptier now without Jest."

"Jest." Denson looks down, nodding. "Yes. Of course. Never the same again, after. I reckon I know the feeling." He spreads one arm to a neighboring chair, balancing it on its backrest. "Funny, I only ever met her two or three times. Feels like I knew her, anyway."

"If it were not for Jest..." Ace sighs and shakes her head, "Her and Josh were all I had, and when I was on the run and in hiding? They were the ones who came for me. She gave me a home and someone to trust when I had neither, and when she died, she left me everything. Is nothing more I could have asked for in a friend."

"We all have had our homes away from home," Denson observes, nodding. He finishes his drink. "I noticed the Faux on the pad as I was passing, but couldn't recall who was helming it nowadays. Otherwise I reckon I wouldn't've been surprised to see you here."

"Is only home I remember," Ace says, taking another sip of her tea. "Gray Horse, she was a bunk and nothing more and before that, was living in empty caves or on cot in storeroom behind a bar. But enough about me...besides vacationing with family, what have you been up to?"

Denson spreads his hands. "Nothing. I reckon you could consider me retired. Strange thought, for someone used to be up and gone at the drop of a hat." He crosses his arms, glancing at the fish up over the counter. "Been thinking about relocating here, though. Not much for me back home these days; the same bloody assholes as before, just playing sycophant to a new order and pretending everything is hunky-dory. Sometimes I wonder if they'd even put up a fight if I went and called myself New Boromov or whatever. I've half a mind they'd drop to their knees and start licking boots."

"Is part of me that will not give up on Ungstir," Ace sighs, "But that part? It grows smaller every day. Was one of Boromov's flunkies, she started to carve herself out her own little criminal empire, but when I took her down? They did not want to hear it. Think they are in complete denial that something like Boromov could ever happen again, yet I wonder if the corruption there today, it is not worse than under him. Was simpler back then at least."

Urfkgar arrives from Birthright Parkway .

"Knowing that you WILL be screwed over, and it's just a question of watching by whom, is much simpler than WONDERING whether or not it will happen in the first place," Denson nods, but he cracks a lopsided half-grin as he says so. "I reckon if it wasn't for family back there, I'd not be looking back once." He sighs with a bit of a shrug. "But what are you up to, now? Shipping? Smuggling? Bit of piracy?" He has the decency to wink at the suggestion.

"All of the above," Ace laughs, glad to have shifted off the topic, it seems, "A little of this, a little of that. Hooked up with the Jackals again, though I am beginning to have second thoughts about that particular partnership. Is no control without Mika around, which is saying a great deal."

Urfkgar ambles across the room and comes to a stop at the bar. He thumps a handful of money down, starting to speak, but he stops when the bartender silently passes him a cup of juice. The Zangali eyes the bartender suspiciously as the man takes the money, but in the end, the lizard just pulls out his straws and sticks them in the disposable cup.

"Jackals," Denson echoes, rubbing his stubble-shadowed chin. "I keep hearing about them. Never met 'em myself, I don't reckon. They symbolize the 'new era' for me -- the one I'm no longer much involved in." He glances bar-wise as the Zangali enters. "But who's this Mika person, anyway?"

"Mika, she was ship's kapitan but she vanished a few months ago along with Katriel," Ace replies, finishing up her breakfast. "She is something of a wild one...very unpredictable, but was good money to be had working with her. Invested in the Jackal when she decided to strike out on her own, so am something of business partner. Swiftfoot, she is running the show now, but her crew? They are not right in the head to the point that they will probably get someone killed one of these days. Am hoping it will not be me."

Urfkgar drinks through his straws, staring at the fish while he does. He snorts a few times.

Denson snorts derisively. "Sounds like the sort of people that used to decorate the walls and floors on Tomin Kora," he observes drily. "I reckon there's not much left in the way of natural selection these days in that area." He guffaws, but shakes his head. "But I reckon there's always bound to be at least one crazy one. And what about you? Talking to handbags, that qualifies as bloody crazy."

"Killed more than my share at the Battle of Nalhom," Ace replies with a shrug, pushing her empty plate aside and draining the last of her tea. "To see one in uniform of human militia? Wouldn't you be a bit curious?"

Turning away from the cap wearing, oversized trout, Urfkgar pops a squat on his haunches. His joints creak in protest as he does. He rests his elbows on his knees, setting the cup down between his feet and his back to the bar.

"I've no love for them." Denson shakes his head, massive arms crossed. "A few years back, when you knew them to be militaristic bastards, there were one or two that I reckon I could've considered half decent, but when they went full zealot... I don't miss 'em. What's this one wanted from you, besides you bein' curious?"

"You would like Korthall then," Ace gives an appreciative nod, "He does not like zealots either...is very unhappy with the direction his people have taken which is why he is here. Think he is trying to find himself," she shrugs again and rises from her chair. "He is interested in finding what has become of the Nall, which just so happens to coincide with my own current direction. If you get bored and if the ball and chain will let you go, could always use someone like you on crew...nothing permanent unless that is what you are looking for. Not much money in our new job, but can guarantee it will not be boring."

Urfkgar begins to pull various papers and a large magic marker out of his pockets. He grips the marker lightly in his teeth while he spreads the paper out around his feet, managing to grumble around it.

Denson sucks at his upper lip, giving Ace a look over his tinted glasses. "There is only one person in this universe that I defer to," he says. Then, with a laugh, he eases up and adds, "Well, two, now. But my point is: I'm done with the crew bit. I don't bloody need to go 'round for money anymore -- there's more than enough left from my active days. But if you need help, I reckon I'll be happy to lend you a hand or two." He rubs his sideburned cheek, brows raised. "Is that the case?"

"Could use someone like you this trip," the Faux's kapitan replies, "Someone with good head on his shoulders who has decent sense of self-preservation. Have had enough of suicidal lunatics lately." She shrugs her shoulders to settle her coat and looks up at the man, "Do not know how long it will be...could take awhile...and there is the matter of a blockade to run first. If she can spare you, let me know, da? Is much riding on this one...enough that I am making deals with a Nall to make certain we pull this off."

The Zangali grunts and grumbles some more, taking the marker out of his mouth and dropping it in his cup. He picks up one of the pages and holds it up close to his eye.

Denson cracks a smirk. "She can spare me for a while, no worries there. Not the sort that breaks apart." He adds with a laugh, "She's more likely to fume about not being able to come along. That's gonna be a long rant, right there." He sobers up slightly. "Let me know when you're leaving, and the 'Grey Giant' will be there."

Ace offers Denson her hand as she goes to leave, "Spaciba," she says with a nod, "I mean it...thank you. If Faux is not at landing pad when you are ready, simply call and I will come pick you up" As she passes the Zangali, she pauses, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a flat, brightly colored box displaying a happy smiling clown on the outside. "Here," she offers Urf, tossing it onto the bar next to him, "Is same ones Raz uses...he likes them very much." The box skids to a halt by Urf's elbow and through the clear plastic window about half a dozen heavy-duty, thick plastic bendy-straws in various colors can be seen. With that, Ace slips out the door and heads out.