Appartum

[Natalie LaForte]

Vangoltha's Palace

[member="Tirdarius"] [member="Ignus"]

"Natalie, I'm not funding all of your lavish expenses you know." An old figure said with a raspy tone.

"I'm aware, mother." No doubt the people she was meeting with wouldn't be aware of who 'Mother' was, but she was here regardless. After having sunk a significant percentage of her money into the IMF, along with a lot of the other skeptical directors board members, she felt it would be appropriate to be present in the opening negotiations.

"And you know I have an issue with whom you're dealing with. If it gives me my return investment, then so be it." Gesturing with her hand and turning around, spotting a group of individuals dressed in rather strangely designed clothing.

"I believe it would be best if my dear children waited elsewhere, or alternatively, got changed into something a little more fi-.. Andrea! Put that gun down. Honestly." A small amount of laughter echoed through the testing facility, before the 20 or so began to pile into an industrial sized elevator and were transported to the very first floor in a locked canteen.

"What are we demoing exactly?" A Vorzydiak spoke, appearing from the shadows with a Neimodian. Serenity sighed. These two, she didn't like. Rude. Impatient. Demanding, and always speaking out of line, although, they were savvy and knew how to run a business, that was the only reason she hadn't shot them yet.

"Prototypes for the Z1-MCD and the Hive-Class interceptor."

"And how are you planning on fitting an interceptor in here?" The Neimodian said in a disappointing tone.

"Well, if somebody decided to be present during the prototype schematic stages, one would understand that we can fit more than one in this room." The elevator shuddered as the goods arrived.

2 Z1-MCDs and 3 Interceptors, moving by themselves thanks to the droid technology, hooked up to the central computer within the facility, they began getting into position for the various feats they were about to perform.

Finally, the 4, a Vorzydiak, Neimodian, Serenity and the mysterious figure awaited patiently for their guests to arrive, making small talk amongst themselves.

 

[Figure In White]

"Remind me again why we're on Malachor?" Leos asked as he and Captain Tarz walked down the hall, following someone who was leading them to someone else.

"A meeting of businesses or something along those lines. Miss Eramar said I was to take you because she was tending to a more dangerous matter."

Leos frowned at this, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. If she was tending to another matter, it meant that someone was making a greater threat against them than the potential threat of going to a meeting on Malachor. Most likely it meant she'd gotten a lead on the Force Hunter that had come after them on Muunilinst. A hand lifted to rub involuntarily at his chest in response to that, but he continued onward all the same. Further they went into the manufacturing facility, following the lead of some grunt or servant whose name he didn't particularly care to know. It wasn't any of his business to know.

Eventually they arrived, making their way into a chamber where several people waited, none of them familiar to him, but he just lofted a brow and approached them with Tarz walking just behind him. He was his usual tagalong when Mae wasn't with him. He glanced at the ships briefly and then turned his attention to [member="Serenity Loveheart"] and the rest.

"I suppose you're who I'm meeting with?"

[member="Tirdarius"]

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"Indeed." Walking towards him slowly and offering a handshake. "These are my... business partners." Nodding to the 3 behind her. "I believe somebody else who will be arriving in due time. With that being said, if you weren't properly informed as I know you're a busy man, we're currently wishing to sign for a contract with The Ascendancy in exchange for the supply of droids and ships for whatever use you may have. I shall let my acquaintance explain more."

"Indeed." The Neimodian took a step forward. "I am aware of the waning organic population who are liable to emotions, thankfully, with our new range of droid products, such a problem has been solved. Along with excellent combat functionality that can put even a veteran to the test, in fact, allow us to show you." While he was speaking, Serenity was starting to set up target dummys, along with a few turrets starting to come online.

"The Z1-MCD comes fully equipped with a rotary cannon blaster, deploy able shield generator and several point defense laser cannons." He stood to the side and a missle pod fired a dozen micro-rockets at one of the beasts. Without a moments notice, they began to be shot down before eventually there were none left, not even scratching the droid.

