Gearing, wearing his custom flight suit made for his small frame but under none of the enchantments they’ve been working on to cover up his brassy nature, sits in the middle of one of Stormfront’s maintenance bay slots. One where a wagon would normally be parked. Instead he’s taken over the entire slot, and converted it into an equipment repair assembly line. At first it was just a compromise to keep him busy, but it’s rapidly grown to be far more than that. It’s a full blown workshop in and of itself. And anything that he might need that’s not actually in the bay, or in the racks he’s built around it, he can simply walk over to one of the base’s equipment and use that. Though that’d take some supervision and added permissions to do so.

But here, in his workshop, he can do what he wishes for the most part. He has a variety of pieces -weapons, armor, mechanical components to other war machines- all laid out in various stages of work along the surfaces of the improvised tables that he has taking up most of the floor space of the maintenance bay slot.

The unit as a whole has taken advantage of Gearing’s abilities and specific situation by having him simultaneously fix things, while learning how to fix others. He works on one piece, as much as he can, then sets it aside for inspection and further instructions from either Hammer or Static as he starts or picks up working on the next piece. A one pony disassembly and reassembly line with enough supervisors and oversight to make even the analest of bureaucrats happy.

Which has been such a valuable boon to the team that they’ve caught up on repairs enough that they can easily afford to sacrifice an entire bay to Gearing’s whims, as, for once, not even half of their bays are full of equipment in need of repairs. Even more so since Hammer and Static can focus on the bigger problems, and leave the tedium, even as much of it as there is, to Gearing.

As Gearing is taking apart a massive beam rifle, and Hammer walks down his long line of tables making notes on the provided papers as needed, Snake and Mouse sit playing checkers in front of the bay watching Tower work out by lifting some of the heavier boxes. They share a large glass of lemonade, by flash turning into a female griffon and a tan mare earth pony respectively, as they shamelessly enjoy the view of the sweaty muscly earth pony going about his training regimen.

Cross walks in through the main door to the central chamber and curves around towards the maintenance bay slot that has become the squad’s de facto hangout spot while not on duty. As she’s getting closer to the bay, Tower yells out, “Hey, Cross! Wanna lend me a hoof and jump on my back to add some more weight?”

Cross looks at him with an arched eyebrow before rolling her eyes and shaking her head. “No.”

Mouse looks at Snake and asks, “Would it be poor form if I volunteered to take her place?”

Cross, Hammer, and Snake say, in unison, “Yes, yes it would.”

Mouse raises their forehooves up and to the side as they grin and don’t take their eyes off the rippling muscles of the buck. “Can’t blame a gal for tryin’…”

Cross’s phantasmal telekinetic folded paper appears and swats Mouse on the top of the head as she says, “Don’t go causing problems, Mouse.”

Tower looks over at her and grins widely as he asks, “Awww, you don’t need to get jealous. I already offered you.” He straightens up and then starts flexing his chest, foreleg, and shoulder muscles as he says, “Any time you want,” and then gives her a wink.

A wink that draws another eye roll from Cross, and an even wider grin from Mouse as they obviously think about it themselves.

Hammer waves a hoof as she says, “Tower, I don’t know why you bother trying.”

Tower straightens up and flexes his biceps as he bellows a hearty laugh. “Because muscles like these are hard to contain!” He flexes some more in a variety of poses as he looks at Cross. “It’s okay, you can touch them…” He winks at her and says in a lower tone. “Allll you waaaant.”

Mouse stretches far over, their eyes going wide with excitement as their grin becomes massive. Just before their hoof lands on the muscles on the side of Tower’s chest, the phantasmal paper reappears and swats the hoof away, then starts swatting Mouse until they recoil back towards the checkers board with Snake. Cross glares at Mouse and says, “We just said it’d be poor form… Knock it off.”

Mouse points at Tower with both forehooves and moans out in a soft sad tone of practical lust, “But look at those beauties! They're just begging for a good petting!” They look over at Cross and grin as they partially close their eyes and swish their flank as they say, “I know I am too…”

Mouse gets a few more swats from Cross for their trouble, but doesn’t really care as they’re apparently already lost in another fantasy.

Tower chuckles as he says, “How could you possibly say ‘no’ to these muscles though?”

Cross rolls her eyes as she waves it away dismissively. “That would not be appropriate considering you are my direct subordinate.”

“And then there’s the other problem,” Gearing comments as he finally gets the beam rifle in half and starts comparing it’s internal circuitry to a diagram he has spread out on the table under it.

Mouse looks over at him and asks with their soft sweet voice, “What other problem?”

Gearing shrugs as he says flatly, “He’s not her type, it’s pretty obvious.”

They all stare at him and the sudden lull in conversation makes him look up at them from the weapon he’s working on, and that’s when he sees the completely horrified look on Tower’s face. After looking them all over, Gearing continues, “Tower’s body type is of the ‘big muscular’ variety. The ‘big and brawny’ archetype. The strong buck that takes up a lot of space and can be intimidating for others to even look at. While, genetically, some are drawn to that for the hope, on some level, that their children would inherit such a body, and the perceived notion of health that that comes with, not everyone is.” He points a hoof over to Cross as he shakes his head. “Cross is one that that just doesn’t strike her fancy… so… that’s why she doesn’t seem interested… because she’s not!”

Cross stares at him coolly with a raised eyebrow as she starts calculating just what this little pegasus is up to with this stunt.

Hammer leans over towards Gearing and asks, “Well, what is her type then?” Cross shoots her a dirty look and Hammer giggles as she says, “Sorry, not sorry! This is getting juicy!”

Gearing waves a hoof around dismissively as he goes back to the beam rifle under his snoot. “Given Cross’s penchants and mentality? I’d say her type is almost the exact opposite of Tower… He’s the big burly earth pony type. Not an idiot by any means, but probably, from a visual side of things at least, probably strikes the same chord… sooo. “He scratches his chin a bit as he looks up at the support structure above him that he’s converted into extra storage for materials before looking down at the Beam rifle again.

“So, from what I’ve seen… I’d say her type is a buck more on the petite side. Probably with a smaller frame than her? Maybe even younger at that? Not that she has a dominance issue, that’s just what she enjoys… Aaaand given how she is around learning and such, but lacking a superiority complex and the need to be validated by keeping someone under her that that would bring, I’d believe she’s looking for a mate that is rather intelligent as well. Maybe even the soft spoken sweet type? Since she’s serious when she needs to be, but otherwise likes to enjoy herself, and would want a mate to fall in line with those kinds of desires that is.” He nods his head as he continues taking the rifle apart according to the diagram. “Yeah, that’d make sense… and, if we’re going by opposites… probably would also need to be a flier… Which would be reinforced by her consistent desire for things she doesn’t get to enjoy often herself…” He carefully removes the beam rifle’s focusing assembly as he says, “So a highly intelligent, small framed, fun loving, young buck, that can fly…”

Everyone stares at him as he continues working.

