Wolfe3 really wasn't paying attention to what the saleslady was telling him about the old decrepit Cobra Mk III that stood in front of them both. He didn't care about it and it wasn't his choice in the first place. He was here at the shipyard in Finney Ring because he was interested in an Adder that was advertised on EDDB. The saleslady droned on and on about the virtues and greatness of the Cobra which didn't interest him in the least. He found himself absentmindedly nodding in agreement with the lady. Even though, from where he was standing, he could tell this ship was junk with its busted and rusted panels that covered the ship.

"You are lucky; this cobra is priced to sell. And it's a great ship" She tried to make her point by hitting a lower cover panel next to the nose gear of the ship. Instantly, rusty dust started to rain out of a larger than normal gap between the connecting panel seems, covering the floor in a sizeable mess someone would have to clean up later. She gave Wolfe a small sheepish grin as she noticed him looking at the rather telling mess at their feet. "And over here you should see the new dorsal thruster that were just installed" She quickly tried to redirect his gaze from the telling sight. She knew this ship was junk but she wanted it out of her shipyard, she figured this young pilot would be an easy sell. "Don't let the outside fool you, she's got strong bones, great internals and has a million light years left on her yet."

The young pilot was having a hard time trying to keep it together by not laughing at this seriously, over the top, lady. The minute he walked into the shipyard hanger and meet the only sales person on the hanger floor, he knew he was going to be in for one heck of a sales pitch. Growing up as an apprentice to a tailor did have its perks. He had learned that the way someone dresses and personal attire can give rather telling signs on how a person wishes to be perceived. Those on the flashier side of dress, usually try to be bigger than life. Well this lady sure did that with an old earth western theme with cowboy hat, tasseled jacket, snake skin boots and even a six shooter revolver carried in an authentic looking leather holster. She was even trying to drawl out a southern accent at times but really wasn't that good at it. To keep a more of a level head and from bursting into mocking laughter, Wolfe had decided to pay more attention to what he was looking at in front of him, than paying attention to what she was talking about.

As they both walked to the back of the Cobra, Wolfe spotted many more rusted and damaged cover panels. The rear landing gears were in even worse shape with wires and hoses visibly broken and hanging out in the open, not connected to their original locations. He started to have real doubts that this ship was even space worthy and would probably need a ton of work just to get it to power up. As he cleared the back of the ship, he spotted the open cargo hatch leading to the interior area of the ship. Inside was even worse than the outside! Just from where he was standing Wolfe could see broken interior plates, torn locker doors, and hanging light fixtures. The inside of the ship was trashed and a horrible mess. Whoever had the ship last didn't care about much about it and it was obvious. There was also a strange pungent smell that could be smelled, even one meter from the hatch. Wolfe found himself unconsciously taking a few steps back to avoid the disgusting odor. If this wasn't the final nail in the coffin, as the saying goes, for the Cobra then he sure didn't want to find anything else. He turned quickly around to keep from retching and saw what he was originally here for.

The Adder. The Adder that Wolfe was originally interested in, came into view. He let the annoying lady keep rambling on about the pitiful Cobra behind them as he took in the sight of the Adder. He knew what he wanted, he wanted that ship, but felt inclined at this point to let to let the sales pitch continue for just a bit longer. He was slightly shocked that Gale, "Was her name Gale?" He couldn't remember and at this point didn't care either, wasn't fazed by the horrible smell that was coming from the hold of the Cobra. He had enough with the obvious pitch to get rid of the crap ship behind him wanted to get on with the show.

"So, tell me about this Adder?" He interrupted her, not caring about being nice anymore while getting more annoyed by the second. He didn't even look back at her as he started to walk towards the Adder a few meters away. "Gale is it? What's the history?"

"Yes its Gale." She replied in a defeated tone, knowing that her effort to rid herself of this cursed Cobra had failed again. She let out an audible sigh as she continued. "It has had only two previous owners, was used as a taxi between systems if I remember correctly.

"Any maintenance records come with the ship?" Wolfe asked as checked out the nose gear of the craft. Being fed up with how things had been going, he decided to keep inspecting the Adder as she continued on.

Gale took off the large cowboy hat that was starting to make her head sweaty and uncomfortable. She needed a second to get her bearings and rethink her strategy. She was upset with how things were progressing with this young pilot, she thought she could bamboozle him easily. She had done this so many times before that she was sure this would be a quick sell. Never being the one to turn down a challenging sale, she decided to change tactics and down play this lowly Adder. After running her fingers through her now loose hair, she pressed on.

"Not much has happened to it. Just the normal repairs and fixes here and there as needed." Her tone was kept to as matter of fact as possible. "From what I can see, this ship wasn't even used in Combat. Not like it's a combat ship anyway." Her sarcasm was apparent with that last statement.

"Well, I'm no combat pilot, and that's not what I want to do anyway." He had noticed the sarcasm in her voice and decided to keep things civil. "How much flight time on the frame?"

