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Turn
Campaign:Black Moon
Adventure:Depths of Regina
Send To:Jack, Kyle, Midnight, Omen, Surge, Vamperina
Turn Start Date (ex. 12/31/6565)
Turn Number:1.8
Combat Turn:
Subject:Hot month of July
Depths of Regina - Turn 1.8 – Hot month of July

The month of July turns out to be busier than anyone anticipated. The company’s phone starts ringing several times a week while the Net portal is handling increased traffic.

JACK: In contrast Jack has personally been having a pretty slow,
crappy month. Nothing new to report, though he is feeling a bit better
that at least some of that work he did to drum up new business could
be the source of some of this traffic.

KYLE: Kyle has also been having a good month. He's been offered a promotion
to lead physician at the clinic he's working at, which would bring a
sizable raise. This month he contributes 4400 Cr. to the SCE coffers.

VAMPERINA: Vamperina congratulates Kyle and also thanks him for the
donation.

----------

GM: The private turns should be arriving shortly. Since I issued the private turns for the entire month, please be attentive to the dates for various events. We'll need to resolve each one in the order they occurred. It is up to the character to pass on this information so you could hold back knowledge for a while if you wished. Also, I will be including some information on your income and expenses. Please add on your lifestyle expenses and let me know (either publicly or privately) where you stand with your finances.

JACK: Jack has nothing to add to the company finances, as usual.
He continues to pay the costs for his social calendar out of his own
pocket, of course, even though it's directly related to trying to drum up
business.

----------

SURGE: Surge explains that he has been fairly busy with a few small programming projects and will be contributing 4000cr back to the company’s fund. Additionally, Surge comes forward with two leads for work during July.

JACK: Jack thanks Surge for his work and generosity (OOC: I marked
it down in my ledger).

----------

SURGE: First, on July 8th Surge gets a message through the Net portal from Tolgrath’s Equipment Facility. In the message, Todd Rundt explains that recently they have had a shortfall of security personnel and were inquiring if SCE would be willing to provide temporarily security staff until the end of the month. They have 18 shifts without sufficient coverage and would like two professional guards for each of those shifts. They would agree to pay 1500cr per shift covered. Surge inquires more on some details and learns that each shift is six hours long with the first on July 13th. Tolgrath would provide two handguns during each shift. They are located in the Mid City district of Freight District, which is due west of Prospector’s Quarter and adjacent to the Starport. It also borders the west shore of the cape.

JACK: Sounds like great busywork, who all wants to handle it? I can
take a few shifts if you need me, certainly, it's not like my social life
is
helping us that much right this minute. I should still stay out there
though, so only a few shifts, preferably early morning, I guess
(midnight to 8am?). Remember, they need two people for each of the
18 shifts, so that's a total of 36 shifts of work. (I assume you meant
that the 1500cr is per shift covered, not per person working a given
shift. Still, that's 750cr for a single shift, not bad pay at all, and
would
go a long way to keep us in eating money.)

KYLE: That's not something Kyle would be particularly well-suited to
handle, though he could probably manage if needed.

MIDNIGHT: Midnight's willing to share some shifts with someone if SCE
decides to take this up. It looks like something both short term (which
wouldn’t interfere with Waterfall) and more appropriate to his skills.

VAREQ: Is willing to take a few shifts. He'll also recommend that we
'suggest' these shifts to Isobella. That way we can see what she's capable
of.

VAMPERINA: "As Jack pointed out, this is busy work that we can do if we
are not otherwise busy doing anything else. Vamperina will happily
volunteer to do some of the shifts as we await word on the outcome of
our bid to Waterfall."

GM: Correct, 1500cr per shift (12 man hours) is actually pretty good money. Given how early this happens in the month it's hard to imagine the group wouldn't take it. We just need to figure out who will be taking which shifts. They will be spread out over the remaining month and as long as someone is not off doing another job (the other contracts) you should be fine. Thus Vamperina could easily do 9 of these shifts without affecting her other activities. That would change if some new contract took you elsewhere for any length of time. Jack and Midnight have the most available free time for shifts. As Vareq suggested Isobella would be another alternative for shifts though you'd need to roleplay out how that happens.

VAMPERINA: Vamperina will definitely do quite a few shifts, at least
until the 19th of July. She fully agrees that this would be a good
chance to include Isobella if the detective is interested. If so, then
Isobella can rotate on watches with others who are also standing shifts
to get to know and work with a number of different people.

JACK: Assuming she's proficient with fire-arms, it sounds like a good
opportunity to get to know her.

VAMPERINA: "Agreed, we should definitely not try to fake it."
----------

VAREQ: "That brings up another problem we need to work on. Tactics. We
have a small unit incredible potential firepower, surveillance and
defensive capabilities, but we are disorganized in direct confrontations."

"We need to get a better understand of each other's strengths and
weaknesses, so that we can function effectively as a unit."

"I recommend that we go out into the wilds nearby Goliath and run some
drills. We should also run some drills on a transport to refine our
closed-space tactics."