Tower narrows his eyes as he asks, “Did you just intentionally describe yourself?”

Gearing looks up at him and raises an eyebrow. “What?”

Hammer nods as she giggles then says, “Yeah, Nitro… you just completely described yourself.”

Gearing looks over at her and blinks a few times as he asks, “… No I didn’t?”

Mouse snickers with a hoof demurely covering their muzzle before they ask, “So, Cross, you have the hots for our little technician in training, huh?”

Cross rolls her eyes as she walks into the bay, shakes her head, and scrunches her muzzle to the side. “What? Ew, no! He’s like my little brother! That’d be too weird!” She rolls her eyes and looks over at Mouse. “He’s just been spending too much time in the psychology and life sciences sections of the library… Trying to psychoanalyze, and just getting it plain wrong.”

Gearing looks over at Mouse as he says, “I wasn’t talking about myself though.”

They all look at him as they uniformly arch an eyebrow. Eventually Tower shakes his head and asks, with a smirk, “Then who were you talking about?”

Gearing looks at each one in turn, then stares Cross in the eyes as he says flatly, “Skip.”

Instantly Cross’s eyes jump wide and her raven black fur around her face starts glowing a rosy color as she stares at him in disbelief.

A puff of black smoke appears and Skip practically unfolds from the support structure above them as he hangs from his tail, upside down, and comes face to face with Cross, merely inches from each other as he stares into her eyes. He lets out a couple quick squeaks as the grin on his muzzle grows massive across his face. The close proximity doesn’t help the situation as Cross’s purple eyes slowly shrink to pinpricks the longer they maintain such close, intense, eye contact.

Gearing nods as his ear twitches. “Yeah, really, she’s got the hots for you. Bad.”

Cross’s midnight blue tail and mane frazzle out and jump in a variety of directions as her jaw practically falls to the floor, and the faint blush on her cheeks violently explodes across her entire body as her raven black coat suddenly starts looking almost maroon.

Skip taps on the button on his suit as he starts slowly leaning towards Cross and he asks in his soft musical voice, “Oh, really now? You know all you had to do was say something… Right, Cross?”

She sputters and her eyes dampen as she seems like she’s almost on the verge of tears as the blushing heat just gets worse by the second. Finally her horn flares up, creating the phantasmal folded paper as she screams, “Oh my gods, shut up!” And she swings the glowing magical construct at Skip. But he pops away with a giggle before it connects. Cross looks around quickly, to see if Skip was going to try to come in from a different angle, before she focuses her attention on Gearing. “What the hell, Nitro!? Throwing me under the wagon like that?!” She starts swatting him on the top of the head, rapidly, and with increasing speed, as she yells, “This is what I get for letting you read all of those psychology books! Oh my gods! Shut up, shut up, shut up!”

Gearing partially closes his eyes as he’s repeatedly swatted on the top of the head, and his mane repeatedly goes from getting smashed flat against his head, to literally springing back up the moment the pressure is released. “I don’t see what the problem is.”

Hammer snickers as she puts a hoof over her muzzle. “Yeah… really… I mean I figured that bit out a while ago.” For her comment the paper swings back and forth like an upside down pendulum, smacking both Gearing and Hammer on the top of the head in turn as Cross can’t seem to do much more than moan in despair.

Mouse looks at Snake and motions towards Cross as they say, “Ya know, I bet that’s who Hammer was talking about when she said she wouldn’t poach from friends.”

Snake nods a few times, then grabs a checker piece and jumps a few pieces as she grins. “King me.”

Gearing slowly looks over at Hammer, while still getting swatted, and says in a soft tone, “I’ll never understand mares.”

Gearing stretches out a bit as he groans about being bored and wishing he has something to do besides reminisce and think.

‘We got over twenty minutes, easy, even with us taking our time to get here…’ the little pegasus in his head comments.

“Yeah… I shoulda brought some stuff to work on…” he mumbles.

‘Well, you know, there’s always that…’

“You mean?”

‘Why not?’

“…”

‘Come on… it’s been a while… A lot of shit has happened… You haven’t listened to it since we woke up on this side of hell…’

Do I even deserve to though? Why should I get to feel better when my fuck ups helped cause all of this? Gearing mentally challenges.

‘Because you kept it around for exactly times like this. The number of crimes committed in order to get it would make it hard for even Dash to get us out of the trouble if anyone found out…’

Gearing smirks at the thought. Yeah… was pretty stupid to do…

‘Worth it though…’

Gearing slowly looks down at his PipBuck and gently caresses the device. “Yeah… it was…”

The little pegasus flies around his head a few times before hovering over his PipBuck. ‘What are you waiting for though?’

Gearing gently rubs the PipBuck a bit before he says quietly, “I’m scared.”

‘About what? Come on, it’s not like going into an orb or something. What’s to worry about?’

Gearing looks up at the cloudy night sky high above and lets out a sigh. “What if it’s not there?”

The little pegasus stops flying mid air and slowly sinks down as it asks, ‘Wha?’

Gearing looks at the PipBuck and mindlessly flips through the buttons. “I haven’t checked. Not since we woke up… The shits been fucked up, remember?” He shakes his head. “I’ve lost access to a lot of stuff, and things have gotten scrambled and encrypted… I haven’t checked because what if something happened to it, and it’s just gone now?”

The little pegasus jumps up and flails its legs around. ‘Then we’re building a time machine, going back, and bucking the fuck out of everyone just to make sure we got the right fucker!’ He zips over and starts smacking the PipBuck. ‘Hurry up! Check it! We gotta make sure it’s there or by Discord I’m murdering somepony!’

Gearing lets out a sigh and slowly starts actively using the controls on his PipBuck. He goes deep into the system, then subsystems, then goes into a couple hidden folders that won’t come up unless he does some very specific things. After diving down into a trove of random subfolders he comes across a familiarly named subfolder, and smirks as he says, “Okay… if it’s still here… it’s in here.”

‘Hurry up and open it, you ass!’

Gearing hesitates for a moment as he hopes nothing is corrupted. And then he goes ahead and opens the folder.

There’s a delay as the screen wipes clear, preparing to show the contents of the folder. But, then it hangs, and only shows the upper headings at the top of the screen, and nothing else.

‘Somepony’s gonna die…’ the little pegasus says as he lands on Gearing’s shoulders and starts leaning in to look at the screen with an ever elongating neck.

