Feb 27 22:25:10 107 PA - Shelter from the weather
From Chronicles
The current game time is: Mon Feb 27 22:25:10 107 PA.
Weather at Mon Feb 27 22:25:15 107 PA (-9.86C, 14.25F): The day's weather is a little frosty today. Normally this wouldn't be such a big deal but there's a very strong wind out on an over clouded day, and with it heavy rainfall. In the summer this wouldn't be much of a problem but in the winter this is a prime setting for rapidly forming ice on the roads, trees and everything else. If it lasts too long the ice build up can quickly bring down trees, power cables, and even potentially cause severe damage to houses. The end result makes for very hazardous and unfriendly weather to be out in. The first quarter moon hangs overhead.
With the rain and wind making operations for the little VFR planes difficult - even deadly - the things have been packed up into the hangar again so they don't ice over. Jack is in one of the hangar offices, a small TV playing on one corner of the desk as he does some paperwork. It's easy to tell he's there, the windows are fairly large and the lights are on.
Buisness has been slow for Galvin today and has been mostly fiddling and working with his own projects. A little bored and looking for someone to talk to he goes to find Jack. Not seeing him in the hanger he goes to knock on one of the office windows.
Jack turns around one way, then the other in the chair, and waves Galvin in. "Hey" he says - the office is naturally nice and warm inside, and ... dry. The small fridge probably contains goodies. "Grab yourself a beer if you like."
Galvin moves to the door and opens it up as he walks into the office. "Her Jack. Sorry thought I would get out of the rain and come say hi." He mentions as he walks over to the fridge and takes out a beer. Twisting off the top he takes a sip of it before walking over to a chair and taking a seat. "How have you been?"
"Great, great ... crummy weather for flying, mate" Jack replies after watching Galvin take the beer. "It sucks. These babies don't want to be sittin' in here, but they're also not flyable in this weather. How about yourself? How is business going?"
Galvin nods his head as he laughs softly. "Well crummy weather for a lot of things really." He replies while taking another sip from the beer. "Pretty good. I got some armor that needs fixing so I've been doing that. Not the hardest work but it pays ok as well." He shrugs his shoulders before adjusting his glasses.
"Yeah, that's good, pretty good" Jack nods, giving Galvin a thumbs up. "There was this lass here too, she changed into a big man-eatin' cat."
Galvin raises an eyebrow and shakes his head slightly. "Well that isn't any good. Go attacking people did she? Dammed magic users are pretty unpredictable." He frowns slightly as he leans back in his chair set his beer on the desk.
"Not really. I guess it was just unexpected, she was a cute lass too" Jack replies, cocking his frows up a little. "That's one way of not gettin' invited to dinner though I guess ... " he shakes his head a little and shrugs. "I suppose there's a lot of strange people here."
Galvin laughs softly as he keeps shaking his head. "Well haven't met anyone too strange yet, but I haven't really met all that many people. I guess I need to get out and socialize more or something." He picks his beer off the desk and takes a long drink of it. "Well I guess if she was cute maybe you could take her home and get her a giant cat bed or something."
"Huh ... who's clean up all the fur?" Jack retorts, cocking a brow up. "Actually, that reminds me, I still need to rent ... the smell of kerosene might be nice in the morning but I don't like smellin' like it" he nods. "I've not met too many others myself. This Cel woman, that's it I think. I saw abunch of people when the junk exploded, but I left ... since it exploded."
"Or even worse the furballs?" Galvin says with a little laugh as he idly swigs from his beer. He nods his head slowly as he uses his finger to adjust his glasses. "You know depending on rents maybe if you need a roommate that might work out. As long as you didn't mind me doing some work at home."
"And she wears a -skull- on her head!" Jack adds matter-o-factly. "Maybe, I dunno. If that's the case, why settle on the Raleigh?" he suggests, shrugging his shoulders. "Just keep the noise down the you bring the girls over, right?" he winks.
"A skull? well that is just nutty. Huh well takes all sorts I guess." Galvin says while shaking his head slightly. "Well just an idea." He says before laughing and shaking his head again. "Not to worry about that. I don't have any dates lined up yet."
"A big cat-skull" Jack confirms, holding his hands up to show how big it was. Probably not that big, given that the woman was small also. "Yeah, I figure it's best to be ready for the future, you know?" he shrugs slightly. "I figure I'll be spending most of the time here, but who knows."
