You Looked Fine, You Big Baby

Allies are like any relationship, there is a feeling out period, there is a you don't listen to me period, and then there is a god why don't you die period. I admit my relationships might slightly be bad for this metaphor. - Chronicles of Lorentino

Why are there space pirates? Rolando thought long and hard about it as the group of armed smelly invaded the transport. Rolando had no weapons available other than his bone knife and his shifting, which would be more than enough, but something stopped him. He recalled his father once doing something similar when confronted by a dangerous, but not that dangerous opponent. His father held back, not wanting to just burn him down, he would admit to Rolando sometimes he lets people prove how stupid they are before showing them they were. Rolando felt the same here, he was just confused about space pirates.

He'd heard the reports. Every RiG had been informed the Rim had them, but he had never personally run across them before. It was fascinating. The blue skinned woman seemed equally uninterested in getting involved, though Rolando figured that might have been because she was not a shifter as he was. A safe assumption to him as he was the only shifter who wasn't crazy or dead that he knew. Then again she was a completely different species, maybe they were all shifters.

"Valuables all in front of you or you die." The lead pirate seemed to take the title really seriously, he looked like bathing was something he'd heard about, but never taken part of. His weapon was quite shiny though, Rolando noted for all the lack of maintenance on their person, the pirates all had well maintained gear. They knew which part did most of the killing. Rolando threw his bone knife on to the table, he didn't have anything else valuable. The blue woman added nothing. When one of the pirates walked by to collect he gave both of them a death glare.

"Valuables." He was even more mush mouthed than his leader.

"That is valuable to me anyway."

"Yeah I don't have anything I was put on this transport as a way to be rid of me." The pirate smiled showing he was missing half his teeth on the upper part and the majority of his lower teeth were getting that way as well.

"Captain we have some examples over here." The captain stomped over looked at the table and Rolando and the woman in blue and smiled, most of his teeth were metal.

"Glad you both volunteered to show the rest why they should pay us, up!"

"Sorry never been much for following orders." Rolando smiled at the woman in blue's stance.

"Me either, got me in trouble in the service."

"Stand up before I bu..." Rolando shifted and snagged the knife out of the one pirates hand and embedded it into the Captains neck. Who turned around and landed a solid right on Rolando. His neck exposed to show he was more metal than man there. The captain smiled and fired on Rolando, but Rolando had already shifted, so the blast hit the other pirate. Rolando removed the knife and tried again, but found more metal. The captain landed another blow on Rolando this time with the butt of his gun, which stunned Rolando enough to shoot him. Before he could do that though his whole body seized up and crashed into the ground a large electrified blade sticking out of his back. The lady in blue behind him, her dignified coat discarded and a combat vest slotted with several knives on display.

"Thanks for helping right before he killed me."

"You're still alive commander, and he is not."

"What is going on over there?" The shout from one of the other pirates broke up the pause in action. Rolando smiled as he took up his own bone knife again hoping the rest of the pirates weren't in cased in metal.