The speaker crackled as Vincent Rose's secretary's voice came through. "Sir, you've got a package. It's marked confidential." Vincent set down the report on BMM's current status; it wasn't promising, and it had put him in a foul mood, despite having just recently taken over as the CEO. He reached over and tapped the speaker's input button, "send it in."
A few seconds later his secretary came in with a metal cylinder about a foot tall and half as thick and set it on his desk. "Thank you Ms. Doyle." She bowed and murmured a "You're welcome sir" before leaving the room, closing the doors behind her. Vincent turned the cyliner about in his hand, looking for a latch or button. Eventually he found a small red button and a speaker on the bottom of the cyliner. A computerized woman's voice spoke when he pressed the button. "Please state your name for identity verification." Vincent cocked an eyebrow, amused. "Vincent Rose." The Cylinder was silent for a moment, then the voice came back, "identity confirmed, Vincent Rose."
The cylinder cracked open along its length, accompanied by the sound of compressed air being released. Inside was a piece of rolled up paper. Vincent pulled it out and unwrapped it.
Quote:Vincent Rose,
First, allow me to congratulate you on your recent promotion to BMM's leadership. No doubt you've reviewed your corporation's present situation, unpleasant as it is. My own observations lead me to conclude you are in desperate need of a certain mineral vital in the construction of ships, which Bretonia needs badly. Niobium. With the loss of Stokes, you've also lost access to niobium. On the other hand, you have ample access to a number of other minerals used in ship construction, as well as the ability to get whatever else you need from Rheinland and Liberty. But without niobium you can't build desperately needed ships.
On the other hand, the Independent Miners Guild has more Niobium than it knows what to do with in Tau-23 and Tau-37. Not to mention that the Guild has been a thorn in the side of BMM for years. Well it turns out that much of the Guild's trade in Niobium and Niobium Ore passes through Kusari, and Tau-23 is a simple and quick trip from Kusari's core.
I'm sure you are aware that there are two revolutionary groups in Kusari, the Blood Dragons and the Golden Chrysanthemums. I belong to the latter of the two, and lead a group of my fellow sisters. We call ourselves the Kiretsu. We are of the opinion that if Kusari were to manage to take control of Bretonia it would be stronger than ever, and our goals would become nigh impossible. On the other hand, if we help Bretonia repell Kusari, the Naval Forces will be weakened after months, perhaps even years, of continual combat and weakened supply lines, for we have hit those while the Armed Forces has engaged the Naval Forces head-on in Tau-31 and Leeds. That will help us considerably, and a failed war will erode public support for the current Samura-dominated government in Kusari.
And so to help you, and to help myself, I have an offer for you. You need Niobium, and I need an assortment of other goods, some of which I can get from BMM and some I can not. I also am quite interested in getting my hands on a combat transport.. I believe it's called a Shire. You're probably sitting there wondering why in god's name you should be giving me one of Bretonia's transports. Well the answer is that for that transport you'll be getting dead Colonials, dead Miners Guildsmen, and twenty-five thousand units of Niobium, or half as much in unprocessed Ore.
But before that, we need resources. You'll be paid in Niobium for those resources. Here is a list of the goods I need from you, and how much of each is required;
You'll be given two units of Niobium for each unit of the resource. Exceptions to this are Bio-Neural Processors and Ship Hull Panels, where you will be given five units of Niobium per unit of resource, and Nuclear Devices, where you will be given ten units of Niobium per unit of resource. Niobium Ore will be equal to five units of normal Niobium.
Once we have these resources, you will be given an additional twenty-five thousand units of Niobium, or five thousand in Ore in return for a Shire Transport.
After that point, I would wish to continue operating with Bretonia, sending Niobium in return for Nuclear Devices, which we have several uses for. We also have a large amount of Plutonium available that we can take to LD-14 in return for MOX.
If these terms are acceptable please leave a message with Tsukei Reisha on Freeport Six. She will make sure it reaches me.
