Private Close Encounters of the Profitable Kind

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"I think he's messed up in the head. And he's certainly no Jedi. He merely pretends to be one, works for them at times, yet hopefully they don't regard his actions as justified. If they do then...well, they aren't real Jedi either. My Dad wouldn't of accepted it, and he was one of the best Jedi Masters out there." WolfMortum was one of the best in recent times. His death came far too soon, along with her Mom's. It made her wonder what the Galaxy would be like if he was alive today.

Lori continued buttering the steak as it cooked. The smell was delicious, yet she was already full, so there was no need for her to cook one for herself. Val Tessalisk was free to have it all to himself.

"I'll have a lot of questions for him once he's in our custody, but be mindful of his words. He may try to turn you against me. He's good at....twisting things." She saw it on Zakuul, she was sure to see it elsewhere too. Especially once he was caught.

The steak was finished, so Lori plated it and carried it over to Val. "While you're off hunting him down, I've got to secure a place to hold him for questioning. We don't need any of his comrades looking to find him so easily."

 

[Val Tessalisk]

Val scoffed at the idea of this guy attempting to sway him.

"Yeah...given what you've told me about this guy, nothing that comes out of his mouth is going to change my mind" Val said assuredly.

What could he possibly say to get him to have a change of heart? His association with the Eternal Empire and the Sith was more than enough to solidify his position against this guy. He'd rather die then ally himself with the people who nearly drove his kind to extinction and destroyed their homeworld. Val mused over this as he chomped down on more of that juicy Bantha steak. Val muffled something to Loreena Arenais-Valhoun while pointing at the steak with his fork. Finally, he swallowed and spoke what he meant to say.

"This is the last one, I swear!" He said.

Val was really impressed with Lori's cooking. Maybe later on he'd browse the HoloNet for recipes and attempt to cook his own "masterpiece". He was never much of a good cook. His enemies and the things he cooked both had one thing in common: they were both burned to crisps. For this reason he preferred to eat out and Cantina-hop, which was one of the contributing factors to his near-poverty, as much as he hated to admit it.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori breathed an inward sigh of relief as Val Tessalisk assured her that he wouldn't be swayed. That was all that she needed. Afterall, he was first encountering her solely because of the warrants out for her arrest/death. And now here he was, eating her cooking and off to get himself a ship so that he could work for HER.

Such a turn of events.

She sat down at the table again, clearly ammused as Val nearly tried talking with his mouth full. Yet then he corrected himself so that she could understand. And of course it made her laugh. "For today anyways."

Lori pondered on the various locations to hide Red during his interrogation. It wasn't going to be easy, for no doubt he'd have people trying to find him.

"I think that he should be held on a ship. A moving target will be harder to find. And harder to escape from." And they could jump through the different hyperspace routes that Jaster Awaud had given her the maps of. It wasn't a foolproof plan, but it was one that would probably be more successful than holding him on a planet somewhere.

 

[Val Tessalisk]

Val chuckled and made a dismissive wave with his hand.

"Oh you know me so well already!" he humorously exclaimed.

He scarfed down on another slice of steak, savoring the taste and spicyness before swallowing it with an audible gulp. Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he leaned back and asked Loreena Arenais-Valhoun more about the coming mission.

"So, you got a fix on this guy's location? I imagine your people have been doing their best to keep tabs on him" he inquired.

Knowledge was power, after all. From there, Val could determine how he'd approach the situation and what gear he'd need, the latter of which could easily be supplied by Lori if need be. It would be wise to come prepared. Given that Red was almost certainly a Force user to some degree, he'd have to be ready to take some punishment as he had no counter to the Force. When it came to Lightsaber combat, that wouldn't really be an issue as he had some experience using his own. He was no master duelist by any means, and his technique usually consisted of swinging for the fences. Losing an arm or a leg also wasn't an issue, thanks to his regenerative abilities he could regrow them in mere moments. He'd be a bit disappointed about the damage to his armor though.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori knew full well of what it was like to be someone that ate a lot. She nearly was a bottomless pit while growing up, and especially when she was out training with the Mandalorians. Being out on her own for the first time didn't change her appetite much. It wasn't until she started to lose her family members that her appetite would start to wane. Being upset had a funny way of making one lose their appetite. Or maybe it was all a part of getting older....

