Copeland Supply, Salvage, and Resale

by cliff.west

This is a spinoff story. It takes place after "But a somehow a most melancholy" and" Hunted Tribes". Please read those before this bit of work. I will not be recovering those stories, but re-reading them will help you fallow this story. This fiction also will be slow on the combat action.

14. Chapter 14 18 Dec 3046

Chapter 14

By Cliff

Beta and Clean up: Not done

Reviewed by Hotpoint.

18 Dec 3046 0900

The Dunianshire system

It was with wet hair, that Robert entered the meeting room. He did not need to look at the clock to know that he was a whole two minutes late. He had not even been able to swing by and get some food, before coming here. He had a steaming cup of coffee, which he had made himself out of his emergency supply. It was something that he maintained in his room when he had only a short time to clean up. Robert does not bother to wait until he had gotten to his chair, before he started today's meeting.

"Sorry I'm late. Let's start, shell we. I don't know if I was dreaming last night. But did we have an alarm go off last night? The Officer of the Deck did not come to my cabin, so I have no idea if it was a dream or not. Robert was looking around the table to figure out if he needed to be worried, or not. It would be a bad thing, to be dreaming about alerts. It was also a bad thing, if he had slept through an alarm or a drill of an alarm for that matter.

The Captain of the White Rabbit looked at his commander and around the room. Robert caught the look, and he gave the man a nod to continue. That was all it took to get the ball rolling. "Sir. We had a vehicle that was acting strangely, since about noon yesterday. We think it showed up about an hour after my ship was contacted and asked, if we had some computers for sale."

The Dropship's captain looked down at some notes, before continuing. "The person on watch stuck to the script. They said that we did have some computers for sale. If they would like to come out, to inspect them. They could set up an appointment. The person asked how many we might want to sell, the capabilities, and how much we wanted for each of them. As we had talked about, before. The person was told we had ten systems for sale. They were given the correct specs and they were told, that we wanted ten thousand C-Bills per system. It was caveated, that the duty person was not sure about the price. It was clearly stated, that only the ship's captain could make that decision. That decision would happen only at the time of the inspection of the devices."

"A time was set, but the person or persons did not show at the agreed upon time. It was logged by me, that they were a no show. The contact number was active, when we tried to contact them about the missed appointment. No one received our information request, and we stopped trying after the third attempt. When we reviewed our security systems Tri-Vids, at the next shift change. That was when we noticed the vehicle. Not long after we started detecting communications coming from it, but it was encrypted, and it is on a range of frequencies that the locals are not known to use. In fact, they match up with an old SLDF scout system that is very closely related to the CBR Commsat. The only people we know that use this type of equipment are us, the clans, ComStar and now these guys. I think we know who it might be, and it is not us. By my orders. We kept an eye on them, just in case, for the rest of the day and into the night." The Captain was looking at his boss, but he was not worried. He had been both following "The Book" and his orders.

"After nightfall, we kept them on our passive and light amplification surveillance systems. I had one person that was tasked to keep an eye on them, at all times during the night. This duty rotated every hour. Also, a copy of all of the security feeds was copied to the ships main computer system every hour. Sometime after you got back, from your shopping trip. A six-person team exited the large transport, and we lost them in the night. We think that they were in some kind of combination sneak suits. We think that maybe they were a type of Camo/IR suits. That is because we could only track them, when they got close via directional passive electronics. We did not know what ship they might be trying to enter, but we thought they might be up to no good."

The Captain kept talking. "The Captain of the Maru and I thought. That they, or someone paying them, might be after the cash that MMM paid for those cannons. We both were a little surprised, when they kept angling towards the Rabbit instead of the Maru, when we did pick them back up on the passive's sensors. We let them make it all the way to the Personnel Entry Hatch Four, on my ship. They used some kind of electronic attack, which we have never seen before, to pop the hatch like it was unlocked. We did not know they popped the hatch, until they activated the pressure plate alarm at the hatch entry way. When the automatic alarm went off, and the lights and sound filled the ship. They fled at the run, and on foot. The original transport backed behind an intervening hangar, not soon after they released the ground team. We lost it on our security systems, when we lost a direct line of sight on the transport."

"The Lisbon Maru and White Rabbit, where able to track the six people using the active fire control systems on the dropships for some time after we lost them on our shorter ranged security systems. They dropped off even those systems, at the end of the main drop port landing area. Local Law enforcement was called, and they made a report. Our security team was waiting for this infiltration team in the engine room. But the intruders retreated to fast for our team to make contact, before they left the ship."

