[h3]Paradicial, 7:30 pm, 
Upper Atmosphere, 'Olympus' Spaceport[/h3]
Ellie looked out down on the planet's surface, the home world's metropolitan cityscapes, although massive on foot and the scale somewhat made tangible by the view from an office building, altogether appeared like patches of metallic crop fields in a vast wilderness from the bird's eye view of the space elevator. It was magnificent to see, and Ellie appreciated any excuse to see it again.
[b]"A real beauty, ain't she?"[/b] Ellie looked at Joshua and nodded.
[b]"I ain't never seen anything like it. These orbital elevators truly are amazing,"[/b] she replied. 

Joshua smirked as he puffed his 2nd cigar since they left, which made Ellie's eyes narrow. [b]"You sure you're allowed to be smoking that thing in here?"[/b] Joshua chuckled and gestured to the empty elevator seats, numbering enough to hold a capacity of about thirty sitting people at a time comfortably. 
[b]"Y'see anybody else in here complainin'?"[/b] Ellie rolled her eyes and looked back out the window, the elevator now reaching the final ascent as the spaceport above drew closer. She was more excited now than before, the very real prospect of joining a bounty hunter on his very own ship to hunt a bounty. Ellie giggled with excitement.

20 minutes later...

[b]"What the bleedin' hell, McPhie!?"[/b] Ellie shouted over the gunfire. Joshua just smirked again puffing his 3rd cigar, and-- if she weren't so preoccupied with trying not to get shot-- Ellie swore she would have swiped that cigar away from him.
[b]"Thought you wanted some adventure, lil' lady?"[/b]
[B]"I expected a ship, not a shootout!"[/b] Joshua laughed and then listened to the gunfire reaching its peak.
[b]"We have a ship, now run as soon as I say so and, whatever you do, don't look back."[/b] As he said this, Ellie looked down at his hand. He didn't have his gun now, but a grenade and Ellie's eyes widened. [B]"Now!"[/b] Ellie got up after the grenade was tossed during the silent interlude of the gunfire's symphony, which was suddenly punctuated by a bang and a flash of light skirting past her arms. Ellie kept her eyes on the boarding ramp and nothing else, and soon everything went blank. Except for maybe one little thought.

[b][i]This man is a bloody menace.[/i][/b]
[h3]Outer Diamandis System, 1520 shiptime, 
Aboard the 'Strax'[/h3]
Xioxas tapped the edge of the panel in time with [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-GL-g8SHqI]the music[/url] as he moved the ship close to the short queue of ships going through the gateway. Hardly peak hour, but it's only security verifying ship credentials and records and personnel id. Which reminded him...
[b]"Hey, you said you have some sort of stealth shit. Might be a good time to turn it on so we get through this without any issues,"[/b] he spoke on the headset. The music quieted down as a reply came through, one which made Xi's brow furrow. [b]"Whaddya mean 'why'?[/b] he retorted. [b]"I can't believe you sometimes-- Look, if they find you without identification, it'll take too long to try and explain or deal with it, so it'll be faster if you just-- you know-- didn't show up?"[/b] The music kept playing at standard volume for a few seconds before quieting again for a reply. Xi sighed with relief. [b]"Thank you."[/b] 

The next ship, a small-looking corvette, got the green light and passed on through the gate, shooting into hyperspace, and Xioxas edged the ship forward to get verified. Suddenly, [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sWOHc6CfRg]the music changed[/url] to something Xioxas wasn't at all expecting and he was vexed when his stowaway added something about 'wanting to listen to something too'. [b][i]What the fuck is this shit, and why is he hijacking the audio?[/i][/b] Xioxas could only think, as a communication link was established between him and the security force on the gateway.

[b]"Your ship registration looks in order, and we got your inventory. Can we verify your identification please?"[/b] the officer asked over voice. Xioxas clicked the channel over on his headset. 
[b]"Of course, opening live visual for you now."[/b] Xioxas looked up at the camera as it indicated live recording. 
[b]"Looks fine to me, mr Azalon. We're going to scan your ship now and check everything against your ship manifest; just to double-check, you indicated nobody else aboard your ship?"[/b] 
[b]"That's correct, officer,"[/b] Xi replied as he nodded to the camera. He then waited a few seconds, then a minute for security to check everything off his list. A very nerve-wracking minute as since this was the first time he was going through the gateway and putting his faith in his stowaway's stealth capabilities.

