Dusty's Salvage
Mica V
Periphery
28 October 3059
09:47:00 local time
"What kind of Mech are you thinking?" Michelle asked Jennifer in excitement. It had been a week since Michelle's uncle had offered to buy the girls each a Mech, and Michelle couldn't stand the suspense. However, in the aftermath of the monumental decision Michelle and Jennifer had made there had been a constant flurry of activity (and parental arguments) that kept them and everyone else involved constantly busy planning and running around to make sure everything was in place. Chris had contacted the Privateers and gotten approval for the two to join the unit. He'd used a coded message that limited the amount of details he was required to share until he returned.
"I've been researching Mech designs all week!" Michelle added.
"Anything that lets me hunt instead of being prey," Jennifer responded darkly, but with the same excitement as Michelle still plainly written on her face.
"Don't get your hopes up too high," interjected Clyff Timberman, Director of security for the Mica Majority State, following a couple of steps behind them with Chris Aalron from the Privateers. "We're pretty far out here in the Majority, we don't always have a big selection of Mechs available." Seeing their crestfallen faces looking back at him, he quickly added, "We'll see what Dusty has; if anyone has something worth buying, it'll be him."
"I hope he spends more time on the Mechs inside than he does on his yard, " Chris said quietly to Clyff when the girls turned their attention back to getting to the salvage yard and chattering excitedly about the upcoming purchases. "What kind of budget are you working with?" Chris asked a little louder.
"Money is no object," Alister Caronna, Minister of Interstellar Relations, snidely interjected, tearing his attention away from his gaggle of 4 underlyings nattering, long enough to interrupt.
Clyff looked back; his normally passive face clouded for the briefest of moments with what could be described as a cross between irritation and disgust. "Why are you here Alister?" Clyff asked, exasperated.
"To make sure you don't cheap out and pick something that makes the Majority look foolish," the Minister responded haughtly.
Clyff sighed and looked back at Chris, "The First Minister and I are more interested in getting the girls something that fits with your unit and ideally keeps them alive and safe, if anyone marching into combat in a Mech is ever safe." A genuine look of concern written on his face.
"ok, I guess we'll see," Chris responded as they entered the main building.
The warehouse-sized building was much darker than the outside, with pools of light dotting the facility from sparsely hung lights dangling from the ceiling, leaving large sections of the facility semi-lit. The air was thick with the smells of lubricants, the after-burn of welding, and the telltale scent of ozone left when lasers are being used. Dust and debris were omnipresent. Off to the left, a clearly young tech was casually moving a 5-ton sheet of armour using a mechanical pully system. She threw a look at the new group and then went back to her task, but Chris saw a look like recognition flash across her face before she turned away.
The group proceeded deeper into the large building; the only constant was the rapid-fire nattering of Minister Caronna's staff, who only paused long enough to make some derogatory jokes about the state of the building, chuckle, and go back to whatever it was that seemed to consume their existence.
"Hello!" exclaimed an older man stepping out of a small office to the right, startling the entire group. "Welcome to Dusty's Salvage! I'm Dusty. How can I help you?"
"We're looking for Mechs," Michelle and Jennifer burst in unison.
"Oh, you're the girls that got rescued! I'm Jenna," Said a woman, following Dusty out of the office. "I heard something on the news about you two going off to join that group that saved you." She added, surveying the collective entourage.
Michelle and Jennifer giggled, but before they could speak, Alister Caronna interjected, as though someone had just pointed a holovid camera at him, "These courageous daughters of Micanos are taking up arms to ensure that no other young ladies endure what they experienced." As if Michelle and Jennifer were just 2 Mechs away from taking on the criminal element throughout human space.
Clyff couldn't help rolling his eyes as he added, "Which may take them the rest of the year. But in the meantime, what Mechs do you have we can look at?" Chris choked down a bearly suppressed laugh, as Minister Caronna scowled at Clyff.
"Absolutely!" Dusty said with a clap of his hands, "right over here," he added with a sweeping gesture toward a series of repair bays just further down. "I have 2 Mechs in excellent condition, a Locust and a Wasp," Dusty said proudly as he and Jenna guided the group toward the nearest repair bays.
Clyff looked at Chris questioningly.
"Scout Mechs are great, we have a couple in the unit right now. But most of our missions are better suited to mediums and up. Do you have anything north of 45 tons?" Chris asked.
