The Den, Oyster Creek [XA- or Allies only]

[Antonio]

Oyster Creek, Texas




David was just finishing his drink. In the meantime he was reading the latest news on the Liberty News Service, and laughed quite a bit. The bartender approached him with 2 shots of Whiskey.



"Mr. Predsman will be here shortly. He insisted on giving you these two. It's on his tab."

"Fair enough, I can't say no to that."

He and the bartender looked each other and laughed a bit. Harold then added.

"And if I may ask, what vessel did you arrive in? "

"Vessel? Right, you'll find all the details here. Is there anything else you need?"

"Negative, that would be it."



Harold leaves the table and David continues to drink the Whiskey.

[Katherine Snow]

Oyster Creek - Southern Liberty Sector

---

Texas, Western Texas

Katherine tried to keep her eyes on Jimmy's body, however she failed as he was chewing his meal and looked away for a second. Then she smiled and looked back into his eyes, playfuly moving her glass around the table.

"I am still a bit confused. They made or established Commonwealth in my absence. But I can just live with it and hope I will reach a higher rank soon

Kathy giggled and her cheeks turned red as she finished the sentence about ranks and promotions. She noticed his look at her fingers however and his mindless game with his ring. For sure it caught her attention, not sure if she should ask him now.

"Well, ya! I might check your little girl npw, uh, you know I dont want to disturb or interrupt your meetings uhhh."

Kathy grinned cheekily and looked away once again, observing that stranger sitting at the bar and drinking whiskey.

---

[|nfrared]

Jimmy nearly choked on Kathy's words, this stranger in the bar had been completely unexpected. He had grown more popular lately, but he didn't want to risk his prize visitor taking things the wrong way, and kept his attention on her.

"Uhh, well, the way I see it, he is interupting us, though probably not on purpose. And my job is to prioritise things, y'see? Let me show you. Look at that guy."

He glanced over at the man, drinking his - was that whiskey?! That was stuff wasn't easy to get. His eyes narrowed for a millisecond at Harold as he mouthed "Roc". He let out a sigh and continued.

"In his prime. Probably a damn good pilot, it's almost a prerequisite of finding this place. He could have many kills, I don't really know. Such a man is valuable to me I will admit. In any other circumstance I would be over there already."

Then he turned back to the white haired woman opposite him at the table.

"However, you Katherine, your time here, your expertise, is more valuable than what any single pilot can offer. So the way I see it, he can wait a minute or two for you. Have you got anything else to, uh, write before I suss this guy out? Who knows, if we need to move the Maximus we might be able to use the escort if he is interested enough. After that we can make a start on surveying the damage."

He reflected on the rather one sided conversation. It was quieter than most, that was certain. It was kind of soothing though, peaceful, not rushed, helping him think.

[Katherine Snow]

Oyster Creek - Southern Liberty Sector

---

Texas, Western Texas

Snowy girl gave him another smile and leaned forward on the table while staring and listening to him, talking about stranger and her. She found it really impressive though.

"In that case you should invite him to our table. You know, I would love to know who's going to escort us to the Vespucci system. He seems to be quite experienced or skilled so to say, so why not?"

Kathy winked and her eyes turned to the stranger, observing him once again before she raised her hand and invited him to come closer.

"Here we go, your girl can wait for a while."

Kathy grinned cheekily once again and softly poked Jimmy's nose, showing her childish/girlish part.

---

[Antonio]

David couldn't ignore noticing the white haired woman. Her wave confused him a bit, as he was planning to talk only with Jimmy, in private. Nevertheless, he finished his shot of whiskey and approached the table. He spotted the giggling between the two which made him wonder, are they in some kind of a relationship?


"Uhm... hello there. My name is David. David Rose. I'm guessing you saw my 2 attachments containing personal information and ship details. Didn't want you to think I have any bad intentions."

He shakes hand with Katherine and Jimmy. He grinned a bit in the process, and continued.

"A pleasure to meet you, miss Snow. I heard rumours of a white haired girl around this area in the last 2 weeks, I guess that must be you. And of course, mr. Predsman, the go-to guy here. We have quite a bit to talk about, but luckily, time isn't a problem."

He takes a seat at the table. His first impression on Jimmy and Katherine was a positive one. They both seemed like good people, there aren't much of those these days.

"So uhm... is there something I can do for you? The bartender whispered me about a possible job for me, I'm open to suggestions. If so, here's my recent work."

He lays back and leaves a file containing a list.

[|nfrared]

"Well let's see here..."

Jimmy reached over to peruse the file. As he flicked through he said nothing, but his eyebrows moved incrementally further up his forehead. By the time he neared the end, any chances of keeping a poker face on had diminished significantly.

"Uh, well, shizz, that's quite the list. And this is just recent? Mmhmm. I think I've seen what I need to see."

He flicked near the end and glanced at Kathy, pointing out a figure in the file, looking for a nod of approval or some other sign.

"Um. Well, it seems my guess was right. I love it when I'm right."

He grinned at David, a genuine grin. This guys timing could not have been better, Jimmy mused silently. Jimmy had confidence the man who was no more than a stranger a few minutes ago would make him look organised. He indicated a viewing port nearby, outside was the shifting debris that was the Pequena Negra.

"You see that twisted mess of pods out there? That's actually my largest transport. The Serpentis Maximus. Yeah it ain't pretty, I know. Which is why Katherine is here."

