Vesper

[Leo]

Getting comfortable was not possible. It had been years since Zylar had been under heavy gee forces. It had been even longer since he had been jumping through Jumpgates and Jumpholes at this rate. Every time they went through one or the other, Zylars sense of reality warped before being snapped by like some elastic unseen force. It was jarring to have happen once, but multiple times in quick succession was daunting.

"Feeling okay?" Lana said from the pilots seat.

"Just not used to this long in the seat anymore." he said using the analogy for being in a pilots seat for an extended period of time.

"Sorry about that. We just came through into Coronado. Last jump. Just a few more minutes under cruise and we'll be at Barrier's Gate."

The Salvager jumped away into cruise pinning Zylar back to his seat under a 2gee burn. Zylar began to cycle through his mind what he would say to Lana's mother when they arrived. Would he apologize to her for getting her father murdered? Would he ghost Lana and try to find his own way off of the station? Would he ask why she saved him from certain death at the hands of his former masters?

The gee forces let up as microgravity caused him to float against his harness.

"Barrier Gate, this is Junker Alpha 3-44. Requesting permission to dock." Lana said into the comm.

"Copy that, Junker Alpha 3-44. You're cleared to moor to mooring point 4. Welcome home Grimwolfe." replied the station.

"Copy that, proceeding to mooring point 4. Good to be home." Lana replied toggling off the comm. system and maneuvered the ship to the mooring point specified.

"I heard Reggie called Grimwolfe on more than one occasion." Zylar commented to no one.

"That was his callsign. This is his old ship after all."

"Thought it was your mothers."

"And before her," she said docking the ship to the mooring point causing the ship to rock slightly from the impact, "it was his." she said completing the sentence. "I'll let my mother know we're here. You can head to the bar and we'll meet you there."

She unhooked her harness and departed without another word, leaving Zylar to his thoughts.

"Guess I'll head to the bar then..."

---

Zylar ordered his usual, an Old Fashioned, and sat down at the end of the bar to wait. The drink wasn't as good as it would be on Stuttgart. Then again, there this would be made with real Whiskey and not the fake stuff. He shrugged and took another drag. At least he could get a decent buzz from this stuff even though it tasted like a**.

"Zylar Vespertine?" he heard Lana say from behind him. He swiveled his barstool to face her. "My mother, Dianna Hatcher." she said gesturing to an older version of herself. Zylar started to extend his hand before he was met with a fist to the face.

"Stupid, Bretonian, Swine!" the older Hatcher spat.

"Mother!" Lana exclaimed jumping between her and Zylar.

"This stupid bastard got your grandfather killed...but..." she sighed and covered her face with her hand.

"I tried to save him..." Zylar said looking down, ignoring the sting of the fresh wound on his face. He shed a tear, it mixing with the blood seeping from the cut on his cheek.

"Who was it." she said matter-of-factly just as Lana had spoken when he first met her.

"Milo. Didn't catch his-" he started.

"That two timing trash filled swill!" she said hurtling Zylar's half finished glass of Whiskey across the bar.

"Hey! Dianna!" yelled the Bartender. "None of that s*** or I'll kick your a** out of this bar!"

"Ah shut it, Terry. I keep this place open by myself you stupid-"

"Mother! Focus!" Lana yelled again. The older woman composed herself. "I'm sorry, Zylar. Mother is a bit-"

"Angry. I'm blindingly angry and I take it out on others. I'm sorry. I believe you when you say you tried to save him."

"I wasn't fast enough...just like I wasn't fast enough to save..." Zylar shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I'm sorry I couldn't save him in time...but that brings me to why the hell you saved me from the Bretonian Navy. Surely you had enough bad feelings towards me to let me rot in a Bretonian prison for the rest of my life."

"Reggie didn't want that." Lana cut in seeing her mothers angry reaction to his sentence. "He...he kind of left you some stuff."

"Lana, dear..." Dianna said. "You brought the will, correct?"

Lana pulled out a small handheld and passed it to Zylar. On the front was a read out indicating that he place his hand on the panel. As he did so, a Last Will and Testament appeared on the screen along with a video attachment. He hit play as he saw Reggie sitting in front of the camera.

"So, Zylar. I'm guessing I'm dead." he shrugged. "Nothing doing but to move on I figure. I either died in my sleep or in a fight. Either way, dead's dead in my book and I ain't got no room for any of my crap. Over the years I acquired a lot of stuff. Most of it I have no use for anymore. I'm an old man now and if I'm dead, then I really got no use for it.

"You know I was a smuggler, what you don't know is how good I was at it. You probably figured I was blowing smoke up your a** about it, but I wasn't. Attached on this will of mine is a credit chip for around 250,000,000 credits and all of the wills to my vessels that I have in storage at Coronado. Minus the Grimwolfe of course, that's a family ship you see."

Zylar glanced up at the two women standing near him. Both with a look of shock on their faces at the value that Reggie had just left him. He returned his attention to the screen.

"Do whatcha want with all of it. Just promise me that you'll raise hell and burn a few empires down along the way. Get rich, get loaded, and have a blast doing it. I'll keep your seat warm where ever we wind up going when we kick the bucket...until then..." he smiled with a salute and the video ended replaced by the will stating everything that Reggie had just said. Zylar sat the hand terminal down on the counter his hands still shaking.

"That old bastard!" Dianna said finally speaking up. "He was always mooching off of me!"

Zylar checked his account terminal and saw that a new account had been opened as "Albus Lepus" with the 250 million credits in the account. Zylar smiled.

"White Rabbit." he said to himself before turning to Dianna.

"Dianna." he said to get her attention. "I'm giving you and your daughter 150 million of the money he gave to me."

"Y-you what?" she said in shock.

"It's only fair for services rendered." and sent the request to her and Lana's handhelds. When the sync was completed he sent 75 million each to them before standing. "Now, let's go check out these ships he left me."

---

You fear oblivion. Yet you forget. The universe remembers every atom of your being. Even dust hums your name in the dark.

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Starlight Research Consortium | The Banished Legion | Astral
[OOC]Junker Gameplay Loop Suggestion | [OOC]Boneyard Mining Suggestion