Title: Taking Advantage
Type of RP: Internal (Economic)

Story:
"Kays! I summoned you half an hour ago!" Raynor sneered at the envoy who entered the room. He raised a hand before he could speak. "No time for your excuses I have more things to do. Sit down and write down as I recite."
The man wasted no time and sat in a suspensor chair and opened the box which would allow him to record the words straight onto a ridulian crystal. He nodded when he was ready but the gesture was lost on Raynor as he walked to his viewport from which he could see the Chusuk Concert Hall in its final stages of decoration on the outside.

"My Lord Marquis Aiantis." He paused. "I hope everything proceeds as planned, if not I wish for your exchanges with the Emperor, the High Council and House Alexin to be more expedient."

He turned to the envoy and saw that he was still keeping up at which point he simply started to rattle while pacing the room.
"I contact you with a matter of some importance. Recent figures from Theta Shalish show that unemployment is still growing and unrest may occur if we do not find these peasants some simple work to accomplish. Moreover, I find that increased hostilities from within our own sysselraad is a portent to a dangerous future, one in which we should be ready to arm ourselves. Also, and this is not the least bit important, there is one commodity within the Imperium which is being left aside despite it being a highly demanded."
He paused, waited a few seconds until the envoy was finally done and then continued again, staring out the window. "Therefore, it is that I as your main economic advisor suggest the construction of arms. Thopters, lasguns, shields and everything else necessary to deploy a legion and keep it moving in the right direction. Anything in excess can be sold for a veritable profit, one that should not be ignored. Our current main project is slowly coming to an end and it will be easier to reallocate these workers and leftover building materials to Theta Shalish by the end of the month."

He sighed and was thinking heavily. The envoy had caught up and was sitting patiently. When he didn't hear anything for another minute he was sure that the mentat was so deep in concentration staring out the window that he had forgotten about everything around him. He cought but when that didn't prove to be enough he quietly raised his voice. "Will that be all, sir?"
The mentat whirled around and raised his eyebrows. "What? No. Where did we leave off again?"
The envoy studied the crystal and cleared his throat to recite the words on the device. "Our current main project is slowly com-"
"Ah yes. Thank you." The mentat interupted as he recollected his train of thought. He cleared his throat and his head and proceeded to finish the message. "With sufficient allocation of resources and without any complications we can easily build a number of shacks in which these unemployed and others can work in tandem. The project can easily be completed in four mo -- no wait, make that -- six months."
He nodded. "Yes, his lordship usually tends to speed things up when he wants something from me, or so it always seems. You can finish the message with the usual: Your faithful and forever loyal mentat, Raynor. Yes, add the date as well and you have my signature mark. I want you to send this today, high priority."

The envoy finished the message, reread it with a few quick glances for typograhpical errors, then stood, saluted and set out to leave. He was already halfway towards the outer door of the wing when Raynor stepped out into the hallway and raised his voice. "Kays! On second thought, I want you to bring it. Personally."
The envoy bowed at a distance and turned to leave for his quarters to pack as quickly as possible and take the last shuttle onto the next heighliner.

- - - - -

A few days later:
Raynor sat at his desk looking over reports when a knock brought him out of his concentration. He sighed and his voice shouted an "Enter!" before he had given himself time to compose himself. The door swung open and Kays, the envoy, stood before him and bowed. "Sir."
Raynor stood. "You're back already? Any messages?" He didn't see a single message tube on his person.
The courier nodded. "He made me memorise it. It was fairly short."
"Well? Out with it."
The envoy cleared his throat.

"Four months."

Raynor grinned ear to ear and barely composed his decency. "Excellent, excellent. Return to your room but don't unpack yet, I may have more work for you later. We need to send a few messages to Theta Shalish."
Now it was the courier's turn to sigh. "Yes, master." He bowed and left.

Summary:
- House Aiantis starts the construction of a grade 1 Munitions industry on Theta Shalish
- The projected time for completion is four months (2 turns)

December 10.190

Title: Taking Advantage
Type of RP: Consensual (Internal Faction)

GM Rulings:

Approved. This can continue to be written if the players deem it necessary.
The Marquis Aiantis' schedule would be nothing more than miraculous were the efforts on Theta Shalish able to conclude development of an Imperium-grade munitions industry within a mere four months. If House Aiantis wishes to bring its name into disrepute for flooding the market with poor quality armaments then, certainly, this would be the way to proceed. Conservative estimates put development of factory lines for the production of munitions at 6 months (3 turns) with 15 units of Industrial components required for developing infrastructure and facilities and 10 units of Munitions required for developing mouldings and design schematics. At this point the planet will be home to a low-grade munitions factory quarter; substantial investment and development would then be required to elevate the standard - and quantity - of produce to meet sector needs, and subsequently district needs, with a view to then developing the industry further to satisfy the Imperium-wide market for munitions.

Title: Taking Advantage
Type of RP: Consensual (Internal)

Story:

When the freighters started landing at the starport, commotion rose from the sleepy town around it. The unemployed quickly started gathering around men of authority who started writing down names, then giving each man and woman a place in the nearest freighter from where they started to move the necessary materials into land-based vehicles which would take the necessary goods to the construction site. When enough people had been hired for the first-day jobs, each foreman waved the people away, telling them to try again in the next few days when the contruction required more help.

The mentat took a swig from his bottle of sappho juice and licked his lips gregariously for the last fluid drops which clung to it. Scanning the starport like a general overlooking a battlefield, Raynor tried to find the weeak spots in the crowd and to see how the work could be optimalised among them. When the head foreman eventually reported to him the numbers of people who had been hired in the short timespan, he was content that they would have an ample supply of labor on this planet.