Galvin looks at how big the skull was and he laughs softly and takes a long drink of his beer. "Why would you want to wear a skull on your head?" He asks with a little amusement. "Fair enough like I said just an idea. I think I'll be getting a place pretty soon."
"She said she was a Totem Warrior, or something like that" Jack explains, shrugging. "Yeah, sounds good. Hopefully work here will pick up some but with the weather like this, it doesn't sound likely. I figure I might end up haulin' cargo here and there."
Galvin shrugs his shoulders again. "Well I'm not sure what that is or what that means." He says while leaning back in his chair in Jack's office. He has a beer in one hand while he chats with the other fellow. "Well I'm sure it will warm up here pretty soon. It is the end of Feburary after all. Where you going to haul cargo to?"
With the rain and wind making operations for the little VFR planes difficult - even deadly - the things have been packed up into the hangar again so they don't ice over. Jack is in one of the hangar offices, a small TV playing on one corner of the desk as he talks with Galvin. It's easy to tell they're there, the windows are fairly large and the lights are on.
"Somewhere nice I hope" says Jack, his expression setting for a moment before he laughs. "Roit. I don't think there anywhere nice to fly -over-, let alone to, but who knows, eh? Take things up to twenty, maybe fourty thousand feet and no one's gonna bother you."
Galvin nods his head slowly as he considers what Jack has to say. "I bet you'll get a lot of contracts to fly things to Tolkeen or the surronding area. Be careful I think the Coalition can bother you even up that high."
"I don't think I want to fly there, actually ... sounds like a bad idea to me" Jack muses, "I s'pose if it was an evac or something like that I could give it a shot, but otherwise I don't feel like getting involved in that war. I don't know much about it, anyway."
The throaty rumble of a truck that's lacking in repair work for a time is heard outside. Louder than normal after a few moments as it pulls right up, almost next to the way into the office. The battered NTI Diplodicus idles a few moments before the engine is shut off with a grateful rattle before the drivers side door opens up. Zero hops out and darts for the door, slipping quickly in with just a moment of exposure to the rain. He quickly shuts it against the wind, a firm slam before he breathes out and relaxes. "A damn mess out there for sure," he says, without looking back towards the occupants.
Galvin looks at Jack with a slightly skeptical look. "Wow that seems to be what everyone is talking about these days. Sounds like it is going to be pretty brutal. I know everyone in Merctown was both looking forward to it and dreading it." Galvin says before shrugging his shoulders and turns his head to see what all the noise is about. He spots Zero and recognizes the other man.
"It's pretty bad, from the looks of it there were a lot of people involved. I don't know merctown-" Jack starts, then he turns towards the newcomer as well, cocking his head to the side slightly. "Hello mate" he greets, "It is a mess. What can I do for you?"
Zero breathes out as he turns to face the two and see just who he's busted in on. He grins a little at Galvin. "Hey man, fancy running into you here." He then considers Jack and wonders, "Could you open up the big doors? Got a load here for some of the planes. A bit late, I know, but someone screwed up, so I got stuck trying to get this down here." He thumbs out towards the truck. "Some minis. Already paid for and all that. Just have to offload them."
Galvin laughs and shakes his head while a sly little expression is on his face. "Heck I live on the landing stirp pretty much." He raises his beer up and gestures to Zero with it. He sits up a bit to get a better look at the truck and the load in the back. "What do you mean by minis?"
Jack was about to ask the same, too. "Do you have your paperwork? I just fly things, I don't really handle most of the ground things, but maybe I can help you out. And yes - what minis?" he asks curiously.
"Mini-missiles," Zero replies with a grin. "Standard payload. I have the papers from the Gunnery, just didn't want to get them wet in this mess. The containers are solid though. Got stuck with this cause I'm the one with the truck, I think." His grin turns a touch rueful. "If you let me in, I can show it and we can tuck the boxes away. Just four of them. Could use a little help moving them, if that isn't too much to ask."
Galvin opens his mouth and lets out an "Ah" while nodding his head. Turning his head to Jack he adjusts his glasses before asking. "Need any help unloading them?" He raises up his beer to his lips and finishes it off and sets it down on the table. He stands up from the chair in case his help is needed.
"Sure, okay - after I see them papers" Jack replies, "And we'll have to open the containers and count things, too" he points out, brows hiking up a touch. "That's just the way it's done."
Galvin rolls his head from side to side as he waits for Jack to take a look over the paperwork. He adjusts his glasses again and looks out the window and the rain coming down. "What are teh dimensions of your truck bed Zero?" He asks as he looks over the truck with a discerning eye.
