>>1128609
Seems like a reasonable explanation. That, or they stole the plans for it, and are going to make their own version of the mech first, in a way that they can take credit for the design before KW can copyright it.

Wait, who's Ouroboros? This is the first we've heard of them.

Silence 2026/06/29(Mon)14:41 No. 1128719 ID: 6d1406
File 178274409655.png - (17.39KB , 244x152 , Mech482.png )

>>1128609
>>1128620
"More than likely, Ouroboros has always had a major rivalry with Kowalski Wayne," Hannibal noted.

So you got screwed over because another company wanted to make some more money... wait what about the deal to try and sneak the mech to the ITA?

"They've covered themselves, they've disavowed the group we were working with to get the new mech. We're on our own, and Kowalski Wayne isn't looking to be merciful," Hannibal explained. "We got screwed over and we're likely going to be indentured at best."

Ouroboros likely had a mole in KW too, that either fired without orders, or gave/forged the order to fire.
Because with the force deployed and mission control captured, forcing a surrender should have been child's play.

Indentured is better than dead. Gives you time to plan your friendly reunion with Ava to educate her on the consequences of stabbing your associates in the back.

Silence 2026/07/01(Wed)15:01 No. 1128805 ID: 6d1406
File 178291811179.png - (25.18KB , 210x272 , Mech483.png )

>>1128720
You bring up the idea of a mole in the employee of Kowalski Wayne.

"Another possibility," Hannibal notes. "There's a bunch of corporate espionage these days, some people will do anything to pull one over."

>>1128743
You express your desire to meet with Ava one day and get revenge on her.

"I understand your anger there, I don't think it'd be worth the effort, KW probably won't let us get our chance. If we're gonna end up in their Indentured, we'll probably be under close watch."

"That depends," another voice says, stepping through the doorway is an older man, a dog person of sorts, a tired expression on his face. "We can make a deal."

You stare at him, and he adjusts his tie before saying. "My name is Disco, yes I'm aware it's not a normal name. That's all you need to know, I represent KW and I think there may be a mutually beneficial agreement for all of us, while you work off your debt."

It sounds too good to be true.

You owe them more money than you'll ever see in a thousand lifetimes. There's no working that off, there's only a legal whip allowing them to force you to work for them for free until you die.

>>1128805
"...I deserve this. Just don't fucking enslave my unborn children."

>>1128805
>too good to be true
You haven't even heard the deal yet.

>>1128805

Disco very trustworthy

Silence 2026/07/03(Fri)13:57 No. 1128907 ID: 6d1406
File 178308704436.png - (59.60KB , 515x304 , Mech484.png )

>>1128806
This is more than true, 3 billion credits. You look to Hannibal who gives a shrug and says. "There's at least a chance."

>>1128810
"...I deserve this. Just don't fucking enslave my unborn children."

Disco looks offput. "I don't think you're that bad off. It'll be some work but we can come to a mutual resolution. We saw how you piloted that unit, for somebody who has very few augments such as yourself, it was impressive."

"I have debts with the ITA," you point out.

"We'll clear those, especially with that little fiasco that their "rogue" element caused," Disco says.

>>1128827
>>1128832
You point out you haven't even heard the deal yet.

"You're probably noticing lack of some things, a right eye, some flesh, your tail," Disco begins.

You become aware that your tail is gone, you try not to panic but it's not hard to worry about it.

"We want to make you a Courier, a proper one. We'll cover the augmentation and send you into some of the most dangerous situations," he continues. "Raw talent like yours shouldn't be wasted. Do it right and in 5 years we can have your debt to us wiped out."

Just 5 years?

"5 years, 8 at longest estimates. Our Couriers are high payout options," Disco continued.

Hannibal speaks up. "Really, and what about me?"

"You'll get a job in management, your job will be keeping watch over the Couriers, much like her."

Hannibal looks to you, and you're left to decide for yourself.

"If you have questions, feel free to ask them, you get 4, and then you have to decide," Disco says.

