18320/HUNGER: BLACKEST NIGHTS - Cold Case

HUNGER: BLACKEST NIGHTS - Cold Case
Date of Scene:	23 June 2024
Location:	Knowhere
Synopsis:	The Guardians transport members of the Titans et al to Knowhere to hunt for clues. They find several: a Tamaranean named Karras, on the run, a bartender with stories of a T-named conqueror, and ultimately, a gun dealer who speaks of Warlord Tyros of Okaara, his coup over the Vega system, and his... lost axe? It's a start.
Cast of Characters:	Norrin Radd, Gar Logan, Xiomara Rojas, Richard Rider, Peter Quill, Diana Prince, Donna Troy, Mantis
Tinyplot:	Hunger

---

Norrin Radd has posed:
The story so far comes in two parts.

For months (or maybe much longer) something has been causing a 'disruption' throughout the galaxy. Not in sense of some a physical anomaly, but the more... ripples of demographic and social upheaval. Aliens of dozens of species fleeing perhaps hundreds of worlds. The causes seem disparate, unbound by any unifying thread, yet the trend remeains. Recently, Earth has started to feel the effects, with waves of alien refugees flocking to the planet.

Every one of them has come with the story of calamity. Some were of the physical kind: supernovas, rogue comets, radiation events. Others were more mundane. Wars. And just the other day, another ship had arrived with a similar story. Not a refugee, but more like a long-lost son.

This was part 1.

Part 2 was more direct. A few months prior, a large group of Green Lanterns were dispatched to the Crab Nebula to deal with an unknown threat. There, they met an unknown foe and were slaughtered, leaving only a single survivor. In the aftermath of such an attack, the Oans... have done nothing. There are no orders to investigate, and as far as anyone has been told, Galius Zed remains in critical care.

The connection of the two events is minimal, except perhaps for one of timing: the slaughter of the Lanterns occurred almost immediately before the arrival of the first wave of refugees on Earth.

Since then, investigation of the matter has largely been organized through Earth's Atlantic Starport and the Justice League, who have likewise worked on relocating the refugees. Still, things are at a bit of a dead end: apart from vague speculation on the weapon used, there's little in the way of evidence to follow up on.

The arrival of a new lead (in the form of a a near miss crash landing in the ocean by the Milano) the other day may then mark a certain touch of serendipity. After meeting with Emma Frost, Quill's news made it to the station leadership - including Wonder Woman - and onward from there. Now, with the seawater drained and a few dents repaired, the Milano is setting out again.

Gar Logan has posed:
Garfield Logan's plans for his duty rota at the Starport were simple: sit back on an overstuffed armchair, grab a bowl of popcorn, and listen to Chapo Trap House's take on the latest Luthor Presidency Scandal. He had just gotten to the good part about the flag Luthor's appointment to the supreme court hung outside of her house the other day when his T-Phone started buzzing.

starlightstarbright: beast boy it is good to see you have arrived at your assigned duty!
starlightstarbright: I checked! :D
starlightstarbright: I have the request for you dear trustworthy friend. I am sure I shall not have to dishonor myself by explaining why you will obey. :D
starlightstarbright: keep an eye on the newcomers, please?
starlightstarbright: :D

"Three :Ds." Beast Boy says to himself, turning a pale shade of green as he ponders this clear courtly threat, "Yeah I'm not screwing around with that."

This is how a green and darker green raccoon scampered into the hangar bay the Milano is being repaired at, doing that creepy little hand washing thing with its front paws as it skitters close to this strange crew of space heroes.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
The news about the Green Lanterns had hit Crush pretty hard. Her best friend was a Lantern, and she had feared the worst until she heard from him again. Now she was determined to find out what happened, not merely for her own sake but for Kyle Rayner.

Joining the other members of the Justice League, she took the time to read up on what had happened, what was known, and where she needed to be to help find the answers that so many were seeking.

Richard Rider has posed:
    The disruptions have not escaped the notice of the Worldmind and Nova Corps. So far however, investigations have come up empty. Somehow, the cause (or causes) of the problems always seem to be gone before the Nova Corps can arrive. It' s become enough of a problem for the Worldmind to call Richard to don the uniform of the Nova Corps and leave Earth for deep space. Knowhere is well known for both it's eclectic mingling of races as well as a place that information on almost anything can be found - for the right price.

    Just outside Knowhere's traffic patterns, a small hyperspace gate opens, disgorging a human sized object, which then moves on a beeline for one of the port's many airlocks. As the energy glow surrounding him dissapates, the iconic Nova Corps uniform can be plainly seen. He glides into the airlock, which then cycles and allows him access to the interior. However, the figure that steps out is in clothes that might fit a trader or middle to low class resident of Knowhere. Nobody here is likely to want to talk to a cop after all.

    Taking a quick look around, Richard heads towards a bar where information can often be found.

Peter Quill has posed:
Long lost son? That's him!

"Hi. Peter Quill, aka the Legendary Star-Lord? You might have head of me? No?" He's playing meet and greet as people arrive at the ship and basically chatting with anyone who will listen. "Yeah so I was telling that million-carat lady the other day, there's this place, a pit stop you could call it at Rylax 2. Good food. We were swinging by on our way here, only to find it... well, gone. Gone like Alderaan, if you get my meaning."

"Anyway, I don't know how you do things around here, but where I come from... well OK technically I come from here, but I mean, uh, out in space... when the cops can't help, and that's most of the time, you gotta improvise. Fortunately, I know a lot of 'Independents.'" Pirates. Bounty hunters. Smugglers. Space criminals of every sort.

"So I say, we head to Knowhere and start asking around. A lot of the refugees have come through there, so there's bound to be some news... As for Mr. Axe? No clue. But I know a guy who knows weapons bigtime." Some of the conversation may happen out on the deck as people arrive, but eventually, he makes it inside to start doing the preflight, checking with a (nongreen) not-quite raccoon in engineering over the comms.

He waits until everything is all clear before flying the Milano out of the Starport and, once they're clear of Earth, punching in a now more familiar Hyperspace sequence for their destination.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana had returned to the Atlantic Starport, and had been working closely to repair the image of the facility after more recent drama had unfolded upon its many floating platforms. The ocean-based starport had quite a history, even if it was still relatively short, but the crash landing of the Milano had made some waves, pun intended, all its own.

With repairs, assumedly almost complete, Wonder Woman arrived at the Milano's hangar, dressed in a all-covering cloak of deep blue, with golden trim. She had a regal air about her, with her hair tied back in a tightly braided ponytail, her tiara of golden edges, and silver details, gleamed against her forehead, as she approached the Milano.

She was here on account of a mission being run to take a team to the far reaches of the galaxy, and who better to have transport for such a mission, than the heralded 'Guardians' of said Galaxy?

