Cost of Business

[Burkhart Kelborn]

Location: Taris Space
Time: N/A
Participants: @Nefieslab , @Darasuum
Theme: 99 Problems ♣ HUGO

Burkhart stood with his hands on his hips and stared at his starship, the Effervescent. It was his baby and he loved it more than anything. It had been damaged recently to gain access to the debris field. Corsairs had done some superficial damage but also some more extensive damage than he had realized. Next to his pride and joy was also his other two ships, the Jovial Stupor, a Mynock series freighter that Solone had used on the same excursion that had seen his Waxa scout ship damaged. Then there was the Jubilant Stupor an XS-100 light freighter that had been long damaged and been okay working order but Burkhart had just been too busy to get it looked at fully until now.

In addition to his own trio of ships there was the wreckage of the ship he had towed from the debris field. Most of it was scrap and not usable but the cargo he had wanted was already offloaded. Still he was planning on selling the ship for scrap or parts to whomever was willing to pay.

For now each ship needed a bit of work if he wanted them each running in tip top condition. Funds were not overflowing from his pockets so he wondered if he would have to do a favor of some kind. People liked have a smuggler willing to move something of importance from time to time or cut them a deal. But everybody earned money one way or another. He just preferred it when he was the one getting paid rather than the one paying others.

With a sigh he turned away from the closed and locked down ships. Rolling his massive neck he pulled out a cigara and lit it up before striding to a nearby office. It was where whomever was running this repair hangar.

 

[The Storyteller]

Sometimes, he didn't know why he even ever bothered opening this place up.

Sure, the money was good when people were bribing him to pass their checks and make their stolen goods all legal, but then there were really long periods of time where you just got so very freaking bored. Solomon was enduring one of this dips in the roller-coaster of life, one of those times where everything was boring, everything was dull and there wasn't a damn thing that could be done about it.

Honestly, he would have given his left nut to stop the boredom and instead it seemed that his fortunes were finally changing. Some mando-looking big guy came sauntering on in with two ships banged up to kark and back. They looked like they'd gotten in the way of a tantrum thrown by a Sith with daddy issues.

Which meant there was money to be made!

Of course the way that you made money was by scamming... er... interacting... with the customers so it was time to get interacting. Stepping into his office from the backroom, Solomon rubbed at his beard.

"Well you've gone and done got yourself in a right pickle now aintcha?" He mulled as he gestured out the window at the two ships, "Lemma guess... I'm thinking, since you've come to me, that these ships don't normally look like this? I mean unless your aesthetic taste runs into 'hammered shite' territory."

He gestured to a seat in front of his desk before sitting down behind it.

"So how you gone about that then eh?"

@Darasuum

 

[Burkhart Kelborn]

____________

Burkhart was not one to be heavy on his foot falls, stomping around like an angsty teenager wearing combat boots in a phase. But today he was a bit tired and his large mass only amplified each step as he walked into the office. His expression said he had an excessivly sarcastic response. Something along the lines of no, they always look like that. I just came by because you have a coffee machine But he only thought it.

Instead of being snide he looked back over his shoulder at the three ships he owned. He sighed knowing to get them back in top working order was not going to be cheap. Then again, he worked up quite a profit from his various dealings.

Forgetting about the sorry sight of the ships he obliged the man and took a seat, grunting slightly as his tush met the furniture. "Well a coomin in here aren't i? Hoppin ya can halp me out. Wot's tha turn around on three ships, ya best service?" Burkhart actually started wondering if it would be cheaper to just buy this shop and repair hangar.. It could be lucrative in the long run he supposed. "The fourth ones joost scrap." He added as he hooked a finger over to the ship hull that was twenty five percent gone.

@Nefieslab​

 

[The Storyteller]

The Fourth one was just scrap?

Well it might be useless to the Mando but that "scrap" looked pretty good to him. It would be the type of "scrap" he could recycle into good quality parts with a little bit of time. Time being something he had while the Mando here didn't want to be lugging it around that long he could tell.

"Well best service is the only kind of service we do here, you thinking we just some fly by night organisation here? Don't be having a giraffe there mate." he scoffed even as a droid approached from the side with two bottles of cold beer, "Don't mind if we partake in some brews do you? You look like you could do with one and it's been a long day for me and all."

Taking a drink from the bottle, he wrote down a figure for the repairs on the ships before writing down a significantly smaller figure below it. He passed the paper over to Burkhart.

"Top one is for the repairs and you'll be flying out of here inside of a day. The second one?" he grinned a little bit, "Well you leave me your scrapper, pay me that and you'll be flying out of her inside of the next twelve hours. Now... you can't say that isn't a deal, right?"

@Darasuum

 

[Burkhart Kelborn]

____________

Getting rid of the scrapped ship would actually be doing him a favor. Burkhart did not need to have it sitting around taking up space but it was apparently worth something to the grizzled man before him. The Morling would be getting the better end of that deal since he would have just lugged it out into space and let it drift if the man had not wanted it.

His shpeal on how good his business was certainly was appropriate. what the bloody osik is a giraffe? He thought to himself and furrowed his brow only for a moment in confusion.

The Mandalorian would nod at the offer of some beverage. Grabbing one of the bottles in a paw he appreciated the cold condensation on the outside. He smelled it for a moment and then took a deep gulp letting it sooth some thirst he had not realized he had gained.

Burkhart looked at the figures. Money was not an object really. He could pay the more expensive version and not give up any of his ships save perhaps the scrapped one. The Kelborn Alor had places to be, things to move and business to handle. The idea of spending half a cycle on this station was not what he had in mind.

