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"The Guristas encourage fierce competition among the ranks. From seeing who can pull in the most loot, who can raid the most well defended target and who can make the most advanced altercation to a peice of technology…Do i see anything wrong with this? Of course not, survival itself is a competition among every living being in this world. We need competition in our lives, we need our peers to keep us on our toes and pressuring us to continue pushing the bar, improving the quality of the faction as a whole. We need that passion - that fire - to feed our spirits and fuel us to continue pushing our limits and unlocking our full potential!”
- Suha Raibuya
“I don’t want your ship”
April 9th YC 122
6NJ8-V IV - The Rabbit’s Warren Fortizar, Obscure pleasure hub’s VIP Section.
“Ayo, who’s this? Torrisi! Is this your plug? No? Then who the hell are you? Who let you up here?”
“I let myself up here.”
“Corny-ass ■■■■■■■■■■■■ coming up here like he’s auditioning for a part in an action holoreel with that kind of answer.”
“Do you find it baffling that someone has the clout to get past two bouncers and walk up here?”
“What? Are you the owner of this shithole that sells tequila that reeks of slaver hound piss?”
“Think the tequila smells bad? Should take a whiff of the vodka.”
“My man, do you ■■■■■■■ see the M512 right next to my drink right here? You you come up here - unannounced - and start bullshiting me with one-liners and jokes. Now, you wanna know what happens if the next two words out of your mouth aren’t your first and last name? Contiune ■■■■■■■ and around find out…”
“Filvar Tertil…I come representing Helmatt’s Harriers.”
“Oooohh, you’re one of Lucash’s boys? Ain’t that just precious…Alright then Filvar, you know who I am, right? You came up here looking for me, so you know what I’m about…Go ahead, say my name. Introduce me.”
" Kastur Askewo."
“Go on! Tell everyone here who I am. You got a file on me by now, surely. I can already see where this conversation is going!”
“You’re the Dramiel pilot from Angel Cartel’s Archangels that’s been flying around Venal and challenging Gurista all over to drag races in deadspace pockets, typically for exorbitant amounts of scrip or sometimes, their ships.”
“Damn right, not a single one of you weird ass furries can beat my ship down a 150km strip. I was hoping to find some actual challenge when I left Curse to come up here, all I’ve found however were a bunch of frauds thinking they know how to fly…So what’s good? Y’all salty about me winning so god damn much? Do those two hicks with the condors go crying to you when I jacked their ■■■■?”
“They did, actually.”
“Ha! Figured…Alright, so what’s your move then? How you wanna settle this?”
“I want to challenge you to a race. 150km strip of deadspace.”
“Yeah, you and the next twenty five chumps I have waiting in line. You Gurista have kink for ass whoopings or something. I put a advert up on this Venal Prosperity Network thing like three hours ago and I got so many mad ■■■■ boys in my inbox challenging me to a race. So question is, why should I let you cut ahead of the rest?”
“Because I’m gonna put my ship on the line.”
“And what makes you think I want your piece of ■■■■ junker of a ship? Hell you even flying?”
“A Crow - a Crow fitted with a micro warp drive swiped from a Federal Shipyard in low security space. The internal structure of the ship has been refitted with alloy frameworks used by the Republic Fleet and Inertia Stabilizers sourced directly from a Serpentis vessel.”
“Not bad…I’m gonna need to see this ship before I agree to anything.”
“Of course.”
“Now how am I gonna be sure you ain’t gonna just dip out after I win? Last one to try that got scrapped…Chased the ■■■■■■■■■■■■ though Tribute just to give him a piece of my mind - and you damn well better expect me to catch your ass if you think about being slick.”
“I’ll have a spare ship, exact copy of the ship I’ll be racing in. The spare will be given to the Prosperous Venal Depository-”
“-Such a stupid ass name-”
'-And be held within their hangers until the race is over, and relinquish ownership to you if you win."
“Well maybe you’re not as broke as I originally thought you were. Now again, I’m gonna need to proof I’m not getting screwed. That you’re flying what you say you are, and what you got in the bank is the exact same spects…Also, I hope you don’t mind that I don’t have a spare to give to this fruity ass named Depository…”
“I don’t want your ship.”
“…Eh? Then what the ■■■■ do you-…Oh-ho! Oh! Of course! I was waiting for you to pop the question…■■■■■■■ seen it coming the moment you said you came from Lucash’s group of misfit groupies…You want me to join the Harriers, don’t you?”
“Correct, you got a good skillset, one we can put to use. Not to mention your previous employment with the Cartel makes you and your entourage very suitable candidates for the Harriers.”
“Hold up - Previous? Getting ahead of yourself, aren’t you? We’re still with Cartel…And what if I don’t even honor your little wager to defect to the Lucash fanclub?”
“Then we’ll chase your ass all the way down to Tribute - scrap your ship - and hang your corpse outside the hanger bays of this Fortizar.”
“Think threats are gonna motivate me?”
“I’m telling you what’s gonna happen when I win and you try to get out of our wager…Hell, isn’t this what you want?”
“What you on about now?”
“You left Curse to come out here for new challenge…Something tells me you’re not satisfied with your place in the Cartel. Not satisfied with the competition out there.”
“Ain’t satisfied with the competition here either…”
“You just haven’t found it yet.”
“And what kind of background do you even have as a pilot? Ferrying garbage from the station to the sun in a beat-up and run-down Badger that would make the Minmatar hesitant to call space worthy?”
“Well - Started off as a scout for the Federal Navy before being dishonorably discharged…Got work smuggling for the Serpentis…And I got offered a position to be both a scout for fleets and smuggler for contraband and equipment within the Harriers for four times the money I was making.”
“So you’re formally Serpentis? Alright…Can’t say I’ve raced anyone from the Serpents yet. This race is starting to sound a lot more interesting to me…Still not sold on switching sides over a single race.”
“Can make it a best of three…If I manage to beat you, that should tell you were the real winners are. If you whoop my ass on the strip? Then maybe you’re in the right place with the Cartel, and you’ll get a pricey Crow ontop of it all, a trophy for your success out here.”
“…How much are we expecting to get paid with the Harriers?”
“Whatever you’re getting paid now times four or five.”
“And what do you get out of this?”
“Well you know, recruiters fee…Annnnnd a chance to prove I’m the best…”
“…Alright! Alright ■■■■ it! You got yourself a race…Still gonna need to see this ship with my own eyes first.”
“Absolutely, right this way, I can show you.”