Party Bus

[Joza Perl]

In the aftermath of Atrisia and Kaeshana, Joza quickly learned that emergency response was very important. Not just for the soldiers, but for displaced and weary civilian populations (though that was a bigger concern on Atrisia than Kaeshana) that needed relief. In an effort to extend aide to the wounded areas of the galaxy, Joza was in the process of creating a team of combat nurses—trained field medics who were also able to fight to defend themselves and their charges if necessary. They were a mix of the Zeltron nurses employed under her at her safe house with your standard foot soldier, and if all went well, they’d see action soon.

In reviewing appropriate equipment, she’d come across the Emergency Medical Speeder produced by Ashhearth Industries, finding it a good fit for what she intended for her new support group. She’d contacted the CEO, [member="John Ash"], and set up a meeting at Heartbeat Boutique.

She hoped that Mr. Ash did not mind wall to wall pink—in different complementary shades, of course. She wasn’t some monster who decorated with the same shade of one color. Maybe in her teenage years, but not now. No one had found the boutique’s décor nauseating enough to vomit on sight, so she figured that was good.

Inside, she would wait for Mr. Ash, perched delicately upon one of the couches fixed towards the back of the room. A few shoppers mingled around and she offered them a smile, sipping her tea while tapping idly at her datapad.

 

[John Ash]

Ashhearth Industries was still a new company on the scene, but it seemed that they had done something right. John was a little surprised when he was approached by a potential client about buying one of his company's few products. He didn't have to be out to hunt this one down either like the others. A good sign for his company and potential income for his workers. They deserved it as much as they put into their job, even if John asked for more from them than other companies might on the danger scale. Not every company that would try to salvage stuff off of Blenjeel. So he was sure to respond to this client and meet up with them personally.

John found himself at this Heartbeat Beatique, and frowned as he walked in. Pink. So much pink. He was not a fan of the color to begin with but the sheer amount of it here was just upsetting for him. And the amount of difference in the individual shades of pink all layered with each other. John was not the most fashionable of people, but even he knew you didn't go all-in on a single color like this no matter what that color might be. He could just feel himself becoming more feminine with every passing moment in this place. Then there was the smell of perfumes and other beauty products. He had to scrunch his nose to stop the bombardment against his sinuses by the sheer variety in smells. One or two different smells might have been pleasant but when you had this many it might as well be riot gas. He could feel his head beginning to throb already from the overload of smells and pinkness.

John moved into the store as he looked for the client. A [member="Joza Perl"] was the name of the owner and his potential client. He knew she was a red haired zeltron woman, but that helped him little. He sunk into his quality suit as he tried to find shelter from store as he continued to look around. Would he even be able to spot her if her skin was the same color as everything in this place? Maybe that was why the owner had done this. A sort of defensive measure to psychologically assault her attackers while she was able to be unseen by standing still anywhere in the store. He eventually managed to overhear a conversation about the owner being in the back on a couch and took off in the direction of it. Hopefully his intel wasn't wrong here because he was moving further into enemy territory.

As John approached a couch with a zeltron woman meeting the rough description he had, he said, " Are you Ms. Joza Perl?"

OOC: John's outfit.

Spoiler

 

[Joza Perl]

Spoiler

Joza’s gaze set on the sharp dressed man approaching her, lowering her teacup delicately in to the saucer on the table beside her. “Yes, I am. You must be Mr. John Ash—lovely to meet you in person.” She rose from the couch, smiling politely as he took his hand in a firm shake. Joza took this time to look him over—how he dressed, how he carried himself. Ashhearth Industries was a fledgling company, but they produced a few products that caught her eye. She was curious to see how the company was projected to grow. “Please, sit. Would you like any refreshment?” She gestured to the table beside her, a tea pot and a pitcher of ice water waiting there.

