Iron Stars - blair

Blair Armani, bastard child of a once noble house awakens in their small apartment on Jagrati, in the capital city. Enough separation between father and child has allowed Blair to escape the clutches of operation Noble Sweep after some brief questioning. When it was revealed he did not have any knowledge of house workings or any hidden resource caches the nobles were fond of keeping secret, Blair was released, a well educated person forced to make their way in a world where the former social safety nets had all been removed, and society has been left to find itself again. Educated, which is still something of a rarity within the Cooperative, Blair speaks and reads well, and has found ways of convincing people to see things their way when it mattered. This is something that has served them well in the past and might again as they scroll the New Moon Cooperative job board, when a small notification appears in the bottom corner of their compad screen with a waiting message from an employer seen only as "Classified"

@Blair Armani (No pressure, reply whenever, just wanted you to see it since you might not have known where to find your thread) (edited)

Bleary and hungover, Blair wipes his mouth as the toilet flushes and he looks in the mirror taking in his haggard expression in yesterday's clothes. He changes out of his crumpled, black buttoned shirt and smart white trousers with a new, yellow-y splotch of what he hopes is alcohol into something more smart-casual. With another prolonged sigh, Blair throws himself onto the couch and kicks his feet up with a cup of coffee and a few aspirin as he opens his compad, raising an eyebrow as he notices the opens the new message. "Well well well, 'Classified,' what have you for me on this fine..." he checks the time "bloody hell, evening?"

Citizen Armani, 

It has come to the attention of the Cooperative planning department that you have a certain level of skill that we may find useful for our oncoming operational planning. Present yourself at 0900 hours to the Cooperative dispatch center in the center of the city for your mission. You are not legally bound to accept this job, but the rewards in both money and social standing are abundant. 

Cooperate with us, and we will do all we can to ensure a bright future for you

the message is brief, and you can see there is a file attachment describing the world of Santanam-Miti, where the Cooperative has recently overthrown a band of breakaway nobles and freed the planet. The local communities there are struggling with a lack of leadership, and look to need someone from the polity to help them with a variety of local problems. Once the communities are stable, taxes can be collected, clinics, banks and factories can rise, and the world will be a strong jewel in the crown of the reborn Cooperative. https://www.worldanvil.com/w/iron-stars-nekosmash/a/santama-miti-location?preview=true

Santama Miti

19:25

(anything on world anvil is stuff your character would know or be able to look up)

"Leadership..." Blair lets the word linger in the air as he finishes his coffee, "let's hope not." He says with a chuckle, cleaning himself up and taking whatever transport is possible to the dispatch centre, more than a few hours late, but hoping for the best. If nothing else, he could use the money.

Entering the centre you can see things are quiet for the moment. If you had come during peak hours like the dispatch said you would have probably seen a lot more would be Cooperative notables here, trying to get onto missions to help advance polity aims and take advantage of the standing and money that comes with it. None the less, you're brought into a back office where a functionary joins you once your name is taken at the front desk. "Mr. Armani, thank you for joining us. Late, but at least you've shown up. I understand you've been given our report on the system in question with the most up to date information in it. "

Perhaps it was best that he had shown up at a quieter time, less eyes trying to place where they might have seen him before and cause an awkward fuss. "I apologise, with such little forewarning I wasn't expecting something quite so early, had some... business to attend to." He flashes a smile, "Yes, I've received it."

"The planet we are sending you to is in a bit of a crisis, as it were. I understand you might not be fond of the Cooperative but this is a chance to make a name for yourself. The rule of the people is not going anywhere, and this is an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something new. We've recently arrested a baron from the northern highlands and out of most of the people taken into custody, he's been somewhat concerned for the fate of his people. It is a hard life they live in the mountains, and he wants to ensure there is a leadership figure there to keep people on task. You're educated, and have a bit of a resume of some leadership skills. Now is your chance to prove it"

"By all means! I have nothing but contempt for the old ways, my only pain is that I am forever linked to them through blood." Blair flashes another grin. "The highlands? Well, my only reservation is that I'm not quite the skilled outdoorsman I might need to be to understand and survive in those rugged terrains. If it's a smiling and confident face you need though, I'm happy to help and eager to learn."