"How bout thus, ya fix my scout ship an tha XS-100 in eight hours. You can keep the mynock light freighta an the scrap. Ave a little trade for services ay?" He cocked his head to the side to see if that appealed to the businessman. The mynock would need only a little bit of work for its shields to be up and running and probably some tender love and care to be ideally sellable but otherwise was a working ship. The scrapped ship was worth its own weight in... well scrap. Considering only some repairs needed to be done on the two remaining the Morling thought that was pretty fair though it waited to be seen if that feeling was shared.

@Nefieslab​

 

[The Storyteller]

Oh this was turning out to be a very profitable day today now wasn't it?

Seemed like the man-dog liked himself a good beer too, which already pushed him up a few notches in Solomon's estimation. The fact that he was willing to give him another ship to work with too? Well now that was just icing on the cake now wasn't it? Taking a swig of his own beer, Solomon stood to shake the dog-man's large hand.

"You have got yourself a deal young man." he agreed, raising his beer in a toast, "To good business!"

Taking another swig of the beer, he ended the bottle and the droid brought another one for himself and one for his new client. Solomon tasked the droid with giving his work crews their working orders so that they'd get to work straight away. Solomon gestured for Burkhart to follow him out into the repair yard as the man got to work.

"Now I have to ask, you know? What the hell were you doing that got you two dinged up ships, a scrapper and a damaged Mynock? I know they aren't the toughest but Mynocks can take nine shades of shite being kicked out of them before they even have any issues. So come on man - feel like sharing some war stories while the work goes on?"

@Darasuum

 

[Burkhart Kelborn]

____________

The Morling waited to see the man's reaction. Sure enough he was glad to see he could agree to a fair deal. Burkhart tried to avoid asking more than appropriate in such a low stake situation. When it came to the criminal underworld he was far less lenient and took more than the minimum to make a statement. But this Solomon was an honest working, everyday man from what Burkhart could tell.

Drinking the last of his own beverage he exchanged it for a new one. He would take a sip of the new beverage as they moved out of the office. He smirked and would indulge the man. There was plenty of stories to go around in his travels. It was funny, the only time he seemed to share his ventures was over some beverages. "Wahl tha XS-100, tha got banged oop fightin some a them Red Skool gangsters round Concord Dawn. Been riden er hard for awhile but she keeps gettin hammered no matter where I go.

The Field Marshal took another sip of the beer and then nodded as well as pointed towards the Mynock light freighter. "Tha one's seen prolly more work than the XS. Yer right, she can take nine shades but with me she's somehow managed to take twelve. Been with me for a long time. Good ol girl. Was gettin that scrapper actually. There was some scrap that I was helpin the local scavs with when guess what... pirates attacked. A lady friend and I were fightin em off but as you can see, we took some good licks of our own."

The Mynock, Jovial Stupor, had been his first ship he had actually bought with his own money. A lot of fond memories were worn into its hull that would never come out no matter how many times it was polished or repaired. He had made his mark on that ship as any good captain did. It was a bit bitter sweet he was selling the ship but his sentiment was not about to keep him from good business.

@Nefieslab​

 

[The Storyteller]

Solomon would have to be some kind of stupid to not take a good deal when it was offered - especially when the person who offered it was someone he actually kind of thought he knew. If this big ol' doggo was who he thought he was then he would do well not to get him all riled up at him.

Plus it helped that it was actually a decent deal and he stood to make some credits.

That always made him less of an arse.

The fact that Burkhart seemed fine to indulge in some storytelling was also a plus in his opinion. Too many people this day and age didn't know appreciate the benefits of a good yarn. He sipped at his beer as Burk spoke.

"Red Skulls? Ah man those guys are some right nasty shites." he nodded along with the rest of the story before raising his beer bottle to Burk, "A toast then. To the girls in our lives; saving our sorry arses for years and still being big beautiful metal mothers anyway!"

@Darasuum

 

[Burkhart Kelborn]

_________________

Recently the time spent interacting with people had been giving orders as a Field Marshal or serious business with the various nifarious sects of the galaxy's underworld. While he considered himself one of the more reputable and civilized members of the criminal lifestyle he still appreciated the more pleasant side of life.

Taking a deep breath enjoying the relaxing intake of air before letting it escape through his canine snout Burkhart looked back at Solomon. When he raised his bottle the Morling mirrored the action and did so with a smile. "Couldn'ta said it better myself."

He downed the last of his beer and checked his wrist chrono. "Ya know I've got some strongerr stooff on ma ship." Lowering his arm he hooked a thumb towards the ship. The stuff on there was certainly of higher content. Since he was going to be here for a few hours they may as well imbibe a bit more of the voluntary toxin that he capitalized on.

@Nefieslab​

 

[The Storyteller]

Solomon finished his bottle of beer upon the completed toast and set the bottle down on the side when he was done. When he was younger he would have merely tossed the empty glass away and left it to shatter but these days? Well these days he knew he'd regret it come the morning when he had to waste manhours cleaning up his shop because of actions taken when imbuing some sexy sexy alcohol.

He paused for a moment before barking out a laugh.

"Well why the hell didn't you say so before?!" he declared loudly before nodding and gesturing Burkhart to lead the way, "Let's get cracking on the strong stuff if you're offering."

He grinned.

"I reckon this is going to be a beautiful partnership this right here mate. Just damned good business!"

/End Thread

@Darasuum