"The necklace has too much value, sentimental and monetary, for me to even consider using it as collateral on something like this. I'll put up the hundred Valn and my shield generator, provided you let me wear it until we verify that there aren't any automated defenses before turning it over to you. If you get at least their value worth of salvage from the automated defenses, then you give them back. If not, you're up one hundred Valn and a working shield generator for, at most, two days worth of work. I doubt you'll get a better deal than that for protecting anyone else." True, he didn't have much to put up for collateral, but for most guard types that would be more than enough to hire them.

Harry rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment. His interest was really in the control boards he might be able to salvage from the automated defenses, and if there turned out not to be any then his trip would've been wasted. It reflected well on the stranger that he knew the value of the hyper-crystals hanging around his neck though, so the guy probably knew what he was talking about with the defenses.

"How about a compromise?" Harry said, smiling at the stranger if a friendly manner, "You pay the hundred up front and if we don't find any decent salvage I get the shield generator, as you said, but you also agree in front of the lovely lady here that I get first call on the necklace should anything happen to you. And just so you know there's no foul play intended on my part I agree that you'll be the first to recover any of my gear should I not be needing it anymore."

His hope has disappeared like a coin in a magic trick. Linc has been walking down this dirt road for days now. His water ran out yesterday morning. Oh, the wonderful feeling of water on his dry, cracked lips.

After Linc set up his little campsite in a shack that was out of the way a bit a few days ago, he has been walking on the same dirt road. Well, walking is a bit of an overstatement. It was more like dragging his feet across the ground.

Hope has forsaken Linc. But his optimism contradicts. One of Linc's weaknesses is his optimism. But he holds on to it dearly. He learned it from his sister Evelyn.

Flashback
"Evelyn, we need food, our supply is running lower and lower each day. We can't last much longer." Linc said, looking up at the metal roofing. "Linc, stop worrying, please. Just go to bed." Evelyn stroked Linc's sweaty forehead. A long scavenging trip preceded this.

"Eve, optimism wont keep our stomachs full."

"But it fuels the your faith. And nothing can be done without hope." Evelyn winked and smiled. Seeing her smile was as beautiful as the birth of the brightest star.

Linc faded into a deep sleep, picturing her face.

Present
Evelyn is what keeps Linc going. Without her optimism, there would be nothing to live for. To fight for.

<Snipped quote by TheUnknowable>

Harry rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment. His interest was really in the control boards he might be able to salvage from the automated defenses, and if there turned out not to be any then his trip would've been wasted. It reflected well on the stranger that he knew the value of the hyper-crystals hanging around his neck though, so the guy probably knew what he was talking about with the defenses.

"How about a compromise?" Harry said, smiling at the stranger if a friendly manner, "You pay the hundred up front and if we don't find any decent salvage I get the shield generator, as you said, but you also agree in front of the lovely lady here that I get first call on the necklace should anything happen to you. And just so you know there's no foul play intended on my part I agree that you'll be the first to recover any of my gear should I not be needing it anymore."

"If I die, everything I own is to be sold and the money sent to my parent. That said, if you'll agree to sell my stuff, excluding the necklace, but including my share of the salvage, and transfer the Valn to my implant where my parent can access it upon my death, you can have the crystal as payment for doing that." It was Zathuran custom to give all that you own, minus fees and such, to your next of kin upon death. While he knew that send his actual belonging thousands of kilometers to the east would be too expensive, transferring electronic currancy was free.

Sinc T'Lora knew that she would have to deal with another tag-along anyway she didn't bother to say anything else. She would let the humans negotiate between themselves. She would be getting as much salvage as she could haul in her jeep anyway so it really wasn't much of an issue and there would definitely be enough for all of them. Her bottle was empty, which meant she was done for the night. Aside from getting drunk she really didn't have any plan for finding some help for the salvage and since Has'la was doing a good enough job at it she figured she could just crash in her jeep outside for the night. "Has'la, you sir, have the helm. I'm off to my quarters for some R&R" T'Lora stood up straight and gave a human salute before sauntering out of the bar only to slump into the driver side of her jeep and reclining the seat, passing out almost immediately.

@TheUnknowable "... That said, if you'll agree to sell my stuff, excluding the necklace, but including my share of the salvage, and transfer the Valn to my implant where my parent can access it upon my death, you can have the crystal as payment for doing that."

Harry watched as the Blueberry rose from her chair and rather unsteadily made her way towards the door. He had to admit she had her charms, and as he watched her hips swaying with each step he admired those charms for as long as she was in sight. With a smile Harry turned back to the stranger at the table and held out his hand, an ancient sign of an agreement having come to terms. "You got yourself a deal."

