Ickorling

Locations: The Wet Holes, Down Below, Andromeda One, Churchill's Legacy, Andromeda Galaxy. Kalnarr's words brought down the usual crushing feeling when she is grossly underestimated. Big aliens particularly did so dismiss her the most often, so she doesn't often get along with them. Her eyes dropped below the bar, unable to speak. Esther's situation did dictate she lay low, but she knew an event like this was too big to pass up. How would she get into the fight? Without a reputation or someone to speak for her, she might only get janitorial jobs on this station. Would she challenge the bartender to a fight? This she did consider, but no, she thought, that was certainly uncivilized... civilized, reasonable people. That statement she had just heard reminded her about the scoundrels she just beat up, and one mentioned holodecks. That kind of technology was not easily accessible where she came from, but a punk like him made it sound like he had used one before. Finally, Esther looked up right into Kalnarr's eye and said, "I'll prove I can take down one of these aliens! There's a holodeck on this station right?" she slapped her hand on the counter so hard it could be heard two doors down, "Put me in and I'll take down a five hundred pound Gorilla-- no weapons." This had to be an offer she could get him with; a holodeck has safety protocols so at least it doesn't sound like suicide. She turned towards Rex, "You're a gambling man aren't you? I'll show you why I'm your best bet."

Location: Down Under, The Wet Hole The sounds of metal plates warping heavily alarmed some denizens of the down under that something big approached from the seldom used emergency exit they lived next to. Step by step the mechanical stress descended upon them until a door opened to reveal one grand surprise. A lone slender girl appeared in the doorway and strolled past eyes that searching beyond her small figure. They would find none but her-- Esther. There were whispers around her, "something's not right," / "where's the big one?" / "Bait. Don't take it." She heard them all, each an every hushed voice, even long after she turned the corner. "There's no follow?! Get up, she's getting away!" / "signal the others. We got ourselves a sleeping beauty!" Heinous laughter and scuffling pipes could be heard loud and clear from where she just came. The girl picked up pace, finding it fitting to break into a run when she saw the length of the corridor unbroken by turns and doors. There was just a gradual bend, beyond which a few ragged men leaned against the inner wall, bearing makeshift weapons and knives. She stopped running with no shortage of breath, "what have I gotten myself into?" She said to herself. The numbers in front of her were doubled from behind, and the murmur of obscenities were hard to screen out. The best dressed man to her front speaks out, "such a simple mistake you made, wandering down here alone. Truuust me, you're getting off easy girl! Eh, am I right guys? These other scoundrels down 'ere, see they won't think twice about rockin' your dead meat. We don't get into the holodecks you know, but we're still civilized, reasonable-" / "ENOUGH!" She shouted. Esther rolled back the sleeves of her hoodie carefully, one by one, "You're ganged up on me and your going to talk about being civilized? What's the point? There's nothing civilized about what's gonna happen here." With that she took a fighting stance; something close to a runner's start with a boxer's defence. "Sheesh fine, have it your way. Usually I just say that cuz' I like to see the shivers, but you don't got em anyway. Alright boys! No cuts, no broken bones, we need her alive… buuuut a few bruises won't matter!" Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom! Her footsteps carried the weight of a giant with explosive speed and power that was delivered by the face of her knuckles. The ring leader was thrown back several feet by the blow to his stomach, and the following spray of blood from his mouth came just too late to hit her. Esther was onto the next, and the next, then back to the last-- to and fro. Three at once. She whittled them down with reserve to her strength, disposing of each without breaking their bones through practiced movements and agility. She downed the four who were standing to her front by knocking them unconscious; even though it took the extra hits to do so. By then, the rest had ran away; possibly since the moment they heard her footsteps for the second time, they knew they could not approach her. She stood there, clean of any blood or wounds, and she thought about perusing the other vile four. What would she do with them? She waited for the answer, but she couldn't justify attacking them, and she lacked any evidence of their attempted assault. As for the other four, she would have to leave them be. This wasn't the time or place to get on official records for beating up four armed thugs; for now, she needed to lay low. However, she still fished through the pockets of the cocky big mouth and pulled most of his credits… not all, but it would still cover her bunk fee the next two nights. Esther stood over the bloodied man, "you got off easy, pal. Look, I didn't even break your bones! But those bruises … nah," she said as she stated to walk away, "it's fine." -- a bit later, at The Wet Hole -- Esther had finally found what looked like the main establishment in the Down Under. She groaned at the sight of the map outside which indicates a far more convenient passage from the upper deck. The sign caught her attention, 'The Wet Hole,' is it? Ofcourse. Why wouldn't it be suggestive? She sat down at a table alone, and ordered a basket of sweet potato fries. She picked through them slowly so she could draw out the time she had to gather information. She listened in on whatever she could hear, tuning in on more interesting or newer conversations. Everything she heard in the Pleasure Bar said this was the place to find jobs with some action, but for a while she didn't hear anything… it was pretty quiet. Perhaps people couldn't afford to eat here, she thought, but actually the food here was the cheapest she had ever seen. Was there something else going on? Finally, she heard something, not far away too. The bartender was talking to a man who just came in, some gambling type, and they mentioned a fight? It sounds like a way to make money… maybe even a lot of money? If she is to buy herself better equipment for this line of work, she's gonna need some big payments. Still, even if it's not, it just might lead somewhere better. Esther got up from her table and threw away the short supply of fries before going to join them at the bar. The alien bartender seemed… less approachable to her, and he seemed busy now, so she tried the blonde man. "Hey, excuse me, um, did you say there was a fight going on? Sorry, I- I overheard your conversation. Thing is I'm looking for an opportunity like this, could you tell me how to get in on this?" She smiled and stood between the empty barstools next to him. Aside the elbow fixed on the table, the rest of her body swayed, and she kept alternating between facing the table and the man.