Being Common is Fleeting

[Kay-Larr]

It had been some time since the CSA had contacted [member="John Ash"] for new additions to their existing contract. That is until now. Earlier in the week Kay had sent word to the man himself to come by to discuss everything from ships to orbital stations. In these tense times, she needed whatever help she could get, and first and foremost on her mind was to seek out the companies that have already done both her and the CSA well.

John's was one of the first that came to mind.

Her office in the Royal Palace in Chasin City was the designated meeting place. Tea, brandy and other refreshments were prepared for them, and her datapad was set to showcase some of what she already had, as well as a few ideas on what she was hoping for.

Now all that she had to do was wait for his arrival.

 

[John Ash]

Over the years, Ashhearth Industries had seen a boom in growth. This was due partly to acquiring the Pii System and partly to key contracts made early on. One such contract was the one signed with the Commenori people when the Lark class fighters first came out. In fact the first batch and sale was to them. But as well as the company was doing, John wanted it to grow even more. His ambitions for his sector of the galaxy demanded more credits and deals flowing into his company and the Ashhearth Association. Credits are King for John and if there was one thing that the Commenori had it was credits.

Arriving after everything had been set up and readied, John got out of his personal shuttle. He was wearing a nice business suit. That was not so unusual for him, but what was unusual was the lack of a weapon him. Normally he would carry a pistol and vibroknife with him hidden somewhere on his person. The reason he did was because he didn't trust anyone he didn't know well and tended to be in some rather dangerous places. But that wasn't the case here. Even if he didn't trust the Commenori, he knew they wouldn't try to do anything. Last thing they needed right now was to lose a company supplying them ships. So he couldn't trust them but he could trust their need for his company.

John looked around a bit then turned to his secretary, @Emilia Dulane . " Got the information on our company's updated products list?" The company didn't have their products publicly known yet. He had just never gotten around to it, and it helped to surprise people when he did pull products off the list to show to clients. Going in blind tended to make the reveals seem more surprising. A little tip he picked up from Kaerve. The old Devoran might be working under him now, but John still had a lot to learn from the old man. He leaned in close to Emilia's ear and whispered, " If you get a chance to slice their files do it. More to work with the better."

After he finished speaking, John leaned away and straightened out his jacket. Royalty. It was always annoying to work with them even if they were pleasant, which [member="Lady Kay"] was widely known for being. The problem was they just couldn't really relate to people who lived in and grew up on the streets. No matter. Her credits were as good as anyone else's and that was all that mattered. He knew they would pay too and uphold their deals. That was all he needed to know to motion for his secretary to follow him then start heading into the palace.

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

The Commenor Systems Alliance. A relatively peaceful, quiet nation. She had only heard good, great things about it - wages were high, it's people well taken care of, crime was rarely small. At least the crime that was known to them, anyway. In either case, she accompanied [member="John Ash"] as his secretary to meet with the High Queen of Commenor - [member="Lady Kay"]. Emilia was fairly excited about the whole thing - she had been on several of his business trips as an assistant, but she had never met a member of royalty before.

In either case, the Pantoran wore a dark blue dress with a white collar with a simple, black purse on her side. Her hair put into a neat, professional bun. The purse held a datapad and a connector. She had no weapons on her. She saw no reason too - the Commenor weren't known for violence or attacks. They were economical pacifists. Or at least, that's what her research indicated.

She took a glimpse around the area they exited from John's personal shuttle. She gave him a nod. "I do," she patted her purse with the datapad inside. It contained all updated information on Ashhearth products. It included even holotape samples of them in action. Not all of them, but some. It helped to give a good presentation, after all.

Emilia grinned as John asked her to slice their files - if she could. Maybe she could ask to go to a restroom. It may be a bit hard to do so in a place like this - royal guards, the meeting area, etc. She would try though. "I'll see what I can do. Might be a bit hard here, though," she whispered back to him. With that, she began to follow John into the palace.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Both [member="John Ash"] and [member="Emilia Delane"] were greeted at the gate by security. Their ID's were noted and verified through the system before being checked for weapons. It wasn't as though they two were considered a threat, especially on their own. But it was policy.

The two were brought over to Kay's office, escorted by a few uniformed guards. The atmosphere wasn't intimidating at all, but quite relaxed. They had yet to be at war, so there was no reason for security to be super tight.

Kay was seated in one of her comfy chairs, wearing just simple slacks and a blouse. There was really little need to wearing gowns day in and day out. She liked to be comfortable. Who wouldn't? She got to her feet and set down her tea to greet her two guests. "Welcome to Commenor. Glad that you could make it. Please have a seat and help yourself to anything to snack on or drink if you'd like."

 

[John Ash]

The trip to meet with [member="Lady Kay"] was much like the last time for John years ago. The atmosphere was calm. Too calm. Did the guards pay no attention to danger? Unprofessional mynocks. It would get people killed one day. DIdn't matter to him though. He had a meeting to worry about and products to try to sell. As glanced over at [member="Emilia Delane"] to see what her thoughts were on the situation. A former agent turned secretary might have a different opinion from a former mercenary turned executive.

The Queen was waiting for them in casual wear. It might be casual but it obviously was quality and expensive. She may or may not have none that. John had no idea what royalty thought on things. Never been his place or job to. He entered though and walked over to her. Offering his hand for a shake, he said, " Queen Kay. Pleasure to meet you again. This is my personal secretary Emilia Delane." He waited for her to shake his hand or not. Now was a good chance for Emilia and Kay to chat. Both were obviously more social than he was.

