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Freeport 44 - Soul Reaper - 07-21-2011
[font=Courier New]Freeport 44
Yes yes, I promise you I will take a look at the new stock, however, there’s a low probability they’ll be staying so get that into your head Donald.
Marcus pressed a button on his console and the transmission got cut off. He gave out a deep sigh as he dropped dead on his couch and closed his eyes for a couple of minutes. The couple of minutes turned out to be a few hours of sleeping. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was his coffee cup, he picked it up, swirled the cold brown liquid around and gulped it down in one shot, after that he cursed at himself for falling asleep then noticed the small envelope symbol on his computer’s holographic screen. As he pressed it, a long list of the mails came down; this made him curse at himself again. In just a few hours he had 73 notices flagged as important. Screw it.
WEST!
Yes sir?
The soft voice with a slight bretonian accent came through the speakers before the holographic image of an artificial man’s face appeared.
Read those messages and delete any that have anything to do about requesting any kind of equipment, unless its encryption is at least level PROTO.
70 messages instantly disappeared from the list. Marcus chuckled for a second and then made a waving gesture, the hologram disappeared and then he touched the first floating image on the list. As the message came down, a smile spread across Marcus’ mouth. It was the confirmation of a deposit to his neural net account; 842 million credits and change had been transferred to his account. The second message was a simple notice and request for a transmission from Valeria, he pressed a few more buttons and he had Valeria staring at him from the display.
What do you need?
I need to make sure I have full authority to deal with these guys here in the office looking for you, told them you were indisposed, but anyway, they all say that Thor had owed them some weaponry and they never got it. So, I wasn’t exactly sure if you want them kicked out…
Valeria, what do I pay you for?
Yes sir.
The communiqué beeped as it was terminated. Marcus leaned back and then touched the holo-cube to display the last message. He swore when he saw it was from one of the new Corvo captains that he had sold the ships to, and quickly deleted the message without even reading half of it. There had been already way too many problems with the purchase, and he couldn’t be arsed to deal with it anymore. He had already gotten his money. A few seconds later Marcus had another communiqué up, this time there wasn’t any video feed.
Isaac, what are you doing at the moment?
Marcus, dude, what do you think I’m doing?
Fine, anyway, the payment of those two Corvos finally arrived I’m sending that last 400 million you needed for the Livadia bastards. At last we can get this thing going in speed, yeah?
Wait wait…which Corvos?
The ones from Jason, Jason Stone, the owner of Thor Tech, you remember, we had an ownership deal with him, and somehow he got lost, well, probably dead or something, I just bought the rest of the corporation, wasn’t much anyway since they were pretty much bankrupt, however, was able to put all that weaponry in storage and sold the ships, with, some salvaging of course.
Oh…right, so that’s where that shipment of stuff came for 44, I was wondering how you got all that stuff, pretty hard to find without buying a whole damn ship. Also, heard there was some commotion at the ‘office’.
Yeah, looks like Thor’s clients didn’t get the weaponry they were promised, well, it isn’t my damn problem; I sold the ships, and practically erased the company anyway. Just the break we’ve been looking for to get those damned funds for 44.
Also, Donald was trying to convince me to talk to you about some weaponry, concerning 44’s wing defense?
Yes, he just wants the weaponry for any fighters we’ll be having to defend 44, I don’t really want any of them, it’s too damned costly and useless to actually look after those weapons, I’ll be having them sold to some buyers since codename weaponry seems to be wanted all over Sirius, maybe I’ll even hand them over to the Order.
No, Marcus, I think we can really use them, managing them isn’t really a problem, don’t you have a whole stock of them? Just check which ones are actually completed or something, they can be very useful. Trust me, I’ve seen that stuff in action, it’s worth it.
Pfff, alright, I’ll take a look, can’t promise anything though.
Right, whatever, I’ve got stuff to do, mechanics are being a bitch as usual, can never do stuff like I want them to do.
Just get 44 up and running soon, we shouldn’t have any more problems after this funding.
Whatever, dude, just close the damn comm..
Marcus chuckled a bit as he closed the communiqué, Isaac was in love with his work and Marcus wouldn't have ever come this far if it wasn’t for him, and it wouldn’t be going much further until Freeport 44 was up and running.