VAMPERINA: "I definitely concur with that. Combat situations are
inherently chaotic but we can reduce the chaos somewhat by having a
better idea of how we can work together. Some regular training
sessions, at a remote location, should help tremendously."
----------

GM: One requirement is proficiency in using handguns and knowledge of security protocols. With a bit of training anyone in the group could take a shift. However, if someone like Surge, who doesn't use guns tried to fake it, there might be the chance he'd be exposed as not really up to their standards which would not be good for SCE's reputation. Also, your business sense indicates that the use of obvious mutant powers would be discouraged. Obvious mutants wouldn't be a problem as long as their powers aren't used automatically.

VAMPERINA: We should only send those who meet all of the requirements.

JACK: Jack will need a refresher course on handgun safety and the
appropriate security protocols, he hasn't had a reason to brush up on
such things until now. (OOC: I honestly thought WF: pistols was an
everyman skill, but I just looked it up and it's not. I do not intend to
spend points on this just to get a simple job, I will just cram, learn
what I have to, and do the job, and then forget. It doesn't make sense
to learn every skill we need for every job on a permanent basis, I don't
have points for that and I doubt everyone else does either. At least I
can act the part even if I'm not perfectly suited for it ;)

VAMPERINA: "I disagree with you Jack. The credibility of SCE is more
important than earning a few credits. For any job, we should only send
those that have the skills required by the employer. That doesn't mean
that you shouldn't apply to do some of the shifts, but you should do it
by letting the employer know that handguns aren't your forte but you
don't need one to be able to do the job."

JACK: "If I have learned the skills needed temporarily, and can use
them during the job, I'm not faking it nearly so much as if I'm just
trying to buffalo and BS them. They seem unlikely to be approving of
my mutant powers being my excuse for not caring about a gun, so it's
that, or I can't take any shifts. If you, Midnight, Vareq, and Isobella
can handle all 36 shifts, assuming Isobella is qualified, I guess I do
have the option of stepping back and working full time on the bids and
social engineering.

MIDNIGHT: "I agree with Vamparina. I'll be happy to help refresh anyone,
including Isobella, on basic hand gun usage, safety & care, but we need to
insist on proficiency in all things. We have such a diverse skill set as a
group that everyone doesn't have to learn everything, but we shouldn't send
anyone out who isn't trained for the specific job."
----------

MIDNIGHT: July 14th, Midnight attends a defensive systems showcase. He
comes back eager to talk to the entire group about a possible lead he’s
found. A man named Scott Evans of Weyland Mineral Extraction has asked SCE
to bid on a contract involving evaluation and installation of improved
security measures for their mines in the southern hemisphere. The mines
have been targeted recently by sophisticated raiders causing both damage
to the facilities and theft of valuable equipment. In addition to the
defensive systems, they need increased security during installation with a
bonus for finding the raiders. Midnight's very excited about the news,
finally feeling like he's being useful to the company.

VAREQ: Vareq is very interested in that contract. He has a strong knowledge base
in security systems (and how to defeat them). Let's bid.

VAMPERINA: This sounds like something that could be of interest to the
entire team. At the very minimum, the only consideration is whether it
would interfere with the Waterfall bid. At the very minimum, let's
pursue it and see if we can schedule it in either before or after the
Waterfall job, assuming we even get it.

----------

SURGE: Second, on July 17th Surge gets another solid lead from the portal from Ralsteen Robotics. In their message they explain that several of their mining robots in the Wypoc system of the bordering Lanth subsector have failed transmitting. Their last known location was working in an active volcano on the planet Ertonis. Ralsteen would like SCE to investigate and possibly recover the missing robots. Due to the hostile conditions of Ertonis their usual maintenance crew cannot reach the robots. Furthermore the two remote controlled robots that have been sent in stopped broadcasting and failed to report back. They can provide transit to the system if necessary. Ralsteen would like a bid on the work as soon as possible with an immediate departure preferred.

Surge does a bit more research and explains that Wypoc is only two parsecs from Regina so it’s much closer than expected. Ertonis is the second planet of the Wypoc system and has a toxic and radiated atmosphere. Beyond a small orbiting spacedock, the planet has no other installations to speak of. With a bit of studying Surge feels confident that he could come up to speed on the robots enough to do any field repairs required. The last known locations of the robots are in an active volcano system that would be dangerous to just about all craft entering the area.

JACK: "So this is something you'd consider doing just by yourself?
Or would you need a combat pilot for transport in and out of the area?
How long do you think it will take? Jumping even 2 parsecs is an
extra 2 weeks' travel round trip, isn't it? (OOC: Hyperspace is 1 week
for any distance trip as long as it's just one hop, right?) Then of
course there's the sub-light travel time to the planet and back. I think
if you do need a pilot I may be the best choice as I could survive the
toxic atmosphere without a suit if needed, just as you can, but if we're
talking a month or more off, I probably shouldn't be gone that long this
early in the business.

KYLE: This job, however, seems right up Kyle's alley. With his abilities to
survive is toxic environments, create dimensional windows to see things
from afar, and teleport from place to place, he'd be a real asset, I think.
This would also be a good opportunity for him to get serious about working with Surge to refine his (that is, Kyle's) technical skills. I'd have to clear things with the clinic, but after all, that's just meant to keep us eating until we get SCE off the ground. The SCE work is what's important. For that matter, it mightn't be so bad to have Jack disappear for so long if it's to make certain that one of our early jobs goes well. Right now we're trying to get our reputation set.

