The troop shambled over to the squat tables, equipment and guns banging against shoulders, thighs, the table and the floor as they sat at the unfamiliar height. Additional shuffling was necessary to accommodate everyone, further adding to the awkward scene.
The dance continued around them, loud conversation in mostly Asian sounding languages with some other regions’ dialects sprinkled in for good measure. A whirl of colors, sounds, music. Jason drank it all in. It was loud, exhilarating, intoxicating. And it was supposed to be. With their detection system good-and-jammed, Jason was having a hard time figuring out where the bouncers were, who was in charge, where the exit points were, etc. It was a party, so there certainly had to be bouncers, right?
When the old man spoke about the Guild, he always seemed a little off center. True, he shared fantastic tales of adventure, foreign worlds, riches to make your mouth water. But the edge of his mouth and eyes was tight as he spoke and even when he successfully pulled off another hair raising scheme and the whole crew hooped and hollered and begged for another tale, the Captain’s usually relaxed smile never would smell the roses. It was ready for action, nervous, pensive. Jason figured it was that way for a reason. Very well, they are all bouncers and are dressed to the 9’s in ammo. What now?
With no better option immediately presenting itself, he Jason sat at the table, motioned to the team to keep alert, and waited.