High Riders: New Digs

[Tamiyo]

Tamiyo practically flung herself into the chair. It was one of those really official-looking things, with six wheels and a body that spun, all decked out in black leather that probably wasn't real leather. True to its nature, it spun quite a bit the moment she made contact, and she did nothing to stop it. Sure, she was no less than wealthy, but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate a spinny chair. Everyone loves spinny chairs.

The haul from their skirmish with the weird ship-creatures was more than enough to pay for a full-size rental hangar, if just for a single month, and it came with office space at no additional charge, on top of a team of resident mechanics who were already hard at work installing the new blocks and features she had planned, together with her own engineers. The thought reminded her that the Riders' engineering team was given quite the workload from day one, and she made a mental note to give them some sort of compensation. Then, she saw the complimentary stack of sticky notes and the free pen next to it and made a physical note, sticking it onto the side of the desk. Oh, it all felt so... bossy? Was that the right word? Maybe, maybe not.

Still, there remained the matter of the two other people in the room with her. One was the tour guide who had accompanied Tamiyo to show her the area she'd paid for, and the other was the partly-dressed pilot who had been among the three to defeat the Hunter. Tamiyo had asked that she tag along as well.

"Well, that should be it for the tour, miss lady," she ever-so-eloquently informed the guide, who then left with a quick bow. Once the two were alone, Tamiyo turned to face the pilot, and spoke again. "So, I've got a bit of an idea to pitch to you, if you wanna hear it. You seem like one of the smarter guys here."

[Mika Roost]

Why did I have to be dragged into this? This was just one of the many things she kept to herself as she was dragged everywhere along with their boss and the tour guide. Mika had hoped that she and Alex drop by the local bar and get something to drink, but to her surprise, she was asked to tag along. She didn't want to, but Alex said it would be beneficial for both of them if either managed to get close to Tamiyo.

Brown nosing wasn't her thing, but if it got them something they would need or want later, she guessed it wouldn't hurt to try. Not that she was looking forward to it. This tour wouldn't have been so bad if Alex decided to just come with them, but nooo, she didn't want to come unless she was invited. Now Mika was forced to pay attention to the lay of the land and take note of what Tamiyo had to say. Where was Porky anyway? Wouldn't he be more interested in this more than anyone?

Their last stop was the office space that apparently came with the hangar without any additional charges. She won't lie, she'd be perfectly okay with staying here. A locked door so she could sleep easy without having to worry that someone was going to mess with her belongings? After being in a ship with little to no privacy, this was a dream.

Dreams aside, Mika smirked at the sight of their leader jumping right onto the chair. She couldn't really blame her. Those chairs were one of, if not the best kind of chair to have. The guide was dismissed shortly after. Mika's eyes followed the guide as she walked off. The Rider's arms were crossed casually and her weight was shifted to one foot. She kinda looked like a secretary of someone she knew... Maybe not.

Tamiyo turned to her, and in response, she shifted her attention back to their leader. "Alright? Not sure how I can help, but I'll hear your idea out." Strange how she'd be pitching an idea to a grunt rather than her partner, but this worked for her.

[Tamiyo]

She clasped her hands together. "Down to business, then," she announced. "I'm gonna come right out and say that, as much enthusiasm as we've got going on around the crew, brains aren't really in the best supply. Even I don't have much to offer. 'Smarter guy' doesn't really give you credit. You and your friend are probably the only two here with sense." Tamiyo's smile had a bit less of the joy it carried a moment ago. "So this is less of a pitch and more of a call for advice. I won't even pretend that what we're thinking to do is legal, and so that got me thinking, 'why stop there?' Hangars and all that are expensive, and I doubt there's a Bandit Discount."

Tamiyo turned to look out the window behind her, through which the hangar they'd rented could be seen. "We've got men, we've got guns, and we've got plenty of enthusiasm. If we tried, we could probably just... take this place. We'd never pay for it again. Problem is, I've got no clue if we'd be able to hold it." She turned back to her employee and shrugged.

"I don't know this stuff as well as I should. Porkchop probably doesn't either. That's why I want your advice, as to whether this could actually happen. Someone who's been in at least one fight before would probably make a better decision than..." She gestured to herself and the office around her, giving a short laugh. "...well, whatever I'm supposed to be."