MIDNIGHT: Midnight doubts he'd be much use in this type of operation since
he has no life support and limited technical knowledge which could be
useful.

VAREQ: Vareq is on the same page. Not interested in Wypoc, too much time away from
home, no appropriate skills to offer.

VAMPERINA: "This sounds very interesting. If nothing else manifests, it
might be something that we would take up. It would only involve a
subset of the team, probably Surge and maybe Kyle."

------------

KYLE: Later in the month, Kyle also tells the group that he has a line on a
job for a research team looking into advanced propulsion theories for small
to medium sized spacecraft. He's seriously considering applying for the
position.

VAMPERINA: Obviously this is a solo opportunity. "Are you planning to
leave SCE to pursue this full time or will this be a part time thing until
a good SCE opportunity comes along? You would be sorely missed if you left
SCE."

KYLE: "Well, since I don't need a lot of sleep, I'm figure I can double
book for a while without too much problem. But I understand your concern
about keeping myself open to regular SCE work. For the moment I'm letting
the researchers know that I have at least a few other commitments. My hope
is that after a few months of working with me they'll realize what an asset
I am to them and accommodate me as more of a freelance researcher.
Honestly, I'm interested more in the research than the salary - though
that's nice too. I suspect that in a worst case they'll give my position to
someone else and let me help them out pro bono. I also don't think it’s a
terrible idea to get one of us connected into the university grapevine.
It's not uncommon for researchers to have difficult tasks that need doing.
If I'm on the inside, I might hear about the jobs and get them for SCE."

GM: One note on timing, Kyle's research offer happens on July 18th, which is just one day after the robotics job came in.

GM: Another side note, You will clearly have more than you can do so there will need to be resource balancing as well as timing for the various jobs. I still owe responses on three private turns so I'll see if I can get them out by tomorrow night at the latest.

VAMPERINA: My thinking is that we table the jobs that only involve one
or two people unless they are fast and easy. Unfortunately this would
include the robotics job. The potential opportunity that Midnight came
across, however, is something that could involve the talents of the
entire team and should remain on the table. Can someone remind me of
the date that Midnight learned of this job?

JACK: July 14th he learned of that job, at a defensive systems
showcase. It will require a bidding process and won't be immediate
for us, and we'll have to time it with our Waterfall bid and such. I think
the Ralsteen Robotics job and the Tolgrath security job are both much
shorter term commitments, both are urgent in nature, and we could
probably handle both while preparing the bid for Weyland Mineral
Extraction and waiting to hear if it was accepted (or the Waterfall one
was, or both). If Surge wants to pursue that Ralsteen Robotics job,
he needs to decide what kind of support he wants along, and Kyle will
need to decide if he wants to go or not. My guess would be that it will
take him a total of 3 weeks to a month, is that about right Surge? I
will start work on preparing the WME bid, and work some shifts for
Tolgrath in my free time. Midnight and Omen will do the same, I will
definitely want their input, and Vamperina's, on that bid. I honestly
don't think we'll need Surge for the bidding process, and he should be
back before the actual job happens. It also seems like another
opportunity to include Isobella, since they are hoping for some
investigation of the recent thefts in addition to the upgrade of their
security, hence the bonus for finding the raiders.

VAMPERINA: "I still think we should turn down the Ralsteen job as it
takes Surge, and maybe Kyle, away for too long at a time when several
possible jobs have manifested. However, I am just one vote in this
company. What do others think? I have no problem being outvoted here
and if a majority believes that we should take the Ralsteen job, then
take it we shall." :)

MIDNIGHT: "I must admit the timelines on these projects has me confused. If
the Ralsteen job may overlap with the Weslyn job, we should pass. We've
already bid on the first job, and we can't afford to be short handed if we
get it. If they don't ovelap, then we should leave it to Surge, Kyle or
anyone else who would be involved to decide if it's worth it."

KYLE: I understand that this is off-planet, and therefore more time
consuming than other jobs. But I had thought we intended to set ourselves
forth as being capable and willing to do off-planet work. This might be a
good chance to prove that. One very important question, as I see it, is
what the Ralsteen Robotics job pays. Taking that job has a high opportunity
cost (two or more of us out of touch for about a month). But if the pay is
good enough, it might well be worth it. Surge, any clue on payment for that
job?

----------
SURGE: Surge reports more about the Ralsteen job. First, Surge
believes that 60,000cr would be the base rate for the contract with
additional expenses depending on how difficult the repair/salvage job
is. Barring unforeseen circumstances the job should only take 13
days. Ralsteen has several fast ships that can get to the planet in
under 6 days. Surge thinks that while he might be able to handle it
on his own that having others for support would be best. He agrees
that Kyle is a logical choice. A third would be nice especially if
anything bad happens.

----------

GM: Since the security job came up first it's pretty obvious that the
group, given how busy things have been, would take that job.
Midnight's opportunity came next on the 14th. WME would like the bid
immediately. This would mean you'd need to have it back within a few
days. This also means that you have to make a decision on it before
either Surge's robotics job or any others become known.

