Stranger Hijinks [LE1, Strange Charm, Closed]

[Sharn]

Sharn drumrolled on the table in the common, crunching on a celery stick, as he grew irritated with others not making haste to attend his presence as if they were stupid to disregard revelations he was graciously willing to impart.

[Farkas Lowca]

Farkas showed up with a container full of a small semi-sweet, semi-tart fruit and set it down at the table in easy reach for everyone that would be joining. "Good evening Sharn. I'm interested in seeing how this works in practice."

[Sharn]

"Our role-playing pastime will have to come second to what I am about to broach." He looked at the container. "Which of these has good amount of zinc, do you know?"

[Syzygy Anion]

Syzygy entered. "Zinc?"

[Sharn]

"Zinc is essential for abundant production of healthy sperm." Sharn replied without flinching seeing Zygy entering. "About 15 miligram a day."

[Syzygy Anion]

Her cheeks reddened a bit. "Umm... So, what is this game you wanted to play?"

[Sharn]

"Necessities before fun." He steepled fingers. "I have reasons to believe the planet is about to get raided or invaded."

[Farkas Lowca]

"They're all the same fruit Sharn. Just in different stages of development. The green ones are slightly sweeter and the orange ones slightly more tart. The mineral content isn't going to be different between them outside of standard deviation for any of this specific fruit. The sugars and texture will be different dependent on the ripeness. But I'm not a xenobiologist so I honestly couldn't tell you anything more specific than conventional wisdom." Farkas shrugs. "And I didn't ask about the zinc content when I purchased them. I asked for something that could provide some energy in a natural manner. I am told they have less sugar than most fruits of their class but have minor amounts of caffeine and cathinone."

[Sharn]

"So mainly fructose and alkaloids." He glanced at the Zeltron. "It might be advisable for me to treat myself to this. For zinc, I'll resort to some eggs, nuts, beans or seeds." He helped himself and waited for his other comment to ripen in their heads.

[Farkas Lowca]

"What reasons do you have to believe the planet is about to get raided or invaded?" Farkas asks, having one of the berries himself. "Also, you probably don't want to eat too many of these or you'll be up all night. I was told that this amount here was basically like a pot of caf, though slightly different effects because of the cathinone. Which will apparently help with that as it will suppress the appetite a bit. The seeds are a little bitter, but edible and high in fiber."

[Syzygy Anion]

"A wonder fruit." she picked one up and examined it. "Who's coming to invade?"

[Sharn]

He raised brow at staying up whole night as he was not averse to the idea. "Remnants. An Imperial-class Star Destroyer has deployed Viper probes and recon personnel. Capsules have been found and a Viper dispatched. They obfuscated their identity but I have done a miracle retrieving it from broken consoles."

[Farkas Lowca]

"Well, it's been a while. I wonder how long it's been since they've been able to fully resupply and perform full maintenance. A single ship like that is unlikely to be able to take and hold a planet without a great deal of support. If that is their intention then they either have the support or they're about to give the planet a hard time for no real gain in the end. If they plan on raiding for resupply before moving on... that's probably worse. They'll have no qualms about killing indiscriminately to get what they want. Alternately, there is something on Noventa that is of particular interest to them and they are here searching for it."

[Syzygy Anion]

"Whatever they want, it's bad for Noventa. And, probably for us." Zygy sighed. "What are our options?"

[Sharn]

"I am quite sure violence shall ensue in copious amounts." Sharn mused. "One option would be to hide, leave or wait it out. The other to collaborate with the invaders. We can also secure enduring benefits by exacting some concessions for ourselves during the crisis with the governmental blessing." He looked at his fingernails. "I was in the factory today. I in fact unsealed it. There are several near-ready TIEs there, among other usable military hardware."

[Farkas Lowca]

"Well, the sector rangers are the closest thing to law in the region are they not? We could see if they would be willing to honor an agreement to give us control of the factory in return for making the TIEs serviceable for them. Get an official deed and contract," Farkas suggests. "It potentially increases the safety of the planet, gets us in the good graces with law enforcement and gives a legitimate claim to the factory. Potentially allowing us to buy it with salvage from a legal entity?"

[Sharn]

Sharn nodded in recognition that it was basically his plan.

[Syzygy Anion]

"Can we keep one?"

[Sharn]

Sharn's lips twitched, hinting a smirk that never fully showed.

"That would be advisable. As long as we can secure them, and the place. There was a local man who felt like getting in the way, and looters may come."

He cringed.

"And then a poor excuse of the law enforcement dared interrupt, so we need to deal with that too."

[Farkas Lowca]

"Let's put Aja on that then. Perhaps we'll have to sell off our latest round of salvage. We can have her set explosives at entrances," Farkas suggests.