Expansion: Plans for the Future

[Zaiden Dean]

The instant the others words were done, Valashu bent light around him, making him invisible. Had he used White Current, his natural talents would have made him see through it, which would negate the problem. So instead he used the other fashion of stealth he was used to, bending light, which though not as useful as White Current, was just as successful.

Stifling a yawn, he stretched. His weariness from no real sleep recently was becoming more and more evident. Sure he could sleep for an hour, possibly a little more, during flights. But considering he hadn't even been on many of those recently. It was plainly obvious that soon enough he would need to take time off from everything.

Looking back towards the ship, he once again felt awe at the landscape. It was rather astonishing that planets like this survived, and even had viable oxygen in which life could thrive. Than again, life didn't need oxygen. In his own universe, a species had recently come to the Galaxy that only breathed nitrogen rich water, that was possibly the most Force sensitive species ever found.

They drank fething nitrogen water.

[member="Jules Crux"]

 

[Ronan Nakasla]

The shield remained passive while Jules walked through. He did feel something in his right shoulder tingle, which trailed around to his neck and the up to the base of his skull, but it passed and he assumed that it was nothing. So he carried on with the task at hand, and made his way to the door. He tapped the control panel, and it let out a negative, access denied bleep. He sighed, and did what he normally did when that kind of thing happened. He kicked it. Not the brightest idea, since he was not wearing shoes, and his foot hurt, but on a positive note a loose panel fell off and revealed a maintenance panel. He crouched down and tinkered with the door's innards, and after shocking himself a couple of times, the door snapped open with a hiss.

"Ha!" he exclaimed triumphantly, then trotted into the building.

The door snapped shut behind him, and lights flickered on in the entryway. The illumination revealed a hallway that spanned the outer circle of this level. That odd sensation crept with him, pulling him toward the left side. He followed his gut, and found a door that led to the central chamber. That door automatically hissed open to allow him through, and he was met with a control room of some sort. Technical readouts of heat, volcanic and seismic activity, and ash downfall were displayed on ceiling-mounted screens. All of the tech was somewhat older but it was still running and doing its job. At the centre of the room was a shaft that said 'LIFT'. He approached, and found the entrance to the lift, where it was labeled up for control, management, and observation and down for shield and power generators. While he had a goal, that tugging at the edges of his consciousness urged him to go up. He followed that instinct for now, and pressed the button for the Management Office.

The lift pulled him up, then slid to a halt at the level he selected. The door slid open, and Jules was surprised to find himself facing a rather luxurious room. At the fore, an unoccupied secretary desk faced the door, and behind there was a wall with what looked like frosted glass doors. He padded his way to the desk and examined it for anomalies like a button. He found one on top of the desk next to the terminal, and touched it. The glass double-doors swung open and a pleasant chime sounded from within the other room. Crux perked up and faced the now-open doorway, then made his way around to the office. There, he saw all kinds of odds and ends, trinkets and miscellaneous objects. It was like a volcanic treasure trove for a geologist.

That tingle tickled across Jules' spine again, and he looked around the room. It was stronger now, and he felt like he needed to find the origin. Finally, Jules' eyes came to rest on a softly glowing crystalline-looking object sitting on the big desk. It was hovering and rotating gently on a little stand that held it up and shone a light into it that displayed its nature as, in fact, a crystal of some sort. He reached out gently and touched it. It felt warm, but as soon as he laid his fingers on the gem that nagging stopped and he felt back to normal. He plucked it off the stand, and the stand shut off. He turned the crystal in his hands. It looked more like a polished stone, but it looked like lava. It had hues of red, yellow, and orange. Those seemed to shift as he turned it in his hands, and the warmth never went away. It was a fascinating object, and he wanted to pocket it. Only, he had no pockets. He sighed, and decided to leave the crystal here until he had his pants again. He gently replaced the crystalline stone and then moved around the desk. There was a terminal here, and he wanted to investigate if there was any useful information on it. Hopefully it wasn't pass-coded.

