<hr/><strong>Dragoon's Tower, <em>Erich</em> and <em>Ranna</em> with Captain Karnov.</strong><br/><hr/>Karnov listened to them intently through their declaration, while occasionally jotting something down on a pad he had brought out from his pocket. As they finished a servant arrived with drinks and he clasped the short glass of clear liquid from the tray placed upon the table. He took a sip and breathed in sharply between his teeth before he cleared his throat.<br/><br/>"We have heard much about these battle armors. Elementals, yes? While we are certainly very interested in this salvage, we know you have something of far greater interest for the Dragoons."<br/><br/>His eyes almost scanned them, as if trying to see through them to read something written on the wall behind them.<br/><br/>"The Clanner. You have one in your possession if I remember correctly, yes? Her alone could bring you certain favors from us, as well as the salvage..." He gave a short and sharp laugh before pausing, letting the resulting smile die away from his features before he continued. "However. I'm afraid it is not that easy in this case, Herr Oststein."<br/><br/><hr/><strong>Mercenary Review Board offices, <em>Graff</em> and <em>Walter</em> with Lieutenant Shenks.</strong><br/><hr/>Walter flinched a little and stifled a frown as he looked over at Graff. There was a certain something about his youthful enthusiasm mixed with that nervous streak. CASEs exploded over the right corner of his eyes and he had to shut them for a moment, his right hand fumbling slightly towards an instrument that wasn't there.<br/><br/>"At least you read the brief. It's all up to you then."<br/><br/>He opened his eyes and stood up, taking the hand of the uniformed man that had seemingly materialized out of nowhere in front of them. He was an midaged gentleman, perhaps somewhere around Erich's age, with a large handlebar mustache and slicked back hair. One could have mistaken him for a Davion noble if it wasn't for the very hard lines of scar tissue and steely eyes that seemed to stab at anything within reach.<br/><br/>"Lieutenant Shenks, what a pleasant surprise."<br/><br/>It was clear from Walter's very strained smile that it was a very unpleasant surprise. The man seemed to talk through his clasped teeth with a bucket full of gravel. "Walter. Didn't think you'd have the guts to come to this meeting. Who's this little Steiner-brat?" His dagger eyes fell on Graff and seemed to fire of a twin PPC volley right into his soul.<br/><br/><hr/><strong>Free Market District, <em>Janos</em>.</strong><br/><hr/>"Why the hell would I pay anything for this bucket, does it include a life insurance for when it combust upon itself?"<br/><br/>Janos was in a heated argument with a 'Mech-dealer who seemed to relish the thought of trying to dump and old Urban 'Mech on a hapless Capellan. Sure he had a certain respect for the trashbins, but not enough to pay the price that this man was asking for. It took him another fifteen minutes before he realized this wasn't the man's opening deal. It was his only deal. With a curse on his lips he turned and stormed off, finally releasing a long mix of rus and chinese curses that certainly had many around him turn a head and snicker. As he rounded a corner he gave a whistle as he saw a Kuritan noblewoman make her way through the streets. All he knew about them was that they had a wicked tongue worthy of a dragon and that they were as ruthless and cunning as their male counterpart. That and they ate babies of course, but only a Capellan didn't do that in the propaganda machine of the Confederation. He was just going to make as much room for her to pass him by when he suddenly recognized her.<br/><br/>"Miss Shadowborn?"<br/><br/>He raised a brow and fell in line besides her, drawing even more looks from the surrounding crowd. She was clad in the finest silk kimono in the whole market place and he had a roughly spun half coat half dress that fell just below his knees, only some tight black jumpsuit seemingly covering the rest of his body. That and his eyes had black circles around them and his hair was just this side of terrible.<br/><br/>"Say, snazzy outfit. You certainly lend some dignity to this place." It was meant as much as a compliment as a hamfisted pickup-line. "So, where are you going?"