She slipped back onto the couch, ankles crossed, hands clasped in her lap. “I hope that your journey to Lianna has treated you well.” While rural areas held their own charm, he Zeltron always felt more at ease on industrial worlds. She’d grown up surrounded by neon light and permacrete structures, so it was only natural. Regardless, Heartbeat Boutique wasn’t difficult to find. It was…very noticeable to the senses.

“I’m impressed with the quality of your Emergency Medical Speeders, Mr. Ash.” The comment was genuine as one hand found its way to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “They’ve proven useful in our field tests. I’d like make a bulk purchase, if possible. I’m also interested in any other medical products Ashhearth Industries has to offer.”

[member="John Ash"]

 

[John Ash]

This Ms. [member="Joza Perl"] certainly was an attractive woman, but that was not much of a surprise. Seems she was known for her looks and explained part of her focus on what her company made. As she stood up, John was sure to offer his hand toward her to shake. As she took his hand in her own, he immediately noticed something off. Her hand looked real enough but the feeling of what was beneath the skin was not of flesh and bone. A cybernetic hand or even arm. That sparked his curiosity to a degree, but it was swiftly suppressed as the meeting was begun.

" Same." John replied as Joza's first comment. He moved to sit down so he was as across from her as he could be in her little lounge area. He declined the offer for a drink with a motion of his hand. It was a habit of his from his mercenary days, not that he had completely stopped taking those kinds of jobs. He always refused drinks to avoid being drugged or poisoned. It seemed like he was just being paranoid but he had seen that kill plenty of peers in his line of work. People held vendettas even if the job was not personal. He made sure to study her over as the small talk was exchanged as well. Another habit he couldn't drop. This one though helped with these sort of business deals. Words lied, but it was hard for someone's body to.

The conversation finally shifted into the business at hand. The zeltron woman mentioned the EMS his company made, as well as some praise for it. It seemed genuine enough so he was going to be sure to give the one who designed it a bonus after this. She was interested in buying more of them as well as in any other products he might have that are related to the medical field. Luckily, his company had just finished up on some new products that had yet to hit the market. He pulled his holopad out of his suit. He got the products up on its screen then handed it over to her.

" Ashhearth Industries has three products currently specialized for medical use. The first is the EMS, which you were interested in." John said to her while she had the chance to look over his Medic class medical-corvette and "Nightingale" medical speeder bike. " We also offer a speeder bike dedicated to emergency medical aid. It is built for speed and maneuverability. There is a first aid kit under the seat and it has a stretcher attached to it that is not standard. The next is our Medic class corvette. It can handle any injury other than major surgery and the size lets it go to places the larger medical ships are not able to. It can also carry two of our EMS, four of our Nightingales, or a mix of the two."

" Do these suit your needs as well?" John asked before he waited for her reply. He was not entirely sure exactly what she was after, but it didn't matter. Credits were credits after all and what she did with what she paid for was her business. So long as he got his pay he wouldn't inquire too deeply into things.

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza accepted the holopad, watching intently as the images of the speeder and then the corvette flared to life. The gears in her mind were turning—the speeder had the look of being built more for agility, and she could picture it being used as a first responder. The ship was something new to her—she was used to her medical facilities being permacrete or coming out of a kit. “The speeder looks like something I’d be able to use—as for the ship, it looks a bit light. What sort of defenses does it have?”

She couldn’t imagine much—considering its main purpose was to stabilize and treat patients—but it was important to know at least the basic specs of what she was dealing with. Ivan, her pilot, could handle the nuts and bolts of the situation later. He could either modify the ship to suit their needs, or ensure that it had an adequate escort depending on the situation. As grumpy as the man was, he’d stuck around with her for quite some time and they made a good pair when the situation was anything but lax.

