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"Hey! New model on the floor! Welcome to the "1-Of-A-Kind." Refuge and rest home for the hardest scrappers anywhere. Name's Gel. Proprietor."
- And what exactly do you and your scrappers do here, Gel? "Turn Mechs into money mostly, plus selling equipment, information, and supplies to any short-term scrappers that want to take a shot at striking it rich out in the fields."
- I'll pass on the small talk, if you don't mind. "Thought I caught a whiff of cutthroat capitalist on the air when you walked in. You're in good company. No small talk."
- Impressive place you've got here, Gel. "Appreciate it. Took years to get this place self-sustaining. Plenty elbow grease and creativity."
- It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm (Name). "So formal. The pleasure is all mine, my good man. Angelo Alonso, at your service. You can call me Gel."
- I'm here to recover a robot. Goes by the name "Kaiser." "Not here to make your fortune out in the fields then, huh? Suit yourself. But there's no bot named "Kaiser" around--"
- "Can I get you started on a tab, then? Or you here to try and make your fortune in the fields? I'm happy to take your credits however you want to hike 'em over."
- What kind of name is "1-Of-A-Kind" for a salvage yard? "It's kind of an inside joke. Other than the fact that we're the only place out here, the mechs we harvest, they're primarily from a group known as "The First Cavalry". Their unit was deployed to break the deadlock on this world during the Colony War. Almost succeeded, too, but, as you can probably guess, it didn't ultimately work. Left us plenty of scrap to build with, though, so we thought it'd be funny to dedicate this place to the folks that made it possible."
- Anything else you know about this "First Cavalry" unit? "So they were pretty widely considered the best damn mech unit in the Freestar Militia. Maybe the galaxy. Their leader, Major Paxton Hull, they say he was some kind of a tactical genius. Whole damn war, he always seemed to be just one step ahead of the UC. But all that changed here on Niira. The fighting was brutal apparently. Between the aliens and the UC defenses... most of the 1st Cav was wiped out. They say Hull snapped. That he couldn't handle the loss of so many good soldiers. When the cease-fire order finally came, he ignored it. Said he was too close to victory, and didn't want his peoples' lives to be sacrificed for nothing. So they court-martialed Hull and the other survivors of the 1st. Locked 'em all up, and that was that."
- I'm here to make my fortune. "Lots of money to be made on mech scrap if you know where to look. And I just happen to sell a guide that'll show you the best spots to get started. Couple words of warning, though. As you may've put together, Niira's more dangerous than a cellophane airlock. And it's not just the environment that'll kill you. UC brought Xenoweapons here during the Colony War and more than a few decided to put down roots. Sirens are the ones you really need to watch out for. You've also got the unauthorized scrappers, Ecliptic being the worst of the bunch. Kill you for looking at them wrong. Luckily, we sell a wide array of problem solvers in various colors and calibers. Any Niira scrapping expedition starts by checking my stock."
- Can you tell me about these "Sirens"? "Nasty kind of alien left behind after the Colony War. Pretty much blind. Original ones brought to Niira were all Xenoweapons, but those critters have long since passed. But they left behind more than enough untrained babies to keep the fields plenty interesting."
- What's "Ecliptic"? "Ecliptic are the meanest damn soldiers of fortune in the galaxy. Make the Crimson Fleet seem polite by comparison. You stumble across any out there, you back away slowly or get ready to kill every last one of them."
- Show me what you've got for sale. "All legal, I swear."
- I'm looking for a robot. Goes by "Kaiser." "Kaiser? No bot around here with that tag... Oh! Unless, you mean Captain Ahab? Least, that's what we've all been calling him. No clue what his actual designation is, since he's got some sort of security protocol that prevents inquiries and general chit-chat. But he's a combat bot, right? Yeah, that machine's been out there a while now. Hunting this one Siren. His white whale. But it's been a while since anyone's laid eyes on Captain Ahab, though. Maybe he finally got the thing... or it got him."
- White whale? What're you talking about? "Moby Dick? Old Earth story about one Captain Ahab chasing some big fish that's bound to get him killed? No? We all thought the name was a good fit since our bot friend was so damn busy chasing that Siren of his. Quality slate, too. Think I got a copy for sale if you want to give it a look."