"I have that one, " Dusty said, pointing across the warehouse toward an unlit repair bay, and began leading the group over to look.
Chris squinted into the darkness and held a hand up to shield his eyes, as he was standing under one of the overhead lights. "Is that... a Highlander?" he asked genuinely surprised. At 90 tons the Highlander was one of the most recognizable assault Mechs dating back to the Star League days.
"Yup, sure is," responded Dusty. "It needs some work, but if you need something to take on the scum of the universe, that's your ride." He added with a grin at the girls.
"Some work?" asked Clyff.
"Oh, she's good to go," Dusty added quickly. "She needs one jump jet and a replacement for the SRM. Got her on a trade, but we don't get the parts we need to finish her out here. We're pretty far out," he added to Michelle and Jennifer by way of explanation. "Other than that she works like a dream. Want me to fire her up?" He asked the group at large.
Clyff looked to Chris for guidance. Chris nodded, "yes if you could. Do you have any others while we wait for it?"
"I have a Shadow Hawk over there," Dusty said pointing toward another bay off to the left, "but that one needs work," he added.
"Work!" one of Minister Caronna's staff exclaimed. "It doesn't have legs!"
"And it's missing half of it's left arm!" added another.
"Everything else works fine," Jenna chimed in, fixing the suits with a stare, as Dusty shrugged and headed off toward the Highlander to begin the startup sequence.
"We could get it refitted once we get into the Inner Sphere," Chris offered.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Alister Caronna nearly shouted. "We can't have our young heroes be seen dragging a scrap Mech carcass off to war!"
Jennifer looked at Michelle, "I could take one of the small Mechs and see if the unit needs me." She offered.
"You can take that one," Michelle said, nodding toward the Highlander as it started to power up.
"No, I can't take the big one. it's your uncle who's buying it, after all. Besides, I can tell you already love that one." She finished with a knowing grin.
"Not more than I love you. If anyone is taking a more risky Mech, it's me!" Michelle said with a finality in her voice.
"Well, the Highlander will be fired up in a couple minutes," Dusty said, rejoining the group.
"Do you have anything else?" Clyff asked imploringly.
"Not right now," Dusty started, almost apologetically.
"There's one," Jenna said in a lower tone, looking first at Dusty, then casting a glance toward the young tech, who had moved to the bay just behind the group. Dusty looked at her with a sad sort of look. "It's been 3 years," Jenna said to the girl, "he's not coming back." The girl stared for a minute, then nodded and turned to walk away slowly; reaching into her utility belt, she extracted a local mobile device and seemed to be placing a call.
Dusty sighed, watching the girl walk away, and looked at Jenna again for confirmation. Jenna nodded. "Ok, I hope you brought your big boy budget. Let's go to the back."
The group followed Dusty and Jenna to the far back corner of the warehouse. There, a massive curtain surrounded a complete corner of the space. Dusty led them left to where the curtain met the wall and held the heavy material back to allow them all to enter. Behind the curtain was pitch black. "Might want to cover your eyes for a second; this is going to be bright," Dusty said, flipping a large handle breaker with a bang.
"It's a Marauder!" Michelle exclaimed. Sure enough, there under the only bright lights in the facility was a pristine 75 ton Marauder. "Jennifer!?" Michelle looked at Jennifer to share their reaction, only to see Jennifer staring up at the Mech with a strange expression, as if she was seeing something that was missing, she didn't know was lost, for the first time.
"That one is yours," Michelle said emphatically.
Jennifer's head snapped around as though she was brought out of a deep reverie and just realized Michelle was there. "no. No. That's the better Mech, you should have it," as if the words hurt to say.
"Nope," Michelle beamed, grinning ear to ear. "I want the Highlander! I had a list; Battlemaster, Warhammer, and Highlander were my top 3. Although, after pouring over the specs time and again, I didn't know which one I preferred until I saw that one back there. Marauders are cool, but this one can't jump," Michelle added with an evil grin.
"OK," Clyff started, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. First, Dusty, why is this one hidden back here?"
"Well, " Dusty began slowly, but Jenna jumped in.
