008: Reunion at Collace

[terrymixon]

"Since you can afford it, why don't you surprise us?" your father said. "Your treat."

"Is that Swordy fusion place still open? It's not overly fancy, but the food was good. We can go Upspire to Dina's or one of the others if you want something more formal."

"Sadly, it went out of business," your mother said with a sigh. "Some syndicate moved in on them and the squeeze was too much for them to bear. Trust me when I say that I miss it. I don't necessarily want something formal, and your father is just joking about you paying. We're your parents and it's our duty to feed you. There's a new Vargr Curry place over in the Brick Lane/Ocean Road area. It's pretty good."

[joertexas]

"Sadly, it went out of business," your mother said with a sigh. "Some syndicate moved in on them and the squeeze was too much for them to bear. Trust me when I say that I miss it. I don't necessarily want something formal, and your father is just joking about you paying. We're your parents and it's our duty to feed you. There's a new Vargr Curry place over in the Brick Lane/Ocean Road area. It's pretty good."

"Mother, I can afford to pay for dinner. The curry sounds good. We can talk about that syndicate later."

[terrymixon]

"Sadly, it went out of business," your mother said with a sigh. "Some syndicate moved in on them and the squeeze was too much for them to bear. Trust me when I say that I miss it. I don't necessarily want something formal, and your father is just joking about you paying. We're your parents and it's our duty to feed you. There's a new Vargr Curry place over in the Brick Lane/Ocean Road area. It's pretty good."

"Mother, I can afford to pay for dinner. The curry sounds good. We can talk about that syndicate later."

"We can thumb wrestle for it after we eat," your father said. "Just like old times. Let's get the kids and go."

Over to you, Tiglath.

[helvorn]

William & Ciencia

Ambassador Vlezpridliashav states with level precision "You speak with an authority... that I recognize... Mr. Larsson. The Consulate always welcomes courtesy and cooperation and shares your wish for further peaceful dialog. It would be most unfortunate if these gestures were no more than that. While we welcome the goodwill that emanates from Coreward it seems that, more locally, expansionism and aggression as well as heinous crimes against humanity committed by your megacorporations seem to present observers of Imperial policy with... what is now... some rather mixed messaging as to the benefits of Imperial rule".

"I very much appreciate your candour regarding forthcoming events but I can not help but wonder if the appearance of a new Imperial megacorporation will be welcomed by a people who have just so valiantly thrown off the oppressive and strangling yoke of another?"

William met Ambassador Vlezpridliashav's eyes steadily. "I've always found that words mean little unless backed up with deeds. Believe me, as one who has fought and bled for causes created to enrich the megacorporations that they are not always the models of behavior that we wish to follow. I would expect that the disruptive effect of what we are doing may somewhat reduce the entrenched power of which you speak."

"Perhaps not a message from the government," she disagreed with a shake of her head. "This is a private enterprise, and the message is from those behind the company. The Imperial government can either approve or disapprove, but we will be proceeding anyway. Though, to be clear, there will be additional commercial activity that will probably cause some disruption as well."

Vlezpridliashav responds smoothly "Forgive my confusion but I am taken aback. Is there dissonance within the highest levels of Imperial government? Or..." he smiles fondly "...just the joy of a couple learning each other's mind on certain matters?" He adds "You seem of independent spirit Lady Ciencia. How wonderful!"

William chuckled and shook his head. "She always gets the nuance better than I. It's a gift."

"Spirited, yet perceptive with it and also with an eye for the commerce which benefits all just as surely as worthy philanthropy. You are indeed a most fortunate man, Mr Larsson".

"Ambassador, as you know any discussion regarding large-scale policy, megacorporations and disruptions to the status quo are complicated. Our message to you is equally complicated. You will find that we are all one mind with the sector and higher levels of government but as my wife stated we are private players." William smiled warmly at Ciencia. "Perhaps there is a dissonance or perhaps there are two separate messages being delivered at the same time. Certainly even with newlyweds unity of action and purpose is one of the hallmarks of a good marriage. Also in differences of experience and approach a marriage can find strength. You can believe that we both are equally serious and equally aligned."

[joertexas]

"We can thumb wrestle for it after we eat," your father said. "Just like old times. Let's get the kids and go."

"He cheats at thumb wrestling," Jaelah stage whispers to Roscoe. "Don't trust him."

[terrymixon]

"We can thumb wrestle for it after we eat," your father said. "Just like old times. Let's get the kids and go."