The Captain had a little grin on his face. "The locals were a little mad about us using our active fire control systems, while we were still in the drop port. They understood, but asked us, that next time we let the traffic control know the reason for that action before we power them up. We did not tell any of the locals, that we had been tracking the intruders before we went active. They were told that the first we knew something was up, was when the ships loss of air pressure alarm went off. They also think, that the thieves were after the money from the weapons sale to MMM. We did not tell them that the money was on the Maru and not us. It would appear, that they assumed it would be on the Blockade Runner, and not the cargo ship. That is if they were going after the money, and not the computers."

"According to one of the local law enforcement officers, that we have talked to. It has gotten around town, that we have a very large cash stash on one of the ships. They strongly suggested, that we move it into a bank of some kind or hire some powerful bodyguards. He might have been fishing for some overtime for his men, but he did not ask straight out and ask or offer his services. I did not know, if it was out of line to ask him for names."

The dropship's captain looked around the table. "I suggest that we increase the security protocol on each of the Drop ships. At least until we leave this planet. I also think that the Styx might want to do the same thing, out at the jump point. Sneak suits are not cheap, and combo suits are even harder to find. Then add the type of communications we picked up before. I think that they might also be a target for an assault out there. Sir? I do not think that they are going after the money. I now think that they were sent to get the computers".

Captain Copeland looked around the table. He knew why he had not been alerted about the strange van, and its odd transmissions. If he was alerted every time something like that had been observed, he never would get any sleep. He knew that it would have been brought up in today's meeting or even the meeting last night, that he had to cancel.

Robert gave a slight head nod to the Captain of the White Rabbit, before addressing the rest of the meeting. "Well, it looks like those Religious nuts are looking at us, again. This is nothing new, for us to have to deal with. It happens every time, we make a supply run to the Inner Sphere. I want the full counter intrusion protocols to be set, on all ships. I think that now we know were one of those messages went, that came from the Duke's planet."

Robert was rewarded with nods of agreement. Something like this had happened ever since the 2920 run. It had not taken long for the SLiE to come up with a way to "discourage" any unwanted attention and protect themselves at the same time. So far, every time they had done this. They had left a few bodies on the floor, and very rarely did the clan leave more of their own on the ground compared to the number of attacker's dead on the ground.

Robert looked down and frowned. "I think your right Captain, about who was behind that little intrusion. The White Rabbit has the most firepower, and she has the best targeting system that we have on the planet. So, she will be in charge of covering all areas, outside of the dropships. I want you to lock up, whatever they used on the hatch, to gain access to us. When we get back to the Styx? I want to know if we can make any counter measures for it, out of our own resources. Have we had any other issues with our people on shore leave last night?"

The two ship's Captains shook their heads in the negative motion. Everyone on the supply runs knew not to leave anyone alone, no matter what. They also knew that it was only a matter of time before someone or group, would try to take one of the smaller groups of their crews for hostages. It would be for a ransom, or it could be to torture them for information on the location of the lost supply point that the convoy must have found. It had happened before, and there had been more than a few lost lives suffered by the SLDF. In the past, they had enough firepower hidden away. So much so, that when each group would try something like that one time. But that one try? Well, it tended to end that group from being a threat to anyone else, for a very long time.

Robert hated this part. But it was all covered in the operation plans made by higher command, because of those previous experiences. There was not much room, for an even senior officer to change most of those plans for the whole convoy. "We need to start the clock. We will lift off in about 48 hours, from now. It will be no later than noon on that day. I will notify Traffic Control, that we will be leaving this planet in seven days."

This move was hoped to throw off anyone with a spy in the Traffic Control room, into thinking that they had longer to plan any bad deeds with a known timeline. It did not matter if the bad guys were going after a few battlemech engines, or a dozen leg actuators for medium mechs. They were all handled the same way.

Now Robert was going to let the rest of the room know, how the afternoon and evening had gone. "Cargo Master. We should start to receive the first few, of a dozen industrial mechs at any time. They should be starting to arrive before or close to noon, local. We had a good time finding items on our little shopping list. I think Command, back home, will be very pleased. I was surprised that we were able to find so many potentially useful machines, all at one stop."

This news got the room to perk up. No one had been told how well they had done last night. When word had been passed around that the evening meeting had been canceled, it was hoped that it was good news. "Lora has all the stats for them, all eleven of them."

When Robert looked around the table everyone was very happy at that news. "I'm sorry. My memory must be going, in my old age. We did not get eleven industrial mechs. We were able to get fifteen of them, with some spare parts."

Now it was Robert's turn to smile at the whole meeting. This was a lot better than they had hoped to have acquired, after only two stops on this run. "I will leave that job to the experts, on where to put them on what ships. Do we have an update on the crews that went out looking for the rest of the things on our little wish list?"

