Mick Hogan rode into the Colony and stopped in the center of The Square … a large grassy clearing in the center of the otherwise forested community, surrounded by predominantly commercial structures. His worldly possessions loaded into the saddle bags of his second-hand off-road motorcycle.
Today was the first day of the rest of his life. Mick had left an army of lawyers and paperwork and the wreckage of his previous business behind when he left the coast. Mick had ridden all morning to place hundreds of kilometers between his old life on the coast and his new future in Brulantsfort. Now he was really here. He was in the center of his new home in search of opportunity. Time to see what opportunity came knocking or what doors he might need to kick open ….
[Mick can either pick a direction, pick a building, or just ROLL a skill check to get the ball moving in a direction. Things will flow from there. If you have any PLAYER input on the CHARACTER’s goals, now is the time to communicate them.]
Mick Hogan (Age 34)
Below average (2-5) SOC; Average (6-8) EDU; Above average (9-A) STR, DEX, END, INT.
A former "Hunter" looking to start over.
"welcoming humbly His light and proudly His darkness" - e.e. cummings
Mick parks his rather large dirt bike with an over-sized fuel tank at the side of the village square, steps off stiffly and stretches for a few minutes as he orients himself to town. He takes off his duster and beats it against a post along the edge of the road to get the specks of mud and dust off. Then he steps to the ridiculous looking saddle-bag/luggage case mounted on the rear of the cycle, opens the top case, pulls a stetson from it, places it on his head, folds the duster, and places the duster where the hat was. He reaches down and draws the sawed-off over/under shotgun with a pistol grip from his thigh holster. He looks at it for a second then, seeming to make a decision, puts it in the top case...which he then closes and locks.
He looks around the square. Standing in the clearing, he can spot a couple of Boabab trees peeking up from the lower canopy of trees off to the Northwest past the Elite housing units. Ah, to be out in the trees again. After dark Boabab trees go into a respiratory mode of breathing in ozone and emitting oxygen instead of using CO2, as in daytime. Only at night, this cycle is very strong...creating a very local pocket of fresh air in the center of the canopy. He also knows the pocket of clean air repels many of the insects and noxious night-time critters here in the tropics of Beau. It'll be good to climb the tree, string his hammock, and sleep out in the open again. It's been too long...
His mind flashes back to the recent days events. Just another "Adventure Tours" excursion. A bunch of young noblemen with more money than sense brought out their side flings (instead of their spouses) for a weekend trip on the Little Darling...formerly, his live-aboard luxury sailboat. Just sailing, scuba, and watercraft out of Brest (to the West of Brulantfort) in the island to the North...no hunting this time...which was most unusual these days. Just a quick, and lucrative, quick weekend of fun on the boat under the sun. Hearkened himself back to when he was just a young startup chartering vacationers in smaller boats...before meeting up with his hunting partners and forming Adventure Tours. Unfortunately, the very expensive global weather forecast and broadcast service to which they subscribed went down unexpectedly. On the return leg, a freak storm blew up and the "Little Darling", along with all their toys and hunting gear, was lost to the sea. If not for the grav vehicles they used for the on-shore hunting activities of longer adventures, they would have been in trouble.
The aftermath? His clients' lawyers and the weather service provider's lawyers were the only ones who were going to come out ahead in the ensuing food fight...it will be many years for that to resolve. After paying the insurance deductible, the liabilities were too great to recover from the mishap. Liquidation of "Adventure Tours" was completed this morning...that legal entity's death was complete. That was behind him. Ever the entrepreneur, he had to figure the next step. Attached to the bike is a rifle sheath. He draws the rifle from the sheath. This close to the city, the public show of a weapon will draw attention. The shotgun side-arm is not legal...nothing is. But for the trophy hunting rifle, he has a government permit. It will attract the kind of attention he seeks. He slings the rifle over his shoulder.
Standing in the sun, he pulls his comm from his reptile-skin vest pocket. He punches a few keys to view the listing he posted before hitting the road this morning. "Hogan's Outdoors" he called his listing. "Guide to the great outdoors". He'd need to hire himself out while he rebuilt capital enough to put down on gear and a eventually a new boat. Maybe he'd just stay land-side on this next venture...Hell, I don't know...he thought to himself. See where this goes... Guiding and hunting is what he can do now, so that's what he'll do. He checks his comm to see if there are hits. It might be too soon for a client to reach out to him, but one never knows. He personally had a great reputation in his former business. Name recognition could go a long way. He'd need to hire someone to help build a high-quality Intrawebs Site to advertise his new personal guide service. Later.
He'll slowly walk to the North West while consulting his comm, saying "G'day" to all he passes. Krikey, there's a lot of people to say G'day to...even in the Colony. After checking his own listing, he'll do a Space Google search for anyone else posting for his type of services. He'll check the online jobs board!