A few moments passed, and Jules bonked the terminal on its top. It was indeed pass-coded, and he was no slicer. He sighed and went back to the lift, pressing the button to take it down. He rode out the descent, then stepped out of the lift once it opened. He followed a hum that resembled a ship's shield generator. Surely enough, he came up to a large machine that thrummed in pulses, with thick wires running up into the ceiling. A screen on its side showed a series of activate and deactivate buttons. He read through the screen.


ORGANIC SHIELDING ... INACTIVE .. ACTIVATE
INORGANIC SHIELDING ... ACTIVE ... DEACTIVATE
HEAT SHIELDING ... ACTIVE ... DEACTIVATE
SEISMIC STABILISER ... ACTIVE ... DEACTIVATE


Following common sense, Jules pressed to deactivate the shield that disintegrated inorganic matter. Outside, the shields would flutter and the particle-blue shield would turn into a smooth, light blue shield that only appeared brightly near heat sources.

"That should clear the path for Val..." Crux noted to himself, then made his way back to the main level to meet Valashu when he got inside.

[member="Matreya"]

 

[Zaiden Dean]

Val smiled, grabbing all of Jules' items. These he placed inside of the bag that he had offered him before they had boarded the ship. It was quite heavy now, as it bore the weight of plenty of useful items and foodstuffs as well. Breaking down his compound bow, he hooked it to his belt, and then with both bags, he walked to the door of the tower.

Halting before it, he said softly, "Jules' I can't see you... gonna pass into the hall. Don't wanna feel nothing I am not supposed to so move out of the way!" Then he stepped in. Once the door closed, he sighed at the feel of cool air on such a hot planet. Setting down the others' bag, he said again, "Your clothes are in with your gear. Get dressed. I'll be looking around. As soon as I am a few more feet down the hall, I am going to drop the invisibility. So, hurry and get prepped!"

With that he walked further into the hall, feeling himself drawn similarly to the way Jules felt. It was odd. He had been guided by the Force, yet this time it was utterly separate, as this also tugged at his emotions. He felt lost, worried, and lonely - all things that he hadn't but a moment ago. Something wanted badly to be found...

Turning into a large room, Valashu looked about for a moment. Taking in the many dozens of computer screens, panels with flashing components, and the droid body on the grou- wait. Double taking a glance at the droid, he felt drawn to this item, and instantly understood!

It was sentient! It wanted to be found, to no longer have to deal with eternity of being alone!

Walking forward, he dropped to his haunches and examined the bot. As his hand drug around the edges of its plating, he was not in the least surprised by the layer of grime or dust gathered here. The more he wiped though, it became more obvious that it wasn't alive. How then did it have the essence to alter the Force and make the emotions it felt be projected??

"Hello?" A small childlike voice emanated from the chest of the droid, after which Valashu jumped in shock. That wasn't the droid either...

Pushing against the chest of the fallen bot, he felt it pop then swing open. Inside was a box of a blue material, a red sensor glowing brightly in its center. Along its body seemed to be marks of age and time, but also as if it had been modified heavily. With a delicate grip he drew the little machine outward and replied, "Howdy. How did you get stuck in this dead droid?"

Its response was nigh instant, "Bollux is dead!? Let me see him please! He was my friend and carried me every where I went!"

Believing the child like mindset was to impressionable, he shook his head, "No. I'm sorry. That I won't do. But," He looked it over once more, "what are you by the way?"

"I am Blue Max. I was originally a B2 Computer Interface Unit, but an old ally upgraded me. What's your name?" It asked, almost as if it had already forgotten its fallen friend.

"Names Valashu. Valashu Bonkai." He said in response, then turned as he rose, calling to Jules, "Hey man, come look what I found!"

[member="Jules Crux"]

 

[Ronan Nakasla]

"Nice to see you again," Jules commented when Val made it in.