Diana had approached, and attempted to contact the crew, to garner passage aboard their ship.

Donna Troy has posed:
    A short distance behind the green-striped raccoon is a regular-colored Amazon teammate striding with purpose. That purpose is mostly just the natural sense of purpose that Amazons are prone to go about most activities with, though just like Xio, Donna Troy is taking the death of so many Lanterns rather seriously. For the sake of the Kyle, for sure, but also she was there when the massacre was discovered and felt the need to know more.

    "Quill, you reprobate!" she calls out. "When are you guys going to visit the Earth *without* crashing into it?" It's a friendlier greeting than it might seem at first! She'd been on board the Milano, hitching a lift back to the Earth, when it almost crashed into the Eiffel Tower. And then into Titans Tower, where the Guardians had stayed for a few weeks as guests while the Milano underwent repairs.

    It's a little unfair on Quill. He'd been about the least reprobate of the Guardians during that visit. Rocket had declaimed an insulting poem and then swan-dived dramatically off the roof of Titans Tower during a party. Drax had heisted a delivery truck under the mistaken belief that this was how you managed to lay your hands on portable barbecuing equipment while on Earth. Quill had pretty much been the quiet one. The grin on Donna's face indicates that she's pleased to see the Guardians again really. The chaos had been kind of fun after all.

Mantis has posed:
Mantis waits at the top of the gangway to greet each of their new passengers as they board. She wears her usual martial-arts outfit, green with black trim, that leaves her shoulders exposed. Both of her hands come together at her midriff.

"Welcome to the Milano," she tells each of them as they board their ship, smiling uncomfortably like a flight attendant as they walk past. Mantis repeats her spiel with little variation, though Xiomara draws out a sympathetic look for some reason.

It's all pretty rote until Gar Logan boards.

Mantis' antennae extend at the sight of the green raccoon walking up the gangway. "Welcome to the Milano!" she exclaims as she shifts her weight to go find Rocket IMMEDIATELY. She doesn't leave her post, however, as her duty to welcome the passengers is in direct conflict with her excitement to introduce Rocket to his new best friend.

Life is cruel sometimes.

"Welcome to the Milano," Mantis continues glumly for the next person.

Norrin Radd has posed:
Knowhere is a unique location. It is not merely a meeting point in space, not simply a bustling port of call for space travelers everywhere, nor important neutral ground for countless alien species, criminal gangs, independent contractors, and other factions... although it IS all of those things too. But it is no small gesture to build your city in the head of a dead god.

In this fashion, the moon-sized station is also a testament to the history of the cosmos, tribute to an ancient titanic battle fought at the universe's founding. Truly, it is a crossroads for the universe, maybe even the multiverse, and in this fashion draws people with even more diverse interests. Explorers, researchers, cosmic wanderers- many find some cause to visit.

Fortunately, despite the uniqueness of its history and location, it is not difficult to reach for people 'in the know.' On Earth, that might be a rare quality, but for the crew of the Milano it is a fairly standard trip. They make good time, with whatever repairs Rocket and the Starport crews pulled together handling any remaining damage from the crash.

The realities of Hyperspace make the distances and timescales all fairly wobbly. Those on the Milano have enough time to make friends and exchange some stories and information on the mission and everything else going on. When they arrive, they find a hold-up that is much more significant than simple space travel times, however, and which also serves as immediate confirmation that their destination is not entirely off-base:

There's a line-up of ships waiting to dock. The traffic is clearly out of character for the station, as popular as it may be. Just like Earth, this place seems swamped with more visitors than it ever planned to handle.

This does make Richard's more human-scale method of transportation an advantage. So while the Milano crew is navigating customs, he finds one of several bars, attended by a six-armed, blue-skinned alien simultaneously polishing a few glasses with a towel and pouring the next beverage.

The Milano crew will eventually make it aboard as well, although even inside the crush of people and vessels is obvious. It's a hectic scene, and in that sense, as much opportunity as obstacle, given the variety of people involved: a damaged ship nearby at another berthing, or a huge transport at the next. As ever, the diversity of species goes well beyond what most Earth-bound humans have ever encountered.

Gar Logan has posed:
"Ey." The little green raccoon points a clawed finger at Mantis, winking. He's a little antsy about this trip but is mostly covering it up under what might be thought of as a superhero standard of bravado and dull hope that nothing will explode. And hunger. That might be the raccoon brain. "I like the antenna."

"Yo listen one of us is gonna have to change." The green raccoon says to the raccoon in pants pointing a gun at him.

A minute later a green and white skunk is walking into the main room, eating one of those wrapped fruit pies. (Cherry, Garfield hopes. 'Red' at least.). "Okay so we're going to a space bar to talk to a shady weapons dealer because a guy with an axe might've blown up a planet." Mantis might feel a twinge of horror under the inexplicably talking animal's blase expression. "I guess what I really want to know is who's got the movie rights tied up?"

They make it to Knowhere. Garfield has never been here before, but has seen at least one sci-fi movie and knows a shady alien bar when he sees it. More importantly, the Guardians have a better idea of where to go and who to talk to, which means Beast Boy can avoid running his mouth.

The skunk's nose twitches, his eyes narrow, and he takes a sniff at the air. Beast Boy gives Donna a significant look, and shifts into a tiny green mouse, skittering through the bar silently as he tries to follow the familiar scent of Tamaranian.

Peter Quill has posed:
"Hey I only hit the planet, not the building. That's pretty good."

Quill takes Donna's ribbing well, but his typical flamboyance comes to a noticable screeching halt when Diana asks for 'permission' to come aboard. The formality isn't that strange, and he's technically met her before, but she's just kind of... it definitely left him slack-jawed and speechless in the first instance, and that is a FEAT when it comes to this man. It's good that Mantis is handling some of the passenger relations, but once they have everyone on, he can't help but confide in a hush-hush tone to her at some opportune moment: "She is really... tall!"

---

However many hours, days, whatever that they make it to Knowhere, it again falls on Quill to handle the docking procedure. This includes the fact that there's a huge traffic jam. "Yeah this is pretty nuts. Uh. Put me on with the dockmaster would you- yeah. Hi. Hi there. Captain Quill of the Milano. You know me, we played cards a couple weeks back I think. Any chance uh, there's some kind of, you know, fast lane easypass kind of service for local VIPs?"

It only takes them a few hours more...

"So, I'm gonna try and find Tover," he declares, once they finally have docked and can start to disembark. "That's the name of the guy. He's... uh, not a nice person or a good person but he knows a whole lot about evetything from chainswords to war crimes in a box. Wouldn't surprise me if he's sold a doomsday device or two. I wouldn't mind a little backup, considering. Rest of you, I suggest Starlin's. Good place for a drink."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana had shown Mantis a very friendly expression, when first boarding the Milano. There-after, she'd greeted Quill, but not having the personal relationship with him that Donna had, Diana simply stood back and observed the interior of the ship itself. When they set out on their ride, she spent most of her time in the cockpit, to watch the stars as they passed by in the tunnel of hyperspace.