The Captain of the Maru was first to have a brief, to answer this question. "Lt. Vaun reports that he has been able to pick up all of the jumpship parts, which we were asked by name to bring back. He spent the full ten million C-Bills, and he completed the transfer last night to the seller of the parts. He will start receiving the parts today via the Mark VII, that was carried on the Styx. He will keep an eye out if anything else shows up on the market, which might be useful. He is doubtful of this. He thinks that he has bought all the readily available parts at his location, that can fit our needs. He sent a list of his purchases, if you would like to review it later. I already have the information, that I need to plan out were I will store them after our return to the jump point." The Captain of the Lisbon Maru stopped talking and waited for the convoy commander to say something.

Captain Copeland was thinking about what he had been told. He had been a dropship's captain before, but that was not his job on this mission. "I don't think so, Captain. At least I do not need that information, right now. We will need to be able to cross load his purchases onto one of the cargo ships, so please send a copy to both Cargo Masters. I do not want to have all of our eggs in one basket., if we can help it. Now, what about the ground teams?

It was again, the Captain of the Maru, who would speak first at the table. He had the largest number of crewmembers, which had gone out the day before on official business. "My crews went out to the different transport venders, as directed. It took them all day, but they did find almost two dozen of the 20ton flatbed trucks that we can use. Most of the ones they looked at were liquid or gas fueled based engines. They selected only the ones that are battery powered. Unfortunately, they did not find any fusion engine machines in their travels. They marked each of the vehicles, under the hood and they copied the VINs down. Now we will know if the vender has played any games with us. The ground teams did not talk about any prices for the trucks. They only told the Salesperson, that they were checking them out for their boss. They did not say how many that we might want. They are expecting someone to come out today to make an offer or to contact the lots, to set up a time for a senior person to come out and talk to them."

The Mule's Captain had a smirk on his face. "I think by opening business today. They will have gotten word about what you did at The Show Room. By the way? We were contacted by someone who said that they were a business news reporter before the meeting. They wanted to check some of the facts about us, and our shopping list. They were told that we do not discuss buying or selling of any cargos, at any time. They were told that it would be bad for business, if it got around that we talked about things like that." The Dropship's Captain gave a little grin and passed it around the table. Those few statements were a sure way to get a story published. They had done it this way before, and it had worked to their advantage six times out of eight on average.

The Captain of the Maru flipped a card and turned a little red. "Sorry sir. I forgot to pass along something. My teams had to go to quite a few different venders yesterday. But they did find one vender, that was not on the list. They had ten of the 50ton heavy cargo movers, which we were looking for. They refer to that class of truck as a medium class Mech Recovery vehicle. We do not know if this is a local designation, or what. At that same sales lot and store. They also found one super heavy 70ton class cargo mover. It looks to meet our needs of being interchangeable with the parts supply we already have set up at home for something like that."

The dropship captain passed a sheet of thin plastic, which had all the information about the trucks and the address for each of the two venders over to the more senior officer. Robert was the one who had to pay for the vehicles, before they could go any farther. There could only be one person on the blame line, and that was Captain Copeland.

Captain Copeland took the sheet, looked over it quickly from top to bottom. Then he folded the off green sheet into quarters, before putting it into the top right pocket of his ship's suit. He then looked over to the Captain of the White Rabbit and waited for his report. Robert was thinking that he needed to come up with a briefing order that was more codified.

The other ship's commander was ready, and after seeing "the look". He started his part of the briefing. "Sir, my crews were able to find two different venders, that had what we were looking for. The first vender had ten of the 50ton class Lessepps type dump truck and loader combination, which were for sale. This is the exact model that had been requested by name and mass, from High Command. The second vender had five of the huge 150ton class dump trucks that meet our needs, and they are willing to sell them. I have two teams that were planning to look at a few sedans in the 1 to 1.5ton range, to see if they fit for what was requested." The dropship's captain looked around, but he was finished with this report. Beside the attempted break in. He felt like he had little to report, and thus felt like he had not helped much in completing the mission.

Robert could see the uncertainty in the other Captain's eyes. That should not have been the case, and Robert felt like he needed to let the other officer know any help was good and needed help. Different types of people needed different types of leadership input, for them to grow. "That is good news! Please forward the contact information to Lora. Then we will see if we can pick up some of those, also while we are out today."

Robert let the fake smile leave his face, for a more "normal" look. "Lora found a mech that we will be trying to close the deal and buy out right, today. For those of you, who do not know? It is a new design of a Battlemech, and not just an old Star League or even older design that has been rebuilt. It's something new, and in fact. Its design is only about 20 years old, or less."