- What's a Siren? "Nasty kind of alien left behind after the Colony War. Pretty much blind. Original ones brought to Niira were all Xenoweapons, but those critters have long since passed. But they left behind more than enough untrained babies to keep the fields plenty interesting."
- I must've misspoken. NOT AHAB. KAISER. "Little, uh, slow on the uptake, huh? I'm pretty sure we're talking about the same damn machine."
- That could be him. The robot I'm looking for worked with the United Colonies Xenowarfare team. "That's where I recognized that insignia. Red Devils. Yeah, Ahab's definitely your bot."
- Yes! That's Kaiser! "Well, all right."
- "So, sounds like you've got two options. You can wander around out there, hunting your bot, little old white whale of your very own. Maybe you find him, maybe you get yourself killed. But knowing this rock is part of what we do here. So if you want to find him a whole lot faster, I'll sell you what I know about this... Kaiser's location. Going rate's a little steep, but I'm willing to negotiate."
- I'll take my chances out in the fields. "Hmm. Suit yourself. South dock's a good place to find your bearings before heading in. And if you change your mind, offer stands."
- That robot might be the key to stopping Terrormorph attacks across the galaxy. "I mean, great for him. But that won't keep acetylene in our tanks... ... and, honestly, would you be able to tell if a Terrormorph was attacking outside? Sorry."
- [Freestar Collective Settler] Hey. I'm Collective-born. Trust me when I say it's in our best interest that I find Kaiser. "Heh. You and everyone else here. But, uh... fine. I'll give you the neighborly discount."
- [Persuade] I'm sure we can work something out here. "I'm listening."
- "Look, I'm going to stop you there. I've got my livelihood to look after here, all right? So, I'm sorry, but the fee's the fee."
- "Okay. Okay. Okay. You made your point. I'll give you a discount."
- [Pay 1000 Credits] Fine. Here. Just tell me where he is.
- "Hmm. Looks like you're light on funds. Why don't you come back when you're more flush?"
- "Pleasure doing business with you."
- "So, last anyone heard of him, he was out near the Syracuse. Shipwreck about a quarter-klick down the main strip. One of my roughnecks said he heard some kinda beacon. Just keep your ears open, you should find your machine. Eyes open, too. Sirens and Ecliptic out there. And neither takes prisoners. Oh, and corpse retrieval is not included in this transaction. So now you know. Give Ahab - uh, Kaiser - our best."
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After finding Kaiser:
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"What can I do for ya?"
- I was told you might have a MicroCell. "Ah, so that's where your machine's been. Ran out of juice. Heatleeches, wasn't it? Those little stowaways are everywhere on this rock. Suck the power out of a penlight if you let 'em. But a MicroCell? That's military-grade tech. I think we might have one, but I can promise you, it's not going to be cheap. You could probably frankenstein one together using our fabrication system here but only if you had some quality schematics. So I'd just brace for a little sticker shock."
- What's a Heatleech? "I'm sure you've seen 'em. They're everywhere. Little worms that nest on electronics or sneak into ship engines and suck the juice from 'em. Big ports like New Atlantis usually have someone whose job it is to pull 'em out of docked ships... But since it's just us here, the little bastards have pretty much free reign outside the salvage yard."
- You said you've got the tools to make MicroCells here? "Wouldn't have lasted real long here, doing what we do, without a top-notch fabrication system. So long as you've got the specs, it should be able to handle making you a MicroCell. But finding materials up to the task... you're likely going to be sifting through quite a few mech hulks out there to find what you need. Though... if you think you can actually manage something like that, I'm willing to make you a deal. I'll point you towards the juiciest harvest sites. Spots where you should be able to find quality parts. But in return, any excess materials you collect, you sell to me, all right? Save us from risking our necks on another run out there. What do you say?"
- Will I actually be able to find what I need to build a MicroCell out there? "I can't give you a guarantee, but a couple mech types used MicroCells to power non-critical systems - running lights, radar, that sort of stuff. All the intact MicroCells will be long gone - too valuable - but the parts to make one? Much better chance those're still lying around. So, what do you say? Sell me what you don't need and I'll tell you where to look?"
- I'll find the materials myself. "No skin off my teeth. You want to do business, you know where to find me.
- You've got yourself a deal. "Then let me just mark those collection points. Watch yourself out there."
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