When they'd arrived, Diana had removed her deep blue cloak, and set it aside, revealing a golden armored suit worn beneath it. She held a Golden Eagle helmet, that matched the suit, and summarily attached it to her right hip, as she adjusted a set of Amazon javelin upon her back, where two golden wings were furled together, closed and surprisingly reduced in size when in this state of rest.

After they arrived at the very strange space station, the Princess stepped off the ship with the others, and raised her helmet up to place it upon her head, linking it in with her tiara that nestled snugly in to a fitted place.

"I like it," Diana had said, with a smile sent to her sister, and then to the others, after observing the general style of the space station.

As diverse and strange a place it is, it is no surprise that Wonder Woman enjoys it already... but of course, that may change with time and experience.

When Star-Lord spoke of going to find the individual, and needed backup, Diana stepped over toward him, her eyes scanning to the sides, before falling upon Peter, her height carrying her a couple inches over six feet in those golden armored thigh-high boots she was wearing. "I will accompany you then," she tells him, her voice laced with a Themysciran accent, and toned in a naturally sultury flavor.

"You seem to know this place well, is it safe?" She further asks the Captain, sending a glance toward Mantis there-too, since she may have insights of her own with regard to the station.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Thus far, Crush had only been to Xander, and only once. The people there had not seemed too rude or surprised to see a Czarnian that was still alive, and not Lobo. Something told her, from what she heard about Knowhere, that might change on the station.

She spent the trip bracing herself for what might happen there due to her genetics, preparing herself to keep calm and keep her temper in check, and chatting with anyone who spoke to her. She was getting better at not being rude and telling people to F off when trying to talk to her.

When the Milano arrived, she took a moment to look out the window at all the ships waiting to get inside. "Somethin tells me that ain't normal," she mutters, though really she had no clue at all about it. "Want me to jump out and go inside... oh wait, we're moving... never mind. Jus let me know though."

When they were through customs, it was Diana to whom she looked to lead and decide what they were going to be going. She was there to help in any way she could, but she was like a fish out of water on the station. She didn't know where anything was, who to talk to, or if her mere presence there was going to cause problems. If they did, she'd separate herself from the group so they could do what they were all there to do.

Donna Troy has posed:
    The sheer range of life forms in the crowded space that is Knowhere is almost dizzying even to one of those rare Earthers such as Donna who has spent enough time on various space shenanigans to have interacted with more varied species than she can count. She is at least familiar enough to be aware of the pitfalls such variety can offer the unwary - for example there's a species known as the Umberth who are very easy to mistake for a trashcan, at least the first time you meet one. Given how little they like being mistaken for trashcans it's a mistake few people make twice. Warnings had been made to those less familiar with space on the journey.

    One potential pitfall Donna can provide an easy solution to though -- Rannian menticizer technology will ensure that none of the Earth-based visitors will have problems understanding or being understood in the rich melange of alien tongues being spoken.

    Donna gives Diana a smile and a nod when she suggest accompanying Quill. "Assume it's not safe," she says, "Though also unlikely you'll meet anything you can't handle. Just remember *they* don't know that, though. Stay in contact and meet us at this Starlin's place. I'll try to keep the others out of trouble."

    Gar asking if the movie rights have been sold? Maybe he's looking for a part? The Green Titan has acted in a few sci-fis before and though resuming work with the Titans pretty much ended an acting career that mainly benefited from his ability to save on the special effects budget, perhaps he's in a mood for a change of pace. However when the Green One goes haring off on a mission she pays attention -- jokester he may be, but he also knows when it's necessary to take things seriously, and has a nose to pay attention to.

    That nose leads Gar to a cloaked, orange-skinned being who has a certain familiarity to those who have spent time with the Titans. However the cloak indicates someone doesn't really want to be spotted and may have reasons not to have their cover blown. Donna decides to address this concern by walking to the bar on a path that takes her close enough to the cloaked figure to mutter a greeting in the Tameranean language, without making eye contact. It's about all that Donna knows in that tongue, but enough that when spoken without the aid of translator technology should indicate to the mysterious figure that he has been spotted, but not in an unfriendly fashion. Never know what you might learn...

Mantis has posed:
With Mantis working on keeping the passengers comfortable, they would receive refreshments, a kind word, and perhaps even a joke told by someone who doesn't exactly understand what makes it funny in the first place.

Some interactions stick out, though.. Mantis' antennae perk up as Raccoon Gar compliments them. "Thank you," she replies. "...Is this a compliment? I enjoy it very much!" She even bursts into sudden laughter to celebrate the moment.

Mantis walks behind Diana down the Milano's ramp and perks up when she has that moment of the Themysciran's attention. "Of course it is safe! Peter would not bring someone as tall as you to somewhere that is not safe!" she answers, smiling awkwardly.

But is it safe?

Mantis' first step on Knowhere is an awkward one. She stumbles forward a little and presses the palm of her hand against her chest. Her antennae stick straight up as she rapidly looks around in all directions, trying to zero in on the source of these feelings she's picking up on. She can't get a bead on it.

"So much fear," she explains mournfully as she drops to one knee. "...So much desperation..."

---

A purple being with two eyes and two ears spread across two heads approaches. "Yo! Mantis! Hey, girl, it's me, Zorvax! Zorvax of Narlax!" he exclaims. "Hey, can you give me one of those quick knock-outs? I'm /DESPERATE/ for a good night's sleep... All the rooms are booked!"

Richard Rider has posed:
    Richard steps up to the bar and orders a drink, taking some time to just tune in to some of the conversations around him. Having a direct link to the Worldmind means alien languages might as well be English as it translates any conversation he listens to. He's not terribly likely to just overhear anything that will bring all the dispatate events into focus, but he is trying to get a general feel of how things are going. The overcrowding isn't surprising given the events the Worldmind briefed him on when calling him back to duty, but he's trying to get a handle on what the people in general are feeling, and what things are most important to them right now.

    Big things are made up of smaller things, so something as mundane as a food shortage could lead him to the reason people are leaving a planet. The issue right now is that a bunch of planets have different problems, but all of them are causing as many people as possible to set out in search of somewhere else to be. He hears about everything from civil wars to invasions of giant insects and even a supernova. None of it is that unusual on it's own, but all of this happening at the same time suggests that someone or something is manipulating events from the shadows.

