[h1][color=ed1c24]Near Annona Colony[/color][/h1]

    Arthur spent his time reading over the last of the reports and summaries sent to him before the arrival of the Venue at the colony. More technical data, company progress reports, stock reports and more near useless information for most others, but for him it was necessary to know on a daily basis. He pulled aside reports relevant to the Venue’s arrival, mostly his competitors’ public reports about the upcoming expo, into his computer for future reference.

A Tommy floated above and slightly starboard to the Forge of Mars, the red and white accents of its paint rendering it starkly visible against the black void of space to those in the bridge. It carried a long, slender rifle in its hands, carefully pointed away from both the manufacturing ship and the colony. Two extra fuel pods attached to the Tommy's backpack attested to the expectation that it would be deployed for several hours. The pilot had approached the Forge of Mars ten or so minutes ago, claiming to be there to perform a preliminary check of the vessel's silhouette and markings due to the heightened security around Annona. 

Evidently there was nothing to complain about, as the pilot hadn't ordered them to halt but had instead matched the Forge of Mars's velocity and settled in like an escort.

    He stood up as the captain hailed his room, announcing they were reaching communications range to request docking clearance. Arthur closed his terminal and stood, walking briskly towards the bridge after the channel had been opened to the Annona Colony traffic control tower. [color=fff200]“Annona tower this is the Forge of Mars, registration S1594, requesting permission to approach docking strut. Purpose is to transfer supplies and personnel.”[/color] The captain looked over as the communications officer spoke to the tower. [color=aba000]“The Nyx has returned in time for the Expo sir. Was it not enough to show off?”[/color]

[color=ed145b]“Just releasing one ship wouldn’t have been enough to have bragging rights over Raj. For all we know they’ve finally fixed their big tin can for today, then what would we have to show off for the princess. I want more than a single nice ship to fly by today.”[/color] That is if no radicalist gets jumpy before the presentation begins. He thought to himself.

There was a brief delay between the comms officer sending the request and the colony sending back its reply. A handful of seconds, presumably to allow the operators to check the Forge of Mars's information. [color=fff200]"Verified, Forge of Mars, you are clear to approach. Berth C16, sending navigational solution."[/color]

The Tommy gave a salute to the bridge and backed away, returning to its original post. An information packet also arrived, containing the path that the traffic controllers wanted the vessel to take — a fairly straightforward route, but such redundancies were needed to prevent disastrous collisions. [color=fff200]"Will you be needing a passenger or cargo dock?"[/color] came another question. The tubes in the external docking struts could transfer people and smaller containers, but larger cargo would need other accommodations and many nobles and businessmen preferred to transfer to the colony in the comfort of a shuttle.

[color=fff200]"Confirmed, navigation solution received, course plotted. Negative on shuttle, requesting permission to utilize complimentary mobile workers to ferry supplies."[/color] The comm officer worked with the navigation as on the screen a projection of the flight path appeared and the pilots changed the large ship's course appropriately. Arthur watched as the machine man flew off, letting out a sigh. [color=ed145b]"Every time I see them the scutson gets more and more pitiable. R&D better be making headway by the time the next report comes. Take us in nice and easy captain, we're in no rush now that we're here."[/color]

The delay in the reply is shorter this time. Now that their identify had been verified, everything else was a simpler affair. Especially for matters pertaining to Sharp Workshop after their ascendance in the Zern industrial sphere. [color=fff200]"Permission is granted. Have the pilot licenses and mobile worker registrations ready to file when you dock in. You may load and unload your cargo in Bays C10 to C14."[/color] 

The man patted the headrest of the captain's chair before he walked off of the bridge. The halls were empty as always on his way to the mobile worker hangar. He looked over the list of attendees on his small computer, making notes on who to meet and who to check in on.

While Annona Colony's piers, docks, and bays were all owned and regulated by the imperial government, merchants, corporations, and private individuals were all permitted to lease protected time and space at a relatively reasonable cost. Thanks in large part to their wealth and the fame of their brand, Sharp Workshop had been able to obtain a near-total-exclusivity lease to a decent number of berths and bays, facilitating their traffic in and out of the colony and giving them limited permissions to install specialized equipment. While it sounded like the control tower was assigning space to the Forge of Mars, in reality the Workshop's managers and representatives on Annona had already submitted an itinerary and made preparations for their CEO's arrival.
[sub]Collaborated with [@Caduceus][/sub]