Battle Well Or Die Hard [KeCholo]

[HK-36]

[member="KeCholo"],

An invitation has been sent to the mercenary almost immediately after he accepted the offer sent to him through the holonet. A proverbial deal with the droid-devil, the instructions were simple, take all you can, gather your soldiers, come to Denon. Nothing more, nothing less, of course if Ke was a bit short on transports these days, some galleys would have been sent to him to provide what was needed to meet his new employer, to face the new chapter of his life.

If he was on Denon ever before, once he arrived, it would be a sight vastly different from what he remembered. Well the planet itself would have been unchanged, still glimmering with the many industrial lights, still covered by the red and black veins of streets and buildings that covered the entire city-planet. The new addition, however, was the ring of ships encircling the planet as if laying siege to it, and the many stations being build in its orbit with hustle and bustle of smaller vessels and drones.

Ke would have been directed to dock with one of these stations and come aboard, a strange construction that almost seemed to be cobbled together from skeletons and corpses of other stellar structures, repurposed many times over and added on top of each other, like jigsaw of starship wrecks and durasteel plating woven together to form the new presence over the planet. Other systems would have probably faced similar projects as Denon was not alone in still adjusting to the new power within that sector, planets like Nubia, Loromar, and Hakassi too had similar rings of spacecraft around, they too had new spacestations and bases build around them. The droids asked for relatively little of their subjects, they did not enslaved them, they did not force them to fight for them, some did not even overthrew their previous governments. What they did ask however was one of the main reasons why they decided to lay claim on territory. An armada of new, larger ships, and a lot of them.


Moving through the spacestation Ke would have been directed towards one of the many conference rooms, which currently HK claimed as his main office and base of operations within the system. The room would be fairly large, with a grand conference table in the middle with a holoprojector housed in its center, and a smaller duranium desk sitting in front of a large view screen or transapristeel, overlooking the glowing amber planet they were currently orbiting.

And so Ke would come face to face with his new employer, the droid stood up from behind his desk, looking at the being in silence, letting him have the first words as he judged him from behind the impassive stare of two crimson photoreceptors like flaming embers, yet cold at the same time. His face was a smoothface plate with no nose, slots for lips and mouth, two fang-like spikes protruding down from it, and the holes for those electronic eyes. It was smooth and pale like bone, yet metallic, if Ke could tell such things apart he would know it was Phrik. The rest of the droid's body seemed to have been covered in some sort of flesh-like black substance with thicker chitinous plates attached over certain regions, all of which was wrapped tightly in heavy black cloak. A Vong-shaped armor, rarely if ever seen on a droid.

 

[KeCholo]

Qaeth Idos had the somewhat embarrassing job of explaining to [member="HK-36"], that Ke’Cholo was currently incarcerated, and therefore he wouldn’t be able to make the meeting for a few days. But, after Qaeth had sprung his boss from jail, they proceeded immediately to Denon where they were to meet their new employer. While traveling, Qaeth explained the deal to Ke’Cholo, who was surprisingly accepting. This acceptance, was partially due to the fact that Ke’Cholo’s old employer, Miss Blonde, had retired while he was in jail. Before he had been captured, the Black Tie Syndicate had been on the up and up, but when he got out they had already disbanded. Could Ke’Cholo have made credits by himself? Of course. But, doing that didn’t come with all the power and luxuries this droid had.

Due to it’s proximity to his home world Duro, Ke’Cholo had been to Denon a handful times, but he couldn’t pick out a particular one. The planet looked like a living factory now, whatever this droid was doing, he was doing it well. The fact that someone had the credits to build all these stations was impressive, but more impressive that they could find the right workers to finish the job.

Ke’Cholo stepped off his freighter and onto some sort of a station. It was made of various pieces that seemed to have been smashed together and then haphazardly welded, but a closer inspection revealed they were placed very specifically and whoever made this took special care. Ke’Cholo was wearing his usual garb, his Hat with No Name, Warden’s cloak, Bodo Bass belt, his other miscellaneous clothing items, but most importantly he had cigar clutched between his teeth. Ke’Cholo had gone into withdrawal from the substance months ago, almost going crazy from not having it. This was his first one as a free man.


