Z
Zack
ON> Nepleslia Prime, 'Mall of the Nepleslias Food Court'
Tiberius. Aldrich.
Another friend of a friend that Uso had heard about from someone she knew. The gist of the story she had heard a hundred ties before, some hotshot soldier-type that got kicked out of whatever for whatever reason. What interested her was that this wash out didn't seem to be happy with just washing out, he had some experience with machinery and was setting himself up as someone who owned and operating their own starfighter.
And after her last pilot ran off, that was exactly what Uso was looking for.
Of course, the Mall of the Nepleslias didn't quite look like the place for conducting major weapons deals. There were kids running about, teenagers trying their best at rock walls, a food court filled with all kinds of greasy food that could be prepared very quickly, and Uso herself, sitting at a table in the crowd. A black backpack and hoodie covering her body, datapad in one hand, a sweet coffee like beverage in the other. A combination of hood and aviator glasses giving her that 'I'm hung over, leave me alone' look that seemed all the rage with women on saturday morning.
Tiberius casually walked through the Nepleslias Mall with a cool drink in hand. He was whistling an old tune that was rather upbeat for any who listened in. The young pilot was in a rather good mood this morning. He had a prospective job lined up and that always put him in a good mood. And why wouldn't it? Fuel, missiles, and food didn't exactly come free. And he was in a particularly precarious financial bind after his last employer stiffed him. He hated to admit it, but Tiberius was pretty desperate to get a job at this point.
Violet eyes lazily scanned the crowd as Tiberius surveyed the area. His paranoia was forcing him to look for anyone suspicious while making note of all of the exits in the immediate area. After he was satisfied, he began walking towards his employer. She was sitting down and wearing a hoodie in the typical hang-over fashion. Uso Tasuki, an NH-7 that Tiberius met through a friend of a friend. He couldn't make out her build but he could see she had green hair and white skin. Tiberius couldn't help but wonder for the briefest moments if she was taking this job seriously. Who would show up to a job interview looking like they were hung over? But Tiberius quickly dashed those thoughts from his head. Who was he to judge? He showed up wearing a black leather jacket that had white fur around the collar like the old school pilots used to wear. The jacket was unzipped to reveal the white t-shirt he was wearing underneath. He had a silver necklace his sister gave him hanging around his neck, just underneath the goggles around his neck. Not to mention the revolver he was openly carrying on his hip. Not necessarily the most professional attire.
Besides, if she had the cash then who was he to care if she showed up drunk or hung-over?
"Morning." Tiberius said as he took a seat at the table next to Uso.
"Morning..." She replied, offering a slight wave with her soda-carrying hand, "You know, I started wearing this hoodie to look discreet... but here I think it just make me look like some kinda teenage shop-lifter type.... Maybe it is the glasses. Too much?" She asked, setting down her soda and taking off the aviators with one hand, showing off her purple eyes. She was a Neko for sure, even had her cat ears tucked under the hood. There was still plenty of animosity between Nepleslians and her race... but at least he could be certain she wasn't hung over. Her type were supposed to be immune to such things... then again, the NH-7 was a much older model. No telling just what kind of features it had under the hood.
"I sware, if I put some chains on I'd look just like those kids running around...." Her voice dripping with distaste. ".... But I suppose we should get down to business. You have some origin story you want to get out of the way first right?"
Tiberius couldn't help but chuckle at Uso's comments. She did look like a shop-lifter, and the glasses didn't help. "What's the matter, your probably about the right age for that, aren't you?" He joked as he got a good look into her eyes. You could tell a lot about a person when you looked them in the eyes. This one was hard to read. Then again, these space cat-girls always were. Tiberius never did like the fact that they could be grown, trained to kill, and released to society in the span of a year. Something about the lack of life experience in the hands of a trained killer never sat well with him.
That was when she mentioned something about his background. This caused another chuckle to escape Tiberius' lips. "Not unless your interested."
Uso actually winced at that one, "Don't remind me."
She sat her data pad on the table in front of her and focused her attention in on him, "I'm super-interested. I asked you to come here, threatening to give you a job and money and such. The least you can do is give me the origin story. Why Space-Cowboy Tiberius Longname decided to seek fortune by selling his services to the highest bidder instead of the cushy, easy, life of the Nepleslian fleet? I'm not hiring a pilot here, I'm trying to hire a person."
Tiberius raised an eyebrow at Uso's remark. This is why he shouldn't judge a book by its cover. She managed to surprise him within the first five minutes of meeting her. The run of the mill job came with little more than niceties, details of the job, and negotiations. This neko on the other hand was trying to pry deeper into his personal life. She wasn't satisfied with simply getting the job done. Perhaps she was planning on fostering a long term relationship for continued work. Perhaps she cared just as much how the job got done and by who than simply accomplishing her goals. Perhaps she had more...sinister motives. Regardless, he should remember to keep a closer eye on her.
"Super interested? Well thats a first," Tiberius said with a smile. "Aren't you going to buy me dinner first?" He could almost kick himself for making such a childish remark but he couldn't help himself. "I joined fleet to get away from less savory characters back home. I needed to get away and they needed a pilot. It seemed like the perfect fit. And it was, for a while..." His eyes dropped to his drink as he swirled it around a little bit. "The problem is, the longer your in, the more exposure you have to what the military really is like. Between the politics and the gross incompetence that caused my wingman to get shot down for good...I decided enough was enough. I'd rather strike it out on my own, my way, and be poor instead of a comfortable robot." He took a long sip of his drink before looking back up at Uso. "What about you, whats your story?"
"UUgh, I'm just bored. I've done everything fun on this and every other stupid planet in the major powers... Figured space-empress sounded like a fun idea... so I did that. I'm a space empress now... and this is what spare-empresses do apparently... meet people in malls and talk about work. Oh, I totally get the work for yourself thing. At some point I realized that my heart just wasn't in it when it came to working for someone else."