"Its magnificent armour also poses a serious threat to even the most well equipped adversaries." One of the laser turrets would open fire on it, simply pinging off of the carapace. "Quandanium steel, usually utilized in space combatants has ensured that it will require a serious amount of fire-power before shutting down." Turning around and smiling once more.

"Of course.. if you have any other tests you want carried out, then you are free to do so."

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Figure In White]

"Machines don't have the negative of questioning commands, so they do make good soldiers."

She was rather young. Cute, but young. Especially for running a company. He lofted a brow at this, and let his hand linger in hers, thumb caressing it. Tactics of manipulation. Make her feel at ease, and think he was attracted to her. Simple mental manipulation aimed at getting her to be more favorable towards them in her offer. Considering she was young, he was hoping she'd be slightly more impressionable. Of course, then it wasn't her doing the speaking, but as she was integral in the business deal, he figured she could still be influential to the deal, so he smiled at her when he released her hand and turned towards the Neimoidian. He was all business locked in now.

The first thing talked about was the droid, which Leos turned to look at, studying it inquisitively. Kind of blocky, clearly not meant for speed. It would have to have some serious shielding and armor in order to be effective. As rockets were fired at it, he didn't flinch, though he was rather impressed by the capability the droid exhibited in knocking them down.

"I've seen worse."

A flick of his hand and his lightsaber activated before he sent it flying across the space at the droid, manipulating it with the Force to avoid being shot, aiming to slice at its knee joint. He wanted to test the strength of the armor to deal with such attacks. Slow machines were often fodder for Force users on a battlefield, and given the insane number of them that were currently present throughout the galaxy, it was entirely plausible that these machines would end up facing some. He didn't want them to be so easy to cut down that one such maneuver would eliminate its combat effectiveness.

[member="Serenity Loveheart"]

 

[Natalie LaForte]

Although it didn't immediately cut through, it still did in the end. As to not sour the dealings, it did not attempt to strike back at Ignus past firing some stray shots, intended on missing. Eventually, after about 10-15 seconds, it finally began to cut away, although the high melting point of the compound steel was proving to be tough for even such a weapon.

"Ah.. um" The Neimodian spoke and then turned a worrying gaze to those behind him. "These models are not designed in... overcoming, such... adversaries, specifically." The Vorzydiak said trying to re-assure him of the quality of the product. "I can assure you.. we do have something in the works for dealing with force users and lightsaber wielding foes."

"Indeed... anyway, if you would turn your attention to our interceptor models now." Smiling at being saved by his business associate.

"A disclaimer would be, these usually come in groups of 32, although, obviously, we couldn't fit such a large number down here." Springing to life and beginning to hover. "As you can see, they are equipped for atmospheric combat along with out-of-atmosphere propulsion systems." The laser turrets would lock on and its armour would move along with it, "As you can see, its armour moves to deflect basic shots and to focus aiming, giving it pinpoint accuracy." A few shots would soar towards the dummies, hitting them down flat. "We also have installed a miniature ion cannon for point defense as well, but I really wish to highlight where its name came from." The drill on the underside of it would begin to whir and it would shift forward at a breakneck speed, beginning to drill a whole into the side of the facility. Without a word more, he smiled and waited for Ignus' response.

Meanwhile, Serenity was looking at the Miralan, smiling. The stout elder would look up, speaking in a hushed tone. "You seem very.. cheerful." Serenity flipped her hair back and looked down. "He's very.. quick... and.. man-.." The woman laughed and Serenity giggled, continuing to watch the proceedings.

 

[Figure In White]

The giggle, in all of it, was not lost. Good. He had her.

Calling his saber back to his hand, he flicked it off, and eyed the machine for a few moments longer. Surely it wasn't meant for such things, but it wasn't so easily cut down as to be a hindrance, and it had reacted quickly enough to his attack. That was a start. It might not be made for fighting users of the Force, but it wouldn't be the worst droid at the job. No battle droid here. He was satisfied enough, treating them as heavy droids. Yes, they would so nicely to supplement their military firepower. Kaine would surely be appreciative of such machines. Yes, he would authorize purchasing them, certainly.

