[color=violet][h3]Angel[/h3][/color]
[color=c45d3b]Featuring: Amir[/color]

Angel finished getting dressed as she listened to the captain acting as a tour guide over the intercom; she had just woken up, having slept for much of the journey to Oberon, mostly because there hasn’t been much else to do. “Someone good at negotiation,” the captain had said. However, Angel had a funny feeling that he wasn’t looking for someone that could negotiate at all; rather, he wants someone to make [i]his[/i] negotiations easier – and naturally, the ability to move things (or people) at will is rather intimidating.

Checking briefly to make sure her hood was up, she left her room, locking the door behind her. As she entered the cargo bay, the light temporarily blinded her. Her eyes adjusted, and she could start to make out that Amir was already there, sitting on the stairs.

[color=violet]”Expert negotiator reporting for duty,”[/color] she said, not bothering to greet the captain as she leaned against the wall next to him.

Amir looked up as she approached, scarf billowing around his neck from the dry, hot breeze ripping through the open bay. [color=c45d3b]“Just what I was looking for.”[/color] The captain nodded and straightened up, no longer leaning against one of the massive supporting pillars that kept the ship, well, a [i]ship[/i] in the vast emptiness of space. [color=c45d3b]“You all good to attend a ‘business meeting’?”[/color]

Angel nodded. [color=violet]”I have a bit of ‘business’ to take care of myself. I could do with some more Psyche…”[/color] she trailed off, looking outside. It was obviously going to be hot, and she wished for a moment that she didn’t need to wear a hood. But unfortunately, there is [i]no[/i] chance of that happening. She’d rather wear a jacket in the desert than deal with what would happen if she went without.

The captain nodded in acceptance, if not understanding of her Psyche addiction. [color=c45d3b]“There’s a couple of places you can find it, but they’re all off the beaten track. [i]Coincidentally[/i], they’re also where we’re going.”[/color] He looked down at the paper list in his hand, an inventory of what they wanted to ‘buy’. [color=c45d3b]“And I’ve already got it down to get you some, for emergencies.”[/color]

Angel nodded. [color=violet]”I guess we better get out there, then. I’m sure that list is fairly extensive,”[/color] she said, gesturing towards the paper that Amir held. He nodded, and without another word the captain led her out into the desert, adjusting his scarf as they descended.

[hr]
By the time the meeting was finished and Amir was escorting the first of five shipments back to the ship, he felt like he had been doused in fine perfumes and coated with a layer of sand that stuck to him like glue. Light grey trousers were now a shade of angry brown, and his mechanical arm – even somewhat safe and half-covered by a sleeve – felt sluggish and unresponsive from the dust caking its inner wirings. The winds were picking up, and the captain even said to their mysterious benefactor (whose name was Red, so far as he knew), that he wasn't aware there was to be a storm on Oberon anytime soon.

Red frowned, and walked off in another direction. "Remember, Khan! You've got three days!"

Amir grimaced, and glanced at Angel before pinning his gaze back to the amber horizon. For all that he'd been worried about it, the meeting with his former associates had gone smoothly. As expected, his name didn't hold as much weight as it used to – it was worth less than nothing. If he had to namedrop another few warlords, ones he wasn't really friends with (but Red didn't know any better), then Amir hoped it didn't get back to the Waegu fleet.

Their known cargo, the few DA weapons and the rest of it, wasn't worth buttons. It was the promise to do [i]business[/i], to handle some off-the-books work – that was worth a damn. The list Jinxy had written up from him was now in the hands of Red, and in trade the businessman had given him information, and a simple command: "Deal with it."

It was almost like he was a mercenary again, following orders from suits.

The first crate peeked above the sharp hill the ship was parked on at just after noon, pushed and pulled by a squad of hired goons. Amir and Angel didn't even need to get their hands dirty after all. In there were the common parts, the items already in stock and easy to find around Logan, but they would need to spend a full five days on the junkyard planet anyway for the rarer parts. It appeared that Jinxy had expensive tastes.

Amir hopped up the ramp and into the cargo bay just ahead of the shipment, rapping on the metal frame (in such a gesture that made him nostalgic for the old days) and then – after shaking his head at his own eccentricity – slamming on the voice comms button.

[color=c45d3b]"Who's all still on the ship? I got some of the stuff on the list,”[/color] he said. The crate was hauled up the ramp, and Amir gave a dismissive wave to the goons as they retreated back towards the town. [color=c45d3b]“And something for us to do.”[/color]