Noctopolis The second largest moon on the outer ring, one of the furthest worlds from the galactic assembly, while many of the other worlds are cradled by the interstellar hand of peace, Noctopolis hangs by the thread of uncertainty over the vast voids of unexplored space.

Besides, you can hardly have an intergalactic community without a criminal element.

Noctopolis was actually established as a mining community, specifically for its rich deposits of iron, and titanium. Over time vast canyons and valleys were cut through the ground, and once the land had been bled dry of its resources, the builders consigned to work there had made themselves a vast urban forest, stretching miles underground and miles into the sky. Though much of the planet is still used for mining, the rest of it remains a vast urban landscape, serving as a sky port for distant travelers, and a haven for those wishing to remain only on the outskirts of GA influence.

In recent months it had become the unofficial capital of LFIL community. Seeing that interspecies were banned in the GA, Noctopolis was the next best option.

The catwalk below their feet clattered and squealed as the two figures made their way through the darkness, one large and hulking while the other was slight in comparison. The unknown voice of thousands rushed up from the descending depths of the cavernous rift in which the cityscape was set. The sky was a continuous shade of deep purple, verging on twilight, barely visible above their heads through the towering cityscape which clawed its way from the planets bowls and towards the sky reaching upwards with spires like grasping fingers.

They cut across catwalks spanning the great descending chasm before hugging tight against the buildings again. Aliens of all shapes and sizes peered from the darkness cast into an eerie hellish glow by hundreds of red bulbs haphazardly bolted into the rock walls of the chasm. A distant blue-purple mist cast the bottom most depths of the crevice into shadow. Heads turned in curiosity as they passed taking in the two shapes keeping so close together.

The smaller figure cut across a thin steel beam before dropping onto a metal platform attached to a rickety pulley. The platform swayed dangerously as the figure steadied himself against the cables. Behind him, a large silhouette waited until the platform was secure to step into place.

Both figures were engulfed in shadow as they were lowered into darkness.

***

The club bounced and thudded with a pounding beat. Lights flashed in all colors of neon red and blue as strange bodies gyrated and spun in place to the pleasure of watching eyes. Circular couches, set into the floor, stood like small islands of neon light, around their individual stages, against a backdrop of darkness. At the back of this room, sitting atop a raised platform and additional couch, sat a single occupant. His fur was a light tawny yellow, with beady black eyes, and large, bat like, swiveling ears. He wore at least three glow sticks about his slim neck and many ostentatious metal rings across his eight fingers.

He looked up in anticipation as the beaded curtains across the room were thrown open, and a bouncer stepped into the room escorting two figures, one of them clearly human. He was a rather dirty looking thing, regaled in long, brown, scuffed leather jacket tied about the forearms, and hands with dirty scraps of cloth. The boots he wore were covered in mining coal, and one of his legs was braced by a rickety exoskeleton that must have squealed something horribly when he moved. The harness he wore under the jacket would have been used by a mining vessel, holding the human in place for the most dangerous of jobs. From here, his eyes were mostly cast into shadow, but even from this distance, he could see glowing orange ring that surrounded the fake aperture. Even despite the injuries, the human could potentially fetch a nice price, some people were into missing parts.

His companion on the other hand was a might bit taller. She, for he guessed it was a she due to her size, was covered from head to toe in crude steel-plate armor, the mark of a Drev mercenary, but even despite that, he could see the rich metallic blue of her carapace beneath. Perhaps her height would be a turnoff for some, but he was under the impression her coloring would more than make up for it.

The bouncer pointed them towards the end of the room, and they approached quickly. He watched closely as the human marched his way up. For someone with a busted leg, he walked with surprising surety, chin raised high eyes turned to face him.

That's probably what gave him away.

Ever other man he had met of this human's caliber didn't waste an opportunity to take a look. These humans were of good stock, the most beautiful of both of their genders, and even if he wasn't into that there were plenty of other alien specimens for him to choose from. The human and his Drev companion paused before the table. The man lifted his chin, and the Drev just stared forward eyes unmoving.

"Is there something wrong with my selection?" The tesraki wondered eyes fixed on the young man and his mechanical eye.

This seemed to nonplus him and he tilted his head slightly, "Sorry?"

He motioned out towards the floor, "My selection, surely there is something here you would like.... Male, female, alien."

The young man glanced towards the floor eyes pausing momentarily on one of the stations before quickly looing away, "I am not here for that, sir."

