Shipworks Of The Cartel

[Bradok]

Mangus exploits in the White Palace were still firmly supplanted in his mind, however; as he approached the docks in Dnalvec his thoughts began to turn to more pressing matter. Sempra, Supreme Mogul of the Hutt Cartel and Lord of the White Palace, had more or less given Mangus his word about constructing him a ship. While a Hutt's word wouldn't be worth much normally, this was business and a Hutt always did business prudently. At least Mangus hoped as he began the long trek from the shuttle bay to the dock where the ship was supposedly waiting for him.

Mangus had given Sempra a few rough details on what he wanted and needed, but Mangus was here to put the final touches on his new prize. Piloting wasn't his forte, neither was flying in general, but he knew how to and was confident he was just as good as half the other guys out there. Smiling then laughing a bit as he entered the docks Mangus looked around for the Dock-Master to point him in the right direction. It took a bit of doing, but eventually he spotted him and made his approach.

"Hey, I'm here to look at the ship in Dock Three." Mangus said as he was still approaching. The Dock-Master quickly given him a rough once over with his eyes before muttering something under his breathe as he flipped through his datapad. "Hrmnn....That ship is a special order of Lord Sempra, what business do you have with it?" He barked out, pointing his finger in Mangus face. "It's my ship." Mangus said in simple retort before brushing the man aside and continuing on his way. Hopefully Sempra was there already and they could get things underway.

[member="Sempra the Hutt"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Mangus Abraxius"]

Jaster walked up behind the dock master before tapping on the mans shoulder.

"Don't worry Ka'lor, I'll take care of this."

The dock master seemed to recognize the voice, and quickly turned around. "Of course admiral, I mean sir." And with that he scurried off.

Jaster looked over the man who stood before him, Jaster wasn't well known in the Hitt Cartel, and for good reason. He was a main drug supplier and buyer of slaves. He was also head of a large medical and genetics company based in the Unknown Region. He didn't need the heat and only worked with the Hutts with special clients who Sempra trusted, well as much as a Hutt can trust. Jaster had ships he would lend to the cartel for special missions, they held his companies tranmitter codes and a manifest of very illegal drugs that Jaster had counterfeit papers for. This ship was one of them, and was to be delivered to Sempra as soon as possible and intact.

"So your the goon the cartel sent?" Jaster wasn't impressed, "can you even fly a ship friegate big?"

 

[Bradok]

No matter which city you were in the docks were always a hectic place, and the fact that they were in one known for it's criminal activities didn't lessen this one bit. Mangus never liked places like this and as he turned around in circle looking for dock three he couldn't help but give a sigh. It was at that moment, however; that he witnessed a rather strange figure approaching him. The man seemed out of place here, just as Mangus did, and was certainly not your run of the mill ne'er-do-well that you would normally find in Dnalvec. As he spoke though Mangus first deductions were pushed aside as it appeared he was the one Mangus had been waiting on.

"Don't really like flying to tell the truth." Mangus said as he crossed his arms and stared down the man. "But I'm a pretty damn good pilot either way." He went on, making sure to get the point across he wouldn't be intimidated. "Sempra sent me to give the final details on the ship before it's finished being refurbished, before I pick it up. Nothing major." Mangus said as he turned away from the man for a moment before turning back. "I'm Mangus Abraxius, and you are?" He finished, introducing himself. Mangus didn't really know who the man was but it seemed he was here for business, and in Mangus' experience it was only right to introduce yourself to those you did business with.

In all truth Mangus had expected to meet Sempra again here, not that he was disappointed that the chance was gone, but Mangus knew dealing with multiple people in this line of work was a good way to get screwed over. Sempra had paid for the ship in full, as well as starting supplies, but if this man didn't know that or refused to acknowledge it things would get rather difficult before this meeting was over. Deciding to put prudence before pride, Mangus looked at the man and said: "Shall we get a look at her."

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Mangus Abraxius"]

Jaster was rather annoyed, this shipment was to be handled by smugglers or pilots, not mercinaries. Yet what could he do, his company could have any more dealing with the Hutts. Political pressure from all the larger nations were staring down Jaster neck, so under the table deals were all he could do at the moment.

Sempra was Jaster largest client of Raw Spice as well as other illegal goods. All by produces Jaster didn't have the time to dispose of, so he sold it to the underground. The ship was packed to the brim, whole cargo 8,000 creates of 85% grade spice, Jaster last haul from Kessel. Only problem, Jaster couldn't have a single man pilot the ship to Sempra, too risky. So he had the Hutt send over some help to get the suspicion off his company for a few months. Jaster guessed this was the man.

