I've just gotten back from a lovely trip to Rheinland with some Blue Diamonds, lovely things, where I had a nice chat with a pilot from the Unioners. Most of it was a lesson in Sirian Underworld Politics- interesting, but not what I'm calling in for today. During this chat, they mentioned a link between Rheinland and Gallia, hidden in the Zurich system, along with a staging point for trade between our two houses. And by trading, they mean smuggling. They claimed to be the top dog in Rheinland for moving goods away from the Police's eyes. The pilot laid claim to, and seemed quite possessive of the passage between Gallia and Rheinland, and said that we would be... "billed" for using it, if we don't make any arrangements, to which they seemed quite eager to make. Oh, and they mentioned being quite capable shipbuilders, which access to lots of military-grade Sirian scrap, which, well does sound a bit too Junker-y to me, but could be useful, if there's any sort of Sirian tech that we Gauls haven't perfected already.
[06.02.2020 22:19:29] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Nox transport.
[06.02.2020 22:19:36] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Hey, Corsican.
[06.02.2020 22:19:45] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Bonjour!
[06.02.2020 22:20:09] UN|Hellion: Riehl: *narrowing her eyes*
[06.02.2020 22:20:25] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Not sure what to make of you an-cappy' lot.
[06.02.2020 22:20:39] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: An-cappy?
[06.02.2020 22:20:51] UN|Hellion: Riehl: You lot run the Minarchy, right?
[06.02.2020 22:20:54] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: My Sirian is usually quite good but you have lost me there
[06.02.2020 22:21:01] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Land where money is law?
[06.02.2020 22:21:38] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Yeah. You're a gaul, all the way out here.
[06.02.2020 22:21:47] UN|Hellion: Riehl: I wager you came through the Zurich jump. *pauses*
[06.02.2020 22:21:48] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Ah, the Minarchy. Well, I wouldn't say we run it entirely, but we have some influence
[06.02.2020 22:21:54] UN|Hellion: Rieh: A Unioner found that hole, Corsican.
[06.02.2020 22:22:01] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Unioners forged that connection.
[06.02.2020 22:22:04] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Zurich? No no, I came through Kusari
[06.02.2020 22:22:09] UN|Hellion: Riehl: *doubtful.*
[06.02.2020 22:23:00] UN|Hellion: Riehl: What brings a Corsican to Kusari?
[06.02.2020 22:23:15] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: I'm heading to Suttgart, to sell these Diamonds
[06.02.2020 22:23:20] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: So, travel and trade
[06.02.2020 22:23:28] UN|Hellion: Riehl: *startled*
[06.02.2020 22:23:32] Death: Lord_Tamigin was put out of action by a hostile vessel.
[06.02.2020 22:23:34] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Stuttgart? That's not... not far.
[06.02.2020 22:23:44] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Not any more
[06.02.2020 22:23:47] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Diamonds used to be extracted just a system over.
[06.02.2020 22:23:58] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Ah, but not like these diamonds
[06.02.2020 22:23:59] UN|Hellion: Riehl: I guess the Omega 11 solar bust-up must have jacked the prices.
[06.02.2020 22:24:21] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Well, that probably doesnt hurt the price either
[06.02.2020 22:24:35] UN|Hellion: Riehl: The hell you say?
[06.02.2020 22:24:41] UN|Hellion: Riehl: What's so special about these stones?
[06.02.2020 22:24:49] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Have a look yourself
[06.02.2020 22:25:35] UN|Hellion: Riehl: *lowering her visor, mildly panicked*
[06.02.2020 22:25:51] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Take a free sample, see if you like them
[06.02.2020 22:25:56] UN|Hellion: Riehl: <expletive> ! I'm a flight arbeiter and an avionics technician, not a minerologist!
[06.02.2020 22:26:03] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Alright, sure.
[06.02.2020 22:26:12] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Hopefully the sensors are calibrated for this kinda' work.
[06.02.2020 22:26:12] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: And? Who can say no to a handful of pretty gems
[06.02.2020 22:26:21] UN|Hellion: Riehl: You do have a point there.
[06.02.2020 22:26:39] UN|Hellion: Riehl: That's all I need for a sample. Keep the rest.
[06.02.2020 22:26:53] UN|Hellion: Riehl: *startled*
[06.02.2020 22:27:01] UN|Hellion: Riehl: ...These are... Impressive superconductors.
