Several minutes pass before the Freelancer, David, staggers successfully to the front door of Room-20, "Oh... I need to sober up."
Reaching into one of his pockets he fashions out a small, round tablet and quickly ingests it: almost immediately his senses return to normal, and his grogginess disappears, "Ok! I think I'm good." Satisfied after doing a last-minute check on his signature triple-barreled Gauss pistol he said, "Everything is good... Lets do this."
Banging on the door, he shouted, "Leon! Wake up! I have some news and a deal for ya!" Soon afterwards he said to himself, "Heheh... He has 20 seconds to reply or I break this thing down."
Only 14 seconds pass by when the metal door slides open, and Leonardo Tigre, a Zoner of mid-build and green eyes in his mid-20's, appears on the other side of the portal, still wearing his usual black cargo pants, but with a black tank top on his chest. He yawns a bit as he replied, "... What is it, Freelancer?"
But he quickly notices the pistol on David's hand, and in no time Leon upholsters his own, his voice being urgent, "What's going on...?"
"Meep!" Right afterwards a woman with long, copper-toned hair in her mid-20's appears just behind the Zoner, her face still brimming with the aura of childish folly, but also apparently looked tired, "What's going on, Leona--- OH! Hiya, Mr. Freelancer!"
David grins darkly for a second before going back to his usual cool self, "Nothen... I was thinking I might have to break the door down to wake you up...
"... Now come to the bar. We need to talk about some things."
Leonardo continued in his usual cool and monotonous voice, "... Can't we talk about it tomorrow, Freelancer? We're trying to sleep here."
"Nope." David flatly said.
After thinking for a moment he frustratingly remarked, "Fine... Let's go. Mila, you stay here, alright? I'll be back in a sec."
"Meep! Alright, Leonardo!" She pitter-patters back to the bed and quickly falls back to sleep.
"Lets move." He disappointedly sighs to himself as he places his pistol back in its holster. The two men then proceed back to the bar.
Meanwhile, Stevie Black, a relatively-short Libertonian in his early 20's, struggles greatly under the weight of Jack, even with the help of the still-drunk Jaden, "Damnit, Jack! What the hell have you been eating?!"
"Jushhh shut up and lift, damn you!"
A few moments pass before Leonardo arrives at the scene with a confused look in his eyes, " ... uh... What happened here? ... He's drunk again, isn't he?" He pointed at the snoring Jack.
"Yep... though I had a lot more than him, and I'm fine."
Leonardo facepalms himself lightly before continuing, "... Great... Jack always did try to push his limits when it came to drinking..." He goes under Jack's left armpit and support-carries him.
David then turns to Jaden, "Say when."
Groggily looking at David she slurred, "... Whuut?..." Barely reading David's finger pointing at Leonardo, she then turned her head towards him and her voice changed to a low growl, "... Ohhh... Hello, 'captain'..."
"Have one of these." He tosses a tablet to Jaden, who (luckily) manages to catch it.
Taking it in, she quickly sobers up, "... Ahh... That sure hit the spot, Free---" But as quickly as her senses came back her expression goes to that of shock and total disbelief, "Oh my... God... I remember what... Did I just---"
Giving a quick glance at David, her entire face blushes wildly, and she looks down on the floor in sheer embarrassment. Palming herself hard on the face she whispered, "... God, I'm such a... Pfffah... I'll deal with it later... for now..."
Recovering herself quick, she clears her throat and began again, "... Now then... Captain, I wish to dissolve my contract as the Vagabond III's Security Agent. You're just too frakking crazy and wacko to work with, and not even the generous salary you've offered to me for all these months' worth it anymore."
Seemingly-unphased by what she said, Leonardo replied, "Oh? Fine then. I have no qualms with that. But where'll you go afterwards?"
"I'm gonna... stick with the Freelancer... I've got a 1 Million Credit bet that he's being a snitch that he's lying about his 'estate'." One wouldn't notice at first that she said the statement painfully.
"A bet I've already won, heheheh..."
Stevie, on the other hand, gives a very foxy smile at Jaden, "Oooohhh... you wanna do him i---"
Without hesitating, the Corsair clicks out a switchblade, dashes towards Stevie, and points it on his neck, growling in a very menacing voice, "I suggest you don't finish that sentence... That is if you wanna keep your worthless balls, frakker," and slowly glides the blade down to the subject's groin area.
