6315 réponses à ce sujet

[Cainhurst Crow]

So that's what all the fuss was about? Her hair color?" Vayne asked as he rejoined their table, no sense in sitting at a bar for a drink when his person of interest had left. "Here I thought you just didn't like her accent." he commented as he downed the rest of his rynacol. He leaned in his seat, finger balancing the glass.

 

"This colonies sick, in all the wrong places. Its like if omega was trying to pass itself off as Illium..." he commented off hand as he looked between the others, "We all aught to watch our backs, no matter what we do here. Treat anyone who causes you trouble as if they were an omega merc gang, no matter whose colors or names they use to make themselves seem in charge. Ancestors knows they won't let our captians rank stop them from putting us down and six feet under."

 

As jess walked in, vayne gave a nod to her, letting out a sigh as he set the glass down, "The situation kinda got cooled off, not that there was much to worry about. Just two people, civilly working things out."

[Redbelle]

"It wasn't just her hair color! Crisake! you think I'm that shallow"! Anika snapped.

 

Jess dragged a glass over to her and reached for the whiskey. "Settle luv.... It was just a question".

 

"But he.....". Anika stopped as he saw the glare Jess was giving her. "Aye captain". She said as she sank into her chair. "Sorry". She said to Vayne. "Still a little.... wound up I guess".

[Cainhurst Crow]

"I'm sorry to," Vayne said, sounding sincere as he said so, "Didn't mean to offend you as much. Just a bit of humor to lighten the mood, a bad habit of defense I picked up a while ago." he said, looking into his glass.

 

"She worries me though..." he said, still not looking to any of them as he spoke, sounding a bit lost in thought, "Her and her whole situation worry me about this colony. More I learn about how this place is run...the more my scales start itching."

[Kel Riever]

Morgan folded his arms, choosing to stand at the table rather than sit.  He started to talk when he noticed Dahlia nearly pushed up against him from behind and to his right.  He cleared his voice and took a step to give himself some personal space.  

 

"We've got some important decisions to make.  If this place doesn't seem good enough to talk in, maybe we should be walking instead while we put everything together."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Irina got up from the bar, cleared her tab with Gullet and said, “See ya, mate.” She walked past the table where Vayne and the Anika were seated. She nodded at Vayne but ignored Anika. She gave the rest of the group the once over before she walked toward the door, then passed through the swinging doors and exited the building. Once outside the building something was amiss. A Batarian was eyeing her bike from about three feet. He had a weapon drawn. She noticed other Batarians, and she recognized them as part of Tardek’s gang.

 

“Hey! Get your arse the f*** away from my bike!” She shouted at the Batarian, and she drew her pistol and fired a warning shot.

 

“This doesn’t concern you, Irina!” Tardek shouted.

 

“You get near my bike it does, ya bloody galah!” Irina took cover behind a concrete barrier and fired some shots at the Batarian’s feet nearest her bike. “You so much as put a fingerprint on it, and I’ll kick your bum till your nose bleeds.”
 

“This is your last warning, Irina!” Tardek shouted, “Just walk away.”

[Redbelle]

Anika rolled her eye's at Irina's cold shoulder. "Yeah... real mature". She muttered.

 

Jess facepalmed. "We've gotta talk about how to make friends luv.... And we're going to start with an apology".

 

"...... Your not serious"!

 

"You can't just..... you know what? I don't care anymore. Let's go". Jess stood up and Anika reluctantly stood with her. Picking up Morgan's package they made for the doors. Stopping to equip their rebreathers for the low atmospheric content outside. Stepping out they stood by the front door entrance looking up and down the street

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"There she is!" Tardek shouted, and started shooting at Jess.

 

Jess and Anika dove behind a concrete barrier on the opposite side of the door from Irina.

 

"Planning an ambush, were ya, Tardek?" Irina shouted, and laid down some suppressing fire for Jess and Anika, "You Batarians are all alike. A bunch of bloody cowards. I don't know who you are over there, but let me give you a little battle advice for fighting Batarians. When I was on Elysium, we just shot at anything that looked like a half-eaten pastie."

[Kel Riever]

Morgan gestured to Vayne and Naleena in a casual way to head on out.  He followed Jess and Anika, listening in some amusement to what was becoming familiar banter between the two.  The pirate and her bodyguard had barely stepped beyond the bounds of the saloon when shots rang out in the street.  He watched the two take cover from a nearby concrete barrier.  The red-head was nearby, shouting some ball busting words over her own cover.  Morgan hid in the doorway itself, peering out, and put up a hand in warning to those behind him.  While he was fastening the rebreather attached to his collar piece, he watched the redhead duck as a large volley of gunfire was the response to her antagonizing words.

