Hotel Trandosha

[Varindar Asyt]

Some people among the Xi Charrian clergy have been staying at the hotel after the Silvers have attempted to rescue Asaraa from the clutches of the Sith residing there. Having herself taken part in this operation, albeit as a rather raw pilot, she knew that some participants in either the Charros IV operation or the Kashyyyk battle would be weary by now. And the restaurant consistently had to refuse bookings because they just didn't have space for the number of reservations they were having. So [member="Beltran Rarr"] would likely have to rely on food service, regardless of which room he'd rent for tonight. Of which there were only a handful left. And that was after a rate hike to 275 credits/night for the regular rooms, up from 175 at relaunch time, and 550 credits/night for the executive suite, up from 350. So the Order would likely be paying more for its personnel to sleep in there. Soon the rates of the Crown Nebula would be matching the rates of other five-star hotels elsewhere in the galaxy. He came across a guest checking in at the front desk, who may or may not be Beltran:

"Welcome to the Crown Nebula Hotel, what can I do for you tonight?"

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Beltran Rarr stepped into the Crown Nebula hotel, wearing his signature black business suit with a white shirt and a black tie. His black dress shoes had been polished to a bright sheen and he looked every bit the businessman that he had come here to be tonight.

Moving toward the reception desk, he fixed the young woman that stood behind it, with an even gaze.

“Yes, hello.” He replied, his tone neither too warm nor too cold. Simply professional. “I am in need of a room tonight,” He told her. “One of the executive suits, if you’d be so kind.” As he spoke, Beltran fished out three credit chits and put them down on the table. Each had a label on it, denoting its value as 500 a piece. “I understand that space is limited but if you could have the room ready within the hour, then you are welcome to keep the change. Also, I’ve been told that you have an excellent restaurant here. Is that true?”

[member="Varindar Asyt"]

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"The restaurant tab will be on the same bill as the room. The third credit chit will be kept as a security deposit, to cover any possible damages to the room. Yes; in fact, we are contemplating expanding the restaurant, since we can't keep up with the local demand, and you have two choices: to ask for room service or take a reservation; however I should warn you about the reservations: it's possible you might find yourself in the dining room at an odd hour due to high demand, if you choose to do so"

More like the Trandoshans never were much of a race for the finer things in life, and hence making the supply of luxury services limited. Speaking of expanding the restaurant, she has a meeting about it in the dead of night, to discuss the current demand for meals from the restaurant, how much of it came from room service and how much of it came from the dining room. And whether the backlog of demand for the dining room would be enough to warrant expanding the dining room in any way. As for [member="Beltran Rarr"]'s stay, this one was a no-brainer: the Xellum Suite, on the second floor, is the only executive suite left. There was only one additional vacancy left, the Togoria on the second floor. As usual for any reservations of executive suites, he's getting a welcome package composed of beauty products, stationery, popcorn and ground caf for six, on the night table next to the king bed. She now enters Beltran's name next to the Xellum Suite in the room tracking system before handing the keys to the suite. How grateful I am for the room tracking system, she thought, while it allows front desk people to know who's renting which room, and also which ones are vacant.

"Your suite will be the Xellum Suite on the second floor"

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Beltran nodded, taking in the information. "Room service will be sufficient for tonight," He replied calmly. "But I will need a table in the dining room in the morning." He told the woman. "I have a business meeting occurring then, at approximately 0900 hours and I will need a place to conduct it."

Reaching into his pocket, the Lorrdian pulled out another handful of credits chits and placed them down on the table. "I can offer you five-thousand to ensure that a table will be ready for myself at that time."

[member="Varindar Asyt"]

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"There is no security deposit for restaurant bookings" she told [member="Beltran Rarr"] before returning his credit chits, while remembering that room service and restaurant bills will be charged against the hotel bill. "Here's the confirmation of the restaurant booking, at 0900 tomorrow"

Five thousand? Yes, this was a five-star restaurant, but even a breakfast for two wouldn't cost that much, even when adding a meal from room service for the night before. Maybe 100-120 credits or so. But, given the reservation schedule, at 0900, he will find that the restaurant will be packed with guests at that point, and there would be no space left for guests that wanted to eat breakfast from the restaurant at that time, with everyone else that hasn't already booked a table having to rely on slower room service. With the breakfast menu being available until 1300, to accommodate those species who needed a lot of sleep, or those guests that would otherwise need to sleep that late, she had to make clear that there were options for everyone. With that said, she wanted to clear up those details before handing him the keys to the Xellum Suite, or going into a meeting with the executive chef to finalize the details of restaurant expansion, in accordance to local ordinances and the hotel's survey certificate. The hotel might have been paid foor with dirty money, just that the hotel's documents must be kept for occasions like these.

