Byblos 1

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Byblos moved the hovercycle with ease into the center of the Qob’s cargo deck. The cargodeck was small by freighter standards, but Qob was not a freighter, rather a scout-escort vessel from the Klingon Empire, now a ship crewed by Mercs in it’s older days.

 

“Older days,” Byblos Muttered as he removed the tarp off the hovercycle and quickly got to work. He’d be dismantling a piece of his history over the next five days, only to refine it to his present days as a merc. Wasn’t the first time he was on a Merc vessel, probably not the last.

 

The first item of business was simple and bore no pain, or brought back memories. Rather it was to remove a rotting piece of Targ leg meat from his saddlebag on the cycle. The last few days of settling in Qob and shopping with Pher had simply made him forget he left a meal in there. That was easily disposed off. The smell of the hold would be replaced with that of metalwork.

 

Using tools acquired from Shane, the chrome exhaust system was the first to go. An asset of terror during his 10 year run with the “Cycles of Death” gang on Tranquility, it had to be replaced with something quieter. Stealthy. That would have to be built from scratch.

 

The engine came next, it was meant to provide voracious acceleration ,speed and assist “gear braking” slowing the cycle down along with the “handgrips” braking system. Byblos had only five days to do clean and service the engine as well. Turning the bike into a “recon” hovercycle required adjusting the idle speed of the engine down as well. Simply removing the gigantic exhaust pipes would not solve the noise problem. The engine had to be rebuilt he eventually determined. He was confident he could do it.

 

After 48 hours of work the cargo deck was strewn in the center with bike parts. Yet the Nausicaan knew where the parts were despite the mess. Other things appeared too. Roadblocks. Parts, lube and other things needed to get the bike in useful condition. Chief among them was a new fuel cell upon inspection of the original. Those were quite common on Tranquility. Would one be available on Xorax? Byblos was not sure.

 

As Roadblocks presented themselves, Byblos turned to what actually stirred him. Servicing bikes had never an affect on him before, but this time it was required of him to strip the hovercycle that made the bike scream visually “Byblos!” Than included removing certain trinkets acquired from duties in the “Cycles of Death”.

 

He decided to dispose of these items. Another life cycle had begun for him on Qob. Time to forget a decade of Tranquility and its Guardians.

 

Most were “Trophies”. Guardian badges welded to the chasis, a chrome skull of a humanoid above the headlamp in the front of the bike. Guardian belt buckles. Armor. A loud noise maker up front, not a horn..but just something to scare the local populace with. A weapon’s mount for a disruptor pistol was also removed. The beautiful paint job he had admired for years of an unclothed Nausicaan woman was metalworked away.

 

As 24 hours approached to arrival on Xorax, it was clear Byblos had done all he could do without requesting more supplies from Pher. He cleaned his mess and set the cycle and parts to the side of the bay.

 

More parts..funds. This would not set well with the Orion he gathered. Pher seemed tolerant of him..but had to wonder. “More shopping with a Nausicaan!?”...the ultimate turn off for a woman in most parts.

 

However, the term “Most Parts” did not apply to the destination the crew of the Qob was heading. Xorax..Byblos had heard of a Bynar built colony on a heavy gravity planet in the Hyades Cluster, he certainly hadn’t been there.

 

After all Byblos thought-then muttered “Why would a Nausicaan visit a world built by TINY computer-centric aliens. It just sounds like a big headache waiting to happen!”