As he turned towards the other machine, his orange eyes drifted over Serenity, and he winked at her, before turning to look at the flying vessel. These were something his company dealt with on a regular basis. Except that these were insane. A drill? Kind of like a needle ship designed for literally tearing another vessel apart in swarms. He lifted a hand and rubbed his chin lightly.

"I like it. How is it controlled?"

[member="Serenity Loveheart"]

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"Well, as with all of our models, we utilize a command ship, specifically, Our 'Queen' Command ship. Although, I'm assuming if you're purchasing our models then you'll get one at a disc-.." He was interrupted by Serenity. "Free." Smiling. The Neimodian looked disgruntled, "Ahem, free, I suppose. According to our director." "We already discussed this, these models are specifically designed to be used by The Ascendancy, and if that means we need to cut corners elsewhere or I will put forward some credits myself to cover the cost, then so be it."

"A word, please?" "Indeed." the Vorzydiak called over to Serenity and attempted to pull her away, successfully doing so, the four convened while the droid kept drilling away. "If you want to discuss this, then we can do it in private. As far as I'm concerned this was a demo of our technology." Rudely, she struted off, now walking over to Ignus and standing beside him.

In shock, the Neimodian and Vorzydiak looked at eachother while the old woman happily smiled towards Serenity. "You two imbeciles have no idea. You pledged your funds to this company, and you're going to keep doing so, that is, if you want to leave this place with your lives. My office. Now." Making their way to the elevator as it went down.

"So anyway... would you like to, finalize, our contract?"

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Figure In White]

The subtle hint of a smile when she said the control ships would be free. Yes. Such a young girl, with a such a wonderful little heart. In some senses he felt terrible for manipulating her so, but in others, not so much. Besides, which, if she were willing, she could be a valuable asset to him. Not just to the Ascendancy, but to him personally. He could give her a great many things, help create whatever she wanted. All she had to do was give herself to him. But was she really worthy of that, or was she just a young heart looking for something she didn't really understand? It was difficult to say at the moment, but he supposed he could find out.

The others drug her off, clearly upset that she'd been willing to give them ships for free for the sale of others, but then she walked away from them and returned to his side. Meanwhile, the others were led away by the strange woman that had been with the girl. He reached his hand over and gently nudged a bit of her hair back behind her ear.

"Certainly. Do you have an office somewhere we can sit down comfortably?"

Not that he didn't mind where they were, just that... the little drill ship was still going and, well, he was kind of traditional when it came to business. Offices were essential.

[member="Serenity Loveheart"]

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"Well.. I assume you're not into absolute zero vaults, so the uh.. control room would be good." Leading forward but looking back every so often over her shoulder until they reached the elevator, which had returned from whatever floor the others were taken to. It was industrial in appearance, obviously not supposed to be used for these sorts of meetings. Assuming he wasn't planning on staying, it would screech down the shaft as almost comically the droid continued drilling while some of the oddly dressed individuals from earlier tried to stop it.

When they reached it, it was a sphere of computers with a single circular disk in the middle of the floor, above it, hanging a central matrix of wires and tubes, powering whatever the systems were.

"So.. about that contract.." Obviously oblivious to what Ignus wanted. "We do everything digitally. So if you'd follow me..." Approaching a random desktop and beginning to input a few security details.

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Figure In White]

He followed, frowning at the elevator.

"Should get that fixed. Sounds like it needs greased."

They entered a chamber full of computers. It was an interesting sort of place to be considered an office. Not what he would have selected, but to each their own. Everything here was very much industrial in nature. It made him wonder if he should send some people over to help her in sprucing the place up a bit. Then again, maybe she liked that industrial look. She led him over to a table where she started inputting commands. He moved up beside her and gently laid his hand upon her shoulder while he looked down at the console. His other hand motioned towards Tarz for him to remain back at the elevator. His presence was not needed.

