Brinks in space

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Knowing that banking in general is an industry where clients need to store valuables, and sometimes transport them from one place to another, Charzon contacted Also, she sensed that, due to the huge value of the valuables being transported, and their highly variable volume from one voyage to another, she saw the opportunity to sell a ship that can be adapted from a voyage to another. She first shook hands with Mr. Porgata before talking about what she came to the IGBC headquarters for.

"Dear Mr. Porgata, I am happy to have opened a bank account with the IG Banking Clan; now that I understand that banking often requires safe transportation of valuables from a system to another, I have come here to present an armored transport that can be modified to suit the needs of a voyage, whether it is people or valuable goods. After all, the clients often come to a bank for safe storage of their items of values"

[member="Lan Porgata"]

 

[Lan Porgata]

The IGBC headquarters on Muunilinst were something of a marvel, the sleek architecture and cutting edge security measures integrated so seamlessly together. Lan rather felt as if the massive complex were more familiar to him than his own home but then again, he had spent a majority of his adult life working long hours for the InterGalactic Banking Clan and that dedication had paid substantial dividends as he had risen to become the Chairman. His days were less now of the exhaustive calculations and monitoring of the various financial markets and more along the lines of growing the name and prestige of the IGBC back to the days of old before his ancestors made disastrous deals with the Emperor that lead to the nationalization of the banks.

Those days were safely several centuries behind them and now the future of the IGBC rested in his hands. To that end, he smiled graciously at Charzon as he welcomed her to his offices high up in the tower overlooking Harnaidan.

"Indeed, we have need of ships from time to time. Please, have a seat and tell me some more about your business. There are established shipwrights far and wide in the galaxy. What made you decide to fill this niche?"

His demeanor calm and inviting, he took a seat around a small round table in his office, a tray of tea and caf for refreshment. He poured himself a caf, silently asking if she would also care for one.

[member="Charzon Loulan"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Oh, please do." Charzon told Lan, as Charzon is offered a vessel of delicate porcelain to put the caf being served in it.

Charzon found that the seat was rather plush and she fell into the comfort that seat provided. The IGBC headquarters ended up being a maze for her, and the comfort of Lan's office ended up being a lot more than merely refreshing. Spacious vaults, endless spaces filled with cubicles, ledgers, computing equipment made her dizzy and the caf was just what she needed to remove the dizzyness. And she would also like a caf to be served, too. Just that Charzon may have to wonder what exactly can this product do that may be of use for the IGBC. After a sip of caf from a delicate porcelain vessel, she finally found her words.

"I can assure you, most products offered by other shipwrights have some flaws; the product I am here for, offered by Ringovinda StarYards, can preserve the structural integrity of even highly delicate valuables in less-than-ideal conditions, which most ships sold in that segment can only do at low speeds, speeds that are often too low for effective evasive maneuvers. Plus I understand that shipments of valuables are highly valuable from a shipment to the next, and you may use only as much space in the cargo hold as needed for a particular shipment; it is easier to preserve the structural integrity of cargo if there is as little free space in the cargo hold as possible, even if properly packed"

She is left wondering whether rival products can convert cargo holds into passenger cabins (and vice-versa) as quickly as hers...

[member="Lan Porgata"]

 

[Lan Porgata]

"So you have not had to sacrifice maneuverability for your security measures. I must confess, upon looking over your initial designs, I had not thought the modifications would prove feasible in a real world prototype but your test numbers are very reassuring. Beyond the needs of IGBC, do you have a market for your vessels?"

Lan had done his homework, on her and the ships in question that she had come to pitch him. His questions about her business were necessary to him. Muuns calculated risks. If he found her product to be invaluable to the IGBC in the operation of their daily business, he would also want to be sure that the company had a going concern and that his business would be able to acquire the ships as his own business grew.

There was nothing worse than having a preference for a particular product and find the only manufacturer has gone out of business.

"Your design ability to reconfigure the hold is impressive indeed. I know there were several older Republic era designs that featured that prominently however they lacked your speed and handling. What's the crew needed and how much can be automated?"

[member="Charzon Loulan"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"On the point of automation. For a ship this massive, assuming that the entire volume capable of housing payload was a cargo hold, it can be operated with a skeleton crew of 10. Plus the potential clients for the vessels often seem to do shipping in dangerous areas, mainly in routes known to cross pirate nests. As for crew requirements, the main variable to consider is the amount of space devoted to passengers vs. cargo. Outfitting a ship for passenger transportation would require more crew, but hopefully no more than 90-100 even with the full capacity of 1,700 passengers onboard, because you find that, while Muuns may be just fine to have droids serve them, other species may be more reluctant"

It wasn't designed to fit a Banking Clan-specific need, but certainly the Banking Clan could have a use for this. Charzon has at best a basic understanding of spacecraft mechanics, that was hard-earned to her, and she decided not to go into the more pedantic or rebarbative details, however tempted she might be to pitch all the absurd amount of features the ship has. She showed some restraint, but she nevertheless told him the truth about the ship.

