Juniper

Steven McDot

>>1123951
Oh that's good!

Silence 2026/04/08(Wed)14:16 No. 1124859 ID: 6d1406
File 177565780580.png - (52.49KB , 668x344 , Mech435.png )

>>1123951
Your name is Juniper, you're a freelance Mercenary under the Frontier Trade act, you've got some experience in the modern mechs of the age and you've proven yourself.

For now you're without a machine, you've got some debts wracking up, and you're supposed to meet your contact on this station. Someone named Mr. Silver, that's who you're meeting, but for now you have other issues.

You've not eaten much due to not having much money to your name, but your stomach growls and you are getting desperate. Nearby is a food stand labelled "cheap", with a little old frog woman running it. You can smell the kebabs, the noodles, the spices, and it's not helping at all.

Still, you have to focus... but maybe... maybe one bite wouldn't hurt. Do you risk your wallet? Or do you keep moving ahead?

>>1124859
Get something cheap that we can eat on the way. Our body needs nutrients! We can't do our job correctly if we don't eat.

pilot needs food badly

Silence 2026/04/10(Fri)13:03 No. 1124996 ID: 6d1406
File 177582623798.png - (48.89KB , 410x276 , Mech436.png )

>>1124876
>>1124892
You opt to get yourself something, it wouldn't do Mr. Silver much good if you collapsed from hunger now would it.

You could spare maybe 30 credits for this, you greet the woman running the stand, she says to you. "Oh hello there! What can I get for you today?"

"I'm looking for something, what are the specials of today?" you reply.

"Well, the current specials are right on that board over there! Take a look!"

You see a board by your feet and it lists the current specials and prices.

* Spicy Noodles 15 Credits
* Kebabs 10 credits
* Drink 6 credits
* Hot Sandwich 11 Credits
* Mystery Special 20 credits

"Wait hold on! Your sign said cheap, these prices are anything but cheap!"

The Frog Woman grins. "Oh my deary... what will you do about it?"

Crap.

Supply n' demand. Leave now and wait for her prices to rot.

Obviously, "Cheap" is actually her name.
Just order the kebabs, to-go.

>>1124996
Walk away. Don't reward false advertising.

get the kebabs and leave a bad review. Do you have a marker or anything?

>>1124996
Haggle. Give her one chance to offer us a better price, then leave. We'll want food sooner or later, but we don't need cheap overpriced junk. Tell her we might consider it if she didn't overcharge so much, but if she won't budge, we're saving our money for something worth the price.

>>1125001 How rare. Got beat to the punch. Seconded.

Silence 2026/04/13(Mon)13:47 No. 1125265 ID: 6d1406
File 177608802913.png - (31.12KB , 282x246 , Mech437.png )

>>1125001
>>1125020
>>1125101
You're hungry but not that hungry, your self control asserts itself and you decide to leave.

"Oh, but how will you meet with Mr. Silver then, deary?"

"Excuse me?" You say back.

She opens her eyes and her smile becomes a grin, steepling her fingers. "You heard me, you want to meet Mr. Silver don't you? You didn't think it'd be that easy. He runs this entire station right under the administrator's nose. Spinward he controls it all, you want the job... you have a few ways in. Mine is the easiest."

She has to be lying, and yet you see it in her eyes that she's serious.

"You're here for the job, the big one, with that fancy new machine in Hangar 15."

You didn't tell anyone about that.

"What'll it be? The easy war, or the hard way."

Well that depends. Is Mr Silver looking for a gullible rube? How about some assurance this isn't a trick.

Hey that's a pretty good sales pitch. Good enough to order some food at least. We'll see where things go from there.

>>1125265
And what exactly is this "easy way" she's proposing to us? Because we're not inclined to pay just for the possibility of being interviewed for a job.

Fun with typos! "Hard way beats an 'easy' war of course." Seriously though. She just gave it away like a fool. Hangar 15 so... go.

Silence 2026/04/15(Wed)14:12 No. 1125439 ID: 6d1406
File 177626232914.png - (43.84KB , 381x271 , Mech438.png )

>>1125272
"Is he looking for a gullible rube?"

She sets down a silver coin. "No, just seeing if you remember anything special. Keeping eyes on you, seeing how you behave, this is his station after all."

