Salvaging a Wreck: Antar 5

[John Ash]

Ashhearth Industries was a company that was built to handle salvage operations. This was a much needed service for many other companies out there. This need was especially true for transportation businesses because they often lost ships and cargo to environmental hazards. This happened to be the case for a larger cargo ship that had gotten too close to Antar 5, one of the habitable moons around Antar. The moon was known for mining a magnetized iron and those who were not careful could find themselves drawn to the moon more than they expected to be. So this was the case for the captain of the cargo ship. The ship loaded up full of food and raw materials such as durasteel ignots found itself now wrecked on the moon far from any settlement.

John had taken the job to salvage as much of the cargo as he could for the company. There was no mention of what to do with the ship, so he planned to unleash his crew on it for parts and scrap. An honest job for honest pay with some side profit to be made. They had been the ones legally hired for the job, but the cargo ship's captain had some loose lips and so a few scavengers had rushed to it looking for easy profits. Easy profits that belonged to Ashhearth Industries now. John had no issues with people trying to make a living, but he also knew scavengers were like carrion beasts. If you let a few pick at the bones then a far greater number would soon arrive.

As soon as John's ships arrived at the wreck, he had his Scrappers land as close as they could. His crew immediately went to work as soon as the ramp went down. Jawas, humans, and dressellians moved forward with their plasma torches and scrap carts ready. Two of his company's HSW lumbered forth towards from the cargo holds. They were making a scene that none of the scavengers could ignore as it was, and John didn't plan to stop there. He walked outside of the ship he was in with a loud speaker floating behind him as he held onto the mic for it. His ships took two shots into the air with their top turrets. The loud boom of them audible all around the wreck while the colored lasers flew into the air like flares.

" This wreck is off limits to all none Ashhearth Industries personnel. Leave immediately or we will execute our salvage rights by blowing up your ships." John boomed over the loud speaker.

A scavenger began to yell at John using mostly curse words in his sentences. John just looked to the person and their ship that was nearby. He made a motion with his hand towards the ship and several shots were taken at the ship, causing it to blow up. The scavenger was knocked to the ground by the explosion. Every other scavenger began to scramble to their ships as they dropped whatever they had on them. Within minutes every scavenger ship was gone, not caring who they left behind.

[member="Julia Argyris"]

 

[Raymu]

There was Julia, puttering along in her starcraft, the Fairydust. she would have normally left it on auto pilot, but the felecatian was coming up on rough fields, first was the moon itself. That gravitational pull required constant manual adjustment for smaller craft. And of course, the second and most obvious hazard; it appeared to be a crashed vehicle. A massive one. She wasn't going to risk running up on it with fairydust's honestly outdated auto-piloting systems. It was a fine vessel, but that was exactly why there was no way in hell she was going to sink it over such a simple mistake. There appeared to be a lot of scavengers around the area. She definitely considered scavenging as well...But she'd have to scout it out, really. She wasn't stopping for this if it was already picked clean.

Of course, it didn't take long for the entire situation to change. All at once some guy came over a loudspeaker. She honestly wasn't paying it any mind, at this point she only assumed she had two choices: clear out, or wait and see. Not because of a warning, but rather...Because that was a big craft. She wasn't suicidal to try and challenge something several times larger than her vehicle. Still, the situation became even worse when, in her position, it seemingly fired at random, taking down another craft in the area. She grabbed the ship's comms in a hurry and was decidedly livid. "Watch your fire! I'm just passing through the sector y'know?! That could have hit me! Unless you want to explain why you're gunning down other crafts in the area! Just give me a chance to say my piece before you start blasting away, I'm not like these trash rats. I was passing through hoping to get some living supplies. Food's not particularly cheap around this sector of the galaxy." She wasn't a salvager, but even as that may be, she could recognize when there was value to be had. She lived off of the streets, there were always two things of value. Food and something that can be pawned off. If there wasn't, it had no use. But considering the numbers of people going through the cargo... But in any case, she had a minute to catch her breath and calm down.

