When they strode into the bar a few heads turned. None of them were human. There was a trio of tusked humanoids dressed in stained red uniforms that looked to be a leather substitute of some kind. They got Duke’s attention immediately as they were pointing a device in the group’s direction and making animated gestures. Freaking space orcs! I just know they are going to be trouble. Duke had noticed that his ability to read people had become significantly heightened since his stats had gotten the dungeon bump. It was what drove him to trust Lya and Mira. Not necessarily a sixth sense, but the combination of his senses, stats, and Abilities had pulled in information and was able to process it into this ability to read people. He was not getting a good sense from the orcs but he really didn’t need much more than to look at them staring to come to that conclusion.
“You clocked the excited trio near the bar, right?” Duke poured a little extra Mana into his AURA CONCEALMEANT Ability that he had been running since he arrived on the station.
Aurealia answered, “Kinda hard to miss them. We seem to have garnered their interest.”
They casually sat down at a table and Duke waved the waitress over. “Hi, I’m Trellix. What can I get for you four?” The waitress was close to human with her green hair that appeared natural, matching her eyelashes but the feature that stood out the most was the third eye in the middle of her forehead.
“I would really love some scotch whiskey, but I doubt you have any. What do you have available?” Duke asked while keeping an eye on the trio at the bar. They were arguing while looking at some device with a screen. Duke had instinctually sat himself with his back to the wall, able to get a full view of the bar in front of him. That way, he could see trouble coming and act before it could get out of hand.
“Scotch whiskey? Not sure that I’ve ever heard of that but let me look at our exotic drink menu. What about you three?” Lya and Mina ordered their drinks, but Aurelia looked hopelessly at Duke.
“What’s the matter love?”
Aurelia blushed and answered, “I can’t understand anyone here. I can understand the girls for some reason, but nobody else since we got to the station. It’s like they are speaking gibberish.”
Duke’s face flushed with embarrassment. “Oh, I’m so sorry. It never occurred to me that you couldn’t understand what was being said.” He pulled a potion out of his INVENTORY that he had been keeping for no other reason than he was a bit of a packrat. He handed the potion of tongues to her, “Here, drink this. It will help for a while. How long, I’m not sure, but it should be at least a few hours.”
“Guess we know what our next shopping item needs to be. You need a translator. They’re one of the more common pieces of magitech. And you can now afford one easily.” Lya showed Aurelia her own translator. It was a tiny earpiece that fit inside her ear canal.
“It’s so tiny,“ Aurelia remarked as she examined the device. She then downed the potion and met the three eyes of their patient waitress. Context clues had made it easy to figure out that the waitress was taking their drink order so she made an order of her own, “I would like some honeyed mead. Is that possible?”
The waitress nodded, “Yes, that is possible. And I can even get the scotch whiskey you asked for, sir. But it will be rather expensive.”
Duke was surprised and delighted. He was going to order it anyway but decided to ask first, “How expensive is expensive?”
Trellix pulled on her one of her long green locks of hair, placing it behind her ear, “Ten thousand credits for a glass or one hundred thousand for the bottle.”
Duke thought for a moment before responding, “I’ll take the bottle then.”
The waitress stared at him, momentarily stunned before answering, “I’ll bring it right away.”
Before their drinks could come, Duke spotted the trio of orcs heading their way. He quietly got the rest of the group’s attention and prepared himself for what he just knew was coming, deciding to not reveal any Abilities here if he could help it.
The lead orc stepped up to the table, flanked by his two companions who stood half a step behind. He was as tall as Duke but was far bulkier. His head was larger than what a human’s would be for his size, and he had porcine features complete with a pair of tusks protruding from his mouth. He was dressed in what looked like thick black leather with electronics of some sort inset in seemingly random places down his arms, across his chest, and on his shoulders. His left eye was obscured with some sort of red screen that was attached to a metallic band strapped to his head. With a deep and wet voice, he addressed the table, “Terribly sorry to interrupt you all but aren’t you Blaze Calder, Captain of the Iron Reaver?”
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Duke’s mind ground to a halt with the dissonance of someone approaching and not being the target. A smile slowly spread across his face as he looked to Mira.
“Yes, the Iron Reaver is my ship. What can I do for you?” She met the orc’s gaze with a calm demeanor and a fair bit of patience.
The look of relief on the lead orc’s face was unmistakable as he jumped into his request. “I am Gro’nok, leader of the Steel Tusks and we have been stranded on this station with our mechs for six months now. Our former transportation was the Seven Star Cluster but the ship was too heavily damaged fending off pirates that it wound up being scrapped at the yards here. We are in need of transportation to Altis Marin Six. There is a contract waiting for us there.”
Mira kept her eyes locked on the orc’s, as if in a play for dominance. When she spoke, it was with a flat, unemotional tone, “You are asking me to bring you to one of the most war-torn worlds in this entire galaxy and freely admit that your last transport wound up being so damaged it needed to be scrapped?”