Jack does take the papers, blinking his eyes and clearing his throat before having a thorough look. "Yes, no countin' in the rain. Not fun ... " he comments as his eyes scan for things here and there, and then he hands the papers back. "Okay, bring her in - I'll open the doors" he says, getting up and going to the other door now, which leads inside the hangar. From there, he starts to open the doors unil there's plenty of room for the truck to come in.
"Oh, she's not real big," Zero replies. Indeed, the NTI Diplodocus is an standard sized pickup style truck with an 8.5 foot bed. Not very big. Though this one looks like it needs some significant body work. He grins at Jack then and nods. "Alright, be good to get this mess done with." He turns and slips out then, hopping back into the six wheeled pickup. He pulls in once the big door is open enough, pulling in just enough to turn and back up until the truck is wholly in the hangar. He comes back out and grins a little. "The boxes are about eighty pounds, but we should be able to scoot them into a corner so they can get handled in the morning, yeah?" He looks to Galvin, then Jack.
Galvin follows Jack into the Hanger and stands against the side as the truck gets pulled into the hanger. Smiling he walks over to the back of the truck and waits until Zero opens the back of the truck. "I'm just here to help unload." He says with a little grin as he looks over to Jack for directions.
"Yeah, it should be easy enough" Jack cocurs, and moves to the truck once it is stopped to help carry the cargo to its place. "Don't stack it yet, count it first. You don't wanna come back and wonder where that box or item went, you wanna be sure you had it" he comments. "Actually lets lock them in the closet."
Zero nods to Jack and comes around behind to drop the tailgate. "No problem, I'll just get them pushed to the edge, you can have a look, then both of you can get it on the ground. THen we'll get them all locked up after everything is counted." He grins and vaults himself up. Four largish crates of a plastic-like material are settled in and Zero works to push the first to the back edge for inspection. He's not a real strong guy, but he gets it there.
"Sounds good" says Jack, opening the first one for inspection after it is on the floor, "Have a look" and then, looking up, "Those must have all cost a pretty penny, huh" he muses, looking back down to count the merchandise.
"Yeah, I bet," Zero says. "Seems to cost a lot of credits to buy ways to kill a man. Would have a lot more spending cash on the finer things in life if people would just lay off 'em, you think?" He grins, grunting as he slides the second to the edge. Breathing out lowly as it reaches the spot. "But I suppose that's the sort of world it is. Me, I'm just glad to have three squares and a warm place to lay my head. I suppose a warm someone is an extra treat at that." He considers that as he eases back to start pushing the third.
Galvin leans over one of the open crates and picks up one of the mini-missles as soon as he touches it he nods his head quickly. "Yep this is a good one. The propellant is all there as well as the warhead. The firing componets are new and well made. It is a good product." He says before putting the missle back in the case carefully. He turns back to Jack and Zero and gives them both a nod of his head.
Jack counts missiles and writes it down, then shuts the crate after Galvin gives his appraisal; he moves to the next one. "These are pretty expensive, but I think knives kill more people than these things, at least when there isn't a exchange of such happening ... I could be wrong though" he opines, hming at Zero and looking to the next crate, then Galvin, and moving to carry it together as well, followed by an inspection.
"I suppose you're right on that. More people got knives than missiles. Well.. things might get a bit skewed with all that war stuff." Zero grimaces, though not only because of the third crate. "I know I won't be using any hardware like this for a while." He pauses as he gets the third into place for drawing down and inspection. "THough I suppose I'm a cog in the machine, working where I work, you think?" He sits back a moment, considering that. "Maybe."
Galvin nods his head as he follows Jack around to help with the inspection. "Really I think disease kills more people then anything else. Unclean water or bad food, or just a simple plague clears out lots of people." He offers as an opinion as he Helps Jack finish off inspecting and moving the crates.
"Heh, ain't we all ... " Jack mutters, looking around the missiles, and then writing the count down as well. He looks to Galvin and nods, "I suppose that's right as well, it makes sense. Where I come from, things are definitely skewed, though I hate to say it mate" and of course, with that, the second crate is moved away, and onto the third crate it is! "Stupid war. Sounds like people have nothing better to do than to kill each other. The armies taking part, I heard, are bigger than anything before. It's stupid."