"There's a catch with this one," she said. "Well, more of a hopeful request. See, we bought that Marauder from a young Kurtian who was the last of his family. He wasn't a warrior; he was the artist of the family. His family was slaughtered in an attack, leaving him the sole survivor. He had just enough training, as was the family's samurai tradition, to escape in that Mech with their 2 techs. Cassie, the girl you saw back there and her grandfather. Their family has serviced this Mech for 8 generations, dedicated in service to this Mech and the family that owned it. It's a Kuritan thing, I think."
Jenna took a breath and continued, "Well, we bought the Mech, but Cassie and her grandfather begged us to wait. Always certain that the young noble would return. We agreed to wait if they agreed to work for us while we wait for a reasonable period. That's what we were telling her earlier. Not too many with the money to buy a Mech in this condition on Mica V. And it's time. The only other thing we agreed to is if the time came that we did sell the Mech, we would offer the new owner an introduction to Cassie and her grandfather so they could extend their services. In the absence of their honour-bound family, they would consider it an honour to maintain the Mech."
The entire group was engrossed in the story, with the exception of Chris, who listened but took the time to carefully inspect the Marauder all over. "Well, if this is their handy work, then they are top-notch Techs," Chris said after surveying the Mech. "We have to hire at least 1 tech for each Mech anyway. These things don't fix themselves." He added, looking at Jennifer.
Jennifer blinked, "why is everyone looking at me?"
"Well," Jenna said gently, " it looks like you're the next owner of this Mech. Unless I'm mistaken." She added, looking around at the others.
"Nope, you're bang on," Said Michelle, beaming at Jennifer, who pivoted between Michelle, Clyff, and Chris, looking for approval.
"Well, that's one deal done, " Said Minister Caronna, still managing to sound slightly condescending, "Now, let's see the other one, and then perhaps we can talk about getting these things painted in time for the event."
Mica Depot 278
Mica V
Periphery
31 October 3059
07:05:00 local time
Michelle, Jennifer and Chris jogged back into the warehouse provided by her uncle, panting. As they approached the crates outside the small office in the back, they dropped their 25kg packs and grabbed their water bottles. Michelle and Jennifer were drenched in sweat from their new morning regiment. A 10-kilometer run, then an hour of small arms and hand-to-hand combat training, then a 10-kilometer run back to the warehouse, all while wearing a 25kg pack. Chris, whose normal regiment in the Privateers special forces was ... more intense, stood drinking his water while the girls used the crates for support. Michelle and Jennifer weren't too exhausted; for months now, Michelle, then Jennifer, when she started getting better, had been taking martial lessons from Chris and working out. So the current regiment Chris had put together was more of a next step rather than a full boot camp cold start.
"Tell me again why we run 10 klicks before we attack each other and start trying to shoot?" Michelle asked Chris.
"Because the gods of war decided long ago that you'll never have to fight when you're well-rested and waiting for it to happen. Sick bastards thought it'd be more fun if all combat happened after you had marched til you were exhausted, starving, needed to use the bathroom, and you're almost out of ammo. Oh, and for added effect, usually at night... in the rain." Chris said with a smirk. "Of course, Mech warriors don't have to live with the rain, so us ground pounders do relish putting you through it all in training," Chris said, smiling, " we always hope you'll remember it when you're sitting snug in that Mech cockpit while we freeze in the rain. But somehow, you Mech jocks never seem to remember." He finished with a chuckle.
"Hey, aren't you a battlesuit trooper?" Jennifer protested, "Seems to me you're just as dry as Mech jocks."
"You ever tried to sleep in a battlesuit?" Chris shot back. "There aren't any comfy command couches in those suits." Chris maintained his mischievous grin.
"Your Mech is here!" Michelle exclaimed, just noticing the Marauder parked in the corner gantry.
The warehouse they'd been put in belonged to Michelle's uncle but was leased to the Mica Majority State. It was a large, mostly empty facility with 2 small offices, a meeting room, and an empty storage room, currently being used as a bunkhouse for Jennifer and Michelle. There was a large bathroom with standard stalls and a 6-person shower area, completing the human amenities. The best feature of this particular warehouse was the 12 Mech gantries, which were used mostly for mining Mechs but were perfectly able to support BattleMechs, plus 2 Mech simulator units which were particularly rare on Mica V.
Jennifer, who had been sitting on the floor with her back against a crate, sprung to her feet to look in the direction Michelle was pointing. "Awesome!" She exclaimed.
The floor shook with the unmistakable rhythmic pounding of a walking Mech, a big one. The group turned to see the massive 90-ton Highlander stride through the open Mech doors on the far end of the warehouse.