The guards opened the doors for Ke’Cholo and gave him instructions on where to go.

Qaeth Idos, Ed, and Zobacca were aboard the ship, but Ke’Cholo chose not to take them. He wanted the droid to say whatever he wanted to say without fear of what the others would think. But, now that Ke’Cholo thought about it, he was pretty sure all droids were incapable of fear. He would find out a lot about this droid in just a moment. Pressing a button on the door panel, Ke’Cholo was granted access to a massive conference room.

Ke’Cholo stared across the room to see a droid covered in black, some sort of clock he guessed. Before going up to his new employer, Ke’Cholo darted over to the conference table where he placed a briefcase and two large rifles on top of the case. They were all unloaded, merely to show the droid what Battlewell was capable of producing. Before leaving the table, Ke’Cholo pulled an expensive ashtray from his coat, placed it on the table, and extinguished his cigar. He was not 3 steps away from the table before he realized how bad he wanted to turn around and smoke some more.


But, he didn't turn around. Walking up to the droid, Ke’Cholo noticed him wearing some foreign material as armor. But, what Ke’Cholo did recognize was the phrik plating, since he had two pistols made out of the same material. As Ke’Cholo got close, he held out a hand.

''Howde'. My name's Ke'Cholo.'' he said through his thick accent.

 

[HK-36]

[member="KeCholo"],

The droid raised his own hand in response, its six fingers outstretched for a handshake as the black organic membrane peeled back to reveal more Phrik underneath, shifting the armored plates away to safely shake KeCholo's hand in a greeting.

"Iron Lord Protector Above Abregado and Denon. You may call me by my original designation, HK-36."

Releasing Ke's hand HK would motion down to the chair in front of his desk, wicker and padded of all things.

"Have a seat Ke'Cholo."

Said that the droid lowered himself down to sit on the other side of his desk, looking over the rifles on the briefcase presented to him as he looked up files on Ke and Battlewell with his build-in browsing and communication systems, basically droids could read holonet with their minds.

"Your company formed rather recently and you seemed to have few public customers. Have you done much mercenary work before your auction?"

The droid looked from the briefcase to Ke, the red glow of his cybernetic eyes washing over him,

"And how many soldiers do you have under your employment?"

 

[KeCholo]

[member="HK-36"]

''What the...'' Ke'Cholo would think to himself as the droids ''skin'' peeled back. He was initially hesitant to shake the droids hand, but did so anyway. After this kind gesture, the droid rattled off a title so long Ke'Cholo missed parts of it. Thankfully, the droid gave him his ''original designation'' at the end, a much more simple title.

HK-36 motioned for Ke'Cholo to sit, and he did so.

The droid must've looked up the public files on Ke'Cholo's company, as he was very familiar that the company was not doing too well with a public audience. This had been, in part, due to the lack of advertisement, small category of products, and general disinterest. The droid then inquired as to how many mercenaries Ke'Cholo had under his employment.

''Believe it or not, not too many of the general public are interested in military grade vehicles.'' Ke'Cholo said, with a slight chuckle. ''Dat an' also we don't have a large category of products. I was in the middle of creating more before I got sent to the hole. When I left, advertisement, interest and production all went down. Qaeth wanted to sell the company because we were losing money on it. As for mercenary work, I started off as a Techno Union grunt and worked my way up. The job I had before was working for a lady called Miss Blonde. I'd do odd jobs for her, bank robbery here, heist here, government overthrow there. All that plus protecting her phrik mining operation.'' he said, reaching into his pocket. Ke'Cholo retrieved a small holoprojector. The device activated and began to slowly cycle through a set of images. The images were of Urko mercenaries, the primary units of Ke'Cholo's mercenary force. ''If I was to consolidate everyone, I'd say I have several thousand mercenaries. The ones you see here are what we have listed on out site. They're Urko, mean as a Rancor and have the punch to back it up''

 

[HK-36]

[member="KeCholo"],

"Well lucky for you, we are somewhat lacking on traditional military vehicles, you might want to start producing tanks of various classes and weight, tank destroyers especially. Make something other Metal Lords will be willing to use, and there will be an influx of funds coming your way, plus your life will be much easier if they will see you as useful. I will give you access to ARGH's public designs, we have wider array of melee and ranged weapons, if you see something you can improve on, feel free to create a new design off of it."

