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Scrap Yard
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'Xanadu', the first completed and by proxy, oldest Nation-Satellite in the entire solar system - Once a beckon for mankind's domination of space itself, a symbol of pride in The-States-Union's ultimate achievement - But time has a habit of moving by without mercy.
Being the first was not all beneficial, although one of the biggest nation-satellites, Xanadu lacked for the many innovations that would come with later generations, its energy lines inefficient, its city planning haphazard - Its infrastructure poorly maintained - And as the years rolled into decades, Xanadu, nation-state 1.0 - Fell into a state of decay unmatched by any other settlement in space, a symbol of pride no more.
Perhaps somewhat fittingly, a particular industry began to blossom on Xanadu, one suited to a place forgotten and left to decay - Scrap dealing - Or more specially the process of collecting the remnants of recent battles, floating within the satellite's orbit - A dangerous, unregulated and perhaps even foolhardy occupation - And the job of one Camille Bidden. Even now from the hazard-laden safety of a spherical shaped construction mech, barely 4 metres tall, he finished push a much larger piece of scrap through the large doors of a rickety old shed:
"Little more." Called a voice from a raised portion of the shed above where Camille worked. Like Camille the voice belonged to a scruffy youth, no more then 15 if not younger, with a disarrayed mop of brown hair - "Annnnnd stop there. Nice one man!"
The 'scrap' positioned, the young man Camille, piloted the small mech up to the raised platform, allowed its hatch to open and stepped out to go join the others - He was handsome to be blunt, well built, fit, tall and with carefully kept, deep brown hair - All while retaining a somewhat scruffy charm that came with such physical work, all topped off with a toothy grin.
He waved as he approached the trio standing, the one who had been directing him and two others their age who looked mighty please;
"We've really made the big bucks this time! Three whole mecha wrecks, this is insane!"
"Hey it's not like you two did much." Camille chided back.
"Did too! We spotted them didn't we."
They jabbed at one another for a little while longer before breaking into laughter - It was true, their haul today was unprecedented, the remains of three combat mechs, seemingly from the IAFS - TSU-s conflict that had ended just a few months ago.
Their merriment was interrupted by a small car skidding to a halt just inside the doorway; "Hey you guys, ya done yet?!" Shouted the driver, a blond haired girl about the same age as the group of boys.
"Camille, you promised we'd go visit that pilot lady today remembered?" Called out a second girl from the passenger seat - Clearly a little younger than the rest, Camille's younger sister. She referred to another piece of 'debris' they had recently rescued, a young IAFS pilot with striking silver hair who had narrowly escaped death in all the fighting - Since rescuing her, the kids had made a point of visiting the hospital to check on her recovery, the jet fighter they had found her unconscious in, had covered the hospital bills and then some, so it was the least they could do.
"Ya, ya, we're just finishing up." Camille waved back, sparing them both a silly smile.
"We caught a real big one today, you should see it!" The mop haired boy added.
"Tch, scrap, scrap, scrap - That's all you boys ever want to talk about." The blonde haired driver replied with a sigh.
"B-But I think one might actually be a real Casnel!" The young man stutter back, clearly a little embarrassed.
Before the banter of the now 6 strong group could continue, a terrible rumbling echoed through the shed as a smaller door was slammed open - A gaint of a man, easily 7 foot tall, came charging in at speeds no man his size should be able to achieve. For teenagers the group of kids were all fairly tall, but this man dwarfed them all. He looked to be atleast middle aged, a goofy face only a mother could love and a stomach to match, wearing an obnoxiously bright coloured pilot suit of all things - Known to some as the 'Scrap-King', though to most as simply Nomeg.
He approached with arms held wide as if to hug the whole group in one go (though each member expertly dodged this embrace), "Did I hear Casnel!!!!" He roared merrily.
The kids grinned at one another, pride evident - "Right over there boss-man."
Nomeg wasted no time, almost sprinting over to the raised platform's edge to look down at the fresh scrap area. To Camille's surprise, it looked as if the man might actually be about to cry when he saw what was there - Sitting between the battered remains of two Nemo types they had recovered, was something far more speical - Literally gold plated, with a stick protruding from either shoulder to almost look like wings - Was a Casnel, a machine made of the exceedingly rare metal Goibniu.
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Its legs were both missing, no weapons remained and there were dents all over - But the effect it had on Nomeg was profound, "It's an angel!"
"Oh come on, we're getting out of here, you boys get your own lift!" The blond haired girl called out, revving her car's engine.