Harry liked salvage claim deals when working as part of a group, it helped keep people together. Not because they trusted one another, since a lot of the time people got a little antsy when their beneficiaries were walking right behind them with a shotgun pointed at their back, but because they'd be unlikely to leave him behind if things turned south since they'd be leaving their own gear behind.

Hoisting his satchel up onto the table Harry reached inside and retrieved his tablet before pushing the power cells across to his new business partner. "How about I buy us both a drink to celebrate this union, and you can explain to me a little more about what I just got myself into?" With a quick wave Harry signalled to Elsie, the barman's young wife and chief barmaid, that he was ready to order.

The town's murmurings had started to go up a bit, passing through, following the source. A lone figure, fairly slim and somewhat short walked towards the bar of the town. The doors to the building opened to reveal a young woman. Her icy blue eyes scanned the bar as she walked in, pulling down the face wrap that covered her mouth from the dust. Walking towards the actual bar itself, the young girl began to slowly be noticed. Men began to look up from their drinks and cards, staring at this oddity as she strode up to the bartender. Her stare was unsettling, almost threatening, but the bartender stood his ground and starred right back at her as she took her seat. By the time she had reached the bar, the room's noise had reduced considerably, many watching the stranger, waiting to see what she was. One of the patrons thought to himself that this was like one of those western stories he read from an old book he scavenged, quietly laughing to himself about how cliche the whole thing was.

The woman glanced around the room at the staring eyes, looked to the bartender with her cold stare and, with a strange accent, said, "Do you have any vater?"

The bar broke into laughter and the men went back to their conversations and games. "Erm... no young lady, I don't. I got alcohol of all sorts, but, if you want your..."vater", you go get it at the market."

"Fine, just pour me a shot." The young girl kept on hand on her odd, wood finished rifle and took the drink in the other. While most had returned to what they were doing, some still eyed the girl.

Over his shoulder Harry's wrench turned to scan the newcomer as she stepped into the bar. Immediately it gave off a warning beep, drawing the mechanic's attention. Turning Harry gave the girl the once-over and immediately spotted the heavy-duty rifle she was carrying.

That would be quite a prize, to the right person, he thought to himself, although all I'd need would be a couple of hours in a decent workshop. Not that there were any decent workshops within a hundred miles of the rag-tag little town in which they sat.

As she moved towards the bar Harry eyed the girl, spotting the shield unit she was carrying as his eye scanned her carefully, it's energy signature unmistakeable. With a sign he turned back to his new friend with a wry smile. Perhaps another time, he thought, I'll let some other guy try and crack that little nut.

"You were saying something about this mission of yours?" Harry said to his 'partner', not wanting to let the issue lie until he'd been given something about their target or destination.

Has'la was sipping his glass of Jack with his new "friend", aka employee, when a woman walked in with a fancy rifle, wearing fancy armor. He looked her over, though it would take a keen eye to tell the difference between looking over her equipment and the kind of "looking her over" some of the other men in the bar were doing. They do realize she could kill them without breaking a sweat, right? he thought.

"You were saying something about this mission of yours?"@SimplyJohn

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the man sitting beside him. "Oh, yeah," he said. It's in a rad zone, but it's not that rad-heavy any more. As long as you get inside the ship in less than twenty minutes you want get rad poisoning, and you'd have at least twice that with decent anti-rad chems. I've got a few shots on hand, though, so you want need to buy your own." He motioned towards the newcomer. "If you don't mind," he said, "I'm going to see about hiring another hand to deal with those turrets."

@SkepicHe got up and walked over to her. "Hi." he said, a bit nervous. As heavily armed as she was she was probably a merc or bounty hunter, maybe an anti-raider. "You looking for work?" He didn't pause very long for her reply out of fear that he'd think he wanted to hire for a more private type of work. "I only ask because I'm heading out tomorrow to pull some salvage and I could use someone to help protect me as I haul it back."

"Hi."

The young woman looked up from her shot and faced the man that had approached her. Her cold blue eyes sizing the man up. "You looking for work?....... I only ask because I'm heading out tomorrow to pull some salvage and I could use someone to help protect me as I haul it back." The girl looked away for a moment, briefly mulling over the proposal, then returned her gaze to the man.

"Well, as much as I like to help poor defenseless salvagers as they pick over some alien ship like some vulture, those alien ships tend to have some serious variations in threats. Some have petty point defense systems that had degrade over the years, while others can deploy kill drones with A grade weaponry that could wipe this pitiful mud hole off the face of the earth. On top of that, raider groups constantly watch potential salvage areas so that when the little caravan goes into the deadly rad/death drone zone, they essentially allow you guys to bring the loot to them" she paused and took another shot. Turning back to the man, she continued, "So cowboy, as I'm sure you're very well aware, there are a lot of variables that we will face going into this." she took another shot.

