Maerdwyn
First Post
Derek, outside Second Life Ships and Scrap
This time they'd made Derek sit for a credit check before they let him inspect her. That had gone predictably; afterwards, the manager had refused to even discuss price with him, and sent him off. His luck and his finances had gone south ever since the day he'd lost her years ago, and unless he got her back, he knew things would never get better. And so he'd chased her, planet to planet moon to moon, untill he'd heard that ta mah hun dan* Duncan was walkin' into an open warrant on Greenleaf. He'd gotten here, where he knew they bring her after Duncan got nicked, a couple weeks later, and he'd been afraid she have ben bought up. But she was still there, waiting for him, and he'd taken it, at the time, as an omen. This was his chance to get her back, and to turn things around.
Now though, he wasn't so sure. He knew when he'd arrived that small sum he'd come to Liann Xin with wasn't going to be enough to buy her back, so he invested some in a can't lose venture that lost, and in desparation, had picked up mah johng. He'd done well for a while, but a single hand last night had returned him to his natural state - broke. He still held out hope, but it was fading. He'd thought he had another week before the bastards scrapped her - then, after Derek's credit check, "Lou" said he could only hold onto her for another three.
He needed an investor -- or more than one. 'Course without a price, he didn't even know how much he needed. He just had to get as much as he could while avoiding the kind of vulture that had cost him the ship in the first place.
Three days. Three days to find the money to get her back. Or maybe, the thought crossed his mind, if only for a moment, the people to steal her for him. But where to start?
[Sblock=OOC]*Mother-humping son of a b_____"[/sblock]
****************************
Castor, Tai-Po Market, near Ihilani Gardens
Girl must've seen his name on the register after Lucky Strike'd been impounded on Greenleaf weeks ago. Castor was pretty sure the girl knew his name, that he'd once been famous, and likely nothing else about him. Still, this one one of the more interesting exchanges he'd had since coming here. Six weeks was a long time on Liann Xin: he was bored and running out of time all at once.
Odd how Lucky had ended up there in the first place. Her thrusters had never given him trouble before, and there was no reason they should have when the captain had given the order to take off before the patrol reached the dock. In the end, Castor had to admit she'd never seemed to like the captain, and it was if she'd just decided to get rid of him. He just wasn't sure ending up in a scrap yard on a barely terraformed moon had been part of her plan.
Now, Castor realized, six weeks without a buyer was close to a death sentence for his old friend. She had seen better days, but she could still fly, and damn well, and he knew the ship that had been his home for two years didn't deserve to be turned into glorified aluminium siding for some rich settler. Lou, the guy in charge down at Second Life, could theoretically make more selling her intact than as scrap, but just barely, and only if there was a buyer.
And, as far as he knew, there wasn't one. One of the "mechanics" (hacks? butchers?) at Second Life had told Castor that someone had been making inquiries-- day after day in fact -- but so far the guy hadn't produced any credits. Wildstar, or somesuch, was his name. Claimed to be a former owner.
Lost in thought, he only realized the girl was still there when she said, in the upsweeping tones of a late-teenage girl, "So, Mr. McMenomy, will you come sing at the ball? The Ihilani's really decked out." Castor could almost hear her fluster. "Oh, ah, well, you trust me on that, right? And anyway practically everyone in Concord who's anybody is gonna be there. My boss'll be really impressed if I get a celebrity to play the ball, even if you are from back in the Oughties*." The last is said guilelessly, really believing she was flattering him.
[Sblock=ooc]*Local slang for the decade between 2500 and 2510, during which Time around Scars was released. Current year = 2515[/sblock]
****************************
Lucius, Golden Phoenix Restaurant, Tai-Po Market.
Still looking for passage, and nothing seemed right. He'd gone as far as putting a deposit down on a berth in a Caravel class transport headed for Bellerophon until booking agent's enormous black cat had decided to perch itself on the back of the girl's chair just as she produced the contract. She hadn't understood why he had backed out, but the signs had been clear enough to him. Then he'd seen the captain of another ship he'd been considering talking to one of the Concordian prefects, which had been enough to warn him off keeping his appointment to speak with him.
Now he sat at table in an open air restaurant in Tai-Po, its Titanium shielding retracted now that the latest storm had blown out. The glass holding his sweet boba tea sweated in the sunlight, as a long and iridescant dragonfly alighted on its rim. He marveled at the creature's beauty, contemplated its ability to ride out the storm and pick up life just as it had been before once it blew over. The insect took off, and Lucious watched as its wings glint in the sun as it flitted across the street towards the garish Ihilani hotel. He watched it, transfixed, until it landed again on the shoulder of a man talking with a younger woman on the sidewalk. The man looked like he was staring off while the girl talked, but the Lucious realized it was because he was blind - the he caught himself, and realized theman simply hadn't been paying much attention to her. Still, somehow, even at this distance, he saw the dragonfly sittingon the man's shoulder, and Lucious thought it was looking back at him. It meant something, Lucious was sure.
