Don't Pay Me in Exposure

[Gorba the Hutt]

An enormous bipedal cetacean in a smart blue suit sat in the lounge of ArmaTech's corporate headquarters. He fiddled with the buttons on his jacket until the representative at the front desk said, "Mr. Rach will see you now."

Orcus rose. Alabaster and sable features, smooth as marble, split in a toothy smile. "Excellent. Hauum."

Moments later, the executive of Darkwater Security and the Herglic Trade Empire stood inside Markus Rach's office.

"Good day to you, Mr. Rach"

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The man from Tanaab was still settling into his new role as CEO of ArmaTech. Rebranding the company was difficult and he had yet to attempt to open a domestic and civilian services branch like he had hoped. The Board of Directors were all puppets, and the sole owner had left him in charge of the company with only a warning. 'Don't make me come back to this job.' With the warning understood Markus spent most of his time simply pushing existing projects and seeking to expand the ship building line his predecessor had left him. And the massive millions of credit income didn't hurt. He didn't have to succeed, he just had to not fail for a couple of years and retire in the life of luxury when Draco said he could.

"Ah, yes mister Hion. Its a pleasure to meet you." He said standing, extending a hand to the large cetacean being. He wore a slate grey suit and black shirt, no tie for right now. "Please have a seat and make yourself comfortable. Can I offer you a drink?" He waved the servant droid over to take the being's drink order as Rach returned to his highback black chair. The office was sparse still, not much. Just a picture of his family and the secure holocomm in the desk to call Draco at anytime, anywhere, or be called or observed.

"I understand you have a product you are hoping to sell to ArmaTech Industries."

[member="Hion the Herglic"]

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

"It's Orcus, actually."

Hion was a name he hadn't used since his first death. Memories flashed behind fathomless black eyes. The pain of auto cannon rounds slamming into him. The paralyzing agony of electricity coursing through his body. Dying in Kira Lidain's arms. Ah, but that had been years ago.

He hadn't had a proper death in ages.

A flipper the size of Markus' face enveloped the man's hand. Orcus shook once, well aware of the size differential and careful not to give the wrong impression. The ability to kill Rach with a single backhand wasn't a point in question, but a simple fact. Besides, he had no intention of killing anyone today, least of all a potential customer.

"No, thank you. I don't drink except at parties." The Herglic smiled jovially and took a seat. The chair groaned beneath his weight. "Straight to business then."

He produced a folder full of flimsiplast from within his suit jacket and set it on Rach's desk. "Darkwater Security would like to extend to you a contract at a discounted rate due to your membership in the Trade Federation. With the Prime Minister of the Republic's erratic behavior, I believe we all are feeling a bit of warranted paranoia, hauum. In lieu of this, we can install the highest grade of life form scanners and biometric locks at locations you wish to keep secure. Additionally, in this contract we would provide you with the services of Darkwater Security Personnel at every ArmaTech facility, if you so desire. I'm sure your current guards are more than competent, but members of my species manage to add a certain... well, let's just call it the fear factor."

Orcus leaned back in his seat.

[member="Darth Vulkan"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Markus, nodded apologetically at the mislabeling of the being in his office. New to the job there were still many things he would need to get used to if he intended to make the transition for Director of Operations to Chief Executive Officer. "My apologies mister Orcus." He said quietly returning to his own seat and waving off the approaching servant calmly.

Fear was not something he often felt, but he was well aware of the benefits of having pirates and raiders dissuaded by large Cetacean humanoids toting very large weaponry. Such things were not to be overlooked. He was also well aware of the need for updated security. There was only so much the trained men and women of the security force could do to secure ArmaTech's holdings, and raids were becoming very popular again, especially out here on Bothawui, a rim world of the Union.

"Well, yes. The size of ArmaTech's ground side locations require us to make use of Hegemonic Droids for protection in most cases, however we could always use more. And from my understanding Herglics like yourself are excellent at intimidation and heavy combat operations. I believe we could make excellent use of them here and on our mobile installations." Ah, the factory ships that were very slowly coming about. It took a long time to build them and then they were not swift at setting up on a planet or in a system, but once they did, they were fantastic mobile factories for every customer's needs.

"As for the security system, I would like to hear some about its capabilities and how it works if you wouldn't mind."

[member="Hion the Herglic"]

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

"Ah of course."