He had to be careful now. The next sentences would be critical. He didn't want to send the wrong message and completely friendzone himself. No one ever came back from the friendzone. His face lit up a little as the solution came to him.

"This is Katherine Snow, and she is way up there in the Hellfire Legion. She's ah, a bit on the quiet side but don't mind that. She's come to check on my transport y'see, there's more engineering knowledge in this one woman's head than everyone else here combined. She also acts as a diplomat between our two groups."

He had left out her rank on purpose, unsure if he had shared too much information already. Not wanting his confidence to evaporate he continued quickly.

"As for your part in this, well we are probably going to need to move the Stork transport through the jumphole network out to the borderworlds. We simply don't have the facilities here to service it. It's a four system trip and there are plenty of chances for us to be jumped by just about anyone. Your file speaks for itself, I won't insult you by asking if you are familiar with your own hardware. But it's a big long slow target you'll be protecting, one wrong move and she comes apart. Not to mention it'll be packed full of H-fuel and duct tape at Milford for the trip."

The man appeared to be listening, he seemed to be paying attention. He needed more pilots with a decent attention span. Another round of drinks was brought over.

"So... Are you interested? It'll give us time to talk about anything else you might want to know about us, uh, the Xenos I mean."

[Katherine Snow]

Oyster Creek - Southern Liberty Sector

---

Texas, Western Texas

A white haired girl just showed a sign of pleasure and happiness as David Rose walked to their table and introduced himself. She shook his hand in return and blushed slightly as he mentioned these "rumors" regarding her.

Kathy wanted to write down something as the answer for David's last question, but moved her datapad aside because Jimmy used the chance to speak. She just leans back and crosses arms on her chest while listening to their little chat and Jimmy's mumbling. She really liked Jimmy's reactions while his eyes were going through this long list.

She could give him just a slight smile and nod of approval as she was reading this list. There was something wrong though, because it seemed like she was reading it carefuly, nervous and a bit worried, probably searching names of her friends.

Luckily she sighed in relief because none of her friends were on the list.Slightly blushing and nodding while Jimmy was talking about her, Legion and her Engineering skills, comparing them to other Xenos around.

She remained quiet however while Jimmy was explaining their plan.

"And if you'll have some freetime while your girl will be repaired, then I would love to invite you both to my house on Guadalajara. So we can talk in private and warmth."

---

[Shizune]

Someone tripped into the station, having completed another run, this man looked half sane and the other half of him looked like he was completely off his nut. His jacket, if even that, had large patches of differently colored duct tape on it. Walking around, whistling out an improved "Man has this base improved over time! Man she is still beautiful!" On his chest was a patch that read 'Duct.Tape.03' and on the holo-logo it showed a repair ship, reading 'Duke Tape' or the name. Moving to any random table and sitting, taking something from his jacket, it was Rum from the Corsairs it seemed? Opening the cork and taking a small sip "Oh strong..I'm sure the boys would be proud."

[Antonio]

David couldn't help himself not look at Jimmy as he was scrolling down the list. Seeing his face made him smile quite a bit. He confirmed noticing the large train parked outside, such a huge thing is hard not to see. As Jimmy started talking about the potential job, David leaned forward and listened. He saw Katherine blushing a bit as Jimmy was talking about her. When he began explaining the job itself and David's role in it, he was giving an occasional nod to Jimmy.


"A favor for a favor, eh? Fair enough, you got my attention. As for the escorting part, don't worry about the threats we will potentially encounter. I'll obliterate anyone who dares to compromise the convoy. "

A certain part of the trip however worried him a bit.

"One thing to note though is a potential ambush using those mysterious cloaking devices. My ship isn't capable of detecting cloaked ships at the moment, I'm hoping you have a solution for that. In case we get ambushed there's absolutely nothing I can do save you, or rather, kill them before they kill you."

As he finished, Katherine mentioned her offer. He didn't know her that well, but she seemed like an honest girl, with no double-minded games in plan. He was more than happy when he heard it.

"I don't see why not. In fact, it'd be best if we don't talk during the trip and stay focused on the danger around us. When we complete the task and arrive to your house, we can talk about -my- needs."

He then finished.

"So mr. Predsman, when do we leave?"

[Machelvanius]

"This place smells like a hot gun barrel."
The bartender just smirks and keeps cleaning the bar top. He nods toward the back of the room with a glance. Mach turns around to look. There is someone in the corner leaned back and cleaning their weapon.
"So what's the best drink here?"
[color-silver]The bartender picks up a cryo-cup, and puts it down in front of Mach. He grabs a very unique looking bottle and pours some in the cup. It immediately chills the liquor to the set temperature.[/color]
"That's called a Xenobyte."
Mach takes a sip. It tastes a little like H-Fuel smells. It isn't pleasant, but it will do the trick.
"You call this the best drink?"
The bartender rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
"A legionnaire? I don't think I've seen you here before."
"I'm kind of new. I just got started. Figured I'd take a break for a bit. Since were on the topic, let me get a room. I think I'm going to stay here for a few days."
"We've got some home brewed ale if you need to wash that down. We've got a pretty good cook if you get hungry."
"Thanks for the drink."

---

THE IMBALANCE OF POWER is a construct of THE MIND systemic to the reactions between the subjects of the system. POWER is given by those who acknowledge such power. REFUSAL to acknowledge power removes that power for THE REBEL; however, it produces anomalies in interactions throughout the system. These ANOMOLIES cause the UNPREDICTABLE nature of the system that all users CRAVE.