Gro’nok’s gaze did not waver, “That is what I am asking, yes. We will not hide our situation as deceit does not help our cause.”
“Why don’t you pull up some seats and we’ll talk about it. I’m not going to say that I’ll take you just yet, but let’s get to know each other a bit better before I make any decisions.” She proceeded to introduce Aurelia, Duke, and Lya. Greetings passed around the table as Gro’nok introduced his two teammates, Ter’fald and Tukka.
While the orcs settled into their seats, the waitress brought over the drinks that Duke’s party had ordered, placing the bottle of Glenturret whiskey. She came over to Duke to take payment, but Gro’nok intercepted her. “I have interrupted these people. Their drinks are on me.”
Duke held up a hand to stop him, “You might not want to do that. My drink is rather expensive.”
“I have said that I would pay for the drinks. Do not make me a liar.”
Gro’nok’s voice now had an edge to it that Duke did not appreciate. For amusement’s sake, he backed down, allowing the orc to pay for the drinks. Trellix happily held her payment device out to the orc to pay. He placed his wrist to the device that beeped and flashed in acknowledgement of the payment. Immediately, his visible eye widened in shock as he apparently saw the amount, “Grellish geld you! What in the realms did you order?”
Duke smiled faintly, “I did warn you. I ordered this bottle of scotch whiskey. Trellix, would you please bring glasses for my new friends so that they may have some as well?”
It took but a moment for Trellix to bring glasses for each of them and Duke poured scotch for everyone. He slid the glasses over and took his own, “First off, this is a precious drink, so sip it. It is not meant to be taken all at once. Savor the flavor, feel the warmth as it goes down your throat.” He paused making sure that he had everyone’s attention before continuing, “I offer a toast to meeting new people and perhaps making new friends.”
Duke had been carefully observing the trio with his XENOGLOSSIA, looking for any signs of deceit or guile. Everything he had read so far had been completely honest. He was becoming concerned that either these three were as earnest as they seemed or that his Ability wasn’t working on them.
Still, he raised his glass with the rest of them. When he took his first sip, his eyes closed, and the smile of satisfaction spread across his face. The scotch was so smooth and flavorful that he held it in his mouth for several seconds before finally allowing the warmth to travel down his throat to his stomach.
“This is like nothing I have ever had before,” Tukka said. “It has as many flavors as s feast yet offers heat to the body. Where did this come from?”
“Ask Trellix where she got it.” Aurelia responded, her protective instinct kicking in over Duke’s homeworld.
Ter’fald raised a hand and waved, “Trellix, come on by when you have a moment!”
She, of course, came right over with a smile, “Is everything alright? Can I get you something else?”
Gro’nok stepped in, “Where does this scotch whiskey come from?”
She leaned down and confessed, “I have absolutely no idea. That bottle had been sitting on the shelf for longer than I have worked here, and you know how long I have worked here.”
He then turned to Duke, “So, you are the one who ordered the bottle. Where does it come from?”
Duke’s heart rate increased as he realized the corner her had trapped himself in. He wanted to protect Earth from outside attention and influence but even mentioning the existence of the planet could put it into jeopardy in this wider cosmos he had stepped into. So, he lied. Smoothly, but he lied nonetheless, “It comes from a closed world that now lies beyond the reach of magic. That is why it is so hard to find.”
“A closed world? What does that mean?” Gro’nog probed.
“It is a world that the entities have somehow closed off from magic, making it inaccessible by any means that I know of.” Duke hoped his lie was convincing enough.
Apparently, it was. The three orcs made the same gesture to ward off the attention of the entities. The topic was dropped immediately.
Mira steered the conversation back to the actual reason the orcs were there, “What is this contract you have waiting for you on a deathworld and is it really worth it?”
“It is a matter of honor. We are all bound by our word to come to the aid of an old friend who is trapped on the planet.”
Duke interrupted, “If it’s such a war-torn planet, are you even sure that your friend still lives?”
“Of course, he still lives. The Great System would inform us if we have failed the quest set before us.”
Mira took the conversation back, “So, this is a rescue mission?”
“It is. We have no desire to stay on such a place but without our mechs we will likely not survive long enough to rescue our friend. That is why I am so overjoyed to see you here. You bring hope to us that we had all but lost.”
“I will have to discuss it with my crew before I give you a decision and a price for this trip. There are a lot of…” She cut off in mid-sentence, apparently receiving some sort of message. She leapt to her feet. “We have to get back to the ship! Someone’s messing with it!”
Everyone quickly followed suit, drawing weapons. Duke gave her a questioning look, taking the orcs into his gaze. She gave him a nod and all seven of them appeared before the Iron Reaver. They were greeted with gunfire.