Eye in the Sky

[Darth Osano]

NABOO
THEED PALACE SPACE VESSEL ENGINEERING CORPS HEADQUARTERS

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

Maleagant was back on Naboo. Again. Though this time he was here to spend money rather than make it. The historical Naboo were known for their starfighters. Not the pervasiveness of their probe droids and sophisticated sensor equipment. That had been a more recent development and one which Maleagant was particularly keen to cash in on. He would have come earlier, but the timing wasn't right. If he had moved then, he would have just been some lowlife looking to get ahead. Now he was a much more respectable lowlife with a proven track record of amicable dealings with the government of Naboo. Of course, the detainee had since escaped, but that wasn't his fault.

And even if it wasn't his fault, Maleagant would do everything in his power to assist in the criminal's recovery. Part of that effort would involve the products of Theed Hangar being stationed at key points in the Pentastar Sectors. The price of Nashar's freedom was eternal vigilance for those who had a hand in his capture, not that it helped very much after that debacle on Ziost... Well, publicly, Maleagant still needed to be able to sniff Nashar out before he came to him. That way he could rough him up again and bring him right back here to Naboo. Perhaps Lady Pyne would distinguish his particular bravery with a lavish award ceremony. Or dinner.

He could dream.

His reverie was interrupted when a secretary came to fetch him from the waiting room, as Lady Ajira Cardei was now ready to see him. The Rattataki stood up, smoothed out his expensive suit, and followed her to the office. Although still a bit on the pale and ashy side, Maleagant's eyes had lost their red coloration. He appeared much like any other particularly civilized Rattataki. Red eyes tended to be something of a liability when visiting worlds with a notable Jedi presence.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Maleagant"] had a nice suit. Not the kind of suit that a wealthy man wore in Theed, to be sure, but he'd have blended in well on Coruscant. Ajira, for her part, wore burgundy robes trimmed in gold thread, because a lady of Theed Palace wore certain things when doing business. She stood from behind her asymmetric ivory desk and smoothed out her robe down the sides of her hips with a quick, brisk motion. Then she extended her hand to shake.

"Mister Maleagant, I'm Lady Cardei. Welcome to Naboo."

She resumed her seat and rested her hands in her lap. Something about him sparked innate distrust, just a little bit. Then again, she'd been Empress of the Sith and Arbiter of the Fringe: sometimes linoleum and ice cream sparked innate distrust.

"I understand your corporation to have specific needs in the field of mobile SIGINT collection. Tell me - what does your average customer look like? And what, if anything, would I tell Galactic Alliance authorities who have concerns about the ultimate destination of the information collected?"

 

[Darth Osano]

"A pleasure, your ladyship." He shook her hand, silently reminding himself not to grovel too hard this time. This was strictly business. No reason to avert eyes this time around.

Like a lot of people, [member="Ajira Cardei"] had a lot of concerns about where the intelligence he and his people gathered ended up. Strictly speaking, it rarely left the hands of the Helix Syndicate unless they had been contracted specifically to find something out. Because most of the information harvested was used for purposes of blackmail. Even the most financially stressed targets somehow always came up with the money when their marriages, livelihoods, and reputations were on the line. Other times it was used for the rooting out of competition or just to get the Syndicate a little more ahead in the game against rival companies. That hardly made for a good story, though.

After taking a seat, Maleagant explained. "The Syndicate has contracts with several planetary governments, Muunilinist, Borosk, and Dubrillion to name a few. We locate and track pirate activity in their sectors."

As was often the unfortunate case, those two industries had been on the rise ever since the Mandalorian Crusaders returned to the dirt. It would have been nice to say that they had been curbing such activities during their limited time as a functional entity, but they hadn't. The pirates and slavers just saw opportunity in the transitional chaos the local governments would have to put up with and staked their claims. "If it pleases, you may tell them our actions have saved several merchant companies from destruction and made the hyperlanes of the Alignment a much safer place."

The paper trail to verify all this did exist, should Lady Cardei feel the need to independently investigate his claims. Maleagant often found that the best way to lie to people was to tell the truth.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Maleagant"]

At this level, due diligence took on a whole new meaning, and one man's assurances counted for relatively little. Ajira's inbox currently contained a customer OSINT report, along with briefing appendices on the Pentastar Alignment. The 'risk assessment' section was particularly robust.

The consensus among her analysts: Helix was sketchy as all feth, but its legitimate operations and government contracts checked out. Certain bureaucrats on Borosk sang Maleagant's praises, just for starters.

"The Alliance has a history of seeing what it would like to see, Mister Maleagant. The favoured are ignored; the unfavoured are examined; and it's possible to switch from one to the other in a heartbeat. It would be in both our interests to make sure that your actions in this region, especially involving our technology, partake of the right...colour scheme. Am I understood?"

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

Maleagant suddenly regretted the choice in color scheme employed in the Helix Syndicate's iconography. It wasn't like it was supposed to hint at some Sith or otherwise Dark Sided affiliation. The fact was that it was the color scheme of the Guavian Death Gang, which the Syndicate had evolved out of. Not that this necessarily sounded all that much better. Did an absence of magical space powers necessarily make one group of greedy sociopaths better than the rest? The Shi'ido shifted in his seat, but did not look away.