"You were probably referring to these communications ships when you mention older Republic-era designs, or should I say, Clone Wars-era, that could reconfigure the hold and still have the same security features as my product, but these communications ships were, as you said, a lot slower and a lot less maneuverable, as well as consuming a lot more fuel. Plus these ships are a lot more skeletal; their usable cargo hold volume is nearly the same as what I have to offer. Oh, of course, you could buy multiple units of my ship for the cost it would to acquire just one of these communications ships"

[member="Lan Porgata"]

 

[Lan Porgata]

Lan nodded as she explained the design elements of her product line, following along on his tablet as she pointed out various features and the useable cargo space. They were heavily armored, they were not slow but there were other matters to consider as well.

"What about cost of ownership? Are we going to be looking at increased operating costs for fuel and maintenance? Also, what are the defense capabilities should the ship be attacked? Are there weapons configurations or do we need to deploy escorts?"

She was impressing Lan with her presentation, that was for sure. She handled herself and his questions with ease, confidence in her company and herself evident in her words and tone. She was not flustered to be meeting the Chairman of the IGBC and that bode well for the business relationship they were building.

[member="Charzon Loulan"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Oh, fuel and maintenance costs. I can assure you these ships will not require any more maintenance than a ship half its size, and its fuel consumption is somewhat better than that of the EF76 Nebulon-B frigate, which is a lot better than these old communications ships"

Charzon addressed both points separately. She felt good about her ability to get the deal done, and most of it is due to the fact that the main purpose of this ship is to carry valuables, rather than to fight other capital ships head-on. It is armed, just not as heavily as a communications ship, which was designed and built for capital ship-to-capital ship warfare.

"Since you also mentioned weapons configurations, nine triple-tube turbolaser turrets are installed by default. More laser emplacements that are computer-controlled from the bridge weapons station, just as with the triple-tube turbolaser turrets are, may be installed on demand. Tri-droid or vulture droids can also be hangared onboard if the needs arise; in its default configuration, the ship can hold six organic-piloted snubfighters such as an X-wing or equivalent, but with tri-droids or vulture droids it can hold twice as many"

[member="Lan Porgata"]

 

[Lan Porgata]

"I suppose though if one of the ships is housing the fighters, then its cargo capacity is diminished."

He mused for a moment going over the details and deciding that this was a smart investment for the IGBC. Pausing to set the tablet aside, he reached for a cup of tea. He sipped it carefully, savoring the taste as he looked past Charzon through the windows of his office.

"Things are changing in this region, Miss Loulon. We find ourselves thrust in and out of the space of warring factions and zealots. I would like to promise this company and its customers peace of mind that we can weather the storms that thrash around us. I would like to sign a contract to order 30 of these ships, as well as a maintenance contract with you to service the fleet of them. We have several locations and I would like each office to have a few at their disposal for use in moving assets. Tell me, what kind of damage am I looking at?"

Muuns didn't really smile, but there was an unmistakeable edge of contentment to his words and voice.

[member="Charzon Loulan"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"We have 30 on a firm contract, but there is no telling whether expansion in the IGBC or otherwise in the need for armored freighters will occur. I understand that I wish the best in IGBC activities there may be a need to include options, which may be exercised if the needs arise. Dents in an alusteel hull can easily be repaired, and to ensure complete satisfaction in the maintenance of any armored freighter, and timely construction as well as repair, a few additional drydocks that can accommodate these ships will be built in orbit over Ringo Vinda"

That's a few hundred million well-spent by the IGBC, since each ship costs 11 million apiece, Charzon thought. Expanding drydocks will improve availability of facilities for maintenance require some machinery that she will be promptly be looking to buy once the contract has been signed. And, of course, enable the design of larger ships down the line if some other customer wanted an even larger (but even more lumbering) ship...

"Before I forget, may I have some tea please?

[member="Lan Porgata"]

 

[Lan Porgata]

"Of course."

Lan reached for the pot and poured her a cup, nodding as she went over the particulars of the potential for the expansion of Ringovinda's business to accommodate the fleet order for IGBC. You had to spend money to make money, but the fleet would come in exceedingly useful for the IGBC to expand their business past their current locations directly to their customers.

"When can you have the contract drawn up for signature? As soon as we sign, we can transmit the payment to your accounts here with the IGBC."

