Fire Just Waiting for the Fuel, Part I

[Darth Osano]

VELCAR FREE COMMERCE ZONE

The Helix Syndicate’s continuing expansion through the Pentastar Sectors was beginning to draw some attention. Established criminal cartels like the Waylon Syndicate were relatively easy foes, but now the Helix Syndicate’s power and influence were growing to such a degree that that other powers were taking notice. Powers like the three corporate giants that made up the Velcar Free Commerce Zone: Dynamic Automata, Galentro Heavy Works, and the PowerOn Conglomeration. These were rich, well established companies that held tremendous economic clout within their sector. More than enough to rival the Helix Syndicate.

And now they were joining forces to stymie the Syndicate’s advances.

Maleagant supposed it was really only a matter of time before they stepped in. If he were among established powers, he would have gladly aligned with them in order to snuff out an upstart. Maleagant tried not to take it too personally. It was just business. But now since Dynamic Automata was leading its two peers in the charge to prevent the opening of several new Helix Syndicate mining facilities, Maleagant would be forced to respond in kind. They undoubtedly would take this personally. An attack against Dynamic would be an attack on the whole coalition, and the Helix Syndicate would be outgunned and outmanned in a three against one battle.

Fine. He relished the opportunity. He had come this far, farther than ever before. He was willing to gamble with it and emerge victorious. If he did that, the underworld power dynamic of the Pentastar Sectors would be forever changed. The Helix Syndicate would become, and remain for as long as it could, the uncontested master of this region of space. It would be a hard fought battle, but then again most of the battles worth fighting were. Otherwise, what would be the point? Maleagant counted himself lucky that the coalition’s opening move had been so lackluster, mere containment and legal action.

Maleagant’s would be a touch more… Direct.

 

[Darth Osano]

FORT AMARANTH

Maleagant’s office in Fort Amaranth was nothing exceedingly special. The humanoid rarely spent time here, preferring to be on the move and handling the business of running this company himself. It was only during suitably dramatic meetings that Maleagant held court here. This time it was Eugene who entered, a flimsiplast file tucked under his arm. Maleagant seemed at ease, feet kicked up on the desk, hands folded across his chest, eyes closed.

“Boss.”

He neglected to open his eyes. “Yes?”

Eugene held the folder in front of him, opening it slightly. “Found a good contact for us.”

“Leave it there.”

Eugene nodded briskly, closing the folder and leaving it on the desk by Maleagant’s feet. His employer still did not open his eyes, and did not do so until long after he left. This was a little something Maleagant liked to call meditation. It was something Sith were supposed to do, he had heard. Sharpened the mind. Gave them focus. Perhaps he was a little more comfortable than a Sith ought to have been, but who was here to tell him otherwise? No one, that’s who. Maleagant ran his own show here.

After a time, the Acolyte’s eyes creaked open and he rejoined the fully waking world, feeling refreshed. See? If it had been a nap he would have felt groggy and irritable, his mouth would have been dry. On the downside, his feet had fallen asleep, and dragged them clumsily off the desk and sat up straight. He cracked his knuckles and got back to business.

The folder Eugene had been handed contained comprehensive information regarding one Raul Ginemen. Since the advent of spy satellites over various planets, the fine-tuning of their network of informants, and the establishment of nearly half a dozen more listening posts throughout the Pentastar Sectors, acquiring new targets for subterfuge and blackmail was easier than it had ever been before. Ginemen was of particular note, because he was an engineer with high clearance working at Dynamic Automata. And he had a long list of things on his record he would never necessarily want his employer, his neighbors, or his friends and family to find out about.

It was always the quiet ones. Who would have thought a fat little nerd like Ginemen used to run maintenance on a slave ship? Nobody. But everyone leaves a footprint. Everyone. No matter how far behind they think the past might be, no matter how carefully they tried to cover up their tracks. There was always someone else who knew something, anything, and the whole thing would come unraveled.

Ginemen would be blackmailed. Just like thousands before him and the millions that would be afterward. An experimental set of malware being developed by the Syndicate was going to be installed into Dynamic Automata’s internal holonet system. The malware would be used to monitor Automata’s activities and internal communications, opening up a discrete link so that it could be accessed by the Syndicate. Ginemen was going to implant it for them… Unless, of course, he wanted the local authorities to end up with his record.