“Overall, it looks like you’ve put a lot of work into the design of your products, Mr. Ash. I’m glad that I’ve found someone who produces medical equipment like this. There’s a sore lack of compassion in the galaxy.” She offered him a soft smile, buried under layers of polite intonations and a professional demeanor. She may have been a Zeltron—a race known for their loose morals and flighty mannerisms—but her people were often too broadly defined. Still, she would pay attention to John’s reaction to her mention of compassion. Did he have a passion for the medical field, or did he simply seek to capitalize on an underrepresented market? She couldn’t blame him for either. Business and personal interests often blended together in one way or another. But she’d taken note of how he’d declined any refreshment. There was a certain hardness to him, the sort she’d seen in her father and in many friends.

The teacup reached her lips once more as she took an idle sip, lowering it back into its saucer. “Tell me—how did Ashhearth Industries come to be?” It was a friendly question, not meant to poke or prod for an ulterior motive, only wanting to get a better handle on the man she was about to do business with.

[member="John Ash"]

 

[John Ash]

The meeting was were John wanted it to be, business. He never did care much for small talk while in the middle of a job. That worked great for his bounty hunting and mercenary work, but it seemed it could be a real problem for his business transactions. He had already run into a few rough patches because of it, but it was hard to say if this meeting would be one of them. He was just thankful her question to him was about the specs of his company's medical corvette. He could give her the run down on it in as much detail as she wanted him to.

" The Medic class Medical-corvette is a light ship. It's speed and maneuverability are higher than other ships its size, but it has sacrificed defenses for it. It only has two laser canons on it. Both face forward. If you want to dogfight with this ship then you would need to heavily modify it's armaments." John replied as he gestured occasionally with his hands. " Ashhearth Industries could create a special variant for you that has a higher armament if you like. The main thing about the ship though is it comes with a reinforced hull and two shields. One ion and one deflector. These make it able to take a hit better than most other corvettes, but it is only a little better. The main benefit is that the ship can handle ion weapons that would normally disable the craft thanks to the ion shield. There is little this ship can't handle from the environment as well. The deflector and ion shields protect it from everything from energy storms to radiation to flying debris. The reinforced hull means that it can take a bigger hit before being damaged than normal. It is only reinforced durasteel however but if you did want a variant we could switch the hull out from durasteel to quadranium like our Scrapper class frigates use. Better metal for taking a hit, but also more expensive."

All that information was likely more than [member="Joza Perl"] really wanted from John, but he made sure it was all said. Even if she didn't know ships it was always best to explain your product from what he had seen. Her next few comments following his explanation however caught him by surprise. His employees had put a lot of work into the products because that is what his company was all about. Quality even if it was from re-purposed materials. The mention of compassion did not go unnoticed, but he gave little reaction to it on his face. The woman seemed like the type to test people and lower their guard with friendly behavior. He had seen the type before and they were dangerous if you were on the wrong side of a conflict from them. Luckily this meeting was not about that, so he didn't need to be as careful as he normally would be.

" We worked with the owner of GenTech, Dr. [member="Rashae"] , to make these products as effective as possible. We even recommend stocking the ships and medkits with GenTech products. They are more effective than what is usually used." John said in response to her comments. He still wasn't entirely sure of the woman's ends for asking them, but they seemed innocent enough. " As far as why we produced them, there was a need. There is little in the way of emergency medical vehicles. Most just use the standard stretcher attached to a regular speeder bike. That is not a bad way to go about it, but it is also not a good way either. People have been save but also died because the attention was too slow. So we made products that could respond quickly and provide a higher level of care than standard means. This saves more people and we are able to see some profit off of it. You can't save lives after all if your employees are starving."

That statement was true and likely sounded more profiteering than John had intended. He saw a need in the market and filled it with the best product he could. Since it was about saving lives, he made sure it could save as many lives as possible. People were saved, his company made a profit, and the market might respond by producing up to his company's standard for future medical vehicles and ships. It was just a beneficial situation for all. He didn't exactly explain all of that, but he saw no need to either. Now he just needed to answer her last comment.

