Gear Up!

[Gabriel Audemars]

Gabriel was in Keldabe's city center, damn did this place bring back memories. A lot had changed here in 11 years but the people stayed largely the same, proud Mandalorians. Seeing these kinds of things made him ever regret leaving. He was back now though, and he vowed that he'd never make anywhere else his home from now on.

He was wearing a black leather jacket, a standard pair of pants and some boots, a lit cigarette sitting idly between his lips. But what was most notable about him right now was the rather large blueprint that his arm was wrapped around. He was looking for somebody to help him smith something based on a schematic, and just his luck he found a small shop who he thought could help him. It'd be easier to convince a smaller business for a custom item if the price was right, larger businesses never haggled.

He walked into the shop looking around a little, waiting to see who owned it before asking any questions. "Hello?" He echoed.
@[member=Kad Tor]

 

[Kad Tor]

Kad Tor had finally found work for a local shop where his skills as a goran could be utilized. Much of the work was the same stuff over and over again, but that was to be expected. The shop was not his, so Kad got the work the owner didn't want. The forge was running hot today though, so Kad was happy. Most would be complaining about the heat and the ash, but Kad loved it. Sure he sweat, and yes @[member="Briika Tor"] made him wash before letting him sit on any of her furniture. At the same time though, it reminded the siblings of their home back in Enceri. Kad even dressed the same as their buir Solus had. Black boots, burgundy colored leather pants, not a smooth texture, as the pants were strictly for work. His upper body remained bare, save for the rough, leather apron which hung from his neck and tied around his waist.

The young goran was simply trying to find work which would gain him enough credits to help pay for a bigger apartment for he and his sister. One where he could have more than just a pull out sofa bed. Kad put up with a lot because of it, but there was one thing he wouldn't put up with, and that was smoking in the forge. It wasn't safe, and it was a waste of good tobacco. With a gesture of his hand, Kad pointed to a sign the owner had hung in the shop which basically read, "no smoking while the forge is hot."

Taking a cloth, Kad wiped his hands as clean as he could before extending his forearm to the man who had just walked in.

"Su'cuy, vod! Anything I can help you with today?"

@[member="Gabriel Audemars"]

 

[Gabriel Audemars]

Gabriel was in business when he saw the guy emerge, he seemed friendly enough, but he was pointing to something. He raised an eyebrow and stood there somewhat skeptically until he saw and read the sign. 'No smoking near the forge...Huh.' He repeated it into his head, he hated that. He should've been able to smoke everywhere in his opinion but this man was a beskarsmith and they were noble respectful people. Gabriel raised a hand apologetically "Sorry, vod. Didn't see the sign." He excused himself with a guilty laugh, flicking the cigarette out of the door, crushing it between his boots before approaching forward to the counter.

He shook the man's hand with the hand that wasn't holding the print, a friendly smile. If it was local, chances were he could do business with this guy in future, so seeming friendly and eager to get a job done was vital, besides beskarsmiths were important people in Mandalorian culture, not everybody could do what they did. "'Kel, vod. As a matter of fact you can, I got a custom beskar'gam that needs forgin', you offer those kind of services?" He asked, he felt somewhat embarassed at how rusty he was at speaking Mando'a, it had been 11 years since he communicated with it and everything felt so alien, he remembered the camaradery though.

@[member="Kad Tor"]

 

[Kad Tor]

"I work with beskar'gam. The owner not so much," Kad said returning the firm grip with one of his own. "He'll let me use his forge but only after hours. Let me see that work order."

Kad was all business, a side of him which most in his family had never seen, not from him anyway. It was a trait he had picked up from his father, and was very good a separating his business life from his home life. Work never came home to the Tor yaim, and Kad was determined to be sure that stayed true with him as well.

"Sorry about the wasted tobacco, vod. The forge just runs so hot that if you get close enough you'd burn through it faster than you'd like. The name's Kad Tor. You are?"

@[member="Gabriel Audemars"]

 

[Gabriel Audemars]

"Alright." He replied as he set the prints on the counter, unravelling both sides, revealing a full color print, he had used a proper prototype graphics, properly detailed so every little thing would be implemented perfectly. After all this would be the stuff keeping him alive at the end of the day so it needed to be well designed, and that it was. "So yeah pretty much this, looks kinda standard but the beskar plating might be a bit thicker than you're used to. Hope that's alright. He warned, before leaving it there for analysis.
"There isn't much else you need to know, vod. Everything else, pakod." He smirked at him. "Kih'parjai. It's just a smoke." He brushed off the apology, it didn't really matter in the end anyway, he had enough to buy more at the end of the day, it was more a present disturbance than something which'd actually annoy him, it was manners after all.

"Gabriel Audemars." Same old pseudonym, that wasn't his real name. But he had been known by that ever since he was 13 so he'd keep it for now, he'd give his real name under different circumstances.
@[member="Kad Tor"]
Blueprint:

Spoiler

 

[Kad Tor]

"It's only credits, vod. Thicker plating means more beskar. Beskar isn't cheap, so you're gonna pay more for that than what I would normally charge."

Kad had no problem working with the beskar. His buir had taught him everything he knew. The young beskarsmith was needing something like this to help him set up his own shop, or move him and his sister to a bigger yaim. Still the goran needed to look over designs. The forging was actually the easy part, the electronics for the HUD in the buy'ce took the most work. Much of the design was pretty straight forward and didn't pose any problems. The bulk of it could be done fairly quickly depending on the verd's timeframe. A couple elements were going to be a challenge, but if Kad could pull this off to @[member="Gabriel Audemars"] satisfaction, it would likely bring him more business. This was exactly the break he was looking for.