"... Um... oookaaay... Let's just go."
"... That's what I thought you said..."
David couldn't help but laugh at what had just happened, "You sure have a way with em."
"Oh, you don't know half of it! There was this one---"
Before he could continue, Jaden gave a glare so frightening it would've ripped the fabric of space and created an alternate dimension to hell if aimed anywhere else.
"I mean... uh... Captain, can we go now... please?"
"Affirmative... Oh yes, before we go, you said you had something for me, Freelancer?"
"Oh yea... Jaden says you have a Crow or something, a fighter.
"Anyway, I was thinking... We hit up Iota in fighters of your current ship, cause your BORDER WORLDS TRANSPORT is just too big a target, no matter how much skill you have: it'll get eaten. But 2 fighters have a chance."
"Hmmm... I suppose. Very well, Freelancer. We'll go and sell the nomads we still have and give you the respective pay for your services... After which, I'll set up the Solardancer for the expedition.
"How much time would you need to prepare yourself?"
"I just need to run home, then I can come straight back, say... 24 hours?"
"Hmmm... Give me at least twice that. I'll still need to find a decent buyer in the CRS to deposit the Nomad Crates, and then dock the Vagabond III back in Erie."
"2 days is fine, I could use a day of... R & R..." He gives a quick glance at the Corsair with a very sly grin on his face.
Jaden quickly blushes and hastily turns her face away, yet her eyes couldn't help but return the glance back with a hidden glint of fire in them; though next she quickly stared darkly at Stevie in an effort to keep him silenced.
Starting to sweat from the tension he's being put into he pleads, "Uh... pleeeaassseee, Captain...?"
"Right... anything else, Freelancer?"
"Yea... Will Mila be coming with you? I need to know, cause the Nomads respond differently to the number of people entering."
"No... She's not gonna come... I'll be going in alone in the Solardancer... She doesn't have to know this."
"Alrighty."
"YUS! Let's go while I still have my literal manhood left!"
"Yeah, you'd better enjoy your sorry manhood while you still can. It's gonna be different when we meet again cause you won't have my contract to use as your shield, frakker!" She snickers to herself as Leon and Stevie drag the large Jack back to their ship.
"Well... Time to head home eh, Jaden?"
As if still trying to process her thoughts, she pauses for a moment before eventually replying with a daring grin, "Let's see if you aren't just a man full of hot air...
"Still... A pool sure sounds nice too..."
"I have 2, one's on the roof so it has a nice view, but the ground level one out the back is much bigger."
"Well, we going right now, or should we go tomorrow? I can go now, but I don't know bout you... What with your ship still screwed and all."
"...Eh...
"They've fixed the port engine, the coolant leaks are mostly fixed, and we can dock on Freeport 14 to make sure every thing is going ok. Then once we're in house space we can dock wherever we see a problem, so we should be able to go in an hour or 2.
"So... you got anything to do before we go?"
"I'll still need to get my personal things in the ship... Only my weapons, clothes and Cybertronic Maintenance Kit, then I'm good as done."
"That easy. All my stuff is in the Virage, so meet you there ok?"
"That's fine enough." And with that they parted ways for the time being...
... After an hour and 26 minutes...
Holding a mid-sized leather briefcase on one hand, Jaden arrives at Docking Bay 1, where David's Virage, the Gforce, was moored. She looks around for a bit until she finds him working on his ship with 3 other Zoner technicians.
... and apparently he was arguing with one of them about some problem with the power cables...
When Jaden locates David hanging on a metal ladder on the port side, she jogs a short distance until she comes within hearing range, "Ah... There you are, Freelancer. I'm all set for the trip. Don't worry, I don't require much."
Looking down the ladder he answered, "Just let me finish this." Turning to the Zoner on another ladder nearby, "I don't care how much those power cables cost, I want the same ones as I had before! No other model can handle the stress I put them through."
"It took me 10 minutes just to get the right clamps for these ones... And it's a Virage, by Eris! There are fighters that use these cables that are much heavier."
"10 minutes? It's a SIMPLE plug and play clip if you had of used the specified cables...
"And have you noticed the core isn't exactly the original?! This baby will sterilize you in half the time compared to others."
"Fine I'll go get them..." He jumps off and walks away, "... Bloody Freelancers."
"Now that's finished."
"Anything wrong?"
"Naw, the idiot wanted to use the standard cables; but they can't handle all the reactors' power going through to a single point, and if I apply full power to one engine, it'll all just melt."
