To: Deep Space Engineering

[Howard10]

To: Deep Space Engineering
From: Howard Lovecrepe; Freeport 10; Tau 37 (Pelican Transport "'Cthulhu'")
RE: Construction Contract.
Sirius Security Encryption Rating: [color=#009900]High.

-TEXT FORMAT INBOUND-

Good day to you, sirs and madams of the DSE board.

I am contacting you as a representative of Freeport 10. It is a Zoner holding far from the furthest edges of House space, in the Tau 37 system. Given your company's reputation for completing their contracts despite the most difficult of assignments, while working under the most hostile of conditions and in the most remote of locations, you were naturally our first call. Not to mention the fact that I know you have a presence in Tau 23 aboard the BMM property there.

I'll be blunt with you now. We want to buy a Stationwide Shield and hire you to build it for us, on site. A construction that would put the defences of the mightiest of battleships to shame. In times of attack, I wish to ensure that the men, women and children of my home are safe and secure. I doubt you are aware of the situation in the distant Edge systems, but tensions have escalated in numerous places. Zoner installations have come under heavy attack, such attacks often having the potential to cause massive loss of life. I have no intention of letting a frontier spat or battleship captain's short temper endanger the lives of my people.

Station Hall has set aside a budget to pay for such a project, and I will also be lending my own personal funds to cover the bill. Should you wish to undertake this project, simply reply on this channel and I will answer any questions you may have that I am able to.

~Howard Lovecrepe

[Dourden4]

Incoming Transmission...

CommID: Rick Gentry

Location: DSE Headquarters, Planet Pittsburgh, New York system, Liberty House

Mr. Lovecrepe, We here at DSE appreciate your coming to us for your needs, and would be delighted to assist you in your project. As you may or may not of heard, being so far from house space, DSE has fallen on hard times of late and this could be just the thing we need to get back on our feet. Also, we had heard a smattering of rumors concerning Zoners and the edge worlds, but nothing concrete. Your commitment to your people and home is to be commended.

Please allow us 1-2 business days to review and research the project. We will draft up a list of needed supplies and will also give an estimate of cost. Now, I have one important question, as it will affect your estimate.

Will DSE be required to bring the construction materials to your station? Or will you be supplying said materials?

We will also require a report from you of local activities and hostilities. The Tau's are currently a rather hot zone.

Due to the nature of your area, our risk assessment teams will be considering the proper actions for securing our construction crews and vessels while in space around your station. Will DSE provided escorts prove to be a problem?

Again, thank you for choosing DSE for your construction needs.

Rick Gentry
Vice-President

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[Howard10]

To: Deep Space Engineering
From: Howard Lovecrepe; Freeport 10; Tau 37
RE: Construction Contract.
Sirius Security Encryption Rating: [color=#009900]High.

-TEXT FORMAT INBOUND-

Hello Mr Gentry.

Thank you for your prompt reply. I am sorry to hear of your company's troubles though. Hopefully, as you said, this contract will be just the thing you need to get back on track. I will of course answer your questions to the best of my abilities.

1) DSE would not be obliged to carry construction materials to the base, but would be able to do so if it so pleased. The station will be offering a bonus reward scheme on the required materials once you have written up a list, so any party would be eligible to transport them, and thus claim. The more goods a captain ships, the more money he or she will earn.

2) Local factions include the Bounty Hunter's Guild, the Independent Miners Guild, the Outcasts and of course, us Zoners. The first two will not be a problem, but the Outcasts will likely attack you if spotted. To minimise risks, do not initiate communications with any non-Zoner parties when travelling in Tau 37, and do not use system band communications if you are replying to someone else. Keep escorts in-house from inside your company in order to be more inconspicuous. Under no circumstances will you or your pilots travel any further north (relative to the nav-map) than Freeport 10 itself.

We have also cleared the location for the shield infrastructure. An entire warehouse deck has been reserved for the project, two decks below the main residential hub. If you wish to discuss technical aspects of the build, or have any questions about the construction space or the station's pre-existing relevant amenities, submit them to me and I'll have them forwarded to our chief of engineering.

Again, thank you for your time.

~Howard Lovecrepe

[Dourden4]

CommID: Rick Gentry

Location: DSE Corporate Offices

Thank you for the information provided as requested. We have reviewed the Project, and have a list of supplies that will be necessary for construction. However, before we may determine quantities needed, we also need a little more information concerning the space to be used.

Can you give us an estimate of the square footage of the aforementioned warehouse deck? Or perhaps a small blueprint? This will be necessary so we may plan the phases of the project and placement of components accordingly.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter. And we hope to hear from you soon.

Rick Gentry
Vice-President

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[Howard10]

To: Deep Space Engineering
From: Howard Lovecrepe; Freeport 10; Tau 37
RE: Construction Contract.
Sirius Security Encryption Rating: [color=#009900]High.

-TEXT FORMAT INBOUND-

Hello Mr Gentry.

Unfortunately, things in the Edge Worlds aren't done by the book. Whether or not there even is a book to do things by is debatable. Because of this, the people who built the station almost 80 years ago weren't exactly... Well, they weren't particularly careful about storing the schematics. We're not overly sure where they are. The blueprints for the different decks are all scattered around, so it might take a while to track down the relevant documents. Not to mention the fact that with no building regulations, ad-hoc alterations have been made to many of the decks on the fly. I'm not even sure how accurate those blueprints would be any more.

