"...You know what, you're right." he said. "On both counts. Treasure and...we need something strong to drink. No, I need something strong to drink if I am going to tell you what happened with the two of them." Neil got up sluggishly and scratched his head. He didn't know what was weirder, the fact he was being really awkward, the fact she didn't notice, or the fact they were about to get hammered while talking about his illustrious past. 

"Let's go babe." he said. She pushed him playfully and they headed out, both making sure they had their sidearms on them just in case. The alleyway was quiet, but there was some light-hearted commotion coming from the center of town. "So we're going to grab a few bottles and head back?" Neil asked. "I'm not the biggest fan of loud noises at the moment, and I don't think drinking will help me out in that aspect." 

"Yeah, we'll see what they have here. It better be stronger than the concentrated sugar we've been guzzling." Sayeeda said flippantly. They turned the corner to see the center of town where Salim Daleeb had been hours ago, to see a few people mingling and some backalley deals being made outside of an alley, and a dancer or two. But the main commotion was coming in from the northeastern section of the square, where a plain looking two story structure bustled with activity and music. 

"Well, if we're getting drinks anywhere, it'll be there." Neil said. 

They stepped inside the establishment, suddenly flooded by multicolored lights that were dulled by heavy lenses, with men and Xenos crowding around, laughing and drinking. Some were doing a strange game where they held one another by the ankles upside down to dunk their heads in buckets of what Neil assumed to be some form of alcoholic drink. Normally he'd be game, but instead he decided to head to the bar counter. 

"Yes, friend? How may we help you here?" the bartender said, a fine looking, dark skinned man with a wide, pleasant smile. Neil smiled back to him. "What is your selection sir. I'm from off planet, you see." 

Sayeeda would feel a strong grip fall in her shoulder, and she would be roughly spun about to see the faceless helm of Xir, having melded into the crowd and waited for her back to be turned at the right moment. He gave a distorted laugh through his rebreather. "I see you're here for a night on the town, eh?" he asked, a short electro-baton in his free hand. To his complete surprise, Junebug lifted her knee to block his forearm, then kicked his wrist to knock the baton out of his hand, spun and used the same foot in a roundhouse kick that cracked his helm and caused him to stagger back. Precious nitrogen spurted out of his helm, and he paniced in fear as he searched for some plastcrete to place over it. 

He managed to save himself, but not before Junebug set to beating the ever living daylights out of him. She didn't want murder on her hands, but everywhere there wasn't a life support system, she crushed with brutal strikes that had the crowd cringing. Neil watched, unimpressed at first (since he expected Sayeeda to beat him regardless) but growing more and more aroused as she continued curbstomping Xir, Neil's mouth hanging open. It was when she was done and standing over the Xenos triumphantly that he realized he needed to turn around, lest she look back at him and look below the belt. 

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh," Neil said, trying to draw the flustered part of him out by taking a deep breath. "what was the selection again, good sir?" He asked the now frightened bartender. The man's eyes had been glued to Junebug, but he looked back to Neil and nodded. "Uh, yes, something strong yes?" 

Minutes later they had exited the bar, eight bottles of Rimbalian Ale between them. From inspection it seemed fine. It burned going down but it felt very fortifying, and the common spices on Hahn placed within added a hint of tang instead of taking up the entirety of the flavor. Neil closed the door behind them, and they both sat on the couch. Sayeeda kicked her feet up on the table, taking a bottle and popping the cork. 

"Ok, your Captain has ordered you to tell her about your past with our new friends." She said, leaning her head back and taking a swig that Neil could never hope to match unless he was already drunk. 

"Can't disobey orders, can I?" Neil said, getting comfortable next to her and looking up at the ceiling, taking swigs every of often. "Well... when I left Fortus I had nothing but my Valk. I went to work for a few mechanic shops as a wrench monkey. Nothing too fancy. I just didn't realize that most mechanic shops on the station of 04L215 were in the illegal arms trade. Well I started doing errands for them and I was already in a bit too deep to back out in any real way." 

"Then I met Sven, who unbeknownst to me at the time, was the head of the entire syndicate of the BSO, Black Shadow Organization, which dealt with all of the illegal arms trade and took cuts out of each sale. Well, I did do a few...underhanded things myself. I almost wrecked the station with my Valk, and Sven gave me a way out. I could help him, or have every gun running after me. So I did. And well, what he wanted me to do was get back at a planetary Governor that had double crossed him in the past, because Sven used to be a planetary governor until a major coup. So he had me go and just...ruin this guy's summer. So I went there, banged his wife, and stole a ship, leaving my Valk behind unfortunately. Turns that the governor hired a bounty hunter, Saxon, to go after me. But it also turns out, that the ship I stole was Saxon's so you could say I had a head start." 

Neil laughed. "I moved around a few years after that, running from Saxon and using Sven as a contact, fighting as a merc or mechanic, or an illegal courier... until I met you. And the rest is history." 
[@Penny]