"Won't get no disagreements from me, man." Zero says to Jack, a nod given to Galvin for his two cents. "Be a lot more people around if all that army money was.. like, disease fighting money. Or whatever those doctors do with it." He ambles behind hte fourth and final crate, shoving it slower to give time for the third to be tended. "But not much to be done for it. The big wigs don't tend to listen to sensible folk like us. Maybe you have to be a little crazy to run the show."
Galvin shakes his head and frowns. "Well the Coalition wants to expand and it will roll over anyone in it's way. I wouldn't be surprised if Kingsdale was next." He shrugs his shoulders and looks disgusted. "Unless something happens to check the Coaltion they will kill everyone they don't like." He keeps moving as he is talking helping Jack out with the crates of mini-missles.
"Oh, those guys. "Zero grimaces. "I hope they don't come down around here, that'd be pretty bad news, you know? I just got settled here, wouldn't want to move again." A casual little bit of amusement there and the rest of the offloading goes well. The four crates are dragged to the lock up and Jack lingers back there to tend to things. Zero heads back to his truck, but doesn't seem in a hurry to leave just yet, hopping onto the tailgate for a rest.
"Well if Laramy starts to complain or wants to expand I bet the Coalition will support them, but I bet we are safe until the war gets resolved at least." Galvin mentions as he walks up to the truck and hangs out while Jack is busy with paper work. He leans against Zero's truck casually.
"Yeah, probably," Zero replies thoughtfully. "I guess what you wanna hope is that the Coalition gets roughed up enough that they'll not be able to do much even if they win. If they win." He shrugs, having no idea either way on that. He sighs and shakes his head. "A big mess. Don't envy whoever has to clean up after all of 'em." He considers Galvin. "So besides all that, how are you doing?"
"I'm not sure what you mean about who gets to clean up after them all. I mean doesn't everyone have to deal with it?" Galvin asks with a raised eyebrow before adjusting his glasses, moving them up higher on his nose. "I guess I'm doing ok. I think I'm ready to move into an apartment. I still just need to decide between Golden Carafe or Raleigh's. Both places have enough room to let me work. I have some designs I want to work on."
Zero grins and nods his head. "I suppose that might be so.. I don't really know so much about wars. Never been in one and hopefully I never will. Heard all sorts of nasty stuff." He sighs and adds, "You working for someone in particular now? Or is this just fun projects? I have a few for fun projects myself, though I finished them up a little while ago."
"Well I find that is worth the time to keep yourself knowledgeable about what is going on, or you can get some nasty surprises." Galvin says with another shrug of his shoulders. "Oh I'm working on a few projects. I want to see about building a forcefield or something like it that I saw once in Merctown. I don't know if I can, but it will be an interesting project."
"Force field?" Zero's brows lift. "Like.. for protection? That'd be pretty cool. I hope you can get something like that working, that'd be pretty nice. Might buy one off you if I had enough credits by then to get one. That sort of protection would be pretty neat, you know?" He grins lightly nods. "Nothing I work on is that complex, but I never got deep into electrical gear. Just enough to get the job done for small projects."
Galvin shrugs his shoulders and nods his head quickly. "Sure there are already a couple of them about that are made by different people. I've seen a model and got to touch it so I have a good idea of how it works. It will take a while to get all the parts together but I think I can make one. I have a pretty complete knowledge of most areas of knowledge."
Zero grins and nods his head. "That's awesome, man. You might be able to turn a pretty penny off something like that around here. Don't see much of anything like that.. unless you count what the finger wigglers can call up. Though I haven't seen too much of that either." He nods his head and considers. "Wouldn't mind figuring out a meal ticket like that. Though I dunno.. not sure I could design anything like that. Something that people would buy like crazy, I mean."
Galvin laughs and shakes his head while he smiles with a bemused look. "Making one is one thing and anything I make is likely to be pretty big as a protype, but to make an efficent mass produced model I would need a heck of a lot more equipment for that. But if you want we could work on a project together. I have lots of ideas. I've seen a whole lot of cool toys out there. Merctown was full of them."
"Oh, I don't know," Zero replies. "Sounds a bit out of my league, stuff like that. I'm a decent engineer. Good with guns." He pauses, considering as he scratches his chin. "I suppose I might know enough to make one. But I never really tried before. Always seemed the sort of thing that'd take more time than I had before. I suppose I have more time now, you know? I guess if you wanted, I could try helping out with one. Worse to worse, I suppose I'd just waste a little time. Which I tend to do anyways."
