Log:Win Win Situations
Win Win Situations
OOC Date: 9 March, 2016 (Datunda the 1st, in the month of Selona and year of 1108)
Location: Parmac's Starport - Starport District, Nar Shaddaa
Participants: Rax Vaelus and Maeve Zavir
Parmac's Starport is a series of round landing pads that are large enough to each hold a number of Corellian Corvette sized ships, but generally services far smaller craft. Every single pad encicles the central building that stretches high into the Nar Shaddaa misty sky. The landing pads are filled with ships, junk, droids and people of all species... shapes and sizes. The activity level is very high and the security droids that hover about do their best to keep things in order. All around the starport is the sight of the endless Nar Shaddaa city... its a view to behold of giant towering buildings covered in wildly colored advertisements that show off their varied products for sale. The city's sky is bustling with air traffic as speeders zip and dart between buildings with the sounds of their distant engines bouncing off of the starport walls and mixing in with all the other chaotic sounds.
Emerging from a private shuttle, accompanied by her protocol droid (Jane) and a med-tech carrying a heavy kit emblazoned with both the logo of her clinic but also the classic, and universally recognized, symbol of medical gear. Mae shakes her head briefly, pulling sunshades from one pocket and slipping them in place so she can stop squinting at the sun. "Update the patient files and store the medical supplies with the rest. We're down for the next two days," she notes before sharing a nod with the tech and sending the tech, and Jane, out of the spaceport with a wave.
Rax is lingering on Parmac's, as he often used to. He looks a bit sullen as he leans on a crate, arms folded, watching the traffic. It's been a while since he just lingered here, under the tower of hangars rising above. Glancing over at a familiar voice calling out orders, Rax raises an eyebrow and slowly inclines his head in greeting to the doctor. "Maeve Zavir, welcome back."
He flashes a faint smirk, nodding at the crates, "Looks like you've finally gotten a steady supply of materials coming in. Well done."
Shaking her head at Rax, Maeve meets his smirk with one of her own, those hers is threaded with more amusement than not. "I have a wealthy patient who prefers to receive medical services at his private domicile instead of making the trip into the city itself," she explains as she saunters over. "He is kind enough to facilitate the acquisition of difficult to obtain antibiotics and other medical supplies, with the exception of bacta, and I am gracious enough to endure his hypchondriac calls at all hours of the day."
Lifting his eyebrows, Rax glances over the approaching doctor, "Are you sure it's hypochondria and he's not just tossing credits at you to get you in his home?" His smile is sly, and his tone teasing, but it's all in good humor. "Considering this whole moon is a city, that must be one hell of a domicile..." He nods upwards, "Or he's got an orbiting yacht. Speaking of, have you had a chance to tour the Medical Lab on the Renegade? It seemed quite decked out."
Sharing a suitably inscrutable smile, Mae flicks a glance over the sly Tomb Raider, "Quite," she replies before tucking her hands into the front pockets of her trousers. "I haven't had the tour as yet, no. Though rumor has it that it's one hell of a boat. Where do you have it docked?"
Rax nods upwards again, "It's in orbit. It kind of stands out, but the Hutts take a dim view of large-scale space battles around their homeworld, or the Smuggler's Moon." He nods aside toward the hangar he uses, "We have a few shuttle pilots on the payroll now. There's a terminal in my hangar you can use to call them. It's not completely free, but it's fairly cheap, as such things go."
"And what did you have to negotiate away in order to retain ownership of?" Mae wonders with a glance toward the hangar that he uses and back. "Not just with the Hutts, though I still want to meet one, one of these days. But with the republic, if that's what they're calling themselves still."
"They took her guns." Rax shrugs with acceptance. "But that wasn't what we wanted her for anyway. And her starfighter servicing racks are still in pristine condition. They even refurbished the whole ship. Furniture, paint, decorations, new sensor arrays, wiring. Everything is modern, top of the line." The lightning-eyed human grins, "She had a lot of guns to trade in."
Mae's eyes narrow subtly, "Sounds like a win win situation. I'm inherently suspicious of anything that sounds to good to be true. What did you have to surrender, and what are they going to obligate the lot of us to?"