Freeport 44 - Soul Reaper - 07-22-2011
I’m pretty sure your…client, will be very satisfied with it.
You think so? I don’t, my clients are very paranoid with the ship and equipment, not to mention I’ll have to do a full scan on the ship to make sure there aren’t any bugs, and of course any unwanted software, anything found would diminish the value of the ship, you see my point Mister Forge?
Marcus looked at the man directly in the eye, the ‘middle-man’, or so they called the people in that line of work, was slightly taller than Marcus and well built in muscle, but his usage of Cardamine was too obvious due to the blue-ish marks all over his face. For a second Marcus thought about torturing the man with cardamine withdrawal, but then thought of it as a bad idea, he had to be on the good side of the Lane Hackers, or at least the one that he needed his supplies from. But he also didn’t want this idiot to think he was holding the ropes.
Look, I’ll get this straight, since I’ve about had enough of your constant bitching, I know your client is a member of the Lane Hackers, and a pretty senior one too. The deal has already been made, and the cash and equipment is mostly ready to transfer on both sides, he just wanted one of his thugs, being you, to check out this gunboat and make sure everything was alright. Now, unless you want yourself to be beaten, shot and then your body being hurled into deep space, just do your freaking job and make sure everything is ready for this thing to fly wherever your 'client' wants it, got that?
Before the man could even respond, Marcus walked out of the engineering room and to the small bridge of the Conference Class Zoner Gunboat. He glanced at the security display, the guy was checking some stuff around some energy coils, Marcus didn’t have the patience to watch over him anymore and simply walked out of the ship onto the station, looked towards Charles that was standing near the opening with his full tactical op. body armor and weapons.
Watch over him, if he tries anything stupid, kill him. Once he’s done, just report to me and we’ll have this thing out of here in no time.
Yes sir.
It was a short walk to the 'bar', the bar wasn’t much on Ames, due to it being mainly a research facility, although it did have a bar for anyone who docked there to resupply. He had a quick drink before heading to his temporary office he sometimes used when he had business in Liberty or Kusari. He closed his door and immediately went for his computer console, bashed in the key codes for a transmission and was answered with a quick ring, then the transmission closed and another one automatically opened, but was still connecting. Who knew how many hundreds of servers or lanes the transmission was being bounced around between them? The hackers were too damned paranoid, although, to Marcus, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It took a minute to establish the connection, and a computerized distorted male voice came through the speakers.
Mister Forge, I assume everything is in order?
Yes, it is, except for the dog you sent here.
Oh, him, yes…he wasn’t aware of how we had handled the things.
Well, I pretty much told him, though I doubt he fully understood, will probably come and try to snag some more money from me.
Well Mister Forge, I must say he is kind of new, and did screw up a few times, in fact, I just got the green light from him, the ship’s condition seems good.
And you were expecting anything less from me, Mister…Chaos Theory.
Of course not, my apologies, but you see, it’s a standard rule and routine.
Yes, I understand, now, about your end of the deal…
The Custom XR90 Bio Neural Processing Units are en route to Ames along with the necessary crew to pick up the gunboat, they’ll be leaving the units at the usual place for you to pick up, of course, you can have them scanned and checked to make sure they are the original thing, my…’employees’ will be sticking around until you are fully satisfied.
Yes, I could do that, but I don’t need to waste my time, I trust you enough, at least in my money, to know you are for real.
Indeed, never screw over a good customer, the words I live with. Also, note that the necessary software has been installed onto the units under my direct supervision, I assure you they are 100% efficient, I’ve also added a small pack of useful software you might use in your time, as an added bonus. Although a bit...off the legal side, but I doubt you have any problems with that.
Of course not, anyhow, I think we’re done here, I’ve more business to attend.
Yes, I’ll not keep you waiting, however, my man that you were working with, some other stuff has come up, I don’t think I need him anymore, if you’d be able to dispose of him and save me the time…
Of course, that would be very much acceptable between business partners.