[06.02.2020 22:27:03] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Huh.
[06.02.2020 22:27:09] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Indeed they are
[06.02.2020 22:27:40] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Alright - I'll bite. I'm willing to wager you didn't come through Zurich.
[06.02.2020 22:27:49] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: No, I didn't
[06.02.2020 22:27:52] UN|Hellion: Riehl: But you know of the connection. Listen. Usually we bill anybody who uses our back-road.
[06.02.2020 22:28:12] UN|Hellion: Riehl: And I'm not inclined to take a stranger on trust. But you were honest with me - that counts out here.
[06.02.2020 22:28:14] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Ah, what kind of bill would this be?
[06.02.2020 22:28:21] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Credits, usually.
[06.02.2020 22:28:30] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Of course, makes sense
[06.02.2020 22:28:36] UN|Hellion: Riehl: More for someone like you.
[06.02.2020 22:28:47] UN|Hellion: Riehl: You're a rival syndicate - and Nox is legal here.
[06.02.2020 22:29:08] UN|Hellion: Riehl: the Unioners - well, the Reichsarbeitergesellschaft das Rheinland
[06.02.2020 22:29:09] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Ah, Nox... quite the substance there
[06.02.2020 22:29:23] UN|Hellion: Riehl: ...We run smuggling and distribution in Rheinland. We're the largest underworld player.
[06.02.2020 22:29:31] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Nox is a quandary since we can't make it ourselves.
[06.02.2020 22:29:47] UN|Hellion: Riehl: And it's in high demand, which means that people like you are stepping on our cashflow.
[06.02.2020 22:29:51] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: No one can make Nox, not even us mon ami
[06.02.2020 22:30:01] UN|Hellion: Riehl: *startled* You can't?
[06.02.2020 22:30:18] UN|Hellion: Riehl: We only ever see it come through on corsican transports - or on unscruplous sirian trade ships.
[06.02.2020 22:30:20] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: We have to get ours from the same source everyone does, on Marseille
[06.02.2020 22:30:30] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Huh? What's a Marseille?
[06.02.2020 22:30:39] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: A planet in the Minarchy
[06.02.2020 22:30:53] UN|Hellion: Riehl: *whistles - impressed* You lot have a planet?
[06.02.2020 22:30:53] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Very nice place, lots of resorts
[06.02.2020 22:30:57] UN|Hellion: Riehl: We don't have a planet.
[06.02.2020 22:31:25] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Thats quite a shame
[06.02.2020 22:31:33] UN|Hellion: Riehl: *pausing*
[06.02.2020 22:31:41] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Nothing like streching your legs after a long flight on a nice beach
[06.02.2020 22:31:51] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: With lots of lovely ladies around *chuckles*
[06.02.2020 22:31:55] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Say - I know you're probably low down the pecking order - but you mind hooking my bosses up with yours?
[06.02.2020 22:32:17] UN|Hellion: Riehl: We Unioners - it's kinda' in our name - we're rough around the edges and might have a few teeth missing...
[06.02.2020 22:32:41] UN|Hellion: Riehl: But we're honest to a fault and we'd prefer to work with other 'enterprises' rather than rob you every time you jump....
[06.02.2020 22:32:45] UN|Hellion: through that anomaly we discovered.
[06.02.2020 22:33:02] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: I think that would be in our interests too, mon ami
[06.02.2020 22:33:04] UN|Hellion: Riehl: We're the big dogs in distribution in Rheinland.
[06.02.2020 22:33:12] UN|Hellion: Riehl: I'm sure we could figure out an agreement. *pauses.*
[06.02.2020 22:33:21] UN|Hellion: Riehl: We've even got a staging area in the Gallic sector.
[06.02.2020 22:33:28] Death: Definitely.No.Smuggling suffered a self-inflicted catastrophic decompression.
[06.02.2020 22:33:28] UN|Hellion: Riehl: As far as I know, we're the first Sirians to do it.
[06.02.2020 22:33:45] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Although perhaps the Maltese beat us to that knock.
[06.02.2020 22:33:48] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Ah? That sounds impressive
[06.02.2020 22:34:02] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Let's just pretend those Maltese dogs dont count
[06.02.2020 22:34:05] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Hah!
[06.02.2020 22:34:11] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Maybe in Gaul.
