I'll Need A Weapon

[Darth Osano]

SOMEWHERE
A PLACE WITH A MEETING ROOM

The Helix Syndicate was a perfectly legitimate organization that needed a large amount of small arms for perfectly legitimate reasons. After all, debt collectors are seldom very popular people. They need to be able to protect themselves. They also needed to be able to protect themselves in case any of the various properties the Helix Syndicate owned were going to be attacked by disgruntled commoners. This was not to say that, presently, no one in the Helix Syndicate enforcement divisions had a gun. Quite the opposite, most of them already did. The problem was that there was no standardization among their armaments. And if their guns weren't standardized, firearms training could not be standardized.

There was a primal, brutal elegance to be found in slugthrowers. The noise invoked more anxiety in enemy combatants, as did the prospect of them being clipped and suffering a slow death from blood loss. This was especially the models developed by the late corporation Czerka, which had since been brought under the Arceneau Trade Company umbrella under the name Browncoat Arms. The designs for these slugthrowers and their accompanying modular ammunition were at least a decade old by now and yet Pollux still favored them over the other riff-raff currently being circulated.

It was with all this in mind that Pollux donned the finest business suit available to him and scheduled a meeting with a representative of Browncoat Arms: [member="Saffron"]. If all went according to plan, the Helix Syndicate would be walking away with a tidy supply contract... And enough weapons to keep those indebted to the Syndicate in line for years to come.

 

[Saffron]

Somewhere
A place with a meeting room and tea

"Please, Sir, right this way." a woman with dark black hair and a serene expression gestured for [member="Pollux"] to follow her. It wasn't hard to determine that she was a Companion; many of which took to serving throughout Arceneau Trade to be a point of contact. They were trained in diplomacy and cordial conversation and thus were considered to be excellent hostesses. For those who made a name for themselves, success could be rewarded in overseeing a particular area within the vast conglomorate. Saffron and Aeri were prime examples of this.

Pollux was led to a large conference room, the double doors sliding open for him to walk in. An oval dark wooden table sat in the center of the chamber with enough room for twelve people. Sitting at the head was a young blonde woman.

Saffron rose to her feet, a cordial smile upon her face. She gave an incline of her head in greeting, moving to cross the distance to shake [member="Pollux"] 's hand.

"Welcome to Eden." she stated, mentioning the Bio-Dome where they were now situated in. It was one of the many that were spreading across the galaxy to serve in planetary reconstruction and the research of horticulture and such.

"I hope your trip went well?"

 

[Darth Osano]

"It did." Pollux replied in his usual bout of flowery speech. The trip here had been uneventful, as were many of the things that transpired off-stage.

He had never been known for warm greetings. His eyes were physically incapable of betraying any sort of emotion and his mouth barely moved from its indifferent frown when he spoke. Not a lot of people like to shake Pollux's hand. [member="Saffron"] would see why the minute she took it. Cold, hard, and uncomfortable. It was literally the feeling of touching a bone that had been picked clean some ages ago. Such was the life of a Givin, and it might have contributed to his species' alarmingly low rate of reproduction.

Being that he had little use for small talk, Pollux began immediately. "The Helix Syndicate would like to pursue a supply contract with Browncoat Arms, concerning certain weapons and ammunitions." He retrieved a datapad from his jacket, which flickered to life as he held it out to her. It contained the relevant details, mostly number crunching done by pencil pushers at Fort Armanath. A large order for the Syndicate, but it was nothing a subsidiary of the Arceneau Trade Company couldn't handle.

 

[Saffron]

[member="Pollux"]

It didn't matter if his handshake was cold, hard, and uncomfortable. If Saffron held any measure of distaste, it didn't reflect in her warm smile. It was actually mild humor that colored it at his inquiry.

"A supply contract of arms?" she repeated, motioning for him to sit as she did as well.

"Which weapons and ammunition?" the blonde inquired, moving towards the small tea service beside her.

"Tea?"

 

[Darth Osano]

Pollux settled stiffly into his seat, answering [member="Saffron"] 's offer for tea in a manner too verbose by half. "No."

He momentarily forgot that it typically helped to be a little more formal when making these arrangements. He added, "Thanks," after a silence that was perhaps an extra seconds too long. The Givin did not like the power dynamic here or her decidedly bemused smile. Generally he preferred to deal with people only after their debt had been acquired, after he owned them in one way or another. Easier to lord over them that way. Meetings like this he left to other people unless they were important enough to warrant his direct involvement. How unfortunate for everyone here that he found this meeting important. After sitting down, he left the datapad on the table in front of her. She would have seen if she deigned to look, but Pollux answered the question anyway.

