"Come on. Let me in," an annoyed person in line says to the elcor bouncer.

"Regretfully, you are not on the list," the elcor speaks in its species' monotone deep voice.

Now the human becomes more annoyed and partly angry. "Hey, I am on the list. I am one of the important people in Omega."

"Doubtfully, you are not. There are more important names higher than you could ever be," the elcor points out.

"Who in the high hell could be more important than me?" the human demanded and they all hear something fleshy scraping across the ground.

Everyone in the line starts to turn to the side and sees Arcane, standing taller than any of the humans and reaching the sector's height, has his horn glowing as the leg of the dead creature is dragged behind him in the same ring of color. A trail of dripping blood following him as one of his wings sag slightly, leaving a noticeable trail. Mevea walking alongside him, standing tall and somewhat ragged by all the scratch marks on her armor and clothing. Everyone keeping a watch on them as they go up the stairs, the beast's head smacking against every step with theirs. The large door opening up and letting them inside before it shuts behind them.

The elcor then turns back to the human and he sheepishly clears his throat. "I can wait…"

Arcane held a strong frown as he walks through the club. Partons watching them as they were extremely not out of place for their species, but the creature being dragged behind them. Every eye watching them as they step up to the guard for Aria's area. The guard steps up to try and stop them, but Arcane simply grabs him with his magic and tosses him to the side. All other guards start to train their guns at the two while they continue to walk up. Only a wave of the hand from Aria made the guards put down their guns.

The pony staring down the matriarch asari as she stares back. Her small loose jacket barely coming below that large chest of hers held down by mostly strapped clips across the top of her cleavage. The rest of her body covered in a sort of body armor with notable straps on her sides and skin-tight thick pants and heavy boots. Her white sleeved arms waving the apprehensive guards off. "So what do I owe the pleasure of…"

Arcane stops her by swinging the creature and slamming it down onto the table between them. "This wasn't worth twenty or even thirty thousand. We need more."

Aria raises an eyebrow at him, holding a slight frown. "I doubt one was such a problem."

"Try a fucking hundred of these," Arcane clarifies, stomping his hoof on the table. "Fifty."

"And here I thought you would want a hundred thousand credits," Aria remarks dryly.

Arcane whinnies and surprises Mevea that it sounded annoyed and not a happy or cheerful type she would expect. "I am not a pirate or a thief. Consider that next time I come for a job and it goes wrong."

Aria shakes her head before giving a small wave to the head guard nearby. The guard taking out a credit chip and going to a terminal to set up the amount while Aria looks over the large pony. "You are bigger than your father."

Arcane sighs and hangs his head. "That's what being an alicorn gets you. No. I will not let you pet me."

"An alicorn…nice. You're rarer than your father I bet," Aria notes, looking over his whole form.

"Him being a unicorn? Yeah. Me being an alicorn? Yeah. Now, I am going down to that bar to relax. Mevea…you can do whatever," Arcane sighs, turning around and walking off.

Mevea looks at him and watches as he moves tiredly towards the stairs. His form slouching rather than standing tall. But her eyes trace over the muscles and skin that are showing through the ripped clothing and armor, watching how they seem to be stuck in a tense motion.

"Rarer, but not at ease enough to pet," Aria teases, holding a smirk to Mevea who flinches at the look while taking the credit chip in her empty hand.

Arcane slowly walks into the bar, holding his head down as his mind was filled with so many thoughts rolling through like a wave. Not even noticing that he easily steps over a blackout drunk without a second glance. Not even the asari dances trying to run a hand or a finger across his side and back didn't get a rise out of him. It wasn't until his vision was filled with one particular mare sitting her flank right down in his path, did he come to a stop and turns his gaze at her.

"You look like shit."

Arcane sighs and hangs his head even further. "I may need more than an hour…maybe at least four or six."

Ruby gives a soft comforting smile. "And I got permission from Aria to give a discount to you. A massive one after seeing how you looked like in her…office," she jokes, hoping it would bump up his emotions a little.