The PipBuck makes its typical noise of going through a folder, then starts displaying all of the files that are contained in the hidden folder. And, after it’s done populating the list, the little pegasus on his shoulder points at it quickly. ‘Scroll down. All the way down. Fifth one from the bottom.’

“I know, I know,” Gearing mutters as he quickly scrolls down the lengthy list. Various nonsensical names scroll by as he quickly zips to the bottom. Then, once at the bottom, he scrolls up just a bit.

Mixed among the other nonsensical file names, is the one he’s looking for. Its name is just as ridiculous as all of the others around it. But, he knows exactly what he’s looking for. He’s played the file more than enough times to have completely memorized every single character that makes up the name.

‘Play it!’ The little pegasus in Gearing’s head demands.

Gearing slowly pulls out the earbuds from their spot in the PipBuck, and puts them in his ears. He makes sure the connection is good then, after it’s all ready, he looks up and says a little request to the stars above that he can’t even see right now.

Then he hits play.

Instantly the beginnings of an old recording begin playing and it just as instantly makes him flinch. His breath catches. He slowly sinks down onto the roof, using the old metal framework of the billboard as a pillow as he listens to the recording play.

The little pegasus rolls off his shoulder, onto the roof, and spins around as it stares at the PipBuck. He lazily swishes his tail back and forth as it plays. And, for the two of them, the rest of the world fades from existence. He knows the recording by heart. Every syllable. Every tonal change. But hearing it again, this side of the end of the world, strikes deep into him in a place that he really needs it to. It’s not a very long recording. But while he’s listening to it, time seems to get funky almost like SATS itself has gone haywire. But, in short order, the recording completes. And he’s left in silence again.

He stares at the PipBuck file, and cradles his PipBuck to himself. “It still works…”

‘We hadn’t lost everything yet,’ the little pegasus comments from the roof.

“Almost, but not quite…” Gearing responds.

‘Hey, uh… I know we set up a rule before… about… that… but… you know, it’s been a while, and you really need it, soooo.’

Gearing smirks as he looks at the file. “Fuck it, rules were meant to be broken.” He quickly flips the control and has the audio recording play again.

And again.

And again.

After a little while of getting lost in the recording, the little pegasus hops over and gets in between Gearing and the controls. ‘That’s enough.’

Gearing scowls at the little pegasus and snarls. “What the hell you talking about?!”

‘We got things to do. We can’t just keep listening to it,’ the little pegasus evenly responds.

“More business before pleasure shit? Haven’t I given enough to that shit?”

The little pegasus lands on the PipBuck and looks up at him. ‘We know it’s here. We know it’s functioning still. We can listen to it whenever we want. But, we don’t want to overdo it either, do we?’

Gearing closes his eyes and lets out a disgusted snort of air. “No… we don’t” And with his eyes still closed, he keeps backing out repeatedly. When he finally opens his eyes, he’s already at the top level, and, on some level, is glad that he can’t see the file anymore. Because that would just make it that much harder for his willpower.

Gearing looks at his PipBuck, and closes the screen. As he’s still looking down at the decaying roof of the building he’s on he mutters, “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost that… I never even considered it before…”

The little pegasus flutters around as he says, ‘Well. We’re going to encrypt it, again, and we’re going to stash a few copies around. Never know when a lucky shot will destroy the PipBuck.’

“They aren’t that fragile. It’d take quite a bit to do so,” Gearing replies with a smirk.

‘Yeah, but it is possible… and we can’t afford to lose this file…’ the little pegasus retorts.

“No, you’re right,” Gearing responds with finality in his voice. “Multiple backups. Multiple Formats. Multiple locations. Redundancy over security.”

The little pegasus nods off to the side. ‘Come on, Champ. Let's go see what this mare wants and then we can get back to Handy and Swift and get ready for the morning trip.’

“Actually, after this, I have one more meeting I need to work in,” Gearing replies as he gets up and starts walking along the metal framework of the building.

The little pegasus slaps a hoof over his face. ‘Another meeting?! What is this, Ministry of Image funded or something?!’

“Nah, I prefer useful lies instead of blind allegiance…”

He finds a spot where something had fallen and did enough damage that the roof actually caved in in a small part, making a half assed crumbling ramp down to the top floor. Gearing double checks his EFS before heading downstairs from the top floor. He starts clearing the building, going room by room, and floor by floor, as he makes his way to the very bottom. It’s a four story apartment complex of sorts, but the place has long since been looted of anything of use or value. And the building is only questionably intact at best, so inhabitation would be a problem without serious structural repairs.

Regardless, Gearing manages to clear up a good portion of his EFS by killing the various oversized over-ambitious insects that have called the place home. His extermination is so thorough that the one that had been clinging to the side of the buildings, on the outside, just to the side of a window that had been broken out long ago, is also sent on to its next life by a brass hoof.

Afterwards he heads back up to the third floor and waits.

Shortly after he gets into position, and actually a bit before their meeting was supposed to take place, Gearing notices a blue bar running in his direction. He keeps his eyes on the marker as it quickly makes it up to the building, then slowly enters. He sits there with his head focused on where he’s pretty sure they are as they start climbing up through the building. Before they even get to the second floor, Gearing’s already pinpointed their hoof falls. And then he continues tracking them as they walk up the stairwell. Their progress is slow, but steady. And they seem to be checking everywhere on the way up. Which, Gearing notes, is a sign of someone who's been around long enough to know how to keep an eye out for trouble.

But, as a bit of fun, Gearing decides to play a little bit of hide and seek.

By the time the orange mare in the caravanner outfit makes it to the third floor, Gearing’s already gotten in position, and completely out of sight, as he practices what he’d learned so long ago.

She slowly steps one hoof at a time as she goes down the hall, clearing one room after another. She has a respectable revolver floating in front of her as she checks each room. And after checking the entire floor, and finding no one, she goes into a room in the center of the building and away from the windows. “Huh. I guess I got here first. With all of those dead bugs I figured he’d be up here…” She stows her revolver back into her holster and slowly rotates her ears as she tries to listen for any sign of intrusion. “I hope nothing’s come up and causing him to run late.”

“Who’s late?”

She spins around, and pulls out her revolver in the same motion as she looks in the corner, and sees Gearing sitting there as casual as can be. For a moment she looks horrified to see him, but then simply surprised, but then out right confused. As the shock is wearing off she puts her revolver away and waves a hoof at him. “Where’d you come from?! You weren’t there a second ago!”

Gearing just grins at her, and shrugs his shoulders. “What can I say? I know how to stay out of sight when I want to.”

She chuckles and snorts a bit before she looks around. She puts a hoof to her chest as she starts manually controlling her breathing. “Really gave me a start there!”