Robert started talking again, as the rest of the people in the room digested this information. "I would like to leave soon, to see about coming up with an agreeable price about that machine. Do we have any other issues, that I need to know about?" He looked around the table and the head gestures told him what he needed to know. "No? Then let's be about the day and be careful out there. I just want to put out one reminder. I think it's a statement from, I think one of the McEvedy's that was made on the second supply run. If ComStar is looking at us? We don't want to be too easy of a target for them." Before the group at the desk could rise, every eye turned to the convoy commander. It was not every day someone quoted one of the key leaders of their people, and then he started to snicker like a schoolgirl.

Robert could not help but give a soft laugh, and then told the rest of the group what had flashed into his mind. "What I would give, to have been able to bring along a squad of Nighthawk powered armor." This brought a round of soft chuckles of agreement, from the people around the table. Robert took control again. "I will be taking the same group as yesterday, with me. Mike knows and has already checked out the machine. I hope this will be the last mission I need him for, at least on this planet." Robert looked over at Mike's commanding officer and gave him a level look. "He has done an outstanding job. It should reflect on his evaluation, when this is done. I hope all of our late additions work out as well as he has, so far. I think that we will have to relook at, about not having a dedicated mech pilot on the mission." Robert put his hands on the table, he was not ready to release the meeting just yet.

"I also will be taking Jess. She will keep me out of trouble, or is that the other way around? I seem to be so forgetful, in my old age. I would like each of the dropship's Captains to make any supply arrangements, which might be needed for fresh food. Also think about what they may need today, to prepare for our lifting off and hitting the road again. You all can draw on the cash funds for each ship, as you need. Make sure everyone gets some time for some R and R, before we lift off planet. It might be a while before we are in a big drop port like this again."

Captain Copeland rose from the table and made his way to the hatch. Now he went and got him some food, to dilute the coffee in his stomach from the mess hall. Jess was right behind him. She looked even more tired, than he felt. A quick cold cut sandwich was all they got from the mess hall, mixed with more caffeine. Each person made sure to grab at least three cans of drinks that each had a hefty load of caffeine in them, on the way out of the empty mess hall. On the way to the personnel hatch, Captain Copeland stopped by the nearest ship's safe. Jess had her own items to take care of before she could leave the ship for any length of time.

Robert pulled out a metal brief case and started to count out stacks of C-Bills. With each stack counted, he put them in the metal case. After he made sure of the final count? He updated the inventory in the safe, before closing and locking it again. The next stop was the armory. This was to draw four side arms and holsters, for the weapons. And again, he signed on the inventory list that he had the weapons before locking the heavy metal hatch when he was done. With these errands done. He made his way to the main personnel hatch of the dropship.

He exited the last set of stairs, and almost ran over Jess coming down the ship's hallway. Now with a second person, he adjusted the load he was carrying. He handed two weapons and matching holsters, over to Jess. After putting the shoulder holster rig on, she inserted the SunBeam laser pistol into the opening. Robert did the same with his M&G Flechette, which someone in the old Lyran Commonwealth had designed before Robert had been born. Now fully armed with the weapons ready to use. The two people finished the short trip to the dropship exit, and the rest of the group that was waiting for them.

Mike and Lora were waiting for them, when the pair exited the dropship on the burnt tarmac. Mike instinctively took the weapon that Jess offered him, along with the holster to go around his waist. Captain Copeland was about to pass Lora a small slug thrower and a clip holster, but she stepped back from the weapon and man. She looked at him like he had a horn growing out of the top of his head. She clenched her leash tightly in both of her hands.

"Robert! Why would I want to carry that, in the city?" Asked Lora as she pointed to the offered weapon like it was an armed nuclear warhead. Her heart was beating so hard, she thought it could be seen threw her shirt. Her mother had tried to get her to learn how to shoot, when she was younger. Her mother had loved guns, and she wanted her child to feel the same. It had not worked, as her mother had intended.

"After that attack last night? I am not taking any chances, while we are out today. Not with the money I'm carrying to pay for cargos or landing fees. I am not going to add to that price, with our lives. If someone is thinking about getting aggressive with us? We need to be ready." That is what Robert said, but he patted the side of the briefcase to remind her of what was planned for today. She knew all about the cash he had to operate with thanks to MMM, and they had not talked about paying for any landing fees in the last meeting. She quickly put 2 and 2 together.

She took the hint of the pat on the case. One of the things that a person in her line of work had to deal with, was eavesdropping. She also had been around the receiving end of more than one parabolic mike in her life. She reached out and took the two items, from the mission commander. She might not like handguns, but that did not mean that she did not know how to use one. She turned and started walking towards a car, which was waiting not far away. All the while she clipped the holster on the waist band on her black slacks.

The driver was the same man from the day before. As with yesterday, very few words were passed between the driver and the group in the back of the VIP mover. The driver did not make a comment, about the side arms each person had exposed on their hips or in shoulder rigs. They were on the way out of the drop port, with less than ten words said between the entire group of people. The driver just had a smile on his face. He had heard about "the security" issue the drop port had the night before. When he had come out to the drop port, he had half expected to find his task canceled. That would have been bad, because he would not have been paid for his time.

