A dock--Or Two

[James Justice]

Location: The Angel's Den, Dal'Bor, Soceras

Time: Night--that is all that matters



James sat back upon his throne of vice, savoring the sweet smell of tobacco that filled the air.For most a throne of Vice would have been a metaphor, however, for James this was a literal statement. As a sign of loyalty one of the lesser ganglords the spacer dealt with created this throne for him.Crafted from solid, guilded gold, it was massive, awe-inspiring, and a befitting sign of James' destructive, gawdy position of power.It sat upon a wide dais, overlooking a pit of pure sin.A pit of vice.A pit of pleasure.James allowed his senses to be assaulted by the infinite amount of pleasure, drinking it all in and feeling it through the Force itself.



This would be a night to savor and a night to remember.His wrist comm buzzed, he tapped the red light, an automatic message relayed through to the receptionist/bouncer at the entrance of the massive night club. The message was simple, "Send her in."

[member="Charzon Loulan"] ((Thank you for your patience ))

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Charzon had yet to manage a successful sale for the adjustable drydocks outside the units used internally. She prepared the holoprojector with the schematics of a fully retracted Sacul-class drydock, which she can cause it to extend or retract to the extent the real one will be. And she was used to dealing with all sorts of clients, ranging from the InterGalactic Banking Clan, for whom ships were a way to do honest business to Star Tours, whose practices are somewhat questionable in that they could mystify Factory Judges by cramming more cargo (in mass only though) and passengers than the Factory Judges gave Ringovinda StarYards approval for, and gouge money out the refugees' eyeballs. But Star Tours was doing it away from the One Sith's eyes; she ceased selling directly to the One Sith military or dark-sided Force-sensitive individuals after seeing what Star Tours could do with their ships.

But upon approaching the throne located somewhere within the nightclub where the client lies, she might think that her patience has paid off. She would think the nightclub's builders also worked on nightclubs on Nar Shaddaa or Coruscant; after all, she did see a nightclub or two on these worlds. Ringo Vinda was a little lacking in terms of nightclubs, even on the ring station, plus the surface was searing hot to many species, so the surface was sparsely inhabited by sentients, but the ring station was a lot colder, and held most of the planet's population. Upon approaching the throne...

"It has come to my attention that Justice Shipping may be able to do savings on maintenance if they have their own mobile drydock. With the Sacul-class drydock, you can extend and retract it in seconds, and have the drydock fit the ship, rather than the ship fitting the drydock, and you can also move it around in an emergency"

[member="James Justice"]

 

[James Justice]

[member="Charzon Loulan"]

The spacer smiled slightly as he heard the woman's sales pitch over the sound of the thumping club music. She didn't wait to get into business. While he respected that, the spacer was nothing if not pleasure-loving.

He waved one of his waitresses over,, "The usual for me and whatever the lady wants, on the house, " he paused to let his business associate make her order.

"I hope you find your stay at Dal'Bor pleasurable, we try to make this city a meca of hedonism," he said with a slight wave of his hand.

When the drinks arrived, James quickly drained his first glass, second, and began sipping on the third. Sometimes it paid to have two livers.

As he nursed his third glass, James turned his attention to--business. "Aye, I could use these docks. The only limit here be how many ye can make for me, how many are ye willing to shell out?"

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Tihaar, please" Charzon told the bartender that served the two.

After all, Ringo Vinda being close to Mandalorian territory, she got the chance to drink a lot of tihaar vintages. There was nothing like tihaar if she feels alcohol was part of the deal. But she also knew that Nar Shaddaa was the one place where one can shop for alcohol and find alcohol varieties from all over the galaxy, ranging from tihaar to Skye wine, champagne and also for the wealthy connoisseurs, the Corellian whisky. With tihaar, she knew better than to drink even half an ounce at once. She could tell that the tihaar she drank came from muja fruit. She tried the best she could to keep composure after drinking that much tihaar, but she did not have the resistance to alcohol the new landing gear lady had back on Ringo Vinda.

"You have to understand that these mobile drydocks are designed to service frigate-sized ships and larger. For 100 million apiece, we could sell you one Sacul-class drydock devoid of hyperdrive, for an extra 20 million, we could fit a class-4 hyperdrive on it. There may well be another version we could build of the mobile drydock for smaller ships, because what is for certain is that Justice Shipping has more than just capital ships frigate-size and larger."

These made the Saculs rather slow implements in hyperspace. Ringo Vinda found that, to make them faster, what was usually helpful to do would be to have a ship braced in it, and said ship, assuming its hyperdrive was operational, had them jump to hyperspace with the drydock in tow, with as little a penalty as possible. Trial runs with a Novroski-class ship indicated that, while under normal circumstances, a Novroski could achieve a 1.5 hyperdrive rating, with a Sacul in tow that had no hyperdrive on it, it could achieve class 3.