Noticing the briefcase he remarked, "I see you travel light. That'll fit in the nose compartment. Lets throw it in." He slides off the ladder and slams the front end of the ship, opening a fairly-large empty space.
"Being a merc teaches you that, I'm afraid..." She walks over to him as she continued, "Numerous times I've had to lose my stuff when the bounty suddenly headed off to another location without me knowing..."
She snickers sheepishly to herself, "Heheh... I wonder how that Junker's doing with my underwear that I left on Trafalgar..."
David beams a huge grin to himself, "Damn Junkers... salvage anything these days, HAHAHAHAHA!"
She laughs boisterously at the remark, "That's another way to put it, HAHAHAH!"
Before tossing the case into the compartment, she opens it up and takes out a Corsair-make pistol that gleaned copper-red in the docking bay's lights, "There... that should do it."
Eyeing the pistol she held, David jested, "Not bad."
Jaden smiled when he announced his admiration for the pistol, and smugly said as she showed off her weapon like a trophy, "Of course, Freelancer. The Corsair-made weapons are always the best compared to even pathetic 'Military-grade' firearms, possibly the best in all of Sirius."
The pistol was indeed Corsair-issue: it was Neutron-based, light-brown in color, a trapezoid-shaped frame, a mid-length barrel, and had a brown universal grip that was comfortable for all users to hold on to; it was particularly small, only measuring less than half a foot from barrel to the gun-butt. The engravings of a burning skull were etched into both sides of the frame.
"... But unlike my other counterparts, when you work as a mercenary, you learn that concealment is far better than simple brute force... especially in public areas." She then places into one of her pockets.
"Agreed. My own little baby disappears beautifully, and has enough firepower to bring any fighter down with a well placed shot." He takes out his own Gauss pistol and shows it off by clicking it at the ready before putting it back on the sheath, "But as for whose is better... We'll find that out on the shooting range."
"... is that another bet I hear?" She grins.
"Why not...?" He returns the grin back.
Jaden chuckled at his reply and continued, "I like your style, Freelancer...
"Hmmm... Anything else I should know more before we go? Anyone else on this place of yours I should know about?"
"The ship's ok, cause both engines are working, so cruise is safe. One of the Hammers on the port side isn't connected, but I don't think we'll be needing it. Hull integrity is at about 80% at best, but the bots should be able to hold it there if we get in trouble. Coolant leaks are fixed, and the power cables are good... that Zoner finally installed the right ones... Oh and fuel is secure too.
"I think that's it. As for other people, I live alone 'cept a droid that keeps the place neat."
Jaden sighs to herself, and all of a sudden her tone of voice becomes formal, "Okay. Let's discuss the nature of me coming along with you.
"While the initial reason why I'm coming with you is for the bet we made, since I've resigned from being the Security Agent of the Vagabond III, I currently have no employer...
"... But you look like you need an extra hand in your line of work... I don't suppose you'd hire me as your wingman? My price is 300K Credits per month... 1/5th of it's because of the need for me to constantly maintain my bothersome circuitry... The rest is for my own personal use.
"The other things... well... a girl's got her own needs to satisfy, right?"
"Hahahah! I'll gladly pay you that, though I usually operate solo, so you'll be right to take on your own bounties. But on average, we'll be reeling in over a million a month each if I decide to actually do any 'work'."
"Hmmm... I'll also need a place to sleep... I could get my own place in Kusari, and you can contact me anytime should you ever need me...
"Orrrrr..." Her eyes glint very excitedly, "... Would you take me in instead, or what? I'll understand if you don't; but if you do, to pay for the rental space I'll offer a 30% discount from my original price. What do you say?"
David pauses for a while, "... I don't usually have company... Though the place is built for a family of 20 or something...
"Sure, you can stay. Just make sure you don't blow the damn place up... Oh, and it's free: you don't need to pay for your rent there."
"That's a generous offer, Freelancer.
"Uhm... will it also be alright with you if I... hardwire in some security features in my room... You know, a turret here, a mine there... but only up to my room... You up for that? It'll help me feel easy knowing intruders can't just come into my room... not without become Rheinland Cheese, heheh."
"Well... Why don't you see what I currently have before hand... and by the sound of it, I think you want to lose this bet." He starts to smile devilishly at her.