    << Perhaps you should take a more active role in information gathering rather than just eavesdropping. >> echoes the Worldmind's voice in his head. << We've been through this before. Sometimes an offhand remark can lead to something big. And people notice when someone's interrogating them. >>

Norrin Radd has posed:
At the bar: The background chatter confirms, in broad terms, what is already known: a collection of seemingly disparate calamities, joined only in time. However, Knowhere is separated from Earth by great distances, and in some cosmic sense a 'central' point, so there is news that reaches here first. And there is definitely one theme that Richard will hear here that has not yet made it to Earth: that the most recent wave of calamities has an identity: of a brutal space tyrant not annihlating worlds, but conquering them.

As Mantis and Donna eventually arrive, they will be greeted alternately by the many-armed barkeep, who is called Ulix. It is a universal truth of the profession that one must be gregarious and chatty, a confidant to all. And he probably knows Mantis. "Sweet girl of my dreams, what are you having today? And who's your friend?"

Gar's investigation is perhaps the simplest. It is as universal as friendly bartenders that worlds everywhere have lesser (or at least smaller) creatures that scamper about, paid no mind by their larger counterparts. In such a bustle, there's no chance of anyone paying any mind and so his shadowing operation finds few obstacles. The cloaked Tamaranean is tracing some clearly off-the-beaten-path trail away from the main docks, and moves as if trying to avoid notice.

And there is clearly a reason for this, because he has failed: behind him, in the same crowds, a pair of larger, grey-skinned aliens seem to be shadowing him as Garfield shadows all of them.

Finally, there's Quill's expedition. It starts... normal. Tover maintains a shop, and Quill knows the way. But when they get there... no Tover. There is an assistant working there. And he's... less than helpful.

"Not today, Quill. Boss's got REAL business for REAL credits." But he's not ALL bad: "Oh, but you can tell Rocket that those X4's he was asking for came in."

Peter Quill has posed:
Since Diana asks, Quill gives her a glowing review of the fabulous port of Knowhere: "Safe is kind of a relative term. There is a main security force here, kind of an... alliance of some of the factions who've agreed that the best thing for business is peace. I think Cosmo ran it for a while. You'd like her, very good dog." Who doesn't like dogs?

"That's big picture peace. No blatant gang wars, open murder on the main promenade, that kind of thing. But small picture? It can be a rough place if you don't know how to handle yourself. And newcomers? Everyone looks at you as a mark." He pauses and looks at Diana and Xiomara. "Which is... probably fanrastically stupid in this case. Just saying."

The rejection by Tover's assistant earns a little sigh, when they get that far. "Listen, Beezle, I don't have time for the run around. This is important. Just tell me where to find him, and I'm sure I can make it worth his while." Surreptitiously, he glances back at his Amazonian squad. "Or maybe they can ask."

Gar Logan has posed:
The biggest problem about a form this small is not being stepped on. Beast Boy wouldn't dare a skittering insect in a bar this crowded, but a rodent has enough resistance that he'll have time to shift into a more durable form if the worst happens.

Well the worst is being left here but Gar's pretty sure his t-phone can make it back to earth. They have some crazy signal Cyborg hooked up during one of his creative fugue states. Beast Boy had stuck a bunch of fridge magnets to Vic's chassis while he worked it was hilarious.

A boot nearly crushes Mouse Gar (MOUSEGAR, Beast Boy thinks, BARBARIAN WARRIOR OF LORE!) and he gets in with the moment. That's the problem with a long time in a skittish shape, your mind wanders. Beast Boy gets a little closer to the mysterious cloaked man as he runs into a thinly populated part of the station.

What was he NOT going to follow? Come on.

Diana Prince has posed:
With Mantis being approached by that odd fellow, Diana's reaction and response were cut off for the woman with the antennae. Instead, she watched them for a few seconds, before Peter's response drew her eyes back toward him. She glanced toward Xiomara, and nodded toward her fellow Justice League member, before they walked together with Star-Lord through another path within the station. "Hopefully they do not have any troubles at the tavern," The Princess quietly stated, her golden helmet glinting across its edges as her eyes wandered the sights, and her ears took in the sounds, of this myriad of mayhem in motion.

Whilst they proceeded, and Peter offered more details, Diana glanced back in his direction. "You are a lucky man, Peter," she replied prior to entering the shop. "You have gotten to experience things, that many within the Human race would have given a lot for. This is a very interesting life, you have lived, thus far." She stated, showing a slight smile, before she motioned Xiomara to step in to the shop area ahead of her.

When she joined them, Tovar was already being indicated as not being here by the assistant, which earned a small expression of disappointment from Diana, who glanced to her companions. She felt her coiled-up lasso hanging at her right hip, golden rope against golden armor, but was it really appropriate to utilize such measures yet?

Instead, Diana's hands went up to her Eagle helmet, and she removed it with a smooth motion, before stepping toward the Assistant. With a glance toward Peter, Diana regarded the Assistant, and offered him a soft smile upon her ruby red lips. "We would be very grateful for your help with this matter, if you could but tell us how we can find Tover." She stated, perhaps playing up a bit of a ulterior method of earning a bit of truth, when it might be on a tongue that needs a little coaxing to get loosened.

It is possible her dark lashes were even fluttered a bit, but that bit of historical record may be lost to time.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Most who knew Crush, knew she was far more intelligent than she presented herself as. It was easier when dealing with people for them to assume they were interacting with a big dumb brute. This act was firmly in place as they moved toward Tovar's shop, and when Diana indicated she should go in first, that is exactly what she did.

Despite all the newness of this place in the universe, she was keeping her head on her shoulders and her attitude in place. She glanced around the shop then walked with Quill to be told by the assistant that Tovar wasn't there, was busy, and basically telling Quill to F-off.

One brow lifted quizzically before she looked from the assistant to Quill, then back to the assistant. Diana was speaking, she spoke far better than Crush ever could, but the Czarnian added politely, "We really do need ta speak ta Mister Tovar."

Donna Troy has posed:
    A T-Com won't reach back to Earth, but it will reach Donna if Gar needs backup. She trusts him to handle himself, but that doesn't mean she isn't paying very close attention for an emergency alert in case he runs into trouble. There is always the option to fly over the heads off the crowd if she needs to get to him in a hurry, though it might attract a bit of attention!

    Donna saves Mantis the trouble of introductions by introducing herself to the barkeeper. "Troia," she says with a smile. "From Earth. Loving the atmosphere here. I can see this is going to be my bar of choice for future visits to Knowhere, this place has Mantlo's beat hands down." Donna has never been into Mantlo's but she noticed a rival bar just across the way from Starlin's, and figures it's something he'll like to hear. "You got Aakonian ale?" A premium beverage that costs a few creds more than the run of the mill booze, another thing Ulix is like to hear.

