[P17 - Farstine - FZ] Meeting the Shipping Unions

On the surface of Farstine...

Carm stilled himself, letting the rhythm of the wasteland take over. All around him, pipes groaned, rusted metal strained. Somewhere in the haze, a pressure valve shrieked and vented gas into the choking sky. The entire surface of Farstine seemed to breathe in slow, mechanical agony- and for Carm, that steady, lurching cadence brought a strange kind of calm.

He needed it, because just before him, the representatives of the Shipsters Union and CorDuro Shipping were seconds from killing each other.

"You Duros undercut every contract we take," Jonas Creel snapped, his voice warbling through his rebreather. "Then you call it 'efficiency.' We call it scabbing."

Relan Syx didn't raise his voice. Duros rarely needed to. "We call it providing superior service at competitive rates, human."

"Maybe if you let anyone but Duros into your corporation, you'd understand how the rest of us operate."

Relan tilted his head slightly. "Curious... I don't recall the Shipsters Union opening its doors to Duros, either."

Carm exhaled sharply. "That's enough," he cut in, stepping forward. "I didn't drag you both out to a methane backwater world to relive old grudges."

The two turned toward him. Even through their masks, he could feel the shift- their hostility redirecting at him.

Relan spoke first. "It seems we lost sight of ourselves." A pause. "Easy to do, when meeting a ghost."

Jonas let out a dry, distorted chuckle. "Aye. Last I heard, Drego Karsk's errand boy got himself killed on Barkesh. Imperial assassin, wasn't it?"

Carm rolled his eyes, and flexed the servos of his mechanical arm. "Rumors are convenient like that."

The wind shifted, carrying a wave of acrid fumes across the cracked ground. Nearby, a tar-black pool bubbled lazily.

"I brought you here," Carm continued, "because you both have something in common. You hate Drego Karsk- and you're both bleeding credits because of him." Neither man spoke. That was answer enough.

"I'm trusting you," Carm said. "You walk away from this meeting, and my survival stays between us."

Jonas glanced around the wasteland, the endless pipelines stretching into the haze, skeletal towers leaning like corpses. "You call this trust?" he said. "You tell us to come unarmed, then surround yourself with guards carrying blasters?"

Relan gave a faint, approving nod.

Carm didn't flinch. "I told you to come unarmed because I didn't trust you not to shoot each other before we even started talking." He could tell even from their covered faces that they saw his logic. "As for Farstine- Drego's pirates don't come down here. Not into the wastes. This is somewhere we can speak freely, and it's close enough to them that they'd never expect it."

A distant flare stack ignited, casting a sharp flicker of orange light across their masks.

Relan folded his hands behind his back. "Very well," he said. "You have our attention."

"Speak for yourself," Jonas muttered, then added, "okay you speak for both of us, there." Carm nodded.

"Drego controls the shipping lanes through this sector. You pay him, or you lose ships. Maybe both." He let that hang. "I intend to change that."

Jonas and Relan exchanged a look, wary but calculating the scenario.

"I'm going to take Cinder Station," Carm said. "I'll Remove Drego, and replace him."

Silence.

The wind howled through exposed piping.

"And in return for our support?" Relan asked.

"You get safe passage," Carm said. "Reliable routes. No ransom demands. And I charge you less than the pirates ever did."

Jonas gave a low whistle. "It's a bold plan."

"Reckless is more like it," Relan corrected. "You expect us to believe you can control an entire sector?" His gaze flicked to Carm's small escort. "I see two mercenaries and a story that should have ended on Barkesh. What exactly are you offering us?"

A sharp grind of durasteel echoed as Carm's mechanical hand clenched into a fist.

"You wouldn't just be dealing with me," he said quietly. "You'd be under the protection of the Flame of Zhar."

Both men stiffened.

Even through the masks, Carm saw it- a flicker of recognition. Maybe a bit of fear too.

"I know the Union's crossed paths with syndicates before," Carm continued. "And CorDuro understands profit better than principle."

Relan's voice dropped. "Our clients would not tolerate that kind of association."

"They won't know," Carm said simply. "All they'll see is their cargo arriving on time. Intact, for the first time in years."

The refinery groaned around them. Somewhere nearby, a valve vented with a violent hiss.

"Less loss," Carm pressed. "Lower costs, more stability. Your investors will thank you for it."

Relan said nothing, but Carm could practically hear the calculations turning.

Then Jonas stepped forward, placing a gloved hand on Carm's shoulder.

"Say we back you," he said. "What do you need?"

Carm was startled. He was succeeding faster than expected.

"A meeting," he said. "You request an audience with Drego on Cinder Station. Negotiation for shipping protections." He glanced between them. "My brother Gire joins as your security detail. That's when we move."

Jonas barked a laugh. "Secrecy and subterfuge- you've changed, lad. Truly a member of the syndicates now."

"I've adapted," Carm said.

Both men turned to Relan.

For a long moment, the Duros said nothing. The wind howled. The haze shifted. Farstine itself seemed to hold its breath.

"Our people were among the first species to leave our homeworld," Relan said. "We've survived by adapting. Again and again." He met Carm's gaze. "I will trust you. I only ask that you not waste that trust."

Jonas clapped his hands together. "Well then! When do we start this little mutiny?"

Carm glanced out across the poisoned horizon, the pipelines vanishing into the haze, flames flickering in the distance.

"Soon," he said. "I have a few things left to finish on Farstine."

He looked back at them.

"I'll send word."

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Had some fun here working with some techniques, trying my hand at improving my terrain building, and even putting together some speeders 🙂 As always, please share any comments/suggestions/critiques!