 

[Darth Osano]

KATARN DEBT COLLECTION CENTER

He had waited too long.

Not long after Dynamic Automata’s internal holonet communications had been compromised did someone move against him. Maleagant departed personally, alongside Deglarch, to the Katarn Debt Collection Center on Yaga Minor. He had already been appraised of the situation, but now they were just uncovering what was missing. Or altered. Maleagant could only hazard a guess as to what had happened or what the motive had been, but one thing was for sure: every inch of this facility’s computer servers was going to need to be scrubbed, reset, or swapped out.

He met Deglarch on one of the landing pads, the Morgukai looking thoroughly displeased about the entire affair. On-site security was his main duty and for the first time since the inception of the Helix Syndicate, he had experienced a failure. Deglarch led him through the halls, bringing him to the entrance to a databank.

“He disguised himself in a maintenance officer’s uniform.”

“How do we know that?”

Deglarch shrugged. “We found a dead, naked maintenance officer. He got the jump on the two guards out here, cut both their throats before they could raise an alarm. The cameras were hacked as well.”

Could this have been a lone wolf? Or had help come from the inside? A troubling thought, that his own employees could be compromised. Then again, he shouldn’t have been surprised, as compromising employees of other companies was something he did almost every day, despite the odds.

“Did he have help?” Maleagant asked.

“Not sure. Eugene’s working over some of the security guards now. He’ll be background checking them again as well.”

“And what did he take?”

“Nothing, so far as I see.” Deglarch gave another shrug. “But he did access our employee records, the manifests, itineraries. Whose debt we’re collecting on when.”

They were planning on using that to track down his Enforcers and attack them, Maleagant guessed. Hopefully. It might have been a diversion for something else they did, maybe compromise his internal communication lines as he had done to them. Could they have already found out about Ginemen’s betrayal? No, Ginemen was still alive and employed. Ostensibly, anyway. They wouldn’t be rooting out that malware any time soon. Fortunately, what they had left here would be nothing like the Crimson Codex in terms of difficulty to seek and destroy.

Maleagant nodded. “Rahgot will scramble the itinerary. You will examine every inch of every server we own to make sure no threats have been implanted.”

Deglarch nodded dutifully. “As you wish.”

The opening shots in this war were still being fired. Soon enough, Maleagant realized, all hell would break loose.

 

[Darth Osano]

FORT AMARANTH

Seyugi Dervishes were expensive mercenaries, but by now they had been assured that the Helix Syndicate’s credit was good. It hadn’t been that long ago that their services had been used to remove some unsavory people, corporate and otherwise, who were obstructing the construction of the Helix Syndicate’s first debt mines. They all met violent, uncomfortable ends. What was more impressive than their penchant for dramatic executions and thorough massacres was their ability to infiltrate seemingly secure facilities without very much issue.

Dynamic Automata had increased security clamp down on its factories, only shortly after the Katarn Debt Center break in. The same had happened with Galentro Heavy Works and PowerOn Conglomeration. It was almost as if they were anticipating a strike against them at any given moment, but remained blissfully unaware that the Helix Syndicate had already struck first. The Syndicate was spying on virtually everyone who worked for the company, finding various methods to blackmail or otherwise pressure them into minor acts of sabotage.

It was blindsiding to Dynamic Automata’s leadership, to say the least. How so many small mistakes could be adding up so quickly. Files were going missing, defects in blueprints becoming more frequent. Internal investigations turned up very little, as did inquiries into their cyber security divisions. Largely because those employees were also being blackmailed into silence. What a wonderful galaxy.

Meanwhile, Dynamic Automata’s largest factory had appeared virtually untouchable. It was staffed entirely by droids and had been deemed impossible to break into. Perhaps for the lesser sort of mercenary, but the Seyugi Dervishes were not the lesser sort of mercenary. Although they were assassins by trade, the Helix Syndicate had hired this one to infiltrate Dynamic Automata’s factory. There wasn’t going to be any murdering taking place. Unless one counted a devastating strike against Automata’s finances as murder.

