The Vagrant Raiders' diplomatic vessel Pheonix touched down in the hangar bay of Freeport 10. A hissing noise resounded through the deserted docking bay as the boarding ramp decended from the underbelly of the ship. Overlord Petrucci strode out of the ship and entered the station. He was greeted inside the airlock by his "right-hand man", James LaBrie. Carrying a rather large pulse rifle, he lead Petrucci through the halls of Freeport 10, when they arrived at a room that had been sealed specifically for what was in store that day. LaBrie typed in a passcode, and the door hissed open. They were in a small room, with another, thicker door ahead of him. Inside, the Novaks greeted him warmly. Xavier Fierceshot, who was sitting on a chair in the corner, scraping at something with a long, twisted knife, gave him a curt nod.
"Right, let's get this over with", said Petrucci.
Using another keypad, he quickly typed in a long stream of numbers and symbols. A subtle chime sound informed them that the code was accepted. Petrucci took a breath and strode into the room. It was a room where only his side of the room was lit. He could see a very comfortable looking chair at one end of a very long, clear table. He could not see the other end, or sides of the table due to the odd lighting of the room. He sat down, and LaBrie took his position behind and to the left of Petrucci, still holding his weapon. Petrucci folded his fingers on the table's surface, and waited.
A heavily armed X-Shuttle, Wanderer, docked at the Freeport, and two people climbed out, each famous amongst the Outcasts for their own reasons. The taller of the two, though not by much, was Don Emilio Santini, who had agreed to this conference on the condition that he could bring his guards. It was quite likely that he had a weapon hidden under his jacket; it was rare for him not to. Next to him was the infamous commander of Mirage, Ayumu Ishida, quite possibly the only person in the entire sector to walk around with a sword at his side. And, for good measure, a rapid-fire explosive shell rifle, a backup pistol, and two knives.
You can never be too safe, after all.
Should it prove necessary, an escape plan was also in place involving a Falcata, powdered cement, air vents, a rotary fan, and a bit of string.
The two walked in complete silence to the designated location, and Ayumu entered the required code to open the door. Inside, strangely enough, almost complete darkness. Something Ayumu was always prepared for due to his experience with boarding enemy ships, but still an annoyance. After they entered, and the door closed behind them, Emilio quietly said "Owl," though anyone more than ten feet away wouldn't hear it. Ayumu nodded, and waited for the OSI representative to arrive.
As the Fearless approached the Freeport, Spartacus signalled his Comms Officer to open a hailing frequency and get a vector to dock. It had been a long flight from Freeport 9 and he was keen to get to the meeting and see what was what.
He pressed a button on the arm of the captains chair and buzzed the intercom in to let Charles Harper know that they had arrived.
He stood up, straightened his clothes, grabbed his suitcase and went to the airlock to wait for Charles. Before he left he turned to his XO, smiled and said "I dont anticipate any trouble but if there is, you know what to do."
Once the two OSI men were on the dock, they greeted the dock master and the Freeport 10 security team and followed them to the meeting room. Neither men were armed, they were on home turf and between the Freeport security force and the Custodiet, they had enough guns to ensure no funny business went on. This meeting was supposed to introduce each side to one another. Nothing was to to be set in stone just yet.
Arriving at the door to the meeting, Charles typed in the code and the door whooshed open. Both men stepped inside and surveyed the scene. Spartacus scanned the room and noted the two men sat at the table and their bodyguards stood behind them. Noting that they all had big shiny weapons, the two OSI men stood behind their chairs and, after putting down his briefcase, Spartacus started the introductions.
"Hola Amigos. My name is Charles Harper, the gentlemen to my left is Spartacus Weepiglet. We are here today to open dialogue with the Outcast nation, hopefully to the benefit of both of us. Spartacus is the Security Division Commander for OSI and I am the OSI member who will hopefully be the contact between the Outcasts and OSI. I carry the full weight and support of the OSI leadership for these meetings. So, you know who we are, and Mr Petrucci we've already met. May i ask who you are?" He said looking towards the Outcast gentleman, his eyes lingering on the sword attached to the man behind him, "and can someone put the lights on please?"
"I am Don Emilio Santini," Emilio responded, standing up respectfully. "I am one of the members of the Council of Dons, and I will be representing the Nation of Malta in these discussions. As this is not a military issue, I have all necessary authority on this; if I say something is to be done, it will be. The man behind me," he gestured toward Ayumu, though the light was too low for it to be clear, "is Captain Ayumu Ishida. He's here as my guard and pilot. One does not get to my position without taking safety precautions, you understand. While I'm sure you have no intention of trying to kill me, I would not put it past the Colonials."
When Emilio paused to check for a file in his datapad, Ayumu put on a pair of light amplification glasses, set to a low setting in case the lights were turned on.
"Now, because this meeting was arranged by Mr. Petrucci, I believe I will let him start," the Don said, returning to his chair and looking at the Raider.