The young Human made sure to stay just beyond arm's length until Valashu was out of the area. Then he dug around in the sack, pulling out all his clothes and putting those on, and then getting his equipment and making sure everything was in place. He took a relaxing sigh. It felt good to have everything accounted for once again. Now he just needed to get that crystal, see what Val had planned for the facility, and maybe get another drink of that rum. He started toward the lift, when he heard the other call out to come see something. Curiosity piqued, Jules set aside his task to see what was going on.

"What exactly... is it?" he asked when his eyes fell upon the blue cube. He had no idea, and assumed that it was special or important with how excited Val sounded about finding it.

[member="Matreya"]

 

[Zaiden Dean]

"I'm not sure! It seems a sentient AI, but a kid. Never heard of those." Val said, examining Blue Max once more. The droids red sensor twitched over to examine him in return.

"I will have you know I am almost a thousand and a half years old!" It said defiantly, though it emanated more as a pout than defensive.

"I don't doubt it!" Val said, "But you are programmed with the likeness of a kid. Its... amazing. Makes me want to protect you." He said, grinning down at the sensor

"Well... Shut up!" It said in retaliation.

Val chuckled, "Very well. But I must ask, would you care to accompany me on my travels?"

"Sure!" It said, a bit to excited to be considered adult.

"Very well. Say," Valashu began, "What are your program skills?"

"I am an intelligence program with a high rate of slicing ability." The voice quipped.

Val nodded, and held the droid in a telekinetic grip that kept it stationary after placing it on his shoulder. It would be far easier to keep it balanced than to always carry it with the Force. Keeping it in his hand wasn't an option either as that would block the droid from seeing.

Turning his gaze on Jules he gesture back towards the hall, "Lead the way. It seemed you had something in mind when I saw you pass by."

[member="Jules Crux"]

 

[Ronan Nakasla]

"So... it's a droid..." Jules commented in obvious disdain.

He stuck around for his friend and business partner, but as soon as he found out that the cube was a self-aware artificially intelligent machine that could probably do something nefarious despite its apparent lack of mobility, function, or even limbs, he was uninterested unless he could leave it in deep space with a bomb strapped to it. To be polite, Crux stepped off to the side and let them have their conversation. Machines.

Once Valashu had picked up his new friend, and asked Jules to lead the way, the young smuggler grinned, nodded, and spun around on his toe and strode with bouncy flair. He was trying to keep his mood upbeat. He led the way to the lift, waited for Val and his companion cube to join inside, then he flicked the button to head up to the management level. A short lift ride later, Jules jogged up to the office and the desk. Part of the jog was enthusiasm to claim his prize, another part to make quick distance between himself and the droid.

There, beautifully displayed, was the crystal he had before discovered. He gingerly picked it up and turned it once in his hand before pocketing it, then he swiped its display stand as well. It was a novel device and he liked it.

[member="Matreya"]

 

[Zaiden Dean]

Matreya followed behind Jules, chatting occasionally with Max as he spoke about random things. Slowly he gathered that a long time ago, likely a couple hundred years, there was a battle on the planet. Caught with one side, Max and his droid companion were forced to assist them, or risk death being caught outside. So they just that, but in the end, despite their aid, once the shields went up around the tower, they were shut down. Luckily none had known the droids skills with slicing, actually came from the small box in his chest, else Max likely would have been taken.

Once they reached the control room, he watched Jules take a crystal of some kind and its stand, "What do you think that is?" Val asked, not bothering to scan it with the Force to see if it held any connection to the living energy.

Walking to the nearest console, Valashu should that his skills did not just lie in killing and stealth; with lightning fast skills he clicked his fingers across the keyboard. Before long the screen before it showed schematics that seemed to be that of the base. Reaching a hand out, he touched the screen, then swiped to the right. The result was the schematics being sent to a holopad, thus showing everything in a three dimensional rendering.

Stepping towards the model, he would use the controls to zoom in, out, and rotate every so often. While examining, Jules might notice that his lips moved slightly, as if talking to himself, yet in reality it had to do with a technique he had long ago learned. When he moved his mouth as he was, it made his mind think it was a conversation with another person, which then made sure to remember easier. Thus, it was he would recall all the plans he was currently making for the tower.