Robert was looking out of the sedan window, as it made its way through the city. He was trying to see if anyone might be following them. He knew in his mind, that it was a futile attempt. How could someone like him, spot someone, who most likely was a pro following them? This was why he almost did not see the large flatbed truck, which was parked close to Don's home. It was close, but there were a pair of turns before you arrived at Don's.

If Robert did not know what the large wheeled truck might be used for, he was informed when they passed the cab of the truck. In bold white letters was Safety First Mech Movers. It had been painted on the side door, and all the way across the front of the massive vehicle. When the dark colored sedan pulled up to the house? Don was opening the door and rolling onto the front landing of the home. He waited for them to walk the short distance from the sidewalk to his location at the base of the little home-built ramp, that let him access or exit his home without aid. He used a volume that was just a little too much for the distance, that it needed to travel.

"Well it's nice to see that you're on time. It is just like proper military people should be. Are you ready to talk, or are you here to look at her again?" Don was rocking his wheelchair back in forth, out of nervous habit. He was nervous, and he had an almost wild look in his eyes. This had been the closest, that he had ever been to selling his machine.

Robert could not tell whether Don was ether still drunk from the night before, or if he was just massively hungover. Robert could understand that, and he did not judge the man one way or the other. How would he feel, in this man's position? "Oh, we are here for business. But if you're not ready? We can come back a little later, when you're ready."

Robert stopped walking and the others stopped almost at the same time. From the looks on their faces. They did not know if the Captain was joking, or not. The good part was neither did Don. He was about to start freaking out. His eyes shot all the way open, and he stopped rocking from side to side with his wheelchair. When Robert looked around, he had to fight down a smile. You could not see the mech transport from were either man was standing.

"Oh no! I'm ready. I have the title all ready, and she is ready to be move. That is as long as we can come to an agreement on a price." He realized that he said too much and his mouth clamped shut, with an audible click.

Don was sweating more now, but at least the random movements left and right had stopped. He did not want to blow this chance, but he also did not want to be taken advantage of by these visitors. He knew deep in his heart, that this might be the last chance to sell the mech. And it would be the last chance that he would get to have enough money for the life changing surgery, he wanted so badly. He rolled himself back into his home, leaving the door open for the others to follow him.

Robert looked at the others and smiled before entering the house, which smelled of a mix of urine and stale beer. It was a smell Robert had not noticed the day before. Maybe he was distracted by the tall battlemech in the center of the room yesterday. Today Don had four chairs set out for people to sit in. He had set them up, so that his back was to the 35ton battlemech and everyone else would be facing it. After everyone was seated. It was quiet, no one was talking. It did not last long before Don started to shift in his chair, breaking the desired stress causing set up that the seating arrangement was meant to do in the first place.

Finally, Don had enough and spoke first. He had lost the attempt at a power play against a master of the game. "Okay Captain Copeland. I have the machine, and you have the money. So how much are you going to pay for her?"

"Don, you have your facts a little off. You have to sell it to us. We, on the other hand, do not have to buy it. We will be leaving in a few days, no matter what happens here today. After were gone, you might be able to sell it to the next merchant that comes along. Or you can rent it to the local defense force on some kind of a long-term plan. That is, if they just don't take it from you, and have some local judge say you are too unstable to have it anymore. The question is how much do you want for it today and be done with all of your headaches."

Don was not the most experienced negotiator in the world, but what the off-world Captain had said was true. That is except for the local military part. They were just as likely to confiscate his machine first, as pay any real money for its use. "I want three point five million C-Bills deposited into my bank account, and then she is all yours. You will take care of any fees or cost of transporting it from my house to the drop port or were ever you want it."

Robert was thinking that the price Don was asking, was not that far out of line for his machine. Still, it was more than Robert wanted to pay for it. "Don, I know how much this machine cost new and fresh from the factory. We both know it's not three point five million C-Bills. I was thinking that two-point eight C-Bills is more fitting of a price, for a light mech. And yes, I will be paying in C-Bills and not in the local paper."

Don's face turned red, and then it looked to turn more purplish than red. His lips were in a tight line, but he did not say anything until the color in his face was back to a more normal shade. "Captain you're not going to find this type of mech anywhere else. That is unless you go halfway across the Sphere. I will tell you, that even if you do that? It will not be in this good of a shape, when you do find one for sale. Three point two million is more than a fair price out here at the end of civilized space, for a top of the line 35ton scout killer mech like this one."

