Another day, another ale!

[Kraleil 'Alekeg' Schous]

"Blargaaaaa?? BLAAAAAAAArga! Kriffin Hutt-shpawn where are you?"

Alekeg bellowed his outrage along the entire side of the bar, but he looked for the odd Hutt barkeep in vain. Proberly hidin' in the kitshhen an' havin' a shhnack agin! he thought, and leaned over the bar to get himself a bottle of gizzer ale.

Kraleil Schous, better known simply as Alekeg, opened the bottle with his front tooth, and gulped down the contents in seconds. Detaching the empty bottle from his leathery lips, he belched thunderously, wiped his lips and threw the bottle behind the bar where it bounced off the floor and crashed into whatever the Hutt was hiding under there.

Alekeg reached for the second bottle.

[Blarga the Hutt]

Blarga undulated back into the ample space behind the bar that was his to oversee. He eyed the Defel with little enthusiasm, and got there just in time to deftly slap Alekeg on the hand whereupon the Defel dropped his hold on the bottle he'd just grabbed.

[My job], Blarga rumbled, the vocoder inserted into one of his chin-flabs providing the instant translation from his native Huttese. [You want one, you wait for me.]

He opened the bottle for him and was about to put it down in front of the Defel, when a shot zhinged through the air and hit the bottle full on, showering them both in bits of flying molten glass shards and droplets of ale.

From the other side of the room came a furious chuckling, and they both turned their heads to stare at the new arrival.

[Jhena Belitski]

:: Jhena finally had some freetime to herself, so washing up hastily, she made her way into the bar for a much needed lunch break. She looked around, but no sign of Tarn. She decided to sit at the bar anyway ::

[Muuulv 'Muzzle' H'neh]

"Harrr, harrr....tchhhk! Rhrreckon you had enuff to drhrrink you flea-invezzzted shaggy rhrrrug!"

Muuulv thoroughly disliked the Defel. His dislike for the Hutt wasn't quite as big but he didn't know what there was to like about the slimy worm, unless it was the fact that Blarga wasn't always drunk like Alekeg.

He cooly switched his Blaster off and slid it back into its holster, then shambled into the premises and sat down at the other end of the bar, oblivious to whatever hateful stares he was getting from the Defel.

"Brhrrring me zzzome Mroov, worhrrm!"

[Kraleil 'Alekeg' Schous]

"You... you... YOU..... eggshhtruded fur thing!!!"

Alekeg was somewhere between irationally angry and too lost for words - the latter being a side-effect of his current state of near-sobriety. He'd never been one for words unless at least into his 10th ale or so.

Narrowing his eyes behind the heavy goggles, he decided to cut short any need for further words and drew his blaster at his crew-mate. He lept off his chair which toppled over from the ferocity of being abandoned in such a rough way and landed with a loud crash onto the ground, and Alekeg moved with a swiftness that belied his usual drunken stupor: a sudden blurred shadow suddenly stood opposite the Togorian Muuulv, the blaster pressing against that alien's furred forehead.

[Jhena Belitski]

:: Jhena eyes became wide with fright at the sudden outburst. She swallowed hard and snuck behind the bar for protection. Hiding next to a Hutt didn't make her feel any safer. She wished Tarn would get here. Fast ::

[Tarn Ardsul]

A hand came around to cover Jhena's mouth, while an arm pulled her back into strong arms.

"Hey you," Tarn whispered. Now that she recognized the voice, he let her go and looked down at her in concern. "You ok?"

He glanced up at the trouble makers that had freaked her out and sighed. If someone was really going to get shot up, he was going to have to intervene. Stupid drunks. He was so glad he never got sloshed anymore after one too many crazy nights of partying and waking up feeling like dren and puking your guts out. Not to mention waking up with who knows what ...

[Fiana 'Toolbox' Norith]

Fiana had just walked in from the side-entrance of the bar, her mind still occupied with the latest problem she'd been having with the stabilisers on the gang's latest acquisition. It wasn't until she was a few steps into the place that she noticed the utter silence; looking up, she stopped dead just in time to keep herself from bumping into the hairy back of the Togorian Muuulv, who was sitting at this side of the bar on a chair. Something about his rigid posture - nevermind the eerie quiet - made her forget about the drokking stabilizers. What was wrong here?

