Rhade’s senses were particularly sharp as he made his way home from the bar that evening. He had spent enough time in this miserable place to know that walking the streets of Seefra at night without one’s wits about him could result in some not too pleasant results. With a twinge of pain, he remembered that first night he had arrived on Seefra-1. It had all seemed so long ago, and everything had happened so fast. They had answered a distress call…a lone ship being attacked by three enemy ships. Oddly enough, the ship under attack had no offensive weapons, but the pilot had such unmatched maneuvering skills that Rhade thought it must have been a man piloting that ship. He was wrong – her name was Louisa Messereau, and she belonged to a habitat named Arkology – a place of peace and tranquility whose citizens believed that the only answer to the chaos of the universe was peace. She was beautiful, intelligent, strong yet gentle…and Nietzschean. For the first time in his life, Rhade felt as if he weren’t alone – an outsider. While he didn’t quite understand or commit to her beliefs, nevertheless he found himself falling in love – not only with Louisa, but with her strange way of life.

However, as is often wont to happen to those that don’t defend themselves, the citizens of Arkology found themselves face to face with the bane of the universe – the Magog and their worldship. He and his crew had tried to help them – teach them to fight and defend themselves – but neither they nor the Andromeda were a match for the bloodthirsty Magog. Before Rhade had even gotten the chance to get to know her, Louisa’s life was snuffed out at the hands of a murderous Magog. As he watched the beautiful fair-haired Nietzschean die in his arms, he heard the grotesque sounds of more Magog behind him. They were coming through the door, he was trapped and, once again, he was alone. Setting his face like a flint, he knew what needed to be done. Yes, he would die here – but not whimpering like a coward. Being the warrior he was, he would accept his fate like a man - he would put up a warrior’s fight, and he would die a warrior’s death. Slowly and with jaws tightly clenched, Rhade turned around to face his destiny. But just as suddenly as he charged the incoming Magog, ready to stab his boneblades into the first one he could get his hands on, immediately there was a bright light – and everything had changed. Instead of facing a foul smelling Magog, Rhade found himself instead face to face with a beggar whose breath smelled as if his mouth hadn’t been opened for air in several hundred years.

“Could you spare some loose change for a drink of whiskey?”

Rhade blinked several times in confusion. “Where am I? What is this place?” After staring blankly into the beggar’s empty eyes for a brief moment and realizing he wasn’t going to get an answer, Rhade roughly pushed the old man out of the way.

“You’re in hell, young man,” answered the beggar and walked away, cursing the fact that yet another had not given him anything with which to wet his whistle.

Blind from confusion and grief, Rhade staggered about, wondering where to go and what to do. Thoughts flooded his mind. ‘Where was Arkology? Am I dead? Is this the afterlife and, if so, what horrible thing have I done to deserve such a fate?’ After walking for what seemed like several hours, at last he spotted some double doors – an entrance to what looked like a bar of sorts. ‘Maybe I can find some answers here. If this is the afterlife, perhaps Louisa is also here.’ A spark of hope arose in the devastated Nietzshean’s heart, and his countenance brightened. “If I have to spend an eternity in hell, at least I can spend it with you, my love,” Rhade lamented to himself.

As Rhade approached the building’s entrance, the doors opened automatically. The Nietzschean’s keen senses were immediately flooded by the sound of music, and a bright light blinded his eyes that had previously been accustomed to the darkness. As he entered the bar, he heard the sounds of several patrons chattering, laughing, and carrying on with typical conversation. As they spotted the newcomer, however, all noise came to an abrupt halt, save for the music still being piped in from some unnamed place. Now all eyes were upon Rhade, as in vain he searched every face in the room, in a desperate attempt to spot Louisa among them.

“Where is she? Where’s Louisa?!”

The patrons only looked at Rhade, but none spoke. The silence was almost deafening, and so great was his grief and panic that Rhade paid no attention to the suspicious stares that were boring through him.

“Please, tell me where I can find Louisa!”

Spotting the closest patron he could get his hands on, Rhade immediately grabbed him by the collar and pushed him hard against the wall of the bar.

“Tell me, or I will slit your throat – you miserable excuse for a human being!”

The stunned and shocked man could only look at Rhade, wide eyed and paralyzed with fear. After a few seconds, he stammered, “I…don’t…know…who you’re talking about. Please…don’t hurt me! I swear I don’t know!”

Rhade’s first instinct was to use his boneblades to cut out the man’s Adam’s apple. But after looking into his terrified eyes for a few seconds, Rhade realized the poor sap was telling the truth. Louisa was not here. He was in hell, she had made it to Paradise, and they would be forever and eternally separated. Dejectedly, Rhade let go of the man’s collar, and silently and slowly walked out of the bar and into the night. On and on he walked mindlessly, stopping only long enough to pound his fist into whatever stood in his way.

