Inside, the lights were dim, strobe lights flashed, and thousands of people were dancing in a half dozen differently themed areas, each with their own music. Max had never seen anything like it in his life, and most of the pilots looked completely stunned by the sight, which made the greeter smile at their naive nature.

In truth, The Pit was one of the galaxy’s best regarded perpetual parties, and extremely difficult to simply enter. If you weren’t up to their standards, the doors would remain firmly closed in your face and no amount of money would open them.

The reason they opened for the crew today was simple. Nico had promised them fresh meat for the Augmented Aunties that frequented and owned shares in the club. None of them looked a day over twenty, and every one of them was stunning in appearance, but that was all synthetic. Most of them were hundreds of years old and all of them had a taste for fresh-faced young soldiers. These dozens of Pilots, who outnumbered the women of their Regiment over twenty to one, had only been away from the academy a scarce few years, with the ones from the Special Tactics Unit being new graduates.

If the ladies couldn’t find what they were looking for in this group, then what they were looking for might not exist.

Max saw what Nico had done in her thoughts and said a silent prayer for his comrades in arms. Their sacrifice today would be honored for life, though never spoken of again. Max decided to call this an educational moment for them, and it was the perfect opportunity to mingle with civilians and take Breckenridge’s mind off the dating status of her brother.

“If you prefer, the club offers a fashion service for our VIP clients. Would you ladies care to partake?” A server asked the small handful of women in the group._.

“That sounds lovely. Please lead the way.” Nico agreed, winking at Max and dragging Breckenridge with her.

The others came very willingly, and the staff grabbed a few of the men to come with them as well, making Max chuckle as the ladies at the bar gave him a knowing smile. There was no doubt that those were the Augmented Aunties that Nico’s thoughts had referred to, and it was also clear that they knew he understood who they were as well.

The changing process was incredibly fast, with makeup being applied and hair styled by an advanced robot in a matter of seconds. The outfits were themed to a portion of the club, and those who had been offered the service could return at will to match the section that they wished to mingle in.

Both Nico and Breckenridge returned in short Cheongsam type dresses with their hair up and fishnet stockings. Breckenridge looked highly uncomfortable, trying to adjust her dress a bit so the slit up the leg didn’t show as much, but the skirt was cut just specifically to not show what it shouldn’t unless the one wearing it wanted it to.

“Relax. Nobody will see your underwear. We’re going to dance and drink and forget all about your problems.” Nico insisted, giving a little twirl before grabbing Max in one hand and Breckenridge in the other.

A few of the Pilots, including the one who first asked to join them followed behind the ladies like lost puppies as Nico led them into an industrial-themed portion of the club with a bouncing pop beat. Shots of some glowing blue local liqueur were brought over the moment they entered, and both ladies downed them before Nico spun Breckenridge into the arms of her admirer, telling them to go dance while she found a table.

The table she found was in a corner, but up on a slightly raised platform that let them see the dance floor, and those near the dance floor see them. The server placed a reserved sign down on their behalf, along with a round of electrolyte replacement drinks, perfect for the exertion of dancing.

“Thank you.” Max smiled at the server, who gave him a polite bow and walked back to her station.

Max didn’t miss the signal that she gave a table full of ladies as she passed through. They all looked like local nobles’ daughters, wearing high fashion and not the themed outfits that the club assigned to this room. Everyone knew that soldiers didn’t carry any cash on them, and their credits could only be used or exchanged at specified locations, so the hungry looks the Pilots were getting could only mean one thing.

“Nico, what have you done?” Max whispered, knowing her ears could hear him.

“Created some fun. Trust me on this, nobody is going to get hurt, and they will have a wonderful tale to tell when they get back to the ship.” Nico responded softly, as the Pilots met the approaching ladies halfway and began flirting before heading to the dance floor.

“Now, shall we? It would be a shame to get all dressed up and not dance.” Nico pouted, pulling Max to his feet.

It wasn’t necessary, Max was in a party mood, and ready to relax.

He couldn’t help looking into the thoughts of the dancers though and found something very interesting. Nearly a third of the patrons at this time of day, all female, were actually employees of the club, here to dance and party with the paying customers.

This was how they maintained their reputation as a peak party spot, the club simply hired pretty women to show up a couple of times a week and party. What else they did was up to them, but Max stopped searching before he got to the details of their side jobs, for the sake of his own mental health. Max recalled that some clubs did that back on Kepler Terminus as well. They would pay celebrities to show up to their clubs and bring an entourage with them.

In exchange, the celebrity would promote the club and bring in visitors and revenue. Of course, a lot of the celebrities ended up spending more than they were paid, living the party lifestyle at a reduced cost, but that too was a win for the venue.historical

Max’s stats were far beyond human average, so dancing was no trouble at all, and he had put a lot of work into his stamina. Hours passed, and the club got absolutely packed with patrons for the evening. Breckenridge and her admirer had disappeared with a wealthy socialite some time ago and most of the other Pilots were occupied either on the dance floor or at one of the tables, so Max and Nico returned to their booth while Max ordered a fresh drink. The one on the table wasn’t empty, but he had left it unattended for hours at a time.

No way would he drink that in a place like this.

Every few hours that evening Nico demanded to change outfits and regions of the club, checking up on the other Pilots and all aspects of the party. They had just finished their fifth costume change of the night and were relaxing in what Max would have called a Cabaret, with a lovely singer from a blue-skinned species Max didn’t recognize when they finally found Breckenridge and her admirer again. Both had a telltale glow and tousled hair, but more interestingly was the way they were both hanging off the obviously wealthy woman in between them.

That wasn’t what Max expected when this party started, but if they were happy it was fine by him.

“Alright, everyone is happy, can we go now? You might not get tired, but we’ve been here over twelve hours.” Max complained, quietly so as not to disturb the atmosphere of the room.

“Just a little longer, I ordered you some more snacks. You have to try these ones and then we can go.” Nico agreed, humming along with the singer.

The pastries were the last straw for Max. They were filled with a strongly alcoholic fruit paste, and his vision began to blur a little as he heard Nico chuckle and escort him out of the club. They stopped for a few minutes while a staff member brought him water and Nico changed back into her uniform, but she left with a large bag that had the club’s logo on it.

“The material printers make them on the spot, the clothes are intended to be single-use, so the Club only uses a specific pattern for one day a year,” Nico informed Max as she half carried him back to the ship.

That was great news, he was looking forward to seeing her in some of those outfits again.