The Togorian was taller than she was even when he was sitting down like this, and a lot broader, too. So it was impossible to see past or over him. Fiana slowly leaned sideways and peered past Muzzle - and caught the whiff of stale booze and musky fur a second before she saw the dark shape of Alekeg standing there. She looked up, as awkwardly as she could in that position, and caught sight of the blaster pressed against the Togorian's head.

In a flash, she pulled back, ducked, and backed away from the Togorian, seeking the relative safety of the side-entrance.

[Muuulv 'Muzzle' H'neh]

Muzzle's heart didn't even skip a beat. But his dislike took on new heights. Up close, the rancid stench filling his nostrils was more than he could bear and involuntarily he almost took a step back but caught himself at the last moment.

His left hand was reaching for his blaster, the other hand was already cupping the handle of the vibroblade at the side of his thigh. Was the kriffing Defel really that stupid? Muzzle towered over the rather small alien, and whatever Alekeg's species' advantages would have meant otherwise, the fact remained that Alekeg had drunk himself visible - amongst other things - and it was utterly ridiculous of him to think that he could have any chance against the physically superior Togorian.

"Yhou want zzzumthing?" he growled, staring down at his opponent with cold fury in his eyes. His body took on the stance of a predator ready to spring.

[Jhena Belitski]

:: Jhena pressed herself against Tarn as though doing so would make her blaster-proof. She was far from xenophobic, but she did realize that like it or not, she was living with a bunch of pirates now ::


"Those wackos are gonna kill eachother!" she squeaked, much louder than she intended to. She clamped a hand over her mouth in fright and chagrin.

[Tarn Ardsul]

"Eh," he waved them off and took Jhena towards the back of the bar. Tarn wasn't too worried, but he really didn't want to deal with a blaster fight that close with her here. He could easily kick table over for cover. "Worse thing is they'll kill each other and we'll have to fond new help."

[Blarga the Hutt]

Blarga was slow in reacting. He was still standing there batting his large eyelids to clear the drops of ale out of them, when the whole commotion between the Defel and the Togorian started.

He sighed. Stupid pirates. They were going to force him to take action if this didn't stop soon.

He undulated off to the far end of the bar to get his "help".

[Kraleil 'Alekeg' Schous]

"No one breakshhh my drink!" Alekeg growled menacingly, the hand holding the blaster never wavering.

The goggles he was wearing were large and thick and limited his field of vision, but he didn't need to see in order to know that Muzzle was reaching for his own weapons.

Defel had one advantage over other species - especially those that could not see in the ultraviolet range - which meant they could turn invisible to the naked eye, and they were extremely fast. Alekeg might be a drunkard and his reflexes a bit shot, but that merely meant he wasn't as fast as any other Defel. He was still fast enough to get past the Togorian's reflexes.

In one fluid motion he threw the blaster aside, and grabbed with both hands for the arms of the Togorian. Before Muzzle could even react, Alekeg pulled him down fast, causing the Togorian's head to smack hard into the knee that Alekeg had jerked up. A satisfying crunch was followed by a stabbing pain in his knee, but that was forgotten over the glee he felt as he watched the Togorian stagger back, blood flowing from his nose.

"Harrrrharrrharrrharr!!!!!"

[Muuulv 'Muzzle' H'neh]

The stinging pain in his nose and the blood coming from it told him that something must have got broken, and his eyes watered from pain. Quickly he rubbed them clear again, taking the moment to clear his thoughts and think of a response.

A Togorian was made of sterner stuff than a human, so whatever Alekeg had hoped to achieve by cracking his nose wasn't going to keep Muzzle from taking revenge. Apparently the blasted Defel had remembered what he was, and the memory seemed to have sparked a kind of temporary return of at least some of his inherited skills. Which meant it would be almost impossible to defeat him as the annoying wraith would always just be an inch from his reach. Although, right now....

Muzzle decided to throw caution and logic in the wind, and used Alekeg's moment of glee to run at him. He might not be able to see him properly, but he had excellent hearing and the Defel's annoying laugh gave away his position quite clearly.

So Alekeg's laughter was cut off abruptly as the top of Muzzle's head rammed into his stomach, and the two of them toppled over backwards. At the same time the liquid contents of his stomach sprayed out of his mouth in a wide arc, hitting at first the air, then the Togorian's back, then finally Alekeg's face a second after they't hit the floor.