>>1128907
1, you want a clause in your contract that says if a mission is exceptionally lucrative it reduces the length of your service. Proportional to the remaining debt, of course.
2, are they gonna put a bomb in your head or something to make sure you comply?
3, is this a secret deal?

...can't think of a 4th one offhand.

>>1128907

What if you die before paying off your debt?

Silence 2026/07/06(Mon)14:54 No. 1129036 ID: 6d1406
File 178334968334.png - (26.20KB , 238x319 , Mech485.png )

>>1128964
You have 3.

1st you ask for a clause that says if a mission is exceptional it reduces the service proportional to your remaining debt.

"We can do that," Disco replies. "That's a fair enough deal."

2nd you ask if this involves a cranial bomb or something to make you comply.

"Nothing so crude," he says. "We have our methods, and truthfully it's just more complication because if you discover the bomb you're gonna want to turn it off and turn on us. That would go against our vested interests."

3rd you ask if the deal is secret.

"It's not," is the answer. "I have a noterized KW lawyer just outside just waiting for the signature."

"And me," Hannibal replies. "What is my end state in this deal?"

"You'll be given a lot of opportunities for management over the next few years, play your cards right and you may become notable," Disco says. "Hopefully by the end, you two will be part of the KW family."

"I don't think we have much choice, do we Juniper?"

There's no refusing this indeed. Our hands are tied here.

It offers some hope. No real choice in the matter though. Have to accept

Tell Disco you'll always remember him for getting you a sweet deal like this.

Silence 2026/07/08(Wed)11:53 No. 1129115 ID: 6d1406
File 178351160128.png - (35.08KB , 304x196 , Mech486.png )

>>1129046
>>1129042
>>1129047
You have no choice really, it's the best option you have under these circumstances. You limply reach one of your arms up. "I'll take it."

Disco almost seems to smile. "Don't worry Juniper, you won't forget any of this, this is an important day today. The start of your new life."

Silence 2026/07/08(Wed)11:53 No. 1129116 ID: 6d1406
File 178351162396.png - (37.04KB , 304x196 , Mech487.png )

Things start to get fuzzy, you can feel yourself slipping...

Silence 2026/07/08(Wed)12:00 No. 1129117 ID: 6d1406
File 178351203676.png - (33.18KB , 154x223 , Mech488.png )

You awaken, back in the Infirmary at the Old Spaceport, you feel as if it has been no time whatsoever, you're in shock for certain.

Oh good, you're awake, you've been out for under an hour now!

You can hear Nora clearly, and yet she too feels somewhat distant.

Are you okay? Must have been something quite shocking locked up in your memories.

You don't know what to say, what to do, you don't even know what happened. Where do you go from here?

Plan is unchanged, I guess.
Want it or not, we're under contract with KW now, and we'll see this contract through. Anything less would cost us our credibility.

"Don't worry Juniper, you won't forget any of this, this is an important day today. The start of your new life." -Disco

Fuck you Disco.

>>1129117
Ask what could have caused the memory loss. You now know it wasn't from the injuries that took your eye.

Silence 2026/07/10(Fri)14:24 No. 1129179 ID: 6d1406
File 178369346522.png - (51.87KB , 402x276 , Mech489.png )

>>1129118
>>1129123
You decide to buckle down and just move forward, you're still under contract... and supposedly this is your chance out. This job should free you... at least what that's what Hannibal said.

>>1129125
You ask Nora what could have caused the memory loss, since it wasn't related to your head injuries. You watch as she crosses her arms in consideration.

Well see, you didn't lose the memories, they were just locked away. Could have been emotional suppression, you deliberately sealed them off yourself and the implants just reacted to that. Or it could have been intentional by the company during your augmentation, maybe as some control method to keep you focused, they weren't hard to unlock so I don't know if it was intended to be permanent, but the Corps are kinda assholes all around.

If it bothers you, do you have anyone you could ask? Anyone you trust?

>>1129179
...guess we could ask Hannibal. From what we saw from our memories, he's just as much of a victim as we were. At the very least we can ask to check the contract to see if they put in that provision. On the other hand, why is Hannibal not listed as a handler?