"He cheats at thumb wrestling," Jaelah stage whispers to Roscoe. "Don't trust him."

"So noted," Roscoe said dryly.

[helvorn]

Dzofin carefully made his way around the party trying to match up the entire pack of these newcomers. He noticed what seemed to be a mated pair talking to what had to be a very high ranking Zhodani noble and his mate. There was another mated pair that were carefully scanning the party from whom he kept a distance. Finally there was a single human male having a party with some of the most dangerous looking special operators Dzofin had ever seen. He carefully lapped at a nonalcoholic drink before circling back around to watch the original group now talking to an Aslan.

[shaidar]

Frank Cross

Frank Cross

Bona sits and listens closely.



"That and a longer-term commitment to provide security in a number of colony situations while training a self-defense force that will replace you," Bona added. "A significant number of currently uninhabited worlds that will be getting people and building up in a way that might attract people looking to cash in as the area is a bit rough and tumble and the neighbors can be a bit... forward. The worlds are unclaimed and in unaligned space, and we would provide transportation, as well as fully outfit the recruits that would be getting the training with gear at high Imperial tech level." She smiled. "And the trainers, too, if needed."

"Security and training, that sounds generally acceptable. We've four companies, a reinforced battalion battlegroup of regular mech-grav infantry. Specialities, particularly recon and we are highly adaptable. If you're planning on hiring 4DC as well then our experience of working with them means we can seamlessly integrate into their command structure. As for what we value, apart from a client with deep pockets..." he smiles "...is openness and honesty from our client. It's my people out there putting their lives on the line, it's what they are paid to do, but we can't do it to our best ability if we don't have a true picture. That openness goes both ways, from our side too, it's a matter of trust. Our name, the Slightly Ethical Mercenary Company, isn't just a gimmick. We are selective in our job choices. Don't get me wrong, we're not knights in shining armour, we're mercenaries who are ultimately paid to shoot people, but we aim to operate under commonly accepted rules of engagement and we would look to impart that integrity into whoever we are training." he takes a swig of whiskey "In the spirit of that openness, the following thoughts spring to mind. Firstly, do you have a feeling for how long this security and training will be needed for? Secondly, If you are looking for your people to be trained at high-imperial tech-levels then that is higher than the tech level in sector 268, so we will have to work out how we can remedy that short-fall, lastly I'd like to know more about who needs to be evicted."

Bona considered the Colonel for a moment and then nodded. "Cards on the table it is. There are some details of our situation that I cannot share with out consulting with the others and that have little bearing on the mission and work we're talking about, but I need to put that out front. Everyone has secrets, and we are no different. Well, maybe we are a bit different in the nature of our secrets, but it's not something that requires mustache twirling if you know what I mean. I'll tell you what I can and then you can tell me if what I've said is good enough or if I need to expand on anything. Agreed?"

Assuming that he says yes, she will continue. "One of our companions is a scientist from Vincennes. He is a leader in robotics and other technical fields that frankly make just about everyone's head spin. He's a man with many interests and some of those have brought us here. Part of what he has mastered is the ability to use devices called fabrication units to manufacture literally anything that someone can think of out of raw materials in the space of just a few minutes. Needless to say, that is going to change a lot of things once the technology begins percolating through society. You need a new weapon? Just get one printed. A grav vehicle? The same. Need a special design, he and his people can work something up and create anything that you can imagine. Literally anything that science can build today he can create in a matter of minutes once he has a pattern.

"That includes spaceships. Do you need an eight-hundred-ton mercenary cruiser? He has a fabricator large enough to build those at Glisten, and as I've indicated, the process takes minutes. In addition, one of the technologies that he has broken his way into is a revolution in jump technology. He calls it the hop drive. It's the same size as a jump one drive but can take a vessel up to ten parsecs. We made the trip from Glisten directly here. It works and it's going to change a lot of things even though it is twice as expensive as a comparable jump drive."

She waited for a few seconds to let him absorb that before she continued. "In exchange for allowing access to this technology to the imperial government, we have been given leave to set up an imperial client state or an aligned independent government that doesn't have to have the formal relationship on a series of worlds just at the edge of the rift in the Reaver's Deep sector. One of those worlds currently has mining vessels and extraction facilities in a rather large asteroid belt that are owned by Sternmetal Horizons. The system they are in is literally directly next to the worlds that we have been granted leave to colonize. They are the unruly neighbors that we are speaking of to begin with but if you do any research on the deeps, you'll find that there are a lot of pirates and rogue nations there that will take an interest in the tech level 16 society that we intend to set up on about fourteen worlds. It's that large of an undertaking.

