I sat in the hanger of the transport, staring at the remnants of the Ravens. There was me, Aylis, a techfreak named William, and a large black man who went by the alias of Moby. We had one AC, William's. It was dubbed Robo, not a very creative name. The AC was a small biped equipped with laser blade arms and small missile pods on the back. The only reason it had made it through was because William ran away from the Ark when the attack started, both smart and dishonorable.
Moby was sewing a gash in his thigh while talking to me. "So what do you expect we do Garret?"
"I was planning on visiting Crest HQ first; I need to pick up my check for my last mission. While we're there, it wouldn't hurt to get some answers out of them."
Will chimed in, "We should also look into getting two new ACs."
"Why only two?"
"That's all we'll need. One for you and one for Moby," He slapped Moby on the back. Moby gave him a look of discomfort and scooted further down the bench.
"What about Aylis? She's not only a transport pilot."
"She's a Raven?"
"A retired one, but she is still one of the most talented AC pilots I've ever seen."
Moby finished sewing up his wound. "And just how do we plan on paying for these ACs? Surely your one check can't cover it all Garret."
"True, I thought about that part though. I have about five-hundred grand in the bank, and I'm sure you two have got some too."
Aylis spoke over the PA system. "We're almost at Crest HQ. We'll be another two minutes."
"Well then, let's get ready."
Moby and I waited in the lobby for someone to come to the service desk. I had been ringing the bell for a good minute before someone poked their head out from the back.
"You folks need something?"
He was a monstrously obese caucasian with the thickest glasses I'd ever seen. He had a bucket of barbeque chicken in his arm and had apparently missed his mouth a few times when eating.
I could hear Moby chuckling in the background as I started gagging. "Um, yeah. I'm Garret, a Raven that Crest recently hired recently."
"Oh, and what job what that for?"
"Destroying a research team of Mirage's."
"Hold on a sec, I'll get the man in charge of paying you," He leaned over to a PA device and pressed one of the many buttons. "Mr. Argus, there's a Raven here to see you."
The man's voice sounded muffled through the speaker, "Is he armed?"
"No."
"Send him up then."
"Yes sir," He looked back to me. "Third floor, room four."
I nodded and walked toward the elevator. Moby followed, busting out laughing once we the doors shut. "Dude, you see that guy?"
"No I was talking to a naked woman, of course I saw him."
The elevator opened to a hallway that was decorated much the same as the lobby. We walked down it until we found a door marked Dan Argus. I had Moby wait outside as I walked into the room.
"Ah, you must be Garret. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Yeah, I came to pick up my check for a job that I recently took from this company."
"Not to worry, I've already deposited the five grand you were entitled to."
"Five grand? That's it?"
"How hard can it be to shoot down a few MTs?"
"I'll have you know that there were no MTs at all, just a Mirage exclusive AC."
"Well the job said nothing about that, so I cannot pay you any extra for that. Terribly sorry though."
"One more question: What connection does Crest have to this?"
"None, we were told that Mirage had a research team in our territory so we decided to have it taken care of, honest."
I walked out, trying to hide my anger.