    Donna leans casually on the bar and gives Mantis a quick wink before turning back to Ulix. "So crowded here today. Guessing Knowhere's been getting a lot of extra traffic lately, what with all the disruptions that seem to be happening all over. Gods, I've heard a million rumors these last few weeks, but nobody seems to really have any solid info. Or rather everyone has a different story. Even the Lanterns have been running around like their asses are on fire. I hear they took a pretty bad hit a few weeks back."

Richard Rider has posed:
    Rich catches Ulix's greeting and glances over to see exactly who the girl he's talking about is. He's somewhat surprised to spot Troia here in Knowhere. He's never met her, but has seen her on the news when the Titans were out and about smiting evil and the like. He takes about two seconds to calculate the likelihood that she's come all the way here from Earth for a reason other than investigating the same disruptions he is. It's a number very close to zero, so he starts to move through the crowd in her direction. It takes a little while with the bar as crowded as it is, but before long he's within a couple feet of her and Mantis. There's no real surge of emotion for the empath to pick up on beyond a bit of background curiosity.

    He says quietly "Troia, isn't it? My name is Richard Rider and I'd like a moment of your time. We may be able to help each other, as I think it's likely that we're here for the same reason." Donna would see a man in fairly nondescript clothing, but in good shape and a posture that suggests confidence. He takes a moment to subtly redirect the path of a somewhat drunken alien who was trying to get to Troia and Mantis, probably to hit on one or both of them. Other than that, he awaits her answer.

Mantis has posed:
Mantis looks up from her private moment of experiencing the shared emotions of the Knowhere diaspora. The two-headed alien from Narlax just looking for some sleep inspires a moment of Mantis' sudden temper. "Not now, Zorvax!" she exclaims. Mantis stands and gives Zorvax a gentle shove into a little collection of cargo containers. Despite her refusal, Zorvax lies against the crates with a big smile on his face, fast asleep.

----

Mantis' arrival at the bar inspires a few patrons to acknowledge her, some even calling her name out as they spot a familiar face. It's a bit like Space Cheers and Mantis is Norm.

"Ulix!" Mantis greets, both antennae perking up as she recognizes the friendly bartender. She leans in to bring Donna up to speed.

"This is Ulix," she whispers. That's about it.

"We will have drinks!" Mantis announces with a big smile. "I've had them before." She looks around to see if anyone's impressed by this.

Donna's immediate shift to asking Ulix for information is enough to focus Mantis' attention on the task at hand. After a moment of watching all six of Ulix's arms flail about working on this and that, Mantis leans across the bar and places her hand on the nearest forearm belonging to the bartender. "You feel ... much desire... to tell Troia everything she asks..." Mantis commands as her antennae glow. "....And also you want to bring us some Zargnuts..."

Rich's arrival inspires a smile from Mantis before she leans back from the bar and lets him talk with Donna. Mantis' time in the foreground is at an end for now.

Norrin Radd has posed:
"Earth? You know, I think I've heard of it. Never been. But we get all kinds come through here. Anyway, that's coming right up!" Ulix, with his many arms, is very quick with his work, rotating glasses between shelves and taps and washing stations as needed, interacting with both the customer-facing bar and the shelves behind simultaneously. It's very efficient!

The excess of hands does make Mantis' maneuver a little easier; he can work in a lot of directions at once, but lacking 360-degree vision, much of it is by muscle memory.

When he turns back to Donna (and soon Donna and Richard) with her drink, he's already very chatty. "Oh, you know, it's a hundred different stories. Used to be I thought it was just chance, it's a big universe and there's bound to be an incident every now-and-then, if you take it all in. And some of it's just ripples. So and so loses their planet, so they take someone else's. Hard to say it's not just the way the universe works, even if it seems like an awful lot. But..."

And here, he pauses to look around. "The only thing that stands out to me, is we got a bunch of people in from one system in particular, recently. They got a very particular story: some guy shows up, declares their worlds are doomed, but that they can... save them by giving him loyalty instead. Warlord Tyrant or something, I think they call him? That's redundant, ain't it? But something like that."

One of the six arms puts down a glass, retrieves a bowl of nuts from under the counter, and puts it on the bartop without seemingly thinking about it!

Beezle is a fairly simple stooge. He's clearly not too intimidated by Quill. They have history enough, and let's just say that his reptuation, grand as it is, isn't as scary as Tover. But his pair of companions are a different story. They're both, well, impressive, in their own distinct ways. Good cop, bad cop is a thing, or even 'really nice cop' 'polite but simmeringly deadly cop'.

And... he isn't paid enough to try and sort out this mess. Smiling at Diana while simultaneously giving Quill the stink eye and somehow maneuvering to be standing as far away from Xiomara as possible, he just tries to get rid of them. "He's got a buy down in Bay 12. Your funeral if you wanna interrupt, so I'd just wait outside if you want to talk."

With Gar: Eventually, the crowds thin out a bit, making things a bit less treacherous for Gar. Maybe easier to be seen, as well, but... a green mouse in space? Who would really look twice. However, the loss of cover does quickly make the scenario unfolding a little more obvious to those involved. The Tamaranean walks faster, and eventually, takes a sharp and abrupt turn through a bulkhead hatch, trying to lose the two brutes tailing him.

It seems to work, as they continue on past the intersection. There he re-emerges, and then starts ahead more cautiously...

This is where two of the plotlines link up!

Following the lead from Beezle, Quill and the Large Women can make their own expedition through the more 'off the path' parts of the station, ending up at Bay 12, wherever that happens to be. It is, as advertised, a spacious cargo bay with its own private space access. That fact alone suggests connections: if you were landing a ship here, you could skip those lines outside.

In the center of the large space, a large, bald, orange-skinned and vaguely shark-toothed alien stands with several armed bodyguards behind him. The framing ot the scene (including several open crates with all kinds of weapons behind them) suggests that this is Tover, which Quill can confirm at his leisure.

But who are they waiting for, for this deal?

The Tamaranean walks out into the bay. "Are you Tover?" That also probably confirms it. "I've brought what we agreed..." He wasn't carrying anything large or conspicuous, that Gar had noticed, but now removes a small cylinder from inside his cloak.

He starts to cross the open space, when the two thugs from earlier emerge behind him. He hasn't seen them, but Tover clearly has... and doesn't warn him.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
The board in the bay was set up for the game, likely all orchestrated by Tovar himself. It was an obvious trap set for the Tamaranean, one that Crush is /not/ happy about. It didn't matter what planet you were on, or what culture you were a part of... an ambush was really just not cool.

She probably should have waited to see what Diana and Quill were going to do (she had no idea Gar was there), but she just couldn't do it. All her time with the Titans and the Justice League had breathed 'mostly do-gooder' into her lungs. That guy didn't stand a chance alone, and so he wouldn't be alone.

"Whoa! Those guys back there are almost scary!" She calls out, even as she was using her powerful legs to jump the distance between where they had entered and a position behind the Tamaranean.