Gearing chuckles as he leans sideways against a wall and waves a hoof towards her. “Sorry, was just having a bit of fun…”

She smirks as she starts looking him over. “I can understand that… Speaking of which.” She starts walking towards him as the smile on her muzzle just gets bigger. “Thank you for coming to meet me, I really appreciate it. Name’s OJ, by the way… I realized after the fact that I had a ditz moment and forgot to say so…”

Gearing nods and waves towards her. “It’s fine, OJ. I know not everyone’s willing to talk in the open. So, you said you had some information I could use?”

Her eyes virtually sparkle as she nods. She practically hops over as he gets in front of him. “Yes, I do, at least I think I do!”

“Well… what is it?”

She looks him over and bites her lip as she tries to think of how to go about this. “What if I told you I know of a location where you can get schematics for a variety of weapons… And the same location has the manufacturing capabilities to make those same weapons?” She sees Gearing straighten up just a bit more and both of his ears jump towards her, and that just encourages her all the more. “Aaaand… while I can’t guarantee the state of the equipment… with your … talents… and connections, I’m sure you’ll be able to strip out of there a practical fortune for yourself…”

Gearing looks her over for a few moments, and is a bit perplexed as she seems to enjoy his eyes traveling over her. “How’s it not been stripped bare all this time?”

The mare grins and holds up a hoof. “See! A certain somepony went in there on a contract that was on the Megamart info wall. They cashed in the contract for gathering the data. But, knowing what I know about them, they aren’t smart enough to wipe the drives afterwards. So, they don’t have the only copy… Meaning you can get copies too. Buuut, since they went in, the security should not be nearly as strong as it was. Because the top floors had been a nopony zone for a looong time. Too many murder bots along the way. But if she got in and got the data… And came out with a bunch of goodies, I’m sure you can too. Especially since I already know she had to trash a good portion of the security just to get to where she was going.”

Gearing puts a hoof to his muzzle as he gives it a ponder. “I see… and if she’s already cashed in the contract successfully… that means she’d sell whatever else she salvaged out of there too…” He looks at her sideways. “She sell any of the gear? Parts? Molds? Any of that hit the market?”

She straightens up as she gives her tail a very pleased swish. “Nnnn-ope!” She shakes her head. “She either didn’t know any better, or hadn’t thought of it. But the only thing she really took out of these was the ammo that she could find. Apparently left the rest.” She leans towards him. “And, you know, if they’re manufacturing weapons and ammo…”

Gearing nods as he looks down. “Yeah, they’ll have to have the reloading benches and other gear for making it…”

She sways side to side as she says, “Exactly… and if she didn’t take it, then it’s still there. But you’re gonna have to hurry up and get it before someone else gets the bright idea and gives it a shot.”

Gearing nods. “Yeah, that could potentially be very valuable… depending on what’s still there…”

She smiles as she leans just a bit closer. “So… about compensation for the information…”

Gearing smirks as he looks up at her. “Yeah?”

She swishes her tail a bit before getting even closer. “Tell you what… I’ll tell you where it is, in advance…” She leans in and whispers in his ear. “And then I’ll let you decide what it’s worth to you, and compensate me appropriately…”

Gearing looks at her and can’t help but smirk as she’s entirely invaded his personal space and their muzzles are just shy of touching lengthways at this point. “Oh? Well… that’s a lot of trust to put into me.”

She bobs her head a bit. “What can I say, I think you’re trustworthy.”

Gearing tilts his head a bit as he smirks. “And I think you’re clever… because you’re putting the ball in my court so if I don’t do enough I’ll look like a cheapskate, which increases the chances of me having to be more generous to avoid looking like I’m stiffing you.”

Her eyes sparkle with a sudden bout of mirth before she says, “Sounds fair to me…”

He takes in a deep breath before asking, “So, I’m guessing you already have something you want in mind…?”

“MMmmmhmmm… You said that’s valuable and you’ll know what to do with it, so it should be a fine boost to your saddle bags, right?”

“Potentially… Yes.”

“So… how about…” she asks quietly, and he can’t help but notice her fur getting a bit darker around her cheeks and just a hint more heat coming from her since they are so close.

“How aboouuuut?” he prods.

She leans in and starts rubbing a hoof over his chest gently, with their cheeks so close it’s almost like she’s trying to nuzzle him, but not quite. In that position she speaks softly into his ear. “I want you to make me make the same kinda noises you had pouring out of Patches’ room the other day.”

Gearing’s eyes go wide before he asks, “What, wait, you mean, you want-”

She pulls back a bit and her face flushes even more. “Yeah… as much service credit as you think it’ll be worth for what you get.” She gently pats him on the chest as she says, “I’ll let you be the judge… You’re the professional after all…”

The little blue pegasus in Gearing’s head hovers there off to the side with his jaw hanging open far larger than his jaw should allow. He flicks both forehooves towards her. ‘Is she kidding me?! What the hell's this? She been talking to Dandy or something?’

Her eyes dart between one of his to the other as she leans back a bit, but can’t help from continuing rubbing on his chest since he’s done nothing to discourage it so far. A fact that she takes as a good sign. “Iiiiiis there a problem?”

Gearing blinks a couple times, before he gives her a bit of a crooked grin. “Just trying to make sure I understand you right…”

“Mmmhmm?”

“You tell me where it’s at, I get to get whatever I can, and, as for your finder’s fee…” He leans in and invades her personal space for once. “You want me to make you squirm proportionally to how much I think the information’s worth after I check it out… Right?”

She smiles at him and pats his chest a bit. “That’s right, Mr. Fixer… All I want is a house call and you to scratch an itch using the best back scratcher money for this information can buy…” She pulls out a cigarette, lights it, and puts it in her mouth as she smiles at him. “Do we have a deal?”

The little pegasus flicks his forehooves back and forth, still looking completely flabbergasted as he waits for the judgment.

“Sure. We got a deal,” Gearing says softly as he looks her over. Though with the slight smile and flirty eyes he starts giving her, she actually has a hard time looking at him and making eye contact with him suddenly. He lifts up his PipBuck and opens the map for her to see.

She avoids eye contact as she starts manipulating his PipBuck’s map with her magical aura. She taps on his foreleg when it’s there and he activates the marker where she indicates. “Iron Shod… Be careful though. She trashed a good portion of the security that’s kept most folks out, but I doubt she got everything… You’ll want the upper floors… fourth floor specifically…”

Gearing looks at it, and his eyes go wide. “Wait, Iron Shod’s still standing? It didn’t get wiped out by the bombs?! That’s surprising.”

She looks at him and smiles. “What can I say? It didn’t take a direct hit and it’s still there, ripe for the plundering… Like something else I know of.” She sways just a bit, giving a more than necessary amount of hip wiggle to get her point across.

