Mary smirked a bit when she saw what Mar had left to go get changed into; Shree had an interesting notion of what one would call fashion. Shaking her head slightly she was about to comm Walker when a couple of things happened at once; Elliot chirped on comms to her and Resha appeared on the bridge, looking to speak to her as well.
"Since this is basically your old stomping grounds, I'll assume you'll be fine. However, Grace and I are mercenaries, and pirates tend not to like mercenaries who've taken down bounties. If there's anyone you're figuring for the revenge-taking type, now would be a good time to know."
"As much as I don't like you, I need info on not getting shot, killed or left for dead here. I still have a job to do, and if I can gain insight to this place, then I can bring back something of worth to my people at the least on how to handle these sorts of places. Not being killed, mugged or left for dead in a back corner somewhere"
She muted her comm and turned her attention to Resha; made sense to deal with the girl in front of her first. Resha still seemed a little sore about Mary?s discipline, which was a bit confusing for Mary, but that was something to deal with at a later date. ?You want to know how to survive? It?s not too hard. Don?t flash a lot of credits, don?t go into the hab blocks alone. If you stick to the market and the docks you?ll be fine; station rules keep the nasty inter-ship rivalries off station, and the real psychos are not welcome here. If you stick with Mar you should be fine, the only people who are going to fuck with a Shree are those that are trying to fuck a Shree.? She added, smiling at Mar.
?The worst you?ll probably have to deal with are lewd comments and probably the occasional grope?and feel free to deck the ones that do that. So long as you don?t kill them, nobody is going to care that much.?
With that taken care off, she unmuted her comm and replied to Elliot. ?So, you were asking about people gunning for you? So long as you don?t try and take anyone in while you?re on the station you should be fine; you two do give off a pretty heavy ?bounty hunter? vibe, so don?t expect to get an overly welcome reception anywhere, but open gun play is rather discouraged stations-side so I doubt anyone is going to start anything like that?you?re more likely to get hit either by pickpockets or just gouged if you deal with any vendors.?
Hopefully that was enough to satisfy the others; she really needed to get away to the Shipbreaker, they were sitting in his dock after all and had yet to even work out how to pay him. Switching to Walker?s private comm channel, she whistled, while waving good bye to those on the bridge. ?Hey boss man. Meet me in my hanger, we gotta go see someone and deal with some business, like right away.?
"Understood and Mary, we are not done talking about earlier. Once this is done I would like to continue where we left off. Then I need to speak to Resha afterwards..." Walker said as started to head towards the hanger to meet up with Mary.
Silently she rolled her eyes. Really? I thought I?d already explained myself; what more is there to talk about? ?Alright, see you in a bit.? Arriving at her hanger a few moments before Walker, she rummaged around in the rear cockpit of her new ride and pulled out an emergency flight helmet. Compared to hers it was pretty basic, no HUD, no link to external comms or cameras, but it?d feed the wearer O2 if the canopy seals and it was tied into the intercom.
Seeing Walker walk in, she dropped out of her ship, and without warning stuffed the spare helmet on him and adjusted the straps. ?Here,? She said as she worked. ?We gotta go talk to the Shipbreaker, and he doesn?t keep his office on the station.?
Walker seem to fidget at first as she surprise him but relax and let her put on the helmet. "Great..and never knew I needed help with a helmet." He said, but it wasn't in a mean gesture, more poking fun than anything. "Anything I should know about this shipbreaker before we start chatting? I rather not say something and we get blown off the face of the galaxy.."
?Heh?sorry, force of habit from the old days.? She chuckled, as she waved him towards the boarding ladder for the rear cockpit. ?Well believe it or not, the Shipbreaker is about as close to an ?honest? business man as is possible in these parts; as I heard him once say ?It?s not wise to anger the heavily armed and unregulated?. So long as you deal with him on the level he?ll mostly do the same. That said, he will try and get you for every credit he can, especially since you?re a new player who?s shown up unannounced as it were; knowing me only got you in the door so to speak.?
Once Walker was into the rear seat, she made sure he was properly strapped in, before climbing into the front cockpit; once she was set, she cycled the hanger and slipped the fighter into space heading for a lone beacon that sat amidst a sizable collection of powered down hulks.