"My name doesn't concern you," Jaster shook his head, "just call me Mr. J, I don't know you, so that means I don't trust you, you got a Cartel letter or gang sign on you to let me know your from the Cartel?"

Jaster needed to know, the ship they were transporting was worth 6 million credits, this wasn't a kiddy game.

 

[Bradok]

Mangus looked at the man puzzling for a moment. Perhaps there had been some mix up along the way, or perhaps this man thought Mangus was someone else, for the only clear thing was that they were both here for a ship. Sighing for a moment Mangus shook his head as he looked at the man before him. This was what he got for not simply taking the money and buying his own ship. Now he had to deal with stuff like this and would more than likely have to go back to see Sempra to get this stuff sorted out. It as exhausting, and not something Mangus fancied doing at the moment. It wasn't his choice, however; but first things first he had to sort this out.

"Listen guy. I don't rightly know what you are doing here or why." Mangus said as he glared at the man for a moment. "I'm here for my ship, paid for by my money. Sempra said to pick it up from dock three and that's all I intend to do." He said, reaffirming his position and standing his ground. "I don't work for Sempra or the Cartel. I'm not a gang member or affiliated in any way. I simply bought a ship from Sempra, and am here now to push forward the finishing touches on said ship before sailing out of here and never looking back." Mangus finished bluntly. "Do you understand? If you don't believe what I'm saying call Sempra. Did you get all that Mr. J?"

Mangus didn't have time for games or some runaround with the cartel or one of it's flunkies. He and Sempra had made a deal and he intended for Sempra to keep his end of the bargain if he wanted any of that interest Mangus supposedly owed him. If there was more to this deal than simply picking up his ship either Sempra himself, or something more solid than just this man's word would get Mangus to go along with it. Mangus never liked the cartel, and it was for reasons like this.

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Mangus Abraxius"]

Now Jaster was even more upset, Sempra sold the ship he gave him, plus who now was gana deliver all the drugs?!? God karking mother of a bantha, just his damn luck. Well it was a damn good ship if Jaster said so himself, cost him a pretty penny to retrofit as well.

"Listen here pup, your telling me, Sempra sold a smug nose grunt like you my ship?" Jaster truely wasn't happy about this, but it was technically Sempra ship, "I don't need to call him, he never sends the data anyways unless there's food attached to it."

Jaster grunted, it would take about half an hour before he could unload all that spice. A perfect combat and smuggling ship waisted, Jaster was more then curious about how much it sold for. "It'll take some time before the cargo is unloaded, Sempra tell you about the added benefits and attachments to the ship?"

 

[Bradok]

Mangus could tell that the man wasn't happy about all of these new developments, and to be honest he really couldn't blame him. Mangus probably had more information about this deal than he did at the moment, and he knew what being in the dark felt like in these sort of things. Despite that, however; Mangus couldn't afford him the luxury of not taking the ship or delivering the cargo. He was breaking out on his own, making his way how he saw fit, and though he took a loan from the Cartel to makes these things a reality he had no intention of becoming a mindless goon again. Sighing for a moment, Mangus turned to the man and once more began to speak.

"Well technically he just took the ship seeing as to how it was his money originally." Mangus quipped, turning away and looking down the docks. "We didn't really talk much about it, just know the hangar was replaced with an increased hold and he was adding a few smuggling holds." He continued nonchalantly. "Other than that I don't really know anything about the ship. It's supposed to be fast, in decent shape, and that's plenty good enough for me." He finished turning back to the man for a moment. "Take your time unloading what you can. I'm in no rush."

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

Though that last statement wasn't exactly true Mangus thought it better not to antagonize this man whom more or less seemed rather upset about this whole venture. For what reason Mangus did not rightly know, but if he had to guess he would this man as left out of the loop about this whole transaction. As he thought on it, however; another chance presented itself to him as if by fate. "You know, the cargo is there already. If you need it ran somewhere I might just be the smuggler you need." He stated with a wry smile.

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Mangus Abraxius"]

Jaster loosened up a little as the man said he didn't know much about the ship. This gave him the opportunity to talk about her, though he didn't name her or really have any hold on her. Jaster just used her for personal shipment between his company and the Catel. He was now just interested in explaining the vessel he invested a lot of money into.

Jaster walked next to the man, ready to explain, "She's a real knocked I must say, the Catel build her, but I modified her to be a pure smugglers dream, a single pilot can take her out easy, though it best to have a full crew of 7 better on 10, she's got not just any cargo space, but enough to fit 8,000 creates of dust, that's about 600 metric tons, and shy flies perfect," Jaster pulled out a Datapad.