>>1125312
"What is this easy way you're proposing, because I'm not paying for an interview."

"Oh you're not paying for the interview. You're paying for information... and a meal judging by the noises your gut is making, haven't eaten in awhile have you?"

>>1125375
"You know I could just go to Hangar 15."

She taps on the silver coin. "Not without approval you won't, you want to meet with Mr. Silver for the job, you can't just enter the hangar anyways."

Well crap.

>>1125279
"Fine, I'll order... what would you recommend?"

The Frog Woman's grin grows. "I'd recommend the Mystery special, I'll even give you a 50% discount on it, if you want to take it at all."

...yeah, ok, that sounds like an acceptable price. Assuming food is involved.

that price is okay.

look at the coin, anything special about it? seems like its supposed to mean something.

Silence 2026/04/17(Fri)13:07 No. 1125522 ID: 6d1406
File 177643126365.png - (22.61KB , 244x222 , Mech439.png )

>>1125447
>>1125493
"Yeah, I'll take that."

"10 credits!"

You pay off the balance and look at the silver coin in the meantime, it's simple, just a silver coin with a printed "15" on it. Might be related to the hangar.

Silence 2026/04/17(Fri)13:10 No. 1125523 ID: 6d1406
File 177643140216.png - (44.40KB , 345x257 , Mech440.png )

You are slid your meal shortly, it appears to be a set of fried meat on skewers and some noodles, it smells good though. Real good.

"Just down the street," the Frog Woman says. "Mr. Silver will meet you in the old tax building, enjoy!"

You idly thank her.

>>1125523
Might as well eat on your way over. No sense in being hungry when you meet Mr. Silver.

>>1125523
Not sure how legit that was, but at least we got some food out of it. Two meat skewers and some noodles. When we're finished with the meat, we can use the skewers as chopsticks. Clever.

Is 10 credits a normal price for this amount of food?

Let's check out the bottom and sides of the package. There might be something hidden in it somewhere. And also pay attention to the taste. We're not usually this wary of someone putting something in our food, but that frog lady is pretty shady.

Are you supposed to take the coin?

Silence 2026/04/20(Mon)13:53 No. 1125658 ID: 6d1406
File 177669323337.png - (67.02KB , 671x316 , Mech441.png )

>>1125527
You pick up the meal and begin to eat and walk, the meat is recycled protein for certain, grown in a vat. Common stuff really.

>>1125528
It tastes like vat grown meat, you're very familiar with it due to past experience on long trips on starships.

>>1125543
The frog lady takes the coin back, so no.

You don't need to go very far to find it, on a station like this the habitation buildings aren't hard to find.

Silence 2026/04/20(Mon)13:58 No. 1125659 ID: 6d1406
File 177669350853.png - (19.17KB , 340x308 , Mech442.png )

You enter, the building is dark, the lights are out. Seems Mr. Silver has a flair for the dramatic.

"Ah, Juniper, good to see you."

Stepping out is a large gorilla man in a waistcoat, his eyes seem to be glowing, you're not surprised people have specialized contacts for that, meant to intimidate. You're used to this however so this is just business as usual for you.

What does catch your attention is the second set in the darkness staring out at you, that has to be one of the guards.

"You can call me Mr. Silver, you're here for the job aren't you?"

That you are.

"Good, good," Mr. Silver says, you don't know why but his voice sounds somewhat familiar.

"If we play our cards right, both of us can walk away and never work another day in our lives again. So... do you have any important questions, or shall we head down to Hangar 15?"

Do you have questions? You probably do, important ones, but you might also just want to get the job over with.

Is he going to explain the job here or in the hanger? I guess the hanger is more secure

yeah lets go

>>1125659
What's the pay?

>>1125659
Here's a question. There's an old frog lady selling overpriced fast food. She's saying that the easiest way to get to Mr. Silver is to buy from her. Is she actually an associate of his, or is she just scamming people?

As for the mission... what should we do to prepare for it? What conditions can we expect? Is there any special equipment that we might want, like extra environmental protection or the like?

Also, whose side are we on and who are we fighting? When a job has a price tag this high, there's almost always some heavy politics involved, and we'll want to know what kind of waves we'll be making.

High risk high reward. So what's the risks?