“Well then…” Gearing comments as he closes out of the PipBuck. “Thanks, I’ll head over there now and get a look. We were planning on leaving in the morning, but… I’ll squeeze this in so there’s no delay.”

She smirks around her cigarette. “Well, it’d be a shame if something happened to it while you’re off hunting down slavers and the like, so, yes please.”

Gearing looks her over before he asks, “You able to take the next day or two off?”

She blinks a couple times before she stares at him. “Uhm. I’m pretty sure, especially if I need to, why? Want me to tag along?”

Gearing leans in as he smirks at her. “No… I just got a few things in mind that might necessitate an extended rest period… Depending on what I find.” He gives her a quick wink and a coy grin as he finishes.

Her eyes slowly go wider. As the color on her cheeks just gets even hotter. As she's staring at him, he quickly leans in, and gives her a rather deep tongued kiss that practically makes her hooves curl and her rear end hits the ground as her legs lose strength. He continues holding her cheeks with his forehooves as he pulls back and says, “Consider that a down payment…” Then he turns and scurries off out through the door and on his way before she can respond.

She sits there in the same position, staring off into space, and still reeling from the implications of what just happened. Slowly her wide eyes narrow, then focus to the end of her muzzle. She manipulates her mouth, and tilts up the cigarette she has in her mouth so it’s standing vertically with her lips holding the butt and the cherry red ember is high up in the air as she stares at it. Her eyes go wider by the second again before she asks quietly, “How the hell he kiss me like that, with the cigarette still in my mouth?!” She slowly lays down as she groans. “OJ, my girl, you might have fucked up with this one…”

Before completely leaving OJ, Gearing does a quick couple laps in the air around the building to make sure no one had followed her or were trying to sneak up and ambush her. After being satisfied that there’s no immediate dangers, he turns and heads off in the direction of Iron Shod

‘What the hell was that about?’ the little pegasus in his head asks as it floats around.

I’m as confused as you are… Gearing mentally replies.

‘I mean, it’s not the first time we’ve ‘pumped’ someone for information… kinda in the job description… but that’s the first time one so willingly came up and made an offer like that…’ the little pegasus replies as it rubs his chin.

“I mean, practice makes perfect..” Gearing muses aloud quietly.

‘Well, when you focus so heavily on ‘unconventional warfare’ training,’ the little pegasus in his head giggles back.

Gearing sits in his flight suit in his little maintenance bay of Stormfront’s main outpost with his goggles on as he tilts his head side to side and watches Skip talk quietly with Snake and Mouse. Both of which are in their preferred griffon and pony forms respectively. Gearing’s not sure what’s actually being said. Skip made sure Gearing’s ears were muffed with sound canceling ear protection before he went to talk with the pair. So Gearing’s not entirely sure what’s going on, or what the big deal is, but they are talking rather energetically among themselves.

And the constant glances in his direction from the various members lets Gearing know, without a doubt, that the conversation is most definitely about him.

He’s not sure what all the fuss is about, it was a rather simple request, he thought.

After a few more moments of talking among themselves, with wildly gleeful expressions on their faces, Skip turns around and walks back over to Gearing and removes the headphones from his head as the others walk over with him.

Gearing looks between them as he asks, “Well?”

Skip motions to the side and Mouse, in his typical tan mare form, grins widely as they say, “We understand, but we think there’s someone else who’d probably be a bit better at helping you.”

Snake nods her griffon head rapidly as she says, “Yup. Definitely.” She looks at the others, zipping her head back and forth as she grins and asks, “We should go talk to her now, right?”

Mouse grins widely as they say, “Definitely. Sooner the better.”

Skip snickers then says in his soft musical voice, “Come on, Nitro, let’s go talk to them and see if they’ll be willing to be your study buddy.”

He turns and trots off, with Gearing close at heel and the other two bringing up the rear, side by side, with massive grins across their respective faces. Near the far end of the maintenance bay, the noise of mechanical work starts picking up as they approach a tank that has had its turret removed, and is currently being held aloft by this area's heavy equipment harnesses and gantry.

Skip motions for the others to stop the parade as he jumps up, flutters a bit, and lands on the armor plating of the tank. He pokes his head over the edge of the gap where the turret would connect as he calls down even more musically than his voice would normally sound, “Ooohhh Hammeeeerrrrrr.” His ears perk up as he asks, “You got a minute?”

Hammer climbs up and out of the turret ring, holding a large wrench in her mouth as she looks at Skip, then her eyes jump over to the others, lingering, typically so, on Gearing for a moment before looking back at Skip. She pulls the wrench out of her mouth as she asks, “What’s up?”

Skip motions for her to come out as he lands over next to Gearing as he says, “Nitro has a request, and needs some help.”

Hammer smirks as she jumps out of the tank and lands on the ground not far from Gearing as she looks at Skip. She rolls her eyes as she waves a hoof at Gearing. “I’ve already said I’d help him study whatever he needs. No problem. Don’t even need to ask.”

Skip holds up a hoof as he says with a smirk, “Actually, I think he does… in this case especially.” He steps back as he waves Gearing on towards Hammer. “Well, Nitro, go ahead.” Then he promptly steps back in line in between Snake and Hammer as they watch with interest.

The goofy grins the trio have across their respective muzzles and beak doesn’t go unnoticed by Hammer as she wonders who’s going to get pranked this time. She clicks her tongue before she raises an eyebrow and looks at Gearing. “What do you need help with this time?”

“Well, Hammer, I need some help studying-” Gearing begins, but he gets cut off by Skip who jumps to his side and puts a wing over Gearing’s muzzle.

Skip tuts him as he waves his wing side to side in front of Gearing's eyes as he says flatly, “Nitro, this is a very important request…” Both Snake and Mouse lean closer, with one of their grinning faces taking up position on either side of Skip’s, as they nod enthusiastically. “So, you need to start from the very beginning,” he continues and, again, they nod in agreement. “And I’m sure, if you explain yourself entirely to her, the way you explained it to me, then she’d be more likely to help you.” Snake and Mouse, again, rapidly nod their heads with massive grins on their face as they stare at him expectantly.

Skip pulls back and holds up a hoof in the air as he closes his eyes and says solemnly, “So… don’t leave anything out!” Then he gets a massive grin on his own muzzle as Snake and Mouse sit in line with him and give a single solid strong nod of agreement before sitting back and watching quietly.

Hammer narrows her eyes at them, and then quickly looks around at their surroundings as she expects some kind of surprise attack or something. But then focuses on Gearing as he taps on his muzzle and tries to sort out his thoughts.