Now it was time to bring out the big hammer. "Don, yes. It is rare. Now how will I find any spare parts for it? More importantly, whoever I sell it to. They will have to have spare parts for it, and as you say. It will be a bit of a travel delay, in getting any of those parts. Do you know how much money we're talking about right now?"

Don's reply to the question, was to give Robert a blank stare. This showed to Robert, that Don had no idea what he was talking about. Robert got up and cleaned off an end table and sat it beside the man in the wheeled chair. With his briefcase opened in such a way, that Don could not see what was in it. Robert started taking out bundled stacks of 100 and 500 c-bills notes. This was part of the money that MMM had paid for those cannons the other night. Soon the table was covered with money, and the piles kept getting taller and taller. Don's eyes kept getting bigger and bigger, as more and more bundles of bills were pulled out and put on display.

Finely Robert stopped stacking packs of bills on the now very shaky end table. "Don this is two point nine million C-Bills. That is almost twelve million MC dollars, in local value. This is what I'm talking about right now. It is in cash money, right now. Is this more to your liking? You can spend it any way you want, and no one will be the wiser."

Don did not move a finger. He had seen the weapons on their hips, and he did not have one close enough to be of any use. The stack of money was huge, and it was an overpowering display of wealth. Robert did not want to take advantage of the mentally and physically hurt man, so he decided to sweeten the pot a little more. "Fine a little more then, but this is my final offer three million, worth of C-Bills. Right here and right now. Oh, and I know that this mech cost two point nine right off the factory floor. You're getting a hundred k, for your time and effort of keeping it up for the last few years." Robert pulled one of the gold bars that he had picked up from Duke Terry and put it on top of the display of cash. It was like a crown on a man, as it sat on the tallest of six stacks of bills.

Don was really sweating and after a few long seconds. He pulled his eyes away from the stacks of life changing money. It was with very shaky hands, that he rolled over to one of the shelves that had his hand built mechs models on display. He selected one that was kind of hidden from view, and he popped the top off with a quick twist of the wrist. For more than a few seconds the group thought he might be going for a weapon, and then maybe try to take what money he could grab and run. Instead Don pulls out a rolled piece of thick off yellow vellum, from the handmade object. After rolling back to the group. He looks around, the only table within easy reach was full of paper and gold. So, he smiles up to the Captain.

"Well, this is a first. I don't have any place to write, because the only table I have, is full of money. That is a nice problem to have, don't you think." He gave a kind of manic laugh for a hand full of seconds, before he finally stopped.

"I can't remember ever having that problem, before." He turned and rolled back to the shelf and pushed some of the handmade projects out of the way. He signed his name on the title line of the document, with slightly shaking hands.

Robert walked over and signed his name on the line required, for finishing the legal transfer of the machine. Robert stuck out his hand and the two men shook hands, closing the deal. Robert made eye contact with Lora, who then pulled out a small communication device. She contacted the mech hauler outside and said that they were ready. She told the driver to pull around the back of the building, so that Mike would be able to walk the machine out. Then they would let the pros load and send the machine back to the drop port to be off loaded from one of the cargo carriers. One of Robert's people would put the machine into one of the cargo bays on a dropship.

Now that it was done, and before it was going to get busy again. Robert wanted to relax a little. "Don, I think that we will step out and let you take care of the money. You might want to put it in a safe place. The hauler will be here in a few minutes. Why don't we wait out back, until you're ready for us to move her out of your building?" The other three joined Robert on his feet, when they heard what he had planned to do.

The group moved out the back of the building, giving the wheelchair bound man some privacy to stash his booty. That was when it turned out, that there was a lift to the upper floors. Don had a heavy cardboard box that he was happily singing to himself and filling with the money, which was on the table. Robert did not know if Don had a proper safe in the building or not. He really didn't care, but he thought that it was standard to have a safe of some kind in this type of building. Buildings that rented out living space, that also could hold a multi meter, multi ton, multi million dollar war machine like most other people would store a wheeled transport. One they would or could not take to their job or any eating place around town.

The 50ton mech hauler was just finishing getting into position, when the great door at the rear of the building started to open on squeaky rollers. Don wheeled himself outside into the sun, as the massive wall was rolled up towards the top. Mike walked back into the building and started going up the metal ladder to the mech cockpit. Robert could not take his eyes off of the vaguely wolf shaped head. When the hatch clanked shut, he was able to break the spell.

Robert walked over to the now Dispossessed mech warrior. Robert was watching as Mike maneuvered the 35ton war machine, so that the lifting equipment would be able to help with securing the machine for transport. There was not much a Jumpship commander could do to help load a battlemech on to the wheeled transport. Well, he could get in the way and be crushed, but that would not fall under the label of being "helpful".