[Mika Roost]

Ambitious. Only word aside from crazy and a pipe dream. Surely she couldn't be serious? A space biker pirate gang can't just take a city like that. And with that lack of brains in the crew that she herself noted, there was no hope for that. Everyone just wants to go big, and often times they don't see where the line is drawn. At least she was concerned about it enough to be worried about how they would hold the city if they took it over.

She probably shouldn't be feeding this girl's dream, but if just said 'no' now, she's just going to get someone else's advice, and Mika didn't trust anyone else on the crew with that. Aside from Alex of course, but she might get carried away and over-complicate things.

Mika closed her eyes and sighed. "Alright. Let me think this through..."

How could she say this... well there's no point in making things sound like a cakewalk, and sugar-coating it will make it seem easier to accomplish than it actually would. "Unless we have the firepower, man power, and equipment of the army, taking this city will be just like planting a flag on a sand castle. That castle's going down the moment the tide rises. At most, we're going to have 12 hours of fun until it collapses. With what we have now, we won't be able to even get a flag.

"We're going to need to root ourselves into the system first before we can make any sort of take over. Forget gang wars, we need to inject ourselves into politics to truly bring this city down to its knees. Just to make it clear, we need to get someone who is already in politics to work for us. Paying them like you pay us may work, but we need insurance. There were one too many gangs here who were ended by the people they thought they had control over. I find that brothels and strip clubs lure in prominent new... employees for what we need. If you acquire one, it may be a good investment."

[Tamiyo]

The more Mika criticized the idea, the more Tamiyo found herself compulsively smiling, until her cheeks began to hurt and couldn't stop herself from laughing a small bit. "Oh, I like the way you think," she said once the critique was finally concluded. "Got your head all over the place, thinking about everything from manpower to politics, but, ah..."

She cleared her throat in an attempt to stifle her amusement. "I wasn't talking about the city, girl. I was talking about the hangar building." She set to laughing once again, until she calmed down enough to speak clearly once more. "I like the ambition, though! 'Bring the city to its knees' and such, real villain-esque!" She spun about in her chair as she considered the 'advice'. "But no, I wouldn't dare try something that big. Even I'm smart enough to know that wouldn't go anywhere."

[Mika Roost]

Whoops. Looked like she was the one going too big this time. Well that was embarrassing. "Apologies, but most of what I said still applied. We'll need to see whoever owns this property and convince him to give this place as a donation. Maybe as a payment for some protection? Or you know, just blackmail them."

She knew this was only a temporary solution unless they got something really good to act as their insurance.

"You should also consider what you're going to do to keep the police from annoying us. Our ship isn't exactly the most discrete thing in our arsenal."

[Tamiyo]

Tamiyo quickly dismissed the notion that their ship wasn't discreet. "Oh, I wouldn't worry so much about that. I've already got someone working on it."

-+=+=+-

"You, uh... sure this is what she asked?" the worker questioned, turning to the portly, shirtless man who was directing the crane crew, who then nodded. With a shrug and a sigh, the crane was set to lower the current world record-holder of 'largest bounce house' overtop of the Sentinel, concealing it in a dense layer of colorful, bouncy fun.

-+=+=+-

"They won't suspect a thing," Tamiyo concluded with a definitive confidence. "Of course, it probably won't be needed, now that we've talked this through. Like you said, it'll take some prep before we try something so big." She took a phone from the desk and began sifting through a list of phone numbers in the building. "Good to know you've got these sorts of things thought out," she assured the Rider as she dialed in the number for the center hangar. "Hey, Porky? I'm gonna need you to call off the bounce house..."

[Mika Roost]

Mika simply shrugged. She'd been in the business since she was born, and all she was doing was repeating what she learned. Of course, if she wanted plans that would take some degree of precision, Alex would be the girl she wants advising her. If only communication wasn't so hard with other people.

Mika remained silent as Tamiyo was making a call, but she couldn't help but repeat what she heard. "Bounce house?" Why did she want a bounce house?

....

Whatever.

Probably best not to know.

[Tamiyo]

The phone was hung back in its place, and Tamiyo returned to the current conversation. "On another note, the new mods for the Sentinel are already being put in place, and most of the Bikes are verging on being done too. I was thinking that, since we don't really have anything set in stone yet, you and your friends might be able to work out some... contingency plans. Damage control, for when things go wrong during a fight. Your girlfriend is pretty much one of our lead engineers anyway, and you seem to know your way around the gear, and you clearly work well together. Thing is, one good team won't make up for an army of imbeciles."

