*Just another day on Barrier Gate, Coronado. The bar is filled with freelancers, pirates and criminals of all kind. Two old mercenaries and a young freelancer are sitting at a table near the door, having drinks and exchanging experience. The young boy mostly listens; he’s fresh meat in space and knows little about anything.
As they enjoy their free time, a blonde lady walks past them. She’s wearing a tight techno suit, showing literally every curve on her body. The youngster looks up, straight at her butt, but before he could react, one of the elders shuts him with a slap.*
-Don’t even think about it son. You have no idea what you’d get yourself into.
-How come? – He asks. – She doesn’t look dangerous at all. And that body …
-That’s what makes her dangerous. But you’ll see eventually.
*The girl finds a place and orders a drink. She doesn’t seem to care much about anyone, just read some papers. Suddenly, a drunken pilot decides it’s his time to do something, slowly stands up and walks towards her. She doesn’t seem to notice or care about her new company, but the guy is restless.*
-C’mon sweetie, let’s find a nice quiet place and have some fun. I know what you want and you know I’m the best to give it to ya. So what do ya say?
-Here we go again, – says one of the elders, sipping from his drink – this will get ugly.
*Just as he finished the sentence, the girl grabbed the guys arm and pulled a gun out from under the table. Without any emotions on her face, she pulled the trigger, shooting through the guys’ palm. Then with the same temper and calmness, she let him go and continues reading. The unfortunate idiot runs out with a bleeding hand, cursing the woman in any way he can think of.*
-Well son, this is Victoria, an independent Lane Hacker. She might look cute and innocent, but she shoots you through faster than you can imagine. Comes here pretty often, so most people already know her. But every once in a while some machos tend to try with her and usually this happens.
-Holy cow, that’s useful info. Good thing I didn’t try anything stupid.
*As the bar gets quiet again, - due to most people already familiar with this scene – a guy walks in wearing some sort of armor and a mask. He doesn’t talk to anyone, walks straight to Victoria and sits down.*
-And who the hell is that guy?
-That my boy is Hector Mendez. Ex-Outcast, suffered an accident when a Navy patrol blew his ship up loaded with chemicals and Cardamine. Since then, he’s locked into that armor. Rumors say that’s the only thing keeping him alive. But that doesn’t stop him from anything. He is even worse than Victoria, although I’d say the girl is wearing the pants.
-Right, so I guess it’s better to keep away from them.
-You bet. But let’s change subject…
*A few people were looking around for a few minutes, to see if anyone else is planning to try anything stupid. No one talked about the previous scene any more,since no one wanted to get the same fate as that jerk.*
-So, what was so important that I had to come here again? You damn well I hate wasting ammo on useless reasons. Plus, there are too many bounty hunters running around. I have to keep my temper. So, what is it?
*Hector pullet a data tablet out from a storage of his suit, switched on and started searching.*
-I have some good news and I have some bad news. Which one do you want me to start with?
-Argh … this again. You Maltanese are always like this. Huh... okay, just get on with the bad news.
-We’ve lost the Serenity. The navy got it surrounded. This is the last image that one of the recon satellites could take; the ships transponder went silent after that. No nearby friendly base reported it docking or flying by anywhere. The good part is, the cargo hold was empty, at least according to the last info.
-Damn... I was hoping it will stay low longer. Too bad. Who was flying it? Jackson and his gang? Never really liked that guy, he wasn’t really the sharpest tool in the shed. And what's the good news?
*Mendez started searching on the tablet again, straight to a data sheet.*
-I’ve got you a ship, which will suit your needs. Or at least I hope. It’s a „Z” series Monate gunship, not the best there is, but it’s the most you can get. I didn’t want to go back to Valetta after what I did to the head engineer there, after the … let’s forget that. The ship will be ready in a few days and will be taken to Mactan.
-Finally, at least something useful from you. What about the scientist? You know well, we need someone who is... better with eplosives and chemicals then you are.
*A flirty yet unmistakably mean smile appeared on Victoria’s face. She wasn’t sure if Hector takes it as a personal offense, since it was impossible to see his face through that helmet he’s wearing. But Mendez didn’t care to stand up for that, he just continued on his somewhat robotic toned voice.*
-I know someone... but he isn’t exactly a scientist. But he sure knows how to blow things up. However, he’s not exactly who you’d want to stand next to you. But you will see soon. He promised to come to Barrier as soon as he can.
-Right... I guess. Let’s get going, this place is getting more and more boring every single day. Plus, we have some hackin’ and crackin’ to do, right rusty?
*Victoria and Hector left the bar with her still laughing at her last joke about his partner. No one looked at them, because everyone remembered what happened before.*
![[Image: barriergate_zps936290b5.png]](http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu23/oldum/LH/barriergate_zps936290b5.png)
![[Image: kIHP9wI.png]](http://i.imgur.com/kIHP9wI.png)