Ask if there's any chance these memories are fake.

Those memories didn't seem that traumatic that we would block them. And I'm not sure why the company would want to make you forget that you owe them so much.

Could we have seen something we weren't supposed to see?

>>1129201
If we saw something secret and the memories were blocked for that reason, wouldn't it have been harder to unlock them?
I think either it was accidental, it was self-inflicted, or there's some false information in there and we were meant to unlock them.

Strange, the only thing that they might have wanted to cover up is:

1. The identity of Disco. (Is he in trouble too? He's just a suit!)
2. The identity of Hannibal. (but you didn't have any dirt on him that hadn't already been leaked)
3. You stole a mech (so you won't run off with the latest company mech?)
4. Ava had your memories erased so you wouldn't remember she betrayed you. (AVAAAAAAA)

Silence 2026/07/13(Mon)17:47 No. 1129272 ID: 6d1406
File 178396484594.png - (81.35KB , 425x519 , Mech490.png )

>>1129193
You decide to call up Hannibal, hopefully to get answers.

>>1129201
>>1129202
>>1129209
Answers for these specifically.

It takes a moment but you hear Hannibal's voice over the line soon.

Fox, good to hear from you, but it's somewhat surprising. I'm on my way down to the spaceport, just got approval for landing, the last job is soon.

How do you want to broach this topic?

>>1129272
Got some things I want to discuss. Privately.
Perhaps over lunch.

>>1129273
and if he tries to say he can't get that personal as a handler, tell him its just once for old times sake.

"You're still an asshole. Over and out."

>>1129303
What?!

>>1129272
Tell him you'd like to discuss something in private. Once we're somewhere we can't be overheard, you can bring up your memories and about how you're not sure why you lost them in the first place.

Silence 2026/07/15(Wed)16:46 No. 1129355 ID: 6d1406
File 178413398728.png - (41.34KB , 240x325 , Mech491.png )

>>1129273
>>1129295
>>1129307
You tell Hannibal you two need to talk, privately, for 'old time's sakes'.

Fox, what does that mean?

>>1129303
"You're still an asshole."

Hannibal goes quiet for a moment and then asks.

Okay then... where do you want to meet?

Is there a cheap food stand around here?

Wait no

...yeah let's eat somewhere decent instead.

Silence 2026/07/17(Fri)15:01 No. 1129430 ID: 6d1406
File 178430050438.png - (42.15KB , 442x242 , Mech492.png )

>>1129363
>>1129366
Let's meet in the cafeteria.

Of course J- 637. I'll see you there in a bit.

You go to the Cafeteria. You sit down, and wait, you wait... it takes a few hours, no doubt Hannibal had some work to get done once he landed. But you're fine with waiting, you're gonna get answers, because soon, this all ends.

You footsteps, and look over and see Hannibal enter, from your memories he was a bit thinner, seems time has made him a bit portlier.

Hello Fox, or should I be calling you something else?

Hello Mr. Silver.

Hm, seems you finally got them back, alright... where do you want to start?

Is that going to be a problem? You don't want to earn the ire of Kowalski-Wayne while you're still under contract with them.

Is there anything Hannibal needs you to know, that he couldn't tell because of the locked memories?

What's the plan here? You thought it was just pay off the debt and dip, but with how you and he were ...hired he might have something more ambitious in mind?

Is Ava a high ranking KW exec now, or a skilled mech pilot that we will have to fight as the final boss?

How has he been? Seems like working for the company instead of contracting heists for the ITA put a little meat on his bones.

>>1129430
Why were they lost? Why is he not listed as a handler?

Silence 2026/07/20(Mon)15:11 No. 1129615 ID: 6d1406
File 178456026460.png - (43.99KB , 391x237 , Mech493.png )

>>1129435
You come out swinging, this needs to be answered.

Question 1
Will getting my memories back be a problem? Will this get our "employers" on us?

It won't. I can promise you that, your case was different than many others.

Question 2
Is there anything I need to know that you have? Anything you couldn't tell me because of the amnesia?

