It's been awhile since I've fulfilled any of our trade contracts, having been away on leave, doctor required of course, to help deal with the shock and trauma following the assault on my Shetland by our very own Mr. MacFarlane. While my vacation is over, I don't think I've fully recovered yet, and I'd like to request several more days to overcome my new fears, founded by MacFarlane. With pay, of course.
As I've been the Senior Employee in charge of our contract with the Lord Philip Eggington, I set about getting my own hours in, hauling refined BMM Gold from Graves to Fort Bush, where the Gold is then turned into Eggington's golden tooth-brushes, which he then requests we deliver back to his mansion on New London.
I circled this route thrice, and on the last voyage, I was contacted by a one, Kate Christoph. She requested to speak to Brigadier Peterson. As you were not around at the time, being the polite gentleman that I am, I assured the lady that I would leave a message for you in our info-net.
She requests that you contact her with immediate haste!
As I have fulfilled her request, it is now your turn to fulfill mine. Having been your substitute secretary on the scene, I am requesting an additional two million credits be added to this month's paycheck. Alternatively, for a mere four million monthly credits, I can stay on as your permanent secretary. The choice is yours.
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To: Mr Moreland. From: Andrew Peterson, ExSec. RE: Message & commission.
Thank you for passing on that message. I'm currently on holiday, so I'll field that particular issue when I get back. And no, you will not be paid for common courtesy, you wastrel!
Oh, another thing. Your request for extended paid leave has been denied. To overturn that decision, you'll have to talk to your department manager. That would be, ahah, Mr MacFarlane.
Oh, and I spoke to the company doctor who treated ye. He didn't sayye needed rest because of trauma. He said ye need to be institutionalized fer being a loon!
---MacFarlane
PS: ye still owe me 2 million fer the dents in the Bonny Lass and ye owes Mundi 3 million fer dents in the Smith. LRN2DRIVE!
Sirs,
I would like to confirm if I should report pirating activity, what is the company policy on contact with pirates i.e. pay the ransom or defended the cargo and is there an insurance policy for loss of cargo?
In lieu of a response I would like to report that I was pirated by a Nikolai Diavolo and that rather than loss my cargo and more importantly my ship (like I said, am I insured by Bowex or do I need a private policy?) I paid the requested 1,000,000 Sirus credits an extortionate amount considering I would only get about 4 million for the whole cargo! I also reported the incident to 2 LSF pilots that I met near the Freeport 4 station Trade Lane.
In the future, pay if you must, run when you can. Always go to the closest safe port and dock if able. Do not concern yourself with the 1 million loss. I'll see to it the insurance claim is filed, dear. The safety of ship and crew is far more important. And continue to report these incidents to the proper authorities.
Message Source: Public Terminal 89701413, Level 6, Oder Ship Yard, New Berlin
Subject: Reporting Pirate Activity
Sirs,
I would like to report an encounter with a pirate (Corsair I think) identified as [DoomBoat|[Hope] in the Omega-3 system at the Omega 7 Jump Gate on the 28th August 819 A.S.
I was en-route to the New Berlin System to drop off hull panels at Oder Ship Yard when I passed the pirate near the station Freeport 1; he appeared to be engaged with the local authorities, so I thought I'd make a quick run through the trade lane while he was occupied.
Unfortunately I was attacked by a swarm of Red Hessians when I came out of the lane and although I lined up perfectly with the Jump Gate a Daumann train bumped me and docked with the gate; therefore putting me out of position.
I quickly backed up and realigned with gate; however this time, as I entered hyperspace my hyper-drive system shutdown and I coasted out the otherside of the gate; without helm or navigation control, however I still had comm's
It was at this point that 'Doom' demanded that I pay 'one mill or you die' (I love the originality of the guy).
I tried to explain that I was having engine and helm problems at which point he blew my ship to a million pieces (turns out he's a Gun Boat) and I lost my cargo of Hull Panels.
Could you please forward the claim forms for the lose of cargo; I believe I purchased the cargo for $2,950,000 however I believe the sell value is in the region of $10 million at Oder; so which value should I put on the insurance form?
The following night (29th August 819 A.S.) I was helping the Bowex Smith move Beryllium to New Berlin he had docked but I was still loading when 2 Outcast ships demanded $6 million in Siriuan credits (I guess it was 3 million each but still rather expensive I thought).
The Captain of Bowex Smith tried to reason with them on my behalf he even told them of the Trade agreement with the Outcasts government to supply food; but in the end decided it was better to pay rather than loose $40 million worth of cargo.
The pirates I believe are called Logistics and Evil Fish, but I will have to confirm this. Could you check this with the Outcasts government?