"I put custom functions on her just for my convenience, she's got a Umbrella Transponder Code along with a Signal Jammer, both acting together to give a reading of Umbrella Waste Disposal Unit, many of our products emit the same reading as most illigal drugs," Jaster fell into a trance, "she truely is a beautiful price of work."

 

[Bradok]

Though things had started outa bit rocky between them, it seemed as if speaking of the ship lightened the mood a bit. As the man began to explain some of the little details, including a few of the not so commons installed within it, Mangus made sure to listen intently. Mangus was not a pompous or arrogant man, most of the time, so this chance to learn more about his future vessel was a great boon in his eyes. Nodding as the man finished speaking, Mangus turned with an expectant look as he walked towards dock three clearly expecting the man to follow behind him. He was of course not trying to cut the conversation short, but rather was excited to see his new prize.

"That's definitely more than I asked for." Mangus said with a wry smile as he turned and spoke. "But I'd be an idiot to gripe about stuff like that. Sure seems like it will come in handy in the more populated sectors." He went on, musing of how he planned to slip right under local security forces nose with his new ship. "From the sound of it Sempra's money was well spent. Now I just gotta wait and see what the slug wants for all the creds he dumped into this little venture of mine." He finished with a sigh, knowing things with Sempra would more than likely get tense rather quickly. "Guess all I can do is wait. I'm sure this ship will make that a lot easier though."

Though he didn't rightly know if any of that about Sempra was true, Mangus refused to think light of the situation. Sempra had a lot of influence and his hand in more companies than the Republic could shake a stick at. At the very least he could make it extremely hard for Mangus to do business, and that prospect perhaps scared him more than anything else. Fighting someone straight on wasn't a hard task at all, but when they struck against your livelihood there was little your\ could do. Trying not to think about it, Mangus remembered his earlier statement and asked again. "Exactly what sort of cargo is being unloaded right now?"

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Mangus Abraxius"]

Jaster only walked a few paces behind the man as he explained the ship. Jaster finances were strong in this single ship, after all, it carried all his product from Kessel. So when the man was impressed with it all Jaster couldn't help but smile, self appreciation and all.

Then he mentioned to a job for Sempra, "Listen boyo, that ship is prime for smuggling drugs, if you wana transport weapons, humans, or even fuel cells, ur gana need to put some big bucks into that thing, she's got the wiggle room for the upgrade, but that ain't cheap."

When the man asked about the product Jaster figured if Sempra sold it to him, he wouldn't have really told him what the ships old use was. So he would explain anyways, "That's some of the most pure spice you'll get out of Kessel, both Ryll and Glitterstim, about 600 metric tons of the stuff I'm moving to Val'hala, there it's refined into 100% spice and then shipped to all of Sempras suppliers using my Trading Lanes and stolen IFF transponders."

Jaster looked to see if the droids had taken all the creates out, it would seem that they had just only started as only 10 create were unloaded.

 

[Bradok]

Mangus simply nodded as the two of them walked and listened to the man go on about the ship. It was interesting to say the least, not only because Mangus had never owned his own ship before but also because he had never actually thought back on what a ship might have been used for in the past. It was a curious thing to say the least, and though he was excited to get down to brass tax so to speak he also wanted to be able to appreciate exactly what he as getting. As he looked at the cargo crated being unloaded he began to think again. The wheels in his mind turning as he was told of the spice lining the ship's hull

"You can transfer the specs to my Data-Pad. Length, weight, height, all that stuff. I'm more interested in how fast she goes and if she can take a beating. I'm assuming the removal of the hangar increased the sub-light and hyper-drive speeds by a little at least." Mangus said as he looked in at her. "And I'm guessing if she was running spice from Kessel she has some sort of weaponry other than the standard run and gun for a freighter." He went on turning to the man, looking at the spice crates once more. "I said before, but in case you didn't catch it, if your looking to hire someone to transport that spice I can do it. Cheap too."

Mangus was being a bit more pushy than usual, but he needed to know the details before registering the ship with his new ID's. He had paid a pretty penny for all the counterfeit papers he acquired from Esme and intended to put them to great use, but without knowing the exacts he couldn't do it. That coupled with an ever more alluring challenge of running the spice already loaded into 'his' ship was making things very interesting in the docks. Mangus had a feeling that before the day was done there were going to be plenty of changes, and not only to the ship.