"But I'll humor you and say this up front. I'll take your offer. And hopefully you can grow a pair and spit it out with a little less hint of pissing yourself." she took another shop. "Oh, and do be quick cowboy, your Amerikana piss vaser is both tasteless and hard hitting."

Stepping up between his new companions Harry pulled a bottle of freshly fermented Poitín from his bag, I stoppered it and slammed it down onto the bar top with a heavy thud which set the glasses all along the counter shaking. A dribble running down the side reached the polished wooden surface and let out a whisp of smoke as it began eating its way through.

"Wenn sie auf der suche für ein bessere getränke, junge Mädchen, probieren meine brauen."¹ He declared in his best German.
{1} "If you're looking for a better drink, young girl, try my brew."

It was clear from the girl's clothes she was from the old European state, and her accent confirmed it for Harry. He'd had enough dealings with her countrymen in the past to know a little of her language, at least enough to get by trading, and drinking.

The young woman raised an eyebrow as the gruffer looking man that had been sitting with her prospective new employer. He was somewhat more imposing than the other and his cybernetic eye wasn't helping in that department. However, that gruff, intimidating image quickly fell away when he spoke. "Wenn sie auf der suche für ein bessere getränke, junge Mädchen, probieren meine brauen."

She suddenly grinned, then stifled a laugh and shook her head. "Danke. Ihr Deutsch ist nicht besonders gut. You offered your eyebrows to me, but I got the jist of it. Netter Versuch." she said with a small giggle. "So, I can only assume, since you were sitting with the gentlemen who so timidly asked me to help that your part of this 'Salvaging Job' then?"

"I'm the salvaging part of the team, as far I understand. We were just in the process of discussing specifics." Harry responded, leaning against the bar as Elsie placed his regular brew beside him with a wink. Harry knew better than to respond to her little gesture, and as he lifted the mug to his lips he spotted the barman eyeing him carefully.

Pretending not to notice the scrutiny the mechanic turned back to the young soldier with a grin. "Speaking of salvage, I couldn't help but notice the gear you're carrying." He said with genuine curiosity, his eyes dropping to the shield generator before bouncing up to the girl's rifle. "Some mighty fine pieces, which I'd be willing to give a good price on if you're interested in selling."

"But I'll humor you and say this up front. I'll take your offer. And hopefully you can grow a pair and spit it out with a little less hint of pissing yourself."

"Good," he said, though he was soon interrupted by the cyborg with the charge cells. "We'll pay 5% after we sell the stuff." He waited for the other man to stop hitting on her long enough for them to talk business. At least he got to talking about her weapon and armor before too much longer. "If you two will excuse me," he said after a little while, "I need to go pick up my trailer so that we can haul more stuff back, then I'm going to bed. Meet me in front of the bar at eight AM tomorrow and we can leave."

He laid his mostly-full bottle of Jack on the counter for them to drink and walked outside. It had gotten dark fast, and he could see a few fireflies lighting themselves up in the street. Or, at least he hoped it was just fireflies and not some kind of irradiated, glowing insect that was going to attack. You could never be too sure. He went to the place where he bought the trailer and helped the old man move the rest of the junk off. He then thanked the man and rolled the remarkably well balanced trailer to the back of T'lora's Jeep where he hooked it up. He threw out a blanket on it and laid down, deciding to sleep outside on such a nice night instead of spending more of his scarce amount of money on a room. Besides, he was sure if the cyborg had his way, they'd need a room at the tavern much more than he would.

Harry raised his mug to salute his unnamed friend as the man made his way out of the tavern and into the night. "I'll see you in the morning," He called after him, before turning and hoisting himself onto a barstool and waving over to Elsie.

"Gimme one of them, will ya?" He asked, pointing to the thick, juicy steak currently resting half-eaten in front of the blue haired sheriff sitting further down the bar. With a wave the waitress let him know she'd heard and would deal with his order just as soon as she could, just as soon as she'd managed to get away from the handsy card shark currently trying to slip his hand up her thigh.

From behind the bar Harry heard the cocking of a wide-bore shotgun and turned his attention back to his drink with a smile. "Looks like the evening's entertainment's started a little early," he said with sa grin to his little German friend.

Lincoln woke up from his patchy night of sleep. It isn't easy having to sleep on dirt and rocks. He rolled over on his back and admired the morning sky. The morning was always Lincoln's favorite part of the day. He sat up and cracked his back. He checked to see if any fresh tire tracks were made on the road...none. He stood up and adjusted his ion-pistols on each side of him. They had no ammo, so right now, they're pretty much useless, then threw on his pack and swords. It seems like they're becoming heavier. Or he is becoming weaker. He began walking more, desperately searching for some water or food. Lincoln has become disturbingly skinny. Lincoln had to eat and drink. Step-by-step, he made his way down the road in search for a glimmer of hope.

