Chapter 1 Paralogue 2: Potential Patrons

[Ray of Meep]

Co-authored by Ray of Meep (GM), Ikate Keda Studios

???? A.D

Silbern System, Daimler Gate, Castle Services Spaceport, aboard Daheim One

The Castle Services Spaceport was a large, imposing space architecture, a classic GDW design. Two large torus rings rotated in opposite directions of each other, providing gravity and living space for those inside, with a sturdy, central spine connecting the two, on which branched out another central spine, which branched further into many docking ports for the ships movinb along the busy route. Inside the spaceport were logging, recreational areas, medbays, hydroponics facilities, even a small research lab, making it a small town onto itself.

Ulrike let Montgomery lead the children out into the spaceport to get some more room for play, escorted by a couple of security details, while she stayed on the bridge to manage the mercenary team's budget and lobby for their future mission prospects to her friends in high places, when one of her own security alerted her. "We've got unidentified personnel approaching our dock. Looks to be one of those Chongwu from DaQin. Female, canine-form, she's in a suit, and she seems to have escorts of her own."

The co-founder raised an eyebrow, more out of curiosity rather than concern. "Huh. Not everyday you see a Chongwu here, much less one of apparent social standing. Keep our doors locked, but let her speak through the intercoms."

The Chongwu stopped at the door, then turned to her escort, shooing them away. "Would you all please? I get it, the company pays you to keep me safe but seriously!" She groaned, exasperated. "I am going to talk to a small family business. Not the Don of the Mafia. You are all really just... Unnecessary," She said, giving the group an obvious disappointed mother stare. "Go," She waved. "Buy yourselves some coffee. I'm more than capable of speaking to people on my lonesome," She said, waiting for the escort to float away, before turning back to the ship.

"Right, now they're gone, I'm not Daqin if that's what you're suspecting," The woman explained, pulling out a rather typical Chongwu ID card. "On the Contrary, I'm American. Is now a bad time to talk? I would certainly hate to intrude!" She said, clearly very confident she was actually speaking to someone.

"I reckon if you were actually Daqin, you'd have a muzzle on instead of a suit." A German voice replied back through the intercom. "Please, come in. Do you want coffee, water, beer, tea?"

"That is the Daqin mentality," The woman smiled, waiting for the door to open, pulling herself in when it did. "Come to the GDW, have a talk with a strong German Family, and not expect them to have the best beer you could imagine? I'd say I would be crazy to not accept!" She said, looking about the ship, trying to gauge everything out. "I noticed the children just outside. I take it you have families aboard?"

Ulrike floated down from the bridge to greet her, followed by a leery guard who had his pistol holstered. Ulrike herself was wearing her innocent, baggy jumpsuit. "You've done your homework." She gave a housekeeper's smile. "Come, lets go to one of our habitation modules. Then you can actually sit down and have a proper drink."

"If there is one that is adults only?" Chloe asked, leading herself along. "Children give me anxiety. How many times my tail has been broken," She shuddered. "No offense, but as they say, Pavlovs dog. My name is Chloe Writa, by the way. I understand you are a new face to the Private Military Contractor scene?" She asked, holding out her hand in greeting.

 

[Ray of Meep]

"Ulrike Grau, though I assume you knew that." She shook the furry hand, and led Chloe down the ship and into a small bar room. There were a few seats in front of the bar itself, and a coffee table that doubled as a game board. The guard stood next to the entrance which locked behind Chloe and Ulrike. She poured them both glasses of beer and handed Chloe one as she sat down on the couch. "Chloe Writa Chloe Writa... where did I hear that name before?" Ulrike wondered, tapping her chin, then eyed her guard whose cheeks glowed a tad rosy. "Right, you're that famous American pornstar!" She gasped with seeming epiphany. "What pleasure do I owe a foreign celebrity for visiting my humble family business?"

Chloe gave a smile, licking her lips in a "Of course you picked that up" kinda way, than anything seductive. "Not quite a star, I own the company," She said, setting her briefcase on the table. "At least, for all intent and purpose I own the company. My... Owner," She said, quoting the word owner. "Is actually the one who owns it all. Turns out in the states, the only way a pet can recieve property and holding under the eyes of the law is for it to be willed to them. So strange I think," She sighed, sitting down. "Regardless, petty politics aside, I do significantly more than just prance around on TV without my clothes," She smiled. "And, you are just the sort of people I take interest in. Most Private Military Contractors are too hotshot to listen to me for more than 30 seconds before starting to oggle my chest and assume I'm there to make their wildest dreams come true. Smaller companies tend to operate with a little more respect all around," She smiled. "Not that I mind your guards looks."

