<<<For a visual of the bar, look at Mike's Bio. Links at the Bottom>>>

This wasn’t your normal Fleet ship’s bar. No, this was something different. It was close, dark, stark, industrial… raw. If you wanted a place to enjoy a quiet drink, you were in the wrong bar. If you wanted comfortable, intimate place to take that new special someone… wrong again. Because while this place was quiet now… it would soon be loud, riotous, and packed with people looking to get away.

The place was finished… mostly. A big stack of stickers sat on the bar, on tables, and at the door… waiting for people to throw them up wherever. The jukebox was on, but quiet. And the stage holoprojectors had been programmed by the proprietor with some of the most famous and historic punk bands ever, meticulously recreated.

The man known as Big Mike stood in the center of the room, eyes closed, motionless. He felt the distant hum of the ship, and heard the small noises that a week ago seemed so different, now felt familiar. He opened his eyes and looked around one last time. He turned and went to the jukebox and pressed a series of holographic numbers and there was a pause and then music started blaring. It was the well known punk band ‘Government Kills’ and their biggest hit ‘FedSec Fascists’. Mike listened as the intro bass line came in and smiled, remembering the crowds yelling and screaming when he and his band mates played it. He shook his head, clearing the past from his mind, and he walked to the door. He slammed his hand against the door frame and a sign outside lit up in glowing red letters: “NO RANK PAST THIS POINT” and a holo of a big Naussican bouncer appeared in the passageway next to the door. Mike opened the door to where about twenty or thirty crew had lined up, and said simply “C’mon in.” and as people filed past he smiled slightly and then went to go do the one thing he did almost as well as music… sling booze.

Big Mike McKenzie