The transmission got terminated, and the automatic tracer software on his computer gave an error, like always, the tracers were pretty much useless, everyone was using some heavy encryption these days. But perhaps the additional software the Hacker was talking about would be beneficial to Marcus on that subject. He sighed and sipped some of his hot chocolate and started waiting for the equipment to arrive. It wasn’t much of a wait, only a half hour until he got a message from Charles notifying him of the group of 3 that came to deliver the processors, and were waiting near the gunboat ready to fly once he was done checking everything. He patched through to Charles’ comm. Unit.
Charles
Sir?
Have someone load the ware onto my ship, leave the gunboat to the hackers, the deal is done.
Yes sir.
Also, dispose of that first guy, Ejection Chamber C2, on the station’s west wing is mainly empty most of the time.
Yes sir.
By the time Marcus finished sending a message to Isaac about the equipment any other business he had to do on the station and then arrived at the hangar, the processors were already loaded onto his own Conference, it’s engines already warmed up and ready to go, Charles was waiting for him by the entrance Hatch.
Sir.
Marcus nodded as he went past Charles who quickly followed up once he entered the ship, gave a pat on the pilot’s shoulder, the hatch instantly closed and lockdown and they were away from the station and already in the lane to Shikoku. He sighed as they were jumping, Kusarians always had ways to waste his time, obsessed with ‘Gaijins’, he hated Kusari, even more than Rheinland, but that didn’t mean he didn’t do business in those particular houses. It was going to be a long trip back to Freeport 11.
Freeport 44 - Soul Reaper - 07-23-2011
Things are looking pretty good around here.
Marcus stepped back as Isaac jumped down from the control seat of the gravity crane which was deployed right in the middle of the massive hangar. Isaac, as always, was in his engineering exo-suit, in fact, Marcus couldn’t recall the last time he’d seen his friend and colleague in normal attire. Isaac un-polarized his helmet’s visor but didn’t care to take it off.
Damn right. Been working our asses off in here you know.
Indeed, although I thought you said the hull was complete.
Marcus gestured to the large armored plate of metal hanging in the air, the gravity crane the only thing holding it up and preventing the tons of armored metal from crashing down on people and equipment below.
No, I said most of it was complete.
But that was 3 days ago.
Marcus, need I remind you, this is a Juggernought class vessel? It’s not really a small thing you know. Plus, the inner hangar walls are the only places left to complete, in fact, that plate you see there is the last armor plating to weld. And with just a few small touches more, the hull of the entire ship will be complete, and that will probably be today, then we can really start on everything else.
Hmm, alright, fair enough. I’ve read the reports, but I’d like to know what we need from you directly.
Well, the wiring, we have that, miles over miles of it is stacked in storage, ready to be implemented, the main servers and computing units you brought, are in storage as well. Vital systems…living quarters and the commodities to make them happen are mostly in storage, we’ll need more though. And hundreds of other small things we’ll need, but that’s mainly in the reports, and I can’t be assed to tell you right now.
Right.
But, what’s really missing, are the bio domes.
Well, you have the plating for it.
Of course we do, those are ready, and the ceiling glass as well, in fact, it’ll all merged together. But we don’t have the equipment and systems to start running them, once that’s done, I’ll have the implemented on the ship.
I see, well, I’ll put that on my first priority list then.
Do that.
What about the defense wing?
Talk to Valeria for that, although the last time I heard she had found some able pilots. Also, what about that destroyer you were talking about?
Not sure about that, putting in some hundred millions of credits to have a destroyer built, I don’t know.
It would be a good addition to the defense force.
Much more expensive than fighters to maintain though, well, lets think about it another time, bastards only gave us permission for one vessel at a time, and 44 still has to get up and running before we start anything else.
Good point, anyway, I’ve got stuff to do, be seeing you later Marcus.
With that Isaac just climbed up back to the seat, the workers around saw this, and stopped talking with each other and turned their attention back to the plate that had started moving again. Marcus turned back and headed for one of the hatches and a route back to the shipyard, along the way many of the workers he was passing stopped and greeted him with a wave , nod or simply a smile. In his time around 44, he always spared some time to get to know the workers. Mainly because they were some of the best workers Livadia had to offer, or any that he had employed before. But what was more important, is that he’d hire almost half of the current workers again as crew to maintain 44 once it was ready, he even had a quite detailed list on the people he’d be hiring. And he had to be a people’s person to make sure they’d work with him, and, effectively, quit their jobs on Livadia. It was all in his plans, had to collect everything before 44 was even ready to fly.
