It is the forth day of the Makkuro's stint in the Asteria docks undergoing repairs, when the two of you find yourselves on an EVA together repairing one of the more damaged plates of the ship's outer hull. This marks the first time the two of you have spend time along, having only made small amounts of small talk outside of the work team briefings on the repairs. However you have both been impressed by the other's work so far.
You use your EVA thrusters to manoeuvre into place, on either side of the damaged plate, where you lock yourselves into position on the hull using your mag boots and gloves, ready to begin cutting the damaged section of the ship's hull so that it can be replaced with new armour plating.
"Anywhere specific you want me to get, or skip over?" Kate asks as she locks onto the side, mentally mapping out the damage and reaching for her cutter, checking it briefly to make sure its all in working order.
Cass shifts a meter over, surveying the hull. Think I'm right outside my quarters, he considers. Good thing I wasn't in my bunk during that last scrap. He almost misses Kate's question, and it takes him a moment to realize she had spoken over the comms. "Oh, nah. I trust your judgment." The engineer spots a stretch of warped plating, flagging it with his meta-tool as he decides how much or little to cut away.
As he works, he finds himself getting into a quiet groove — one that isn't common among gearheads, where oftentimes different opinions or schools of thought collide on a regular basis. After a moment of further flagging and cutting, he takes a moment to stretch.
"So, you been on Asteria long?" Cass asks, curious why someone of her talent would end up on a place like this. Seems wasted talent to be out here. I'm sure the League or hell, the Diktat, would have her on payroll if they could.
Copy that is the first thing Kate thinks, before she catches herself and just nods, saying "Sure thing."
She falls into a similar groove, the repeated motions of mark and cut setting her into an almost meditative state, He's good, real good. Professional, maybe even military trained good. I wonder where he learned. she muses to herself. She half-registers Cass' question, before remembering that no one else is around to ask, and she snaps out of her reverie. She looks in his direction, and seeing him taking a light break she follows suit.
"Mm, I've been in the system a while, but Asteria specifically? Not as long as it's felt, I'm sure." She says, watching his reaction. "You?"
Cass grunts a laugh, his suspicions seemingly confirmed. "Almost a week, now," he admits. "How's it treated you so far? I figured you and the rest of the repair crew might catch shit from the dockloaders. One of the strikers saw my tools and told me to fuck off, scab — guess I don't look like a co-owner of my own tub here, huh." He laughs again, finding the whole situation bizarre. Guess I am sort of a scab, running missions and intel for Holland herself. Still, I've got no dog in this fight. Power to them, but we've got a maintenance bill the price of an Alldis pleasure condo that no union's going to bail us out on.
"It's not so bad. We have taken some flak, which is to be expected, but nobody's gotten hurt over it. I feel for them though, better pay or conditions, y'know, and the only way to get those is the leverage of collective action. Too bad some of us still have bills to pay, right?" Kate replies, a slight smile in her voice. "Speaking of, though, where'd you find her," Kate asks, knocking lightly on the hull, "She's in real good condition, considering." She gestures at the remaining damage on the plate. Like, damn good, and not just well maintained. This has some serious tech on it.
"Bills to pay, right," Cass echoes, wagging a closed fist up and down — standard EVA body language for agreement. "It's different when you're trying to feed a beast like the Makkuro."
He frowns at Kate's question, though hardly blames her curiosity. She's had to have seen the Furious Midnight logos everywhere, and it's not exactly a surprise our transponder needs a replacement. Still, he isn't going to simply admit their methods of less-than-legal acquisition. "She's Idaretian make, originally. Long story," the engineer answers carefully. "You seem to know your way around a military vessel, though, seeing you work. Let me guess, Navy?"
Kate rests a hand on the ship, "Yeah, they're hungry alright, but if you treat them right they'll treat you right." she says.
Then, her smile freezes as she tenses, caught off guard, Shit, is it that obvious? I guess to someone that knows what to look for. He's already basically told on himself that he's League, now I gotta figure out if he's current or former. She pauses for a second before responding. "It was long time ago," she says carefully, "I guess old habits are hard to break, huh? I noticed some similarities in you too."
Cass loosens up a bit in his vacc suit. "Always easy to spot another sailor," he says, somewhat smugly. "Long time ago for me, too. How'd you put it? Not as long as it's felt."
He pauses, an epiphany occurring to him. Creed's rubbing shoulders with the dock gangs. Why shouldn't I do the same with the gearheads? Sitting the comms desk and taking lead on engineering makes my head hurt. I'd be a fool if I wasn't out here looking for somebody to fill one of those seats.
"So, level with me, since the way I see it, technically we share an employer. What's it like, working for this corp long-term? You, um, happy out here?"
Kate chuckles at her own phrase being turned back on her, and some of the tension drains from her shoulders. OK, former. I wonder what caused him to leave, but that's his business.
"On the level? I've been flying with a crew, on the Finity's End, for the past year or so, and that work hasn't been bad. But, this last job..." she trails off for a second, collecting her thoughts. "Long story short, it's been about a month now, dockside. And it's been shit. I took on some work as a temp gig, but with the strike on, and no word from my crew, I'm itching to get back out." She half reaches for where she normally keeps her smokes on her belt, before catching herself, Can't smoke in an EVA, genius.