"The Rebels have nothing to do with this, nor does anyone that have chosen to investigate some cases with me. I'm invested in this on my own. As for where Red is, I can only guess that maybe he'd be in Silver Jedi space? But I can't know for certain." He could be in any location of the Galaxy, except for perhaps Sith space. She didn't know enough about what was going on in the Galaxy or what the super powers were in order to have a better guess than she did now. Most of her efforts and focus had been on Eternal Empire space. Yet given her sort of break from the Rebellion, she could now turn her focus to other things as well.

"Did you want to perhaps, use me as bait?" Lori wasn't afraid of putting herself in danger. Surely Val Tessalisk could already of guessed that about her.

 

[Val Tessalisk]

Val raised both brows at the suggestion of using Loreena Arenais-Valhoun as bait. She had some serious stones for sure, but there were risks involved with using her as bait; namely her just straight up dying. Val tilted his head to the side and sighed.

"I suppose we could use you as bait. I don't need to tell you that it's a really risky move, but based on what you've told me, this looks like the quickest way to draw him out." Val stated.

The Gen'Dai sat up and crossed his arms, contemplating other factors that might go into this plan.

"There's also the issue of Silver Jedi space. If he's somehow convinced the other Jedi that he's on their side, we might have to contend with them. I can take a Jedi. I can take 2 or even 3 Jedi, but 6? 10? 100? I'm tough, but I'm not invincible. Plus, it wouldn't be a good look for Loreena Arenais of the Eclipse Rebellion to be picking fights with the Jedi"

Val felt like he had made a valid point. They would need to consider their options more carefully and concoct a fool-proof plan that didn't involve drawing in unwanted guests.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"I know that it's risky...and he might even suspect it of being a trap." Lori certainly would if things were in reverse, or if Subject 73 Red knew of her wanting him in custody and just offering himself up.

She listened to Val Tessalisk speak further on the risks of the Jedi. All of it were possibilities of what might occur, but she was doubtful of course. Of all the people in the Galaxy, the Jedi were the least of her problems. And besides, she hadn't done anything to justify the Jedi going after her anyways.

"We don't have to go to Silver Space. We could stay outside of it and go somewhere neutral instead. The only risk that I have is with Eternal Empire agents. Everyone else doesn't know of me or could care less. It's my brother that's the more well known figure. I'm pretty much a nobody." Lori left out a lot about herself; like being a Queen of a little planet that most people haven't heard of, and a widow. She just spoke about how she felt about herself, based off of the way that she had been treated by everyone.

"If you have some other idea, then I'm open to it."

 

[Val Tessalisk]

Val leaned back in his chair with a loud creak and rubbed his chin as Loreena Arenais-Valhoun could see the gears in his head turning. After a few moments that felt like an eternity, the Gen'Dai spoke up, leaning forward and putting both hands on the table.

"We could go with the Silver Jedi idea, since as we've said before, it's likely the easiest and fastest place to find him" Val explained.

"So here's what we do: We go to Silver Jedi space, and accidentally "leak" a transmission that you're going to be in the area to oversee the arrival of a shipment of weapons to use against the Eternal Empire. We'll have to stage this in a warehouse district and with a small team to make it convincing. The isolated location and small number of personnel will make you seem vulnerable and easy to ambush. I'll take up position inside the warehouse in a secluded location, perhaps an observation room or foreman's office if there is one. If there isn't, I'll hide inside our "container full of weapons" and break out of it to engage when he arrives"

Val said while gesticulating the entire time. He raised a pointer finger and added another detail to his plan.

"Additionally, we won't have to worry about him ambushing us unexpectedly. We Gen'Dai have enhanced senses, you see; our biology allows us to detect a heartbeat from almost 200 meters. We're very sensitive to these kinds of things. Once he's within the area of the trap, I'll let you know via comms and from there, just pretend to be oblivious to his presence. Once he takes the bait, I'll hit him with a stun shot from my blaster rifle. If that doesn't work, well then we'll have to do it the old fashioned way: with blunt force trauma"

Satisfied with his plan, Val leaned back in his chair again and crossed his arms behind his head, waiting Lori's thoughts on the idea.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

As Val Tessalisk spoke, Lori visualized it in her mind, trying to sort out the perfect place to act as the setting for this so-called shipment. She didn't know of a lot of worlds in Silver space. Some used to be under the rule of her parents once upon a time, but that felt like a lifetime ago. Many things have changed by now. Commenor would have been a great place, were it not for the fact that it is the Silver's Capital now. It was a strange thing to have strangers living in the homes that she grew up in when she was it's Princess....