I heard Logistics was chased into the Sun yesterday by BAF forces as he was supplying the KNF with bots and batt's for their assault on Leeds! I hope they toasted marshmallows' as he sizzled in the Sun's corona!
When I get the data from the ships computer I will confirm the pirates' names.
>>INCOMING TRANSMISSION<<
- Encryption: Medium -
~Message Begin~
Subject: Trade Report
To whom it may concern in Bowex Administration (perhaps that crazy administrative woman); This is a general trade report. If you have more important business, skip right over it. Specifically, it refers to a trade run a day or two ago. All that relativity nonsense gets confusing, with us moving so fast and such.
Regardless: We were accompanied by the Johnson piloted by ExSec Head of Department Andrew Peterson through our trade route that day.
We began in Southhampton Shipyard as we'd installed a new shielding system following some unfortunate accidents with the previous model... the responsible parties have been dealt with.
We took our orders from our superior and followed his lead for most of the trip, bar portions he deemed it appropriate for us to make movements first. Moving to Graves, we picked up Gold, and moved without err to Ingolstadt Station in Munich. We moved our ship, empty, to Mannheim Station in Frankfurt, and picked up H-Fuel, to be delivered to Planet Leeds as per our current directive.
Upon reaching the Jumpgate to Cambridge in Omega-3, we encountered something exceedingly problematic: a Reaver. Mr Peterson capably and calmly negotiated an alternate route, which has been deemed classified for security reasons.
Ultimately, we arrived safely in Leeds and with little time to spare. Upon our arrival we immediately informed the authorities, and the Reaver was hot on our tail, no less. Our cargo and manifests were documented and profits distributed appropriately. Our crew thanks and commends Mr Peterson and his crew for their professional, dedicated and courageous attitude in threatening circumstances.
We are refreshing the ship and her crew, and await our next orders on their arrival.
Sirius News and Commerce
[font=Arial Black][color=#FF9900]Breaking News
This just in from our Bretonian Stock Market liaison, Tim Athy:
Bowex stocks have taken a sharp dive today in an unexpected fall in productivity from the trading giant.
The nationalised company working under the Bretonian Crown normally renowned for an enviable work ethic and unimaginable profit had some sort of disaster today as company pilots' speed and normally rushed technique sunk, and their polite tendency to allow other ships ahead of them in Trade Lanes and Jump Gates went overboard with it.
Giant ships which normally contribute billions to the economy weekly were near at a standstill today, some stopping to communicate with travellers of irrelevant things, and others going so far as taking the behemoth ships sight-seeing, gazing at stars, nebulae or passing traffic.
While some critics have labelled it blatantly poor work ethic, others have blamed illicit substances, and the explanations range from these to contaminated company air filters leading to "oxygen-drunkness".
Quite frankly, it seems no-one in the public knows how to react to the wide-spread failure of the company today.
An anonymous insider source, contacted while in space could only give out a whistling tune, which Neural Net matching software likened to an ancient melody. It is believed the hypnotic melody somehow affected a leader of the corporation, leading to an exponential spread through the chain of command and modes of communication with the company. It is not known whether this condition of laziness and optimism are contagious, however should you begin to whistle, hum or sing this unfamiliar tune it is recommended you visit your health professional immediately.
Treatment for the condition by one employee of Bowex, a Mr McFarlane - who refused to comment - seems to have been effective, by threatening the lazy workers with pay cuts, fines, and punishments which could not be repeated or otherwise understood due to dialect interpretation issues.
It is believed Bowex will have recovered from this odd condition by the opening of tomorrow's market and recover its lost market worth today, lest the company risk any more.
That's all from today's Bretonian Commerce update.
This is Tim Athy, signing off.
[font=Tahoma][color=#99FFFF]Sirius News and Commerce
Posts: 6,280
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To: Bowex InfoNet. From: Andrew Peterson, ExSec. RE: Op: SQUEEGEE.
Our acquisition of resources in Kusari has been going well. Today, the BES Leeson, Fenning and Hyman launched an incursion into Kusari as the vanguard of Op. SQUEEGEE. While passing through Kyushu on our way to Okinawa, I noticed a 'Big Dragon' transport affiliated with the KSP travelling away from the trade lanes. Considering he was isolated and an enemy target, I wheeled our attack group around and entered pursuit.
He led us past a jump hole to New Tokyo, and finally to another destined to Shikoku. Both were noted for later use - there was a Farmer's Alliance base nearby however, and we were extremely hard pressed to avoid their patrols. They eventually caught us near the Shikoku jump hole after our target had jumped, forcing us to stop and fight back. After dispatching the patrols, we were amazed to see a Samura Kusari '5k' train jump in on top of us.