"Nothing." The former pirate just grins. "We're a legitimate Guild, with a charter thousands of years old. They may not like it, but there's nothing they can do about it. And without the Turbolaser Arrays, we're not likely to go kicking down any doors. Been looking for an X-Wing to mount on her, along with Bar'duur's TIE Avenger, the Thunderheart, and some other vessels, we could put up one hell of a fight."
"With a charter thousands of years old?" Mae wonders, still sounding suspicious, healthily so. "And you are the sort of Tomb Raider to look for trouble, find it with ease, and welcome it with some manner of smart remark and then kick it's teeth in. They may have taken the weapon placement's but you're also as likely to just put them back in, funds allowing."
Rax shakes his head, "We have to traverse a lot of Republic space... If we were boarded and searched, we'd be classified as rogue elements under the treaty that ended the war. A few turbolasers emplacements might be managable, but that thing had twenty quad-turbolaser batteries. And that was just the long-range, anti-capital ship stuff." He smirks a bit, "As for the rest, well...guilty as charged."
Mae exhales a breath of laughter, "See, that's the Rax that I'm coming to know." She rolls one shoulder in a subtle shrug, "At least things will continue, status normal. When are you going to sound the rallying call and go out on the next scavenger hunt?"
Rax rubs the back of his neck, "Well...there's been rumors that something big is going to go down... But I haven't gotten the call yet. We may need to strike out on our own if they don't come through soon. I've been waiting, but you can only wait so long, you know? There's a lot of worlds out there ready and waiting."
"Something big, in the way of artifact hunting, or something big in a larger scheme, as in not just finding some dusty old artifact that proves to be just one puzzle piece of a bigger picture full of other puzzle pieces that other groups are hunting for?" Mae wonders, studying Rax with that speculative expression on her face. He grins, looking a bit pensive, "Bigger. As in, really big. But, like I said, I haven't heard anything in a while, and I may have to go over there and see what the delay is."
"Try to give me at least a few hours of heads up so that i'm not already on a call when or if something like this really does shake free," Mae replies, eyes narrowing subtly at the pensive look on his face. "You, pensive, this is a new look."
Rolling her eyes at Rax, "Have you considered better armor?" Mae wonders in a tone of sarcasm and amusement, finding amusement being a predominant emotion around Rax. "I mean, seriously, you guys get perforated an awful lot, which makes me think you're wearing some manner of blaster bolt magnet."
Blinking suddenly, Rax straightens up. "How did you learn about the Blaster Bolt Magnet?! That's supposed to be a secret!" Rax flashes furtive glances around the starport, feigning concern and suspicion!
"One of your crew divulged it's existence while under sedation," Mae counters as she jabs one fingertip against Rax's shoulder. "Shame on you for using your own crew as test subjects!"
Rax just laughs as he's poked, "Hey, I tested it on myself first, to make sure it worked. But...yeah, I've considered armor in the past." He finally shrugs, dropping his arms to his sides, "But I've considered looking into armor, yeah. Might take some of the strain off certain overworked doctors."
Mae makes a sound that is nearly inarticulate before she exhales a breath and jabs Rax in the shoulder again, "Stop just considering armor. GET armor. Make it a perk of guild membership. Make them sign their gear in and out, but make it a perk."
Laughing, Rax shakes his head, "That takes credits, Doc. Credits I don't have yet. Hell, I had to sell the Infiltrator to fund this operation of mine. I'm not like Ax or Old Man Sar, who has a dozen guys flying bulk haulers constantly. We're a charity organization practically." Rax holds up his hands, "But I'm working on it. It's on the list."
"So... maybe consider hauling cargo on the side?" Mae wonders as she, again, tucks her hands into her pockets. "It's a way to make money and gather intel at the same time. Traders talk, not just about where the best markets are, but if you want to know what's happening in general, listen to what the merchants are talking about."
There's a subtle smirk as Rax slides his hands into his own pockets. "Who's to say we're not? It's just taken a long time to build up the capital for our first run. We should be seeing the fruits of that investment pretty soon now. Hopefully."
Shaking her head at Rax, Mae tips her head slightly, the sunlight gleaming off of the shades she's wearing. "Do you need an infusion of more capital? I have some stored up, I don't lead the most extravagant of life styles, personally."
