Enduring Enterprises

[Noire]

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

All that could be heard was the shuddered, strained breathing of the Pauns. Five pairs of eyes would watch Natalia and Slevin, watching, waiting. All the while Natalia's heels made a slow and steady tattoo as she moved from one side to the next, letting them sweat until the confirmation over her cybernetic eye that their boys had secured all. Finally, she spoke.

"I had high hopes gentlemen." Natalia came to a halt, right hip cocked to the side," See I wanted to surprise my love with the knowledge that business had been concluded and that this little contract was tucked away in bed like a precious child. Our child."

Her eyes began hard.

"Imagine my distress at finding out that child has been snatched from my bosom by interlopers." One of the Pauns attempted to speak only for the glittering glare of Natalia to stop him. "The culprit? Why the very ones that had assured this contract was set. Betrayal gentlemen."

A pause.

"Synd Consolidated. Tell us all you know."

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Natalia Thawne"]

For a moment silence hung in the air and Slevin thought that no one would answer her. The idea of it was at this point unthinkable, mostly because Slevin was already on the edge of cutting throats. He stalked around the room with a great sort of ire watching each and every single member of the Council. They were terrified of course. Each one shrunk away from his gaze like children.

“J-just a mining corporation.”

One said.

“Offered us more money than we could dream.”

Another stated.

“T-they said they could protect us. F-f-frok you.”

Slevin leaned in at the last. ”From us?”

He glanced up at Natalia and frowned. He doubted that she had revealed their entire operation to these people, she was far more intelligent than that. Logically that meant that whoever owned this company had done it for them. That thought brought a great amount if displeasure to him, enough that he nearly spat on the floor and began to kill.

Not yet though.

The Crime Lord waited for Natalia, looking at her with a barely contained eagerness mixed with an odd sort of lustful hunger.

He was in a mood. ”What else did they tell you?”

Slevin placed a cold metallic hand on the shoulder of the only female councilor.

 

[Noire]

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

[SIZE=9pt]“They… They.” The woman began to studder, the Paun eyes wide. There was an attempt at self control, as if to gather her bearings. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]It wouldn’t help them in the end. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Words were exchanged.” as if that wasn’t already evident. The run around was already starting to annoy Natalia, her right hand gesturing as if to say, ‘get tot he point.’[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“There was concern… over just how wise it would be to work with SIN… rumors have suggested that --”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“That [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]what.” [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Natalia’s voice was chilling. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“That it would behoove this council to work with a more stable establishment.” it was the political correct way of saying, that they’d been told SIN was bad news and it would be best if they instead worked with Synd. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Bad choice. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“So you reneged on our contract over gossip?” oh there was more to that. There had to be. It just didn’t make business sense to. [/SIZE]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Natalia Thawne"]

Slevin stalked around the room now.

He prowled like a Nexu hungry for its next meal. The Councilors tried to make excuses, tried to get out of whatever they could...but it was far too late for that. Slevin could see it in their eyes now, the fear, the acceptance of what was to come. Each and every single person at the table knew that they had made a mistake, knew that they were already far past their time. Sweat trickled down their faces, their eyes darted from Natalia to Slevin again and again.

"P-please."

Slevin stopped behind one of the men, his hand settling on the high backed chair that the Utapaun people were so fond of. The metallic clack of his fingers ringing against the durasteel of the chair was an unnerving sound, something that seemed to echo in the silence.

"What did they offer you?" His voice was white hot rage. "What did they give you?"

"A-A."

The man stammered, Slevin glared down at him.

"A guarantee...equipment and credits for our troubles and defense again yo-"

Before he could finish Slevin's knife flipped forth from his pocket, the blade flying free and clacking open as it's sharp point and driven into the mans throat with no more ceremony than the death of an ant beneath a boot.

 

[Noire]

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

The silence could be cut with a knife. Instead, it was done with Natalia's laughter.

It went bubbling up her throat, before erupting in a loud, melodic echo, washing upon them all like a bitter, salty sea. It was by no means comforting. It was the opposite.

"Guaranteed equipment and credits for your trouble... and defenses against us?" the echo alone was enough to provoke a wince from the council members. Around them, the sounds of blaster fire rose, almost lancing at the inevitability of the situation.

"All you had to do was fulfill your end of the bargain. Of our accord." the last went drawling out with a honeyed tongue, but there was no sweetness to her words. No, instead there was a looming forbearing to those exotic glittering green eyes, the redhead slowly ambling her way up towards the man who had spoken.

"What else did they say? Hmm?"

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Natalia Thawne"]

"N-Nothing."