----------

JACK (GM): We also need some input here from the GM, to help us
figure out which of our impressions is correct. My impression is that
the Waterfall bid was JUST completed a couple weeks ago, and as it's
a yearly contract they are not in any hurry to choose one and send us.
The actual transport of the materials was slated for... when? October?
(Aside: just checked my past emails, they will make their decision by
August 1st, and the contract actually starts September 1st). My
impression of this WME bid is that he 'asked us to bid on it', which
means it's likely to be sooner, since they want to stop the raids, but
since they're still using a bidding process it will still take weeks to get
the job. We also don't really know how much time that job is going to
take, without doing some more preliminary research. My hope is that
we could bid on it, get the job by the first week of August, and
complete our initial commitment by September 1st, with Isobella
perhaps continuing her investigative work while we deal with the
Waterfall shipment. Once we're done, we can continue looking into
finding the raiders. The other option is to simply bid on it as if we
would start work October 1st, and we'd be completely done with the
Waterfall shipment by then. Are any of these impressions completely
mistaken? Will Surge need 3 months to do the Ralsteen job? As for
the 'several possible jobs' one of them is completely short-term and
'fill-in' work, and the other is delayed before we could even start. Is
there a 4th that I'm forgetting?

VAMPERINA (OOC): Not yet but the month isn't over yet. Jack will be
getting a phone call from Vamperina on the 19th, assuming Surge doesn't
take off on the 17th, 18th or early 19th after finding out about the
Ralsteen job. I'm still waiting for a little more info from the GM.

MIDNIGHT: If it can be arranged, Midnight will ask Scott Evans for a tour
of the facility to get an initial assessment of the current security systems
and defensive capabilities. He'd also like to see any video/security
footage from the raids themselves.

VAMPERINA: "If you can arrange it, you should also plan on Vareq going
along. Between the two of you, you will be able to do a pretty good
assessment of their physical security systems and the security
procedures."

GM: Scott explains that the mine is on the other side of the planet
and is a bit far to quickly travel down there. If necessary he can
fly a few out to look it over though he'd recommend you bring more
than just a few people in case the mine is either occupied or attacked
during the assessment. While Midnight, Surge or Vareq would like to
look over the mine in person you should be able to make a solid set of
plans to secure the mine and get the necessary supplies without seeing
it in person. You do have schematics for the mines and its current
systems. Plenty of maps and photos of the surrounding areas should
give you all that you need. If you discover any surprises you can
request additional supplies after your arrival.

GM: After looking over the scope of the WME job you guess that you
could make between 120,000 to 180,000cr on the contract. The biggest
variable is how much trouble with security you will have once you're
there. The more trouble the more credits you will be able to earn.
The distance to the mine is not trivial. With a typical aircraft it
will take you 13 hours to reach the mine. With several of you looking
over the details of the mine and the surrounding area you can put a
bid together within 24 hours. Depending on available supplies you
could have a transport loaded within 72 hours. You get the sense that
as long as the bid is acceptable the contract should be rewarded
within 12 hours. They would expect you to move as quickly as possible
after that point. The current condition of the mine is unknown since
they suspended operations on the 11th after an attack that killed 8
miners and rendered much of the mine's systems inoperable.

So, assuming you get a bid back to them on the 15th, you'd most likely
get a response on the 16th, and a departure date of the 19th at the
earliest. You estimate that you'll need at least 30 days to install
all the systems and provide security. Another 30 days may be required
if any trouble persists. They also would like you to train permanent
security on the systems but that would only take a few days.

GM: The Waterfall bid since a while out. As long as you're available
by September you should be fine. There is a possibility that WME
might go over that but if that does happen you should be able to pull
back some of your people leaving only a few to finish the task.

MIDNIGHT (GM): Midnight will work non stop with Surge, Vareq and Jack to
put the bid together. Any overlap would be well into the program when the
mines would already have some people trained on the new system, so I don't
think it would interfere with the Waterfall job. Let me know what rolls you
need, if any.

GM: Here are the rolls:

Midnight - 2 rolls = [rolled 5] [rolled 10]

Surge - 1 roll = [rolled 14]
Vareq - 1 roll
Jack - 1 roll = [rolled 7]

JACK: Given the timing, you're right, we would have worked hard to
present an acceptable bid immediately. When we find out about
Ralsteen it will become a question of how much we need Surge for
the WME job, and for that matter if he can wait until August 1st to
start, because we will still be covering the extra shifts for the security
job until July 31st. When exactly is the last shift they were short-
handed on?

GM: The last shift needed at Tolgrath is on July 26th. The shifts are daily with several days where there are two shifts (remember each shift is 6 hours long). For planning purposes we’ll make it easy and say you need to have two people available at all times between July 13th and July 26th. Now clearly these two people can be doing other things but they can’t depart the city for more than 12 hours.

JACK: Sounds good.

