"Of course. I thought it unlikely, but I would be remiss not to offer." The hologram rose and nodded to Yoko. "I will use the time to contact the Grand Tectarch and begin making the necessary arrangements. In the meantime, Yoko, feel free to make use of their facilities. Please excuse me." He bowed, then blinked out of existence, and the projector whirred down until it fell silent.
Yoko stared back at Cait, eyes wide. "Oh, could you? That sounds wonderful. I'm plenty full with your hospitality, but I'd love to see your collection, especially if you're as passionate about it as you seem." She danced a little in place and quickly stood, stowing the projector in her pocket.
Cait smiled at her as she got up and walked with her over to a Large Glas Elevator. Cait would Hold her Hand against a Scanner and would then enter the Elevator. She would then press a button that would Bring them down over several Floors. in the end, they would be in a Hangar that was Built into a Cave with an Entrance that was hidden behind a Waterfall. She could Hear the Sounds of the water that would Splash against the Rocks and would see about a Dozen Ships that were Parked in there. The Chairwoman hadn't lied as she had said that she was owning a Large Collection of all kinds of ships. She could see that she had some of the rarest ships in Sirius like the CLI-11000 "Arrow" Light Fighter that had once Won the Sirius Inter House Ralley and was still Painted in his racing configuration. Right Next to it was a Gaian "Chameleon" Heavy Fighter that the Orbital Security Forces had Captured after a Fight. It had once belonged to the famous Gaian Pirate "Cyrus Greentree."
Cait: Welcome to my Inner Sanctum Kyoko. Here we have some of the most Rare Ships in Sirius. Some were Captured from our Enemys and some were acquired over more Legitimate Channels. Please feel free to look at them and if you want you can also sit in the Cockpits.
She said with a smile as she showed her a CST-005 "Taurus" that had the Symbols of Orbital Spa and Cruise on the side and was and looked like it was the Personal Shuttle of the Chairwoman. The ship had some Special Looking weapons mounted that seemed to he quite Rare. Right next to it was a Simple LZF-9805 "Liberator", Liberty Light Fighter. But a plaque in front of it showed that it once belonged to Edison Trent Himself. At least that was what the Auctionator once said about it.
Cait: I love to work on ships in my free time. To get an Engine to Purr again after it was dormant for a Centurie. I love to Tinker with them and even have a little workshop here. Some of the ships you see here are Fully Restored by myself, It is sometimes only hard to get the parts I need for the ships. I mean some of the Ships aren't really Belonging to those that we would say are Friendly Towards orbital. In the case of that Gaian Fighter, I had to wait for one whole year till I had all of the Parts I needed. But now it Purrs like a Cat that has the time of her life.
Cait said with a Proud smile as she showed her the last Project that she worked on, it was an M9 "Gladiator" from the Corsairs. Cait had Removed and taken apart the Right Engine and was Curently giving the thing a Full Overhaul as she tried to get the ship Airworthy again ever since she found it Drifting without an Pilot on one of her Omega Cruises.
Yoko's eyes widened as she entered the deep hanger. The shift in her demeanor was subtle, but visible to a sharp eye: The facade of youthfulness melted away into genuine excitement. Her eyes darted from ship to ship as Cait described them. First, she nodded appreciatively at the Arrow. "Oh, those things are quick, but way too big for me. I flew one back in my mercenary days, and no amount of speed could make it a smaller target. Great racing ship, though, I can see why it won."
Her attention was then drawn to the Chameleon, and she grimaced. "Ugh. Gaian work. I've never liked it. They cheap out on important things and call it 'sustainability.' I'm amazed you can stand to work on it... and that you can keep it working, honestly. I hope you at least got better stuff for it than they put in stock, yeah? Did you get stuff custom-machined for it or something?" She tilted her head at Cait, but she was not done yet.
Next she turned to the Taurus, nodding in approval but not commenting—apparently weaponry was outside her special interest. The Liberator, though, got more of a reaction. "Oh! I got to look at a bunch of Patriots under repair recently, though they didn't let me work on them. Though..." She slowed and turned to Cait. "If it's that important, I guess it's more a show piece than a toy, yeah?" She gave a sheepish little grin, then finally wandered over to the Gladiator.