This time they'd made Derek sit for a credit check before they let him inspect her. That had gone predictably; afterwards, the manager had refused to even discuss price with him, and sent him off. His luck and his finances had gone south ever since the day he'd lost her years ago, and unless he got her back, he knew things would never get better. And so he'd chased her, planet to planet moon to moon, untill he'd heard that ta mah hun dan* Duncan was walkin' into an open warrant on Greenleaf. He'd gotten here, where he knew they bring her after Duncan got nicked, a couple weeks later, and he'd been afraid she have ben bought up. But she was still there, waiting for him, and he'd taken it, at the time, as an omen. This was his chance to get her back, and to turn things around.
Now though, he wasn't so sure. He knew when he'd arrived that small sum he'd come to Liann Xin with wasn't going to be enough to buy her back, so he invested some in a can't lose venture that lost, and in desparation, had picked up mah johng. He'd done well for a while, but a single hand last night had returned him to his natural state - broke. He still held out hope, but it was fading. He'd thought he had another week before the bastards scrapped her - then, after Derek's credit check, "Lou" said he could only hold onto her for another three.
He needed an investor -- or more than one. 'Course without a price, he didn't even know how much he needed. He just had to get as much as he could while avoiding the kind of vulture that had cost him the ship in the first place.
Three days. Three days to find the money to get her back. Or maybe, the thought crossed his mind, if only for a moment, the people to steal her for him. But where to start?
[Sblock=OOC]*Mother-humping son of a b_____"[/sblock]
****************************
Castor, Tai-Po Market, near Ihilani Gardens
Girl must've seen his name on the register after Lucky Strike'd been impounded on Greenleaf weeks ago. Castor was pretty sure the girl knew his name, that he'd once been famous, and likely nothing else about him. Still, this one one of the more interesting exchanges he'd had since coming here. Six weeks was a long time on Liann Xin: he was bored and running out of time all at once.
Odd how Lucky had ended up there in the first place. Her thrusters had never given him trouble before, and there was no reason they should have when the captain had given the order to take off before the patrol reached the dock. In the end, Castor had to admit she'd never seemed to like the captain, and it was if she'd just decided to get rid of him. He just wasn't sure ending up in a scrap yard on a barely terraformed moon had been part of her plan.
Now, Castor realized, six weeks without a buyer was close to a death sentence for his old friend. She had seen better days, but she could still fly, and damn well, and he knew the ship that had been his home for two years didn't deserve to be turned into glorified aluminium siding for some rich settler. Lou, the guy in charge down at Second Life, could theoretically make more selling her intact than as scrap, but just barely, and only if there was a buyer.
And, as far as he knew, there wasn't one. One of the "mechanics" (hacks? butchers?) at Second Life had told Castor that someone had been making inquiries-- day after day in fact -- but so far the guy hadn't produced any credits. Wildstar, or somesuch, was his name. Claimed to be a former owner.
Lost in thought, he only realized the girl was still there when she said, in the upsweeping tones of a late-teenage girl, "So, Mr. McMenomy, will you come sing at the ball? The Ihilani's really decked out." Castor could almost hear her fluster. "Oh, ah, well, you trust me on that, right? And anyway practically everyone in Concord who's anybody is gonna be there. My boss'll be really impressed if I get a celebrity to play the ball, even if you are from back in the Oughties*." The last is said guilelessly, really believing she was flattering him.
[Sblock=ooc]*Local slang for the decade between 2500 and 2510, during which Time around Scars was released. Current year = 2515[/sblock]
****************************
Lucius, Golden Phoenix Restaurant, Tai-Po Market.
Still looking for passage, and nothing seemed right. He'd gone as far as putting a deposit down on a berth in a Caravel class transport headed for Bellerophon until booking agent's enormous black cat had decided to perch itself on the back of the girl's chair just as she produced the contract. She hadn't understood why he had backed out, but the signs had been clear enough to him. Then he'd seen the captain of another ship he'd been considering talking to one of the Concordian prefects, which had been enough to warn him off keeping his appointment to speak with him.
Now he sat at table in an open air restaurant in Tai-Po, its Titanium shielding retracted now that the latest storm had blown out. The glass holding his sweet boba tea sweated in the sunlight, as a long and iridescant dragonfly alighted on its rim. He marveled at the creature's beauty, contemplated its ability to ride out the storm and pick up life just as it had been before once it blew over. The insect took off, and Lucious watched as its wings glint in the sun as it flitted across the street towards the garish Ihilani hotel. He watched it, transfixed, until it landed again on the shoulder of a man talking with a younger woman on the sidewalk. The man looked like he was staring off while the girl talked, but the Lucious realized it was because he was blind - the he caught himself, and realized theman simply hadn't been paying much attention to her. Still, somehow, even at this distance, he saw the dragonfly sittingon the man's shoulder, and Lucious thought it was looking back at him. It meant something, Lucious was sure.