Another flimsiplast file appeared from beneath the suit jacket. "The security systems are some of the most advanced in the galaxy. We have two primary models right now: the Gorgon and the Argus. The Gorgon ensures perimeter safety at your installations, facilities, and factories. Many of my employees use them for their homes. It is a life form scanner that detects any life forms in the vicinity and runs them through a facial recognition database. If the database comes back with an active criminal record or a bolo the alarms go off. We can also modify it for recognition of specific individuals or specific armor features known to certain government forces.

"The Argus is a biometric lock that can be installed on doorways and entry points you wish to keep secure. It is tamper proof and any attempt to physically disable it will set off the alarm, even with those new anti-security blades the bounty hunters use these days. Hauum. Additionally, it scans for over five different features including your odor, DNA and hand geometry, but the whole process is as simple as putting your hand on the scanner, looking into the eye and saying a single line. However, after two failed attempts the alarm goes off.

"Was there anything specific you wished to know?"

[member="Darth Vulkan"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Markus looked over the notes laid in front of him, listening intently to the massive Whale of a Sith Lord. Despite being influential and rich, Markus wasn't an idiot. He knew he was mortal, and he knew he was replaceable as could be. Despite having the privilege of overseeing the day to day operations of ArmaTech, the real boss remained Darth Vulkan.

"It sounds like we could certainly use these modules at our operations. Our manufacturing complexes are very large however. The size of a very large metropolis. I can see the benefits to mass installation, and I am sure it will be beneficial. I have a question about cost of installation on facilities as large as ours though."

He was smart enough to know that it was going to cost money, and his superior had just spent billions investing in Titan Industries, and had walked off with a substantial portion of the company's vast savings. Even updated spending needed to be done cautiously.

[member="Hion the Herglic"]

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

"Ah yes, well for a valuable member of the Trade Federation such as you, I'm sure we can give you a discount. For what you're asking the typical price is around 2 million credits for the installation of both products, but I think 1.4 million sounds much more reasonable. Sadly, that's the lowest price I can quote you as any further will run us into financial trouble. My accountant is fond of telling me that my habit for cutting friends deals is a drain on our resources."

Orcus smiled apologetically.

[member="Darth Vulkan"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Markus nodded. Indeed the price wasn't outrageous, and it would cut them both a healthy deal. He wasn't in the loop for how much was being siphoned off by the Sith Lord who owned the company, but he was really only seen on the battlefield or at some expensive charity gala's. Sometimes going uninvited or announced. "That sounds fine. I was just being cautious given the size of our, albeit few, facilities." Five permanent locations galaxy wide, and maybe a dozen mobile stations on the way, possibly a few more to be hidden out in the Unknown Regions.

"Well, other than a short timeline about when we should expect these systems to be installed, I don't think there is anything else that needs to be discussed as far as business goes. I must ask Mister Orcus, have you met Lord Vereen yet? Are you colleagues?" The businessman was curious as to who his boss knew and didn't know, well aware his position was that of a puppet ruler with the de facto boss retired to reduce his work load having run off to spend his unassessable wealth to live the life of absolute luxury, mixed in with the occasionally bloody conquest.

@Darth Orcus

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

"You can expect them completed in two weeks from the arrival time of our installment teams."

Orcus stood, footsteps ponderous on the floor. Few buildings were built with Herglics in mind. A sad state of affairs that many had tried to change when the Protectorate still ruled the whole of the Freeworld Systems. Fortunately, that was no longer a government Orcus had to deal with. The League had their freedom now, or at least the Protectorate's power had been reduced to such a state that they would no longer be able to chaff against Orcus' corporate projects.

"As for Mr. Vereen, I know of him, though I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting in person."

They very well might have, but dying several times and being reincarnated by the Dark Lord of the Sith's curse tends to make one forget some details.

"Perhaps I can amend that soon."

The cetacean extended a flipper to the CEO. "A pleasure doing business with you."

[member="Darth Vulkan"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"A pleasure indeed Mister Orcus." The man from Tanaab stood and shook the flipper of the leaving Herglic and sat down, returning his thoughts to his business. The Herglic could easily be lying about his relationship with mister Vereen, and they were in league with each other. But Markus doubted that possibility. It was much more likely this was a deal for credits and exposure of his new security systems.

He marked the transaction as important on the docket, and sent the weekly reports to the Board of Directors as was standard in all businesses. Finally, he copied the report and sent it via secured communication to Draco Vereen, with the open and honest policy of taking the job he didn't intend to interact with the Sith Lord's rivals without him knowing. Trying to do things behind Draco's back could be dangerous, and poor choices for his health.

Finally, with all that done he relaxed and returned to his day to day business of keeping the company afloat. It was already a success, all he had to do was keep it from failing.