The airlock closed. A beaten, battered Sirocco Noir touched down on the landing pad, people rushing in to see the latest spout of drama. Cesar was fuming. He had just come back from what was meant to be a recon mission to find new enemy patrol paths. What he didn't expect to find however were fully kitted Outcast patrol squadrons. "Les salauds told me it was going to be quiet!" He yelled as he threw open the canopy. Removing his helmet he continued to yell, his heavy Gallic accent echoing around the landing bay. "And those Brigands! Always talking a big game while tucked safely in Gallia but send us out to do their dirty work!" As Cesar jumped down from his now smoldering ship, an audience began to form. Some hushed murmuring rippled around the crowd as the tanned Gaul ranted incoherently. "And do we get any recognition? No! Just the empty promises that they will accompany us to raid Malta! Well that is the LAST time. I QUIT!" he screamed as he smashed his helmet to the ground, the shattering of his visor stunning the onlookers.
Lian was walking through the corridors of Freeport 6. She had recently made a deal with a Natio pilot to purchase her first gunboat, a Condor. She was straining to add the access key to her keyring when she heard yelling coming from down a nearby hallway. She gave up on her endeavor and ran to see the commotion. As she came to the landing pad, there was frustratingly a crowd in her way. She eagerly pushed her way through, stopping when she sees a helmet slam into the ground. Looking around she sees everybody awkwardly staring at this man but nobody saying a word. She takes a step forward, briefly looking up at his ship, an unknown sight to her. "Listen, man, it sucks that you're having a bad day, but this isn't exactly the place to rant about it." She says.
The man stops his yelling and turns around, towering over her. "Yea, then where is the right place l'enfant? Should I do it in space instead? Do you not see why I cannot do it there?" He gestures towards his ship where the fire crews have now gotten the smoldering under control. "Come on, it isn't that bad." Lian says, trying to calm him down. "Look, just a bit of patchwork here-" she smacks her hand on the forward engine, "Some new panels there-" she points to one of the fins, "And maybe a new one of those-" she gestures to one of the disabled guns, "And you should be back up and doing whatever the hell it was you were doing." The Gaul has a look of disbelief on his face. "Look here petite fille, things aren't as cuddly as you think they are, maybe you'll learn that once you leave your mother's breast."
Lian actively recoiled. "At least I can get away from a fight if I have to, unlike you. Asshole." She started to walk away before something slammed into the back of her head. An access card fell to the floor. Cesar screamed behind her. "If you think you can do a better job, then do it!" He then stormed off as Lian picked up the access card, stunned in disbelief.
Lian was sifting through the cockpit of what was apparently her new ship. She was trying to find anything. A mention of the last owner, where it's from, or even what type of ship it even was. All she could find was various papers talking about Outcast patrols and Nox shipments. That's when she found it, the ship's registration. A Sirocco Noir, belonging to one Cesar LaCroix of Planet Marseille. Fitted with Minion and Carbine guns, it was one of the more relatively recent additions to his expanding roster. "No wonder he didn't care about losing this ship, the guy has a damn fleet." she whispered to herself. Satisfied with what she found, she grabbed a bag and started packing up anything that wasn't critical to the ship. Loose papers, Gallic documents that she couldn't read, and even empty cans. "Well I better contact the uh, Corse? About this ship, may as well see about getting it fixed by the experts." she thought. She climbed out of the cockpit, locking it behind her, and left for the exit, making sure to pick up Cesar's broken helmet on her way out.
"Let's see...let's see...Union Corse. Here we go." Lian mumbled to herself, searching the Neural Net for any information on the Sirocco's previous owners. "Looks like they're some kind of mafia in Gallia? Ugh, I've gotta deal with Gauls. Just what I wanted." She scoffed to herself. Gallia wasn't exactly her favorite house, not after Leeds. "Who knows, maybe they'll be somewhat half decent." Lian powered up the ship's comm channels, getting ready to send a message.
The Sirocco jumped to Provence. Lian stopped for a moment, looking around in wonder. This was the first time she had ever been to Gallia. "Wow....this place...hard to imagine it's full of war criminals." She looked around the system before setting her eyes on what seemed to be the only habitable planet in the system and proceeding.
Lian drifted around the planet, following other ship trying to find the main city. Eventually it came into view, a large floating city in the distance. She headed for the main landing pad, weaving in between traffic in a rush to land. The Sirocco touched down, the flames fizzling out as the engines went offline. Lian jumped out of the cockpit as fire and repair crews ran up to the ship. A man cut Lian off as she tried to leave the pad. "What do you think you are doing bringing that here? Are you trying to set the entire city on fire? Do you think this is a game?" Lian was taken aback by the sudden hostility. "No, uh, Orsini told me to bring it here." "Orsini?" he retorted. "That son of- fine. Leave the ship here. But if it causes any damages we'll go after you for it." "Fine, fair is fair I guess. But can you fix the ship too? I'm guessing you're the one in charge right?" The man laughed. "Fix that? You're asking for a major job here. Yea, I can fix it, but it won't be cheap. Expect a long bill." The man walked towards the ship to inspect the damage.