"Why is one so young running a big company? It's rather impressive."

He'd only asked that when they were alone. He didn't want the others to hear, in part because they might actually realize that she was so young, and try to do something about it.

"But we will certainly make use of your technology, and pay you a tidy sum for it. Though I thank you for the free gift of the control ships. It's very appreciated."

[member="Serenity Loveheart"]

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"One is running such a company because.." Leaning in closer and whispering into his ear. "Those idiots upstairs were stupid enough to give me money and I had to have a reason to do it.. duh." Finally a screen popped up saying "IMF - TOGETHER, FOREVER." And it opened on an administrator's panel. There actually seemed to be a lot of warning messages coming up, something about fiscal values dropping, human rights abuses, thing obviously weren't going too well.

"Oh and the free stuff? I'll just get it from-.. oh. Dear." Squinting her eyes and leaning closer to screen, beginning to read it. "Well that's not too good. Uh.. can you excuse me?"

Stepping up and swiftly making her way into the room, beginning to pant. "You idiot." Speaking into her communicator, the same Neimodian would reply from earlier. "I believe we were excluding personal insults from this?" "Well that's off the table whenever you deposit in the 5 million credits you just-.. wasted? On what?" "Oh yes... that.. transaction."

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Figure In White]

He smirked a little when she whispered into his ear. Yes, using people was quite delightful, he had to admit. She'd taken the bloody money providers and were abusing them to her own ends simply because she could. Clever girl. Oh, she could be quite the delightful one, perhaps... But then something seemed to be bothering her. She asked to be excused and then went to make a comms call. Of course he eavesdropped on it because, well, why wouldn't he? She was trying to do a business deal with their government, whom he was apparently representing now, but something had gotten her panties in a bunch and now she sounded angry.

"Something the matter?"

If it was a big problem, one which required a little bloodshed, he could have Tarz take care of it. The man was extremely proficient as a soldier, and his armor was just as good, if not better than, most Mandalorian armor. He could pack a wallop. He leaned against the desk, and began to read over what it was that had called her away. Someone seemed to be doing something they shouldn't.

"Little Red's got some trouble." He tapped his commlink. "Tarz, are you reading signatures in the building?"

"I am."

"Keep tracking them, especially the ones from earlier. Let me know if they draw closer to the girl."

"Yes, sir. Trouble?"

"Maybe. Stay alert."

[member="Serenity Loveheart"]

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"So are you going to explain why you decided to liquidate your share from our accounts?" "Uh.. I'll get back to you." The link closed and she slammed her fist into a monitor beside her, cracking it and almost immediately a voice spoke as if it was omnipresent, over-riding every computer system in the room and displaying a digital face on it. The voice sounded almost exactly like Serenity's, although was very robotic in nature.

"You need to learn to control your anger." Jumping as if she wasn't anticipating it, "And you didn't tell me you had such a handsome boyfriend!" Giggling afterwards. Serenity blushed before looking back at the man. "I-.. uh.. Shut the facility down. Lock everything. Tell me where that scum is, he's probably attacked the two he was with."

"Fine. But the next time you make such a stupid mistake as letting one person make up such a bulk of your assets, I get to tell you, "I told you so." "Shut up." An emergency siren blared throughout the facility and several turrets sprung to life in the various corridors, beginning to scan for wherever the Neimodian is. "Well... you were right about the whole attacking thing." As all of the screens began to switch to various cameras, one displaying the Vorzydiak and old lady lying unconscious on the ground.

"Wherever he is, he physically can't get out. Vault door is closed. Nothing I have in my database can break through it. Still searching for our target though."

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Figure In White]

"Tarz. Medical, upper floor. The woman and one of the others from earlier need your field skills."

"En route."