She paused for a moment, and then checked her datapad,
"So I got a meeting with a PMC shortly to hire an entire wing of pilots... lot of fresh faces there but the whole thing is run by a girl I know who ran in some of the same circles as you. Nepleslian 4th fleet, then with the Garts. So I get you dislike the," Uso would hold up her fingers for air quotes and do an impression of someone that Tiberius had never met, "fucking flatlanders" Uso would get a laugh out of it for sure... then return back to her normal cadence, "But why should I hire you instead of going to someone else?"
She did get a laugh out of Tiberius when she made her air quotes. A term that he used sparingly in the attempt at being polite to those around him. But if a space empress throwing around that term wasn't a greenlight, he didn't know what was. "Well they don't call me eight ball because of my fortune telling skills." He was referring to the call sign he earned back when he flew for the Nep. Navy. "I've been flying since I was five and I've seen plenty of combat. I was there during the initial invasion Rok'Veru Offensive and I've even gone toe to toe with Yamatai on occasion before they became allies."
Tiberius paused mid-sentence as he looked at the space empress. "You know, talk is cheap. It'd be a lot easier to show you why you should hire me. Care to go for a ride?"
"Honestly, I think that just deepens the mystery. Why do they call you Eight Ball? Do you have eight balls? Do a lot of drugs? Give non-useful answers to questions, usually in a yes or no format?" Uso teased. She looked around for a moment... and ended up deciding to toss her drink, effortlessly getting it into a trash can a few feet away, "Sure, show me your flight skills... From the looks of things 5 is pretty young to fly for a Nepleslian? Did you use some kinda accelerated growth? Or did they some sorta... cute, tiny, baby-plane for you to fly?"
The pilot followed Uso's lead and threw his drink in the garbage as he stood up. He then reached inside his jacket and held out an old photo between his index and middle finger for her to grab. It was a picture of him when he was a little kid sitting on his father's lap inside the cockpit of their old Gravlift. He was steering while his father was operating the foot pedals. You could also see Zander fiddling around with a piece of space junk and Tera crying because she wanted to fly next. "That last one," Tiberius said as he held out the photo for her. "I mean, have I given you a useful answer during this entire interview yet?"
"Good point," Uso responded, checking out the photo from her place at the table before standing up, "Lead on, show me your flight skills. We've got to find new and interesting ways of keeping you from answering any real questions."
"What, am I not doing a good enough job for you, your highess?" Tiberius responded with feigned shock. "I am offended, I am trying very hard not to answer a single question during this interview!" He gestured for Uso before heading towards the nearest exit. "I hope my humble wolf fighter will be up to your liking. You'll have to sit in the EWO seat though."
Uso would slip her hands in her pockets, Nekos had one less finger than Nepleslians after all, and she didn't want to draw any more attention to herself than need be.
"Oh you're doing a find job of dodging questions... it is a bit grating. I think I know just who I'll pair you up with," She replied, "... as for your wolf. I'm sure it'll be fine. It goes in space and blows things up right?"
"I'm not sure how I should respond to that." Tiberius mused as he guided Uso to the landing pad where his F/A-1A 'Wolf' Space Superiority Fighter was grounded. The fighter was all black, just like the day he bought it, with the exception of a single gold eagle that he pained on the ship to the right of the cockpit. "Your chariot awaits." He says as he gestures to the cockpit, extending a helping hand for the empress as the cockpit opened up.
"Alright, show me something impressive then." Uso said, not bothering to take his hand as she put one of her own on the lip of the cockpit and practically catapulted herself up over the edge before falling down into the EWO chair. "While we're at it, got any questions for me?"
Tiberius noticed Uso avoided his hand but he didn't say anything. He understood that she could have one of a million reasons why she wouldn't want to take his hand. "Where do I begin?" He asked as he climbed into the cockpit. "What did you do before you got bored became a space empress? And what is it like being a space empress, is it worth it?" As the questions lingered in the air, he began the start-up sequence for his fighter. The cockpit closed and the engines began hissing to life. Soon both dashboards would light up as each system was checked as apart of the pre-flight inspection.
"Before being a Space Empress? Lets say side jobs... Before that it was SAINT, though we're talking 'elysian war' era. Haven't been in with them in a long time. All super-interesting stuff but I'm not going to go into that here... Space empressing is a lot of work.... Kinda hoping I can get things all setup soon and just sorta coast. The original team is starting to Gel together nicely, but we're seriously in need of new hires to grow the whole operation... Ever heard of the I'ee?" She asked, "They are a spare bug type people ... terrifying at first glance but they are absolutely ADORABLE... They got themselves into a fight with the NMX and naturally, as a space empress, I must help my allies defend themselves against... you know, whatever."
"Naturally," Tiberius echoed the empress' remarks as he fired his engiens from a dull roar into full ignition. "Still, how can you find overgrown bugs adorable? I thought girls were supposed to love tiny things and hate bugs. Aren't the I'ee the anti-thesis to that?" He asked as he got clearance from ground control to take off. "Make sure to buckle in, you're in for one heck of a ride!" He said as he hit the thrusters to take off from the landing pad.
"They have these little face masks that light up and..." Uso had to stop talking for a moment as the thrusters kicked in, lurching the ship towards its top speed, "... You gotta see them in action I suppose. The cuteness of it all really overpowers the giant-bug-creep... besides, I don't really buy into that whole... Yamatain... culture.... thing... Though you've seem to have bought the standard Nepleslian look.... well, the broad shouldered manly-man thing. You're the first guy I've seen who has... what, Racing goggles?"
"Why thank you!" The pilot says with a lot of enthusiasm as his fighter started to climb higher and higher. He did appreciate her comment as he took it as a compliment. He worked hard to stay in shape and it was nice to be noticed. "Though I don't know how many manly men could put together this ensemble. I mean, what manly man would think to make sure that their necklace, belt buckle, and revolver all match so they don't clash with their outfit?"