The trio of boy quickly took their que to start running over, but Camille stayed still.
"Brother, you coming?" The younger girl asked.
"Ah ya, I'll catch up, you guys go ahead." He said back absently.
Nomeg was next to speak up, "You kids have fun now, we'll all be getting one hell of bonus thanks to this baby!"
With a few funny looks, Camille's friends left, leaving behind just him and the Scrap-King. He made his way over to the edge and looked down at the three mech's corpses. The kindly hand of a gaint came to rest on his shoulder, "I mean it kid, with the money we are about to make, you'll be able to put your sister into the very best school imaginable - And I'm gonna be rich!" Nomeg chuckled.
Camille smiled at the man - Just a couple of months ago he and every other kid on the entire nation-state would of run at the mere site of Nomeg - His reputation was terrible, his appearance alarming and his personality the type that would hold children at gunpoint should the mood take him - But by a twist of coincidence, he had taken Camille and his friends, who'd been struggling to make a little money by trying to hunt scrap without entering the territory of other scrapers - Under his wing, and over the last few months had mellowed out massively to someone borderline kind in nature. It was quite the sudden change but most agreed, a very welcome one.
"If I know my stuff, and I do - That's an IAFS state-of-the-art custom Casnel, I know a guy - Really nice, former TSU pilot, kinda handsome actually, ahem - Anyway I bet he can hook us up, we won't be breaking this guy for parts, oh no, we'll be selling it wholesale for a fortune! You've really done good this time kid, hahahahahaha!" Nomeg guffawed, spittle flying everywhere.
Nomeg and Camille [https://i.imgur.com/GA2vhVY.jpg]
Camille however found himself distracted staring down at the three machines. Finally Nomeg seemed to notice this, "Ho-ho I know that look, you've fallen in love ain't ya?"
Camille burst into a red faced blush in the way only teenaged boys can, "Wha? The heck you talking about man!?"
"Haha! No need to be embarrassed I was the same at your age, its why I built Betty... and Betty Mk2."
He nodded happily.
Betty, both of them, were the mechs Nomeg had constructed himself and used to gain his terrible reputation as little more than a mafia thug - The mechs were abnormally large at 30 metres in height and each with 4 arms a piece and a spinning waist section, with a massive triangular head. For all they looked ridiculous, they indeed proved useful both as construction vehicles and for enforcing territory agreements and Nomeg actually managing to engineer such things by himself had gained him some respect from fellow scrapers.
"I know!" He began again, a devious look in his eyes, "Why not build your own mech too? Oh but you'll need all the money for your sister's schooling right? Well guess I could loan you some cash eh?"
Camille sighed but the more he thought about it, the more the idea actually appealed.
"Course not the Casnel, sorry kid but we gott'a sell that one." Nomeg quickly added.
"Nah that's alright boss, its not it that I want, it's that one."
Camille pointed at one of the Nemo units they had also brought in - Its emerald and blue hues were almost all blackened, it had a sole arm left for limbs and it had clearly taken one hell of beating - Its escape pod was absent, meaning the pilot had maybe escaped with their life, but the Nemo itself was in a very sorry state - All except for its head, in particular its bright orange visor, still sparkling under the heavy light of the shed above.
"Huh? That one, really? I mean Nemo's are pretty full-proof to work on I guess, bit boring tho' right?" Nomeg mused but that wasn't Camille's reasoning.
That glowing visor where eyes should be, seemed to call to him in a way he didn't quite understand. He couldn't shake the feeling that had things gone different he could of been the pilot of a machine like that. Their parents had disappeared years ago, supporting his sister had grown harder and harder, Camille had been genuinely considering joining the military - A stable income to give to his sister, and food and shelter for himself, it had seemed like the only option left.
For all Nomeg was an intimidating, dim-witted, boorish oaf of a man - He had shown Camille how to live in the shithole that was Xanadu - But what if he hadn't?
'What makes me so different to whoever used to pilot this nemo?' He wondered to himself.
Its orange eyes, if you could call them that, still seemed to be waiting - Waiting perhaps for its master to return, for its fighting to end and its efforts to mean something - But sitting here in a scrapyard, destined to be used for parts, surely that day would never come.
Camille made up his mind, perhaps in the same way Nomeg's off-handed kindness had saved him and his friends from that life, maybe he too could give this mech, one more chance at a more peaceful, carefree life. As long as he could pay the absurd premium Nomeg would no doubt charge that is.
End
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