Vincent was sitting in a old fashioned office, on board the BMM headquarters, Thames. It was only an hour since he had received the metal cylinder, and he found himself lost in thought.
"They'll hang me for the trouble this'll cause." he mumbled, wondering if it was worth the political fallout. Some ten minutes had passed since he first considered the consequences of the idea, he had finally decided what he was to do. "To hell with them, damned politicians didn't know how to win a war up to now, you don't win wars by being nice, you win wars by using all the wit you can muster." resolved on his decision, he was to accept the proposal, with some minor tweaks to get all he can out of the venture.
He opened up an old data pad, looked nothing special, thousands like them all over the place. Upon entering a secret code, a small list of names appeared, "Who on earth can I trust not to tattle on me?" he pondered while browsing the names. He placed his finger over a Rheinland looking name, just 'Gunther' and nothing else, pressing the name expanded to a profile with oddly fake looking picture. A shady figure without a doubt, no family mentioned, his history could be best described as 'scrappy' with holes so big you'd be surprised if he had lived very long at all. He knew how to erase his history, or just never did anything of mention, that people could see.
Mr Gunther was down on Planet New London, Vincent had arranged a transport with the guise of meeting a businessman in a high class bar, he had to do everything personally, to lower the risk of detection by the network of counterspies on Bretonian planets, but it was somewhat ridiculous to suspect a highly respected member of Bretonian society. This was not the first time he had dealt with Gunther, the usual signals were displayed and Gunther arrived as if by magic to the bar. "Ah, old chap, keeping well have we?" Vincent said, casually. "I hear zat you have a job for me, nein?" Gunther replied, blunt and straight to the point, Vincent liked him for his bluntness.
After a short conversation, such was his style, the two men parted ways, with Gunther holding a set of codes for a ship docked on one of the many landing bays of New London, Vincent retiring for the night. Gunther made his way to the bay directly from the bar, if he stuck around for too long, chances are he would be put under surveillance. The ship was a Falcon class Heavy fighter, he found in the cargo hold a small cylinder which he had to deliver to the meeting point, next to it was a bag of credit cards, from the surface you could tell it was quite a high quantity, he was not cheap to hire.
It wasn't long before Gunther had cleared the docking ring and was well into the New London system, passing unconcerned traffic while en route towards the Leeds gate. He happened upon a police patrol scanning goods passing through gate to Leeds. Halt for scan one of the Hussars hailed to him, Gunther sat silent, waiting for the scan to be complete. The officer completed his scans All clear, BMM, watch out in Leeds, not safe. before moving on to the next ship. Gunther was surprised that his ship looked as if it were a BMM craft, but it had proved to make the trip easier, fortunate they did not attempt to check his questionable papers.
He made his way by the Planet, a wing of Chimaera had just wasted itself upon the planets defences, Zey are getting desperate he thought, not as confident as other observers that Bretonia had lost the war. He entered the lane to Edinburgh, but seeking to avoid the police station on the other side, he made his way north, to the Edinburgh jump hole. Once on the other side he made his way to the Tau 31 Jump hole, call zis a blockade? Ze Kusari have no way of halting supplies to Harris and beyond if it is as simple as zis commenting in his mind a second time. A while later he found his way to the Tau 29 Jump hole, upon entering he found himself in a system unlike Tau 31, with more empty space, and a deep black background he thought bland.
Tau 29 was teeming with Kusari, even destroyers passing by the Freeport that was his destination, nevertheless the futile focus on attacking Leeds had left it weak, a Samura patrol caught sight of him, just within range for communication, his Rheinland accent proved useful, explaining that he was a Zoner who had bought a BMM Falcon on Freeport 1. The excuse had passed, Samura were not trained to spot lies, and likely valued not getting into fights.
The blockade break proved to be surprisingly simple, Kusari strategic planning was inadequate to halt much at all, hoping to blitz Bretonia before it even mattered who blockade ran what to where. Gunther made a landing down on Freeport 6, the bar was full of Kusari, so finding his target would take a keen eye.