Silence 2026/04/22(Wed)13:38 No. 1125771 ID: 6d1406
File 177686509766.png - (36.26KB , 452x280 , Mech443.png )

>>1125662
"I can explain here as needed," he says.

>>1125666
"ITA Credits, 3 billion credits, enough to disappear and never work again."

>>1125696
>>1125710
"As for the woman at the food stand, she does work for me, but her prices are always up in debate."

"You won't need environmental protection either, the job is to recover an experimental mech from Kowalski Wayne Mercantile and bring it back to the ITA. There's a recovery ship on the other side of the gas giant and you just need to pilot it there."

"As for why the ITA, they're the ones paying. Apparently they don't like the corps interfering too much in their business, so they want to get some experimental tech and get a leg up. We can handle that, can't we?"

What happens if you fail?

This is too dangerous. The reward alone will paint a target on your back.

will this be solo? or will there be any assistance, or at least a distraction

Silence 2026/04/24(Fri)13:36 No. 1125854 ID: 6d1406
File 177703776191.png - (20.84KB , 243x227 , Mech444.png )

>>1125778
"What happens if I fail?"

Mr. Silver's smile disappears. "Then Kowalski Wayne sends a courier detachment after us. So don't fail."

>>1125782
"Will there be assistance or at least a distraction?"

"There will, I'm not having you run into danger without a plan anyways. We hired you because you're the only one with piloting experience as well as the one willing to take the risk."

You don't think there are any other questions, you ready?

Silence 2026/04/24(Fri)13:36 No. 1125855 ID: 6d1406
File 177703780211.png - (29.08KB , 165x200 , Mech445.png )

>>1125779
[YOU CAN'T CHANGE WHAT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED]

>>1125854
Guess so. Let's get that contract signed.

Lets do it, full confidence

Silence 2026/04/27(Mon)14:13 No. 1125968 ID: 6d1406
File 177729921773.png - (14.10KB , 253x163 , Mech446.png )

You agree to the deal.

"Excellent, take the service elevator down to Floor 8 and you'll find Hangar 15. Make sure you have your story straight when the local workers ask you why you're there, we'll need a few moments before we can catch their attention."

You see his fur more clearly, it's a deep dark blued black... it's... familiar?

Silence 2026/04/27(Mon)14:14 No. 1125969 ID: 6d1406
File 177729928702.png - (38.25KB , 691x714 , Mech447.png )

There's a skip, you recall being on the elevator heading down.

What is your story going to be? The Dock workers are no doubt KW employees watching over the product they're holding, what is the reality you're gonna tell them?

You're a pilot and you'll be taking the experimental mech out tomorrow. But you just couldn't resist getting a look at it now.

Okay so Mr Silver is Hannibal. So that means either Mr Silver infiltrated KW in order to snap you up once you became indebted to them (because you tried and failed to steal their shit) or they enslaved him too. ...also of interest is that ITA is working with KW now, despite ITA trying to steal KW's mech. It's possible that you failed so badly they couldn't trace the job back to ITA and the situation we're in in the present is a second attempt to steal from KW...

hmm. This memory recovery could give us leverage, depending on how much KW knows. If they weren't able to interrogate you before due to the memory loss, then you could use the info to ensure KW sets you free after the current mission, by threatening to spill the beans if they betray you.

>>1125969
First off, bamboozle them by having knowledge only an employee is supposed to have. Claim that you're not in the system yet because you haven't officially signed the contract, you wanted to make sure the mech actually *exists* before you agree to anything and if you're turned away here you'll not signing. Tell them you were burned by a company before this that hired you for a mech that they hadn't finished yet and you wound up having to sit on the bench for months before getting to do pilot it.

>>1125991

#NotEveryGorilla

Silence 2026/04/29(Wed)13:57 No. 1126055 ID: 6d1406
File 177747104855.png - (83.91KB , 572x324 , Mech448.png )

>>1125971
>>1125991
The story will be that you're an experimental pilot, and just haven't signed the contract yet. Good enough.

You enter Hangar 15 and feel gravity leave you, it's a normal sensation the weightlessness. You see a technician ahead, she looks to you and says. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I'm an experimental pilot, here to check up on the new mech. Haven't signed yet."

"Oh, here to inspect it?" the mouse asks.

"Yep, been burned before. Just wanna make sure it exists."