Galvin smiles encouragingly to Zero as he nods his head. "Well how about we try making you a small laser pistol or ion pistol. I have an ion pistol that we can model it off of and we could try to build a similar model, or make changes how we see fit. It would be a fun project, and if nothing else we would learn quite a bit from the work."
"I could try it," Zero replies thoughtfully. "Don't think I have the credits to spare on parts, though." He looks to Galvin. "I might in a bit, but I still have to fix the old girl here up so she doesn't look so ragged and run so rough." He grins a little. "So much to do. Wasn't as much a problem before I had a job."
Galvin laughs again as he shrugs his shoulders and keeps smiling. "Well life tends to get more complicated not less complicated. At least that is what I've observed." He turns to the truck and looks at it for a moment. "Well if you want any help on the truck, I can help you out on that too."
"Well, part of it is body work." Zero turns his head to consider the rest of the truck. "That'll cost no matter what. More important is the engine. She may give in on me eventually, but so far she's hanging tough. Still getting prices on some parts. But I hope to be ready to tackle it soon. I can get in touch with you when I start working on it."
Jack is naturally kicking around somewhere in the hangar, probably collecting 100-credit bolts or something from the floor. Eventually he makes his way back, looking from one person to the other as he listens in.
"Sure thing. You should replace the timing belt though because it is about to go out." Galvin says in an offhand manner. "I'm guessing only about 50 more miles left on it, and you have other issues with it but I'm sure you don't want to hear it from me." He turns to look at the truck for a moment before turning to look at Jack and nodding his head to welcome the other man back.
Zero arches a brow at Galvin and wonders, "How do you know what's wrong with it?" The young man lightly bemused. He then notices Jack and grins. "Everything squared away now. If so, I think I might head back. Before someone sends out a search party or decides she'd rather brain me when I walk in than hug me." He slips off the tailgate.
"Alright, alright" Jack nods his head a little, "Safe trip and all" he says, "Probably a bit slippery out there so watch it" he moves towards the doors to close them once the truck departs. "I'll put your delivery in the system too, so there won't be any problems."
Galvin bites down on his lower lip while he adjusts his glasses on his face. "Uh just able to tell what is wrong with something. I'm just good with machines and computers. I just figured you would want to know about it before your belt went out. If you want I can replace it pretty easily." He mentions with a shrug of his shoulders. As Zero slips off the tailgate he closes his eyes for a moment and the truck starts up on it's own before he opens his eyes again and offers Zero a sly smile. Turning to Jack he shrugs his shoulders. "So when do you get off work? I owe you a beer. Want to go to the bar?"
Zero nods his head to Jack and grins. "Good good, thanks for that. I'll make sure its good on my end in the morning too," He says before looking to Glavin. The spontaneous starting of his truck and Galvin's actions along with prompt a surprised look from Zero. He considers the man a moment before looking to the truck again. "Thanks.. I'll check on that belt. And I'll get back at you later on the rest." The surprise melts into a soft bemusement and he shakes his head, grinning a little. "You two don't stay up too late. Better yet, find someone to keep you warm tonight." He grins, his causal nature rising again as he moves around to slip into the drivers seat.
"Roit ... " Jack exhales, cocking a brow up at the commentary, "'Fraid she gulps kerosene though ... or wears a skull. Neither's good" he looks to Galvin then, and hmms, "Now? I guess there ain't much to do. Once you check these, they're good for a little while until they're flown."
Galvin laughs again as he shakes his head and walks over to the last crate and checks out the missles before nodding his head. "Same quality as the others." He leans back and shrugs his shoulders. "Well like I said up to you, but it seems like a good evening to warm our bones with a drink or five."
And after the six wheeled truck starts up, rattling and groaning with annoyance, Zero eases back out into the elements. He does drive cautiously. Not taking the superior traction of the vehicle for granted as he rolls back into the heart of the city.
"Hm, booze is good, but it's gettin' late too" Jack says, "I think I'll have to pass for tonight" he grunts as he closes the doors, and dusts his hands of. "Or maybe I just have a phobia of chicks now, ahahahah!" that's said with quite a bit of humour, then a pause. "What's good around here, anyway?"
Galvin shrugs his shoulders with good humor and nods his head. "Well the Nut and Bolt is a pretty good mechanics bar though the music can get a bit loud, but not a bad place. A few cute looking girls in there to." He turns and starts making his way to the door. "See you around Jack."
"Sounds good, I'll have to check it out some time" Jack replies and waves then, "Have a good night, mate, see you tomorrow I imagine. Good luck with gettin' a place, too."