[member="James Justice"]

 

[James Justice]

[member="Charzon Loulan"]

James scratched his ear, thinking for a moment. 100 million was a lot, even for the Lord of Vice. Dal'Bor alone was worth that much plus a little extra perhaps. As of late his control had been.... teneous at best. But his holdings on the mines in Kessel and the beskar mines in mando space were Garnering some profit. Not as much as he would have liked but some profit.

"I'll make ye a counter offer," the spacer mused. "I want two big ones and three small ones for a hundred and a half mil, but," he held his hand up for a second, "In return I'll grant ye workspace in Soceras for a year tax free. Set up a factory or even just storage here. Since we are on the edge of Wild and Outer rim space it's prime real estate. Also our citizens work for less than most; a lot of them are former slaves getting their lives back after a rescue or such."
"Also I'll give ye a 30% discount on up to nine hundred tons of durasteel, mined by me own SocMinFed. After that, a perpetual 15% discount on all durasteel; valid for life.
"Lastly," James continued, "25% discount on our droids ordered from Metal Man Industrialized, as long as ye order 'em to make some of these here ships."

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Soceras being at the other end of the galaxy from Ringo Vinda, it would allow Ringovinda StarYards to be able to service ships at both ends of the galaxy. In credits alone, two Saculs and two Egroegs were worth 220 million without hyperdrive; operating one year tax-free over Soceras, 15% discount on all durasteel from them, that is, on all Soceras production, and 25% discount on droids from Metal Man Industrialized. The main question being that manning all five drydocks would require a rather sizeable quantity of droids. Hundreds, if not thousands, of utility and astromech droids. Unfortunately, Charzon is not well-versed in droid lore; all that she knew was that the main stuff was manned by droids and that the cost of the drydocks included the cost of some number of droids, in addition to tools, but if a client had specific models of croids in mind, Ringovinda StarYards shall honor their request.

"I'll take it that all five units will be hyperdrive-equipped, given the value of what you proposed me in addition to the price in credits. Plus the cost of the docks you just ordered includes a total of 2,800 droids. Before I allocate the allowance of droids into a breakdown of specific droid models, I'll start by reviewing Metal Man Industrialized's offerings. Usually it's someone else that shops droids back on Ringo Vinda but for the Soceras location, I will do it myself"

All that she knew about droid functions was that astromech droids were better suited for electrical and computer tasks, hardware and software in that case, and the remaining tasks (welding, plumbing, for instance) would probably be best left for utility droids. She was personally satisfied so long as the droids were reliable both in terms of work quality and in terms of maintenance, and did not question a choice in droids unless multiple failures at work or in maintenance could be traced back to the droid model. She isn't one to do droid maintenance, however.

[member="James Justice"]

 

[James Justice]

James took a long pull from his cigarette. Owing a droid company as a subsidiary did come with its perks--one of them being the capacity to make droids at will to meet pretty much any need a body could think up.

"I'm glad ye find me terms satisfactory," the spacer said dusting ashed from his light. "Aye, I'll want to man all of the ships with me own hands and droids. All of it working in with me pre-existing databases and systems and all."

The spacer licked his lips slightly, savoring the taste of his tobacco as he thought. A larger reason would of course be to keep his systems pure and free. It wasn't that he doubted this woman--or that he suspected her of being malicious. However, James had a number of enemies, most who were of no morals (or writing skills) and willing to stop at nothing in their petty rage.

"Another thing comes to me mind," the spacer continued, "What would ye say about repairs to these docks? Would ye be doing 'em or could me own mechanics cover that part?"

[member="Charzon Loulan"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Since about half the droid allowance that comes with the drydocks would be allocated to astromech units, I am kind of undecided between the K2, BB, M-series and D-series astromech units. Because Metal Man Industrialized would pre-load pre-existing databases and systems upon fitting each droid, it all seems to come down to the characteristics of the droids themselves. Nevertheless, I would let your own mechanics do repairs to the docks"

The other half would likely go to utility droids. The most likely candidates are the JW-series and the Y1-series. She might not be able to distinguish between droid models, which one was best suited for which environment and whatnot, and the same ratio between astromech and utility droids would be kept for the Ringovinda installation at Soceras.

"Also, the other half of the droid allowance would be allocated to utility droids. JW-series and Y1-series are the best suited I could find in the catalogue. I am not sure about which model is more suited to do what..."

Little did she know was that saving 15% on all durasteel would mean that, over the ships still under construction, as well as the drydocks ordered right here, she would save enough to build an Egroeg or two over at cost price with hyperdrive. At some point she would want a Sacul or two at that location as well, especially if that "mystery operator" for Operation Noah's Ark actually ordered not only one but multiple units of the ship that is currently undergoing a feasibility study. But that discount would not extend to alusteel or quadranium since Ringo Vinda was one producing world of these materials.

[member="James Justice"]

 

[James Justice]

James drained his glass and held it out indifferently. One of the waitresses standing by quickly snatched the glass up and another replaced it with a full mixed drink. The spacer took a sip before leaning forward again, it was the pinnacle of perfection.

