<strong>"An interesting proposal.  Some of these depth of what you're requesting are out of the question, I'm afraid, but there may be room to settle on others..."</strong><br/><br/>And after about half an hour's worth of carefully-proposed dickering, the contract is finalized, and Victor's Valkyries are born.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Finalized Hanseatic League Contract Details</div><div class="spoiler_body"><strong>Lease Payments:</strong> 15% of gross proceeds (salvage, base payment, compensation, bonuses) from all contracts.<br/><strong>Lease Fulfillment:</strong> Incremental.  Units may be purchased in full from the League after payments total the price of any one Battlemech until all Mechs are paid for in full.<br/><strong>Hanseatic Command:</strong> Liason.  A League representative curates your contracts.  They will help weed out bad eggs, but steer you away from certain objectives keeping with the League's own interests.<br/><strong>Hanseatic Salvage:</strong> None. The League will offer to purchase salvage you acquire but does not require any as part of the contract.<br/><strong>Hanseatic Support:</strong> Standard/Full.  The League will pay your support costs and will furnish technicians and administrative personnel to do the work.  <em>However</em>, any battle compensation that future contracts render must be counted against your income margins.  Any Standard Support compensation you receive from contracts will go to off-set their costs.<br/><strong>Hanseatic Transport:</strong> Full.  The League will pay your transportation costs up-front.<br/><br/>Victor's Valkyrie's appointed liason is Thomas Regall, the assistant to Frau Kohls whom you met at the meeting.  Officially, he draws pay as administrative personnel, to deflect queries as to his official role.  Also officially, this is a covert mission; revealing sponsorship by the League is a breach of contract.<br/></div></div><br/><div align="center"><strong>Several weeks of interstellar travel later...</strong></div><br/><hr/><br/><strong>Jump Point, Aragon System, Nueva Castile</strong><br/><br/>"I want to be sure we take at least one mission with Nueva Castille first, to ensure our name is known -- they are the larger, wealthier employer, after all.  The pickings are slim here, I'm afraid, but I don't find that terribly surprising."  Thomas's expression was somewhat dim as he presented a tablet to the people gathered in the small mess hall.  "Aragon is not a high-priority settlement for the Castilans," he continued, disappointed.  "The Third Brigada suffered a series of serious defeats within the past ten years against the Caliphate, and the Principe -- their military-civilian leaders, each of them in charge of one of their combined-arms regiments -- have been trying to rebuild their numbers and prestige since then.  As I'm sure you remember from our brief stop on Leòn, the Principe were scrambling to think of anything that wasn't simply 'help train our Mechwarriors to standard,' and their offers were similarly low.  The Principe on Aragon seem to have a bit more ambition."<br/><br/>The tablet on the center table has the details.<br/><br/><strong>Hiring Force:</strong>Principe Thiago Montes, representative of Nueva Castile, Aragon<br/><strong>Contract Type:</strong>Retainer (Tempo: 1.3 x base pay)<br/><strong>Monthly/Total Payment:</strong>7,500,00 C-Bills (in 625,000 monthly payments)<br/><strong>Command:</strong>House (3) [Liason: 8]<br/><strong>Salvage:</strong>30% (6) [40% 7, 50% 8, etc]<br/><strong>Support:</strong>Straight/Full (7) [Battlefield 10% 8, 20% 9, etc for 40, 60, 80, 100]<br/><em>Transport: N/A</em><br/><br/>"Tm given to understand that your force will be just as likely to be deployed in internal fighting as it is to be used for garrison, cadre, or off-world activity.  That said, it is also guaranteed work for the next year at a decent rate, which of course has its own benefits.  If we don't want this contract, we'll need to relocate to find more -- but there are plenty of Castillan worlds within a single jump's reach, with potentially more lucrative and risky contracts to offer.  The ultimate decision is, of course, up to you."  Thomas bows slightly from the waist, standing to leave you to your deliberations.  "I can put you in communication with the Principe's office to negotiate terms if you are so interested."