[20.09.2011 15:06:07] Bowex)Leeson: You work for Samura. That makes you extremely unpopular around us. [20.09.2011 15:06:13] Bowex)Fenning: well said sah [20.09.2011 15:06:13] .:.Mexon.:.: Whats the problem sir? [20.09.2011 15:06:14] Bowex)Leeson: Now, drop all your cargo, then shoot it. [20.09.2011 15:06:24] .:.Mexon.:.: Why? [20.09.2011 15:06:24] Bowex)Leeson: After that, you'll sing the Bretonian national anthem over system comms. [20.09.2011 15:06:30] Bowex)Hyman: Crying is optional. [20.09.2011 15:06:37] Bowex)Fenning: hehe. bloody kusarian [20.09.2011 15:06:39] Bowex)Leeson: After that, you'll publically denounce the Emperor via system comms, and declare you're a woman. [20.09.2011 15:06:47] Bowex)Fenning: eh, Peterson... [20.09.2011 15:06:49] .:.Mexon.:.: wow [20.09.2011 15:06:57] Bowex)Leeson: Don't worry, we'll give you the lyrics. [20.09.2011 15:07:09] .:.Mexon.:.: smart ones ha [20.09.2011 15:07:16] .:.Mexon.:.: ntz ntz ntz [20.09.2011 15:07:21] Bowex)Fenning: he's mad! [20.09.2011 15:07:23] .:.Mexon.:.: go ahead do your thing [20.09.2011 15:07:25] Bowex)Fenning: like a hatter!
Taking a leaf out of the QCP's books, we told him to drop everything, then salted the wound with some additional jabs at his pride and honour. After a short while he told us to kill him, so we obliged. After picking off some of his equipment first, of course. In any case, the element of surprise was well and truly scuppered by then, so we hit New Tokyo via the jump hole we'd just stumbled across and burned straight for our destination.
A short time later, we made it to Okinawa. Loading up on H Fuel, we set our sights on home. After dodging a Samura escort in a Stilleto, we broke through to the Taus. In '31 Mart and Colin decided they did not have the testicular fortitude to run the gauntlet, and diverted through Edinburgh. I plunged on ahead and used the jump gate. Dodging battleship and massed Chimera fire, I had a morose moment to mourn for my lost office on Glasgow as I passed it. I swear I will get that bloody office back again!
RVing in Leeds orbit, all three Clydesdales landed and unloaded their cargo. I declared the trade-raid to be an utter success, and concluded the operation. Altogether, 1,620 units of H Fuel were recovered. Currently, myself and Supervisor Bellock are in the lead for the 10 million credit H Fuel bonus, and I alone am in the lead for the 10 million credit interdiction bonus. You can find out more about these bonuses here and keep track of progress here. Look sharp, lads! It's a sad day when your managers of all people are outperforming you!
>>INCOMING TRANSMISSION<<
- Encryption: Medium -
~Message Begin~
Subject: Yet Another Enemy of Bowex)
To whom it may concern in Bowex ExSec Division; This is a report of an attack, and requires attention from ExSec. This is also a trade report, and may require attention from Trade and Shipping Division.
Today, we made several successful ore hauls from BMM's mining sites; 2 from Tau 23, followed by another successful run from their Dublin operation. On our return, we noticed an independent miner and contracted him for some ore from Leeds.
We picked up the ore, paid the gentleman and began our Journey to New Berlin. We arrived in Stuttgart, engaging the Trade Lane sequence (after conversing with a quite friendly freelancer on an unidentified patrol in Omega 3). It was shortly into our Trade Lane that we were disrupted, and intercepted by one Maja.
It was promptly told to us that we were wanted dead, and after our suggestion of out-bidding the mercenary's employer was denied, the woman opened fire.
Our crew decided we weren't quite content with dying, and proceeded to make best speed using all systems available to the nearby station. We covered about 20K or so under fire, which our crew was quite proud of. We made it to the base and docked successfully. Our shields had been knocked out, and our hull dented significantly, but nothing that required major repairs.
After our celebratory party at breaking a ship record while the ship was repaired, we set course to continue - unfazed, even non-chalant - to Planet New Berlin.
We continued, and encountered the ship again. Our Shetland hadn't caused much damage to it regrettably, though we did aim our best for her eyes. She politely greeted us, and again opened fire. We docked, this time the run not needed. Our crew was dismayed by the lack of excitement this time. No party.
We hence request that the pilot is outlawed, and noted as an enemy of Bowex. We would not have requested this if we could have added her to the database of <strike>bribable cowards</strike> reasonable mercenaries. We have included scans and biometric information for the convenience of our ExSec department.
Her ship was equipped with Debilitators and Purple Goddesses. We know our weapons.
Best of luck to our department, and thank you for your continued support.
We hope our trading report brings great, glorious pleasure to our Bowex Administrat<strike>ive</strike> ors <strike> Overlords.</strike>