Overlord Petrucci slowly rose to his feet. "I'd just like to say.. thank you all for coming," Petrucci said. He gave a quick nod to Captain Ishida, whom he had a few dealings with in the past. "Let's get down to business," Petrucci said as he sat. "If you will forgive me gentlemen, it is my custom to be frank. The Omicron Supply Industries have had several dealings with the Vagrant Raiders in the past, and we have found them to be amiable partners in trade. The deuterium that was delivered to us in exchange for an exemption of piracy was absolutely top grade. The Metropolis' new Flux Drive Engines have no comparison to the previous H-Fuel ones. Several new Bayonets have also been fitted with flux drives and small amounts of deuterium, some of the pilots are still recovering from the G-forces they pulled."
"Needless to say, this deal is working out extremely well for the Vagrant Raiders. I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce Mr. Weepiglet to you, Don Santini. He is an excellent trader and businessman, and I would wager that he would have a lot to offer the Maltese Nation, just as he does to the Vagrant Raiders."
After finishing speaking, Petrucci looked over at Spartacus Weepiglet expectantly.
Spartacus rose from his seat, coughed to clear his throat, then coughed again, and again, and again. His attempt to clear his throat tickled the back of the throat and caused a small coughing fit. He held up a finger to indicate that he was alright but might need a minute to cough it all out.
Smooth, he thought to himself, very smooth.
Composing himself he began...
"Thank you Mr Petrucci for the kind reference and thank you Don Santini for agreeing to meet with us. It is a privilege to meet with a Don."
Getting into his stride now he carried on.
"So, why are we all here?" he said, gesticulating with his arms.
"We asked for this introduction as a way of helping to improve ties between the Nation of Malta and the Zoners, specifically OSI. As OSI is based out of Freeport 9 and the Outcasts control space very close to Omicron Theta we thought it would be beneficial to open talks in the spirit of cooperation and getting to know each other. It is our hope that an improved relationship will lead to new opportunities for both the Outcasts and OSI."
Spartacus then reached into his pocket and, looking at Capitan Ishida, slowly pulled out his datapad.
He then placed it on the table so the other two men could see the screen and turned it on to reveal the OSI logo.
"Allow me to explain a little about OSI and what we do. OSI was set up to facilitate trade between Zoner stations around Sirius. To that end, we go to all the Zoner Freeports and efficiently move produce and goods to where they are needed."
The logo then changed to an incomplete star chart, the Freeports shown as blinking lights.
"We have access to a great variety of goods from all corners of the galaxy on our travels, some of which are hard to get in other corners. This is how we met Mr Petrucci and the Vagrant Raiders."
Spartacus then took the datapad and handed it to Charles, who began to type commands into the datapad before placing in on the table in front of him.
"A large part of our success has been our diplomacy and our meetings with people to discuss how we can both be of benefit to each other. We hope this will prove to be another of those meetings"
Spartacus then sat back down, checked the datapad and the notes Charles had made.
Emilio sat patiently and listened, never showing any sign of disrespect, only continuing when it was clear that the OSI representative had finished. "I wish I could say relations between Malta and the Zoners have always been good, but we both know that would be a lie. There are, even now, those among us who would see this Freeport destroyed, in fact." He paused, to let that sink in for a moment.
"I do not agree with them; I tell you this only so you know that this will not be as easy as it perhaps should be. Despite these difficulties, our ports have remained open to Zoners, as long as they follow our laws. Now, here is my question: What would you like, and what can you offer in exchange?"
Charles Harper nodded his head, thinking about the tense relationships between Zoners and the Outcasts in the past. Then he looked towards Don Santini and said
"Don Santini, apart from Cardamine, a commodity that made Outcasts famous across Sirius, we don't know much about your resources and needs. Our proposal is in two stages. First, with your approval, we would like to send two ships, under your escort, to show us where we are permited to dock. There we can talk to the commodity traders and see what we and your house could need. This would hopefully go some of the way to healing past wounds. The second phase we could discuss further along the line if all goes well."
"Hmm... An acceptable proposal, but you will not be escorted by me. I prefer staying on solid ground; I have flown the gunship Apparition before, and did not much care for it. Mirage, however, can provide an escort when their ships are prepared. It is likely that I will send my younger daughter to escort you, as she can explain more about our economic situation than Captain Ishida. Does anyone have anything else to bring up?"
"The Vagrant Raiders have nothing more to say. Again, I'd like to thank you both for coming." Petrucci rose from his chair. "If you would convey my personal gratitude to the base commander for his hospitality, I will be on my way. Oh, and one thing further Mr. Harper. Mr. LaBrie will see to it that our arrangements are finalized. Mr. Fallas and the Eclipse are standing by outside." LaBrie turned on his heel without a word, and opened the door. Petrucci stepped through the two doorways, flanked by the Novaks, LaBrie, and finally Fierceshot.