GM: Another note on timing on each of the bids. Tolgrath is the least flexible as you agreed to specific times and dates for when you’d have someone present. Weyland would be next in terms of pressing need. They have a situation that needs stabilization and they, at this point, don’t have anyone else to lean on. Though if you delayed the submission of the bid then they would most likely look elsewhere. Your situation is made better as Midnight got lucky and found out about the opportunity before the company made a request to the security community in general. Ralsteen is a different situation. It’s the shortest job of all but also the one with a higher level of uncertainty. Ralsteen’s two methods of recovery, which almost always is sufficient, failed in this case. They are out of their element but whatever damaged could be done is done. The only thing is they’re losing potential income with one of their mining rights sitting idle. If you say that you can’t attempt a response until X date, they may accept that or look elsewhere for another bid. Since they contacted SCE it’s likely that they’ve already contacted other companies.

JACK: I definitely would rather not force a delay in our submission or
action on behalf of Weyland, like you said they are losing income. I
might be able to farm out one of the security shifts, as long as we
have one of our team on the shift at a given time to supervise I think
we'll be ok.

JACK: Let's look at it this way. From July 13-31? we need 2 people,
every couple days, to work a security shift. These can include Isobella
if she's willing, but are likely to be drawn from the pool of Vamperina,
Vareq, Midnight, and Isobella, with Jack as a last resort. From ~July
19th-August 19 or a bit longer we need a team for the WME job,
which could definitely include all of those people, and probably Kyle in
case the miners have wounded. Surge would be welcome, not
completely irreplaceable, but Kyle is the only doctor we have, and if
the miners were actually attacked recently, we may need one. Given
the distances involved, it's not like we can send half a team and
switch personnel when we need to, either. After Sept 1st is the
Waterfall job, but there's some flexibility in that timing, since they
don't
want to be predictable in which days they transport it, so if we are still
finishing up with WME we can just delay the transport a few days.

JACK: I'm actually the least useful person in all these cases, unless
something goes horribly wrong and you need to kick butt. Oh, and I
suppose putting the bids together properly helps. Since there's an
overlap, we need to figure out who all is truly needed on which job,
and my feeling is that I can work a security shift and hold down the
fort here, since you will likely need almost all the others there at the
WME site. I could come along for the initial phase of the job, securing
the mine from whoever or whatever attacked it, then return to Cape
Goliath to do that, while Isobella could then take my place there as the
investigator. Someone else would still need to be here to help me
cover those security shifts though...

SURGE: “It sounds like Isobella would be a great help to have at the mines. Clearly we’ll need to figure out as much about the attackers as possible and I’d guess her skills would lend well towards that. Also, if we’re attacked while securing the mines, having everyone present would be best. If nothing else, bringing others in afterwards, such as finishing the security job, would be best.”

JACK: I guess the main issue is 1) how easy it will be to convince
Weyland that we need multiple trips to transport personnel and
equipment, and if we can make them coincide with our multi-phase
plan and 2) does Isobella need to be there right away to investigate on
the spot, or can she follow up a few days later after we've secured the
site from potential combat/danger.

GM: Weyland is open to multiple transports if necessary. You guess
that it wouldn't take much to convince them of this. You also gather
that they make regular trips to the area so shuttle personnel back and
forth should be trivial. You'll need to involve Isobella to see what
her thoughts are on the investigation aspect. AFAIK, you have yet to
roleplay any new contact with Isobella so essentially she has no
knowledge of this. Please let me know when you contact her (we can
easily move the clock back to handle it) but we need to do so
explicitly since many things are happening in July with each character
and timing is a lot more important than you may realize.

JACK: We would have contacted her as soon as the security job
happened, to see if she was interested in working alongside us to take
a shift or two and get to know us, at the very least (assuming she's
rated in firearms). I believe that was the 13th, or possibly a bit before
(the first shift was the 13th). The 14th we'd find out about the
Weyland job, and talk to her again about the potential of hiring her for
her investigative skills in connection with that. I suppose one thing we
didn't really think about when talking of including her was the money,
she's not part of SCE so we'd actually have to PAY her ;) What are
her rates for 1) a security shift and 2) an offsite investigation of raids
on a mining facility, probably taking up to a month offsite, with
potential to go even longer.

----------

JACK: I did think of one other possible benefit, in that after the first
few days of securing the site and treating the wounded, we probably
wouldn't need Kyle to stay on site, and in fact he would probably be
part of any transfer of his patients from that site to a 'mainland'
hospital. This also gives me an easy way to leave the mine site, and
Isobella an easy way to get there, on the medical transport. The real
question mark is whether we'll still need Surge there. If we won't, then
he can potentially take that Ralsteen job with Kyle, after the mine site
is secure, assuming they both still want to. Kyle is right, it is our
first
off-planet job, and showing that we are both willing and capable of
handling off-planet jobs is worth doing if we can manage it.

GM: One thing I should point out. There are no untreated personnel at
the mine. Weyland has already evacuated all people so that is not a
concern for your bid. Though having a doctor on hand if the raiders
attack you is always a good idea.

JACK: Whoops, my bad, I guess that hamstrings my arguments a bit
;)
----------

JACK (GM): What is our estimate of our need for Surge to be there
himself? He is a great engineer and repairman especially when it
comes to electronics and security systems, but Vareq and Midnight
definitely have at least SOME overlap with his skillset. It doesn't seem
like we'll need a lot of mechanical repair support...? Weyland should
have their own team of mechanics we can guard and assist after the
initial security sweeps are conducted, if nothing else.