The Dervish’s job was only to sneak into the factory, slice into the production computers, and replace Dynamic Automata’s pre-programmed schematics with malfunctioning ones dreamt up by a particularly sadistic Syndicate employee.

Eugene frowned, looking up from the file and back to Maleagant. “There’s no way that’s going to work.”

“Have you ever met a Seyugi Dervish?” Maleagant asked, eyes neglecting to open once again.

“No.”

Maleagant gave a sort of light, half-shrug. “Then I understand why you would think that.”

Weeks trudged by, and soon enough Dynamic Automata was issuing recalls to the various droid manufacturing companies they did business with. Something wrong with the circuits, droids were either attacking everyone within range or shutting down randomly. Dynamic Automata’s largest factory was shut down until they could investigate what happened.

Somewhere, a Seyugi Dervish was deciding what to do with three hundred thousand credits.

 

[Darth Osano]

FORT AMARANTH

Maleagant’s eyes were open and filled with fury. He was hunched over his desk, hands meshed in front of him now. Rahgot was standing before him, the Mandallian Giant somehow looking small when confronted with the fury of his employer and liberator. “How many were killed?”

“Forty-seven in all, yes.”

“In simultaneous attacks?”

“Yes.”

Not long after Dynamic Automata’s crippling recall, a series of attacks had been launched. They were confined to Yaga Minor for now, but Maleagant anticipated they would soon take place elsewhere. Probably on Dubrillion, although the location of Fort Amaranth remained a secret. Very few people had any idea where the Helix Syndicate’s headquarters were. That wouldn’t change. But their collection center’s operations on Dubrillion would be targeted.

As Rahgot had explained, forty-seven were dead. Forty-seven Enforcers had been ambushed while collecting on debts across Yaga Minor, forty-seven had been killed. There were no survivors and their helmets had been removed, taking with them any possibility of reviewing footage to find out what happened. Communications had also been scrambled for all of the deceased Enforcers, preventing them for calling on backup or for evacuation. These were coordinated attacks and had been executed meticulously.

Far too professional for the Waylon Syndicate. It could only be Dynamic Automata or one of its partners. Probably Galentro, they were known for consorting with the more professional mercenary outfits. Maleagant would comb his contacts to find out who later. For the time being, they would need to continue to focus their efforts on Dynamic Automata. To divert concentration now would only allow Dynamic to recover. That couldn’t be allowed. Maleagant would take them all to task one at a time. The mercenaries and Galentro could wait their turn.

“Inspect our servers again. Be more thorough.” Maleagant ordered. “No fewer than five man teams deployed. Make sure everyone has a weapon. A weapon. Not a stun baton.”

These murders had prompted an emergency shut-down on the Katarn Center’s activities. Quite a few working days lost and would be lost as long as this was under investigation. But thanks to the diverse range of Syndicate operations, Maleagant wouldn’t be losing nearly as much money as Dynamic and its allies thought he would be.

The Mandallian Giant turned to leave, but Maleagant stopped him. “Rahgot,” he said. “No more mistakes.”

 

[Darth Osano]

PENTASTAR SECTORS

Since Dynamic Automata wanted to play the game of intelligence and subversion, Maleagant resolved to oblige them. The Helix Syndicate was now in possession of the deepest and most intricate web of informants and contacts in all of the Pentastar Sectors. Government intelligence agents to petty criminals. Most of them didn’t even know who they were actually working for, or that they were part of the intelligence network the Helix Syndicate controlled. That was the best part of it, really… Made it harder for them to rat Maleagant and his men out.

In any case, many of those contacts were in the corporate sphere.

People in the corporate sphere, especially the ones who owned stock, were such jumpy people. They were so eager to jump ship and dump their shares at the first sign of trouble. This was a very easy thing to exploit. Probably among the easiest as far as Maleagant could be concerned. Maleagant began seeding false information among the more prominent stock brokers of the Pentastar Sectors, telling them to spread the rumor or risk blackmailing. They informed their clients that Dynamic Automata’s CEO was preparing an initiative to prune most of the mid-ranking executives in an effort to root out corruption. A course of action that would cripple the company’s productivity and deprecate its value substantially.

The markets went ballistic, predictably.