"A honest business man out here? That?s pretty damn rare." Walker said as he strap himself in and double checks his seatbelt. Making sure that he was safely secure in it. "Well as long as you are there, everything should go alright. I'm sure being here for most of your life you have learn a few things to stay ahead of the game." Walker sat back in his seat and relax. Walker would turn his head and look out the window. So many hulks out here as he whistles. "A lot of dead ships out here..thought for sure the pirates would have already scrap most of these old beauties."
She let out a sharp bark of laughter at Walker?s comment. ?About the only thing rarer is an honest politician.? Weaving her way through the hulks, she took them low over the stripped hull of a very old colony transport. ?Most of these have been stripped down to the decking long ago; now they just get cut up for plating for if somebody needs some structural work. Scrap alloys are worth so little it?s not even worth melting the old crates down, easier to just cut off patch panels as needed.?
As if to prover her point they over flew a collection of construction remotes cutting the rear of the transports hull into uniform sized plates and carrying them over to a nearby manned tender.
Clearing the scrapyard, the fighter entered into a clear patch of space with an old but obviously well maintained cruise liner floating at the center; Mary immediately killed her forward momentum, and commed the ship. ?This is Red to Breaker Control Actual. Your boss is expecting me.? There was a moment or two of silence, then a very similar synthesized voice as earlier responded.
?Breaker Control Actual copies, you are IFF clear. Sending nav point to Hanger 4.? ?Red copies Hanger 4.? With that, she reapplied some thrust and moved towards the nav point. ?The Shipbreaker has plenty of business rivals, many of whom are willing to be ?proactive? about getting him out of the way; I know he?s got some pretty nasty defense stealthed up around his ship, and I am in no way willing to risk tripping them.?
"A shame really.." Walker said as he took his eyes off the old ships. Listening to Mary talk to Breaker Control Actual as he let her speak. Keeping quiet as they chatted for a short bit. "Understandable...if I was working out in a pirate port, I would want the best defense against any people who are looking...cut off the competition."
The fighter slid easily into the indicated hanger bay; once it had touched down and Mary had cut the engines, the whole craft and the platform it was on where drawn through a large airlock and deeper into the ship. The platform stopped with a solid *thunk* that they felt inside the small craft, and a few moments later a green light shone in front of them indicating a successful re-pressurization.
With the green light going, Mary opened the canopies and unstrapped her helmet. ?Just leave your bucket on the seat.? She called out as she unstrapped. Once free of her restraints, she bailed over the edge of the cockpit and dropped to the deck. As she stood back up, she was greeted by an approaching member of the Shipbreaker?s full armoured security staff. ?Follow me please.? The officer said through a vocal synthesizer.
Walker stayed in his seat as they went down. Not moving until Mary said it was alright. He didn't want any part of this meeting to go belly up. Though not a moment later Mary was already going and getting up. Doing what she said as he unstrap himself and set his helmet down on the seat. Follow suit as he landed on the ground as well. His eyes doing a quick looking with what was in front of him. Trying to take in everything in case they have to make a run for it if things go south. Walker looked up the Shipbreaker's Security member. Wondering how many were here as he heard the officer speak. Nodding as he follow behind Mary as they both follow the officer.
It was a relatively short trip to the lifts and then a slightly longer one to what had once been the liners grand ballroom; the security officer stopped at the double doors and waved them onwards. Nodding, Mary led Walker through the doors; the first thing to greet them was an almost painfully attractive catican male of a similar build to Irina, but with golden blonde fur to Irina?s neon pink, sitting behind a large desk. Behind the desk a large wall blocked one?s view of the rest of the massive room
?I always knew you were too mean to go out like that.? He said, coming around the desk to grasp Mary?s hand. ?You and I need to catch up Red?but later, the boss is waiting.? ?Sure thing Melen.? Mary replied with a smile. Leading Walker passed Melen?s desk and around the wall, the entered into the heart of the Shipbreaker?s operation. The former ballroom had windows like and old style greenhouse, giving a fantastic view of space, while on the floor there were cubicles all in a neat grid where hundreds of people from most known species worked and organized the Shipbreaker?s operations.
Heading down the central corridor, Mary took Walker to the man himself; a massively obese man, floating on an industrial counter-grav pallet. He was dressed in a colourful robe, and was floating amidst a bank of holo-screens. ?Hey there fatboy!? She said brightly. ?This is Captain Walker, owner of that tub I came in on?like I told control, it needs some Re-and-Re?and maybe some upgrades.?