"We'll use Mnemosyne. Red's been there before, and it's the planet I sort of....rule with my brother. There are warehouse districts there and I would hope that it wouldn't come at much of a surprise that I'd be using it as a stop for gathering shipments of weapons. Most right now would expect me to remain in neutral space entirely."

As Val spoke of his species, Lori was glad for the enhanced abilities. However there was something else in Red's arsenal that needed to be addressed. "What about droids? Can you detect them from a distance as well? Red has been accompanied by them before, some far more dangerous than others." Ones like QEMD-15 Echo in particular came to mind...

 

[Val Tessalisk]

Val quickly dismissed Loreena Arenais-Valhoun 's question regarding if he could detect Droids

"Nah. It only works on living things. My nerve clusters can detect heatbeats, so anything non-living thing is out of the question. Cyborgs are iffy too, depends on what kind of augmentations they have" Val explained.

"But that little caveat aside, I think our plan is good to go. Also, given that he's likely going to be packing a Lightsaber, I think it would be wise to see if we can crank out a prototype of my Slugthrower design. I think you're gonna love it"

Val smirked. He based the lever-action cycling of the weapon based off the Slugthrower used by the android in Eliminator 2, while basing the ergonomics off of various Slugthrowers throughout history. Though he intended to use his T-21b to try and incapacitate Red with a stun shot, but if things got dicey, he'd prefer to have an effective weapon on back-up.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

What Val Tessalisk described made sense. He could only sense the living. It was probably the same with some Force abilities too. Not that she ever delt into that subject much. She couldn't handle the strict rules of academy life. Lori was used to doing whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. She was too much of a free spirit.

The idea that Val tossed out there of Red carrying a lightsaber made her wonder; had she even seen him with one? He probably had one, but she just hadn't seen him use it. It was much like how she was. Her lightsaber was mostly a momento of her homeworld, as opposed to a viable and reliable weapon.

His slugthrower idea on the otherhand....

"Oh yes! I'd love to see what you've come up with. Uhh....just a sec!" Quickly she scrambled out of her chair and ran out of the kitchens. After a few moments, her eager footsteps were heard as she ran back in with a datapad in hand, skidding to a stop with the device held out to him. "Here! See if you can draw it!"

 

[Val Tessalisk]

Val smirked at Loreena Arenais-Valhoun 's enthusiasm to see the design he had cooked up as he took the datapad from her and placed it on the table in front of him. He admitted that she was starting to grow on him, and he foresaw a bright future ahead for both of them if they could capture Red. He knew he really shouldn't form attachments because in his case, they always led to the same place due to his lifespan. Still, he thought Lori was alright in his book.

"I'm no artistic maestro, but here's what I had in mind...." Val said as he trailed off, staring at the datapad screen in order to familiarize himself with the interface.

He preferred to use a stylus pen to draw, as his fingers were huge and would likely end up accidentally hitting five different windows on the device.. Hell, even the stylus was a bit too small, requiring him to hold it between his thumb and pointer finger as if pinching something. Still, he began sketching with a certain gentleness and grace. This was less to do with skill or technique and more in the realm of trying to maintain a good grip on the stylus. A few minutes went by as Val sat hunched over with his face close to the screen as he scribbled away. At last he sat up with a smirk of satisfaction on his face before turning the datapad and revealing his work.

The weapon had the overall silhouette of a guitar or similar musical instrument; the stock being the "body" and the rest being the "fretboard". The stock itself had a vaguely triangular shape with the flat end being where the user's shoulder would be braced. The stock also possessed a large thumbhole as well as a textured grip resembling stippling. The weapon sported a lever-style action, very clearly intended to invoke the style of weapon used in Eliminator 2: Armageddon. Along the spine of the weapon was a series of ironsights, ranging from simple ring-and-post to a volley-type sight for use in long-distance shooting. The weapon also had a flat optical rail along the middle for attaching scopes if additional accuracy was needed. Val even opted to color it, thus indicating that the weapon would be largely be made of a smooth wood with a lacquered finish. He always had a liking to weapons that had that classy, wood furniture to it.

