“What time?” Jago repeats the question thoughtfully as he scans the various  chronological displays at his disposal comparing ship time with universal standard and local time for this point on this planet and it’s very short day that makes it so hard to justify eating the regulation ‘three square meals’, “get here about six, local, we’ll sit down about seven, how’s that sound?”

Jago finds himself quite looking forward to a little socialising with likeminded folk.

Jockram takes a moment to check local time with the standardised Imperial time, then, "That sounds good to me... it looks like I appear to have a window in my schedule."  Raucous and obviously over-exaggerated laughter comes from somewhere else on Ore Hound.  "Are you really sure you want me to fetch those two along?"

The mining ship's captain lowers ahis voice, and his tone becomes a little more serious, "While I think on, it's your ship, and your dinner.  Are there any topics that you consider vetoed at the table?  We've been hearing some bad news lately, before we got here, about Norris and the war.  I'd hate for one of the Hound's crew to mention anything you'd consider inappropriate for dinner conversation."

"I'd like to avoid having you turn that Security Chief of yours loose on me." he adds, with a chuckle.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:56, Sun 05 May 2013.

“That’s a kind thought Jockram, but we’re all gown ups and I’m not a big fan of censorship. If things get to depressing I’ll put something sad on the juke box and we can all cry into our drinks for the rest of the night.”

“See you tomorrow then, ” Jago has a sudden thought as he’s about to sign off, “oh, just one thing, none of you guys have any food allergies or anything we should know about, do you, I’d hate to be responsible for you flying short handed.”

"Hegerich's got a mild allergy to good manners, but apart from that there's nothing.  Biggest problem might be keeping this pair from eating everybody else's share.  See you tomorrow, Jago, and I'll fetch something to drink."

Jockram signs off, and the comms panel goes silent.

For all of half a second, before it chirps for attention...

Half out of his seat, Jago drops heavily back in to it as the comms panel chirps at him cheekily.

“Profit Margin, Jago speaking,” he tells it.

"Hello Captain... I am speaking to the Captain of Profit Margin, am I not?"  The male voice on the other end of the channel is quiet, softly spoken, and waits for confirmation of Jago's position on the ship before continuing.  "I represent a cartel of businessmen who deal with a large proportion of the imports and exports through all of the starports on Rangent."

"We have heard from our sources that you have a consignment of... ah... here we are... Loxibac Breathe-Easy.  We are prepared to make you a very generous offer for that cargo."

“Well, very nice to hear from you I’m sure,” Jago replies politely, though this chap, whoever he is, has already put his back up. “I have several interested parties so I’ll be holding an auction here, on the ship tomorrow morning, you are welcome to attend.”

“Who am I speaking to any way?” he asks, hopping to clear up at least one of the points that’s niggling him.

"You might as well cancel that auction.  Nobody else on Rangent will outbid the people I represent, and I doubt anybody else will even turn up to try." replies the faceless voice.

"My name is not important, I'm just a representative.  What is important is that the people I represent are able to better any other offer that is, or will be, on the table."

"You might want to consider this, Captain.  I'm talking about a more than reasonable amount of money.  I'd hate for you to do business with somebody else, then find that what they pay doesn't, for example, cover the cost of your ship's next repair bill."

“I see, we certainly wouldn’t want that, would we,” Jago acknowledges the not very veiled threat before asking, “so, what exactly is ‘more than a reasonable amount of money?’ I’ve already been offered forty kay, and expected to get a lot more than that at the auction.”

This message was last edited by the player at 13:03, Sat 08 June 2013.

"I see... just a moment."  The connection goes silent, but it's actually for several moments.  Then the voice returns, "Captain, I can offer you fifty, without the auction."

And, without even waiting for an answer, "Somebody can be there to collect the cargo within the hour."

Jago sighs, he knows that no one would go ashore without their comm sets, he’s always telling people, right? First thing is to get them back and he waste’s no time in flicking he switches that give him comms on the crew net.

+“sorry people, shore leave is cancelled, can you guys get back to the ship ASAP, we have a bit of a situation brewing. Yasmin, can you see me on the bridge, nowish if you can. Saskia, how quickly could we get into orbit?”+

"Power plant's on minimal output at the moment.  Take five minutes to warm her up, three if you don't mind cutting corners on the safety checks." Saskia assures Jago over the intraship comms, "M drive's just waiting on power.

"So three to five minutes, plus flight time.  We could cut it down to one, but we'd most probably reach orbit as a cloud of high energy particles, and leave a big hole behind."

And she follows up with a suspicious, "Why?"

