Blythe Blackwell <|> James Hollywood

[The Remnant]

Belmont Butchers Transmission

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Recipient(s): -James Hollywood-
Sender: <|> Blythe Blackwell <|>
Location: <|> Dark Matter Interference <|>
Subject: <|> Warship Acquisition <|>

Hello there.

It seems there's someone down in that backwater worth my time after all. I haven't seen a dude with a proper beard in fucking AGES. Everyone runnin' around these days seems to be prime prison wife material.

I don't know who the hell Rose is, but now it seems you're working with me. Blythe Blackwell, BB if I like you. Former max security inmate on the Attica Supermax, leader of the Belmont Butchers and the uh.. leftovers, from the old man's time.

Not the point.

I haven't made up my mind yet, as I mentioned my boys are pretty busy up in Galileo and northern Liberty, so I'm not sure what "favors" we can help you with. However, it would be a bit foolish of me to choose the former or the latter without first hearing what your proposal is.

Gimme the deetz.

~ BB ~

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[UN]- The Unioners]

>> INCOMING TRANSMISSION

-[RECIPIENT: Mister Blackwell of the Belmont Butchers
-[SENDER: Direktor James Hollywood, The Unioners
-[SOURCE: Pacifica Base, Bering

----- <RE:Warship Acquisition> -----

[ LOG ]

[ IMG ]

The bearded man proudly scratched his beard while smiling.

"Good evening Mister Blackwell.
I sure do appreciate your acknowledgment of this ol' thing. It took me five years of solitary confinement at Mecklenburg Prison to finally get it thick enough. But enough about that; let's get to business.

I'm more than glad that you chose the second option since I was kind of in the mood to make new allies. I noticed I never introduced myself properly. My name is James Hollywood. I sort of run the show when it comes to Unioners. Well, when it comes to most of them at least. So about the second option. This 'favor'. You could consider it proof of trust.

You see I'm currently workin' on a certain deal, with a certain faction. I think this specific deal will be incredibly beneficial for the Unioners in the sector. So much so that I am willing to agree to the other party's terms. Which may or may not result in the other party's prohibitions on our assaults on Xenos in the Bering system. I mean... our 'assaults' aren't ACTUALLY assaults but more of a defensive maneuver. However, that's not the point.
The point is that I know that we will have to honor this certain agreement we are about to make and those damned Xenos will continue to assault our supply convoys in Bering and I can't have that happening.

This is where you come in. There are two ways to go about this problem. Either you can perhaps provide me with some useful information on the Xenos, that I could use to eliminate their presence in Bering OR you can go cause them some trouble somewhere else so that they'll have to reposition their fleets away from my precious cargo.

You can of course choose option C and provide your own solution to my problem. But that's about it. If you can help me solve this I'll have the engineers at Pacifca cook you up a brand new Hel for the standard price and I might even throw in some extras just for you.

You seem like a reasonable man, Herr Blackwell. I think this can be the start of a mighty alliance.

Stay safe out there. I hope I'll hear from ya soon."

The speaker leans towards the camera as the stream ends.

TRANSMISSION COMPLETE <<

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[The Remnant]

Belmont Butchers Transmission

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Recipient(s): -James Hollywood-
Sender: <|> Blythe Blackwell <|>
Location: <|> Dark Matter Interference <|>
Subject: <|> Option BB <|>

Information, huh.

That's not particularly difficult.

The Xenos of Barrow are poor, sobby, dirty little gremlins that have to fight for their right to exist in that system between our boys from Dawson ripping them up at the gap, the Bounty Hunters that set up shop, ambitious navy border patrols, and logistical strain. So I'm not particularly sure what Xenos are doing in Bering, since the only reason they had a presence there previously was due to Junkers and the hair-brained rape of Freeport Two by the Trium-whatever that was going on at the time between the old pack, your old.. party? and the Seppies.

Then there's the loss of Nome to the Kepler storm that FUCKED the Northerners something fierce, then there's the invasion of Pennsylvania that cramped their supply lines even more with whatever cesspool of a depot they got there, if they even have one. THEN there's the sudden invasion of Ontario that kicked off almost a year back now, forcing the main Xeno population to weather the occupation of two separate battlegroups locking up the easiest entry into the system, virtually cutting them off from everything but outside help.

To get to the point I'm trying to make. The Xenos are FUCKED right now, and aren't going to be bothering you any time soon. So I would actually give you advice in this regard if you want them to leave you alone.

Don't kick a man when he's down.

If they win in Ontario, they'll have just produced a bunch of ships that they'll probably come glass Pacifica with if you crippled them somehow. If they lose in Ontario, they'll have nothing left but sheer hatred and scorn, and will throw whatever they have at you anyway. Lose - Lose.

I'd say your cargo is pretty safe, Hollywood.

~ BB ~

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Transmission terminated

[UN]- The Unioners]

>> INCOMING TRANSMISSION

-[RECIPIENT: Mister Blackwell of the Belmont Butchers
-[SENDER: Direktor James Hollywood, The Unioners
-[SOURCE: Pacifica Base, Bering

----- <RE:Warship Acquisition> -----

[ LOG ]

[ IMG ]

The man smiled at the camera appearing slightly creepy.

"Evenin' Blackwell.
So you're sayin' that if I don't poke the nest I won't get stung? Huh. So it turns out the news don't reach these parts as fast as one would think. Fair enough I guess.

The only thing I'm concerned with is that the Xenos would distract my escorts. See I have some precious cargo I need to get to the Sigams and since it is of great importance I need it to be safe.

Anyways. Should you promise to keep me posted on info like this in the future; I'll consider your part of my special little request fulfilled.

So about our part. How do you want to do it? It'll take us some time to get all the materials and put together a ship. If you want to speed up that process you can perhaps provide some of the materials yourself if you're in the mood for shipping. If not we'll get the materials ourselves and you can wire the credits to one of our accounts when you have the time to do so.

In the meantime, you can come by Pacifca and take a look at the progress on your ship any time you like. Or you could drop by the bar and we can grab a few Rheinbiers. I'm sure a man like you gets tired of drinking that piss they call Liberty ale."

Hollywood laughed at his own joke.

"So that's about it I guess. If you have any questions or requests feel free to let me know.
Safe skies mate."

The speaker leans towards the camera as the stream ends.

TRANSMISSION COMPLETE <<

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[The Remnant]

Belmont Butchers Transmission

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Recipient(s): -James Hollywood-
Sender: <|> Blythe Blackwell <|>
Location: <|> Dark Matter Interference <|>
Subject: <|> Hel Yeah <|>

Cool.

As I said before my boys are occupied up in Galileo, and I'll need to time to work the pick-up force necessary into the time table with all the other stuff we got going on. Meaning that the construction of the Hel taking longer without us making shipments is perfectly fine. To make sure my ship remains at the top of the Yard's list, I'll round you number up from two-point-six to three-bigs-solid.

Now to speak on the "customizations" you offered if I chose the second option.

I need the Core, Engine, Bridge, Crew stations and quarters given INTERNAL, not external, lead-lined alloyed plating, don't worry about the connecting tunnels. I'm aware this will cramp space a bit, but that's fine. I'll be modifying the vessel's hull later to make proper use of it. Now here's the weird part. I need you to construct an additional engine block situated atop and centered over the first two, routed to the same engine and given a thruster of its own. Normally stress on the engine like that would cause a catastrophic failure, but it will remain inactive until we get it shipped north to Belmont Yard.

We can do the rest of the modifications ourselves after we take it off your hands.

Let me know where you want the payment wired.

Ciao.

~ BB ~

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