John was not entirely sure how to answer it at first. It seemed like a trick question but he only had a simple answer. So that was what he was going to give her as he said, " I had a surplus of credits so I decided to start a company doing something I knew about. Could have started a mercenary company or bounty hunting group. Didn't want to get shot at forever though. So I made Ashhearth Industries instead and funded the creation of GenTech."

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza’s gaze was fixed on John as he spoke, nodding in the right places as she took his information to heart. He seemed very knowledgeable in regards to the products he was selling and the company he was representing, which was a good sign that he took his business seriously. On occasion, she’d met with representatives of several companies who didn’t appear all that interested in what it was they were doing. Thankfully that was the exception rather than the rule.

Another sip of tea as her eyes glossed over in momentary contemplation before focusing back on Mr. Ash.

“A special variant won’t be necessary at this point, but I appreciate the offer.” If she needed modifications at some point, she had people who could make it so. That wasn’t particularly on her mind, given that she was glad to hear that the ship had some solid defensive capabilities, even if the armaments were light. It made sense, and was likely a fair trade off for a highly maneuverable vessel with unique medical capabilities. “Can you tell me anything about GenTech products? I’m afraid I haven’t looked into them myself. Standard medical supplies, I assume?” If he couldn’t tell her much, that was perfectly alright. He wasn’t here selling GenTech products so she wasn’t expecting specifics, but he did mention them so it served that he would at least know what they carried.

A slow smile tilted her lips as she shifted, uncrossing her legs and then re-crossing them, left over right this time. “Forward-thinking. Admirable.” In all truth, she did appreciate his honesty. The man didn’t seem like a monster exploiting an underrepresented market for credits. If there was a demand, there was profit to be made—simple as. Joza wouldn’t pretend that she was some great philanthropist. Humanitarian aid and her own slaver-busting side projects needed to be funded somehow, and she’d been slowing turning to The Business Side. Nothing was free, and nothing was simple.

But she got the impression that John took pride in his work—and that was exactly what she needed to be convinced of. In the end, it didn’t matter if he gave two chits about the injured people his tech would help save—though she didn’t think of him in such a way, rather he seemed to have an appropriate level of concern. Those who took pride in their work were careful with what they did and tended not to skimp on materials or testing. She’d pay for a quality product, but would be sour if things didn’t live up to their advertised expectations.

“So you’re a mercenary?” A light of interest sparked in her eyes. “You must have some experience on the battlefield, then. I’d imagine you know what it’s like to feel one of your limbs go numb after a well-placed shot, or stumble around with a broken rib or two.”

[member="John Ash"]

 

[John Ash]

" I don't know the exact details on how GenTech products work." John said in response to [member="Joza Perl"] first question. He was not as informed as he should be, but he knew enough to provide an idea. He added, " What I do know about is what some of their current products can do. They have three separate patches that act as temporary synthskin to cover a wound while allowing bacta or kolto to seep into the injury. They also have a spray that kills any bacteria in the area and apply a sticky substance that works with the patches to make them work even better. The two products act as a single unit by spraying first then applying the patch. I had a worker cut their hand badly during a salvage operation that would normally keep him from being able to continue working. The spray and patch were applied to it and after about twenty minutes he was able to get back to work as long as he was careful."

John had to pause for a moment. He wanted the information time to sink in and catch a quick breath. He then continued on, " They also have designed a nutrient pudding that is able to provide all or most of the nutrients you need in a day off of a single pack. These packs are specialized for different species as well, although I do not know the list of which ones are available right now. For those doing work that consumes a lot of energy, these pudding packs are a windfall because they can provide everything needed in less amounts than traditional foods." He paused yet again as he shifted his position to a more comfortable one. He was talking a lot here, but it was explaining products so it was not as bad as typical pleasantries. He went on after, " These products are great for injured people. The spray and patch work faster and better than bacta needles or bacta sprays do. They also let a person get back to independence more quickly, which is a big advantage when working or fighting. The pudding is good for both situations as well since it is easy to eat and can be easily digested. It is why I recommend these products be used in the med bays and med kits in all of my products." He seemed to be finished for a moment but then quickly added, " Almost forgot but GenTech also offers replacement organs and limbs. Not the cybernetic kind either. They are able to regrow your own parts using genetics, which is the company's specialty."