Gearing looks back at Skip as he says, “Well... if you think it’d help to explain it all.”

“I do,” says Skip.

“Absolutely,” agrees Snake.

“I’d say it’s vital even!” Mouse declares and earns a round of head nodding from the others in agreement.

Gearing shrugs as he says, “Well… okay…” He looks at Hammer and waves a hoof around as he takes in a deep breath. “Okay… so… I was going through a variety of files and reports and I found a few documents about tactics that have been used successfully in the past. And after reading those, I realized that there might come a time when I could get a particular job done by using the alternative methods they talked about.” He shrugs as he says, “That way nopony has to get hurt in the process.” He looks back at the others, who simply wave him on to continue with the same massive grins across their muzzles.

Gearing looks around at the ground and trails it over the pieces of equipment and various fluid stains as he continues. “So, I figured if I could learn how to do the same things they’d done… to perfect the techniques they used, that I’d be able to avoid the need for violence… and as a result no one on either side would have to get hurt, and I wouldn’t have to worry about my squadmates getting hurt during reprisals or an alarm sounding, etc…”

Hammer looks between him and the other three, obviously not seeing where the help of a mechanic would come in with this scenario. “Yeah? And?”

Gearing turns and points a hoof behind him momentarily as he says, “Well, Skip’s been the one helping me with infiltration, stealth, and other forms of indirect combat… So I talked to him about it, and he took me to Snake and Mouse to see what they thought, since they’re in the same subsection of the unit… and apparently they all agreed that you’d be the best one to ask to help me study.”

Hammer looks between them as she asks, “Nitro… I still don’t get it… What do you need help studying?”

Snake, Mouse, and Skip all start stretching out their grinning mugs as they lean in closer, almost over Gearing, as they look straight at Hammer.

Gearing, not paying attention to the others’ antics, and not caring about their encroachment, waves a hoof at her as he says flatly, “A mare’s body, your body, specifically, if you’ll allow it.”

Hammer’s eyes jump to their widest as her tail practically stands straight out backwards in shock. Simultaneously Snake, Mouse, and Skip’s grins all, somehow, get even wider as they watch her brain practically melt in her head.

Gearing, seeing her surprised reaction, waves a forehoof quickly. “I don’t mean anything like practicing IVs and such, Cross is already helping me with that. I just need an honest and trustworthy opinion… Someone who I can be sure will teach me and make sure I know exactly what I need to know.” He shrugs as he waves a forehoof and says, “It’s entirely invading your personal space, so that’s why it was important to ask. I didn’t think you’d just want me running my hooves all over you randomly.” He gently reaches over and rubs a hoof over the outside of the muscle of her upper foreleg, an already understood pre-approval zone, as he says, “I wanna know what, where, and how you like to be touched. What feels good, if that makes sense.”

Hammer’s eyes almost jump out of her skull, as the eyelids retract so far, while she sputters and gasps, all while jumping her focus from his hoof on her foreleg, to his face. “S-sh- surely you can’t- You- you s-serious?!”

Gearing nods as he looks up at her. “If it’s not too much to ask… yes please.” He removes the hoof from her upper leg as he says, “I can’t think of any other way I’d be able to figure it out without an appropriate partner to give me the feedback and guide my training.”

Hammer’s eyes jump around as she seems to be looking in a million different directions at once before she looks at Skip and asks, “This can’t be-”

Snake, Skip, and Mouse somehow lean even closer, over Gearing, as they stare at Hammer in the eyes and nod in unison as they say, “Oh it’s exactly how it sounds!” Then they nod a few more times as Hammer sputters and spits like an engine that’s gotten out of timing.

Gearing waves a hoof quickly as he says, “I’m pretty sure it’ll help me help the unit if I can figure out how to do it properly.”

The phrasing earns a trio of snickers and another round of mis-timed engine impersonation by Hammer.

“Purely academic reasons…” Snake says with another few rapid nods and a twinkle in her eye.

“Entirely professional…” Skip adds with a nod of his own.

“An investment in the future, even!” Mouse says with a giggle.

They all three nod in agreement again before they ask, in unison, “Welllllll?”

Gearing sheepishly taps his forehooves together as he looks up at her and asks softly, “Is it too much to ask?”

Hammer’s entire body seems to shiver and shake as she clenches her teeth, jumping her focus from one of them to the other. She coughs into her hoof before she says, “One moment…” Then she pulls out a telescopic pointer, and goes down the line. She taps Mouse on the head. Then Skip. Then Snake. And, as she’s tapping Gearing on the head the other three grin even wider as they know exactly what she was doing, which makes this even more priceless for them. She starts collapsing the pointer rod as she says softly, “There’s only three changelings in the unit… and since there’s four of you, and no illusions…” She stares at Gearing for a moment before she raises an eyebrow. “Nitro, is that really you?”

Gearing nods as he pulls his goggles off, and reveals his brushed copper eyes. “Yeah, it’s me, Hammer. Why?”

Hammer looks over at the other three and narrows her eyes as she says, “I swear if you got one of your friends, and this is some kinda prank, I’m gonna find the biggest spanner I can get my hooves on and shove it up your tailpipe. Sideways!”

Gearing steps up to her as he looks up at her with concern plainly on his face. “No, it’s me, Hammer…” He reaches over and gently rubs her shoulder as he asks, “Is something wrong?”

Hammer’s eyes go wide as she stares into his. She puts the telescopic rod away before she coughs into a hoof and looks over at the other three. “Ahem… So… for umm… skill advancement… and academic purposes… right?”

The other three nod rapidly.

Hammer coughs into her hoof again, trying her best to cover up the growing grin across her muzzle as she asks, “And… Mouse didn’t want to help with this?” She looks over at the changeling and raises an eyebrow as she smirks. “It seems like something right up their alley.”

Mouse tilts their head and looks around as they giggle. They turn their head sideways as they say with their eyes partially closed. “Well… I wouldn’t mind… but I’m sure he only really needs one mare to help him… and…” They smile wider as they say softly, “A friend of mine said it’s not nice to poach…”

Hammer actually giggles as she looks around and avoids eye contact with them. “Well… thanks for thinking of me… It’s a shame though, with your vast experience, I’m sure you could teach him a few things.”

Gearing looks between the two, then over at Mouse as he says, “Well… actually… I need as many points of references as I can get.” He looks at Mouse as he says, “And it would probably be a good idea to get some feedback from and on a buck as well… If you’d be interested?”

Mouse’s eyes go wide as the grin explodes across their face before they lean down and look Gearing in the eye. “Really?!” The grin turns crooked as they ask, “Crap… you’re looking for the buck side of things, aren’t you?” Gearing nods. Mouse hangs their head a bit as they rock it side to side. But then they perk up as they grin and ask, “Okay, but would you like other types of mares too? I can do a whole spectrum, so you’d get a variety to choose from.” They give him a wink as they turn their head sideways.

