Jun 12 15:45:30 108 PA - Change of Heart, Hoping for the Better
From Chronicles
Jun 12 15:45:30 108 PA.
TRADEWINDS COFFEE SHOP
Three in the afternoon is a good time to do business, unless you're a bookie, in which case one in the morning is a good time. Gabriel is not a bookie. In fact, he's sitting at one of the tables in Tradewinds that's pressed up against one of the large glass windows. A two-seat deal, one on either side; a third at a perpendicular and everyone willing to knock knees. Before him is a very large cup, and there is a vertical-flipping notebook and pencil next to the saucer. Otherwise, he seems to just be relaxing and watching the teenage D-bee behind the counter continue to get orders wrong.
Bartholemew comes lookin round the Tradewinds coffee shop for a good cup of coffee and a certain someone whom he is supposed to meet, and what do ya know, there he is and Bart spots him almost immediately. He gives a wave and goes over to the counter for the coffee before eventually coming on over and taking a seat across from Gabriel. He sips on the coffee before speaking, can't mess up a coffee black too badly. "Howdy, how's it going for you?" he greets in a friendly manner.
Before speaking, or at least *while* speaking, Gabriel extends a hand in greeting. "Hi, Bartholemew. Thanks for coming, I know that just about everyone else has better things to do," he says with a mockingly self-loathing tone. "I'll try not to keep you, just really two categories of question for you, and they might end up to be short or long in and of themselves. So. I'll just get started, and yeah, I'm probably going to ask some annoyingly prying questions, and I apologize for that. How many people ended up signing on with you?"
Bartholemew gives the man a hearty handshake then a shrug as he ends his schpeel. "Whatever. Two." he replies simply to Gabe's question before asking his own, "Heard you took the varmint job from Losk, figure anything out on them bony critters?"
"Yeah, I think that I was the first one there. But not yet. Just that they look as if they apparently look like they're made of bones, they move fast, they may or may not come at night and in groups of two or three, they move quickly, they have clawed feet, and apparently like goat and pollo. You're on the job too?" Gabriel smiles. "Two who, Bella and Valeriya? If you don't mind, I'd like to hear more about how it's coming along - maybe float out my resume to you."
Bartholemew grins with a nod, "Yup, talked to him this mornin. Gonna be campin out and try and catch one of these buggers. Yup on the second part too. Seems to be working out so far, still missing a few key elements, but there's time for growth still. You reconsidering signing on? Still love to have ya on board, but I been hearin you don't really care for some of the people I been hangin with. I don't want any problems should we work together, but you're more than welcome to your opinion."
Gabriel blushes a tad and shakes his head, but starts with the first, first. "Maybe I'll head out with you, no sense in both of us getting in the way of one another, right? I couldn't stay before this night because my weapons were... ah.. unavailable." Shrug. "As for the business, it's true that Valeriya and I haven't exactly seen eye to eye on everything, but I think that she thinks I have a lot more against her than I do. I consider her something of an 'acquired taste.' You want to spit her out when you taste her, but after a while, she might not be your favorite, but you'll swallow her. Figuratively. Bella? She's a great friend, spend a lot of time together, actually. I'll pause to let you talk now," the older fellow says with an amused wink.
Bartholemew smiles with a nod to what he says, "Doesn't seem too much a problem then, just a bit of a personality difference. No big deal. You know how the grapevine is." sipping his hot coffee a bit. "We should be able to do much more working together than, like you put it, gettin in each others way. I got a few people checkin on what the critters might be, could use a good woodsman, but I think we gonna be short on that less your some sort of woodsman. My plan is an aerial surveillance and traps. Not sure how the traps will work though, I'm not much of a trapper, but the ideas are sound and should work in theory."
"Interesting plans, particularly if we have two air-capable units," Gabriel says, reverting momentarily to the pesky pesk problem. "I'm assuming that they'll show up on thermal. After my little time travel, I'm afraid that I forgot a lot of things, like wilderness tracking and trapping. In a city, sure. But once you find the buggers, killing something's killing something. Long as they don't have some special ability - that pisses me off all the time - they should be easy. Particularly from two sides." He sips from what is a decidedly sweetened coffee. "So without trying to pin you to details or anything, particularly not knowing much more about me than what's apparently on the grapevine... would you be interested in perhaps making the trio a quartet?"
Bartholemew nods with a smile, "I'm thinking the same on the critters. As for a quartet, I'm not much a singer, but I think that would work out good for all of us concerned." giving a light chuckle. "Got a lot of things coming up, hope your willing to travel." giving a grin as he sips his coffee.
Gabriel pulls a neatly folded piece of paper from out of one of his larger chest pockets and straightens it out on the table after having pushed his mug and saucer aside. The pencil that'd been sitting on the table is picked up, and various lines of neat penned text are pointed at. "Ten years US Marine Raiders, operated just about everywhere there was something to be killed, destroyed or stolen as a small unit, seven men to a unit, I was a unit leader. So a lot of travel. A further ten years with the CIA, primarily urban operations, the kinds of blacker black ops than people like to admit to, which is why people like you and I get hung out to dry when shit happens." He raises an eyebrow as if to confirm. "Won't claim to have been the best shot in the Corps, but I always shot expert, ACT, commanded my own training unit... it's all here, as are decorations, if you care. I personally have found that they're pretty, but meaningless." He clears his throat and then makes sure that he has Bart's eye. "The official 2nd Raider Battalion motto was 'Gung Ho!' but my small unit kept to Dumas - 'One for All, and All for One.' I can leave this for you."