"At this time, none of those worlds are occupied. Using the hop drive, we can go directly across the rift into the Ilish sector and then across to the worlds in question. The journey will take huge colony ships to get the people there but can be completed in several months. Once we start setting up shop there, we anticipate that we will quickly begin gathering interest and that's where we hope to have assistance in protecting ourselves and our people from depredation until we can stand up our own defensive forces. We're not looking to cause anyone else trouble, but if someone wants to start some with us, we need to have people that can put the hurt on them and make them reconsider their ways. Boiled down, that is what we're doing and why we need this level of protection.

"As to how many mercenaries we need and how they're equipped, I honestly couldn't answer that question. This is the situation we find ourselves in and it would be better for you to tell us what we need. I can imagine that Sternmetal Horizons is not going to be pleased when they are ejected from what is undoubtedly a very lucrative secret project. We've already crossed swords with them once and even though it's going to take time for word of that to reach their central offices, they will eventually figure out who we are and they will likely take an interest in our technology and their losses.

"Honestly, protecting the colony vessels and the large manufacturing fabricator that can make ships and other goods at unbelievable speeds is also something we're interested in. Allow me to show you a picture of Yamaguchi Starport. It's currently located in the Glisten system and although we did not build it, we own it. How we came into that ownership is not something that I can speak of but it is legal and ethical. Services were provided to the Imperium, and this was our reward."

She takes out her mobile com--a very high-tech unit that is more advanced than anything you've seen to date--and displays a holographic image above it. The structure you are seeing is a giant cylinder and it has something to put it in scale right beside it. Floating nearby is a Tigress dreadnought. You know that they run half a million tons. It looks like a toy next to the other structure. A small toy.

"This is Yamaguchi Starport. It masses thirty-five billion tons. There are just short of a billion people who live and work aboard that ship. And I mean ship. It has a hop drive and a fabricator inside of it that can construct anything up to one hundred million tons. That means that it can build a colony vessel of one hundred million tons as long as we feed it the appropriate raw materials which are gathered from asteroids and refined by the fabricator itself. That admittedly takes a number of refining sessions but it can certainly build a ship like that every week at a minimum. The refining process produces an incredible amount of raw materials that are quite valuable and it's almost a joke how much money we have at our disposal. That is what we need to protect and how we intend to both fund the colonization effort and set up our own interstellar polity in the Reaver's Deep."

Polly places her fan neatly on the table top and speaks softly keeping her eyes lowered "Just as my husband Warlord Cross speaks for SEMC I speak for Teahleikhoi, the Regiment of the Falling Night of the Iyhlua Clan. I am also the humble voice and hand of Yūgure, The Twilight, wife of Warlord Ikazuchi “Thunder” Commander of the Teahleikhoi".

She continues "Teahleikhoi supports SEMC in this enterprise and as equal partners. Teahleikhoi will offer up to three full battalions of warriors with mechanised support manoeuvre elements under independent command and direct and indirect Regimental support artillery battalions under the hand of Yūgure's appointed Bannerman. Our contribution is vital to bring your force to viability for the conquest of worlds by giving you a Divisional sized military asset. The Teahleikhoi brings a unique battlefield speciality in which neither 4DC or SEMC can afford to excel: Direct Assault. This is a guaranteed solution to the "unruliness" of neighbours. The Regiment will be paid in Imperial currency as the pharma currency has lately suffered fluctuations in value or negotiated land grants in perpetuity within your colonies. I hope you give our offer due consideration and I remain at your disposal should any additional information be required".

Bona turns her attention to Polly. "Some of the worlds that we will be colonizing are quite pleasant, and I am certain that something can be worked out to pay you either in money or land though I am uncertain how that would play when you're inside another's political area. Perhaps you could enlighten me how something like that would work? As I told the Colonel, we don't intend to execute direct assaults upon our neighbors with the exception of kicking Sternmetal Horizons out of our area, but no one can guess what the future brings. If someone hits us, we want to be able to survive that and to hit them back even harder. With that being a direct assault on someone else? Potentially. That's a bit far in the future though for our planning purposes. My question to you is now that I've laid out what our needs are, how do you see yourself and your people fitting into them?"

Frank sits back in his char and finished his whiskey.

