First Order: Scaled Negotiations

[Valessia Brentioch]

First Imperial Vessel Ciena Ree, somewhere outside of Varonat's FIS Kuragin, on the way to Bespin to check in on mining production. She was notified that the Grand Moff and the FIV Concordia would be arriving in a nearby system and while it was not on her way to Bespin, Valessia dare not 'miss' the opportunity to hand in her reports personally. Additionally, @Maelion Liates of ArchAngel was the subject of her next report, from what she recalled and noted from reports surrounding the First Order's Economic Summit. ArchAngel had been one of the many companies that the First Order had been interested in contracting for planetary defenses. "Ensign Günther, tell Captain Dietrich to divert course and meet with the Concordia, best not to keep the Grand Moff waiting."

"Of course your ladyship, at once," Ensign Günther snapped his heels and saluted, he'd been assigned as the trade representative's personal liaison. Valessia was in her own office aboard the Ree, where she oversaw most of the supplies that ran throughout First Imperial territory and reported straight to [member="Natasi Fortan"], the Grand Moff of the Order. While Valessia's ride to the upper house of the Trade Hall was scandalous and quite honestly about as crude as any noble vying for power. She had been working quite well within the upper house's politicians and businessmen and has since applied what she's learned there to the First Order.

She looked down at her terminal and pulled up her directory and placed a call to [member="Ludolf Vaas"], Field Marshal. "Marshal Vaas, Representative Brentioch here, I'm about to meet with the Grand Moff regarding a planetary defense contract with ArchAngel, did you wish to holo in for the meeting or can one of the officers aboard the Ree or the Concordia report back to you about the results of the meeting?"

Ensign Günther returned and waited to give his report.

"We're diverting course now, actually," she tells the Field Marshal, "and once I'm on Bespin I'll be checking in on our mining production, is there anything you wish for me to see while I'm on Bespin, Field Marshal Vaas?"

Once he had responded, Valessia thanked him for his time and disconnected the holo call. She turned her attention to the Ensign, "yes Günther?" She inquired looking up from her desk as she gathered her data tablets and organized them.

"Course has been diverted, would you like to take a shuttle to the Concordia or will you be taking your Phantom?"

"A shuttle shall suffice, but thank you, have you had tea yet, Ensign?" She asked him and he shook his head no, "why don't we get tea while I contact the Grand Moff, mhmm?"

The Ensign nodded and followed after the representative. Walking from her office and into the corridor, she had a guard of two marines in addition to the Ensign escort her to the turbolift while she contacted [member="Sioux Chambers"]. "Chambers, this is Representative Brentioch, Captain Dietrich informs me that the Concordia is near by, the Ree's diverting course to rendezvous and I've just spoken with Field Marshal Vaas."

In the lift she waited for Sioux's reply, "I'll be taking a shuttle to the Concordia and I'll have two marine escorts in addition to Ensign Günther who has been assigned as my liasion while I'm aboard the Ree, and I will have all of my reports read for the Grand Moff." Once the lift reached the appropriate level, Valessia walked off the lift and headed for the cafeteria.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Valessia Brentioch"]
Across the galaxy on Loronar, Maelion Liates removed a microscopic piece of lint which had somehow adhered to her jacket.

Walking into the meeting room she keyed the holocom and let it establish the link with the First Order delegation.

This meeting was exceptionally useful for Archangel as it would give them a new and major customer to trade with and allow for their droids to be used by more people.

As always, she would be known as Anna Comnena during this meeting, as that was her alias as co-owner of Archangel Research & Development.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Heels click-click-clicked down the polished deckplates of the Concordia as Natasi left her meeting with the bridge crew. As usual, she had an assistant in tow, to whom she was conveying instructions. "And I'll need to speak with the Commissioner right after this meeting. The flooding in Kalast City is nothing to be trifled with, so we'll need to get funds and forces flowing as soon as possible. I know he's worried, but for Balance sake, that's why we have insurance." They rounded a corner, stepped into a waiting turbolift, and were off to the next floor. During the journey, Natasi didn't stop. "And then if you can see that the battle readiness reports are copied to the Grand Admiral, General von Brinkerhoff, the Supreme Leader and the Supreme Commander, that would be perfect. Thank you."

They stepped out onto the next floor, where Natasi was met by another assistant. There was an awkward walking transition as the Grand Moff handed off a few folders of documents she had been signing while they walked. The first assistant peeled off, did a U-turn, and stepped back into the turbolift. The second assistant stepped into rhythm beside Natasi. "I'll want Lieutenant Fortan for dinner in my quarters tonight, if von Brinkerhoff can spare him. And call Mr Irani's office; see if he is available for a call tonight. Then don't forget we need to send flowers to Petyr Calinda and his wife for the successful birth of their baby boy. Put something appropriate in the card -- you know the drill. Thank you so much."