“We have some local hoods interested in part of the cargo, I’m considering options and lifting off is one of them,” Jago tells Saskia, “could you stand by for that, if necessary”

While waiting for Yasmin, Jago puts a call through to ‘Rangent Trade Factors’ and asks to speak to rep he talked with before.

“A problem has developed regarding this Loxibac Breathe-Easy,” he tells the man, “in that local ‘heavies’ are rather insisting that I sell it to them. In spite of what they think I’ve not actually agreed to do this. Have you any idea who they might be or how much force they might bring to bear? Also, if I were to resist them and proceed with the auction, would your people have been scared off and not attend as they seem to suggest? And finally, is there anyone we can turn to for assistance, a law agency or something who’s not in their pocket.”

“They are going to be here within the hour so I have to make decisions quickly.”


This message was last edited by the player at 09:11, Thu 13 June 2013.

"Yeah, yeah, keep our pants on, I'll be there in a few," Yas replies to Jago.


A few later she is there, on the bridge and peering at him.

"So, what did you do this time?" she inquires with a small, crooked grin.  "Shall I break out the heavy gear and prepare for a welcome party, man the guns or just secure the ship for blast off?"

There is a long pause on the comm channel, and then, "I see.  Ah... this company has already decided not to send a representative to the auction.  We had intended to contact you and let you know.  I'm sorry."

"This new group, these 'heavies' you mention... well, it could be very bad for business if we were to bid against them.  Just between us, Captain, they are the closest thing Rangent has to a law agency.  That is, they decide who is allowed to do what here, they decide what is and isn't against the law, and they decide who that law applies to."

"I can go law on their collective asses, if you want," Yas whispers cheerfully when she hears the comm channel's summary.  Whether she is serious or not is impossible to tell.

Jago dosn't doubt for a minuet that Yasmin is serious, he signals her to ‘hold on a mo’ as he finishes his conversation with the RTF rep.

“OK, I understand, you still  have to live with these people once we’ve flown away. I’m not keen on being leaned on but there is no point resisting if I don’t have a byer at the end of it. Any idea what sort of forces they might bring to bear?”

Aside to Yasmin he explains that, “the local heavy mob are after that cargo I was going to auction, they’ll be here to collect within the hour, they proposed a fair price but even so, I’m not sure I want to sell to them.”

"Yeah, I know their kind.  Just let me know what you want done and I'll get it done," Yas tells the skipper in-between the comm chatter.  "We can put on a good show if need be, especially with the turrets in on it.  Your call."

Saskia's voice comes from the internal comm system again, "I thought this might happen once we moved out of Imperial territory.  Just didn't expect it so frelling soon.  I suppose the Imperium being dragged into a war is making people think they can get away with anything they like.

"I'm in Engineering now.  I'll be ready to start the warm-ups as soon as you ask."

"Unfortunately, while we probably would be in no danger at the auction itself, should we manage to outbid them, then they would likely retaliate afterwards.  Either against us, or against your own ship.  I had really hoped that they would not hear about this cargo, but unfortunately they did."

A sigh.  "I wish there were some way we could do business, but the Gozendra, these 'heavies', would not permit it."

"If they carry on as they are, I'm afraid that legitimate trade factors may soon be a thing of the past on Rangent."

(NPCd)

"I think I might have a way out of this for both of us." Jago tells the RTF rep, "Give me a few minutes to make another call, and I'll get back to you."

He cuts the connection, then calls Saskia, "Start warming up, we'll probably be leaving as soon as everybody is back aboard.  I have a plan."

"Yas - I want you on the ramp, and let me know as soon as everybody's home."

Then he places a call to Ore Hound...
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:35, Sun 23 June 2013.

With a sigh Jago opens up a channel to the ‘Ore Hound’, “Sorry Jockram, looks like I’m going to have to postpone dinner, I have the local Mafia after some medicine I have on board and they are threatening to get physical.”

Jockram listens to Jago's explanation, then, "I guess they never bothered us because we came in empty.  Do you need a hand with anything?  They might be a bit less willing to cause trouble if there are more people waving weapons about.  Or even a couple of ships pointing guns at them."

"Sure thing," Yas says and make a beeline to her cabin to gear up in case an early arrival turns out to be part of the local business.

Once properly dressed -- carrying her best guns -- she takes up position at the top of the ramp where she has good view of the area but without exposing herself to much, at least not to gunfire.

"In position," she reports to Jago over the comm.

"I'm on it Jago." Saskia confirms from Engineering, as her fingers glide across the power plant controls.  "Controlled power up initiated.  All systems green.  M drive on pre-flight cycle.  HePlaR inducers are clear, and charging.

"Fuel flow is nominal.  Which reminds me, we still need to take on a little fuel before we can Jump.  Tanks are at 75 percent.  As I recall, there are giants here that we can scoop from."