Blinking at that, Rax leans back a touch and tilts his head. "You'd do that? I don't know when we'll be able to pay you back. We were saving up for a Research Lab and a Rare Books Library on the Renegade. A place to study and store the strange things we pick up across the galaxy."
"How short are you, for what you need to finish the lab and the library?" Mae asks in return. "It's just money, Rax. I can always make more."
Both eyebrows lift this time, and Rax tilts his head the other way. "...I'll find out for you. I've only made passing inquiries, but I have to ask: Would you prefer we stock a few suits of armor, or finish the lab and library first?"
"I don't have THAT much capital," Mae counters with a chuckle. "I can move fifty thousand though, will that get you moving in a better direction, gear wise?"
Chuckling, Rax nods, "It will...but hang on to it for now. When we're ready to finish the project, I'll let you know. No point keeping the money floating in a fund until then. You might need it."
"That's not all of my capital, but know that it's there when you need it," Mae replies with a mild shake of her head. "So tell me about this motley crew that you've gathered so far."
Running a hand back through his hair, Rax exhales, "Whew... That's a bit of an order. We have a lot of people now... Two hundred on the Renegade alone. But as for my 'core' group of Explorers, I'd say we have around 23? We've got fighters, pilots, navigators, engineers, scientists, doctors (obviously), hackers, and survivalists. Even a few smugglers, and a good number of Mandalorians. And one Gand."
"Well now, that is a big number. Where did you get all of those extra people?" Mae wonders, eyes widening in surprise. "I was expecting a much smaller number, to be honest, or a more manageable number to work with. I'll have to memorize a lot of new faces, species and specific medical profiles."
Rax shrugs helplessly, "I know, right? I didn't expect it to blow up like this. I thought there'd maybe be a team of eight of us, wandering around the galaxy on some fast little ship. I've actually had to start appointing leadership positions."
Exhaling a laugh, Mae simply nods, "The more people that you have the more you have to have in place a measure of leadership, a clearly defined hierarchy, chain of command, etcetera." She lifts one hand to lower the shades, just enough to eye Rax, amusement again evident in her expression. "Just so you know, I don't follow orders."
"Well that's good, since you're our Chief Medical Officer, thought your only other medical personnel at the moment is Elsemiek, and those who volunteer at your med lab on the Renegade." Rax smirks, folding his arms. "What about you? Got anything interesting an exciting going on lately?"
"I look forward to meeting this Elsemiek, then, and any other volunteers that work in the lab once it's up and running," Mae replies after a moment of silent surprise. "And stop smirking, your face is going to stick like that," she warns with a grin. "And nothing that would interest you, just regular medical work."
"Ah, you're too late. It's already stuck. I just frown slightly all the time so no one mistakes me for a HoloComic villain." Rax makes a show of pretending that his neutral look keeps ticking into a grin or smirk. Shrugging, he raises an eyebrow, "You should get out more, doctor. Get a tan. Make some more house calls. Get shot at now and then. It's fun."
Mae makes a thoughtful sound, "Hmm, you could be a Holocomic villain. You'd just have to grow your hair out a bit longer, wear clothing about one size to small, way your chest, you know the usual," she suggests with a wink. "And I get out plenty, I just work, a lot. And tans aren't healthy, in the long run, skin cancer is unpleasant."
Rax lifts his hands as he shrugs, "Always gotta take the negative, 'That could kill you!' outlook, don't you? Don't get a tan, don't get shot, don't get covered in deadly fire ants..."
Mae holds up one hand, palm facing Rax, "Hold up buddy. I draw the line at fire ants. Shoot at me, drag me through a muddy terrain, fine. But ants are the line, the absolute line. And enclosed spaces, i don't do those either."
Shrugging innocently, Rax just grins, "Hey, it was only once... And I feel like we've had this conversation before. You were the one who treated me for them, remember?" Suddenly Rax's commlink buzzes and he blinks at it. "Huh. I...should probably take this." He looks up, "Another time, Doctor?"
"Oh I remember. Vividly. Distinctly. In horrifying technicolor glory," Mae mutters in return before she nods. "I'll go for a tour of the ship next time you have a pilot free."