The presence of the other version of her was not anticipated. Not unnatural, though. A lot of people designed their artificial intelligence systems to resemble themselves because it was an appearance and voice that they were comfortable with. Though the comment about being a handsome boyfriend made him chuckle a bit. At least the computer had good taste. She did, too, she was just occupied, mentally, with the situation she was now wrapped up in. He turned and walked over to the camera monitors, scanning through each of them in turn. Where would one go when trying to escape the impenetrable.

"Are all ventilation hatches secured? All exterior ducts?"

Not that he was saying he thought they wouldn't think of that, he was just covering their bases. If this idiot was going to pull out of the deal because of what he thought was bad business, which was actually good business as it would ensure steady trade with a major galactic government, then he needed to be dealt with. Severely. He turned and reached over to grab Serenity by the arm and tug her over to the cameras and computer terminal.

"Think about where you would go if you were him, and reach out with your mind to find him. You've spoken to him. You know him. Focus yourself, harness your anger, and find him."

[member="Serenity Loveheart"]

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"He wouldn't dare tarnish his robe, far too snobby for that."

"Found him. Gene... he's.. messing with tha-.. MANUAL OVERRIDE. SHUTTING DO-.. stop h-.. DOWN." The screens would go dark and the voice would stop speaking. "Well this just gets better and better. I don't know how he found out how to disable the generators..." Sighing and making her way to the elevator, igniting her light saber to give at least some light in the dark room. "Also means we can't get out of here till that generator is fixed. The doors won't open without the central computer.. I won't explain it. Let's just say the entire place only works if that room is operating."

Beginning to walk towards the elevator shaft. "He's going to get exactly what my icon got done to him all those years ago... speaking of which... do you know how to safely unfreeze huma-.."

The elevator didn't move. It was frozen in place.

"Kark."

"We need to get that generator online now. There's going to be -.. cyanide leaking into every single part of this place."

"I can't-.. jus-.." Overcome with stress she sat on the steel plates and began to breathe in and out, trying to calm herself down.

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Figure In White]

No power. That was fun. And she was becoming overwhelmed, too. Poor girl hadn't likely dealt with situations like this one before. Fortunately, he had. And he had people on the outside, looking in. A quick tap of his comms started the alert beacon, which would bring more troops down to the facility, and they could secure the place, once they either broke in, or climbed in through the ventilation shafts. Unlike the Neimoidian, they didn't care about getting a little dirty.

"Sir, your alert?"

"I'm fine, Tarz. It's to call the others in. Continue as directed."

He turned and looked at the girl, breathing hard as she was. Reaching down, he picked her up and wrapped her around his back where she could hold on, a hand clutching her fingers as he pulled them around his neck to reach each other.

"Hold on, and tell me where we need to go."

That said, his natural prowess at all things agility related kicked in and he made the leap for one bar of the elevator shaft, and then the next. It was all the easier with the assistance of the Force, which utilized primarily because he was carrying her as well. Wouldn't do if he dropped her, after all. She said they needed to get the generators online, which he figured was likely to require some manual intervention, so he hoped she'd direct him to the right floor. In all likelihood, this Neimoidian had a hidden agenda in doing this, beyond simply taking his money out of the honey pot, so to speak. She'd briefly mentioned something else, which sparked a thought as he jumped from one bar to the next, climbing higher.

"What was it you were saying about waking someone? Do you have someone frozen here?"

[member="Serenity Loveheart"]

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"Two floors above... reactor room.." Regaining her breath and gripping onto him. "I didn't freeze him, the idiots who took over this place did, I cleared them out. I'm trying to... undo their mistakes." Smiling through the stress to him. "But this... fool.. will be replacing that person. Maybe finally I'll have a functioning company."

**Assuming you take us to the reactor floor**

It was sealed off with a set of blast doors, or, was, now lying open. A complex of nuclear reactors sat contained in the set of rooms, each reinforced with glass casing it, cold water being constantly pumped in via pipes and essentially flooding the moat like structure that was used to cool them down. It was cold. Very cold. Almost at zero degrees, but the water was kept just above that temperature so as to stop it from freezing and possibly fracturing the glass.