"You saw them out there, I'm sure," she pressed, standing up from her chair and stepping to the window. "I'm not even trying to flatter, but without a few level-headed pilots out there, they wouldn't have lasted. Considering you three were responsible for getting the big one off the ship, maybe I wouldn't." She turned to the Rider once again. "I'm asking you to train them. Engies can get them running the machines, but theories and instruction manuals can't teach someone to really use them, if that makes any sense."

She held out a hand over the desk to shake. "So what do you say? Think you could head our Prep Team, and make sure people know what to do once they're in the air?"

[Mika Roost]

She wanted Mika to be the one training them? Mika could already see how much of a headache this would be, but it will be necessary to whip this crew into shape. They wouldn't last in a real fight. It was a miracle most of them survived their first excursion. That's going to get to their heads for sure.

"I'll do what I can to improve them, but they will be sore, bruised and injured. I wouldn't be surprised if some decide to leave. If it makes you feel better knowing that, think of it as carving away the fat and saving the lean. Those who stay are the only ones who deserve what they're given here." She reached over and shook their boss' hand.

"And for the record, that was my sister. The creeps in this gang don't need another fantasy brewing in their minds."

[Tamiyo]

Tamiyo didn't seem bothered by the idea that they'd lose people. "So long as you keep the good ones, I won't complain. After all, that's fewer people for me to pay, which means more funding for seatbelts." The statement that Alex was actually Mika's sister took her by surprise, however.

"Is that so?" she pondered, finding it rather difficult to believe. After some time to process the truly outlandish information, she shrugged. "Eh, whatever. I still ship it." With a smile, she looked over for praise on her joke. "Hey, get it? 'Cause we use ships, and..." She gave up, and chose not to press the matter.

"Oh, and one last thing, before I forget: You see, Porkchop told me he's got some special gear stashed away we can use for a little project of mine. I'll talk to you more about it later, but think of it as a sort of... propaganda stunt. Something to get eyes on us, so we can get recruiting. For now, you can go do whatever it is you were gonna do before I called you here. Woo that 'Joe' fellow, maybe." She gave a shooing motion with one hand, and used the other to push off from her desk, sending the chair into another few spins.

Everyone loves spinny chairs.

[Mika Roost]

'Still ship it?'

Geez, this kid's got strange fantasies in that head of hers... Did the crew rub off on her, or was she this screwed to begin with? Judging how this crew came to be, she couldn't tell which would be the likeliest culprit, and at this point she was afraid to ask. This kid's just painting herself as a creeper's target as far as she was concerned.

There was then a last addition to her line. Something about "special" equipment and publicity stunts to recruit some new riders...

Okay?

That may not be the smartest thing to do, but it could work, or it could backfire horribly and they'd be targeted by both police and rival gangs, but her train of thought was derailed when she hinted that Mika was even slightly interested in John. "Please. That boy's only after a roll in bed. Better watch out, with how the others are blowing up his ego after that victory, he might try to get it on with you."

[Tamiyo]

"Pff, let him try," Tamiyo replied, giving her chair another spin. "Pretty sure Porkchop'd put a couple bolts through his face if he even implied anything. He's got a bit of a thing for fraternization." A light 'ding' sounded from under her desk, and she reached down to open the door of what was probably a small oven. From inside, she drew a freshly-toasted sandwich. It was yet another allusion to the expensive nature of the office. In her eyes, whether there was a miniature sandwich oven was critical information when purchasing estate of any kind."That'd be my lunch break, which means you should get to yours. We'll be allowing some time for the Sentinel to get fixed up and all the mods to be put in place, so enjoy your first paycheck in the meantime."

[Mika Roost]

"Oh trust me, he'll try."

She heard something ding and raised an eyebrow as their leader fiddled with something under her desk. Wait, she had a toaster under there? Unbelievable. She was dismissed and in response she nodded.

"I'll take my leave then." Mika turned and headed straight for the door. Alex should be waiting by the exit, so that's where she went to directly. Wouldn't she be surprised to hear about what they talked about there.

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