Harrier

Calendar

1105-004 -- 1105-005 -- 1105-006

• System - Jump space
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• Ship's Log - Raider Harrier - The page for the Harrier
• In Character discussions - Anchor links to discussions on this page
• Category Tags: Harison, Silas, Sultana, Iskavrin, Harrier, Vignette 4

After breakfast Harison headed to miss Blanes cabin he knocked on the door. "Miss Blane this is Harison Dawn I was just wondering if you are you free for a chat if this is not a good time please let and know when would suit you?"

(Margaret)"Come in Admiral. I am awake, when you get older you will understand, early to bed early to rise. What can I help you with?"

"I hear ya I’m not that far behind you. I’m just looking for some guidance and your knowledge. I have a plan for the Harrier that I am going to propose to the crew later on tonight. The only thing that I’m having trouble with is how to distribute information. My plan would involve cultivating contacts and informants in different ports to feed us info on high value targets my problem is how to get this information out fast enough to us that it’s useful. I just don’t see a way so I think it’s just going to be more of a tracking and using the information to predict when they’ll be carrying high value cargo or make it after making a big sale with lots of cash. So my questions for you is 3 things was this something you used to do and if not, did you have a better system than I have here? The next would be would you be interested in broken a meeting between me and some of your farmer informant now? I’m not asking you to vouch for us just for a meeting and we would pay them and you for the meeting no matter the outcome. All you would have to do is contact them ask them if they’re still in the game and interested in meeting a potential backer and if i can’t convince them no hard feelings we paying for the time. And the 3rd question is how did you pay for this information? If you did was it a percentage of be taken of a tip they gave or was it the standard standard yearly/monthly fee? No no need to answer straight away you can see how we operate at the end of the mission and make a decision there either way."

——————————————

After dinner Harison messaged the other tree crew members to meet on the bridge he had something he wanted to discuss. After everyone showed up, he locked the door so they wouldn’t be disturbed.

Harison pulls up a sector map of the region and zoom in on an area and starts to draw out 3 routes and makes some areas. "Thank you gentlemen for joining me. This is a plan I have being working on for us to accomplish our mission. This is just laying out a plan for the Harrier. Again this is just a proposal of a plan it’s open to change or being abandoned as the crew see fit."

"So to start getting money in to Dranix the city is going to have to make room for people to stay after a week in space people want to cut loose. We all so need them to want to go there to spend money so we need a casino, bar, hotel and restaurants. Now the next part is to redirect trade through Dranix we have to look at the main two trade routes through the Trojan reach Hierate route and the Florian route. To start with, there is no way for the J2 Florian route to go through Dranix. I think we should focus on the Hierate route." He gestures at the map pointing out the route starting at Fist and ending at Tyokh.
"So for attacking as a pirate with a jump 2 ship my plan is to jump in from one parsec so there’s fuel left to make a jump 1 out no need to refuel. We would lurk on the outskirts attacking either ships coming out to clear the gravitational pull or just arriving in making sure we have time before the system defence boats can get to us. Some recon is needed for 2 things info on ships cargo as we have a small hold we need high value per ton cargo. The 2nd is info on plant defences number of ships patrols etc."

"Looking at the system map I’ve marked out the two routs. So to direct traffic to the Aslan hierarch through Dranix We would need ships to follow the Florian route up until Blue then jump to Clark then Dranix and then to Khual in Aslan Space." "This would mean leaving the Florian route free of piracy for the time being encourage people to keep trading this route. Witch has the same 7 jumps with one of them being a J1 so saving a little on fuel."

"But not wanting to affect one route leaves us with only been able to raid the planets I have maked with the red X with the strategy I listed above. The four planets in this area not part of the route all have gas giant to refuel. So this means we can raid Argona, Sperle and Teck-Word and jump into a neighbouring system. Now Argona only has one neighbouring system so will be very obvious where we’re jumping in and out of. The other two have 3 neighbouring systems making it easy to mix it up where we’re going and going from. Tech-Word is the highest tech level world in this area so they may be harder to raid this would need more recon and information about the defences before for making decisions about it. Most Imperial escorts use a J-3 shortcut of Acid to Teck-World meaning that these area have more of an imperial presence but Argona and Sperle are not used so this means they have less defensive."

"Then there is Paal the last stop on the route before Aslan space. The only place to jump in from is sink small population world of religious fanatics. The other thing about Paal is that it’s made up up of a number of ruling governments if we could stir up tensions between them buy under handed means and manipulating groups to action to lead to war this would disrupt the area and cause people not to want to be going through here."