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Mangus Abraxius"]

The question were sting with this one, so he must know what he was doing. Jaster was an ex-pilot back in his younger days, so he knew the friegate was worth it's weight. She was no bark and all but, Jaster made sure about that, got only the best weaponry he could afford. She was also well armored, but only in places that counted. Jaster didn't care about the crew much, just that his shipment was safe.

"Well you see, the hanger was already removed from the original design, why you think it can carry so much," Jaster pulled up the file of the ships custom design, "I pitched in for the armor and special senior scrambler Durasteel armor was build into a secreat cargo hatch, she's mostly made of regular Durasteel, though I though in some Phrik to protect the engine, she ain't the fasted thing in the galaxy, but if your following the smuggler lanes, she's get you there faster then most," Jaster kinda forgot about the armorments so he looked it up on his Datapad.

"As for weapons, she's got a little bit to here, 6 external Duel Laster Cannons and 2 hidden manned Quade Cannons, on on each side with full 180 view of the ship, she's pretty, but when she shows her teeth, she's scary," Jaster though of a joke, "kinda like my kid when I forget to feed her."

 

[Bradok]

Mangus could appreciate the simply beauty of the ship. She wasn't built to be some glamorous personal transport of some knock around cruiser for some well funded entrepreneur, no, this ship had it all where it counted. Looking over the hull and around the landing gear Mangus began making mental notes of what he wanted changed and what was to important to go on without fixing. The ship itself had been fairly well taking care of, but it was a smuggling vessel and even the best of them had kinks needing to be worked out. Ships like this one would last a man his entire lifetime, and the secret to keeping it running was to make it your own.

"Good, good." Was all Mangus could say as he began to think over exactly how big a step this was for him and just what he needed to do next, Securing a client, either one-time or long-term, was the first thing on his list. He had to begin paying Sempra back as soon as possible or risk falling into more debt than he could fathom. "Everything seems to be in order here, more or less. I'll talk to the technicians here and work out the last minute touch ups." Mangus said, turning back to the man showing him around. "A ship is only as good as he captain, so any advice you can give me before I take her?"

Though Mangus didn't actually know if this man had been the pilot of the ship prior to it's sell, from the way he spoke about it he at least had intricate knowledge of it and it's systems. Sempra was bound to have paid for everything so getting the engineers in the docks to do the final detailing of it wouldn't be a real problem, neither would getting a new registry for it now that Mangus had the proper papers in hand. Everything seemed to be falling right into place, and though things never went this smoothly for him for long Mangus couldn't help be deliver a wry smile while he gazed at his prize.

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Mangus Abraxius"]

Jaster could see that the kid would make a good pilot one day, he would just need a few more flights under his belt. Jaster may be interested in using the kid, after all he did need the product moved.

"Well, the last two pilots who took her out didn't name her, couldn't acturaly as they were sold into slavery because they lost my cargo," Jaster smirked, "name her, love her and she will take care of you, all ships are loyal when you take care of them," Jaster held out a Datapad with all the details of the ship, as well as the details of the product being moved.

"If you still interested put the cargo back in there and take her to Val'hala, 500 credits a create if you can get here there, have a good one boyo."

Jaster walked back down the dock and let the man decide if he wanted the job or not.

 

[Bradok]

Though he had thought things ould turn ugly before the process was over, as most things did when dealing with Hutts, the ship was transferred to him with little to no trouble. A smile crept up on Mangus' face as he looked her over once more, thinking deeply of his new prize and what she meant. Now, that she was his and bore no name, she needed one. It was a simple thing really, for most that is, to choose a name for a hunk of metal. Just some title to throw down on the registration forms and docking permits so the pilot could go about his business per the norm. For Mangus though it was more, it meant something deeper.

He thought long and hard on what the christen her, and as he stood there watching the dock workers weld and bang away her dents Mangus remembered. In his time on Nar Shaddaa he had done it all. He had been a pit fighter, a hired killer, a bodyguard, even a smuggler, and there was a name the people that ran in his circles called him. Mangus was often joked at as the 'Maverick' of the underworld, taking on any job no matter the details or pay. A sort of jack-of-all-trades in the criminal world. Now, as he looked at the ship he couldn't help but think that name fit perfectly. "Maverick it is then." He said with a quaint smile and he registered the name on the Data-Pad.

With that done he then turned his attention to the loaders and the dock workers. "Keep the rest of those crates loaded, I'll be taking them on." He ordered, motioning for the other to move away. "The rest of you best roll up your sleeves. We gotta a lot of work to do before the Maverick is ready for he maiden voyage."

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]