"You uh, haven't heard of them, have you?"
Cass places his arm parallel to the ship and makes a knocking motion, the EVA equivalent of a shake of the head. "Finity's End? Sorry, doesn't ring any bells for me. What were they up to when you lost contact?" he asks. That sounds like hell. Like if Hikaru and the others took off and left me here, stuck on this shithole mining station. I wonder how she got split up with them? Ditching your mechanic isn't exactly a winning strategy in the long run.
Kate sighs, "Didn't think so." She wavers her free hand back and forth, equivalent to an uncertain shrug. "They couldn't update me much on the job itself, client wanted it hush hush, but they were projected back two or so weeks ago. Our techie was keeping me updated on the ship, but he went dark about, a week or so in?"
She pauses again, weighing how much she should share, I did just meet him. But, he at least seems to get it, being with his own crew.
"The whole situation is kinda fucked, thinking back on it. And not just being left behind, the whole deal feels off."
Cass frowns as he pictures the loose timeline Kate is piecing together. Red flags are red flags. Two weeks is a lot of time to overshoot, especially without sort of contact.
"Yeah..." he manages to respond, wondering what could have happened. His discomfort grows further as he considers the pirates plaguing the outpost, and the murdered mining crew they had come across while putting them down. Was her crew part of all that shit?
"Was the job something that Asteria Corp was offering? Or further out in the system?"
"Might have been, might have been a front. I dunno, all I've got is speculation at this point. The readings I was getting didn't look like a jump, so it shouldn't have been too far, but I don't know." She offers an apologetic gesture. "Sorry for putting all that on you right after we met. You asked if I was happy here? No, I'm not. Why, you offering a way off?"
"I, uh," Cass begins to stammer, taken off-guard by the harrowing thoughts and sudden transition. He straightens his posture, regrouping. "Yes — if you're looking for one. Being perfectly honest, we've been stretched thin and we're only here long enough for the 3 Rs: repair, refuel, and recruit. Can't promise you that it won't be a bumpy ride, though. There's a lot of shit going on out there in the system."
He pauses a moment. "And look, I'm not sure what happened to your crew, but we can keep an ear out for them too. Maybe do some digging too, if we get a chance."
Kate listens, worried slightly that her sudden refocus was too jarring, but is reassured by the other gearhead's recovery. "If you'd have me, and the rest of your crew agrees to it." She says, "And besides, I'd take bumpy over being stuck here. A sailor's not meant to stay dockside too long, yeah?"
"And thanks. I," her voice falters for a beat, "I would appreciate that. It's a bit of a big 'if', I'd guess, but I figure there's better odds out there than in here."
"I'll vouch for you," Cass assures her. "I don't think they'd have a problem with it. There's no disagreement that we need an engineer, and you're overqualified to be painting rockhaulers out here." He suddenly realizes their comms might be monitored, seeing as how they're both working under Asteria Corp's banner at the moment. "And don't mention it. But look, let me buy you a drink if you can find us a better place on this station to talk shop." He uses a thick glove to tap his vacc suit helm near his ear, indicating the comms feed. Don't think Holland would be too keen if we were poaching her people. Still, that's just the game.
Kate flushes slightly at his comment, Well, he's not wrong, this is a step or few down from the things I've worked on before. "Very kind of you to say," she says politely, to keep the blush from affecting her tone too much.
She sees him motion to the comms, and clocks his meaning, Right, even if they're not actively listening right now, they might be, or might later. Better to not take the chance. She touches a finger to her faceplate, a sign of understanding. "Sounds good to me. Think we can get the rest of this section pretty quick, or you want to take lunch and come back to it? I know a place that should be pretty quiet around this time.", she asks as she looks over the section of hull they were working on.
"No sense in a rush-job on an empty stomach. Besides, we've still got days of repairs left to pace ourselves for," Cass reasons. "Let's call it for now, yeah?" He disengages his metatool, waiting for Kate before heading toward the airlock. Seems like a mutual victory here — she gets her way off this station, and we get a full-time mechanic. At least until we can find her crew.
"I hear that. And besides, I could use a break from the suit." Kate checks her metatool again, noting its current condition, before fully disengaging it. She then follows Cass to the airlock. "Meet you outside, and we'll head that way together?" She asks as they near the bulkhead, bracing herself against the wall.
You glide back towards the airlock and climb inside. It cycles and a few moments later you step back on the station, taking your helmets off as you do. After climbing out of your vacc suits Kate leads you towards the Engine Room, dodging shipyard workers moving components and parts around as you do. It is a short walk and you find yourselves at your destination only a couple of minutes later. The bar is located just off the main drag of the shipyard area, a narrow building nestled between a warehouse and the office of a small shipping company.
You step inside, passing under the model engine bell that hangs above the entrance. The Engine Room is indeed quiet, with only two other patrons, sharing a drink in one of the booths that line the left wall of the bar, and the lone barman tending the bar that runs the length of room opposite the booths. The bartender, a young man in his early to mid twenties, gives you a nod in greeting as you step inside. Kate recognises him as being called José from the handful of other times she has frequented the bar.
