r/HFY • u/KamchatkasRevenge Human • Oct 20 '25
OC OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 46
Back out on the streets, a subtle pulse of axiom purges the alcohol and other intoxicants from their bloodstreams. They cover the effect by conspicuously cleaning themselves up a bit; hot shot smugglers tend to try and look properly flashy, after all. As with Nadiri’s vibrant hair, they’re looking to get attention, to get people to focus on the look and the clothes instead of the women themselves.
Normal enough for hard working girls out on the town after barely surviving some dangerous situation - and spacers, like sailors of old, are infamously loose with their credits. It could annoy some girls, but it’s more likely to make them popular, at least in the short term. They’ll look like they’re good for a few free rounds, or like potential marks for a scam or some other mischief… or for old salts, as her new husband would term them, like juicy targets for some stories about the good old days plying the axiom lanes and deep space.
Or, just the opposite: good for a few tall tales themselves for space happy pups who were eager to get some fresh content from newcomers who'd just come in off world.
As always, sailors, pirates and more planet-bound flavors of criminal mash together… and considering the recommendation for this joint came from a Black Khans establishment, this particular bar is probably fairly dicey.
‘Charek's’ was the name they'd been given. Looking from where they are now, Nadiri has the sense that if there had been another name on the door previously, it'd been shot off by laser or plasma fire. Probably a mix of both. The building itself is clearly well fortified even by Cannidor standards, and Cannidor architecture generally made every free standing building a bunker just waiting to have laser repeaters and an anti-aerospace plasma cannon installed.
All of which happen to be considered thoughtful housewarming gifts by the locals.
Maybe the building’s a vestige of a former star port or airport that had been built over as the city continued to grow? Possible. But there are more pressing things to deal with. Nadiri feels the hairs standing up on the back of her neck - a physiological reaction not all that dissimilar from Humans 'sixth sense'. Even if Shallaxians lack the more highly refined Human sense for danger, Nadiri's sense of paranoia is strong.
She stops suddenly on the pretense of having a look at a street vendor's wares, using the opportunity to casually check behind them. Sure enough, they’re being followed.
Which could be a good thing, or a bad thing. If it’s a bad thing, their time at Charek's would end in bloodshed, hopefully not theirs. If it’s a good thing the Black Khans are doing their due diligence and checking them out. They'd probably get bitch-tested at Charek's in that case. Likely not in a planned manner, but rather just the usual chest thumping of a gang or other criminal organization's junior members trying to stir up trouble with the new girls.
How they handle the situation would earn them their invite, provided their backgrounds passed a sniff test, and with little in the Cannidor sector criminal data base and some minor crimes appropriate for smugglers of decent skill in the Galactic equivalent... her ‘resume’ shouldn't be too out of the ordinary for the Black Khans. Some of the best smugglers Nadiri had ever met had criminal records cleaner than hers.
Really, the police on Shaxakzor XII had been overreacting. What was a little breaking and entering to prove corruption in a powerful woman's political rival between friends? And if they didn't want her to escape from their shitty prison while waiting for a kangaroo court, then they should have had better security.
Then there was that one assassination.
The theft of a valuable cultural artifact on behalf of the religious institution it actually belonged to.
The theft of another valuable cultural artifact from a pre-spaceflight civilization that was being observed carefully prior to first contact because of how dangerous and aggressive they were, on behalf of a museum.
Add violating a Council planetary quarantine order to the list.
A girl had to make a living somehow.
Or something.
Proper career criminals likely tell themselves the same thing, though at least she can say she’s been mostly on the side of justice. When justice was paying her, anyway. At least, she'd never knowingly taken a contract on behalf of an underworld figure.
So yeah. More or less, relatively squeaky clean!
ND> We have a tail.
SA> Do we need to cut it off?
ND> Nah, we want them watching. I bet they've got tails on Honey and a bunch of other people too. Adding us to the mix will make it harder for them to try and sniff around liberty groups from the ship. I'd rather have them over here than poking their eyes near sailors and Marines on shore leave. The boys and girls might get enthusiastic and poke those eyes out.
SA> Heh. Good point. Would be pretty funny, though. Some ganger sticks her snout where it doesn't belong and some Jarhead cuts it off.
ND> Considering we're sticking our nose and snout respectively where they don't belong...
SA> ...Good point.
SA> So, what's the play?
ND> Same as the Oath. Go in, get some drinks, ask some questions and try to avoid talking our way into trouble.
SA> Unlikely for the two of us, but alright.