[b]"You're good to go. Have a safe trip,"[/b] the officer finally commented.
[b]"Thanks officer."[/b] Xioxas thrust the ship forward and through the gateway, feeling the familiar but weird sensation of being propelled into hyperspace. He put the headset down as he sat back and stretched out against his pilot seat, relieved that it all worked out fine. He then paused when he heard the same song he wanted to stop listening to was playing throughout the ship. [b]"What the fuck-- you fixed the ship's speakers without telling me!?"[/b] Xioxas shouted over the wild techno.
[h3]Outer Orgon System, 8:50 pm, 
Black Market Goods Station[/h3]
Joshua and Ellie stepped off the boarding ramp of their newly acquired ship and aboard the station. Ellie had recovered from her disappointment-fuelled shock of becoming a wanted criminal in the Saint Silver system back when they passed through the official gateway, but only because she had to be at attention to feign being Joshua's newly wedded bride, off to the Orgon system for their honeymoon. She looked at Joshua as he clicked the ramp shut and flicked CredCoin to the dirty faced engineer nearby. [b][i]Some honeymoon...[/i][/b] She thought as the engineer shouted at her buddies to join her in fixing up and minding the ship. After all, their escape from the space station wasn't totally flawless. [b][i]"But I lost them, didn't I?"[/i][/b] Ellie faintly recalled Joshua crowing at her after making her nauseous from his flyboy ship-flying.

Then Joshua started to light up his 5th cigar. Ellie reached forward and snatched it from him before the flame even licked the wrapping.
[b]"Hey, that's my last one! What's the big idea?"[/b] he complained. Ellie held it in her hand at ransom as she stared at him.
[b]"You haven't even told me why the hell we're here. This isn't a research facility, but a glorified shithole of a station,"[/b]  she hissed, naming her price. Joshua sighed as he brought the palm of his gloved hand to his forehead.
[b]"Look, I just gotta do a bit of light shopping here, and after that, we can just use one of their gateways here to leave. We can't really use the official ones now, after all. Sound fair?"[/b] He then held out the same hand to Ellie. 

For a moment, she thought about returning it. Then she reflected on how it was a valuable commodity, now that she knew it was the last one he had.
[b]"You can get it back when we leave."[/b] Joshua frowned as he watched her slip it in her pocket and fold her arms.
[b]"Fine. This way."[/b] Ellie then followed Joshua into the rest of the station proper. None of what she saw changed at all what she said about the station. It was exactly as she put it: a glorified shithole of a station. What she was starting to recognise was why. Plenty of disreputable faces hawking their goods at little market stalls, which would have been okay and even adorable if the market stalls weren't loaded to the brim with weapons, chems, unregulated fusion-powered sex toys, and all other sorts of illegal merchandise. Plus the fact Terrans and Humans intermingled like there wasn't even an inter-galactic war to begin with. It was a kind of both dystopian and utopian paradise of sorts. [b]"You want anything at all?"[/b] Ellie looked up to see Joshua speaking to her.
[b]"I think I'm good for the moment. I'll let you know,"[/b] she murmured back. 

About a few minutes of darting from stall to stall passed, with Joshua picking up a few bits and bobs of the killing kind; more flashbangs, a bandolier of cheeky grenades of all sorts with emojis painted on them-- Ellie could only guess the emojis indicated what they did, and different types of bullets Joshua could load his custom revolver with. While he was bartering with the arms dealer over how little he could pay for the aforementioned bullets, Ellie came across an odd stall but the real item of her focus was a little fluffy creature in a cage.
[b]"Oh, this looks kinda cute..."[/b] she cooed as she closed in on the beady eyed little... Owl? Reptile? It had both a tail and fluffy feathers, and a beak, and made little hissing noises as its eyes focused on Ellie. [b]"But what in the world is illegal about-- ah, yep, illegally poached."[/b] She looked at the other exotic but probably endangered xeno lifeforms being sold in various confinements. 

[b]"Can I interest you in any-- ah?"[/b] Ellie looked up at the stall owner; a poacher and a stout little woman about two feet shorter than Ellie was, and had her right eye covered by an eye patch-- although that probably just concealed a mechanical eye since the cybernetics grafted into her cheek's skin where not as concealed. [b]"Now you look a lil' familiar, innit?"[/b] she wondered in a daft accent. Ellie immediately disassociated with the rough-looking lady as Joshua came in at the right time.
[b]"I get that a lot, must be how young I am."[/b] she replied as she grimaced nervously. [b]"What's that, honey? Oh, let's go then!"[/b]
[b]"What? I din't..."[/b] Joshua spluttered as Ellie grabbed him at the arm as though she were still feigning their marriage.
[b]"Shut up and walk,"[/b] she murmured through her fake smile, ignoring the lady calling out after her.

Suddenly the lights blared red as an intruder alert sounded off. Before they could wonder if it was them or one of the hundred criminals aboard starting the ruckus, there was an explosion that shook that part of the station which would have put Ellie on the ground if not for Joshua as a support. She then noticed, thankfully, the poacher wasn't focused on her anymore. Bad news was...
[B]"It's the bleedin' fuzz!"[/b] she shouted out pulling out a shotgun, and immediately or even before the words left her lips, everyone aboard the station frenzied into action. Tables were overturned with goods spilling on the floor, either to act as barricades or simply out of sheer panic. Criminals left and right were either arming up, or just picking up as much product as possible to at least make fleeing for their lives a profitably dangerous venture. Ellie then looked at Joshua seriously.
[b]"What!?"[/b] he exclaimed. [b]"I didn't know 'this' was gonna happen!"[/b]