X2.3.2 - Doxx Town Blues

"Waka Tutua Spoh Waka La Ma."

"Wha—" said Roa, opening his eyes.

More strange words came out of a weird looking alien that was staring down right above the boy. It had large eyes like a fly, a long yellow face, and a single curly antenna in the middle of its forehead. It kept repeating something as Roa sat up out of the pod. He noticed the space crew also awake, as well as his friends being freed from their sleeping chambers by several other aliens. The boy from Earth closed his eyes and passed out again.

"I can't believe they found us. That was a one in a million chance," said the blue-skinned woman as all six of them sat at a table, drinking some strange green liquid as the aliens scuttled about the kitchen of their ship.

"My head is killing me," Rosso said, running his hands through his hair. "Where are we?"

"Our S.O.S. got picked up by some salvagers from Thuuria. They were looking for scrap metal when they heard our signal and decided to investigate," said the big guy.

"Thank you for letting us come along," said Roa.

"Well, you didn't leave us much of a choice," said the blue-skinned woman.

"We haven't introduced ourselves. This is Rosso and Indigo, and my name is Roa."

"I'm Barrus, this is my brother Boreo, and that's my sister Arnalaxia. We are space merchants. Welcome to the Nyx Expanse."

"What happened to your ship?" asked Rosso. "You mentioned some—Veil?"

"Our computers must have malfunctioned and we managed to hit the Veil head on. Fortunately, we were not going at great speeds, or we wouldn't be here talking right now."

"What's the Veil?" asked Indigo, sipping on her cup with a disgusted look in her eyes as she stared at the green goop inside of it. "And what the hell am I drinking?"

"Drink up. It's Motholl Milk. It comes from an animal on one of the planets in the system. It tastes like burning trash, but it has every mineral, and nutrient known in Existence," said Barrus as he sipped on his cup.

"The Veil is a strange invisible wall in the Nyx Expanse. Nobody knows why there's a wall in space, but there is—and we managed to hit it, somehow," explained Arnalaxia as he tried to stick a fork into her strange food. The grape-looking things on her plate sprouted legs, and walked off the table, causing Rosso's eyebrow to raise.

"I think I will wait to eat something else," he said as he placed his fork down.

"Where are we heading to?" asked Roa.

"The Thuurians who picked us up are heading to Proxima Prime, a space colony under the purview of the Union of the Skies," said Boreo. "A federation of civilizations."

"Do you know how to get to the floors of the Palace called Grand Market? We need to get back to our friends there," asked Roa.

The siblings looked at each other.

"Sure, we do, but you guys owe us your lives. We could have all died thanks to you breathing up all our oxygen. How about a deal?" said Barrus.

"What kind of deal?" asked Rosso with a suspicious look in his eyes.

"Well--we lost our ship, which means we are pretty much broke. How about you help us get back up on our feet by helping us find a special artifact? We will be able to sell it to a Jumper we know--a collector," he explained.

"And in return?" Indigo asked.

"In return, we will tell you where the Exit to Grand Market is, and your debt with us will be repaid," Arnalaxia said. "Plus, getting saved by Thuurians isn't cheap. They're not helping us out of the kindness of their hearts. They don't even have hearts."

"Long story short, we are broke, in debt, and need your help. And you need ours. So—deal?" asked Boreo sticking his hand out.

"Deal," said Roa, shaking it.

"Give us some money," said Boreo as they walked off the ship.

"Why?" said Rosso.

"Because we need to pay the Thuurians," he said, rubbing his fingers together.

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"We just jumped. We don't have any local money."

"Well, your debt with us is increasing then," said Boreo, annoyed.

The space colony of Proxima Prime was shaped like an immense ring that spun to create an artificial gravity. Roa looked up and marveled at the endless skyline of skyscrapers that bent in the distance.

"We're in Doxx Town. A small city within the colony," explained Arnalaxia.

Roa noticed that the city looked prosperous, yet it was somehow filled with beggars and homeless people.

"Why are there so many poor people here?" Roa asked.

"The Union of the Skies waged war against a rival federation several years ago. The results have been catastrophic for several planets in the system. The people you see here are refugees from those planets. They escaped to Proxima in the hope of finding safety, and a new life, but most of the locals want them gone," explained Barrus. "Tensions have been high ever since, causing riots, crime and making the streets more dangerous than ever."

"You can thank the Old Order for this mess," Arnalaxia said. "Word going around Doxx Town among Free Folk is that the new president of the federation, the one who started the war, is a Shadow of the Lord. Default World expanding even in this corner of Existence," she said, shaking her head.

"Why? What's a war in some space world going to do for them?" asked Roa.

"What else? Tons and tons of money, influence, and power," Barrus said.

"So, Nyx is filled with Shadows?" asked Rosso.

