The light banter within the tavern had returned to normal after it came clear that the pilot and the mercenary weren't about to start a fight with each other. It was nothing like being in a tavern or a pub or anywhere with just a bunch of humans. There were all kinds of different languages being spoke, some whistles, others clicks and snaps and other just plain nonsense. To think that there was such a wide variety of languages spoken just on Earth, but as soon as the first spacecraft capable of light speed was created, the language scale exploded outwards. It was always fun trying to learn a new language too, though Ruce was more capable of understanding the alien languages over actually speaking them. He didn't have enough mouths or tentacles or vibrating pouches or tongues or whatever else was required to speak half of them. 'English' as it was known on Earth had been converted to Galactic Standard and nearly all races and spices were able to understand it. The scruffy pilot tilted his head as he wondered how many other languages were out there. He doubted that the whole of the Milky Way galaxy had been explored yet. It was a pretty damn big place.

[color=007236]"I'll 'ave yer know yer belligerent, dysfunctional space slug, tha' the Valkyrie is fuckin' PRICELESS! Yer 'ear me?! PRICELESS!! I'd never trade her in for anythin', not even if Alexia herself shot yer ass out an airlock an' begged me for my 'and in marriage. I'd just as quickly shoot her out the airlock as she did you, over givin' up the Valkyire! Sure, she might not be the next Zephyr, but yer won't find a faster ship with a more dedicated crew!!"[/color]
Astonishingly, Ruce didn't get up from his seat as he shot back at Sky for talking about his ship. She really was very special to him and that made him think a little about the way Tes hammered at him earlier for punching through the atmosphere of this planet the way he did upon arrival. She was old and wan't even being manufactured anymore. Once she was destroyed, that was it. She'd be gone forever. Tes really did love that ship as well, mostly because she was the one who managed to keep her space worthy. Ruce grinned inwardly as he could picture the blue-haired woman telling the ship 'she was home' and asking 'did you miss me?' right about now. Sky's next sentence about payment made the pilot glance over to his old friend and he raised an eyebrow at him.
[color=007236]"Payment huh? I wonder wha' poor fool met their end this time? Pirate leader? A corrupt businessman? An entire bandit gang?"[/color]
Ruce chuckled and then sighed, shaking his head from side to side a couple of times as he peered down at his drink, taking hold of the glass in his right hand and swirling the red liquor within a few times.
[color=007236]"Guess my line of work isn't tha' much better. While I ain't personally pullin' the trigger, sometimes I know I'm deliverin' somethin' to someone who will pull the trigger."[/color]
Ruce slapped the bartop with his left hand though and brought his drink up to his lips, downing the rest of the liquor which caused him to pull a face and let a gasp out of his mouth.
[color=007236]"Ah well, c'est la vie."[/color]

As the pilot's datapad lit up once more, another message off Tes, the brown-haired Captain picked up the device and looked her words over, rolling his eyes at her message.
[color=007236]"Tha' woman, doesn't know 'ow to 'ave any fun. It's always work-work-work. Okay, sure, so I broke the ship a little gettin' to an' from our meetin' with the Expanse, an' I'm aware of this, but she doesn't 'ave to act like my fuckin' mother about it all the time."[/color]
Ruce glanced at Sky and smirked.
[color=007236]"I suppose Alexia is much the same; 'Oh Sky, wash yer 'ands after slittin' those pirates throats! Oh an' don't forget to bring some eggs home! I'm bakin' a cake!' Bahaha!!"[/color]
The scruffy pilot laughed at his own impression of Alexia and he patted Sky on the shoulder a couple of times. It was all fun and games. Sky knew he'd never deliberately go out of his way to offend him or his wife, but Ruce glanced at his friend and grinned.
[color=007236]"How is Alexia anyway? Hope she's doin' well. Say 'hi' to her for me. You know how cranky she gets when I can't stop by and give her a nice big hug."[/color]
The Captain of the Valkyrie went back to his datapad and continued to browse through some shops, finally stumbling across a place that stocked shield generators and armoured hull. Tapping on his pad a few times, he navigated his way to the hull section of the store and browsed what was in stock.
[color=007236][i]Hmm... How thick is the Valkryie's armour? 100mm, 150mm or 200mm? Anythin' thicker then tha' is for Destroyers and bigger...[/i][/color]
Ruce closed his eyes and recalled the time he jumped up to inspect the breached hull a while back, seeing the image in his mind.
[color=007236][i]Yeah, tha's 150mm. Okay cool... now wha' type of armour? Reinforced steel, reinforced rolled tungsten, or reinforced titanium? The tungsten is the most expensive... 6000 credits. Steel is only 1500...[/i][/color]

[color=007236]"Yer never were the settlin' down type, Sky. Yer always gotta be doin' somethin'. I'm honestly surprised you got married in the first place."[/color]
The Captain replied to his friend, though keeping his eyes on his datapad and continuing to tap around and browse the stocks of the shops. He was fully listening to his comrade though, despite not looking at him. Ruce did glance up though and frowned at the young man beside him though, wondering to himself why he did keep doing this mercenary work. Was he trying to prove something? Was he trying to get stronger? Did he have a purpose or did he just enjoy the slaughter? Well so long as no one stuck a bounty on Ruce's head that was tasty enough to entice Sky to come after him. He didn't mind kicking Sky's ass and showing him who's boss, but he hoped it didn't come down to that. They were friends after all. The pilot shook his head from side to side and laughed at Sky's comment about the Zantu Expanse.
[color=007236]"Tha's common fuckin' knowledge Sky. EVERY big corporation are sellin' weapons an' supplies to most known terrorist groups. Even Alexia does I bet. Yer allies are terrorists to yer enemies. Allies of the U.P.M.O.H.A will be terrorists to the Zantu Expanse an' the other corporations an' factions across the galaxy. There's nothin' anyone can do about tha'."[/color]
Ruce looked back down to his datapad and finally got around to purchasing a shipment of 150mm Reinforced Titanium armoured hull. When asked for a delivery point, the Captain input the docking tower in which the Valkyrie was landed at. Being given a delivery time of a couple hours, the Captain nodded to himself and finally felt like he could relax a little.