Tiberius naturally reached out and touched his goggles when Uso made a comment about them. "These old things? I guess you could call them that. If you're brave enough, you'll get to see them in action today. But first, take a look at your auxiliary control screen," He pressed a few buttons as he directed the space empress' attention to the screen. "You'll see that I am deactivating the anti-grav engine that is supposed to help with maneuvers in atmosphere because, lets be honest, that's just a crutch. Now before I begin, how many Gs can you handle?"
"Just a crutch? You know that keeps you from turning into paste when you really gun the engine?" Uso said, "I mean... not that it bothers me... I'm uh... 'engineered to a higher fault tolerance' than you... Unless you got something really impressive under those muscles of yours?"
"Nope," Tiberius responded gleefully. "Thats what makes this fun!" He couldn't hide how giddy he was getting at the idea of high-speed maneuvers, old school. Just like the Aces of history he idolized long before gravity dampening technology was created. "I'll start you off nice and easy." The Wolf that was climbing at a near perfect 90 degree began spinning as it continued to climb. Nothing too fancy, but a good opening move. He then pulled up slightly higher on the joystick before cutting off the engines mid-climb. The fighter went from simply spinning in a climb to being completely upside down and spinning like a top over the earth as the ship came close to stalling out. A moment later the engine-less craft began pitching towards the ground and began free falling back towards the city. "I figure why play in space? Its just big and open. Down here is where the real danger is!"
"Well, space is where the bad-guys are... You got to be able to blow them up there." She said, keeping a close eye on the Altimeter as the craft plummeted towards the ground, "Not that the hot-shotting isn't fun and all, but I want to know you don't play with your food when it comes down to it."
"You mean like right now?" Tiberius asked as he pulled up on the joystick. The ship continued to spin but now the nose of the fighter was pointed skyward while the ship continued to fall to the ground. "Come on, you can't tell me your not having at least a little bit of fun, can you?" He reignited the engines right about 500 meters and the fighter lurched as the engines slowed the descent. The vessel itself finally stopped about 1 to 2 meters off of the ground and hovered there, still pointed skyward. Tiberius let out a sigh. "Alright, what would you like to see?"
Uso chuckled, "Alright so it wasn't bad... like roller-coaster level fun. Not to be a buzz kill or anything but I'm not hiring you for my personal entertainment... that job comes with a different outfit... How about you land this thing and we'll talk payment? Maybe introduce you to the rest of the group that's here and see how you'll fit into the whole thing?"
Tiberius raised an eyebrow that Uso couldn't see at her comment. "Different outfit," He wondered aloud. "Are we talking court jester or something more...serious?" But before should could interject he responded to her comment about meeting the whole group. "An excellent idea your highness...By the way, am I supposed to call you anything special? Like Empress, God-Empress, Ma'am...?" As he asked those questions he leveled the ship off and headed back to the landing platform. He made sure to land the ship without turning on the anti-gravity engine because it was a small point of pride by now.
"You know, I don't have a court jester... You think I need one? Or has that kinda thing fallen out of favor?" Uso asked, craning her head a bit to watch him land without the aid of the anti-grav... in a world where automation took over much of this kind of work, letting inexperienced pilots like Uso land flawlessly... doing it without assistance was actually a bit of a neat trick.
"As for my title? The more elaborate the better. Tough I suppose I will need to come up with something official once we have a more stable government up and running. How much do you know about our operation anyways? I know I didn't give a whole lot of details over messenger."
The young pilot thought on the question for a moment before saying. "I'm pretty certain its politically damning to have a court jester these days, especially if you have to deal with factions like Yamatai where they beat you senselessly for smoking....Still, its not like they've gone away. Just have a court comedian. Its entertaining, prestigious, and it won't get ne'er do gooders knocking at your door either." Tiberius began to power down his fighter as the cockpit opened up. He climbed out and held out his hand again for Uso. Even if she ignored it, it was a gesture of good faith and respect in his opinion. "As elaborate as I want, m'lady?" He said with a grin already creeping on his face. "So how did the sublimely-magnificent-cosmic-god-empress enjoy her first ride with this most humble of servants?"
"You know now you've got to say that every time right?" Uso teased, this time taking his hand as she jumped out of the cockpit, landing just infront of Tiberius, "So... I suppose I can get your jester outfit later, maybe something tight fitting to show off those shoulders.... You wanna get down to buisness? Or are you looking to just dick around and have some fun?"
"Only if it pleases the sublimely-magnificent-cosmic-god-empress." Tiberius said with a formal bow as he gestured towards a table for the two to sit and talk terms. "I am but a humble servant." He smirked as he rose from his bow and walked towards the table. "May I ask the specifics of the job now?"
"Officially, you'd be working for me directly. 'Planetary Security' for our homesteading operation. You missed all the heavy lifting already, we've got contracts and agreements to get this planet we found up and running. Part of those agreements is helping the I'ee.... those cute bug things. They bit off more than they could chew with their first forray into space, ended up butting into Yamatai and the NMX. Luckily we only really need to deal with one of them at this time.
I don't have a space-fleet, yet, so I'm hiring one. I mean, how hard could it possibly be right? The NMX get their ass kicked all the time. We just have to do it without a major military backing us."
Tiberius listened patiently and tried to keep a smile on his face the entire time. But towards the end that smile turned into a bit of a blank stare. This job was quickly turning into a suicide run. "Right, it can't be that hard to defeat a battle-hardened faction known for slavery and torture on the galactic level..." He had plenty of memories flooding back from the Rok'Veru Offensive flooding back. From their orbital defenses to close encounters with NMX power armor when he had nothing but his trusty revolver in hand. That was one interesting year...
"What are you looking at for a fleet if you don't mind my asking. And what does the NMX have at its disposal?" He naturally began prying into the operation before catching himself. "I'm sorry, that is none of my business. If you want me to work as planetary security, I'd be more than happy to oblige. Do you just need me flying patrols or do you need help designing planetary defenses?"