It wasn’t enough to just hear rumors of inner turmoil and destruction. Action had to be taken. So far the Syndicate’s actions against Dynamic Automata had been relatively private affairs. No one outside of Dynamic Automata and Helix Syndicate’s leadership seemed to be aware. That would change after so many Enforcers had wound up dead on Yaga Minor. Now the galaxy had to be aware that the Syndicate was not only going to hit back, but hit back twice as hard. Suddenly, pirate raids became increasingly common on freighters carrying Dynamic Automata products. Raiders were launching sporadic assaults against Dynamic Automata’s manufacturing plants, particularly the ones with human employees.

Dynamic Automata faced widespread resignations from its manufacturing personnel. Commonplace factory workers, by and large. They replaced them with droids. This turned out to be an awful decision that the Helix Syndicate couldn’t even take credit for tricking them into making. The workers subsequently organized and went on strike, protesting that their company would rather spend money on shadow wars and droids than invest in the safety of their employees. Negative publicity skyrocketed. Production plummeted briefly, then resumed. Not that it had recovered all that much from the espionage conducted by the Seyugi Dervish yet.

The problems were still piling on and Dynamic Automata was struggling to get its allies to shoulder the burden.

 

[Darth Osano]

FORT AMARANTH

“You shouldn’t have paid that ransom.” Maleagant hissed, stalking out from behind his desk. He pointed a finger accusingly at Eugene, eyes flaring with anger. “You should have searched instead. Struck back!”

Eugene was a professional soldier. He was used to being yelled at by his superiors. He stood there like he was back at boot camp, hands clasped behind his back and gaze fixated dead ahead. If Maleagant noted his cool demeanor, it did little to reduce his rage. Five hundred thousand credits. Wasted. On a kidnapped informant, no less. Never mind that it was one of their more important informants. She was one of the more well connected ones in this game of information the Syndicate played, but that didn’t meant they were responsible for her safety.

She should have been more careful.

Money was a precious material. Maybe not as precious as it used to be, but in sufficiently large quantities… “Half a million… And what did we get back, Eugene?”

Maleagant turned to yank a box that had been placed on his desk. It had been mailed to a post office box that no one should have known belonged to him. The informant in question had known, though, and now Maleagant had every reason to believe that she had been made to talk before her untimely demise. “What did this investment yield?”

He threw the box to the floor in front of Eugene. The lid tumbled off, a severed hand tumbled out. A female humanoid hand, a specific signet ring still around one of the fingers.

“Nothing!” Maleagant roared. “She is still gone and your account drained!”

Eugene was staring at the hand now. He couldn’t look away.

Maleagant knew why. Eugene had been intimate with her. He shouldn’t have been. Professional attachments turning emotional were a liability, but Eugene had been a model employee and there hadn’t been a conflict going on then. He could afford to overlook his employee’s discretions. But now someone in that thrice-damned corporate coalition had found out and exploited it. They knew Eugene would have paid fifty million if he had the credits. This wasn’t even about the money at the end of the day. It was sowing internal turmoil.

“Get out of my office.” The Sithling hissed. “I will not tolerate any more of your... Fraternizing. Do you understand me? You’re on leave. No pay. Get out.”

This was what Dynamic Automata wanted, Maleagant realized. Sort of. They probably would have liked him to kill Eugene, or fire him, or spark a civil war. But Maleagant fancied himself smarter than that. The details of this loss of money would go no further than this room. Maleagant had already seen to that. He couldn’t just let Eugene off without some kind of disciplinary action either.

 

[Darth Osano]

OLDTOWN MINING HEADQUARTERS

Oldtown Mining received most of its business from Dynamic Automata. Dynamic Automata had a voracious appetite for the minerals and materials required to mass produce droid circuit boards and other various electronics for their products. Oldtown Mining was more than happy to provide these materials to Dynamic Automata, because Dynamic Automata paid their bills on time. Unfortunately for them, all wars were bound to have their fair share of innocent casualties. Innocent casualties.

Maleagant’s red-ringed eyes never left Oldtown’s representative, a skittish Neimoidian. “I’m glad you decided to meet with us.” He said.