"So whaddya think?" Val said, eager to hear Lori's opinion of his "masterpiece". Frankly, this is probably the best thing he's ever drawn that didn't turn out looking like an abomination of scribbled lines and colors.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori retook her seat at the table and watched Val Tessalisk draw, with her elbows supporting her as she rested her chin in her hands. She watched him like any kid would watch their favourite artist draw something special just for them. It was due to the Mandalorian side of her family that got her interested in designing and tinkering with weapons and toys. Ol' Sparky was her favourite. It was her very own jetpack that she built from scratch and modified whenever she could. Then came her lightsaber with the unique Dahgee crystal which created a blade that zigzagged at the end of it like a lightning bolt, making it difficult for others to parry. And then of course there was The Hornet; her bow that Val seemed to like a lot.

Once he had finished his drawing, Lori eagerly took the datapad in hand, looking it over. Her eyes poured over the details, her grin widening, especially as she picked up on the Eliminator 2 homage. Already she could imagine a scenario where the two of them were escaping QEMD-15 Echo on a speederbike in a dry water canal , all the while he was using his slugthrower to slow the blasted droid down. Oh it was a delightful little fantasy.

"I love it! It's beautiful! I can't wait till it's made and get to watch you use it! Do you want to be there for the whole process? Or just wait until it's finished?"

 

[Val Tessalisk]

Val grinned ear to ear listening to Loreena Arenais-Valhoun 's voice her enthusiastic approval of the design. He was quite proud of it, and eagerly awaited the moment where he could test it out at the range. Val also had a similar fantasy, clad in all leather with red-tinted sunglasses, slugthrower resting on his shoulder with Lori on the back of the speederbike. It was like a scene straight out of an action holofilm, and he loved it. He'd be hard-pressed to find a jacket big enough to fit him, and there was also the issue of holding his humanoid shape without the use of heavy armor. Still despite these limitations, Val enjoyed the thought.

"Thanks! The recoil is going to kick like a Dewback and it probably won't be able to hold a lot of ammo on the account of the caliber I chose, but man is this going to be fun to use. As for the manufacturing, I wanna be there when it's finished. I want to see my creation come to life before my own eyes!" He said enthusiastically.

He wondered what kind of techniques would be used to make it: auto-lathe machining? Injection molds? Casting? Perhaps even 3-D printing of sorts? Val was particularly fascinated with 3D printing; he knew the in-and-outs, but often times he would have assumed it was pure magic if he didn't know better.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori nodded in agreement. That slugthrower would surely have a strong recoil; enough to maybe knock her off her feet if she wasn't prepared. That and leave her with a fantastic bruise if she wasn't wearing armour.

"Well, you could always carry more ammo on you. Maybe on a belt, or chest strap or something. As long as it's in easy reach for you."

She rubbed her hands together, grinning at the thought, daydreaming some more about the kind of situations that he'd take control of with that slugthrower of his. She also imagined Imperial troopers fleeing as Val Tessalisk approached, moving nice and slow in contrast to them fleeing.

"You'll be the first to fire her as well. I don't think she's that complicated of a build to worry about any misshaps. We've got a terrific firing range. It's inside for the purposes of secrecy, but it's got great distance and height to it that it just won't matter!"

Arla's voice rang out on the intercom; "Captain, ETA to MandalArms is fifteen minutes."

Lori's grin broadened as she cradled the datapad in her arms. "It's showtime!"

 

[Val Tessalisk]

"Yeah that's true. Although given the caliber and the size of the internal mag, it'll still be a lot of ammo to have to carry. A bog-standard blaster rifle can carry upward to 100 shots. Then again, this isn't really meant to be a spray-and-pray type thing."

Val explained.

Val tried his best to balance the weapon as much as possible. He'd considered increasing the internal magazine size from 8 to 12, but then that would increase the overall weight and require even more ammo to carry. 8 seemed like a good sweet spot, as it wasn't too little but also not too much. Besides, he intended this to be more like a marksman rifle than a repeater, so a huge magazine wasn't really needed.