About 10 minutes later, he had made it to a control platform, which was used to supervise flight training, or pretty much anything else he had wanted it to be. He saw Donald sitting at one of the consoles with a comm. Set around his head, giving info to the pilots in space.
Donald.
Donald held up a finger and turned to the console.
Valeria, try and use the pulse weaponry to just overload the drones’ systems, I want to see how effective those pulses are, after that continue your chain firing method on them, I’m dispatching another 20 drones for your wing.
Donald turned to Marcus.
What’s up…sir.
I’m guessing the weaponry is already loaded onto the fighters?
Yes, Valeria is testing them now, along with the other pilots.
So, she found some capable pilots?
Yeah, she’s also testing them out as well, she found 2, just a day ago, been training with them ever since.
And how are the weapons performing?
Pretty well, nothing wrong with them yet, you’ve picked the best ones I’d say, although, there were the others that you just gave away, they could’ve been repaired.
Better to use the ones that were a hundred percent.
Marcus moved over to a console, in the display he could see the video footage of the training and simulations, the fighters were training 12 clicks away from the station, observation drones had been set up to view and give information on the pilots’ skill levels. There were also training drones launched from the station to the area, these were used as dummies to fire at. He patched into Valeria’s comm. System.
Valeria, this is Forge.
Yes sir?
So what do you think about the new weapons?
They’re running smoothly sir, pretty damn efficient and lethal I must say.
Alright, what about those two pilots?
Yeah, I’m working with them right now, they seem to be good guys, at least decent in their fighting, I’ll be sending you a full report about them tomorrow, then you can decide if they’ll stay or not, I also have two other pilots that I might test as well.
Right, good job then Valeria, keep it up, we need those pilots before 44 is up and running.
Yes sir, also, sir, if I might ask about ships, will we be sticking to these Eagles?
Not sure, what do you think?
Well, Eagles are pretty good, but I think we might try out some Sabres as well, easy enough to get, and are beasts at fighting, if not those, then maybe some from the Miner’s Guild, Raven’s Talon perhaps…
Then just send me a list of what you need, I’ll probably have some Sabres up and running, you’ll figure out the equipment and all, although, I’ve heard about these new Osprey vessels, still in testing, might get a few of those if they ever come out.
Aye sir, I’ve heard of them as well.
Well, you’re busy, better not keep you waiting, continue your simulations.
Yes sir.
Marcus closed the comm. Link and turned back to Donald, he was checking the consoles and running some tests on the data he got from the observation drones.
Looks like everything is running smoothly, good job Donald.
Thanks.
Marcus walked out of a hatch, and got off the platform, a few minutes later he was at the docking bays, Charles was waiting for him by the hatch to his Conference, he nodded as Marcus passed by into the ship.
Looks like it's running pretty damn smooth around here.
Wouldn’t expect any less, sir.
The pilot waited until both were in the ship, closed the hatch and locked down the ship, a few seconds later they were in space headed for the jump hole. Marcus was watching space 'fly by' from one of the windows as they accelerated further.
Good thing we moved the office to Freeport 9, much closer.
Freeport 44 - Soul Reaper - 07-24-2011
You know, if I had a credit for every time the nomads attacked us, I’d be constructing two Freeports right now.
The Conference shot forward with a spine breaking velocity out of the cloud, Toledo’s silhouette loomed before them, they were headed directly towards Isis on a collision course. The pilot’s hands were moving with an alarming speed, giving commands to the stabilizers and control systems to do amazing strafing maneuvers, a moment after the pilot had yelled ‘shields down’, the hull had started to resonate with jarring bumps and tearing. The pilot, whose name was Steve Brown, looked back towards Marcus.
I thought these damned Assassin types hunted alone.
Oh yeah? Why don’t you open a comm. line to the 4 behind us and ask them to play fair?
Damned Intel, I mean, they could’ve mentioned the Mindnodes that travel with the pack.
