Sauria V, Outside of Achesian Space... Inside of Trouble
In one of the darker holes on the planet named Sauria V the only government that people needed was the blaster on their hip or the coin in their pockets. "Where there is no government there can be no order" was almost a mantra for the people of this barely habitable tundra world, order was something for the weak and the dependent. Here in the Blushing Moon Tavern the only lights were those on the bar, in the drinks, or on the women. Order was something someone gave to the girl asking about drinks. Orders were not given by some legislature or dictator, but rather by the woman in leather you paid in the backroom, with a little bit on top of course, for antinomy.
This hole of a joint on the dark trade streets of the settlement locals call Camarock Town, was a watering hole known to be frequented by the less than reputable but more than talented colonists whose only government was the coin in their own pockets. Aptly named for the bottomless waitresses that served patrons, it was a large establishment with a sprawling main floor where girls danced to earn their government and junkies paid with their government to get dances. Humans, Gish, Klydosians, Terilians, and aliens with names not able to be uttered in human tongues who just go by "bobs", all cohabitated this den of decadence tonight watching dancer girls from all of the races above and more swing around on neon lighted poles as currency from across the galaxy is thrown at them. The human women being more prevalent at this bar, as Sauria V lay right on the edge of a fledging human civilization, but far enough outside its purview to allow the Abraski trader sitting in the corner, to pass his Fylugaq counterpart an illegal phase disrupter across the table without question or second thought.
Far from the center of galactic or even regional trade, Sauria V was known for its Camarock mines. Camarock is a substance known for its illicit use when ground up in a powder by the Clamidian people, but more commonly as the primary ingredient in XIC cables for hyperdrives. It certainly did not make the Sauria system wealthy, but it did bring home the bread for the few organizations that underwent the risk of mining on such a lawless planet. Due to its location outside any political boundaries, and its luck in being home to a jump gate, Sauria also has become a hub of exotic and illegal trade.
If the Blushing Moon with its glowing shots of Lightspeed- a potent alcohol- was any demographic representation, Sauria V was populated mostly by humans, with xenos being for the most part, passersby. These humans are the descendants of escaped slaves or former slaves themselves of the Gish Empire, like most in this region. But what is unique about Camarock Town is that it was not founded by any such descendants, rather by ethnic Achesian humans, who migrated to the region after the destruction of their home world at the hands of another xeno menace. From the girl that currently swung from the highest poll nude with hair nearly grazing the top of patrons heads, to the man sitting in the corner passing tubes of hallucinogens to a few travelers, hand close to his blaster, the amjority of the towns inhabitants were Acheisans.
Acheisans only recently came to Sauria in the past fifty years, after the economic stagnation of the nearby Achesian Intercosmic Bastion (the previously mentioned human civilization which Sauria boarders). Many came to seek the wealth of the Camarock, but instead found other trades that were just as profitable. Though their culture was largely riddled with xenophobic tendencies, Achesians on Sauria had adapted to living among many different races, provided that had coin.
But their migration to Sauria did not please everyone, and as of recent times violent clashes between Achesians/Achesian friendly humans, and those hostile to Achesians were on the rise. The night past saw five families dead at an Achesian Temple in a settlement on the opposite side of the planet, killed by a gang of Gish criminals seeking retribution for a pair of their kin lynched just last week by community of human farmers. The whole planet seemed to be on edge, impending the violence of the radicals on both sides.
It was well known that the Blushing Moon was a haven for Achesians in Camarock Town, and a night like this the whole place would be packed full of folk of this persuasion, enjoying some of the sinful things in life. For Juliet though, it was her first night waitressing for the Tavern and her only chance to make her own living away from the farm life she was raised.
"Get out there Juliet, customers waiting!" The fat chef hacked as he stirred a pot of Blushing Stew, a strange mix of everything disgusting that was rather popular with xeno patrons to this establishment. Juliet itched at the uncomfortable mesh top, that featured bright green neon lighted shoulder piping that ran the length of her arms. It was not the ideal job to make a living, but it beat living under the heavy hand of her abusive father back on the farm.
She stepped through the double doors from the kitchen to the floor, and the first thing she noticed was that it was as cold as a bad winters night, made worse by her own blushing moon, she looked down at herself, wondering if she made the right decsion. Second she noticed were the many eyes from the various characters that inhabited the booths and tables around her.
