Kobayakawa Kanaye rubbed his stubbled cheek. He could've cried joyful tears of blood, but his eyes were too dry for that. The words had a similar effect to sandpaper.
Mr. James Dine, on the other hand, sipped some coffee from the lid-cup of his thermos. He appeared unfazed, his bald head and hazel eyes reflecting the contents of the screen aptly.
The Geshrin's eyes finally tore away from the screen of the belly-tall rolling kiosk and up to the cheaply constructed sheet metal roof above his head. The sun's rays painted the metal an attractive orange, but otherwise gave little aesthetic relief. Up above the roar of graviton engines could be heard.
"We're fucked," Kobayakawa muttered.
"Nonsense," Mr. Dine replied. "It's just a misunderstanding."
"Dine-san, are you paying attention?" Kobayakawa weakly pointed at the screen, his elbows supported by the kiosk. A fusion cutter at his feet was powered down; he picked it up and put it on the kiosk, still looking at its angled screen. "A Taisho wants our one-off transport for a self-defense force."
"Explain the mistake to her then. It can't be that difficult." Another sip.
Kobayakawa hated Dine's complete disregard for Yamataian culture -- any citizen of the Empire would be wetting themselves or committing harakiri. But noooo, not the Nepleslian contractor -- didn't matter to him at all. Kobayakawa was supposed to just explain it all away. Sorry Taisho, we don't have the capability to make any more of the fighter you weren't supposed to know existed! Our sincere apologies to the defenseless citizens of Taiie.
"She doesn't want mistakes, Dine-san. She wants something we can't give her. She wants the impossible."
"Well, you wanted to design another fighter, didn't you? Something else based on the Hoplite's frame, wasn't it?" Another sip.
Kobayakawa was about to steal the cup. "Look around, Dine-san. The Artemis isn't even ours. We have no production facilities. I was almost fined for using shop tools and parts for a barely legal training assignment. How can we possibly fulfill this request?"
Mr. Dine seemed to think about it for a moment. "Well, we have 250,000 KS to our names now. Xenedine Corp. does I mean. That ought to be enough to hire some technicians and get started, eh?"
" ... 250,000 KS?" The number struck Kobayakawa in the nuts. He felt ill.
"I purchased those thermonuclear engines on the cheap from you, remember? Sold them to a Black I know back home for an aircar he's designing. Very lucrative, you know. Got 125K a piece for them."
The Geshrin engineer was struck by the ease Mr. Dine spoke with. Harakiri was sounding better every second.
"Tell you what." Mr. Dine sipped his coffee, then used the hand holding the cup to help him speak. "I'll buy some property down in Blackport province, maybe toward Lorrheim. Plenty of room out there. We build a little production facility, I buy some good used tools from my contacts back home, dabble with a few of your technicians, and thus our adventure begins. What say you?"
Sputtered Kobayakawa: "Yes." There was no point in thinking about it: Mr. Dine would do whatever the hell he wanted. Nepleslians, it seemed, liked things that way.
"Splendid. You make the arrangements with your superiors. I can respond to the Taisho here. I'll call myself the CEO -- sounds official and all."
The Geshrin nodded weakly, looking across the small shop. The tools were all hung neatly on their racks, consoles pushed to their respective spots along the walls, spare and surplus parts labeled clearly and put against the back wall, unless they were small enough to fit in containers. Kobayakawa was glad his technicians had at least remained neat and orderly. He turned away from the kiosk and left it to Mr. Dine.
He could hear the roar of engines get much louder outside; Yali had returned from her test flight. Kobayakawa left to meet her outside on the simple concrete landing pad to the back of the shop. He grinned as the matte blue-black-colored fighter landed in intermediate mode. The sun's rays brought out the blue in the fighter's paint, but otherwise didn't reflect much. The green tinge of the graviton engines' trails was a personal touch of his. He so rarely got to use green.
The fighter landed with a small chachuuunk and began to power down its other vital systems. The canopy slid back and up stood a woman with waist-length hair waving in the sunlight. Kobayakawa grinned a bit wider as he snatched the wheeled steps and put them close to the cockpit, holding them for her. Yali took off her helmet, put it on her seat and stepped down the stairs, thin lips smiling as her booted feet touched the pavement.
"Well?" Kobayakawa said eagerly.
"Much better ... it is a much better paint scheme." Yali's eyes twinkled the moment the sun touched them. Her lithe body was hidden well under her bulky flightsuit, but Kobayakawa had enough of an imagination to get distracted.
"Kobayakawa-Heisho, please." Yali blushed a little, hair still being lightly whipped by the wind. "You need to inform the Seitô it is ready."
"I will, I will ... better put it inside first. I'll go get the doors."
<center> * * * </center>
Mr. James Dine, on the other hand, sipped some coffee from the lid-cup of his thermos. He appeared unfazed, his bald head and hazel eyes reflecting the contents of the screen aptly.