"And there's yours!" Jennifer beamed at Michelle. "They really are awesome, aren't they?"
"Where are those techs Dusty mentioned?" Chris asked, "I thought they were bringing the Marauder."
"Here, sir." Came the aged but strong voice behind them.
Everyone jumped and spun. Behind them stood the young tech from Dusty's Scrapyard, Cassie, and what must have been her grandfather, dressed in traditional Kurtian samurai robes that should have been impossible to miss in an open warehouse.
"Where the hell did you come from?" Michelle breathed, heart still in her throat.
"Apologies, chu-i. It was not our intention to startle you." the older man started, both offering a short bow, "I am Eugenio Figueroa, and this is my granddaughter Cassie Figueroa. Master Dusty said we may speak to Senshi Kelm." He stated simply. As they talked, the Highlander slowly strode across the warehouse in the background, navigating to the berth next to the Marauder.
"I'm Jennifer Kelm," Jennifer said with a wave of her hand. She knew this was coming and had been dreading it. Chris had given her the papers and permission to hire both of them, Eugenio as a senior tech and Cassie as an astech. But after reading the notes Chris gave her on their particular Kurtian ceremony and its meaning, she felt completely unsure if doing this even made sense.
"Masutā Kelm, " Eugenio began with a bow that Cassie mirrored, "We offer Meiyo ni shibarareta Inochi to hoshi to you, your family and your Mech." Literally translated, it meant "A life and a star bound by honour," but in the Figueroa and Musashi (the original Kurtian family they were bound to) tradition, it means they and their future generations pledge to honour, defend, and serve Jennifer, her Mech specifically, and her descendants.
Jennifer looked to Michelle and Chris uncertainly. Both nodded, Michelle with an encouraging smile and Chris with a very serious but confident look. "Watashi no meiyo wa anata no monodesu," responding with the phrase she'd memorized, hoping she didn't butcher the pronunciation. If she said it right, it meant, "My honour is yours."
She must have gotten it close enough because both offered a deep bow, drew their samurai swords, drew blood along 3 inches of the blade by dragging the palm of their free hand up from the hilt, then knelt and placed their swords at her feet. In unison, they responded, "Masutā," and the ceremony was done.
Jennifer wasn't sure what to think, but she suspected there were a number of implications to this she hadn't yet considered.
While everyone was captivated by the proceedings, a woman with light ebony skin and long dark hair walked up behind the assembly from the now-parked Highlander to the assembled group. Michelle never noticed her until she was right beside her; surprised, she smiled at the newcomer, eyebrows raised inquisitorially.
"Hi, I'm Val, Chris hired me to work on your Mech. I brought the Highlander," she said, dropping her duffle bag and nodding back over her shoulder toward the assault Mech. Looking at the two Figueroas getting to their feet, she turned to Michelle and added with a tight smile, "Forgive me if I forgo the blood oath."
Michelle laughed.
Mica Depot 278
Mica V
Periphery
2 November 3059
10:32:00 local time
Michelle urged the Highlander up to maximum speed running over the barren, rolling terrain. Jennifer easily kept pace in her Marauder, just behind to the right. The treeline of evergreens 300 meters to their right swept past as they rushed to get to the mountain trail, the entrance to which was still 2 klicks out. Michelle eyed the topical map displayed on the left side of her HUD.
"Jen, 2 klicks to the pass. If they're up in that ridgeline, then they'll have seen us by now, we might as well light up the active sensors so we have some warning ourselves," Michelle said into the comm. She was getting tired of being blindsided during these exercises.
Time to try something new, she thought, reaching to switch on all the active sensors they'd been suppressing to minimize discovery during their approach.
"Roger," came Jennifer's response. Jennifer seemed different in her mech. Marauders almost embody a predator, with a lean crab-like appearance sprouting two deadly arms, each loaded with death-delivering energy weapons and a sinister autocannon rising out of its back, reminiscent of a scorpion tail. Few mechs looked more purpose-built to hunt and destroy than Marauders. Jennifer seemed to embrace that aura while piloting; her communications were short and concise, and gone was the happy, outgoing girl Michelle knew. Only a spartan warrior remained. A warrior that stalked enemy mechs with a patience and relentlessness that surprised Michelle.
