William prepped his Harrion XM7 for entry into atmo. It had been awhile since he had been on Beaumonde; he just hoped Fanty and Mingo would have a customer lined up for his wares. Money was getting tight, and his ship wouldn't fuel itself. The ship jostled and the engine moaned as he broke the stratosphere and then bucked hard. "What in the bloody hell...?" William was cut off when a loud blast came from the rear engine and the ship bucked again. "Oh, juh jen sh guh kwai luh duh jean-jan..." William looked at the readouts and it was worse then he'd feared. Diagnostics showed that he'd lost a stabilizer and the catalyzer in the engine was fragged. He just hoped that there was enough life in her to get him to the ground.

The ship bucked again, knocking William around and sending the ship into a barrel roll. "Ching-wah tsao duh liou mahng!" William righted it and strained to engage the reverse thrusters before he crashed into the surface. He managed to land, albeit roughly, on the outskirts of one of the smaller villages. Beaumonde was a wealthy planet, but even it had some rural areas. William got out of his ship to take a look at the damage. The engine was slag; it was a solid lump of plasteel and wires. William was going nowhere in a hurry. "Well, ain't this just great?" It was dark; just on the verge of sunrise, so William took the opportunity to bury his cargo. It was nothing that would stand up to close inspection, but William guessed there wouldn't be a close inspection all the way out here.

William grabbed his pack and sealed his ship. He'd have to go into the city and see if he could sell what was left of it. "Any landing you can walk away from, eh sonny?" A man laughed from his porch as William entered the town.

"I ain’t your son old man, and I ain’t too keen on bein' the butt of no jokes either." William turned to keep walking.

"I ain't meant nothin' by it son." The man stood up. "But as it seems you're grounded, I was just tryin' to lighten you up is all." William stopped. "Listen, I gotta run into t