DMHWPG6

=Chapter 6=
==Dead Man's Hand: What Price Glory==
DropShip Ante-Up, Froese River Valley
Port Arthur, Clan Smoke Jaguar Occupation Zone
June 3rd, 3059
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"You'll need to fill this out." Joker held out a clipboard and a pen, "In triplicate: one copy for our records, one for you to keep, and one to be forwarded to the MRBC as soon as is practical."
"What exactly is this?" LT. Basu asked, eyeing the forms suspiciously.
"Standard release forms stating that, as a duly appointed representative of the Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth. You are officially requisitioning battlefield salvage collected during the performance of our mission and not subject to preexisting legal claim by our current employer, the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery." the Mercenary explained. "Said item of battlefield salvage, as stated on page two, being one captured Clan Smoke Jaguar Puma class light OmniMech, currently being repaired down in our Mech Bay. By signing these forms, you officially agree that we can make a claim against the AFFC quartermaster for the independently appraised value of said OmniMech, in accordance with MRBC regulations concerning restitution for appropriated or requisitioned supplies and equipment. The current market value of said OmniMech being approximately 7,021,688 C-Bills."
"This is a lot of paper work." Basu took the clipboard.
"Seven million C-Bills is a lot of money. Especially to a small unit like ours." Joker pointed out, "Too many Mercenary units have been suckered into a Company Stores trap because a House unit, maliciously or not, has taken their preexisting supplies in the name of 'Operational Necessity'. To try and prevent this from happening, the MRBC now insist on the proper paperwork being done so it can be made clear who owes who what, and why. This way, we can request cash, equipment, supplies, services, or any combination there of, from your quartermaster, up to the value of the Puma, without going into the red."
"Exactly how badly damaged is the Puma?" Basu asked, narrowing her eyes, "Jags don't send out a recovery crew without good reason, and I don't want to be responsible for buying a lemon."
"Don't worry. I'm not trying to pull a Discount Dan on you." Joker assured the other woman, "Pilot wasn't paying attention on where she was going and stepped into a pothole or something; she's being very vague on the specifics. Whatever she did, it did something very technical sounding to the left ankle, to the point where you could probably out-pace it on foot without breaking a sweat. Fortunately, between our techs and the Jags we found working to recover it, they seem convinced that they can adapt the ankle actuator from the Uller Fumbles and I took down the other day. It won't be perfect, and I would try any fancy moves in it, but it should be able to get around. That aside, it's practically factory fresh."
"What of the prisoners you took?" Basu asked as she started to fill out the paperwork, "What do you intend to do with them?"
"Most are former Combine citizens, so they've already been set free as per our contract." Joker sat down behind the desk she'd set up in the small cabin that served as the closest thing she had to an office and sipped her coffee, "Couple are Technician Cast, and they'll be released once our operations here are done. The Mechwarrior, Rimsha... she seems to be going through some kind of existential crisis. I don't know if it's being caught with her guard down by a couple of mercenaries while getting smacked from behind by a tech. Or the fact that the entire Inner Sphere has united for the sole purpose of crushing her Clan and her Clan specifically, but she's not taking it too well. I have Jay keeping an eye on her."
"The tech who hit her, the one with the tattoos?" Basu looked up, "You know he's Yakuza, right?"
"His name is Tommy Okajima and yes, he was, but from what he says. What Jay has said about his tattoos, he was rather low down on the pecking order. He says he was a mechanic at a garage that served as a from for some other, less legal operations, and he was only occasionally called upon to do anything other than fix cars."
"You believe him?" questioned the Davion officer
"About as far as I could throw this DropShip. But, Teddy Kurita has an alliance with the Yakuza, so he's not a problem."
"You're going to let a self-professed criminal just walk around your ship?"
"He's not the only one around here who's broken the law." Joker admitted, "There are a couple of planets where I'd be one biometric scan away from some difficult questions."
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Category:Dead Man's Hand: What Price Glory?
Category:Works by JA Baker