Of course intel is wrong, these are Nomads, what did you expect? Now, reduce speed and re-route the power back the weapons, do that spinning wheel of doom thing of yours and give the bastards something to think about.
Aye aye sir, Jack it’s your scene man.
On it.
The Conference slowed down a bit as the weaponry charged up, the Nomads right behind seemed to do the same, however, they were already firing on the gunboat, this time, the damage they did doubled as the Mindnode behind started to catch up. Suddenly the Conference started to spin on it’s horizontal axis. Jack, the gunner and co-pilot, had already connected the weapons to the targeting system and had punched in all the variants to the ship’s spinning for maximum accuracy. The sudden volley of battle razors instantly burned though two of the unsuspecting Assassins, antimatter that was meant to melt titanium enforced hulls burned through biological layers and energy with sonic explosions. The other two Assassin’s immediately broke apart and started evading while still firing back, the Mindnode had already caught up and started firing it’s energy cannons, the people inside the Conference could physically feel the heat inside build up as parts of the hull blasted apart. In the meanwhile another one of the Assassins blew into sonic waves.
Additional contacts, bio-mass indicate Voidrunner type Nomad vessels, couldn’t pick them up ‘till they were real close, 5 of them inbound, ETA 5 seconds, Order defense wing inbound from Battleship Isis, ETA 16 seconds and closing.
What, they got cruisers coming up next or some ****? Damned bastards, continue firing, charge the shields.
The shields came on instantly as the storage of internal Shield Batteries were used up, although it didn’t do much effect, rather buying them some more time, the Voidrunners had no problems in catching up and firing their blasters, they also didn’t have any problem of getting killed as they were too fast for the targeting system to catch up properly. The shields of the Conference went down a few moments later.
We are in Isis’ firing range.
Isis would be holding back due to a chance of friendly fire, but Marcus wouldn’t take the chance of getting killed right now. He opened a line to Isis.
Isis command, you are clear to fire at will, don’t worry about friendly fire, I trust in your targeting systems more than you do.
The reply was almost instantaneous, the Order fighter wing inbound thrust apart and a moment later Isis unleashed a barrage of death from her cannons, the yellow/gold bursts of energy along with a line of light mortar fire ran through the extreme range in a second, passing the Conference’s hull by mere meters and even inches, and imploded on to the unsuspecting Nomad crowd. The Conference angled itself so it wasn’t directly in between the Nomads and Isis, this served to be a great chance for Isis, the Mindnode was the first to explode in a beautiful color display, and in the moments after the Mindnode’s destruction while the smaller Nomad vessels were in disarray, combined bursts from Isis and the Conference laid down quick death to anything that was moving. Marcus turned to the comm. console.
Thanks for the help Isis, would’ve gotten shred if it weren't for you, requesting clearance to land on Toledo.
Roger that, this is Isis control, no problem for us, you are cleared to land.
A few seconds later as the Conference approached, it vaulted below the Isis and angled itself to do a balanced burn into the atmosphere, a few minutes later they had touched down on a landing pad near one of the bases. Marcus stepped out to be greeted by an Order agent, he shook hands with him.
I’m guessing agent Hall is expecting me?
Indeed Mister Forge, I’ll take you to John right now, looks like you’ve had a rough flight.
Always do, I must say the space you control sucks.
Both the men chuckled as Marcus turned back to Steve.
Steve, get repaired 'till I'm back, will take an hour or two, more than enough for the repairs needed right now, the Order will be looking after your needs.
Aye sir.
Marcus followed the Order Agent in the complex, Charles was, as always, silently following behind, ready for anything. Marcus looked up as they went into the complex’s giant hangar.
Man I gotta get myself a place like this.
Freeport 44 - Soul Reaper - 07-25-2011
Well, and there I was thinking I was building something big, you bastards.
Laughter filled the room as both men were obviously enjoying the small talk; the first one to get down to business was -surprisingly- Marcus. He put down his glass of wine and crackled his knuckles before saying anything else, a thing which he always had done for some reason.
Right, John, enough with the pleasantries, I'm here on important business you know, I need to have things done as fast as I can, this stuff is too damn mixed up anyway.