He sat down at the bar, and ordered a drink, he was going to play this slow, his presence might have already been noticed.
After several minutes a lithe woman sat next to Gunther and ordered a frizzy alcoholic juice. As if he needs any more evidence that I'm a woman.. Sometimes it seems to me like the Chrysanthemums are right. Men are morons. Time to see just how stupid this one can get.. After a moment Gunther started making small talk with her; she responded with short polite remarks as she nursed her drink. She tried to ignore his gaze as he 'evaluated' her. And it wasn't just a business look, of one professional sizing up another.. She sighed. Men.. After a few more minutes of meaningless chatter she drained the last of her drink and stood. "It was a pleasure to meet you Gunther, perhaps we will see each other again" she said as she smiled at him.
She casually walked out of the bar, then hurried down to the station's lower decks, where most of the storage units were located. It only took five minutes for Gunther to come walking in the door, the small folded note she had left in his hands that had told him to head to storage unit 3 on sub-level 6. So easy.. She had to fight to keep a victorious smile from spreading acrossed her face. As he entered and saw her, she set a serious expression on her face. She held out her hand, "alright, hand over the package."
Gunther cocked an eyebrow at her. "Und just who are you?" She gave out an exasperated sigh, "your contact moron, now hand it over. The more time we spend here, the better chance we'll be caught, and I don't want to spend the next fifteen years in Fuchu Prison thank you." His suspicion seemed to lessen, but he wasn't willing to give her anything yet. "First, vhat is your name Ms..?" She gave him a threatening glare, "my name is not something you need to know, I'm your contact, you're the delivery boy, that's all you need to know."
That seemed to convince him. Perhaps he hadn't even been told the name of his contact.. He handed over a small metal cylinder. She smiled at him now, unable to contain herself any longer. "Thank you courier, your job is over now." At the sound of the code word, the door behind Gunther opened and two large men entered, both dressed in the uniforms of the Kempetei, Kusari Intelligence. Gunther glanced backwards at the noise, and officer Kasumi Ieyasu pulled her gun and pressed it against his chest. Moron indeed...
One of the other intelligence officers grabbed Gunther's wrists and pulled them behind his back. At least the man was smart enough not to try to fight his way out. Once they had his hands secured behind his back, she holstered her gun and pulled out a small laser cutter. She laid the cylinder down on a crate. "Let's see just what kind of activities you're involved in Rheinlander," she said as she powered up the laser cutter. She rested the nozzle against the cylinder and increased power to the laser. It was clear after a few seconds that the laser had done nothing. She tentatively pressed a finger against where she had just tried to cut and found the metal still chilled. Guess it's heat-resistant, even to the heat of a laser.. Fine then. She pulled out another tool, a small saw, the teeth of which were made of diamonds, capable of cutting through any metal, or any substance for that matter.
As she laid the saw against the metal, she heard Gunther warn, "I vouldn't do zat if I were you.." Ignoring him she started the saw and began cutting away at the metal. Just as she punctured the last layer of it a vicious shock ran through her arm and into her chest. The pain and shock made her drop the saw and clutch her arm instinctively, which felt like it had been dipped in melted steel. An involuntary groan escaped her as she knelt there and waited for the pain to reside. After a few moments she grabbed the saw, and then used a rubber glove to grab the cylinder. "Lets get this bastard up to our room, if some Zoner were to walk in here it'd cause a scene. We'll open this damned thing up there." One of the men grabbed Gunther by the shoulders and forcefully turned him and shoved him toward the door, as the other man preceded him. He glanced back at Kasumi and smirked, "I told you not to do zat.." She ignored him and tried to suppress the urge to slap the man.
Then the officer opened the door. In the blink of an eye a mass of blood and flesh was flying towards her. Before she knew what was happening she and Gunther were covered in what had once been her fellow officer's head. As she swiped the blood out of her eyes she heard another laser blast ring out, then she looked up to see a woman dressed all in black leather holding a gun to her face. The last thing Kasumi heard was the woman say, "you disgust me," and then she never heard again.