John took a seat and looked over her selection of drink. He turned his attention back to Kay and said, " What can Ashhearth Industries do for Commenor this time? Looking to increase the volume of your order? Our product list has expanded since the last time. Might have something your people need." Time to find out what this was all about now. Commenor was an interesting client. Where most large factions would be after military ships and vehicles there was a good chance the Commenori would be after civilian assets. That was what happened during their last contract after all. No matter what they wanted though, Ashhearth Industries could supply it.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay took hold of [member="John Ash"] 's hand and gave it a firm, yet soft shake. She then nodded to [member="Emilia Delane"] before retaking her seat.

"My borders have expanded much since you were last here. So my orders will need to be increased. I had heard rumours that your company has also expanded.
So please, show me what new products you have available." Right now Kay was purchasing a lot from companies. Blockades had a tendancy to do that. She needed to be sure that she would be able to continue her economy and not get choked off. So there were a variety of steps that needed to be taken. This was just one of them.

 

[John Ash]

Expanded borders meant an increase in spending for factions. It meant increased income for a company that sold to them. This was good news to hear. John just waited for [member="Lady Kay"] to tell him what she wanted. All he got was a request to see their expanded product list. Not terrible, but it certainly didn't give him much information to work with for the sale. Didn't matter though. The interest in their products alone was good enough for now. He could always try to see what else she might want as it went on.

Motioning for [member="Emilia Delane"] to share the holopad with Lady Kay, John said, " Along with the Lark class starfighters that you already are using, Ashhearth Industries has added on two new combat ships to our product list. The Tern class bomber and Kestrel class corvette. The Tern class is a mass produced bomber. Like the Lark class it is fairly standard, but unlike normal bombers it is better suited to skirmishing and dog fighting. It requires less of an escort for this reason and so you can get away with more fighters devoted to other objectives. It isn't the best at maneuvering and dodging though, so your pilots need to have the grit to press forward." As he spoke demonstrations of the Tern class in action during tests played for Kay. If she knew anything about ships then she would see what he was talking about happening.

John waited a bit so she had time to take the bomber in. Once her interest seemed to move on, he had the Kestrel class pulled up. He said, " The Kestrel class is different from both the Lark and Tern class. It is a corvette firstly so your first tier of capital ships and it is limited in its production. A standard corvette can not fight it head on. Starfighter, bombers, and even some frigates can not fight it head on. This ship was designed to punch holes into whatever it is sent after. It can also take a hit if the enemy's targeting system can lock onto it, which it has a jammer system built into it to interfere with that. It comes with laser and ion turrets, missiles, torpedoes, and a turbolaser. If you need an aggressive ship then this is it. It has no hangar so is unable to bring in an escort squadron with it or even house shuttles, but you shouldn't have a problem so long as you have other ships with it."

It was a lot of fleet talk. John wasn't sure if Kay knew anything about that, but it was always better to say it and not be understand than not say it and look like a fool. With that he sat back to hear what she had to say. They were not offering up any large combat ships that most groups were so proud to throw around. What they had to offer was the work horses of the fleeting world that got the job done and made sure the big ships didn't get eaten alive.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay took the holopad in hand and took a look at each of the demonstrations. She didn't know a lot about every class of ship, that much was true. But she knew enough to get by. Years of making comtracts with the likes of people such as [member="John Ash"] had taught her a thing or two.

The features on her face hardened as she watched the demonstrations, imagining the different scenarios that could soon be taking place. Her pleasant disposition was fading as of late. All of those that were close to her were out of reach and in places unknown, her inner circle scattered throughout the Galaxy. Now she felt isolated and was doing her best to prepare her people to survive.

Commenor Survives.

It always has and always will.

"Both would compliment my fleets well. I have a feeling that we'll be needing them soon. What else do you have available?" Of course she'd pay extra to quicken production if she had to.

 

[John Ash]

It seemed that [member="Lady Kay"] liked what she had to hear about the new Ashhearth Industries ships. It seemed it would fill in a gap they had in their fleets, but it was also followed up by a question of more. That was a bit of a problem. The company hadn't expanded too far into the area of combat vessels yet. There wasn't much need with most of their sales going into their civilian products. Everyone needed medical ships and vehicles as well as vessels to carry their goods after all. This could pose a problem to the sale.

John frowned slightly but quickly moved to address Kay's question. " We have three kinds of medicals ships available now and two kinds of medical vehicles. We have a line of balanced speeder bikes that can be used for combat or just for patrolling. If you want more combat ships, we don't have any more. Our focus has been on civilian vessels and we are just starting to look towards expanding our military roster. If there is a specific kind of ship you want we can always do custom jobs. Currently we can handle up to cruiser class ships for combat needs."

With that said, John waited for her response. They had gotten an order out for a custom line of cruisers for a banking company recently so they had some idea of how to go about making a large vessel. They had also gotten out some medical carriers. Large ships wouldn't be a problem. The only problem was he didn't have anything more to offer that wasn't at the earliest stages of planning. As quickly and often as his designers went through prototypes, he would never offer up one for sale. That was bad business and asking for trouble in the long term.

[member="Emilia Delane"]