GM: Surge is highly skilled and would be very useful but Midnight and
Vareq should be able to handle the technical aspects of the job on
their own.

----------

JACK (GM): Do I have anyone in my new network of contacts that I
would consider farming out that security job to on a temporary basis,
now that we have something that takes more skill and risk and travel
for the lion's share of the team? I mean we're just talking a couple
normal security guards walking a beat, right?

GM: Correct and it shouldn't be too hard, though there's a risk that they might slack off. Submit a roll and we’ll see how you feel about the prospects. I would say that had you known that the other bids would have come in Tolgrath may have been more of a hindrance. However, you couldn't have known it and it's not that long of a contract. It's cheap enough with the smallest amount of skill that you can farm it out. One ideal approach would be to hire on one extra hand so that at least someone in the group is present.

JACK: [rolled 11] Agreed that we should have one of us supervising if
possible.

GM: Jack narrows his list down to two solid candidates to handle basic
security jobs. Both candidates are willing to take a shift for 200cr
each and you feel confident that both should be able to handle doing
the security shift on their own. It's not ideal but should be a
manageable risk. Thus if you had both working the same shift it would
cost SCE 400cr.

JACK: I'd suggest we have each one of them work a shift with one of
our personnel supervising at first, to give us a chance to notice any
glaring problems (sleeping or drinking or distractedness on duty).
Barring trouble we'll let them take the shifts together later in the
month.

GM: You also find someone to man the phones. Jenny
Batten is the daughter of one of your old acting buddies. She would
be willing to do basic administrative work for 1000cr per month.

Sounds decent, and with her dad being a friend, it gives us at least a
hint that she's not completely untrustworthy. Unless of course she's
rebelling against her dad and screwing up with us is another way to
stick it to him ;)

GM: Storm, Surge's alter ego, is available to help out but there are
some things he can't do, such as meet people physically or handle
incoming packages/mail. Though Storm can keep an eye on things so
that the new employees don't go crazy once we've all departed. He can
also handle most communications and does have an ability to remotely
contact Surge at any point.


GM: This might also be the time to consider hiring some office help. Think Ghostbusters. Someone had to stay behind to man the phones.

VAMPERINA: "We definitely need someone to man the office when we are not
there. Jack and Vareq should be able to find a suitable person."

VAMPERINA: On the 19th of July, Vamperina gives Jack a call. "Jack, we
have yet another potential opportunity. The payback is 150,000 cr and
time requirement is 28 days, all of it away from Regina. I ran into
someone that needs a cargo hauled from Regina to Algine, about 4 parsecs
away, and he needs it there now. The trip is about 13 days each way,
with a couple of days of layover. The ship is all ready to go. The
owner just needs a crew to take it. He's having some problems finding a
crew because of recent pirate activity in the area. If we can leave
today, then the pay is 150,000 cr. That drops by 10,000 cr per day that
we delay as it is a time-sensitive cargo. Obviously this job could use
everyone on the team who has spaceship skills. The biggest downside is
that we would be gone when the Waterfall contract is announced but we
can solve that with some office help to man the phones. What do you
think?"

VAMPERINA: Vamperina is calling from the starport. She will eventually
call everyone else as well, conferencing them in so everyone can chime
in.

VAREQ: "I think it's the wrong time to be leaving. We have a lot of jobs
we're perusing, and now's not the right time to blast off for a month and
let our commitments slide."

OOC: You all know that Vareq gets moody and distant when he's cooped up in
a starship for a long time.

VAMPERINA: "Vareq, that same reasoning could be used for 3 of the 4
prospects we have. We are in this to make money, not to stick around
Cape Goliath to see how many job offers we can accumulate. Let's look
at all of them and then take the right ones for the right reasons. We
obviously cannot take every job that comes along and this job may well
be one we need to turn down but if we do so it should be for the right
reason."

VAMPERINA: Vamperina continues over the phone, "At this point, I'm of
the opinion that we should pursue one other opportunity that will not
interfere with the Waterfall bid should we get it. I still don't think
we have a good timeline for the Ralsteen job. For the WME job, we will
be gone for at least one month and possibly two and could make between
120,000 and 180,000 cr. For this job, we will be gone for less than one
month for 150,000 cr. The only interference with the Waterfall job is
that we won't be here for the bid resolution on Aug 1, but that will be
the case with either job."

JACK: Part of the problem is also with the timing. We heard about
the WME job on the 14th, put a rush job on the bid, and submitted it
the 15th or 16th. By now we've already committed to doing that job if
they accept our bid, at least in my mind. This new opportunity does
sound even better, but if we're already committed to both Waterfall
and WME we're just not going to be able to take it. The minimum
crew you would need on a trip like that would be you and Surge as
Astrogator, and maybe one or two others for security and taking
backup shifts while you sleep. Problem is, Surge is useful for all the
jobs ;)