Distance to the pass entrance displayed on Michelle's HUD continued to dwindle, 1.8 km and dropping quickly. Michelle scanned the ridgeline looking for some glint of light off metal or other telltale sign of the enemy preparing to ambush them. 1.6 km, Michelle double checked her weapons were ready and hot. 1.3 km, still nothing on sensors or visual. 1 km. Maybe turning on the active sensors was a mistake.
"Contact!" Jennifer called, startling Michelle, "Mech signatures hard right!" Jennifer was already slowing, but not stopping her mech, spinning her torso to track right toward the treeline. Jennifer was learning quickly, and getting good at walking one way while shooting another.
"Roger," Michelle responded, slamming the throttle to zero and attempting to turn her mech toward the contact. The Highlander half-spun at her command, slide-stopping her forward momentum. However, in the effort to stop and turn quickly, Michelle unintentionally slammed down both foot pedals, launching the 90-ton mech into the air on 3 pillars of thrust. Michelle swore the second she realized what she'd done. Slightly panicking but thinking fast she tried to remember everything she'd read about jumping.
As the mech soared up past 30 meters, Michelle got a clear view of the enemy mechs; 2 were almost through the tree line, a 70-ton Archer and a 55-ton Wolverine. Behind them, a 25-ton Commando was trudging in the Archer's wake, allowing the 70-ton mech to smash a path through the trees. Finally, an 85-ton Battlemaster was just clearing the rock embankment they had been using to hide from Michelle and Jennifer's sensors, making its own path to try and flank them.
As her altimeter passed 40 meters, nearing the apex of her straight vertical flight, Michelle felt her initial panic pass, and her new mech warrior training began to seep in. She took a moment to carefully aim at the trailing BattleMaster and pulled the trigger. A Gauss slug leapt from her Highlander's right arm, with only 390 meters between Michelle and her target. The massive bullet traversed the distance in less than a second, striking the BattleMaster directly in the head at a down angle. Hot metal pushed through the relatively thin cockpit protection and then vomited the contents out the back of the mech, toppling the massive war machine.
Michelle had no time to celebrate, for now as the old saying goes, whatever goes up, must come down. Thinking as fast as she could, Michelle did her best to control the 90-ton mech's descent, even flexing the mech's legs when she touched down. The mighty machine teetered but didn't fall.
"WOOHOO! I LANDED IT!" Michelle shrieked into her comms.
"Archer is yours," was all Jennifer offered in deadpan response," I have the Wolverine."
Michelle snapped her attention back to the task at hand, shaking off the adrenaline rush from surviving the short flight. "Right, heads up there's a Commando behind the Archer."
Which I could have said when I saw them, she chided herself.
"Roger." Jennifer was already moving in a semi-circle away from Michelle, working the Wolverine over with steady but controlled bursts, cycling between her weapons to manage her heat. The Wolverine was firing on Jennifer, but the moving target meant only about half the shots connected. Jennifer just seemed to shrug the hits off and continued the methodical dismemberment of the other mech.
Missile-lock tone gave Michelle the only warning as the Archer carpet bombed her stationary mech with 40 long-range missiles. At this close range, only about 60% actually hit, but a moving target would have faired better. With that thought driving her on, she pushed her mech into motion, lobbing her own flight of 20 long-range missiles at the Archer just to return the favour.
20 minutes later... "Simulation Ended," displayed on Michelle's simulator HUD.
"We won!" Michelle exclaimed as she popped open the simulator hatch. Sweltering heat vented into the warehouse as she stepped out into the cool air. As with most mech warriors, Michelle and Jennifer were wearing as little as possible in the searing heat of the simulated cockpit. The simulators wouldn't be effective if they didn't actually soar to the oven conditions of an actual mech in combat. Still wearing the cooling vest over a small cotton t-shirt, combat boots and underwear completed the standard mech jock attire. Both were drenched in sweat.
"Finally," Jennifer replied, her normal jovial demeanour returning now she was out of the simulator.
"Well done, " said Chris, clapping as he approached the simulators. He'd been monitoring from his office behind them. "A unique approach to that particular sim, but well done, particularly for warriors as new as you two."
"Thanks!" Michelle and Jennifer beamed, sinking against the side of the simulator for support as the adrenaline ebbed from their systems.