[06.02.2020 22:34:23] UN|Hellion: Riehl: They don't have as much influence in Rheinland as literally anywhere else
[06.02.2020 22:34:30] UN|Hellion: Riehl: but they're pretty rampant in the Sirian underworld.
[06.02.2020 22:34:42] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Unfortunately
[06.02.2020 22:34:59] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Yeah. Everyone here is divided between three players.
[06.02.2020 22:35:16] UN|Hellion: Riehl: The Coalition - they're a bunch of international revolutionaries. Think the Maquis with even more firepower, anger...
[06.02.2020 22:35:18] UN|Hellion: and brutality.
[06.02.2020 22:35:27] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Sounds... dangerous
[06.02.2020 22:35:41] UN|Hellion: Riehl: They've got powerful allies like the Mollys, - Bretonia's homegrown revolutionaries - and the Red Hessians...
[06.02.2020 22:35:51] UN|Hellion: which are a big damn problem and a threat to the state out here in Rheinland.
[06.02.2020 22:36:02] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: I see...
[06.02.2020 22:36:15] UN|Hellion: Riehl: The biggest dogs are the Corsairs. You'd probably know of 'em. They were the allies with the Royalist Gauls in the
[06.02.2020 22:36:17] UN|Hellion: Great War.
[06.02.2020 22:36:31] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Oui, I have heard of them, but never seen them my self
[06.02.2020 22:36:48] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Yeah. They mostly wanted Bretonia's southern fertile system - Cambridge.
[06.02.2020 22:36:59] UN|Hellion: Riehl: They're a people that developed on a near-uninhabitable rock in the Sirian edgeworlds.
[06.02.2020 22:37:11] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Oh my, that sounds unpleasent
[06.02.2020 22:37:12] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Food shortages drove them to state-sponsored piracy.
[06.02.2020 22:37:28] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Desperate times, desperate measures I guess
[06.02.2020 22:37:31] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Right. *sucking in air* Unfortunately they're as close as we come to allies out here - since they fight the Hessians and
[06.02.2020 22:37:33] UN|Hellion: Coalition.
[06.02.2020 22:37:42] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Lucky you then?
[06.02.2020 22:37:57] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Hah, maybe. We Unioners try to keep as neutral as we can between all sides which arn't the Coalition.
[06.02.2020 22:38:33] UN|Hellion: Riehl: I guess if you're looking for a gallic comparison - we're halfway between the war-era maquis - and the Brigands.
[06.02.2020 22:38:45] UN|Hellion: Riehl: But we're not about toppling states - oh no. Goverments are for someone else.
[06.02.2020 22:39:03] UN|Hellion: Riehl: No, we want to change the economy. Workers and the common folk arn't treated as well out here as in Gallia.
[06.02.2020 22:39:14] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Your nation might be classist, but at least you don't get treated as wage slaves.
[06.02.2020 22:39:46] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Perhaps not as classist as it used to be, with the Crown disposed
[06.02.2020 22:40:02] UN|Hellion: Riehl: *shrugs* It'll take a long, long time to shrug off half a thousand years of history.
[06.02.2020 22:40:16] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Although the prevalence of slaves on many Brigand bases has never sat right by me
[06.02.2020 22:40:17] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Rheinland still misses the Kaiser after near two centuries.
[06.02.2020 22:40:48] UN|Hellion: Riehl: *grimacing*
[06.02.2020 22:40:54] UN|Hellion: Riehl: I was nearly sold a slave as a girl.
[06.02.2020 22:41:01] UN|Hellion: Riehl: It's not any better in Sirius.
[06.02.2020 22:41:13] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Except a good third of the slaves here end up working on maltese plantations.
[06.02.2020 22:41:18] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: I would imagine not
[06.02.2020 22:41:31] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Good lord.... What a horrid fate
[06.02.2020 22:41:37] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Right.
[06.02.2020 22:41:50] UN|Hellion: Riehl: The cardamine grass is so sharp it cuts synthetic fibres.
[06.02.2020 22:41:56] UN|Hellion: Riehl: It'll go through flesh like a glass knife.
[06.02.2020 22:42:14] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Sounds as wicked as it is as a drug
[06.02.2020 22:42:36] UN|Hellion: Riehl: The plant doesn't know what it's doing. The Landwirtrechtbewegung in the Unioners like to tell us it's just the...
[06.02.2020 22:42:45] UN|Hellion: plant defending itself from predators. Natural evolution.
[06.02.2020 22:42:49] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Hold on... the who?