The mouse nods and then says. "Well then, I suppose I can let you see it, you did get the daytime pass right?"

Shit, this is probably where Mr. Silver needs to fill in the rest, you need to distract her for a moment until he gets back to you. What do you do to buy time?

Freeze up, then rummage through your pack, swear a few times. Groan in disgust when you're done searching and are sure you don't have your pass in your backpack.

Get in an argument that that's too much hassle

Silence 2026/05/04(Mon)14:10 No. 1126286 ID: 6d1406
File 177790385477.png - (49.84KB , 441x207 , Mech449.png )

>>1126056
You dig through your pockets. Cursing a little bit to sell it, the Mouse Woman glares at you as you do so. "Damn it, damn it I was certain it was in this coat."

>>1126066
She sighs. "No pass, no access. Hell, I might just have to call security!"

"No no, we don't gotta do that."

"I think I have to, this might be too much trouble otherwise, so how about you-"

You hear Mr. Silver in your ear. "Say "Silver Shillings" in a sentence, make it natural, we finally managed to get through."

Okay, final pocket check. Pretend to enumerate what you find, and mention the old lucky silver shilling inbetween other items.

Silence 2026/05/06(Wed)13:34 No. 1126426 ID: 6d1406
File 177807449631.png - (47.50KB , 417x245 , Mech450.png )

>>1126401
You begin to rifle through your pockets. "It has to be here, probably caught up among some silver shillings, somewhere."

The Mouse Woman pauses for a moment and goes. "Excuse me?"

"The pass, it's here in my pockets somewhere."

"No the other thing."

"Silver Shilling?"

She stares at you for a moment and goes. "You're the contact with Mr. Silver?"

That's right. What do you need me to do?

"Snitches get stitches and sleep with the fishes. So to speak at least since who we're with is our business. We'd be stupid to say otherwise. Especially if... Got a wire? Who's listening? Hey whoever's listening, we're third-party security auditors. Everything's above board here." Straight face and no raised voice. Stay cool.

Silence 2026/05/08(Fri)13:46 No. 1126507 ID: 6d1406
File 177824799443.png - (58.64KB , 505x362 , Mech451.png )

>>1126429
She shushes you for a moment and leans in, as you ask her what she needs you to do.

"Okay, the experimental mech," she whispers. "It's down there, in that crate, there's a door on the bottom, near the cockpit entrance. I'll let you past and enter in there, be careful, there's no gravity in here, so try not to leave anything floating. Once you're in start the boot sequence and the crate and hangar should open..."

Is that all?

"That's all. You're ready for this, there's no return after we cross this barrier. Do you have any last questions?"

Is there anyone else in the hanger right now?

>>1126507
Any advice for the escape route?

Silence 2026/05/11(Mon)14:05 No. 1126664 ID: 6d1406
File 177850834279.png - (307.74KB , 707x413 , Mech452.png )

>>1126527
"Nobody else in the hangar, just us for now. The KW Execs are coming to see it tomorrow, low presence as a result, this is a secure hangar... hence the need for Mr. Silver's little negotiation."

>>1126528
"Is there any advice for the escape route?"

"There will be an ITA carrier not too far off, just past some local asteroids brought in for resources. The Mech is a high mobility type, you should be able to fly there under its power, easy enough."

"Good, sounds easy enough."

You all ready for this?

yep, and good luck to you

It's time. High risk, high reward, high dive.

Have three different escape routes and don't trust your bosses.

Get going.

Silence 2026/05/13(Wed)14:10 No. 1126766 ID: 6d1406
File 177868140030.png - (20.84KB , 317x178 , Mech453.png )

>>1126672
>>1126674
>>1126675
You get down into the hangar, and enter the crate, you can see it, the new mech.

Silence 2026/05/13(Wed)14:10 No. 1126767 ID: 6d1406
File 177868145881.png - (52.70KB , 184x325 , Mech454.png )

There the new mech sits, held in place in the crate, two optic units on the head, the cockpit is open, it says high mobility alright. There are several extra thrusters along the unit. Whatever this thing is, it's probably a high gee monster.

Silence 2026/05/13(Wed)14:12 No. 1126768 ID: 6d1406
File 177868155578.png - (31.25KB , 191x180 , Mech455.png )

You climb into the machine, and close the cockpit. You boot it up as the generator powers on, you discard your jacket as you grip the controls, whatever this thing is... its new.