The meeting room was devoid of people, save for Maleagant and the Neimoidian. Of course, if Maleagant needed backup, there were seven shuttles filled with Guavian commandos waiting to be deployed. He doubted that would be the case, though, with all the fear and indignation seeping off of him.

“Not like you’ve given us a choice.”

“You’ve agreed to our terms, then.”

The Neimoidian sighed. “We have.”

The Helix Syndicate could have, quite easily, put out the same hit on Oldtown Mining as it had on Dynamic Automata. They could have crashed their stock, assaulted their workers, contracted pirates to raid their shipments… But in a rare act of mercy, Maleagant had decided to simply use the threat of force rather than force itself. Some would say this was because he understood Oldtown mining really, at its core, wanted no part in this war. The perceptive would assert that it was because one of Maleagant’s employees had wasted the allocated budget on a failed ransom.

Some people just had no idea how to do their job.

Oldtown did, though. They understood that while it wouldn’t be easy finding supply contracts to replace their deal with Dynamic Automata, it would be much harder to pay for the life insurance policies or recover from abject destruction. Maleagant decided to take his perceived act of mercy a little bit further, however. In exchange for their withdrawal of the contract, the Helix Syndicate would help them find new business arrangements and protect them from reprisals from Dynamic Automata.

Well, the first one they would do, anyway. In reality they were more than aware that Dynamic Automata was barely in a position to function, let alone exact vengeance on a former ally. Still, these were included in the terms. Because people were more likely to willingly swallow a bitter pill if you could convince them it was sweet.

 

[Darth Osano]

DYNAMIC AUTOMATA HEADQUARTERS

You had to wonder, when everyone started dumping their shares in Dynamic Automata, who started buying them?

Now that this question has been asked, you probably know the answer.

The Helix Syndicate now had a larger stake in Dynamic Automata than they had any business having. Of course, this was not readily obvious to the current senior shareholders and the majority leader. They were owned through proxies and false names. No one of the Helix Syndicate shareholders held enough stock to warrant a place on the board of directors. Just the fact that collectively they could have would be enough to spook Dynamic Automata’s leadership.

So naturally the Helix Syndicate did what came naturally: intimidation. The CEO was contacted and after being informed of the situation and his colossal failure, was pressured into resigning. Once it came time to select a new CEO, the Helix Syndicate manipulated two of the other shareholders into nominating and voting for a Helix Syndicate patsy. And of course, when that new CEO won, it put the Helix Syndicate in indirect control of the company.

Far be it for Maleagant to pass up the opportunity to gloat. He was an aspiring Sith Knight, after all.

“You are all angry. I understand.” Maleagant said to the assembled stockholders. Former stockholders. “But remember, it's not personal.”

Oh, the anguish. The despair, the burning hatred that roiled off these men. Beaten at their own game by a Syndicate of upstarts. Bullies and criminals, unscrupulous ne’er-do-wells. And they had just seized control of their failing company like it was just another debt acquisition. What would happen now? A lesson, of course. A reminder of what would potentially happen to others who decided to get in the way of the Helix Syndicate’s progress.

“Those of you who give up your shares in the next forty-eight hours will be allowed to live. The rest, we will take them by other means.”

The shares wouldn't be "given up," per say. They would just be bought at probably a quarter of the already disgustingly low market value. And if there was any sort of hesitation in that regard, a few broken bones dolled out by some Enforcers would quicken the process. What were they going to do? Fight him? With what army? Galentro had already withdrawn and PowerOn was answering no communications. Dynamic’s allies had given up and turned inward at the first sign of trouble, it seemed. Maleagant basked in his bloating. It was euphoric to be able to prance around like this, shoving his victory into the faces of people who had thought themselves so much better than him.

Maleagant continued addressing the shareholders, even as some of them left in anger. “Don’t worry. Your friends are next. You will all have company soon enough.”

These people hated him. But they feared him as well, and that suited Maleagant’s purposes just fine.

 

[Darth Osano]

FORT AMARANTH

The newly elected CEO of Dynamic Automata floated gently, up and down, inside the confines of his bacta tank. His burns, which covered eighty percent of his body, were healing quite nicely. So far. Various tubes were hooked up to the man as the miracle healing solution worked its magic. Maleagant observed the CEO. Rahgot stood several feet behind him and Deglarch nearby. After a seemingly endless stretch of silence, the Acolyte spoke.