The Togorian had landed on top of Alekeg, and now that he had him within his grasp, he wasn't going to let go. Pinning his arms and legs down on the ground, and ignoring the sour stench of the Defel's vomit, he roared out in triumph with an unintelligible sound that was designed to make any Togorian's enemy tremble with fear, and the blood from his nose splashed freely onto the Defel's matted hide.

[Fiana 'Toolbox' Norith]

She watched the two males tumble over, and shook her head. Males!

Unclipping her blaster from its holster, she looked around, then noticed that Blarga had already gone for his own weapon that she knew he was hiding on the far end of the bar. She left her blaster where it was, and decided that the only thing left for her to do now was to go get Hexer. This was going to get messy.

[Kraleil 'Alekeg' Schous]

Alekeg struggled to get his arms and legs free but the Togorian was heavier than he was, and had the upper hand in his position. The roar did little to intimidate him - in fact, it made him snarl with anger.

Alekeg used the oldest trick in the book, and the only one left to him now: he moved his head up with a quick motion that made his forehead connect with the Togorian's chin - and since Muzzle was still in mid-roar and had his mouth open wide for that, he suddenly found his jaw slammed up so forcefully that something at the back of his neck popped. The roar turned into a yowl as his left arm and leg gave way and he slammed down hard on the ground next to the Defel.

Alekeg didn't give the other an opportunity to recover. He rolled over and on top of him, sat up and then slammed his entire body-weight down on the nether regions of the Togorian's body - right about where his reproductive organs lay.

The Togorian gave of a wheezing thin howl and went for his soft parts with his hands, but Alekeg swung forwards and pinned down Muzzle's arms. This brought his face close to the other's neck and he used the opportunity to sneer at his opponent who was still wheezing and whining beneath him.

"You mishh'rable excushhe of a whelp got enuff now? Or do ya need shhome more?"

[Jhena Belitski]

:: Jhena wrapped her arms around Tarn's waist as she watched the fight, not fully realizing he'd have to drag her along if he needed to move quickly ::

[Blarga the Hutt]

Rumbling and grumbling, Blarga pushed two crates of Whyren's Reserve out of the way to get to his "help" - a Firespray stun rifle he'd named "Koyi" in memory of one left behind. Grabbing the weapon with his stubby arms, he cradled it lovingly like a child. It had seen better days, but it was the only thing he'd ever possessed to defend himself with and it'd served him well before.

Bar brawls were alright with him, but it was always better to keep a weapon around to break it up with. Just in case it got out of hand. And even though there were only two of them involved now, that didn't necessarily mean anything - Blarga knew his pirates.

Still holding his weapon, he came to a stop behind the bar right on the other side of the furry ball of flying arms and legs, and waited.

[Tarn Ardsul]

"Oooookaaay. Jhena. We're leaving." He grabbed his lady by the hip and proceeding to drag her out of the bar. Things were getting ugly in a bad way, and he knew for a fact Jhena was bad in a fight. If he tried to break this up now, she might end up getting hurt and he didn't want that, not to mention the crew. She did fix the ship after all ...

[Muuulv 'Muzzle' H'neh]

Muzzle felt like he was half-way on the road to eternity, his entire left side experiencing a telling pins and needles effect that told him something vital had been damaged in his spine - when suddenly he found a universe of stars dancing before his eyes as white hot pain lanced his crotch. For a moment everything went black.

His own ragged breathing brought him back, and he heard a horribly high wheezing howl that he finally realised was coming from himself. Everything hurt now. Alekeg was still busy smashing his innards and soft parts by throwing himself at him, and only held still for a moment to ask him if he wanted more. But Muzzle didn't feel even remotely able to say anything, he was too busy trying to wish himself dead. Then things went still.

He opened his eyes but everything was still misty and white. He blinked, trying to see what was happening. Just as Muzzle's vision cleared he saw the Defel get up on his feet. He was less of a blur now. And he was snarling, and readying himself for some more action.

There wasn't much to it. Unless he found some help, he was going to end up dead. The Defel meant business, and he - Muzzle - was it. For a moment Muzzle felt oddly elated that he had been the instrument of the Defel's return to his skills, but then the inevitable end rushed back on him. There was no point being all proud now.