The droid listened to Ke's list of previous employers,

"Yes, I know of them."

He motioned to the wicker chair Ke was sitting on,

"I stole that from the latest Viceroy of the Trade Federation, I heard rumors of his almost limitless cruelty towards both organic and droid subjects, so we had a little chat."

Of course if Ke was up to date on Trade Federation news, the company seemed to go under in recent times after their Viceroy seemingly disappeared, there were rumors of a single droid breaking into his headquarters and shutting down his entire security system before staging a rebellion.

"And I heard of Blonde, and her Black Tie Syndicate. I fought them on numerous occasions, foiled many of their plans. They made really chitty battle droids."

HK motioned to the shelf at the side of the room, on it there were couple of war dog heads, the droids used by the Black Tie, one was seemingly cut clean off, one ripped from its neck joints. He looked back to Ke,

"This is different than Trade Federation and Black Tie, we are not corporate bastards or criminals, if you are going to work with us and within our territory your company is going clean, mercenary work but no robberies, extortion, no raiding, and no looting unless I allow it. At the same time, I will not force you to fight, if you will lay down your life on the line I want it to be more than just for profit, it needs to be for a cause you believe in. I have worked as mercenary with the Omega Pyre, it is a hard life, but one in which you can make a difference. This power exists to give room to those who were abused and looked down upon, it is a place of equality and freedom."

 

[KeCholo]

Ke'Cholo put up the holoprojector and retrieved a datapad. He began to slowly and methodically type the instructions his new boss was giving him. Tanks, tanks, tanks. Tanks were something Ke'Cholo could definitely do, and he gave affirmative nods as the droid rattled off orders. Once he finished, Ke'Cholo saved the document and sent a copy to all three members on his ship.

Ke'Cholo erupted into a fit of laughter at the news that [member="HK-36"] had stolen a chair from the Viceroy of the Trade Federation. Seemingly meaningless, the chair was really a symbol of power. HK could've taken anything from the Viceroy but he chose the chair, simply because he could, simply because he had the power to do so. The Trade Federation were once in league with the Union, but the Union was now defunct and dissolved, so he didn't really care. Plus, most of the people that had helped him along his way had died in combat, been kidnapped, or gone into hiding.

The news the HK-36 had once fought the Black Tie Syndicate was, at first, disturbing and somewhat infuriating to Ke'Cholo. But, the more he thought about it, the more he got mad at the Black Ties. If the Black Ties really needed or wanted Ke'Cholo back, they could've raided the prison a million times over, they certainly had the forces to do so. But they didn't, Ke'Cholo chocked this up to being busy with whatever conflict they were involved in and perhaps simply not caring he was incarcerated. Whatever it was, Ke'Cholo had severed ties with them long ago.

The droid also explained how Ke'Cholo was going clean, no more robberies, raiding or looting. Much like the news about the Black Ties, this initially troubled Ke'Cholo. But, he then considered why he robbed banks. Money was at the center of almost all his actions, and money was no longer a problem. Ke'Cholo had a sizable amount of wealth Qaeth had managed to hide, plus whoever can make all these space stations, droids, drones, and other ventures could surely fund a few projects Ke'Cholo had in mind. The droid then went on to explain about standing for and dying for causes, this caused Ke'Cholo to question what he really stood for. Was there anyone or anything he would die for? This was a question he would have to ponder later, as the droid had finished speaking and was awaiting a response.

''The Union dissolved and the Black Ties left me for dead long ago, I've severed ties with both. As for going clean, just find some way to wipe my criminal record. I also heard there were som'more perks to this job, something about a title and a space station.''