"Really not cool strikin from behind dude," she tsks at the big aliens as she plants her feet to ensure she is between them and their target. "Why not pick on someone more ya own size? We'll see who's walkin when we're all done."

Gar Logan has posed:
There's something to be said for the nonsense Raven goes on about, cycles of the universe and everything ending up where it started because the end is the beginning is the end.

Wait, Garfield thinks, that's Smashing Pumpkins. Okay okay so this dude is making a shady deal, even for this place. Garfield sniffs the air, half worried he'd pick up Blackfire's perfume on the Tamaranian. You never know which one of these poor suckers is working for that hot mess. Still.

The numbers aren't exactly cricket. What's more two are coming from behind, pretty clearly with ill intent. Beast Boy supposes he could sit back and see who the good guys and the bad guys are, but Crush is there and absolutely going to start a fight anyay.

There's a brief meaty noise like someone's whole body just sneezed and for a heartbeat there's a young man, for a given value of man with green fuzz and lean animalistic limbs and the barest hint of a tail, before that green thing turns into something else. Something horribly large: one of the largest snakes on earth, actually, which procedes to wrap itself around one of the shadowy thugs coming after the shady Tamaranian and squeezes. Not enough to break the poor alien's ribs or anything, Beast Boy hopes, but just enough to make a point and scare the hell out of him.

"Oh no!" The snake then talks at the other guy, "It's one of those Earthling squeezing snakes! Is this one of the venomous ones! I can never remember!" Beast Bonaconda says, fangs exposed. "Maybe I should just back off and rethink my life of petty space crime!"

Peter Quill has posed:
"Well this is obviously a double cross." Quill is not the smartest man in the universe, but he DOES kind of know this stuff. Or maybe it's just that obvious. "Alright, follow my lead." No plan is the best plan.

With a flare of the ROCKET BOOTS, Quill launches from whatever position they've come in at to sail down and land at the center of the whole thing, or well, closer to Tover. "Tover! Hey how's it going buddy? Doing a sale? Helping a little light genocide? Wow, look at those, Rocket would go nuts for some of this stuff..."

He makes himself as big and obnoxious of a target as possible, all nice and up-close and friendly.

He doesn't shoot first, but he's 100% ready for the quick-draw when things inevitably go sideways. Oh, and uh, snake. So that probably counts. He draws, and starts shooting. Admittedly, he uses the 'electro zap' function on the quad blasters, avoiding straight-up murder, on the say... 1% chance they've misread the situation and this is a surprise birthday party. It does happen.

Diana Prince has posed:
The shop assistant had gotten another smile from Diana, when he relented a bit of information for them. On their way toward the fancy pants hangar, Diana had discussed some ideas for how they would proceed, and prepare for a possible ambush, since that is what it felt like they were certainly being setup for, and when they reached the hangar entrance, Diana had volunteered to stay back to guard the way in while Peter and Xio checked for Tover. Diana's hearing was good enough to let her know if things went south inside, thus she stood watch outside...

Not long after the other two in her party had gone inside the hangar, did a young girl maybe Earthen 6 years of age, approached Wonder Woman in her shining metal armor. The little girl, with dark green hair, and purple skin, smiled up at the Themysciran Princess. "I like your armor." The child said, her voice squeaky and sweet.

Naturally, Diana knelt beside the girl, a warm expression befalling the Princess' face, as she met the little one's eye contact. "Why thank you," Diana responded to her.

"Where are you from?" The girl asked Wonder Woman.

"Oh, a very far away place. A place called Earth."

"Earth? Isn't that another word for 'dirt'?" the child asked, which got a small laugh from Diana, who initially responded by softly nodding her head several small times. "Yes, it is, I suppose. But there is more to it than simply that."

The child let out a little giggle, as she raised up a small toy that was holographic in nature, something like a squeezable teddy bear, but it was glowing, and clearly holographic in nature. "Wanna hold my Beddy Friend?" The young one asked the Amazon.

Over Diana's shoulder, she heard what sounded like fighting break out, and with a concerned look falling across Diana's features, she knew she had to get inside.

"Come on, these are all the rage. He will be your friend too." The child says in an innocent tone of a high pitched voice to Wonder Woman.

Diana looked back to the girl, holding her holographic buddy out to be held, and with a small smile touching Diana's red lips, she put one armored knee down upon the ground, and reached out to take the toy with her left hand.

A second later, and her right snapped out, curled up in a fist, and slammed right in to the little girl's face!

The tiny 6 year old child went flying backward across the hallway and in to a pair of crates! As Diana rose up, staring at the child, she smirked, and stomped a boot forward to kick the holographic toy across the floor, where it suddenly exploded in a haze of electricity!

the little girl's body shimmered from the burst of electricity, and the holographic 'shell' around her fell, the illusion gone, revealing the child to in-fact be one of Tover's thugs.

Pulling her javelin from her back, Diana stared at the unconscious thug, before she turned to rush in to the hangar to backup the others in her party!

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Warlord Tyrant huh? Sounds like the kind of title people pick for themselves if they were bullied in school and suddenly find themselves in a position of power," Donna replies to Ulix with a cynical grin. Anyone casually joking about it can't be seriously interested, right? Just making conversation while the drinks are being fixed. "What system's that then?" Super casual. Just shootin' the breeze.

    If Donna is surprised to be addressed by name, she does not show it. She did just introduce herself to the barkeeper after all. It's perfectly feasibly, if not likely, that Rider simply overheard and thinks a human might be an easy mark. If he turns out to be a con artist, no problem. Donna's able to tell when people to lie to her, which while a whole lot less potent that Diana's Lasso that can force people to tell the truth, does make her a bit of a nightmare for con artists. On the other hand, the guy may be on the level. She does hang out with Lanterns and Kryptonians, and there are relatively few people who have been known to fly around in space without a spacesuit and lasso spaceships. Or stab them with swords. Bad news like that does tend to get around.

    She gives Richard and nod and takes a seat at the bar, gesturing to him to take the one next to him. "Another for my friend here," she tells Ulix. A plenitude of needy aliens showing up at the space port lately has meant that creds are not a problem, and on a mission like this you want to make sure you take enough to buy lubricating drinks for people who might have useful information, or pay the odd bribe.

    Donna gives Mantis a quick smile and nod of thanks for her help in greasing the wheels with Ulix before turning her attention to Richard. "Very human-sounding name, that. Another Earther?" she asks, raising one eyebrow slightly, but keeping up the casual patter. You can never tell by appearances, there are just so many aliens who are indistinguishable from Humans at a glance, but traditional Norman names tend to be more of a giveaway. It's still pretty unusual to bump into another Earther out amongst the stars, but becoming less so lately. "Sure, I've got a bit of time. I'm mostly here for the Aakonian ale, hard to get back home. But sure, we might have some interests in common. What are you thinking?"