Harry groaned loudly as the dawn's early light stabbed into his eyes. covering his face with his hand he glared up at Elsie's bare backside as she stood in front of the window a curtain in each hand. "If this is your way of asking for a little breakfast, you'll have to give me a minute to heat up the sausage," he said with a grin.

Yanking the sheet off the bed Elsie quickly wrapped it around herself. "Something tells me your sausage will take more than a minute to cook, and you'd better be gone before my husband wakes up and finds me missing." The buxom barmaid retorted, her hands tugging her hair into a ponytail and quickly fastening in place with a tie.

For a moment Harry simply lay there, the dawn light warming his naked body as he watched Elsie's figure backlit against the rising sun. The heat was certainly beginning to sizzle his pan, but Elsie was right and Harry couldn't risk making an enemy of her husband. With a sigh he reached down and scooped his pants up off the floor, quickly pulling them up his legs before grabbing Elsie's hand and pulling her down on top of him.

"Y'know I'll be out of town awhile with this new job. How 'bout you keep the home fires burning for my return?" He said, giving the playful wench's neck a nuzzle.

The young girl the cyborg man had met the night before was waiting outside the bar for him as he walked out, leaning calmly up against the wall, arms crossed with her rifle hanging at her side. "So tinman did get his girl, ja?" she said with a sly grin. "You never learned my name before threw back that whole bottle and went off after that barmaid." She said, standing straight and holding out her hand to the man.

"It's Hanna. Hanna Krauft of the Last Brigade, and my equipment is strictly not for sale."

Quickly fastening up his pants and belt Harry grasped the girl's hand tightly and gave it a firm shake. "Name's Harold Allnut, but my friends call me Harry," he replied, his eye quickly sizing Hanna up as he tried to judge how easily he'd be able to take her down and steal the gear.

After a moment Harry let go of Hanna's hand and stepped away with a smile. "In my experience everything's for sale, it's just a matter of finding the right price for it." As he spoke Harry brought up a chrono display on his HUD, which showed him they were both a few minutes early for their rendezvous.

Moving over to his radcycle Harry quickly snapped open the rear compartment and pulled out a jumper cable. Locking it into place on his backpack he quickly topped up Wrench's batteries, making sure he was fully charged. It wasn't really needed, Wrench could operate for several days without charging, but Harry'd learnt the hard way to always make sure his equipment was primed and ready, just in case.

T'Lora finally woke up to the roof of her Jeep, something she was quite used to at this point. She checked her rearview and saw that Has'la had hooked up a trailer and decided to sleep on it for some reason. A trailer would be useful since they would be splitting the loot three ways and that meant each of them could have a bigger share. She contemplated starting up the jeep and driving around the towns bumpy roads without waking Hass'la first but thought that he hadn't done anything yet to deserve a prank. Hopping out of the driver's seat she noticed the cyborg who would be accompanying them on their salvage, he was apparently flirting with a rather geared up human female, T'Lora was about the same height as she was but this girl was clearly built for combat. T'Lora didn't like killing sentient lifeforms, a view that most Azurians shared, but Earth was a Human planet and things were done differently here.

Deciding to leave the cyborg to his mating rituals she jumped onto the trailer where Has'la slept, seemingly oblivious to the world. T'Lora sat down close to him. "Hey Human, you gonna sleep all day?" She took it one step further and poked his cheek. "The sooner we get to the wreck the less chance there is of raiders finding us you know." T'Lora was mostly just teasing but she also didn't feel like waiting too long.

"Hey Human, you gonna sleep all day? The sooner we get to the wreck the less chance there is of raiders finding us you know."

Has'la woke up with the Azurian talking to him. "Yeah, sure." he said, getting up and rolling up his blanket. "I'll e right back." He wen to the General store and came back a few minutes later. "I didn't know how late we were going to be getting back, so I got some bottled water and algae chips." The Saltine cracker sized blocks of algae didn't taste good, but they were very nutritious and cheap to make. This made them a favorite for emergency food and for people who needed a cheap meal. He walked up to the Jeep and hopped into the back seat. It was basically a metal frame with some cheap cushions over it, but you couldn't expect to have nice seats in a car that was probably one hundred years old. "Ok, just head towards Houston. I'll tell you when to turn. And don't forget to get a recharge on your way out of town. It will draw a lot of power hauling that trailer back." Finally, they were on their way to get rich. He took his gun off of his back, checked to make sure the high-cap cell was fully charged and set it in his lap, just in case raiders saw them.