JACK (GM): Let's get a timeline established for our bid to WME, and if
they've approved it already by the 19th. We had originally talked
about the 19th being the earliest possible departure date for the
mines. My current proposal is that the whole team go to their mine on
the 19th or 20th, minus one person to supervise the security job. I
will have a temp hired by that time to cover the other shift, and my
current belief is that we need Isobella the least in the initial phase of
the WME security cleanup, with me or Vamperina being other
possibilities. Kyle would treat the wounded, and we would clear the
mining facility, and 4-6 days later we would be ready for one shift-
change with transportation, using a medical transport to bring Isobella
down there, and Kyle and the wounded back, possibly including Jack
as well. I suppose if we just wait until late in the day on July 26th
anyway, the Tolgrath security job will be complete, and we will need
less presence in Cape Goliath, it then becomes whether Kyle wants to
come back, not needs to. Surge will only be needed to come back if
he decides to risk that Ralsteen job. My gut feeling is that we
shouldn't pursue that one, it's too far away to split the team, if Surge
gets in trouble he hasn't got any real backup, and no way to get help.
If we're about to leave on the 19th when Vamperina comes to us with
this info, we'll have to immediately discuss who is vital to that mission,
and if those personnel are also vital to the WME job, we'll have to let it
go. (It's not like we can wait until the 26th to take it, it's too
urgent.)

KYLE: That all sounds agreeable to Kyle. I think the Ralsteen job sounds
like a good one. But I'll agree that the WME sounds better. Kyle will be
interested in knowing as soon as possible whether that's the job we'll take
since he'd want to coordinate with WME about getting proper medical
supplies.

JACK: That would actually be included in our initial bid, bringing
emergency medical supplies and a doctor along, with more medical
supplies to be determined when we know more about what's going on
(including that transport :) You would be included in our bid draft
process, and help us determine which supplies are most likely to be
needed soonest.

JACK: If Surge's net persona can't man the phones, I will be glad to
interview and hire a receptionist before we leave as well, and Vareq
can help with both hiring processes if he's willing.

----------

JACK: Jeanine Melnitz, come on down! My hope was that Surge or
his net alter-ego could handle all incoming communication in a timely
manner and we wouldn't need to hire someone. Paying a salary at
this stage in the business is something to be avoided if possible, but I
guess the good news is that the reason we need to hire someone is
because we have good business prospects keeping us all busy.

Jack

P.s. I gotta say I'm liking my roll of 7 for the Weyland bid ;)

GM: Yes, a nice recovery from earlier rolls this month. Let's just
say Jack is VERY happy with this bid presentation. Between two great
rolls from Midnight and Jack, the bid will look very good. I'm still
waiting on Vareq's roll, though.

----------

SURGE: Surge points out that we might be able to split the team. If
Midnight, Jack, Vareq and Isobella handle the Weyland job that would
leave Vamperina, Surge and Kyle to handle the cargo run. The two
potential hires could handle the security shifts for a few days. It
would expose a bit more risk to the company but the risk is minimal.
Hopefully splitting the team in half won't compromise either job. The
only downside with just Vamperina, Surge and Kyle is that the group
lacks a gunner (unless Vamperina is not piloting). The other option
would be to go with the Ralsteen job instead of the cargo run. The
payout isn't as nice but it's much shorter and lower risk than the
cargo run.

JACK: If we were going to do the cargo run, I would tend to suggest
myself in Kyle's place. I am capable of taking a bridge watch, and
rated on most ship's weapons, whereas in the mining job I'm just a
big dumb grinning fighter. It seems unlikely we'll need my
interpersonal skills there. Unless... we capture a raider. In that case I
could still be part of the job after the cargo run is complete, or Vareq
and Isobella could take care of the questioning. The cargo run still
seems a lot riskier with pirate activity on the rise in the area, and to
have a partial team would make it moreso, I think I like the idea of
pursuing the Ralsteen job with just Surge and Kyle, if they prefer it
anyway. Obviously I'd rather not have to split the team up at all if
we're taking risks, but that's just my over-protective side talking. I
realize you're aching to get back into the captain's seat of a
spaceship, Vamperina, but this might not be the best time :(

VAMPERINA: "I would prefer to simply forgo the cargo run rather than try
to do it with minimal crew. We would be hired to get a cargo through
potentially dangerous pirate territory. I would want a pilot, a
navigator, an engineer and a dedicated gunner for each weapon. We would
already be skimping by combining the astrogator and engineer. I would
prefer not to combine any other tasks. We would also be going without a
Gunnery Officer (Midnight) so if we had a weapons malfunction, we would
be screwed. I have no problem turning down the cargo run if we can't
provide a full crew."

VAMPERINA: "Jack, you are reading me all wrong. I have no problem
turning down the cargo job if we can't provide the adequate manpower for
it. If we are already committed to the WME job, then that is the job
that we take. Whether we can spare anyone to handle another job is the
real question and I would say that the answer is maybe. For the cargo
run, we need a good chunk of the team. If the WME job can be handled by
Vareq, Isobella and Kyle, then we can take the cargo run with the rest
of the team. If more are required for the WME job (assuming we even get
the contract), then the cargo run is out and we can think about the
Ralsteen job with, as Kyle suggested, myself, Surge and Kyle."

KYLE: If it’s Kyle, Surge, and Vamprina who are free, the Ralsten job may
be a better shot. Kyle and Surge seem ideally suited to it. And Vamprina
adds the one thing that was missing - someone to kick ass if things get out
of hand.