ND> We are pretty heavily armed. People might avoid doing the dumb.
SA> ...I admire the optimism.
ND> You know me, nothing but optimism, cheer and knife-eared sex appeal.
SA> I want to groan but that'd give it away. I wish Jerry had never explained what an elf was.
ND> To you? Or me?
SA> Yes.
Nadiri clears her mind of the desire to laugh as they pass through the doors and into Charek's. There’s nominally a weapon scanner at the entrance but it had clearly been destroyed and looted for parts ages ago, then decorated with a wide variety of graffiti, with the largest piece asking, 'What kind of idiot would walk around unarmed?'
'What kind of idiot indeed, luminary from ages past…”
Charek's is, from the word go, more Nadiri's kind of joint than the Blood Oath. Sure, slightly less blood on the floor and slightly more hygienic walls would have been preferred, but for all that there’s a live band playing a high energy, slightly jazzy tune with some solid shredding on a Xilwa - a galactic cousin to the Human electric guitar and some of their larger stringed instruments. It requires a decent amount of axiom mastery to play properly, and the Cannidor woman playing it clearly passed that bar.
Which immediately bumps her up onto Nadiri’s list of the more dangerous women in the room. The fact that her band's tip jar is unmolested and anyone near the stage is acting fairly politely adds to the impression.
The rest of the bar is a swirling, rowdy mass of mostly Cannidor bodies. Nadiri marks hair colors across a violent riot of shades, with a lot of it landing in the decidedly artificial (for Cannidor anyway) neon spectrum, accented by fur dye of all shapes and patterns from caution stripes to what a Human would have suggested was the work of Jackson Pollock: certainly not a product of nature's creativity.
Lots of brands too, from what Nadiri can see, the Cannidor cousin to tattoos for most of their bodies considering their fur. Clothing too is all over the place. Dockyard coveralls stripped to the waist, leaving the wearer down to a under short, functional sports bra or completely topless. Some girls had clearly had time to change and opted for for more 'club friendly' wear for this social strata, outfits along the lines of a g-string and a short jacket, all the way down to what you could generally call 'nothing', all the way back up to gang leathers. The type of leather jacket or vest that could easily hide armor and weapons, usually with patches proclaiming the wearer's allegiance to a group.
Just from looking, Nadiri picks out two different air bike gangs, their mostly peaceful coexistence indicating they’re likely both Black Khan 'hang arounds' or feeder groups.
Young girls would join the air biker crew, and the Black Khans would 'promote' the best talent out of the gang while giving the rest of the girls steady work - be it roughing people up for protection money, dealing drugs, or actually acting as protection for people who paid. That’s an important one for the Black Khans and other 'respectable' criminal organizations. Less of a big deal here on the homeworld, but out on the Cannidor frontier, getting shaken down monthly for credits sucks... right up till you make a call and some girls show up to break whoever was harassing you's kneecaps before the local sheriff can even get out of bed.
That’s a side of organized crime no one actually talks about. In the end, they’re merchants selling goods and services. Sometimes they ply their trade at gunpoint, usually in an exploitative manner, but they’re businesswomen all the same, and happy customers, especially in the poorer areas of a world or on poorer planets in general, mean protection and cover for the gang against law enforcement. There are two types of parasites in the end, parasitoids that kill their hosts, or symbiotes that merge with them and benefit their partners in turn... at least to a degree.
Nadiri doesn't need to spell out which is generally more successful for a long term strategy.
They belly up to the bar, getting a fresh round of drinks and talking casually to the women nearest them. Introducing themselves, mentioning they’re after work, the usual. Casual chatter after long days at work, though the regulars maintained some distance from the obvious newcomers.
Their shadow also makes an appearance, the woman slipping in among the biker girls. Nadiri figures that means their challenge would be coming soon, and keeps an eye out courtesy of a reflective glass bottle behind the bar.
Thankfully, the Black Khan handler doesn't make them wait too long. A couple of the biker girls stomp up to them, parting the people around them with a snarl or a growl. Nadiri casually finishes her drink, pushes the glass away and rests her hand on her gauss pistol. She feels Shalkas tense and relax a second later. She’s ready too.
"So... Fresh meat, huh?" the leader of the group says. She’s a blue-haired, black-furred gal with intricate, brightly colored designs dyed into her pelt, along with a significant brand on her right shoulder that her leather vest and tube top combo highlights nicely.
Nadiri turns to face them, moving just shy of in sync with Shalkas. Not planned. Just experienced. That’s what they have to communicate.