"The CZ line and its associated slugs. All of them."

A tall order for a short Syndicate, but they had the money. It was just better to ignore where it had come from.

 

[Saffron]

[member="Pollux"]

Saffron's smile would linger despite the decline in tea. His follow up 'thank you' was not missed and in that the blonde found a measure of charm within the Givin. His request, however, did give a bit of a pause.

"The entire Cee-Zee line?" a small blink and then a thoughtful consideration.

"Would you want a one time contract or a consistent supply?" Browncoat supplied ordnance and weapons all across the 'verse. This wouldn't be any different from their usual affairs. Part of the deal with discussing business was to be clear on the expectations of both parties.

 

[Darth Osano]

Pollux did not enjoy repeating himself, but repeat himself he must, apparently. The datapad was just within reach. "Yes."

If the Helix Syndicate only wanted a one time contract, it seemed clear to Pollux that he would not have bothered spiriting himself all the way out here. They could have taken care of that easily enough through any ATC-sanctioned storefront or merchant. The Helix Syndicate was a growing beast, spreading its tendrils all throughout the Pentastar Alignment and then some. If the weapons did not flow in equal measure to their growth, then the Syndicate would be no better than its less organized and less coherent rivals, running around with a mindless hodgepodge of weaponry and no consistency. Or worse, the Syndicate would have a gaggle of unarmed Enforcers running around.

In the business of extortion, if your men don't have guns, you don't have a business. Maybe Pollux's men could get away handling their above-board dealings with stun batons and fists, but staying in the realm of "strictly legal" had never been his intention.

"A consistent supply." He clarified to [member="Saffron"].

 

[Saffron]

[member="Pollux"]

Saffron kept her lingering smile. A nod followed.

"Alright." the blonde Companion would state, setting down her cup of tea upon its saucer. Turning to her right, the woman reached for her datapad. A standard contract would suffice for a number of arms that he was asking for. A few quick taps and then a contract was brought up for the Given to review at his leisure.

The datapad had an identiscanner that would confirm his identity and ensure the legality of the purchase. Once he signed a notice would be sent to him with the proper bank account wiring channels to Aurum Saacs Bank.

"Then, please review the following for the goods."

 

[Darth Osano]

Pollux accepted the datapad from [member="Saffron"] and idly scrolled through its contents. A lesser species could have sat there all day trying to work out the math, but for Pollux there was simply no issue. His mind worked like a machine, deconstructing and recalculating all of the projected costs. Givins were known for their incredibly gifted mathematical understanding. It was a valuable, natural skill for him to have. It enabled these sorts of deals to be ironed out over the course of a short lunch meeting rather than several weeks. Time is money, after all, and there were other important things Pollux needed to attend to.

He signed with a stylus. When he pressed his thumb to the identity scanner, a different name came up for a moment. Pollux's visage soured, apparently with annoyance, and a vein pulsed in his forehead... Something that Givin typically did not do. He pressed it a second time, however, and the proper name came up, and the vein vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"Here." He said, handing it back to her.

 

[Saffron]

[member="Pollux"]

If there was any concern to the glitch, Saffron didn't show it. Instead she gave Pollux another smile as she took the datapad. A quick survey and skim found it suitable for her own signature. Pressing her finger to the identipad and giving her stamp of approval, the contract was signed.

"Thank you Mistah Pollux." the blonde replied, turning up her head to study him anew.

"We would be happy to send the first batch of arms to whichever location you may desire." She held out her hand then, the empath feeding off the Force for anything that she could pick up.

"A pleasure working with you. If you need anything else, please do not hesitate to contact me directly."

 

[Darth Osano]

There was a lot of angst. Anticipation. Somewhere at the core of it all there was a burning desire for vengeance against someone in particular, or maybe an entire dynasty. A sense of entitlement towards something wrongly deprived. It wasn't guns and munitions. He must have also been Force Sensitive, because recognition of her pulling on the strings of the Force flashed across his normally stony features. He took the datapad he had originally laid down and stood sharply.

"Thanks." He said to [member="Saffron"], his voice harsh.

The nerve of some people. Pollux exited with an indignant quickness that had not been present when he entered.