"Here's the key to the Xellum Suite"

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Beltran glanced down at the returned chits briefly, before collecting them. Apparently the woman behind the desk wasn’t going to respond to this particular type of charm. That suited the Lorrdian fine enough. If she couldn’t be bribed into giving him the table of his choice, then she likely wouldn’t be divulging the nature of his business here. Strictly speaking, he wasn’t doing anything illegal here. But, he had up to this point, kept Colonel Calderon and the rest of the Silver Jedi in the dark regarding his side “business.”

He was aware that several prominent members of the Order owned or managed their own organizations, so it wasn’t that which Beltran wished to keep secret. It was the nature by which he’d come to acquire the organization in question that he’d rather not be divulged. Also, the Lorrdian always preferred to keep some of his resources in reserve. In case he ever needed to cut ties with the Jedi and strike out on his own.

Taking the room key, Beltran nodded to the woman. “Thank you very much,” He said simply before heading to his room. Once inside, he decided to take a shower. After the chaos of defending Kashyyyk, the mercenary-turned-Antarian Ranger took a moment to enjoy some so simple and pleasurable as hot water running over his skin. The battle had be hard fought, and much had been lost. But in the end, they had held the line and driven the Sith back.

His mind briefly wandered to his companions during that battle: Lupewaurreg and Jost Cal Dayne. The Wookiee had proven himself a hero during the fighting on the beach, and as much as it surprised Beltran, so had Cal Dayne. Where they were now, Beltran had no idea. It was likely that they were still on Kashyyyk, helping with the clean-up operations though it was just as likely that they had headed off world to get supplies or make any number of runs in their freighter.

With his shower finished, Beltran changed into a fresh pair of undergarments and put on his blue BDU pants and a white muscle shirt. He then ordered his room service, a modest meal. Once it was delivered, the Lorrdian ate and fell quickly asleep.

The next morning, would see Beltran Rarr entering the dining room at exactly 0900 hours. Like the night before, he was clad in his business suit. Approaching the restaurant attendant, he spoke quietly. “My name is Beltran Rarr,” He told the being. “I have a table reserved.”

Meanwhile, at the same time, a middle-aged human male approached the hotel’s front desk. Like Beltran, he wore an expensive suit and held a burning cigar in his left hand. He was flanked on either side, by a pair of well built human males, also wearing suits. They radiated menace. One of them stepped forward, speaking for the man in the middle. “Mister Endo is here for a meeting with Mister Rarr. I believe we are expected.”

 

[Varindar Asyt]

The following morning, while [member="Beltran Rarr"] had his business meeting in the dining room, over breakfast, Varindar had a meeting with the executive chef regarding the expansion of the restaurant. Clearly if there was engorgement in the booking system, the restaurant must operate at a capacity level that was a little too low. Hence there were several questions that she needed answered to determine how best to address the issue, while remaining mindful not to encroach on the executive chef's operational freedoms. First, the no-show rate and second, the booking rejection rate. And the capacity of the market to absorb additional supply, since in her mind, there has to be enough room to grow but not to an excessive extent. She was all too aware that, in the hospitality industry, inventories were perishable and under-used capacity is undesirable. But there needs to be enough capacity to meet the demand. So she came prepared to meet with the Pau'an executive chef of the restaurant, asking about the situation of unmet demand at the restaurant. She'd rather not waste the restaurant's resources on something that may prove a liability in the long run.

"Hi, Bumba, we have been reporting an increased in... rejected reservations for the restaurant lately; there are a few questions I need answered before I can even start contemplating a restaurant expansion"

"Shoot, I don't have much time" Bumba

"What is your no-show rate?"

"About 10%, nothing that could cause concern; it's pretty normal at the level at which we operate"

"How many reservations do you have to reject?"

"Definitely more than there are no-shows. No-shows amount to about a dozen per day, easily 70-100 reservations would need to be rejected every day, trending more towards the latter"

"How much demand is there in the market for five-star dining?"

"We could consistently fill 120-125 covers and we may still profitably operate the place at the required cover turnover rate, while remaining mindful that we draw primarily from this region on this planet"

 

[Beltran Rarr]

At the same time as Mister Endo and his two burly associates were being led from the front desk to the dining room, Beltran was being seated at his table. A server would come over almost immediately to take his drink order, to which he would simply have a glass of the local fruit juice.

No sooner than the glass of juice had arrived, did Mister Endo and his associates approach the table.

“Good morning, Mister Rarr.” Said Debbis Endo, his low gravelly voice mixed with equal parts fear and respect. Just months earlier Beltran had engineered the, decidedly hostile, takeover of Mister Endo’s arms manufacturing company: Obsidian Star Technologies.

When the carbon had finally settled Beltran had held all the pieces, including the vast majority of Endo’s personal wealth. Since that time, Mister Endo-though still CEO in name-became nothing more than proxy for the Lorrdian’s wishes.

“Is it?” Beltran replied, looking up pointedly at the Denon businessman. “Obsidian Star has fallen another two points on the exchange.”

“That was to be expected,” Endo came back. “Implementing your new initiatives, while losing our former…source of capital was always going to be damaging to the company. May I sit?”

With a wave of his hand, Beltran motioned for Endo to take a seat before asking, “And how are things going with those initiatives?”