"Its perfect. I thought I would need to start from the ground up, but in reality, this place has all the space I need. With some retrofitting each sector of the tower could house separate necessary measures for Merr-Sonn." He muttered, then he turned to Max, "Hey, I don't have the access codes to change the locks, passwords, and all that. Think you can do it?"

"Does a bantha poop?" Max asked, to which Valashu ignored it and set the droid before the computer.

Once it had connected itself, Val turned to Jules, "Hey man, want a job? I think after I get up and running a bit more I'm going to open the old subsidiaries of the company. Gonna need some people to run them. What do you think?"

[member="Jules Crux"]

 

[Ronan Nakasla]

"I don't really know," Jules answered, "But it seemed to be... calling me to it. The weird feeling stopped when I found it, so I guess I was supposed to find this here." he finished his answer, then watched Valashu work.

Something told Crux that Val may have bordered on the eccentric side of things. He moved with an assured erratic manner that told Jules there was more than met the eye with this man. It was something he could relate too, and not very uncommon in the galaxy. The droid was still giving him an awkward case, but he just chose to ignore it, even when it spoke. Jules was impressed by the large diagram, though. It had more levels than he realised, and even though he had no experience with such things, he could not disagree with the ease that it could be refitted or remodeled.

Then Valashu approached him with an offer for a job. Not the kind of job Jules was used to, though. This wasn't a shipment of guns or spice, or a courier run as fast as he could go, or some eavesdropping pickpocketing job that he really did not like doing. No, this one was a legitimate business career, from bottom straight up. That did not mean it paid, well, though. Everyone had their own priorities, and even friends had limits. Jules drew the line where every smuggler did: how much profit would it turn?

"Run them how, and how much does it pay?" he asked. Curiosity was there, oh yes, but he reserved himself from getting excited until he had numbers and a payroll.

[member="Matreya"]

 

[Zaiden Dean]

"Likely a bit over a hundred thousand a corporate quarter. But that's for starters. Once I get the parent company far enough, I will be able to help those under it." Valashu said, "Which in the long run, will make the pay higher. If all goes well, it might hundreds of millions a quarter in the long run. Really, it depends on what you want to run.

"My plans as it goes, are a science branch of Merr-Sonn, which will focus on making new types of gasses for blaster tech, medicinal, and other general sciences apply as well; the other will be specifically a ship company. It will take over the making of vehicles that Merr-Sonn does, and make them better. I am also tempted to make a sector for Droid and robotic sciences. But thay hasn't been decided." Valashu explained, "So, I guess it really depends on which you can overlook easiest. Both needn't have much involvement from you, other than being the boss, as the Science Decision will have its own scientists, the other its own engineers."

Waving to the diagram, "This could be yours if you want it. I just will need a continued involvement on your end. Starting with future prospects, similar to this one, where we might scout out more land, or look for organizations to make contracts with. Because building a company, that you will be running, for you won't be as easy as elevating one I own." He said, "In the long run, the devision you maintain will be yours to do with what you will, but I will have the final says so to veto any changes I do not appreciate with.

"To be honest, the only reason I offer such a control, is because I trust you. I have known you the longest out of everyone here in this galaxy, and this shows it. Anyone else? They would be legitimate figureheads, unable to make any choices of their own." He admitted with a shrug.

[member="Jules Crux"]

 

[Ronan Nakasla]

Well, that was pretty easy money. Four hundred grand a year was how much Jules would make if he was lucky, and did not get caught too many times conning swoop tracks out of every credit to their name. His life could be lucrative, but income was unreliable. He would never stop being a smuggler. It was in his blood and soul. His heart cried for the space lanes and to see the galaxy. This job? It would cut into his spacefaring to a degree, but the Tekka had long-range communications and a holonet transceiver. He did not have to be in the office to be in contact.

"Hmm," Crux milled the concept over while, staring at the building schematic.