"Completely." He replied.

At the end of the day there was not really all that much elbow room for the Syndicate to start picking fights in or around Galactic Alliance space. Even if the Sith (not that Maleagant knew of any Sith or had connections with any Sith, thank you very much) somehow reorganized themselves, the Helix Syndicate would hopefully be situated far away from their theater of operations. There was no reason or incentive for them to openly or secretly partner with an entire Sith faction at this stage of the game. Especially not when the best technology was fielded by the other side.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Maleagant"]

"Good. The very last thing you need in this corner of the galaxy is some Alliance zealot believing you might support dictators, criminals, or Sith. It should also go without saying that in-depth scans inside Alliance territory may not be wise. The sensor technologies we offer are not combat-oriented, but some look at them and see only targeting and strategic surveillance equipment - much as a man with only a hammer sees every problem as a nail.

"Let's take a look at a more comprehensive kind of toolbox. The Jamillia-class cruiser, with its multi-hundred-metre sensor pylons. The S-3 scout fighter. The RASP probe launcher. The towed array. The INCIS, SIARC, SUREC, and EXPARC probes. What do you need, and in what quantity?"

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

If she were intentionally trying to make the idea of operating around Alliance space less and less appealing, it would have worked if the appeal were not already in the severe negative digits. Once Maleagant had everything he needed in his back pocket, the aforementioned zealots were welcome to shout about whatever they want. They were probably right anyway.

"We are looking to purchase five of the cruisers, three of the fighters, and establish a supply contract for the probes." Maleagant retrieved a datapad from the interior of his coat and humbly submitted it to Lady Cardei to review. It would, of course, contain the majority of the number crunching as handled by the relevant department within the Syndicate. "Diligence and thoroughness are our current priorities, your grace, and we are willing to spend quite a lot to achieve both."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Maleagant"]

"I see."

Ajira took a glance through the numbers, confirming the speculation she'd just made.

"We have no problem filling this order, Mister Maleagant. However, let me suggest an alternate approach that would be somewhat cheaper and considerably more effective. The Jamillia-class cruiser is a strategic-scale reconnaissance coordinator. The ship's capabilities are significant, but they're only part of the picture. You could imagine the cruiser within concentric, nested spheres of influence. At the extreme tactical range, you have the ship's primary sensors and probe launchers; beyond that, you have the range of the ship's towed array; beyond that, you have the range of the hypercapable SUREC probes. So far, we're talking about the capabilities of the ship itself. At strategic ranges, though -- such as across a solar system or a sector -- the Jamillia relies on a squadron of S-3 scout fighters and a squadron of Lucerne Labs LL-1400 scout ships or equivalents, for long-range probe deployment and localized scans. The Jamillia's strength is its ability to coordinate and synthesize all of that material. The Jamillia also carries a squadron of defensive fighters or heavier scouts.

"In essence, I'd suggest purchasing four cruisers, four squadrons of Soruna-class defensive fighters, and four or eight squadrons of S-3 probe deployment scouts, depending on whether you have avenues to purchase heavy scouts for your third squadron per ship. That's how you'll get the most value out of your budget."

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

Maleagant found himself leaning back in his chair, momentarily astounded. Most nobility-gone-businessmen he had dealt with in Alignment space were rarely of a mindset that afforded their customers any... Benefits. They just took the money and ushered him out. Who was she? Things were just different here on Naboo. How nice for them. Being a favored planet for the good-aligned parties of the galaxy did wonders for general attitude and outlook, he supposed. "I..."

He recovered the datapad, politely, and went over the numbers himself. He had spent several years as a Givin, this was nothing terribly new or frightening for him to do just now, with his own two eyes. As she had indicated, there was less cost involved. Someone sitting in this room had not done their homework or properly envisioned how this technology was supposed to work.

"I see." Said the someone. "That... Will do. We'll make it eight squadrons."

Apparently he had the extra money for it to throw around now.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Maleagant"]

A faint smile. "No need to be nonplussed, Mister Maleagant. If the Jamillia-class cruiser had been a normal kind of sensor vessel, your estimation would have been spot on. You lacked a frame of reference for how unique the ship's role and function actually are. You came to us for our expertise, and that's what we aim to provide, in such a way that we acquire repeat customers. There's also an issue of image: you will be the first private-sector buyer of the Jamillia-class, and it behooves us to make sure that you're in a position to use the ship and its complement to their full extent. Speaking as someone who's commanded a Jamillia-class in a number of sector-wide surveillance and intelligence operations, may I encourage you to get as much experience testing your new ships' capabilities as possible. Try ambitious exercises. Push the limits of the toolkit that you're purchasing. There is no ship like the Jamillia, Mister Maleagant; there never has been. We're in uncharted waters, and even I don't know the full possibilities of the ship's permutations and combinations. We're eager to learn from your success stories."

A pause, a tilt of the head, and another smile.

"Just whatever you do, don't try to take a Jamillia into combat."