"A fleet... you know... for blowing up other fleets." Uso held up a fist, and then made a loud explosion noise with her mouth, extending her fingers in all directions like a ship being torn apart. "Right now I've got two starships, a fighter craft, maybe like 10 power armors left and the ships of the I'ee force... which uh... well they aren't much to look at now but they ARE ships. We just need to slap some real guns on them and put them to work.
The NMX are... well they are the NMX. They've got ships with all the usual trimmings, but it looks to just be a scouting group that is harassing the I'ee. Maybe something small? 50 ships? It is all guess work right now.
You're the first pilot being hired on to form up the squadron that will handle the NMX force. You're literally doubling our number of fighter craft. I've got a few more mercenaries in mind, and we do have some production capability... Also hoping that I can get my hands on a strategy guy too. Got someone in mind for that as well but I'm sure your contribution will be rewarded appropriately."
"Wow..." Tiberius muttered out loud. Not from anything that Uso said about the fleet or the NMX, no, it was something different. "Mercenary...This is the first time I've been called that. It sounds kind of..." His voice trailed off as this realization dawned on him. He paused for a moment before he shook off the awkward feeling. "Don't worry sublimely-magnificent-cosmic-god-empress, with eight ball at your back you've got nothing to fear." He said confidently as he pointed to himself. "I'm tactically and technically proficient. I've licked NMX before and I'll do it again. Just let me know what you need."
"OK, so one of the perks of this job is being able to pick your title. I can call you 'Space-Cowboy' for all I care... or.... 'Paid-Ass-Kicker' or 'Space-Saint'... I'll pay you lump sum at the end of the month, and what I need from you is the logistical concerns for your ship. Requirements for bombs, maintenance, ect. We don't have a base setup for the fighter wing yet, but we're getting to that." Uso said.
As the spoke, they could hear the faint sound of metal detectors going off. "What you have sir." One of the guards asked. "I have 5 prosthetics both arms, both legs, and my eye. Want me to take them off?" A man asked detaching his arm and handing it to the guard.
"Ahhh! Dude what the hell!" The guard yelled.
"Yeah now shut up and let me through idiot." Cyrus said as he reattached his arm and plowed through the guard.
Errowyn tagged along with Cyrus, this being her first time on a Nepleslian World. She was in constant motion as she looked about her. She slipped past the Guards with her service pistol underneath her flight jacket while Cyrus did his thing. She waited till he was through the guards before joining up with him again. "Are they that anal about having guns in this place?" She whispered to him. She spotted Uso with her pale features within her hoodie and oversize glasses.
"Meh. Kinda. More like they don't want weapons that go boom." He said walking up. He tapped his new eye, zooming in on Uso. "Hey there boss, who is the new guy?" He asked walking up to the pair of them.
Errowyn sized up the guy that was sitting at the same table with Uso. She came to a stop next to Cyrus. She took his statement in stride.
Cyrus bumped into her. "Boom." He teased taking a seat at the table.
Taking a seat across from Cyrus which put her in between the new guy and Uso. "I guess she is shock at seeing me again." Giving Uso a quick smile as she ignored a few Neplesians catcalling at her and teasing her. She returned to staring at the new guy with Uso. "Mmmmm... he is probably in shock along with Uso." She directed her comment to Cyrus.
"I know. We have been gone so long they forgot what we look like." He replied with a smile.
"I dunno about this one here. He looks too fresh to have been with the unit. Or he is hiding the fact he is Uso's new toy?" Errowyn smiled a bit. "I am hungry. I am going to go get something to eat." She stood up and moved to one of the concession stands to order her something to eat.
Cyrus shot her a mental message. ::I want food too!:: He said, rattling off an order.
Errowyn gave a wave of her hand over her shoulder back at him as she moved to place the order. She was wondering how Johan was fairing. He had parked his ship in the outer region of the Star system 188604. Soon she was heading back with a tray laden with food. Cyrus order and hers.
Cyrus rubbed his hands together. "Thanks dear." He said smiling.
Errowyn separated the orders, placing Cyrus food before him and hers before closer to herself. Once the food had been taken care of, she began to eat. Wondering if Uso was mad at her for some reason or another when she departed 188604 for the necessary care of her craft.
Cyrus began to eat as well. He was starving from having to deal with all the new Ragnarock recruits. He wolfed down his food and smiled contentedly. "Oh man that was good."
Errowyn nodded as she had her mouth full of food. She was more concerned with eating than conversation.
"Space cowboy huh?" Tiberius repeated with a smile on his face as he thought about the prospect. "How about god-emperor?" He was waiting for Uso's response when two unfamiliar people began approaching the table. At this point Tiberius decided to be uncharacteristically quiet. He didn't know these people and he assumed that Uso did. If she didn't these people certainly knew who she was in the very least.
~Then go get some food~ Uso messaged back, her eyes lighting up a bit when she saw Errowyn, "Hellcat! Finally decided to come back from your self imposed exile?"
"Alright, 8, This is Hellcat, she's our other pilot on staff and more or less the person you're going to be working with most closely. The other one is Cyrus, he is in charge of the Ragnarock PMC, and handles most of the ground stuff. They were some of the first people brought onboard this operation."
Uso observed her compatriots absolutely devouring the food provided to them. She wanted to tell them it was just mall food... but who was she to get in the way of their enjoyment,
"And this is 8ball, so named for his inability to give useful answers to questions... He has his own fighter, and will be helping fill out out flight group."
Uso then turned her attention to Errowyn,
"Has Corgan filled you in on the I'ee situation yet?" Errowyn was clearly still busy with her food, so Uso decided to press on, "Between yourself and 8ball, we've got two fighters... and quite frankly I'd rather hire more pilots than try and train the locals to fly spaceships. I've got a meeting with another PMC shortly that'll give us another squadron or two worth of fire power. That's still not enough to go up against the NMX, but it is enough for us to start figuring out how to organize."