Physical controls, no neuroconnection, probably for use with un augmented pilots. Alright, first step... how do you wanna get it out of here? Take it slow and quiet, or punch out?

Get out of the crate quietly. save the loud for busting out of the hanger

Well you need to familiarize yourself with the controls anyway, may as well be quiet at first. (and the less you damage things the less debt you'll be in later)

Start quietly.
Get acquainted with the mech before the time to go loud comes.

Silence 2026/05/18(Mon)14:37 No. 1126968 ID: 6d1406
File 177911505415.png - (18.02KB , 162x206 , Mech456.png )

>>1126783
>>1126786
>>1126825
You take it slowly, familiarizing yourself with the controls, drifting out of the crate slowly, the machine is responsive and slightly twitchy. You think you're gonna need to apply the controls on easy before you go rocketing off.

Silence 2026/05/18(Mon)14:38 No. 1126969 ID: 6d1406
File 177911511914.png - (225.77KB , 480x416 , Mech457.png )

The hangar opens, and you slowly push yourself out there into the black, you have a good idea of how the mech functions now, but you're still a little worried about putting it out at full power.

Wanna follow the path slowly, or do you wanna try and push the upper limits and find out what this mech does?

Get behind that asteroid to be out of sensor sight, then push the mech.

take it slow, eyes out for an ambush

Alarms must be going off by now. Cheese it!

Silence 2026/05/20(Wed)13:44 No. 1127036 ID: 6d1406
File 177928466864.png - (131.87KB , 465x294 , Mech458.png )

>>1126971
>>1126984
You take it slow at first, pushing just enough to get yourself further away and to the closest asteroid, which is still at least 20,000 klicks out, it takes a bit on low power but you get yourself around behind it, no issue.

"Alright... time to see what this thing can do..."

Silence 2026/05/20(Wed)13:46 No. 1127037 ID: 6d1406
File 177928478355.png - (276.66KB , 724x369 , Mech459.png )

You push it to maximum throttle and feel yourself sink into the cushions of your unit, you can feel the Gees pushing upon you. Whatever this thing is, it is a monster of a mech. High speed mobility is right, and from what the systems are saying about a safety limiter, you could probably push it further if you disabled those.

It's exhilarating, you always dreamed of piloting a machine like this... you could... take a little more time and attempt to dance among the stars with this, if you wanted.

Don't hit a micropebble Don't hit a micropebble Don't hit a micropebble Don't hit a micropebble Don't hit a micropebble Don't hit a micropebble
You hit a micropebble
Boom

>>1127037
Focus on the mission!

welllll maybe just a little

Silence 2026/05/22(Fri)13:09 No. 1127085 ID: 6d1406
File 177945536113.png - (173.47KB , 403x377 , Mech460.png )

>>1127044
You choose to just keep to the mission, professionalism winning out. You hear something in the comms system, and suddenly. "Attention High Mobility Type, cease operation and prepare for collections!"

You spin the thing on its back and look back to see a group of KW Vessels slowly approaching. There's no way you're gonna just give up, they won't be very forgiving of you having stolen their mech from them.

"Attention Mech Pilot, you have stolen Kowalski Wayne Property, cease operation and we will be merciful, continue and we will be forced to intervene."

You're also fairly certain you can outpace them in this thing, those are just merchant ships.

Make for the rendezvous point with the carrier!
But don't forget to keep an evasive flight pattern, in case they have some long-range weapons.

time to kick it into high gear

You should head off in an unrelated direction until you're out of sensor range before looping around to reach the rendezvous point.

>>1127092
good point, don't lead them to the rendezvous

Silence 2026/05/25(Mon)13:40 No. 1127160 ID: 6d1406
File 177971640588.png - (117.76KB , 501x321 , Mech461.png )

>>1127092
>>1127088
>>1127101
You head off on an evasive pattern, you can't draw attention to your employers, this mech should have enough power and propellant to make it work.

Silence 2026/05/25(Mon)13:40 No. 1127161 ID: 6d1406
File 177971644420.png - (200.15KB , 361x349 , Mech462.png )

The ships open up their cargo units, and fighter units begin to pour out.

