Trak enters the Garrison system alone on his scout ship....
An uneventful trip to Garrison's downport. Berthing was uneventful. Unloading the passengers was uneventful.
Uneventful is OK but dull. Trak thought. Maybe just a little excitement? But only a little. Careful what you wish for Trak. And stop talking to yourself in the third person.
He put the word out that he was looking for some crew, using some old scout networks and banking on the fact that Garrison limitations on population movement was always a good source of restless people wanting to get offworld. By mid-week he had 20 applicants but none really stood out as a good fit.
In between perusing applications he did manage to find a extraordinary broker who sold the Blades at a decent profit. With the passengers revenue and the tidy sum from the cargo, Trak was feeling a bit more comfortable. The Not for Home was going to need major repairs soon, and no money equals no repairs equals Not for Home taken off him and given to some other ex-Scout.
He scanned the 21st application - ex-merchant Jem Narvik. She listed a range of skills - pilot, navigator, gunner, medic. No steward and no air/raft driving experience but it was a good overlap and someone that could actually operate the ship's guns would be a bonus. And the medical skills should be useful for potential passenger injuries. He arranged an interview for the next day.
Jem was far more attractive that her application implied. Not beautiful in the classic sense, but alluring. And Jem thought Trak more attractive than an employer has a right to be. After a few minutes of introductory chat, Jem realised that Trak was far more attractive than an employer has a right to be. She flew some caution to the wind and tested the water with expressions and wordplay thousands of years old.
She's flirting with me! Trak realised and thought for a moment more. I like that.
The conversation went for another hour - both realising the attraction was mutual but neither yet willing to move further.
"If you want the job, it is all yours - Cr650 week for someone with your skills. You'll be on trial for six months. When can you start?"
"I can be at the ship tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow then Jem."
The parting handshake lingered. You could cut the sexual tension with a knife.
"See you tomorrow." Jem purred.
Jem met Trak tomorrow morning at the ship and immediately they starting hunting for some cargo. It was fruitless, as was the next few days. Jem knew her way around the Garrison cargo ports. The only speculative goods were well out of their current financial range.
It was Jem that suggested they move well outside the city to find some less expensive cargo. She suggested a more rural area several hundred kilometres to the west where she had managed to obtain bargains in the past. And she had also obtained some authorisation papers to allow Trak and Jem back into the spaceport withoug going through the normal Garrison checkpoints.
Breaking out the air/raft, Trak and Jem spent hours negotiating a pass to travel outside the city before managing to arrive at their destination ok.
"I may not know much about grav vehicles, but you really need to look into this one." Jem commented on the rough ride.
"It came with the Not for Home. It is not high on my list to replace."
"You need to move it up higher if you want me to keep taking trips in it!"
The very next day at a small trading station, Jem found someone selling a extremely cheap lot of timber and got enough to fill the Not for Home cargo bay. When he had hired her, Trak had not realised - but should have with her merchant background - that Jem would be much better at cargo speculation than him.
While Jem was busy organising to have the wood shipped back to the starship, Trak was outside waiting when Don Kriegsfield and some of his advisors pulled up. Don, the Garrison Minister for the Interior was on a campaign trail though his electorate.
Though you have to wonder why - he's popular enough as it is. Trak thought. While not up on Garrison politics, it was hard to avoid the sell job that was Don Kriegsfield - his image seemed to be everywhere.
After some polite chit-chat and Don realising Trak was not from Garrison, he asked if Trak was interested in a bit of security work, "You see, I've been having some threats against me recently. Mostly from around here. Probably only for a week or so until I get back to the city. How about it?"
Trak was not that interested, "Not really Don, I may be busy for the next few days."
Don did not seem the least bit fazed, "No problem, but if you are looking for a bit of less dangerous work, my sister-in-law owns a ranch not far from here and could do with a bit of a hand - some animal has been taking some of her stock."
Don gave Trak his sister-in-law details and moved his charm onto another group before moving out.
A little while later, Jem comes out out of the trading station.
"Jem, you will never guess..."
What the flowchart and tables generated
Week 03: 0015-0021
Sold the Blades cargo using a Broker-4 (need to make certain of a profit) for Cr100,000 (Cr10,000/ton) plus the other cargo for 17,000.
6 middle class passengers at Cr8,000 each is Cr48,000 minus 7 people stateroom overhead at 2,000 each (Cr14,000) = Cr36,000 profit.
Unrefined fuel (25t at Cr100/t), living expenses (Cr600), berthing fees for the coming week (cr150).
Trak's credit balance = Cr188,900. Not bad.
Opportunity to hire someone: Generated Jem Narvik ex-merchant for hire (1001 characters merchant number 13):
Captain 7699A6 Age 38 5 terms Cr50,000
Pilot-1, Bribery-2, Medic-2, Mechanical-1, Navigation-1, Gunnery-2, Computer-0, Wheeled Vehicle-0, Gun-Combat-0, Vacc Suit-0
Salary is 650 per week (using MT Imperial Encyclopedia).
Wow! A pretty good fit. I also randomly generated a homeworld (Garrison, where we are!) and gave her (I rolled for gender) background skills. Rolled for a random trait (from MgT) and got "attracted to player character". Rolled routine task to see if this is returned by Trak. Positive reaction. I will need to create a table for interpersonal relationships between the party.
Cargo to buy is 3 Air/rafts at Cr210,000 each. Can't afford them. Damn. Will move to the rural area to see if any cargo going there. Detected and event is can buy a map showing how to get into one area undetected - picked spaceport.
Subsector events:
Kamiri begins subversive offensive against Tampo. Interesting. Tampo is between Magbis (that Kamiri started a subversive offensive against last week). That sounds like a reason.
Monsten and Kamiri are already in a subversive offensive (prior to start of campaign); Monsten launches a political attack on Magbis.
Week 04: 0022-0028
Berthing fees now Cr700/week.
Trak's credit = Cr186,950
Jem's credit = Cr50,350
Hear a rumour - will call it a patron bonus for next time.
Finding Cargo- being rural I will state that the first die roll can only be 1 or 3 (for the CT cargo table). As much wood as I can fit I will give a DM of -3 to the price (as Ag is a DM of -6 so rural can be 1/2 that). Jem's Bribery-2 comes in handy get is for Cr400/ton (so 27 times 400 = Cr10,800). I have updated the tables page with this info for future reference.
I will roll for the region of the patron rumour - Rural. Already there. Roll for detection - yes. Result - meet an NPC. Hmm.. What does that mean? I think I will use MgT 760 patrons (which are more like NPC encounters than patrons). Rural will be Citizens and roll a Famous Politician (we will call him...Don Kriegsfield who is looking for extra security. Assume the job is just for the Rural area for the next week (wow! a patron event in 760 Patrons). Law Level B means Trak is carrying no weapons and he is not that great in gun combat anyway so roll to see if Trak declines - yep. Is politician upset (confrontation task) - no.
For the following week I rolled a patron (on a ranch) so linked the politician to the ranch owner and the source of the patron rumour. Ranch adventure in a followup post.
I think I may have gone overboard with the narrative! But I am sure I will get the balance better as I go.