"A little over three thousand light years." Was the curt reply. "It's never been upgraded or modded in anyway. All original from the factory, very basic. You'll have to update a lot of things to get it to be anything decent."

Wolfe looked back over his shoulder at her. "That's not a problem, I don't have to fix anything that some other pilot might have messed up." He continued to the back of the ship, inspecting as he went. He was pleased with what he saw. This ship was taken care of, nothing missing, broken or miss aligned. Over all it looked like a good ship.

"That's not going to be an issue with this ship. It's a very simple layout, utilitarian in function, very simple not much to it." Came her reply, still trying to down play the little ship.

"I like simple, nothing to mess up." He chuckled in response. At the back of the Adder he found the access hatch already open. It was darker inside do to the overhead sodium lights that blazed brightly across the hanger ceiling. In a nice turn of luck, the interior cargo lights were turned on meaning he didn't have to stumble around in the dark. 'Nice, backup power must be on, since I don't have a flashlight, again.' He thought as he turned to Gale. "Can I go in?"

Gale nodded yes, indicating that Wolfe could enter the ship. After he had successfully climbed up the short access ladder, he surprised her by turning around and extending a helping hand to help her aboard. Wolfe had thought that it would be a nice gesture, a sort of piece offering, to be nice at this point. Once she was standing next to him in the Cargo area, Wolfe started to slowly walk around the much larger cargo hold then what he was used to in the Sidewinder.

He took his time walking around the hold inspecting the system panels that were active. Checking the various sized lockers placed here and there, taking his time looking at each one. He even sat on one of the two bunks, testing the firmness of the thin mattress pad. He was surprised at the enclosed head found at the opposite side of the stacked bunks, he was used to the open head design of the Sidewinder. Not like it mattered much being the sole occupant in a Sidewinder, privacy wasn't an issue. The galley was much larger than what he was used to and even had a refrigerated cooling unit. That was a nice touch, now he could have cold drinks when he wanted. He couldn't help but smile as he took in what he was seeing, it was still the same grey paint as his other ship but it was nice. The forward bulkhead to the cockpit was open but he chose to ignore it for the time being.

"You were right." He stole a glance at the woman next to him, silent for the first time since he met her. "This ship hasn't been use much, the last owner took good care of it. And it doesn't smell!" He joked in a halfhearted way, hoping to make her smile.

"It can't handle the cargo that the Cobra can." She quipped with a sarcastic smile. She was hoping for one last shot at selling the Cobra. "These things aren't a work horse like you're looking for." She spread her hands out wide indicating the Adder before she placed them firmly on her hips in a defiant manner. Wolfe knew she wasn't going to give up easily on the Cobra but it wasn't her choice and he knew that.

Not responding to her last ditch effort to sell the Cobra, he turned for the cockpit. He had been in a few Adders before he became a pilot as a kid, so he knew the general layout. He didn't like the fact that the pilots chair was on the right side of the flight deck but the simple swept curving features of the dash were simple and pleasant. He wished there was a way to move the flight controls and hud units to the other seat but didn't know of any engineers that did that level of customization. "Well you can't have everything your way." He thought to himself, as he walked between the pilot seats. Gale was still in the doorway, leaning up against the bulkhead frame with both arms crossed over her chest, still holding her hat in hand. Wolfe didn't turn around as he told her.

"I want it, Thirty-Five Thousand credits, right? Sold, where do I sign?" He didn't want to give her the time to respond about the other ship, his mind was made up and it was final. He turned around and casually leaned up against the pilots' chair trying to convey that his decision was final and he wasn't going to be persuaded any other way.

"Ok, yeah." She said in a dejected way, signaling defeat. "Thirty-Five k, you looking to trade that Sidewinder in as well?" She searched his face looking for anything that would indicate that there was still a chance to change his mind. Not seeing what she was looking, for she figured she had been lost this round and would get the next sucker. "I'll give you a good deal on it."

"No, no I think I'll keep it." He hadn't thought about that at all and wasn't sure about trading in his trusty Sidewinder. It was his first ship and it was given to him by his old flight instructor, so he didn't think that was even an option.

"We do offer free hanger storage space if you purchase a ship here." She placed her cowboy hat back on her head and tucked in loose strands of hair that fell in the odd places here and there. Wolfe took this as a sign that the negotiations were over and smiled outwardly.

"That's good. It's kind of hard to fly two ships at the same time." He replied as they both started to head out of the Adder.

The process for purchasing and transferring of ownership went by rather quickly, which surprised Wolfe3. He thought it would have taken longer than it did, but after a quick transfer of credits and a few signatures on a few various forms, he was the proud new owner of an Adder. During the process Gale, while still wasn't happy with her failed attempt at selling the Cobra, was pleasant and even joked a bit with the younger pilot. Even though he was young, she found him to be a decent enough fellow that was rather down to earth. In this line of work, she had met many a pilot, that had grandiose dreams and plans that could never be meet. It was nice to see someone that was grounded in reality for a change.