"We also prefer to be more low-key." Ulrike still smiled, but it changed to a professional, forced one and her gaze was more focused on Chloe. "I'd like to know how you came to know us, so I can talk to the right people." She took a sip of her beer. "I take it you're looking for a business oppurtunity."

"Well, Mrs. Grau," Chloe said, her smile not changing from the easy presentation it had been all along. "There are a few Gentlement in certain positions who spend quite an extraordinary amount of money to lay their head in my lap and have me listen about everything on their minds. You came up in one or two conversations," She said, taking a few doggish laps of her own beer. "Oh that is excellent. You always find the best stuff in smaller circles. The rich are always too busy throwing money around to appreciate the simpler things," She sighed, shaking her head in a small amount of longing.

"Thank you, if you stick around and chat some more I can give you a whole bottle to take home as a souvenoir."

"I would love that, your generocity is a welcome change," Chloe said, opening her breifcase. "Thought I assume you'd like to get down to the thick of things. One of the things that many people don't know, is that Tail Chasers isn't the only company I manage on a day to day basis. We also deal in less... Erotic and more... Violent matters. Bionetics, cybernetics and weapons development. I would like to... Sponsor your company here," She said, her easiness unchanged. She was either genuinely happy and pleasant by nature, or far too used to these types of conversations. "The lowkey nature of our intended businesses I think would benefit each other quite nicely." She explained, pulling out some pictures of Chongwu women carrying firearms. "Pardon the risque nature of the pictures, my marketing team had a hard time shifting directions..."

"No, not at all." Ulrike leaned forward to examine the pictures, then slide them back to Chloe. "So what, you want us to get our hands dirty for you?"

"Well," Chloe frowned. "You make it sound so sleezy and unkind! You are a company of moral standing! I would never seek to take that honour from you, though I may have some... Undesireables taken care of, I assure you it would be for a better cause than petty corperate sabatage," She said, the easy smile returning to her face. "I am a Chongwu, I am viewed as nothing more tha a slave, and I would like to, when opportunities arise, deal with those who seek to keep me and my kind with such... Unfortunate collars and shackles. In permanent manners."

"Hmm." Ulrike crossed her arms and leaned back into the couch. She contemplated for a few moments, before replying, "I'll consider your offer, but right now we have contracts to fulfill."

"Of course, I wouldn't wish to get in the way," Chloe stated, placing the pictures back into her briefcase. "Though, we have something that is currently well under development, just about to go into human testing," She said, sliding another set of pictures over. "When I have my job for you... I will be sure to provide a set of these for each of those who are sent on the mission," She smiled, leaning back in her chair.

"Ooh, fancy new toys." Ulrike picked up one of the photos, half-impressed, then set it back down. "We'll consider it as icing on the cake for when, or if, we provide our services to you."

"Of course," Chloe said, leaning back in her chair, crossing her legs. "Though, I would inform you that a trained soldier in them, would be able to go toe to toe with... Most Daqin soldiers you would meet. I can't tell you if it would stand up to a 1st class soldier, but their second and third classes shouldn't be impossible," She explained. "Humans would be made a laughing matter..."

"That's quite the claim. I heard the 1st class soldiers were nothing short of supermen. A woman in the entertainment industry, an ex-slave no less, now building up an arsenel to take on the budding superpower of mankind, well, not exactly mankind." Ulrike stood up and wondered. "You zeal must burn quite hot for all this to happen."

"When driven, Slaves can be the most dangerous to their opressors," Chloe said simply. "I hope I didn't get my assumption wrong in thinking you are among the humans who find the idea of the fact that I, a person having a full conversation with you, am in fact owned by another person, to be unsavory?" Chloe asked, her smile growing a little estranged. "Most humans I speak with could care less if we are freed or not... Others think we are exactly where we belong. My impression of you is that you are in neither of those camps..."

"I..." Ulrike paused, She scanned the Chongwu before her. If the canine-form wanted to kill her, she wasn't sure her bodyguard could do his job. There was all the chess with words she could play, but it didn't matter if the opponent flipped over the table with brute strength. Ulrike chose her next words carefully. "No, human history has been riddled with suppression of one another with no rationality to it, other than to hold on to some semblence of power. I certainly don't stand by that, especially when we've conquered the stars." She paused again. "If you call me, and if my contracts are completed, I'll lend the Lancers to you. As long as you pay us well."