Alright, I'll try to be fast, what did you have in mind? I'm not even going to ask if it's about the Freeport or not.
Yeah, well, we're having trouble with the bio-domes.
What kind of trouble exactly?
Well, you see, we have the bio-domes constructed, the metal grating and glass, it's all ready, as well as some of the vital systems. However, we don't have the systems and equipment to operate the bio-domes.
I don't see how that's a problem, Livadia has all the systems and equipment you need.
Yeah but the asses are charging triple for anyone not in the Alliance. Bio-domes are already damned expensive, but charging triple is just too much, it's not that I don't have the funds, it's because I'd be wasting cash that I could use after the Freeport is built, building it won't be the end of it all you know.
Alright, understandable, what do you want from me?
I'll take that as sarcasm, since you know exactly what I want, plus, you're an old friend, I'm even expecting a discount.
John laid down his glass as Marcus leaned back in his chair and took another sip from the dark blue liquid. They looked at each other eye to eye, John was the first to break eye contact and sighed.
Marcus, you know I can't just give out Order technology like that.
What do you mean you can't, I know damn well you have that clearance.
It's not that easy Marcus, people above me are watching, I mean'¦
I'm no enemy of the Order, John, do I need to remind you I supplied you with funds, fighters, bombers and even gunboats, not to mention clearance to a damn base for your operations. Might've been a while ago, but still, you owe me.
Yeah but-
Don't 'but' me John, you probably made plenty of reports for your High Command anyway, they should damn well know I'm your ally, I'm not even gonna mention you and your people having full docking access to 44. Plus, you never know when you might need some random lab to continue experiments or something.
Marcus put his now emptied glass on the table while John eased back into his seat, scratched his head and sighed just before looking back at Marcus.
Well, I guess you're right'¦
Damn right I am.
Ok, I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything.
John'¦
Alright fine, I'll try my best, you'll probably have the stuff you need.
Right, when can you start?
Right now actually.
That's good, very good, call me when it's ready, and we don't have to discuss about payment really, I know you'll give a suitable offer, I've gotta go, stuff to do.
Yeah alright.
Both of the men stood up and shook hands.
Thanks for everything John, knew I could count on you.
Yeah yeah, just get that thing built, even I'm getting impatient.
Oh I'm sure you are, be seeing you man.
Marcus walked out of the room and the complex, John's office was pretty close to the exit door, a few minutes later he was at the landing pad where his Conference was waiting for him, it had been moved to a pad right next to the one they had came in. Charles and Steve were leaning their backs near the entrance hatch, they stood straight up when they saw Marcus.
Everything ready?
All repaired and ready to fly.
Good, let's go then.
The ship's engines took a minute to warm up, but they were off soon enough, and as they were flying up into space, a communiqué came through directly for Marcus.
This is John.
Yeah man?
It's done, the equipment will be ready in a few hours, I've attached the bay location and passwords to pick it up to this transmission.
Alright, I'll send a transport to pick them up once I get back to 11, thanks again for everything John.
No problem, anyway, I have a job to do, be seeing you.
The comm. line got cut and Marcus leaned back in his seat, smiling, he was closer to having his masterpiece built but there were still lots of things to do. Once they were clear of the atmosphere and the sickly green aura of the near cloud clicked in, so did an Order fighter wing, they received a transmission.
This is Order patrol wing Xi, Commander Hall thought you might need some help, we'll be escorting you to 11.
Thanks, and I'm assuming you'd escort a transport back?
Yes, we can do that.
Thanks again, alright, form up on us, we're moving immediately.
Marcus cut the transmission and gave a thumbs up to Steve, the reactor poured in energy to the engines, a few seconds later they were in cruise speed, 6 ships splitting the cloud and leaving a twirling gas wake behind them, they'd be at 11 soon.
Steve, how big do you want your room to be on 44?
Freeport 44 - Soul Reaper - 07-26-2011
'¦and what about Jake?
He's Ex-Navy Marines, just like Joshua and Michael.
So, in your opinion, the best would be Eric?
Yes, an ex-intelligence officer of the LSF would be a nice addition to security, I've used up my contacts to be sure he really does have the 'ex' title, it seems all clear.
