Locals Silvan Argus (Dourden4) Yevan Pushkin (BlueSpawn) -- Drunk Timothy Rhyme (Dusty Lens) -- IND Rascal Dankien Moebus (moebus) -- Merchant Captain Mannock (Mannock) -- Humanitarian Mike Rotch (n00bl3t) -- Not a good guy to ask for by name in a bar. Tona of VE (exlibrismortis)
Out of Towners who're sticking around for a while.
Gheis Mace (Gheis Mace) -- OSI Supplier <strike>Daniel Saint-Clair</strike> (DarthBindo) -- Now working as a candy dish. Kal~el (Kal~el) - A Canarian gent with opinions. Nicholas Jurgen (Nicholas Jurgen) Jonzz (Jonzz) - Recorder, creepy type.
..:: End of Database ::..
Quote:Yevan Pushkin made his way through the rubble that was the Freeport 9. The station was damaged to such a degree that he could scarcely recognize the sights. There were leaking pipes. There were cabinets, wall lamps, and broken beams littering the floor of almost every hallway. Half of the station was without light, the other half without running water. When Yevan stepped inside the cafeteria he wasn't sure if he arrived at the right place until he saw a fellow Zoner drinking "Synth Sandwich in a Cup." Yevan stepped atop of a turned over container and grabbing a nearby bucket, raised it over his head and proceeded to bang it with a giant pasta spoon.
Ahoy. Everyone. Can I get your attention please?
Aherm. I apologize for disrupting everybody's meal. I think this is a good a time as any to start addressing our predicament. Yes, I know, things aren't going that great. The Corsair mob is at our doorstep. Our biodomes are gone. We're all hungry, thirsty, and in dire need of some cable tv. But we need to start working together and organize ourselves. I've been trying to get a head count of everybody in the building. So far I've got 14 folks including myself, and counting. Considering that the entire Zoner population of Theta and O-74 packed their bags and left, that's not so bad.
I have with me a few agenda items which I thought would benefit us to discuss. If you disagree or want to add something, please butt in at any time.
1) Resource Shortages
Because of our little biodome situation, the food supply is considerably low. We've got enough cans of SynthPaste by the looks of it to last us no more than a few days. Half of our pipes aren't working, so half of the station doesn't have running water. As of right now, we are in fact competing with the Corsairs for Food Rations, H2O, and good old oxygen. That probably means that we'll have to start making some kind of deals with other factions. I presume we ought to go to our Zoner brethren first. What with Corsairs shooting the Freeports, I doubt our brothers in TAZ and OSI will be bringing them any Synth Crispy treats anytime soon. That's good news for us but we need to put a move on it.
2) Damaged structures
We need a report on every major structure on the station. I managed to make a few basic records, but we need to know more about the building's condition, including: defense systems, water filters, solar panels, and so forth. I know that the Communication Array just shut down today and won't be repaired for another few days. We're cut off from the outside world as far as the neural net goes. That means that unless somebody pays us a visit or we step outside in a ship, we have no way of contacting anyone else. So if we want to start making deals and pleas for aid, we'll have to contact folks from a ship in space. Once you do that, come back here and report to everyone else what you've heard or managed to procure. That's only temperary until our satelites are back and running again.
3) Corsair madness
We've all heard reports of Corsairs wanting to dominate this turf. It's a mess but we've got to deal with it. Latest message addressing the station expressed Corsairs' interest in managing the station for military needs while allowing us to go with our lives. I don't know much truth there is in that and personally, I'm not sure I care. But I think we should all free associate about what we want to do here.
4) Spokesperson
Alright, this one's tricky. Sometime in the future we'll need to elect a spokesperson or persons to talk with the outside forces. I've no clue how to get this one to work except for the good old "democratic vote." We may not need a representative now but we'll have to get one at some point. It'll do us no good to send individual messages to the Corsair banditos.
5) Duties
If we're going to live here we'll need to start going about our dialy business. I propose that every one of us picks one single duty and sticks to it. The following positions are available to however many people want them: Technician, Medic, Merchant, and Defense Operative. Also, we may need at least one cook. I myself will take up defending the station as that is a priority for now. But we are in a dire need for experienced merchants who can sell and buy goods for the station. And we definitely need technicians to start putting this entire mess of a Freeport in order.