"Tarrrrrrrrrrrrn! TAAAAAAAAAAARRRN! Heeelp!"

There was no way of seeing whether he was going to get any help - he couldn't move his head. His left side was entirely numb now.

His left side.

The vibroknife was on his right.

The realisation hit him the second he saw the Defel looming over him, poised in mid-jump to bring his knobbly knees in alignment with Muzzle's collarbone which would break into fine shards at impact. But in the two seconds it took him to get there, Muzzle had pulled out his vibroknife with his working right hand and slashed up with it, not caring where he hit.

He felt the impact a second later, but it missed his chest. Somehow, miraculously, the Defel had slammed with his knees into the floor beside his head, and it was only Alekeg's shin that had hit his left side, too lightly to do any further damage. With a groan of relief, Muzzle closed his eyes.

[Tarn Ardsul]

He heard Muzzle bellow his name, calling for help. This struck a cord in the pirate since Togorians were a proud race and asking for help was an act of desperation.

"Change in plans, Jhena." He grabbed her by the arm and whirled her behind the opened door. "Call for extra help."

As he got up, Jhena's eyes full of tears pleaded for him to stay. She was heavy with fright. "Just call 'em. I'll be fine!"

She swallowed a cry and shakily hit the intercom, while Tarn ran straight for the fight, hurdling over chairs and knocking tables out of the way. When he was close enough, he pulled out his blaster and fired two shots over the Defel's head. The shots were clean and penetrated the overhanging rack that carried the big ale mugs. Tarn winced as a squeal of metal pierced the air, hoping that the rack would have enough force to knock Alekeg out cold.

[Kraleil 'Alekeg' Schous]

He was in mid-jump when a searing pain suddenly bloossomed in his knees. Horrified, he looked down just in time to see the Togorian's pained but smirking face, and knew deep down that something bad had hust happened. But he felt somehow detached from it, as if the shock of the pain had separated him from his body, and only in this state did it suddenly dawn on him that he was about to kill a mate.

The realisation hit him just as he was about to land on Muzzle's chest. In the split second left to impact, he spread his legs and tried to prolong the jump but knew the latter attempt was foolish.

He hit the floor with a terrible smacking sound, his knees impacting against cold floor instead of soft body, and it hurt even more than he could have imagined. But even before the sensation of pain could hit him fully, something loud and hard crashed into him from above, and his body, assaulted in more ways than it could register, did him a favor and sucked him into dark oblivion.

[Muuulv 'Muzzle' H'neh]

Muuulv chanced a look at his assailant but couldn't see anything. Trying to move his head even an inch brought the agony back with a vengeance and he realised that he was probably close to having a broken neck.

Then Tarn stepped in his immediate blurred field of vision and he saw the big human raise a blaster at the ceiling; then he heard shots. What was he doing??? The Defel was right down here!!!

But a moment later he heard another sound - a particularly unpleasant squealing, and then suddenly the lights went out again for him as the mug rack fell square across both his head and the Defel's back.

A raspy gurgling emitted from his throat, and fresh blood started streaming over his face from a cut on his forehead. But Muuulv had passed out cold.

[Blarga the Hutt]

This was getting out of hand. Fighting pirates was one thing, but Blarga liked his bar in one piece. He gave out a loud bellow:

[NO ONE SHOOTS UP MY BAR!!!!]

Hefting the stun rifle up in the air, he took careful aim and then sprayed a blue stun ray over the assembled knot of fighters, Tarn included.

[Tarn Ardsul]

"Oh dren!" Tarn heard the bellow of the Hutt and dived behind the bar for cover. Bottles and glasses shattered and exploded under the barrage of blaster fire. Even at stun, the impact against such fragile materials, like glass, would easily break. He made sure to duck his head between his legs to protect his face, but some of the glass shards would manage to pierce Tarn's skin at his shoulders and forearms.

Once it stopped raining liquor and glass, Tarn rose his hands up slowly to show Blarga that he was unarmed. With a hesitant smile, the pirate showed himself fully and decided to point out the obvious. "Hey, Blarga? You shot up your own bar ya know?"

He then looked at both of his unconscious shipmates and sighed. Why did the idiot Hutt open fire when they were passed out cold to begin with?!