 

Tardek Razr, the batarian who was sorely loosing in the bar and who challenged Morgan, bellowed from his position opposite the saloon, “CAPTAIN STONE! You two-bit crook!  I thought I recognized your smarmy face walking into Gullet’s!  I flew with Grif and you’re gonna pay for what you did to that squadron!”  Tardek popped up from his position and cut loose with a Vindicator assault rifle.

 

Three shots left the barrel and three shots hit the concrete wall in front of Jess.  What didn’t get missed was the Starstreamer jetbike in front of the saloon.  The high velocity rifle rounds shattered the concrete, causing a hail of fragments to blast into the side of the bike, ruining the surface of it’s extraordinary paint job.

 

Everyone on the street who saw that damage on the jetbike had a number of credits pop into their heads at what it would cost to fix.  Nobody was thinking of a number that wouldn’t buy another entire aircar for the same price.

 

Morgan watched the red-head and just knew something awful was about to happen.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"That cost a paint job! You're gonna wish your father had just settled for the b*** j**, Tardek!" Irina shot the Batarian nearest her bike in the eye with her pistol.

 

Tardek was behind a barricade on the same side as Irina. He fired a couple of shots at her last known position, but she'd gone prone and was crawling toward him. His shots hit concrete and shattered some more that flew through the air and hit her bike. The others in his gang were firing at Jess and Anika. Naleena, Dahlia, and Vayne stayed behind Morgan. Tardek couldn't find Irina, but she saw him: straight line. She holstered her pistol and drew her shotgun, and sprinted low toward him and tucked and rolled. Tardek saw her, turned just as she raised up and aimed her shotgun from her hip and fired both barrels, the slugs hitting him in the face from about six feet. Tardek's skull blew apart, and Irina dove, took cover behind his barricade, and reloaded. She had his gang flanked, and she drew her Phalanx and shot two of them dead. The others fled. 

 

She kicked Tardek's body. "Ya bloody wombat!" And she walked casually back to her bike.

Modifié par sH0tgUn jUliA, 24 juin 2014 - 09:11 .

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Never a simple moment in this crew, is there?" Vayne asked as he reached to his hip, drawing his shotgun pistol from its holster. Its silvery finish and wood like pistol grip gleamed in the light as the large cylinder in the middle, which made up the cooling system, along with the smaller rails running along the barrel to increase its magnetic force in weaponry simple to see for anyone who knew the basic of weapons. It was big, it was bulky, and it would leave more then a simple hole in whatever got shot by it.

 

And it was in the hands of someone whose faced said, they were in a very good mood. "Get off omega, come here, and we're already getting shot." He said as he heard the shouting from outside, blinking as he peaked out of the doorway to look at the yelling batarian. He looked down to morgan as braced himself to duck behind the saloons wall, his expression saying it all.

 

The batarian was going to die, and die he did, though not in the way he expected.

 

"****** moron..." Vayne muttered to himself as he still held his gun out, stepping out of the bar and from behind morgan with a bit of a lumber, wincing in pain a bit as he saw the others fleeing. "Starts a damn fire fight and forgets to use any ****** shields. Like a Varren Humpee." he commented with a glare. The goons were fleeing quickly, and were out of range of his shotgun.

 

Instead he looked to Irina, and down to the double barreled shotgun she had, "That things a chemical fired weapon?" He asked, raising a brow at curiosity in her choice of weaponry. He wondered for a moment if she'd had to make due using it or if she actually willingly choose to use one of those in battle.

 

'Coming from the krogan in tomkah armor though, can't say that means much.' he thought however, cutting his pride down a bit with his own honesty. He instead then turned to look at captain stone, holding his shotgun leasurly as he regarded her and anika's predicament.

 

"So...I take it you made some friends who live on this rock." he said, motioning to the now fleeing gunmen. "Could be worse, the law could have come here and done its job."

[Kel Riever]

Morgan witnessed the whole frontier scene play out in front of him.  With Tardek’s associates fleeing after he had his face filled with shot, there weren’t any hard choices to make.  Vayne, at nearly seven feet tall and one ton plus in his armor, lumbered out past him, commenting on the recently deceased Batarian’s relationship to Jess’ past. 