The next question was a bit more personal. John frowned slightly as he thought on how to answer that one exactly. He was not sure how to approach it. There was some things he just didn't like to talk about that it covered and some things about it were just not worth mentioning. The main issue was just knowing which bits he was fine with including that didn't ignore what she was after. He finally settled on it after a few moments and said, " War? No. I have seen what it does to those who have been through it though. I also have spoken with plenty and gotten an idea of it. Don't want to live through it, even if it is unlikely these days. As far as injuries go, I have plenty of scars to prove I've lived through some bad stuff. Nothing worthy of a bacta tank visit yet however."

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza waited patiently as John relayed the information to her. Again, he proved how well he’d internalized his company’s products, as well as that of GenTech’s.

“Regrowing and replacing organs?” She swirled the cup of tea idly as her eyes ticked upwards in thought. Cybernetics had become the rampant choice in replacing lost limbs or organs, of course only to those who had the money. They were still fairly expensive, and those who had metallic replacements often procured them through a military program after being injured in battle. Joza’s own false limb was a gift from a friend after having her hand removed in battle in an almost ceremonial measure. It had taken quite a bit of time for her to get the hang of controlling a cybernetic limb, but gradually she began to prefer the quick pistons at the joints to her flesh arm. At least she’d gained ambidexterity out of the whole ordeal.

Synthesizing organic limbs was tricky, tedious work from what she’d heard. Probably expensive too, but it was good to know that there were people out there undertaking such endeavors. The Zeltron broadened her horizons where internal medicine was concerned after acquiring her father’s pharmaceutical company, so she wasn’t completely in the dark where the humanoid body was concerned.

“I’ll be looking into GenTech, then. Thank you for the recommendations.” Her foot tapped lightly on the floor as she thought about his statement pertaining to war.

“I never said war,” There was a note of good-natured amusement in her tone. Battlefield could pertain to whatever, but she wasn’t going to push and argue over semantics. The galaxy seemed to be heating up for another war, at least where the Galactic Alliance and the First Order were concerned. Especially after the mess that was Kaeshana. “Has your work inspired the sort of business you chose to get into?”

[member="John Ash"]

 

[John Ash]

This woman, [member="Joza Perl"] , was interested in asking of a personal nature. Was this typical for contracts or just a personal thing? John didn't know as he hadn't been on this end of business for very long. He had taken plenty of contracts when he was regularly taking on mercenary and bounty hunting jobs, but those tended to remain direct and to the point. He liked it when things were direct and to the point. This small talk was not something he generally enjoyed but understood that it was important for business. People liked feeling important and it seemed talking was how they got to feel that way. So he made sure to deal with the small talk as much as he could. It had to end eventually.

" The salvage work? No. That is something I learned when I was younger. For awhile it was the only work I could find." John said in response to her question. " The design of ships and vehicles was more of a hobby for me. I have nearly built my speeder bike and personal ship from scratch after the number of repairs and modifications I have made to them. Salvage is important for production as it supplies parts and recycled materials. It lowers the over all costs. It is part of the reason our ships can be cheaper than they should be. We supply our own metal due to salvaged scrap metal we repurposed."

John wasn't sure what else he could say about his company. It was built from his early work and hobby. It was meant to be more a source of constant income than a focus, yet had become his focus since he got it up and running. He wondered if he had the contract now or not, but wasn't going to say anything. It could cost him the contract if he was "too eager" or they might try to cheat him and he would walk away from it. He wouldn't deal with that kind of thing but he also could use the contract. No, his employees could use the contract. He could live comfortably still after that high profile bounty and starting up two companies.