Robert was now standing beside the now mechless pilot. "Don, what are you going to do if the surgery is successful? And you can walk again or maybe even pilot a mech again?" asked Robert without looking down at the other man. Robert was watching him out of the corner of his eye, to see what if any reaction he would give. Robert had no idea why he asked the question, but after it had left his mouth. He realized that he cared about the response.

The man looked up at the jumpship captain. "You know? I have been thinking about that question a lot lately. Before the accident. All I wanted to do was pilot one of these, and try to blow someone else out of their mech. I would talk to troopers who were blown out of their machines, in bars or in the infantry units. All they would talk about, was wishing that they could get behind the controls of a mech again. They would go on and on about what they would give, to do that again. They had a god like feeling behind the controls, which they dearly missed. I thought I would be the same way, if it happened to me."

The man shrugged his shoulders, but now was looking at his old machine again. "I might have been that way, for the first few months. Then I don't know? Something clicked in my head. How many other people had I put in a chair like mine, or worse killed them? I don't think, that I can do that to anyone again. Not after what I have been through." His head was shaking side to side, as he made the last comment. He was quiet again for a bit, and then started talking on his own.

"There has been a building boom going on in the core worlds. More homes and factories are being built. I have even heard, that they have started rebuilding entire cities. Some of the ones that have been abandoned since the Star League fell. If they can fix me? I'm thinking that I will pick up a construction mech of some kind with the money I have left over, and then get a travel ticket back home. Maybe I will just get a ticket back to someplace within or near, the old Lyran Commonwealth part of the new Federated Commonwealth. I could start a formal school, on how to use those different types of work mechs and construction machines. You know like those mech academies in the core worlds, but it will be about rebuilding and supporting cities and not blowing them apart. I'm done burning them down. You know when I was younger? I was brought up using those types of machines, until I graduated to real mechs. I was very good at their controls, growing up. I even was given a few awards in school, beating everyone on my home planet for year after year."

He stopped talking again, and he was now looking at nothing. "Yea, that's it. I just really want to build something, instead of just blowing them up." He gave a snort, that rocked his whole body. "All of that is just wishful thinking, until I find out if they can fix the damaged to my spine or not. Even if they can't fix the balance issue, so I can use a brain bucket. I can still work the controls on a work mech without one. I don't have any family alive, anymore. I just have to take it one step at a time." Don's voice was trailing off, getting softer and softer. He had hope and he was scared that it would evaporate, like it had done so many times over the last year.

Robert looked down at the damaged man beside him. Don did not seem to notice the change in the way he sat in the chair. "Well that is, different. I did not think that he would change that much, due to an injury." Robert was thinking and planning at a mile a second. Robert let the other man daydream for a little while. When he felt the time was right, he spoke to Don.

"Don! That is some plan you got there. If you don't mind, when we leave here. Can you leave your contact information with Lora? I would like to see how it all turns out, next time we stop by. Or maybe I can send a message, to see how you're doing?" Robert stuck his hand out towards the other man. This time it was not a business handshake, but a true friendly gesture.

Don looked up and took the offered hand, he gripped it firmly. It was the grip of someone who was a lot more confident, than the one grip he had used just an hour before. "I will Captain. I will make sure to leave a way for you to contact me. You know? Maybe I will put together a traveling academy. All I would need, is an old Mule class and six or seven industrial mechs. I could use a few contacts, that had access to a jumpship or knows their way around the space lanes, every so often."

Don looked down with a shocked look on his face and released Robert's hand. Don started patting his pockets. "That was a good idea. I need to write that one down. Startup cost would be huge, but workable. I might have to start small, maybe with just renting a Buccaneer or something." The man mumbled to himself, and then Robert made a little smile.

"That was a good idea. You could travel around working on different planets and for different Houses as you saw fit. While you were doing that? You're finding out all kinds of information, and maybe a few secrets. They would have to send someone back, to get the information to any decision makers. They also would have to be someplace where they could then pass along the information and experience, to get back to the home world." Robert stopped his thinking right then. What if the Dragoon's had been doing just that? He knew that he had not been given access to all of the files about the Inner Sphere. He never would have had time to read them. It was not like he was going to have a year between the time he left home and his first contact with the Inner Sphere to catch up on the intel files.

"Don, we have to go after I make sure the hauler's driver knows where to go. I have to look at some more cargos, before we can break for the noon meal. Good luck, and I wish you success. We will be in touch." Robert started to walk towards the waiting hauler.

Jess took his spot and started talking to Don. Robert shot a few looks over his shoulder at the pair. He was betting that Jess was borderline grilling Don on anything he might know about a list of subjects. But Robert was betting that it was going to focus a lot on anything related to the unit called Wolf's Dragoons. Robert took his time and chatted with the driver for almost half an hour, before he started heading toward the rental car.