The different options available to him ran through his head. He would not contribute to making more little demon robots, so droids were off the table. Ships and sciences both sounded interesting. Spacefaring was his life, and both of those offered ways to fuel that passion. Then, in the background of his mind, he heard Valashu mention the reasoning of this action. That caught him by surprise. People did a lot of things in regard to the young smuggler, but trust was never in that list. Whether or not that was unwise, Crux would never tell.

"Well, in that case, and money considered," he said, stepping around the hologram, "I'll take your offer. Science and ships are both fine with me, I could probably use them both in my er... private life." he said with a lopsided grin. Then he added on.

"That is, if you're sure you want a twenty-one-year-old smuggler running a branch of a multi-million credit corporation with nothing to his name but a ship and the gear he carries every day." he laughed then, but it was true. Jules was nobody except the owner of the Lorsan Tekka, which did not amount to much these days. It was the world to him, but his perspective and the powers that be in the Galaxy had different views.

[member="Matreya"]

 

[Zaiden Dean]

Valashu shrugged, "I'm but a few years older, with an even worse track record. At least you didn't spend over half of your life doing assassinations!" Pushing a button, a sound signaled, then he typed again, not as long however, "If you could decide which of those you can manage, it will be made a binding contract. You will be under complete control over the corporation soon enough when it is made, only under myself when it comes to the final say. You will keep a quarter the profits your company manages, with a quarter sent to the founding organization, Merr-Sonn Munitions, Inc. The remaining half is to be contributed as you see fit to the company under your command.

"We will be doing business with the Hutt Cartel, gaining slaves to work at our locales. These will be paid an allotted amount we agree on when the time comes, with promises of eventual freedom if they rise high enough in the food chain." He continued, "Other than here, what other location would you want a factory placed on?"

He grinned, "Sorry. Holorecording us so it is binding and easy to examine!"

[member="Jules Crux"]

 

[Ronan Nakasla]

Well, that was an understandable turn of events. It was also one that Jules felt that he should participate in as well. In the life he lived, one could never be too careful with business arrangements of any kind. Crux nearly felt he should thank Val for the idea as he took out his datapad from his coat and tapped it a few times, selecting programmes.

"You don't mind if I do the same then, right?" he shot Valashu a grin.

He tapped the record button, and then repeated the arrangement so far.

"So we agree to put me in semi-autonomous and complete management of Merr-Sonn Applied Sciences - I just thought of that, by the way - using Hutt-provided Slave workers on a work-to-freedom programme plus pay. My expected pay estimate is at an approximate minimum of one hundred thousand credits per quarter, dependent on Em-Sass' profits, with one quarter of the profits going to Merr-Sonn Munitions as a parent company. This should total to one half of the company's profits, and the other half goes into managing the facilities and funding projects, or whatever." he paused, to think for a moment. He lost his place a bit and then perked when he remembered what was next.

"So as you can tell, I want the Science Division, and I'm not sure where I want other than here. To be fair, I'd like to stake out more places here to set up shop. I have a whole planet to myself, after all!" he seemed giddy at the prospect. Excitement was starting to build as this venture started feeling more real.

[member="Matreya"]
Sorry it took so long.

 

[Zaiden Dean]

Valashu nodded and held out a hand to shake, "That covers it. I have plans to come back here and look the planet over more, but as is, presume to have basic control over the whole planet from what we have seen. Make that count. Expand." He said, placing Max back on his shoulder, "So, I will contact you soon enough, but for now, I bid you goodbye. It has been interesting friend. Lot less happened in the ways I expected, while more so in the other. Hopefully our path continues to surprise me!"

With that said, he vanished. He would be contacting Jules soon enough about the factory, adding in required tools and the like. But for now, he would enjoy the success, in the fashion of a walk amongst the lava craters on a planet recently refound.

[member="Jules Crux"]

Lol its all good. Figured we were doing a fade to black thing. This gives it a quick wrap up. Going to start with the next posts soon enough. Want to get the Applied Sciences sub in the works first though. Will likely do that tonight.