If anybody has any other agenda items they want to add to the list, please speak out. I've done enough talking for now.
//At this time, if you wish to post here, your character will need to land on the station.
Due to the fact I did not succeed to install mortars on my whale I will act as a trader to supply the station. That was my job to manage supplies of ZTC bases including freeport 9 so it will be easy to adapt old ZTC routes to the current situation. I note the zoners guard restriction will be annoying for supplying freeport 9 and it would be a good move if someone could negotiate with Rheinland to let the our zoners whales dock in their house space in order to buy these specific commodity food, water, oxygen, pharmaceutics and consumer goods (exact list of commodities need to be determined).
Finally I would say that I am not interested anymore to be involved directly in the negotiations. I let you handle the peace traitee with corsairs (if any is possible). And if they are taking part of the negotiations, I will remain loyal to Johann Boll, Charles Burns and James Ferguson and support all their decisions.
I think with my two ships, the doctors (24) and technicians (70) -these men and women are my crews- and products fresh from Gran Canaria can alleviate and improve the situation this week.
If necessary bring more, I have some known Smugglers (smart guys these Blockade runners) which could bring us everything we need.
Flying into a half destroyed hanger, Silvan Argus directed his ship to a small solid looking part of the hanger and set it down. Exiting his craft, a Spatial called Reprisal, he slowly picked his way through the wreckage that used to be his home. Making his way further into the ruined station, ha passed many storage rooms and burst bulkheads. Arriving at the cafeteria just as Yevan started talking, he waited and listened. Once Yevan had finished speaking he rose from the seat he had taken and spoke himself.
Greetings Mr. Pushkin and the other Zoners present. I am Silvan Argus, a resident here as well. While i thank you Mr. Pushkin for the frank assessment of the current situation, the assessment alone helps us little. Yes we know of the problems that face our Freeport. What we need are solutions. To use your checklist of items Mr. Pushkin, yes we must find some way of restocking on vital supplies. However, as you suggested using the TAZ or OSI as the shippers, i'm afraid i have to disagree with that assessment. While it may be true that they are no longer making shipments to Crete, it is also likely that this station is too close to Crete and Corsair Forces for any Zoner to attempt to bring us supplies. It is very difficult for myself, in my one ship to evade the Corsair forces, how would a transport or freighter do it? No, asking any Zoner to supply us is to ask them to die.
To your second point, Mr. Pushkin, our station does need extensive repairs. But i believe it would be fruitless and a waste of manpower and materials to attempt major repairs now. The sector is still a warzone, with this station at its core. We should do basic repairs to make this station livable, nothing more. It would not be a morale boosting sight to see something we just spent weeks fixing be blasted into space dust by a battle raging outside. So complete repairs will have to take a backseat for now.
Now then Mr. Pushkin, your third and fourth points are by far the most relevant at this time. For without a resolution to the situation with the Corsairs, nothing else can happen. No one will risk suppling this station, our repairs will just be destroyed again. We must also decide where we stand in this conflict. We have a unique view of this war though, as our home stands to be obliterated. Will we fight, as our Zoner brethren do, and likely lose our home forever? Or do we attempt a peaceful end to our problem. i dont claim to be a far knowing and far reaching individual, but i know that know matter what we do here the rest of the Zoners are likely to continue their war. The question to us now is this: Is it our war? Now you have referenced a transmission with the Corsairs, and i will state that that transmission is real. I was previously engaged with the Corsairs in diplomatic negotiations to save our home. Now that you are here, and are willing to stand and be heard, we can communicate with the Corsair Empire as a unified voice, as one station instead of one person. If you all wish it, i will inform you of the details of the agreement i was drafting with the Corsairs.
Mr. Pushkin, your fourth point is of utmost importance. A representative must be appointed immediately for any productive progress to be made. You speak on this topic as though this can be set aside. This must be done first! Who will negotiate deals for resources we need? Who will speak with any outsider that wished to discuss matters of importance? A leader must be elected immediately. Else our station and our own lives will not last long. How long do you think the Corsairs will wait before they come to claim this station? The situation with the Corsairs should very high on our priorities list.
As too the topic of individual duties, i also disagree with you here as well. I believe that at this time, it is more beneficial to all of us involved to work together and undertake any task as a whole group rather than as an individual.
