Tea and Chit Chat.
12 Dec 2020RedivivusCrowd
A man sits at a desk, reading over reports on mining yields and price updates on a computer terminal, scowling as he scrutinises them, adds his signature and replies as needed. The man has close cropped red hair, with a short neatly trimmed beard to it. He is a relatively young man appearing no older than 30 but his face is marred by a creased forehead and dark bags under his clear blue eyes. The office is furnished with shelves containing souvenirs and trinkets from various worlds, ranging from small rocks from Luna's surface to a small glass vial filled with Waters of Shintara. The man is sitting on a simple chair accompanied by a large wooden desk carved from Lavian Spruce.
"A small reminder of home", the man muses to himself in quiet moments. "I could hop on a ship and be there within 15 minutes but yet it still feels so far away..."
The man's reminiscing is interrupted by a knocking at the door, the man sighed before sitting up straight and speaking in a clear voice, "Come in." The door opens and a man in his mid 40's. The man's jet black hair and Asian features marked him as a native of Tsuki Yomi to those familiar with the region.
Seeing who it was, the man behind the desk glanced behind him at the door while asking; "What can I do for you Mr. Sasaki? You have an update from Orbital Space Works on the Phoenix review?" The man stepped into the office and stopped in front of the desk, speaking in a casual voice, "I was just wondering if you were in the mood for coffee and a chat, Sir."
The man behind the desk smiled and nodded to the guard outside the door, "That sounds like a lovely idea, Mr McKee would you be able to pay a visit to the commissary and bring us a couple of cups of coffee? And get one for yourself as well.
The guard smiled at the two men, nodding before leaving and closing the door. Followed shortly afterwards by a click and a small red light below the desk, showing that the room's security and anti surveillance measures had been activated.
Sasaki snapped out a crisp salute,
"Brigadier, Captain Sasaki, Executive Officer of SAPC Goliath reporting as ordered. I've brought the readiness
reports from the carriers." All pretense had been dropped, neither of these men were interested in coffee or idle chit chat at the moment.
The smiles from both men immediately disappeared as the man behind the desk returned the salute before gesturing to the desk. "Right sit down, let's make this quick. I've been reading complaints from our suppliers bitching about Painite prices for hours. At ease."
The captain moved towards the desk, taking a small data chip from the breast pocket of his shirt, while both men were wearing smart business suits typical of any executive in the SAP Corporation, their bearing behind closed doors clearly marked them as military officers.
The man behind the desk took the data chip and slotted it into a slot on his side of the desk while also pressing a small button which activated a hidden emitter in the desk, causing a holographic 3D Star map to appear in the air above the desk.
A list of ships and various numbers and accompanying symbols appeared to the side of the map. Sasaki gestured to the list as the other man looked over the statistics and details. "Goliath is currently sitting at 67% tritium capacity while Blacknet and Anima are both at 34% and 56% respectively."
The man continued down the list, while the other officer quietly listened without interrupting. "The rest of our carrier fleet will be remaining within Sap Core territory or performing their normal tasks. In an emergency they can be mobilised but ideally we will avoid that." The captain paused for a moment to allow any questions or comments, the other officer nodded his head and asked, "Will we be able to meet our deadline of mid to late January?"
The other officer paused before answering, "As per your orders, we have been sourcing our tritium from a wide variety of suppliers through proxy companies, as well as splitting it down the middle by buying half from suppliers as well as mining ourselves in different systems. As a consequence this has delayed the speed of our preparations, I can't say for certain if it will be late January or mid February before we are ready."
The officer behind the desk sighed, "I understand these delays are frustrating but if we start stockpiling huge amounts of tritium in SAP CORP warehouses as well as buying up all the tritium in the market it will draw unwelcome attention." Sasaki nodded as the officer continued, "Have you had a chance to look at the proposed route, any thoughts or concerns?"
Sasaki shifted his focus to the star map as he used his hands to zoom it in to a particular region of space that had four different systems highlighted with a jagged red line running from Sap Core space to them, through them and back again. "I couldn't find any faults with the route you devised Sir, it minimises the fuel and time spent getting from site to site and ensures the carriers will be away from home for as short a time as possible."
The officer behind the desk nodded silently while gazing at the map, "Syunuefe Sector..." The man had a furrowed brow as the captain waited for him to continue. "I don't relish the thought of plundering a dead civilisation's carcass but we need as much guardian data and materials as we can get our hands on. SCARF has done well so far but the xenos have been getting bigger and badder as time goes on, we need to keep evolving too, so that we can continue taking the initiative in places like Witch Head and Coalsack."
The other man nodded his face passive and relaxed as if they really were having a chat over coffee, "Very good sir." The intercom at the door buzzed, "I'm back Sir, would you like your "coffee" now or should I come back later?"
The officer behind the desk pushed a button on the desk, "Now is a good time Mr McKee, come in." The door opened, the security guard walking through, setting a tray with three mugs down on the desk.
The man wore an armoured vest with a uniform underneath, with a holster on his hip housing a sidearm with a short fat barrel. The man's hair was on the long side, combed over to the right with brown hair and eyes to match.
The Brigadier and the guard shared a knowing look as the former pressed the button below the desk, reactivating the room's security. "McKee is a friend of ours, Sasaki." The brigadier said, the implication clear to everyone in the room. The three then took a mug each, Sasaki sniffing his mug before letting a small smile appear on his face. "Heike tea, I see Mendez Terminal only serves the finest." The officer behind the desk chuckled a little as he took a sip, "That instant fed crap doesn't compare to a classic cup of Heike Tea."
The man turned to the guard addressing him, "McKee, Daminjo is going to be taking over for you for a bit, you're going to be accompanying the captain here on a little trip out to Syunuefe. Sometime early next year hopefully. " McKee nodded as the officer stood up raising his mug, the other two following suit.
"For the Alliance!" The man downed the rest of his drink, "For the Alliance!" the other two echoed, finishing their drinks. "Alright, back to work you corporate dogs." The three men shared a laugh as the man behind the desk unlocked the door, the other two leaving.
The man sighs before, returning to the thankless task of attempting to explain to miners that SAP CORP doesn't deal in Painite.