As Logan listens to the conversation, he continues to smoke his cigaret. It takes some time before he says something on the matter
"I take the side of the Coronado dickhead on this matter"
He looks towards Christian
"No offense..."
Then he looks back
"But I don't care who I shoot as long as I get paid for it. Of course there are exceptions like the Hackers who I don't want to annoy since they really know what they are doing.... You all sure didn't forget the hijack of Cody´s Shop."
He takes a drag of his cigarette and exhale the smoke before he continues
"The Rogues are something else.... I don´t like them and if they piss me off, I shoot them, it's that simple. I mean even the dirt on my doormat has more class than them."
He lets a little smirk fly over his mouth as he finishes his cigette and puts it out in the ashtray.
But then he continues with a serious look on his face
"And the thing about the Gauls... I know it's war and some nasty shit is happening out there... and as harsh as it may sound to say now, but it's not our job to fight them.
We are Smugglers, Mercenaries and Racers, not some sort of Freedom Fighters. If you want to fight them go join the Navy or Armed Forces but keep the AFC outta that diplomatic crap."
Gambit let his now empty bottle of beer drop to the floor, loud enough to get everyones attention, but not hitting with enough force to break. It spun around in front of his feet.. "Nasty ****...." He took his left foot and stopped the bottle in place, kneeled down and picked it up. "Yea, I quess 50 people with 6 degree chem burns in the back of your frieghter..." He took a few steps toward a waste recepticle and dropped the bottle in. "..all howling and screamin... ...yea, I quess that counts for nasty ****....But I dont think many of you have ever seen any of it...." He let that hang in the air for a second as he reached for his one hitter. "...As it is, casualties is all you can haul out of Leeds these days....and getting in and out....you cant do it in anything but a Freighter...Almost makes the trip not worth it.... cause of the blood and guts you end up having to clean out of your hold... ...So...then...." Gambit stares down the room as he grinds his bat into the box of his one hitter. "...What you are left with is haulin them BMMs all the way out to Gallia...and sooner or later, we will end up on the wrong end of it with them....Dickplomacy.... or not." He lit his bat and took a hit, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a flash driveand tossed it on the table. "Here ya are....Two runs to New Berlin with this Nox crap from Gallia...On one of them, Rouques caused enough of a fuss in the system to make it uneventful...so, they do have a useful pourpose...as cannon fodder.." A few around the table chuckeld abit. "...I net transffered 5mill to that group for running interferance.... but that wont make a difference next time me or one of my crews runs into them......But anyways..... I got 250Mios that belongs to the Club...... that is the Clubs take, off of what I have earned this quarter....I just need a safe account to transfer it to..." He had walked back to where he had started his monologue and leaned back into his spot. "Yall race all ya want boys..but....in the end...smugglin pays the bills...."
Christian grins lazily. "Not offended in the least, mate, although I'm nae buying that it wasn't your intention."
His face turns more serious, and his posture straightens. "The Rogues are the Rogues; one day, knights errant and almost lovable, the rest of the time, scum, pure and simple.
I ran into two of 'em trolling the lanes in New York in a pair of destroyers while was in me Arrow, yeah? Since I didn't bug out right away, they wanted to gamble for me life. I got away clean, but, core, they were playing cats-n-mouse. I say, enough."
Christian's eye turn toward Gambit. "You're right about the Frogs bein' rat bastards, mate, and I got nothin' but respect for you doing the Leeds run, but you got no idea what the lot us been through, or up to. You wanna run your trap, take it to the track or the Cherry, yeah?"
NEW SESSION
The 'chapel' room on Blackport 66 filled up once more for the weekly meeting. The dark room, illuminated in the middle by lights shining on the center table, housed laughter, arguments, and general barking of the club members as they were getting to their seats. Exotic entertainers walked around to serve drinks and the occasional weed spiff or lighter while getting teased, filtered at or tapped by the grinning and gawking men. Smoke raised up in the air and held around the lights before being sucked away into the vents and on the table some credits and cards were being tossed down.
Sunny walked into the scene without anyone really noticing. He sat down at the head of the table and watched his members for a moment before clearing his throat and pounding the table.
BOOM BOOM
"Everyone shut up, we're starting!" He announced and at the same time a blonde entertainer walked up and served him a bottle of vodka and scooted back quickly to the side. He took the bottle and opened it and took a sip.
"Al'right brothers, we've got much to talk about. Been a lot done lately and it's time to talk about business and what we are gonna be doing about it."