"Now for the tough part. Suffice it to say, WOOHOO! I LANDED IT! is now the default chime when I receive messages." He finished with a mocking grin. "OH, and congratulations, Michelle, your callsign is now officially Hopper."
Michelle made a face, "How is that fair? I do one thing, right I might add, and now I'm Hopper?"
Jennifer giggled, watching the exchange.
"A cadet does something stupid, silly or just plain dumb that the instructor finds funny... And that's how callsigns are born, ladies." Chris said in mock seriousness. "It's already entered into your official file, Hopper."
As if on cue the note tablet in Chris's hand shrieked, "WOOHOO! I LANDED IT!" Chris laughed, lifting the tablet to check, adding, "Oh, it's going to be a while before that gets old." His laughter stopped, smile fading, as he read the message:
Caronna has blown the whole thing up. Just go with it; it comes with perks.
We'll make it work. Talk later.
Sorry for the short notice.
- Clyff
The sound of approaching footsteps echoing in the warehouse ended the discussion. Turning, the trio saw Minister Caronna walking toward them, a larger-than-usual contingent of minions trailing behind him.
"All is going well; I hope," Caronna said once within speaking distance, "I, ahh, do you need some time to change?" he asked as soon as he realized Michelle and Jennifer were wearing little more than a cooling vest and boots.
"No, we're fine," Michelle responded sweetly, revelling in making the Minister uncomfortable.
"Yes, well," the Minister stammered for a moment but quickly regained his composure and proceeded back in showman mode, "In that case, let me introduce the new members of your team." Turning back to his gaggle, with an arm out beckoning. As the group behind Caronna began to open up, Michelle and Jennifer pushed away from the simulator, and Chris went rigid, mentally bracing for what might be coming.
The group parted, and two young women marched forward dressed in formal military uniforms that appeared to be Star League Defense Force cut and colours. With the exception that the patches were Mica Majority nationality and Barretts Privateers unit.
"Allow me to introduce Mech Warrior Amy Stewart and Mech Warrior Tiphanie Phillips," Minister Caronna began indicating the new arrivals, then turned to face Michelle and Jennifer, " and of course, you both know Mech Warrior Jennifer Kelm and Lieutenant Michelle Kaufmann!"
The new arrivals stepped forward and saluted Michelle. Michelle blinked uncertainly and looked to Chris for guidance. Chris simply nodded, so Michelle turned back to the newcomers and returned their salute. The new warriors stood at attention expectantly, and again Michelle had no idea what came next.
Chris came to her rescue with an "At ease." And the new warriors relaxed into an at-ease stance, looking forward waiting. Chris almost smiled at Michelle's emploring look, and behind her, Jennifer was clearly struggling not to giggle.
"Excellent," Minister Caronna said into the awkward silence that followed, "I'll leave you to it, Lieutenant," he said with a flourish, "you'll find your new uniforms and equipment in the crates." with that, he led his procession back the way they came.
It wasn't until the Minister's entourage broke up to allow Caronna to pass that Chris noticed several crates he had mentioned scattered behind the group.
Chris waited, allowing his inner turmoil to play itself out until Caronna and his party left the warehouse before finally adding, "ok, everyone relax."
"What the hell was that?" Michelle immediately blurted out, sinking back against the Mech simulator for support.
"What happens when your Uncle leaves the Minister's cage open, I think." Jennifer threw out, laughing at her own joke.
The newcomers looked uncertainly between Michelle, Chris and Jennifer, clearly not expecting whatever was happening right now.
"Ahh, Lieutenant?" Tiphanie asked hesitantly.
Michelle looked to Chris, who responded, "I think she's talking to you."
"What? Why?" Michelle looked at Tiphanie, "Why do you keep calling me Lieutenant?"
Tiphanie blinked, then looked to Amy who shrugged, then back to Michelle, "Ahh," she began, "because everyone is calling you Lieutenant?"
Amy spoke for the first time, "If you're not the Lieutenant, then who's in charge?"
"He is." Said Michelle and Jennifer in unison, indicating Chris.
Chris sighed. "Why don't you all get to know each other while I try and find out what's really happening? Michelle, can you show them to the bunk room so they can stow their gear?" Then he thought for a second and looked at the new girls, "You did bring gear, I assume?"
Amy and Tiphanie both nodded.
"Good. Then let's start there. I'll be back when I have some answers." He said, turning on his heel and heading straight for the Jeep parked outside.