Walker stare at the large obese of a man sitting on grav pallet. Wondering who this man was and how he got so damn fat. He was a bit tongue tied at the moment until he clear his throat. "Tub huh? Well can't really say anything else...it is a old rig. Anyways Nice to meet Ship Breaker."
The Shipbreaker, let out a deep rumbling laugh at Mary?s introduction, waving away all but one of the screens. ?Good to see you too you old *****.? Turning his attention to Walker his many chinned face creased with a smile. ?My name is Mr. Watts, Shipbreaker is more of a title that these savages have saddled me with.? Mary smiled and stuck out her tongue.
?So Captain Walker, I?ve been going over our dockside scans of your ship?and trust me she?s on better shape than a lot of what we deal with?and I think we can help you. Miss Williams said to put you down for a ?Re-and-Re?, a Reset and Refurbishment. That entails us doing a wipe and recoding of your ships transponder and a tune up of your thrusters and drive core. For upgrades, since your ship seems to be pretty much standard, we?ve got a selection of sensor suites we could add as well as things like jammers/scramblers, light and heavy weapons, armour, improved shielding and the like.?
With the wave of a pudgy hand, a holo-display came to life in front of Walker. ?The basic is going to run you about 100k assuming there?s no hiccups.?
Walker stare at the floating fatman as he think over the offer. 100k!? Damn it..I don't have that much..Hell I doubt the crew has that much together, but I wouldn't even have ask them anyways. While Walker was semi-freaking out in his mind, he also started to form something. "Heh well Mr.Watts I would say the basic is fine but I might have something worth more than credits. How would you like Orion services to help you out with anything outside of your pirate port?"
Mr. Watts tipped back on his platform and eyed Walker carefully for a moment, before smiling. ?What you?re say Captain is that you?re broke, but you still really need that work done?am I right?? Shifting forwards once more he looked Walker square in the eye. ?Fortunately I have need of a ship like yours that doesn?t have the ?history? that any of the locals do?and isn?t known to any of my ?colleagues? on New Providence.?
Bringing up another display, he entered a few commands to get things rolling. ?You pay what you can and my people will contact you as needed to pay down what you owe; and don?t worry about ?messy? jobs. Violence is such an inefficient way to conduct business.?
Reaching forward, Mr. Watts shook Walker?s hand. ?A word of warning though?don?t cross me; I?m sure Miss Williams has heard the stories and can give you details if you wish.? With that he made a small ?shooing? motion to end the meeting. In short order they were back outside the Shipbreaker?s office, and being escorted back to the hanger. ?Well, I think that went rather well.? Mary said.
Walker chuckle when Mr. Watts said that, "You got me but I'm always looking to lower the price a bit on anything really." Walker admitted as he listen to the bit of details of what Mr. Watt said. Liking the idea of it not being a 'messy' job though he will have to see how this job fully plays out. What is plan isn't what happens. "Thank you Mr. Watts and I don't like double crossing people who are helping me out." Walker said as he left with Mary. Walker was trying to calm himself as he sighs out once they were out of sight of Mr. Watts. "You think so? Cause I was hoping my little offer wouldn't offend him."
?As if!? Mary laughed. ?At least a third of the ships here probably owe him credits. Like I said, Shipbreaker is a pretty honest business man?and probably one of the biggest pirates in the black.? She said as they got to the hanger; after strapping back in and launching, Mary set course for where Sweet Child of Mine was docked.
?Look at all this.? She continued, indicating to the powerless hulks they were cruising past. ?More than half of these were probably taken so somebody could pay off their tab to the Shipbreaker. I don?t know how old he is, but he?s been at this a long time; he was an entrenched figure when I got here.?
As she brought her fighter into the dock, they could see surveyor drones already swarming over Sweety to take more detailed scans for the work to come.
Walker let out a whistle as he see all the ships. "Damn...I?m surprised how powerful this guy seems. Though I'm sure the pirate leaders around here actually like the guy...or at least tolerate him for now." Walker shake his head at the sight. It was quiet for a bit as he sighs, " I just hope I didn't make a mistake in offering this guy our service for a patch up."
?Well it?s either that or get Pit to do it with whatever credits you do have.? She teased. Coming along side, Mary easily slid her ship back into its usual spot. Landing done, and the hanger full of air once more, she exited the fighter in her usual fashion. ?Alrighty then, I?ll leave you to deal with the details for your ship, I?m off to find Mar.? With that Mary took off before Walker could start on how she?d hurt Resha?s feelings or whatever it was he?d wanted to waste her time with earlier.