The Tesraki laughed, "Sir, HA, no one has called me that before." He glanced over at the Drev again, she really would fetch a nice price, with those golden eyes of hers. Quite pretty, "You can call me Noctus, after my beautiful city. Now back to my earlier question, who are you working for the GA or the UNSC."

The young man blinked in confusion and stepped back, "Working for.... What do you mean?"

"I mean what gourmet agency are you working for?" He waved a hand, "Oh don't look so surprised, please. No one walks into your club, doesn't ogle the eye candy, and THEN call you sir. That's some human military shit right there if I ever heard it, so question is UNSC or GA."

The human tilted his head, "You think I'm working for the government just because I'm not interested in your strippers?"

"Look kid, you a miner, human miners that come here come in only one type of stock, the hard working, low income type with nothing to live for. You don't fit the bill,"

The human opened his mouth to protest, but the Drev female stepped in, "That's because he's with me." She rested an arm about the human's shoulders and pulled him close, "He used to work for the GA until they banned interspecies relationships, he gave up everything to come be with me. Had to become a miner in order to live." She leaned down affectionately rubbing her beaklike muzzle against the shock of fuzz atop the human's head.

The human halted for a second and then nodded sheepishly, "I wasn't prepared for how hard the life would be. She's all I have left."

"Hmm." Noctus thought leaning back in his chair. A large shadow passed over him from behind coming at his call. The large Drev female was around nine feet tall with pearly white carapace polished to a shine, quite genetically rare for a Drev. She wore a pale rose-gold collar around her neck which glittered as she squatted to offer him a drink. He took the offering and then shooed her away, "Alright then, let's hear it, what do you want?"

"A second chance sir.... I.... I thought perhaps I could boost my income at the black nines tables, but...."

"But you lost it all and are now looking for a loan." The young man looked away as if in shame. The Drev female hugged him closer placing another comforting arm around him.

"Follow me then." With a soft clatter of excessive and ostentatious jewelry Noctus clattered to the floor and waddled towards a small unassuming door behind his couch. The Drev and the young man followed after holding hands now that they had been given permission to do so.

With an agile hand, Noctus slipped a keycard from the sleeve of his expensive custom blazer and opened the door into a large dark room, "Stay here for a moment, I don't like letting my guests know where I keep my assets." He scuttled across the room quickly scampering up a hidden staircase. A the center of the room the human and the Drev stood holding hands unsuspecting as they were suddenly bathed from above by two cutting beams of white light. The lights continued to flip on from all angles, and a shout like rolling thunder rose up as lights of blue and red flashed on above an elevated, and hungry crowd.

"WELCOME ONE WELCOME ALL TO THE NOCTUS NIGHT OF MAYHEM." The tesraki stood now silhouetted against a grand white spotlight beaming down with them as the rings glittered atop his fingers.

"Do you really think I'm that STUPID." At the center of the room, the human and the Drev had dropped hands and shuffled back to back staring upwards at the roaring crowd, "That I wouldn't guess who you are COMMANDER VIR, and his loyal lieutenant SUNNY Cosmasdaughter. The two of you have been tracking my business practices for MONTHS. I was beginning to wonder if there was any way I was going to get rid of you, perhaps finally the GA had caught up, but, here you are on the perfect night to disappear. Such poor timing." On the floor, the human looked up at him with cold calculating eyes as he pulled off the squeaky metal brace tossing it to the side.

"You caught us then Noctus, what now?"

"Oh now, you FIGHT!"

***

Egnar weren't particularly known for their brains, but they did know how to make an entrance. Riled by the screaming crowd, the massive, troll-like creature smashed its way through the half open doors and out into the arena its massive ten foot height dwarfing both the human and the Drev as it charged outwards already swinging its massive club in a wild arc bellowing at the top of its lungs in a terrifying display of power and strength.

To their credit, neither the human nor the Drev froze, the human sprinting and leaping onto the Drev's back even as she began her preeminent charge towards the creature. There was no way that was going to end well. Above, the crowd roared as the Drev female ducked under another wide swinging throw closing so she was inside the swing of the massive club. She cut low throwing her weight against the creature's knees and upper thighs well below its center of gravity.