Having said his piece, Silvan sat back in his seat and waited for the replies to his statements.
Dankien, my friend, I would like to see if you can contact the OSI or TAZ in space. Ask them how dangerous it would be to bring Freeport 9 Food, Water, and Oxygen. If they think it's too dangerous, then I think we'd all understand. Otherwise, those goods would be very much appreciated. We have only a few days before our oxygen supply runs out.
Mr.Argus, I think you bring up a number of good points. I suppose delegating a spokesperson will be paramount to our success. I would like to wait a while and see what other folks at this Freeport have to say. We will need to decide carefully when casting our vote, so I think it's important that we find out more about other survivors. In relation to our duties, I still think that focusing on one will be more than enough. But, if you wish to multitask, by all means. That kind of talent is going to be mighty useful around here.
On the topic of Corsairs, I have very little to say. The situation has definitely gone out of hand. But we're stuck with what we have and I'm not going to spend time talking about the past. At present, the Corsairs want Freeport 9. They want to control it, to rename it, to subdue it, and to use it for military operations. When this happens, every enemy to the Corsair Empire, and perhaps any faction that is not of use to them, will be prohibited from docking on this station.
Now, let's assume the very best, which is that the Corsairs want nothing more than to stage attacks on their enemies. Even granting that will not be easy. SCRA, Outcasts, RHA, and GMG have risked their lives protecting our people. If we turn around and let the Corsairs use our Freeport as a base of operations, we'll be trading one enemy for another. Only this time, not only will we be facing opposition from a single faction, but an entire enclave of enemies scattered across Sirius. Our brothers and sisters in Freeports far and away will suffer at the hands of factions we may piss off.
So here is what we are left with. The Corsairs will not budge unless we deliver Freeport 9. And we cannot deliver it to them. So we are at a stalemate, unless somebody can come up with a brilliant alternative.
Silvan leans forward with a bemused look upon his face
Mr. Pushkin, I will agree we should hold off on selecting a representative, for a while. This matter should not wait long.
He drew in a long breath
Now as to the Corsairs and the situation at hand. You sir, claim you do want to speak of the past, yet you foolishly cling to the ideals and thinking of the former Zoner Alliance. The Freeports are not a united nation. Our actions here concern us and our Freeport. Not any other. If the citizens of another freeport fall victim to attacks based on actions we take to protect our home and our livelihood, that is their problem and not mine. Why should i care for the troubles of some man in Tau-37? Or why should i care if another Freeport chooses to work with their closer neighbors? To my thinking, our working closer together with the local peoples, rather than those around the sector is perfectly logical. Tell me Mr. Pushkin, Who would you throw a steak to first? The Lion at your feet or the Lion a mile away? By the logic you have presented, we would cut the steak in half, and attempt to keep both lions at bay. All that would accomplish is you being eaten because both lions are still hungry. Im not saying that we should buddy up to the Corsairs, but they dont want the station for having the station. They only want a way to control their enemies entrance into a system that is close to and directly links to there home. and i for one think that if that is what it takes to gain peace, we should be open to discussion. As to this 'stalemate' you speak of, it does not exist. As you put it, We cannot give them the Station, but they are perfectly capable of taking it. The combined fleet arrayed against the Corsairs, while an impressive feat, as thus far been unable to much of anything. The majority of Zoners have fled and in doing so have left this station and this system to the wiles of the Corsairs. The only thing standing between the Corsairs and this station is us. We are too few to hope for victory through battle. Our only option is through diplomacy, and to ensure our survival and the survival of this station we will have to give something. That something will have to decided upon, and soon. The Corsairs will not wait forever. If a way can be found to satisfy all parties involved, Im all for accepting that. But unitl then, I only want to safeguard my home.
He took the Kujira through another slow lap around the station, The Hand banking slightly to afford him a better view of the battered station that lay beyond the port. Freeport Nine simply looked... Naked, for lack of a better term, sans the domes that he had once been able to discern long before the gentle spire of the station proper came to view.
That same station proper now lay before him in a state akin to a bloody ruin. Some sections lay open to space while others lay dark, the remnants of the support struts that once held the biodomes jutted into space like broken bones, occasionally spewing small jets of atmosphere.