"That is certainly some revelation. Your colonisation plans are big enough, but the tech you describe, the fabricator and the new drive, that has the potential to shift he balance of power around here, for good or ill. So you can just make high-tech weapons and armour for your people? But, you'll still need someone familiar with them to train any troops in their operation and maintenance. The SEMC is certainly interested, payment would be in credits, but maybe we can do something partial in new tech, or fabricated items, I'll need to think about it. I will also need to discuss it with my two business partners, Major Prerna and our RSM, but I don't see that as a issue, and I'll need to speak to Captain Domici, our head of training. With something this size I think we need to get everyone together, your people, 4DC, SEMC, the Teahleikhoi, and work out how we can make this work. We could set up a meeting at the Bartizan, that would allow you to see our facilities." Frank looks thoughtful for a second "Do you have advanced bio-tech? Robo-docs, that kind of thing. I have a man on ice due to his injuries, do you have anything that might revive him?"

[terrymixon]

Frank Cross

Frank sits back in his char and finished his whiskey.

"That is certainly some revelation. Your colonisation plans are big enough, but the tech you describe, the fabricator and the new drive, that has the potential to shift he balance of power around here, for good or ill. So you can just make high-tech weapons and armour for your people? But, you'll still need someone familiar with them to train any troops in their operation and maintenance. The SEMC is certainly interested, payment would be in credits, but maybe we can do something partial in new tech, or fabricated items, I'll need to think about it. I will also need to discuss it with my two business partners, Major Prerna and our RSM, but I don't see that as a issue, and I'll need to speak to Captain Domici, our head of training. With something this size I think we need to get everyone together, your people, 4DC, SEMC, the Teahleikhoi, and work out how we can make this work. We could set up a meeting at the Bartizan, that would allow you to see our facilities." Frank looks thoughtful for a second "Do you have advanced bio-tech? Robo-docs, that kind of thing. I have a man on ice due to his injuries, do you have anything that might revive him?"

"That sounds fine. We have an advanced autodoc aboard our ship. While I hesitate to say it will certainly work, I believe it has as good a chance as your person is likely to find, and we'd be glad to assist as a gesture of good faith. Hell, we'd be willing to make you one for yourselves. That would show you the tech in action and give you something to help your injured going forward. If your person is missing limbs, the fabricator can act as an advanced bioreaction chamber and print anything they need replaced and the autodoc can emplace it" She looked over at Polly. "And perhaps one suitable for larger patients? There is no reason the Colonel should receive the only gift. Each organization that is involved can have one with our blessings."

A description of the device: viewtopic.php?p=711792#p711792

[shaidar]

Frank Cross

Frank smiles "That is a generous gift. His wounds were beyong our standard autodoc, hopefully your advanced model will be successful. It's worth a try. I assume it will be able to assess the wounds while they are still frozen? Either way, such a device will save lives in the future." he looks around the room " These kinds of party's always bring every agency out of the woodwork, which is why I suggested a further meeting at a location more controlled. Your tech will certainly raise interest in every quarter."

[terrymixon]

Frank Cross

Frank smiles "That is a generous gift. His wounds were beyong our standard autodoc, hopefully your advanced model will be successful. It's worth a try. I assume it will be able to assess the wounds while they are still frozen? Either way, such a device will save lives in the future." he looks around the room " These kinds of party's always bring every agency out of the woodwork, which is why I suggested a further meeting at a location more controlled. Your tech will certainly raise interest in every quarter."

"It should be able to, but we also have a Surgeon Bot that will oversee everything. We'll add one of it and several of the Nurse Bots to the gifts. I am confident that they can work effectively to save your associate."

She looked around at the others in the room. "It won't take long for word to begin swirling around. That's when things get interesting. The common area aboard our ship is more than spacious enough for everyone and the ship is screened to watch out for bugs and such. Roscoe said that the factor is coming out tomorrow morning at ten hundred local time to examine the technology in preparation for our business here opening shop and our local lending plan for small businesses kicking off. Would it be acceptable to have Prerna and T'Lia at this meeting?" She looked over at Walt. "Sorry I stole your thunder. Anything to add?"

Surgeon Bot: viewtopic.php?p=711774#p711774

Nurse Bot: viewtopic.php?p=711777#p711777

[shaidar]

Frank Cross

Frank laughs "I should have known Prerna and T'lia wouldn't waste time getting involved. As part of my senior command team I would have invited Major Prerna anyway, and the SEMC has worked closely with T'lia in the past and she is always welcome."