Yes, I've checked them all, there's no problem on that part.
So, which ones?
I'll go with Eric and Joshua, those two I'm sure of, their physical and psychological conditions are well above the standard I put, not to mention their experience and personalities. Put Michael on hold, dump Chris.
Alright, where should they be assigned to?
Joshua on standard guard and patrol, get to know Eric, make him one of your closer men.
Yes sir.
Good job Valeria, but we need some more people for security detail, at least 6 more for now.
The corridor was filled with people going to and fro, minding their own business, doing their jobs. However Marcus noticed that the Freeport was more crowded than usual, especially with the new refugee arrivals, the two turned into a particularly crowded spot and Valeria was forced to follow Marcus behind him in a two person line. Marcus looked back and nodded to the door, they'd continue in the office. The door, was actually a small blast door in its size, he put his palm on the scanner next to the door and a second later it parted open for them to enter. As soon as the door locked down the voices of all the people got cut immediately. Marcus took a seat on one of the couches looking towards the window, a spectacular view of space; Valeria took the couch next to it.
Right, how about the fighter pilots?
Still only 2 of them.
I thought you told me you had 10 in the waiting list.
Yeah but none of them are suitable.
Personalities?
Yeah, pretty much, better than average fighting skills, but, couldn't even get close to the personality standards, although some have passed the psychology tests.
Oh well, we gotta keep looking, need at least one wing ready before 44 is operational.
How is the construction going on exactly? I didn't have the time to actually contact Isaac, was too busy with the security stuff.
Well, pretty much all the resources we need are now in storage, so it's just a matter of time actually, mostly everything is done. And, Isaac's estimation is a month, Livadia's estimation is 3 weeks, I'd say Isaac is right, he's always right.
What about the bio-domes, I heard you had some trouble with those.
Yes, had trouble, wasted a week on trying to find a suitable price, in the end I went with an old friend from the Order, much more cost efficient, not to mention, I think in higher quality than the ones Livadia offer.
So, they'll be activated after 44 is operational?
Nope, the bio-dome structures were already built and ready, we just implements the systems and everything else, growth enhancement of the finest quality as well, lots of different types of things to grow and profit from. So yeah, the bio-domes are currently operational, they just haven't been added to 44's structure yet, but I think they'll be ready to produce a steady income of rations just after 44 becomes operational.
Good, good, and what about weaponry?
Well, that's the only thing we're missing, on purpose though, I just haven't had the time to get to that yet, installing the weaponry doesn't really take any time, a few hours or a day at most, so I'll be leaving that for the last bit.
And what kind of weaponry?
Well, Zoner weaponry of course...for now, we'll be focusing on anti capital setups, smaller ships won't really give us a problem anyway, the actual setup, I'm not sure of, still trying to find a captain for 44. But I do have some pretty good people on my waiting list. I'm not exactly a fleet admiral or tactician, I'll leave the weaponry to the captain I pick.
Valeria's data-pad started beeping, as she took it out of her pocket to check what was going on, Marcus got up and went to the small bar in the corner, it was pretty well equipped with expensive drinks, he took out two glasses and started filling one up with some 80 year old wine, imported directly from Bretonia. He turned to look at Valeria as she was standing up, headed to the door.
No time for a drink?
No, just got a message about a new batch of arrivals, some might be suitable for the security force, also, the Freeport administration was looking for any donations for the new refugees.
Yeah, sent them a couple of million.
Alright, we'll continue later, perhaps at that new 'restaurant' at deck G ?
Marcus chuckled as he took a sip from the glass.
What, you're asking your boss out on a date?
What? No'¦sir. Just a better environment, we still have to talk about the fighter classes to bring, and I think we should have some bombers too, but that'll be for later.
Alright, be seeing you, good luck on the security business.
Thank you sir.
With that Valeria walked out of the office, the sudden sounds of the people outside made Marcus frown until the door closed again, he took another sip of his wine and sat down on his working desk. The displays warmed up to his presence, after the initial security check, he noticed the large amounts of messages again.
Damned bastards, I hope I wont have to deal with all of this once I'm a damn administrator'¦bastards.