Comm Sender ID: Arturio Mendes
Comm Sender Location: TRACE FAILED
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(a rich, elderly and clearly Hispanic voice begins to speak.)
Good day to you, postmasters. I am hoping this message is finding you well.
I am Arturio Mendes, scion of House Mendes of the Nacion Maltesa. One day ago my family and I encountered one of your transports, the SPS Melbourne, in the Newcastle system. After a brief and amicable conversation with her captain your company through him extended an offer of service should we need correspondence or freight delivered across Sirius.
This brings me to the purpose of this communication. As your captain may have seen, my family and I currently live aboard a 'Pilgrim Liner' as the class is known to most Sirians. We have spent two years and sacrificed much to see that ship returned to service once more.
(an audible sigh may be heard, followed by a short pause and the clinking of a heavy glass.)
With that being said, sometimes a lemon is a lemon, and nothing we can do short of reconstructing the ship from the ground up will solve that. Spirits preserve me, I have tried...anyhow. The proposition: Your captain implied that your offices and operations are funded by Orbital Spa and Cruise. I am hoping this means that you would also have access to their...scraps, as it were. It is well known that they decommission their liners every few years in favor of the newest generation of debauchery, and further it is well known that these discarded ships are still quite functional and have many years of service left to them. I am requesting the delivery of a functional, decommissioned 'Passenger Liner' to a neutral location to be decided, and further inquiring what you might need to make this happen. If you are interested, direct your reply to the Junker relays at Invergordon. I assure you I will receive the message.
To: Arturio Mendes
From: Sirius Postal Service Head Offices on behalf of the Board of Directors
Encryption: High
Subject: Purchase of decommissioned Liner
To Mr. Mendes
The captain of the SPS)-Melbourne has documented your encounter with him and from what we've seen you seem friendly enough. We only have one of these Liner class vessels in our inventory that has been graciously supplied to us by Orbital Spa and Cruise, and with what it is that SPS does, we don't really need it. That said, it's redundancy in our inventory doesn't mean it isn't a valuable ship to us, and you will not be able to straight up purchase the ship right away. We will loan the ship to you for 3 months, and IF we decide you've treated it well and we don't require the ship any more, you can purchase it for the full price of it's worth and there will be a fee on top of the cost price of the Liner that you or your family will need to pay.
If you are interested in the loan and eventual purchase of this ship, you will need to adhere to some guidelines that we'll enforce as necessary. These restrictions only apply for the three month loan period unless stated otherwise.
Monthly inspections of the ship for up to Three (3) months after purchase
The ship will not be used for piracy
The ship will not be fitted with advanced equipment without our approval
The ship will not be used to attack Orbital Spa and Cruise, SPS)-, or untagged employees of SPS* throughout the ship's lifetime
*untagged employees will make their status known upon your encounter with them
If you decide to loan the ship for the three months, there will be a monthly fee of 15,000,000 SC per month, and if we do decide to sell it to you in full, the cost for the ship itself will be 130,000,000 SC. There will be a deposit fee of 50,000,000 SC that you will need to pay before we loan you the ship. If we need the ship back, you'll get your 50,000,000 SC back, otherwise, that 50,000,000 will be deducted from the ship cost upon final purchase. The 15,000,000 SC payment is due at the end of each month until final purchase. We reserve the right to take the ship back in the event we need it, otherwise we will destroy the ship completely, with no hope of salvage. This is a delicate situation, if Orbital Spa and Cruise find out that we sold one of their largest ships to an Outcast family, they would likely cut our funding completely.
Now, we are a reasonable lot, and we are loaning this ship to you in good faith, so feel free to negotiate these terms within reason.
We look forward to your response.
"M", SPS Board of Directors.
Comm Sender ID: Arturio Mendes
Comm Sender Location: TRACE FAILED
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(that same rich Hispanic voice from the previous message begins to speak after a moment, and the clinking of a heavy glass.)
Good day to you, postmasters. Once again I hope this message is finding you well.
There are some points I wish to clarify before I may make a decision regarding your offer. First and foremost:
It will cost 50.000.000 SC to acquire the ship from your company on a three month lease;
It will cost 15.000.000 SC per month for the three months, which is not rolled into the cost of the ship, along with the terms listed in your message;
At the end of the three months the 50.000.000 deposit will be rolled into the cost of the ship, which you have quoted at 130.000.000 SC, leaving a remaining balance to be paid of 80.000.000 SC.
This brings me to a total of 190.000.000 SC for the ship over the course of three months.
Secondly, the ship's history. This may sound trivial to you and yours, but my family and I have learned from painful experience that not knowing at least some of the vessel's history can cause many headaches down the road for us should the deal come to a successful conclusion. Mostly, we are concerned with any...hmm, recurring technical failures and any combat damage the ship may have suffered.
Finally, to clarify this point:
Quote:The ship will not be fitted with advanced equipment without our approval
I am assuming you are referring to jump drives or cloaking technology, but I would like to make sure. One of the first tasks would be the extensive alteration of the powerplant to ensure that the vessel's power signature is nothing like it was when it was operated by your company, for both our sake's. Increasing the ship's armor may also be necessary.
I would not want these basic tasks to void what would otherwise be a successful venture. I await your reply.
To: Arturio Mendes
From: Sirius Postal Service Head Offices on behalf of the Board of Directors
Encryption: High
Subject: Purchase of decommissioned Liner
To Mr. Mendes
In regards to your enquiries on pricing, I do believe what you have stated as your understanding is correct.
"It will cost 50.000.000 SC to acquire the ship from your company on a three month lease;
It will cost 15.000.000 SC per month for the three months, which is not rolled into the cost of the ship, along with the terms listed in your message;
At the end of the three months the 50.000.000 deposit will be rolled into the cost of the ship, which you have quoted at 130.000.000 SC, leaving a remaining balance to be paid of 80.000.000 SC."
Now, for the ship's history, we aren't 100% sure of the specific uses of the vessel under it's Orbital Spa and Cruise ownership, but once the ship was passed down to us, we fitted it with slightly higher class luxury decks on levels 3 and 4, and have used the vessel as a place where we could meet with leaders of other companies or organisations to discuss business, and our own uses for it such as internal meetings that were not made on our base. We have found nothing to be defective on the ship, and we are currently having some of our smarter SPS pilots and engineers looking over the ship now.
In regards to the upgrades you would like to do to the vessel, I have talked to my fellow board member (yes there's only two of us) and we've decided that is fine under the only condition that the work is to be carried out with members of the SPS engineering team supervising the upgrade.
The rest of the terms seem fine.
"M", SPS Board of Directors.
Comm Sender ID: Arturio Mendes
Comm Sender Location: TRACE FAILED
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(the voice of the Hispanic gentleman is clearly strained, as though he just got done exercising, or perhaps arguing with someone.)
Gentlemen of the board, I regret to inform you that due to a change of conditions internally my family will be unable to meet the terms of your offer. Understand that this decision has nothing to do with the offer itself; considering the risk you would be subjecting yourselves to the offer was quite generous.
As a token of goodwill for further potential business dealings, allow me to reimburse you for your pilot's and engineer's time spent checking over your liner on our behalf. Please provide an account to which I may send you ten million SC for your troubles. Thank you.
![[Image: U8BKZrF.png]](http://i.imgur.com/U8BKZrF.png)