"The next problem that I see is the Aslan of Khusai are a clan called Hrakoea who would like to see the Hierate return to there Conquering ways. So we would need to show them how much they can make through trade and maybe make some sort of alliance with them this could be a diplomatic ship that could make this deal. Also, if we could turn them against the clan Ahroay’if (of plant Tyokh)or vice versa then they might be interested in disrupting their revenue from trade help our cause for directing the flow of the trade. Maybe staging a fake assassination attempt and frame the other clan."

"Now, if we get a second ship that could be used as a trader I suggest trying to set up an legitimate trade business starting off by going back-and-forth from Paal and Teck-World trading food stuffs on one side for industrial on the other. This is twofold giving us an outlet to fencer stolen goods but also to develop informants and contacts in both worlds who could give us information of traders passing through what they are carrying and where they’re going. As we don’t want to be wasting our time robbing a ship to find they are carrying food stuff. If we know they made a big sale they could be carrying a lot of money too that cargo is not the only thing they have. I am looking at how to move and use this information could just be building a profile on the high value targets and using it to predict there cargo or attacking them as they come out as Aslan space knowing they made a big sale and get there money before they can bank it."

"As this may take time and money to set up we could turn part time pirate hunter. With doing one of 2 things with them get them to sign on to our fleet giving us a percentage of there making for protection and info on targets. Or turn them in for a bounty, keep there ship selling it or repurposing it for our use as a legitimate trader or as a pirate vessel."

"This is just a frame work for a plan it’s open to change and removal of parts. The idea would be to build a network of informants,legitimate businesses to make money and fence gear and have a fleet of pirate ships and trade vessels. Just my thoughts on what the King wants and how we might start to achieve that. Any feedback good or bad is welcome. 100% there is stuff I missed or over looked and this will not be for everyone as this road will be bloody and messy."

Over a drink clinking with ice, Silas gave a measured response to Harison’s plan, "You’ve spent a lot of time considering this, and to summarise,"

• We might target the worlds of Paal, Argona, Sperle and Tech-World along the Hierate Route to channel traffic through Drinax thereby improving their lot through commerce and tourism.
• Use Jump 1 where possible on pirate runs, so that we can jump out again.
• We might begin our part-time pirate hunter activities with Oghma and reclaiming the Buscador. This will also reduce the resources the Oghmans have, and, although I’m yet to think of a purpose for the Buscador I think more ships are better than less.

"I agree with your reasoning, and am happy to lend my support to this plan. I’ll say that many of your ideas are very long term, which is good; good to have a vision for Drinax. Perhaps the four of us can agree on four short term goals? I would suggest these might be,"

1. Reclaiming Blaine’s personal effects
2. Reclaiming the Buscador from the Oghman raiders. (plus… scout Oghma for prospects)
3. Research and/or scout the ports and routes of the systems of Paal, Argona, Sperle and Tech-World, specifically to develop a network of informants (through many means social, business and mutual benefit. )
4. Follow rumours and reports of pirates operating in the Reach (and pursue them where profitable to our purpose)

"I agree. All the long-term prospects are worth keeping on the table, and we can shift between them, or work on projects that benefit more than one of them. We are talking about Building An Empire here, it's not something 4 random people just do from a partially-working spaceship." He grins and looks over the map. "We are going to need contacts, associates, and agents. And none of those are things you can just advertise for. We have to go out and do the legwork to build them. Our short-term jobs are pretty well set: Blaine's baggage in Marduk; then perhaps Oghma if nothing more important comes up. Your ship, or any ship, would be an important start to building up our fleet of associates. I assume that once you reacquire your ship, or a suitable replacement, that you'll leave this ship and begin working from it. So we'll need a replacement crew-member to fill your slot here as well. What role or tasks do you think you and your ship would be appropriate for once you're back in your own ship?"

"Back in my own ship?!" Silas spluttered and looked around at the opulent surrounds on the V'Hurg. "It's not that I... ah... I want to Captain the Buscador again," he paused to gather his thoughts and went on more calmly. "Crewing aboard this Harrier seems like a dream come true. I do not plan on relinquishing this opportunity. I simply seek to have the Scout Ship back under my control, rather than in the hands of those Oghman raider dogs. It was stolen from me..." he blushed as he regretted the whole incident. "...and I greatly wish to right this wrong. And, given current circumstances, another ship will undoubtedly come in handy. The Buscador will appear as a legitimate ship, if you understand my meaning, and may be helpful for... uhm... errands?"

Sultana looks pleased. "Excellent! I'm definitely glad to keep you aboard. And I agree, legitimate ships we can use will definitely come in handy." He looks around the table, "Any further thoughts, questions, problems, wishes, or predictions anyone wants to share with the group?"