Tsukei Reisha stood there gazing at what was left of the gore-streaked face of Kempetei Officer Kasumi Ieyasu, bile threatening to rise through her throat. She turned and looked at Gunther after his startled curse. His eyes were locked on Kasumi's face. "Hey." Gunther didn't respond, and his face started to turn green. "Hey!" Gunther twitched, then looked at Tsukei. "Which one of these three put your cuffs on?" Gunther shrugged his shoulder towards the second man Tsukei had shot, "him." Tsukei stepped over to him, carefully avoiding the mass of human remains littering the floor, and searched the pockets until she found a small metal pin. She stood and released the cuffs from Gunther's hands, then grabbed the metal cylinder, which the rubber insulation in her leather gloves kept from shocking her, and pushed Gunther towards the door, "lets go." The man hesitated, so Tsukei pointed her gun at his face and repeated the command. This time he complied, probably reasoning that going with her was marginally better than standing in a room with three dead people, especially if it meant he would be joining them.
She hid the pistol under her jacket as they entered the hall. She led Gunther through the station for a good five minutes before finally reaching the room she had rented on Freeport 6. Once inside she motioned with her gun towards a small chair in the corner of the room "have a seat." Gunther shot her a look, "I'd rather stand..." Tsukei shrugged and turned to the other woman in the room, "Izumi, go get some clothes for him." Izumi nodded and walked out as Gunther protested, "I've got clothes.." Tsukei rolled her eyes and gestured at his shirt. "You mean those clothes?" Gunther looked down at his blood-soaked shirt, "Oh.." He looked back up and asked, "You are Tsukei right? Zat's who I was told to contact, und I assume you are a Chrysanthemum, as I can tell you've got no love for ze law around here."
She didn't answer his question, but pressed a small button the bottom of the cylinder and a computerized woman's voice asked, "please state your name for identity verification." She bent down towards the microphone; "Zetsumai Keisotsu." "Identity confirmed, Zetsumai Keisotsu."
The cylinder cracked open along its length, accompanied by the sound of compressed air being released. Inside was a piece of rolled up paper. Zetsumai pulled it out and unwrapped it. She caught Gunther looking at her with a surprised look. "Ze head honcho.. Woman, hmm? Zank you for 'gracing' me viz your presence Missy." The sarcastic tone was just noticeable over his accent. With detachment she tossed the now-empty cylinder into a trash receptacle, then pulled a small pouch filled with diamonds, proceeds of piracy, from her jacket and tossed it to Gunther. "There's your payment. Feel free to use the room, it's been paid for." Then she turned her attention to the small scrap of paper as Izumi reentered the room and deposited a few pieces of clothing on the bed.
Quote:Greetings, Miss Zetsumai.
I am most grateful for your kind words on my recent promotion, I have indeed inherited a company with fortunes tied to that of the nation, and the nation is suffering currently, though never yielding.
I am quite happy to inform the reply to your rather interesting deal is a positive one, I am quite happy to accept your kind offer to help Bretonia in it's difficult period. I however am a bargain seeker at heart, and handing over a Shire is fairly extravagant without something extra.
In return, I want you to make them suffer, I want their fighters to be exploded, especially the Colonial Remnant, though their ineptitude and numbers will make them worth only one IMG for every three taken down.
And the Shire, I will make this conditional, you will need a Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing transport for your goods, I assume? And a shire would be most suitable for this role. Unfortunately I shan't send such a valuable transport on such a dangerous mission unless that very transport is your reward, if you lose it in the ice, then your Shire at the end of the deal completion will be forfeit.
And of course, your future business is always welcome.
Signed,
Vincent Rose
Zetsumai rolled the paper back up and slipped it into her pocket. She glanced over at Gunther, "and tell Vincent his terms are acceptable and to send 'it' to the gate site in Tau-23." She and Izumi left Gunther standing in the room, his diamonds in hand, and made their way to Freeport 6's hangerbay.