 

[HK-36]

[member="KeCholo"],

The droid nodded a couple of times at Ke's question, pulling out a drawer from his desk to take out some datapads and laying them before Ke,

"Yes, you will be given property and the title of my Master of Arms. The way our government currently works, each Metal Lord can claim one planet as their dominion, or kingdom, mine is Denon, or its orbit at least. In theory organics cannot own such large property as they cannot be Metal Lords, unless you would be willing to undergo very extensive cybernetics procedure."

HK motioned over Ke's body,

"Pretty much all of your body but parts of your brain replaced with mechanical parts, we call it 'Paying the Iron Price', it is not exactly something I would recommend right away. However an organic can become part of a Lord's court, his companion, which is what your title will mean, you will be part of my court. As such you will be able to own your property freely because other droids will consider you as my agent, and therefore extension of my rule. This is how Lords can control multiple planets in a sense, by granting land to one of their companions. It will technically mean that in reality I won it and you are just leasing it from me, but since I am giving you free reign of it then that really does not matter, other Lords may just have different approach to these matters with their companions."

The droid explained as he turned on the various datapads,

"So the choices I have for you, is we can either grant you a space station, custom built for you and your company, to orbit Denon where you will be under my protection, Ardru, one of the neighboring mining worlds with little population after the Gulag Plague, Thoadeye, which should be one of our fringe worlds but it's under a territorial dispute with FWC so we are waiting to see how that turns out, or one of the moons of Antar, you will share the orbit with dominions of other Metal Lords but the moon would be more or less a blank slate, and rich with ores."

The droid presented to Ke his choices for future homes, right now he had to choose between a space station or a planet, but in the future if he did well he could probably have both.

 

[KeCholo]

Ke'Cholo paid special attention to while [member="HK-36"] explained the Metal Lords' system of government. To Ke'Cholo, it seemed like each Lord did almost whatever he wanted, but should there ever be an attack on one, the whole lot of them would retaliate. He liked the system of government since there was accountability, yet a sizable amount of freedom. ''Master of Arms'' seemed like a title Ke'Cholo could get on board with, had a nice ring to it. The droid then went on to explain how Ke'Cholo could become a Metal Lord himself by inserting his brain into a cybernetic body. As soon as he heard this, Ke'Cholo had already decided against it, but let the droid finish his thought anyway.

Placing several datapads on the table, HK-36 went into detail about each of the four options.

''I'd like to have a population to trade with and hire to my company.'' Ke'Cholo said, sliding the datapad with Andru back across the table.

''I'd rather get to work as soon as I can, politic-ing isn't my specialty'' Thaodeye was eliminated, two options remained.

'I like having resources at my fingertips'' Ke'Cholo said, thinking aloud. ''But, I like having someone to back me up even more.'' his eyes darted between the last two datapads. ''How close are the moons of Antar? What say I set up shop here, under your protection, in the orbit of Denon and have regular mining trips to the moons? If I can't collect ores from there, I'll stay here anyways.''

 

[HK-36]

[member="KeCholo"],

The droid nodded as he listened to Ke'Cholo,

"They are closer than Thoadeye."

HK replied to Ke's question, zooming in on the datapad with a gesture of his hand,

"Just one system over, although the moon we have offered to you will not be the Andar capital moon, that have already been claimed by one of other Metal Lords, I did not ask too much what he plans to do with it, sometimes it is better not to. You will be free to settle on one of the colony moons or the dead moons."

The droid tapped the datapad with Ardru again,

"When I said the planet had little population, I meant in comparison to what it used to be before, it is still an inhabited planet, and quite industrious, it will probably hold more people than any of Andar moons you can claim and have similar amount of resources. Although it is in the same sector as Denon, it does not appear frequently on modern maps, overshadowed by the capital planet, most Metal Lords tend to ignore it. If you will use the planet for just mining trips, I would suggest you pick Anrdru then, in time you could perhaps become the leader its people need to thrive once more."

HK shrugged then, leaning back,

"The final choice is yours, I will allow to have a station build in Denon's orbit for you to serve as your headquarters, just pick which planet you wish to frequent."

 

[KeCholo]

[member="HK-36"]

Ke'Cholo scratched his chin, the sheer proportions of this deal were almost otherworldly.