"That is fantastic," Chloe said with a sigh of relief. "You should really relax. Stress is bad for the complexion of us older gals," She said happily. "You got so tense there for a moment. Do you think I was going to jump over the table at you? On your own ship?" She teased with a light chuckle. "I have civility my dear, you're more than safe from little old me!"

"I don't know, now that you say that. Would you?" Ulrike asked back lightheartedly, taking a gulp of beer afterwards.

"I would not be so crass as to attack you on your own ship," Chloe said, keeping her smile, unwaivering. "Even if I were inclined to do such in the first place. I am a business woman, not a dimwitted enforcer who merely attacks those with opinions I do not agree with. I would merely challenge your position politely. Though, I was more than confident in my assessment of you and your disposition towards certain topics, I just wanted to be abundantly sure."

 

[Ray of Meep]

"Now you know." Ulrike maintained a soldier's alertness and walked over to the bar. "More beer?"

"Oh most certainly! If you don't mind!" Chloe said. "Such talks always make me thirsty," She said, looking at Ulrike as she walked.

She obliged, placing another glass down for Chloe. "How much do you know about us? You apparently were given enough information to find our ship."

Chloe gave a quiet thank you as she took the beer, taking several laps at it. Dog, she couldn't exactly drink normally. When she stopped, she placed her mug down and thought about the question. "Well. You are a family run business, not particularly large, taking on small jobs the GDW Military doesn't want to dirty their hands with. Am I about correct?" She asked, picking her mug back up.

"Partially. It's more about them trying to avoid due process and bureacracy when it comes to handling criminals. Slippery slope, I know, but we get paid to enact justice more efficiently, while they don't have to deal with any potential fallout." Ulrike took a sip of her own beer. "Well, they minimize it. Some politicians are bound to lose their jobs, depending on how badly we fuck up."

"Ah yes," Chloe said, striking a pose like a James Bond Character, finger gun and all. "License to kill and all that, how very european. Almost like your own little James Bond sorta deal, no?" She asked with a grin. "It's all so very exciting. PRobably more fun than my day to day life at the very least," She giggled, slumping her shoulders. "Just a whole lot of paperwork with intermittent marketing teams waltzing into my office demanding I remove my clothes for some advertisement or another. Very dull."

"At least it's only that. The porn industry is honest work; you don't have to get your hands bloody and expect every goodbye to your kids is your last." Ulrike sighed, and confessed. "Do you have any kids? I'm not sure how it works for you Chongwu."

Chloe's smile faltered slightly, and the woman picked up her glass. "No. Unfortunately, I was an experimental breed. I wasn't lucky enough to be made with a functional reproductive system," She said, taking another drink from her cup. "Though, our industries have different traps. Women in porn are often drug addicts, suffer from sever self image and esteem issues, so on. Especially the girls who work in the harder kinks. Only so many times you can be slapped and called a dirty whore, even in a scripted scene, before you start to doubt yourself. Hence why Tail Chasers has one of the best funded mental health programs for our workers. Even Chongwu need to be reminded they're people sometimes," She said simply.

"Damn, sign me up." Ulrike joked, when her data pad lit up. "Hmm." She walked back to the bar and took out a bottle for Chloe. "Sorry, Ms. Writa, we'll have to cut our conversation short today. I need to go pick my husband up. How can I contact you in the future?"

Chloe nodded her head and stood up. "Not a problem at all. To get a hold of my personal assistant, here is my personal card," She said, taking another card out and giving Ulrike a grin. "And if you would like to sign up, call this number. If you're serious that is, I could probably make one or two idle fantasies come true," She joked, setting both cards on the table, taking the bottle in turn. "Thank you again for your generous hospitality, you are truly too kind," She added.

"Thank you for the offer, to both I suppose." Ulrike escorted Chloe out of the frigate. Afterwards she turned around and contacted her butler. "Mont. Bring the kids back in. Time to go pick up the Mommy and Daddy."

"Did the meeting go well?"

"It could've gone better." She frowned. "I was just reminded that the world is a large place, and we won't always get our way. Just be prepared to do something we'll hate later on."

"Something we'll hate Mrs. Grau?" The Butler asked, his face passive as ever.

Ulrike looked down in thought, then replied. "Call it pessimism, but... I'm getting the impression we aren't going simply be fighting pirates. Daqin's strong now, and growing, but one day it's all going to blow up one day over there, and it's going to make waves over here. I'm worried for the children, both mine and Ms. Ambrose's."

"Well, Mrs Grau," Her butler said, giving her a calm smile. "I suppose, if that happens, protect the children, and stand for what you believe in hmm? Only thing we really can do at this point."

She smiled back. "Yes, you're right. Now come on, I want them back on the ship."

End.