"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."
Cait smiled and laughed as she saw that Yoko wasn't Afraid of some oil and grease on her hands. She enjoyed working on the Engine with Yoko and showed that she had a good understanding of Technology and Mechanics. She loved to see when young people were interested this much in Technology and engineering. Cait would Connect all the Engine Parts that she had taken out earlier again and would then make some Tests on the Engine.
Cait: Yes the Ship is counted as a Heavy one. Its armor is really Thick and Heavy and that is why all of this Power is needed to Accelerate the Ship to acceptable Levels of Speed. But the feeling and Sound of these Engines, when it is at Max Speed, is something Incredible. It makes you happy and the Purring of the Engine is sometimes even better than Sex, but don't tell this to my wife.
She said with a smile and would be happy with the Results of the Test. Next, they would have to Hoist the Engine back into Place and secure it in the ship. Thankfully the Corsairs had Built the M9 "Gladiator" with easy maintenance and Field Repairs in mind. The ship could have an engine Swap in Under 10 Minutes when they had an Experienced Maintenance crew at hand. Cait and Yoko managed to get the Engine back into Place in a bit over 24 Minutes. The Chairwoman smiled at her guest as she wiped her own face clean.
Cait: Okay our Girl is Ready now. Let's get ourselves into some Flight Suits and then we can go. I should have a Suit in your Size in the Lockers. And to be honest, I like some Big Guns, I never leave the House without my Trusty Plasma Revolver.
The Chairwoman smiled as she Revealed a Holster underneath the Jacket she had worn. Yoko could now see that she had one of the Big Irons there. It was a special Made Gun that combined Reliability and elegance with a Bit of Luxury.
"Oh, I meant no guns pointing at me. Never getting hit is better than armor of any thickness, yeah?" She smiled as she donned her flight suit and climbed in.
For all her complaining, Yoko was no slouch at the controls of the fighter. Her movements were sluggish at first, but she quickly adapted, pre-turning to pull the fighter through the twists and turns of the racecourse Cait set up. Back and forth they went, switching controls each time, time and again, run after run—until finally they were quite rudely interrupted by a ding from Cait's communicator. Yoko deflated as Cait discussed, but turned the fighter back towards the hanger.
Once the vessel was parked, the two women took the time to clean up before returning to negotiations. Yoko was the second of the pair to reenter the room—fresh, ready to go, and already warming the projector back up. She sat once more at the couch, and a moment later the holographic form of her uncle reappeared beside her, manifesting ghostlike.
Cait smiled as she saw how Yoko flew the Fighter through the Skys and "Give him spurs" As she brought the Corsair ship to its limits. Cait would leave her and would only act as a Passenger. She would only Intervene when something went bad, but this wasn't necessary. The M9 "Gladiator" was a Reliable Machine that would even be Soft on the Rookie Pilots and was forgiving a lot of things. Its large Wings Benefited its Stability in Planetary Flight and were pretty Aerodynamic. And even through the Heavy Armor and Engines, the Ship had a wonderful Acceleration that brought the Ship up to speed in a Short time.
Cait enjoyed the Flight and after a While, she would use the Digital Cockpit Display to Create a Racetrack for her so she could see all the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Gladiator. The Chairwoman would Relax in her seat and lean back as Yoko got her through the Digital Rings. This was a combination of a Real Racetrack and a video game. But Sadly all good things had come to an end after a while and this was when Cait got
a Message on her Private Communicator. It was a Message from Steph that told her that the Board of Directors had approved the Deal. As she looked up she would see that Yoko had already brought her back into the Hangar and was Landing on the Pad in just this Moment. Cait smiled as she Jumped out of the Cockpit and Changed back into her Normal Clothes, Steph had already foreseen that they might get dirty and had sent a Maid with 2 Fresh Sets of Clothes for the Two Women. Looked like they had gotten the Size of Yokor Right as hers was Fitting Perfectly.
After that, she would Lead Yoko back up and tell her on the way that she could keep the Clothes. It was some Designer Ones from a Local Curacao Fashion Brand that looked pretty good on her. She would smile as she sat on the Couch again.
Cait: Yes I have good news for you. The Board of Directors has approved the Project and given the Green Light. Just tell us when and Orbital will stand ready for you. I also have already the Perfect Capitan in Mind for this endeavor.
"Excellent," came the AI's reply. "We have finished all on our end as well. Two Prosecutors have already been pulled, and Valravn's printers have begun work on the components for the Inquisitor. Once the next convoy of Molybdenum comes in, it should be ready and on its way to you within the week. I'll assemble the vacationers for the cruise and reach out to the freighter captains to begin moving the necessary goods."
He rose and began to bow, then paused for a moment, giving Yoko a look. It took her a moment, but she quickly popped up as well, and the pair gave a bow in sync. "Your hospitality was most generous, and I have great hope for this renewed partnership. I look forward to working with you in the future.
He turned to leave, but Yoko hesitated a moment, waiting mid-turn. "I know we're both busy women, but when Pipilo and Ocai are done... I can bring them by to show off, yeah?"
Cait was happy that everything went how they had planned it. The Green Light from the Board of Directors was just the Icing on the Cake. She would also get up and would give him a respectful bow in Return. She was happy that she would get this chance to deepen the bond between them and to get some more Security guarantees for Curacao. It was always good to have her Eggs in more than one Basket. She would
Cait: I am also pleased about the Outcome of this Negotiation. I hope that this is the beginning of a wonderful partnership like those that have once Led to the Deployment of Barbados. I wish you luck in your endeavor and hope everything will be Smooth.
She smiles as she sees how Yoko Hesitates and raises an eyebrow as if she wants to ask if she has forgotten something. But then had to hold back a chuckle as she heard that Question.
Cait: You and your Ships are always Welcome here Yoko. But make sure to Inform me before your arrival. I don't want my Automatic Defenses to think you are an Intruder and to Scratch your Paint. So give me some Heads up and I make sure that they are Deactivated when you come.
Cait and Steph would Escort their Guests to the Landing Pad and wait for them to Depart. Both Women smiled and waited till the ship had to Lift off before they went back into the Resort and would Celebrate the Deal Together.