Tiberius. Aldrich.
Another friend of a friend that Uso had heard about from someone she knew. The gist of the story she had heard a hundred ties before, some hotshot soldier-type that got kicked out of whatever for whatever reason. What interested her was that this wash out didn't seem to be happy with just washing out, he had some experience with machinery and was setting himself up as someone who owned and operating their own starfighter.
And after her last pilot ran off, that was exactly what Uso was looking for.
Of course, the Mall of the Nepleslias didn't quite look like the place for conducting major weapons deals. There were kids running about, teenagers trying their best at rock walls, a food court filled with all kinds of greasy food that could be prepared very quickly, and Uso herself, sitting at a table in the crowd. A black backpack and hoodie covering her body, datapad in one hand, a sweet coffee like beverage in the other. A combination of hood and aviator glasses giving her that 'I'm hung over, leave me alone' look that seemed all the rage with women on saturday morning.
Tiberius casually walked through the Nepleslias Mall with a cool drink in hand. He was whistling an old tune that was rather upbeat for any who listened in. The young pilot was in a rather good mood this morning. He had a prospective job lined up and that always put him in a good mood. And why wouldn't it? Fuel, missiles, and food didn't exactly come free. And he was in a particularly precarious financial bind after his last employer stiffed him. He hated to admit it, but Tiberius was pretty desperate to get a job at this point.
Violet eyes lazily scanned the crowd as Tiberius surveyed the area. His paranoia was forcing him to look for anyone suspicious while making note of all of the exits in the immediate area. After he was satisfied, he began walking towards his employer. She was sitting down and wearing a hoodie in the typical hang-over fashion. Uso Tasuki, an NH-7 that Tiberius met through a friend of a friend. He couldn't make out her build but he could see she had green hair and white skin. Tiberius couldn't help but wonder for the briefest moments if she was taking this job seriously. Who would show up to a job interview looking like they were hung over? But Tiberius quickly dashed those thoughts from his head. Who was he to judge? He showed up wearing a black leather jacket that had white fur around the collar like the old school pilots used to wear. The jacket was unzipped to reveal the white t-shirt he was wearing underneath. He had a silver necklace his sister gave him hanging around his neck, just underneath the goggles around his neck. Not to mention the revolver he was openly carrying on his hip. Not necessarily the most professional attire.
Besides, if she had the cash then who was he to care if she showed up drunk or hung-over?
"Morning." Tiberius said as he took a seat at the table next to Uso.
"Morning..." She replied, offering a slight wave with her soda-carrying hand, "You know, I started wearing this hoodie to look discreet... but here I think it just make me look like some kinda teenage shop-lifter type.... Maybe it is the glasses. Too much?" She asked, setting down her soda and taking off the aviators with one hand, showing off her purple eyes. She was a Neko for sure, even had her cat ears tucked under the hood. There was still plenty of animosity between Nepleslians and her race... but at least he could be certain she wasn't hung over. Her type were supposed to be immune to such things... then again, the NH-7 was a much older model. No telling just what kind of features it had under the hood.
"I sware, if I put some chains on I'd look just like those kids running around...." Her voice dripping with distaste. ".... But I suppose we should get down to business. You have some origin story you want to get out of the way first right?"
Tiberius couldn't help but chuckle at Uso's comments. She did look like a shop-lifter, and the glasses didn't help. "What's the matter, your probably about the right age for that, aren't you?" He joked as he got a good look into her eyes. You could tell a lot about a person when you looked them in the eyes. This one was hard to read. Then again, these space cat-girls always were. Tiberius never did like the fact that they could be grown, trained to kill, and released to society in the span of a year. Something about the lack of life experience in the hands of a trained killer never sat well with him.
That was when she mentioned something about his background. This caused another chuckle to escape Tiberius' lips. "Not unless your interested."
Uso actually winced at that one, "Don't remind me."
She sat her data pad on the table in front of her and focused her attention in on him, "I'm super-interested. I asked you to come here, threatening to give you a job and money and such. The least you can do is give me the origin story. Why Space-Cowboy Tiberius Longname decided to seek fortune by selling his services to the highest bidder instead of the cushy, easy, life of the Nepleslian fleet? I'm not hiring a pilot here, I'm trying to hire a person."
Tiberius raised an eyebrow at Uso's remark. This is why he shouldn't judge a book by its cover. She managed to surprise him within the first five minutes of meeting her. The run of the mill job came with little more than niceties, details of the job, and negotiations. This neko on the other hand was trying to pry deeper into his personal life. She wasn't satisfied with simply getting the job done. Perhaps she was planning on fostering a long term relationship for continued work. Perhaps she cared just as much how the job got done and by who than simply accomplishing her goals. Perhaps she had more...sinister motives. Regardless, he should remember to keep a closer eye on her.
"Super interested? Well thats a first," Tiberius said with a smile. "Aren't you going to buy me dinner first?" He could almost kick himself for making such a childish remark but he couldn't help himself. "I joined fleet to get away from less savory characters back home. I needed to get away and they needed a pilot. It seemed like the perfect fit. And it was, for a while..." His eyes dropped to his drink as he swirled it around a little bit. "The problem is, the longer your in, the more exposure you have to what the military really is like. Between the politics and the gross incompetence that caused my wingman to get shot down for good...I decided enough was enough. I'd rather strike it out on my own, my way, and be poor instead of a comfortable robot." He took a long sip of his drink before looking back up at Uso. "What about you, whats your story?"
"UUgh, I'm just bored. I've done everything fun on this and every other stupid planet in the major powers... Figured space-empress sounded like a fun idea... so I did that. I'm a space empress now... and this is what spare-empresses do apparently... meet people in malls and talk about work. Oh, I totally get the work for yourself thing. At some point I realized that my heart just wasn't in it when it came to working for someone else."