[member="Charzon Loulan"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Charzon has a rather standard contract form for placing ship orders with maintenance, with a few parameters, such as the number, the type, their total cost, delivery schedule and payment terms, that can be changed. And she has another one when the client is placing an order while the client assumes maintenance. Ringovinda StarYards' last sale was made to a client that assumed maintenance internally (Star Tours) but the IGBC does not have the expertise to maintain capital ships. As much as the IGBC has to spend money to make money, it is also true of Ringovinda StarYards, just spent on different things. Of course, there are two options for actually paying for the ships: financing or the entire cost up front.

"Before the contract is finalized, there is one matter to clear up: payment. Would the Banking Clan prefer to pay for the ships up front and pay for the monthly maintenance separately, or roll the monthly maintenance and the financing of the ships on a single monthly bill?"

She knew that some clients preferred financing, especially those with a need for expansion but that couldn't afford paying up front, while others would be happy paying for their new ship without having to worry about falling behind in their monthly payments. But she couldn't tell which kind of client she was dealing with just yet.

[member="Lan Porgata"]

 

[Lan Porgata]

"I think it behooves the both of us to pay for the ships upfront, and then we can have an ongoing contract for the maintenance of the fleet."

The tea was delicious and the business was better. Yes, it was a large sum of money, but in comparison to the business they did, the cost was worth it.

"Just draw up the contracts and we can toast this new venture together."

[member="Charzon Loulan"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Now that the final details were, well, cleared up, Charzon finally drafts a contract, as per legal standards of the day regarding capital ship purchases, with all the parameters of the sale now being made clear. Her datapad had a functionality that allowed printing out any document on two-layer paper that allowed duplicates to be printed for just such an occasion. For 330 million credits the IGBC will proudly own 30 Novroski-class armored transports, and for 1.2 million per month, the fleet would be maintained to a high standard. Once the document has been printed, Charzon takes the liberty of signing the contract thus drafted.

"Mr. Porgata, now that this business has been drawn to a close, here is your copy of the contract. I thank you for your business; should you feel the need to exercise options on additional ships, as a result of business expansion, don't hesitate"

[member="Lan Porgata"]

 

[Lan Porgata]

The contracts were drawn and signed, Lan sent the copies down to the disbursement office to make sure that the payments were dispatched to Ringovinda.

"Of course, Ms. Loulon. You should receive the bulk payment for the ships immediately and monthly maintenance payments will begin after we take delivery of the ships. I hope this is the beginning to a long and fruitful relationship with Ringovinda."

Lan had opened a bottle of champagne and poured two glasses to toast their new arrangement. Raising his, he gestured to her, his long fingers curled around the slender flute.

"To the future of both and fortune of all."

[member="Charzon Loulan"]

Spoiler

Your IGBC account has been updated with the deposit of the 330 million credits for the ships. 1.2 million will be deposited on the first of each month starting with July for maintenance.

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"To the future of all"

As a courtesy gesture, she couldn't decline a glass of champagne, even if it meant staying on Muunilinst (or in Harnaidan) a few hours longer. She knew better than to pilot a ship out of a planet while under the effects of alcohol. And she knew the IGBC headquarters were a maze, but she could probably understand it was part of the security measures in place. Even though she just sealed a deal with the IGBC, she needed the assistance of employees and the security droids just to make it to Lan's office. Perhaps she could get a protocol droid to guide her to the exit...

"If you may excuse me, perhaps I would like to be guided to the exit of these magnificent, yet labyrinthic, headquarters by a protocol or security droid, please"

[member="Lan Porgata"]

 

[Lan Porgata]

There was a polite chuckle as he buzzed his assistant.

"I'll do you one better."

The door to the office opened and a younger looking Muun entered, waiting for instruction.

"This is my assistant, Eno. Eno, please escort Ms. Loulon back to her shuttle and arrange for a pilot to take her home if she so chooses."

Lan gave Charzon a slight bow.

"It has been my pleasure, dear lady."

[member="Charzon Loulan"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Thank you. it has been a pleasure doing business with you, sir" she told Lan before turning to Eno. "Actually, I believe fine dining may be in order; this whole adventure made me hungry, and it's important that I eat something before or after taking alcohol, such as the alcohol contained in the champagne your superior opened after sealing the deal. By the way, I liked that champagne"

Eno starts guiding Charzon away from her superior's office and into the maze that was the IGBC headquarters, before Charzon could even think of specific meals she would like to eat. She knew that some restaurants that were favorites of Muuns in Banking Clan service or other businessmen, or high-powered professionals, could offer as many as five courses to any one patron but she would rather stick with a restaurant that offered two, three or four. Either way, Harnaidan was a city where there were hundreds of gourmet restaurants to choose from, offering various meal sizes and coming in various shapes and sizes.

"I'm afraid Harnaidan's gourmet restaurant scene is just as labyrinthic as the IGBC headquarters are"

[member="Lan Porgata"]