For reference, a map and data from your SmartPhone:
[1] General Contractor
[2] Grocery Store
[3] General Store (like a micro-Walmart)
[4] Savings & Loan
[5] Real Estate Office ("sales & Leasing")
[6] Architect/Engineer
[7] Data Processing & Storage
[8] Brulantfort Employment Services
[9] Medical Clinic
[10] Assisted Living Facility
[11] Restaurant
[12] "District 0, Building 12" (Bar & Diner)
[13] Repair Shop
[14] Chapel
[15] Factory
[16] Brulantfort Educational Services
[17] Clothing Store
[18] Building Material & Garden Supply
[19] HVAC & Filtration Construction and Repair
[20] Brulantfort Social Services
[21] Laundry (self-service and full service)
[22] Insurance Office
[23] Wholesale Food & Grocery
[24] Vehicle Parts Store
[25] "Warehouse 25"
[26] Bed and Breakfast (12 rental units)
"welcoming humbly His light and proudly His darkness" - e.e. cummings
[OOC: Just FYI, most tasks require no “skill check” … especially mundane tasks like posting an advertisement or checking on it. Building your own webpage might deserve a Rule 68A roll, but mostly to determine its quality … 2-5 fail, 6+ spartan, 8+ standard, 10+ exceptional.]
When Mick connected to the web on the subject of Wilderness Guides, the AI guided targeted news and advertising exploded with information on the Million Credit Golden Egg that every wilderness guide and ‘wanna-be’ on the planet was tracking. VET was offering MCr 1.4 for the repair of its Arctic Comm Tower. Among the stories of Trackers planning expeditions, were news reports speculating what might have eaten the previous repair crew that disappeared without a trace.
Mick watched videos of some Arctic nasties that the news was playing. Lot of nasty pieces of work livin’ on the ice. Mick had shot a few of them, himself. Still, it seemed unlikely to Mick that a pack of arctic chasers ate an entire crew and their equipment leaving nothing behind but a blood stain on the pavement. Naw, it was something other than one of the BIG NASTIES that did this. Maybe a new species. Maybe people. Not a pouncer or chaser like the news kept showing.
While a million Credits would be nice … Mick would need to find some ‘bloke’ with Comm skill to make that payday.
While reading about “getting rich”, Mick got a hit on his advertisement. Some local was willing to pay Cr 100 for a “Wilderness Adventure” … get out into the woods, see some animals, shoot a gun, and then go back to his office job with something to talk about. About half a day’s work and Cr 10 worth of supplies. There was a contact number.
"welcoming humbly His light and proudly His darkness" - e.e. cummings
Blimey, 100 credits? I bet I can talk him up to 150.
Well, I guess this is what starting over looks like. The credits would pay a few days living expenses, but it’s more about the momentum. Getting the snowball rolling downhill so it picks up size and speed.
Snowball. Ha! That Arctic thing looks really interesting. I’d sure love to make that kind of money. VET’s service going down was a root cause of the doom of the Little Darling. A cut of that kind of money could really set him back up! And VET paying for it.
Then the thought struck him…VET’s lawyers declared something called “Force Majuer” when declaring their non-liability for the mishap. Could this station going down have something to do with the network failure. How poetic to get his business life back on track by solving their problem. But who does he know with the electronics and comm expertise? Who has the transportation…or the capital to rent transportation?
Hard to think on an empty stomach.
After climbing the Boabab and stringing the hammock, he’ll ping his potential client that he is in the Colony and available to discuss options. It sounds like he could do this quick job…he’s got a couple guns to shoot, take a hike out in the bush. He’ll need to look at maps of the area. He’s heard of some water falls coming off the escarpment to the South. May be a good hike. There’s a rafting opportunity as well for a possible uo-sale. Where to find a raft to rent? Or just rent another dirt bike for the day and get this guy all muddy riding some trails. That would be fun!
This Arctic thing, though, occupies his thoughts…not only is the opportunity intriguing, but something about the story doesn’t add up. Also intriguing.
He’ll get some lunch (Colony site 11- Restaurant) and put out some feelers online while dining. Perhaps there might be some people to talk to as well.
Edited
After stepping foot in the restaurant, Mick quickly realized this just not the place for him. He looks around and see’s the Bar and Grill next door. ]
He’ll enter take a stool at the bar and unsling his fancy rifle to lean it against the bar by his knee. He’ll ask for the burger special. End edit. In response to other’s postings about the Arctic repair job he’ll post: “Hogan’s Outdoors” experienced Arctic expeditions and hunting guide. Have gun, will travel. Immediately available. Then attach a pic of him and his trophy rifle standing over an Arctic tiger. He’ll hang the same statement and photo on his electronic shingle as well.
He’ll then ask any locals seated next to him about the surrounding outdoors scene.
Last edited by Thumper on Mon Mar 04, 2024 5:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Thumper wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2024 2:50 pm
IHe’ll get some lunch (Colony site 11- Restaurant) and put out some feelers online while dining. Perhaps there might be some people to talk to as well.
OOC: Oddly enough, the Bar [12] might be the more likely place to eat. [#12] is more of a "Mel's Diner" atmosphere and [#11] is more "linen tablecloth and bottle of fine wine" atmosphere. Only YOU know where Mick would choose to eat. I am content to let it play out time wise and Mick and the Group eventually find each other ... but in character ... your blue-collar paths may be naturally crossing.
"welcoming humbly His light and proudly His darkness" - e.e. cummings