She paused for a moment, and then checked her datapad,
"So I got a meeting with a PMC shortly to hire an entire wing of pilots... lot of fresh faces there but the whole thing is run by a girl I know who ran in some of the same circles as you. Nepleslian 4th fleet, then with the Garts. So I get you dislike the," Uso would hold up her fingers for air quotes and do an impression of someone that Tiberius had never met, "fucking flatlanders" Uso would get a laugh out of it for sure... then return back to her normal cadence, "But why should I hire you instead of going to someone else?"
She did get a laugh out of Tiberius when she made her air quotes. A term that he used sparingly in the attempt at being polite to those around him. But if a space empress throwing around that term wasn't a greenlight, he didn't know what was. "Well they don't call me eight ball because of my fortune telling skills." He was referring to the call sign he earned back when he flew for the Nep. Navy. "I've been flying since I was five and I've seen plenty of combat. I was there during the initial invasion Rok'Veru Offensive and I've even gone toe to toe with Yamatai on occasion before they became allies."
Tiberius paused mid-sentence as he looked at the space empress. "You know, talk is cheap. It'd be a lot easier to show you why you should hire me. Care to go for a ride?"
"Honestly, I think that just deepens the mystery. Why do they call you Eight Ball? Do you have eight balls? Do a lot of drugs? Give non-useful answers to questions, usually in a yes or no format?" Uso teased. She looked around for a moment... and ended up deciding to toss her drink, effortlessly getting it into a trash can a few feet away, "Sure, show me your flight skills... From the looks of things 5 is pretty young to fly for a Nepleslian? Did you use some kinda accelerated growth? Or did they some sorta... cute, tiny, baby-plane for you to fly?"
The pilot followed Uso's lead and threw his drink in the garbage as he stood up. He then reached inside his jacket and held out an old photo between his index and middle finger for her to grab. It was a picture of him when he was a little kid sitting on his father's lap inside the cockpit of their old Gravlift. He was steering while his father was operating the foot pedals. You could also see Zander fiddling around with a piece of space junk and Tera crying because she wanted to fly next. "That last one," Tiberius said as he held out the photo for her. "I mean, have I given you a useful answer during this entire interview yet?"
"Good point," Uso responded, checking out the photo from her place at the table before standing up, "Lead on, show me your flight skills. We've got to find new and interesting ways of keeping you from answering any real questions."
"What, am I not doing a good enough job for you, your highess?" Tiberius responded with feigned shock. "I am offended, I am trying very hard not to answer a single question during this interview!" He gestured for Uso before heading towards the nearest exit. "I hope my humble wolf fighter will be up to your liking. You'll have to sit in the EWO seat though."
Uso would slip her hands in her pockets, Nekos had one less finger than Nepleslians after all, and she didn't want to draw any more attention to herself than need be.
"Oh you're doing a find job of dodging questions... it is a bit grating. I think I know just who I'll pair you up with," She replied, "... as for your wolf. I'm sure it'll be fine. It goes in space and blows things up right?"
"I'm not sure how I should respond to that." Tiberius mused as he guided Uso to the landing pad where his F/A-1A 'Wolf' Space Superiority Fighter was grounded. The fighter was all black, just like the day he bought it, with the exception of a single gold eagle that he pained on the ship to the right of the cockpit. "Your chariot awaits." He says as he gestures to the cockpit, extending a helping hand for the empress as the cockpit opened up.
"Alright, show me something impressive then." Uso said, not bothering to take his hand as she put one of her own on the lip of the cockpit and practically catapulted herself up over the edge before falling down into the EWO chair. "While we're at it, got any questions for me?"
Tiberius noticed Uso avoided his hand but he didn't say anything. He understood that she could have one of a million reasons why she wouldn't want to take his hand. "Where do I begin?" He asked as he climbed into the cockpit. "What did you do before you got bored became a space empress? And what is it like being a space empress, is it worth it?" As the questions lingered in the air, he began the start-up sequence for his fighter. The cockpit closed and the engines began hissing to life. Soon both dashboards would light up as each system was checked as apart of the pre-flight inspection.
"Before being a Space Empress? Lets say side jobs... Before that it was SAINT, though we're talking 'elysian war' era. Haven't been in with them in a long time. All super-interesting stuff but I'm not going to go into that here... Space empressing is a lot of work.... Kinda hoping I can get things all setup soon and just sorta coast. The original team is starting to Gel together nicely, but we're seriously in need of new hires to grow the whole operation... Ever heard of the I'ee?" She asked, "They are a spare bug type people ... terrifying at first glance but they are absolutely ADORABLE... They got themselves into a fight with the NMX and naturally, as a space empress, I must help my allies defend themselves against... you know, whatever."
"Naturally," Tiberius echoed the empress' remarks as he fired his engiens from a dull roar into full ignition. "Still, how can you find overgrown bugs adorable? I thought girls were supposed to love tiny things and hate bugs. Aren't the I'ee the anti-thesis to that?" He asked as he got clearance from ground control to take off. "Make sure to buckle in, you're in for one heck of a ride!" He said as he hit the thrusters to take off from the landing pad.
"They have these little face masks that light up and..." Uso had to stop talking for a moment as the thrusters kicked in, lurching the ship towards its top speed, "... You gotta see them in action I suppose. The cuteness of it all really overpowers the giant-bug-creep... besides, I don't really buy into that whole... Yamatain... culture.... thing... Though you've seem to have bought the standard Nepleslian look.... well, the broad shouldered manly-man thing. You're the first guy I've seen who has... what, Racing goggles?"
"Why thank you!" The pilot says with a lot of enthusiasm as his fighter started to climb higher and higher. He did appreciate her comment as he took it as a compliment. He worked hard to stay in shape and it was nice to be noticed. "Though I don't know how many manly men could put together this ensemble. I mean, what manly man would think to make sure that their necklace, belt buckle, and revolver all match so they don't clash with their outfit?"