He placed the bottle down on the table and leaned forwards in his chair while placing is arms to rest on the table.
"First thing's first is the &%$#in' Hogs ta deal with. If you don't what's fully going on then listen up! We're at war."
The table erupted and Sunny slapped the table to get everyone's attention again.
" NOW!... I know what everyone's thinkin'. We gotta teach these swines a lesson. We've already insulted them enough. Soon we strike... BUT! I don't want anyone to be STUPID about it, eh!? Don't underestimate 'em. If yeah need to then hit an' run. In the meantime we're also be racin' in Tutorri again. Screw 'em!"
He took another load of Vodka in his mouth and grunted after swallowing.
"I want the Kepler chapter to show 'em we arn't to be pushed around! You owe the club to get their our respect!"
The men around cheered in agreement and nodded back, banging on the table and drinking to show their support.
"If your brother needs you as well then you go help him! This isn't something to take lightly! These pigs are gonna try to trample us all over. Don't back the %$#@ down!"
Sunny looked around the room and didn't see anyone else wanting to speak up. He continued.
"The Hogs don't take kindly to trespasser so be careful. Don't let them lay a free finger on you or your respect. What happened down at the Casino was the start and end of us takin' crap from them! Anyway..."
Looking around and seeing no one was speaking up he moved the topic.
"Next thing on the list is our current relations with our new buddies: The Order. We've got a special request from them, if you don't know already. We are opening up another nightclub down on their planet and the Admiral himself has given us a lot of flexibility in arranging everything. I have already made us a list of what we need, so soon I would like to see you all helping out and transporting supplies down to the Omicrons. After all this is done we will move the Bustard we had previously wanted to have for Rheinland to be down there."
As he said this more cheers went up.
"Now listen. While we are doing this then on the return trip back I want to get stockpiles of Kemwer Munitions. A whole lot of it! The Black Market is lighting up with the demand for it and this is a huge opportunity to grab it and be known for distribution. On top of all that I'll be later this week in a meeting with a Corsair representative for a new line of Artifacts they are producing. That stuff is a gold mine in itself. We'll see what happens with that."
Sunny looked around to see if anyone had anything on their mind related to the news so far.
Hyun was the first to speak up. "The Order will be a great boon to us, I believe. Not only do we get a great trading material we will now be kept in the loop of future oportunities in Liberty happenings. We may also gain some good tasting areas away from prying eyes. All good if you ask me and another bar never hurt no one. Speaking of tech opportunities." Hyun pushes the chair he's been using back from the table and stands up. He taps a few buttons on a nano grid displayed from a dragon tattoo that wraps up his arm. The lights fade and a few 3D pictures are displayed on the table. Hyun starts by gesturing to project tumble weed. "While we have hit a brick wall with the Lane Hackers with obtaining the technology to build this thing construction remains on schedule. There is plenty to keep us busy. From hull structure to power transference every thing has to be ready for them to install the tech so it works. If your interested we have some materials that need to be acquired and a fresh brain is always welcome. On to project Hot Rod we have hit some walls and we have moved past those onto bigger and better ones. We are still experimenting with different engine types for it; the one you see here and another base on the CD engine are top runners. Other ideas are welcome. Nesrin has been helping out with getting a lot of the calibrations done and filling out the rest of the items on the to do list to get this bad boy to fly. On terms of project Surge with the help of IRG we have decided to move away from using darkmatter as the source of fuel for this engine. We will however be using the ionic fluctuations that are generated withing the cloud as a source of power. Instead of us being a Faraday cage we are going to be a lightning rod. And last but not least is Project Warthog. While I haven't been overseeing this personally Sunny assures me its ready to go so hopefully as soon as we can get a contract with a ship yard we will be able to produce these for club members that want them." Having finished the update Hyun hit a few buttons on the nano grid and the lights came back up. With that Hyun retook his seat and waited to see what the rest of them thought.
Sunny nodded back and resumed speaking after waiting to see if anyone else had something to say.
"Right, then. Moving on with things since we are all here I would like to address something important... Would you all please stand..."
The men around looked confused but stood up in their seats and waiting to see what the President had to say.