Silence 2026/05/25(Mon)13:42 No. 1127162 ID: 6d1406
File 177971656638.png - (101.07KB , 208x260 , Mech463.png )

With your systems, you get a picture of one. It's an old Barry unit, one of the first major high mobility units but relies a lot on brute force and has no proper speed. KW worked with Wantanabe Heavy Electronics to get this unit made.

You've technically got the better mech but enough of these little bastards can swarm you.

So don't let them close. Full steam fighting retreat now!

Try not to spread space debris, but if your targeting computer gives you a guaranteed firing solution, thin the attrition!

keep moving, don't let them surround you

Silence 2026/05/27(Wed)13:35 No. 1127246 ID: 6d1406
File 177988892256.png - (741.60KB , 888x683 , Mech464.png )

>>1127178
>>1127181
You get moving, unfortunately this machine has no weapons on hand, so you're gonna have to just rely on outwitting them and outmanuvering. You can feel the gee forces pressing into you, it stings a little bit, you're not meant for this, you have a single neuroport as your only enhancement.

>>1127193
You do so, seeing flashes of light pass by you, the things are outfitted with beam weaponry, they have a solid ranged attack while you're unarmed.

You need to figure out what to do here, maybe you can contact your contractor and get help, or maybe you're on your own and you're better off finding your own solution out here in the rock fields.

>>1127246
Make sure there's all a few asteroids between you and them. It'll give you some cover and help avoid getting shot.

In fact, you can start throwing the asteroids at them if you need to. Even if they blast the asteroids to pieces, enough debris can slow them down or make them hesitant to get closer.

Yeah, how much force can you bring to bear? flinging rocks at them might be your only option

I think optimally what you do is evade them until they can't report back what's happening, and then call for backup... but I suspect there is no such thing as limited range on their comms.

Try calling for help. If your employers refuse, give yourself up.

You don't have weapons. They have weapons. Your best bet is to charge in, preferably from an ambush, and steal their weaponry. The asteroid hiding plan may be your best shot.

Silence 2026/06/01(Mon)13:52 No. 1127440 ID: 6d1406
File 178032196622.png - (495.85KB , 811x554 , Mech465.png )

>>1127260
You tuck back into the nearby field, rocks from the belt pulled close for the station to strip for resources, it works a little bit.

>>1127264
You manage to get a few in the process, while they were the first high mobility types it was through brute force rather than anything actively useful. You managed to pull close to the asteroids and catch a few.

>>1127274
You call for backup, and get nothing, and then you hear it, screaming, gunshots, the sounds of battle. The channel switches and you can hear some bored sounding operator. "Roger that, you are nearing the EZ."

Whatever that was, you're not certain if it's something to worry about, for now, on your sensors, you can see the ITA vessel, you're nearly there... nearly there...

>>1127276
The weapons are built into their arms, even if you could rip one out you'd get at most one shot with them.

You're nearing the vessel, do you want to just land, or do you wanna ask them for a weapon to show off the mech they're about to get?

Your employer didn't ask you to take risks or show off. To the hangar bay it is, coming in hot.

Just get going.

They'd better have some guns on that ship, or be ready to leave as soon as you get on.

Silence 2026/06/03(Wed)13:46 No. 1127589 ID: 6d1406
File 178049440997.png - (97.71KB , 321x249 , Mech466.png )

>>1127441
>>1127466
You opt to just complete the mission, and you see it, it's a low profile freighter, no guns beyond some minor point defense, it's usually with other ships in transit. You get the idea, it's not supposed to look like a threat, be overlooked.

Silence 2026/06/03(Wed)13:48 No. 1127590 ID: 6d1406
File 178049448439.png - (101.66KB , 321x249 , Mech467.png )

A large beam attack however comes from above and strikes the ship, the damage is recoverable but it won't take it forever, you turn to see what hit them.

Silence 2026/06/03(Wed)13:49 No. 1127591 ID: 6d1406
File 178049455958.png - (214.37KB , 349x327 , Mech468.png )

It's another mech, not one of those older ones that was chasing you, this is a single unit. You turn your attention and get a message from the ITA ship.

"Bogey, handle it."

Easy for them to say, you don't have any weapons on hand.

Gonna have to close to melee

>>1127591
Guess we have to request a weapon, then. Your rocks will only work as distractions for now.