Mantis has posed:
The polite thing to do would have been to let Troia and Ulix do some back-and-forth and Ulix woudl reveal more and more as the exchange progresses, but there's no time for that and it's just easier for Mantis to just tell Ulix he wants to be helpful right from the start.

Not party to the discussion between Troia and Rich, Mantis keeps herself busy by stuffing handfuls of Zargnuts into little plastic baggies she had hidden in her pockets.

Soon...

In Knowhere's old bar,
Where the grog flows far,
We raise a toast to wilder days,
Among the stars, we sing our song,
In Knowwhere's dance, where we belong!

An unimportant motley crew of spacers finishes up their latest drunken bar song and it's immediately followed by the echo of Mantis' laughter. By the end of the song, Mantis has joined their revelry and found a seat at their table.

"And then he crashed it into their ocean!" Mantis shouts, inspiring the group's laughter to resonate with her own. She cackles happily.

Richard Rider has posed:
    Richard takes the indicated seat, then nods at Donna's question. "New York, actually. I've been away for quite some time, just recently got back and then things started going wrong out here so back to space it is. I'm fairly sure you understand that sort of thing. When the call comes, you've got to drop what you're doing and deal with the situation." He lowers his voice and continues, "Perhaps you've head of Xandar and the Nova Corps? I'm trying to find out if all the problems different planets have been having are related. Not to mention the debacle the Lantern Corps got into a couple months ago."

    Returning to a conversational level, he says "Thanks, you really can't get this stuff back at home" and takes a drink of his ale. "Much appreciated." He glances over at Ulix then says "Hadn't heard of this Warlord Tyrant before. It is kind of a strange name, you usually get something like Warlord Zargothrax or something. Sounds like a guy to avoid, happen to have any idea where those guys came from? Want to make sure I don't travel in that direction."

    Ok, so getting the info by claiming you want no part of it is a bit simplistic, but it's amazing how often it can pay off. Especially with bartenders hoping for a good tip.

Norrin Radd has posed:
"Quill, you idiot, I'm in the middle of something, what are you-" The bluff works about that long. It doesn't need to work a whole lot longer, if the intention is only brief distraction before all-out violence. And while Xiomara leaping as easily as the rocket boots rocket might not count as an attack, the appearance of the serpentine Beast Boy definitely does.

From stealth, those two never see it coming, and one is in Gar's coils before he even knows what's happening. The other spins, producing a sort of telescoping staff-weapon that quickly sparks and crackles with electric energy. A sort of stun-prod, popular among slavers and their ilk... especially of one particular variety. Unfortunately, this species is rather... dimly single-minded, making them well suited to goon-work and slow on the uptake when it comes to complex intimidation. So he just thrusts with the zappy-stick instead. It carries quite a wallop, designed for controlling some powerful alien species. But the whole snake?

Quill gets a blaster up, even as one of the bodyguards surges forward, yanking Tover back a step. Whether these guy's are really loyal enough to take a shot for their boss or it's just coincidental, that's nonetheless what happens. However, the other immediately hoists some kind of big space murder cannon and begins firing rather indiscriminately with it, first in Quill's direction but then arbitrarily as more targets appear. Tover himself takes cover behind one of the crates.

At the Bar:

It's not clear if Mantis' powers were necessary in the first place, Ulix might just be a very helpful guy. But, well, now he's a SUPER helpful guy. The answers keep coming, including the one Donna wants most: "Uh, Vega, I think it's called?" He shakes his head. "BIG system, lots of inhabited planets. But kind of a lousy place, far as I've ever heard. Spider Guild, Citadel, you name it."% Some of this may now be familiar vocabulary. "Place has such a bad reputation the Green Lanterns and Nova Corps gave up jurisdiction. It's basically lawless space."

Back in the Bay:

Amidst the chaos, the Tamaranean has rolled and regained his footing. Their people, though famous mostly as peace-loving hedonists, do have another side to them. Not all can do what Starfire can, but nearly all can fight. In something of an strange cultural echo to the thug fighting Gar, he too produces a kind of telescopic lance, albeit without the shock function... and with a blade in its place. Spotting the one threatening Gar, he leaps to block a follow-up thrust with the stun stick... and then ripostes, putting the blade in it's throat.

Evidently this guy's on a different page than Quill about birthday parties.

The kissing thing is one way, but maybe some of the Titans have learned the language even without their translators? Who knows. Even without, the tone is universal: "Slaver scum."

Tover's thugs fall fast - maybe there's one left shooting, but for how long. No, he can do the math here, so the orange man goes for one of the boxes. "I push this and it takes out the whole bay - maybe part of the damn thing's skull!"

Back in the Bar:

Ulix looks at Rich, shrugging with four out of six of his arms. "It was something like that. Tyrant. Tamer. Ty-tan? Is that even a word? The Warlord thing, that's a title though, isn't it? That they use over there. The Okaarans." Being a bartender at the center of the universe requires being well-informed!

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Well that escalated quickly, not that Crush minded. The Tamaranean could take care of himself, and even helped Gar out, which was very considerate of him all things considered.

There wasn't much thought required for her next move however, as Gar was safe and the Tamaranean was alright, she turned and with a powerful leap, jumped herself into the thug with the gun in a flying tackle move.

"For fooks sake dude!" she snorted as she wrestled to pin him to the ground. "You coulda shot someone with that thing! Even ya own guys, not cool at all!"

It was then that the threat was issued, and Crush put two and two together and got bomb. "Hey dude... you really don' wanna do that. You'll piss off my dad," she states, then flashes her red eyes with Lobo's crooked smile at the guy. "Ya really don' wanna piss off my dad."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana had rushed at a full tilt run through the hangar entrance hallway, before she passed through the lit-up doorframe, leaving behind that crumpled form of the would-be well equipped asassin that fell to Diana's keen senses of deception.

When she skids to a halt, upon her golden armored boots, she spies the situation within. One gunner still gunning, many others already taken out... a giant green snake? And an orange skinned fellow, threatening with a device in-hand.

At Diana's side, the lasso of Hestia snaps to life, glowing with a brilliant heavenly shine, as she pulls it from her hip, twirling her javelin around behind her back, causing its shaft to 'woosh' through the air around her, as she clutches it within her left hand now, whilst her right sweeps the lasso up in the air above her head!

The Amazon twirls the divine twine so quickly that it mirrors the rotar blades of a helicopter, before she lashes out with its looped end. The lasso snatches the arm of the man holding the device, Tover it would seem, and with an unyielding strength of the Gods' that Diana hails from, the Princess tugs him toward her!