"The JW is good at a lot of things, and more than that incredibly versatile," he gave a sweep of his arm, "but more than that, its good for maintenance. Every good soldier would want one in his barracks or workshop. You could say that the JW has a lot of skills already built, I have most of my mechanic staff on me ships replaced with em, but," he chuckled, 'I would keep em quite far from any form of alcohol ye could think of. Or anything that resembles alcohol."

The spacer took a slight puff on one of his cigarettes before continuing, "The Y1 is quite versitle, but in a different way. They grow, they change, they evolve over time--but, they dun't got much of an idea for danger, and eye, it takes time. Two different Y1s could have a totally different skill set; one could be a mechanic the other a computer worker. Its all a matter of the environment ye put it in. And how much ye are willing to let it break to figure it out," he gave another soft laugh at the thought.

"Be there anything else I can get arranged for ye? I recon we've ironed the details out quite strongly."

[member="Charzon Loulan"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

She settled on the JW-series for utility droids and the droid pods were separate from any supply of alcohol a drydock ever had. She knew that most organics working in drydocks would love nothing better than the opportunity to indulge in alcohol once in a while. But droids on drydock duty mostly remain confined to the assigned drydock, while they left a drydock mostly for maintenance. Now for the astromech droids. She remembers that R9 units were used much as they would astromech droids in a shipyard, that is, mostly for electric, electronic and computing tasks.

"Now I'm turning my attention to the astromech droids. How are the K2, BB, D-series and M-series different from the R9 units we use back on Ringo Vinda? How do they differ between each other?"

She was grateful for astromech droids and, without them, there would be a lot of instances where any given dockyard would be and she knew that a R9 unit takes longer to develop a personality than a K2 does, but that's about it beyond what she knew about the functions of a droid.

[member="James Justice"]

 

[James Justice]

Droids were one thing that James generally had no idea about, however these were astromech droids. The spacer's best friend or worst enemy. Not only was his old rust bucket Reed his closest ally and best friend from before things even ever began, but James knew he wasn't alone in that idea. So many other spacers were the same.

"Of the BB, M, D, and R9, I will be frank," the spacer gave a slight shrug, 'The R9 is the top model. the M and D are older, the BB is," he shook his head, "Anyway, your R9's will all around be ye best bet. They are strong on most all points. The D and M are pretty good--for their age. I sell the referbished units for those who like a taste of the classics but--well, they can't hold a candle in their state to the modern stuff. BB's are better but, well they are a civilian unit. All about the versatility but they won't handle like an R9. Being a military unit the R9 is going to be faster, have more back ups and fail safes; double wiring and triple, and they are gonna handle stress better.

"However," James sucked his cheeks in for a moment, "The K1 and the K2 are the most modern units ye are gonna find on the market," she could do her research on that, he was sure, and find it to be true, "They were made to be pretty well tasked, able to at least run on par with the R9, if not beat it in a gunny sack race, and they are quite able to hold their own, with our garruntee to be easy to work with or your money back. Any personality malfunctions we will gladly repair and replace."

[member="Charzon Loulan"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Now the allowance of droids is completely allocated: K2s for this order."

Even though the K2s were more expensive than R9s, a 25% discount on K2s would make them less expensive than fully-priced R9s. So the K2s weren't that much more expensive after all... But even with the bulk discounts Industrial Automaton gave out on R9s at that level, they were still within 5% of one another, which was acceptable. That client preferred MMI units to IA-manufactured R9 units, and that's understandable. But, for Ringovinda StarYards' Egroegs (and, in the future, Saculs) stationed over Soceras, R9s will still be used. She never complained about the utility droids, but at least the droids used back on Ringo Vinda worked, and she never heard about JWs or Y1s by anyone in the maintenance department as possible replacements because the maintenance department tended to keep droids as long as they could. After all, parts for utility droids were so common that only if a droid was destroyed would it be necessary to replace it.

"Just wait a few seconds while the contract is being printed"

Drydock contracts were quite a bit more complex because their cost covered the purchase of droids mounted within the price, as well as the option of hyperdrives. Whereas a contract for building starships would have taken up a couple of legal-sized pages, a contract for both Saculs and Egroegs was twice that length. However, the client was on their own for the maintenance of droids.

[member="James Justice"]

 

[James Justice]

James sat back without a care in the world. The plush fabric of the velvety leather on his throne seemed to massage into the very cells of his body. In truth, there were micro massage chips lining the surface, tending to his every whim. His eyes looked over the pit of pure ecstasy. He closed his eyes and let the wave of euphoria wash over him once more through the Force. The strobe and laser light show flickered with blinding blissfulness. Here in the Angel Den, Waiting was by far more pleasure than pain.

After the contract was produced the spacer produced a pen and signed off on it with a smile, "Glad I could be of service to you miss, feel free to explore and enjoy the city while ye are here. I dare ye to find a more pleasurable city in the galaxy," he waved one of the well polished female twe'liks standing by closer, "This is Ann Ray, she can be ye guide through the city if ye would like, show ye all the choice bars, clubs, restaurants, and spas in the city to ye desires if ye would like, miss."

[member="Charzon Loulan"]