A certain kind of aura filled the room, Ke'Cholo could feel it but not describe it. Less than a week ago he was sitting in a jail cell, slowly rotting away with not a glimpse of hope. Now, he was about to embark on the biggest business venture he had ever undertaken. Two decades ago, Ke'Cholo's dream was to be able to make it out into the real world and simply survive. Today, he decided on where he wanted to place his own space station.

''Off most maps, eh? Sounds nice, plus I get the perks of being the planet's savior? Even better. I don't see why I would pick one of the moons if they both have the same amount of resources. I'll take Andru then. Does that come with a fancy title too? Savior of Andru perhaps?'' Ke'Cholo said with a slight chuckle.

 

[HK-36]

[member="KeCholo"],


"Humbleness will take you further here than pride or boastfulness Ke'Cholo."

HK corrected the man at his question,

"Remember, the droids here are the ones who enjoy gathering long fanciful titles, you would not want them to think that you are trying to compete, after all even with your soldiers there is more heavily armored and armed easily provoked machines around."

The droid quipped before adding,

"But should you ever decide to move your station to Ardru, you could call yourself the Master Of Arms Over Ardru."


HK then pushed himself to stand up from behind his desk and circle around,

"Either way, your fealty and position are accepted, come, kneel down. We have to go through proper ceremony now."

The droid motioned for Ke to kneel in front of the large armored machine.

 

[KeCholo]

[member="HK-36"]

''I ain't scared of anyone or any machine, no matter how many guns they have on them.'' Ke'Cholo thought to himself. Did Ke'Cholo like the title? Of course. Did do credits go further than titles? Of course. At the end of the day, Ke'Cholo was more satisfied with the addition to his bank account than the addition to his name plate. But, he kept these simple musing to himself.

The droid stood up, rounded the table, and motioned Ke'Cholo to bow. Now, had this been Ke'Cholo from two years ago, he would've told him to go kark himself and blasted his way out of the building. Whenever he got back to somewhere that had a connection to the Bounty Hunter's guild, he would've thrown up a price for his shiny metallic head, for the simple reason Ke'Cholo was offended.

But, prison humbles a man.

This new found humility compounded with the promise of credits and power caused Ke'Cholo to fall onto one knee. Kneeling there, Ke'Cholo was glad he didn't bring Qaeth, Ed or Zobacca. He didn't think any of them would ridicule them, but perhaps watching him kneel would've diminished their opinion of him ever so slightly.

 

[HK-36]

[member="KeCholo"],

"That is good, because you will face many guns, and powers only few understand."

HK raised his hand towards his desk and made a strange gesture. Immediately one of the shelves in the furniture would fly open and something rattle inside. The droid's hand gesture changed and a black simple hilt flew out from the desk in an arc, landing perfectly in his grasp. Before Ke would probably realize that the droid before him just used telekinesis to summon a lightsaber there was whoosh and a buzz of the plasma blade being activated. If Ke spent enough time, or had training in such things, around Force users then maybe he would be able to notice that strange feeling when someone nearby used the Force. That feeling would be absent this time, as the droid tapped into powers other than the Force.


With a flash of light his lightsaber erupted in a brilliant white blade, extending out horizontally above Ke's shoulder, right next to his ear,

"I hereby accept your offer of fealty and bind us in this contract."

The droid begun as he lowered the blade down to press against Ke's shoulder. Although the lightsaber swished and zoomed it did not cut him, it would burn him, even though just slightly, and there would be strange electrical feeling of an electromagnetic containment field pressing down against his clothing and flesh, but the saber's blade did not burn through bodies like other such weapons did. HK's saber was set to remain in permanent training mode, as such it was more like a club than a sword.

"Though I may lead and you will follow, we will remain as equals."

HK continued as the lightsaber was flicked to swish over Ke's head and press down on the other shoulder. Whenever the blade would get close to him it pulsed with feeling of serenity, hope, and all things good, as if all worries were being pushed out of Ke's mind even though an energy sword was being swiveled around him. That was because the saber utilized a Force imbued Solari crystal, giving it its brilliant white color, and causing it to emanate an aura of the Light side from its enhanced energy blade, filling the immediate area with it whenever the saber was activated.

