18339/Where are the trade wessels

Where are the trade wessels
Date of Scene:	16 June 2024
Location:	New York Harbor Docks
Synopsis:	And so Noa was pretty obvious, but Caleb was helpful
Cast of Characters:	Noa, Caleb Dykstra

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Noa has posed:
Noa tells Xara to initiate the transport, and she arrives in an alley here at the docks. She's dressed in a suit that to a trained observer would stand out as a pretty standard Shi'ar commercial spacefaring suit, but to most humans it might just look weird and colorful.

But she steps out, stretches her arms, and starts to walk around. The hustle and the bustle of the longshoremen at work have no patience for her, and shre rapidly gets nudged OUT of the way with a curse thrown at her.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
The warehouse section of the docks is in fact one of the best places to run a mechanic's shop and garage, which is Preston's - Caleb's dad - line of work. Right next door to it, much like an annex, is a workshop for multiwares. The sign, though underwhelming as it may be, mentions antique restorations, forging, electronics, custom-made pieces.

From the inside, with a clear view to the street, Caleb sees this young woman arriving, and be swared at. And finds himself shaking his head.

"Dock workers really have no manners...", he says to himself.

Noa has posed:
Noa is very easy to push away, being rather light for her size. Thumping against a wall, she grunts and sighs. But she dusts herself off and resumes walking, now out of hte way of the busy activity.

Coming across a mechanic, she slows down, hands on hips, and starts looking in that general direction. Looking around, taking it all in, and then ending up seeing a store.

"I suppose the people who work here buy things as well."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb comes out for a few to take a breather from work - forging can take its toll on one's arms, plus the metal needs to be heated up again to be shaped accordingly.

He catches Noa's comment, and nods, "They do." He adds, "And the place isn't expensive, fortunately."

He notices her clothes - or should the word 'uniform' be more appropriate? -, and asks. "So... Looking to buy? Sell? Custom piece?"

Noa has posed:
Noa tilts her head, and takes it all in. She waves when spoken to. "I'm... looking for raw materials. They are..." She pauses and pulls out a small device from a pocket, and looks through it. "I think you list them as Iridium and Palladium."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb blinks, looking at the girl who just asked for some of the most uncommonly used metals in every day life, and when you do, it's in really, really, really small amounts.

"O-kay..." He can't help it, he has to ask the question, "What planet're you from exactly?"

Noa has posed:
Noa is pushing her data pad back into a pouch in her space suit, when she gets asked about planets. She's in fact looking to make sure she fastens it correctly, and so distracteed, she answers the question directly and frankly without thinking about it. "Chandilar," she mutters.

Then she pauses, and looks at him. "Wait. What? I thought very few of you were even aware of the univeres around you?"

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Deadpan. It seems like there's going to be a lot of those, today, so he just keeps the face.

"Well, there are a few who still think the Earth is flat and aliens are a hoax, /in spite/ of all the evidence to the contrary", he says, "but we mostly just ignore them or watch videos of them being ridiculed, or better yet, ridiculing themselves on social media platforms." He pauses, "They'll go the way of the dinossaurs, eventually." He ends up crossing his fingers for that last bit.

"So, where's that from?", he asks.

Noa has posed:
Noa nods firmly, eyes open, paying careful attention to what he says, in explaining thepeople of his planet. "I understand. Your cultures still have primitive elements, as you have little to no exposure to anything resembling current science and technology."

Ouch. Thoughs he says it cheerfully, with no malice.

"Where's what from?"

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
A long study of the girl that stands before him. Maybe it's time for a heads up.

"Well, I dunno what's current to /you/, but what I can say, and really what you should learn from this, is that 'current' is a matter of perspective. I mean, by your standards, we may be playing with sticks and stones, but any one civilization that's exponentially more knowledgeable will see you as a child playing with sticks and stones."