[terrymixon]

Frank Cross

Frank laughs "I should have known Prerna and T'lia wouldn't waste time getting involved. As part of my senior command team I would have invited Major Prerna anyway, and the SEMC has worked closely with T'lia in the past and she is always welcome."

Bona smiled. "Then we can all meet at out ship at the high port at ten hundred hours local time? Perfect."

[shaidar]

Frank Cross

"I'll bring my senior command team, if that is acceptable, and the patient, of course."

[terrymixon]

Frank Cross

"I'll bring my senior command team, if that is acceptable, and the patient, of course."

"That's perfectly acceptable. If you want to bring any hardware to test the fabricator's ability to produce new things, feel free to do so. Prerna and T'lia are already doing so."

[shaidar]

Frank Cross

"Thank you. I'll speak to our RQSM, she'll be like a kid in a candy store."

[Tiglath]

Bona and Growler

Bona turns her attention to Polly. "Some of the worlds that we will be colonizing are quite pleasant, and I am certain that something can be worked out to pay you either in money or land though I am uncertain how that would play when you're inside another's political area. Perhaps you could enlighten me how something like that would work? As I told the Colonel, we don't intend to execute direct assaults upon our neighbors with the exception of kicking Sternmetal Horizons out of our area, but no one can guess what the future brings. If someone hits us, we want to be able to survive that and to hit them back even harder. Would that be a direct assault on someone else? Potentially. That's a bit far in the future though for our planning purposes. My question to you is now that I've laid out what our needs are, how do you see yourself and your people fitting into them?"

Polly replies "Land granted to the Clan in perpetuity is Clan territory subject to our laws and customs. The Clan cares not for human politics and are excellent neighbours. Direct Assault is our speciality but not the only skill that our warriors possess. They can accomplish other military tasks with equal ease. Most recently the Regiment assisted Collace Police to remove criminals from areas of Collace Prime where they had become... unruly. After that the Regiment assisted in a pro bono anti piracy operation on Avastan. Our new facilities at the Downport there are excellent and I recommend their use to you. So, you see that the Regiment can operate in a variety of military postures with equal efficiency and success. However, if you forsee falling out with your neighbours and they are an Imperial megacorporation then the very thing that you will need is specialist assault troops".

She fans herself briefly then returning her fan to the table top inclines her head to Bona "Lady Bona this is a most generous and useful gift. I am sure that the Regiment's Medical branch will make excellent use of it. I forward the gratitude of Warlord Ikazuchi and Yūgure "The Twilight" herself".

[Tiglath]

"Sadly, it went out of business," your mother said with a sigh. "Some syndicate moved in on them and the squeeze was too much for them to bear. Trust me when I say that I miss it. I don't necessarily want something formal, and your father is just joking about you paying. We're your parents and it's our duty to feed you. There's a new Vargr Curry place over in the Brick Lane/Ocean Road area. It's pretty good."

"Mother, I can afford to pay for dinner. The curry sounds good. We can talk about that syndicate later."

"We can thumb wrestle for it after we eat," your father said. "Just like old times. Let's get the kids and go."

Over to you, Tiglath.

A short ride on one of the arcology's express transfer systems brings the group to the Brick Lane area where they disembark and make their way towards the Vargr restaurants.

As the group amble along Jaelah notes a "way light" illuminating the footway ahead is out creating an unusual pool of shadow.

Please Roll the bones for a Streetwise Check

and

a Collace Prime (Cop) Knowledge Check.

[Thumper]

She looked over at Walt. "Sorry I stole your thunder. Anything to add?"

Walt-
”Uh, no.

He stares at Bona, then his voice drops and he whispers:
”Perfect…

Those hearing that last are left wondering if he’s still talking about the proposal.

[joertexas]

A short ride on one of the arcology's express transfer systems brings the group to the Brick lane area where they disembark and make their way towards the Vargr restaurants.

As the group amble along Jaelah notes a "way light" illuminating the footway ahead is out creating an unusual pool of shadow.

Please Roll the bones for a Streetwise Check

and

a Collace Prime (Cop) Knowledge Check.

Jaelah holds up her hand. "Stop for a moment, please." She reaches out with her Detect Life sense while she uses her augmented sight to search for anyone in the shadows.

Roll[2d6]=7 + SW-4 = 11, Roll[2d6]=8 + Police-4 = 12