"Your enemies are now my enemies, and my allies are now your allies."

With that the saber was swished one more, tapping Ke's other shoulder lightly. The sensation was kind of like having a hot cloth iron pressed against his shoulder briefly, at least through clothing, but yet finding that a bit reassuring.

"Remember your oaths and I will remember my promises."

Touched Ke's other shoulder once more with one last swivel before finishing the short speech, deactivating his lightsaber to let the blade wither away and disappear within its simple old black hilt, pulling away its Aura of the Light Side with it. Before Ke was allowed to speak again however the droid raised his hand and brought it down against his face with an audible little whack, backhand slapping the soldier, lightly, as it was only part of the ceremony, or so did HK claimed, but it would have still been a slap from a metal hand, probably leaving his cheek reddened and a stinging sensation for a couple of seconds.

"Sealed by pain, you may now stand, and face your path with the weight of oaths you have made."

The droid motioned for Ke to stand as he said, the lightsaber being clipped onto his black armor's toolbelt.


Speaking of Bounty Hunters' Guild, Ke may actually recall seeing the droid's image in their records, or their hall of fame for series of one of the biggest bounties collected within recent time, it seemed that the droid, back in his day, was a rather formidable hunter as for cashing in bounty on the Commander of Death's Watch after the siege of Mandalore the droid received several millions of credits from various governments and a whole system to do with as he pleased. Or at least the machine made himself look formidable, as he was the one to reactivate and bring back the Bounty Hunters' Guild after the Gulag Plague, under the disguise of its Grandmaster, although it was all a ploy to build up his position as the said Grandmaster within the modern incarnation of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and spy on the faction for the Protectorate.

 

[KeCholo]

[member="HK-36"]

A droid that could use the force? Ke'Cholo had seen a lot of things in this cruel galaxy, but never this. HK-36 began the ceremony between the two by summoning a lightsaber to his hand. Ke'Cholo kept his eyes on the hilt, and at first glance he was sure the droid was using magnets. However, the lightsaber would've gone straight to the hand of the droid and not had a slight arc in it's path. This simple detail proved that the droid was a bona fide force user.

The blade whirled and whizzed by Ke'Cholo's right ear first, he kept his eyes on it at all times. The droid then began to recite some sort of hokey pokey poetry, the ceremony had just begun and Ke'Cholo was ready for it to be over already. Ke'Cholo felt the saber press down slightly on his shoulder, but felt only a slight tingling sensation through his thick Warden's Cloak. He chocked this up to the weapon being in training mode.

''Though I may lead and you will follow, we will remain as equals.'' Ke'Cholo especially appreciated this line, the poetry began to seem less hokey pokey.

Positivity and serenity flowed through Ke'Cholo like a river flows over smooth stones. In this brief moment, Ke'Cholo held no anger, frustration, resentment or worried at all about the future. The droid or the lightsaber had some sort of effect on him, he wanted to find out what it was.

The saber then lightly scorched Ke'Cholo, most of the impact being taken up by his Warden's Cloak. And then, out of seemingly nowhere, the droid backhanded Ke'Cholo. Taken aback by this measure, Ke'Cholo began to retaliate, but it didn't matter since by then the ceremony had already been completed. Rising to his feet, Ke'Cholo dusted himself off. He pointed to his two eyes and then pointed to the droids photoreceptors.

''What just happened here, this whole kneeling and slapping thing, stays between us.'' Ke'Cholo commanded.

''What was that calming aura I felt? Was that you or the saber?'' Ke'Cholo inquired, drastically changing tone. Whatever it was, he wanted it or something like it.

''Unless we have anything else to attend to, I'll be on my way. But, before I go, do you have anything that requires immediate attention? Qaeth's going apartment shopping on Denon and that really isn't my thing.''

 

[HK-36]

[member="KeCholo"],

"Relax, it is not as if I put my finger up your butthole."