'The locals should be doing most of the frontier work, we just need a smiling face in town to direct their efforts. If you do find yourself needing to work alongside them, they know the world. They should be good enough teachers of its ways"

"Sounds like a job for me. When do I start?" Blair still holds reservations on the locals' opinions of him. It may be a hard task to win them over to begin with. "Do you know what opinions the locals had of their former leader?"

"Not good ones, but their former leader also broke away from the Cooperative for the personal power independence would give them. You missed tonight's shuttle, you'll have to wait until morning, but its a two day trip through spike space from here to there"

"Transport will be provided for you to get there, however"

"Excellent, I'm looking forward to starting!" Blair bids the functionary good day unless there's anything else they need to pack for the trip the next day.

11:31

(Got covid, sorry I haven't responded for a while >.< )

(No worries, if we need to pause until you're better we certainly can. discord has a habit of eating notifications so I didn't know if this was you, or me)

(I'm good. Just ping me, sometimes I don't check the server for a while)

(Three days of downtime on our way, and I posted the scouting report above) Your destination is a large village in the shadow of close-by mountains. A river has recently been restored in the area and the locals are out doing their best to trap a meal through the thick ice where possible. Your ship lands outside town on its north side, and a local constable and their battered looking patrol car makes their way out to greet you, bundling their hood and shawl up against the cold. You can see the laser pistol belted at his hip along with the badge.

Dressed in expensive looking winter gear Blair steps out, hauling his luggage behind him and giving the constable a bright smile despite the weather. "Good morning! A fine day, isn't it?" With a grunt and another heave, he pulls the large suitcase closer, reaching out a gloved hand. "Blair, Blair Armani, I assume you've also been filled in by the cooperative? Lovely to meet you, I look forward to learning about this area."

"You're going to have a lot to learn. You're from Jagrati? better keep that to yourself for now. The locals aren't going to like that" the Constable says, looking up at the sky and keeping a hand over his face.

14:44

"Not one bit. A lot of their problems have been caused by people from there"

"I understand. What was their relationship with the last noble? I heard he wanted to make sure someone came out here and made sure things were looked after." Blair slowly retracts his hand if the other man doesn't shake. "Well... shall we?"

"Their last noble stayed in his manor on the hill and dominated the water, he only let small amounts of it reach downstream to the village, and otherwise only came around when it was time to collect taxes. That was something that happened often as the years went on and the Shaper War took its toll"

"I hope I can ease their worries and give you all a push in the right direction to get started after such a period of time." Blair motions to the patrol car, "Maybe we could discuss this further out of the cold?"

He nods, getting the door for you before coming around to his side to turn the vehicle on. With a crunch of rubber on snow, the vehicle begins moving. "Did you have other questions about the area before we make it into the village proper?" the constable asks, fiddling with the heat controls for the cabin.

“Well… mainly I’m wondering what’s really going on. What do I really need to do?” Blair insists on opening the door himself as he gets in, pulling back his furry hood and warming his hands with a sigh. “I swear I’m just not built for this weather.” He chuckles.

"You have to think about it from the perspective of the people. Noble sweep ended the noble line, that is true, but we have generaitons of people conditioned not to think for themselves here. You're going to be the bridge between leadership, and helping the community move toward sustaining itself, and cultivating some independent thinking. The Cooperative promised us stability, and you're the test to see if it can happen. We have hungry people, thirsty people, people in need of medical attention, and a town that has been neglected for a long time. I planned to call the people together to meet you at the town hall, and from there we can try to see what is on people's minds. We can work from there. We are an experiment, and if we can make this place prosper again, the other settlements across the planet will follow our example and be the same. "

(Moving to post archive threads)