"On that note, it's not like us primitives haven't put a whole coalition of alien species who wanted to make this blue marble their slave planet on the run in the past. Just saying." He adds a tad more, "And, to be incredibly honest, maybe our current level of science and technology is something that shouldn't be tampered with. We had a war that ended with a bomb that killed thousands of people and crippled many more down the line of whole generations as collateral damage, and years later, all the uneasy allies of the nation that had invented it were developing their own version of it." He studies her, "You understand what this means, right? The wrong people get their hands on tech, they'll reverse-engineer it into a potential state of calamity."

"And you mentioned Chandilar. Where's that from?"

Noa has posed:
Noa tilts her head, and quirks. "Oh really, so you had a run-in with another civilization in the past. Interesting. And yet you show little ... change from that. When I come to a planet and I'm not ... interacted with by a planetary fleet of any kind, I don't expect much."

"But I understand what you are saying. You are proud of your history and your accomplishments. So I will tell you why I am here: I am hoping to find lines of trade centered on this planet. Becuase you are all so interesting."

She stretches again, rising up on her toes in her boots. "Chandilar is the home and capital of the great Shi'ar Empire. My own ship is a retired Imperial scout ship, with a full jump drive." She then pulls out that pad again, and speaks into it. "Xara, show me Far Horizon."

She then holds it out, and a holographic form of a woman, in pure holographic blue, is projected from it. "Bringing it up right away, Captain." The woman then disappears, and a three-dimensional projection lf an alien spaceship appears, rotating in front of Caleb.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb can't help but whistle as he sees the ship. "Interesting... Very interesting."

"The Shi'ar Empire?", he doesn't quite recall the name, but it sounds big.

He recommends, "Your dead giveaway was not only your uniform type clothing, but the fact you've come looking for two of the most unusual metals you could find on the planet. You can't just go and ask 'I'm looking for iridium and palladium - got any you can spare?'." He says, "Iron, copper...? Sure thing. Palladium? That's rarer than platinum, and far more expensive by the ounce. Iridium? One of the rarest metals on the planet. Assuming you could buy some, you'd likely have to pay a small moon for it." He shakes his head, "You need to start small in your trades." Deadpan, "Please tell me that wasn't the smallest item on your shopping list..."

Noa has posed:
Noa shakes her head rapidly. "Oh this is no uniform." She tugs at one of the less form-fitting parts, and smiles. "I would never qualify for the Imperial Guard, and I'm not a member of the Fleet. This is just a spacer suit. Safety and emergency life support."

With a nod. "So you don't have it. Okay, I understand. Thank you. It sounds like importing it here to sell would be a good idea. It's actually something I needed to make preventative maintenance on my transporter system. Hmm, how to substitute..." She bites her lip.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb starts to consider possibilities. "...Okay, how much do you need, if I can ask?" He braces for an abundant amount.

Noa has posed:
Noa pauses a second. "Four thousand T'marr." She nods, looking confident as though that's a completely obvious measure. "Wait, you don't know what that is, probably."

Pad tapped at again. "20 grams each of the two material" So market prices, 3 thousand dollars of Iridium, and 5 hundred more for the Palladium.

"I thought this was a major trading port, are there other shopping stalls for buying and selling such materials here?"

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb chuckles. Hard. "Shopping stalls... That's rich!"

He starts to wonder, and looks towards the mechanics shop side. "You know... Maybe... /Maybe/ I can scrounge up something, if the amount you want is small. No promises, though."

Noa has posed:
Noa comes a little closer. "I'm Noa. Good to meet you by the way. If you don't sell it all, I can find someone who can." But the chuckling makes her pause. "There aren't many more merchants here? Isn't this a major city?"

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"I'm Caleb. Caleb Dykstra." And he shakes his head, "Oh, we're full of merchants. But not for raw materials. For that, you'd need to go to mining industries, and it's best that you skip all that red tape." He ponders, "Speaking of red tape... You are a legal on this planet, I take it? I don't want to go and sell stuff that will be used against my people."

Noa has posed:
Noa will smile at Caleb, and begin discussing with him. She does take some notes in fact, as he helps set her on the right path! As for being legal well, she makes it clear she's here as a trader, and the Empire has no interest ing oing to war so far out here.