"No, they're fortunately few and far between, but they are expanding their operations here. Since the Union is the strongest federation in Nyx, I fear they have already managed to take over this world, effectively."

"Well, I'm glad that we managed to master our Gifts again, just in case we ever come face to face with the masked ones here," Roa said.

"No," Barrus said sternly, "you must not under any circumstance use your Gifts in this world. The locals do not know how to wield their aura. They do not even know it exists. If you do, you will alert the Shadows, and they will find us."

"Fortunately," said Arnalaxia, "we Jumpers have other tools at our disposal here." She smiled and pulled out a small, silver, futuristic-looking gun. "Good ol' fashioned weapons—in case any locals, aliens and other creatures start any trouble with us."

The three heroes sat in a vehicle in an alley behind the Intergalactic Museum of History.

"What are we doing here, again?" asked Indigo.

"The siblings went inside to try to make a deal with the museum and see if they can buy one of the artifacts there. We just have to wait for them here and then drive them to the sky port. Then, we'll bring it to the collector. They'll make a profit, and we'll get the way to the Exit," explained Roa.

"Why don't we just use the Compass to find the Exit?" asked Rosso, sitting in the back seat.

"Because we can't use our auras here in Nyx, remember?" Roa responded.

After several long, boring hours, the doors opened and the siblings jumped inside the vehicle.

"Step on it! We gotta get out of here," said Barrus.

"How did the deal go?" asked Roa, calmly sitting at the wheel.

"Go, go, go! Now!" screamed Arnalaxia.

Roa started the car and drove away.

"Faster, man!"

"Did something happen?" Rosso asked, shooting his friend a suspicious look.

"We got the artifact, now drive! The federation's police will be here soon."

"Police?" Roa said, turning around and looking at his friends. "You said that you were going to buy the artifact from the museum, not steal it."

"Yeah, well, things went south, the museum didn't want to sell it, so we took it."

Sirens flashed behind them. Five cop cars appeared out of an alley, zipping through traffic, right on their tail.

"You've got to be kidding me. We didn't sign up for a heist," Rosso said, grabbing Barrus by the collar. The other pushed the heretic off of him, and a scuffle began in the back.

"Stop it! Stop moving, damn it!" screamed Indigo, caught between the two. She placed two Gunhands under each of their jaws, pointing them up, and said, "the next one that moves gets a hole through their head—and I don't care if the Shadows pick up on my aura."

"Where the hell am I driving to?" asked Roa, with a hint of panic in his tone as he swerved in traffic trying to lose the police.

"Make a right! To the sky port. We need to get off of this colony, now," shouted Boreo as he lowered the window and began shooting laser beams from a large weapon.

"Don't fire at the damn police, you idiot!" screamed Rosso, pulling him back inside.

"In there," said Arnalaxia, pointing to a small alley.

The car shoved itself inside, grinding both sides against the tight walls, sparks flying as they made it out on the other side. The cops stopped, unable to enter due to the size of their vehicles. The thieves reached a large, open space that looked like an airport. Ships of various sizes were lifting and landing, as people and goods moved about the area like a choreographed dance of commerce and tourism.

"There's our ride!" Barrus pointed at a small, green ship.

Roa hit the breaks and the car skidded to a halt. The group leapt out of the vehicle and into the spaceship.

"What the hell are you doing?" Roa asked Boreo as he opened a panel and messed with the wires.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm starting the ship! Go outside and shoot anyone coming our way," he shouted.

"We are stealing the ship too?" Roa said, lifting his arms in the air. "Are you even merchants?"

Boreo looked up and gave him an uneasy smile, "we are merchants—of stolen goods."

"Great Mother of Humanity," Roa said, rolling his eyes, popping his head out of the door, noticing a large group of police coming their way.

"Stop your ship, immediately! You are under arrest for trespassing and theft. Stop or you will be prosecuted to the maximum extent of the federation's law," said a man over the loud speaker as alarms went off and more police began popping out from all corners of the sky port.

"Got it!" Boreo shouted as a myriad of lights turned on. "Shut the door and strap in. We're out of here!"

The ship lifted straight up, into the sky. Roa looked out of the window noticing a swarm of officers gathering around the spot they had just lifted from.

"Wohoo!" screamed the siblings, laughing. "We're back, baby!"

"What in the hell did you steal?" asked Rosso. Barrus opened a large, metal briefcase. He was beaming proudly. "A—flash drive?" said Rosso, confused.

"The ancients used these rudimentary tools to hold small amounts of data," Arnalaxia explained.

"Ok—so what's in it?" asked the boy from Earth.

She looked at Roa and smirked, "the original file of the founding document of the federation."

"You mean that you stole—" Indigo said.

"The constitution of the Union of the Skies," Boreo laughed.

"You're not space merchants—you're space pirates!" shouted Rosso as the ship left the colony's orbit and headed toward deep space.

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