Lora and Jess fell in behind Robert, as he walked to their ride. They waited in the transport, till Mike joined them in the nice comfortable seats. The Mech hauler pulled out and the sedan followed, going away from Don's rented home. Robert looked back, through the back window. He saw that Don had started to lower the massive rolling door, before the view was cut off by a turn in the road. Robert wondered how long it would be before Don lifted off from the drop port, or had a knife put into his neck for the money in that house. It was not his problem, but he did hope that the man would get a second chance in life. He seemed like he was about to truly make his mark on the universe.

The Mech Hauler and its load went one way after reaching the main road, and the sedan went the other way. The first vehicle vender they stopped at was for the cargo trucks, which the clan badly needed. It was a hard negotiation to set the price. The vender knew that Copeland had a bucket load of money, and they wanted to have a larger cut of it. Still they almost failed. That had been when the vender tried to switch out trucks and load trucks on the carrier, that had not been checked by Captain Copeland's crews yesterday. Robert and his team watched as a vehicle transporter was being loaded with his latest buy. They made a show of doubled checking each vin and for the hidden UV mark that might or might not have been in that location.

Robert called back to the Cargo Masters and let them know that a dozen large flatbeds full of trucks were on the way to them. With the manager of the truck sales lot still in ear shot. He advised the Cargo Master to be sure to double check the VINs, when they were delivered to the cargo ships. Just to be on the safe side, and in case someone wanted to play games with them again. That had not gone over well with the sell's vender. While Robert was talking, he was letting his hand fall to his sidearm. That had stopped any further issues from developing.

Robert was able to talk the vender down to twenty-five thousand C-Bills for each of the trucks, to be loaded and shipped to the drop port. Robert was thinking that he should have lowered the price offered per truck, after the vender had tried to change the vehicles that had been agreed upon before. Instead he had gotten a good-sized load of assorted spare parts for the attempt to cheat them, for free. Robert did not know what was in the four shipping containers, other than that they were parts and some special time saving tools to work on that type of vehicle.

Lora made a note never to use this dealership again, and to post threw her network, about the attempt to cheat her clients. She would go into some detail about the different ways that had been tried today. She did not say, for anyone not to use them, in her notice of buyer beware. She only said about how, they had been handled. By the end of the week? This truck sales lot business was down fifteen percent, and it was falling fast.

The drive to the second vender was longer in travel time. It was on the opposite end of town; from the first vender they had stopped at. It seemed that the news of what happened to the first vender they went too, had spread faster than they could drive across town. It might have been via the rumor mill or by some other means of information transfer. This just proved, to Robert, that the old grape vine had an ability to self HPG message to anywhere in the known universe. For one of the few times in his life, Robert did not care about the speed of rumor.

The second vender had the trucks out and on display in a neat row, and they did not play any games with the visitors. Well, no more than any other used car salesmen might try on any given day. None of the wheeled transports they bought today, were in a used condition. They were all brand new machines, with only a hand full of hours reading on the engine wear gauge. Some of them still had plastic covers on them, to protect the seats and side mirrors for transport. They spent about half the time being compared to the last vender, and it was a whole lot more enjoyable for everyone involved at this location.

Lora transferred the money from the bank account to the vender. Robert was very pleased at the speed they were able to get this done. They had spent way less than half the time at the second vender, when compared to the first vender today. The price for this batch of trucks was not that great, but it was about what was the normal dealer market value on this planet. The Vendor knew what he had, and what they were worth. They still did not get full asking price on the trucks, but they got a fair deal with a nice profit to mark down in their books. The third and fourth vender stops went even faster. Robert only needed long enough to double check the VINs and get them to come down to an agreeable price. When they were done, it was time for lunch.

Why sneak suits? Sneak suits have been a key to SF work since TRO 3026. A combo sneak suit was cutting edge or even bleeding edge, until the clans showed up. It would be the "go to" item for a little B and E. If that fails? Then you might pull more unique tools out of the toolbox to do some not so nice work.

The Alarm. It would make since that a dropship would be sensitive to air loss, so all you would need to do is over pressure your hull. When someone opens a hatch, then the air rushes out and the loss of pressure alarm would sound. It is how tanks fight in an NBC threat area today.

Why civilian cars? The SLiE have been on a war footing for a while now. What they had been using to make private transportation, now has been repurposed for a war time need. Try to find a 1943 car or nonmilitary truck. There are none. But people would still want them, things break, you will still have your odd wrecks, and you have a growing population. Plus, the Colonials did not bring any cars with them.

Detail. No, I will not be going into this much detail at very stop or for each purchase.

A little history of the SLiE. They relocated their population form the vicinity of McEvedy's Folly, after spending a few decades gathering supplies. They settled on New Circe in 2870