"You know, I've never really thought too much about Corsair ships. They seem slow, but I've never got to try one or look at it." She leaned in, examining the disassembled engine more closely, eyes tracing fuel lines and scouring the surfaces, trying to determine alloys by sight without touching the Chairwoman's project. "What's it like? Fast? Slow? Any fun? I hope it at least has a decent core."
Cait smiled as she would see the Enthusiasm that she had for all the ships in her hangar. She loved to see how she reacted to the Fighters on Display. Cait herself was also Liked this when she had something that Sparked her Interest. She would then be a total Child who was excited about its Christmas Presents.
Cait: Yes the Manouver Engines were always too weak on these Ships. They simply don't have enough Thrust to Change the Direction quickly enough in Combat. But these Ships are Wonderfull for racing and Rallies. Orbital also Sponsors a Race Team that uses Arrows. I was always a Big Fan of the Pilot of this Ship, so when It was up for Sale I had to buy it.
She laughs as she hears the comments about the Gaian Fighter. She could understand all of her Points and smiled as she mentioned how the Gaians would be cheap on several Points in the Construction of the Ships. But she had to admit that the Basic design of the Ship had some Beauty in itself.
Cait: Well yes they are Cheap on several Important things. But it is always good to Understand your Enemies. We have used a lot of the Knowledge that I Gained by Rebuilding this Ship in the Development and Improvement of Orbitals Ships like the Taurus and the Obsidian. And yes we have had some of the Parts Custom Made to Improve on the Bad Original design of the Gaians.
Cait nodded as she made the comments about the Patriot as she was right. The ship itself was nothing Special. It was the History Behind it and the Previous Owner that made the ship valuable. Cait had Restored the ship to its original condition that was used by Edison Trent in the old days.
Cait: Sometimes I take the Patriot out to Space Ship Conventions and Air Shows. But even then I don't fly it myself. We load it into a Specially Modified Armored Transport that was built to Transport valuable ships like these. But the Ship is still in a Working State and could be flown out of here.
She smiles as she sees the interest in the Corsair Engine and nods as she sees that she held back and didn't touch it. This was some sort of sign that it was totally okay for her to touch the engine and examine the Project more Closely. Cait would stand next to her and point at several Points of Interest like the Supercharger for the Fuel Injection System or the Robust Nature of the Ship.
Cait: Corsair Ships are really Robust, the Armor is among the Thickest that I have ever seen in a Fighter. Of course that would make it slower, but the Corsairs have Compensated that with Stronger Engines. The Ship itself is pretty Fun to fly and was built so that even a Rookie Pilot could handle it without Problems. I would let you fly it, but sadly I have taken the engine out this Morning for some Maintenance. This ship is a Trainer Version with Double Seats so it wouldn't be a Problem. She smiled as she had an Idea as she Talked about the Eninge. But if you want you could Help me put the Engine back in. With the Two of us, this shouldn't take longer than 20 Minutes and then we can give this Baby a little Ride.
"Oooh, could we?" Instantly her hand was on the engine, finger tracing the lines of the pipework, grease and grime not even a consideration. "That sounds fantastic. And... well, I guess as long as we're still waiting for the Board it's fine."
She leaned in to look more closely at the fuel injector, feeling around the o-ring before testing the pressure valve. "You weren't joking about these engines, though, wow. This thing's gotta have a lot of mass for the PWR to be worth putting this much of it into supercharging alone. Does it even count as a heavy fighter with all this?" She turned to Cait, head tilted slightly. "I mean, I can see the appeal of all the armor—I mean, I don't want to die either—but Corsairs really do do things the most direct way possible, don't they?" She shook her head, an amused little smile crossing her face, before continuing. "I'd rather just have no guns on me at all, personally, but to each their own."
She turned back to the engine, running her finger over the half-disassembled paneling. "Yeah, though, I'd like that. Let's get started."