The man stammered out as Slevin's blade slowly withdrew. The discussion was not going to be a long one, not anymore anyway. Slowly the Crime Lord wandered behind another one of the council members, the Paun beginning to shake violently as he approached. There was death in his eyes.

"We were kind to you." He stated plainly, clearly holding none of the joy Natalia did. "We offered you fair terms."

Silence hung in the air.

"You reneged on them." Slevin placed the edge of his knife against the mans throat. "Now you lie to us?"

The man with the blade to his neck began to stammer, tears formed, he tried to say anything. These were not brave men, these were not soldiers, fighters, or anything of the sort. They were cowards, corrupt and broken, able to see nothing but their own quest and need for wealth. Slevin couldn't help but feel disgust as the man tried desperately to buy his own life with a few paltry words.

"T-they only wanted the mines, I swear. Nothing else. They simple offered us a better dea-"

The blade went slicing once more.

 

[Noire]

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

"Guess the deal wasn't as sweet as you thought." Natalia said with a biting tone.

The mines. It was all for the mines? But that made no sense. Especaially with as much information that this Syad Consolidated seemed to know about S.I.N. and its methods.

This didn't bode well.

"I want name." who were the contacts. They had the name of the company, but now she wanted someone of flesh and blood.

"Shies Mar!" the scent of fear could be palatable were Slevin and Natalia able to smell it. But there was no need for such intricacies, her beloved had done enough to make it clear just where they all stood.

"And where can we find this... Shies Mar?" another arch of a brow.

The answer could barely be sputtered out, Natalia had to lean in close to hear.

"Where?" she was not going to ask twice.

The sputter said a single word that gave an answer to Natalia.

Crimson lips curved into a wolfish grin.

"Good."

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Natalia Thawne"]

"Father!"

A voice broke into the proceedings, barking out with a loud boom. It thundered through the chamber, immediately causing Slevin to look up from where his blade had sunk into the Paun's neck. Slevin frowned for a moment, cocking an eyebrow at the neat figure that had just stepped through the door. It was a young man, smartly dressed with his hair slicked back against his head. A single blaster was in one hand, a knife covered in blood in the other.

"Nikolas." Slevin's tone was stern, almost disapproving.

"You shouldn't be doing such things."

Slevin cocked an eyebrow, his expression immediately changing to that of annoyance. He had never enjoyed when someone told him what to do, much less when his son did so. Slevin opened his mouth to answer with a retort, a harsh lashing of the tongue but was quickly cut off.

"It's beneath you. Let me or one of the others take care of this...garbage."

In an instant the Crime Lord's expression eased, his anger fading. "Fine."

Slevin said as he straightened himself, wiping the edge of his blade on the dead mans cloak. He shot the other council members a look of ire, rolling the name of the planet that they had been given around in his mind. He considered for a moment, watching as his son slowly crossed the room towards his mother.

 

[Noire]

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

There was a moment where Natalia had also studied questioningly their son's words. It wasn't until Nikolas clarified his reasoning that Natalia gave a cock of her head to the right, almost as if intrigued. Their children were all perfection. They might not have been born of her womb but they were nurtured to be the perfect examples of their skillset.

Nikolas was no different.

To a degree, he was almost akin to Slevin. It endeared him to her so. There was a brutality among the young teenager that had been honed to a weapon. Slevin's and hers so to speak.

"Mother." Nikolas would say with respect, pausing to bend down to kiss her on the cheek. Natalia gave him a pat on his in affection.

"Hello, precious."

What manner of affection that reflected upon the younger teenager's visage sharply shifted to one of calculated ferocity as he turned to the rest of the whimpering council.

Natalia took a step towards her beloved, sliding her arm to hook against his. Now it was Nikolas's show. Perhaps, he will be able to glean more information. With his parents watching, the teenager was all the more eager to show off just how well he did his work now.

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Natalia Thawne"]

Killing, murder, was easy.

The act itself was as simple as running a knife over someones throat, squeezing the trigger of a blaster, pulling down the heavy end of a hammer. It was easy, simple even. The difficult part for most was not the act itself, not the decision to kill, but living with it after.

Natalia and Slevin had never really lived with that, had never really understood it. In a way they were incapable of doing so in the first place. The Experiments that had been conducted on them in that laboratory had failed to place them in any real natural state. They were different than ordinary humans, they were better, made for perfection. It was why they did what they did, why they felt no remorse and why killing was as every day to them as eating breakfast.

The children?

Well they had had to learn.

All of them had been taught, all of them had been chosen, and none of them had taken to it like Nik. The young man slowly waltzed around the remaining council members, his expression cold and dark as ice on Hoth. He frowned when he reached one of the men, leaning down and slowly whispering something in his ear. The Paun's features seemed to drain even more of color, and his eyes flickered over to the one female that was left sitting at the table.