"Hey sweet cheeks over here." The gurgled voice of a potched face human called to her, raising a maimed hand to show her the way. Shaking, the brown haired, fair skinned girl stepped towards the table which included a few other nefarious looking humans, each with their own ugliness about them. There was one with a scare that ran the length of his nose and was deep enough… well to notice was deep, he grabbed the first cup of soup on Juliet's tray without so much as waiting for her to serve it to them. He slurped the steaming juice, some spilling out of his mouth and running down his wrinkled face.
"You sure that’s not the one without any caponza peas? I hate fucking caponza peas." A third with a missing eye said as he spat on the floor. The two argued for a few moments while Juliet stood unmoving, waiting for them to settle before handing over the last bowl.
Juliet was a quiet girl who was not much for trouble, she tried to appease the men as to not have to get in the middle of anything. To calm herself though, she fiddled with a charm that she wore around her neck, a charm that her mother gave her just before she left the farm, a golden orb which had many orbs like moons around it. It was something passed down by the women of their family for generations, signifying the orbit in which the mother kept her children. She often looked at it to remind herself how much her mother cared about her, even during those days her father would beat them both.
"Will... That be all gentlemen?" She stuttered in a faint tone, with a high squeak on the last word.
The first 'gentleman' smiled an ungainly and toothless smile, only a few steel 'chewing aids' inhabited his gums. "Go get me a pint of Mourners Ale sweet cheeks." He said with a sharp slap on her ass. She cried out as his maimed hand stung her bottom. The bartender even looked over to the neon clad waitress, but she hid her distaste for the whole situation with a halfhearted smile. Walking over toward the bar area, she sat the tray down on the clear coated surface of multi-facetted lights.
“You ok?” The bartender that when by Neil asked as he cleaned off a glass and poured in some ale.
“Ya…” Juliet grabbed her arm, a nervous tell that it wasn’t ok.
Neil looked over at her shoulder towards the table of the nefarious trio, then back at Juliet who was in retrospection to herself. He knew she was not fine, but if she was going to make it here she would have to learn to deal with much worse.
“Here you go, he said handing her the ale on the tray.” He looked at her and waited for her to make eye contact, she had picked up the tray and was about the turn around when he grabbed her arm. “Don’t let them see you afraid.” She nodded and started back.
That is when she heard a loud noise in the distance, as if outside the tavern some ways. It was at first a cackling noise, drowned out by the ambiance of the bar with the regular hoots, hollers, and shouts. But as the rumblings grew closer the bar grew silent, and finally one last explosive burst sent the whole Blushing Moon into chaos. Juliet stood frozen in place, a half a hundred different patrons with better instinct than her running all around, towards the rear of the bar to attempt some sort of escape. But what were they running from? Juliet thought to herself.
As a cloud of dust began to seep into the bar ever so slowly, many of the dancers who still swung around on their polls in nothing but their naked bodies began to jump and or fall off their regular work "stations" and join the rest of the crowd in their haste to the rear. But as once dancer Juliet knew as "Star-Mistress" jumped off the pink-cyan lit stage, a furrow of mysterious projectiles from the mist created voids through her torso. Star-Mistress watched as her own fluids covered the floor in which soon she made her final bed, with nothing but a look to the helpless Juliet that stood still by the bar, unsure how to process what just happened.
But if there was any doubt in the young girls mind that she should or should not run, when the large brutish Gish walked through the door, she knew it was too late... she really should have run. The tray in which she formerly held the pint of Mourners Ale crashed to the ground as she stepped back from the approaching bipedal xeno with greyish blue skin. The Gish brought its face just close enough to Juliet that she could feel the warm air of its breaths all over her skin, as she stared at the many mangled sharp black teeth that protruded from its mouth.
The Gish were a violent people, and no doubt their evolution as strong, savage, and some would call ugly beings contributed to their war like behavior. This particular Gish was wearing a large red sash from his shoulder down to his waist, and on it were man trinkets that looked to be looted from different worlds that he had visited... and sundered. The Black and red eyes of the Gish followed the girls chest as it rose and fell at a fast rate, due to her fear of likely death, but as it continued to gaze from her large eyes to her smooth hair the Gish finally settled on the trinket that she wore about her neck.
Juliet grabbed it as she noticed the creature staring, but that didn’t stop the Gish from pulling her hand back with force, and pinning her to the ground just before ripping the necklace from her neck. Juliet cried out as the monster pinned it to his looting sash, among the many other trophies of war that he held there. But as the girl flailed and screamed the alien grew tired of the noise, grabbing her by the hair and lifting her in the air.