“I will never know sunlight again.”

It happened in an instant. Suddenly and without warning, a group of figures approached and tackled Rhade from behind. Giddy from everything that had transpired and weakened from his previous fight on Arkology, he fell to the ground as nameless faceless figures pummeled him, knocking him unconscious.

“Ah, sweet oblivion, take me now”, thought Rhade as he slipped away into darkness.

When Rhade opened his eyes some time later, his senses were immediately blinded by the bright light of day. As his eyes focused, he realized he was staring into the face of yet another man. To Rhade’s relief, there was no bad breath this time – but the man had the largest mouth he had ever seen.

“Are you all right, my son?” asked the large mouthed man.

“Who are you? Where am I? What happened?”

“I am Thomas. You are on Seefra-1. You were mugged.”

Rhade sat up groggily, immediately discovering that the only possessions he owned – the black uniform he was wearing and his forcelance – were gone. Not only had they taken his weapon, but also they had proceeded to strip him down to his skivvies. Rhade cringed when he realized that, somewhere on this miserable place, one ugly inhabitant was helping himself to Rhade’s goodies. As Thomas helped him to his feet, Rhade noticed something on the ground, its reflection caught by the light of the sun. It was his Commonwealth pin. ‘Like this is going to do me any good now’, Rhade thought to himself bitterly. Nevertheless, he stooped down to pick it up, reminding himself that the pin, while now worthless, was nevertheless his only connection to his past, his friends, and to his life. He couldn’t quite bear to part with it – at least not yet.

Upon discovering that he could walk on his own accord, Thomas offered Rhade his cloak with which to wrap around himself. “Don’t worry, my son. Come with me, and I and my followers will take care of you.” At first Rhade was hesitant, but after coming to the realization that he had no money, weapons, food, or even clothing, he decided that he had no other choice but to obey. The large mouthed man was indeed strange, but at this moment he was his only friend. Rhade followed the man warily down the brightly lit sunlit streets of Seefra-1.

On the darkened streets of Seefra-1, Rhade’s senses were immediately fast-forwarded into the present as, with a large crash, a falling asteroid fell to the planet not fifty feet from where he stood. The impact made the earth shudder around Rhade's feet as he continued on his journey home.

“Thomas was true to his word, all right…he definitely took care of me,” thought Rhade as he stopped long enough to reach into his vest and take out his flask of whiskey. The Nietzschean recalled his time working for Thomas – before Dylan had arrived and ran him off, that is. While he never liked Thomas – hated him, actually – nevertheless, while being in his employment Rhade was never in want for anything. He had all the whiskey and cheap women he wanted at his disposal. Not only that, but Thomas paid him well - so well that the first thing Rhade bought with the money he had earned doing Thomas’ dirty work was a new outfit consisting of a leather vest and the tightest leather pants he could find. Being used to conventional military attire, at first Rhade was a little hesitant to buy the ensemble. But after just one look into that full mirror, and realizing how simply scrumptious he looked, his mind was made up. No longer would he be caught dead in officer’s uniforms. This was the new Rhade, and furthermore an entire makeover was in order. Rhade proceeded to let his hair grow out, and even let a local patron pierce his ear. “If I ever see that knothead Dylan again, I want him to know what he did to me. But I also want him to be jealous of just how good I look – especially in these leather pants.”

Dylan had indeed arrived nine months later, and things were different. However, the changes weren’t exactly everything Rhade had expected. Sure, he still had the whiskey and women, but Dylan was still constantly asking him to do things for him.

“He thinks I’m still his little errand boy,” snorted Rhade. “What a cheeseboy.”

“I know what I need to make me feel better – a woman…or two…or maybe more.”

Rhade looked around the darkened streets. On a normal evening, sleazy and willing women were not a problem to find – especially for him. They were everywhere on the streets of Seefra-1, and Rhade in particular was their favorite plaything. Unlike the other men of Seefra, he had looks, money, plenty of whiskey, and looked good in those tight leather pants – all precious commodities. But tonight, oddly enough, the streets were barren of people. After a minute or two, Rhade realized that it really wasn’t worth his effort anyway. Not only had the women of Seefra not succeeded in filling the void he had lost upon the death of Louisa, but to top it off most of them were butt ugly anyway.

“Finally, I get all the women instead of Dylan…and look what I have to choose from.”

