---

Aerderic sighed, chugged down his drink and ordered another one. "Same thing, beautiful." He slid a credit stick towards her with enough money for the tip and two drinks. He then lit another cigarette. "Careful how you follow because your eyes might fall out." He chuckled as he waited for his drink.

---

Lynn Archer, Barmaid

---

Lynn accepted the credit stick with the same obligatory smile and a nod. "Another Sidewinder mixed with gin, no lemon, coming right up!" She filled another glass with ice and put it on the table. The bottles were already open, so she just got them from under the counter and poured the two drinks simultaneously, as the previous time. The barmaid didn't get involved in the wordplay between the two patrons, so only a barely noticeable smirk on her lips indicated that it wasn't lost on her.

Planet Sprague, Ellie Hardy

---

Ellie liked style of this conversation between her and the blonde guy. She remained mysterious and he just simply adapted to it. "It seems I already began liking you, as you've proven you are not as dumb as I thought you would be. First impression, you know." she said with an evil smirk once more and raised her glass up.
"Exactly what you said about the systems. Lawless systems are sweet paradise and people trying to enforce their laws in wild west are just dumb. Because it just initiates conflicts over territory."

Julian Grayson

---

Julian chuckled at the first impression remark: "I suppose that's a good thing. That way they won't expect a catch." He winked to Ellie as a way to say that there were no hard feelings over that comment. "Besides, I did mess up with my choice of drinks."

Relaxing in his seat, Julian nodded to the Junker's other remark: "I'd rather call those people 'annoying', not 'dumb'. It's only natural they always want more. It's just a matter of whether those people have the power to consistently enforce those laws. If they don't..." Julian smirked. "... Then it doesn't change much for those people who dwell in these free havens. Then those 'enforcers' become just another adequate challenge, like anyone else who tries to take your life or steal your stuff."

Planet Sprague, Ellie Hardy

---

Ellie noticed the wink and leaned back again. "To be honest, that was pretty much I tried to say, but in a less boring way." she murmured, still keeping smirk on her face.

"So what is the guy like you doing in this mostly lawless space anyway? Looking for some business or just roaming around like me? Making profit out of your money hub? Just relaxing? Who are you even? Now now, you've got tons of questions you should answer to." She liked it that way as she noticed he wasn't talking much about himself, but Ellie did.

Julian Grayson

---

Julian nodded; the Junker had indeed told much more about herself than he did, even if Ellie was just alluding to facts rather than stating them. "Why, I'm Julian Grayson from Cambridge; I think I mentioned that," he allowed himself to be just a little playful, as evidenced by his chuckle, before continuing: "Seriously though, I'm just a Bretonian freelancer and a... concerned citizen, I suppose," he smirked as he said that. "You know, of the type who like to take matters into their own hands when things call for it."

"As for whether I'm in this system for business or fun... Why can't it be both? I mean, you never know where you find what," Julian took another sip from his glass, putting it on the table. "But the intention was indeed to roam around mostly, otherwise I would've gone to the opposite side of Bretonia."

Realizing that place was good as any other, Hex started tumbling around with ideas in his mind as he looked into the gin bottle. Intelligence agencies were terrible ideas - they always took more than they gave - but the other options were just as awful. Pouring a decent amount into his cup he turned his back to the bar, uninvitingly looking over to the rest of the crowd.

---

Aerderic took his glass and turned around to observe the crowd. "Interesting... When a man buys lady a drink you have a fifty-fifty percent chance that you will be able to talk to her, but in lets say, that case..." he looked at the two people chatting where the lady bought a drink for the blonde fellow. "...you get that. He simply came to her because of her interest. Funny how Sirius sometimes works." He took a sip out of his glass and continued observing.

---

A middle-aged lass slunk in through the front door. She wore a red-bandanna tied tightly around her forehead. She wandered past a couple of men and playfully brushed up against them as she made her way towards the bar where the infamous Captain was quietly working away. In her hand she counted the credit chits that she had just plucked from the unsuspecting victims. The pickpocket smiled brightly as she got closer to the Captain, and after a moment she leaned forwards over the bar, laying down some credit chits - in plain view - "Heya, boss. I'm thinkin' we need t' get the crew back t'gether. I think there's somethin' worth t' come out of this embargo Bretonia and Gallia have goin' fer them. Ya got one last bite in ya?" She looked down at the credit chits, smiling softly with glowing eyes - mischievous eyes. Morgan would know her immediately as Vanessa Hayes, a young pirate who use to run with his outfit, and a skilled pickpocket. She had dropped off the face of the earth when the Buccaneer's begun taking too much heat from their robberies. Though she never seemed to stray too far away from trouble.

Captain Henry Morgan had recognized the newcomer as soon as she walked through the door. There weren't many of his old crew left, the Gallic occupation and glassing of Leeds had seen to that, so it was good to see one of the few that survived. As to her question... it wasn't the first time someone had asked him that, and there was always an ulterior motive. This time wasn't likely to be any different. Before he answered, though, Morgan scooped the coins up off the bar and waved over one of his waitresses.


Morgan handed the coins to the waitress and sent her on her way. He then turned his attention back to Hayes.


Morgan reached into the cooler under the bar and grabbed a random beer for his guest. He looked at the label before setting it on the bar. The label, which read 'Beer', was simple black text on a plain, featureless white label. Morgan changed his mind and put it back in the cooler. Anything out of the Coalition was getting hard to replace these days, and he wasn't about to give his limited stocks away. He grabbed another bottle, this one had an ornate label reading 'Shweinhammer Stout'. A quality, and inexpensive, Rheinland ale. Perfect. He put it on the bar in front of her and continued.

---