There were nearly two-dozen people in Block 005 on the Hunter Ship Titania, flying alongside the main ship of Pioneer 2, coming out of hyperspace in the orbit of a blue planet. The ceiling was high and the room was circular, with the look of a club/restaurant. The middle of the room was unusually devoid of furniture, allowing people to stand around, mingle, and dance. Around the rim of half the room, there were rounded seats and tables and booths. The other half had a small stage, currently occupied by a band of four women playing a soft song. All four had fiery red hair, golden eyes, and tanned skin. The 3 instrument players were dressed in colorful vests and puffy pants. The singer wore a, dark pink, loose dress and a red jewel over her chest, all of which was appropriate for special occasions. Indeed it was a special occasion. When the song was over, the room applauded, and a tall, handsome, young man walked onto the stage. He had moderately long hair tied into a ponytail, ever-so slightly tanned skin, and friendly green eyes. He was dressed in the somewhat standard uniform of a Humar with a red shirt, shorts, and a black body suit underneath it all.
"Great song guys," he said to them, before turning to the rest of the room. "That was Whole New World performed by Nofi and the…uh…"
"Gonitchlz," the singer said for him.
"Yes, Ace, it's hard to say," someone said dryly from the crowd. Ace pinpointed the voice from another young man of similar height. He had dark tanned skin, dark tapered hair, dreamy brown eyes, and a taunting smirk on his face. His clothes were an orange shirt with black sleeves, black jeans with matching sneakers, and spiked bracelets.
"Uh…yeah!" Ace smiled nervously. "Anyway, I'm glad that just about everyone could make it today. And as always, thanks to Jay for providing the music, food, blah blah blah, y'know…like he always does."
"Damn straight!" Jay called out again, causing the rest of the room to laugh.
"Hey, it's starting!" said a small light tan Fonewearl, with pool-like red eyes, in a tie-dye outfit of a puffy blouse, and a skirt over shorts. Even with her platform shoes, she was still incredibly small. She had a bandanna tied over her bright pink hair, with pigtails hanging out the back. She ran to the windows that were being unveiled near the booths, followed by nearly everyone else. "Mommy, what's that blue light for?" she asked, referring to the blue beam being directed down toward the planet.
"That's the communications link," said a smiling pink-haired Fomarl in a solid yellow dress and matching hat and shawl. Then, they saw a red beam of similar intensity shoot up from the planet and next to the blue beam. "When those two lights meet, Pioneer 2 and Central Dome can talk to each other. Then, we can go and live down there."
"Pretty," the girl marveled, pressing her face to the glass.
"Hey, Jay," Ace whispered to Jay. "There's gotta be like 50,000 chicks between Pioneer 2 and Ragol, right?"
"Sure," Jay said, rolling his eyes. "Just remember that we have to land first, before you start hitting on them." A blue-haired Fonewearl in purple and black popped up between them. She had purple eyes, light tan skin, red eyeliner and face paint, and a jester hat.
"Hi, guys!" she said, wrapping her arms around their waists since she was over a foot shorter than both of them. "I just got here. What'd I miss?"
"You're just on time," Ace replied, looking back to the view. The two beams combined into one and disappeared. The room erupted in cheering. Then, there was a blue planet-shaking explosion on Ragol where the red beam had come from. The ship shook from the force of the explosion. When the blue energy dissipated, there was a dark cloud where it had been. Everyone in the room stood silent.
"What the hell just happened?" asked a tanned redheaded Hunewearl in black short shorts and small shirt.
"It appeared to be some sort of massive explosion," said a silvery blue Racaseal with a silky silver bob cut hairstyle.
"Don't tell me Central Dome blew up," moaned a blond Fonewm with a big hat in brown.
"Aw crap," Jay muttered, staring at the cloud. "There go my investors."
"Bea, Ci," Ace said to the Fonewearl and Racaseal standing next to him, respectively. "You two go check with the Principal about this. If he tells anyone, he'll definitely tell you. Everyone else…"
"To the Transporter!" Jay announced valiantly.
"Actually," Ace corrected, "I was gonna say that we should just sit tight."
"Killjoy," Jay muttered. Five minutes after Bea and Ci had left, everyone was talking amongst themselves about what had happened.
"On a lighter note," Jay said to Ace, sitting at a booth, changing the subject, "who's your next conquest?"
Ace grinned widely. "You know I'm always on the look out for girls. But if you mean who's my next major project, it's definitely Q."
"Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Jay asked drly, glancing at Ace's next target. Q was the redheaded newman in black, sitting a few booths away, drinking by herself. "She's not the most stable person around."
"But she's hot," Ace smirked. "Besides, I got El to go with me before. If I could convince her, why wouldn't I be able to work my magic on Q?"
"El doesn't kick you in balls for saying her full name," Jay muttered, arching an eyebrow.
"Turn me on, baby!" a giddy voice shouted loudly, coming from Ace's person. He quickly answered the phone in his pocket, grinning with embarrassment as the whole room turned to look at him.
"Hello?" he said, avoiding the stares. "Oh, Ci, what's up? Gotcha."
"Well?" Jay asked expectantly. "What happened?"
"Well…no idea," Ace said, receiving a simultaneous groan throughout the room. "The government doesn't know. But Ci said that in a little while, the government is probably going to send Hunters down there to check it out."
"And so the saga begins," Jay said like an announcer. "I wonder what's on my list of things to do today?"
"Absolutely nothing," said a woman sitting at an adjacent table who looked identical to the band players. There were several other similar women seated with her. "Not now, anyway."
"Thank you, Ilaea," Jay said, standing up. "To the Transporter!"