Alpha Centauri had been colonized and terraformed during humanity's golden age, back when they still had the means to terraform entire planets and could deploy machines that would not immediately turn on their creators. Back when earth was the center of an expanding empire and the men serving under the alliance of earth nations were paid well and fought and explored with complete dedication to the ascension of humanity. The civil wars that followed had made it a second sol, in support of the loyalists, giving it more than a mere symbolic importance and signifying it as the banking capital, where the old money solidified. However, the invasion by the Hexanagallions had not been kind to Sol's sister system. The planet Bucephalus, known originally as Proxima Centauri B, had been photon bombed and knocked off its axis, destroying its verdant ecosystem and ruining its atmosphere. It's small moon had been shattered, and now the lifeless husk of a planet floated out of the habitable zone, caught between the three stellar bodies of the system in an endless loop of nights that lasted months and days that took years to complete. 

The banking and casinos, luckily, had mostly conducted their businesses in stations surrounding the planets. They now mostly hovered in orbit of Proxima Centauri, still in Bucephalus's old orbit. It was practically an asteroid field of stations and loose planetary debris, all collectively known as the Golden Girdle, or simply the 'Girdle.' 

"I haven't been here in awhile," Neil said to himself quietly. 

Cygi popped up in front of him. "Owe money here, do ye?" She asked, her pirate garb still on. 

Neil snorted. "Hey, just because I have a bounty doesn't mean I cause trouble everywhere I go. Only a lot of places, but no here I'm clean. S'far as I know, at least. As for money, I do feel responsible for the kitchen so I can probably scrounge up some credits here at the dice tables. That or I can get some prize money from the rekker ring." 

"The what?" Jocasta asked, the ship now in automated flight as the Dragonfly pulled into the shield of the Alpha Acropolis, one of the larger stations that still clutched a bit of old Bucephalos as its base.

"They got mech fights here. They're not big mechs, and the money isn't as profitable as it used to be, but it's still pretty popular. I could give it a go... that or we can steal some cash." 

The Dragonfly passed through the phaser shields, keeping the breathable atomsphere in the hanger but allowing ships to pass through freely. The Dragonfly barely made a sound as it landed, pressurized air streaming out as the bulkhead door slid open. Neil practically bounded out of the ship, Jocasta racing behind him just in case he was going to disappear, but when she leaped out, she saw him admiring the ship instead. He gave a low whistle, ducking down to peek at its sleek underbelly. 

"I never actually got a chance to see the outside of her. She's gorgeous," he marveled.