"I'll pay anything right now," Arcane admits and the mare reaches over to his hoof and activates his omnitool, putting in only double the price he paid last time. But that hardly got his attention as he is then led to the room from last time. Where he immediately goes for the bed and falls onto his side on it, sighing tensely. His wings extending out and covering the other half. Ruby climbing up in front of his vision only to sit behind his head. He gives a soft deep sigh when he felt hooves wrap around his head and then lifts him up to place him on her lap. Arcane staying still for a few brief moments before sighing contentedly and nuzzling the back of his head against her stomach. "That's nice…"

Ruby smiles as she strokes a hoof along his cheek and mane. "Better already?"

Arcane gives a soft grunt, feeling the hoof brushing his coat. "Working towards it."

Ruby nods, looking to his wings and watches as they flex and stretch out, feathers twitching in place as they seem to shake the blood off. "So…want to talk about what happened to you?"

Arcane takes a deep sigh and turns an eye to her. "Well…mission almost went to shit. Almost lost two of my guys even if we couldn't get out in time."

Ruby hums as she leans down, coming more into his vision. "But you did make it out, right?"

Arcane nods against her before sighing. "High energy magic shockwave. Saved our asses."

Ruby gives some soft pats to his long neck then brushing a hoof there on his soft coat and some rough patches at times. "Then you can worry less. All you have to do is learn from what you did and apply it for next time. Now stop being so moopy," she giggles.

Arcane gives an easy smile up to her. "You remind me of my little sister. She always tries to cheer anyone up as our mom does."

Ruby hums and smirks. "Would this be the famous Pinkie Pie and her daughter?"

Arcane chuckles. "Yeah. Those two are almost the same but Sunshine has way more energy than momma Pinkie does. Speaking of…since we're here and we have more time than last, what about you? Any family?"

Ruby hums, running a hoof slowly across his head and slowly traces around his horn without touching it. "Well…I mostly have stayed in touch. Time to time really. This job demands a lot. But my dad is happy I am still alive and making enough to live off of. Mom doesn't like I basically became a stripper. I talk with him to know if the house is still there. And I tend to try to keep them together."

Arcane hums before rolling over to her surprise and he looks up at her. Her view then shifting to the rest of his body and sees him lying on his back with his wings spread out to not stress them. "And siblings? Any annoying ones?" he asks a bit playfully.

Ruby slowly smiles and smirks back. "No. Only foal here."

Arcane chuckles. "Lucky mare. Having siblings is tough to deal with sometimes. Blaming here, first preference there…" he nonchalantly lists off and Ruby giggles. "But…" Arcane starts, smiling at her, "it's great to have others there for you. And come back to. Even make an example for others to look forward to."

Ruby hums, running a hoof along his chest now. "Doesn't it get troubling? Like all those siblings you have to take care of."

Arcane smirks. "Benefit of more siblings, they can also take the heavy load. Especially if we are off to school or off-world like I am," he shrugs. "It's still good work though."

Ruby nods, repositioning his head as she leans back against a pillow and lets him lay his head on her chest. The soft chest fluff giving him such a pillow-like feel to relax and sleep against easily. "And now? What does your team feel like? Family maybe?"

Arcane hums, bringing a hoof to his chin. "Comrades. But we do look out for each other. It's not everypony for themselves on our missions. That would just kill us all."

"And do you consider them friends at least?" she questions, wondering what is going through his mind as she watches his neck muscles twitch at times under her touch. The soft hoof brushing up a tense muscle line that would flinch from what she is doing, but his head remaining very still against her. "Where you can at least talk about personal things if needed?"

Arcane gives a small smile as he looks to the window. "Not yet. But they are growing on me. And I think they are to each other too. So maybe soon enough. Hopefully basic family talks at least," he jokes chuckling. "From one big family to another."

Ruby grins. "Ah yes. The famous Read family. A family of fifty to a hundred members. Talking to one family of three," she jokes and laughs when he gives a light shove to her side. "You have to admit. It's pretty funny considering how big your family is. And no matter how big, you all still love each other."

Arcane nods against her before rolling around, facing her. "Yeah…it does feel like that constantly. You might hate some family members at times, but there are others that bring you back to what you were before. A family that loves and cares for each other to where we might even die to protect each other. A family of Mandalorians even. Such a strange universe, huh?"