"Let me go back out back and make sure we have the beskar to pull this off. If we do then we can talk how much damage this is going to do to your monthly budget."

Kad did not wait for the verd to agree, he simply went and looked at the inventory. Between the raw ore itself, and scrap material the owner let Kad have, there seemed enough to get the project done without hindering the regular business. The brown haired Mando'ad needed the break, so he was going to commit to the work. Now he just needed to get the right price.

Walking back out, Kad asked the important question.

"What were you looking to pay for this?"

 

[Gabriel Audemars]

"Yeah. I expected that." He spoke unsurprisingly, credits wouldn't be too much of an issue or so he had hoped, he had made a good enough living via mercenary work and still had a lot of funds to rest on. He wasn't going to lie, talking money was good but when it was talking money about buying something that's supposed to save his life it's pretty nerve wracking, beskar'gam is standard issue, if he planned on surviving the nitty-gritty he needed this. It was time to talk business. "Jate."

He watched the man go and check his beskar reserves, understandable. It wasn't uncommon to melt down scrapped armor to use as well, so chances were that maybe this guy actually had enough to pull off such a mean set of beskar'gam, he secretly hoped he wouldn't need to go for another trek to find another beskarsmith, but the good news was that he came back and asked for a price. Gabriel cleared his throat. "Beskar's full alloy right?." He wasn't gonna lie, he wasn't in his territory here, he wasn't used to buying armor so he didn't quite know what to offer.

He had just met this guy, "friend prices" were sure as hell not gonna be applied here, he had to come up with a satisfactory offer right off the bat. "45,000 waadas. Cash up front." He offered, waiting for a reaction, he figured that the price of good quality beskar was around 30,000, maybe that and with a third of the price added on for all the extra armor plating.

@[member="Kad Tor"]

 

[Kad Tor]

"If you want, vod. It's only weight. Back home on Enceri it's what I'm used to working with. I have some raw ore in the back I can use here too, so if you want this thing built like a bes'uliik, I can do that."

Kad nearly choked when the verd offered him 40,000 on the spot. There was no question about whether he would take it or not. It was more than he hoped for. Being a local shop, and since this was going to have to be an after hours project, Kad thought he would have to settle for just above standard pricing. The offer would more than cover one year's lease on a new apartment, and perhaps he might have a down payment to open his own shop. If the beskar'gam was satisfactory.

"I'm not gonna lie, vod, that's more than fair considering I have to take this as a side job. I'll do it," he said reaching out to seal their deal with a good firm shake. "When do you need this done by?"

@[member="Gabriel Audemars"]

 

[Gabriel Audemars]

"Sounds fine to me. The more resistant the stuff the better." He simply agreed, of course he wasn't looking to wear something over 20kgs, he had to be able to move and carry equipment with it, but Gabe was a guy who was always in the fight, he needed top of the line protection and that was what was being offered here. "Enceri huh. I haven't been there in eons." He chuckled.
"Oli'jate. Glad we got an agreement, vod." He grinned and clapped his hands together excitedly. In fairness he could've been charged way more for this considering the armor was going to be made of some quality stuff, but probably due to the small business they weren't going to be overly extortionate. Besides, 45,000 was a good bounty's worth, he wouldn't be missing it from his wallet for too long.

He pulled out the wallet from his jacket pocket, removing precisely 9 5000 credit chips along with a business card marked "Gabe's 'Cleaning' Co.", extending them out to him. "Kih'parjai. Don't rush yourself, vod, that said make sure I don't die of old age either hey? Contact me when its' ready." He grinned.

@[member="Kad Tor"]

 

[Kad Tor]

"Well I have no social life right now, so I can have this for you in a week or so. My sister might like me being busy for a while. She has a verd courting her, and I think it's pretty serious too."

What that really meant was that Kad couldn't afford to take the time away from the apartment, but he knew Briika and Kable needed their space. Kad secretly was hoping the relationship worked out because Kable was becoming like another brother to him. It wasn't that Valen could be replaced, but their was bond between brothers that Briika could have never understood as a woman. It wasn't a sexist thought either, simply fact. The goran never complained about it, because he had always been closer to Briika anyway. Though he was starting to see less of her.

Looking at the business card, Kad chuckled.

"Cleaning service, that's clever. I'll be sure to call you when it's ready. Did you want me to paint it, or are going to do that yourself?"

It was a fair question. Some verds preferred to paint their own beskar'gam while others simply requested the colors they wanted.

@[member="Gabriel Audemars"]

 

[Gabriel Audemars]

"Ah I get it. Love huh? Haha reminds me of the time I was batnor to haran and back and I tried to impress a woman by showboating in a squad speeder. Crashed right into a sweet shop, hopefully this verd isn't takin' any pages outta my book." He chuckled, this guy was actually alright. He was business where it counted but he could joke with him etc. Not such a bad guy if anything the business end was finished quicker than he expected.

Gabe was real hit-and-miss with women, often most of the women he got with couldn't handle just how high-octane he was. Granted a few one night stands here and there but he couldn't really remember the last time he actually got with a woman out of genuine love interest, then again that sort of game wasn't something one would associate with mercenaries.

He laughed and put a finger to his lips jokingly in a hushing motion. "Quick and to the point. Then you got the di'kuts who ask me if I do dry cleaning." He smirked. "Which I probably would if I wasn't conflicted with other matters."

"Yeah a dark blue for now. Vor'e." He thanked. "Anyway I've got some gi to fry somewhere else so contact me when it's ready 'lek?" Smirking, he gave a friendly gesture before he hurriedly exited, he was a man with business after all.