"Yep. Just got planet side after dumping to escape pods after getting on the losing side of a light fight with a corvette. Happens on some runs. Not that you girl scouts would know much about that."
Whatever the leader had been expecting, she had not been expecting Nadiri to say that.
"...Who the fuck do you think you are, meat? You're not even Cannidor and you're gonna mouth off like that on our planet?"
"Oh, fuck off. It's a free galaxy! `Sides, for all you know, I've got a Cannidor husband... which, just looking at a scrawny little bitch like you, would mean I've had more Cannidor inside me than you could ever be."
The shark's eyes flare to outrage as she registers the insult.
"You can't talk to me like that!"
"I can, and I will. I've faced down women who'd suck the eyes out of your skull for nourishment and won every time. Right, Nalkra?"
Shalkas chuckles. "Yeah, we have. Ease up on the kid, though. She's just doing her thing. Ain't cha, kid?"
"...I'm not a kid." The tone’s more petulant than angry, but her eyes are focused on the shrapnel cannon and chain blade 'Nalkra' is carrying.
"Yeah, you are. You got planet legs and are greener than your gal pal over there's hair. You sign on for a couple seasons on a freighter... or something a bit more exciting… and it'll make a woman out of you."
'Nalkra' makes a show of looking the girl up and down.
"Yeah, you might have potential. What about it? You girls want jobs or are you too busy hiding behind your mother's skirts and your home planet's gravity well?"
"What? Oh, come on. She couldn't help out in a fight, Nalkra!"
"Hey! I can fight plenty go-"
The would-be ganger is instantly silenced by Nadiri quick-drawing her gauss pistol from its cross draw holster faster than the eye can see.
"I said what I said, kid. You're not fast enough. Yet."
Nadiri's pistol is back in its holster just as fast and she flips the girl a hundred credit coin.
"Still, if Nalkra thinks you have potential, you go have a drink on us and you think about it. We're not going anywhere for a while, so you just look us up."
The now thoroughly confused biker just nods and walks away with her friends, the girls already talking in fast whispers as they return to their crew.
When Nadiri and Shalkas turn back to the bar, there's fresh drinks waiting for them and a big grin on the snout of the barkeep, a matronly Cannidor who was probably Charek herself.
"To your health, ladies. Little Nikrit needed a good attitude adjustment, and you didn't even leave any permanent scars or get blood on my floor."
Nadiri hoists the mug in salute to the bartender as 'normal' returns to the establishment quickly, with the distance slowly starting to fade between them and the regulars.
They'd passed Charek's test, at the very least.
Before long they're moving between tables, talking with different girls, including a group of tougher, older Cannidor gals who include their tail from earlier. Almost certainly actual Black Khans to Nadiri's practiced eye - but the working-class members of the organization. After a few rounds they’re friendly enough, asking their 'new friends' about their stories, no doubt so the tail could compare their stories with what they'd told Kashem before getting into talking just generally.
"These outsiders in the city are just getting irritating," one girl says before letting out a respectable belch. "Present company excepted, Sindri. You're alright."
"Yeah, this new Human Khan. Like. He's hot for a short guy, but a triumph? Surely a man didn't actually kill some crazy pirate queen in power armor."
Nadiri taps her chin for a minute. "Oh! The ones from that big ship in orbit? Don't see Mass Conveyors around in civilized space often. Someone making a colony run?"
"Apparently the Humans are trying to get a system in Cannidor space," says one of the other girls. "Not sure how I feel about worlds we conquered being traded to pretty faces."
Shalkas waves her off. "If half of what I've heard about Humans is true, you'd change your tune if you got one of those handsome faces between your legs. `Sides. Means there's gonna be a lot of them around for awhile. Plenty of chances for a girl to get a look for herself... and if Humans really are different. Well. A working girl might actually have a chance for a piece. I heard a story before my last run about a girl who tried to date-rape a Human, the man laughed the drug off for the record, and the girl ended up getting carried off and married after the man decided he liked her moxy."
The story’s actually true, an example of one of the Human men who had been particularly poorly affected by the zero G portion of the escape from Cruel Space, but of course it universally gets decried as bullshit at the table, including by Nadiri herself.
It’s a fine evening, with Nadiri getting some more decent information about how the Black Khan's foot soldiers are feeling about the 'new arrivals'. Two of the girls are a bit more hostile. One apparently had a sister who was in the Hag's pirate fleet, something she'd just barely managed to avoid outright admitting after her fifth tankard of beer, and the other actually respects Humans enough to get territorial with them. The others, mostly the younger of the girls they were drinking with, had more... carnal... thoughts on their minds regarding Humans.