 

The street had emptied at the eruption of gun play, but people were beginning to poke their heads out now.  Morgan looked at Jess and Anika, who seemed fine, then he followed Vayne out, walking slowly into the street for a good view of what had happened.  He wandered in the red-head’s direction as he took the imagery in.  Behind him now was an overpriced bike that got a nice bit of Duellos all over its fine finish.  In front of him lay a once pissy, antagonizing, sore losing batarian, dead with no face.  And heading back to her bike was the woman, wearing so much leather that cows probably fled at the sight of her.  The last detail to put the whole spectacle over the top was her shotgun, with smoke wisps trailing from the barrels.  It was like she reached back in time three centuries just to use it on the person who dared scour her sacred airbike in shrapnel.

 

Morgan felt a sensation he hadn’t in public for a long time and started to laugh.  He tried to stifle it as the woman was about to walk past him, but couldn’t.  Without any other way he could think of to make sure he didn’t seem like he was mocking her, he nodded to her in a friendly way.  One uncharacteristic word couldn’t be stopped before it slipped through his lips.

 

“Howdy.”

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Irina took a breath and looked Morgan up and down, and extended her hand. "G'day. Saw you with her group." She motioned to Jess with her head, "I want to see what that dead ass**** did to my bike. Name's Irina."

 

"Morgan...."

 

"Aw, bloody buggerin' hell!" She saw some of the paint chips on it. "Do you have any idea how much a new paint job costs for one of these? First my tools got stolen. Now this. Insurance covers theft of the bike or wreckage in an accident or injuries only. Does it cover gunfights? No. Does it cover paint chips? No. Does it cover theft of tools? No. That's the premium coverage which costs.... well if you have to ask you can't afford it. Makes me want to kill him again except he's dead and wouldn't appreciate it." She paused a second and started laughing. "Don't worry, I'm not crazy. You know what? F*** it. I've been wanting to take out that bastard for months. You with the silver eye did something to ****** him off so that makes you alright in my book. Blondie must be with you. We got off on the wrong foot in there. I already know Vayne. I don't know the Asari. I'll buy a round!"

[Redbelle]

Jess popped up from behind the cover with Bernard in hand. "Sodding hell! It's getting to where I can't even have a drink without...."!

 

A hand reached up and pulled her down that caused a bit of a sqwark as Anika popped up, Collector SMG up and out as she scanned the surroundings. "Stay down till it's...... Safe". She declared.

 

Jess popped back up. "I could have told you it was safe"!

 

"And I could have told you that red head was trouble".

 

"What are you....."?

 

"She's involved"!

 

"With a guage and a temper"!

 

"Why were they around that bike that she's.....".

 

"Oh put it away luv. It's not like she's pointing a gun at us is it".

 

Anika gave Jess one of those looks that screamed that she wanted to say something she wouldn't like. Then slowly dropped the SMG and holstered it. "When we're done, we're going back to the ship and the armours going on".

 

Jess rolled her eye's. "Oh c'mon.....".

 

"Don't 'oh c'mon' me. This is one of those times you don't get to argue".

 

Jess sighed. "Fine". She said looking around. Hearing the red head call out to her Jess called back. "Yeah! Shot down a squadran of his friends who tried to flip my ship. Killed the leader on Omega....". She squinted down at the body  "I'm guessing this was one of the survivors. Heh.... Survivor is a bit of a loose term". She slapped Anika's back. "Don't mind her luv. She's paid to be suspicious. Annoying as it is sometimes...". She said as an aside to her. "..... I have to admit, she's pulled me out of a few scrapes".

 

"Needless scrapes". Anika muttered

[Kel Riever]

At that point, Gullet came out of the saloon, with hastily thrown on body armor, hoisting a Claymore. He took a look up and down the avenue.  Satisfied the fight was over, he grunted before he gave some words of warning.

 

“I heard that about a round, having now to assume you actually mean drinks.  None of you gunfighters are coming back in here today.  Take a walk, see the sights.  I’d be gone before the law comes by.”  He gestured with his chin towards the red-head.  “Irina, you come back tomorrow, your credits are always good here.

 

“The rest of you,” Gullet became much more solemn, “You’re welcome back then too, but I’d think twice about it.  Sure, Tardek was an *ss, but he was an *ss who did things for people.  And they may just come looking for who got rid of a guy with a lot of loose credits and some loyal muscle.”

 

With that, Gullet went back inside to the business of running his establishment.

[Kel Riever]

Morgan searched for Dahlia, who hadn’t exited yet, despite the action she so seemed to desire.  His attention went back to Irina, who’s peace offering had been promptly shut down by Gullet.  The woman, he could tell, was still simmering about her bike though she had clamped down on her outburst.  With no saloon to go back into and a pretty good smear on her transportation to elsewhere, Morgan engaged her.