JACK: All well and good except for one thing, the environment. If it
comes to fighting without an aircraft to pilot, Vamperina is very much
restricted in what she can do, -especially- since the planet is volcanic
and has a lot of lava flows and such to limit even her ground
movement. If we're worried about trouble, I should be the one to go,
plain and simple. I can handle anything the environment throws at
me, including molten lava, and with my leaping I have better mobility,
without relying on a space suit to keep me alive. In any case, I
honestly don't expect that heavy duty of trouble, I would think Surge
can handle it alone if there's any, simply because he doesn't need a
spacesuit either, and can use his powers to the fullest, and has the
advantage of being able to fly and use this superior mobility and
position against any normal denizen of the planet.

VAMPERINA: "Yes, good point. I would be dependent on a vacc suit to
survive whereas I know that Jack's biofield can keep him alive in a
hostile environment. Thus, if we take the WME job and the Raslteen job,
then Jack, Surge and Kyle would do the Raslteen job and the rest of us,
possibly including Isobella if she is interested, would take the WME
job."


----------
VAMPERINA (OOC): It seems likely that we would have already known
whether the WME job was a go before Vamperina found out about the cargo
run (is that right, Marty?). If that is the case, and we have already
accepted the WME job, then Vamperina may not have even learned of the
cargo run because she may have already left (or was preparing to leave)
for the WME job. That the problem with rolling for all of the monthly
events at the beginning of the month - it's all too possible that later
events may never happen because of the way we resolve earlier events.
Marty, the bottom line is: what does Vamperina know about the WME job on
the 19th when she hears about the cargo run? If the WME job is all
wrapped up, and plans have already been made to go, then Vamperina would
not even approach Mr. Harrison about cargo run.

----------
KYLE: FWIW, Kyle is now up to speed on Astrogation. He needs to take his
test, but it should be no problem passing.

KYLE (GM): Speaking of which, is it (16-) or (17-) where Steve said we
don't need to go through the formality of rolling all the dice. All of
Kyle's relevant skills are (16-) for the Astrogation test. If I need to do
the rolls, let me know and I'll send you the necessary rolls.

GM: It's 16- unless you need a 90 or better to pass that particular section.

KYLE: Well, since 1st Astrogator needs at best an 85, we can dispense with
that particular "rigmaroll" [sic] ;-) [Sorry, I couldn't resist that
particular misspelling.]

KYLE: As the offers start coming in and it begins to look like a trip
out-system might be needed, Kyle finally gets off his duff and schedules a
test for his astrogation. On the day of the test, he's perfectly calm,
squeezing the test between a graveyard shift at the clinic, and a dinner
with one of his friends at the university. Having read through the texts,
taken the practice tests, and having had Surge run him through some
simulations, he feels perfectly confident that he knows the material
backwards and forwards.

----------

On July 16th, WME accepts SCE's bid for 180,000cr with additional
bonuses depending on the results. Midnight orders the necessary
supplies knowing that it will take a few days to get everything in.

With the impending WME contract, Jack moves quickly to bolster the SCE
staff. He first brings the two security guards, John Frankel and Chad
Bowman, in to meet the others. Both seem quite competent and
trustworthy. Vareq confirms that both are genuine and honest. They
can start shifts on July 17th. Each will collect 200cr per shift
worked.

On July 18th, Jenny Batten joins the company as an administrative
assistant. She is in her early 20s but seems very mature. Jack has
met Jenny on a few occasions and she feels like a good fit for the
group. She collects a salary of 1000cr per month, so 400cr will be
prorated for the remainder of the month.

Late on the 19th, after Vamperina's encounter with Mr Harrison, all of
the defensive supplies are available and delivered to Weyland's
warehouse. The transport to the mine will be loaded within a few
hours. The group, if ready, could depart at 2300 on the 19th.

GM: Let's finalize who will be where. Please indicate what supplies,
if any, you plan to bring. If you expect something to be part of the
ordered supplies that you intend to use personally, make note of it.
We still need to resolve all roleplaying between Isobella I will start
a new thread for that based on Jack's last post.


GM: Vamperina can simply avoid the phone call to Jack and the others
and can alter her conversation with Mr Harrison as she sees fit. We
can leave the 'phone call' conversation as is and say that it takes
place later on as the group gathers later on or if you want to strike
it, I'm fine with that too.

VAMPERINA: Let's do that. If we had already accepted the WME job on the
16th, then Vamperina would never have approached Mr. Harrison about the
cargo job, since she knew that we could not do it.

VAMPERINA: "What remains then is whether we are going to concentrate on
the WME job or also try to do the Ralsteen job. My thought is to
concentrate on the WME contract. There are just too many variables with
the job to try to take the risk of not sending enough people. We will
definitely arrange to be able to stay in contact with our office (Jenny)
while on the job."

Since our receptionist's name is Jenny, then our phone number must be
867-5309

GM: On a side note, I'm going to adjust how I do the private turns.
Instead of sending out a single private turn per character for the
whole month, I'll just do each time sensitive interaction as they
happen. It will slow things down a bit but it should eliminate
timing confusion. I will also probably move into longer chunks of
time as I don't really intend to play out each month this way. :)
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