With the lightning speed of her reflexes, the Princess of Themyscira drags the man toward her place within the mouth of the hangar's entrance, pulling him so hard that his shoulder is likely torn from its socket. She drags him right over to her place upon the hangar floor, where she is quick to drop both the spear tip of her Amazonian javelin to his throat, along with her armored boot to his chest.

"You are submitting to me now," Diana ordered him, a voice of stern cold edge. "And you shall answer all of our questions..."

Which really, he has no choice that the glowing lasso is wrapped solidly about his likely injured arm.

Gar Logan has posed:
The other alien does not rethink his life of petty space crime. Beast Boy is zapped, too awkward to slither out of the way in time, and while it's not enough to knock out the large anaconda form it is enough to force Beast Boy out of his lock around the first thug. He shifts back into his base human-like form to the immediate left of his guy, panting, eyes a little wide.

All Garfield can think of is a cage too small for him to turn back into a human and the awful stink of the poacher's breath. Beast Boy's fingers narrow and lengthen at the base, and broaden at the tip, growing room for a set of claws that pop out of his fingers.

"What you don't know." They're gone as Beast Boy settles into a crouch, watching Crush and Wonder Woman finish off the threat. "Is that her dad's Superman. Can't you see the resemblance?"

Peter Quill has posed:
Quill twirls with his blaster ready to gun down the mad gunman... nope, Xio's got that one.

With equally lightning reflexes, he spins back toward Gar and the pair of slaver stooge guys. Nope. Stabbed and snaked. "Oh, wow, gruesome, ok..."

Then Tover pulls his dead man's gambit, and this time, Peter is ready to stop him with a moment of gunslinger perfection... "Oh. Oh, you've got it. Great. Good work team, just like I planned!" He does a perfect paired spin of the blasters on his fingers and thrusts them down into their respective holsters. "Team work makes the dream work, that's what I always say." He claps his hands together, and starts across the floor to where the Very Tall Princess has her captive held ready for questioning.

"Oooh ooh. Lemme ask one. Who was your first crush?"

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna has indeed heard of Nova Corps before, though never actually met one. Basically like the Green Lantern corps but neither quite so as powerful nor morally dubious is the impression she has. "More than a debacle I'd say," she replies. "Someone or something made quite a mess of them." Enough to indicate she knows more than she's saying, but she's not admitting to actually having been there quite yet.

    Donna eyes Mantis, checking up that she's not getting herself into any trouble. The drunken singing is fine, and Mantis is probably good for soothing the savage breast of any troublesome drunks. Everyone's laughing, so probably everything's fine. "Vega huh?" Donna says, resting her elbows on the bar. "Heard of it. Basically no-go territory. Pretty much quarantined space isn't it?"

    Still all very casual. Donna's not revealing the fact that she knows more about Vega than that. The Vega system is, after all, where the Tamaraneans come from. The fact that Gar is off trailing a Tamaranean right now becomes even more interesting. She's even /more/ careful not to react to the latest thing from Ulix's mouth though. Ty-tan? That's a red flag for Donna for two major reasons. If he's not sure about it though it makes no sense to press him and seem particularly interested.

Richard Rider has posed:
    Richard winces slightly when Ulix sounds out 'Titan', muttering quietly 'Not him again" to himself. "Yeah, I think you're right, sounds kind of Okaaran. Well, good to know one direction not to go in." He turns back to Donna and adds, "He's right, Vega is just about a lost cause. Everyone knows that if you go there, you're not going to find anyone to bail you out if you get in trouble. And you pretty much always get in trouble there."

    He nods to Donna's summary of the Lantern Corps situation, "Exactly. Going to be a bit before they recover from that. In the meantime, we all just get to wonder what could be powerful enough to do that. Added to everything else space is becoming a lot more threatening right now." He notices Donna keeping an eye on her friend, looks the crowd over and says, "She should be ok. Those guys usually don't cause too much trouble."

    He sends a thought to the Worldmind << Give me a briefing on the current state of the Vega system. Oh, and do we know where Thanos has ended up at the moment? >>

Norrin Radd has posed:
The one Gar was holding doesn't really pose much of a threat. On top of getting the wind crushed out of him, you can't electro-zap a grapple without getting everyone. So as the snake coils melt away, he drops like a sack of ugly potatoes to the cargo bay deck. If anything, it may be his salvation: the Tamaranean is mid-whirl, ready to continue the fight, but pauses and doesn't move to finish off the foe already on the ground.

Some code of warrior honor, perhaps.

Other than his ownership of a large gun, the other is no real threat for Xiomara, generic 'alien goon' strength nothing to match Czarnian. But it's not just that, it's her threat, which briefly catches Tover's attention. Lobo may really be a one (or two) of a kind individual, but he has a face that's hard to forget, and is widely involved in criminal activity the galaxy over. There's are exactly the kind of guys who might know him, or at least, would know his reputation. And there's definitely family resemblance. "There's no way you're-"

The distraction may not be necessary, but there's no such thing as 'too safe' when you're trying to stop a guy from nuking a chunk out of a space god skull that you happen to be currently residing in. Just a moment of his eye off the prize and suddenly, he's bound in gold.

"Her name was Glorsha, daughter of my rival clan's boss. And she had the most beautiful set of..."

It's no doubt a touching story, a veritable Romeo and Juliet in space. But there are more pertinent things to ask, and with no choice but to answer, Tover gives them all he knows.

Which turns out to be nothing, in terms of the grander scheme of universal refugee crises. Tover knows guns, and bombs, and horrible weapons of dismemberment. And in the fashion of all arms dealers, his involvement in the Vega sytem is to make money from both sides. "Oh they're consistent, long-term business, -always- fighting." Indeed, he's long supplied the Citadel, represented by the pair of gray-skinned, non-bodyguard goons, but also occasionally Tamaranean rebels too, or other factions. Greed knows no side. But he knows greed. And they have names now.

"Tyros," he corrects, whatever version they give him. "Or 'Warlord' Tyros, to be fancy. Or Tyros the Tyrant." Back to the pile of names. "He's Okaaran trained... maybe local stock, that I couldn't say. They cross-bred quite a bit, Psion genetics programs, all kinds of things. Big mean bastard, trained to cut a boulder in two with that axe of his. We go back a while. Always knew the bastard would be big time, one day." And here, Tover displays his shark-like teeth in a wide grin. "And now he is. Set himself up as some kind of ruler there, over the whole system, or so I hear. But funny thing..."

"... not too long ago he comes to me, and says, of all things, that he -lost- his axe, and he wants me to make him a new one. How does that figure? Anyway, all of this- it's just helping. We've got good business, including sending back escapees."

Which leaves them to their newly-saved friend, once they've all reunited. "My name is Karras. If you know my people-" As perhaps they've given some sign, by now. "-then I implore you, we need your help. I have a message for the 2nd Princess Koriand'r. The lives of all our people hang in the balance."