Ruby softly brushes a hoof along the top of his eye, pushing some of his mane away. "No. Just a normal one."

Arcane softly sighs, his breath brushing against her. "I feel so much better now. How much time do I have?"

Ruby hums, bringing up her omnitool to check the timer. "About five hours."

Arcane snarks. "All in one hour. Either I am the sappiest pony ever or you are just too good and you're in the wrong line of profession."

"Oy," Ruby playfully scolds, tapping his horn. "You're not a weird pony. This is normal for us. And as for me…I wouldn't count myself that good. I'm just a pony who doesn't want to see her clients feeling down."

"I'm going to visit you a lot more now," Arcane admits smiling.

Ruby now lays back and brings his head below hers. "And now we can spend the rest of the time sleeping."

"Maybe next time," he adds chuckling.

Ruby looks down at him. "Really?"

Arcane nods. "Next time…and not that far. Maybe just touching…" he stops as he sees her expression of some curiosity and slight excitement. "Okay. Maybe a bit of oral too."

"How much porn have you seen?"

"I've dabbled…a lot…but I've never had a mare to enjoy it with."

"Yeah…you really need it," Ruby finishes, giving a light pat to his neck.

"Why does the outside of our ship look like it is under construction?" Arcane asks dryly. His view filled with the ship covered in scaffolding and ladders. Workers taking apart and wielding two areas on top and three under it.

Dadea smirks while Jaix stands on the other side of his flank. "Those guns you told us that we can do whatever with them, we decided to attach them."

Jaix gives a low hiss. "Not that hard. But we have to add reinforcement for where they are tucked away. We decided on retractable. Not just hanging outside for the hyperspace drag."

"We also have added a few more guns. I mean, for a corvette, we were a little on the lightly armored side. The only thing I can think of now is that we should probably hire some more crew to help man all the stations before taking her out to do work," Dadea adds.

"Where is Mevea?" Arcane asks, knowing she would not let them mess with the ship while she is away.

"Oh, she is customizing the cockpit I believe," Jaix says.

"…how?" Arcane slowly questions.

"She came back with a new chair I think," Dadea informs.

Arcane sighs and hangs his head. "How much did we spend…and do we have enough for even food?"

"Does…your cake count?" Dadea jokes and gets a sideways glare to her. "Kidding. We have enough for like a month if no job."

"But, we now are low on credits again," Jaix informs.

Arcane gives another low groan. "Find some fucking jobs before we do something like this again, okay?" he orders to both of them. "We always need to keep some on the side…and we need a faster way than going to people or finding a terminal and looking up a site…"

"Or just get a scanner to look for bounties and jobs," Jaix says nonchalantly, making Dadea and Arcane lean their head towards him as he kept watching the ship. "I saw a few back in a few armor shops."

"How much?" Arcane asks, wanting to know before commenting on this idea.

Jaix shrugs. "Does five thousand sound good?"

"For one or all?" Arcane asks, checking the balance they had right now.

"One…" Jaix lists and sighs as he feels the stare. "It's actually the better model. Plus extranet connection so you can add the sites and lists it would check. Both job-wise and bounties…and can take a shot once."

"I am afraid what's on the older model," Arcane voices.

"Only what you place on it. You have to update it yourself. One thousand," Jaix explains.

"What's the database it goes by?" Arcane asks, wincing a bit at these prices.

"How much do you want?" Jaix simply asks.

"Current up to date bounties mostly," Arcane says.

"Then I would go with the five thousand ones. You should have asked for sites. It can take up to fifty. Heard a new recent version does one hundred," Jaix says.

"Yeah…five thousand can do. Now let's see how much we have?" Arcane asks as he looks to their joint account.

"After your six-hour stripper?" Dadea teases.

Arcane gives a sly snort. "Big discount and she's a good mare. In terms of being friends with instead of just fucking." He scrolls through before humming and then seeing they have six thousand. "Okay. Enough for one with enough left over for food and other regular things."

"So we will have to send one out hunting while we have no other jobs," Jaix says.