"We should be able to get all the goods out of the freighters today. Make sure the munition samples are sent to the local warehouse and that the house guard are aware of the nature of its load." The mentat stared directly at the man's face before he dismissed him. "And please be careful, we don't want to rush into this headlong. The deadline is not our first concern at this moment."
The foreman seemed relieved by the statement, having known for sure that the meaning of "deadline" came from its first half, up until now. "Yes, Master Mentat. We won't compromise the construction and security if we can prevent it."

Raynor nodded. "And keep an eye on theft. Have the contruction site fenced off and have house guard posted. I have sent a mesage ahead to the Corporal of the garisson that you might require men to oversee safety. You'd better go to the site now and pass out instructions there. I will oversee the unloading here."
The man took off quickly and Raynor's headache told him he was straining himself again. This was no orchestra hall, for sure, but there was the added risk of theft this time that kept his mind worried. More variables meant more work and that gave him headaches. He sighed and took a drink froma nother bottle, this one more intended to stop the ache. "I have more work than a general, and time is my enemy."

Summary:

• House Aiantis delivers the required 10 munitions and 15 industrial components to Theta Shalish and construction begins
  [*}With a view on the current tumult in CHOAM and the unpredictability of the Munitions market, Aiantis have decided not to risk too much and will screw up the amount of time by two moths for the contruction rather than risk losing what little face they have left
  [/list]

Jan/Feb 10.191

Title: Taking Advantage
Type of RP: Consensual (Internal)

GM Ruling:
PAID: 10 munitions, 15 Industrial Components
Approved. This can continue to be written if the player deems it necessary.
The construction of munitions industry and weapons designing is underway at the insistence of the Marquis, and is expected to take a further 4 months (2 turns) before the factory lines are operational. It is expected that once that milestone is achieved and the production lines operating with some efficiency, that House Aiantis will be able to devote expertise and attention to improving the quality of work, and edging their way into the munitions market within the surrounding region before production amounts and demand will reach the pinnacle of an Imperium Grade Industry.

Title: Taking Advantage
Type of RP: Continuation

Story:
Raynor arrived at the test site in an open jeep. As it came to a halt he jumped out and surveyed the scattering of buildings and the open clearance towards the west where a number of haystack targets had been set up for testing weapon efficiency. After a short tour through the facilities he was led to the firing range at last and the Major in charge of the test site was becoming even more enthusiastic about showing off one of the sample models of the lasguns the factories had thus far produced.

The bunker was safely underground and through a system of pipes and mirrors the test site was projected onto the far wall without any need for powered equipment. A soldier came up to the spot from which he would fire the lasgun and all the officials in the bunker held their breath as the countdown reached towards zero to witness the test in absolute silence.
three...two...one...fire

A flash of light erupted and a moment later fires burned all over the test site. One big lump of fire lay on the ground rolling back and forth and soon an emergency crew arrived to douse the flames.
Raynor scratched his forehead as he looked at the speechless and pale-looking Major. "Great! Excellent work, Major. Why don't you get a batch ready and sent them House Alexin with our dearest regards. I'm sure it'll be a hit."
There was some nervous laughter and the Major seemed to lighten up for a moment. "Next time, Major, it will be you who does the test so I would make sure that it doesn't back-fire. Have I made myself understood?"
The Major nodded fervently and watched as the mentat turned and left to continue his inspection tour of the factories and the construction sites.

Summary:

• Just continuing the good work

Title: Taking Advantage
Type of RP: Consensual (Internal)

Story:
The mentat Raynor resided in one of the better places of the capital city. Today would sound the conclusion of half a year of hard work. The ride in the groundcar to the factories was one filled with sober landscapes of shacks and cheap tenement buildings. Much work could be done to improve the infrastructure and housing conditions to provide a better atmosphere but it would be useless to think about it before the factories were up and running.

The testing facilities were a familiar place to Raynor now and he waited in the bunker for the test firing of the next batch of products. The major stood outside, lasgun in two hands, arms shaking and ready to fire. Beside the mentat, somebody started a countdown which echoed over the courtyard of the buildings and increased the anticipation and anxiety over the final success of the work.

Summary:

• Review

July/August 10.191

Title:Taking Advantage
Type of RP:Consensual (Internal)

GM Ruling:
Approved. This may continue to be written as the player deems necessary.
Whilst the protoype weapons produced do function on a basic level, their quality and reliability remains far from the level of being an Imperial Grade export. The factories for weapon production are completed, and initial batches of the prototype weapons themselves are only produced for machine testing and quality control assessments, the report of which indicates that the factories are of barely acceptable capability to produce a quality utlimately expected of the Imperium for weapons, and the workforce itself remains poorly trained. Mentats suggest that addressing the level of workforce training will require trial and error over time, or the assistance of a House that already maintains an Imperium Grade munitions industry, but given House Aiantis wishes to compete with such a market, careful negotiation would likely be required, or clandestine tactics used to obtain such information.

The test batches are reviewed by House Guard who promptly reject the possibility of using the weapons, particularly the widespread use of lasguns which are viewed as extremely dangerous and rather antiquated since the invention of the Holtzman personal shield where lasgun use in battle fell out of favour hundreds of years ago. Further research, funding, time and expertise will be required to be able to produce weapons that will stand up to the rigors of combat, but little else can be done to improve those facets at this point in time until specific munitions industry knowledge is acquired to enable for expert reviews and development into an Imperial Grade industry.

House Aiantis gains +1 to its Economy category pool.