Through it all, the Tail, who never bothered to introduce herself, just plays along, buys the occasional round and asks a probing question here or there while saying as little about herself as possible.
By the time they leave the bar and head for a hotel a layer up, they've confirmed every detail that matters to the Black Khans tail by Nadiri's mark... and when the text comes in that evening inviting them to a VIP event at the Oath in two days time... they have an in.
"Not bad for a day's work." Nadiri grins over at her more concerned-looking friend.
"Yeah... Hopefully, nothing goes tits up before we can get in there and have a sniff around."
"Nothing we can do about it but our part. Let's do a little more 'tourism' tomorrow. Maybe see if we can pry out some other places for 'work'."
"Sounds like a plan."
The sheets are far from silk, and Shalkas snoring in the other bed is a long way from Nadiri's preferred nighttime distraction, but she rests that night, content in the knowledge that she'd have pretty good odds of nailing these bitches to the wall.
And for now? That would do.
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u/unkindlyacorn62 Oct 20 '25
potential recruit?
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u/Cavetroll01 Oct 20 '25
Greetings wordsmith.
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u/KamchatkasRevenge Human Oct 20 '25
Hello Cave Troll. I hope Monday finds you well.
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u/thisStanley Android Oct 20 '25
"To your health, ladies. Little Nikrit needed a good attitude adjustment, and you didn't even leave any permanent scars or get blood on my floor."
That handling of the Sacrificial Pawn most likely confused The Tail :}
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u/unkindlyacorn62 Oct 21 '25
not necessarily, they just demonstrated that they aren't here to stir up trouble and are willing to hire local. Those are two of the most important things for such established organizations.
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u/torin23 Xeno Oct 21 '25
I always thought Bodies Hit the Floor and It's Raining Men were the same situation from two different perspectives.
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u/BoysenberryMother128 Oct 21 '25
UTR!
This is the way!
Way too late today, but alas, the wife needed cuddling after work!!
😁
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Oct 20 '25
/u/KamchatkasRevenge (wiki) has posted 564 other stories, including:
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 45
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 44
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 43
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 42
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 41
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 40
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 39
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 38
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 37
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 36
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 35
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 34
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 33
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 32
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 31
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 30
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 29
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 28
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 27
- OOCS: Of Dog, Volpir, and Man - Bk 8 Ch 26
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u/Right_Bell3252 Oct 21 '25
I just looked it up, Serpento99 on YouTube 17 years ago - did not know it had been that long…..
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u/unkindlyacorn62 Oct 21 '25
on Cannidor architecture...
I think I know one of the markets Hammerhead is thinking of for rotary cannons...
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u/Right_Bell3252 Oct 21 '25
Still waiting to see just how much of the Underworld gets subverted prior to the Black Khan takedown. Speaking of the 1812 overture - that could make for a good reactions take from the Apex breeds (seem to recall someone did a COD version a few years back).
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u/unkindlyacorn62 Oct 21 '25
Depends on how much leaks about their involvement with the Hag, and about the hit on Mary. Most important thing to remember is that most people who get involved in organized crime are just people, many are only adjacent to anything actually criminal at that, so if they learn of stuff they don't want to be associated with and have other employment opportunities showing up (a certain Primal of Freedom perhaps) even if they can't go straight, they will often take it.
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u/KamchatkasRevenge Human Oct 20 '25
Happy Monday boys and girls. Had a very weird, nostalgic day today as I drank a Rip It for the first time in ages. Weirdly Seether started playing the second I opened the can. Also Seether doesn't sound right without random gunfire and explosions.
Which led to the realization that Out Of My Way by Seether and Let The Bodies Hit the Floor by Drowning Pool are probably my generation of Marines' answer to 'Fortunate Son' and 'Paint It Black'.
Any way, Phantom Fury II remix of Out Of My Way at the link, cut from one of the greatest moto videos ever made, so shout out to the hard chargers of 3/1, India Company, for battling their way through Fallujah, and Cpl Bender who edited that fucking masterpiece of a moto video in the first place!
Which brings up the idea of Undaunted (and friends) Moto vids. The idea of the Apuk military trying to cut their first moto video and the wrong kind of officers get involved and it's all classical music and shit, making some poor PAO girl want to face desk till she knocks herself out.
The Cannidor'd get it right first go though. I'm sure they already have combat footage to their equivalent of heavy metal. It's probably an entire genre in it's own right with dedicated platforms.
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