Hammer’s eyes flare open wide as she yells, “Hey! You just said no poaching!”

Mouse looks up at her and frowns as they partially pout. “It’s not poaching if it’s sharing…”

Gearing looks between them and raises an eyebrow as he says, “It’s not like I can’t study both of you… With different schedules it shouldn’t be a problem going from one to the other with the changes in availability… Should it?”

Hammer smirks as she says with a sigh, “You got a point I guess…” She reaches out a hoof towards Mouse and grins as she asks, “Study buddy trifecta?”

Mouse dutifully taps it as they say, “Sounds like a plan!”

Gearing grins as he looks between them and asks, “Really? You’ll really help me?”

Hammer nods as she coughs into her hoof again and looks off to the side, “Yeah, Nitro, I’ll help you as much as I can.” She grins widely before she leans down and sideways towards him as she asks, “So… uh… when do you want to… uhm… start… with the… uh… lesson plan?”

Gearing grins up at her as he waves a hoof at her. “My schedule's open for a while, so it entirely depends on when you’re available.”

Hammer nods as she closes her eyes and mumbles. “Hmmm yes… yes… is that so…” She glances around with one eye as the grin on her muzzle gets wider before she says, “Well… I’m due for a break, and the tank isn’t going anywhere…” She looks at Gearing with her eyes partially closed as she asks, “Want to squeeze in a … study… session now?”

Gearing nods as he looks around the immediate area of the maintenance area around the tank. “Sure! Thanks! Uh… Where would be better? Bit dirty around here for it…”

Hammer leans sideways and bumps him with a hip as she nods across the bay towards some smaller metal shipping containers. “The brass dropped off a shipment earlier, and the crates are just waiting to be sent back. Should be good enough for now.”

Gearing nods as he follows her over to, and into, the container as he says, “Wherever you want, you’re doing me the favor. I appreciate it!”

Hammer closes the door behind them as she giggles, “Not as much as I appreciate your assistance with everything, trust me.”

Mouse, Snake, and Skip sit there grinning like idiots before they look at each other and try to figure out what to do next.

“Well?” Skip asks.

Mouse sits down and grins as they sway side to side. “Well, I’m free alllll day… I’m just gonna wait and see how this goes, and if my turn’s next.”

Snake rolls her eyes and says with a paw to her mouth, “I gotta admit, I’m morbidly curious… If you’re all going to sit here and wait, I’m not going to leave only to hear about it later…”

Cross walks into the mechanical bay looking at a clipboard as she happily trots over to Gearing’s confiscated bay slot. She lowers the clipboard and tilts her head as she looks in and sees that it’s completely empty. She looks down the length of the maintenance area and sees Snake and Mouse in their casual forms playing checkers near the partially disassembled tank at the end of the lane, with Skip sitting on a box nearby and watching.

She heads that way. But, as she’s getting close, Skip looks up and spots her. A grin explodes across his face as he says, “I’ll be right back!” and then disappears into a puff of black smoke.

The other two turn and look at Cross, and have a hard time keeping a grin off their faces as they try to keep their head in the game, and fail horribly.

Cross looks between them as she gets closer and asks, “What was that all about? Where’d Skip go?”

Snake shrugs her feathery shoulders before she says, “Not sure, said he’d be right back.”

Mouse grins as they nod. “Yeah, he’ll be right back, I’m sure.”

Cross narrows her eyes at the two as she asks, “What’s going on here with you two?”

Snake points a talon at the game board as she says, “Just playing checkers during down time, why?”

Mouse nods rapidly. “Checkers. Yup. Great game!”

Cross looks between the two with just her eyes rapidly as she comments, “Okay, now I know you two are up to something…”

Skip pops back above where he’d been sitting with a puff of black smoke holding a large bowl full of hot popcorn. He looks around quickly. Spins around in a circle as he hovers in the air with the bowl held in his forehooves, before he lands and sets the bowl down right on top of the checkers board. “I’m back! What’d I miss?!”

Cross narrows her eyes at him and starts walking closer, but then her ears perk up. And as her ears jump up at some sudden sound, the other three grin widely as they start munching on the popcorn that Skip brought.

She walks over towards the shipping container not far away as she asks, “What the hell's that noise?”

The other three follow close behind with Skip holding the bowl aloft with his wings as the three regularly munch on the piping hot treat.

Cross looks at them over her shoulder and scowls before her horn glows, as does the door to the shipping container, and she starts looking back at the container as she throws the door open. Before the door’s open she yells, “Alright what the hell’s-” She stops, and her eyes go wide as she gets an unobstructed view inside and sees what’s going on in the shipping container, and practically screeches, “What the fuck?!”

Skip nods sagely as he says, “Exactly…”

Cross sputters as her mane bristles and her eyes go as wide as they can go. But, as she tries to figure out what obscenity she wishes to scream at the moment, and there are a lot to choose from, instead she blurts out, “How in the hell is he holding you up in the air like that with just his forehoves!?”

Hammer’s voice comes yelling back in breathy pants as she says, “It’s not what it looks like! It’s- It’s- It’s, ooooh gods! It’s academMMMmic!”

Snake nods with a beak full of popcorn before she says with a grin, “Purely academic.”

Skip grins as he nods. “Entirely for professional study reasons.”

Cross’s focus jumps back to Skip as she yells, “I wanna know what’s going on here!”

Mouse, having snuck up to the container, and is currently unabashedly watching the proceedings, and neither of the pair inside have made any attempt to stop, swishes their flank side to side repeatedly as their hind legs shake and they bite a forehoof and moan, “I wanna know when it’s my turn for some of that!”

Cross jerks her head over to Mouse, then slowly rotates her head to look at Skip as her eyes narrow with untold malice. Skip gives her a sheepish grin and passes the bowl of popcorn to Snake as he says, “You’re gonna wanna hold this.”

A moment later a phantasmal folded paper appears above Skip and snaps down to hit him in the head, but he pops away in a puff of smoke as Snake grabs the bowl with a claw.

Skip starts laughing as Cross is chasing after him as he asks, “Why are you mad at me?! They’re the ones giving him a polish!”

She swings the folded paper at him repeatedly, with him popping away at the last second each time, as she chases after him and yells, “You’re the one that put him up to it! I know it! This has you written all over it, you little pervert!”

Skip pops around her a few times in rapid succession as he laughs and says, “Actually it was his idea! He wanted somepony and I figured why not help out a hard up mare who already had the hots for him anyway!” He pops in front of Cross’s face for a moment, just long enough to kiss her on the nose as he winks and says, “Not like you’d be interested in doing it yourself.”