(Margaret)Comes into the common area to speak with Sultana, Harison, and Silas. She takes a cup of tea from the sidebar and sits down. "Admiral, you had asked some questions this morning and I wanted to give you some answers for the crew to consider over the next couple of days before we arrive in Torpol. You asked if I would be interested in broken a meeting between me and some of your farmer informants. I am not certain that many of them are still alive or in the business after this many years. For the moment I will withhold my recommendations about you and this ship until I see how you manage this encounter with the Cicendai. If you are successful then I will be glad to vouch for your skills. To the manner of what, why, where, who, and all the journalistic questions you have I can say that payment of credits is the easiest and often the shortest long term partnership you will make. Build your contacts up, create bonds that facilitate more reasons to work together. Credits will always be appreciated, there are almost always family and friends of your contact that need help in one manner or another. Some doors can only be opened with credits, sometimes previous credits and conversations can open a back door also."

She sips her tea. "This is a good first test for you to see if you do want to help King Oleb with this quixotic quest to rebuild a Kingdom. I saw you have a second ship in your fleet, that lab ship that you left behind. What duties did you assign for it to handle? What contacts did you want to make that way? I have heard Silas here speak of his stolen scout ship, that could be a third? or fourth if the Cicendai can be taken in one piece. I think one of your first tests will be in finding sophonts to crew all your ships."

She sits back and drinks her tea, accompanied by a small plate of cookies.

"Thank you, that is more than fair. I hope we don’t let you down. I am sure you are never fully out of the game and have some contacts. As for the lad ship that’s not part of our fleet it is working towards the same goal, but on a different path more of a front facing helping and doing work on a more of a humanitarian mission. Showing how Dranixs great tech can help its neighbours as problems present them selfs. They are all so separate for us so if we fail or mess up, they have deniability. We are more of go out there and make things happen and take action. Yes we are looking to expand our fleet and crew. We will crew and captain the new ships on a case by case bases. First we would like to fill out this crew with a few more."

"Agreed. We won't seek to let you down, and, I for one are keen to engage with our task in a meaningful manner! For Glory!" Silas got a little carried away, and it couldn't be ascertained whether it was Drinax' glory or their own he was cheering.

It gave pause for thought though, that perhaps regular rendezvous' with the Pioneer and collaboration would benefit the cause. He made a reminder to raise this with the crew separately. Also, Blaine could see that they were pitifully crewed. They were barely able to handle the V'Hurg, let alone other ships they might hope to commandeer. They desperately needed more resources if they were to have any meaningful impact.

---

Later again after Blaine had taken herself off to bed, Silas addressed Sultana, Harison and Iskravin, Can we think about the very short term now, please. Finances. We’ll need to refuel in Torpol at a cost of Cr20k for refined fuel. I suggest, as a democratic ship, that we all put in an equal amount of credits to establish a funding base for this first sojourn. Again, I suggest that we each add Cr50k, making a total of Cr200k. From this we can pay

*Fuel Cr20k
*Maintenance Cr14,315 (next maintenance then would be due 1005-37)
*Life Support Cr5,000 (next life support due 1005-37. Cr1,000 per stateroom/person per month)

And our funds would look like the below.

Harison, do you think you can take on some cargo? The Harrier has just under 30 tons available, and research shows that Marduk is low-tech and non-industrial. Could you try to source some electronics? After the tete-a-tete we can land back on Marduk and sell, yes? We might take a chance on Cr100k Trade goods…

Sultana; Iskravin, what can you offer for our finances or prospects?

"That’s a great idea but I am sorry to say I am not what you would call cash rich. I have 10k, this pistol and a few closes in my quarters. As for maintenance on the ship she’s good for 3 weeks after this jump aside from the major thing we need to fix we won’t have to put money into her till then. So it’s just fuel and docking fees. I can look at getting cargo but we are not planing on stoping at Marduk before we hit our target, so I would like to keep the cargo hull clear to have room for there cargo. Now if we decide on 50k each as a ship fund I have no problem with it I would just have to put mine in latter from my share of the take on this run or other jobs if this one is not profitable."

"We have cargo onboard already, that we can try to sell a portion of to raise the funds. However, it may be tricky, as Torpol is where Dawn obtained it from, and at a *staggering* discount. Enough so that I'm a bit worried the original owners may be looking for it. I honestly wonder if the person who sold it to him is even still alive now." He shrugs. "So selling some of that supply here may be a little extra dangerous. But, I believe I have about 20 thousand credits left in my accounts, that I can contribute towards the fuel and maintenance. Possibly a bit more, I'd have to check."

Pioneer?