Kate waves at José as they walk in, before looking at Cass, "Booth or the bar? I'm more for the latter, myself, but usually it's just me." Booth might be more discrete though, fewer potential eyes or ears. But, it's not like we're going to do anything illegal, we're just talking about work. She thinks as the door closes behind them.
Cass follows Kate's lead as she leads the way to the Engine Room, doing his best to blend in with the dockworkers, striking or otherwise. When they arrive, he is reassured, finding only the pair of other patrons. "Booth," he decides. More privacy that way. "What's your poison?"
"Sounds good to me, one towards the back?" she asks. "And I'll leave it to dealer's choice. You?" She starts walking slowly down the line of booths.
Cass grunts an agreement. "Anything but whiskey," he says, having had enough of it for a while. "I'll be over soon." He heads to the bar, nodding to the young man behind it. "Hey. Can I get two beers? Whatever's on tap."
"For sure," Kate says as she walks ahead. She picks a booth close to the back wall, and sits facing the door.
"Gotcha," the bartender replies to Cass, picking up two glasses and stepping over to one of the taps behind the bar. "It's a local beer, brewed on station. It's actually pretty good," he explains as he fills the two glasses and places them on the bar in front of Cass. "That'll be four credits," he says looking at the man expectantly.
It's actually pretty good, Cass repeats to himself, smirking at the curious pitch from the bartender. Guess I won't ask about the rest of them."Local? Sweet. Thanks." He taps on his compad, paying for the drinks before picking them up and heading toward the booth Kate's found. Setting one on the table before her, he sits down and takes a swig of his own.
"So, first off, thanks for meeting like this. Just felt weird, yeah? Being on a job and talking about a new one. Didn't want to give our employer any reason to pull a stunt."
"I hadn't even thought about it, honestly, but it's a good point." Kate replies after taking a sip of her beer. "Those in power like using anything they can get against you, and all that." She takes another sip, "What did you get us?"
"No idea, something local that was on tap," Cass answers, almost having forgot already. Not here for the booze, I'm here to settle something.
He looks around, speaking quietly and calmly. "So, second reason I wanted to be off comms, is, well, in case you haven't noticed, the Makkuro's got some of her own problems. Don't get me wrong — the offer is there. If you want a way off this shithole and a new job, it's yours. But I didn't want to bring you on without giving you a heads up."
The engineer sighs, questioning how much he feels comfortable letting on. "Unless you've put your head in the sand for the last few years, you've gotta be well aware that there's open war out there, between the Diktat and the League. Right?"
Kate nods, focusing up and leaning in a bit to listen. No kidding, with this schedule for repairs, and a paint job? Bet her problems are more than just physical.
Her jaw tenses at the mention of the war, Acutely. But, we don't need to say that immediately. What's the catch here? She quickly unclenches it and nods once, "Mhm, I haven't been watching it close, but it'd be hard to miss."
"It's been impossible to miss, for us. We've had a couple choice run-ins with both sides," Cass admits, choosing his words wisely. "Out of respect for the rest of my crew, I can't give you exact details, but let's just say we've burned a few bridges in this system due to no other choices."
He takes another sip of his beer, looking past Kate as his eyes focus in the distance. "As long as we mind our own business and look for typical merc work, we should keep under the radar, especially if we make for another system. Still, if you want more info, you can come by after-hours once my crew's back and we can chat with them around."
Kate takes a long drink as she listens, nodding along. Hah, burned. She thinks as the scar on her face tingles, Yeah, I could say the same.
As Cass eyes shift focus, she gently rubs at her face to try and stop the tingling, before responding. "Working independant, I can imagine how hard it would be to not run afoul of one or both of them."
She pauses for a breath. "And honestly, keeping my head down and under the radar sounds like exactly what I'm looking for, work wise."
"I don't know how much more info I need, specifically," She adds, "But meeting everyone before we finalize isn't a bad idea. What time do you think they'll be back by?"
Cass lets out a soft phew, thankful that the gearhead appears to be understanding about their tenuous position among the intersystem superpowers. As long as she isn't running to turn us in, I don't care. They can fight their bullshit war while the rest of us try and survive.
"Yeah, no kidding," he says in agreement. "And I'd call it 2000 hours. That work for you?"
Kate lets out a breath too, relaxing her shoulders that she hadn't realized had tensed up. I must have hit the jackpot with this lead. Truly independent from what I can tell, and they seem like decent folks to boot.
She nods in response, Roger wilco echoing in the back of her head while she says, "Sure thing, I haven't got any plans this evening."
“Sounds like a plan,” Cass confirms, taking a longer pull from his beer. “Alright, well, we should probably finish up so we can get back to our current job, yeah?” He chuckles.About an hour or so after the emotional unboxing of the new uniforms everyone has retired to their rooms - or those of others - when your compads light up with a text from Martine.
Everyone that makes their way back to the mess hall enters to find Martine, wearing one of the new jumpsuits, and another woman making small talk. The woman has long pale hair and is dressed like many of the engineers and contractors you've seen around the docks the last few days.