It seemed almost surprised as it tipped over and onto the ground. Dropping from the Drev,s back, the human fell onto the creature's chest and struck forward sharp object spraying bright orange sludge into the air as it struck. The cut was a good one, and would have been lethal if the creature hadn't bellowed and bucked the human from its chest at the last moment. The small figure went tumbling across the ground before somehow bracing his foot against the floor shedding sparks as he skidded to a stop in a low crouch.

The Drev and the human were opposite each other now with the Egnar between them. Seeing it's two opponents, the massive beast keyed in on the smaller figure sure that he would be easier to take out. He broke into a charge swinging his club high above his head and then around. The human turned, and instead of running away he raced towards the beast. The crowd screamed as he skidded under the flailing club, and below the creature's leg's through the narrow window between its heels.

He jumped to his feet at the last second sprinting towards the Drev Female who broke into a run. They were sprinting towards each other now at top speed as if they were about to barrel into each other, but at the last moment, the human kicked off the ground leaping into the air impossibly high for a human. The Drev raced forward opening her arms wide.

The human's foot struck the Drev's chest dead center deflecting and then springing backwards. The combined momentum of the Drev's forward run and the human's powerful push sent the human rocketing in one direction and the Drev forcibly onto the ground. Airborne for only a few seconds, the human turned in a tight spiral orienting his metal foot right into the Egnar's unprotected face.

The splintering noise was almost sickening, audible even over the roaring of the crowd. Both human and Egnar went to the ground hard, one to its back the other sent tumbling across the floor to crash into the wall where it lay still.

Noctus was surprised, they fought like any good Drev battle pair that he had seen. Perhaps that part of their little story hadn't been a lie after all.

The Egnar stumbled to its feet clawing at its face and bellowing in pain as orange sludge squirted from between its hands. It was angrier than ever, but didn't get the chance to do much as a blue metallic shape roared form nowhere and body shoulder checked it back onto the floor grabbing an arm and wrenching it brutally from the socket. The creature screamed at the brutal dislocation as the Drev slid around its back, locked her legs around its shoulders and began to squeeze. The Egnar fought feebly for a moment though its body began to grow sluggish before growing limp.

Above, in his place of honor Noctus frowned, "Well... that was not what I expected. No matter, I have more where that came from."

"I don't think so." He glanced towards the voice as the crowd began to quiet, and saw the human limp from the shadows. His metallic leg was showing now, the same color as the Drev female. Red leaked down from a cut on his temple.

"Oh you don't think so? And why is that."

The human stopped next to his Drev companion, "Noctus, by order of the Galactic assembly, you are hereby under arrest on the charges of racketeering, slave trafficking, exploitation, money laundering, extortion, blackmail, and tax evasion."

Noctus laughed, "Oh really huh, and who is going to arrest me, you?"

A small smile flickered over the human's face, "No, they are." The room was suddenly awash with a wave of sound as UNSC and GA soldiers erupted into the room. At last five red dots trained themselves on Noctus cutting through the crowd as the soldiers moved through the room backdropped by the flashing red and blue lights. The crowd screamed and rocked to its feet as the people attempted to escape, but were foiled as the large overhead light flashed on bathing them all in bright white light.

They were all ordered against the wall as more officers poured into the room.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING. WHERE IS YOUR PROOF! YOU CAN'T PROVE ANYTHING." The tesraki screamed

"Even if that is true, Mr. Noctus, we do have one charge for you." The head officer said stepping through the crowd to stand before the struggling Tesraki.

"Oh, and what is that."

"The kidnapping, assault, imprisonment, and endangerment of a GA affiliated UNSC officer, and crewmember." The crowd noise drowned out any more words the man would have said, but not the screaming of the Tesraki as he was dragged away.

***

Outside, in the now empty club, Captain Vir leaned against Sunny shoulder as they waited for the other officers. Lights still flickered in red and blue and they waited wounds wrapped, a little less than expertly without their Vrul medic.

"You made quick work of that troll thing in there, nice job." He said playfully nudging Sunny's large armor plated shoulder.

"Not so bad yourself, for a puny human." She commented wryly turning her head to fix one golden eye on him.

He laughed, "Yeah, not so bad for a puny human..... think he bought it?"

"Bought what? You don't mean the story that he totally wasn't intended to buy? Probably not."

"No, not that. I mean that story you made up on the fly.... pretty quick witted for a big lug." He teased

She waved a hand, "Nah probably not. I mean, could you imagine. Ha he'd have to be a real idiot to believe that."

"Ha, you're probably right... A real idiot."