"Who wants to do the grunt work?" Arcane asks dryly and they both turn to Jaix.

Jaix notices the stare and looks back at them. "Fine with me."

"Go buy the damn thing. And look in the slums first. Best place to hide…and then the bar," Arcane orders, leading to Jaix turning and walking off to the markets. "Geez. Now we are broke."

"Not…exactly. I still have some of my bonus," Dadea offers.

"What bonus?" Arcane asks looking at her.

Dadea smiles softly to him. "My signing bonus. I haven't spent much at all since we left. Only that initial amount."

"…what do I have to do to get you to share?" Arcane asks.

Dadea gives a sly smirk. "For every thousand…how about a kiss?"

"You toying or being serious?" Arcane asks.

Dadea holds up a finger, her fingerless glove squeaking a little. "Partly. I always wondered how you ponies do it. And that you help me with tech stuff. Which means you have to be with me when I work on stuff."

"Fine," Arcane relents.

Dadea taps her lips smirking and Arcane notices the look. "You want that first thousand in the account?" Arcane groans before leaning over and quickly giving a peck to her lips. Dadea hums as he pulls back and blushes bright red. "Seems about the same as a regular person," she notes while working on transferring the credits.

"Wait till the tongue gets involved," Arcane says without thinking and clamps a hoof over his mouth.

Dadea snarks and gives a small chuckle. "I'll give it some thought next time."

Arcane groans. "Me and my big mouth."

"Making things enticing," Dadea sang and Arcane groans louder, now walking away to not add any more fuel to the fire.

"I am so glad Mevea is busy with the cockpit," Arcane mutters before stopping and slowly turning his head to look at the cockpit to see Mevea through the glass smirking at him and crossing her arms. "…shit."

Soft echoey drips and light splashing sounds out throughout the drainage room. A wave of murky water flows in as something steps into the dim lighting of the reflections. A soft sigh is heard as the thing continues to walk toward the panel on the wall for the airlock door. A gloved finger then reaches out under the shrouded and cloaked figure and taps a random area on the metal, the panel beeping as if it was pressed on the buttons in a sequence.

The figure wades over to the middle of the doorway and watches as the door lifts up to show he still rotting corpses of the strange dog-like creatures Arcane and his team has left behind to eventually be spaced on the next cycle. A loud chuff escaping the figure as it walks over, its feet are hidden under the slowly rising water and the view of the rest of its body blocked by the thick travel cloak. The glove hand gingerly reaches out and touches one of the bodies before flinching away. Its hand then clenching up, almost looking ready to punch.

"Shit," a rough unmistakable male voice echo.

The male then reaches back into his cloak and pulls out a glowing cube before it flips open in half. He then starts to type something into the old holographic display and then sends it. A reply back is immediate.

'Are you sure?'

He types again and sends it.

'Then we have no choice. Who's going to be on watch?'

He types a certain four-letter name that he and this other one knew.

The typing indicator comes up and goes off for quite a while before it finally sends something. 'You know they are here as well. If we send this one, we could be sending it on a suicide mission. But I will speak and have it prepare one to give.'

He then sends a one-word message.

'I know. I know. Cool your cloak.'

The screen is then locked as the chat room ends and locks up, never to be used and then deleted from existence. The male closes the half cube device and pockets it before reaching a hand out towards the pile of creatures. A large red glow appearing from under the cloak on his arm before the bodies start to crackle away like a paper in the fire. Bits and pieces burning away into nothingness. He watches as every part of the creatures are 'burned' away, never to be seen or come upon again.

After the last bit is dealt with, he turns and walks away. A hand swiping behind him, the panel beeping again and starts to close the door. No trace of the creatures anywhere in the airlock or the drainage room as the door shuts and splashes water away.

Arcane moans and snores quietly as he lays down for a bit of rest in his bed. His mind already in dreamland, his tail and wings twitch as if he were flying and running at the same time. Hardly noticing his omnitool on his hanging foreleg beeping for a new message from a single recipient. Before his omnitool flickers and shuts down. The device then flickering back to life a few seconds later and showing only a notification of a new message. With a single name from the sender.

'MalO.'