Only that I'm sorry I got us into this situation, it was meant to be a job, and yes you were a disposable asset but not like this. We're trapped together and I've been working overtime for the past 10 years.

10? I was told by Disco that it'd be 8 at most.

There was a year or two where you had to go under for surgery, surgical coma and all. I took advantage of that time to push. It's what earned me a notable name in the company, you're not the only Indentured I've had to manage. In that time however, you've been consistently my best.

Flattering.

Question 3
Have you gained more ambitions, or are we paying off the debt and then dipping?

I've had my eyes on the prize for awhile, freedom is in short order. I've got my own... insurance ready. Don't worry, we finish this job, and then if they don't wanna play nice, we'll get out regardless. That alien mech hooked up to your nerves? It's another piece of insuruance.

Question 4
Where the hell is Ava?

Gone, I've been looking but she vanished from the galaxy. Entirely likely she's still with Oroborus, or she's someone else now.

Question 5
How's company life been treating you? You seem to have gotten some meat-

I'm a stress eater. Next question.

>>1129440
Why were my memories lost? Was that supposed to happen? Aren't you listed as a Handler?

The memory loss wasn't supposed to happen, but it was a risk. Heavy neural surgery such as yours carries chances of memory loss, it's the cost of becoming a better pilot. They gave you a drug to suppress some stuff and lower activity to make the surgery easier, but there's always a chance they get sealed away. Add in our busy time this past decade and we've had little opportunity, I'm glad you got them back though.

Any further questions?

>>1129615
He didn't answer why there's no Hannibal listed as a handler. Was the mechanic mistaken?

Silence 2026/07/22(Wed)13:30 No. 1129711 ID: 6d1406
File 178472702784.png - (41.47KB , 280x288 , Mech494.png )

>>1129633
How come the mechanic, Paul, didn't recognize you? I had talked with an accountant before but he knew of you but the mechanic didn't? Aren't you listed as a handler?

Technically, no, I'm not. I'm not in the company files as a handler because I'm an indentured just like you. Thus the files don't reflect that, but people talk and those familiar with the more social side would know of me and talk, this mechanic you refer to probably only knows about the official files listing of Handlers. Hence why I'm not on his list.

So, I guess what's next is awaiting the next mission orders. Any insider info on what to expect?

Alright, everything seems to make sense. Though now there's some memories we still don't have- everything from between the contract signing and this mission. Unless we remember those now?

Oh, who's Oroborus?

What are we up against next?

>>1129717
Ouroboros (or however it's spelled in your native tongue) is a rival corp described a bit at >>1086768

Silence 2026/07/24(Fri)15:04 No. 1129819 ID: 6d1406
File 178490546571.png - (30.70KB , 417x279 , Mech495.png )

>>1129712
>>1129718

What's the insider deal on the next mission?

You're not part of the forward assault, the doors are nearly opened and it's gonna incite a lot. But the ITA has determined that if we can take control of what's behind them, then the war is over. The Monarchy has only lasted as long thanks to its access to alien technology. Which is where mech pilots like you come in, you get in during the chaos, take control or destroy what's in there.

>>1129717
Still missing a few memories

Might just be some minor brain damage.

>>1129819
I guess we're gonna need a fast mech for next mission.

Silence 2026/07/27(Mon)14:58 No. 1130008 ID: 6d1406
File 178516429338.png - (32.92KB , 231x287 , Mech496.png )

>>1129973
I guess we'll need a fast mech.

You'll need more than that, I want you to rest up and get a new build outfitted, if not multiple. We're authorizing the use of backup parts for this mission, add in that alien machine of yours, it's gonna be a rough journey for certain.

Well hot damn.

Neither of us wanted this, it's what we're stuck with for now.

Silence 2026/07/27(Mon)14:59 No. 1130009 ID: 6d1406
File 178516434892.png - (54.75KB , 829x455 , Mech Build Blank.png )

Take a look over all the parts you have, every weapon, and get to building. You will have a standard loadout as well as a backup.