"He must've shut down Melody -- The AI --- before turning this off, otherwise he would've been detected. I.. don't really know how to turn it back on." Turning to Ignus and looking confusingly. "At least he couldn't have gotten far, he must on this floor, he couldn't have gotten up the elevator shaft."

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Figure In White]

He took her where he was directed to take her. Once they were on the floor, no longer climbing up through the scaffolding. He set her down once again. She seemed to have largely regained her composure, which was a good thing. As far as he could tell, she'd just experienced a mental meltdown simply because she hadn't known how to handle the issue. It was especially common with youngsters. She'd taken on a big undertaking, and she didn't quite seem to have the full grasp of it yet. That was alright. Clearly she had the aptitude for it or they wouldn't have gotten this far. Just meant she had some growing to do.

A quick scan of the area showed no visible subjects other than themselves, but he knew she was likely right. The Neimoidian was very likely on that floor with them. He tapped her chin lightly and leaned down to whisper, softly, into her ear.

"What this, and when I'm done, he won't know what to do with himself."

Reaching out with the Force, he created an illusion across their floor. The illusion was simple, and often used by him, creating the perpetual feeling of eternal darkness. Walls, ceilings, floors became nothing but black. The only thing which would stand out would be living souls, and, because he wanted them to, the generators. This would help her to find her quarry, as no doubt it would completely disorient his simple mind. It would also show her just how powerful he was, though this was but a simple parlor trick for him.

"Find your quarry. Leave the generators to me."

[member="Serenity Loveheart"]

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"Uh... alright?"

The rooms were connected by small glass hallways, it would be difficult for the man to hide from her gaze, unless he had received prior knowledge or scouted this area out, or possibly even planned this encounter. Would be surprising, he was always the most rowdy of the shareholders, ever since she switched one of the droid factories to exclusively producing merchandise for her... no matter.

Eerily, the illusion proceeded forward, and turned the once transparent rooms into pitch black. There were only so many generators, only a few he could genuinely hide in. Eventually, she had reached the very back of them and began to feel a wind gust past her, not a literal one, but it was leading him directly to his steps. Closing her eyes, she felt it. The illusion wasn't even neccesary anymore, there he was, the scumbag, thinking he could keep moving away.

Sprinting in the direction, she could easily outrun him. He was far too slow, far too impractical with his dressware.

"I can see you. Give. Up."

"Who's there?"

Panicking, his body turned around, swiveling to where the voice came from. A figure formed behind him, and he attempted to wrestle her to the ground.

"We both know who is more powerful."

Beams of darkness expanded from her hands into the mans body, slowly turning his body into pitch black nothingness, it went from his hands, to his legs, to his torso and was finally beginning to crawl up his neck.

"I'l-.. I'll do anything! Don'-."

"Too late." Finally engulfing him, he was in a stasis with the concentration of her mind. There's one thing taken care of.

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Figure In White]

Good girl.

She took off on the hunt and he turned his attention to the machines. While he wasn't as skilled as some of the techs that worked for him, not nearly to be honest, he knew enough to be able to break into the computer system and figure out what it was that had been done to shut everything down. There had to still be a modicum of power, or the Neimoidian wouldn't have been able to escape. It took a bit, but he eventually found which generator was just barely working, and tapped into its computer system, moving the power up as quickly as he could. One generator online was a start, but there were more to go. First things first, he tapped into the computer system to bypass the enacted security procedures to turn the AI back on.

She'd be useful.

He moved on to the next generator, and the next, working on bringing up the power once again to give the facility something to work with. He didn't know what it was that Serenity had planned for their Neimoidian friend, not really, but he certainly did want to be able to leave at some point. Not to mention he wanted to finalize the business transaction between her company and the Ascendancy. He was aware it was rather important to her.

"Did you get him?" he called as he tapped away. "And how long will your AI take to reboot?"

[member="Serenity Loveheart"]