 

“Elysium?  Not an easy time for most who were there.”

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Thanks for the heads up." Vayne said to gullet, giving a nod as he holstered his weapon, looking to the others. Elysium had been pretty bad for everyone, involved or not. Most folks he knew would simply not talk about that particular job, some of the horror stories paleing in comparison to what really went on with both sides. It'd been a rough few years for .ostracized back then, and the hegemony offering work was some of the best paying jobs the verse had seen in some time. Even Vayne had been almost tempted to sit up, take up his tenure as a pirate again since his PI work had stalled in the recession.

But that was in the past, and only loud mouth morons thought it worth dragging back up, usually either human or batarian. "We should go..." vayne said as he looked to irina, "All of us, before the law decides to take nor from us then just some tools."

[Redbelle]

Anika nodded. "Ship". She said, then turned to Jess. "Armour".

 

"Your not going to let this go, are you".

 

"No".

 

Jess huffed. "Fine..... It's not like they can march on the ship if they decide they want to ask us questions". Jess then grinned. "How's about you come with us Irina! The ships probaly got something you can use to fix up yah ride"!

 

Anika's fallen expression was worth it.

[Kel Riever]

Returning to the Audron wasn't something Morgan was looking forward to. 

 

On the flip side, even if Gullet could be convinced to let anyone back in, was it worth putting a red-headed tasmanian devil back in a bar that was more like a fighting ring?

 

Likely not.  

[Redbelle]

Jess saw Morgan's reaction to the Audron and sighed. "Okay. Not the Audron".

 

"But the armour...."! Anika started to say.

 

"Lets put that on the back burner for now luv. I'm sharing the map co-ordinates of the places we're interested in". Jess tapped her Omni-tool and the tools of the group bleeped. "If we're on a list of persons of interest then we need to get mobile and keep moving. Staying one step ahead of anyone else. We need transport and I figure if there's a place we can rent some, we'll be in good shape to get what we need to do.... done".

 

Looking around the group she grinned. "I'm off to the D.A. Compound. Anyone who want's to come.... don't dawdle". And with that, Jess walked off down the street.

 

Anika watched her go and sighed. Then brought up her Omni-tool and brought up a map of the port. "Captain..."! She called out after Jess.

 

Jess turned. "What"?

 

"The stables.... that way"! Anika pointed inthe other direction.

 

Jess stood still for a moment. Then muttering under her breath, turned and walked back in the direction Anika pointed. "Better not have that map upside down. That's all I'm saying".

[Kel Riever]

As would be expected in a mostly lawless town, once people saw the aftermath of the gunfight, they went about their business as normal, making sure, however, to stay clear of the group that came out on top.  There were two exceptions.  One was some sort of undertaker; a turian in this case who did the dirty work of cleaning up the bodies, for the benefit of getting of a good fee from relatives, or the benefit of keeping anything on the corpses if said relatives never made a claim.

 

The second exception was a rotund human, dressed in a garish yellow-brown suit with a grid pattern in a slightly darker brown.  He had on a crisp brown hat, a chubby red face, and a rebreather which kept him on his feet as he roll-stepped with a lively pace towards the group.  The man didn’t advance directly, but instead made a wide crescent, dovetailing his approach, so that he pulled up a bit behind and to the group’s side.

 

“Good day everybody!  Good day,” the man said as he huffed along.  He had to keep his little legs at a hurried pace to keep up with the group.  “Name’s Calvin Brisbane, of Calvin Brisbane’s Mecha-Steeds.  Saw that little ruckus you handled there quite nicely.  Well done Miss Irina, I do like your style!  I do not know the rest of you but it is always a pleasure to meet people.  Good people.  People of respect.

 

“Now pardon my intrusion of such a fine and formidable association of peers, but I did notice as you past my shop some time ago on the way to Gullet’s.  And now I could not help but overhear some talk about stables.”  Calvin held his hat to his head as a wind threatened to blow it away, and came up alongside Anika, who towered over him.  “What you’re going to see there is the closest stable just so happens to be my place!  Right over there!  What a coincidence of good fortune for us all!

 

“Miss Irina, I know you’ve got a predicament on your hands.  Maybe your vehicle of gorgeous performance is well enough to move, but if I may make a suggestion, why take the risk?  And especially why when all your needs together can be met by none other than me?  Calvin Brisbane himself!

