<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#00ff00">(Miren Baines post) </span><br/><br/>The mess hall.<br/><br/>To call it that in plain terms would have been a wrong description because it should have been called a dining facility. There were numerous island bars staged in a serving line design with advanced cooking stations behind fiber glass barriers where holographic menus could be seen and orders placed through word of mouth or automatic selection. The choices ranged from the simple to the more avant grad of which access was granted by which tier of personnel you happens to be and in Nora’s case, she has access to everything. You had earthbound entries to include steamed lobster, fried or boiled shrimp, sword fish steaks, baked lemon trout, shellfish and other sea life to more traditional selections such as steak, chicken entrées, and an array of salad, vegetable, and healthier based choices. The islands towards the back of the faculty were your greasy junk food options such as fried fish fillet sandwiches, 21st century hotdogs, hamburgers, and any other kind of heart attack on a plate anyone would desire.<br/><br/>On the surface it was a getaway for those support crews and staff operating Prentiss Towers though despite the choice filled accommodations, the polished grey metal flooring was there to remind you of where exactly you resided in --- a security facility smack in the middle of a galactic pirate cove where the psychopaths and filth were a door knock away. The surrounding faculty was an open windowed affair that gave diners a 360 degree view so they could lounge and watch the many freighters, Security cruisers, pirate ships, and other vessels dock into the station to promote their dark trade. There was already a good crowd of maintenance, Support staff, and security personnel using the place with a chorus of conversation, clinking utensils clashing upon plates, and the occasional outburst of laughter or arguments from those busily chowing away.<br/><br/>In a far corner locked in a serious clash of strength and will was non other than Dallas who had taken his shirt off but still wore his fedora while he had locked his cybernetic arm in a wrestling match with someone of the same build, physic, and like-cybernetic arm implant. Dallas was glazed in sweat with a sense of focus as his arm was slowly tilting towards defeat before he regained the upper hand and pushed back against an equally struggling and fighting opponent. The man’s name was Desmond Ryder and he was the chief of the security forces for Prentis Towers, towering at 6”5, Desmond was just as big as Dallas and wore a muscle shirt that barely covered his broad physic and tattoo art that adorned his muscular chest. Desmond was bronze skinned with a tribal tattoo that was stylishly placed upon the right side of his face with brown eyes and a perfect faded high and tight. Desmond was a prior Space Marine Corps ( SMC ) Colonel before his team was considered rouge when he had decided to not follow orders from his high command and thus began his life as a military renegade.<br/><br/><br/>Desmond Ryder’s arm bent forward as he repositioned his elbow for a better support as he gritted his own teeth and let out a gasping laugh.<br/><br/>“What’s so funny you roid souped mall cop?” Dallas asked in a inciteful tone, “Having trouble over there --- maybe it was the meatball sub you ate while watching galactic TV re-runs?”<br/><br/>“None at all my ginger headed prick hired muscle,” Desmond replied, “ I was laughing because it would seem that all that pussy chasing has gotten you weak --- you need to stop trying to impress the ladies with your left handed jujitsu and spend more time in the gym --- you know --- like a certain new tech we just got in our league of evil men and outcasts?”<br/><br/>“Who --- Bristles?” Dallas asked as he grunted and pushed Desmond’s arm towards his side, “ Why that woman think’s I’m the greatest piece of masculine girth she had ever seen --- it was fireworks the first day we met,”<br/><br/>“Did you do the drill test again?” Desmond asked, “That is always one of your favorites”<br/><br/>“Sure did ---,” Dallas struggled to reply as his arm was once again being leaned towards the table, “Don’t knock her though --- she’s a pretty good aim. She certainly held herself together during the trip back --- she even saw my mighty meat stick when one of the slaves went batshit on me,”<br/><br/>“Geahhh… almost…” Desmond said with a grin as he pushed harder against Dallas’s arm, “She probably laughed and asked what did you think you were going to get accomplished with ole’ slim jim?”<br/><br/>“Fuck you ---,” Dallas said as he pushed harder himself, “You won’t be laughing when I win this and I get to fuck your side-kick in crime,”<br/><br/>“She isn’t mind to give or keep,” Desmond said with another laugh, “ Natasha is her own woman --- could probably kill us both given the chance and the right moment,”<br/><br/>With that Desmond had placed enough energy in him for a final push which sent Dallas’s arm flat to the table, putting a dent in it due to the cybernetic strength.<br/><br/>“Boom baby!,” Desmond said with a shit-eating grin, “ 1000.00 credits and a shit talking license for a whole week at the most!”<br/><br/>“Well shit --- ,” Dallas said with an air of disappointment, “ Fair and square mall cop --- 1,000.00 credits it is,”<br/><br/>“Don’t worry Dallas,” Desmond said as he scooped up the won credits and put it in his pocket, “ You’ll still be able to afford your whores, fuck robots, and subspace streamed porn. Everything will be ok,”<br/><br/>“I’d much rather put your blonde bombshell on her back ---,”<br/><br/>Just then a carbon steel combat knife was driven through the table though Dallas only looked at the sharpened blade with a smile.<br/><br/>“Speaking of which --- here is the death princess now!”<br/><br/><br/><br/>The tall blonde had indeed showed up in her green fatigues with her sleeves professionally rolled up as her hair was tucked in tightly within a red beret. The fatigues themselves had crisp ironed lines well placed into her uniform and her combat boots had a mirror polish on them with a metal tip at the edge. The woman's name was Captain Natasha Koslov who was just about the same size as Nora yet most likely a bit more built due to her training. Natasha had green eyes and a slight visible scar that was seen from the bottom slope of her right cheek to her neck but other than that, she could have been a model if she chose to. It was a story of looks that could be deceiving for she was fluent in many forms of hand to hand combat and could use any bladed or projectile weapon with ease.<br/><br/>“ Quite frankly,” she said while looking at the two massive men at the table, “ I would rather rip both your cocks from your sacks, have them embalmed and used as cheap sex toys when I got lonely during a long deployment --- and while fucking myself with them, be quite happy that I finally found a use for you two and the great pain it had occurred for that moment to get there,”<br/><br/>“ Ohhhh damn..,” Dallas said with a bit of a snug grin, “ Well at least I’d have your hand on my cock in some form or fashion --- as the saying goes --- becarefull what you wish for --- it just may happen…just not the way you thought it was going to be,”<br/><br/>“Well I’d rather keep this one attached so --- not even within 12 feet of what he has to say,” Desmond said as he unraveled a dry T-shirt to wear.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Just then the trio had noticed Nora had already been in the dining facility for quite a moment.<br/><br/>“Ohhh – Bristles is here,” Dallas said<br/><br/>“So I see…,” said Desmond as he looked towards her.<br/><br/><i>“At least Prentiss knows how to select the cute ones…,” Natasha commented as she also looked towards Nora.</i>