She flushes with her entire body as she yells, “I’m never gonna live that down!” and continues chasing after him.

Gearing pokes his head out of the shipping container as he frowns. “Crap, did I get y'all in trouble?”

Mouse waves it off with a hoof as they say, “Nah, she’s just really protective…” They look inside the shipping container as they ask, “Soooo how’d it gooooo?”

Hammer giggles and mumbles a bit before she lets out a groan from the floor of the shipping container. “His attention to details and instructions are as immaculate as ever… but his oral presentation could use a bit of review and polish.”

Mouse looks over at Gearing and grins as their eyes trail over the now entirely derobed buck who’s standing there in only his synthetic illusionary fur yet his eyes are still the same brushed copper he was born with. “Really now hmmm?” Mouse leans over and gives Gearing a wink as they ask, “So… need to go over your notes or want to try something… new?”

Gearing looks at them, and can’t keep from smirking as Mouse’s flank quickly shakes one way then the other. “Well, if you have time, sure. It’d be good to review soon and see how much I’ve retained and can apply to a new situation.”

Mouse quickly grabs his hoof and starts pulling him away towards the door out of the maintenance wing as they say, “Great! I’m free all day! Let's get out of here so we’re not disturbing any of the workflow!”

Gearing quickly leaves with Mouse, leaving the remaining two to sit there and ponder the situation.

Snake continues munching on the popcorn as she looks at the door where Gearing and Mouse are headed and comments, “That buck’s in trouble…”

“Which one?” Hammer asks from the shipping container with a giggle as she hasn’t moved from the place where she was deposited and collapsed.

Snake leans over, looks into the container, and giggles a bit as she says, “Know what… I’m not sure…”

“I’m still confused… with how much stuff this is probably going to be worth, why’d she just leave it up to me?” Gearing asks no one in particular quietly as he’s flying.

‘Well, regardless of her reasons, one things for sure…’ the little pegasus in his head responds

“What’s that?”

‘You’re the ‘buck of the hour’ tonight… a ‘rent-a-buck’ a ‘masseur’. ’

Gearing’s eyes jump wide for a moment before he asks, “Wait, that’s it! Does she think I’m some kinda prostitute on the side or something?”

‘Apparently, and a highly paid one at that… So more like a ‘high-end escort’ or a fancy courtesan…’

“Oh geeze, I never had an interest in anything like that…” Gearing groans.

‘Only when it was the smoothest method of getting information, not actively trying to do it for personal wealth…’ the little blue pegasus in Gearing’s head agrees.

“Yeah, any money definitely wasn’t the goal… not that that’s happened often…”

‘Let’s face it, you’re a not-for-profit WHORE-ganization…’

Gearing groans.

The little pegasus laughs. ‘Beat you to it!’

“Well, if I end up getting valuable information out of it, or things to help me complete my mission, then… well… whatever.” Gearing shrugs. “Happy creatures are cooperative creatures and if it takes shellacking them to a wall to get it done, so be it. That’s what I’ll do.”

‘Yeah, figured out that was the path of least resistance and blood loss a while ago. Seems things like that don’t change. They get what they want and we get the information we need.’

“Speaking of which, time for a detour now that I see what I’m looking for…” Gearing replies as he sees something moving in the dark below that he had been hoping for. And, as he’s getting closer, he can’t help but smile as he hears that old world tune playing through ancient speakers.

Gearing angles his wings, cuts altitude, and drops down towards his target. He swoops down, as quiet as can be, and snags the floating mechanical sprite bot right out of the air, like a natural avian predator grabbing a snack, and quickly angles back up into the air.

“Hey, Watcher… Fixer calling Watcher… You awake in your little nerdy dungeon?” Gearing asks with a giggle as he flies up and over onto another building with the sprite bot still tooting out the tuba song like the oompa oompa beat was the latest and greatest fad.

Gearing lands on the roof of the building, keeping the bot pointed away from himself in case it suddenly decides to try and get violet. “Heeeeey, Watcher! What are you watching if not the screen?”

Still nothing changes.

“Do I gotta start singing something off key to go along with the beat? Maybe with some glass and metal scratching? You don’t want me butchering a Sweetie Belle song, do you? Don’t make me do it! I’ll do it! You’ll have Sweetie Belle nightmares!”

The music cuts off and Gearing spins the bot around to look into its camera.

A groan comes across the speaker. “Don’t make my life any harder, Gearing.”

Gearing grins as he lets go of the bot and lets it hover on its own. “Actually I’m trying to make your life easier… That’s why I needed to talk with you.”

“Give me a second. I’d laid down for a nap. Only been asleep about an hour before you woke me up with your shrill whining.”

Gearing tilts his head. “I wasn’t whining.”

“It sounded like whining to me.”

“I was just being persistent about something I want.”

“So, whining…?”

“I didn’t snag your bot to have a battle of semantics with you about my alleged hypothetical whining.”

“What do you want? I’d like to get a few more hours sleep so I can watch the monitors during the day. You know, when most reasonable people are out and about?”

Gearing gives the bot a crooked grin. “I’m cashing in part of our agreement.”

“What?”

Gearing waves towards the mountains to the south. “I’m leaving the area in the morning. Going back to the Megamac area. But I’ve got some things popping off up here. I’m poking the hornet's nest and need to know how things develop.”

The bot laughs before the voice replies, “Yeah, I’ve seen a bit of it. Good work so far for sure. You’ve got some of these slavers terrified of you. And a good portion of the bounty hunters after Security have gave up on it because they don’t want to end up like the others… You should hear some of the things they’ve been saying about you.”

Gearing grins as he asks, “Oh? Do tell?”

“I’ll keep the choice stuff out of it, you don’t need to hear about some of it. They’re just idiots. But others? You’re turning into some kind of night terror for them. Like something Nightmare Moon conjured up and sicced on them. You’re being blamed for all kinds of disappearances and folks meeting unfortunate ends. Basically if a slaver or bounty hunter gets killed, and the cause isn’t immediately known, they’re blaming you for it whether you had anything to do with it or not.”

Gearing’s grin gets a bit crooked before he replies. “Well, shit… I hope it leads to some positive results.”

“I think so. Just keep doing what you’re doing and things are bound to improve.”

Gearing smiles as he opens up his PipBuck. “Speaking of which, let me show you what I need from you and your network of bots…”

---

Footnote:

Sector Discovered, Please Stand By. . .

Retrying, Please Stand By. . .

Retrying, Please Stand By. . .

!!!ERROR!!! Synchronization Failed. . .

Please Stand By. . .

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