[06.02.2020 22:42:53] UN|Hellion: Riehl: You tend not to eat something that can stab you.
[06.02.2020 22:42:56] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Thats way too long of a name
[06.02.2020 22:43:00] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Oh, the Landwirtrechtbewegung.
[06.02.2020 22:43:16] UN|Hellion: Riehl: It means, uh... Farmer's activism organisation.
[06.02.2020 22:43:37] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Ah, and they join you in fighting for the workers?
[06.02.2020 22:43:48] UN|Hellion: Riehl: *grimaces* More that they didn't have a choice.
[06.02.2020 22:43:54] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: oh?
[06.02.2020 22:44:20] UN|Hellion: Riehl: When the Red Hessians turned against the Unioners for the second time, the LWB, which was a pretty small....
[06.02.2020 22:44:38] UN|Hellion: group at the time, depended on Coalition support for spacecraft and Unioner support for supplies and maintainence, including..
[06.02.2020 22:44:40] UN|Hellion: guns and ammo.
[06.02.2020 22:44:58] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Ah.
[06.02.2020 22:44:59] UN|Hellion: Riehl: With both sides at war with each other - material support dried up.
[06.02.2020 22:45:06] UN|Hellion: Riehl: The LWB split in two.
[06.02.2020 22:45:11] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Well, three.
[06.02.2020 22:45:24] UN|Hellion: Riehl: One third joined the Gaians - they're a bretonian enviromentalist movement, and our allies.
[06.02.2020 22:45:39] UN|Hellion: Riehl: The other third joined the <expletive> 'Schuh. Ugh.
[06.02.2020 22:45:47] UN|Hellion: Riehl: The final third went to us.
[06.02.2020 22:46:03] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Siran underworld politics sound... complicated
[06.02.2020 22:46:20] UN|Hellion: Riehl: That's the side effect of having centuries less stability than Gallia.
[06.02.2020 22:46:34] UN|Hellion: Riehl: You guys being imprisoned behind a minefield kept you stable. You've only had, what, two civil wars?
[06.02.2020 22:46:35] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: And lots more space
[06.02.2020 22:46:56] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Well, 1 civil war before the mines breached
[06.02.2020 22:47:05] UN|Hellion: Riehl: true.
[06.02.2020 22:47:06] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: The second was when the field breached
[06.02.2020 22:47:12] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: That probably still counts
[06.02.2020 22:47:30] UN|Hellion: Riehl: I heard that the first ended with part of the entire kingdom splitting off and sealing itself away behind the jumpgates.
[06.02.2020 22:47:34] UN|Hellion: Riehl: That's... impressive.
[06.02.2020 22:47:44] UN|Hellion: Riehl: It means there's a whole section of humanity, cut off somewhere.
[06.02.2020 22:48:18] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Sounds like a terrible way to go
[06.02.2020 22:48:26] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: If things weren't sustainable by themselves
[06.02.2020 22:48:32] Death: Markos was put out of action by a hostile vessel.
[06.02.2020 22:48:35] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Who knows? Maybe they're living in paridise.
[06.02.2020 22:48:41] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: We can only hope
[06.02.2020 22:49:17] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Alright, I won't keep you from your traderun.
[06.02.2020 22:49:30] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Tell your bosses about us. I'm sure we can strike a deal somewhere.
[06.02.2020 22:49:30] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Merci, mon ami
[06.02.2020 22:49:35] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Oh - we're shipbuilders.
[06.02.2020 22:49:38] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: I certainly will
[06.02.2020 22:49:48] UN|Hellion: Riehl: We've got premium access to Sirian scrapped military tech' from during the wars.
[06.02.2020 22:49:57] UN|Hellion: Riehl: I'm sure someone in Gallia would be interested in buying.
[06.02.2020 22:50:10] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: Sounds like a valuable item, I'll mention that too
[06.02.2020 22:50:29] UN|Hellion: Riehl: As you were. *she snaps off a Unioner salute*
[06.02.2020 22:50:36] UN|Hellion: Riehl: Hey, Anton
[06.02.2020 22:50:41] [UC]V-Fortunes.Espoir: *does a bad salute back*
[06.02.2020 22:50:41] UN|Hellion: Riehl: I found a Corsican.
[06.02.2020 22:51:05] UN|Hellion: Riehl: *Bursts out laughing* I can't fault you for trying.
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