"HEamja emo, quearja uso jeh?" It spluttered out in a spray of saliva. All around Juliet were the bodies of those who were not fast enough to escape the carnage. She looked towards the bar where Neild was slumped over in a pool of alcohol and blood. Did he let them see him afraid? It didn’t matter much now, Juliet certainly was not able to hide her own fear.
Many bodies were piled atop each other. Faces, limbs, hips, each was missing some part of their former selves. Juliet would have normally wretched at such a scene but she was preoccupied at her current dangling from her brown hair three feet above the Tavern Floor. In the distance she could hear more screams, explosions, and weapons fire, from the city, next door, who knew? But inside the Gish continued to converse in their cryptic xeno language.
"Vlot folo, quo vleujsucg mequ." Another large Gish warrior uttered, which kicked a few of the others into action. Juliet winced as she was brought over, rather forcibly, to the side of the tavern, where several lights had been turned on and a flag (a variant of the Gish Empire flag, unbeknownst to her) was pinned to the wall. Several other Gish were fiddling with what looked like a camera of some sort as the large brute that still held her hair in his hand, stood front and center to the banner.
"Caseh u kloggi , u usuno caseh kaaisi usearja fubo geh." It was hard for Juliet to see which one said this as the lights of the tavern shown right in her face, like she was on some sort of show. But she had a good idea as the leader approached her, his hands behind his back. This was her second opportunity to come face to face with a Gish, though she had hoped in her lifetime that she never would have the pleasure.
The stories that were told amongst ethnic Achesians of the Gish were not friendly ones, tales of slavery, pillaging, war, rape, murder, and evil surrounded these brutish xenos. As the leader approached, a long tongue protruded his cracked lips and slivered down her stomach. She cried in this moment as she knew her fate was not going to be a kind one.
"Yu lononvol haspot emoc quoom quuc tulequot ak, fanum quenum urquuic fuja cho, umja quolo cho quoupocg geh hasp." He said as he cackled at her tears. He soon turned to the camera, which after much fiddling, was erected in front of them.
"Mequ veais" The operators shouted, Juliet cried out even louder as she was raised higher by her hair, the lead Gish pacing in front of her.
"Quo fubo jocgleioja cho fanum gequm eh Sunulesp, quo fubo vleatfg jequm quurac, jocgleioja, naljoloja nom, lukoja quenom, umja hoja geh eal quul feamjc. Quo cho Hlemg meg cgumja hel fanum em el cosgel eh Ckuso. Quo oboli rucg fanum quo sum, quo jocglei, umja cho emso nelo laro ebol choco lugc umja pook chon uc kogc. Uc Tur'usp'u'Mep eal , quo fubo Sunulesp hlen choco. Choco jeh meg pmequ cho glao quui eh cho, umja quolo nujo vi Tur'usp'u'Mep geh colbo ac. Geh checo quoeh geh... iea."
The room fell silent as he finished his speech in the babble that is the Gish dialect, Juliet still cried out. "Please!" The tears streamed down her face. "Let me go!"
Having finished his speech the Gish leader had a smile on his face that would make even the shadiest of characters cringe.
"We let you go." The best Achari Common it could muster slipped from its lips, just as the xeno pulled a long bloody blade from behind its back. Before Juliet could muster another cry the savage separated her body from the dangling head that was still being held in the air. With a thump, her body from the neck down, hit the floor. Her face was forever frozen in an expression of fear and hopelessness, and as the Gish held it for the camera to see, the Gish Liberation Front knew they had their message across.
As the dust settled on Camarock Town, thousands of humans lay dead in the streets, though the Gish did not spare many xenos who stood in their way either. Few escaped he carnage of a city that was now on fire, banners of the Gish Liberation Front flew from the tallest buildings in the settlement (only a few stories tall) and fires raged out of contorl while the Gish chanted ancient war ballads to their victory. The only other non-gish who remained in the settlement were the few hostages that they did take, hostages to be used for propoganda for their movement as they meant to spread their carnage across the planet. Three Achesians now sat tied and beaten to a pole in the center of the stage in the Blushing Moon, as well as two Terrans, an Abraskian trader, and an Ellian merchant. They each sat with their heads low, trying not to catch the ire of their captors. They would ponder their fates well into the night as the songs of the Gish filled the air around them.