She blushes a bit from that last statement for a moment, but manages to recover her original mood quickly, "No way! I ain't a chicken, Freelancer! I'm sticking with my bet... and I have lots of credits to spare anyway, so you don't have to worry bout me.
"But I'd just like to know if I can make my room safe... There were many occasions 'normal' security measures didn't keep me safe at night, and numerous times I've been through many close calls..."
"Well, if you don't like the current systems, we can figure out one that will."
"I guess you're right... We'll deal with the rest when we get there...
"... and I think that's it... Ready to go?"
David does a small session of stretching and loosening up his neck before saying, "Alright, you first."
Jaden goes up the ladder leading to the cockpit and crawls to the back seat, with G just behind her and eventually reaching the front. But as she begins to sit she feels a large, sharp object that makes her seat irregularly-leveled and very uncomfortable.
She rummages about on her seat until she finds a piece of scrap metal, and flings it to one side of the compartment, "Ugh... it's not totally clean.."
David momentarily looks back to inspect what happened, "Yea well, I was lucky to get this thing home. You saw the crash landing? Bloody engine popped out 30 seconds before I was done."
"If we ever do manage to capture the frakker and return him to your place, let me do the first blow, will ya? I'd like to repay him for his great, 'safe' service through the months we've been working together," and her smile gets replaced with a maniacal smirk, "... But if you decide to let him lose, that'll be fine with me too... Let him rot in space for all I care..."
"What? I'm not going to blow his ship up in Iota. Sure, I'll let him get ruffed up a bit, but what I mean is it's not worth his life...
"Anyway... Start up checks. Time for CHAOTIC. Now C- Controls..." David turns the maneuvering stick in various directions to see if all the different strafing thrusters and directional rudders work.
Satisfied upon seeing that all of them do respond to the controls, he continues, "H-harness... I'm secure. You're secured Jaden?"
"There seems to be a rip in one of the seems, but it's too small to be of serious effect yet."
"Noted... Now on to A.
"A- Aerials and radios... Signal is good... on local frequency 2-4-5 decimal 9.
"O- Outside and Options. We're heading to Kappa via patrol lane 1... Nearby stations is the 'Sairs Yaren Base or Freeport 11 if something goes wrong."
The phrase 'Yaren Base' seems to get Jaden's tone to worry a bit, "... Mayyybe we should steer clear of Yaren, alright?"
"... Alright, just the Freeport then."
"... Thanks." and she heaves a sigh of relief.
"T-Transponder... It's transmitting correctly... 3-D position is good.
"I-Instruments..." He quickly scans the overview of the ship systems before concluding, "... Looking good.
"And lastly, C-Controls, Core and Cockpit." David does the control check again, then goes through the procedure of starting the reactor, inspecting for any and all fluctuations in the levels, "... Reactor is good... Not leaking any radiation. Not becoming sterile today... And finally, Canopy..." He flicks the canopy switch to closed, and the cockpit windows start to clamp down until they fully seal in with a screeching-puff, "All ready to go?"
She inspects her pistol and the things she's carrying in her pockets, "Right... All set here."
"Roger that...
"Freeport-11 Control, this is Virage-Delta-Golf-Echo requesting permission to taxi to docking bay 1 airlock, over."
"We read you, Virage-Delta-Golf-Echo, this is Freeport-11 Control. You are clear to proceed with your taxi run, over."
"Proceeding to Airlock Delta-Golf-Echo..." David eases the ship forward and towards the airlock of dock 1. Soon, he has the ship right in front of the blast doors, "Virage-Delta-Golf-Echo ready for launch, over."
The large blast doors huff open from their pneumatics, "Virage-Delta-Golf-Echo, you are clear to engage launch procedures. Good flying, over and out."
As soon as the Freelancer punches the engine the ship throttles up and exits the airlock. Eventually reaching to impulse speed, he then activates the Cruise Engine Sequence and lets the ship do the rest.
Grinning triumphantly to himself he exclaimed as he places his hands behind his neck, "Alright! Lets head home."
Jaden wanted to say something, but she got a feeling it would turn out alright, so she decided not to. Smiling to herself, she whispered, "... Nah... I'm already committed to this... No turning back, now..."
So she decides to look out the window instead, watching as the three Delta suns slowly pass her by as the ship roared away at Cruise Speed, their bright coronas still casting their strange, eerie glow.
"... Right after I see that psychopath learn his place, I hope I never come back to this system again..."
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