Unity

Calendar

1105-004? -- 1105-005 -- 1105-006

• System - Jump Space
• Message Center - Anchor link to section of Message Center
• Ship's Log - Anchor links to Personal Logs & Library Entries -
• In Character discussions - Anchor links to discussions on this page
• Category Tags - [!Crockett]], Unity
  • Occupants of the diplomatic Ship of Unity
    • Crockett
    • Khearl
    • Provost Shala
    • Provost Falx
    • Administrative Aide Dar

1105-005 7:00 - Unity Common Area [Crocket notes arrival in galley by Provost Falx and greets him]

"Morning Provost"

I was hoping I might see you this morning after our discussion the other night so that while we're passing this long week in jump I might have some additional things to ponder. I wonder (since we have our signed agreement now) if you could confirm for me what kind of help these initial introductions for me will be able to assist with? i.e. Should they be able to guide me in right direction for "licensing" approval for mining operations within the sphere of Torpol control? ....and, secondly, Might they also assist me in an introduction to appropriate trading ship captains that have connections with corporate mining interests in this region?

(Provost Falx)"Ahh Crockett, good morning, early riser too I see. sips his tea "I can appreciate you looking forward to getting started right away. That is how I achieved my position. Keep moving, keep making friends, building for the future." sips his tea "I will tell you that having contracts in the Torpol Cluster will help you when you go back to Drinax to get King Oleb's permissions to work the belts there."

(Provost Falx)"So we have two branches to pursue. The first is the actual mining rights, the second is the transport of such products put out by those mines. Did you consider weather you wanted to just extract ore and such? or were you looking to build in fabricators to convert those into usable goods?"

I'm thinking that this old marine needs to learn a bit about the mining process and therefor in addition to learning soon about how one goes about obtaining mining rights in the Torpol region of control....I might also be introduced to a corporation individual with interests in mining so I might actually sign on to an existing mining operation to learn the ropes for a while...and hopefully get paid for my time while I'm at it....What do you think about that approach?

sips his tea. (Provost Falx)"That makes a good plan. I will caution you that I myself do not deal with such contracts. My interests lay in Starport control. I will find the right person to talk with you about management. You do not need to learn mining, you need to learn managing mines. I will correct you that you are not going to get any mining rights in the Torpol system. Those are very well sewn up. That is someone that I am going to introduce you to. The third largest corporation, they will be looking for way to expand and adding Drinax might be a thing they would desire."

I like your advice Provost. The one slight divergence might be that I eventually find an opportunity outside the DRINAX cluster to operate a mine and that might involve seeking "rights" elsewhere....but I need to learn the process regardless....and these individuals you kindly introduce me to will be of great assistance I'm sure...and assisting them in building a new relationship with the powers that be in Drinax will be of certain consideration. THANK YOU. I won't hold you up longer than this if you are having a busy day....although I would like to know more about how you have begun and advanced in your position on Torpol?

(Provost Falx)"That is a fun story. I was just a simple administrator at the low port, dealing with cargo manifests. I spotted a discrepancy that I saved the Starport several hundred thousand credits. I took advantage of that to help the person who made the mistake correct it. That earned me their trust, plus our supervisor recognized I could do more than the few things I was handling. That meant more promotions. I built on that to now reach the third most important Provost in the Torpol system. sips his tea with a happy smile

"What a fascinating story and fun also...ha ha...Since I note your tea is almost finished...I'll leave you be for today if I might and off to do some research...Perhaps we will chat again before this 7 days is over......I do enjoy the opportunity to chat in general after being so focused for so long in anticipation of meeting the old King. That has now come and gone and I find myself focused on how best to take advantage financially of what has transpired. And, on that topic Provost Falx.....I wonder if you might be able to confirm for me how long it might take to get a message through to my parents in the Spinward Marches region? They both have had quite a career in the corporate world and may well have some new advice for me as I undertake a new challenge in my life. I was born on "BOWMAN" in the "Marches" and they still live there.

(Admin Aide Dar)"We will double check when we get home. I believe that would be a round trip of well over a year if I remember those parts of the Marches. It might be faster once the messages reach the Imperial internal routes, if Bowman is in the Imperium."

Again, your assistance in getting me this far since we first met on Torpol is muchly appreciated Sir...

18:00 - Captain's Table

"Ah Provost Falx...great to see you again. Just quick question about how I should contact you once we are back to Torpol?"

[for Administrative Aide DAR] "Ah DAR...good to see you again...I wonder if we might have a quick discussion about accommodation for myself once we are back on Torpol?"

(Admin Aide Dar)"Certainly Crockett. I can recommend a variety of hotels both planet side or in the highport if you want to be closer to the trade centers. Would you be looking for 'Good' lodgings? {1,500 cr/month} or 'High' standing lodgings? {2,000 cr/month}? I am certain that we can arrange for you to find lodgings the same day we arrive home."

Thank you DAR...If you could arrange a renewable two-week booking for me upon arrival back at Torpol of a "Good" lodgings that would be terrific. Also if you could kindly have my crates currently stored in UNITY CARGO moved to a secure warehouse on Torpol in my name that would also be of great service.

Floating Palace?