"I jumped the gun a bit I guess." She added after a moment of radio silence. True enough it may have been, but she had been around the galaxy, someone firing off their weapons usually intended a fight. Especially where she came from, and where she was raised. "And I'm not going to lie...I thought about going through all of that. But I'd be a fool to sell something I could actually use. Life's too hard in this galaxy. ... But, if you needed an extra hand cleaning this up, I could...Strike a deal." The Feline woman considered herself a bit clever, she might yet still get a bit of food or useful supply from this. These salvagers always needed manpower, right? They'd both win in this scenario!

[member="John Ash"]

 

[John Ash]

The scavenger who's ship was blown up gathered with his crew and the last of the stragglers. They began to talk amongst themselves and glanced towards John as they did. Hands idly moved to worn blasters and vibroknives as they kept up their talking. John watched them for a bit then pushed his duster back to reveal his pistol. Their backs all straightened as one as they saw the gun. One of the ships moved their top gun to be pointed at them. They noticed the motion with wide eyes. John began to turn towards them slightly and watched as they all took off in the direction of the nearest settlement, which was hours away on foot.

John heard his com beep as he let his duster fall back over his pistol. He put the com up to his mouth and said, " What is it?"

" Boss, we got a message from some ship that is flying nearby. I'll play it for you." The sound of the pilot of his main ship sounded over the device.

" Roger that." John said before he let the message play. He listened to it all the way through then thought it over for a moment. He said back over the com, " Tell them to land in the clearing by ship 2. I will meet with them there and we can discuss things."

John got a confirmation from the pilot and then began to head to the site where he had told the person to land at. From the sound of it they were likely a young woman, but voices could be deceiving. As he walked he looked over at the salvage site. The cargo that was still good was being gathered up into new bins inside of the salvage frigates. The supplies that were not were being stacked up into a pile to be disposed of properly. All of the metal that could be scrapped was being cut apart by jawas and then put into bins by the stronger humans and dressellians. The parts from the ship having the same done with them. The large metal bins that were still good from the wreckage were being saved by the walkers and taken back to the ship while their storage units on the back were being filled with larger scrap metal. All it all, John was pleased with what he was seeing. His crew was shaping up and working together well. They might just be able to make something more of the company than a few salvage yards and a single factory.

[member="Julia Argyris"]

 

[Raymu]

Julia received the message back, giving a silent sigh of relief. Seems she wasn't in for a fight. More than that, she now had a new opportunity opened up to her. She wasted little time piloting carefully into the clearing she was directed towards. She flipped a few switches, activating the auto-correction systems to make sure the craft would land itself while she focused on preparing herself. She gathered important excursion gear on the off-chance she would actually need it, and once the ship's alarms indicated a safe landing, she stepped up to ship
s entry door and tapped a button, watching as it slid open.

She stepped out into the clearing, having to shoo away nosy jawas as they approached the fairydust with tools and curious words, she didn't particularly want them touching it. She was very particular about things being "just right" and any change in that was a little bothersome. She looked at the area, taking everything in as she waited for their captain to show up. Prepared to talk out a simple deal if she could manage it.

[member="John Ash"]

 

[John Ash]

As the newly arrived ship was landing where it had been instructed to, the salvage crew was marching along their jobs. The walkers were doing most of the heavy work still while the humans, dressellians, and jawas all went about taking care of the lighter work that required a delicate touch. Jawas were more delicate about their work than you might expect them to be. They were little hunters for droids and so that somewhat clunky, clumsy nature was what was expected of them. The reality was that when they were doing actual salvage work they were thorough and methodical. And so that was why when the ship landed a few moved over thinking they needed to do something to it. Be it take it apart or put it back together again.

John just watched as they got run off and saw the one who stepped out of the ship. A young woman with animal ears. Half-cathar maybe. It didn't matter what her race was though so long as she was willing to work and knew how to work this kind of job. He said as he came up to her, " Name and skills. What experience do you have with salvage work?" He then waited for her to reply. Before she could say anything though a loud crash sounded behind him. One of the walker operators had dropped a cargo bin full of fuel barrels. John looked back at it for a moment and studied it over for a moment before he got onto his com and said over it on all the channels, " Volatility protocol is in effect. Watch for fuel tanks in cargo bins. Some might not be empty." He ended it there then turned his attention back to the girl and waited for a reply.

[member="Julia Argyris"]