At last, Rhade reached the door of his home. He began to put the key into the lock, but then realized that he had forgotten to lock the door earlier in the day. “I really need to be more careful,” muttered Rhade to himself. Before he could turn the knob, however, he thought he heard noise coming from inside the house. “Great, now I have an intruder I have to kill. Can this day get any worse for me?”

Weapon still drawn, Rhade slowly opened the door, fully expecting to be greeted by a greasy foul smelling local thief stealing his whiskey – but instead, a vision unlike anything he had ever seen before stood in the doorway opposite him, her left hand leaning up against the doorway. She was the loveliest and most gorgeous thing he had seen since that hot teacher at the academy on Terazed all the young men had a crush on – including him. Her hair was long and brown, flowing gently over her shoulders and cascading down her back. Her eyes had a sort of bluish gray hue, which sparkled and seemed to change colors as she surveyed the Nietzschean in front of her with obvious interest. Her lips were full and luscious, and her attire was unlike anything he had ever seen since his arrival on Seefra – she wore a long red crinkled muslin dress that draped her body and accentuated every curve – of which she had plenty. Over her midriff, she wore a black bodice which delicately pushed her bosom just enough so that her breasts peeked out provocatively from underneath her blouse, which was pulled down just enough to expose her milky white shoulders. She definitely had the look and air of a lady – but with a sort of mischievousness that made him wonder what she was capable of when provoked the right way.

Rhade’s heart leapt into his throat, and he lost all ability to form complete sentences.

“Who are…I mean to say…what are you doing…how did you…not that I care…but…” Rhade’s words trailed off as his eyes perused this vision of loveliness from the top of her head to her feet – which, by the way, were bare.

“I hope you don’t mind…I let myself in. Some insane crazy man with a large mouth stole my shoes, and after walking around looking for him to no avail, I realized my feet were cold and dirty.”

Rhade could only stare at her with his mouth open. Finally, after coming to his senses, he realized that he really should be on the other side of that door…with it closed…and locked…and a “Do Not Disturb” sign hung outside. Wow, what luck! It’s a good thing he didn’t have those tramps with him. After all, even Louisa seemed to pale in comparison to what was staring back at him at the moment.

“Um, are you okay?” she asked sweetly. Her words were like honey flowing from her mouth, and he was intoxicated – not only with the whiskey, but with her scent as well, which reminded him of a spring morning back home.

“I’m…fine.” Rhade walked inside and shut the door, pausing long enough to lock it quickly before the young lass could notice.

“What’s your name…Little Red Riding Hood?” Immediately after that comment, Rhade realized he had put the proverbial foot in mouth. ‘What kind of a joke is that, you dumb Nietzschean? That wasn’t even funny!’ thought Rhade with regret at the utter foolishness of his statement.

Instead of the supposed result, however, the young woman blushed and laughed sweetly. “You are too funny…and you look way too hot for your own good in those leather pants!” Immediately, the woman approached Rhade slowly, stopping only once – long enough to take in another eyeful of Rhade’s trousers. As she came close – so close that he could feel her breath on his neck, he closed his eyes in sweet ecstasy as her nose brushed up against his neck and the side of his face. Her soft lips began nibbling at his right ear, and goosebumps ran up and down his spine as each fingertip of both of her hands lightly began running up his arms until they reached the back of his neck. As she pressed herself fully up against him, Rhade realized this was going to be a special night for him. Goodbye, Louisa…it was fun, but life goes on. Rhade’s strong arms wrapped around her waist, and as his left hand gently moved to tilt her head toward his, “Little Red Riding Hood” whispered seductively in his ear.

“Gotcha!”

This time the voice was not like honey at all, but was deeper and more masculine. Immediately there was a flash of light, and as Rhade went to turn the young woman’s head so that he could plant a passionate kiss on those soft, full, luscious lips, of hers, he was instead greeted by an old familiar visage…Uncle Sid…er, Q, that is.

“Aaaaagh!” screamed Rhade as he pushed Q away from him violently.

“Aww, finished so soon, my Nietzschean friend? I was really beginning to enjoy this!” Q quipped with a sinister gleam in his eye.

“You are sick, you know that? Sick! I’m going to kill you!” Rhade lurched towards the red dressed man, but as immediately as Ms. Hood’s visage had changed into the visage of Q, the visage had disappeared altogether.

Rhade, feeling very dirty and somewhat ashamed at this point, decided what he needed more than sleep was a shower…a cold one…with lots of soap…and disinfectant.

“You think Seefra has a water shortage now…well baby, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

Rhade was still incensed, but priorities needed to be set. He would kill Q later…after he had spent the next four hours showering every trace of him from his essence.
 

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