Because of this, it might be easiest if you dispatched a work-team to have a look at the property in question. That way you could assess the facilities, have a chat with our chief of engineering and plot out the area of decking available to you. It would probably save both parties a lot of time and effort; we wouldn't have to track the plans down, and you wouldn't have to ascertain if they were still valid. Getting to know the area you were going to work on would probably be a good idea really. We'll have some living space reserved for your men should they want to stay aboard for more than a day.

~Howard Lovecrepe

[Dourden4]

CommID: Rick Gentry

Location: DSE Corporate Offices

Mr. Lovecrepe, An onsite inspection of the area in question is a wonderful idea. Time does have a way of misplacing and otherwise rendering such things as blueprints difficult to find and use. I will be attending to this matter personally, and I will contact you again once I reach our project site in Tau-23. I will need to you to meet me there and show me the way to your home.

Until then Mr. Lovecrepe

Rick Gentry
Vice-President

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[Howard10]

To: Deep Space Engineering
From: Howard Lovecrepe; Freeport 10; Tau 37
RE: Construction Contract.
Sirius Security Encryption Rating: [color=#009900]High.

-TEXT FORMAT INBOUND-

Hello Mr Gentry.

This suits me and Freeport 10 perfectly. I will of course meet you at the Gate Construction Site as soon as you've signalled your presence there. But... Ah, well... Are you sure you wish to make the trip in person? The frontier is a very dangerous place for corporate workers after all, especially one of your stature. Also, we will be using 'non-Agiera sanctioned transport' so to speak. I hope this wont prove to be an issue?

~Howard Lovecrepe

[Dourden4]

CommID: Rick Gentry

Location: DSE Corporate Offices


You make a valid concern there Mr. Lovecrepe. In these troubled times, perhaps it would be prudent for me to stay in Liberty and see to the Companies affairs. I will be dispatching one of our construction vessels, Captained by David Owen, to Tau-23 Immediately and will inform you when he arrives.

Rick Gentry
Vice-President

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[Dourden4]

CommID: Rick Gentry

Location: DSE Corporate Offices


Mr. Lovecrepe, My apologies for the long delay in the processing of your construction request. I'm afraid a good deal of my engineers time was spent getting familiar with your stations architecture. I have now received the reports from my engineers and have taken the liberty of drafting up some things for your review.

To begin, My engineers have drafted up a diagram of the layout and distribution of the shield matrix's to be installed. Hopefully this arrangement will allow for greater protection and versatility in the defense of your home.



You will notice that we opted for several smaller, sectional shields versus one large all encompassing shield. Our thought was that with the sectional arrangement, you would better be able to react to any hostile encounter and you would be better able to defend critical areas during major assaults. Of course, each shield will run from its own separate power source and will be able to be turned on and off independently. Also each shield array will be tied into the others, allowing for strengthening of one shield at the expense of another.

Please inform me if you would like any changes made to this arrangement

Now on to the actual construction part of the contract. After careful review of the project, and taking into account the scale of this project, we have drawn up the following list of needed supplies.

Code:

-Shield Components-
Bio-Neural Processors- 30.000
Nanocapacitors- 50.000
Optical Chips- 10.000
Optronics- 42.000
Polymers- 175.000
Quantum MultiPlexors- 75.000
Superconductors- 150.000

-Shield Power Sources-
High Temperature Alloy- 95.000
Ship Hull Panels- 115.000
*Plutonium- 6.500 (for initial test runs only)
*Nuclear Devices- 4.500

-General Construction Supplies-
Robotic Components- 225.000

-Vital components-
*3 Battleship Positron Shield
*3 Battleship Graviton Shield
*3 Battleship Molecular Shield

Please note that these numbers reflect what we consider the best possible shield we can construct. The number of required materials can of course be modified as you see fit. As the shield can be altered to fit better into your vision of the shield and to remain within the budget your station hall has set out for you.

You will notice that we have suggested that we install three of each type of shield generator, rather than the one that we had originally discussed. We believe that this will make for a far more secure and stable shield system, thus providing much better protection from both point attacks and multiple angle attacks. The shield will however still be very powerful and withstanding should you choose a more cost-efficient layout.

The following personnel will also be required, but we will bring these personnel ourselves. These will consist of the required engineers and laborers we will need to construct the shield on schedule and to the highest quality standards. As we are aware the living quarters on Freeport 10 are rather limited, we will be required to house them on mobile units aboard DSE vessels.

Code:

-Misc-
Scientists 150
Spaceship Crew 700

Please review the above information and let us know if everything is satisfactory or if changes need to be made.

Now on to the financial section. I will list out the relevant charges and give you our estimate for the project.

Materials- Since you have stated that we are not required to bring the required materials, and that you will be subsidizing the delivery of them, no charge will be applied here.

Labor- 45 Million Credits

Hazard Pay- Due to the extremely dangerous nature of your area, with the high Outcast presence and other unknown hostile entities, a Hazardous Work Environment charge of 15 Million Credits will be applied. The report I received from my engineers of the unknown Hostile alien present when he arrived was troubling at best.

Misc/Unforeseen Expenses- Though I cannot assign an exact value to this subsection, I would like to add it just in case some problem or other situation arises that would require further payment from you.

Total- The known costs and expenses as of now total out to 60 Million Credits.


Again, Thank you for choosing Deep Space Engineering for your construction needs.

Rick Gentry
Vice President

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