Busted and Blue

//WELCOME TO TEASA SPACEPORT! ANY SUDDEN MOVEMENTS WILL BE MET WITH FORCE. ENJOY YOUR STAY AND REMEMBER, TODAY'S AIR QUALITY IS <bad>//

Fuck I fucking hate it here. Typically if I need Hurston's weapons I send somebody who somehow LIKES the place to get them but...fuck I hate it here.

If they sold their stuff at Everus I'd be a million times happier but this shithole is my only option other than going all the way to Pyro.

I'd decided to take this journey alone after a few months of seclusion to properly digest and process Moira and Ophelia's passing, and maybe run some bunker control for one of the most inhospitable planets in Stanton. Death had taken on a new meaning to me, as well as Ravi who heard about Stone's betrayal at the worst possible time while the guilt of treating Moira so poorly ate at her soul.

And dad...

All organization activity stopped for the week. Absolute emergencies were allowed but the man solely responsible for my surviving the Messer regime and letting me blossom into the woman I am today...

You can't replace that, and you can't thank him enough for everything he did that got ALL of us here.

I kept one of his feathers, one of the few things I had to remember him and I sealed his room like a crypt never to be opened again...

"NAH BRO THESE NOODLES ARE ASS LIKE YOU CAN'T TELL ME PEOPLE ACTUALLY EAT THESE!"

What...the fuck?

"THESE NOODLES LITERALLY TASTE LIKE CACA AND I BET YOU'RE GONNA TELL ME IT'S THE DOGWATER FUCKING NASTY AIR THAT MAKES EM' TASTE BAD, HUH?!"

Who in the hell is yelling? I turn the corner to see a guy in mismatched ADP MK4 armor with no helmet and screaming at the noodle shop guy.

I pull up a seat at the table and watch him in full Artimex gear and as the shop employee laughs his ass off.

"BRO WHY YOU OUT HERE SCAMMING PEOPLE WITH THESE DISGUSTING NOODLES?!"

He slurps down another helping and the shop owner laughs even harder.

"Hey! You're supposed to eat those y'know...INDOORS?!" I yell over to this gremlin.

He turns and faces me with noodles stuck to his cheek after a gust of wind blew it, he winces his eyes in pain as the dust stings them.

"Yeah? Where the fuck is 'inside'?!"

"Not out here in the open air? Maybe inside the spaceport, the bar, literally anywhere but out here?!" I yell with a smile he can't see under the helmet.

He looks down at the noodles as his eye burn more and tosses them in the trash with an upset grunt. "Damn, I'm hungry tho."

I walk over to the shop cook and ask him for two noodles to go, he nods, seals them and hands them over and I shove them in my backpack.

"Hey hold up, share?" The gremlin says. "I'm kidding tho, I'll just go look for chow somewhere else."

"They have better food up at Everus, trust me. And no space dust to worry about!" I chime in happily.

"I just got a ride here and the guy fucking bailed on me, so I'm kinda stuck here." He groans.

"Do you not have a ship?"

"Nah, I literally just got citizenship yesterday. I came here to look at ships and I guess that asshole assumed I could afford one."

I take a small step back to lean on one foot.

"You...you got a ride to window shop ships and...thought he was going to wait for you? Where's your home residence?"

"Look homie I'm not exactly smart. I'm from O-block and this shit was supposed to be easy."

I put my head in both of my hands and wept gently for this man who is coughing in the dust and smog.

"Please put on a helmet. Do you have weapons? Anything?" I ask with hesitation in my voice.

"Nah I got this armor with all the money I got, I still gotta get a ship."

"YOU SPENT ALL YOUR MONEY ON ARMOR BEFORE YOU EVEN CONSIDERED A SHIP?!" I yell and he flinches.

"Yuh, I gotta protect myself from the elements and stuff"

"YOU WERE LITERALLY TRYING TO EAT NOODLES IN THE SMOG WHAT. DO. YOU. MEEEAAAANNNNN?!?!"

"LOOK BRO I SAID I WASN'T A SMART GUY!"