The assistant deposited Natasi outside a conference room; she palmed the door open and stepped in to see Sioux, who was just confirming to [member="Valessia Brentioch"] that the Grand Moff was present and correct. "We've arranged priority clearance for your arrival, Ms. Brentioch. We'll see you shortly."

 

[Valessia Brentioch]

"Excellent," Valessia remarked as the shuttle door closed. "How is this working out by the way?" She asked the two Marine escorts who looked at her and then each other, "yes you two, this is new right? This shuttle?"

"Oh, yes, just got them before we picked you up, ma'am," replied one of the marines, "smooth, don't got no bumps when coming into atmospheres."

She nodded in acknowledgment, "good, if you or any of your flight chiefs, pilots have an issue please - please report it to FOCIE immediately." Valessia told them and then smiled as she ran her stylus between her fingers and looked over to Ensign Günther, "what's the time on this project?"

"I believe we're set to produce a few hundred more before the end of the quarter, and phasing out older shuttles to be used as taxi's on military worlds between bases such as Varonat," Ensign Günther was good, very good, Valessia smiled and looked down at her tablet as she relaxed in her seat. The FIV Concordia was coming into view now, and Valessia admired it, "she's a beauty."

"She is," Ensign Günther agreed, "would like to Captain her one day or something like it." It was a quite admission, but Valessia heard it and gave the Ensign a knowing smile, they wouldn't always be her assistant, liaison or whatever they wanted to call her job title. Valessia had faith that one day when Günther became a Captain, they would get to command a vessel like the Concordia. The shuttle pilot could be heard talking to flight control for the larger vessel, the shuttle came in and began landing procedures.

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Two marines, one naval ensign, and two more naval security officers rounded off Valessia's actual escort as she was guided to the conference room. Along the way she was talking and moving as just another cog in the machine of the First Imperial Order. "Right, that's right we're going to have a contract for the Starfighter Academy, no I agree - it should be taught at the Dosuun Naval Academy, but they want their own - so we'll have to get a contract and find a planet to plunk it on so to speak, Dosuun's already crowded enough, what with three shipyards, several military bases and don't forget the Kalast-class station that is fabricated there at Kalast City and taken out- right, right, well no." She paused a moment as she stood outside the conference room doors, "the Curovao's paid a lot of money, right so if they want the shipyard named after them on Ryoone then the shipyard on Ryoone will be named after them."

"Great, okay thank you so much for understanding Commodore, and I will speak with Primo Victorian personally, uh huh, okay thank you, have a great day." Val took off her earpiece and gave it to Günther as the Ensign handed her the mobile holo communicator. Walking into the conference room, she immediately set the holo communicator down into the center of the table. "Good morning, er afternoon, Grand Moff," she turned and searched the table for the clicker as she called it. Taking a moment she breathed and exhaled, "today we are meeting with ArchAngel's Anna Comnena, co-owner of ArchAngel itself. We're interested in their planetary defense systems but as usual, they'll probably want to pitch something else, so if I can I'm going to try and control this call as much as possible, but obviously if there is something that interests you let me know..."

"... our budget is only so much for contracts of this magnitude and they must be exclusive or we're not dealing with them period," Valessia was flipping through a few screens while speaking and then walked to the holo communicator, "okay let me go ahead and dial her up."

A few moments later, "hello Miss Comnena, and thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to speak with us, I'm Trade Representative Brentioch, and Scion of House Brentioch of Brentaal IV and this of course," she gestures toward Natasi, "is the Grand Moff Natasi Fortan of the First Order, are we coming in clear for you Miss Comnena? Great, great, and today we're calling obviously to discuss the possibility of a private contract between your company and the First Order - we are very, very much interested in your planetary defense systems, however; we are willing to hear about your other products and services."

[member="Natasi Fortan"] | [member="Maelion Liates"]​

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Valessia Brentioch"] [member="Natasi Fortan"]

Maelion smiled and offered a bow to both First Order ladies.
“Thank you, Lady Brentioch, Grand Moff Fortan. I would be very happy to offer you what we sell, and I hope it pleases you. Of course, if you find something else you wish from us and it is within our power we will manufacture it.”

“Planetary defence is an extremely necessary precaution. Our primary weapon in this task is the Sariss Planetary Cannon. This cannon is large and must have a specialised reactor, but it has astonishing power. Able to fire from the ground into the highest orbit and beyond, this can seriously injure even capital ships. The rate of fire is once every twenty seconds on average. The usual pattern for the most heavily defended worlds is to have three of them, able to keep up a constant volley.”