It was a wrenching sight, only slightly more so than the lack of apparent parking space.
A quick scan revealed no open mooring platforms which would be capable of housing his vessel, indeed ships were tied beam to beam to form raft chains attaching to what avaiable portals there were. If he was going to find parking to unload the cargo he had brought from the core he was going to need to find someone willing to vacate a spot. Given that the airspace control was dead silent he figured he would need to make the request by tapping them on the shoulder.
It was a lovely enough day for a space walk.
The Hand was moored, as best as could, not far from the southernmost pole of the station. Near a crater which had once marked the location of his own residence. He could make out the caved ruins of what had once served as the cherished window adjacent the bed of his adolescence.
When is a door not a door? When it's a hole blown in the wall.
Navigating the dimmed corridors wasn't a terrible challenge. Much of the damage, it seemed, was superficial. While the halls were depressurized the structural obstacles were avoided easily enough, leading eventually to a series of access tunnels which would take him to the station proper. He had utilized them often enough to know the way upside down and in the dark. Good thing too.
While the voices of the mid deck promenade rang out against the otherwise ghostly silence of the station, they were a pale comparison to the life of motion which usually flowed through the market decks of nine. He made his way to one of the communal cafeterias, removing his helmet as he went, something he would immediately regret. The air was stale and stank of sweat and fuel.
"Right, hey gents. I've got a rig up top loaded with beans, power and bandaids. When we're all done with our bit of goings on I could use a parking spot to unload supplies." Rhyme said with a sad smile "Oh yeah, not sure if I like what you did with the place.".
"SynthPizza chips, Mama's Noodles with Veal powder," said Yevan while looking at the manifest. "Hot damn, Mr.Rhyme, I do believe we're going to have a feast tonight."
"Now," Yevan said while feeling around in his pant pockets," Where did I put that keycard?"
Couldn't tell you, though I could suggest it can wait. Unloading the goods that is. I think the lot of us can hold out for another couple of hours whilst we get our bit of talking under control. Plus, to be fair, I'd want to take a look around the storage centers before I started to commit our goods to them.
He sniffed.
Though we might want to give strong consideration to bringing some of the more robust transports around and seeing if we can't rig up their environmental systems to Nine, at least until we've regained some semblence of atmosphere here abouts.
I don't mean bringing down my blues... Though now that I think about it some tunes might not be a half bad idea.
So, ah, right. What's going on. You know. In general. Not, you know, station being blown to hell and Corsairs so on. That part I know about. What's the next step. I've got a hole in the side of my apartment and I think it's too big to cover with a plastic tray.
Yevan scratched his 12 o'clock shadow and looked about his surroundings as if expecting to see something new. "Seems a lot of folks have taken their sleeping bags to just about anywhere that hasn't been blown into space. Abandoned offices, tower control rooms, hallways, the kitchen downstairs, this mess hall, the child care center, you name it. Pick a spot cos it's as good as any."
"Well," Yevan added, "except for that corner of the cafeteria with the two blankets. There's a couple celebrating their honeymoon. Yeh, I wouldn't go there unless you've got a good pair of headphones. Not gonna get much sleep. No sir, not with those two."
"Right. Herm. Where as I? Oh yes. Next step. Okay, you pick a spot, make the best of it and in the meanwhile, we're going to try to get some basic repairs done on the things we need: like running water. We have 2 of the 3 working toilets right here in the cafeteria -- which is why most everybody's camping down here."
"I like your thinking about hooking up some of those fancy transports. No reason for them just to idly park like they're at a supermall. What I'd also like to do is see if we can take some of our lesser transports and search them for parts we can use. Right now we need a lot of gadgets to fix solar collectors. We need that self sustaining power. Thankfully, the backup cells are working, so once we get excess energy we can start saving it up for the next damn Corsair raid -- whenever in the hell that happens."
"Oh, right, before I forget. We're going to need a good deal of hull panels to start patching up the station. Yeah. I know. I know. Silvan says we shouldn't be waisting our time repairing what's gonna get bombed to hell come next Corsair powwow. But if we don't start reinforcing the station, the next time our Hispanian friends pay us a visit the only thing left of the "Nine" is gonna end up on a postcard for the Junkers."