“Perhaps gloating was not a good idea.”

Neither lieutenant said anything.

Annoyed by the silence, Maleagant rolled his eyes and turned around. “Since both of you were in charge of his security, perhaps you could tell me what happened.”

“Speeder bomb.” Deglarch said. “Not on one of ours. They came screaming down the road, rammed it right into his speeder. Never saw it coming.”

Maleagant turned around, eyeing Rahgot. The Mandallian Giant seemed unbothered, featureless white eyes looking somberly between Deglarch and his superior. Clearly he seemed to be taking his loss of glory in protecting the CEO… Hard.

“Yes, you’re right. You didn’t see it coming.” Maleagant said scathingly. “You were unprepared. You allowed this to happen. You, my security specialist. Now eleven of our men are dead, thirteen wounded.”

Deglarch was a Morgukai and awfully unused to being spoke to in such a manner. Then again, Maleagant was his employer. It was just recently that the Acolyte had taken a more aggressive and demanding tone with his subordinates. Probably a symptom of his envelopment into Sith teachings as of late. Deglarch elected to hold his tongue instead of ripping out Maleagant’s. He could have. He knew he could have. But Rahgot probably would have intervened, and Deglarch didn’t like his odds with the Mandallian so close by…

“This isn’t some amateur outfit any more, Deglarch. You are a high-ranking executive in a galactic organization. This little blunder could have cost us everything.” His gaze swiveled to Rahgot. “Are you listening to me?”

“Yes.” Rahgot said, bowing his head.

Maleagant clasped his hands behind his back, his furious glare failing to subside but his tone never drifting out of its usual flat, impassiveness. “You have both failed me for the last time.” He said. Or paraphrased if you're at all familiar with Darth Vader-isms. “There will be no mistakes going forward, because there will be no room for mistakes going forward. Am I clear?”

Rahgot nodded slowly. “Yes, sir.”
“Crystal.” Said Deglarch.

He should have killed them both. But a Morgukai and a Mandallian Giant? These were lieutenants that didn't grow on trees. Besides, Maleagant was confident his inspiring speech would prevent any blunders in the future.

“Stay with him until he regains consciousness.” Maleagant ordered, already leaving. “I’ll be cleaning up this mess myself.”

 

[Darth Osano]

DYNAMIC AUTOMATA

In the days following the recovery of the CEO, Dynamic Automata as a company went through the process of ceasing to exist. Factories and warehouses were destroyed or sold off. Blueprints and production rights pawned off in large auctions that generated millions in revenue. Droids were sold to scrap companies, employees given their notice of dismissal. It was a grim day for many people who had made a living with this company, some of whom had been there for many decades.

Very sad. So sad, Maleagant was cry. But it had not been Maleagant’s decision to dismantle this company. That fell squarely upon the shoulders of Dynamic Automata’s now-former leadership. They had started this war and Maleagant had ended the first campaign of it with a resounding victory. Perhaps, in the future, someone would re-found Dynamic Automata. The intellectual rights to the name had also been sold off as well, apparently. Maleagant was looking to squeeze as many credits out of this baleful affair as he could, considering Eugene’s terrible spending habit.

He would be on leave for some time, that one.

All the more time for Maleagant to consolidate power on his own, he supposed. Perhaps better than the profits gleaned from selling off Dynamic Automata’s material assets and dissolving the company was that two locations, one on Entralla and one on New Bakstree, were perfect for conversion into Helix Syndicate Collections Facilities. Maleagant pocketed these two factories for himself. Construction crews and other contractors were already on there way there to affect these new changes.

More interesting than that, however, was the recovery of some projects Dynamic Automata had been working on. There were several prototypes for an advanced series of droid brain being prototyped by the company, as well as a programming suite meant to function specifically with that droid brain and in tandem with a highly sophisticated targeting system. Maleagant could not afford to spend too much time concerning himself with this discovery as of now, but he did order one of the Syndicate’s surveillance divisions to keep tabs on the recently fired engineers who had been working on the project.

Perhaps he would have use for them later.

Perhaps it was time to roll the credits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2GdvYYAXCA​