“A shield is necessary to protect the cannon from aerial reprisal, but most cities and bases have those anyway. Said shields have the option for ‘shuttering’ which allows the shield to remain up and for the bolts to pass through just a small sector.”

“As for our other items, I direct your attention to this link. It will show you all the items we currently sell. There are a couple I will note though. The Drone Interceptor is an interceptor which is incredibly cheap to produce, unbelievably agile and extremely fast. They are useful for scouting, springing traps and pouncing on bombers.”

“A second item of note is the Stecher Wasp Droid, a small and very mobile unit designed for surveillance, monitoring and even targeted strikes with a needle. As we all know it can be very difficult to monitor those who seek your downfall. However, what notice is given to a simple insect? Yet this insect can either record all; a literal fly on the wall, or it can strike a target with sedative or poison. Cheap to produce, easy to control and hard to detect, it’s perfect.”

“That’s just two of our many items. Please, look over everything and see if there’s anything which strikes your fancy or which you have questions about.”

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi may have been irritated with [member="Valessia Brentioch"] for hijacking the meeting, if she didn't have a million other things racing through her mind at any given moment. "Nice to see you again, Ms. Comnena," Natasi said with a pleasant smile across the holochannel. "I hope you and Ms. Scarlett are well. Oh, before I forget: I was asked to pass along compliments for how well those construction droids have been working out. Really excellent work, thank you." She leaned forward, totally engaged in the meeting. As they listened, Natasi scrawled a note on a piece of paper: planetary cannons - Dosuun - Yalara - Effekt - Varonat - Vassek - thoughts? and passed it across the table to [member="Valessia Brentioch"].

It would probably be cost-prohibitive to install these cannons at every location that was under threat of attack, but certainly they could afford to reinforce probably invasion routes. In these difficult and dangerous times, Natasi was willing to put credits up. It was better to be safe than sorry, and with conflict more a question of 'when' than 'if', it was difficult to think of a budgetary priority more important than defense.

 

[Valessia Brentioch]

Business was second nature to Valessia, a graduate of the Commerce Academy on Brentaal IV. Brentaal IV where you lived, breathed and died in trade. Their seat of government was known as the Trade Hall, you had the floor where thousands upon thousands of plebs conducted trade, trade of stock, services, goods all dependent on various activities throughout the system. Above the floor, was the lower house - made of guild leaders, union leaders and business owners they represented the everyday worker - those on the floor. The floor elected the lower house and it was the lower house who elected the upper house, and it was the upper house who determined who ruled Brentaal IV. The Chamber. The Chamber of Commerce, one CEO to rule it all with two officers below him or her.

Valessia was gunning for a seat in the Chamber, of course. For now, she was still awaiting the outcome of the proceedings that would say whether or not she would be a member of the Upper House. She had sought out a business partner (significant other) in [member="Sumiko Tanaka"], she had the funds to purchase her parents seats and was now. Now waiting to see if the deal would be approved by the Brentaal Trade Commission. Until then, she was here working with the First Order. She liked the sound of the planetary defense cannon, a lot. "Ms. Comnena, I do have a question with regards to the cannon, first of all - pricing, and second of all construction." A pause, "the First Order is a growing nation and right now we are looking for the most cost-effective option."

The Scion looked down on the scrawled note, "would there be a discount on purchasing in bulk? If we were to order these cannons from you and is there a way that we would be able to, with your aid of course, manufacture those within our own borders?" Jobs, there would be jobs for their people and it would be less expensive to produce, ship and install if they could do it from their own territory. She then turned her gaze and listened to Ms. Comnena speak about the Drones, Drones, mhmmm, yes, useful. "Grand Moff? What are your thoughts?"

Deferring to her boss, Valessia took a side step out of the way so that the Grand Moff could see Ms. Comnena. Taking a seat she flipped open her own notebook and began to takes her own notes. Scrolling on her own tablet she went through some of Archangel's other products and wrote down the ones she thought would be of interest to the Grand Moff: MK II Bolter which would require them to ship the special ammunition in as well. Anti-Force User Grenades, and as she noted these two she wrote down, show Vaas? Mostly for herself as she looked up to actively listen to the conversation.

[member="Natasi Fortan"] | [member="Maelion Liates"]​

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Natasi Fortan"] [member="Valessia Brentioch"]

Maelion smiled. "Thank you, Grand Moff, I'm glad they're working out so well! Ms Scarlett is well also, and wishes to pass on her best wishes to you also."