“Well enough, sir.” Endo answered. “We have begun production on models 101 through 105 and as per your request, we have brought several pieces of each for your use.”

“Excellent, and my other request?”

“We had to contract out that work, as our facilities are as yet ill-equipped for starship work. Still, we have brought the Imperialis up to spec.
Unfortunately, I’m told that the power distribution cannot be fully overcome. As such, the firm we contracted with was able to engineer a software work around. The details are listed in the ship’s computer and the vessel itself has be berthed at the local spaceport. And you will find the tech you’ve requested housed within the ship’s armory.”

“Good. As for the falling stock values, do you believe that our planned re-opening will change things?”

At this, Beltran noticed a slight change in the businessman’s demeanor. While he’d been uncomfortable throughout the entire meeting, now he positively radiated fear. “I…cannot say for certain, sir. Your designs are quite…ambitious. But your proposed marketing strategy…frankly, it may not work sir. And if it doesn’t, the company will be bankrupt within six months. That is unless you’re able to secure some…outside funding?”

Part of how Endo and Obsidian Star had come onto Beltran’s radar in the first place, was because Endo had been laundering credits for an intergalactic crime cartel known as The Outfit. It was the same cartel that had set up shop on Lorrd less than a year prior, and proceeded to assassinate Beltran’s former employers and many of his associates. Taking Obsidian Star from them, and forcing Endo into doing his bidding, had been a major setback for The Outfit and the first step in the Lorrdian’s ongoing war with them.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to make due with you have for the time being,” Beltran responded. “But perhaps an opportunity will present itself before long.”

The remainder of the meeting would devolve into technical jargon, as Beltran outlined his continuing vision for the company. Soon,

Obsidian Star would release its new weapons line, and hopefully acquire some better backing.
When the meeting was over, Beltran stood as Endo and his men retreated from the establishment. He then returned to his table and proceeded to order breakfast.

As he ate, the Lorrdian continued to muse over all the things he had done, and all that was still left to do. He would destroy The Outfit, but in order to do that he would need to gather allies and resources. That would mean tracking down his client from the Alaris Prime mission, and ensuring that he was paid the remainder of what he was owed. It would also mean returning to Lorrd to enlist aid from those few of his allies who still remained on that world.

Eventually, he also knew that would have to bring some of his associates from the Silver Jedi on board. But who, and how, for the moment still eluded him.

There was much to do.

[member="Varindar Asyt"]

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"Better expand before the Outfit starts to consider filling the void left by the seizure of the hotel: you do realize this planet is a criminal battleground?"

"I'll be honest here, Bumba. Excessive tips may well be part of restaurant-powered moneylaundering schemes, but I'll weigh in on the regulations and the available legal options"

The Outfit? Why is it that I keep hearing about the Outfit around here? she though, while wondering what the Outfit was, and whether it was a known rival of the Ta'jar Blood Gang. She couldn't help but imagine if the Outfit was considering another exotic (by Trandoshan standards) sport to use to launder money, both through the venue construction and the operation of said venue. Now, the question being how much space they had available, how much would it cost to get the expansion built, and, from there, outfitted, she returned to the front desk with a to-do note on her agenda: research the local ordinances and the necessary paperwork for the issuance of construction permits. The business was indeed taking off, but now came the more clerical part of the job: handling guest check-outs. Like one [member="Beltran Rarr"], whom she knew was at the restaurant for whatever reason that she'd rather not know about, so long as it wasn't related to her Jedi training, the hotel itself or the Ta'jar Blood Gang. Because the Ta'jars attempting to recover the hotel from the SJ was a possibility she'd rather not rule out. The guest checking out was now in front of her, possibly Beltran even:

"I trust you spend a good night's sleep; if not, do you have any complaints to make?"

 

[Beltran Rarr]

It was Beltran indeed who stood at the front desk. Clad in the same business suit he’d worn the night before, the Lorrdian looked well rested. Other than that, his features remained exactly as they had been when he’d checked in the night before.

“Yes, thank you.” He replied to @Varindar Ayst’s question. “It was quite comfortable. I have no complaints.”

At any other establishment, he would have slid over a few high denomination credit chits in order to show his appreciation but the woman behind the counter had already shown that she wasn’t interested in taking his money. She ran an honest business, and that was something Beltran could respect even if he found little use in honesty.

“I believe that we settled the room rate last night. You will find the room in perfect condition but please use the security deposit to cover the cost of my meals. Whatever remains, you are welcome to keep as gratuity for a comfortable stay.”

Looking down at his wrist chronometer, the Lorrdian sighed. “I have arranged transport to the spaceport and it should be arriving by now. Thank you again for your hospitality.”

His business complete, Beltran would offer the woman a curt nod before turning and heading out the door. As he’d expected, the speeder he’d hired to take him to the spaceport was waiting for him. Getting in, Beltran took one last look at the Crown Nebula before heading off into the distance.

[member="Varindar Asyt"]