"I would like a moment of silence for someone that had been very influential to the Club. Whatever your thoughts on the Junker Congress are, we should all pay our respects to the missing Rico from Inverness' Junkyard. It pains me to say that he has been gone for some time now and we've determined he probably won't be coming back. He was a valued asset to the organisation, a true friend, and he even called me his cousin. The man had a good sence of humor and planning and when we needed assistance it was not the Congress but him that lead to give us aid. Him and Bruce, rather, I am not sure what became of him as well... The man and us would have created a solid empire in the black market... but... <sigh>"
While still standing Sunny leaned his hands forward on the table and bowed his head in respect. The whole room fell silent for a sold 2 minutes in honor of the two men. Sunny then broke the silence to begin again.
"Please take a seat..."
"Brothers... we are now in a new era of relation between the Congress and Junkers as a whole. You know our relation with the Junker Marauders already. If it was not for the Congress' intrusion we would be still doing strikes at their hull and making them fix their damn ships with their stupid scrap. <he slams his fist on the table> Unfortunately now that our inside connection with the Congress is gone, our relationship has grown... silent is not fit to define it. Let's just say I have received reports that they are not too eager to assist us and we have to try more than needed to get a simple mining request from them. They are Junkers, the hell! Furthermore, their little stunt to find some guy had not grown any results last I checked. I assume it was either some kind of game or trickery, or that man is really gone. Either way, they are no use to us and do not show it. With the hogosha war in effect, I am wondering if they will even lift a FINGER to help support the threat. I highly doubt it."
Sunny smirks and the room nods back and some are chuckling.
"It seems, gents, that we need to see if they have their respect for us. I shall later send them a little 'postcard'. See if they even remember who we are."
NEW SESSION
Sunny walks into the conference room as the men are all gathered around the table and drinking merrily, singing, and chatting to one another. He takes a seat and watches everyone for a moment until he bangs his fist on the table.
"Alright shut it! We are starting." He looks around and after everyone settles down he continues.
"Brothers... it looks like the Junkers are no trustworthy partners with us. It's a shame. But anyway onto the main issue which is including this one... I have been pondering who around is with us or who is out just to use us... like the Junkers have...." He spits to the side and continues. "You may think what's this got to do with anything, but I'll tell yeah."
Sunny looks towards Hyun. "Hey boy. What has that chick been doin' in the shop all this time with my ride, huh? The %$#@in' hod rod!? She just been wiggling her ass?!!" He gets up out of his seat and continues before Hyun has a chance to respond as he is in a bit of a rage. "You know... I been thinkin' how she even got through to our project to begin with. &^%$in' hell.... WOMEN. They always get you with their looks and charm ... How do we know she isn't a spy. She's got access to our research on Hot Rod, HA!" Sunny is shaking his head. "Nah it is my fault for letting an outsider through that EASILY...!" Sunny grimaces and walks back to his seat and sits down.
"Last I check she has not been on the station for the past few. That will be a good thing. As of now she isn't coming in until we sort this out. Oh and additionally... we'll be doing some cleanup. If someone wants to get back in then they will have to register back. It's time take out some of the trash from the party."
Sunny had not noticed but the room had gotten dead silent and serious. The exotic entertainers had bunched up at the dark corners a bit frightened at the President's anger.
"Calm down Sunny. Its not like she can take the data out of the labs. Any electronic device that isn't properly shielded would be fried in the entrance and any transmission would have to cut through the cloud. And if somehow she did get something off base she wouldn't have the algorithms to read the data which I keep in my personal quarters. So the only thing she can take is memory of which I am sure she has an unlimited supply of. I mean that is the process of learning. Find someone better than you and learning from them. That said I will give her name to Curtis and have him run a background check on her.
As he finishes reassuring Sunny he types on his arm and a holographic file floats across the room to a figure leaning up against the wall directly to Sunny's left. A cigar hangs loose from his mouth and glows a little brighter as he takes a drag to reveal his face. He looks at the name scroll across the screen and nods towards Hyun. The glow fades and the figure returns to the shadows. If things were serious before, death just entered the room.
Sunny settles down a little with his tempter and reaches into his jacket for a spiff to light. He hangs it off his lips and breaths in a little. Exhaling, a long cloud runs out of his nose.
"Fine I guess you are right... though again we shouldn't be bringing just anyone onto doing our work." He shakes his head. "I want that background check done asap... what ticks me off the most though is the people she represents." He shakes his head. "Their attitude, anyway. In any case, I think I'll be stepping in to help get this ship off of it's coffin and into space.
"How's the track prep coming along anyway?" He asks Hyun directly and everyone looks at him; interested to hear a report.
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