With the pleasantries out of the way they could get down to business.
"The price of the cannons are on the link, 2.5 million credits. That is significantly cheaper than other alternatives on the market. However, we are prepared to offer a sliding discount depending on the number purchased. We will also throw in the construction droids required as well."

"As for manufacturing, that would depend on the level and depth of our trading agreement. Such a thing would be a big commitment and would need to be balanced by other droid or market opportunities."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

"Perhaps we can arrange some sort of licensing fee," the Grand Moff mused. "And employ your corporation to provide the droids, maintenance, and infrastructure? But that is, certainly, something which we can hammer out later. Obviously we won't want to commit to licensing the production rights from you if the cannons don't suit our needs." The Grand Moff glanced across the table at [member="Valessia Brentioch"] briefly before looking back to the holographic representation of Ms. Comnena.

"Now, for this price, two and a half million credits per cannon -- does that include the cost of the specialized reactor as well as installation? If not, what would be the total cost for all?" She began to jot quick notes on her notepad, her mind already working where they were going to find the money for the purchases. They had a defense budget, of course, but there was always a sliding scale when it came to that. For instance, her construction of Avalonia had been on hold for months due to the military -- General Vaas in particular -- needing funding for the stormtrooper training base. Now that the First Order was established, taking in tax and other income, they weren't hurting for funds, but it would still be wise to be be good stewards.

 

[Valessia Brentioch]

Valessia didn't catch the glance and instead was jotting down notes. On her own holotablet she dotted the planets that could be suitable for large-scale production and manufacturing. Indeed the First Order was now more established and the budget was starting to look healthy, but more would be needed. They were strapped more for resources than they were for manpower or credits. She noted the limited production of several naval vessels and looked up to the holographic projection of Ms. Comnena and then looked over to the Grand Moff.

Back to her notes, droids would be useful to help speed up production and she wondered if they might not be able to get the First Order's Engineers to work side by side with Archangel. Although she supposed that was a question for someone above her pay grade. "And where if I may ask - would that sliding discount start, so we can have an idea of what the numbers could look like." She looks over again to the Grand Moff and then back to Ms. Comnena.

[member="Natasi Fortan"] | [member="Maelion Liates"]​

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Natasi Fortan"] [member="Valessia Brentioch"]

“The cost does not include the reactor. However, we can supply that as well. Since your base will need power, it is not included in our basic cost,” Maelion added.
“We can provide reactors suitable for a military base which will power guns as well as the internal power of the base for an extra five-million. However, if you purchase three of our cannons for one site we will provide the reactor for free.”

“The sliding discount will begin and continue for every five units purchased, a discount of 10% per five, to a maximum of 25 which would be 50% discount. Thus, you could purchase 25 of the cannons for 31.25 million credits. That is an extremely good deal considering the size of these weapons.”

“Is there anything more you wish to know?”

 

[Natasi Fortan]

"That is an extremely good deal," Natasi said, frowning thoughtfully. She tapped her fingers lightly on her notepad, then pushed back from the table, her dark eyes glancing sidelong at [member="Valessia Brentioch"] before flicking back up to [member="Maelion Liates"]. "If you could excuse me for a few moments, I need to make a call." She stood up and walked around the conference table, she paused to place a hand on Valessia's shoulder, leaning in close enough to leave a hint of Galidraani wildflowers and sandalwood on the Representative. "I need to speak to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. We may need to move some funds around but I want to buy those guns. See what else they're willing to offer scaled pricing on."

She click-click-clicked her way around the table and exited, making her way to a private office down the hall. She keyed the switchboard. "The Finance Minister, please, priority aurek one one."

"Right away, ma'am," said the operator. A few more moments passed, with some clicks and whirs as the signal was beamed across the satellites back to Dosuun, then: "Putting you through now, ma'am."

"Your Excellency," said Allen Eriksen, his lined, bushy-browed face filling the screen. "How can I help?"

"You can find me thirty-two million credits," said Natasi firmly. "And quickly."

 

[Valessia Brentioch]

"Ms. Comnena, I believe we're about to reach a deal," Valessia says with a smile as she makes a few more notes, mostly in regards to bolters and ammunition. Although that was talk for another day when they could manage it, for now the defense cannons would be enough. They'd be able to install them throughout First Order space.

Running a hand through her hair she adjusted her suit and began to look at the logistics of it all. Of course she wondered if they could make room for Archangel to establish themselves within FO territory. Again, ideas that could be discussed for another time. "Ms. Comnena, I am going to send you my office information as I may want to speak with you later regarding another matter for the First Order, and I'd like to thank you for taking the time to meet with us."

[member="Maelion Liates"] | [member="Natasi Fortan"]