 

“Now hear me out if you would.  Just over yonder in my fine establishment is all that you need.  What you have there is not only a collection of some of the most useful used vehicles on Duellos, but also a proper collection of brand new mecha-steeds for all sorts of duty.  Surely it is something seasoned travelers such as the greater part of yourselves haven’t experienced yet, but mecha steeds are more than a bit of this planet’s flair.  Everything on Duellos needs to be handy too.  For example, we have a hauling model, perfect for doing things like towing that jetbike of Miss Irina’s in perfect safety.  We have models that can get you going where you need to fast.  We’ve got plain ones, fancy ones, tall ones and short ones.  They’re accessorized, privatized and customized.  We’ve even got some barrier shields on them…yes, pardon I overheard something about the need of getting about in protection.  Some of those steeds have just enough to keep the rain out….heh, not that the rain ever lands in anything but a mist on Duellos, but of course we’ve got some that’ll stop a round dead flat.  And as you can see here on our feisty frontier world, that kind of accessory is extremely popular!

 

“I know smart people when I see them, I do!  And ol’ Cal’s gonna cut you a good deal.  I’ve got my reputation to stake on it.  So what do you say?  We’re right over there and I’ll put on a fresh pot of coffee for everyone.

 

Calvin Brisbane grabbed his suit lapels in each hand and smiled broadly.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

CATCH UP POST: I've been at the golf course......

 

Irina heard Vayne bellowing, "Is that a chemical fired weapon?" She was surprised he'd even ask.

 

"Yeah, it is. It's effective," She said as she wandered over to the group. "We used these in the First Contact War. People think they're no good and that they have to have high tech sh**, but they don't. Picked up this for a couple hundred creds in '72, and she'll penetrate any shield around. Ask Tardek. Ask a few dead Batarians on Elysium who had a run-in with 'Bertha.' She's wasn't standard issue but f*** 'em. You just have to know what you're doing with the old stuff. Difference is you pack thermal clips, while I pack ammo. A bullet is a bullet."

 

Morgan wandered nearby. "Howdy. Elysium? Not an easy time for most who were there."

 

"You were at Elysium? What unit? I was under Lt. Shepard. F***in' Batarians hit us hard, and we had to rally everyone in the area to fight them off. I... saw sh**... I really don't want to talk about it. The bloody brass tried to make political f***ing heroes out of us. We were just doing our bloody jobs protecting the colonists. Guddam politicians. I got out as soon as my second hitch was up."

 

****

 

After all of the ruckus died down and they were thrown out of Gullet's for the day, and Morgan nixed the return to the ship and Calvin Brisbane came over and tried to sell them mecha-steeds....

 

Irina leaned to Morgan. "I spent my mustering out check on that bike," Irina said, "I'm not trading it in on any mecha-steed. I'll rent a steed, but I'm getting my tools back from those shaggers in the DA. I swear I'll take out those buggers if I have to."

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Those hideous things are called Mecha-steeds?" Vayne asked, sounding outright disgusted as he looked at one up close from the shop. He'd been around the galaxy and seen many things. He'd breathed in the horrors of war and battle, layed witness to creatures some council scientists dismissed as legends. He'd heard the tales of mighty kalros and once heard her roar send shivers up his spine.

 

These elongated varren like things though, made his scales crawl. None of them looked right, and they moved with this creepy jitter he'd once seen when he'd blasted a klixen's head off and watched it scurry about on 4 legs.

 

And he didn't hide his revulson to those things as he kept his distance from them, thankful to now have a name for the ugliness he'd seen here.

[Kel Riever]

"Well...," Calvin said as Irina responded, "I wouldn't ask you to trade such a wonderful vehicle.  I just think you could use something to tow that work of art of these hard streets.  And maybe use something in the meantime.  Rent!  That's it!  We have leasing deals too.  The best!"

 

Calvin then put on his best smile at Vayne, but stammered a bit when he saw the krogan's look. "All right, I know, I know...it takes some getting used to.  But there are a few things that go besides steeds in my lot.  Don't knock 'em till you try em, though!"  Calvin brought back his salesmanship.  "We even have some FENRIS mechs if you're looking for a good guard and companion.  I don't have them in but I can order one that's designed like a varren...."

 

~ ~ ~ ~

 

"Unit on Elysium?" Morgan turned a visible dour when thinking about his experience in the Alliance.  "I was with the 22nd Drop Division."  He listened to the rest of Irina's conversation, and overheard a bit from Vayne and Calvin. Morgan spared a brief look behind him wondering where Dahlia was, and shook his head in a bit of disappointment, guessing that she had run off.  Naleena didn't seem so concerned, so he paid it no more heed.  Morgan then looked to Jess who was ahead of him, thinking of what she had told him.

