A trip to Port Morgan.

"I want you three to take a shuttle down to Port Morgan and register the scans of these slaves at the auction yards." The bald headed merc leader instructed them. "It'll take them a few hours to prepare a microchip ID each for a batch of slaves this large, so I've got a list of supplies for you to get while you're waiting."

The pirate chief handed a data pad to Sparks, who went through the list with his lips moving as he read it's contents. Having done he pocketed the pad in his long dirty coat. His brows creased into a frown as a thought came to him.

"These guard bitches 'ave all got contraceptive implants chief." He told the leader. "Old Sparks thinks 'e knows 'ow to deal with that though. The doc that fixed me up with these 'andy tentacles knows a thing or three bout nanobots. Reckon 'e could whip us up a batch to neutralise those implants, it'd add a fair bit to the price we get for these sluts."

"That's not a bad idea." The chief said thoughtfully. "Pay him a call and if he can do it for a reasonable price go ahead and get them."

The pirate ship was by now holding station close to the orbital city of Port Morgan and Calvo and the two mercenaries went to the hanger deck and with Gypsy at the controls launched a shuttle to take them to the infamous capitol of the badlands.

Calvo had heard many stories about the pirate city, but even so his first sight of Port Morgan took him by surprise. The city orbitted a small habitable planet, from which most of the raw materials and food for the city came. The city itself was constructed from the hulks of derelict starships, hundreds of them fused together in a spherical mass. The weapon systems of many of the ships that formed it were still active, meaning that the outer skin of Port Morgan bristled with weaponry. Three large scale assaults from various interstellar factions had been defeated by the city's defences and the pirate fleets based there, the wrecks of the attacking fleets only serving to swell the size of the orbiting metropolis.

Gypsy piloted the shuttle in, weaving amongst the spaceships and shuttlecraft surrounding the busy port. Calvo watched her as she flew through the traffic at breakneck speed and was **** to admit to himself that the sexy piratess was an exceptional pilot. They headed for a dock situated close to the **** market and Gypsy contacted the stations traffic control to receive landing clearance. The raven haired merc brought the shuttle smoothly through an airlock and landed in a large hanger bustling with activity.

"Everyone remember where we parked." She laughed as they disembarked.

At the **** market a fat overseer showed disinterest when Sparks went to register the prisoners for sale.

"We're up to our fucking ears in slaves." The greasy overweight **** trader told him. "It's a buyers market at the moment. Maybe I could fit your batch in in a week."

"Aah now 'ow about guardwomen?" Sparks asked, scratching his stubbly chin. "We 'ave some of them."

"Guardwomen?" The fat trader was much more interested now. "We've had one or two through here occasionally before. They always sell well and bring in the crowds, if you have a couple of them I could possibly move your lot forward. How many have you got?"

"Twenty six." The engineer said smugly. "And that includes a captain and a lieutenant."

The slaver's attitude changed completely and all of a sudden a window opened in tomorrow night's auction. The microchip ID's he assured them would be ready for them to pick up in three or four hours. As they walked away he could be heard berating his workers to get cracking on registering the data Sparks had given him. Calvo silently cursed, if he was going to enlist the guardwomen's help in order to get free of the pirates he didn't have much time.