Tiberius naturally reached out and touched his goggles when Uso made a comment about them. "These old things? I guess you could call them that. If you're brave enough, you'll get to see them in action today. But first, take a look at your auxiliary control screen," He pressed a few buttons as he directed the space empress' attention to the screen. "You'll see that I am deactivating the anti-grav engine that is supposed to help with maneuvers in atmosphere because, lets be honest, that's just a crutch. Now before I begin, how many Gs can you handle?"
"Just a crutch? You know that keeps you from turning into paste when you really gun the engine?" Uso said, "I mean... not that it bothers me... I'm uh... 'engineered to a higher fault tolerance' than you... Unless you got something really impressive under those muscles of yours?"
"Nope," Tiberius responded gleefully. "Thats what makes this fun!" He couldn't hide how giddy he was getting at the idea of high-speed maneuvers, old school. Just like the Aces of history he idolized long before gravity dampening technology was created. "I'll start you off nice and easy." The Wolf that was climbing at a near perfect 90 degree began spinning as it continued to climb. Nothing too fancy, but a good opening move. He then pulled up slightly higher on the joystick before cutting off the engines mid-climb. The fighter went from simply spinning in a climb to being completely upside down and spinning like a top over the earth as the ship came close to stalling out. A moment later the engine-less craft began pitching towards the ground and began free falling back towards the city. "I figure why play in space? Its just big and open. Down here is where the real danger is!"
"Well, space is where the bad-guys are... You got to be able to blow them up there." She said, keeping a close eye on the Altimeter as the craft plummeted towards the ground, "Not that the hot-shotting isn't fun and all, but I want to know you don't play with your food when it comes down to it."
"You mean like right now?" Tiberius asked as he pulled up on the joystick. The ship continued to spin but now the nose of the fighter was pointed skyward while the ship continued to fall to the ground. "Come on, you can't tell me your not having at least a little bit of fun, can you?" He reignited the engines right about 500 meters and the fighter lurched as the engines slowed the descent. The vessel itself finally stopped about 1 to 2 meters off of the ground and hovered there, still pointed skyward. Tiberius let out a sigh. "Alright, what would you like to see?"
Uso chuckled, "Alright so it wasn't bad... like roller-coaster level fun. Not to be a buzz kill or anything but I'm not hiring you for my personal entertainment... that job comes with a different outfit... How about you land this thing and we'll talk payment? Maybe introduce you to the rest of the group that's here and see how you'll fit into the whole thing?"
Tiberius raised an eyebrow that Uso couldn't see at her comment. "Different outfit," He wondered aloud. "Are we talking court jester or something more...serious?" But before should could interject he responded to her comment about meeting the whole group. "An excellent idea your highness...By the way, am I supposed to call you anything special? Like Empress, God-Empress, Ma'am...?" As he asked those questions he leveled the ship off and headed back to the landing platform. He made sure to land the ship without turning on the anti-gravity engine because it was a small point of pride by now.
"You know, I don't have a court jester... You think I need one? Or has that kinda thing fallen out of favor?" Uso asked, craning her head a bit to watch him land without the aid of the anti-grav... in a world where automation took over much of this kind of work, letting inexperienced pilots like Uso land flawlessly... doing it without assistance was actually a bit of a neat trick.
"As for my title? The more elaborate the better. Tough I suppose I will need to come up with something official once we have a more stable government up and running. How much do you know about our operation anyways? I know I didn't give a whole lot of details over messenger."
The young pilot thought on the question for a moment before saying. "I'm pretty certain its politically damning to have a court jester these days, especially if you have to deal with factions like Yamatai where they beat you senselessly for smoking....Still, its not like they've gone away. Just have a court comedian. Its entertaining, prestigious, and it won't get ne'er do gooders knocking at your door either." Tiberius began to power down his fighter as the cockpit opened up. He climbed out and held out his hand again for Uso. Even if she ignored it, it was a gesture of good faith and respect in his opinion. "As elaborate as I want, m'lady?" He said with a grin already creeping on his face. "So how did the sublimely-magnificent-cosmic-god-empress enjoy her first ride with this most humble of servants?"
"You know now you've got to say that every time right?" Uso teased, this time taking his hand as she jumped out of the cockpit, landing just infront of Tiberius, "So... I suppose I can get your jester outfit later, maybe something tight fitting to show off those shoulders.... You wanna get down to buisness? Or are you looking to just dick around and have some fun?"
"Only if it pleases the sublimely-magnificent-cosmic-god-empress." Tiberius said with a formal bow as he gestured towards a table for the two to sit and talk terms. "I am but a humble servant." He smirked as he rose from his bow and walked towards the table. "May I ask the specifics of the job now?"
"Officially, you'd be working for me directly. 'Planetary Security' for our homesteading operation. You missed all the heavy lifting already, we've got contracts and agreements to get this planet we found up and running. Part of those agreements is helping the I'ee.... those cute bug things. They bit off more than they could chew with their first forray into space, ended up butting into Yamatai and the NMX. Luckily we only really need to deal with one of them at this time.
I don't have a space-fleet, yet, so I'm hiring one. I mean, how hard could it possibly be right? The NMX get their ass kicked all the time. We just have to do it without a major military backing us."
Tiberius listened patiently and tried to keep a smile on his face the entire time. But towards the end that smile turned into a bit of a blank stare. This job was quickly turning into a suicide run. "Right, it can't be that hard to defeat a battle-hardened faction known for slavery and torture on the galactic level..." He had plenty of memories flooding back from the Rok'Veru Offensive flooding back. From their orbital defenses to close encounters with NMX power armor when he had nothing but his trusty revolver in hand. That was one interesting year...
"What are you looking at for a fleet if you don't mind my asking. And what does the NMX have at its disposal?" He naturally began prying into the operation before catching himself. "I'm sorry, that is none of my business. If you want me to work as planetary security, I'd be more than happy to oblige. Do you just need me flying patrols or do you need help designing planetary defenses?"
