"What do you expect a weak man like him to accomplish with us?" Mike asked giving me a look of disapproval.
"Well he's one feisty Shippa. After all he did beat me in a battle with that Gargoyle that fell through the roof." Wessex said vouching for me.
"You're trying to tell me that this Shippa beat you in a Gargoyle battle in that junk?"
Once that sentence left Mike's mouth I felt a sharp pain surge through my head. If anything I've learned that it has to do with Sun Slayer. And with the situation on hand it seems like he just angered it.
"Last time I checked, The Shadow of Calamity, was something everyone feared." I said jumping in to the conversation.
"More like the shadow of a grimpsha! That's just some fancy folk story to spook kids into listening to their Meemaw. And you wan't me to believe that this thing is that same fairytale. Well slap me with some Friema dust and call me a gloombust!" Shouted Mike before bursting into laughter.
"I don't think I even understood half of that." I said to Wessex.
"I can't help you either. This geezer loves to throw in words from the old tongue. Which is probably why you don't understand him." Wessex said looking at Mike in disbelief.
"Hey! I ain't no geezer! I'm a young three hundred years older than you! And if anything you should be honored that someone here will still carry the old tongue. That's our history damn it!" Mike bursted.
"If you're so inclined to pass on the old tongue you can teach it to him. That is while he helps rebuild our infrastructure and roof." Wessex said crossing his arms.
Mike grumbled as he glanced between me and Wessex. "Fine. However I get to take him drinking with me after each shift. Sleepy can't keep up and Box is a wuss who doesn't drink. What kind of a man are ya if ya don't drink!?"
"Yeah yeah, do whatever you want. As long as he works in your crew."
"Done deal!"
"Good. Well, have fun." Wessex said slapping my back and walking away.
"What already!?" I asked looking back at him.
"Alright, there ain't no time ta dilly dally now. I wan't to have our defense system back online before nightfall. It would be a shame if the grimpsha came and ate you on your first day here." Mike said as he grabbed my arm and dragged me along with him.
"Ok now I need to know what a grimpsha is."
Mike took me up the scaffolding up to the highest level which was closest to the surface. Where he quickly listed off what each piece of equipment did and then introduced me to Sleepy and Box.
Box having a literal box on his head with four eye holes cut out. While Sleepy seemed like the most ordinary one out of the bunch.
But once the brief introductions and explanations were finished it was straight to work. Which took hours of me having to constantly ask what I should be doing or what something was or did.
"So what's the name of your Gargoyle?" Sleepy asked as he climbed up over to me.
"I'm sorry?"
"Do you have a name for it?" Sleepy asked pointing over at my Gargoyle. "Most elite pilots have a name for their Gargoyles. Wessex's Gargoyle is names Gorilla."
"Gorilla?" I asked surprised hearing that word.
"Yeah, the humans showed us some pictures of their old world during negotiations. And Wessex absolutely fell in love when he saw a picture of a gorilla. He even asked for a picture of it, which he didn't even end up getting after those long negotiations."
I sat down on the scaffolding facing the Gargoyle. Taking some time to decide how I want to respond to his question.
"I mean everyone that I mean calls it The Shadow of Calamity… But if you asked me what I think its name is I'd say Sun Slayer. Or just Slayer for short." I said remembering the pilots that live inside it.
"Sun Slayer…" He said sitting beside me. "Now that has to be one of the coolest names I've ever heard a Gargoyle to have. Good thing I'm not a pilot, I'd just end up giving the Gargoyle a really dumb name."
"Are their other pilots besides Wessex here?" I asked.
"Nope, Wessex is all we have. I mean we used to have a lot more than just him but I'm a generation too young to have met any of them. I think the only ones left who remember them are Wessex and Mike. Though Wessex refuses to talk about them while if you get Mike drunk enough he won't stop talking about the glory days."
"Hey! What do you two think you're!? Get back to work!" Mike shouted from a couple levels below us.
Both of us got back to work and were productive up until the point where the sun was gone. Which marked the end of my first shift with the crew.
"Hey Tadao, why don't you join us for some drinks?" Said Sleepy.
"I don't know, I think it would be weird if I joined you guys. So I think I'll just do some overtime work here."
"Come on~ don't be like that. Join us, it'll be fun for all of us if you tag along with us." Sleepy said with Box pushing me along with them.
Since they continued to insist that I join them I thought it best not to argue and go along with them. Bringing me to a bar that was jampacked with everyone else that was working construction. It was loud and booming with energy, something I haven't seen in a really long time.
"How am I supposed to drink exactly with this thing on?" I asked fidgeting with my mask.
"There should be a button on the side that will change the mask so it attaches to your nose. Which I don't think I need to say this but only breathe through your nose when you do that." Sleepy explained.
I felt around the mask and finally found the button he was talking about. Once I pressed it tubes protruded out and into my nose before the bottom collapsed and formed around my nose.
"How do you feel about piloting that thing?" Mike asked, speaking for the first time since getting here.
"The Gargoyle? I've realistically only flown it twice so I don't really know how it's supposed to feel flying it. On top of that it just recently got some repairs done on it."
"Hmph! And you want me to believe you beat Wessex." Mike grumbled to himself. "Whoever did the repairs on that Gargoyle did a horrible job. The platting is unaligned and the cockpit was filthy when we found you. That's also not mentioning that there's some damage done to the exoskeleton. That's why your build is a little lopsided on the right and the left wing is higher than the other."
"You sure know your information on Gargoyles." I said taking a sip of what was supposed to be their beer.
"Mike here used to be the best Gargoyle mechanic on this planet. He sometimes comes out of retirement when he doesn't like the condition of Wessex's Gargoyle." Sleepy explained.
"That's practically a past life now." Mike said taking a drink. "Wessex is the only pilot alive now. And I doubt I'll live long enough to see another pilot come around to help us settle things with the Omnites."
"Omnites?" I asked.
"The Omnites are a rival tribe on this planet. They control and rule over all of the surface." Sleepy explained.
"You failed to mention that they are the ones that chased us underground. Now that we're down here and they used up everything up there they want to take what we have left now." Mike added.
I guess humans aren't the only ones that are struggling with war. Though I don't remember ever seeing us getting to this point. Maybe we would have gotten to this point if we didn't go off world.
"I'm gonna take a guess that things have gotten worse now that Wessex is the only pilot." I said.
"It's horrible! Wessex had to make a deal with them that if he wan't them to back off that he has to steal resources from other ships passing by." Mike responded slamming his cup on the table.
Well that would explain why he chose his profession of being a space pirate. But this situation gets even more complicated now since he also has to do supply runs for humans. Meaning his resources are running super thin if they aren't already ran dry.
"How about we change subjects here. I doubt Tadao wants to talk about our political situation." Sleep said intervening.
This was exactly how my days went after I got here. I would wake up and it was straight to work. The repairs would either be easy and swift or absolutely draining. Then after all the work and sun goes down its straight to bar with the crew. Where I either learn more about this world and people or we talk about some nonsense I'll never remember.