HK quipped as he moved back behind his desk, sitting down and hiding his lightsaber,

"It was the saber. I was once member of the Jedi Order, long ago during the days of the Ancient Republic, before the Gulag Plague and the Long Dark that followed. The temple I was guarding was targeted by a Force Wound aligned with some Force Vampyres. I fought them off and as a reward for my service the order gave me a lightsaber with Solari crystal, imbued with eternal presence of the Light Side so that I may use it. The blade will never cut through another being again, otherwise it would lose its powers, but the enchanted crystal allows its strikes to channel the Light Side, making it very effective when fighting ethereal beings like Sith Spirits, Force Wounds, and the vampyres."

The droid explained, as Ke asked about anything requiring immediate attention the droid reached into his desk again,

"Yes, there is something. Your first assignment. I have received a transmission from the Council of Sparklords today, the closest thing the Metal Lords have to a central government. The shadowport station they travel on, the Hidden Citadel of Mechanus, has been having trouble with a Ghablaresh fungi infestation again, they asked me to gather a team and venture into the bowels of their station to help them deal with it. The passageways are tight and there is plenty of vulnerable machinery in there, so we need a small precise team."

HK tossed Ke the datapad then,

"Here is all the info on Ghablaresh we have, there is something I need to speak with the Sparklords about so you will take my place in the team heading into the station's bowels. Pick one member of your troop to accompany you, like I said those passageways are tight, and other volunteers from different droid dominions will be joining you. You might want to bring a flamethrower of some kind and a melee weapon."

The droid would stop then and look up to Ke from his desk, rearranging the different datapads and flimsy reports he had scattered around,

"I am also assigning two phalanxes of infantry drones to your company, use them as you like, we usually put them to work as servants, guards, or cannon fodder. Replacements will not be sent easily so I would learn how to repair and manufacture more of them if I were you. I will contact you once we have the station resources and construction crew to fulfill your project. You have two solar cycles before we will head to the Citadel, so use your time wisely."

 

[KeCholo]

[member="HK-36"]

Ke'Cholo laughed at the butthole comment, the droid had an excellent sense of humor.


After the droid was finished speaking, Ke'Cholo gathered up his various belongings on the table. He slung the two rifles over his back, slid the ashtray into the inside of his coat, and pulled the briefcase off the table. By Ke'Cholo's standards, the meeting had gone exceptionally well. ''I guess that's it.'' Ke'Cholo pressed two of his fingers together and offered a half hearted salute. ''See you in two cycles.'' he said, walking out the door and furiously trying to light his cigar.




''How'd it go?' Qaeth asked as Ke'Cholo re-boarded the ship.

''Good. I get a station over this planet, two phalanxes of droids, access to their tech and weapons, and that's just what I get for starting. Few weeks go by, who knows what all I could have.''

''You going to be able to make apartment shopping with us?''

''Nah, he needs me in two cycles. There's an infestation of fungus-people some ancient droid council needs removed.''

''I thought you were a weapons manufacturer not pest controller.'' Ed said, adding in a hearty chuckle.

''You better shut up, Ed, you're coming with me.'' Ke'Cholo with a hearty chuckle of his own.

''Why me?'' Ed pleaded, the comedic tone fading from his voice

''I need Qaeth to find a nice apartment for me, and I need Zobacca to handle the transfer of all my personal belonging. I'm dispatching some of the droids to you, Zobacca, to help with moving. Head over to Antecedent first, then Via and Enigma Prime, sell all of the factories and manufacturing equipment, eve if we lose money on it.''

The cybernetic Wookie growled an affirmative growl, opting not to use his voice module.

''Alright Ed, we'll find somewhere to hang out on the station here. I'll see you two later.'' Ke'Cholo had left the rifles and briefcase on the ship, opting to keep only his Phrik Wester 34's. Ed bumbled his way off the ship, following Ke'Cholo.

The two turned around and waved to Zobacca, who was standing at the entrance the boarding ramp led to. In just a moment, the ship became microscopic as it descended to the planet. ''Let's see what all they got on this place.'' Ke'Cholo said, gazing around the hanger.