"T-the head of the company, his name is Bulrus."

Silence reigned in the air, Slevin's gaze flickered to his beloved. He knew that name from somewhere.

 

[Noire]

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

[SIZE=11pt]Bulrus. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Natalia’s red upper lip gave a sudden curl of distaste. Her cybernetic eye narrowed into thin slits, a glinting green hue reflecting off those unnatural orbs. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Both her beloved and she had a run in with Bulrus before. He had attempted to buy out part of their spice trade back on Ukio. Natalia’s focus had been on production rather than showing Bulrus just where he stood in the totem pole. Clearly he had to be shown a lesson sooner than later. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Good boy, now that wasn’t so hard was it?” [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Natalia cooed out, but where her honeyed voice indicated a measure of pleasantry, her expression was anything but. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]However, there was the rest of this Council to take care of. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“I enjoyed our little outing, but see, we have a bit of business to take care of.” [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Natalia would say rather nonchalantly. Only two were left. The female and the male Paun. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]They only needed one. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Nikolas, sweetie. Clean this mess up. Make sure they don’t forget what happens when one reneges on a deal.” [/SIZE]

 

[Ben Revan]

The dark lord arrived in his tie fighter as always he loved the sound of it when it arrived once now he cares not for the screeching

He was there for a checkup to make sure everything was proper

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Natalia Thawne"]

Killing was easy.

For him and his son.

Briefly he wondered if he and Natalia should go after Bulrus themselves. It might have been the easy thing to do, but as he and his beloved turned away from Nikolas he couldn't help but ponder another solution entirely. He mused as they stepped through the Council chambers double doors, some of his anger already having subsided. His thoughts of all this had turned away from the sour dish they had been served, and instead moved to an opportunity.

"Bulrus." He mused out loud to Natalia.

She would know exactly that he would want him dead, though of course she would likely want the exact same thing. His beloved was nothing if not vengeful. Slevin knew that he would certainly not ever want to be on her bad side, not that it would ever happen.

"I think we should let the children take care of him." He knew the suggestion would please Natalia. "Perhaps Jerick and Emma."

Natalia had always adored the children far more than he, most of their 'tasks' came from her. This would light her up.

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Natalia Thawne"]

Killing was easy.

For him and his son.

Briefly he wondered if he and Natalia should go after Bulrus themselves. It might have been the easy thing to do, but as he and his beloved turned away from Nikolas he couldn't help but ponder another solution entirely. He mused as they stepped through the Council chambers double doors, some of his anger already having subsided. His thoughts of all this had turned away from the sour dish they had been served, and instead moved to an opportunity.

"Bulrus." He mused out loud to Natalia.

She would know exactly that he would want him dead, though of course she would likely want the exact same thing. His beloved was nothing if not vengeful. Slevin knew that he would certainly not ever want to be on her bad side, not that it would ever happen.

"I think we should let the children take care of him." He knew the suggestion would please Natalia. "Perhaps Jerick and Emma."

Natalia had always adored the children far more than he, most of their 'tasks' came from her. This would light her up.

 

[Noire]

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

[SIZE=11pt]“Jerick and Emma will do nicely, “[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Natalia chimed in, giving a slight incline of her head in agreement. Both of their children would work well together, complimenting their skillsets and talents. True joy shone within her emerald eyes, and the woman went reaching out with her hand to caress her lover’s bearded cheek. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]There, her thumb carefully gave a slight swipe against a droplet of blood that had splattered on his face. Behind them, the choked, thick scream of a Paun was music to Natalia’s ears. They had ruined her gift to her beloved and now Nikolas would make sure this betrayal will never be forgotten. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“I’ll comm Emma.” [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] and that was that. Turning to her beloved, she gave his arm a small brush. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“They ruined my present for you.” [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]she was angry, the furrows of her brow wrinkling. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“I’ll make it up to [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]you.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]”[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] she added, her red lips curving upward as she came up to kiss his lips. [/SIZE]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Natalia Thawne"]

He smiled slightly as her lips pressed against his.

There was no doubt in his mind that Natalia intended on following through with that promise, his beloved was always true to her word to him. For now however this mind was still settled on the problem that had fallen into their lap. Utapau was supposed to have been an easy expansion, and in truth they would still move here without much delay, but there were forces at work attempting to push back against them.

Slevin didn't like that.

"I'm sure you will." His smooth tone drawled out as he pulled away from Natalia and the two once again set upon the path back to their ship. Their attention would be taken up for a bit, but the children would take care of things here.

The Crime Lord only hoped it would be done quickly.

Coratanni had grown at a miraculous pace as of late, and he wanted nothing to slow them down.