The Geshrin's eyes finally tore away from the screen of the belly-tall rolling kiosk and up to the cheaply constructed sheet metal roof above his head. The sun's rays painted the metal an attractive orange, but otherwise gave little aesthetic relief. Up above the roar of graviton engines could be heard.
"We're fucked," Kobayakawa muttered.
"Nonsense," Mr. Dine replied. "It's just a misunderstanding."
SAPM said:
5th Expeditionary Fleet Command
Motoyoshi-jo, Yamatai
Offices of the Taisho Koyanagi Mayumi
Xenedine Corporation Representative,
The 5th Expeditionary Fleet is interested in the purchase of a large quantity of your Aero/Spacy Superiority Fighter "Artemis" for utilization in the Planetary Defense Forces of Taiie and other systems in its jurisdiction. We are looking to purchase the units in bulk, and would like to begin negotiating the contract immediately.
Signed,
Taisho Koyanagi Mayumi
5th Expeditionary Fleet Commander
"Dine-san, are you paying attention?" Kobayakawa weakly pointed at the screen, his elbows supported by the kiosk. A fusion cutter at his feet was powered down; he picked it up and put it on the kiosk, still looking at its angled screen. "A Taisho wants our one-off transport for a self-defense force."
"Explain the mistake to her then. It can't be that difficult." Another sip.
Kobayakawa hated Dine's complete disregard for Yamataian culture -- any citizen of the Empire would be wetting themselves or committing harakiri. But noooo, not the Nepleslian contractor -- didn't matter to him at all. Kobayakawa was supposed to just explain it all away. Sorry Taisho, we don't have the capability to make any more of the fighter you weren't supposed to know existed! Our sincere apologies to the defenseless citizens of Taiie.
"She doesn't want mistakes, Dine-san. She wants something we can't give her. She wants the impossible."
"Well, you wanted to design another fighter, didn't you? Something else based on the Hoplite's frame, wasn't it?" Another sip.
Kobayakawa was about to steal the cup. "Look around, Dine-san. The Artemis isn't even ours. We have no production facilities. I was almost fined for using shop tools and parts for a barely legal training assignment. How can we possibly fulfill this request?"
Mr. Dine seemed to think about it for a moment. "Well, we have 250,000 KS to our names now. Xenedine Corp. does I mean. That ought to be enough to hire some technicians and get started, eh?"
" ... 250,000 KS?" The number struck Kobayakawa in the nuts. He felt ill.
"I purchased those thermonuclear engines on the cheap from you, remember? Sold them to a Black I know back home for an aircar he's designing. Very lucrative, you know. Got 125K a piece for them."
The Geshrin engineer was struck by the ease Mr. Dine spoke with. Harakiri was sounding better every second.
"Tell you what." Mr. Dine sipped his coffee, then used the hand holding the cup to help him speak. "I'll buy some property down in Blackport province, maybe toward Lorrheim. Plenty of room out there. We build a little production facility, I buy some good used tools from my contacts back home, dabble with a few of your technicians, and thus our adventure begins. What say you?"
Sputtered Kobayakawa: "Yes." There was no point in thinking about it: Mr. Dine would do whatever the hell he wanted. Nepleslians, it seemed, liked things that way.
"Splendid. You make the arrangements with your superiors. I can respond to the Taisho here. I'll call myself the CEO -- sounds official and all."
The Geshrin nodded weakly, looking across the small shop. The tools were all hung neatly on their racks, consoles pushed to their respective spots along the walls, spare and surplus parts labeled clearly and put against the back wall, unless they were small enough to fit in containers. Kobayakawa was glad his technicians had at least remained neat and orderly. He turned away from the kiosk and left it to Mr. Dine.
He could hear the roar of engines get much louder outside; Yali had returned from her test flight. Kobayakawa left to meet her outside on the simple concrete landing pad to the back of the shop. He grinned as the matte blue-black-colored fighter landed in intermediate mode. The sun's rays brought out the blue in the fighter's paint, but otherwise didn't reflect much. The green tinge of the graviton engines' trails was a personal touch of his. He so rarely got to use green.
The fighter landed with a small chachuuunk and began to power down its other vital systems. The canopy slid back and up stood a woman with waist-length hair waving in the sunlight. Kobayakawa grinned a bit wider as he snatched the wheeled steps and put them close to the cockpit, holding them for her. Yali took off her helmet, put it on her seat and stepped down the stairs, thin lips smiling as her booted feet touched the pavement.
"Well?" Kobayakawa said eagerly.
"Much better ... it is a much better paint scheme." Yali's eyes twinkled the moment the sun touched them. Her lithe body was hidden well under her bulky flightsuit, but Kobayakawa had enough of an imagination to get distracted.
"Kobayakawa-Heisho, please." Yali blushed a little, hair still being lightly whipped by the wind. "You need to inform the Seitô it is ready."
"I will, I will ... better put it inside first. I'll go get the doors."
<center> * * * </center>
Mr. Dine said:
