Finance Trivia
A slice of corporate life in Sirius.
Clang!
What the F-...what are you doing?
Devon Steele put his head up, startled by the sudden noise. He was practically nose to nose with the man in front of him. The man, a worker, reached down to pick up his small power tool that he had dropped, he looked a bit frightened, stuttering as he spoke his excuse.
S-S-Sorry Mister Steele, I was just going to wake you up, Karen told me to wake you up, she needs something.
Well damn you don't have to throw a wrench on the floor, freaked me out.
Sor-
Nevermind, where's Miss Davis?
Down the hall, intersection twenty one, beta.
Alright, get back to work.
Devon stretched his arms, yawning, he looked around. His "office" or the beginning of what would become his office was quite devoid of anything except the small chair and makeshift metal table he had been resting his head on. He got up, and went for the door which parted apart as he went out. As soon as he did the sounds of crashing, breaking, welding and clanging filled his ears, the entire place was a construction site.
It had only been a few days since the initial jump to Omicron Lost in order to begin the construction of Edgepoint and he had only gotten here less than 24 hours ago but it was feeling as if he had been there for decades. He was in charge of the whole operation but he wasn't really expecting to actually be in the construction site, but Buckmaster had insisted and said he "felt better" if he had been there personally to make sure everything would be perfect.
Damn that man.
But it couldn't be helped, Devon let out a sigh and continued down the corridor coming to the intersection where several workers were welding in metal plates to the walls covering up freshly laid wiring. An engineer came up to him, a young woman, Karen Davis, she was from one of the companies Interspace had hired for manpower, she pretty much was running the whole show of constructing Edgepoint. He had only known her for a few hours but had already made an analysis. Charming, intelligent, humorous and without a doubt, hot as hell.
Mister Steele, now that you're out of bed you can help me with a problem, the idiots on board the Jungle aren't letting go of certain resources I require, they're telling be the blueprint timing isn't right yet, but I'll be needing them for-
Devon didn't even try to understand the rest, some gibberish technicals about how she needed some equipment for something. Devon was just focused on her breasts which he had assumed shouldn't be natural for a human being, he was wondering and making plans on how to get to them when he realized that she had stopped talking and was looking at his face, amused.
Something catch your eye Mister Steele or did you just not want to listen to me?
What? Uhh no, I understand. I'll have the captain release the requested equipment and materials you need.
Well that's all I wanted.
Not a problem, now if you'll excuse me Miss Davis, I have to get up to administration.
She answered with a grin, it was obvious she caught him staring, who wouldn't have anyway? But what caught Devon's attention was that she was cool with it, meaning he'd have a chance. He continued his way down the corridor which now had reinforced glasses, looking into space. He stared outside a moment, looking at the black abyss surrounding the station, absolutely nothing. They were far from civilization and pretty much anything in this system, all alone. He saw a flash as the jump ship had jumped back to House space taking several transports with it. Their only "connection" to civilized space was gone until the next supply jump, the Hawaii, his personal liner was moored with the station at least, ready to receive him whenever he was sick of all the noise and clatter. He took a deep breath as he continued to gaze out into the void. It was going to be hard surviving here, but if cannibals and the homeless could do it, why shouldn't he?
I should keep a journal...
Password Accepted
Opening Directory..
Playing file #001
Right..hello...
Man this feels so stupid. But damn I don't really have anything else to do. Ok so, My name's Devon Steele and uhh, you're going to be my journal..diary..thing, whatever. Might as well.
Sooo..day 3 of Edgepoint's construction, we got the station shield online and work is around the clock so hopefully this place will be fully operational soon.
He Sighs
Been on the computer the whole day, phone right next to me, talking with so many people around freaking Sirius, the logistics of this operation is so fracked up. But anyway..those Phoenix idiots declined us, and why? Exclusively Zoner they say, what the hell does that even mean, do these guys think everyone's in their special group or some shit. And really...decades to make even one and then they tell me they have several of them, they just suck at lying really. I mean come the hell on, decades? Then how the hell can you have several of them when I've only been hearing about those bunch for only a few months tops..ugh.
Right, screw it, we'll find someone else...that is, if there's anyone to find. And oh yeah, something really screwed up happened.
He starts laughing
The freaking bounty hunter core showed up thinking they own the freaking place, I checked the audio recordings while they were talking to Jack, "we don't believe it's an Interspace base", well shit it's not like I give a damn. But yeah, they thought they could make a "blockade" without a hitch. Heh, called the Order on their asses, shit went down fast. I'm pretty proud of myself for thinking of contacting the Order first, I mean..sure everyone calls them terrorists and they're a bit butthurt and paranoid about humanity and nomads and all that..but they're cool guys. And useful.
He sighs, then laughs again
It's funny yeah, but it's also sad because I'm going to have deal with more diplomatic crap from these idiots, well, I'll just be waiting for their primary fleet to contact us I guess...heh, man..I've got a bad feeling..I'm pretty sure the place is going to turn into a warzone, we need to finish this base pronto..I mean..really. Or else we won't be here for long.
But enough of business. Saw Karen again..it's like she's following me around the place I swear. Well, I hope she is.
That ass.
File closed..
Encryption complete.
Password Accepted
Opening Directory..
Playing file #004
Me again.
You know, I've been using you more than I thought I would. Like, I mean...we're supposed to do this once everyday right? Because anything less would be too damn st-
You know what, screw it, you're my god damn journal, I'll use you whenever the hell I feel like it.
The tapping of a pen on table can be heard
Well the construction is going slower than planned, jumps are becoming way too infrequent. I've sent a transmission upstairs, hopefully they'll get their asses in gear and speed this whole thing up.
Retards. But anyway, there haven't been any further problems with the Core..yet. And the Colonials finally showed up, a few snub craft for defense and some utility ships to help with construction. They were what I was waiting for anyway, so I sent them as well as the repair team to that old Colonial station in Moros orbit, they've started the repairs, but it'll go pretty slow until Edgepoint is completed. Meh...we're spread out too thin until this damn station is up.
People expect me to do freaking everything, but at least we have the CIC up on Edgepoint now, and I've finally put together the ICSF, not much, just a few guards and some guys, ex-navy and all that, decided to make Edgepoint ICSF's operation center. We have a few defense ships doing a patrol or two and mainly just flying around the station itself. Unfortunately, we're far from self sufficient and will have to continue relying on the Order for defense..for now...I hope.
Oh, more good news, almost forgot. Stabbed myself today. No, not intentionally, I'm not at that point just yet. I was walking down a corridor and suddenly I turn around the corner, there's some freaking gigantic sharpened metal piece that somehow was left there, pointing up, it went into my freaking arm. I mean holy shit how stupid are these workers? I was going to fire the lot of them that worked in that part...
But nah, I'm a merciful god.
He starts laughing.
Man...screw it gotta get back to work, cya.
File closed..
Encryption complete.
Password Accepted
Opening Directory..
Playing file #005
Yo.
He sighs
So...stuff happened. And by stuff I mean I'm even richer now. There was an opening in the IC Board, and considering the amount of profit Steele Industries has made, I just bought the place on the Board. Buckmaster signed it, I now own quite a significant percentage of Interspace, heh.
First thing I did was order another large jump to Edgepoint, more than what was on schedule that is, it actually helped quite a bit. We're now setting up some of the storage platforms and the base overall is getting larger. Also, another batch of military equipment came in along with some more pilots for the ICSF. We're slowly getting bigger I guess.
But..well, freaking Zoners..can never have a good day because of them. Those Phoenix guys haven't replied back so I'm guessing they wont change their minds. Figures...idiot Omicroners, nothing's changed since last time I was around. Meh...OSI isn't responding as well, I've forgotten how much of a coward all Zoners were, they can all go to hell. I swear I'm just going to pay the Reavers or something to just shoot any Zoner that comes into Lost pretty damn soon if things don't start going like I want them to.
The sound of thumping is heard, then a sigh
But I guess not everything can be perfect...retards.
Also I think I'm finally going to have the cloaking installed on Hawaii, Otemachi's factory module is almost complete...man, I really need one of those things, especially in this system in the middle of freaking nowhere. But yeah, I'll be seeing you later.
And no, nothing new on Karen...I wish I had time to use my..elegant charm, but, work comes first, Keep Calm and Make Billions.
File closed..
Encryption complete.
Password Accepted
Opening Directory..
Playing file #007
Right...been quite a busy couple of hours..but finally I can sit back and drink a glass of some fine wine, good thing we actually have some jumps to Gallia regularly, heh, requisition orders of twelve different kinds of wine, and people don't even notice.
Well actually they probably do, but it's not like they can do anything about it. But anyway, time for some chit chat with you, "dear journal". I'm bored, well, most of the time I'm working but I'm just bored at most times, I don't know why...probably because the only entertainment I have is the whatever is on the Hawaii, and that's not really that much.
I need to go to a strip club...
Maybe I should have one made on Hawaii..
The tapping of a pen is heard
Hmm, not sure. But anyway, let's see, what updated to give...well, they brought in the new work force, jumped away the others. Got them to work pretty fast, everything's running smoothly and we're almost done with the secondary storage storage platforms and quite a bit of the basic base infrastructure is pretty much complete and the ports are up and running, we can -fully- service anything up to large transports, including gunboats.
Oh, almost forgot, something odd happened today. My "feelers" picked up someone emerging from the shadows. Marcus Forge. You probably don't know him...well..how would you, you're a freaking journal now aren't you?
But yeah, Marcus Forge, my old boss while I used to be a shareholder for Thor Tech..not sure how they found him but it looks like he's getting around, gathering resources for something. Finally some luck, why? Thor Tech was building a juggernaught and Forge had pretty much disbanded the whole company before it was complete, or..that's all I know, he kept the thing to himself. Freeport 44 he named it, hmm..well, I'll have to get in touch with him and see what happens. That is, if I can't haggle a Nephilim out of the TAZ which reminds me I still need to contact those weirdos.
Lots of stuff to do though, like, did I tell you about that guy that worker that came into my off-
A shrill sound is heard, the "doorbell"
Come in.
A muffled feminine voice is heard, too far away from the recorder
Oh, of course, come in Miss Davis. Yes I called you in. Oh, what? No no nothing like that, I just wanted to talk a bit...what am I doing with this? Oh, nothing it's jus-
File closed..
Encryption complete.
Password Accepted
Opening Directory..
Playing file #008
Coughing is heard
Sooo...how've ya been? Let me guess, THE SAME!
He starts laughing, but then the sound is immediately cut
Man...I'm going crazy. I know it. Damn..
But anyway, life's been busy. Why you might ask, well, the freaking Bounty Hunter Guild Core that's why. As if the 77th incident wasn't enough of a time waste this new battlegroup of the Core comes around, calling themselves the Warhound Brigade. And it seems the Core command structure isn't what I thought it was, these battlegroups all act differently from each other, it's kinda weird. But anyway, these Warhound Brigade guys actually had a pair of brain cells, they said they'd be able to hold back the 77th and the such and then asked for docking rights. I obviously said no, not with the Order around. At least not yet.
But get this, an hour later, the freaking Core Primary Fleet Guildmaster contacts us. I mean what the hell. Why couldn't you have freaking started like that...nooo, just had to make me deal with all his freaking battlegroups first.
But yeah I sent a reply back, waiting on a response now. But other than that, my luck has finally turned. It seems Marcus Forge has indeed come back on the radar, not without his thugs of course. I've already sent some guys from the ICSF's "recon" wing, and they're bringing him in, looks like he was on Manhattan for some reason, at least we can operate freely there, police officers don't cost that much to get away from, heh.
Other than that, I'm totally fine. Getting used to the place, well, to be honest I barely even go on the station anymore, and I probably won't unless I really need to. I've had Hawaii refitted, and I'll be using it as my main office and..well..home. It's cool. Also Otemachi's additional construction and "experimental" tech is almost complete, might have a cloak system fitted on Hawaii soon enough.
Heh, anyway, I'll be seeing you later, need to go grab a drink. It's been a long day.
File closed..
Encryption complete.
Daamn!
Devon's voice resonated throughout the cavernous space that served as the Nephilim's cargo bay, it looked more of a gigantic storage silo planetside with it's multiple armored pillars that supported the ship's own weight, rather than a ship's cargo bay.
And this, obviously, is the cargo bay. Unlike most capital vessels, our ship classes can stay in space for decades without mooring and so we have a rather large cargo bay in which to store equipment, materials and resources for such long trips.
Yeah...I can see that. I can also see that you don't have much in stock.
Well yes, we haven't really had a chance to fully load with required materials in the first place, due to Mister Forge's...unfortunate deals with certain people.
Hah, you can say it out loud that he's a gigantic retard, Captain Fawkes. The ICSF will probably be owning this thing soon anyway, but first, on with the tour.
The small party continued with the vessel's captain at point, walking in zig zags around the ship's many decks, stopping whenever they came to a significant area for the Captain to explain in detail. What Devon noticed odd was the unusually large amount of space allotted for the corridors throughout the ship. He had been on large capital class vessels before and they all had enough space for several people to walk shoulder to shoulder in a line as well as move equipment around but it seemed that the Nephilim's corridor room, even in engineering ducts was quite a bit too much. That is, until he remembered that the ship acted as a mobile Freeport, there was supposed to be many people walking throughout the ship. But of course this Freeport in particular never had the chance to serve it's purpose. All the well Devon mused, at least now he could obtain it for his own means.
And our final stop, the CIC.
They were standing in front of a blast door the entire width of the corridor, it looked quite impenetrable.
Unlike some war vessels where the bridge and CIC may be in different areas. They are the one and the same aboard this ship, and we're located near the center of mass. So unlike a bridge with an open viewport to space which could get blasted off, we're protected with multiple layers of the ship's own armor and hull as well as an added layer of armor and layers of other coating around the CIC. This is the only entrance and not even a tank could penetrate these blast doors.
