The Guardian powered off it's engines. Renee unplugged the seat belts and took off her helmet putting it on her lap. The ship's displays powered off one by one as the ship completed it's system shutdown. Renee though wasn't in a hurry to leave her ship, she just sat there thinking about what happened in the past few days. Her impatience to acquire a new ship led her to enter a deal that perhaps shot her in her own knees. Though shooting down Laura was the least of her issues - Renee had not thought that a ship like the Guardian carried a few other complications - flying a military grade craft brought issues when operating in space hostile to said nation the craft was from. With the recent and not so recent diplomacy of Liberty her ship was now probably illegal or deemed untrustworthy in three of the five houses. Today's stunt she did in New London also removed Bretonia from the two left.

Renee leaned her head back on the seat and closed her eyes. She had to change her diplomacy in order to survive. The Outcasts and the Miner's Guild were now hostile, which didn't leave her with many allies in the Taus, a group of systems dangerous enough for a person to need allies, especially one with a bounty on her head. She was hoping that GRN pilot yesterday remembered what she did as she desperately needed new allies. Perhaps she could convince the Gallic Navy leadership that she was on their side. On the other hand her talk with the man in the Camara made her doubt if what she was doing was the right thing to do. A dilemma between moving forward and going back to square one - where she was before all these events. A small part of her felt she had betrayed her home by leaving Gallia and cutting all connections with it roughly two years ago. Back then she did not consider the people she left behind without even saying goodbye, but as time passed what seemed like a right decision slowly grew into doubt.

On the other hand the offer to return things back to how they were was really tempting. With her old allies she felt more secure and the fact she used to have little enemies was also comforting. Renee gave out a long exhale, she felt really tired both physically and mentally. She was doubting things would ever be really like they were even if she tried fixing her relations with the Miners and Bretonia. She managed to make a name for herself, shooting a few important individuals, and simple deals and apologies weren't going to fix that. The thought of running away from things passed through her head. She wasn't fond of running from her problems yet again and she considered the idea as a desperate move in case the other two options failed. Her impatience played a joke on her once less than a week ago and she didn't want that to happen again so the best thing she could think of doing was taking a rest and deciding what to do tomorrow.

"So?" Renee mumbled as they turned corner around yet another big crate stack. The man leading the way continued his usual pace without much care. He looked relatively young, perhaps a man in his late twenties. His attire was of a simple mechanic and the various black dots on his sleeves from various hydraulic fluids further pointed to the fact his profession might not be far from that. "So what?" his answer came delayed, like one of a person who's mind was occupied with other more important matters. Though that wasn't the case for Miguel, his "latency" was a characteristic he was well known about. That and flexible morals when it came to customers. "You said you found what I was looking for." Renee quickly continued with a tone of mild annoyance at his attitude towards things. She wasn't too keen on dealing with an Outcast, but he was the only dealer she knew on Barrier Gate that could get people whatever they need if the price was right. Miguel on the other hand didn't care much about who he dealt with, he was working independently on Barrier Gate for more than five years now, supplying cargo and hardware alike to anyone with the credits. The only thing that was left to give away his Maltese roots was the cardamine breather he always wore. "Aha. Don't know why you wanted it exactly manufactured there and not maybe one of the ships the Mactan bunch made while they still had access to Vespucci. Are you perhaps superstitious?" he grinned as he finished his sentence. Renee's response was a frown, followed by a bitter remark - "What I am isn't any of your business. I don't want any second grade hardware and I don't trust the design the Hackers used being the same!" The man let out a slight chuckle since he found her answer really amusing. "That's what I call superstition. And before you say anything in your defense, we're here so just check if this is what you wanted and save me the lecture you're about to dish out." he smirked as he turned one last corner, revealing the Sabre fighter in front of them that was nearly buried between the stacks of crates, which made it impossible to spot from outside the warehouse.

The ship looked in top condition. No battle scars or plates with mismatching color on it's hull. It was factory fresh, even missing essentials like the countermeasure flare and the shield system. Renee's eyes sailed along the ship's contours. She knew the Guardian she was currently flying wasn't going to last forever, especially with the incompatible engine it was using. The Junker who repaired the Guardian did a miracle, but even a miracle wasn't going to fix all the gaps that a Sabre's engine connected to a Guardian's power core created. That was exactly why this new Sabre had to be in top condition. "So this one's build on Malta, 819 AS?" she broke the silence of the quiet warehouse again. Miguel swiftly rotated his head in Renee's direction, snapping out of his daydreaming. "820AS, Mosta planetside ship factory. Close enough? Or are we going to get picky about the hour it was build on as well?" his voice was cheerful, the act was probably his sarcastic way of dealing with customers. He didn't care much if she turned the ship back - by the same time next week he could sell it to at least 5 other people. Though that wasn't in his interest - Renee didn't want to purchase a new ship to fly, she wanted to buy a backup plan, a ship she could always come here and pick up in case the current child of a naval wreck and junker genius finally kicked the bucket. And storing something this big on a popular base like Barrier Gate meant a lot of extra money for the rent. Renee ran her hand through the ship's metal surface, feeling the texture of the plates. Her doubt turned to certainty, as if feeling how the metal plates felt was enough to judge if the ship was the right one. She reached in her pocket pulling out a data storage device along with a card. "Looks good enough. The card should have enough money to cover your expenses up until now plus a month's worth of rent for the storage. Oh and one last thing - wipe whatever software the ship is currently using and install this backup." she finally let out a smile, she was pleased with the deal. Miguel grinned as he took the items off her hands and nod his head. He was equally pleased with the deal. Worst case scenario was that he had to babysit the ship for a month, best case scenario was that she'd die somewhere in space and never reclaim the ship she already paid in advance for. Though that was her risk, nor his.