He kept thinking back to his daydreaming of taking on the role of the "Eliminator". He could see it now, neon holo-posters and action-packed teaser trailers featuring "Val Tessalisk: Mercenary Extraordinaire". When they'd ask who he was, he'd answer with "I'm a goddamn legend" before jumping off a building with a slow-motion explosion behind him. Of course this went against his preference of keeping a low profile, but it was fun to think about from time to time.

Val heard Arla's voice over the ship's intercom and looked over to Loreena Arenais-Valhoun who smiled broadly.

"You're awfully excited to get this thing made! At this rate we aught to make you one as well and we could be the dynamic duo" Val winked.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"Well no, you wouldn't want to carry a lot. But you can store extra ammo on a ship, and just carry what you'll need for any particular job. I don't exactly carry all of my arrows in one quiver. Only merely what I'd need at any given time. Same with the types of arrow tips that I use. It all depends on what I'm up against."

Lori grinned as Val Tessalisk seemed just as new slugthrower made, not to mention getting one for herself and being partnered up with her new friend. No one would cross them then and they'd surely be able to get what they want from people. Like Subject 73 Red , for example....

She led Val out of the kitchen and towards the bay doors. Already the Jaster's Delight began to land, smoothly lowering itself onto a platform. With a hiss of hydrolics and the whining of the engines as they died down, Lori opened the door and headed out.

The landing platform was actually a hanger, loaded with various other styles of ships. Plenty of crews and employees worked in and around them, the place alive with the sounds of chatter and mechanical upgrades being done. Lori walked past them, being sure to not get in the way of anything as she led Val through a huge doorway to the main facility. Here an assortment of weapons, armour and ships were on display, not unlike a museum. "Whatcha think? Pretty wicked, right?"

 

[Val Tessalisk]

Val zones out as Loreena Arenais-Valhoun talks about the facility. His eyes widen as he looks around the inside of the hangar and at everything that's going on within it. He felt like a kid in a candy store, and didn't know where to cast his gaze first. He stepped forward and looked at the crates of blasters being ferried throughout the facility and smiled widely.

"I love this place already!" Val exclaimed

So, this was the place where his slugthrower would be made. Given the amount of ordinance and machinery here, he had no doubts that they'd be able to whip something up in short order and of good quality to boot.

"So" Val inquired.

"You ready to get this show on the road?"

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori grinned at Val Tessalisk 's excitement. His enthusiasm rivaled her own when it came to tinkering with new toys.

"Why I do believe that I am. Right this way!"

She waved her new friend to follow her, walking past the lobby and down one of the corridors. Every corridor was large, given all the space needed for some of their larger clientel, not to mention the huge armour suits that Kaine loved to build for his kids.

She missed her cousins, but Kaine especially. He was a great mentor and she was pleased as punch to make him proud. It was probably why he left her his companies when he died...

Lori led Val to a set of double-doors labeled W.D. Quite simply it stood for "weapons development". She pressed her hands on the doors and pushed them open. Inside the pair would find people not in lab coats, but in light combat gear. Some were assembling weapons, some were cleaning them, some were designing them on holotables, while others were firing them in a silenced safety zone. Everyone gave Lori a respectful nod when they caught her eye, yet kept busy with their work.

It was sure to be heaven for Val.

"Let's input your design to the holotable first and refine it."

 

[Val Tessalisk]

It was indeed heaven for the Gen'Dai, as his eyes darted from place to place at everything that was going on. He blinked to make sure that he wasn't dreaming, but it was Loreena Arenais-Valhoun 's voice that snapped him back to reality. Val fumbled with the holopad and removed the memory chip from the side of the device.

"Uh, yeah, sure!" He stammered.

Val put the tiny chip between his massive thumb and pointer finger and carefully inserted the memory chip into the Holotable. The device displayed a series of files which Val flipped through until he located his sketch of his Slugthrower design. He grinned and tapped the holographic window, which then allowed the Holotable to display a rough, three-dimensional model of the rifle based off his crude drawing. Val gave the model a once-over and made a half-frown.

"Yeah, it could definitely use some work so it looks like an actual weapon and not a kid's drawing made 3D. We should probably start with the frame of the weapon first by smoothing everything out. Given that it's primarily made of wood, it'll probably the easiest thing to make" Val said, looking over at Lori.