There were a few clangs as several bolts unlatched and unlocked the blast doors, they then parted apart rather quickly, revealing a somewhat large dark room beyond, as they passed through Devon noted that the blast doors were at least a meter and a half thick of solid plate. As the blast doors closed behind them, Devon had felt a small pang of fear for a second until he realized what was going on, at first he had thought they were actually in space somehow, he could see the wavering textures of the tunnel nebula that encompassed the Omicron Delta system and the blackness on either end. The walls of the CIC were entirely covered by a holographic screen that showed a real-time 360 degree view of the space around them via photo lenses placed in multiple locations throughout the ship's exterior, it was quite impressive. There were a few people in seats on the edge around the circular room, surrounded with holographic screens that were fed data from the ship and it's scanning equipment.
Quite impressive Captain, good to know that my money had really been going to something like this.
The captain simply nodded to Devon and continued explaining further.
This is the CIC, where as you know, all data of and from the ship go through, combat or not. It is where the entire ship is commanded from as well as most of the critical computer components rest, right under the floor. Also, unknown to many people, the CIC serves as an escape pod for the command crew. It has it's own vital systems and other required equipment, if the ship goes down several bolts are unlocked and the pod is released from the entirety of the ship.
Very good Captain, it looks like this beast really is worth it.
Devon had just found more than he wanted, in fact, he was going to change his plans, he wasn't going to just sacrifice the ship to quick-start a colony, no, he had much more direct plans associated with it, as well as the ICSF.
Chances like these only came once in a life time, he wasn't going to throw it all away.
Password Accepted
Opening Directory..
Playing file #010
Devon's voice comes out as soon as the playing beep is heard
HEY! So, guess what happened. Yeah, that's right, I went and saw 44, the Nephilim. Damn that thing is so freaking awesome! You know, I've never really been into ships that much but I think I'm going to be taking a turn in that part of my life. Yeah, the thing is freaking HUGE! I mean I've been on Liberty Dreadnoughts before and some other warships but that..thing..damn. They call it a colony ship while it has the firepower to nuke a god damn planet.
No freaking way am I going to use it just for colonization, sure, I'll use it to help the effort but I'm also going to be making it the pride of the ICSF. Yep. Also its Captain, the guy looked a bit weird at first but when I had Forge give me his file, damn...the guy used to be a Captain with the Navy, while he was pretty young too, then they assigned him to the LSF, high honors and all those medals and stuff, there should have been more but it seems the government made him a shadow when he did some Black Ops work, it's pretty impressive. Oh yeah, his name is Alex Fawkes. No freaking idea how Forge found the guy.
Think I'll keep him. And yes, that means I'll be damn sure I'm getting that ship. I've already agreed with Forge, I'll have the guys after him killed, already issued the order for Recon to find them. Shouldn't be too long.
A bit of a problem though, the Nephilim hasn't seen much combat but they never really had it working at a hundred percent, it was never fully stocked and they're missing some equipment, not to mention some crew. Of course I don't really have anyone that knows how to keep it operational so I'll just hire them all. But the thing needs to undergo a full refit and check-ups as well as bringing up everything fully updated.
And for that I need a shipyard that can service it, and we don't have one so I'll be needing to fix that problem.
He sighs
Not much use asking higher up, I can just hear Buckmaster now. "Deal with it. I'm sure you can find a way!"
Asshole.
The head Director ain't around either...actually wait, I've never really seen the guy, ever. Odd, he doesn't come to any of the board meetings either, meh, screw it. It's up to me.
And no I sure as hell am not going to ask the Zoners, they'll probably try and steal it or something..not the Order either, we're too dependent on them as it is.
Gah..I'll think of something, anyway...see you around, this is...well it's getting better I suppose. Heh.
File closed..
Encryption complete.
Password Accepted
Opening Directory..
Playing file #011
Gah, right. Normally I wouldn't bother but..well, I got quite used to you, Journal, so yeah, this is important.
The main storage facility is pretty much complete and we'll be starting auxiliary ones soon enough, the mooring ports are in good shape, the docks need a bit more work though.
But, I'm going to have to be going somewhere with the Hawaii, to settle Forge's business once and for all. Look like he got in deep with some cartel in Liberty that spans all the way to Outcasts and even Gallia, some real shit he's gotten into. Well anyway, I'll have to see to it personally, I'll be seeing you later. The jump ship is waiting on me.
This is going to be fun, been a while since I got my hands dirty.
His chuckling can be heard just before the file ends
File closed..
Encryption complete.