"Gale, thank you very much for the ship." Wolfe extended his hand in a final handshake of appreciation. He might not have like the pushy sales pitch, but wished to end the experience on a pleasant note.

"You're welcome. I'll have the Adder moved to the launch bay for you in thirty minutes." She shook his hand firmly. "If you know of anyone wanting to purchase a new ship, send em my way."

"I most certainly will." He said in a most sincere way before turning around and walking out of the shipyard hanger.

At the Sidewinder, Wolfe made quick work of removing items that he wanted to transfer over to his new ship. It wasn't like he that many personal items anyway. Compared too other commander's ships that he had been in, he had nothing of value at all. His ship was bare and empty, no pictures or souvenirs from places that he had visited. No knick-knacks stored or scattered about anywhere, just clothes, some tools, and food packets. It didn't take long to pack everything up, it was kind of saddening for him, that everything he own fit into two large duffels. "Well, possessions don't make the man." He said out loud to his now empty ship. With one final scan of the cargo hold, he hoisted both duffel bags over his shoulders and climbed out of the Sidewinder.

Outside at the launch pad control terminal, he set down both bags and sent the command to send his ship to long term storage. He was apprehensive about not seeing this ship that he had flown for so long but he knew that he needed something bigger and different. It was time for a change and he knew this was needed to be a better pilot.

The tug drone arrived after a few moments with its flashing lights and beeping warning horn. It had a single purpose, to move spacecraft around as commanded. Its simple programming left no room for recognizing human emotions. The drone was indifferent to the human pilot that stood there watching it complete its work. It wasn't programmed to understand the sad look on the human face, as the drone completed the assigned tasks of its programming. With a final sensor sweep for any obstacles in the immediate area, it set off. Wolfe watched as the tug gave a small jerky pull to the ship, as it started to roll away with it cautionary flashing lights and continuously beeping horns. The tug and ship slowly started to pull away and follow the designated taxi path to the storage hanger. He stood there for a few seconds watching the ship slowly gain distance from him. He wasn't sure when he would be back for it, but it would be there when he needed it. With one last parting glance at his old ship he turned to pick up his duffels and head to his new Adder.

At the launch pad of his new Adder, Wolfe3 took a quick glance at the pads maintenance terminal, it showed the ship to be fully powered up and all systems green. After walking to the ships access hatch, he threw his duffels onto the cargo floor that stood just above his shoulders and climbed aboard. Inside he found the access door control panel and pressed the lock button. With a smooth snick and clunk sound, the door lock and sealed into position. The cockpit was brightly light with all the Hud panels activated ready for use. He slowly lowered himself into the pilots seat for the first time, feeling the fabric and firm padding as he relaxed and became comfortable. It might be a new ship to him but the layout and placement of the instruments were instinctively familiar. Without much thought or effort, preflight and launch clearance were completed like normal.

With heavy reverberating thuds of vibrations ringing through the hull, the docking clamps releasing its grip on the ship. Wolfe tenderly applied vertical thrusters to gain altitude in the docking bay and applied forward thrust. He took his time feeling out the responsiveness of the Adder, as he had never flown one before and didn't want to make an expensive mistake the first time behind the controls.

Outside the no fire zone of the station, the pilot pushed the throttle to full power and began to dance the ship about getting used to the handling and abilities this new ship offered him. The Adder was more maneuverable then his old Sidewinder and soon enough he was grinning ear to ear, having fun flipping, swooping and rolling about as he flew. He was rather impressed with how responsive the ship was. On paper specs alone, the Sidewinder and Adder were evenly matched but he was surprised that a ship built for cargo was this agile. After playing with system power levels and boosting to top speed, Wolfe was impressed with his new purchase.

"This thing isn't even upgraded yet." He laughed out loud. He had done some upgrades in the past to his Sidewinder but setting up the ship just the way he wanted took time and planning. He wasn't sure how he was going to set this Adder up yet. He had pondered the possibilities that were in front of him, however it was always on the back burner and never more than a passing thought, till now. Fighting in the thing was out of the question, he wasn't that good of a pilot yet. Cargo and currier missions were his bread and butter for the moment, while boring at times, at least made him money. Mining could make some good money, again having no experience seemed a little daunting. He had thought about exploration but hadn't left the bubble and was a little apprehensive about exploring the black. If upgraded right, the Adder could get a good jump range and be a decent little explorer.

After checking his current heading, making sure he wouldn't fly into a star or planet, he pulled up the Galaxy map. After a few minutes of looking, Wolfe found a nearby high tech system that should have a decent outfitting station available. Not sure what he was going to do with his new purchase, he plotted his course, and activated the ships Frame Shift Drive.