"Ugh...what ship did you want?" I ask defeated.

"I want an M50, that thing looks sick!" He says as his helmet clicks into the airlock. "That clean air is delicious tho."

The M50, fast in a straight line, not much else and barely any quantum to go anywhere.

"Are you sure? That's a racing boat, not really meant to go places outside of the planet you're on." I ask and he looks mad as hell.

"People keep saying that! I just think it's sexy!" He shouts.

I send him a squad invite and he joins with zero hesitation.

"What's that for?" He asks over close comms.

"We're taking you home. We need to kit you out." I respond sharply.

"I don't have a home yet, I haven't decided!" He groans.

I sigh and throw back my head.

"Where did you grow up? Where were you before citizenship?"

He shrugs gently and offers up his hands in a defeated gesture.

"Kinda just been floating around. Dunno who my parents are and I've been the UEEN's problem my whole life."

With a glance I fire up foot navigation to Teasa Spaceport and we walk back.

"Oh thank fuck I can't find anything in this shithole!" He says sounding happy.

"It's one of the huge reasons I avoid coming here, we're going back to Babbage to get you kitted and armed right." I say plotting the rest of my day now that plans have changed.

"I'm broke, how many times I gotta tell you this?!"

"Just...follow me, please? I have plenty of gear back home for you to take."

"BROKE! WHY DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND BROKE?!" He yells.

With no hesitation I turn around and grab him by the neck plate of his armor core.

"I. Did. Not. Say. Buy, dipshit. I said GIVE!"

I see his face through his visor and he looks like he could cry.

We make our way to the spaceport with his yapping and arguing with my logic but proceeds to shut up when we get back to the Valkyrie.

"Yooooo what ship is this?!"

"Get on the boat." I say as I attach my helmet to my hip and he freezes solid.

"Are...Are you Spacemom? THE Spacemom?" He nearly whispers.

My eyes lock with his and he blushes bright red.

"Uh...I...uh...I mean I've HEARD of you but...holy shit you're fucking gorgeous. NO WAIT I MEAN HI IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU!"

"What's your name, handsome?"

Deeper red blush and looks like he could melt.

"Uh...Morgan. My name is Morgan."

"Ah...Morgan, huh?"

"Yes'm."

"Hey Morgan?" I say in my alluring tone and he straightens up.

"Yeah?" His voice shaking nervously.

"Get on the fucking boat, we're going back to my place."

"FUCKING FINALLY!" He yells then corrects himself. "I mean uh...yeah let's go to your pad."

The trip was him rattling on about how the M50 was going to be his first ship and how he was going to be a somebody who took on the 'verse in a racing ship that looks "sexy as hell". I admire the determination but that goal is...something else.

A: Callie, who's the guy?

C: I don't honestly know. New citizen who has no clue what's going on or where he's going. Spent all his cash on armor instead of his first ship.

"Who ya texting?! Ooooh do you have a mans already?" Morgan jokes.

"It's my wife, dude. Chill out!"

A: He's fun, hope he gets what he needs.

"Ayyo is your girl a cutie with a booty too?!"

A: I take it back, you're headed to Babbage?

C: Yeah lol

A: See you when I get there! Ravi?

R: Yeah?

A: Can you do the panic button thing?

"HOLD UP WHAT THE FUCK THAT'S A LOT Of FUCKING ZEROES WAIT WAIT WAIT WHO SENT ME ALL THIS MONEY?!" Can be heard from the drop seats below.

A: Puts a smile on my face every time!

We eventually landed at Babbage and he was in tears, even more so when he spotted the cargo elevator that was converted into a public armory.

"So yeah, this is where we arm new citizens. The weapon racks are all yours, take what you want, suit up in what you want, and when you're done we'll go rent an M50."

"But I wanna own one!" He groans after grabbing a backpack and more weapons than he can carry.

A bit of persuasion and he ends up thanking me in the end.

"Bro I can't leave! The quantum drive on this thing sucks!"

And this is why you always fly before you buy.