"A fleet... you know... for blowing up other fleets." Uso held up a fist, and then made a loud explosion noise with her mouth, extending her fingers in all directions like a ship being torn apart. "Right now I've got two starships, a fighter craft, maybe like 10 power armors left and the ships of the I'ee force... which uh... well they aren't much to look at now but they ARE ships. We just need to slap some real guns on them and put them to work.
The NMX are... well they are the NMX. They've got ships with all the usual trimmings, but it looks to just be a scouting group that is harassing the I'ee. Maybe something small? 50 ships? It is all guess work right now.
You're the first pilot being hired on to form up the squadron that will handle the NMX force. You're literally doubling our number of fighter craft. I've got a few more mercenaries in mind, and we do have some production capability... Also hoping that I can get my hands on a strategy guy too. Got someone in mind for that as well but I'm sure your contribution will be rewarded appropriately."
"Wow..." Tiberius muttered out loud. Not from anything that Uso said about the fleet or the NMX, no, it was something different. "Mercenary...This is the first time I've been called that. It sounds kind of..." His voice trailed off as this realization dawned on him. He paused for a moment before he shook off the awkward feeling. "Don't worry sublimely-magnificent-cosmic-god-empress, with eight ball at your back you've got nothing to fear." He said confidently as he pointed to himself. "I'm tactically and technically proficient. I've licked NMX before and I'll do it again. Just let me know what you need."
"OK, so one of the perks of this job is being able to pick your title. I can call you 'Space-Cowboy' for all I care... or.... 'Paid-Ass-Kicker' or 'Space-Saint'... I'll pay you lump sum at the end of the month, and what I need from you is the logistical concerns for your ship. Requirements for bombs, maintenance, ect. We don't have a base setup for the fighter wing yet, but we're getting to that." Uso said.
As the spoke, they could hear the faint sound of metal detectors going off. "What you have sir." One of the guards asked. "I have 5 prosthetics both arms, both legs, and my eye. Want me to take them off?" A man asked detaching his arm and handing it to the guard.
"Ahhh! Dude what the hell!" The guard yelled.
"Yeah now shut up and let me through idiot." Cyrus said as he reattached his arm and plowed through the guard.
Errowyn tagged along with Cyrus, this being her first time on a Nepleslian World. She was in constant motion as she looked about her. She slipped past the Guards with her service pistol underneath her flight jacket while Cyrus did his thing. She waited till he was through the guards before joining up with him again. "Are they that anal about having guns in this place?" She whispered to him. She spotted Uso with her pale features within her hoodie and oversize glasses.
"Meh. Kinda. More like they don't want weapons that go boom." He said walking up. He tapped his new eye, zooming in on Uso. "Hey there boss, who is the new guy?" He asked walking up to the pair of them.
Errowyn sized up the guy that was sitting at the same table with Uso. She came to a stop next to Cyrus. She took his statement in stride.
Cyrus bumped into her. "Boom." He teased taking a seat at the table.
Taking a seat across from Cyrus which put her in between the new guy and Uso. "I guess she is shock at seeing me again." Giving Uso a quick smile as she ignored a few Neplesians catcalling at her and teasing her. She returned to staring at the new guy with Uso. "Mmmmm... he is probably in shock along with Uso." She directed her comment to Cyrus.
"I know. We have been gone so long they forgot what we look like." He replied with a smile.
"I dunno about this one here. He looks too fresh to have been with the unit. Or he is hiding the fact he is Uso's new toy?" Errowyn smiled a bit. "I am hungry. I am going to go get something to eat." She stood up and moved to one of the concession stands to order her something to eat.
Cyrus shot her a mental message. ::I want food too!:: He said, rattling off an order.
Errowyn gave a wave of her hand over her shoulder back at him as she moved to place the order. She was wondering how Johan was fairing. He had parked his ship in the outer region of the Star system 188604. Soon she was heading back with a tray laden with food. Cyrus order and hers.
Cyrus rubbed his hands together. "Thanks dear." He said smiling.
Errowyn separated the orders, placing Cyrus food before him and hers before closer to herself. Once the food had been taken care of, she began to eat. Wondering if Uso was mad at her for some reason or another when she departed 188604 for the necessary care of her craft.
Cyrus began to eat as well. He was starving from having to deal with all the new Ragnarock recruits. He wolfed down his food and smiled contentedly. "Oh man that was good."
Errowyn nodded as she had her mouth full of food. She was more concerned with eating than conversation.
"Space cowboy huh?" Tiberius repeated with a smile on his face as he thought about the prospect. "How about god-emperor?" He was waiting for Uso's response when two unfamiliar people began approaching the table. At this point Tiberius decided to be uncharacteristically quiet. He didn't know these people and he assumed that Uso did. If she didn't these people certainly knew who she was in the very least.
~Then go get some food~ Uso messaged back, her eyes lighting up a bit when she saw Errowyn, "Hellcat! Finally decided to come back from your self imposed exile?"
"Alright, 8, This is Hellcat, she's our other pilot on staff and more or less the person you're going to be working with most closely. The other one is Cyrus, he is in charge of the Ragnarock PMC, and handles most of the ground stuff. They were some of the first people brought onboard this operation."
Uso observed her compatriots absolutely devouring the food provided to them. She wanted to tell them it was just mall food... but who was she to get in the way of their enjoyment,
"And this is 8ball, so named for his inability to give useful answers to questions... He has his own fighter, and will be helping fill out out flight group."
Uso then turned her attention to Errowyn,
"Has Corgan filled you in on the I'ee situation yet?" Errowyn was clearly still busy with her food, so Uso decided to press on, "Between yourself and 8ball, we've got two fighters... and quite frankly I'd rather hire more pilots than try and train the locals to fly spaceships. I've got a meeting with another PMC shortly that'll give us another squadron or two worth of fire power. That's still not enough to go up against the NMX, but it is enough for us to start figuring out how to organize."