 

Morgan came back to Irina when she dropped the name 'DA'.  "DA? Is that the religious group around here that has been causing some grief?  How do you know they stole your tools?"

[Redbelle]

Jess looked at Calvin and made her decision. "Set us up Mr Brisbane. Your finest for any who need them. I'll foot the bill. If you could have them ready in say..... twenty minutes? I'd be much obliged. And any chance we could get off the street? Last thing I want is Daog catching us here when he comes looking for answers".

[Kel Riever]

“Twenty minutes!”  Calvin held his hat again as if it would shoot into space. “Well!  You come on in and I’ll have my assistant get that coffee started.”  He ran off towards his dealership and shouted behind him.  “Don’t you worry!  I’ve got you all covered!”

 

Calvin’s shop was a good deal more enticing than the street, with its own environmental control.  To say it was nice, however, would be a misnomer.  It was clean, that was certain.  It was also empty, with the exception of some display mecha-steeds, an ancient, literally analog, clock, a cheap desk with a cheap computer interface, several stackable chairs set about, an office who’s windows were tinted, and three cabinets colored in olive drab.  There was a counter with a coffee maker and a rather wispy, out of it, looking ‘assistant’; a post-adolescent young man with hair that needed to be cut and a hoard of freckles on his face.  The assistant looked like he thought time had stood still for him, but he nevertheless diligently made the coffee.

 

Brisbane returned in ten minutes and waved everyone to come along.  “I’ve got everything lined up.  Wiggle on over to the back, your purchases are set up, ready to go, fine as cream gravy.”

 

Out in Calvin’s back lot, where his substantial inventory was mostly stored, several of the mecha-steeds had been pulled forward for purchase.  All seemed to be higher quality, if anybody had a reference point besides the rest of what was owned by Brisbane.  Most were stylistically left to shine their alloy color in the sun, and had been turned on, omni-displays and lights .  A few stood out.

 

One was painted enamel black.  “Sorry,” Brisbane remarked, “Black is such a popular color, that’s the only one I’ve got.  But I pulled it especially for you!”

 

One was higher at the shoulder, sufficiently for a much taller than average person to sit on.  “That’s for you, dear,” Calvin said to Anika.

 

And one…

 

…One was a monstrosity.

 

Morgan looked up at the thing, maybe one and three quarter meters at the shoulder.  It had pistons and hydraulics that made its legs look more like the stabilizing legs on a construction crane.  It was wide.  Sunk into the chest plate were five outward-facing long spikes.  It had a ‘saddle’ that was dark red leather, and looked like it could comfortably hold two with room to spare.

 

And everyone knew who that was for.

 

Calvin’s grin returned, “She’s a touch slower than the rest,” He said to Vayne, “But she can haul almost anything!  Certainly that jet bike if you want to bring it wherever it is going without the risk of putting that Starstreamer in active mode.  And you don’t even have to touch it! There’s no hard couple.  You just activate the rear mag link like this…”  Brisbane slapped a few controls on the omni-display, and two, rear facing cylinders extended out from the rear flanks, pointing backwards.  One of the steeds behind the monstrosity slid forward until it stopped, hovering a meter behind it and about twenty centimeters above the ground. “And there you go!”  With another slap of a control button, the steed behind was lowered to the ground and the cylinders retracted.

 

“Go ahead all.  Try them out!  Except if I may speak with you in the extraordinary green outfit, ma’am, to the side about the particulars.”

 

Discretely as he could, Calvin talked to Captain Stone about price, but after she first replied to him, his voice rose to be heard, “Oh, well!  I see we have a negotiator here.”  Then as they spoke, Brisbane could be heard making several references to his livelihood, mouths to feed, kids’ college education, a wife who was sick, and so on.  By the time they were done, having transacted credits by omni-tool, Calvin looked a bit paler.  His had was in one hand and he was wiping his red, half-bald head with a handkerchief in the other. 

 

“Okay, then, well, heh, it’s a pleasure doing business with you.  Go on and ride them out.  They’ll compensate you.  The tutorial is up, and the VI on each will make your ride smooth as can be.  If I may recommend, don’t be putting them to full throttle on the first day here.  You want to get used to them.”

 

Then Calvin’s sales demeanor came back, “And don’t forget to tell people about where you got ‘em from when they ask:  Calvin Brisbane’s Mecha-Steeds!”