Bartholemew nods giving only a glance to the piece of paper, "You can keep all that. I look at it this way, ya want a shot to make some cash killing, stealing, escorting what the client wants, I'll give ya a chance. Specially if your bringin your own rifle to the mix. I've seen you in combat. I feel safe with you at my side. If I had my doubts, I'd put ya on a small escort duty to see what ya can do. I'm willing to train anyone wanting to sign on for at least a year. Been trying to recruit some from the refugee camp, but no luck yet there. I figured I'd be able to find someone wanting to fight back. I'll keep trying though."
"Well then, I'd like to know more about details, but for now consider my hat in the ring. Just for some uninvited advice, keep it small and don't bring in untrained people. It'll be a waste of your effort for a long time, unless you're looking for cannon fodder. But I won't tell you how to run your outfit. You have something in the works right now?" Gabriel packs the paper away. "So yeah, this guy Losk. I've put some feelers out about the information on the buggers, because I haven't been able to track down Rasputin yet. Figure he's probably best to speak with. At least, best that I'm aware of when it comes to identifying by description."
Bartholemew chuckles at the mention of Rasputin, "Already talked with him. And Sage. Both are looking into it for us. Sage thinks she knows, but has to check a book to be sure." taking a moment to sip his coffee, "After this varmint extermination, I got a trip planned to Tolkeen, to bring some food and medical supplies up that way. Also looking into some other things happening out in Laramy and Whykin. I'm sure you heard about the drug run to Whykin that got through, I got some ideas on who is doin all of that. Got some in town escorts bein set up too. Should be finalizing one here in the next week or so."
"Huh, hadn't thought of Sage. She's a mystery to me. At this point, considering who's died, she's probably the person in the city I've known the longest, but I still feel like I know very little about her. Apparently she knows her creatures, too? Who knew?" Gabriel offers a smirk before sipping once more at his sweetened coffee. "I'll be honest with you, I knew that you had or I should say, have, a thing planned to Tolkeen. Or at least the Tolkeen area. Just came up in talking with Galvin - nice guy, does good work. I actually volunteered to ride shotgun guard for him - for free - if he was concerned that he might end up out somewhere alone." The man brushes his graying hair and offers, "He wasn't worried. So when's that run, it's a long distance. The drug thing? Yeah, I heard about that. I'll admit though, drugs have been run since the beginning of time. They want to do it? Eh." He offers a brief shrug. "Human trafficking? That'd be different. But drugs? I don't like 'em, but I don't really care. Anyway, when do you leave... and should I gear up?"
Bartholemew replies to the question, "Tolkeen is after helpin out Losk. Just working out final details of the route, with so many magic types, it ain't gonna be wise to run straight through CS territory. Bound to run into a Psi squad along the way. Any others we could prolly bullshit our way by. We can talk more out on the farm, where it be just us. The drug trafficking kinda goes hand in hand with the human trafficking. I plan to stop both altogether here. I know who the players are, just missing a few details to catch em off guard."
Gabriel bobs his head once or twice. "I've been trying to knot up modern geography. Like I said, I've been all over God's green Earth, so even if you - or we - have to run through Coalition territory, I might know a pass or such that's usually unnoticed. I guess that's one advantage of not knowing your age," rolls right into a chuckle. "I'll be a bit of a liability to the team though in that regard - I am ancient. I don't know all of the things to watch for. But like you said, we can talk more on the farm. Anyway. I usually just walk when I need to get somewhere, but I can fly a 'pack just fine, thanks to a friend. You?" He narrows his eyes mockingly. "You don't sprout wings or anything, do you?"
Bartholemew chuckles heartily, "Nah, no wings. Skycycle if I need to fly. Triax Type-B Hover Truck for ground. I'm just the typical grunt, did my tour fightin the Coalition and now lookin to make my own way, an if I can still stick it to the Coalition, I sure as hell will, an walk away with their gear in the process, god willing. Well, I still got some gear to load up on the truck and then I'll be heading out. Val should be hooking up with us soon as she is done her own research into those critters. You got a radio?"
"Got one of these," Gabriel says, patting a cigarette pack-sized communicator on his hip, "and a PRC-5 if you need be out to about ten miles. So it'll be three of us hunting bony critters? I was hoping to make this a one-trip finish, go in perhaps a little overloaded. You and Val have anything more complex in mind? And.. truck? Are we riding in style?" Apparently he is now including himself in a group.
Bartholemew grins as he rises from the bench finishing off his coffee, "Good deal. I think the three of us with a Skycycle and the other gear I am bringing, should be way overloaded for some barnyard pests. Bella may join us, haven't gotten a hold of her yet though, so it may be four of us. After this I'm hopin I can finally fully load the bike, right now limited on missile firepower, but it's got plenty of sensors and the turret works just fine. I'll catch ya out there, gimme a holler when your bout out there. I may be setting up the motion detectors and traps when ya get there."
"Will do, Bart, thanks for listening. Hope I work out. Anyway, see you 'round the barnyard." Gabriel lifts his mug in salute, then scratches some things down into his notepad.
